♤

It had been a few days since Andrea's visit and not much had changed apart from the invitation to discuss peace with the Governor. The group had taken notice of the little looks Daryl and I would give each other and the way he would hold me at his side. Merle had also become a slightly more prominent member of the group.

The morning of the peace talks, I awoke with a weight around my waist. A yawn overcame me as I opened my eyes fully, turning to my side and seeing Daryl with his arm slung over me. I smiled gently as his chest rose and fell softly. It was nice to wake up beside him more often now.

I laid for a short while before he woke, seeing me already awake, "Why didn't you wake me?" He asked, his voice growling at me.

"You were asleep" I muttered as he faced me, pulling me further into his chest, holding me there.

We laid for a while, the sun breaking into the cell, cracking across the floor. After sometime, he sighed, "We should get up, we got them peace talks with the Governor.."

I nodded, standing and leaving the bed. I stood -rustling through my bag- in my underwear, exposing my scars and burn. Daryl sat on the edge of the bed, no shirt on as he watched me, picking up his clothes from the floor.

"You think him and Rick will make peace?" Daryl asked me quietly.

I shrugged, "I know I damn well won't, whatever they agree"

He nodded as we pulled on our clothes in silence, grabbing his bag, he pulled something out and handed it to me, "Found that the other day, thought you might like it when you're on the back of the motorbike" He explained.

In my hands was a woman's leather jacket, slightly padded but lightweight. It zipped up in the middle and had a high collar. I smiled at him, "I love it"

He tilted his head down slightly but smiled as Rick called us down, the small selected group ready to go. Quickly, I threw the jacket on before we all headed off.

♤

Daryl and I led the way on the motorbike, Rick following in a car behind. As we pulled up to the pinpointed location, Daryl and Rick signaled each other, Rick nodded at me, telling me to keep an eye out as they scouted the area chosen by the Governor.

I paced back and forth, a small handgun in my hand, Hershel sat with a large rifle in the car.

The air was quiet and cool as we waited cautiously.

They had been gone a short while as I watched the roads. "Hershel, pull up to the front of the building" I called out, following behind, it wasn't far from where he was parked as Daryl emerged.

"He's already in there with Rick" Daryl explained to us,

Hershel looked around, "I don't see any cars"

I nodded, "Something's going on"

"Don't feel right, keep it running" Daryl told Hershel moments before we heard a large car pulling over.

We all aimed our guns as they stepped out of the car, the doors slamming. "Why's your boy already in there?" Daryl asked, directing the question at Andrea.

Andrea sighed, storming into the building.

There was a silence as Martinez looked over at me, "Doing better than last time I saw you, half beaten to death" He chuckled, leaning against the car as I stood watching the roads.

Daryl snapped his head around at Martinez but said nothing, only watching. "It's nice to be able to see who I'm talking to" He chuckled.

"Keep flapping your mouth and we'll see how the roles reverse" I growled as the man stood next to him wrote things down in a notepad.

Martinez held his hands up, "I didn't beat you,"

Hershel stood and looked at us all, "Maybe I should go and speak with the Governor and Rick"

The man stood writing shook his head, "The Governor thought it best if he and Rick spoke privately"

Daryl raised his brow, "Who the Hell are you?"

"Milton Mamet" The man announced.

Daryl paced slightly, "Great, he brought his butler" Martinez let out a small chuckle at Daryl's sarcastic comment.

Milton looked up for a second, "I'm his advisor"

"What kind of advice? How to beat women?" Daryl snarled, referencing Glenn and I's beating.

I sighed, "Daryl--"

"Actually, that wasn't an advisable move, if he'd have asked me, which he didn't.." Milton trailed. "Usually planning, biters, you know I don't feel the need to explain myself to the henchmen"

Daryl snarled, "You better watch your mouth sunshine"

Martinez shook his head, "Look, if you and I are gonna be stood out here pointing guns at each other all day, do me a favour and shut your mouth" Martinez looked over at me, "Girl, come collect your dog" He spat.

Daryl stood in front of Martinez, not backing down and starring him in the eyes, both puffing out their chests. "Look, we don't need this, if all goes south in there we'll soon be at each others throats anyway"

Martinez smirked as I nudged Daryl who finally let down and stood beside me. We were all stood staring each other down for a while before Andrea left and sat amongst us. Martinez went and shut the door completely, closing us out.

Daryl was pacing, unsure what to do with himself as Milton approached, "There's no reason that we can't explore the issue ourselves with the time we have"

"Boss said sit tight and shut up" Martinez fired quickly.

Daryl snorted, "Don't you mean the Governor"

"It's a good thing, them sitting down after what happened--" Milton started,

I shook my head, "What happened? Killing my son then beating me and my friend senseless, he's lucky he doesn't have a bullet in the head" My heart was cold and empty, the only thing warm filling it was Daryl, but in this situation, I knew Daryl felt the same.

"Merle told you that?" Martinez sniggered. "Man, he loves to stir shit up"

I stepped towards Martinez who stood up to match me, despite him being a few inches taller. "Merle loved that boy, he wouldn't lie" My voice was low and dangerous.

Martinez sighed, "We've all lost our kids, lady. It's time to move on"

"Were yours killed by a man sat meters away?" I growled.

Martinez had no answer and stepped back, causing me to turn back away from him, "Regardless, nobody wants a battle" Milton continued.

"Wouldn't exactly call it a battle" Daryl spat.

Milton nodded, "I would call it a battle, and I did. I recorded it" He showed us the paper as the sun fell low on Daryl's face.

"For what?" He asked.

Milton smiled, taking pride in it, "Someone's got to keep a record of what we've been through, it'll be apart of our history"

Hershel nodded, "That makes sense"

Milton got seemingly excited, stepping forward to show Hershel his paper before the loud scream of a walker caused us to stop. I nodded at Andrea, signalling her to stay here as I followed Daryl and Martinez.

There were a few walkers, Daryl was about to take shot when he stopped, "After you" He signaled to Martinez.

"No way, you first" Martinez grumbled.

I sighed, pushing past them both and kicking the walker in the leg, causing it to drop to it's knees before I stabbed it and wiped the blood on my jeans.

"Pussy" Martinez smirked, stepping forward and hitting on in the head against the big metal sheets, it's head exploding as Martinez looked at Daryl as if it was a competition.

Daryl shrugged and aimed his crossbow at the closest walker, firing an arrow into it's head as Martinez spun his bat around in his fingers before killing another walker. I sighed as Daryl fired an arrow again, Martinez nearing another walker until Daryl grabbed his knife and threw it into the soft skull of the final walker.

Daryl routed through the pockets of one, finding a half empty carton of cigarettes. "How lucky is that?" He nodded at Martinez and myself, who was stood beside Martinez watching.

Daryl offered Martinez a smoke, to which he replied, "Nah, I prefer menthols"

"Douchebag" Daryl retorted as his lit his cigarette. Martinez leaned against the post, "You army or something?" Daryl asked him, blowing out the smoke into the air.

He shook his head, "Nah, I just hate these things, yeah, after what they did to my wife, kids"

"Sucks.." Daryl muttered.

Martinez looked over at me, "I believe you, what he did to your son, I believe you. I've seen him do some--Things.."

I nodded, my head dropping slightly as he admitted what he thought. We stood for a moment as Daryl toked on his cig, "You know this is a joke, right? They ain't gonna work things out. Sure, they'll do their little dance and tomorrow, next day, they'll give the word"

Daryl side eyed him, nodding slowly, "I know"

Martinez sighed, "Hey," He gestured to the carton of cigarettes in Daryl's pocket as Daryl handed him one, leaving us all to stand in silence.