”Negan”, you said, nudging him softly to get his attention and nodded towards the figure,”Elijah’s over there.”
Immediately, Negan’s glance darted at the still figure that was barely moving, almost hidden by the shadow that the building and the walls were casting onto him.
”Shit you’re right”, Negan grumbled, grasping your hand again as he nodded towards the younger man,”Let’s get there and see if we can get inside somehow...we can’t stay here much longer.”
You nodded, quickly agreeing with him as you saw one more firecracker arrow blowing a walker up somewhere in the midst of the herd. One more time you glanced around before you moved out of your temporary hideout, hurrying over to the small path that was merely wide enough for you to slip into it.
”Elijah? Elijah, hey”, you said as soon as you moved into the shadows again, watching as he lifted his head almost in a panic before you could see his glance filling with relief as soon as he realized that it was you making your way closer to him instead of a reaper.
”Where’s Maggie?”, he asked, his voice strained and filled with pain as Negan squeezed himself past you to lean down and help Elijah up.
”We lost her in the herd, no idea where she went but I guess she’s searching for shelter too”, you said as you watched him nod slowly, though the worried look stayed stuck in his eyes mixing quickly with pain as he got up on his feet and put pressure on his leg.
”Alright, now let’s see if we can get inside someho-”
”Well shit, here are you fuckers hiding”, an unfamiliar voice echoed through the sizzling sounds and the groans, forcing you to turn around within the matter of a second and look at the reaper who stood at the beginning of the path, a wicked grin drawn over his face.
”Fuck”, Negan cursed as a wave of adrenaline rushed through you, pairing with fear and anger as you watched the reaper drawing out his knife, starting to step towards you as you quickly reached for your own knife, even though another idea shot through your head the moment you saw him stepping closer.
Turning your knife, you moved closer towards the wall, keeping your eyes darted at the Reaper as you started to loudly bang the hard handle’s end of the knife against the metal, creating a loud echo that sounded through the dark.
A nervous breath fell from your lips as you continued your movements, trying to keep it going as you hoped it would attract walkers despite the other loud noises around you.
It was time for your masks to do their job again.
An irritated look spread over the reaper’s face, just moments before realization kicked in and horror took a strong hold of his expression, while walker groans finally seemed to come closer.
You could hear a curse falling from his lips, as he looked around, throwing you another glare before you watched him vanish back behind the building, trying to outrun the walkers who were finally stepping closer.
”Okay, let’s go now. Quickly”, Negan grumbled, grasping Elijah a little tighter as you started to move down the path, leaving those walkers who’d been alerted by your bangs luckily fairly uninterested behind as they moved into the direction of the reaper who looked far more interesting and most importantly, alive, to them.
Rushing through the darkness as fast as you could with an injured Elijah by your side you made your way towards the nearest entrance and stepped in front of the two men to push it open and let them slip inside along with you.
From one moment to another, the sizzling and the groans were nothing but a dull mess of sounds as they echoed into the dimly lit staircase you found yourself standing in.
”Do you think you can get up the stairs?”, you asked Elijah as you turned around, watching as he immediately nodded.
”Yeah, yeah I just need help”, he said, breathing heavily as he glanced up the stairs,”The first floor is quite convoluted, it’s easier to hide there until we know where to go next.”
Adjusting his grip on the shorter man, Negan nodded: ”Good...then let’s get ya up there.”
It took just a little bit more time until you found yourself reaching the first floor, and let carefully go of Elijah as soon as you found yourself at the top of the stairs and tightened your grip on your knife again as you opened the metallic door that lead into the next corridor.
”Down the right”, Elijah said, trying to catch his breath as you started to pull your mask off, slipped it into your pocket and nodded at him.
“Let’s take yours off too, we don’t need them in here and they’re tight”, you said, as Elijah hummed through his pants in agreement and pushed his mask off, followed by Negan who did the same. With another nod, you moved in front of them into the hallway, glancing alerted around before a familiar figure at the other end made you halt immediately.
”Maggie”, you breathed out, her the look on her face changing from tense and suspicious to worried the very moment she saw Elijah while she hurried through the narrow hallway towards you.
”I’ve got one on my tail”, she said, glimpsing back at the door she’d come from for a moment.
”We just lost ours”, Negan responded, while Maggie’s glance fell down onto Elijah’s injured leg as he squirmed in pain, only to look back up at you in the next moment and gesture down into the darkness of the hallway.
”We need to take care of that bleeding. The infirmary is right down the hallway, let’s go.”
”Let’s grab as much as we can, I don’t have much left in the backpack”, you said as soon as you moved inside the room that was merely enlightened by the moon and the light of the large lamps outside that was falling through the windows.
”Alright”, Maggie nodded as she moved towards the shelves, quickly yet systematically grabbing supplies from each shelf as you steered towards the bandages, trying to get as many of those as you could. They were definitely the item that you were shortest off since you’d treated Alden, and you could only imagine how much you’d need for Elijah’s injury
”This way”, Maggie said as soon as your hands were filled with rolls of bandages, holding tightly onto them as you moved behind her and followed her into a spot hidden behind a moveable shelf that must’ve once been used as a storage room.
Carefully, you pulled your backpack down your shoulders from underneath the layers of walker clothes that still swung around your body, pushing all the bandages inside the biggest pocket as Maggie closed the shelf behind herself.
”Okay what now?”, you heard Negan say as you shifted a little closer to Elijah, trying to start working on him as soon as you could while you saw Maggie glimpse through the small slits in the shelves that allowed her to look into the infirmary’s main room.
