Hello friends! I know it's been a while since I updated. I really hope you enjoy the update!

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Jo

We ended up holding the meeting in our kitchen. Each community was represented. Hilltop had Maggie and Jesus, The Kingdom had Carol and Ezekiel. And Alexcandria had Rick, Daryl and I. I had tried to excuse myself from the war council in favor of taking charge of the watch out on the fence. Unfortunately, Daryl and Rick had disagreed and when I tried to argue Maggie and Ezekiel had insisted I join them.

Without me at the wall Rick had suggested putting Tara in charge of the patrol around our boarders. This was where I put my foot down. There were only so many people I trusted with our safety and if it wasn't one of us, I wanted Carl out on the fence. Rick had looked at me like he wanted to argue, but in the end I think he was just too exhausted to fight with me. Enid had gone with Carl and with the majority of the forces who had come still out there, we were as safe as we could be. Despite my itching feeling of discomfort I knew Negan wouldn't attack tonight. Even he couldn't rebound that fast. Tonight was the safest we would be for a long time.

Despite my certainty that he wouldn't attack I wasn't able to sit around the table with the rest of them. My brain knew I was exhausted by my skin felt too tight and I couldn't relax. I paced along the edge of the dining room unable to sit still for even a moment. I was listening to their planning with one ear and watching Jerry where he sat on the floor in the living room playing with Judith.

Rick seemed better now, more able to focus after the doctor from The Kingdom was able to look at Michonne. She was hurt badly, but nothing was broken. She had some bruised ribs and would be down for a while. Whatever plan they came up with, it wasn't going to involve Michonne or Rosita either. Our infirmary was nearly filled to capacity. Tara had volunteered to stay behind to help the doctor. She had learned more about healing from Denise than any of us realized.

Rick stood at the head of the table, looking down at the others. "We need to strike first," he said, his voice rough with exhaustion. "Before Negan is able to regroup. He has more men than us, but if we're smart we might be able to still use this time to our advantage. The Saviors are strong because of their numbers, according to our source they have three outposts. All of them are within twenty miles. If we attack one, the others will come. So we need to cut them off, isolate them, make them vulnerable."

Maggie leaned forward on her elbows, her folded hands pressed against one side of her face. "How do we do that?" She asked. She looked beyond exhausted. It had been years ago, but I still remembered how much the first trimester took out of me. I wanted to wrap this up as quickly as possible. We all needed rest, but Maggie shouldn't have been pushing herself the way she was.

Rick snorted and shook his head. He scrubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I have no idea," he replied honestly. "I was hoping one of you would have an idea," he said with a tired smile. 

"We are out manned and out gunned, so we must out think our enemies," Ezekiel said sagely.

The others nodded in agreement with him and I wondered if they were all so dazzled by his formal speech they didn't realize he simply repeated what Rick said.

"Don't underestimate Negan," Daryl's voice rasped. "He's an asshole but the bastard is smart."

I stopped behind Daryl's chair, resting a hand on his shoulder. Something was going on with Daryl. Something that went beyond simple exhaustion and what had happened out there today. I hated not knowing, but I wasn't about to ask until he and I were alone. It wasn't in Daryl's nature to talk about his feelings and he would be even less inclined when we were surrounded by other people. 

"Daryl and Jo know Negan better than anyone," Rick said motioning to us. "Jo? Any input?"

I stiffened as all the eyes at the table fell to us. I wasn't sure what else I could add. We knew all the problems, but I certainly didn't have any solutions. I knew nothing about his men or his tactics. I had experienced strange glimpses into what was left of the man behind the monster, but I didn't think it was him we would be dealing with. Negan was a war lord, and what we had done today would push every button he had. 

I tried to think of all I knew about Negan and how it could help us. Daryl reached up and covered my hand with his own, giving it an encouraging squeeze. I licked my lips. "Negan isn't going to wait for us to attack him. He will return to The Sanctuary, regroup and come right back at us as soon as he can. The man is an egomaniac, he won't let this stand and his attack is going to be brutal. He'll feel the need to make an example of us. Whatever we do, we need to do it fast."

"Planning something like this takes time," Jesus said. "And we're all exhausted."

I turned and met his gaze, "we don't have time to be exhausted, we have to move now."

