Summary: Along with the others, Negan and the Reader figure out a plan to take down the reapers and get the food back home. With the help of the Whisperers’ methods, they eventually put their plan into action.
Heavy breaths cut through your throat, shaking your body as your feet ran through the thicket of the forest. You weren’t sure how long you’d been running away from the safe house and into the woods, trying to get as much distance as possible between yourself and the reapers, but it had been a while and your body was signaling you to stop.
You could feel yourself gasping for air as you finally started to slow down, watching as Negan and the three others started to do the same before you finally came to a stop.
“Let’s take a minute”, Maggie said, breathing heavily as well,“We’re almost there. We’re only three miles out.”
From one moment to another, your face turned from exhausted to confused, while your brows furrowed in disbelief as you stared at her. All that had been on your mind since you ran out of that basement had been focused on surviving and getting away from those psychos, and she had already thinking about jumping head first back into her suicide plan and moving towards their heavily armed base.
“You can’t be serious”, you could hear Negan beside you say, watching as he shook his head as a frustrated look spread over his serious face,”Daryl just told us to go home.”
“I didn’t hear that”, Maggie snapped back, narrowing her eyes at him as the confusion on your face as well as Negan’s only grew further.
“Well I think he was being subtle. He said they were armed with lookouts”, he tried to reason, unsuccessfully.
“And Daryl knows I would never turn back”, Maggie barked back, an almost condescending tone in her voice, while you could see Negan growing more and more restless beside you.
“So you wanna keep going, Maggie? With what army?”, he asked, a snide tone in his still exhausted and shaky voice before a huff fell from his lips as Maggie’s response was merely a glare and more silence, before he turned towards the priest ,“Come on, Gabe. Back me up here.”
For a moment Gabriel stayed quiet, but you could already see by the look on his face that he wasn’t going to say anything that would support Negan’s standpoint now. It unfortunately wasn’t even surprising anymore at this point, but it was still upsetting.
“Our people are about to starve. I’m not going back to my family having failed”, he said, fueling the frustration within you enough to speak up.
“Well, if we keep going like this we won’t come back at all”, you sighed, before your glance fell on Maggie ,”If you wanna keep going, what’s the plan?”
Her eyes shot back at you, glaring at you as a huff fell from her lips, even though you considered your question more than justified.
“The plan is to keep going.”
More frustration, even anger spread through your body within mere seconds, eliciting a dry and bitter chuckle to fall from your lips. This was like talking to a toddler.
“That’s no plan”, you said, your patience hanging on a thin thread by now as you kept on hearing her repeat the same thing over and over again, even though your lives were on the line.
“Ah at least admit what you’re asking of us…walking to our death for what? A sack of beans?”, Negan said, his brows tightly knit as he stared down at Maggie as her glance shot from you back towards him and narrowed down.
“If you’re more interested in saving yourself than protecting the people back home, you can go, we don’t need you.”
That was enough, it truly was. Every damn time either you or Negan criticized her so-called plan, she played the stupid “you don’t care” card. If you used her dumb logic on herself, you could blame her for so much shit that had happened at Hilltop because she left when they needed her and only came crawling back when her new community was destroyed and she had nowhere else to go.
This was absurd.
“Seriously?”, it blustered out of you directing her glare right back at you,”This is ridiculous. We only criticize that suicide plan of yours and all you do is accuse us of of not caring? We just don’t wanna die, ‘cause if that happens, we’re not gonna be a help for Alexandria either...you just don’t wanna admit that you’re wrong. Shit, If you gave us a plan that made sense, there’s no question that we’d go along with it, but you don’t.”
A heavy breath fell from your lips as you were only met with silence and you somehow tried to collect yourself, cool back down and say something that would turn things around, just before Negan’s hand brushed against your arm, nudging you to stop for a moment.
”Nah wait”, Negan said, before he took a step forwards towards the other woman,”Maggie, we all know that’s not true, you need us. I’ll tell you what, you make me and her a promise, in front of the goddamn priest and we’ll stick around.”
Frustration grew into confusion quickly as you looked from Maggie to Negan, realizing that he’d have to have something up his sleeve to make such a sharp turn, though you had no idea what.
”Promise you what?”, Maggie asked, furrowing her brows at your husband.
”If we stick around, we’re even, we’re good”, he said, his eyes focused on her confused expression,”I don’t have to keep on looking over my shoulder, she doesn’t have to fear that you might use the next damn chance to fuck us over here and back home, and we get a say-so in the plan. We get to figure things out with you. We’re equal out here and home.”
”We’ll never be even”, Maggie immediately said in the very moment Negan’s voice hushed, nearly cutting him off though he didn’t seem to budge. For just a second his eyes fell on you, as if he was asking for permission to go on and keep this negotiation going, and the look on your face was enough for him to glance back at Maggie and speak back up.
”Then you’re down two soldiers that you desperately need”, he replied, and you could tell that he was sure that she’d have to agree, just by the decisive tone in his voice, ”Your call.”
Arching her brow up she looked at him, a nearly amused expression forming on her face as a huff fell from her lips.
