𝐂𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐒, Daryl Dixon

⁴⁷, TOGETHER

Everything got quiet then, before it got loud.

The group moved Bob to a sofa in Gabriel's office, Judith's cries broke through the silence, Zeppelin approached her mother and said nothing, just standing close enough that her arm brushed Vex's.

A member of their group now had a timer on his life. They were being targeted by a group of cannibals. Daryl and Carol were gone.

Daryl was gone.

"Time for a reality check. We all need to leave for DC right now."

Vex felt her spine straighten, every hair stood on end as she turned to face Abraham, almost as if her body was moving on its own and she was a helpless passenger inside of it.

"Daryl and Carol are gonna be back," Rick said. "We're not going anywhere without them."

"I respect that, but there's a clear threat here to Eugene," Abraham said, "I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier. So if y'all won't come, good luck to you. We'll go our separate ways."

Abraham turned with Rosita in tow, starting toward the door and glancing to Vex as he did.

"You leaving on foot?" Rick asked.

"We fixed that damn bus ourselves."

"There are a lot more of us."

"You wanna keep it that way? You should come."

"Carol saved your life. We saved your life."

"Well, I am trying to save yours. Save everyone's."

"We are not goin' anywhere without our people."

"Your people left!"

Both men were rising in anger, quickly bubbling over in argument; but there was a different feeling when Vex took a step forward.

Dean tensed, Rick's words stopped to make room for her own, and the whole room seemed to wait for her to speak.

"We don't leave our own behind. Daryl and Carol are gonna come back." Her voice was even. Tense. Her gaze was stony as Abraham spun to face her.

"To what, picked-over bones--!"

"Then leave," She spat, "On your feet, with only what you came in with. If you don't stand with your team, they don't stand with you."

"You try and stop me from taking--"

Vex was already lunging, and despite the stark contrast in their builds, Abraham wasn't exactly doing a great job at keeping her at arm's length. Voices raised as her fist met his face, Abraham himself quickly becoming enveloped in anger, attempting to push the woman off of him, but she was already pulling her arm back for another blow.

  She couldn't hear who was screaming or what they were saying. Vex hardly knew where she was. All she knew, was this guy was jeopardizing her team. And she had to stop it.

Luckily before Vex would do any lasting damage, Dean Williams grabbed his sister, yanking her away from Abraham.

Abraham advanced toward the siblings, but Glenn stepped between the two quickly as Dean fought Vex's momentum.

"Abraham," Rosita tried harshly.

"Hey, hey, stop!" Glenn yelled, "Now!"

Vex breathed heavily, still fighting her brother's arms around her but not moving to harm Abraham any further.

"Kiss my ass, Seargent," She spat, wrenching out of Dean's grip, "You guys figure your shit out, I'm going to find our people."

Vex moved the rifle to her hands, marching straight out the front door of the church before anyone could protest. She heard another argument begin, this time between Abraham and Rick, but she didn't care. She couldn't care.

She did care. She knew she did, somewhere beneath her anger, but right now, all she was focused on was finding the people that hurt her own, and finding the people that had left.

"Mom!"

Vex's movements halted mere feet from the front of the church, suddenly coming back to herself. Able to feel the cold prick of the night air, the heavy breathing in her chest, her heart pounding.

"Mom, you can't go right now," Zeppelin said, her voice meek as she approached Vex, "It's not safe."

"Go inside with your uncle, baby," Vex said tightly, staring out into the woods, "I'll be okay."

"No," Zeppelin tried, "Mom, you shouldn't go alone--"

"I'll be fine--"

"No, you won't!"

Vex turned to her daughter, the anger falling away at Zeppelin's broken shout. Suddenly she was back, she was there, Vex was there again, kneeling in front of her daughter who had begun crying so suddenly.

"What-- what's going on," Vex tried, reaching her hands up to push her daughter's hair out of her tears, "I won't go anywhere alone, Zep."

"You don't know what's out there," Zeppelin said, her voice wobbling, "I don't-- I just don't want you to go out there without--"

"I won't," Vex said quietly, "Breathe."

Zeppelin nodded, hiccupping breaths as she cried harder.

"There were men, bad men," Zeppelin said quickly, "They came out of nowhere, and they-- they even got Rick and Michonne, when we were all together— they were-- it was-- I killed one, Mom, and I-- I don't want you to--"

Vex brought Zeppelin into a tight hug, cradling her head to her shoulder as the girl cried.

She only noticed Rick then. Standing in the doorway of the church, a holy house holding unholy people. He stood silently, watching perhaps the most egregious sinner of them all, yet the only one who held onto faith, be brought back to reality by the tears of her child.

  And when he did speak, his voice was rough and quiet. Not a hint of anger left in his being as he looked to them.

"She's right. We stick together."

Vex stood at his words, still holding her daughter under her arm.

"I'm leaving to find Daryl if he's not back before we take care of those people."

"I understand," Rick said, "But we need you now."

Vex only nodded, entering the building once more as Rick patted her shoulder in passing.

She was with them. Now, today, tonight. Tomorrow, next week.

Maybe she'd be with them forever. Only if she was lucky.

WORD COUNT: 1368