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ROSALINE GASPED hacking the walker's arm off with her blade pronto. walkers started to spill out of inside the building, but it was hard to see where they were coming from.
the girl grabbed daryl by the back of the vest, pulling them both backward and away so they couldn't get grabbed. a biter had gripped onto bob. michonne went to help him.
tyreese just kept pulling at the vines.
"tyreese!" bob yelled.
daryl noticed the recklessness on his part, "ty!"
as he kept pulling, he'd eventually ripped a walker out of the shrubs and it landed on top of him, snapping its rotten teeth near his face.
daryl dragged the walker off, bob shooting it. he went to help tyreese up.
michonne was aggravated, "why the hell didn't you let go?"
rosaline went to check over the marksman. it was almost a tradition for them both to check for bites or scratches after a close call.
"i'm good," he reassured.
"let's hope." she sighed.
the pair made their way towards the entrance of the building, daryl going in first with a flashlight. he made sure to scan every part of the store. they got to the back where there was a shelf with a car battery.
"here we go." daryl muttered, his eyes lighting up slightly at the sight of the battery. he picked it up, sticking a knife to uncover the components inside as rosaline checked out the rest of the place.
bob scanned over the part, "hmm, cells look pretty dry."
"a little distilled water will clear that right up," he replied.
rosaline picked up a canister of fuel, walking back over to the pair, "not much but it'll do."
daryl gave her an approving pat on the back, the trio starting to scan through the store. they came upon a couple of cups next to another canister. the people that were inside the vines would've drunk that to die.
the marksman scoffed putting his light over it, "that's puke. those douchebags in the vines took themselves out, holding hands- kumbaya style."
rosaline let out a choked laugh, "kumbaya style?"
"how else would ya call it?"
"no you get it perfect."
bob scowled at both of them, "they wanted to go out together the same way they lived together. that make them douchebags?"
"it does if they could have gotten out." daryl shot back, observing another shelf.
the dark-skinned man trailed after them, "everybody makes it, till they don't. people nowadays are dominoes. what they did, maybe it's about not having to watch them fall."
rosaline shot him a look. same with her boyfriend, "right."
when they moved onto another room, quiet raspy breathing came out choked at their feet. another walker, this time fatter and stuck, causing it to be unable to move. daryl found no reason to put it down, so he moved on.
the girl watched as bob put it down and out of its misery before they left to work on the car. daryl still had the pack of cigarettes on him so he offered some to the two. this time rosaline refused.
as he messed with the older battery he tried to talk to bob, "you never told us about the group you were with before."
he blew out some cigarette smoke, "which one?"
"there were more than one?" rosaline piped up.
bob nodded, "you know," his eyes trained on daryl, "when you found me out on that road, i almost kept walking."
the redneck sighed, unscrewing distilled water and pouring it over the newer car battery, "why is that?"
"cause i was done being a witness. two times. two different groups. i was the last one standing." he admitted, "like i was supposed to see it happen over and over like it's some kind of curse."
the dixon took a long drag of the cigarette, bobbing his head seeming to understand the way he thought. he'd been that way once too.
"but when it's just you out there with the quiet... used to be i'd drink a bottle of anything just so i could shut my eyes at night." bob finished, "figured the prison, the people, thought i'd be easier. the run to the big spot- i did it for me."
daryl took a swig of the water, "gotta keep busy." then offered it to rosaline, who took it gently and gulped it down.
suddenly bob said something that caught their attention, "no. i did it so i could get me a bottle. of anything. i picked it up. i held it in my hand, but i put it down. i put it down so hard it took the whole damn shelf with it."
"what?" rosa sputtered out, glaring at him. her eyes flashed to that moment where she fell to the floor trying to help him and ended up with a walker on top of her.
he dipped his head, "that's what brought on the walkers, and that's what got zach killed and you almost died trying to save me."
daryl's eyebrows furrowed in anger, also remembering his girl struggling on the floor almost succumbing under the undead. then zach dying, "that's bullshit."
bob remained silent.
"my god." rosaline let out a breath.
her boyfriend gestured to the car, trying to keep his cool, "why don't you get in there and try the engine? it's a red and a green wire. go on. it ain't rocket science."
bob pushed off the wall, getting into the car's driver seat. the marksman told him what to do. rosaline whispered something to daryl, getting him to calm down.
the engine started. the girl squeezed daryl's shoulder and he let out a whistle to michonne and tyreese who were sat outside the entrance of the building, talking amongst each other.
daryl approached the car door taking note of her words, "sasha and me picked that spot. he took you with us. there ain't no way anybody could've known. you ain't gonna be standing alone, not no more."
the group picked up the supplies, placing them in the trunk, and driving away.
eventually, they reached their desired point.
"looks like we're getting closer." daryl muttered.
"the building we want is just up ahead." tyreese informed.
they rushed into the building, daryl going in first with his crossbow raised. the four of them moved fast sprinting into the veterinary section. rosaline started to shove anything she could into her pack.
everyone moved quickly and efficiently.
"anything ending with -cillin or -cin, grab it. we'll dissolve the pills in the ivs, put 'em right into the bloodstream." bob instructed, "dosage will be tricky but considering the time we lost..."
as he spoke, rosa made sure to shove anything she saw that looked useful into the bag. meanwhile daryl and ty came back into the room.
"how'd you do?" tyreese asked, "bags, tubes, clamps, connectors. everything on the list."
"what about you?" daryl questioned, jerking his chin at them.
rosa gave a quick thumbs-up as bob answered, "yeah, we got it all."