”You’d take a promise from me? Really?”
”Yeah, I would. Assuming you are a woman of your word”, he said, still as determined as before as Maggie’s glance brushed over you for a second before it landed right back on Negan,”I’ve always been a man of mine.”
For another moment, you watched them as Negan stretched his hand out to her and she eyed him thoroughly, giving you for a short moment the suspicion that she might not agree to this after all, before she finally reached out to shake his hand. Just then you stretched yours out too, though you weren’t sure whether to trust her on this or not, you still wanted to be in on this too.
With a testing look in her eyes, she reached for your hand as well, quickly shaking it as you held her glance for a second, before the undead groaning of a walker made you let go off her and turn around to see the dead stumbling closer past the trees, its long dark brown stringy hair hanging into its face, followed by other dead that were a still further up the hill behind it though.
Maggie’s hand fell from yours and you could hear her moving past you right after and towards the walker, grabbing its shoulder and digging her knife into its skull, though more gentle and slow than you were usually used to seeing her take down the dead.
”It’s his sister’s best friend. Theresa”, she said with a small sigh as she turned back around, gesturing towards Elijah who was still staring at the walker on the ground, before his sad eyes flipped back up at her,”She was just a kid, just like his sister.”
A shivering breath fell from Elijah’s lips as Maggie’s glance started to change from sadness to anger, laying a certain darkness over her face.
”We have to get them”, she said, almost shakily even though there was still firmness in her voice,”All of them.”
It was the last piece you needed to confirm that Maggie was going to do this at any cost, to be right despite Negan and your concerns and, this was even more clear to you now, to get revenge. She never got to take out the type of revenge she wanted on Negan, and now, she wanted to do everything in her power to get revenge on these psychos, regardless how insane or dangerous it was.
”Hey”, Negan’s voice ripped you out of your thoughts as you looked back up and saw him gesturing towards a walker with long black hair and a thick beard who was stumbling closer down the hill,”Y’all know Blackbeard too?”
Furrowing her brows, Maggie looked over at the walker who was still far enough off to ignore it for another moment, far off enough for her to stop Elijah from walking towards it to kill it.
”Wait”,she said, grabbing his arm before she turned around to Negan, you and the priest ,”Think we can find more?”
”Why?”, Gabriel asked, glancing with a confused look at her as she nodded to the walker who was stumbling closer with every of its scuffling steps.
”We might not have the ammunition to march into Meridian and take them down, but we could use another force”, she said as she nodded back towards the bearded walker ,”We could use the dead as our weapon.”
”How?”, Gabriel asked with another confused look as his eyes fell on the closer stumbling walker ,”We can’t lead them there undisguised, even if we’d use guts, those reapers will see us between them.”
”Not necessarily”, you suddenly heard Negan say with a sly grin on his lips as a hint of sarcasm swung through his voice ,”Remember those weird fuckers who wore walker faces as masks?”
The grin on his lips widened as realization kicked in and spread over yours, as well as the three others’ faces as Negan pointed his knife at the walker who’d just got himself stuck with his foot in between the roots of a tree nearby.
“We had trouble seeing them among the dead even after we knew about them. They have no fucking clue wearing those masks is even an option, they won’t spot us.”
”Well yes but we don’t have any masks”, Gabriel said, still audibly skeptical as Negan’s turned his face towards him and let out an amused chuckle.
”Well, lucky for you, I learned that shit directly from the best”, he said, grinning at Gabriel as a teasing chuckle fell from his lips ,”Just need some dead fuckers and I’ll get to work.”
”This might be our only chance”, you said, agreeing with Negan even if the pure imagination of wearing another person’s face brought a wave of disgust over you. Surviving was just more important than that.
“Okay”, you finally heard Maggie say, and as you saw her nod, you had a hard time trusting your eyes for a second as she actually approved Negan’s suggestion, “Let’s do this.”
The low growl of “Blackbeard” sounded through the air as you found yourself leaning against one of the trees, watching the walker that Elijah had tied up earlier along with two others for a moment before your eyes fell back on the fresh grave beside you where they’d buried Theresa.
Gabriel was saying a prayer within these moments, Maggie and Elijah stood on the other side of the grave and looked with sad eyes down at the ground, while Negan leaned beside you against the thick stem of the tree.
You gulped softly, drifting away for another moment as your glance swayed towards the provisory and simplified drawing Maggie had made with a thin branch into the loose earth after you’d tied the dead up and figured the plan in more detail out.
For the first time, it actually felt like a plan.
For the first time, you actually felt sure of going through with this plan and succeeding with it.
You’d agreed on eight steps for now, that could be shifted here and there in case the situation would change, but for now these eight steps that were suggested on the ground beside the meridian dirt drawing with arrows and circles, were your way to go, and they kept on swirling through your head, overpowering Gabriel’s voice.
Step 1: Get the masks ready and practice while Gabriel scouts the area around Meridian to get a better overlook of the base and its current status.
Step 2: Herd walkers step by step. First use those in the woods, then collect more that were wandering the streets close to Meridian and were stumbling through nearby stores.
