EPISODE TWO
"forgive and forget"
SEASON 7
GREY KINGSTON
it's calmer the further daryl and i head east. we're trekking in a big, half circle until we're far enough to swing north to hilltop. there's been no sign of the herd for the past hour. it's early evening by now, the sun won't be out for much longer.
"are you okay?" i ask softly. i've noticed daryl's a lot quieter than usual, and it's not just because we're trying to go unheard through the woods.
"fine." he replies.
"now you sound like me." i smile, catching his attention.
he doesn't return the smile, per usual, he just looks back down to his feet, "what're we supposed to do with negan and the saviors? just forgive and forget?"
"no," i shake my head. "nobody can forgive and forget what they've done."
his crossbow swings in his right hand with each step he takes, "then how are we gonna do this?"
"we'll figure it out—" i stop walking the second i notice he's stopped as well. i look over my shoulder at him; at the blank look he's giving me. "what?"
"never mind." he says, continuing forward.
"no, tell me."
"nah. shouldn't be talkin' about this with you anyway."
"what?" i almost laugh as i catch up to his fast past. "what do you mean?"
"how are you okay with this?" he asks. "after the things they did to you? knowin' your dad's with them? if i knew my old man was with the saviors, they would've stopped existing a long time ago. with the way you talk about your dad, i would've thought you'd feel the same, but you're on rick's side. as usual."
"daryl," i sigh, marching after him. "there's no sides, there's only what's best for our future. listen—" i grab his shoulder, turning him around to look at me. "i'm not saying it's gonna be easy, but it's the way it is now. we'll figure it out."
his lips part to say something, but a snap of a twig somewhere around us prevents those words from coming out. my heart rate picks up immediately and i tug daryl into a squatting position.
i look around us, checking in between each dead tree for any sign of the herd catching up to us.
"besides, what's my opinion anyway?" i whisper. "you always act like you don't need anybody for anything."
"yours is different." he mutters.
i look at him—his head is turned away from me as he strains his ears to listen for walkers.
"it's one thing to let negan live," he changes the subject before i can question what he meant by that. "it's another to say we're all gonna work together. we can't live in the same world as him and the saviors. it ain't gonna work."
"i told you, sometimes the bad ones live, remember?"
"yeah, i remember." there's an annoyed tone in his voice.
"i thought you trusted rick;" he finally looks at me. "trusted his judgment on things."
"i usually do." he says, and the sound of what can only be a few walkers becomes clear. "today, not so much."
"is there something else going on?"
he's quiet for a moment.
"nah."
"daryl!" i call out as he stands up.
"come on," he says, walking off without me. "they're close."
i follow after him, only a few more feet until we're out of the woods. to our left is a small, wooden bridge with an awning overtop of it. on the other side, where the road picks up again, is the small group of walkers we're looking for.
"watch." daryl tells me, raising his bow to line up a shot. the arrow shoots through the air and into a walker's leg—no reaction. it keeps coming toward us.
daryl does it again on another target, but this time, a male scream erupts behind the walker's face once the arrow punctures his thigh. we watch as he falls to the ground and walkers swarm him immediately, except for one.
it slowly turns around, trying to inconspicuously head the other way, but daryl's quick to follow after.
"drop it!" he yells, noticing the knife in their hand.
surprisingly, they listen—dropping the knife, but also to their knees. they pant behind their mask and raise their arms above their head.
"please." her voice comes out. "please don't kill me."
daryl steps closer, ripping her mask off to unveil her face. i peer past the arch of my bow to study her looks—dark, brown hair sticking up in various directions, and there's black smeared around her eyes and her mouth. she doesn't look any older than sixteen; she looks scared.
"how many of you are there?" daryl rasps.
i backtrack to the walkers swarming the first guy and use my knife to kill them one by one.
"please, you killed them all. i—it's just me now."
"i don't believe you."
"please!"
