Chapter 13

(Cold- aqualung)

Our group sat there crumbled and broken, the Saviors standing around us with mocking smiles on their faces.

"Dwight, load 'im up." Dwight grabbed Daryl, roughly pulling him to his feet, Daryl struggling against him.

"No, please." I said in a whisper, more tears streaming down my face, as Daryl was thrown in the back of a large van. "No!" I got to my feet wanting to go after him, but someone shoved me to the ground, into the sharp gravel. Negan squatted down next to Rick.

"He's got guts, not a little bitch like someone I know." Negan grinned evilly at him. "I like him, he's mine now." Negan looked at me, with that same evil smile, I clenched my jaw. "You still gonna try something not today, not tomorrow, 'not today, not tomorrow'." He said in a mocking manner. "I will cut pieces off of... hell's his name?" Negan looked to one of his men.

"Daryl." The mustache man answered.

"Wow, that actually sounds right, I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep, or I will bring him to you, and have you do it for me." Negan laughed, patting Rick on the back as he stood to his feet, letting out a loud sigh. "Welcome to a brand new beginning you sorry shits. I'll leave you a truck, keep it, you're gonna need it to cart all the crap you're gonna find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week, until then ta-ta." Negan threw Rick's hatchet over his shoulder as he left.

I sat there amongst my friends everyone's quiet sobs heard as the Saviors started to leave in truck loads, kicking up dust around us. Then it was finally silent, and it was just us and our thoughts, until Maggie got to her feet.

"Maggie." Rick looked up at her, as she weakly stood trying to stay upright. "You need to sit." Rick quickly got to his feet.

"No." Maggie growled, as she took a few shaky steps.

"We need to get you to the Hilltop." Rick said trying to reach for her.

"You need to go get ready." Maggie said determined as she continued to make her way toward her dead husband.

"For what?" Rick asked.

"To fight them." Maggie swallowed the tears she was fighting.

"They have Daryl, they have an army, we would die, all of us." Rick explained.

"Go home." Maggie ordered. "Take everybody with you, I can get there by myself." Maggie was fighting against the tears.

"You can barely stand-" Rick reached for Maggie's arm.

"I need to go, You need to go to Alexandria." Maggie said through tears, that she fought against. "You were out- out here for me."

"We still are." Rick said quietly to her, causing the tears to break free, and run down her face.

"I can make it now I need you to go back, I can't have you- I can't have you out here. I can't have you all out here anymore, I need you to go back." She said hysterically to Rick. I then climbed to my feet, knowing Maggie wasn't going to back down.

"Maggie, we're not letting you go." I spoke softly to her.

"You have to." Maggie whispered.

"It's not gonna happen." Rick said softly to Maggie. Sasha then got to her feet, fighting every emotion just to stand by Maggie.

"I'm taking her, I'm gonna get her there, I'm gonna keep her safe." Sasha put her hand on Maggie's shoulder. "I'm not giving you a choice."

"I'm taking him with me." Maggie said to Sasha, as she slowly walked over to Glenn's body, grunting and groaning in grief and in pain. Everyone started to form around our dead friends, Aaron and Carl quick to Maggie's side.

"I need to do this, please." Maggie cried.

"We need to help you." Aaron whispered to her. Carl put his hands on her shoulders trying to coax her away from Glenn.

"Please, please, let us." Rick begged her, fighting his own tears. "He's our family to-, he's our family too." Rick stated, tears pouring down Maggie's face, as Carl helped her to her feet, and enveloped her in a firm hug.

Soon Carl, Rick, and Aaron carried Glenn away; Sasha, Rosita, myself, and Eugene doing the same with Abraham, putting our dead friends in the back of the truck we were gifted. I went over to Maggie and hugged her tightly, she did the same. I put all I had left into this huh, unsure if this would be the last time I saw her.

"Go back with them, please?" Maggie begged into my ear. I didn't argue, I nodded, giving her one last squeeze and passed her on to Aaron and Sasha.

"Hazel." Rick's voice called softly from the RV. I climbed onto the RV sitting next to Carl, who immediately pulled me into his side. Carl's face was stone, not a tear was evident in his eyes, he was staying strong for everyone. Rick started up the RV, looking out the window one last time before driving off toward home. I wasn't ready to go home, I didn't want to go home, I knew we would be bombarded once we got home.

"Hey." Carl whispered to me, I sat up straight to look at him. "It's Daryl, you know he'll be okay." Carl reassured me.

"I know." I whispered, not wanting to think about what they would do to him. There was an evident empty space by me without Daryl, I mean I had just kissed Daryl a few times, but not getting to wake up to him there everyday was something I didn't want to live without. I didn't even want to go home without him there, I wanted to stay away from his house, I didn't even want to go inside for my stuff.

"We're here." Rick spoke softly, as the gate opened, and he drove in, parking the RV just a few feet inside. People rushed over looks of confusion on their faces when they saw the blood covered RV, and the state we were in.

"Rick, what happened?" Spencer spoke first, no one said a word, all of us just walked past him.

"Where's Glenn and Maggie, Daryl?" Tobin asked looking over us.

"Where's Aaron, and Sasha, Abraham?" Scott asked just as confused. Michonne grabbed Rick's shoulder, forcing him to turn around and face his people.

"You have to tell them." Michonne said sympathetically.

"Fine." Rick pressed his thumb and forefinger between his brows. "Sasha and Aaron took Maggie to the Hilltop." Rick stated.

"What about Glenn and Abraham?" Olivia spoke up, everyone looking at Rick with solemn looks, Rick couldn't speak anymore I could see the emotion catching up to him. I walked over to Rick, standing next to him putting a hand on his shoulder.