Step 3: Lead them towards Meridian and keep herding them.
Step 4: In case they would try to lead them away, which all of you agreed on they would likely try, you’d move along at first to take out those reapers who’d get outside to move the dead, before leading them back.
Step 5: In case you hadn’t been split at this point already, you’d split now into two groups. The original thought was to split into a group of Maggie, Negan and you to keep the walkers going, and another one of Elijah and Gabriel to find a place to snipe those reapers down who’d get too close to the three of you. In case you’d have to split of into different groups, the main focus was to have Maggie and Elijah separately in either of those groups, so each would have one person who knew their way around Meridian.
Step 6: Make sure the walkers get into the walls. How had to be decided in the moment, depending on the situation and your possibilities at that point in time.
Step 7: Take out the remaining reapers who hadn’t been devoured by walkers yet.
Step 8: Get the food, fill it into the cars inside of meridian and get the hell out. Drive out far enough to make a stop and check on each other, and then get back home. Finally.
”There are scouts everywhere”, you heard Maggie say to Gabriel as soon as he’d finished his prayer, handing him his shotgun as you glanced up and saw him nod, while Negan remained standing beside you, sharpening his knife already for the mess that was about to happen after Gabriel left.
”I’ll be careful”, he said, gripping the shotgun as he adjusted the belts of his backpack with his other hand as Maggie gestured towards the large hunting knife that was hanging the holster of his belt.
”If he’s alone and you have the advantage”, she said, earning another nod from Gabriel as he breathed deeply through and adjusted himself once more, visibly tense yet focused before he made his way deeper into the woods, into the direction of Meridian.
”You’re ready?”, Negan asked into Maggie’s direction, pushing himself away from the tree he’d been leaning against as Maggie strolled towards you and threw him a slightly annoyed look.
”Not cutting up anyone I know”, she said, nodding towards the knife in Negan’s hands,”You’ll have to find five strangers.”
”Only need four”, Negan answered, grinning almost amusedly as he swiftly motioned the tip of his knife towards his backpack that laid on the ground next to him,”Kept my mask for practical and sentimental reasons.”
He said the last part with a good bit of sarcasm, though you didn’t thoroughly focus on that but rather the fact that he still had the mask at all, which quite surprised you. You hadn’t seen that thing since the last day of the war at the hospital.
”This is not fun”, Maggie said, a firm look on her face as she huffed, only eliciting a chuckle to fall from his lips as he shrugged his shoulders.
”Well, not with that attitude”, he grinned, a snort falling from his lips as a clear look of annoyance spread over Maggie’s face as she nodded into the direction of Blackbeard.
”Let’s get it over with.”
With that, Maggie turned around and moved towards the walker, while Negan crouched down to fumble his mask out of the side of his backpack, while you still watched him with a hint of surprise.
“I didn’t know you still had that thing”, you said, pointing at the mask as Negan shrugged his shoulders with a small snort as he got back up on his feet and straightened his back.
“Honestly? Forgot about it too after I got home, just tossed it in one of those spare rooms and remembered that right before we left”, he said, glancing from the mask back up at you,”Just threw it in here in case it would come in handy, turns out it does.”
“Well, never thought I’d say this but thank god you got the whole whisperer experience back then”, you chuckled, before a small sigh fell from your lips as you nodded towards the skin, ”This shit might save everything in the end.”
“Let’s hope so”, Negan said, before a small grin started to grow on his face as he nodded towards the dead,”C’mon, Let’s go cut up some walkers, wanna get that shit behind myself.”
Four walkers laid sprawled out on the ground about two hours later, their heads nothing but bone and blood at this point, stripped off their faces. Scrunching up your face in disgust you forced your glance off of them, watching as Maggie and Elijah carried their masks, including Gabriel’s towards the small lake nearby to clean them up.
The sound of Negan’s strained groan as he got back up on his feet made you look back at him and watch as he held up the last mask with his bloody hands while a small grin was spread over his lips.
“Specifically for you”, Negan said, getting up on his feet as he winked at you,”Made sure to save you the face of the best lookin’ one of those three.”
“Wow now if this isn’t the most considerate gift you’ve ever given me”, you said with a laugh, holding your left hand up as you nodded towards the skin in his hand,”Ring can’t keep up with a dead persons face.”
A snort left Negan’s lips as he handed you the mask, placing it in your hand as the feeling of the oddly squishy, yet firm skin made a shudder run down your back.
“God this is disgusting”, you blurted out as you looked down at the mask, scrunching your nose as another small laugh rumbled through Negan’s chest.
“It sure as shit is...already told Elijah and Maggie, you need to clean it up in the creek first, get that blood off and then let it dry. I can’t sew it up otherwise.”
“Sew?”
“See the back”, Negan asked, pointing at the mask as you shifted it slightly in your hands to turn it and reveal the cut that was dragged from the upper part of the back down to the nape of the neck, ”Gonna cut holes on the sides and drag those fuckers’ shoelaces through it to make it fit better.”