Jesus stiffened. "Not everyone can just turn it off Jo," he said sternly. "Maggie is pregnant and she needs to rest."

I tensed, but didn't say anything in reply. I already knew that, and it stung that someone I considered a friend thought I wouldn't have taken that into consideration. Daryl stiffened beneath my hand and I squeezed his shoulder before he said anything in retaliation. He was right on the edge. I could feel the tension thrumming through his body. 

Maggie raised her hand, cutting Jesus off and shooting Daryl and I a disapproving look. I scowled back at her, we hadn't been the instigators for once. 

"Alright," Rick said, drawing everyone's attention back to him before any one of us had a chance to say something we would regret. "I know we are all tired, everyone's nerves are shot, but we need a plan before we go our separate ways. I know everyone is anxious to get home to their people. But we need to figure out how to stop them."

"Whatever we come up with it is going to have to be big," Jesus said, his voice still tense.

I bit back the unhelpful urge I had to laugh. Which was a true sign I was over tired. This was why it was sometimes best to leave Daryl and I out of meetings like this. Sometimes we were so good, we managed to piss off even our friends.

"We're short on weapons," Maggie said and her voice tired. "My blacksmiths are working day and night but it won't be enough-"

"We are going to need more than Spears," Rick cut her off.

"Perhaps if the kingdom-" Ezekiel started to say.

Their voices rose and began to overlap one another. I gritted my teeth as I listened to my heart pounding away in my ears in respond to the rising animosity.

Daryl squeezed my hand again and I jumped, startled out of my head. I blinked down at him and his face was grim as he stared up at me. I had no idea how he knew, but he always did.

"We have a weapon," I said in a low voice without taking my eyes off of Daryl. We were going to war, and for some reason it felt like the gravity of that was just catching up with me. I couldn't lose him. We had to win. We had to out think Negan. I could do that. I was smarter than him, less ruled by my emotions. For once it was an advantage. 

Everyone was still trying to talk over one another and only Daryl heard me speak. He turned back to the table. "Everyone shut up!" Daryl called loudly. Silence fell over the table, though the king looked slightly offended.

I pressed my lips together and stepped closer to the table. I was going to have to explain this very carefully or they would think I was crazy and would lock me up. "When the Wolves attacked us, they were a smaller number."

Ezekiel and Jesus were lost, but the others only frowned at my words. They had all been here. 

"Yes, but they had surprise on their side," Maggie argued, her voice slightly sharp. I regretted having to bring up those memories for her. Memories of standing out on the fence, waiting for Glenn to return home, and he had, that time. I knew it was painful, but this was important.

I nodded, my jaw tight. "They also had a herd," I lifted a hand when Rick looked like he was about to start arguing. I just needed everyone to listen for five minutes. "Not on purpose I know, but the truck they used to ram our fence drew the herd and we were trapped inside. We couldn't fight them, not while we were busy fighting the herd. In this world, fighting the dead will always trump fighting the living."

The corner of Daryl's mouth twisted up and he was smirking. "We trap them inside their Sanctuary," He rasped.

I nodded.

Daryl chuckled and I could see the gleam of pride in his eyes. He turned back to the group. "They don't make their own food and they don't have a water source inside that fence. They probably have some reserves but not enough to last for long with the amount of people they got in there."

"So we don't kill them?" Maggie asked thoughtfully.

"Only one person has to die," Rick said firmly. "There aren't enough humans left in this world for us to kill everyone inside The Sanctuary. But, if we isolate Negan inside his sanctuary with all of his men, it would leave us free to take on the outposts. Line them up and knock them down, one, two, three, all at once before they can warn each other or send backup."

"We could clear out their armories," Jesus agreed nodding. "Use it as a way to restock what we will lose."

Daryl leaned back in his chair, his face thoughtful as he crossed his arms over his chest. "That herd is still out on the highway, we just need to turn it around."

"So how do we do it? How do you control the wasted in such a way?" Ezekiel asked curiously.

"We've done it before," Rick said. "We run it just like we did with the quarry."

I frowned. That meant putting Daryl at the front of the herd alone. We didn't have enough people at our disposal to send anyone else with him. Subconsciously, I stepped up beside him, leaning into him. Without looking at me, he leaned his shoulder back into my touch as though he understood what I needed.

Maggie nodded. "But what about all of those workers and Negan's men?"

