Dwight's eyes were locked on Daryl, occasionally flickering over to glance at me. I observed him with a watchful eye.

"Look at me," Rick growled. Dwight quickly obeyed him, turning his focus over to Rick. "Why?"

"'Cause I want it stopped," he admitted with a straight face. "'I want Negan dead." His statement made me feel uneasy, unsure if he was telling the truth or not.

"So why don't you kill him," I blurted out, the words accidentally slipping out of my mouth. Dwight's eyes fell back onto me, looking over me in my weak state.

"It can't just be me," he said. "They're all Negan." Tara's grip around me suddenly tightened, making me feel a tiny bit startled.

"That girl you murdered, she had a name. Her name was Denise. She was a doctor. She helped people," she spoke, her voice slightly wavering. Dwight faintly sighed as if annoyed with her, like he's heard this a thousand times before.

"I wasn't aiming for her." He shot Daryl a small glare. Daryl lunged forward, slamming Dwight against the wall with one hand wrapped around his neck and the other pointing a knife between his eyes. "You wanna end it this way, you go ahead," Dwight choked out, his voice weak from Daryl's boa constrictor like grip. "I'm sorry, I really am, but he owned me. What I did, I was doing it for someone else. Now I'm here and so are you, because of her."

"Do it," Tara encouraged Daryl, her heart pounding with anger in her chest; I could feel it by the way she was holding me. "You knew her!"

"Negan trusts me. We work together. We can stop him," Dwight proposed, beginning to sputter for air even more than before. "You knew me then and you know me now. You know I'm not lying."

"Do it," Tara barked. "Do it!" Daryl stood frozen in his spot, his armed hand slightly shaking as anger surged through his veins. After a moment, he stepped back and released him. Dwight cleared his throat as Tara shook her head in disappointment.

"Negan's coming soon: tomorrow, three trucks probably, 20 Saviors and him. I can slow them down, put some trees in the road to buy you guys a little time to prepare. If you can take them out, that's where we start. You kill them, I'll radio back to the Sanctuary."

"The Sanctuary," Rick questioned, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Where Negan lives. That's what they call it," Dwight answered. "I can radio back to them and say everything's okay, then you can drive the trucks back and I'll lead you right inside. With the right plan we can wipe out the rest, check to see if your friend's still alive." He motioned to Rosita, her shooting him a sharp glare in return. "Then we get the workers on our side, build our numbers up, and go from outpost to outpost and end all this." After he stated his plan, everyone went silent. Their eyes shifted back and forth between each other as if silently debating with one another. Rick nodded, turning around and waving his fingers in the air: a signal for Dwight to follow him. The two of them exited the basement, the rest of the group filing out the door behind him. Daryl stormed over to me and roughly took me back into his arms. I could tell he was still fuming. He helped me shuffle up the stairs and out onto the street where we were just in time to watch Dwight leave in the car he came in.

Daryl scoffed as he rolled away, the gates closing him back out of our home. He turned me around, helping me walk back to the house. I slightly struggled up the stairs to our bedroom, Daryl gently laying me down on the bed. He made his way over to the other side.

"You feelin' okay," he asked me, climbing under the warm covers next to me. I sighed.

"I-I saw something," I finally began to reveal, a chill rushing down my spine at the recollection of the moment. "Out in the woods with Eric."

"What was it?" Daryl wrapped me in his arms, pulling me close to him. He brushed a few strands of hair away from my face.

"A girl," I whispered. "I saw a girl. She was little and she was playing with toy horses. She kept looking at me like she knew who I was, but I didn't even know her," I breathed heavily, beginning to panic at the thought of her. "She looked so familiar, but I couldn't even tell. She was so far away. I—I feel like I should know who she is but I don't!"

"Hey," he muttered in my ear, kissing my forehead. "Calm down." Daryl pressed his lips against mine sweetly. I melted under his touch as I usually did. He put his hand on top of my head, lowering it down onto his chest to relax me. "It's alright... it's alright. Try gettin' some sleep," he whispered in my ear, his fingers playing with my hair. "You need it, alright?"

"Alright," I agreed, shutting my eyes and drifting off to Daryl's comforting touch.

"I love you," he whispered in my ear.

I woke to see the sunrise: a light yellowy pinkish orange that streaked across the sky. Fluffy gray clouds were outlined with the pink that rested high above, gently moving along like feathers on the breeze. My head was resting on Daryl's bare chest. His heart beat slowly and steadily as he slept, completely calm and unbothered. Our breathing had become in-sync, our chests rising and falling at the same exact time. I wished this moment would last forever; there was no other place that I wanted to be than where I was right now with the person I loved the most. I gently kissed Daryl before resting my head again. My eyes fluttered back closed as I relaxed back into his embrace, the smallest smile ghosting my lips.