"daryl!" i warn, noticing a second group of walkers heading for the bridge. "there's more comin'."
the girl continues to cry as daryl thinks things over in his head, "get up." she yelps as he pulls her up by the arm. "we're takin' her with us."
"no, please, please—"
"we can't do that!" i run after them. "she can't see where we live!"
"she won't." he huffs, walking her around the side of an abandoned car that sits along the edge of the woodline. he tears a piece of fabric from a black cloth, "you wanna live, you don't try nothin', you hear me?" he covers her eyes with it, tying it around her head.
i stand watch at the back of the car, making sure the walkers don't get close.
in a matter of seconds, the girl is now blindfolded with her hands bound in front of her. daryl opens the car door, checking the front seat for a pair of keys and by the sound of the engine starting, he found some.
"all right. let's get this thing goin'." he says, opening the back door and helping her get in.
"you wanna tell me why we're taking her?" i ask once he slams the door shut.
"yeah, to figure out what the hell they're doin' and how many of them there are."
"you think she'll talk?"
"we'll make her." his eyes dart behind me to the walkers just now making their way onto the bridge. "get in the backseat with her."
"what?" my eyebrows furrow. "why me?"
"because i have to drive."
i laugh, "i can drive!"
"get in the backseat." he says, pulling the door open again, but this time, for me. "make sure she doesn't try anything."
my jaw tightens and i let out a huff through my nose, but he doesn't flinch or change his mind under my glare.
"fine." i mutter, sliding into the backseats with the girl who jumps at the sound of me sitting beside her. "i lose my car to the prison being overrun, i never got to drive that cherry red subaru because we got kidnapped, and now i have to sit in the back of this one because you think driving is gonna prove somethin—"
"yeah, yeah." daryl mutters, cutting me off from complaining anymore by shutting the door in my face.
the car falls silent for a second until he opens the driver's door. we can hear the walkers groaning from behind us, and then he shuts it.
"you sound like glenn." he says, which surprises me as we take off down the road. "that guy had a thing for cars."
i smile to myself, letting my bitterness wash away for a moment, "yeah, i remember."
=
i watch the bright, orange sun from out the window, how it lowers more and more in the sky. it baffles me how the earth keeps spinning—the sun rises and so does the moon, every day, every night, no matter what's happening on the ground.
it's the middle of winter again—a clear indicator that it's going on two years of this. two years of a virus even the smartest humans couldn't figure out, two years of death, two years of the world falling quiet.
daryl's short whistle brings me back. i meet his gaze through the rear view mirror where he motions for me to let the guards of hilltop know who we are.
i roll down my window and inch my head out of it until kal recognizes me. he calls down to someone who pulls the gate open for us to drive through.
"hey," i whisper, accidentally causing the girl beside me to flinch. "i'm gonna help you out of the car, all right? i won't hurt you if you don't try to hurt me."
the car comes to a stop and daryl steps out first. i pop open the door handle and climb out, jogging around to the other side to get the door for the girl. i guide her out, making sure she doesn't whack her head in the process.
"daryl!" maggie approaches us, eyebrows knitted together as she watches him take the girl from my custody into his.
"you have the keys to the cellar?" he asks, and she nods her head. "can you get them?"
"yeah, come with me."
"psst." my attention is pulled up to kal who stands on the dock above the front gate. "i'm supposed to tell you that all five groups are accounted for. we're still waiting on sasha and rick, but that's it."
i nod my head, glancing down for a second to shield my eyes from the sun, "thanks."
"we're setting up here now to protect hilltop from the herd that's coming."
"have you heard anything from alexandria?" i ask.
"still clear there. can you believe it?" he changes the subject. "what started as a day of fighting the living, turned into a day of fighting the dead." he scoffs. "can't get away from it, can we? we're always fighting the dead."
"i'll be up in a minute to help you."
he shakes his head, "take your time."
i walk through the grounds of hilltop, my eyes darting from one person to the next. wounds are being tended to, food is being passed around, and weapons and armor are being put back on.
