"And?" Damien asks as I sit at the circular kitchen table to eat breakfast.
I chuckle, "And what?"
Damien rolls his eyes and sits across from me as Cato showers, "You didn't come home until late last night."
"Correct."
"Was it good?" He asks, leaning forward.
I smirk, "Yeah." I admit, taking a bite of a peach.
"Oh my god! Fuck yes!" Damien celebrates, switching to the chair next to mine. "Are you guys dating?"
I shrug, "I don't know...we didn't really...talk about it."
"No, you didn't really talk." Cato says, coming out of his bedroom after changing after his shower.
"Oh fuck off." I groan, leaning back in my chair.
"Shut up, we're your best friends. You have to give us the details." Damien smirks.
"I am not giving you the details about my sex life!"
Damien pretends to be offended, "You told me everything about you and Daryl." Cato smiles and sits next to Damien in the chair across from me, urging me on.
"I'm not giving the details like I did with Daryl but..." Damien and Cato scoot forward on their chairs. "The overview is that she basically walked me through it...and it was good."
Cato and Damien smile broadly. "Shit, that's all we get?" Cato whines.
I roll my eyes and take a drink of my water, "She topped, better?"
Cato nods, "As good as it's gonna get." He and Damien exchange a look with a knowing smirk and I immediately get suspicious.
"What?" I ask, annoyed with a hint of nervousness, tilting my head to the side.
Damien smiles, "We saw you and Magna on the picnic table...just as you flicked your cigarette and almost started a damn forest fire." I can feel my ears heat up at their confession.
"That wasn't my main worry." I smirk, crossing my arms.
"Oh yeah, we know." Cato says. Just then, there's a knock at their door. Cato raises his eyebrow, "You wanna get that?"
I roll my eyes and don't respond, I just stand up from the table and go to the front door. When I open it, Yumiko and Magna are standing there with a worried look on their faces. "Y'all good?" I ask, leaning on the doorframe.
"Connie's gone, so are Daryl and that kid- Henry or something." Magna says. I quickly straighten up and look back at Damien and Cato, who immediately notice my shift in demeanor. They stand up from the table and walk over to the door.
"Alright there?" Cato asks, his body tense.
"Daryl, Connie, and Henry are gone. I'm bettin' my remainin' foot that Henry went to find Lydia- that little shit and Daryl and Connie went after him." I explain, looking at Cato and Damien.
Damien nods, "Let's find 'em then. You're a good tracker. Daryl's got a dog so," He shrugs, "I'm sure we'll hear barking somewhere."
I nod, "Cato?" Cato nods as a "yes" and I turn back to Magna and Yumiko. For some odd reason, seeing Magna makes my heart speed up again. It's not awkward but it's not...normal with her. I gotta figure out what the hell we're doing. "We'll find 'em."
Yumiko nods, "We'll come with."
I shake my head, "Hell nah. That's too big of a group. Easily identifiable and if the Walkers aren't Walkers and they see a group of five people lookin' for other people, their guards are gonna be up and it's gonna be a problem." I nod to Damien, "Grab my whip and backpack, my knife and gun are inside." He nods and walks away as I step outside of the house, Cato follows.
A few seconds later, Damien comes out with all of our weapons and my backpack. I nod to them and we swiftly make our way to the gate. "Careful, don't let the guards see you." Cato whispers.
"They will anyway, just don't wait long enough for them to catch us." I say, grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward, breaking into a run.
It's been about two and a half hours of us searching, not much has come up except for a few Walkers with staff holes in their foreheads.
"When are you goin' back to Alexandria?" Cato asks, flicking a tick off of his forearm before it can stick itself into his skin. The air is thick and humid, it feels like we're walking around in wet air. Because of the humidity, all three of us are sweating like hogs.
I shrug, "I dunno. This shit hasn't fully passed yet because of Henry's dumb ass so...but I do miss 'Lyss and 'Nej. I feel like 'Lyss is freakin' the fuck out thinkin' that something happened after Michonne got back. She tends to do that."
Damien nods, "You goin' to the fair?"
I shrug again, "I haven't seen Ezekiel in a fat ass minute. But, Michonne would have my head if I went there without her permission."
