While Carl was bringing Siddiq- who Rosie still wasn't very fond of just yet- into the sewers of Alexandria, Rosie's job was to go home and make sure Daryl didn't see them. They thought he would've left again already, but when they got back, his motorcycle was still there, which meant that he was, too. As Rosie walked into the house, she tried not to think about Siddiq. She didn't like this plan anymore, but Siddiq was already there, so there was no going back now. Luckily- or maybe not so luckily- her thoughts weren't on Siddiq for long.
When Rosie shut the door behind her, Daryl practically stomped into the room. "Where the fuck were you?" he asked, clearly irritated. Damnit, Rosie thought to herself. She was avoiding Daryl because he was in a bad mood, and now she made his mood worsen even further. "I told you I don't want you out there no more," Daryl said.
"You told me not to go to the Hilltop. We didn't," Rosie almost paused to think up a lie, but she didn't, because that would be too obvious. She just said the first thing that she could think of. "Me and Carl just went for a drive, 'cause he can drive now," she said, thinking her lie was practically flawless.
"Yeah, that's why you got walker blood all over ya. 'Cause ya went for a drive. Stayed in the car, right?" Daryl said sarcastically. Rosie forgot about the walker blood. She'd been so focused on making sure Siddiq didn't switch up on them that she didn't even notice the blood on her clothes. Rosie held her arms out to her sides, looking at the blood on her sleeves, and murmured an oh. That was when Daryl noticed the rip in the side of Fraser's hoodie. Rosie hadn't noticed that just yet. "Fuck," Daryl muttered under his breath. He rubbed his face, thinking for just a moment, before holding his hand out. "Give me the hoodie. I'll wash it. Go change your clothes," he said.
Rosie's eyebrows raised just a little. Usually, he'd be yelling at her right now, but he was offering to wash her clothes instead. She wasn't even sure if he knew how to wash clothes at all. "I can do it. You said ya got more shit to do, 'member?" Rosie said. Daryl seemed to have forgotten to be mad at her, and she wanted him to leave before he could remember to be mad again. And, the sooner Daryl was gone, the easier it would be to help Carl with his plan, even if she thought it was stupid.
"It's fine. Go clean up. I'm waitin' on Tara, anyway. Give me the hoodie," Daryl said, growing a bit impatient. He wanted to get the hoodie away from her before she could notice that it was torn. Someone had to know how to sew. He'd learn to himself, if he had to. He could fix it before she would know that it was ripped in the first place. He could avoid whatever reaction she was going to have when she saw that it was torn.
Even though she wanted Daryl to leave, Rosie began to remove the hoodie. Daryl would be preoccupied with washing it, anyway, so he'd be out of the way when Carl started bringing more stuff into the sewer for Siddiq. Daryl waited for her to fully pull off the hoodie. It was like waiting to see if a bomb was going to explode or not. And, of course, just to Daryl's luck, Rosie's finger snagged in the hole as she was pulling her arm out. Confused at first, her eyebrows furrowed, and she took off the hoodie quickly before examining the side of it. Her eyes widened and her heart dropped down into her stomach when she saw the hole.
"I ripped it," Rosie said quietly, staring down at the messed-up hoodie. Daryl took the hoodie out of her hands and watched as Rosie's expression changed. Her face scrunched up a little bit and she bit down on her lip.
"I'll fix it," Daryl said, hoping that would be enough to keep her calm. Rosie took a deep, shaky breath and lifted her arm to wipe away tears that had just barely managed to fill up her eyes. She kept staring at the hoodie. "Hey," Daryl said, moving her hair out of her eyes. "Ya hear me? I'm gonna fix it. It's fine."
"Ok," Rosie whispered, looking at her shoes. She'd worn Fraser's old boots for so long that they'd gotten a hole in them, and now she had torn his hoodie, too. He took care of her for the first five years of her life, and she couldn't even take care of his hoodie for a full year.