"hey, soldier." michonne's voice stops me from walking any further.
i smile at the sight of her and let out a deep sigh of relief, "hey, yourself."
"are you okay?" her face falls into a serious expression. "rick walkied us, told us what's out there."
"yeah." i nod, but her expression stays the same as if she's waiting for more. "i never thought people would wear walker's faces as masks. it's like halloween. but then again, i never thought the world would end in my lifetime, so," i shrug my shoulders.
"are you hurt?"
"oh yeah, all over, but it's nothin—"
"go to that tent." she instructs me. "i'll bring you something to eat and drink."
before i can argue, she's off, leaving me with nothing to do but listen. i make my way over to the round tent set up behind the trailers. i part the blue flaps with my hands. inside, carl's head spins at my entrance.
"grey! y—you're back. are you hurt?"
"just a few cuts. michonne told me to come."
"yeah, come here!" he places down a metal tray and removes a stack of blankets from a cot sitting on the right side in the tent. "take a seat."
"look at you wearing a stethoscope." i smile, eyeing the blue tubing dangling around his neck.
he laughs as he grabs supplies from the tables, "i don't really know how to use it. i don't really know what i'm doing at all actually, but ... i'm trying to help."
i remove my coat, allowing him access to the cuts dashed all up and down my arms.
"did you hear from your dad?" i ask, breaking the silence he's concentrating in.
he nods his head, "yeah. the saviors are gonna be like us now. no more fighting."
michonne enters the tent carrying a plate of something to eat and a cup of water, "here."
"thank you."
"i'm gonna find rosita and jesus, they're somewhere around here. we're gonna set up at the high points so we'll be able to see the herd."
"i'll be out to help you then." i say as i watch carl clean a few superficial cuts.
"no," michonne says. "you need rest."
"and i'll get it later. i'll see you out there."
she hesitates to leave, giving me an unsure look with her eyes narrowed.
"go!" i laugh. "i'm fine, really. and thank you for the food!"
"you're welcome." she sighs as she leaves the tent.
"you know, you really should listen to her." carl chuckles as he dabs the alcohol-drenched swab around a deep cut.
"says you." i tease. "you never listen to anybody."
"yeah, but michonne's different. you gotta listen to michonne." i watch his smile grow as he talks about her. "one time, she and i went on a run together while my dad looted guns from somewhere else. i tried to leave her, trick her out so i could go alone."
"where were you going?" i ask.
"the king county cafe."
my stomach drops at the reminiscent feeling of our old hometown, "you went back to king county?"
"just for a day." he says.
"why'd you go to the cafe?"
"there was a picture of my mom and dad in there, all three of us for one of my birthdays. i wanted to get it for judith. michonne insisted she'd help me, and she did. without her, i would've gotten bit like an idiot."
i laugh, "do you still have the picture?"
"i left it back at the prison." his voice quiets. "it's gone. judith doesn't have a picture of mom now, but ... maybe that's not what that run was really for. maybe it was for my dad and i to learn we could trust michonne."
"this was awhile ago, huh?"
he nods, "not long after she showed up outside the prison walls, and before we found you."
"carl," our heads turn to the opening of the tent where rick stands. he gives carl a smile and enters the tent with one plan in mind—to hug his son.
"everything okay here?"
"yeah." carl smiles.
"good. i just wanted to—"
"dad—" carl's tone causes rick to turn around quickly.
negan stands outside the tent, curious eyes watching the three of us inside.
"it's okay." rick turns back to carl, placing his hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze. "this is how we're gonna do it."
carl gives him a puzzled look.
"how we're gonna protect people. like i told you, it's up to me to keep us all safe. you can't carry that weight anymore. from here on out, no more conflict, no more death, no more fighting against each other. it's simple now, to know what the right thing to do is. you helped me see that."
"you listened." carl states, hearing his father's words.
"i always do."
=
a/n
thank you for 50k!
i appreciate it so much since this book is probably one of my favorites i've written.
your support on it means a lot to me
<3
12/23/22