"yeah. we're good." michonne added.
daryl slung his crossbow on his back, "alright, let's roll."
the group made their way down the dark halls to the exit. as usual, daryl in the front shining the light, rosa behind him, and then everyone else. he kept her behind him in case anything were to happen.
abruptly, he signaled for them to stop. when he shone the light around the corner, several biters stumbled towards them. they swiftly crept back through the hallway and into a dark room.
"the doors busted." bob grumbled.
daryl pushed him back kicking it in. they entered and michonne started to guide them through to what seemed like a way to the outside.
rosaline was startled due to the snarl of a walker which dove for tyreese, hastily he beat it down, killing it to stop the noise.
the next door they approached was also filled with walkers, their fingers curling around the gap as they groaned hungrily at them.
it was their only exit and the marksman seemed to be weighing out their options, "how many?"
michonne shook her head, "i can't tell."
rosaline scanned around, "we can't really go back."
the other door rumbled as if on cue. tyreese scowled, "we can take them."
"no! they're infected. same as at the prison." bob yelled, "we fire at 'em, get their blood on us, breathe it in. we didn't come all this way to get sick."
"how do we know the ones in there aren't any different?" he questioned, desperately.
"we don't." michonne responded.
"well it's gotta change sometime." daryl butted in.
"any way to check?" rosaline suggested.
her boyfriend shook his head, "gotta change sometime."
he slammed the door open, letting the walkers stream in as the other batch ripped through the previous door. only two came out, tyreese shot them and they sprinted up the staircase being careful of any more biters.
on the upper levels, more walkers appeared but they had to keep moving. the door at the end of the next hallway was locked, so they had to make one by smashing the window.
daryl pulled rosaline upwards, "come on, get down on the walkway below."
"they're here!" bob alerted.
"let's go! go, go. move!"
they managed to jump through the hole in the window, but when bob lept forward, the bag of meds swung a bit too far and down to where the walkers were.
"we can't let that go, it has meds in!" rosaline yelped, rushing to help him, the other at her heel. she was at the front, but as bob was wriggling he elbowed her, the girl slipped forward almost falling into the mass of biters below.
michonne gasped out, "we can't. we have to let it go. bob, let it go."
"let it go, man." ty demanded through the grunts, "just let it go."
"let go of the bag man!" daryl screamed.
fortunately, he managed to rip it back over. it landed with a loud clank. it sounded like a bottle.
daryl's brows furrowed together as he bent on one knee to grab something out of the pack. when he lifted it, it revealed to be a bottle of whiskey, "you got no meds in your bag? just this?"
bob breathed heavily, staring at the bottle, shame filling his eyes.
daryl was furious beyond belief. not only had he risked rosaline's life twice, killed zach but he also collected no meds, "you should've kept walking that day."
he went to discard the bottle but the man stopped him, "don't."
the dixon squared up to him, taking the gun out of his holster and gripped him by his jacket.
"just let it go, daryl." tyreese requested, "the man's made his choice. nothing you can do about it. just gotta let it go."
bob shook his head, "i didn't wanna hurt nobody. it was just for when it gets quiet."
rosaline lost all respect for him.
daryl shoved the bottle against his chest, leaning closer, "take one sip. when those meds get in our people, i will beat your ass into the ground. not just for this, but for the fact you had rosaline trying to save your ass twice and almost cost her life." he shoved him, "you hear me?"
they walked away, back to the car off to return home.
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"that's where i was traveling from. highway one hundred." tyreese's voice resonated in the background.
daryl was in the car, fiddling with something small. rosaline decided to stay in the passenger seat, leaning her head back with eyes closed resting.
"you okay?" she whispered.
as he was about to reply, tyreese interrupted, "we're taking highway one hundred."
"we heard." daryl said. everyone got in the car.
michonne piped up from the back, "you were right what you said back there. about the trail going cold. i don't need to go out anymore."
he turned around, "good."
rosaline shut the car door, the others mimicking the gesture. the group set off on the road trip home.
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for most of the ride home, rosaline had fallen asleep. it was dark when they arrived at the prison. daryl shook her awake and they ran out of the car uttering a few words to rick on the way out.
it seemed that the cell blocks had a bit of a problem and the fence needed fixing because it toppled over. despite that, everything was under control.
within the next day, the bodies were being removed out from near the fence. things had stabilized meaning everybody could get a bit of rest.
daryl and rosaline had finally been able to get their rest. they hadn't fallen sick in the first few days, meaning they were clear from the illness. the first thing that the girl did was visit judith and beth.
"how have you been?" the girl queried to beth, taking the baby from her softly and bouncing her up and down.
beth looked down, "daddy had been dealing with the sick people while everyone was gone. glenn was in a bad way, as you probably heard." she sighed.
"good news. apparently, he's been stable for the past couple of hours so he should be getting better." rosaline comforted, "apparently glenn's well enough for him to be out there helping michonne."
"really?" she raised a brow, "well that's good to hear. maggie's probably there with him?"
the brunette nodded, "yeah, she's watching over him. everything been okay with judith?"
"course, she's feeling good." beth reassured.
rosaline grinned as judith cooed and squealed in her arms excitedly, "that's great. how about we catch up?"
"you know i like hearing about your life." beth smirked, sitting down in a chair opposite her, "you and daryl?"
she chuckled, "as good as ever. almost knocked out bob. instead of packing medicine, he put a bottle of whiskey in his bag and wouldn't let it go when the damn walkers grabbed it. he almost got me killed - twice."
her eyes widened, "seriously?"
rosa dipped her head, "yep. sometimes being weak costs you other people too."
she referenced what happened to zach, yet she didn't know if it was the right place to spark the conversation up again; so she let it be. there was no need to pick at an old wound.
"you gonna go clean up?"
"yeah."
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bit of a slow chapter to write, but i enjoyed daryl squaring up to bob for what he had done with the whiskey and rosaline.
don't forget to vote and comment!
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