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AFTER AROUND half an hour, daryl had come back to where connie and rosaline were sitting. he explained to her about what henry was trying to convince lydia off. he wanted to run away with her, out there.
"in a world where no one understands, it's good to finally find someone who can." she told him, sitting down crisscrossed against the wall. he seemed to take what she had to said to heart because his expression faltered slightly.
he could easily recall when he had found that someone.
minutes later, on the balcony, lydia spotted movement. it was the whisperers with a few walkers and what she presumed to be beta. just like she'd told them, he'd come searching for her with a few of their people.
"rosaline they're coming." lydia came in rushing to get the girl, "beta is there."
the brunette gave her a curt nod before rushing over to her husband, "they're on their way, daryl."
he only spared her a look before storming out on the balcony with his crossbow raised. rosa joined him, two arrows pierced some of the walkers at the front, bidding their arrival to the apartment complex as the beta gazed up to examine where the killing blow had come from.
swiftly, he returned to connie and the teenagers with her, "alright, they're here. let's go."
with no time to waste, they rushed in the other direction. from another part of the building, a pair of doors could be heard opening, then the great loud thuds of objects - one of the barricades had been knocked down as the whisperers entered.
daryl had planned to lock them all away in a room, henry and lydia hammering away at some boards to block their path to them if they ever happened to get close.
the marksman shone the light on lydia, "hey, you're with me."
he had decided to leave rosaline and connie with henry. rhaegar was to stay with them while he took horizon. rosaline only prayed that he was going to be okay. these people were smarter than they thought from what lydia had told them. if they had survived this long with these murderous instincts, they were definitely good at this.
connie turned to rosaline, prodding her slightly. the brunette turned to her as she started to write on her notepad.
you looked pale.
were you going to throw up?
rosaline wasn't sure whether there was a point to lie to her or not. so instead, she nodded.
she wrote something again.
the rings. you and daryl?
the mute woman made two okay signs with her hands, then joined them together. her hand looked somewhat like a crown. it was obvious that she was asking if they were a thing. rosaline dipped her head with a small smile.
suddenly, the door handle started to move. someone was trying to get in. rosaline could feel her breath quicken as her heart began to pound in her chest. she hated situations like this - it was the slightest bit cramped and someone was after them. sometimes, she connected things like this to her bad experiences.
connie placed a finger to her lips, telling henry to be quiet as he let out a quiet gasp. the teenager hid behind a stack of metal shelves while rosaline joined connie at the back, her bow already tensing.
thud!
he managed to get the first one down. there wasn't any time to process the situation as another whisperer slid into the room, a knife raised up near their shoulder, ready to strike.
henry sprinted off in the other direction before they could catch him. rosaline rose to her feet with connie, the two using their weapons to kill the second.
they attempted to follow after him, but the door opening halted them. rosa used her reflexes grasping onto connie's sleeve to shove her out of the way as a whisperer attempted to throw a knife at her. she managed to get to her just in the nick of time, the blade lodging itself into a wooden shelf.
the mute woman attempted to slingshot the person who had tried to kill her, but they slipped out of her way just as she let the first rock fly. rhaegar appeared at their side, snarling and baring his teeth.
rosaline heard a yelp, that sounded like it belonged to henry, without a second thought, she took the german shepherd's chain-link collar, shoving him in the direction of the noise. he raced off, joining horizon in attacking the whisperer that was after henry.
at the side, she spotted a whisperer going for connie. as fast as lightning, the arrow ready on the string of her bow, sliced through the air and ended up in the enemy's foot, throwing them to the ground where connie slammed her knife through their back, bringing their life to an end.
the two women found their way back to the teenagers, rosaline falling next to the blonde boy as she saw the blood pouring out of his leg, "what happened?"
"knife through the leg." the boy answered, his breathing labored.
beside him lydia was already feeling regretful of not letting him kill her people, "i'm so sorry. can you help him?"