“Okay”,you nodded, a small chuckle falling from your lips,“You sound like a pro.”
“Barely”, Negan snickered, nodding towards the walkers on the ground before he gestured back to the mask in your hands,”Took ages to get this off, Mr. Frowny McTwoknives would’ve finished this shit in ten minutes tops. Guy was an asshole but he sure as shit knew his way around a walker’s face.”
“Well you have other talents. I prefer those”, you said with a grin, watching a wider grin spread over Negan’s face before you held up the skin,”The masks still look well done. Disgusting but well done.”
“Damn that’s the kinda compliment I wanted to hear”, Negan laughed, giving you another wink as you leaned up and pressed a small but loving kiss over his lips.
“Thank you, we’d be fucked without you”, you said, pecking his lips once more before you nodded towards the mask in your hand and felt a cool shudder run down your back as you could feel some of the cold, thick blood drip against your fingers,“Gonna go wash this off now.”
You did as you said, while Negan got back down on the ground to peel the shoelaces out of the walkers’ shoes, you made your way over to the creek and reached it just as Maggie got back up on her feet, while Elijah stayed crouching on the bank of the creek. You settled down merely a few feet beside him, watching him for a second before you dunked your mask into the water, gentle though to keep it from tearing.
Oppositely to the other, now dead, members of Maggie’s group, you didn’t feel uncomfortable beside Elijah or felt like you had to prepare yourself for a snide comment that any of the others would’ve thrown your way in a situation like this.
While he was clearly on Maggie’s side and showed utmost loyalty to her, he hadn’t made a nasty remark just once towards either you or Negan, hell, he hadn’t even thrown you a mean glance or rolled his eyes, and even though it was the bare minimum, you found yourself appreciating that.
He was calm and civil, and that was pretty damn valuable right now.
“You’ve done that before?”, you heard him ask after a moment of silence and watched as he glimpsed over at you.
“No”, you said, softly shaking your head as you looked down at your mask ,”Just used the guts trick.”
“Guts Trick?“, he asked, furrowing his brows on confusion as you glanced up.
“Yeah you-“, you stopped, realizing how cruel what you were about to say actually was, even though you were literally holding someone else‘s face in your hands ,”You cut up a Walker and use the blood and organs to smear yourself up with it so they won’t notice you.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve done that too”, he said, his eyes widening as he realized what you meant ,”It’s been a while though.”
You nodded, well aware that it hadn’t been all too long since you’d been covered in guts, it had been a month and a half, maybe a little more. With a thick gulp you looked down at the mask, scrunching your nose in disgust.
“It’s just the face but this feels honestly more disgusting than the guts all over my body would do”, you mumbled, watching from the corner of your eyes as Elijah nodded.
“True”, he mumbled, gently dumping the mask once more into the water to get rid of the last bit of thick, dark red Walker blood ,”The face…ugh the face is something different. How did these people even get that idea, how-“
“They were nuts”, you said as soon as his voice stopped, unable to wrap his head around this insanity, and you couldn’t blame him for it ,”Like, completely nuts. The shit they said, just as fucking insane as thinking wearing dead people’s faces day by day is a great life.”
“Damn”, he breathed, before he let out a deep sigh as he slowly got back up on his feet,”Well at least they’ll help us now, one way or another.”
You nodded, watching as he made his way over to the provisory rack made off thicker and thinner branches between two boulders and laid his mask to dry next to Maggie’s that was already hanging over the wood.
As soon as you saw him leaving the rack again you glanced down at your own mask, slowly starting to rub the last bit of blood that was left on it off before you got up on your feet and hung your skin up to dry as well, hoping that the sun would get rid of its slippery texture soon.
Quickly, you made your way back to the creek and dunked your hands back into the water, washing of the icky feeling the walker skin and blood had left on them as heavy footsteps started to move closer towards you.
Glimpsing up over your shoulder, you watched Negan walk up to you, a slight grin on his face as he crouched down next to you and let his bloody hands fall into the water, started to move his thumbs over the palms of his hands to get rid of the blood that had partially dried by now and clung to his rough skin.
”Got the shoelaces ready to go and took some of their clothes off while I was at it. Just the jackets and shit but I figured they’ll help us blend in a bit better”, Negan said as he nodded swiftly towards the spot where he’d skinned the walkers earlier while a small snort fell from his lips, “So soon as everything’s ready, we can dress up as the goddamn dead.”
”Sounds like fun” you said, a slight hint of sarcasm swinging through your voice even though a chuckle fell from your lips as you nudged Negan’s arm softly, “That was a pretty good idea tho, the walkers wouldn’t notice our normal clothes, the reapers would.”
”Well what can I say, you got a genius husband”, Negan said with a big goofy but teasing grin, winking at you as he got back up on his feet, rubbed his wet but clean hands over the fabric of his pants and adjusted his wedding ring that had slipped a bit up his finger.
”Of course”, you laughed, shaking the water a little off your hands as soon as you deemed them clean again.