"We need to give them a chance to surrender," Jesus said decidedly. I liked Jesus, he was one of the few people not in my immediate family I trusted. But at his heart he was an idealist, I only hoped it wouldn't get him killed. Or worse, get a bunch of other people killed before this was all over.

Rick however was nodding along with Jesus. It seemed today we were going to be the good guys. "So we go to the sanctuary, we give them a chance to surrender Negan to us and evacuate. If they don't, we leave and bring in the walkers."

"Gives up the element of surprise," Daryl muttered but no one responded. No one wanted to admit the added risks we would be taking by giving them a chance to surrender. 

I cleared my throat. "A blitz attack is always safer," I said firmly. "And if we are going to give them a chance to talk we are going to have to have some cover so they don't just gun us all down before we have a chance to finish talking." 

Rick drew in a deep breath and nodded as he stared down at the table. Logistics like this were his strength. I was able to point out the obvious, but I had no idea how to fix it. For not the first time I was glad I wasn't in charge. 

After a few moments of silence Jesus spoke up. "What happens if they do surrender him? Do we just execute him?

"YES!" Rick, Carol, Daryl, Maggie and I all responded at once.

Ezekiel arched a brow but didn't argue. Smart man.

Jesus sat back in his chair uncomfortably. I had seen Jesus kill before, he had killed to save my life, but we were going to have to be careful where we put him. In the heat of the moment he was okay with it, but sitting here in our quiet livingroom he hadn't come to terms with what was necessary. It made him dangerous. 

"Okay," Jesus agreed. "There is a lot to work out on how to do that without getting a whole lot of us killed, but lets say it works. We isolate Sanctuary, surround it fifty feet deep in Walkers. Then what?"

Rick sat forward. "Then we break into three groups and head for the outposts. And we take them, whatever is necessary, take them all out. There can't be anyone left to resist." 

Jesus swallowed but nodded slowly. Rick looked over our group. "We go in force to Sanctuary, then Ezekiel, Carol and The Kingdom take the first outpost," he said and Carol nodded in agreement.

"Daryl and I lead our people," Rick said. "And..." he looked at Maggie. "You can't be a part of this. But-" he glanced over his shoulder at me. "Jesus and Jo could lead the Hilltop. She trained them, they would follow her and Jesus if-"

"No," Daryl's voice was a rough growl as he interrupted Rick. 

Rick looked over at Daryl in surprise. Everyone but Carol and I looked shocked Daryl would disagree with Rick over anything.

"What?" Rick asked in surprise. He glanced over the others and I could see he didn't like Daryl questioning him in front of the others. I wasn't as worried about it as he was. The only real outsiders were Jesus and Ezekiel. And unlike Ezekiel, Rick wasn't a king, his word wasn't absolute, and it certainly wasn't over Daryl or I. Never had been. But usually I understood when Daryl disagreed. So far Rick's plan made sense to me. 

I could practically feel the tension radiating off of Daryl and I sucked in a breath. When his temper reared it's head it was important to tread carefully, or there would be no reasoning with him for days. Or however long it took him to cool down.

Rick however did not seem able to recognize that and plowed on as though nothing had changed.  "Daryl, if she goes with the Hilltop they can-"

Daryl cut Rick off, leaning forward aggressively. "You ain't sending her off with another group," he warned roughly.

For the most part Daryl just went along with the group, but there were certain things he took very seriously, and my safety was one of them. For some reason he seemed more raw from the fight today than normal and I hadn't quite sorted out why. Whatever was happening it had the alpha in Daryl on high alert.

Everyone around the table was tense, holding themselves perfectly still in the face of Daryl's sudden anger. Even Rick didn't seem to know what to say. He was just staring at Daryl as though he didn't recognize him. And maybe he didn't. Rick hadn't spent that much time around Daryl since we got him back, and as much as I hated to admit it, there were things about Daryl that had changed. And if Rick wasn't careful, he might find out that Daryl wasn't as willing to fall in line. Rick and Daryl were both alpha males, but Daryl had always been willing to let Rick lead because he genuinely believed Rick was a better leader. If Rick pushed him, Daryl would push back. 

Finally, it was Ezekiel who broke the tense silence. "Daryl, you must know we are all comrades in arms, we would never risk each other's safety unnecessarily."

