SIXTY TWO. washed out brain

Rick guided Adeline back into the building with caution, making sure to rid the blade of her machete from any blood. The sister trailed after him, her hands stained slightly with crimson that had been wiped away onto the back of her jeans. She knew what she'd done. That she had killed a man. It wasn't that that feared her, it was the fact that she would do it again in the blink of an eye if that's what it took to keep her family alive. The widow had pushed herself to the edge, and she knew for a fact she wasn't moving.

By the time the Grimes siblings made their way to the higher floor where the group resided, Adeline removed any hint of guilt from her features. Entering the barren factory room, she felt multiple set of eyes glued to her figured that held hints of blood and death. The missing presence of Lamson, the officer she had killed, was the most noticeable ━━ her head raising from the concrete floor and to Sasha who sat with a cloth pressed to her bleeding forehead.

Adeline felt the deep stare of Daryl Dixon that lingered on her figure, her stomach aching with reluctance as she ignored him and moved closer to the younger Williams. But, before she could, the redneck curled his hand around her wrist and stopped her in her tracks. "Hey. You alright?" He questioned, forcing the widow to reach his eyes with her own ━━ noticing the lingering look of fear that settled in her features. "I'm alright." The doctor assured.

Rick joined the two he trusted the most, hand resting against the holster of his python. "He wouldn't stop. She did what she had to do." He informed, his attention glancing to the machete on his sisters side. Daryl's touch warmed Adelines skin, staying just for a minute longer as he looked to her brother. "This change things?" He inquired, allowing his hand to drift away from the widow who remained quiet within the small circle. It seemed that all she could hear from his question was; did she make things harder for us?

"I have to check on Sasha." Adeline felt her voice slip from the tight corners of her throat, tearing her eyes away from the two men before her. Turning back towards the group, they spared a reluctant glance after her figure before eventually continuing the hushed conversation. The widow almost immediately noticed the sharp stare the two remaining cops gave her, her stomach twisting anxiously before she moved her attention over to Sasha.

"You okay?" The doctor inquired, ignoring the looks that both Tyresse and the two brothers sent her way as she crouched down next to the younger sister. Sasha pulled the bloodstained cloth from her forehead, "I'm fine. The boy took a look at it." She informed, gesturing towards the figure of Wesley who stood behind the cops with a tight lipped smile of assurance. "He's an EMT. Or was." Noah spoke up for his brother, looking to Addy.

The approaching presence of Rick and Daryl put a pin in the ongoing conversation, silence filtering into the room. Adeline stood to her feet, moving to cross her arms over her chest as she leaned against one of the many pillars within the building. "He was a good man." The cop, Shepherd, already started speaking, her attention drifting from the figure of Rick and to Adeline.

She reluctantly pulled her eyes away from the woman, "He was attacked by rotters. Saw it go down." Shepherd lied ━━ her words causing the widow to look at her with furrowed brows. They weren't going to tell the truth. "Huh." Rick huffed with an almost impressed look while shifting his weight to one foot. "You're a damn good liar." He spoke, shifting his eyes to his sister before turning back to the cop who shrugged her shoulders.

"We're hanging by a thread here. He was attacked by rotters. That's the story." Shepherd asserted, her arms remaining restrained behind her back as Adeline kept her attention trained on the woman. "What happened to the trade being a bad idea?" The widow inquired, a look of curiosity claiming her features. Daryl turned to the sound of her voice, his eyes resting gently onto the woman he grew to be worried about. She was losing herself.

Shepherd turned to look at the doctor, "Lamson was our shot. So it's this or you go in guns blazing, right? You don't want that."

"If this is some bullshit you're spinning and things go south ━━" Daryl started, his finger motioning towards the restrained cop as she shook her head in denial hastily. "I know. I know the good ones from the bad. Let us help you." She begged, a look full of assurance taking over her expression. Rick shifted his eyes between her and the other cop, a sense of reluctant in his face.

"What about you?" He started, inching closer to the man who sat kneeled with a stoic expression. "You wanna live? How much?"

The bald cop stayed silent for a second, his eyes glancing over to Adeline who vengefully had a knife clasped to his throat just an hour ago. "Dawn's afraid she'll look weak in front of us. Thinks it'll tip things against her. Hell, it will. She'll see this trade as a rip off if she thinks you took out one of our guys." He informed, his attention turning back to the widow who shifted in her spot. "So, it's a good thing Lamson got aced by rotters." He finished, the smallest hint of relief running its course down Adelines veins.

ONE YEAR AGO ━━ AFTER THE FARM.

