Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

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Michonne and I kept watch while the others moved the cars. It wasn't long before they got through. "Rick." Michonne called. "Come take a look at this." She handed the binoculars to Rick.

~*~

"Holy shit." I whispered as we looked at the long cable stretched across the road, sticks of dynamite tied all along it.

"What is all this for?" Michonne asked.

"Wait. When I was hiding in the back of the truck, I heard a couple of them talking about this. This is for a herd." Carl said.

"That's why it's a steel cable. It's not just for one walker. It's for a lot." Rosita added.

"We need these explosives." Sasha looked at Rick.

"Yeah." Rick nodded. "But we have to figure out how to disarm it first."

Rosita crouched in front of a grate, lifting it slowly. Underneath was a hole with more explosives connected to the cable with wires. "Uh...okay." Tara took a big step back.

This didn't go unnoticed by Rosita. "Backing up is not gonna make a difference if this thing goes off." She continued fiddling with the wires.

"We got ourselves a red situation." Negans voice came suddenly over the radio. "I need a search party. See if Daryl ran home like the dumb animal that he is." I clenched my fists.

"On it. Be there in time for lunch."

"Turn that sleepy little burg upside down."

"We gotta go. We gotta get there before them, but we need these." Michonne said. We need to clear a path anyway."

"Yeah. Rosita?"

She kept fiddling with the wires, carefully pulling out a big battery. "First parts done."

"What now?"

She stood up. "We gotta unwrap the secondary explosives-the dynamite, the RPG's. Make sure these casings are not messed up, and do not mess them up either. This thing could still blow."

"You all heard her. Let's go."

We went to work, slowly and carefully cutting the cords that held the dynamite to the cable. Once we were done, we were on the move. "You can load the explosives into the trunk as long as they're in good shape. No dents, no tears. They're not live. They still need to be triggered to be set off." We loaded the car as quickly as we could.

"Dad." We looked at Carl. "Look." He pointed down the road. Walkers.

"Okay. There they are. But they're far, we still have time." I cut off another one, bringing it to the stack to be checked. Rick stood up. "We need to get the cars back in front of the on-ramp."

"They'll know we took their explosives so does it matter?" Jesus asked.

"We want that herd to stay on the highway."

"Why?"

"We may need it."

We loaded what we could, a few of us getting in the car to put the cars back. We moved them as fast as we could, keeping an eye on the quickly approaching herd. I glanced over at Rick and Michonne once we were done, noticing them getting into the cars the cable was attached to. "Oh god." I whispered. We ran back to the car, getting in right as the herd reached us. We couldn't see anything, but we heard Rick and Michonne honking the horns. As they got closer I saw the cable cutting the walkers into pieces. "Holy shit." They came to a stop and got out, fighting through the walkers. I opened my door, pulling Michonne in. Rick came shortly after, slamming the door. Rosita slammed on the gas, speeding down the road.

We looked back at the herd, Rick and Michonne catching their breath. I jumped when it exploded, a huge cloud of black smoke filling the air. "Yeah, I didn't like the look of that shit at all."

~*~

The Saviors came almost immediately after we arrived. They trashed our houses, looking for Daryl. There was no reason for it, just because they could. Gabriel was missing, along with or food. I didn't want to believe that he would do something like this, that he changed. Rick said he left a note. Boat. That's all it said. They were going to find him. I wanted to go, but Rick insisted I stay. He wasn't sure how long they'd be gone, so he needed me here in case the Saviors came back. I tried to reason. "What if we-what if we tell them I died, like with Maggie? Then I can go see Daryl, stay with-"

"That won't work. They'll think we're lying, you know how they are, how he is." I sighed, turning away. "Lottie, I'm sorry. They won't think you died right after Daryl escaped, they won't. Look at me." I looked up at him. "We'll beat them. Daryl will come home. I promise."