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Daryl and Juliana didn't waste much time trying to figure out how to get The Kingdom involved with taking out Negan. They had paired up with Richard despite neither Daryl or Juliana really trusting the man, but they weren't going to sit around and do nothing. Neither of them were going to take this lying down.

He led the two of them miles out of town, down a road that The Saviors traveled often where they could be easily ambushed. She had fallen back a little ways behind Richard as they wandered, falling back to walk beside Daryl. There was an odd silence between the two of them; wanting to say something, anything,to the other, but struggling to find anything to say. Needless to say, Juliana was more than surprised when Daryl was the first to speak up.


"Y'okay?" he muttered, his eyes shifting from the back of Richard's head over to her for a brief moment.


"Angry," she admitted, shifting her gun around her shoulder slightly, "Tired."


Daryl's face softened ever so slightly when she mentioned she was tired. He knew she wasn't talking about being physically exhausted.


Richard veered off the road before Daryl could say anything else, and the two of them exchanged a quick glance between each other before putting their game faces on,following him behind two tractor trailers that had veered off the road creating a makeshift blockade.


"They ride this road. If we can see cars, it's The Saviors. They've been coming in packs of two or three lately. That's why I need you two. I can't take them alone."


He shifted his bag off of his back,setting it against the side of the semi as he knelt down, unzipping the top compartment, "We're gonna hit them with the guns first, and then the Molotov's. Then back to the guns until they're dead."


"Why the fire?" Daryl questioned,gesturing to the Molotov cocktails Richard had pulled out from his backpack.


"Needs to look bad. The Savior's who discover what's left.." he stood, facing the two of them, "We want them to be angry. I left I trail here to the weapons cache I planted to the cabin of someone that Ezekiel cares about."


Juliana, who had been half listening the entire time, turned her attention to Richard, "Who's that?"


"It's just some loner he met.Sometimes he brings food."


She glanced out of the corner of her eye to catch Daryl glancing at her at the same moment. They both had the same thought: this could be Carol. It had to be.


"Why don't they live in The Kingdom?"Juliana pressed.


Richard shrugged, "I don't know. She lives out there, she'll die out there."


The two of them stilled. Juliana felt her stomach flip, "..It's a woman?"

"What does that matter? She's got more balls than Daryl and me! She's gonna die either way."


Juliana had stepped closer to Daryl,reaching out with her free hand to grab a fistful of the back of his shirt. Her fingers curled tightly around the fabric, using Daryl to keep herself in check for this moment; but she wouldn't be able to control anything once she let go.

Her grip only tightened as Richard continued, "When The Saviors come find their buddies dead, if they know their elbow from their asshole, and can follow an obvious spoor,they're gonna go to the weapons cache, and then to the cabin, and they're gonna attack this woman."


"What's her name?" Juliana practically blurted out, her voice on the verge of cracking.


Richard continued as if he hadn't heard her: "..Maybe they kill her, maybe they don't, but it's gonna show Ezekiel what he needs to do."


"Her fucking name. What is it?"Juliana demanded this time.


Richard scoffed, avoiding her again,"She's tough. Maybe she'll live."


Letting go of Daryl, she took a large step forward to Richard, "Say her damn name!"


Richard, who was much taller than Juliana, stared down at her, letting out a frustrated sigh. Time seemed like it stood still as her name came rolling out of his mouth:"Carol."


"I hoped that you didn't know her,but I didn't think you two would care, 'cause you both know what needs to happen."


Daryl move up swiftly behind her,latching his hand around Juliana's elbow and pulled her forwards with him as he went to pick up his own bag.


"Maybe she'll live!" Richard tried to reason.


"No."


"Look!" he stepped forward to the two of them. Juliana had pulled away from Daryl and was trying her best to ignore Richard pleading with them as Daryl got their things together, "This is how we can get rid of The Saviors! How we all can have a future! She's living out there on her own, waiting to die!"


Juliana scoffed at him, rolling her eyes as she and Daryl moved past the man.


"If we don't do anything, a hell of a lot more people are going to die, people who want to live!"


She turned around quickly, eye narrowed up at Richard, "You stay the hell away from Carol."


Before they had a chance to leave Richard, the sound of vehicles fast approaching from down the road became very apparent. Juliana turned her head to look over her shoulder at Daryl whose finger was on the trigger of his crossbow.


"Look, we can wait for things to go bad, we lose people..or we can do the hard thing and choose our fate for ourselves."

"No." came Juliana's firm reply,still facing away from Richard. She and Daryl had locked eyes,waiting with bated breath for his response.


"Sorry."


As it came rolling out of his mouth,Daryl bypassed Juliana, laying a heavy hand on his shoulder and yanked him down to the ground, falling on top of him and with brute force, held him down as long as it took for the caravan of Saviors to pass while Juliana was on unofficial standby; her weapon at the ready just in case. Richard continued to struggle, and Daryl responded by throwing punches, his face connecting solidly with Richard's face.


He managed to free himself, flipping over and reached for his weapon at the same time as Daryl. The two men were both pointing their weapons at each other, and Juliana didn't hesitate to raise her own from behind Richard, aiming it at the back of his head.


"There will be more. They'll be back this way later..we'll have another chance. But we're running out of time. If you and your people want to move against The Saviors, you need to do it soon, and you need The Kingdom. What we have to do requires sacrifice one way or another. Guys like us..we've already lost so much. Do you really want to risk losing your girlfriend here,huh? Or her losing you?"


"You don't know me," Daryl growled out, "You don't know her."


"I know that Carol living on her own like that ..she might as well be dead right now."


Daryl lowered his weapon, "She gets hurt, she dies, if she catches a fever, if she's taken out by a walker, if she gets hit my lightning..anything..if anything happens to her I'll kill you." he paused for a moment, eyes flickering behind Richard's shoulder to Juliana, "Same goes for Jules."


Finally, Richard lowered his gun, "I would die for The Kingdom," he told him. Daryl took a step forward,puffing out his chest.


"Why don't you?"


Daryl stepped around Richard, picking up the crossbow and their bag, slinging it over his shoulder.Motioning to Juliana, she finally lowered her gun and turned on her heel to take off in the opposite direction with him, leaving Richard alone.


"We gotta go see her, Daryl..she has to know."


Daryl grunted in reply and kept a quick pace, enough that Juliana had to jog slightly to keep up with him,"Hey! Daryl – stop! Jesus!" she reached out for him, pulling him to a stop so they were facing each other. "Hey," her voice quieted and she reached up, holding his face in her hands, "Hey –if you're puttin' all this shit on your shoulders stop it. I know I've been so..angry and distant and shit and I'm sorry. I should've been here for ya more. I'm sorry."


Gently, Juliana brushed away the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes, her fingertips gently brushing against his skin as she did so, "Let's go, hmm?"


Her hands dropped away from his face and she began to step away from him when Daryl reached out, his arm circling around her waist and pulled her back to him. He lowered his head to her, gently placing a kiss on her lips which Juliana eagerly reciprocated. It was quiet and sweet; a moment between the two that they rarely got anymore.



He was the first to pull away, placing a kiss on her forehead before breaking away from her totally,"A'ight," he mumbled, "Let's go."

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