"We're not talkin' 'bout this, Rosie. You're stayin' here," Daryl grumbled, walking towards Rick, Maggie, Rosita, and a few others with his crossbow slung over his shoulder. Rosie trailed behind him, almost having to run to keep up with his long and quick strides.
"But-" Rosie began to argue, but she stopped cold when Daryl suddenly stopped walking and turned to look at her with his eyebrows slightly raised. His eyes were saying, you really wanna test me right now? But Rosie really, really didn't want to be left behind. She wanted to go with. So she took the chance. Yes, she was going to test him right now. "Maybe he'll listen to me. Maybe it don't gotta be a fight," she said, trying to hide her anxiety.
"No," Daryl said again, a hard glare set on Rosie. The only problem with it was that Daryl only gave her that hard glare when he was trying to make her mad. He was trying to make her mad so that she wouldn't want to go with. But Rosie wasn't falling for it. She crossed her arms, which were covered in the leather jacket that always reminded Fraser of Danny Zuko. The sleeves fell way down past Rosie's hands, just as the sleeves on Daryl's shirt did the day before. But Rosie was too stubborn to swallow her pride and ask Daryl to help her roll up the sleeves, so the sleeves kept flopping around with every movement, making her feel like a seal. Daryl rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. "I said no. The answer's no. Know what? The answer is hell no, after what you pulled when I left with Rosita the other day," Daryl said. Rosie huffed and glared at him, even though she knew it wouldn't do anything to sway him into saying yes. "Now gimme your hands," Daryl said sternly, crouching down in front of her.
Resisting the strong urge to roll her eyes, Rosie reluctantly uncrossed her arms and held her hands out in front of her, refusing to make eye contact with him. "I don't wanna be here if you're all gonna be gone. The only people here are gonna be the Saviors," Rosie complained.
"They ain't Saviors no more," Daryl said, although her point really did make him want to take her with him. She knew just the right things to point out to make him change his mind.
"When they first got here, you said I wasn't even s'posed to be at Hilltop at all because of 'em. And one of 'em tried to take me, just the other day. Now you're gonna leave me here with 'em, all alone?" Rosie asked, making her eyes extra wide as she finally looked at him again.
Once Daryl was done cuffing the right sleeve, he glanced up at Rosie. Seeing her making her eyes all big again, he rolled his eyes before moving on to the left sleeve. "What I tell you 'bout makin' that face?" Daryl asked. Rosie didn't say anything. "Pisses me off," he answered for her.
"But it worked yesterday," Rosie murmured, letting her eyes go back to normal again.
"Well, it ain't workin' today," Daryl said just as he finished cuffing her left sleeve. He stood back up to his normal height.
"I don't wanna be here without you or Maggie or Rick," Rosie complained. Daryl huffed, exhausted with her arguing. "I'm scared," she said.
"Rosie, if you don't-"
"I don't even gotta fight! I just wanna go with ya! I don't wanna be here with 'em!" Rosie said desperately. Daryl didn't say anything. He couldn't say yes, because Rick was going to kill Negan, and Rosie didn't need to see it. But he didn't want to say no, because she was scared to be here by herself. At least, if this wasn't her putting on some act. It was a hard decision, but at the same time, it seemed so easy. Just tell her no.
"Daryl, can I talk to you?" Rick said, patting Daryl's arm to get his attention. Daryl nodded and Rosie huffed, crossing her arms again. Rick pulled Daryl's off to the side, far enough away so Rosie couldn't hear them. "Maybe her coming with, seeing what goes down, isn't a bad thing," Rick said, his voice quiet. Daryl just looked confused. How could it not be a bad thing? "Look, if we come back here, tell her that Negan's dead, she's not gonna like that. I know how she feels about him. I don't agree with it, but she's a kid; she doesn't understand. If she goes with, sees what Negan's going to do, she'll understand."
"You fuckin' with me?" Daryl asked, in disbelief at what Rick was saying.
"No. I don't think she understands that we don't have a choice. If she sees that it's us or Negan, she'll lose a lot of that anger that she'll have otherwise," Rick said, his voice only showing that he was being completely serious. Daryl seemed unsure of all of it, and Rick could see it on his face. Rick lowered his voice even more, just to be sure that Rosie couldn't hear him. "You know I wouldn't be saying this if I thought she would be in danger. But I know- I know- that Negan won't let anything bad happen to her. I saw him with her, in that building. Bringing her out there- I don't think it puts her in danger."