”Wait till dawn, hunt them down”, she mumbled, immediately eliciting a huff to rumble through Negan’s throat as the suspicion the both of you had since the start was confirmed.
The food wasn’t her only concern, hell, maybe it wasn’t even her main concern. She was here for revenge too, and she was eager to get it.
”Why not just get the food and go?”, Negan asked, trying to keep his voice low as Maggie turned around, shooting him a glare as she shook her head.
”And walk out here with our arms full?”
”As long as we walk outta here, yeah. It’s what we’re here for”, Negan responded, frustration clearly sounding through his voice.
”I’m not leaving Daryl and Gabriel!”
”That’s not what he meant”, you intervened as you started to wrap the first bandage around Elijah’s leg, only glancing up at her for a moment to see her reaction.
”Even if so, I won’t risk being followed home”, she added, growing even more defensive even though this was the one thing you could find yourself agreeing with her on. One of those psychos had already blown found her in the area surrounding Alexandria and you could pass on a repetition of that.
You could tell that Negan wanted to respond something, but that chance was taken from him as heavy footsteps made their way closer to the infirmary and entered it merely moments later.
Your breath got caught in your throat and your movements froze as you heard the rustling sound of a walkie echo through the large room, filling the room with the voice of the women you’d heard back in the safe house.
”Carver, report.”
”In the infirmary. The leader got away for now but I’ll get her”, a male voice answered, and while you weren’t entirely sure, you could guess that it was the same man who’d accompanied the woman and Daryl on their search for your group.
“Just find her, not one of them is getting out of here alive”, the woman’s voice hissed through the walkie, filled with anger and spite while the footsteps started to move further away again until they eventually entered the hallway again and made you realize that you’d be stuck in this storage room until dawn, until you could come for them before they could come for you.
“He’s down the next floor, so we’ll do it as planned now”, Maggie said with a nod, referring to the desperate plan you’d worked up in the storage room while you’d been stuck in there.
Taking Carver down wouldn’t be easy, that’s something both Maggie and Elijah had stated fairly quickly and it pretty much resulted in the decision to try and outwit him, with Maggie as the bait.
With one last nod at all of you she turned around and hurried down the hallway, just as you moved with Elijah, who’s leg was provisorily wrapped up for now, into the last room, while Negan moved down into one about halfway down the hallway, creating a space in between both that Maggie would try and lead the reaper to.
“You ready?”, Elijah asked as you left the door off the latch, dropped your backpack right next to it and pressed yourself against the wall, just enough to be able to look through the small slit and see when it was time for you to move out.
“Yeah”, you mumbled with a nod, gripping your knife tightly as you could feel your heart hammering harder against your chest, pumping adrenaline through you as you heard two sets of footsteps coming closer down the hall, one faster than the other before it suddenly slowed down and you could finally see Maggie walking slowly backwards with her back directed at you, the last sign you needed.
“Now”, you whispered barely audible towards Elijah, just enough to alert him as you pushed the door open and stepped within seconds into the hallway, watching as an odd sense of amusement spread over the reapers face as soon as he saw you stepping behind Maggie.
“You killed my sister”, Elijah spat towards the man in the very moment you could see Negan slowly moving out of his room and into the hallway, weighing an iron rod in his hands while the unknowing reaper chuckled as the disgusting amusement on his face grew.
“Okay”, he said, almost in a mocking tone as Negan slowly walked closer and finally caught the reaper’s attention, who merely laughed lowly in response to the threat behind him.
“Well i gotta say thanks for this, saved me some searching”, he chuckled turning around to look at you, the sick grin still on his lips as he gave Negan just the right moment to strut quickly towards him and raise the rod, ready to let it rush down on the man only to be stopped by him in the same moment.
A low groan echoed through the hallway as the reaper kicked Negan right into his side, letting him sink to the ground as a worried gasp left your lips just Elijah pushed forwards to go in for the next attempt.
Your eyes were glued on Negan as he got back on his feet and grabbed the rod again while you tightened the hold on your knife, ready to fuck Carver up and join the fight that was turning into a dangerous mess.
Groans and the sounds of clashing blades echoed through the hallway as Carver seemingly warded off any tries to strike him, putting his full fighting skills on an eerie display as you found yourself in the midst of the fight, rushing once again forward to strike him from behind, aiming straight for his neck as he suddenly turned around.
“Oh you bitch”, he spat, mockingly laughing as he struck your arm down with his with a force that made you howl in pain, kicking you in the very next moment against the back of your knees with a force that nearly catapulted you against the hard wall.
A whimper fell from your lips as you felt your body clash against the stone, still holding onto your knife as you watched him move towards Elijah who was laying right next to you on the ground, kicking down onto his leg with a force strong enough to crack the bone and elicit a painful scream to shake through his body.
Just then you saw Negan disappear behind the next corner, clearly moving towards something which caught Carver’s attention immediately. It was more than enough motivation for you to push your strained body away from the wall and enough to lean over and strike your blade against his thigh as well as you possibly could in your position.
“Fuck”, a loud groan fell from his lips, quickly bringing his attention down to you as fury anger mixed into the sickeningly amused look as he kicked the knife out of your hand. Another, loud wail fail from your lips as you felt a stinging pain rush through you just as Maggie moved in, using the moment to go in for another strike only to be warded off by the reaper again who struck back at her with a straight punch to her face.
Wailing she fell to the ground, a big bleeding wound plastered over her cheek bone along with a bleeding nose, leaving you to try and move towards your knife as Carver stepped towards her, picking up his small, jagged sickle from the ground right as you saw Negan move around the corner, one fist balled while the other held a big, metallic bell.