"Are you being serious?" The question slipped past the doctors lips, her features holding an expression of both disbelief and the smallest hint of amusement. One figure stood before her in the room ━━ Daryl Dixon. He, out of the blue, decided to join the woman and a few others from the group out on a scavenging run in search of any kind of food or supplies. The rest spent their time patiently waiting back at an old church T-Dog had pointed out earlier in the morning, and it seemed to be a good enough spot to camp out in for a few days. At least they all hoped it was.

Daryl chuckled at the widows question, nodding his head in confirmation to her words. He looked up at her through his growing strands of dark hair, raising his eyebrows slightly with a smirk curled around his lips. "You think I'm lyin'?" He inquired with a teasing expression, turning his eyes back to the arrow bolt stuck in the rotting head of a now unmoving walker. As he went to jerk it out of the place, the sound of a soft chuckle caused him to look up at the widow ━━ moving his hand away from the arrow.

Adeline hummed, shrugging her shoulders as she slid the blade of her machete across her jeans to rid of walker blood. "Actually, now that I think about it ━━ maybe not." She informed, sliding the machete back into its sheath. Finding the archers eyes on her, the doctor was quick to take notice of the slightly surprised look that curled around his features. She furrowed her brows, squinting her eyes as she moved towards him. "Why're you looking at me like that?" She questioned, a curious tone lacing her every word.

The hunter shrugged as if he had no idea what she was talking about, "Nothin'. Nothin' at all, Miss Nobody." He remarked, causing her lips to tighten together as she held back a smile. As much as she hated to admit it, even after the loss of Shane, Addy failed to not smile when Daryl Dixon had a sense of humor.

"Funny. Real funny." Adeline forced the smile to fade, but kept the banter up as she slipped past Daryl's sweaty figure to tug the arrow out of the walker he killed. "Remember that time you told me to ask if we could go to Alcatraz Island?" She inquired, using the tip of the arrow to carefully tap against his chest ━━ his eyes rolling at the motion before gently grabbing it out of her grasp.

"Thought it'd make you laugh." Daryl admitted, sliding the arrow back into his backpack like muscle memory. There was a sense of bashfulness to his voice, which made Adeline look to him with a hint of gratitude ━━ reminding herself how thankful she was for the archer and the group. They tried to make her happy, and that meant more than anything to the widow. "Thank you." She spoke softly, her voice resulting in the man lifting his head to her body.

Daryl shrugged, "You ain't gotta."

"I do." The doctor was quick to assure, her eyes catching sight of the smallest speck of blood on his dirtied face. Silence kept them company; a comfortable one ━━ which was very hard to come by between two fragile souls. Daryl found his eyes focusing open the vulnerability within Adelines eyes and body language, almost taking in every possible detail as she took a reluctant step forward, copying his actions by studying his figure carefully.

Watching as her hand slowly raised to lay against the side of her face, she stopped as he flinched slightly ━━ hovering her palm over his skin before carefully lowering it onto the space of his cheek. "You're too good to me, Daryl." Adeline spoke softly, using her thumb to rub away the speck of crimson on his face.

Daryl shook his head, delicately curling his fingers around her wrist as he pulled her hand away from him. "You deserve a lot more. Trust me." He assured, brushing his thumb against the pale skin of her wrist before lowering it to her side. "There's a whole lotta people that care about you." The archer added, watching as her face softened ━━ features tightening at the overwhelming emotions that rocked into her stomach. "You alright?"

"I'm okay." Adeline breathed, tearing her eyes away from the man to settle her attention to the floorboards of the home they stood within. Daryl watched with careful eyes as she brought her hand up to her face, her face turning out of sight while her palm brushed against the right side of her face. He started to notice that when she cried, the tears always started from that same spot.

PRESENT TIME ━━ BEFORE THE MEET

"Hey." The soft sound of Tyresse's voice pulled the widow out of her own mind ━━ snapping away from the concrete barriers across the roof. "He's there." He informed, her tired eyes laying against the rifle he held out to her. He carried another, but kept it for himself as Adeline nodded in confirmation. Running her hands over her face, she was careful to avoid the open cut from the tire rim before hopping to the ground and taking the gun from him.

The truck she sat in shifted at the change of weight, becoming a distant memory to the woman as she walked alongside Tyresse to the barrier. Daryl and Sasha stood before them, leaving enough space between them for the two approaching figures ━━ the widow taking the one closest to the archer. "He should've let me go with him." Adeline spoke, resting the hilt of the rifle against her shoulder while pressing the weapon onto the barriers surface.

