seventy three.

"I might have to get her up to speed. You can't hear shit inside this thing." He banged Lucille against the coffin, his fingers on the edge ready to pry it open. "Sash, you're not gonna believe this crap!" Sasha barreled out, her teeth bared as she hissed at Negan. My eyes went wide as Negan fell off the platform with a turned Sasha now on top of him, trying to get a bite of his flesh. Carl retrieved his gun which had been knocked away from him and began to shoot, everyone following his lead. I whipped around and grabbed my gun back too, shooting a few of the people standing behind me before ducking down to dodge the other various bullets whizzing through the air around me.

"Go," Daryl ordered me, waving me away. I briefly looked at him in sadness before following his order and sprinting down the road to safety. A woman ran towards me with an axe raised above her head. I shot her without a second thought. She collapsed, dead. I quickly ducked behind a house to hide and hopefully wait everything out if things went right for us. I slightly stumbled back in surprise when my eyes met King Ezekiel's; him and his people were already gathered behind the house. They were crouching down, hoping to stay incognito. Carol saw me and rose to her feet without hesitation. I shoved through the crouching bodies in my way to get to her. She held me briefly in her arms before pulling me down next to her and rubbing my back comfortingly.

"You okay," she asked softly.

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm fine. Just didn't think we'd being doing this bullshit again so soon". I turned my head to look at her, but came face to face with the tiger. A low growl echoed from the back of its throat. My heart began to thud against my ribcage, my mouth going dry. Imagine, surviving all this time with flesh eating monsters roaming the earth and getting taken out by a tiger. I feel bad for whatever sorry bastard has to meet that end and I have a feeling someone here today is.

"Shiva," Ezekiel whispered in a scolding tone. "She's a good, strong woman and shall be treated with respect." He ran his hand over her head while looking down at me. "Put your hand out." My mouth fell open in surprise at the command.

"I- I can't—" I began to stutter in protest. I was scared she was gonna bite my fingers off.

"It's okay," he assured, bowing his head to me. I glanced back at the tiger who stared back at me with interest, cold as stone. I swallowed hard before shakily lifting up my hand, flat out in front of me. Shiva made another low growl before closing her eyes and nuzzling her head into my hand, its soft fur a delicate and warm feeling. I nervously laughed while a smile spread across my lips. Shiva rested there, head butting my hand a few times to show her affection. "She can feel your energy, your soul," Ezekiel observed. "That's one of the many reasons why I love her," he grinned before calmly gazing out over the deadly chaotic scene before him. I could've sworn I saw a slight sparkle in Shiva's eyes. It might not even be possible, but I swore I saw it. It was reassuring to me, relaxing me to my very core. "Get ready. We run not long from now," Ezekiel instructed. Guns clicked behind me as the Kingdom residents suited up. I slowly drew my hand away from the tiger, turning away and pulling out my gun.

"We're gonna take this place back," Carol smirked next to me.

"Negan's gonna see what I'm really made of. I'm gonna make him regret everything he's done to us," I smirked back, my heart beginning to beat faster at the thought of getting my revenge: payback for what he put Daryl and I through. Ezekiel began to mumble a countdown before turning back to Shiva.

"Shiva, go," he bellowed, the words sending her flying through the air. She pounced on one of the Saviors, latching onto his head with her killer, razor sharp teeth and refusing to let go. "Go!" The herd of us sprang to our feet and ran out into the war-plagued mess. "End these Saviors and their accomplices! Alexandria will not fall, not on this day," Ezekiel shouted with pride as he shot at the Saviors who tried to flee from the destruction of Shiva. What a bunch of pussies.

I shot a man in the head and his body instantaneously dropped to the pavement, his blood flowing onto the concrete. Another man who saw what I'd done shot at me, just barely grazing me. My face began to grow hot in fury, the sound of my pounding heart slowly taking over my hearing. I rapidly returned fire with him and he ran. I started to shoot at his feet, his ankles, anything to take him down, before perusing him on foot. He ducked behind a house and I relentlessly followed. I wasn't gonna let him get away. I rounded the corner at full speed, a piercing pain suddenly shocking my torso. I fired at him, killing him on the spot. My ears rang as the Savior slumped to the ground, a bloody heap at my feet. I glared at his mangled body, barely noticing the object in line with my vision: the handle of a knife. It stuck out of my stomach, a patch of red surrounding it and slowly growing by the second. I focused in on it in shock as I began to panic. I muttered nonsense to myself almost inaudibly while I was hit with a wave of nausea. It was like my life had been briefly kicked into slow motion as the blood began to trickle its way down to the lower half of my body.

I placed my hand on the handle, gripping it tightly. I grit my teeth as hard as I could and pulled the knife out through my muscles. I shrieked in pain, a burning sensation punching me over and over and over. I squeezed my eyes shut, tears escaping and cascading down my face. I finally yanked it out, thick, red blood covering the once glittering silver blade; my blood tainted it. My wound was now open, blood beginning to steadily flow through as it now had an exit to escape. I began to panic again, my eyes wide with realization that through my scattered, adrenaline-fueled thoughts, I'd fucked up; never pull something out of a wound. I hurried to cover my stomach with my shaking hands, pressing on the wound to try and stop the bleeding. I opened my mouth to scream out in pain, but nothing came out. I hadn't even realized the gunfire had stopped until now.