“Can’t wait for a long hot shower once we get home”, Negan said with a small groan, rolling his shoulders back as he watched you stand up and shot you a grin ,”Get all that shit off and-”
He stopped, holding his pointing finger up as the grin on his lips widened, ”Have that loud sex. No muffling, no goddamn stayin’ quiet needed.”
A soft laugh fell from your lips as Negan reached out and pulled you closer, very much remembering the last night and the hand, that was now wrapped around yours, pressed in over your mouth.
“Sounds like a good plan”, you said, glancing up at him as he moved his arms to wrap them around you and glanced down, winking at you.
“It sure as shit does”, he responded as you hugged him back and heard a small hum falling from his lips,”First get some of that new food in us, jump under the shower, have that damn loud sex and then, crawl into our comfy ass bed and cuddle the shit outta each other.”
“Well that sounds like an even better plan”, you said with another soft grin, leaning in to drop your head against his shoulder as a small chuckle rumbled up his chest.
“Right?”, he asked, leaning his head against yours, brushing his beard softly against your skin before he placed a small kiss on your temple, “If things go by plan, we could be on our way home by tomorrow night...if not-”
”It’s gonna”, you said as soon as his voice broke off, hugging him a little tighter,”Even if it takes longer, all that matters is that we actually get home, and we will.”
You didn’t even allow your head to consider any other option, you had to make it and you would. You couldn’t let your fears win the upper hand at any cost.
Slowly you backed away, tipping up to press a small kiss against his stubbly chin before your eyes caught his glance.
”You’re a great teacher. I’m sure you’ll teach us how to be a fake walker perfectly”, you said with a small grin as a chuckle fell from Negan’s lips,”And once we get a herd there, they’ll do the job at first mostly for us, and we can finish the rest.”
”Yeah”, he said with a nod, “We have to get them all, sweep them out entirely, can’t let any of those fuckers get away or they’ll follow us back.”
You nodded too, watching as he clenched his jaw slightly before his face started to soften as his eyes brushed over your face and a small sigh fell from his lips. He leaned in, pecking your lips, allowing himself to linger for another moment before he nodded towards the small fire, closer to where Maggie and Elijah were sitting and talking.
”Wanna go sit down for a bit by the fire? My legs are fuckin’ killing me.”
A word and a blow.
You ended up sitting by the fire, taking the time to rest, get some food into your bodies until Negan considered the masks dry enough to take them to the next step. You watched as he scrunched his nose, half in effort to focus, half in disgust as he cut holes into the skin beside the slits on the back and dragged shoelaces through it in a zig-zag pattern, while you watched Maggie and Elijah check up on the walkers that they’d collected in the mean time and caged in-between ropes that were spun around the trees to form an enclosure. Oppositely to Blackbeard, who was still snapping at you from his spot at the tree, the others were too far off to notice you and unaware of the fact that they’d be used to practice your walker skills soon.
”Alright, think I’m done, I can still adjust it later”, Negan said as he slipped the shoelace through the last hole in Elijah’s mask, just as him and Maggie returned to the fire.
”So who wants to go first?”, Negan asked, glancing up and immediately after his voice hushed you heard Maggie’s.
”I do.”
The look on her face was determined, skeptical too, but it mostly seemed as if she just wanted to get this over with and blind out the fact that the depended on Negan’s help right now.
”Well alright, here ya go”, Negan said, tossing her the mask that had laid next to him on the tree stem until now, before he nodded towards Blackbeard, “I’d say we start with that fucker and as soon as we’re confident enough, we’ll practice inside the cage and I’ll show you guys how to herd them. Ain’t easy but we’ll make it work.”
”Alright”, Elijah nodded, glancing over at the bearded walker, “So you’ll stay here and direct whoever’s practicing at the moment and the rest hides?”
”Exactly”, Negan nodded, pointing at a large bush close-by that smoothed around a thick tree, “That spot seems good. Blackbeard won’t see you but if shit goes south, you’re still close enough to grab him and tie that fucker right back up.”
Skeptically, Maggie looked over her shoulder, eyeing the hiding spot before she slowly started to nod, “Okay. Let’s get this started.”
”Lower your shoulders”, Negan said as you watched him from your spot behind the bush. He was wearing his mask and stood next to the tree where Blackbeard had previously been tied up while he directed Maggie who was moving slow and careful next to the walker, visibly tense. Negan’s eyes were following her movements through the gaps in his mask, scanning over her feet that moved in slow, shuffling movements over the forest ground.
“Arms limp. That’s good”, Negan added, almost with an uplifting tone in his voice while he nodded slightly as you watched him teach her, which was enough to put a small smile on your face. He was a natural when it came to coaching, you were seeing it now, and you’d seen it several times before with Judith and Lydia, and sometimes, it made you wish that you would’ve had the chance to see him coach his baseball teams back before the fall. You weren’t all disappointed and nostalgic though, a part of you was excited and hopeful about the possibility that you’d see him teach your own kids someday, and you hoped that it would rather be sooner than later.