“Hey”, he yelled, stepping closer as he weighed the bell in his hand,“Over here shit dick.”
“This should be fun”, Carver chuckled as he turned around, slowly walking past you towards Negan as you felt yourself staring at both of them, not daring to move too much and ruin whatever Negan was clearly trying to go for here.
As Carver halted inches away from a still whimpering Elijah, there were only a few feet between him and Negan left, and your heart was hammering against your chest, your pulse pounding in your ears as Elijah reached for his knife and threw it with a load, pain-filled groan past the reaper.
It created just enough distraction for Negan to reveal what was hidden in his hand as he used the moment to throw a hand-full of sand right into Carver’s face, making him stumble back and howl out that turned into immediate silence as Negan crushed the bell with a loud, metallic bang down on his head.
He fell down to the hard ground, right behind Maggie, knocked out for the moment while Negan let out a thick huff.
“Well, ding ding”, he grumbled, tossing the bell to the ground before he looked down at Elijah,“Thanks kid.”
The younger man nodded, clearly still in pain while Negan dropped down next to you, heavy breaths shaking through his chest as he glanced with a worried look over at you.
“You okay?”, he asked, reaching in to brush softly over the large red spot on your arm where Carver had struck you earlier,
“Yeah, that’s probably gonna be gone soon”, you quickly nodded, glancing over his face to see whether Carver’s punches had left him injured,”You?”
“I’m fine”, he said, softly patting your thigh as you could see Maggie slowly getting back on her feet, still heavily breathing though as she glared down at Carver and moved towards Elijah.
He didn’t say anything yet, he just reached for the sickle that had been dropped by Carver during his fall, still heavily breathing as he held it towards Maggie.
“Do it”, he called out through his pain, pushing the sickle forward until she took it and gripped it tightly while blood still dripped from the wound on her face down her cheek.
You could hear Carver stirring, groaning lowly even though he was still far from fully conscious as Maggie strutting towards him, rushing up the sickle only to be stopped by a loud familiar voice.
“Don’t!“, you heard Daryl yell out as your glance darted immediately at him, spotting him at the other side of the hallway, panting as he ran towards Maggie who only slowly and reluctantly lowered the weapon.
A groan rumbled through Carver’s chest as he visibly started to drift back into consciousness, his hand raising slightly up as if he was trying to point at Daryl raised his voice in a low yet angry tone.
“Should’ve killed you right away.”
A dismissive huff fell from Daryl’s lips as he shook his head and leaned in, lunging at the man to meet his face with a punch that was just enough to knock him right back out.
“We don’t kill him yet”, Daryl said as he moved in to pull a walkie and all weapons from Carver’s body, including a pistol and two more knifes while Elijah let out a pained groan.
“He needs to pay for what he did”, he called out, close to tears as you got up on your feet, and walked towards the room where you’d left your backpack to grab it and fix Elijah up as best as you could within the small timeframe you’d likely had left before the next threat followed.
“I agree”,you heard Daryl say as you dropped the backpack next to the younger man, leaning down next to him as you tried to get a look at his injury even though you already knew that you could merely try to find a way to support it until you were in safety ,”But once we go down that road, we’re not gonna make it out alive...No offense, I hate this prick, now we got it so we use him.”
Your glance skipped in between Elijah and Daryl before it fell back down on your backpack as you hurried to grab whatever you could from it, still listening to Daryl.
“We get what we want, and go home.”
“Are you doing this for her?”, you suddenly heard Maggie ask as she brushed the blood on her hands off on her red shirt, a sound of spite sounding through it that irritated you, though not as much as her question.
“No”, Daryl quickly shook his head, seemingly directly knowing who Maggie was referring to which only confused you more,”No, I’m not. I’m doing this for us.”
“Her?”, you finally asked, looking with raised brows at your half brother as more tension spread over his face and he gulped thickly, almost hesitant to say something before he finally brought himself to speak up again.
“The woman I told you ‘bout on our run...she’s with them”, it clicked, from one moment to another, making you quickly realize why it had been so easy for him to infiltrate this group and talk to them the way he did while he was on the search in the safe house.
It all made sense now, just as much as his reactions right in these moments.
“Leah wants us gone but not more than saving her own family, especially this asshole”, Daryl grumbled as Negan slowly started to nod and cleared his throat slightly.
“This could go down 800 different ways...but I am down with us getting out of this alive”, he said, immediately eliciting a wave of anger to wash over Elijah’s face as he shook his head repeatedly.
“No!”
“Elijah-”, Maggie chimed in, trying to calm him even though there seemed to be no sense in it.
“We can’t just let them walk away”, he said, close to tears again while you could tell that Maggie was fighting with her own emotions as she for once tried to keep her head at least somewhat cool.
“They will get what’s coming to them, maybe not today...but they will, I promise”,she finally said with a thick sigh as Elijah sunk his head back to the ground, tears now falling over his cheeks before you glanced over at Daryl and watched him lead Carver’s walkie to his lips.
“Leah, it’s me. We need to talk.”
A whole hour passed until Daryl could get her to agree on meeting in the courtyard which was merely enough for the rest of the group to gain some strength back, tie Carver up before he drifted back into consciousness and allow you to try and fix up Elijah’s leg for now.
It was merely a makeshift brace that you’d build with some short wooden boards and a rope that you’d found in one of the rooms on the floor, along with a crutch.
It wasn’t much but it was enough for him to be able to walk alongside the rest outside onto the courtyard, with Negan and Daryl in the front as they held onto a tied up but very much conscious Carver.