Daryl watched her for a moment, waiting for the explosion- the crying, the yelling, the hair pulling, the meltdown- but it never came. "Rose," he said carefully. She looked up at him, but didn't say anything. That was when Carl came inside in a rush, walker blood covering his clothes, too. "The hell happened?" Daryl asked them both, switching the subject away from the torn hoodie.
Carl looked at Rosie for a moment, then back at Daryl. "I was siphoning gas at the gas station, and she wanted to come with. She gets bored, being stuck here. Some walkers snuck up on us," Carl lied easily. Daryl seemed to believe it, because he nodded. "We're both fine, though. I'm gonna go clean up," Carl said before disappearing up the stairs.
"Rose," Daryl said once Carl was gone. Rosie looked at him again. "With an adult from now on. Hear me?" Daryl told her. He trusted Carl, for the most part. But at the same time, Carl was still just a kid. He didn't Rosie or Carl going out there and getting hurt or taken. Rosie nodded, silently saying, Yes. Fine. Whatever. "Good. Go change. I'll see ya later," Daryl said, ruffling Rosie's hair as she passed by him. He sighed. Now he had to add figuring out how to fix this hoodie to his list of things to do.
As Rosie made her way upstairs, she tried hard not to think about the hoodie. It's ok, she kept telling herself. Daryl's gonna fix it. He fixes his cars and bolts and motorcycles, he can fix the hoodie. It's ok.
When Rosie passed by the bathroom, she could hear the shower running. It must've been Carl. That meant that she didn't have to worry about helping him with Siddiq for a little while. So, she went to her room and got out new clothes. She got out a different pair of jeans- black ones, this time- and a new shirt. The shirt was a dark green, short-sleeved shirt. She didn't have any other hoodies or anything, so she took one of the black button-down shirts from Daryl's closet and wore that. It wasn't freezing out, but it wasn't particularly hot out either. And, either way, Daryl had a ton of those shirts. Rosie was sure he wouldn't mind her borrowing one.
•
Rosie didn't end up having to help Carl with Siddiq anymore. She asked and he said she didn't have to anymore and he could do it on his own. Rosie didn't know if that meant I don't want you to or you can if you want to, but you don't have to. She decided she'd just play it safe and assume Carl didn't want the help.
The day had flown by and the next one came and went just as quickly. Daryl and Tara had come back from whatever trip they were going on, and now they all had a new plan. Rosie still wasn't allowed to help with the plan, but the plan also meant that she was going to get out of Alexandria again- finally. They were all leaving. Now Rosie was trying to find Daryl to see if he had fixed Fraser's hoodie yet, because she wanted to make sure they had it before leaving. She really didn't want it to get left behind.
When Rosie found him, Daryl was loading things into the trucks. He turned when he heard her coming. "Hey, you seen Carl? We're 'bout to go," Dary said.
I haven't seen him, but I probably know where he is, Rosie thought, but didn't say out loud. Rather than lying, she decided she'd just redirect the whole conversation and get back to her original question. "Where's Fraser's hoodie?" Rosie asked, pulling the black button-down she was still wearing up and over her shoulder. It was too big, obviously, but it was more comfortable that way. Rosie never liked tight clothing, anyway.
"Gave it to Mrs. Johnson. Said she'll fix it up for ya," Daryl answered, nodding his head over to where Mrs. Johnson was talking to Liam. Rosie was about to ask how long that would take, but before she could get the words out, there was a loud, metal banging noise coming from the gates of Alexandria. Rosie and Daryl both tensed.
Feedback began to whine from a speaker. Then, Negan's voice. "You may be wondering why the hell your lookouts didn't sound the alarm. See, we are polite. I mean, I don't know when they're gonna wake up from that kinda shot, but they should wake up. So let's just cut through the cow shit- you lose. It's over," Negan's voice said through the speakers. Rosie looked up at Daryl with wide eyes, but he was too busy looking to where the sound was coming from to notice. "So you're gonna line up in front of your little houses, and you're gonna work up some apologies, and then the person with the lamest one is gonna get killed. Then I kill Rick in front of everybody, you give up Rosie, and we move on. You have three- count 'em, three minutes to open this gate, or we start bombing the shit outta you!"
