A New World

Part 12

Daryl felt his chest heaving. The flickering embers of rage that were lit when he pulled the chain from the walker's neck had begun to engulf every part of him now. He was standing perfectly still, his eyes trained on Negan's kneeling form as Paul held the gun to the man's head.

He watched as Ezekiel walked Y/N back into the gates, and he knew they paused before continuing on to the house. He should have taken her himself, but right then, he needed to be there; to play this out with Negan.

Daryl glanced at her when she said his name, but he wasn't ready to let things with Negan go. He couldn't watch her walk away, so he kept his eyes fixed firmly on the man until he knew she was out of sight.

Pushing past Rick, Daryl stormed towards where Paul and Negan were still frozen in place. He kicked the fragments of Lucille as he strode past them, some of which reflected off Negan's legs.

Negan saw Daryl began to charge at him. He tried to stand before Daryl crashed his full weight into him, knocking him back, and slamming his head into the ground. Pinning him down, Daryl held Negan's chest firmly to the gravel with his knee as he pummeled the man's face repeatedly and hard enough that the group that had gathered around the gates could hear the cracking of bones.

"Daryl!" Paul shouted and tried to pull the archer off Negan.

Daryl swatted him off like a fly, accidentally connecting an elbow to Paul's face causing him to reel backward. In an instant, Rick and Glenn were running forward and using their combined force to remove Daryl from beating Negan to death.

Off to the side, Rosita was still on the ground and crying quietly now. Carl had the gun loosely pointed at her leg, but his full attention was on Daryl and Negan. Rosita tried to shift herself up, but Carl caught her from the corner of his eye.

"Don't make me, Rosita. Please," he said quietly. "This is bad enough as it is."

As she slumped back down, a hand caught the back of her head before it could hit the ground. Michonne was there, slipping an arm around the woman's shoulder's and helping her to her feet.

Carl's gaze flashed back and forth between Michonne helping Rosita, and Rick and Glenn trying to pry Daryl from a now very bloody Negan. Paul was back on his feet and aiding in the cause. The men were finally able to get Daryl to calm down enough to get back up on his feet.

He was breathing heavily, his knuckles broken and caked in a mix of his and Negan's blood. Daryl's hair was soaked with sweat, hanging lowly in his eyes as his gaze burned through the nearly lifeless body that laid on the ground.

"C'mon," Rick nudged quietly, "you've done enough now." Rick's hand gripped Daryl's shoulder, while his other tried to steer him back into the gates.

"He needs to die, Rick," Daryl mumbled as he was guided back into the community.

"Yeah, I know," Rick said moving through the crowd, "but you ain't gonna do it with your own hands, brother. I ain't gonna let you carry that."

Paul and Glenn stayed behind to deal with Negan and Rosita. Michonne had the pregnant woman on her feet and didn't take her gaze off her.

"You gonna keep staring at me like that?" Rosita hissed despite her precarious situation.

"Until I understand why you did what you did, yeah. Problem with that?" Michonne replied with little emotion.

Rolling her eyes, Rosita shook her head and didn't resist when Michonne zip-tied her hands behind her back. "Let's go, we have some talking to do."

"I don't have anything to say, Mich," Rosita said flatly, her expression set in annoyance.

"Wasn't talking to you... and don't call me Mich," Michonne spat and looked over to Carl. "I was talking to my son."