“Take this, just in case”, Daryl grumbled, pushing the pistol he’d retrieved from Carver earlier into Maggie’s hand as soon as you could see that the courtyard was empty and you could merely guess that the last, living reapers were hiding somewhere.
“Leah”, Daryl called out into the walkie, quickly followed by a response.
“We’re here”, her voice echoed through the walkie paired with a metallic squeaking of the door on the smaller building across from the courtyard.
“Come out, put your weapons on the ground”, Daryl demanded, receiving another response just as quick and stubborn as the first one.
“I need to see Carver first”, she demanded, forcing an annoyed huff to rumble through Daryl’s chest as he grabbed Carver, making Negan drop his arms from him and as Daryl instead pushed the walkie into his hands.
With another scoff, Daryl tightened his hold on Carver and yanked him into the middle of the courtyard as he pushed his hunting knife tightly against the other man’s throat.
“Come out”, he called out reaching up to pull on Carver’s dark hair to keep him under control and expose his throat even more to the sharp blade of his knife.
And just then, the door opened and you could finally see the women Daryl told you about for the very first time as she was accompanied by nothing more than two other men.
You had a hard time guessing her age, though she seemed somewhere in her early forties, which outgrown grayish roots flowing into the blonde lengths of her hair that were tied up into her ponytail, some loose strands dropping into her face even though you could still see the angered look on her face clearly.
For some reason she fit the story Daryl had told you about her, for some reason her cold eyes and the look on her face matched the behavior he’d described along with the cruel ultimatum she’d given him.
”Put your weapons on the ground”, Daryl barked, pushing the knife closer against the thin skin of Carver’s neck as you stayed back along with the rest, though still holding tightly onto your weapon.
“What are you offering?”, she asked as she stepped closer, even though she and her two buddies kept a safe distance.
“Let go of your weapons and we’ll let you leave. Head north, no turning back. If I see one of you, anyone at all, I’ll kill him”, he threatened, keeping a strong hold on Carver,”If you’re far enough gone, I’ll let him go.”
“You expect me to trust you now”, she asked with a bitter chuckle while you could see Daryl nod.
“Yeah, we’re doing this all wrong. We survived this long for what? Keep fighting just to kill each other?”
“If that’s what it takes”, she shrugged, the cold tone still in her voice as Daryl shook his head.
“It doesn’t have to. I’m giving you the chance to save what’s left of your family and mine.”
From your spot by the edge of the courtyard, you could clearly see her hesitate for a moment, running her hand over her head before more coldness spread over her features as she quickly rose her walkie up and threw Daryl another glare.
“No more lies”, she spat, pushing the button of her walkie as she called out a name,”Jensen, now.”
A loud gunshot echoed through the air, enough to make you flinch as somewhere from the roof, a shot rushed down against the sandy ground, right next to Daryl.
“That was a warning! The last one!”, Leah’s furious voice roared, pushing another wave of shock through you, forcing you to realize that you didn’t have the upper hand anymore while you glanced worriedly over at Negan.
“Everybody out”, Leah screamed, intensifying the tense look that was already plastered all over Negan’s face before he glimpsed at you for a second, gulping thickly as you both knew that you had no other choice but to comply.
Propping Elijah, Negan helped Maggie move him out of the shadow of the building behind you and onto the courtyard as you followed, moving right next to them as they stopped shortly behind Daryl.
“Lower the knife”, Leah ordered towards Daryl, who merely responded with silence and another push of his blade against Carver’s neck until she rose her walkie back up to her lips.
”Jensen, the woman in the red shirt.”
Your eyes widened as you stared at Maggie next to you, almost preparing yourself to hear another shot sound through the air but instead, Daryl let go of Carver, pushing him forwards as a look of disgust spread over his face.
Similarly as in the hallway, the sickening and amused grin was back on the other man’s face as he provokingly blew a kiss at Elijah whose heavy breaths grew faster and the look on his face grew more and more furious.
With all of his last strength he pushed himself away from Negan and Maggie, panting in anger and pain as he shuffled slowly but utterly determined towards Carver.
“Elijah, don’t”, Maggie called out as you could feel the suspense in you rising while Elijah didn’t stop, fueling the fear in you that this might turn into a bloodbath after all.
“Elijah-”, Maggie yelled again, audibly growing more restless as you nervously shifted from foot to foot while the fury and anger on Leah’s face translated directly into the tone of her voice.
“He takes one more step, he’s gone”, she nearly screamed while Elijah kept on shuffling over the ground, without any signs on stopping as he called his dead sister’s name out.
“Josephine!”, his voice was raspy and desperate, and you had no clue what to do or what to think right now, as Elijah’s legs began to shake harder, completely giving in underneath him. He crushed to the ground, a yelp falling from his lips as he merely moved while you saw Carver slowly stepping closer towards Elijah.
“Carver don’t”, Leah called out to him, the walkie still on her lips as your heart kept on hammering against your chest, nausea elicited by the stress and fear clawing at your throat as Elijah moved even closer and made Leah push the button of her walkie again, “Jensen, pull the trigger.”
Your heart felt like it was pounding through your whole body, wholeheartedly believing that a bullet would gore through Elijah’s head in the next moment. Instead however, as the gunshot echoed through the air, Carver howled in pain, blood gushing from his thigh as the bullet buried itself into his body.
“Jensen what the hell?”, Leah screamed, raising her walkie to her lips as she yelled into it just as she sunk to her knees next to carver,”Jensen?!”
Still in shock you didn’t expect anything in these moments but more hell to break loose, but were only more surprised as you suddenly heard an all too familiar voice echoing through the walkie.