Closing one eye, she squinted into the scope to gain sights on her brothers figure that stood in the parking lot. It was connected to the base of the building they were on top of, Daryl's eyes moving from the lens of his own sniper to look at the woman ━ "Didn't want to scare 'em off." He suggested, his words suggesting a playful tone but all Adeline's tainted mind could make out was that her presence alone was a risk of screwing the deal up.

He noticed the drop of her features, falling down to the barrier before she straightened her posture and shook her head. "Ad, I didn't━━" Daryl felt guilt, the words leaving his mouth to assure her that wasn't what he meant but was instead cut off by the sound of her own voice. "They're here." She informed, using her head to motion towards the parking lot below them. The archer pulled his eyes away from her figure, choosing to swallow the harsh guilt.

Adeline forced the thoughts away, throwing the emotions over the ledge of the building. You need to focus, the words burned marks into her head ━━ her fingers tightening against the rifle in her grasp. Keeping one eye closed, she attentively watched the police car that rolled into the parking lot that Rick stood in with his arms raised defensively. Wesley and his brother Noah stood behind the group on the rooftop of the parking garage, both with guns pointed to a kneeled Shepherd and Licari (the bald cop).

The conversation happening below was heard through the radios they shared, one sitting atop the concrete barrier and the other one stuffed in the back pocket of Ricks jeans. The voices were muffled by the static, but clear enough for the group on the roof to make out what was being said ━━ eyes watching through scopes as two officers stepped out of the car with their guns pointed.

"Officer Franco. Officer McGinley." Rick, Adeline registered the sound of her brothers voice within an instant. "I'm Rick Grimes. I was a deputy in the King County Sheriff's Department. I'm here to make a proposal." He informed, his hands remaining raised.

"Lay your weapon on the ground."

"Alright."

They watched as Rick carefully pulled his python out of it's holster, laying it onto the concrete. Adelines grip adjusted against the rifle ━━ moving to situate the scope onto one of the officers head. "What's your proposal?" A new voice broke through the radio as Rick stood back to his feet, lowering his hands back.

"You have two of my people, I have two of yours. We want to make an exchange. Then we'll be on our way. No one gets hurt."

"Who?"

"Officers Shepherd and Licari for Beth and Carol. You picked up a woman yesterday after your people hit her with a car."

"Noah and Wesley, they with you? That's how you know?"

"Yes, they are."

"What about Officer Lamson?"

The question caused Adeline's grip to loosen on her rifle, her heart skipping a beat inside of her chest as she tightened her fingers around the wooden stock. Rick shifted in his spot, rolling his shoulders back ━━ "He was attacked by the dead before we got to him." He lied, his body language making that clear to Adeline.

She knew his tell and he knew hers.

"Where are your people?" One of the officers questions just as a walker stumbled into the parking lot they were in, Sasha's grip on her sniper tightening before pressing the trigger. The bullet soared through the air, cutting its way through rotten skin and brains as the body of the walker fell limp ━━ the cops turning to look.

"They're close." A silence followed Ricks words, "Radio your lieutenant. I'll wait." He instructed, the two men in uniform sharing a look of reluctance and contemplation before the shorter one lowered his gun, moving his shoulder to speak into the radio.

And just like that, the deal was accepted.

With the words of confirmation coming from Rick through the radio, the group pulled away from the barriers. Gathering up their two hostages, they began making their way down the parking garage inside of the white van Daryl managed to steal. Adeline sat silently in the passenger seat, keeping her thoughts to herself as they were guided to the Grady Memorial Hospital by the cops.

She was nervous. And almost scared. Before the prison fell, the front lines were surprisingly the last place you would find the widow. She stayed back ━━ kept her eyes out and protected the ones that couldn't protect themselves. But now, it was so different. Now, they all had to look out for each other. The world was an entire frontline itself, constantly fighting a battle with the dead.

They drove a short distance, until exiting the vehicles and guided into the back exit of the hospital. Adeline stood next to her brother with her hands holding the back of Licari vests with her pistol pressed into the back of his head. The two unrestrained officers led them through the dark hallways, followed close behind by the Grimes Siblings and their group of very well trained survivors.

Upon reaching a set of locked double doors, the widow tightened her grip on her pistol and glanced around the building. It's been a long time, she thought to herself ━━ able to find the smallest part of herself that missed working and living. Was she starting to forget how it felt? That thought alone caused a tremble of anxiety to rupture in her stomach, a deep breath escaping her lips as she recurved her bony fingers around the dark handle of her pistol.

"Holster your weapons." The voice of who they guessed was Dawn broke from the officers radios, causing Adelines eyes to fall to her brother who nodded his head in confirmation. The sound of metal clinking was heard as the group shifted their stance, sliding their weapons back into their rightful place ━━ but keeping their calloused palms hovering over each hilts tucked within a holster.