"Daryl," Rosie said, her eyes wide and anxious. She wanted to know what to do. Daryl had to tell her what to do. But he didn't know what to do this time. The Saviors were supposed to be trapped at the Sanctuary- or at least most of them were.
"Fuck," Daryl murmured as Negan began whistling into the microphone.
Rosita came running up beside the truck, Tara and a few others following after her. "What do we do?" she asked.
No one had an answer until Carl and Michonne joined them by the trucks. Carl began taking things from the back of the truck, and no one knew what he was doing. "I have an idea," he said, turning to Daryl. "You guys lead them away, we'll stay back, get everyone else and everything we need. You need to make it look like we're escaping out back. Get to the woods, halfway to the quarry, and cut the lights. Get enough of a lead on them, hit them, and get away on foot. You know where we'll be," Carl explained. The others gathered closer around him, but Daryl continued on staring at the gates of Alexandria, wishing that Negan would just drop dead. "Just have to get the guns, get everyone else here, and we'll meet you there."
"Rose," Daryl said, finally turning away from the gate. Rosie looked at him, assuming he was about to tell her to get in the car, but he didn't. "You stay with Carl, help him," Daryl said, surprising Rosie. After thinking about it, he had decided it'd be better for her to stay there. The Saviors would be following their vehicles away from Alexandria, and if they caught up to them, Daryl didn't want her to be there. At least in Alexandria, she had a place to hide if she needed one.
"Two minutes, people!" Negan shouted into the microphone. "Dig deep. I want these apologies to be memorable. Bonus points for creativity. Work up a poem, sing a song. I love that shit."
"Get going," Carl said to the others. He handed Rosie a bag full of smoke bombs, and she slung it over her shoulder. "There's gonna be people in the infirmary. They're gonna need your help."
"Carl, I don't get it. We can't just let 'em take everythin'," Rosie said, furrowing her eyebrows at him. "We can fight 'em," she insisted. The last thing Rosie wanted was Negan and the Saviors ruining the place she considered to be her home.
"We will, but not now. Carl's right," Rosita interjected.
"Carl, we can't just let them have this place," Michonne said, a sad, scared, and defeated look on her face.
"We can. All you need to do is survive tonight. This is my show. You said it," Carl said with a certain seriousness to his voice. Rosie didn't understand. Carl loved this place. He loved Alexandria and all the people in it. Why was he so willing to let it go? "This is my plan, and you're gonna do it. You're all gonna do it. So let's go!" With that, Carl was off.
Rosie sighed, but she began to follow him. Daryl stopped her for just a moment, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Shit goes wrong, you get the hell outta here. Doesn't matter where you go- I'll find you. Just get the hell away, a'right?" he said, his eyebrows slightly raised. Rosie gave a firm nod, and Daryl returned it before following the rest of the group. Rosie hurried to catch up with Carl.
"Carl!" Rosie shouted, making him slow up a bit. He was heading straight for the gate. "What're you doin'?!" she asked him.
Carl stopped and waited for Rosie to catch up to him before speaking somewhat quietly. "I'm just gonna talk to him. Distract him. You go to the house. Get anything that's important to you. And," he paused and sighed, taking a moment to think about what he was about to say. "There's a stack of letters on the floor next to my bed. Get them. Please," he said.
"I'm s'posed to stay with you," Rosie said, shaking her head.
"Okie dokie. Brought this on yourself, Rick," Negan's voice said.
"Rosie, just go. Please," Carl begged with a sad sort of pleading look on his face.
Pressing her hands to her eyes for a moment, Rosie sighed. "Fuck," she murmured, handing Carl his bag of smoke bombs. "Fine," she said. Carl nodded in appreciation and Rosie turned, starting to run back to their house as Carl began to climb up the ladder.