“Nope, no Jensen here”, the voice said, laced with satisfaction,”Call me Gabriel.”
“Damn”, Negan chuckled beside you, an almost proud look spread over his face as a bit of relief flooded your veins, even though you stayed tense and watched the scene in front of you closely as Gabriel’s voice sounded through the walkie again.
“Those two better back of, or they’re next.”
“Do it”, Leah hissed immediately at the two men beside her who reluctantly stepped a bit back before her glance shot back up at your group, “Does the deal still stand?”
Shaking her head, Maggie stepped further forward, scoffing as a slight grin tucked at the corners of her lips.
“You had your chance”, She said, a biting tone in her voice,”You would have killed us one by one, right? Now Gabriel does the same thing to you.”
“Maybe you’re right”, Leah scoffed as she slowly got back on her feet, “You’re friend has the rifle...but I bet we can take a couple of you down before he takes us all.”
Her tone was threatening and after what you’d witnessed during your fight with Carver, she was probably saying the truth. Those people were trained, trained to the point that they could fight four people at once. They’d most definitely cause a lot of harm to you if you’d risk it, if not more.
“You can have your town, we walk”, Leah added, gulping thickly as her glance wandered over all of your faces before it landed back on Daryl’s.
“I save my family, you save yours.”
A moment of silence fell over the courtyard, before Maggie turned towards you and gave you a questioning look.
“What do you say?”, she asked, almost surprising you for a moment as you glanced from the reapers towards her and let out a deep breath.
“I just wanna make it out of here with the food. We’re needed”, you said, watching her nod slightly before she surprised you even more as she tilted her head to look at Negan beside you.
“Negan?”
“You know what I think”, he responded, enough for Maggie to slowly start to nod before her glance fell right back onto Leah and the two men.
“Drop your weapons and go.”
Almost immediately, Leah dropped the weapons she had on her body, only the other two seemed hesitant, still holding onto what they had, enough to provoke her and let her roar at them,.
“Do it”, she called out, her worried glance that had been stuck on Carver for now quickly turning into a glare as she turned around and yelled at them,”I said do it!”
They finally complied, dropping their weapons while Leah shifted one more time towards Carver on the ground, whispering what seemed like comforting words for him before she got back on her feet and gave Daryl one more glance.
There was an odd mix of shock, anger and even emptiness stuck in it, and it laid within her eyes until she turned around, waving at the two men to follow her as she started to strut away, vanishing into the path between two buildings beside the courtyard only mere moments later from one second to the other.
It was odd how fast this was over from one moment to another, and you found your body still feeling alert, but the nausea and tension slowly flowed out of you, allowing you to breathe deeply through again.
“Get up”, Daryl growled at Carver, roughly grabbing the man’s arms to pull him up as Maggie crouched down next to Elijah, trying to check up on him as he tried to push himself up on his elbows, panting as he glanced up at her.
“For Josephine”, he shakily said, repeating his sister’s name as another tremble rumbled through his injured body, “For all of them.”
It took a moment for it to click in you, for you to realize what Elijah meant there and you felt like it clicked in the very same moment as it did for Maggie.
Something in her face was changing, shifting from worried to a stone cold look of determination. This right there was the face of a person who was about to snap from one moment to the other, the face of a person who was about to throw her deal with Leah out of the window.
And she did.
Slowly but threateningly, she moved up, her steps getting faster as she hurried over to the path the reapers had just vanished in, reaching for the gun Daryl had given her.
You felt like you were watching a movie, watching something that wasn’t actually happening but as soon as you saw Daryl pushing Carver down to the ground and sprinting towards her, yelling at her, you knew that this all was the cruel reality.
“Maggie! No!”, he screamed, only for him to be cut off by a series of gunshots that echoed in an eery orchestra through the air.
“Shit”, Negan grumbled beside you, suspension plastered all over his face as he watched the scene as close as you, without moving, without knowing what to do, just observing as Maggie’s murder spree ended as fast as it had started.
For now.
“What the hell was that?”, Daryl called out, as another shot sounded through the air before you watched her sprint past your half-brother, strutting straight towards Carver on the ground. Raising her gun at him she pulled the trigger, only for a soft clicking sound to rumble through the gun instead of a loud shot.
Nervously, the man on the ground started to shift towards Leah’s knife on the ground, trying to grasp it only for Maggie to snap back from her initial surprise.
Leaning down, she quickly grasped the reaper’s sickle moving back up and closer to him, kicking the knife out of his hand in the very moment he grasped it before a loud groan fell from her lips as she lifted the weapon up and rushed the sharp blade right down into Carver’s chest.
Choking his head dropped back against the ground, gurgling on it as his own blood as Maggie let out a thick breath, stepping her hands onto her legs as she tried to catch her breath.
And all you could do, all you could do was look at the scene in front of you in shock and just hope that you’d finally be able to let this chapter behind you now.
It took a while until you’d all shaken the events that had just played out in front of you off and started to get the horses, the carriages and all the supplies ready to be transported home. All of this had demanded so much from you during the last days, but you were relieved that all of this food and all of these supplies in general were enough to make sure that Alexandria could get back on its feed.
And most importantly for you, it was more than enough to start that new chapter of your life with Negan.
”Is this the last stuff?”, you asked as you stepped inside the small room, nodding at the small basket of items in Negan’s hands as you moved towards him.
”Yep, finally”, he answered with a small groan, setting the basket for a small moment aside onto the wooden table next to him as he reached out to pull you closer. Settling you against his chest you let out a small yawn, cuddling against him for a moment as you could feel your strained limbs craving for comfort.