Officer Franco stepped forward to unlock the doors before them, and with an easy push, they opened. Light flooded in from the functioning part of the hospital, the group of survivors almost immediately spotting the figures at the end of the hall... waiting for them. Four officers, a doctor, Carol, and Beth. The sight of the blonde teen caused a tightened smile of relief to break from the lips of Adeline, faltering slightly in her step from the emotion.

Stepping further into the hall, the two free officers made their way down to Dawn while the family stayed in the middle. Adeline stood next to her brother, the two of them holding the front line with the restrained bodies of Shepherd and Licari. Once the other reached the other side, Rick started talking the moment Dawn turned to face them ━━ "They haven't been harmed."

The esteemed leader shook her head, "Where's Lamson?"

"Rotters got him." Shepherd quickly informed, Adeline turning her eyes to Licari who nodded in confirmation. "Saw it go down."

"Oh." Dawn breathed, the hint of tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry to hear that. He was one of the good guys." She informed, Adelines finger twitching against the red handle of her infamous machete.

"One of yours for one of mine." The leader spoke up, moving to the side as the doctor wheeled Carol ━━ who sat in a wheelchair, forward. Rick nodded, "Alright." He agreed, motioning towards his sister that stood next to him. Adeline shifted, taking a deep breath before slicing the restraints off of Licari with her knife.

Shoving him forward, she kept her eyes trained on him. "Move." The widow instructed, her tone sharp as one of the officers began rolling Carol down the hallway. It didn't take long for them to meet in the middle, Adelines attention hastily moving away from Licari and to the woman who slowly stood from the chair.

"Here." The doctor whispered, curling her arm around Carols and helping her. The moment she stood to her feet, Adeline felt relief flood through her once more, the emotion taking over as she carefully embraced the woman. "You okay?" She whispered, feeling Carol welcome her ━━ wrapping her arms around her.

"I'm okay." Carol assured, softly rubbing her hand against Adelines back as the widow nodded ━━ sniffing slightly before pulling away and guiding her friend back to the group where she belonged. Carol moved towards Daryl, his arm wrapping around her shoulder as he helped her to Tyresse who was waiting for her with a warm smile full of gratitude and relief. One down. Good.

Instantly, Dawn moved forward with Beth in front of her ━━ Rick doing the same with Shepherd. They met in the middle alike Adeline and Licari, Rick moving from the cop and embracing the blonde teen with one arm, pressing a kiss to her forehead. We got her. He started moving towards the group, passing Beth to Addy who immediately wrapped her arms around the girl and hugged.

"I'm so sorry, Beth." The widow whispered softly, feeling remorse for what the teen had went through alone in the last few days. She was with Daryl, who kept her safe ━━ until things got out of hand and she was taken by these cops.

There was a certain anger that grew in Adelines stomach, the sight of them alone adding fuel to the fire of revenge. What kind of person keep kids from going home? "I missed you. Is Maggie okay?" Beth questioned, feeling the warm feeling of tears drop into the widows shirt as the girl pulled away to look at her.

"She is. She found Glenn, she's okay." Adeline assured Beth, feeling almost paternally protective over her. Wether she knew it or not, the nights Beth spent talking with the widow while on the road meant everything to her. If it wasn't for her, it would have taken years for Adeline to hold Judith. To even look to the baby.

Dawn's voice interrupted the conversation, Beth's body moved back to Daryl by the widow. "Glad we could work things out." The leader spoke, stopping Rick in his steps towards the group.

"Yeah." The man nodded, turning to leave once again.

"Now I just need Noah or Wesley."

Everything came to an abrupt stop, Adeline felt an anger grow in her stomach ━━ but it was nothing compared to that the boys brother felt. "Dawn, no. That wasn't apart of the deal!" Wesley raised his voice, stepping forward only to be stopped by Rick.

He began walking forward, Adeline stepping closer as her brother became closer to the other group. "He's right. That wasn't apart of the deal." Rick reminded, aggravation lacing his every word.

"Noah and Wesley were my wards. Beth took their place and I'm losing her, so I need one of them back." She informed, Shepherd speaking up to try and stop Dawn but was quickly cut off by her name being yelled. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died." She spoke, Adelines hand falling to the hilt of her pistol at the woman's rather annoying words.

Daryl scoffed, "No, ain't nobody stayin'."

"He's one of mine. You have no claim on him." Dawn started, sparking the fire within the widows stomach.

"And what makes you think you have some kind of claim on them? They wanna go home. To their families. You and your brigade have no goddamn right to stop them from doing that." Adeline cursed, moving to stand behind her brother with her eyebrows threaded together by anger ━━ Daryl following.