"Hilltop's going, you could just go with us." Damien suggests.
"Yeah," I nod, "I'll figure it out. It's comin' up soon, isn't it?" Cato and Damien both nod. My brain whirrs around all of the possibilities of what could happen if I do go to the fair at the Kingdom. Michonne didn't want us to go because she said it was dangerous. It just pissed me off because, for the longest time, I felt trapped at Alexandria. That's why Damien, Cato, and I would meet up. It was an excuse for me to breathe.
"Woah..." Cato whispers, putting his hand on my shoulder to get me to stop walking when he sees a group of possible skins or possible Walkers.
"Shit," I hiss quietly as all three of us crouch behind a fallen tree. I squint my eyes to try and see farther, my damn scar is more of an inconvenience than I thought it would be. The herd seems to be moving like Walkers. They're not circling, they're not chasing after anything, they're just walking. It's not a big enough herd to raise any red flags, maybe two dozen of them- at most.
"What's the plan, Sarge?" Damien whispers.
I think for a moment before saying, "Avoid it. I'd rather not lose y'all and I'd rather not get another target put on our group's back." They both nod and we stand up, silently making our way around the herd.
I slap Damien and Cato quietly on the chest with the back of my hand and point to footsteps over footsteps. They both look at me with a smirk, Damien nods forward to symbolize to keep going.
About an hour later, Cato whistles quietly from a few feet away. He points to two figures just as a dog barks from the ditch they're standing over.
I whistle to Damien and motion to the two figures. Quietly we make our way into a group again and approach the two people. "Shit." I whisper, relaxing in relief as Daryl hears our footsteps.
"The hell you doin'?" Daryl asks just as Connie turns to us as well.
"Looking for you." Damien says.
"Why?"
I tilt my head at Daryl, "Because you have a bit of a habit of not asking for help when it would be helpful." I nod to Connie and she waves.
Daryl rolls his eyes but doesn't respond, he just turns to the ditch and jumps down it, noticing something Dog's noticed. When he gets down there, he grabs a staff. Henry's staff. "Yeah, they went that way." He says, pointing to the left of Damien, Cato, and I.
Just then, Dog suddenly growls, Connie and Daryl take care of the two Walkers approaching us before they could be a threat if they're the skins. "Nice." Daryl tells Connie. Dog then grabs Daryl's arrow from the Walker and walks over to Daryl, tricking him into grabbing the arrow but not letting go, making the arrow snap.
Connie smirks at Daryl and he nods, "Bad Dog." He says, walking behind Dog.
I elbow Damien gently and motion to Daryl and Connie. "Oh, I know. I see it too." He whispers, walking after them.
Cato nods, "Calling it from here." I smirk and follow after them.
We have about two and a half hours before the sun sets. All of us are stopped behind a bush because there's a herd in the same field we first saw the night Jesus died. They seem to be circling like they do when the skins are with them. However, something must have just distracted them because their attention has turned to something a few feet away and they're making their way to it, a few of them getting on their knees to eat it.
I swear to god if that's Henry. Don't like him but...he's a kid. He's Ezekiel's kid.
Daryl and I look at each other before standing up and motioning for the group to follow us.
"Think it's Henry?" Cato whispers almost soundlessly.
"I don't know." Daryl says, not looking back. "But we gotta get into that camp."
My eyebrows raise at his words, "Oh god."
Daryl looks at me, "I'm puttin' a skin on."
I groan quietly and imagine the absolute rank smell that mask would emit if I joined him. "Damien?" I ask, turning to him.
"I'll go." Cato volunteers. "How bad can it be...right?"
"I can smell the Walkers from here but...go right ahead." Damien smirks, amused at the torture his husband is about to go through.
By nightfall, the herd has broken into the camp. Daryl and Cato left a few minutes ago. Just now, Connie pauses and squints into the distance, pointing at an approaching group of four people.
"That's an extra person." Damien whispers, pointing out the obvious.
"God damn it, Henry brought Lydia." I curse, exaggeratingly moving my mouth so Connie can read my lips.
"Go." Daryl whisper-yells as he and the rest pass us. Without waiting, Connie, Damien, and I pick up and run with them. My ears feel like they can hear clearer. My senses are so heightened I jump at Damien's sharp inhale.
