No Sanctuary For Old Men [18+] |Negan| ✔️ Complete

LVIII • Good Shot

Arat barked a laugh, and the blonde felt her heart swell at the woman's confidence. She'd missed her friends while she'd been hanging with tigers and then being kidnapped.

"That'll happen," the sarcasm dripping from Arat's voice was palpable. "Ow, shit, don't pinch me."

"Sorry, babe," Simon apologized.

"I'm so sick of being fucking tied up," Daphne commiserated. Though at least ropes were more mobile than being stuck in a cell.

"Then stop getting tied up, damsel," the mustached man teased.

She wanted to punch his face. "Ugh," she groaned, and raised her head from the floor, letting it fall back down again in frustration.

"Hey," Arat said in a no-nonsense tone. "No time for self pity, blondie. We've got a megalomaniacal moron to kill, so we can save our own megalomaniac."

Daphne couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Ah, there we go," Simon said triumphantly, and the excited shuffle that followed included Arat kissing him square on the mouth. She made quick work of her ankles, and then freed the other two.

"Keep your strength up with that leg, we might need you to run later," Daphne instructed as the two women staggered to the back door to find the latch.

"It's been removed from this side," Arat grunted as she nearly sliced open her hand on the cut steel.

"Shit—" Daphne began, but she was cut off by a sharp POP, and then they were all thrown violently to the side.

Daryl cursed under his breath as Spencer shoved Negan into the backseat next to Rick, and then jogged around to hop into the passenger side. The vehicle led a convoy, the transport truck following last.

He attempted to move from his vantage point, but the cold metal of a gun against his throat made him stop dead.

"What happened here?" a female demanded, and he recognized the no-nonsense firmness that had come through Daphne's radio many times.

"Mutiny," he replied simply, raising his hands to show that he wasn't going to try anything.

"Your people or my people?" she asked.

He took a deep breath. "Both. My leader, your leader. Three Saviors."

"Turn around," she instructed, and took a step back so he could comply.

Daryl stood and turned, staring down at the hard face of a short but tough-looking woman. The hair on the left side of her head was caked with blood, even in the moonlight he could clearly see that, but her eyes were level.

He didn't know what she wanted from him, but he hoped that he could convince her to help him. He had to save Rick. Working together could be mutually beneficial.

"You kidnapped the Lieutenant," she said, and it sounded less like an accusation and more like an observation.

"I didn't mean to," he protested quietly. He really hadn't. Carol had lashed out, and Jesus had taken advantage of the situation...but all Daryl had wanted was to keep Maggie safe. He would have given himself up to the Saviors a hundred times over just to keep her and the baby safe. "Once it started...I just had to go with it."

The woman narrowed her eyes at him. "This mutiny," she said, "what is the goal?"

"From what I can see, they want to take over the Sanctuary," he replied. "They're going to kill as many people as they have to to do it."

She raised her chin. "And how badly do you want to save your leader?"

"I just don't want any more of my friends to die," he replied truthfully, eyes sad. He knew it was unavoidable. It didn't matter what anyone did, in this life, they'd always lose people. But he'd be damned if he wasn't going to try to stop it at all costs. "I wouldn't have left in the first place if I'd known Maggie was still there."

She lowered her gun and pursed her lips. "I could kill you," she informed him easily. "But I could use you."

"If you help me save Rick, I'll come back to Sanctuary quietly," he promised.

She nodded firmly and motioned to his sniper rifle on the ground.

"Follow me," she said, and took off into the trees.

He grabbed the weapon and darted after her, wondering where the hell she was going. They needed to get a vehicle, and that meant taking one from Alexandria.

But when he caught up to her, she was kicking a dirtbike to life, and he didn't think twice before jumping on the back. His ass had barely hit the seat before she sped off, weaving through the trees like she was one with the vehicle.

It wasn't often that Daryl had been on the back of a bike, and being passenger to a stranger in a forest in the dark during the apocalypse wasn't his idea of a good time. But it wasn't long before he could hear the engine brakes of the transport truck, and he focused on their goal to distract himself.

She skidded to a stop near an outcropping that overlooked an expanse of road the vehicles were just skirting.

She pointed to the transport bringing up the rear. "Get the tires," she instructed, and he knew they didn't have much time. This was a perfect vantage point to take out a vehicle, and shooting the jeep would be too dangerous to Rick due to its small size. The Saviors would have an easier time if the transport skidded out.

And then they'd have backup. That was if Daphne didn't immediately put a bullet in his face. But he didn't really think she would. He'd saved the bitch, after all.

He took a deep breath and held it, the scope against his eye, and squeezed the trigger before he could think too hard about it.

There was a crack and a loud pop, and the truck lurched and swerved and then flipped sideways. Daryl winced at the force of it, and then jumped as his new temporary partner actually chortled.

"Good shot, redneck," she commended him, and extended a hand back over her shoulder. "I'm Letty."