Later that day, everyone was rushing to get ready for the impending doom that was the Saviors' visit. Daryl was busy hooking up all kinds of dynamite with a few others in the back of a truck while I loaded and gathered his and I's guns. The both of us had gotten in our positions at the same time, me handing over his gun. He took it from me and politely nodded. The other people who stood behind me watched Daryl and I carefully. Ever since they arrived this morning, they never failed to give off a weird vibe; their grungy appearance didn't help at all.

As the sound of engines approached the gates, I shook off the lingering gazes behind me. I turned my attention forward and tightened my grip on my gun.

"I come armed with two barrels of the truth," a loud voice boomed behind the speaker of a megaphone. "A test is upon you and I'm giving out the cheat sheet. I come salved with the hope that it is my dropped knowledge that you heed." The breaks on the vehicles screeched to a halt, multiple people hopping out with guns bared. Eugene sauntered up towards the gate, placing the megaphone to his mouth. "Your options are zero to none: compliance and fealty are your only escape. Bottom-lining it, you may thrive or you may die. I sincerely wish for the former for everyone's sake. The jig is up and in full effect. Will you comply, Rick?"

"Where's Negan," Rick questioned him, already pissed off. Eugene paused, his features showing he was somewhat regretful. He sighed.

"I'm Negan," he stated. Rosita jammed her thumb down on the button to trigger the dynamite. Everyone on the other side of the gate ducked, waiting from the impending explosion. We continued to brace ourselves, but nothing seemed to happen. We rose cautiously, frantically looking around at each other. What the fuck was happening? The grungy people behind us, aimed their weapons at the back of our heads and knocked the guns out of Daryl and I's hands. My eyes went wide with fear, my stomach dropping with dread. Everyone was being held up. We were definitely screwed.

Negan slid out of the passenger side of the heftiest truck, pushing his way through the other Saviors as our dismantled dynamite truck backed up into view. Dwight and a few other men opened the hatch from inside, hopping out the back onto the ground. I felt sick, just as sick as I felt yesterday. Negan grinned like a madman.

"You ever hear the one about the stupid little prick named Rick who thought he knew shit, but didn't know shit and got everyone he gave a shit about killed," he taunted, looking at Rick like a predator stalking its prey. "It's about you!"

"You're all gonna wanna put your guns down now," Rick challenged, ignoring his smart remark. Negan was quick to become annoyed.

"You push me and you push me and you push me, Rick," he sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. "You planned to blow us up, right? I mean, I get it, but remember Eugene? He's one of yours! You people are animals," he spat. Anger boiled deep within me. No we weren't.

Negan was the one to coerce me into being unfaithful. Negan was the one to lock Daryl away and strip him of his own dignity. Negan continuously terrorized us. Negan was the one who killed Abraham and Glenn by bashing in their fucking skulls in front of the people they loved. Negan is the animal; we've done nothing of the sort.

"Universe gives you a sign and you just shove your finger right up its ass." Negan flipped Rick off while a cheeky grin painted his lips. "Dwight, Simon: chop-chop," he demanded, Dwight and Simon obeying him. They climbed up onto a flatbed, ripping a tarp off a long object that was strapped down. They unstrapped it, standing it up for all of us on the other side of the gates to see. A coffin stood before us. I could feel my heart slowly begin to race.

"You don't like Eugene anymore," Negan began. "But you guys gotta like Sasha! I know, I do too," he chuckled, flashing us a malicious smile. "Got her right here packaged for your convenience alive and well! I brought her so I wouldn't have to kill all of you and that could get complicated. I know there's a lot of firepower left in there, Rick, so I'm gonna make this simple: I want all the guns you've managed to scrape up. Oh, I know about those too! I want every last grain of lemonade you have left and I want a person of your own choosing for Lucille." His eyes wandered over to Daryl and I, landing on Daryl first. My breath hitched in my throat, my whole body tensing up.

"Daryl," Negan drawled happily. "Ooh, I gotta get me my Daryl back! And oh my god!" He grinned from ear to ear as he looked me up and down. "Look at you! Oh Aften, have I missed you and those lips... and that ass..." I cringed at his comment, shivering in disgust. "I need you back more than ever." I shot him a glare, my chest heaving up and down angrily. "You wanna know what I also need back: the pool table, cues, and chalk. I want it now or Sasha dies, then all of you... probably. Just because I brought her in a casket doesn't mean she has to leave in it," Negan attempted to reason. He was met with silence from everyone. "You know what? You suck ass, Rick, you really do! I don't wanna kill her, but that's exactly what you're gonna make me do."

"Let me see her," Rick suddenly growled, somewhat startling Negan. Negan began to chuckle, turning towards the coffin.

"Oh, alright! Just give me a second..."