After a little bit of running, Henry grunts and falls to the ground. "You alright?" Daryl asks as Connie and Lydia crouch next to Henry.
"This isn't the way back to Hilltop..." Henry pants.
"Tara made a deal with those assholes. We broke it. We ain't goin' back to Hilltop." Daryl says.
Shit. I didn't think of that. Fuck. Magna.
"He's right. There's too many of them. Alpha would destroy Hilltop to get me back now." Lydia pants.
"Why the hell didn't you tell us there was that fuckin' many of them?" I ask, irritated, hot, and hungry.
Lydia gapes at me, "You kept me locked in a cage. What'd you expect? I wasn't going to betray my own people!"
I quickly grab her by the shirt and pull her close to my face, "If they're your people. Go scurry back to 'em like the insect you are. Henry didn't know what your group was capable of but you did."
"I thought I could go back." She whispers, shrinking from my gaze. "But I can't."
"You're not fuckin' comin' with us." I hiss, shoving her away from me.
"Hey, we could run. Me and her." Henry says, putting his hand on Lydia's shoulder. I scoff in disbelief and turn to Damien and Cato. "You guys go back and- and we keep running. They can't blame Hilltop if we just disappear."
He's a dumbass.
"Henry, we can't." Lydia says, breathing heavily. Even though the insects around us are chirping loudly, it's not loud enough to block out our conversation, I can tell Damien and Cato are beginning to get antsy and nervous just standing here.
"Let me fix this." Henry pleads.
"No. There's no way in hell I'm lettin' you run away with this one. No way! Think of your mom!" Daryl says, pointing to Lydia.
"Not to break the loving conversation," Cato cuts in. "But we should probably go before we don't have to wear Walker masks to blend in with them anymore."
Connie nods and motions to begin walking. "He's right, come on. We gotta go." Daryl says, grabbing Henry. When he begins walking left, Connie heads right. "It's this way." Daryl says. She shakes her head and motions to the group. "Yeah, this way." He pushes. Though, she persists and motions for the group to follow her.
I like her.
All of us follow, including Dog. I don't know where we're going, but I trust Connie already.
By daybreak, we're walking through an abandoned town. Connie points to an old apartment building, motioning to us then to the top floor.
"Take the higher ground. Yeah." Daryl agrees.
She then begins to write something in her notebook and shows it to Daryl. Choke point it says.
"Good idea. Come on." Daryl says, waving us on.
"I don't understand." Henry says as we're walking to the apartment building.
"They use Walkers to protect them." Cato explains, walking backward to face Henry. "Walkers can't climb stairs now can they?" He says, raising his eyebrows. "It's separating the skins and the Walkers."
"They travel in a herd, but there's only like five or six of 'em in the middle, right?" Daryl asks Lydia.
"Yeah, but if we go up there, we're trapped." Lydia says, stopping and facing Daryl. "Alpha's not gonna send an army because she doesn't have to. She'll send Beta."
I raise an eyebrow at the name and straighten up. If his name is Beta, he sounds like a prick. "I'm sick of runnin'-This Beta, he their best?" Daryl asks. Lydia nods. "Good. We'll kill him first. Come on." He says, beginning to walk again.
Once we're upstairs, Damien and I block the extra doors with a table. "Hey!" Daryl quickly yells, not in a threatening tone.
Damien and I quickly turn and he holds up a bottle of water, pointing to a secret hole in the floor. "Oh fuck yeah," I whisper, practically running to the hole.
I jump into the hole, hand Damien and Cato two bottles of water, and chug mine, wiping the droplets of water seeping out of the corner of my lips as I set it on the ground.
"The stairwell is already barricaded, Connie and her group were holed up here once." Daryl explains, walking over to us. "We're gonna make a hole for the skins to come up to us."
I nod, "Got it."
He nods and walks back to Connie who is writing something in her notebook. "Feeling a little claustrophobic in here, not gonna lie." Cato admits, looking out of a window.
"Deal with it." I scoff, allowing Damien to help me out of the secret stash hole.
"We're not going back to the Hilltop for a while so...what's happening with Magna?" Damien asks.