"Dare," I said and my voice came out more tense than I intended. I fought to keep my own temper in check. My losing my patience wouldn't help whatever protective alpha male instincts were overruling his ability to think straight. I drew in a deep breath and looked down at him calmly and confidently, letting him see I agreed with this plan. "It makes the most sense, it will-"

Daryl slammed his palm down on the table hard enough the table jumped, and sloshed liquid out of our glasses. It was my words that had set him off, but he was glaring at Rick. "I won't let you send her off with a bunch of strangers. She's staying with me."

And just like that, my control over my temper snapped. 

I sucked in a sharp breath and Carol's eyes flashed to my face in alarm. Daryl wasn't the only alpha in this relationship. "She is right here-" I snarled, my anger rising to match his. I understood Daryl feeling protective, but that didn't make it okay for him to talk about me like I wasn't here. Like the final decision wasn't mine.

Daryl whirled towards me, his anger snapping in his eyes. "And you ain't no better," he roared at me, stabbing his finger towards my chest.

My eyes narrowed dangerously, but his temper was so far gone he either didn't notice or didn't care. "You'll run straight in there, throw yourself at every person you come to, risk your life for a buncha strangers who are more than willing to let ya lead the charge."

Rick held up his hands as though he could calm us both. "Daryl, we all are going to be taking risks-"

Daryl whirled on Rick. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, but it was the tension in his shoulders that Rick should have been worried about. All of Daryl's muscles were coiling. "And where will Michonne be in all of this?" Daryl challenged his voice gravely with emotion. "What about Carl? Judith? Funny how your family will be safe in all of this."

"Daryl, no one is safe!" I snapped, but he was ignoring me, all of his tight rage was focused entirely on Rick.

"Michonne is injured, otherwise she would be right there with me," Rick argued. "And there are more members of my family than just those three."

Daryl drew in a sharp breath. "But they are your priority," Daryl said his voice suddenly calm in his rage and I knew things were going to go badly. "Just like Jo is mine. And ya said it yourself, if Michonne was fighting she would be right there with you."

"It's not your choice Daryl!" I finally bellowed. I had had enough.

Daryl whipped towards me, he climbed to his feet knocking his chair over backwards as he glared down at me. "The hell I can't. I'm leading this parade of death ain't I? Ya ain't doing it," he growled through clenched teeth.

"And you aren't going to tell me what I am and am not going to do. It isn't your choice! And it isn't Rick's! It's mine!" I yelled. 

"I'm not going to sit by and let ya run head first into a Savior's outpost. What would your strategy be? Ya lead the charge, tell the people from Hilltop to cover ya if they can keep up? No goddamn way!"

I shook my head, unable to comprehend how he can't see how irrational he was being. Three communities worth of people were going to war, my safety meant nothing. "Having three of our strongest fighters together is not only overkill, it's a waste. It could mean people dying at one of the other outposts."

Daryl's jaw was set and his eyes were hard as he glared down at me. I hated it when he was able to use his height against me. Even wearing my boots with a slight heel he was over half a foot taller than me. It was hard to be intimidating when you were staring up at someone's chin.

Daryl shook his head. "You're going to run in there and you're going to turn it off and do what ya do best, right? Well this time it's a gun fight, and all ya got are knives."

I scoffed. "This is what I do Daryl. It's who I am."

"No it ain't!" he roared. "That's bullshit and you know it. You almost got yourself killed out there today just for a chance to kill him." 

And just like that I knew what had been bothering him. It didn't matter however, he was not laying this blame on me. "And it didn't matter that you were there! You let me do it!" I snarled back harshly.

As soon as I said the words, I knew they had been a mistake. Daryl looked for a second like I had slapped him, and then his face transformed into something terrifying. He shoved away from the table and stormed out the door, slamming it behind him so hard it rattled the pictures on the wall.

"Dude," Jerry's voice came from the living room.

"Shit," I muttered and I let out a sigh, shaking my head as I dropped into a chair. 

"Give it some time, he'll come around," Rick said grimly.

Carol scoffed and shook her head. "No, he won't," she folded her hands together and looked back around the table. "Let's finish up," her voice was behind me, and I only heard it distantly as I debated whether or not to follow Daryl. He was upset but I didn't think I would be able to calm him down.