"We ran into the Savior's, on our way to the Hilltop. Negan was there." I heard hushed whispers. "He, he killed Abraham, then Glenn. They also took Dary." I heard gasps, the whispers becoming chatter, that's when our small group left the crowd of hysterical people.

"Thank you." Rick spoke softly. "You don't have to go home alone, you can stay with us." I looked at Rick with tear filled eyes, and bit my lip, trying to hold them in, thanking him lightly. Rick wrapped his arm around Michonne's waist, she did the same to him. "I'm gonna shower before I see Judith, she shouldn't see me this way."

Rick and Michonne went into their house, I sat on the steps of their porch looking over at Daryl's house. Animal pelts gently blowing in the wind, the house just wasn't the same without Daryl sitting there. Carl approached me with his hands in his pockets, awkwardly looking at me for a moment.

"You should go clean up, your knees look pretty bad." Carl spoke up, I looked down at my stinging knees. My pants were torn, the denim blood stained, I'm sure the rest of me looked just as bad. "I'll take you, c'mon." Carl reached his hand out to me, I took it, and he helped me to my feet. I could feel the soreness in my legs now, as I stiffly walked to the infirmary.

"Are you okay?" I spoke up looking at Carl who still had that stone face.

"I'm fine." Carl said short, keeping his eyes forward.

Once I was inside, I sat down on the bed, Carl grabbing scissors, peroxide, and bandages, bringing them to me. I cut my pant legs above my knees, to get a better look at my knees, they were torn up pretty good. I started pulling the rocks out of my skin, Carl handing me tweezers to pull out the smaller rocks. "When you're done, you can use the shower here, I'll go get your stuff if you want." Carl offered.

"Thanks." I whispered handing him the bottle of peroxide, Carl assisting me." I still have to shower, I'll bandage them when I get out." I added.

"Okay." Carl nodded.

"Thanks." My voice cracked. Carl left to get my stuff from the house, and I got up heading for the shower, I almost felt dizzy, things were off balance, things just weren't right.

My friends were gone, my closest friends, Abraham, Sasha, and Daryl, all gone. I was here alone. I didn't know how hard things would be without Daryl here, but Carl and Rick were ready to step in for Daryl. I went into the bathroom, stopping in front of mirror hardly recognizing myself, I was covered in blood from both of my friends, Abraham and Daryl, I looked like something out of a scary movie. Underneath all of this were the bruises and cuts inflicted by the Saviors, I started stripping out of my clothes realizing how sore I was and how much my body ached. I pulled off my shirt, seeing bruises on my ribs and arms, I was a mess. I couldn't look at myself anymore, as I quickly got into the shower allowing the water to wash away the last 24 hours.

Pretty soon flashes of the last 24 hours started going through my head over and over again, until I crumbled to the floor. I curled my knees into my chest, rocking back and forth slightly, as I sobbed harder than I ever have before. I missed my friends, I was never going to see Abraham again, who knew if I would ever see Daryl again, and Sasha vowed to take care of Maggie, I just needed one of them and they weren't here. Pretty soon the sobs turned into silence, as I sat motionless while the shower kept going, I jumped when there was a knock at the door.

"Hazel."'Carl cracked the door open. "I have your stuff when you're ready."

"Okay thank you." I said quickly as I wiped my face, washing off with soap, then rinsed off and getting out.

I wrapped up in a towel, then opened the door seeing my bag. I took it into the bathroom and pulled whatever I could get to easiest. A grey tee shirt and jeans, I slung my pack onto my back, and grabbed my shoes. I hesitated a moment before I grabbed my soiled clothes and threw them in the trash, I wouldn't be wearing any of those again. I grabbed the bag of soiled clothes taking them out of the house with me. "You have a liter or matches?" I asked Carl as we walked along.

"Uh, oh here, it's Daryl's, I found it while I was packing your stuff." Carl handed me the square silver liter, I opened the cap, then shut it admiring the liter. "Ready to sleep for a bit?" Carl rubbed his eyes.

"I can only hope." I said biting my lip.

"Hey, we'll be okay, I know we'll win this." Carl said with determination. I nodded in response. I followed Carl into the house, Rick crashed out on the couch, with Judith sitting next to him. Lucky kid had no clue. "Hi Judith." Carl said happily as Judith's eyes rested on him, she reached out for him happily. "Come on let's go play upstairs while Dad sleeps." Carl lifted Judith from the couch, taking her upstairs, he was one tough kid.

I sat down on the other couch, dropping my bag on the ground, relaxing into the cushions, pulling out my book. I wasn't sure if I would sleep not at this point anyway, I could only hope. The constant memories still playing through my head, ready to plague my nightmares. Night rolled around and everyone settled in, it was silent in the house, just me and my thoughts that I didn't want. I tossed and turned on the couch for hours until I couldn't stand it anymore. I got up and headed out the door, wandering around the community until I ended up standing at the front door of Daryl's house. I slowly turned the knob allowing the door to fall open. I stepped in, turning on the nearby lamp, this place was so ominous without Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham here.

I shut the door, making my way down the hallway to Daryl's room, a room I had never seen before. I slowly opened the door to his room, being hit with his familiar scent. As I walked in I scooped up one of his tee shirts from the floor, pressing it under my nose taking in deep breaths, the smell bringing me comfort. I shuffled over to his bed, falling limply onto his mattress. Tears that I could no longer control slipped out of my eyes, falling onto Daryl's pillow. My god what was wrong with me, I missed this man more than anything, first I was too afraid to sleep in this house, now here I am in Daryl's bed. If anyone saw me they would probably think I was weird, or maybe crazy. I curled up in Daryl's bed under the one sheet he had, allowing the tears to continue flowing from my eyes. I let the dark abyss envelope me in sleep and stars, hoping not to wake up for a long time at this point.