"You think bringin' her out there'll help her understand?" Daryl asked, considering it.
"I do," Rick confirmed with a nod.
"A'right. Damnit," Daryl muttered. Rick patted him on the back as he walked away. When Daryl got back to Rosie, she was tying the laces on one of her shoes. He grabbed onto her arm and pulled her up to stand up straight. "Look at me," he said, and Rosie did, hoping to hear about what Rick said. "You come with, you stay right by me, you keep your mouth shut, and you stay outta the way. No wanderin' off. You understand me?" Daryl asked.
Rosie nodded eagerly. She was very confused, but grateful nevertheless. She didn't know what made him change his mind, but she was glad he did. "But I can talk if I have to, right?" Rosie asked, just to make sure. Over time, she discovered that keep your mouth shut doesn't mean always keep your mouth shut. It means keep your mouth shut unless you have to open your mouth to say something important.
"Talk if you have to," Daryl confirmed. Rosie nodded. "Let's go. They're prob'ly waitin' on us," he muttered, pushing Rosie towards the gates of Hilltop. He couldn't believe he was letting her go with, but there he was, letting her go with. Rick knew what he was doing. He had been a dad for a long time. He knew what was right. So Daryl followed his lead.
•
The walk was a long one and Rosie was beginning to regret asking to come with. She wanted to be there, but she didn't want to be doing all this damn walking. Daryl wouldn't even let her lag behind. She had to walk ahead of him, so he could see her and make sure she wouldn't do something stupid like wandering off. But Daryl walked faster than her, so she had to walk even faster. It was getting annoying and had gotten tiring about half an hour into the walk. Every time Rosie tried to complain, she was reminded that she had asked for this and she could've just stayed back at Hilltop. So she was dialing it back on the complaints for now.
Another thing that really sucked about all this was that, as they were marching to what they hoped would be their final battle with the Saviors, they spotted their next problem. After all the Saviors were dealt with, they'd have to deal with a massive herd of walkers. A herd larger than any herd Rosie had ever seen before- even larger than the herd that got into Alexandria. Rosie had asked what they were going to do, but Rick just told her they'd figure it out when this was over.
The sun was beating down on Rosie's scalp, giving her a headache. She didn't complain, though, because she'd already done her fair share of complaining after realizing that the keep your mouth shut rule wasn't being enforced. Rosie wondered what Ian and Henry were doing back at the Hilltop. They didn't ask to come with, as far as she knew. She wondered if there was a reason for that, or if they just didn't care. Either way, she couldn't help but care. Part of her felt like, by being here, she could somehow persuade Rick and Negan to come to a truce. Maybe no one had to die. But the other part of her knew that wasn't possible. They were two leaders who wanted to win. No truce was going to happen any time soon.
Rosie jumped when whistles erupted from around them and Daryl suddenly grabbed onto her arm, pulling her behind him. Everyone's guns lifted, and Rosie pulled hers out of her holster, flipping the safety off. These were the same whistles she had heard in the woods that night. It seemed like it was so long ago, but it couldn't have been more than a month ago. It made Rosie feel like throwing up, but she swallowed back the lump in her throat and furrowed her eyebrows, trying to look strong and tough. If she looked weak, scared, or anything like that, everyone would pity her and want to protect her. She'd be no use then. She came to help. She didn't come to get in the way. So she raised her gun, too, pretending not to be scared.
"Well, damn, Rick. Look at that. Pegged again. Pegged so very hard," Negan spoke into a speaker. Rosie couldn't tell where his voice was coming from, but it scared her. He never sounded the same in front of Rick as he did when it was just Rosie. He sounded powerful and merciless. He sounded unlike himself. He sounded like someone who would make everyone watch while he killed their family. Because when other people were there, that's who he was. "I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush," Negan drawled.
"How 'bout you step out and face us?!" Rick shouted across the hill. Everyone was turning, pointing their guns at nothing, searching for someone to aim at.
"Oh, I am everywhere, Rick," Negan said, trying to rile Rick up. Rosie's stomach churned. She knew one of them was going to die today. Either Rick or Negan was going to die. One of them had to die, or this war would never be over. Rosie didn't want either one of them dead. "Some more bullhorns, more walkies. Pick a direction to run. See how you do. Make it fun for all of us. Guess what else I did. I brought you some of your old friends. You remember your old buddy Eugene? Well, he is the person that made today possible. Same goes for Dwighty boy here."