Dawn tilted her head at the woman, "Then we don't have a deal."

"The deal is done." Rick fumed, stepping forward with his hand curled around the hilt of his python.

Noah looked between the two groups before hastily pushing past his brother, limping towards them ━━ "I-It's okay." He assured, but was quickly pulled back by Wesley, "We're not going back."

Stopping, Noah lifted his eyes to meet his brothers. "Wes... You can't just let these people die for us." He pleaded, causing the older boy to reluctantly lift his eyes towards the group that took him and his brother under their wing without batting a single eye.

Wesley nodded, cursing underneath his breath as he pulled his brother in for a hug. "You're right... I can't." He breathed a shaky breath, his attention shifting to Beth who looked to him with tears in her eyes. "You take care of him for me, okay Winn Dixie?" Wesley smiled softly, causing confusion to sprout within the stomach of his baby brother as Beth hastily shook her head.

"Wes..." She attempted, a tear falling down a newly formed trail on her face. Wesley pushed out her voice, knowing that if he were to listen for one more second ━━ he wouldn't make the choice that he needed to make. He hastily moved his brother to the girl, her hand wrapping around Noah's before he turned to Dawn. "Looks like you win, Dusk." He congratulated, stepping to her.

The woman smiled, as if she knew exactly what she was going to do the moment she laid eyes on him. "It's settled." Dawn informed, watching as Wesley handed his gun to Adeline, who held a sense of respect in her eyes towards him. Not many people would give themselves and their life up for a group of strangers.

Beth watched with tears staining her face, feeling a sob tear through her throat as she stepped forward. "Wait." She pleaded, slipping past Adeline who kept a close eye on her. Wesley stopped in his steps at the sound of her voice, letting a deep breath slip past his lips while he turned to face Beth ━━ instantly being greeted with her arms wrapping around his shoulders, having to stand on her tippy toes to even reach his towering height.

Dawn looked over at the two, her eyes settled upon Wesley. "I knew you would come back." She informed, her words causing Beth to turn to her with furrowed brows threaded by anger. The teen pulled away from Wesley, facing Dawn with tears clouding her eyes, Adelines eyes carefully trained on the cop for any signs.

But, she was looking at the wrong person.

Because the moment Beth whispered, "I get it now." ━━ it was nearly impossible to spot the silver scissors that she pulled from the cast on her arm. And it all happened in a flash. The blade was embedded into Dawn's chest, the woman's reflexes kicking in faster than the speed of light, a gunshot ringing in the air.

Adeline didn't even know what happened. Not until she felt the blood splatter against her features, a gasp leaving her mouth as Beth's head jerked back. Then it was slow. A dark realization clouding the widows mind, wide eyes watching the body of the teen crumble to the ground. Before she could smack against the tiles, Adeline felt her body fall with her ━━ her arms curling around Beth's back, pressing her knees into the ground while carefully lowering the teens body down with ease.

Another gunshot fired, but the blood that pooled within the doctors lap prevented her eyes looking up. A choked sob left her mouth, tearing through her throat as her hands were covered in the crimson. No words trembled from her mouth, tears falling from her eyes and onto the girls clothes that slowly became soaked with blood. Everything was a ring, the thud of Dawns body quickly followed by the metal screech of the group drawing weapons.

"No, hold your fire! It was just about her." The voice of Shepherd managed to break through Adelines state, the widow pulling her eyes from Beth who laid unmoving in her arms. "Stand down." The cop repeated to her group, the officers reluctantly lowering their weapons which was followed by everyone but Daryl.

He stood with his pistol raised, muffled sobs breaking from his throat with tears welled in his features. Adeline felt her heart and stomach ache at the sight, the same feeling of grief tearing through her as she carefully moved Beths body to the floor ━━ standing to her feet while rubbing the red crimson against her shirt.

"Come here," She breathed, her face tightening as she curled her hand around his shoulder ━━ carefully guiding his arm to his side. Daryl felt himself crack, unable to meet the widows tear clouded eyes as he shifted on his feet. Hesitatingly, he stepped closer to Adeline, eyes meeting the body of Beth before his stance faltered. But, as if it were muscle memory, Adeline curled her frame into his own ━ snaking her hand into the depths of his hair just as his forehead fell to rest between the crevice of her neck.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, feeling Daryl's arms tighten around her body as his sobs were muffled by the fabric of her blood stained shirt. Wesley stood in shock between the hallway, tears carving a city of broken memories on his skin ━━ marking every thought and tainting his mind. But, it was nothing compared to the darkness that almost clouded every crevice of Adeline Grimes.

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END OF CHAPTER ... 4837