As she ran, Rosie listened to Negan's words. She hadn't heard his voice since she escaped the Sanctuary. It still scared her just the same. "See, I was willing to work with you. All you had to do was follow a few very simple rules. Now- well, now I see that you got to go. Scorched Earth, you dick!" Negan ranted. Then silence, for just a moment. "Oh-ho-holy shit! Everybody hold your fire. It's Carl. Look at you. Answering the door like a big boy. I am so proud. Daddy's not home, huh? Well, I guess he's gonna get back to a big old smoky surprise," Negan went on. Then more silence. Carl must've been speaking, then, Rosie guessed. "Well, that shit just breaks my heart. There's kids at the Sanctuary. You must've seen 'em. Even had a little baby at one of the outposts. I wonder what happened to her."
After that, Negan must've stopped speaking into the microphone, because everything was quiet. Rosie ran up to the door of her house, pausing to catch her breath once she swung it open. After slamming the door shut behind her, Rosie hurried up the stairs and into her and Daryl's room. She hadn't unpacked the bag she had brought with her to the Hilltop when she went. It was still just sitting on the floor next to her bed. It had some clothes, of course, but more importantly- in Rosie's opinion, at least- it had her toys and the photobook of her a Fraser. She slung the backpack over shoulders and moved on to Carl's room.
The bed in Carl's room was gone, just like all the others. The only thing that was left of it were the pillow and blanket left on the floor. Sure enough. there was a stack of letters right where Carl said they would be. The one on top was labeled Dad. Rosie wasn't sure what they were for, and she really wanted to read them and figure it out, but she figured that would be an invasion of his privacy. Either way, she didn't have time to read the letters anyway. She carefully stuck the letters into her bag, making sure not to mess any of them up.
The bombs went off when Rosie zipped up the backpack. Her eyes widened and she shot up to her feet, running over to the window. Looking out, she could see various cars and buildings on fire. Her home- a place where she actually felt safe- was being destroyed by the only person she used to trust.
Rosie stumbled away from the window, her heart beating quickly in her chest. Her head felt like it was going to explode and her eyes started to flood with tears. She took a deep, shaky breath, using her sleeve to dry her eyes. She told herself to be brave and to be strong. Bombs continued to go off all around Alexandria, and Rosie left Carl's room, not knowing if she'd ever see it again.
When she got to the stairs, just about to walk down them, Rosie heard the front door slam shut. She froze, her eyes widening even more. Who was in there? No lights turned on. The only noise that was made was a kitchen chair scraping against the hardwood flooring, and then nothing. Slowly and silently, Rosie began to descend down the stairs, hoping she'd be able to sneak out the front door without anyone finding out. But, as Carl had once said, hoping wasn't enough.
"Think you're gonna sneak outta here, like you snuck outta the Sanctuary?" the person said just as Rosie stepped onto the bottom step. Negan. It was Negan. "Saw you in the window, kiddo," Negan said. Rosie froze in her spot, staying silent. What was she going to do now? "Come on out, Rosie."
"Let me go," Rosie said, trying to make herself sound stronger than she really was.
"You know I'm not gonna do that. Come on out. Let's just talk," Negan said, still sitting at the kitchen table.
After a few moments of hesitation, Rosie stepped off of the staircase and joined Negan in the kitchen. "Please," she said.
"Banks-" Negan began.
"That ain't my name no more. I'm Rosie Dixon, now," Rosie told him. It felt weird to say it out loud, but it also felt good. Better. Way better than Banks, at least.
A smile grew on Negan's face with mock amusement. "You're shittin' me," he said, his tone tense. Before Rosie could tell him that, no, she wasn't shitting him, the front door opened, distracting her. When she turned around to try and see who was at the door, Negan suddenly shot up out of his chair, grabbing her and holding his hand over her mouth.
"Carl. Judith. Michonne. Rosie," Rick whisper-shouted into the house.
Rosie fought against Negan's hold on her, but by the time she was able to shout, "Rick, no!", Negan had let go of her and tackled Rick to the ground.
Negan kicked Rick hard in the side, making him groan in pain. "This shit isn't funny anymore," Negan said, a smile on his face as he kicked Rick once more. "Don't make me do this now, Rick. Not in front of the kid. And I got plans for you. Cut you up in little bitty pieces, feed you to the dead, and make you watch," Negan said. He raised Lucille, about to bring the bat down onto Rick's side, but Rosie grabbed onto his arm.