I looked back at Rick and he was looking at me questioningly. I just shrugged. I had no answers. 

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Daryl

I was pacing back and forth across the top of the fence. I had sent Aaron and Eric home to bed. There wasn't a chance I was going to sleep tonight. I was too pissed. I was pissed at Rick for his willingness to risk Jo's life, and I was pissed at Jo for being willing to let him. She would run head first into this fight and she wouldn't come back out. It had been sheer dumb luck I hadn't lost her today.

Mostly I was pissed at myself. She was right, I had let her do it. I had stood by and let her stand there a perfect target for any Savior with a gun. And at the time, in the heat of the fight, I had thought it was worth the risk. It wasn't. Facing the possibility of going at this fight again I wasn't willing to risk her. Not for a second. But he needed to die. I scrubbed a hand over my face.

"Do you feel better?" It wasn't Jo. I turned around, a scowl firmly fixed on my face as Carol approached.

"Don't ya gotta go? Be with your king?" I snapped. I was being an asshole, but at this point I couldn't seem to stop it. 

"They are solidifying the last of the details. We need to get started preparing tomorrow. We go in three days. Jo didn't think it was safe to wait much longer than that."

I nodded, but my jaw was clenched so tight I didn't trust anything that would come out of my mouth. I was still too pissed.

"Do you trust her?" Carol asked her head cocked to the side.

"What?" I snapped.

She made a noise of disgust in her throat and I knew it was because I was acting like an ass. Carol had never been one to put up with my shit. I wasn't going to scare her off by snarling and scowling like I could everyone else.

"Jo," she said calmly. "Do you trust her?"

"Course," I growled, stomping another line along the top of the fence. There was nothing out there, and if there was it would be nearly impossible to see it in the dark anyway. It just gave me something to do, a way to keep moving so I didn't have to think to hard about what an ass I had been to Jo. 

Carol leaned back against the fence. "Then trust her. She isn't suicidal. She knows her limits."

I snorted and shook my head. "Ya been gone a while," I growled. "But I can't believe ya been gone long enough to think that. The woman don't know the meaning of the word limit."

Carol nodded slowly in agreement and I felt like I had played right into her hand. "You're right. That was something that was taken from her. A long time ago. But she is one of our best chances of killing Negan."

I turned to look at Carol in disbelief. "Only in close quarters," I said. I lifted my crossbow. "I'm a better bet."

Carol sighed and shook her head. She looked exhausted. The months apart had changed her. "I thought you wanted to be left alone," I challenged.

"And I thought you wanted Jo," she said biting off the words unkindly.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" I asked taking a step towards her.

But Carol had never been intimidated by me, instead she crossed her arms over her chest. "You spent all that time chasing after her and you're going to chase her away now?" she asked. "Because that's what you're doing Daryl." 

I narrowed my eyes, but my heart started pounding in my chest as something finally started to worm it's way past my anger. "She's my wife," I snarled. "She ain't going anywhere."

Carol took a step back and I could see the surprise on her face. "Did I miss my invitation to the wedding?"

I scowled at her. It didn't matter what everyone else thought about my relationship with Jo, it never had. 

Carol shook her head. "You need to be careful Daryl. This is exactly the way you lose her," she said taking a step towards me.

"I'm trying to protect her!" I yelled. "Goddamnit! I can't lose her!" I yelled pointing back towards the house. "That son of a bitch wants her Carol. You ain't been here, you haven't seen it! He'll do whatever he has to to get his hands on her. She can't go anywhere near him. " I felt like I was choking on the fear and uncertainty and rage. The bastard had to die.

"And every time you try to make that decision for her you push her further and further away," Carol's voice was gentle suddenly, full of understanding and when I looked at her she had leaned back against the fence with her arms crossed over her chest. Her stance was aggressive but her eyes were soft.

I shook my head and turned away. "I don't know how to stop." I said honestly. "The shit I heard when I was in there...she wouldn't survive that place."

"Daryl," Carol snapped off my name to get my attention. "Don't underestimate her," she ordered.

I turned around and looked out into the night. She didn't understand. None of them understood. We had to kill that bastard but I would do whatever I had to to keep Jo as far away from it as possible.

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Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed the update!!! I really appreciate your input on where to take the story in the new season! I'm still working out my plan, and I love hearing your thoughts!