”Yeah, can’t wait to come back home, get that hot shover and fall into our bed, really”, you grumbled, but instead of hearing an answer you just felt him cradle you tighter against his warm yet tense body, holding you close for another moment.
Melting into his embrace, you just soaked the comfort he brought over you up as much as you could, even though the slight tension that was still clearly stuck in him stood out to you.
It was understandable after what had gone down today and yesterday, but still, there was something about it that stirred something up in you.
Slowly, you backed away, just enough to look at him, yet still comfortably wrapped up in his embrace as he glanced down at you, the warmth in his eyes overpowering the suspense. He leaned in, brushing his lips over yours for a moment, though allowing the soft kiss to linger for a little longer until he let go to let his glance sway over your face.
”You still got that blood there”, you mumbled, nodding up at the side of his face that was splattered with round, dots of dried blood, grinning a little up at him hoping to loosen him a bit up,”Half of your face looks like a Dalmatian.”
A snort fell from his lips as a grin finally curled the corners of his lips up again before he nodded towards you.
“Well shit, then get it off of me, will ya?”
”Alright”, you mumbled, glancing down into the small basket beside you to grab one of the cleaner looking cloths in it and one of those bottles that were filled with some water. Wetting the cloth quickly and storing the bottle safely back in the basket you reached up, brushing the blood carefully off his skin until none of it was left and you tossed the cloth onto the edge of the table, doubting that anyone would want a cloth full of walker blood waiting for them in the supplies.
“There you go”, you mumbled, smiling up at him as he pulled you into another hug, holding you for just another moment before you decided to go outside and finally get ready to get on your way.
Stepping outside, you glanced around, finding, Daryl and dog, as well as Elijah and Gabriel but not the sixth person of the group that you pretty much needed here to leave this place once for all behind yourself.
“Where’s Maggie?”, you asked, stepping down the porch as Gabriel climbed up the seat of the first carriage while Elijah already sat in its back, trying to adjust his injured leg carefully.
“Already left just now to search for Alden, she’s gonna catch up with us later”, he said, nodding towards you as Negan shoved the small basked next to the others into the second carriage closer to you,“Let’s get going now.”
Hours later night had fallen over the forest and the warm light of the campfire in front of you was the only thing enlightening the darkness, as you found yourself wrapped up in your jacket, nibbling on your last pieces of meat that Daryl during the early dusk hours.
Glimpsing over at Negan, you saw the same tense expression back on his face that had been stuck on there ever since Meridian. His eyes were focusing on the dancing flames, only directing themselves off of them as he finished his plate of food.
You hadn’t talked all too much since leaving the community, none of you actually, likely because you were all worn down and exhausted, but you still hoped that you could grab a moment and check up on him as soon as you found yourselves alone with one another.
A shuffling sound in the woods ripped you out of your thoughts, your eyes immediately trying to find the source as you saw Daryl stand up from his spot on the other side of the fire, grabbing his knife before a familiar voice stopped him.
”It’s just me”, Maggie said as she stepped into the light, Alden nowhere to be found and instead a gloomy look still painted over her face as she dropped her backpack and bow down to the ground.
”Alden?”, Gabriel finally asked, speaking out what all of you were thinking even though you didn’t have to see the shake of Maggie’s head to know that he was gone.
You’d almost suspected it, doubting that he’d make it with his injury especially after taking close to none breaks from moving, but it still felt odd to know that he’d died back in that church where you’d left him.
“I think I’m gonna go and try to get some sleep already”, you heard Negan say beside you, getting up on his feet just as Maggie settled down next to Elijah,”Wake me up when you need me to take over for a lookout shift.”
“No need”, Gabriel quickly said, shaking his head as he let out a small sigh,”Honestly, I’m still quite riled up, I doubt that I’d fall asleep...I rather stay awake and get some sleep tomorrow on the ride back.”
“Alright”, Negan nodded, leaning down for another moment to press a quick but gentle kiss over the top of your head and nudged your shoulder softly,”See you later.”
“Yeah, I’ll join in a bit”, you said, glimpsing up at him as he straightened his back again and stretched his worn limbs, though the tense look on his face remained as he nodded slightly before he made his way over to the carriage.
Your eyes followed him until the darkness swallowed him entirely and you could merely hear the wood squeaking slightly underneath his weight as he settled down into the makeshift bed, before the voices around you drowned out his sounds.
”So I suppose we’ll leave as soon as it gets light again?”, Gabriel asked, directing your attention back to him while Daryl already hummed in agreement.
”Yeah, we can be home some time ‘round midday that way...the earlier we get that food there the better”, Daryl grumbled as you slowly started to nod and watched his glance brush over you first, before it swayed to Maggie and Elijah who agreed quickly as well before they sunk back into their own conversation.
Besides their low voices and the crackling fire, silence fell back over the camp, only disrupted for a moment as Daryl got up to check on the horses and dog.
You were almost about to get up as well as you slipped the last piece of your dinner into your mouth, ready to see how Negan was doing and cuddle up to him in case he was already sleeping, but the question that slipped out of Elijah’s lips, merely loud enough for you to hear, made you halt for another moment.
“And what now?”,he asked almost in a whisper,”When we get back, what happens then? Will we stay in Alexandria? Meridian is gone now.”
Your eyes stayed glued to the flames and the burning wood that was falling to pieces underneath it, trying to make it seem as if you weren’t listening.
