SILENCE THE WHISPERERS

We were eating dinner with Michonne. Lyra was sitting beside Judith and Lydia as I sat next to Carl and R.J., Daryl was just was watching as Judith and Lyra made each other giggle. Daryl then finally sat down next to Michonne. R.J. had a cloth over his face. All the kids were laughing

"It's very good. It's very good. Here" Michonne said

"Gotta eat your greens" I told Lyra as she kept picking at them with her fork. She reluctantly ate them, and Lydia followed in suit

"You know, I can't believe you're the parents of two children" Michonne said

"I can't believe you have three" I said

"I'm not a child" Carl said

"You'll always be my child" Michonne said

—————

I was helping Aaron with fighting demonstrations

"Stop! You're dead. Your eyes were on the ground. Track from head to hands always. Lose focus, and you will get killed. Remember, these people took our friends. They took our land. They must be stopped again" Aaron said

"Hey, Lydia! You think Mommy will take me in?" Gage asked before putting a bag on his head. Though, I wasn't as close to Lydia as Daryl, she was still technically my child. Daryl wanted to bring her in which made her a Dixon. I began to approach Gage from behind

"Oh, right. No. She- She kicked your ass out. Now you're just a freak" Gage said. I was standing right behind Gage. I gave Lydia a little smile before I tapped Gage's shoulder. He turned only to be slammed to the ground

"Looks like someone wasn't paying attention to the demonstrations" I said with a grin. Some of the other people began chuckling at Gage. I got up

"Also, if anyone else has a grievance with my kid, Lydia, y'all can come to me about that. Though, you probably won't like what I have to say back" I said with a grin. Gage and his goonies went silent

"Oh, you don't have anything to say?" I asked. They didn't respond

"Keep it that way" I said

—————

I had just finished helping carry some food crates when I saw Daryl walking after an angry Lydia. Though it seemed that Daryl was upset as well. I followed after Daryl

"We were just talking" Lydia said

"He ain't your friend" Daryl said. I assume she had seen Negan again

"He gets me" Lydia said

"Just stay away from him, alright?" Daryl asked as Lydia stopped walking. Daryl caught up and they stared at each other

"Guys.." I muttered as we had all seen the same thing painted on our doors in yellow spray paint

SILENCE THE WHISPERERS

—————

Aaron had informed me and Daryl that Lydia was put in a holding cell. Apparently she cut open a squirrel and got blood on Gage, and then she told them to shh, with bloody hands. I wasn't really sure what the issue was. She didn't kill anyone. Either way, me and Daryl met her

"You do wanna live here, right?" Daryl asked

"They deserved it" Lydia said

"I honestly don't think she did anything wrong" I said. Daryl looked at me before pointing at me

"You are not helping. And you can't be doing shit like that" Daryl said looking at Lydia. She walked over to us

"But they can just write whatever the hell they want on our door?" Lydia asked

"I'll talk to 'em. I'll set 'em straight" Daryl said

"I'll do it. I promise they won't ever bother you again" I said as I cracked my knuckles. Daryl looked at me

"No" He said. I groaned

"You're zero fun" I said

"No, please. I don't want either of you to fight my fights for me, okay? They want me to give up. I know that. But I'm not gonna, okay? I can't" Lydia said

"I get it. Can't you just avoid 'em?" Daryl asked. Lydia looked hurt. She grabbed her stick before leaving the cell. Daryl sighed

"Great" He muttered

"She'll only be pissed for a little while" I said. Daryl looked at me

"I'm this close.." He muttered

"This close to what?" I asked as I raised my eyebrow. He groaned and walked away

"Hey! Come back!" I yelled

—————

Siddiq was besides Margo's dead body as me and Daryl were beside Lydia. Apparently Negan had killed her

"Should have never let 'em out" Someone said

"Yeah, man, just heard.." another said

"You freak. This is your fault!" Gage yelled at a crying Lydia

"It was Negan! Negan killed her!" Some background character said

"No, he didn't do anything wrong. No, it wasn't- He didn't do anything" Lydia cried out

"Now get him out of here!" Daryl yelled

"Please" Lydia cried

"Move!" Someone yelled at Negan. Lydia was struggling under Daryl

"No, he didn't do anything wrong!" Lydia cried. Daryl leaned in as I ran my fingers through her hair

"I know. I know. I know. I know. I know" Daryl reassured her

"He didn't do anything wrong. No, please! Oh, please, no. Please" Lydia cried

—————

Lydia was in the infirmary. Me and Daryl walked in to check on her. Dante was caring for her. Lydia looked awful. Dante noticed us

"I'll be back" Dante said before leaving

"I'm so sorry this happened to you" Daryl said

"They will all be punished, I'll make sure of it" I said as I counted the bullets in my gun. She wouldn't look at us. Daryl put his hand on her arm

"Lydia" Daryl said

"He was so sweaty. Never liked deodorant. Said it- it made his armpits itchy. So I got used to it. Sometimes he smelled like garlic and onions. I miss him" Lydia said. I had no idea who she was talking about

"Who's that?" Daryl asked

"My dad. My dad would've protected me" Lydia said. I ran my fingers through her knotted hair as Daryl sat down beside her. She was crying

"Tell me what happened" Daryl said

"Negan saved my life" Lydia said. Daryl moved Lydia so she was resting on her shoulder

"I believe you" I told her as we both comforted her

—————

Me and Daryl opened the door to the cells to see Negan on the bed

"We let you out for one second and you go off and kill someone" I said with a smile

"Y/n, not in the mood-" I cut Negan off

"At least it was a bitch I didn't like" I said

"How's the kid doing?" Negan asked

"She's banged up, but she'll be all right. You know, the people out there are talkin' about puttin' you down, sayin' Rick ain't around to save you no more, maybe they should have done it a long time ago" Daryl said