"Stop it!" Rosie screamed, pulling Negan's arm back. However, Negan had no trouble with pushing her off and freeing his arm. He hit Rick hard in the side, despite Rosie's neverending shouting and kicking.
"Then, Rick, when you're some sort of screwed-up, creepy stump with a head..." Negan stopped his sentence when Rick managed to stand up. He sent the bat flying into the wall next to him, and Rick dropped to the ground, dodging the hit. "That's when I'm gonna kill you, in front of everybody."
"You ever shut the hell up?" Rick muttered from the floor.
"Nope!" Negan said, slamming the bat down at Rick. Rick dodged another hit, standing back up. Negan chuckled, standing across the table from Rick. Rosie kept trying to pull him away and stop him, but she wasn't strong enough. "You know your kid volunteered to die? What kind of boy you raise, Rick?" Negan said.
What?
"Shut up!" Rosie shouted. He didn't.
"I'm gonna fix him," Negan went on. Rosie hit him, kicked him, and hit him again, but he didn't care. It didn't matter. "'Cause I like him. A few years, he'll be one of my top guys!" Negan said, swinging that bat at Rick once again. Rick dodged the hit and threw a punch to Negan's face. Negan hit Rick back, then Rick hit Negan once more, knocking him back into a shelf. With Negan out of the way for a just a moment, Rick grabbed onto Rosie's arm, pulling her behind him. It wasn't for long though, because Negan tackled Rick again, and Rosie pressed herself tight against the wall. "When I am done with you, nobody will ever try to do what you did- not ever again!" Negan shouted. Watching Rick, Rosie noticed him reaching for a small, metal decoration they had on the table, which had fallen to the ground with Rick. It was out of Rick's reach, so Rosie kicked it closer to him. Negan crouched down next to Rick. "Not your friends, not your son-"
Rick smashed the makeshift weapon into Negan's skull, making him fall back to the ground, Lucille slipping out of his hands. Rosie grabbed the bat, making sure it was out of Negan's reach. She held it out to Rick, and he grabbed it, slamming the handle of it into Negan's head.
"Don't you touch her!" Negan growled out. He sent a kick into Rick's stomach, knocking him back against the wall.
Rosie was still pressed up against the wall, inching herself closer and closer to the door, which Rick didn't fail to notice. "Go, now!" he shouted before jumping forward to try and grab his gun. While Negan was distracted with stopping Rick from shooting him, Rosie swung open the door and ran down the steps.
As she ran around to the other side of the of the house, heading towards the sewer that Siddiq was hidden in, she heard a loud crash. When she got to the other side of the house, Rick was laying in the grass with a bunch of broken glass. Rosie grabbed onto his arm, helping him get back up to his feet. "This way," she said, leading him towards the sewers, through the smoke.
On their way, they stared to hear loud screaming. Michonne screaming. They ran around the side of a house to see Michonne slashing her sword down into a dead Savior repeatedly. "Michonne," Rick said, reaching out to her. When he touched her armed, Michonne turned to him, ready to attack, but she almost immediately calmed upon seeing that it was him. "Hey," he said.
"Oh, God," Michonne breathed out.
Together, the three of them climbed down into the sewers, walking through the mush with only a small lantern to light the way. They found everyone else gathered where Rosie and Carl set up Siddiq. They walked past Mrs. Johnson, Liam, Rosita, Tara, Dwight, then finally, Judith and Daryl, right at the end with Carl and Siddiq.
Daryl stood up instantly upon seeing Rosie with Rick and Michonne, alive and ok. He had a sad, defeated look on his face and he pulled Rosie into his chest with his left arm, using his right to hold up Judith. He held her there for longer than Rosie was used to. He didn't let go of her until she pulled away herself, and even then, he seemed reluctant. Something was wrong. Something aside from the bombs and the Saviors. Something was really wrong.