Slowly, you focused your attention back on Maggie, watching as she tensed up as her foot seemed to hit something hard underneath the leaves, forcing her to stagger to keep her balance, and though she managed to stay on her feet for now her harsh movement let her mask slip further down her face. Hastily, she grasped up, trying to adjust the skin, shifting and struggling and just as you heard Elijah breathe nervously beside you, she tripped over her own feet.
”Shit”, he cursed in the very moment Blackbeard noticed the fall, turning around and snapping as Maggie tried to get back on her feet, barely a meter away from her as Negan stepped quickly forward to grasp the dead by its shoulders as you were already made your way over to him.
”The tree”, Negan grunted as he tried to keep the struggling walker under control as Elijah stormed up to help him and grab the dead while you reached for the rope and moved it up, ready to tie Blackbeard back up.
With a bunch of effort and force, Negan and Elijah managed to push the walker back against the stem, holding it still enough for you to wrap it up again and tie the rope securely around its struggling body, keep it from breaking free.
”Piece of shit”, Maggie huffed as soon as you stepped away from the walker, tossing her mask on the ground as a small snort fell from Negan’s lips.
”Not gonna fit you perfectly”, he said, pulling his own mask off his face and grinning slightly as he shrugged his shoulders, “It was someone else’s face.”
A thick huff fell from Maggie’s face as she looked angrily at the mask on the ground, almost pouting a little as Negan sighed softly.
”Look this might actually work”, he said, crouching down to pick the mask up and toss it back at her,”I mean it, if I can do it, you can do it. Gonna take it back and fix it, but you did good, Maggie.”
You could tell by the look on her face that she was having a hard time dealing with the fact that Negan was actually being nice to her, even supportive. In a way, you imagined, she would’ve probably rather had him yell at her for falling, which would’ve made it easier for her to keep her angered attitude and hatred for him. But he was being a kind, motivating teacher right now, and she didn’t like this, at all.
With a nod, she walked past you, huffing slightly as she nodded for Elijah to move with her to the back of the bush, into the hiding spot where you’d been sitting just a few minutes ago.
”Looks like its your turn now, huh?”, Negan grinned, leaning down to grab the mask that had been laying next to Elijah’s on the ground until now, before he tossed it over at you. You glanced down at it, and though it felt less disgusting dried down, the rotting scent hadn’t changed much and the realization that you’d pull it over your face now made a cool shudder run down your back.
”I guess so”, you said, gulping before she adjusted the mask in your hands and reached up until you could slowly lower it over your head, cringing as the feeling of the rotting skin laid straight over yours and touched it to make sure the holes for the eyes and the mouth laid right over yours.
”It gets better after a while”, Negan said, winking at you as he moved closer in und gestured at you to turn around.
“Now before the same shit happens to you too”, he said as you moved around and felt him reaching up to grasp the shoelaces,”lemme tighten yours a bit up before we start.”
He started to take the laces in, tightening them step by step until you could feel the walker skin hovering right over your own and as he finally finished it off with a knot at the nape of your neck.
Slowly, you turned back around to him as soon as you felt his hands dropping from the mask glancing up at him as a grin started to spread over his lips, mirroring the one that seemed to be carved into his mask.
“Never thought I’d see a pretty walker, but shit, here we are”, Negan chuckled, tease swinging through his voice as a laugh fell from your lips.
“Wow”, you said, still grinning back at him before his smirk started to grow into a smile as he grasped your shoulders and gave them a soft squeeze.
”You got this”, he said, winking at you before he nodded towards Blackbeard, “You ready?”
”Yeah”, you mumbled, watching as Negan moved over to the dead, starting to untie it as you started to shuffle away, creating some more distance between you to get a bit of a head start before the roped dropped down onto the ground and freed Blackbeard.
Unbothered by your presence, he started to move around, shuffling slowly over the ground as you started to copy him, trying to incorporate the tips that Negan had given Maggie earlier and the impressions of walkers that you’d gotten over the last decade.
Slow, scuffling steps.
Limp arms, usually one side hanging lower than the others.
Slumped shoulders.
A lower hanging head.
A shivering breath fell from your lips as you started to move towards Blackbeard, trying to incorporate all the steps that were cursing through your head as you could feel yourself growing tenser.
You’d done this before, you’d walked several times through the dead with guts spread over your body, but somehow, they’d made you feel more protected than the mask.
Slowly, you shuffled along the walker, hearing it groan lowly, though it still looked unbothered by you as you tried to coordinate your steps to not get into the same tricky situation as Maggie just had.
“Good job”, you heard Negan say, bringing you to smile slightly underneath the mask, though you pushed yourself to stay focused, “Just loosen your shoulders a little.”
Trying to follow Negan’s advice, you started to make yourself shake off some of that tension and loosen your shoulders, allowing your arms to dangle a bit more, similarly to those of Blackbeard.
For a little while longer, you moved along the walker, trying to follow the small advices that Negan was throwing in here and there until you heard his voice again.
“Alright, I think that’s it, now try to lead him to the tree so I can tie him back up”, he said, as you glanced a little up, watching him give you a slight grin,”You got this.”