Dwight. God, Rosie hated Dwight. He hurt Daryl and he killed Denise. And Daryl still hated him, so Rosie decided she would hate him, too. She used to base all of who she liked on Rick and Daryl. But she couldn't anymore, because they hated Negan's guts, and Rosie just couldn't. She tried to- she really did- but she just couldn't.
"In case you were wondering, he didn't ream you on purpose. No, he is just a- a gutless nothin' that sucks at life, and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die, and he's gonna live with that," Negan explained. Rosie wondered if he could see her, right there, right then. Did he know she was there? Would he really kill all of them in front of her? He'd killed Abraham and Glenn in front of her. It wouldn't be much different. He had no mercy. Negan had no mercy. Coach Smith did. "Gabriel, well... he's gotta go, too. We are cleaning house today, Rick. And then... there's you."
Rosie wanted to scream. She wanted to scream, No, Coach Smith, you can't! You can't! Please! But she couldn't scream that. She wasn't sure if her voice would even let her scream right now. Either way, though, Daryl told her to keep her mouth shut and stay out of the way. She said she would. It was just proving to be harder than she thought it would.
"It never had to be a fight," Negan said. Carl thought it never had to be a fight. But something told Rosie that Negan didn't mean it the same way as Carl did. "You just had to accept how things are. So... here we go. Congratulations, Rick."
Everything was silent for a moment. So silent that it made Rosie's ears ring.
"Well, shit, Rick. I'm hearing word that you brought the kid here. After what I did to get her back to you alive? I'm disappointed," Negan's voice returned. Upon hearing him talk about her, Rosie's head felt like it was a balloon, just about to pop. She squeezed her gun, as if gripping onto it would make all of this go away. "God damn. You are a terrible leader, Rick! Bringing a little girl to the fight. Alright. Rosie, I want you to put whatever gun you have on the ground and walk up the hill," Negan ordered.
Her heart pounding in her chest, Rosie remained frozen in her spot. She didn't know what the right thing to do was.
"If you don't walk up the hill, Rosie, I cannot guarantee that you won't be shot. I don't want that for you. You know I don't. So walk up the hill, Rosie," Negan said.
Still, Rosie didn't move from Daryl's side. You stay right by me. That's what he said. That's what she was supposed to do.
"Go," Daryl's voice said from beside her, quiet and defeated. Rosie looked at him, her eyes wide. Was he being serious? "Now," he said.
"But-"
"Do what I said, Rosie. Now," Daryl growled. She shouldn't have come with. He knew that from the beginning, but he let her, anyway.
Hesitant and afraid, Rosie stepped away from Daryl. Her heart throbbed in her chest and pounded against her ribs as she walked across the grass. She could feel hundreds of eyes on her, just watching her walk up this hill, and it made it all the more difficult. She wanted to curl up into a ball and be buried beneath the dirt right in the very spot. She was walking away from her family so that they could be shot and killed without her in the way. God, that was so selfish.
When Rosie reached the top of the hill, her eyes widened at the amount of Saviors with guns there were on the other side. She turned around, wanting to shout down to Rick to warn them all, but someone grabbed onto her, pulling her back and covering her mouth. The hand smelled like cheese. They pulled her away, only letting go of her when she saw Negan. He stood with a gun pointed at Gabriel's head. Rosie spun around to see that Eugene had been the one who grabbed her. Was he really going to let this happen? He had helped her out of the Sanctuary, and now he was full on Negan?
"Keep her out of the way," Negan said to Eugene. Eugene nodded, then grabbed onto Rosie's arm, pulling her a few feet away. "Three!" Negan shouted into the walkie.
Her eyes wide, Rosie looked at Eugene. "Eugene, what're you-?!"
"Shut up," Eugene snapped, tugging on her arm again. Rosie stumbled on her feet when he pulled her behind him. She didn't understand what he was doing. Every time she tried to move away, he pulled her back.
"Two!" Negan shouted.
"Eugene, he's gonna-!"
"Shut up," Eugene said again, his face firm. Rosie wanted to scream at him as the line of Saviors with loaded guns stepped out onto the hill, ready to kill all of Rosie's family.