"If you came here looking for a confession.. just keep walking. It was an accident. And for the record, as Y/n said, screw her. She was a goddamn asshole beating on a kid. World's better off. But you already know that, don't you? You came down here to look me in the eye because you don't know what to do with me. Shit, all that time both of you spent fantasizing about my death, all that time you actually tried to kill me, and now look at you. You're not so sure" Negan said sitting up

"You listen to me real close. You and I ain't never been in a room before, not toe to toe. And there ain't nobody to save you right now" Daryl said

"What do you want me to do? I mean, the people out there- they are out for blood. Guys like you and me, and even Y/n- we can smell that from a mile away" Negan said

"Why help Lydia?  You ain't no hero" Daryl said

"No. No, I'm not. I'm a sucker. See, I started believing in your way of life, your moral code. Hell, you even gave me a little taste of freedom, just so you could yank it away when I actually did the right thing. You gotta admit, that is pretty messed up. And we both know I appreciate some messed-up shit" Negan said

"You know, Negan. I know we don't see eye to eye, but I'm on your side this time. Though that doesn't mean we're friends. I'm just saying, I appreciate what you did for Lydia" I said. Negan softly smiled

"You're gonna get your chance to tell your side" Daryl said before walking out. I followed after him. We walked to our house. Carol was sitting on our doorstep. She must've wanted to talk to Daryl, so I went inside and closed the door behind me. Carl was inside, he was making dinner for Lydia and Lyra. He turned and looked at me

"Welcome home" He said

"How'd you get in here?" I asked

"You left the front door unlocked" Carl said

"Damn, you're right" I said

"And it's done. Lydia! Lyra! Judith! RJ! Dinner!" Carl yelled. I watched as the four went down the stairs

"Food! Food! Food!" Lyra chanted. Lydia was quiet as she kept her eyes on the ground. We all sat down and Carl served us

"What a gentleman" I said. Carl rolled his eye as he smiled. Then, we all ate

—————

The council was having a meeting. We were discussing Lydia's attack. Gage and Alfred were explaining what happened but none of us were buying it

"Lydia lured you there?" Gabriel asked

"Yeah. You saw what she did with the squirrel. She's psycho" Gage said

"And Negan was with her" Alfred said

"If you thought Lydia was crazy, why'd you agree to meet her back there in the dark?" Gabriel asked which neither expected. I struggled to keep a blank face. Internally I was laughing at the two dumbasses and their awful lying skills

"Well, um.. Well-" Gage was cut off

"Hey, we're the ones who were attacked here" Alfred said

"But she's the one laying in the infirmary" Gabriel said

"And our friend is in a grave" Alfred said. We let them go so we could discuss among themselves

"They totally planned to kill her, and Negan helped her" I said

"Y/n, you don't know-" I cut Aaron off

"I do know that. I don't like Negan anymore than the rest of you, but he protected Lydia, and that's gotta count for something" I said

"Negan might have redeemed himself" Carl said

"I get why people might think Negan's been redeemed. I've.. I've wondered it myself. Hell, he- maybe he has changed. But a man like that, who's done the things he's done, killed the people he's killed, something inside of him is broken. We need to face that fact" Aaron said as Daryl walked in and leaned against the wall

"Yes, but killing him now over this undermines the civilization that we have built" Siddiq said

"He's right" Carl backed Siddiq up

"What about the people who never got to witness that civilization because of him?" Aaron asked

"And what the hell are you even talking about? The Whisperers are attacking us" Siddiq said getting pissed

"Okay, let's take a break" Gabriel said. Siddiq stood up

"No. Let me finish. Look at what's going on at Hilltop. We're taking our eyes off the ball" Siddiq said

"The council wasn't made for this, deciding on a man's life in the dead of night because people are carrying pitchforks and torches" Gabriel said

"I- Look, if you can't make a decision, the people out there are gonna make one for you" Daryl said. We all turned and looked at him

"Well what'd Michonne say?" Gabriel asked

"She wants me to be her vote. Lydia said Negan saved her so he saved her. I'm a 'no'" Daryl said

"So we're tied" Aaron said

"Gabriel, where do you stand?" Aaron asked. Gabriel thought about it for a moment before he stood up

"I'm gonna take the night to clear my head and consider my vote, and I suggest you all do the same" Gabriel said

—————

I was sleeping in bed when I was woken up by pounding on our front door. I got up and noticed Daryl was already awake. I went to walk downstairs as Daryl opened the door

"What?" Daryl asked as I made it to the bottom

"He's gone" Gabriel said. Negan had escaped, again. Daryl rushed out as I stayed behind with Gabriel

"Shit" I muttered. Gabriel looked at me. I closed the door behind me as we walked down the steps. Aaron joined us

"The guards say the keys are missing" Gabriel said

"So someone let him out" I said

"The question is who?" Gabriel asked

"Who was on watch last night?" Aaron asked

"Laura was, but she said she didn't do it, and I believe her" Gabriel said

"Yeah, Laura wouldn't do it" I said. Lydia came up behind me

"I did it. I let Negan out" Lydia said before she walked down into the jail

"She really did it?" Gabriel asked me

"Oh, no, Daryl kept watch. There's no way she would've been able to leave. Daryl is like a hawk, one time I went to get out of bed, this is like when we first started sleeping together, and he slammed me to the bed and held a knife to my throat. Most people would've screamed, but it was oddly attractive" I said with a smile

"I didn't need to know that" Aaron said

"Same" Gabriel said. Both were mildly disturbed by my story

(2259 words)
07/13/22