"How much longer?" Dakota asked.
Her head popped up between Daryl and I. He was driving behind a van containing the rest of our group. We were on our way to the city to save Beth and Carol.
When Daryl showed up last night with a kid named Noah, the last thing I expected was to hear of police cops running a hospital in Atlanta where they had two of our group members.
"Couple of minutes before we reach the city." Daryl replied.
Dakota leaned back and settled into the back seat. There was an unspoken tension in the car as the three of us had never been alone before. My sister and my ex boyfriend, how lovely.
My fingers tapped my thigh as I pondered on how to break the ice. The only topic I could think of was Merle and no one wanted to talk about that. Certainly not me.
"Anyone wanna hear a joke?"
I smiled innocently as the two of them both grimaced at the same time. They couldn't have timed it better even if they had tried.
"Please don't."
"I've heard them all."
I raised my hands in defeat before leaning further into my seat. God, this is awkward. All I wanted to do was jump out of the car.
Logically, there was no reason for it. The two of them were on good terms, it's not like there was anything to be awkward about. Yet it still persisted.
Dakota glanced between the two of us. "Are you two a thing again?"
My entire body froze at her question and I could see Daryl tensing behind the wheel. And now I remember why this was a dangerous situation to be in.
Why the fuck would she ask that while we're stuck in a moving car and while we're both there? My cheeks got red as I cleared my throat.
"No." Daryl said.
His tone implied that he was equally uncomfortable as me in that moment. I have never wanted to crawl out of my skin more.
The only thing that made me feel better was the fact that Rick was not in the car with us. Now that would've killed me.
"You sure? Cause you're both being terribly awkward."
I looked at her in disbelief. If it was awkward, how on Earth did she think this was going to make it better? This is the last topic I wanted to think about, let alone speak about.
"It wasn't awkward until this moment." I hissed.
She shrugged. Silence fell upon the car and I was trying my hardest not to look at Daryl who had glanced at me. We were finally at a good place and then she just had to remind him of the breakup.
After a few more more moments of silence, Dakota decided to speak yet again. "So why did you break up?"
I groaned at the question as I wished for the Earth to swallow me whole. I don't understand the point of this. It's not like I didn't give her an explanation for it.
We didn't have a future together so I broke it off and other half lies. I didn't want her to know I did it in the name of family. Not that it mattered in the end, I shouldn't have broken up with Daryl.
It was a mistake, one I can't take back. So I'd rather forget about it than to have this conversation. I have a boyfriend. A blissfully unaware, and secret, boyfriend in the van in front of us.
"You dated my brother, you tell me." Daryl mumbled.
He was avoiding the question and I've never been more grateful for it. I'm hoping the mention of Merle will shut my sister up.
No such luck.
"You're not like him," Dakota frowned, "you were good for Josephine."
The revelation surprised Daryl. It shouldn't have, not really. He was ten times the man Merle was. And he was good for me. He made me feel understood and supported.
He still does, despite everything.
"Can we please stop talking about this?" I whined.
A hint of a smile passed Daryl's face as we reached the city. The group met up inside a building far away enough from the hospital so they can't see us but close enough for gunshots to be heard.
It was there that we had to hatch a plan.
"At sundown we fire a shot into the air. Get two of them out on patrol. Then once it's dark enough so that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go."
Rick stood crouched down on the floor looking at the makeshift blueprint of the building. Thanks to Noah we knew what the inside looked like.
"We cut locks on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out." Rick explained.
Dakota frowned as she tilted her head to observe the blueprint. If we wanted the upper hand, we need to memorize it best we can. In case of surprises.
"How?" Tyreese asked.
Rick paused. "He slits his throat. This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us."
Judging by the look on Tyreese's face, he was not a fan of that method. I shifted my weight from one foot to the other as I focused on what Rick was saying.
He's had a moment to think of a plan during his car ride with the rest of them. Unlike me who had to suffer through the most awkward thing that's happened to me in literal years.
"From there, we fan out. Knives and silenced weapons. We need to be fast." Rick said.
He motioned for me to crouch down next to him. As I did, he started pointing out where everyone was going to go.
