"There is a saying that no man has tasted the full flavour of of life until he has known poverty, love, and war."
- O. Henry
A bad acid trip.
That's what it felt like for Daryl and Aliya.
One minute they made an enemy, who became their friends, who then became their enemies once again, the next minute, they're reunited with a worried Sasha and an unsettlingly peaceful uniformed Abraham. Squished between Sasha and Abraham, Aliya side-eyed Abraham subtly, trying to observe his face but there was only content in his eyes. Not that she's unhappy that Abraham found peace, it's just unsettling since this was Abraham they are talking about.
Breaking the silence, Daryl put the radio against his lips, "Rick, you copy?" he pressed the button but there was only static. Determined and optimistic, he tried once again and finally got a response. Only it wasn't what any of them had wanted.
"Help."
==+==
It was a tense and silent car ride. No words came out of their mouths even though their minds were overflowing with thoughts. Who was that man on the radio? What was going on back in Alexandra? What's keeping them from responding to their radio calls? Why the hell is Abraham not running his mouth? Why is Aliya so restless? Why is Sasha looking over at Abraham every hour?
As they round up the curve, Sasha and Daryl sat up straight, inching closer to the windshield as if something intriguing caught their eyes. Aliya elbowed Abraham gently and signalled for him to look up ahead. In the middle of the road were a group of bikers, clad in heavy-duty clothing and heavy weaponry, watching them as they came to a slow stop.
The man in front of them had an arrogant twang in his tone as he waved for them to get out of the truck. Immediately, Aliya's already short fuse has snapped, ready to run her mouth to blow off some steam but was immediately tapped by Abraham. Power really was intoxicating as the man in front blabbed on, smugly but subtly laying down his threats. Aliya sneaked a peak over at Daryl whose jaw was clenched in control as he turned the ignition off. He momentarily looked over Aliya and gave her a nod, telling her to obey as the man has said.
Begrudgingly, Abraham opened the door and hopped off, offering Aliya a hand which she used to help her to the ground. Moving towards Daryl's side would just bring unnecessary attention and leverage for them to use so Aliya stayed rooted between Sasha and Abraham. A smirk made it's way to the man's lips as he looked at his men behind him, amused by the situation. He lifted to fingers in the air, "Step two; hand over your weapons." he motioned with his hand for them to hand it over.
"Why should we?" Daryl challenged as he looked between the man and the others behind him. The man explained that the weapons weren't theirs. Understandably, Abraham let out a "What?" in disbelief of the audacity. Sasha couldn't help but look at them incredulously, the concept of their ideology of ownership laughable. Aliya remained pissed off as she stared the man down, willing herself to stay calm and smart. Her temper has gotten worse ever since that - well, ever since.
According to the man, their weapons, their truck, the fuel in their truck, the hypothetical mints in their glove compartment, down to the emergency stash of napkins in their consoles (which he directed to Sasha and Aliya), were not theirs. Sasha's face was obvious to her anger, "Whose are they?" she sneered, growing impatient with the man's theatrics.
"Your property, now belongs to Negan."
The man then marched towards Daryl first, forehead creased in a mockingly regretful way, motioning for Daryl to hand his weapon over. Daryl silently fished his gun out of his belt as he stared the man down, self control in full display. Without breaking eye contact, the man smiled at Daryl and said "Thank you!" cheerfully, grinding their gears. Sasha was next in line. She immediately handed her weapon over, refusing to give the man the satisfaction to agitate her further.
Aliya's heart was beating violently against her chest as she anticipated her turn, her hand itching for her gun. The man then looked at her and frowned mockingly, "Any minute now, sweetheart." he held out his hand for her which she ignored. Aliya snatched her gun from her belt and smiled at him before slowly dropping it on his outstretched hand, all the while keeping eye contact. The man narrowed his eyes at her for a brief moment before moving onto Abraham.
Pettiness in her heart, Aliya almost wanted to smile to agitate him further but decided against it.
Daryl was dragged to the back of the tanker as they searched for more things to steal from them. Abraham's mention of the name 'Negan' seemed to have triggered something inside the man's head as he started threatening to kill them three but will kill Aliya first for the shit she pulled earlier. "Wait!" Sasha shouted, her heart constricted in fear and desperation. Abraham's lips veered to his left towards Sasha, "Shut up." he whispered, begging her not to speak anymore but Sasha was stubborn.
Gun aimed at Aliya, the man watched as the three stood frozen in their steps, waiting their fate. He then scoffed and shook his head seemingly at himself, "I'm not gonna kill you." he sighed, lowering the guns to his lap. Sasha let out a relieved sigh while Aliya and Abraham remained at alert, watching the man cautiously. Acting like he thought it over, he slowly lifted the gun from his lap, going back on his words and reinstating that he was in fact gonna kill them.