"only if we have the right things." the brunette uttered out, "ask connie if she has the right things stashed away."
the girl did as she was told, connie was already writing something on her notepad.
not sure.
enemies could be there.
"well?"
rosaline pried at his ripped jeans, "he's going to need stitches."
lydia's hands went to her forehead, "sorry."
"not your fault." she comforted, "he's going to be fine. we just need to get him some help. i might not be as good as siddiq, but i learned some things from him easily."
even though the girl may have no idea who she was talking about, she was glad for those people teaching rosa what she needed to do. or they could get him help from one of the communities if they managed to get away.
what seemed like an eternity had passed. fortunately, daryl had come back, with supplies in his backpack too. connie was going to check if there were still walkers near the building while rosaline worked on henry's injuries. she managed to lure out the walkers and kill some of them to clear a path.
daryl squeezed his wife's arm for reassurance, "alright. we should go."
henry thanked rosaline and then slid off the table that she was patching him up on, "you figure out where we're going?"
"alexandria's closest. so we'll get you stitched up there." the marksman told him, rosaline frowning as she saw his own injuries. his nose had clearly bled and there was also some blood splattered all over his clothes. she didn't know if it was his or someone else's.
the teenager shook his head frantically, "no, we can't. if her people find out we're there, everybody-"
"hell, we ain't staying." he interrupted him, "we'll get you back on your feet, and then we'll move on. all of us."
connie gave him a satisfied smile, along with the other two young ones. however, henry seemed unsure.
rosaline embraced him quickly, "need you looked at too."
behind her, the blonde still spoke, "no, but- no, but where are we going?"
"i heard there's a whole world out there." daryl quoted him, earning a knowing look of off rosaline, he wrapped his around henry to give him support while walking, "come on."
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it wasn't even a day's walk to alexandria. by late noon, daryl had already led them to the gates where aaron welcomed them in, then went to tell michonne that they had arrived. the woman stood up on the guardpost, staring down at them, more so lydia, with an accusing look.
she didn't trust her.
"henry's hurt. you were closest." daryl explained their appearance as the two dogs sat at his feet, "i wouldn't have come. we had no other choice."
"what about her?" michonne questioned, jerking her chin towards lydia.
henry looked up at her, "she's with us."
daryl confirmed that with a nod.
rosaline was excited. she hadn't seen judith in a while. usually, she'd visit weekly, but her appearances had been lacking. the guards opened the gate under michonne's orders after a moment's hesitation.
the woman took the brunette into a hug as if they hadn't seen each other a few days before, "hey."
everyone greeted each other, then quickly made their way into the infirmary for henry to be looked after. michonne didn't fail to take a good look at the new face, then turned to daryl, "so where to next? the kingdom?"
he wiped blood away from his hands in a water bucket, "well, probably not straight, but, yeah... carol should know."
connie raised her notepad to michonne.
this wasn't the plan but
i'd do it all again.
then another page.
with different shoes.
michonne's lips twitched upwards into a light smile before walking inside, connie stopping her to thank her. rosaline gazed around the neighborhood in the search of her younger sister. she was nowhere in sight - probably playing with her little brother and the other children.
connie came over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder before giving her a piece of paper.
her eyes skimmed over it.
you should ask siddiq to look at you.
rosaline was unsure of how to answer. she pointed backward at siddiq and henry, then made an 'x' shape with her arms. the brunette was hoping that connie would catch on as that being a message that said 'he's busy with henry.'
she wrote again.
when he's done.
rosa nodded, daryl strolling over to them both, "everything okay?"
connie pointed took rosaline to the side, asking him to wait. he scoffed, turning to look at michonne who took lydia and henry aside for a conversation. his plans were to find judith. he knew that his wife was looking for her all over.
"can't argue with her." rosaline chuckled nervously and then looked to connie.
the mute woman pointed to her, then wrote on the page.
i think you're pregnant.
it's best you check.
the breath seemed to be knocked out of rosaline, the color draining from her face. pregnant at a time like this? this would've been okay a few years ago, not now. she and daryl did plan on it, but perhaps the timing was a bit off.
rosa gulped, stepping inside of the infirmary with connie. now that she had thought about it, her period had been weeks late. she only prayed that was the case - as a teenager she did have irregular periods.