One more time you looked at Negan, before you started to slowly move towards the tree, so slow that you could keep track of Blackbeard and get him to follow you. It took a few tries of stepping forward and stopping again before he stumbled behind you and followed you to the tree where Negan already waited with the rope in his hands. And as soon as you were close enough, he threw the ropes around the dead, catching it enough by surprise to pull Blackbeard against the tree before he could do anything else and tie him up with your help, tight and thorough.
“You did great, Sweetheart”, Negan said as you backed away from the walker and pulled your mask off, watching him smile at you through the skin as he quickly caressed your shoulder while Maggie and Elijah stepped back out of their hide-out.
“Thanks”, you mumbled back with a smile, breathing deeply through now that the rotting mask had left your face again, ready for Elijah to step into the role of the walker and prepare for what was to come.
The last afternoon had settled in by the time each one of you felt fully ready to put your plan into action, after several rounds of walking along Blackbeard and eventually through the walker enclosure.
Herding them had truly been harder than merely getting one to follow you, but after a while it seemed to work fine and properly enough to take things to the road.
You found yourself adjusting your backpack that was hidden underneath the wide jacket you’d taken from one of the walkers, which was long enough to reach down to your knees and form the perfect disguise along with the mask that was already pulled over your face.
Shifting from foot to foot, you tried to get yourself ready, hoping that your plan would work out and wouldn’t blow up in your face, before Negan’s voice ripped you out of your thought.
“Hey”, he said as your glance fell on him and the cheeky expression underneath his mask as he winked at you,”Lookin’ hot. Wanna make out?”
“Oh my god”, you groaned with a chuckle, too startled to answer anything witty back while Negan let out a theatrical sigh and placed his hand over his heart.
“Ouch”, he exclaimed, his face scrunching up playfully underneath his mask while the shit eating grin stayed on his lips,”Gonna take that as a ‘no’. You’re not into undead, huh?”
“Nah rather go for the handsome man underneath that mask”, you answered with a small smirk,”Living guys are more my type.”
“Well good to know”, he said, grinning a little wider at you before he nodded over to Maggie, Elijah, and Gabriel, who had returned by now, and who were starting to loosen the ropes around the enclosure to let the walkers inside step out and form the beginning of your herd.
“You’re ready?”, he asked, glimpsing back over as you as you slowly started to nod.
“Yes, let’s get this over with.”
I find it interesting that the 2 worst episodes with the Reapers were the ones that weren't spoiled ahead of time.
This was such a mess. I'm still angry about that stupid, stupid Gabriel scene. Complete and utter nonsense. I'm not even that mad about Gabe not killing the dude. I'm just pissed AS HELL at how pointless that scene was. Like....wanting to break shit levels of pissed off.
God, I hate these Reapers so much. They are an absolute snoozefest and so unnecessary. Pope, Leah, and the rest of the gang bore me to tears and it's just awful knowing that they really serve no greater purpose. As I said a while back, this is like the garbage people all over again. They eventually gave Jadis/Anne a bigger purpose, but they basically existed to fill space and time. Now it's like they resurrected them, took them to a church, fed them after midnight, and now they're the reapers.
I honestly didn't hate the Maggie/Negan stuff nearly as much as most. I honestly genuinely enjoyed both of them. Which is surprising, because I haven't enjoyed Maggie since season 7.
I was surprised that Elijah seeing his sister made me as emotional as it did.
The CW stuff was meh for me this week, except for Eugene. I got so much satisfaction out of seeing him punch Sebastian in the face. They really nailed it with the casting for Sebastian. Even if I had never read the comic, it would've taken me about 2 seconds to despise this douche.
As for the Leah stuff, I've always felt that there would be some level of redemption for her. I don't think she's a good person. I think she has feelings for Daryl, and I think a big part of her not killing the entire family was that she couldn't do it in front of Daryl. Not necessarily that she suddenly wanted to show mercy toward someone. I think we're seeing her loyalty toward her family greatly diminishing now that he's there. She knows they're in bad shape and unstable, Pope is erratic, and Daryl could be a safer bet for her than her own group. She's self-serving and at this point, I absolutely believe she'd choose herself over her "family".
...which is why I still think it's gonna go one of two ways with her: She's going to help Daryl go against them, only to choose to die along with them...OR...she actually ends up coming back with Daryl, only to completely lose her shit when he doesn't want to be with her romantically. She helped him kill her family and now there's nothing in it for her? No way she wouldn't go absolute apeshit.
I thought the previews were interesting...There've been those pics floating around of Melissa with some of the reaper actors. I wonder if there's still hope for her ending up there. Combining that speculation with the fact that they reminded us in this episode that Dog is still there has me VERY intrigued. If she did end up there and Dog saw her....That could certainly cause a major issue.
Anyway, it's a shame that we had two fantastic episodes in a row, only to get punished with this absolute bullshit that is the reapers. I've seen LyCo and RC be MUCH better, acting wise, and I think NR has actually gotten worlds better since AK took over. So part of me wonders if the acting is subpar because none of them are into this storyline at all.