“I don’t think so, at least not for long”, Maggie responded quickly as you saw her shake her head from the corner of your eyes and felt your heart nearly skip a beat,”I’d like to build the Hilltop back up, as soon as possible. That’s where I had Hershel and that’s..that’s where Glenn is.”
You did your best to remain silently on your spot, with a blank facial expression but within you a whirlwind of emotions was starting to burst through you, filling you up with new hope and excitement. If she’d leave, that would solve the majority of your problems, it would ease the tension that had been lasting over both you and Negan, and it would finally allow you to just find your peace within Alexandria’s walls without the worry that you’d unwillingly cross paths with her.
“We can take the our group there, build it up and trade with Alexandria once we’re all back on our feet again...that’s how we did it before and we can do it again”, Maggie added, the audible confidence and determination in her voice fueled that hope within you.
Even if it might take a little until she’d move back to the Hilltop, it seemed like something she was sure of, something that was a solid plan instead of an empty promise to Elijah, and it would allow you to look forward to the moment she’d actually put it into action as soon as Alexandria was fine again.
You waited for a few more moments until they fell back into a casual conversation before you got up on your feet and wished them, Gabe and Daryl, who was just coming back to the fire, a good night and made your way to the carriage.
Only a little bit of the fire’s light made its way to the carriage, barely enlightening it enough to see Negan laying on his back in the makeshift bed. Unsure whether he was already sleeping, you quietly slipped out of your boots and the pieces of clothing you could pass on during the night.
Just then you saw Negan lift his head, exhausted, yet soft eyes looking at you through the dim light as he mumbled your name.
“Hey”,you quietly said back, moving up to climb next to him into the carriage,”Thought you were already asleep.”
“Nah”, he said, shaking his head as you slipped next to him and shifted underneath the blanket against his warm body. Humming, he wrapped an arm around you, pulling you a little closer into his warmth even though the look on his face that seemed just as tense as it had back by the fire kept you from sinking against him just yet.
“What’s going on?”, you asked, reaching up to cup the side of his rough face and make his eyes lock with yours.
”You’ve been quiet since we left Meridian...I know it was a lot back there but...”, you mumbled, brushing your thumb over his stubble as you tilted your head slightly, ”I know you, when you’re quiet like this there’s usually something going on...so what is it?”
There was a change in his glance as worry overpowered the tension that still laid plastered over his face, though he didn’t say anything yet which only fueled the concern within you.
“Hmm?”, you asked, perking your brows up as you shifted a little closer and heard a deep sigh slipping from his lips.
“I just keep on thinking about the way she snapped back there”,he finally said, keeping his voice just low enough so merely you could hear it,”Just from one moment to another, she just-”
He stopped, shaking his head slightly as his glance drifted into the darkness of the night for a moment, as if he was trying to collect himself before it finally fell back onto you.
“I thought we’d be fine after that promise, I really did but after her murder spree today? i don’t even know if that promise is worth any fuckin’ thing anymore ‘cause she won’t think about that if she snaps again.”
“Our situation is so different to the one with the reapers though...and she hasn’t snapped on us before”, you said, but instead of a calmer look on his face his expression only grew more stressed.
“Yet”,he said, suspense swinging through his voice as he stared up at you,”Let’s say you actually end up pregnant and she sees us live the life she couldn’t have with Glenn because I did what I did back at that clearing. What if that’s her final straw to just snap and go for the kill, and she ends taking me, or you, or us both.”
For a moment, you looked down in silence at your husband, the look on his face enough to put a stingy pain into your body before you started to break the news you’d just heard straight from the source
“She may not even see that happen when it does”,you said, attempting to calm him as you lowered your voice a little, careful to make sure the rest of the group by the fire couldn’t hear you ,”I overhead Maggie talk to Elijah...she’s planning to go back to Hilltop.”
“Really?”, he asked, perking his brows up, a look of surprise and relief slipping onto his features along with a slight sense of suspicion as you quickly nodded.
“She hopes that she can take her group there, build it back up and trade with Alexandria once we’re all back on our feet again”,you said, giving him a soft smile as you brushed your thumb gently over his cheek,”We can be save there, we don’t have to be in any contact with her if we don’t want to, and she won’t be triggered to snap.”
“Okay”,Negan said, the relief finally overpowering the suspicion and the tension as he breathed deeply out,”Okay that’s good news.”
“Right?”, you said, your smile growing a little bigger,“Things could work out just fine...and it didn’t just seem like an empty plan, it sounded like something she’ll actually do, and Hilltop is quite a long ride from Alexandria so this would solve so much.”
“Yeah...yeah, that’s true”,he mumbled, holding you a little tighter as a small sigh fell from his lips,”Let’s hope she does, ‘cause I just...I just wanna stop feeling fuckin’ terrified and open that next chapter without all this shit.”
“Me too”, you responded, leaning in to brush a soft kiss over his lips, allowing it to linger for a moment as he moved into wrap his other arm around you as well, embracing you tightly.
“C’mere”, he mumbled against you, pulling you softly against his chest once you let go of his lips to cradle you tightly. There was still a bit of tension in him, you could feel it, but he felt more loosened up, more relieved all-together and while you finally started to drift off into a deep sleep you hoped that this initial relief would be followed by Maggie actually putting her plan into action.
The next morning came fast, and just as Gabe suggested by the time it was light outside and the sun was creeping over the skyline of the trees, you already found yourself on the ragged roads on your way back home.
You let the towns surrounding Meridian behind yourselves, followed by the suburbs around DC and then eventually, travelled the almost endless seeming paths through the woods and fields towards Alexandria.