"anything i can help you with, rosaline?" the doctor asked, giving her a kind smile.
she rubbed the back of her neck, "actually, yes."
"alright. what's wrong?"
"connie thinks i'm pregnant." the brunette deadpanned. siddiq stopped dead in his tracks, "i don't know if its just my sickness anymore."
slowly, he turned to face her, "with daryl?"
"who else?" she joked, nervously, "do you have a test?"
"yeah. sure." he nodded, walking over to one of the shelves that held all his medicinal storage, then passed it over to her, "are you going to tell him?"
rosaline raised her head, sweat already beading at her forehead, "i'll have to. he's also the one who had the idea to send me to you weeks ago."
"good."
with a sigh, she slid the test into her back pocket, nodding a quick thanks to connie. the two waved each other goodbye as rosa went to find daryl. rhaegar was waiting out at the porch of the infirmary. horizon would be hanging out nearby daryl, so that was a quick way to catch up to him.
the woman bent down, "hey boy. do me a favor, find daryl."
the canine barked, speeding off in the direction of where he'd caught the scent of his belgian malinois friend. it wasn't long until she spotted them, sitting at the docks of the lake where the water was being converted to energy in a water wheel.
all of the wood panels below her creaked as she approached, judith spinning around to meet her sister's eyes, "rosie!" she yelled out happily, hopping to her feet and racing towards her.
rosaline laughed, extending her arms until the girl slammed into her with a big hug, lifting the girl off of the ground, "you're getting heavy." she commented, "what were you two talking about?"
"hilltop." the child answered eagerly, leading her over to where they were sitting, "daryl was telling me what happened."
daryl let his wife settle between them, her head resting on his shoulder, "so what'd he say?"
"i was asking if hilltop is in danger."
the marksman looked at her, "we don't know. might be."
"but you helped lydia anyways." she shrugged.
"no, i went to get henry." he muttered, "lydia just kind of tagged along."
"in the end you let her come." rosaline reminded, chuckling slightly. daryl shot her a look.
judith shuffled, "you brought her here. that means you want to help. i want to help, too."
daryl nodded, "i know you do. we know."
she looked at them both, "would you stay if my mom says it's okay?"
"nah. we should keep movin'. your mom's right. keeping you and rj safe. that's- that's what's important." he reminded.
rosaline sighed, she knew that this answer would come from him. now that you had set him free, daryl would never want to come back. things weren't the same - however, there was a chance he'd have a different outlook on this if rosaline took the test and told him the results. if they were positive, he'd definitely make them stay at one of the communities.
but this wasn't about her.
"what about rosie?" the little girl implored, arching a curious brow, "she's my sister too."
rosaline squeezed her sister into her body for a moment, "i can take care of myself and daryl can take care of me."
"yeah, but we're not the only people who are important." judith said, "I've heard the stories. how everyone fought the saviors and won. we can do that again."
daryl shook his head, "you haven't heard all the stories."
her stare hardened, "I heard the story where negan helped rosaline."
the couple stopped to exchange a look, their gazes swaying from judith and to themselves. rosaline was the first to speak, "he did. that doesn't make everything he did right."
"he also told me how you were the one to help him. when daddy almost killed him. he remembers all of that." she continued leaning forward to meet eyes with daryl, "that's important to him. rosie is kind. never lose sight of the fact that you've been blessed with the best wife."
she didn't really have a response to that. daryl knew that everything that judith had just said was true. the little girl had brought them both to utter silence. speechless.
"either way, what would my dad do about those people?" she asked. there was another silence, "yeah that's what i thought."
judith had grown into a fine little girl. she wasn't stupid, and you couldn't play stupid to her.
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i love judith so much. she's a great character also an easter egg. plus... pregnancy scare?
don't forget to vote and comment!
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