But no less than a second, a boom echoed on the road, and the group went up in flames. The three fell backwards due to the impact as they scrambled to protect themselves from the flame and flying debris. Aliya sported her beat up rib as she pushed herself up from the ground, looking for Daryl.
From around the tanker, Daryl emerged with an RPG in his hand, smoke coming out of its orifices from fresh use. Aliya looked Daryl up and down, looking for injuries and blood while Daryl did the same to her. "Sum'bitch was tougher than he looks." he informed, gesturing to the dead man at the back of the tanker. Turning back from the three, Aliya saw the fresh blood on the left angel wing of his vest and frowned, "He cut you?" she asked, investigating the cut.
"A little." Daryl shrugged, letting her assess it more. Sasha was grinning wide from ear to ear, happy to once again be out of danger's harm. She was obviously excited at the idea of Daryl blowing the assholes up, as she was smiling through the pain of her busted ear drum. Aliya gratefully accepted the rag from Sasha and pressed it against Daryl's wound, "Gotta get you fixed up back home." she tapped his chest to which he nodded, "Yes ma'am."
Aliya watched as Daryl climbed back on the tanker, making sure he was dandy before rounding up the corner towards the passenger seat's door. Sasha nodded at her and motioned for her to go first, "Go 'head, lover." she teased, making Aliya smile and shake her head. Once she settled into her seat, Daryl's rough palm grazed against her thigh as he squeezed it gently, "Let's go home." he whispered gently, looking down at her.
Aliya felt her body relaxing as she smiled, melting onto his shoulder as their hands eloped. "Nibble on that." Abraham's smug voice carried as he stared at the man's melted face on the ground. Aliya snorted a laugh and sat up straight as she made space for the two, with Sasha and her exchanging amused smiles.
Watching those assholes blow up into pieces boosted up their morale. With newfound hope and confidence, they pushed on and drove into the night.
----
There were lots of gunshots in the air as they neared Alexandria, alerting Aliya. She sat up from leaning against her seat and tapped Abraham's lap, "Abe, roll down the window a bit." she whispered hurriedly. Abraham opened his eyes and nodded, rolling down the window with no questions asked. Sasha woke up as well, hearing the gunshots herself. Daryl rolled the window down, dimmed the headlights and sped up a bit, only slowing down once they were a safe distance from the gates.
"Glenn!" Maggie's pained screams for Glenn reached the tanker, pushing them to move faster. The gunshots ceased as Maggie's desperate screams became louder. Glenn was out of ammo. Abraham and Sasha climbed out of the tanker with urgency as they ran straight to the ladder, hauling themselves over. Aliya unconsciously held her breath and heaved a sigh of relief one new gunshots echoed. She looked over at Daryl, "They got it." she reassured him as he nodded at her in appreciation.
Not a moment later, the gunshots ceased and Aliya looked out the window and up to the ledge to check on Sasha and Abraham. But when she heard Abraham's lighthearted voice calling out for Glenn to open the gates, she released a relieved smile and went back to her seat.
After the gate has been opened, Daryl drove the tanker through the gates beside the ledge where Maggie and Edith were. Abraham held onto Sasha as she reached out to Maggie, helping her get down from the overlooking ledge.
Inside the tanker, Aliya and Daryl's focus were on the scene in front of them. Alexandria was overrun by walkers and bodies were piling on top of each other so much so that they couldn't even determine if some of them were theirs. Aliya slightly jumped up in fright when Glenn opened the door, hopping in with them. He was out of breath and visibly shaken up by almost being devoured - once again.
"The hell happened here?"
Glenn gulped for some air and shook his head, "I don't know. I just came back." he answered with bated breath, watching the oncoming herd. There were too many to kill one by one, Glenn proposed to lead them away but is worried that they are too scattered to do so. "Nah. Let's get them all together." he countered, turning the engine on. "Won't have to lead them away." he muttered before pressing the gas.
They backed into the water reservoir, Glenn and Aliya going straight for the walkers, killing off as much as they can while Daryl went for the tanker's stored gas, pouring it over the stagnant water. Aliya stumbled when her knife got stuck on the walker's tough skull, "Shit." she grumbled, pushing away the walker by its neck. She gritted her teeth as she tried wriggling it free, her arms shaking at the tension.
Another walker was fast approaching and her knife was being stubborn. Thinking quickly, she hugged the dead walker and used him as a shield against the other.
A slight grunt escaped her lips as she fell over, the two walkers on top of her. The noise attracted Daryl's attention, making him look up from his task to see Aliya struggling under the walkers. "Aliya!" he called out, his eyes dancing between Aliya and the hose. Aliya wriggle harder and groaned, "I'm okay! Gimme a sec!" she called back with heavy breaths. A sharp tuck later, her knife was free and with no hesitation, she reached over the walker's shoulder and stabbed into the other's head.
