Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 101 (Ask Me When The War Is Over)

Early the following morning, CJ was working out in the yard with Jesus. They, along with many others, were gathering the bodies of the Saviors that died in the shootout, taking them out of the Hilltop to burn. She spotted Daryl from across the yard, and stopped what she was doing to watch him for a moment.

She had a gnawing feeling of guilt for the way she had been with him. After losing Carl, she lost sight of the things in front of her, of the things she still had to live for. She knew that Daryl loved her and worried for her, and she knew that he wasn't going to leave. She thought about what Carl said in his letter to her about the life she could have. A life where her and Daryl were happy, just the two of them.

"CJ!" Jesus spoke loudly, startling her.

"What?" she asked, realising she hadn't been listening to him.

"I said, go and talk to him," Jesus replied. "You've been staring at him for like five minutes, it's getting weird."

"Sorry," CJ mumbled. "Just trying to figure out what to do."

"How do you mean?" Jesus asked.

CJ let out a quiet sigh and took of her cap, running her hand through her hair and putting the cap on again.

"I think he's afraid," she whispered. "Afraid that he's losing me, afraid that I'm gonna disappear on him. Not that I can blame him. I have, in a way."

"So, fix it," Jesus shrugged, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

"It's not that easy-"

"It is," Jesus cut her off softly. "I know what you lost. But over there is someone who loves you. Don't lose that."

He walked away to help some guys with another of the bodies, and CJ looked over to Daryl again to see him speaking to Tara.

During the attack, Tara had been shot in the shoulder with an arrow by Dwight. Daryl had seen the whole thing and tried to shoot at Dwight, but the rogue Savior ran before a bullet could hit him. Tara should have been resting but it seemed she was keen to help in any way she could despite her injury.

CJ made the decision to go over to them and hung back before either of them noticed her. She caught part of their talk and heard Dwight's name mentioned, and Tara seemed to be defending him, which was making Daryl mad.

"Is that before or after he killed your girl?" he asked, his voice low. "Or is that all square now?"

Tara paused for a moment, clearly affected by the question. "It is," she nodded. "Look, I may hate him forever, but he saved my life."

"No, he tried to kill you last night," Daryl retorted.

"When we were in the woods, when we were coming here, I saw him trying to help us win," Tara replied.

"Yeah. I saw what I saw too," Daryl snapped.

As he turned to walk away, he finally spotted CJ watching him, and he paused for a moment when he saw the worried look in her eyes. He was mad about a lot of things and didn't feel like talking in that moment in fear of saying something he'd regret. He shook his head as he averted his gaze to the ground and walked past her, going into the house.

CJ watched him go, deciding to give him a few minutes before going after him. She looked back at Tara and saw the sad look on her face.

"Don't worry about him," CJ said softly. "I think everything is just starting to get to him more than he realised."

"It's the same for all of us," Tara sighed with a nod. "I don't wanna fight with him on this."

"I'll talk to him," CJ replied. "It'll be alright. It has to be," she added quietly as she went to turn away.