"Tyreese, Sasha, take them. Daryl, you take care of whoever is in the kitchen. Josephine, Dakota, keep watch in the hallways. I got Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of them will give up. Then it'll be seven on tree. Eight on tree once we get a weapon on Beth."
I frowned as my sister and I were reduced to mere guards. Not that I doubted Rick's plan, it just didn't seem like the right move. She and I were fighters. Capable ones, too.
Even if he doubted Dakota, he should know my skills at this point. I could take out a cop or two, Cleo trained me for a reason.
"Fourteen on three. The wards will help." Noah said.
This Dawn must be pretty hated if almost all of her people would turn on her. If someone tried that on our group, it wouldn't end well for them.
"That's best case. What's worst case? All it takes is one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time. Then it's not quiet. All hands on deck. We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around." Tyresse argued.
A lot of casualties on their end, but also ours. I looked around the room at the people I was with. That wasn't something we could afford.
Sasha shrugged. "If that's what it takes."
"It doesn't take this much blood on our hands," Dakota scowled, "do you have a plan that doesn't involve mass murder?"
Her question was directed at Rick. His jaw clenched at her jab at him. Unlike Tyreese, she wasn't afraid to call him out. I swallowed a lump in my throat feeling the tension rise in the room.
To be fair, what Rick's suggesting isn't mass murder, just eliminating a handful of our enemies so we can get our people back.
The image of him slamming a machete into Gareth's head popped up in my head. My heart sped up and I bit my lip. I didn't want to admit it, but it was unlike Rick to do such a thing.
At least it used to be unlike him. Violence was the last solution, not the first. We were opposites. It almost scares me how alike our thinking is now. Because his plan is the kind I'd make.
"If we get a couple of her cops alive out here, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours. Everybody goes home." Tyreese suggested.
It wasn't a bad plan. Hell, if it went well then no one had to die. In Rick's plan most of them die. Though they probably deserve it, they do keep people against their wills.
Rick nodded. "Yeah, I get it. And it might work. This will work."
The intensity with which he stared down Tyreese was unlike anything I'd seen since that night after the farm. Dictator Rick at its finest. He wasn't like that anymore, I knew that.
But the look in his eyes could've fooled me.
"Nah, that'll work, too."
My eyes snapped to Daryl's. It seemed he had already been observing me beforehand. It made my breath hitch as I looked away. Rick was the one who looked at Daryl in slight surprise and somewhat begrudgingly.
Daryl turned to Noah. "You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right?"
"Trying and doing are two two different things." Noah argued.
Daryl looked at Rick before shrugging nonchalantly. If he noticed the tension in the air, he didn't show it. Unlike the rest of us who exchanged wary glances.
"You take two of her cops away, what choices does she have? Everybody goes home. Like he says." Daryl said.
He raised his eyebrows at me and suddenly all eyes were on me. My heart skipped a beat as he put me in a pretty bad position. Yet the look in his eyes urged me to do the right thing.
"I think they're right." I spoke up.
Rick narrowed his eyes almost immediately. It was unlike me to choose the more peaceful path, which is why my support of it surprised him so much. But that didn't mean it wasn't the right call.
I let out a sigh. "Your plan could work, but so can theirs. With Maggie and Glenn gone, we can't afford to lose more of our people."
We've already lost so many of our members. If we continue waging war after war then soon enough there won't be any of us left. I've already lost more than I wanted, I'm not going to risk more lives.
Not if there's another way out. One where we all get to go home to our loved ones. The dead are already trying to kill us. We shouldn't be helping them.
"And they can't afford to lose theirs. This plan is going to work." Dakota agreed.
Despite his reluctance, Rick did agree with the trade plan. As the rest of them discussed the details of the ambush, Rick motioned for me to step to the side with him. That earned some raised eyebrows from the group.
Especially when Rick placed his hand on my lower back guiding me towards a more secluded corner of the building.
"Are you sure about this? I thought you, of all people, would be on board with the original plan." he protested.
His words made me grimace as I was aware that he was counting on my support. Something that normally I would've given without a second thought.
"And I thought we agreed that I'm not the rational one in this relationship."