UPDATE: The more I think about it, the more I think Dog is gonna end up outing Daryl somehow.
Just watched 11x07. It was a bit boring like all episodes are before the mid season finale, but it could be better compared to action-heavy and emotional 11x06.
My general opinions with ✨spoilers✨:
- The Reapers sounded so cool with their Friday 13th vibes but them we got the "God chose us" bullshit and now they are just meeeehhh The guys robbed another people of their walls and food and security instead of building their own or asking for asylum like normal people would do. And now they are hunting the last of their enemies because they are afraid of retaliation. And, also, they want revenge because they lost a few of them while attacking other people's homes. Honestly, I liked them better unhinged.
- I never thought L*ah actress was a very good one (all her emotional burst about her dead son on Find Me was soooo forced) but she was particularly bad on this one, wasn't she? But maybe it was just how the scene was directed? All the little family drama felt pretty flat too.
- Maggie got a fucking horde in like three hours? How Negan skinned three walkers and made masks that fast (we saw the process on S10, and the skin had to dry and everything)? How they found so many walkers and still got daylight to march to Meridian?? Time and plot shenanigans aside, I liked the Maggie × Negan talk.
- Eugene became the guy who calls bullshit and punchs people. Character development at its finest. I'm ok with the Commenwealth arc so far, but I wish the characters from there looked a little less absurd. Also, real Stephanie is wearing a terrible wig and clearly in love with Eugene. Princess real cute on a jumpsuit.
- Couldn't we got a little glimpse of ASZ and TF? And, you know..Carol? I wasn't bothered by her absence on previous episodes because I think every scene with her was a very important scene. But now I am. Someone should have returned by now (Alden? one of Maggie's people could have survived long enough to deliver the message? The young guy who lost his sister and bonded with Kelly? I really don't want to see him die) and alerted ASZ of what's going on with the Reapers. I guess that will be the cliffhanger next week - who will get to ASZ first? The Reapers? The Commenwealth? Find out in a few months!
i see the actor playing sebastian is embodying just how insufferable the comic counterpart of his character is. i hated him in the comics & i already can't stand him in the show lmao
Instead of making a bunch of posts I'm just gonna collect them all here
-Okay we're starting off with a Maggie & Negan promise, i think what Maggie said it right, they will never be even, but a truce to be able to help each other (and themselves) is necessary for survival so I'm glad they did their little handshake in front of Gabe
-"I think you're a woman of your word and I've always been a man of mine" Negan out here putting respect on Maggie's name and I appreciate it. She doesn't need to forgive nor forget tho
-Princess holding Ezekiels head and shoulder asking what she can do, I love it!!
-"kinda anti friends who die from stubbornness" princess I adore you
-Yumiko calling out bullshit left and right is my sexuality now.
-daryl and dog out here being cuties
-they keep saying that they don't have time to waste and stuff and then they take the what 2 hours to dig a grave. Bro.
-"this is not fun" "well not with that attitude" Negan I'll always love you no matter how big of a dick you are
-Pope quiet down you're not scary
-Why does Daryl's scar look... Fresh? Like it should be a scar but it looks like it was reopened
-is it bad that I don't listen to anything Pope says? Like he's out here yelling and it just sounds like white noise to me while I admire Daryl Dixon
-that's a nice lake
-God I wanna punch Leah
-whisperer!Maggie and supportive!Negan
-they can't find any tracks but Gabe's just out here sitting in a tree lmao
-Yumikos brother getting taken away and then the announcement of "that's the commonwealth way" that's eerie
-I have some thoughts about that Maggie and Negan scene , no I don't ship them that's icky, but my thoughts gotta be a separate post
-ANGRY YUMIKO ANGRY YUMIKO
-sorry strong powerful angry women are my weakness
-who is that???
-Daryl's not actually gonna kill that guy is he? Daryl doesn't just kill random dudes without reason, istg.
-the walker coral is uh neat I guess
-FINALLY SOME NEGAN POV ABOUT SEASON 6 I've been waiting for this.
-"if I could do it again I'd have killed every single one of you" Negan, damn
-that blood on Eugene's arm looks like a bite
-HAPPY EZEKIEL OMG HE'S SO CUTE
-Princess' face at the lollipop is adorable
-go Eugene omg the character development!
-this little rich boy needs to be brought down a peg and a punch in the nose clearly didn't do it. Try biting his dick next time Eugene that worked with Dwight
-is that the real Stephanie? I feel like that's the real Stephanie, the one with Eugene is a plant.
-i hope Yumiko can meet up with the others soon, so they stop doing dumb shit(mainly Eugene)
-what a comfy little cell
-"you could've been a hero, protect the governors son" HE DID???? The son was a dick, also we killed the Governor like 6 years ago tf?
-i would immediately get kicked out of the commonwealth omg
-so what's the plan when they start shooting the walkers?
-oh his wife is gonna diieeeeee
-I knew they weren't gonna make Daryl kill innocent people that don't ask for it
-what is Daryl gonna tell her?
-Maggie is Alpha now
-oh shit that's his sister. That's fucking rough buddy