The sun had passed its peak for a small while as you finally found yourselves moving down the familiar roads you’d passed countless times before while you slowly got closer and closer towards the gates of the safe zone that boasted at the end of the road.
The storm that had surprised you in DC seemed to have raged here too, thick branches laid by the roots of the trees and the sides of the road, along with small pieces of sheets and woodwork that seemed to have been blown out of Alexandria into the woods.
“Almost there”, Negan hummed beside you, peaking past Daryl and Elijah’s seats in the front to watch you close the distance indefinitely between the carriages and the walls, while you could spot Jerry next to Carol on top of the look out, calling down to those inside.
“They’re back”, his voice boomed through to you, though you could see the confusion on his face, and you could only guess that he was wondering where you’d left the rest of the large group you’d started this mission with.
Your attention jumped quickly from him towards the gate that was opened in a hurry and squeaked loudly in response to the harsh movements, finally allowing you to come home.
You should have expected it, but the storm had put its strain on the safe zone too, ripping off parts of the roofs that had been newly installed merely weeks ago after the havoc the whisperers had caused. There were dead walkers pilled up that were lit up i Similar to the outside, branches, thick and thin, were sprawled over the fields and the streets, along with any other work items that had been left outside before the storm had started to rage.
Parts of the area surrounding the gates were already cleaned up by those who were running towards the carriages in these moments, eyes wide as they caught the mass of food and happy voices quickly mixed with one another as they called for every other Alexandrian to join them.
You quickly moved out of your spot on the carriage, groaning softly as your worn limbs complained about the sudden movement right before you landed back on solid ground and watched Negan move in beside you.
“You’re back!”, you heard a familiar, young voice call out as you turned around and watched Judith sprint towards you.
“Hi there”, you said with a smile as you leaned down to wrap her up in a quick hug, “You okay?”
“Yeah, there was a big storm and it was bad, like really, really bad but we’ve made it”, she said, quickly nodding as you let go of her.
“Your brother is okay too?”
“Yep, he just really doesn’t like the sound of thunder, it scares him...but he’s fine too”, she said, looking up at you with another smile before you watched her peak at the goods behind you in the wagon.
“You have to promise me not to tell everyone right away but-”, you started nodding back at the countless boxes and baskets,”We found a bunch of chocolate bars and some candy.”
“Awesome!”, she called out, more excitement filling her young features as she moved into wrap her arms in another quick hug around your torso before she sprinted past you towards Daryl.
Glancing around you expected to find Negan where you’d last seen him beside you, but instead you saw him on the other side of the carriage just in the very moment as he wrapped a visibly relieved Lydia up in a big bear hug.
Before you could just attempt to move over to them and greet her as well, you found yourself in as many hugs and welcome calls as you rarely had in the last years, until you found yourself being wrapped up in a quick embrace by Steve and his husband.
“You can be glad you arrived just now, that storm last night was the living hell, would’ve destroyed the new supplies right away”, Steve said with a small sigh, “Some houses got it bad. I already checked on yours, you really had luck, there’s nothing damaged, you only have a bunch of branches in your backyard and the furniture on the porch was pretty much all sprawled out. We tried to get most of it back up but there’s still a bit laying around.”
“Thank you, really”, you quickly nodded, “How’s your house?”
“We mostly had luck too, there’s one broken window in the dining room and it’s gonna take a bit to clean the water, leaves, and stuff out of it but besides that, we’re good. The infirmary is fine too, thank god.”
“Alright”, you said, just as your glance brushed past them for a moment and watched more of the others greet each other and within all of them Daryl wrapped up in a tight hug of the woman he’d searched for while you’d been searching for supplies in the woods together merely a week ago.
“Wait, is that Connie?”, you asked, a surprised sound swinging through your voice. You’d hoped that they could find her or that she’d be able to make it back on her own, but after you’d heard what had gone down by the cave and after, your hopes had been slimmer than you’d wanted to admit.
But here she was, with a few cuts and small bruises on her face and arms, but a big smile on her lips that was mirrored by Daryl, a look that you’d rarely seen so clearly and joyful on his face.
“Yeah, found her a few days ago”, Dan said with a small smile as you glanced back at him and Steve, just as Gabe called out for the latter.
“Ah looks like we gotta get going”, Steve mumbled, nudging Dan lightly against his arm as he nodded over to the priest who stood next to the other carriage where you’d stowed most of the medical supplies.
“Yeah, I guess he wants to show you the stuff we got for the infirmary, they had tons of it back there, you’re gonna like it”, you said with a quick smile, watching as Steve let out a relieved chuckle as he started to move slightly and gave your shoulder a small pat.
“Now those are good news!”, he laughed, giving you a quick grin before the both of them moved past you, leaving you to turn around and see whether you could find Negan and Lydia again after losing them in the crowd earlier.
“Lookin’ for me?”, Negan’s deep voice sounded through the other happy, loud voices as you spun on your heels in the very moment you watched him move closer with Lydia by his sight who started to fall into a quick jog as she moved with a smile on her lips closer to you.
“Hey”, you chuckled, just before she pulled you into a hug, leaving her usual slight reluctance and caution entirely behind as she held you tightly for a moment.
“So glad you’re back”, she said as she pulled back, mirroring your smile as Negan stepped beside the both of you. He seemed calmer and more relaxed compared to last night, even compared to this morning, and just as you wanted to speak back up another voice interrupted you.
It wasn’t Lydia’s or even Negan’s, it was Jerry’s voice, yelling down from his spot up by the lookout, stressed and so deeply alerted that it made an ice-cold shiver wash down your back.
“Hey! Get ready, we got something coming!”