"One!"
The guns went off. Rosie squeezed her eyes shut, but then she heard Negan shouting, so she opened them back up again. The Saviors were all down on the ground and Negan's hand was bleeding badly. Rosie looked up at Eugene, wondering if he knew what the hell had just happened, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at all of the downed Saviors with a somewhat content look on his face. Had he done this?
Negan turned to Eugene, furious. "Eugene!" he shouted. Eugene backed up, that content look on his face turning into fear. Negan took a step closer to Eugene and Rosie panicked. Was he going to kill Eugene? Unsure of what else to do, Rosie kicked Negan in the crotch. That worked last time she needed to get a man down. Negan stumbled backward and keeled over. He stood back up after a moment, though. But just as he stood up, Gabriel came out of nowhere and punched him hard in the face, knocking him back down to the ground. After a moment, Negan got back up and hit Gabriel in the stomach, knocking him down, too. Dwight tackled Negan next. Maybe he wasn't so bad. Negan and Dwight struggled for a bit, but Negan got up in the end and started running.
"Coach Smith, stop!" Rose shouted and began running after him. Before she could get too far, though, Dwight grabbed onto her, stopping her in her tracks. She pulled away from him. "Don't touch me, asshole!" Rosie yelled at him, trying to kick him between the legs. That was the easiest way to get a guy to let her go, she discovered. But Dwight was holding her far away enough that she couldn't reach. "Rick's gonna kill him! Or- or- or he's gonna kill Rick! They can't! They can't!" Rosie shouted.
"It's their fight, not yours," Dwight said, not letting her go.
"Fuck off!" Rosie screamed, digging her nails into the hand he had on her arm. She turned herself around, looking out at the field. She spotted Rosita with Eugene, not too far away. "Rosita!" she screamed. Rosita's head shot towards the sound of Rosie's voice, and not ten seconds later, she sent her fist into the side of Dwight's face. Immediately letting go of Rosie, Dwight fell to the ground, groaning in pain.
As soon as she was free, Rosie ran off to where she'd seen Negan run. She spotted Negan and Rick at the bottom of the hill, beneath a tree with a stained glass window hanging from one of the branches. They weren't fighting just yet. They were only talking. Rosie started running down the hill. She needed to get there before either of them killed the other. At one point, they both froze, and Rosie slowed down her steps. Was- was Negan crying? What was happening? Were they making an agreement? No. No, Rick had a piece of glass hidden in his hand. What was he going to do with it? Rosie's steps quickened again, but before she could get to the tree, she was grabbed onto again. Why wouldn't anyone let her stop this? She just wanted to save them!
These new arms, though, were familiar. They weren't Eugene's or Dwight's- they were Daryl's. He pulled her to him, her back against his chest. "Stop it! Rick's gonna- he's gonna-" Rosie said, the ball in her throat getting ready to melt away into panicked tears.
Daryl didn't say anything, too focused on watching Rick and Negan at the bottom of the hill. Rosie knew there was no point in fighting because Daryl wasn't gonna let her go, so she just stayed there, watching with wide, worried eyes. One of them was going to die. Rick had the glass. Negan was going to die. And it happened. Rick suddenly stepped forward and slashed the glass across Negan's throat. Blood began to pour from the wound and Negan dropped to his knees.
"No! Coach Smith!" Rosie shrieked, struggling in Daryl's arms again. She knew it was no use. She knew it was, but she couldn't help but fight. "Coach Smith!" Negan dropped all the way to the ground, blood still pouring from his throat.
All was silent, aside from Rosie's crying.
Rick began to walk back up the hill, his hands stained with blood. "Save him," he murmured, gesturing to Siddiq. Rosie was sure that she had imagined it. She wanted to smile, but she knew it was wrong. She knew that feeling this way was wrong. Maggie was a few feet away with Michonne, screaming, No! No, he killed Glenn! So Rosie knew it was wrong, feeling this way. But she couldn't help it. The guilt tore apart her insides, but she felt happy at the same time.
Rosie turned around, still being held back by Daryl. She hid her face in his stomach, unsure of what she was feeling. She didn't want to see Coach Smith half-dead and half-alive on the ground. She didn't want to hear Maggie's cries. She squeezed her eyes shut and Daryl put his hand on the back of her head.
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Hope I did this chapter justice 😭 I'm not sure how I feel about it