She blew a tired breath and pushed them away, pushing herself up from the ground. As if nothing happened, she ran towards the herd and stabbed away, dropping bodies by the minute.
"Let's go!" Daryl called out, fixing the hose back into the tanker. Aliya pulled Maggie and Sasha back, "Come on!" she called out, covering for them. Aliya looked over Glenn and Abraham still fighting off walkers, "Boys!" she called out, slowly making her towards the tanker. Daryl was on top, laying flat on his stomach, tucking the RPG safe. Abraham behind the wheel, they all cramped together, assess barely sitting as the tanker slowly moved forward to give Daryl some space.
Daryl tapped on the roof three times, signalling for Abraham to stop. The tanker came to a halt followed by the roof crunching under Daryl's weight. Aliya expectedly put her palms against her ears to shield from the upcoming explosion. A boom went off followed by a bright orange light and warm air, letting them know that the water was now on fire.
Time for clean up.
==+==
It was like everybody used the herd to let out all of their emotions and frustration out on. Nobody was exchanging words, all focused on slaying walkers after walker. It was retaliation - revenge. Proof that they were now a part of Alexandria just like Alexandria is a part of them.
Daylight came eventually but is dwindled by the thick black smoke from the gas and rotten flesh and bones. It was a stench that sucked the energy out of them as they all stared ahead, not a thought in their heads. The others stayed in the porch, too tired to move while the injured stayed inside with Denise treating their wounds. Aliya nodded at the passing Abraham as she stood in front of Daryl whose back was getting treated, holding his hand in support.
"How we doing?" Aliya looked over Daryl's shoulder at Denise who did a double take, realising that Aliya was pertaining to her. "It's nothing serious, he'll just be uncomfortable for a few days. Keep it clean to avoid infection." she explained without looking up from the wound. Aliya nodded and reached for her, tapping her gratefully on her arm, "Thank you, Denise."
Denise smiled back, feeling good about the appreciation. A giddy feeling crawled from her toes to her heart. It was incredibly rewarding being thanked by a usually reserved person especially after what she just went through.
Aliya looked down at Daryl and tipped his chin up a bit, making him look at her, "You heard that?" she asked to which he nodded at. "Better listen and not rough up your back." she grumbled, wiping the dirt on his cheeks with her thumb. Daryl raised a brow at her before nodding, "Sure." he answered, lightly challenging her. She only rolled her eyes at him before looking at Denise and joking shook her head, giving her a knowing glance.
Getting the clear from Denise, Aliya and Daryl passed by Glenn and Maggie on their way to their room. The couples exchanged taps before going on their own way. Aliya entered the room first to fix up their bed while Daryl scoffed by the doorway. "I can do that." he deadpanned, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes grazed lower as she bent over to smooth the mattress.
Seemingly noticing his gaze, she stood up straight and gave him an accusatory glare before rolling her eyes playfully. Patting the bed, she tilted her head slightly, "Lay down with me." she softly and sweetly ordered, making him smile. Daryl obliged gladly, swiftly making his way beside her, making sure to keep an eye on his wound.
Staring at each other in silence, both their eyes dropped to their lips. It's unclear who made the first move but somebody did. Their lips crashed gently, a satisfied hum vibrating against their chests. After a few seconds, Aliya pulled away slightly, catching Daryl's eyes. "Your crossbow." she reminded him. "We'll get her back soon." she reassured, pushing his hair from his forehead.
Daryl nodded quickly before closing the distance between them, kissing her hard. The past few days were eventful for them, to say the least. Finally being back in their own bed brought about a lot of light and positive feelings. Their takeout session went on for a long time until the tight rope of control they had, snapped. A low hum escaped Daryl's lips as Aliya pulled on his hair harshly. Aliya smirked against his lips as he rolled them over, with him straddling her.
Having almost lost each other too many times this week, their hearts are hanging by their sleeves. They moved against each other desperately, as if they had no time left in the world to feel every pore on each other's skin. Grabbing at each other's hair, hungrily begging for more. Daryl's rough callouses glided against Aliya's soft and sun kissed skin in an intimate tango.
Daryl poured most of the efforts, enjoying the way he could affect Aliya a little too much. Her satiated smile as she fought to keep her eyes open as he tugged at her heartstrings fuelled him more. Keeping true to Denise's medical advise, Daryl kept his back off of the bed to ensure it wouldn't rub on the cloth. Instead, he pulled at Aliya's hips and situated her on the edge of the bed as he made her feel like a woman once again.
In the midst of breathy moans and slurred words, three words permeated the walls like a boom in a cave.
"I love you."