If I've become the one speaking reasonably, then something has gone terribly wrong. We all knew that my suggestions were usually overly aggressive and over the top.
Hell, my morality has worsened over time. I found it difficult to give a shit about people who have become like family. Most of it was pretend but a lot of it wasn't.
"You're not irrational," he argued, "though your people skills are a bit lacking."
Bless his heart, he is a goddamn fool. A fool in love with a wretched little thing like me. He is entirely too good for me. Yet he is why I'm trying to be better.
"Rick, we both know I'm morally grey, at best. You were always better than me in that regard." I said.
He shrugged. "Maybe I just see things from your perspective now."
He almost made me laugh at the absurdity of what he said. That was the worst thing he could possibly do, ironically.
The first thing that I ever admired about him was how much human life mattered to him. Not that I admitted it to myself.
"The day you look at the world the way I do is the same day that we're all fucked, Ranger Rick." I warned him.
A smile graced his face and it made me forget about the bloodthirsty man I saw before me mere moments ago.
He took a step closer to me until he was less than an arm's length away. I wanted him closer yet I was forever aware of our group being in the same room.
"You don't give yourself enough credit."
"And you give me entirely too much."
Despite our words, I couldn't help the smile that found its way onto my face. He was going to make me break all my rules and just kiss him right there and then. There was just something about the way he looked at me.
With such warmth and longing that never failed to make my heart skip a beat. Our moment was interrupted, however, by Sasha saying they were ready for the next step in our plan.
Noah was more than eager to do his part. So we gave him a gun and fired a couple of shots before the rest of us hid while he pretended to run.
It didn't take long for a car with cops to appear. They chased Noah for a bit while we followed them from afar. After they handcuffed Noah, it was time to catch them instead.
"Where are those rotters you were shooting at?"
As if the cop summoned us, our little team came up behind them. Daryl whistled alerting them of our presence.
They turned with their guns pointed at us. However, the situation they were in was quite clear. They were outnumbered and had been caught in an ambush.
"Hands." Rick ordered.
All of us had our guns ready in case they didn't cooperate. The thought made my palms sweat. It would be a lot of bloodshed with Rick as the main target.
"What do you want?" one of the cops demanded to know.
Pretty ballsy of her to try and sound threatening while in their predicament. It was to be expected though. She was a cop.
"Whatever this is, we can help." the other one tried to reassure us.
"You do what we say, we don't hurt you." Rick warned.
His voice was hushed, controlled even. He made it very clear we weren't acting out of spontaneity. This was something we've done before and perfected.
Everything about the way he was presenting himself made that clear to the other cops.
"Okay." the male cop agreed.
He lifted his hands in the air while still holding the gun. His colleague glanced at him before reluctantly doing the same.
"Good, now turn around. Put your guns on the floor and kneel." Rick demanded.
As soon as their knees touched the ground, Daryl and Sasha were ready to restrain them. I signaled for Dakota and Tyreese to untie Noah who had been patiently waiting.
Rick nodded at me before focusing back on the cops. "We need to talk. There's water if you need some and food."
His proposal seemed so odd to me now. One moment he was preaching about killing all of them and then he was offering them refreshment. I doubted our talk changed his mind.
"Mind if I ask you something? The way you talk, the way you carry yourself, were you a cop?" One of the cops asked.
Rick remained quiet. Despite his attempt to not reveal any information, the silence confirmed what the cop thought.
He gave a half smile. "Believe it or not, I was, too."
Noah limped towards Rick. I moved aside so he could pass easier. His foot was injured while trying to escape these same people.
"That's Lamson, he'll be down for this. He's one of the good ones." he reassured Rick.
The sound of a car's tires screeching surprised all of us. A police car came rushing towards us and I didn't hesitate to start shooting at it. Yet it didn't stop coming.
We hid behind some dumpsters to use as cover while the cop inside covered for his colleagues who made their way inside. Each of us put a mighty number of bullets into that car yet still couldn't hit the cop driving away.
It drove past us and would've gotten away if Sasha hadn't been able to shoot its tire. As it disappeared behind a corner, we all ran towards it in hopes of catching our wayward cops.
Despite their best attempt, we managed to catch all three of them and begin phase two of our plan.