"If I'm goin' to the fair, I'd probably see her there. I feel like-what-who saw us kiss?"
Damien shrugs, "I really honestly don't think anyone. Everyone was kinda focused on Luke and Alden."
"Good." I say quickly. "I don't know if I want people to know about us."
"Alyssa?" Damien questions.
"I-" I sigh and chew on my cheek. "I dunno. Magna and I aren't dating, I'm not gonna tell her about a hookup I had."
"You're scared." Cato says, turning and facing Damien and me.
"What?" I ask, looking at him.
"You don't want people to know you like girls. Not in a homophobic way. But because you think you'll be treated different." I raise an eyebrow at Cato's words but don't respond. "You're scared." He repeats, stepping closer.
I scoff, "I'm not scared."
"You are such a bad liar." Damien chuckles.
"What the hell would I be scared for? They don't treat y'all different. It's not-"
"Skins." Henry alerts us, panting from anxiety.
"Aw, shit." I hiss, grabbing my whip and running out to the balcony near me. As Damien, Cato, and I get out there, we see a herd of Walkers, maybe three dozen of them. I can't tell who would be their Beta. I hear the shot of a crossbow and watch as one of the Walkers drop dead.
"Don't die." Cato assures me and Damien, walking back into the apartment.
"For the first time ever, I don't plan on it." I smirk, following him as Damien tails behind me.
As the group regroups, we can hear commotion from downstairs. Lydia and Henry continue boarding up the windows and I stand guard at the curtain of the unfinished area where the cache was. My knuckles are white from gripping my knife so hard, I've checked my gun to make sure there are enough bullets so many times I don't know why.
I hold my breath in anticipation as I hear the door near Daryl slams open. I haven't fought like this in so long, my heart is pounding so loudly through my ears that I'm surprised it's not giving away my location.
I catch a shadow from outside the curtain out of the corner of my eye. Just as they grab the curtain, I kick them in the stomach and rip the curtain down. They run and try to tackle me but just as they do, I stab them in the stomach and quietly lay them on the ground to not make too much noise.
Just as I do, I hear a creak behind me. I turn around as a knife slashes near my stomach. I buck my hips backward and narrowly avoid the knife. My elbow shoves into their eye with enough force to send them to the ground; once they're on the ground, I dig my knife into their head and stand up, scanning the area for more.
I hear several crashing noises next to me, causing my heart to somehow beat even faster. My fingers turn tingly and my hands turn clammy as I race to the sound of the commotion.
Just as I get there, I see a tall man holding Daryl's throat to a Bandsaw blade on a table, trying to slit his throat with it.
Daryl's too good of a fighter to be underneath someone. This is Beta.
Without thinking, just knowing Daryl is at a dangerous disadvantage, I bolt down the room and tackle Beta to the ground, getting him off of Daryl. Though, unfortunately, he lands on top of me. Quickly, trauma floods back into my mind. Fight or flight switches my brain off and I fight with everything I have to get Beta off of me.
I'm whimpering under his grasp as he's trying to stab me with one hand but missing each time I move my head. I try to buck my hips up, just like I did with Nick, but this man is so much bigger. Too much bigger.
Thankfully, Daryl was there so he grabs Beta and slams him up against a wall. I stand up but can't intervene because of the way the fight is going. I could injure Daryl or myself. Finally, allowing me to join in the fight, Beta and Daryl switch roles and he slams Daryl through a drywall.
I tackle Beta through the drywall and slam him up against a wall, throwing a few punches before he knees me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me, and grabs me by the shirt. He hauls me against the wall and my head slams hard, knocking me out.
"Hey, hey," Daryl whispers, cupping my face and shaking it gently. I groan quietly as I come back to my senses. My head feels just as it did when I had a concussion all those years ago but my symptoms don't show signs of a concussion.
"Where's...where's Damien? Where's Cato?" I ask, sitting up quickly but Daryl reassures me, gently laying me back down.
"They're fine. Cato's got a black eye but they're okay."
I relax at Daryl's words and put a hand on my head, "Jesus, I cannot stay awake for a single fight."
He chuckles, and helps me stand up, "No the hell you cannot."