It was now silent in the minuscule town of Alexandria.

I glanced around in lazy confusion, staggering out from behind the house to find Daryl, find everyone else and see if they were alright. Every step I took felt like I was being burned with a fire poker. I could see a small group of people huddled near the gate. Daryl stood atop a truck to peer over the edge, making sure the motherfuckers were truly gone. I stumbled back onto the pavement, blood leaking through my fingers and painting my favorite green shirt a deep, muddy red. Daryl turned around to look at me. His movement caught everyone's attention, the group turning around to look at me as well. Daryl took a few steps forward in a defensive stance. I raised one of my hands up towards him. It was caked in blood.

"I-I'm okay," I called out to him. The piercing burning pain of my wound made it hard for me to keep my focus on getting to him. My vision suddenly began to blur in and out. "I'm okay," I repeated. Everyone's faces were full of concern as I swayed back and forth, struggling to take another step forward. Daryl leaped off the back of the truck, sprinting over to me just as my legs gave out. He caught me as I went down, my vision black for only a few seconds. I groaned in pain as Daryl cradled me. My hand holding my wound fell from its position, smearing blood down my side; red didn't fail to paint me. "H-he fucking got me," I choked out, my breathing shaky. Daryl glanced over my body in fear, his lip beginning to quiver.

"Someone help," he yelped. "Help!" His voice cracked as he held me, unsure of what to do. Daryl attempted to cover my wound, his touch sending pain through my stomach. I cried out in agony, tears wetting my cheeks. "Help!" Frantic footsteps pounded on the pavement in all different directions to find the others.

"H-he fucking s-stabbed me," I muttered to myself, my vision swimming while I struggled to obtain a full breath. "It hurts."

"Aften, look at me," Daryl begged, his voice weak. "Look at me, please." My clouded green eyes flickered over to his blurry baby blues. "Keep your eyes on me," he pleaded, a tear slipping down his skin. People rushed over to us with a gurney, instructing for him to put me onto it. He began to stand up with me in his arms. I screamed, as the wound was too painful to even move. Daryl's knees buckled and he nearly dropped me into my own bloody mess that slathered the concrete. He tried again, others attempting to help him in worry and panic. I screamed again, this time louder than before.

"Don't," I cried. "Don't! Stop!" Daryl peered down at me, his face going pale. My lip trembled as tears continued to pour down my skin. My once racing heartbeat had now turned lethargic, struggling to do its job. A cold feeling plagued me, the tips of my toes being greeted by it firsthand. "It, it hurts. It hurts so bad."

"I know, baby, I know," Daryl frantically whispered back. I winced at the cold, weakly crying out in pain as it crept up my body like a snake.

"We have to get her to the infirmary immediately," someone said impatiently, shoving the gurney towards us again. "This is crucial!"

"Daryl," I whimpered, staring up at him in terror. My breathing was as choppy and shallow as can be.

"I'm gonna help you, I promise," Daryl weeped. "Get somethin' else, god dammit! Go fuckin' get somethin' else," he exploded. "Do an operation out here, I don't give a shit! Just fuckin' save her! She's losin' too much blood!" He turned back to look at me, his voice soft again as people ran back to the infirmary. "I'm here, I'm gonna help you." Daryl put his forehead against mine to comfort me, his hand going back to covering my wound to try and stop any more damage from being done. I could barely move, a few stray tears the only things in motion. My body was becoming paralyzed with pain so much that it felt like I was floating, my mind disassociating from everything going on around me. Daryl pulled away, looking helpless as the love of his life deteriorated in front of his very eyes.

"D-don't leave," I sputtered, my eyes locked on his. "Don't leave me." He shook his head.

"I'm not leavin'. I'm right here. You're gonna be okay, alright? I'm not leavin'," he reassured me, stroking his thumb across my cheek to wipe away my tears. My body had become completely rigid, yet my head was comfortably cradled in Daryl's arm. "Keep lookin' at me, okay?" I wanted to nod to let him know I heard him, but I couldn't. My heart was fading out, beating even slower than a snail's pace. "I love you," he told me, my eyes then softening in comfort. Daryl leaned down, kissing my lips and pulling me in closer to his chest. I could hear the footsteps coming back from the infirmary, pounding against the pavement again from far away.

When Daryl pulled back, for the doctors to take over, it began to happen: the edges of my vision became black while my eyes were still wide open, the dreaded color creeping over my eyes until I could see no more. My whole life slipped away right before him and out of the both of our fingertips. I could see or feel nothing. But I could hear Daryl begin to weep, heart wrenchingly painful guttural noises erupting from him when he realized that it was just a moment too late. He let out an agonized sob while I laid completely limp in his trembling arms.

A then quiet, yet shrill, familiar female cry made itself known before being stifled by her hands. The wailing began to slowly fade into inaudible waves of noise and then it was gone. Everything I used to be and ever was had disappeared into the void: a place where the rest of my family were already permanent members of. That's one thing I now had in common with them and probably the only thing I ever would: we were all set up to travel into the dark abyss sooner or later. But how lucky I was, though, that I had gotten to know what real love was in the most ruthless and unforgiving of worlds.