The leaves crunch under the group's feet as they run through the woods attempting to make it to the Hilltop by sunrise. The group's sanctuary "Alexandria" had been overrun by walkers. Rick Grimes is the leader of the group. The group included Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, Glenn Rhee, Carl Grimes, Michonne, and Maggie Rhee. Maggie was falling more and more ill by the moment.
Maggie is pregnant and very sick due to not taking her prenatal vitamins regularly, not to mention a fever that keeps increasing. "Can we stop for a moment please, Rick?", Maggie says wearily.
Before Rick can respond to Maggie, Glenn (Maggie's husband), interrupts and explains to Maggie they need to get her to the Hilltop as fast as they can.
As the night progresses, the group begins to hear the intense growling of the walkers and decide to stop for a few minutes.
"Dad, do you think Maggie is going to make it", Carl asked Rick.
Rick knows how close Carl and Maggie have gotten since the prison. Rick says yes even though things aren't looking well for Maggie. He never wanted to get Carl's hopes up, especially after everything that happened back in Alexandria.
Other than the groups sanctuary being overrun, they've been having to keep an eye out for the Saviors. They've been after Rick and his group for days and they didn't know when or where they'd be when they finally caught up with them. The Saviors were a group full of thieves, murderers, and rapists. Their leader was Negan. Negan wants nothing more in this new world but to kill Rick Grimes and all of his people.
The sun had finally set, and there was no more light left in the woods. Their words fogged the air when they spoke.
"Rick… did you hear that", Michonne whispered.
"I heard something… but I don't know what it was", Rick replied softly.
As the group continued to carry Maggie on a stretcher through the woods they could tell she was becoming far too weak to even speak, let alone walk on her own. Glenn held her hand and stroked her hair, telling her everything would be okay.
The group had no food, no medicine, or light to help them complete their journey. All they had was each other and the growling of the walkers to motivate them to keep moving.
All of a sudden there were lights flashing and the Saviors were circled around Rick's group. They all stood in terror not knowing what to do.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't Rick Grimes", spoke Negan loudly.
"No one say a word", Rick whispered demandingly to the group.
Negan demanded that the group get on their knees and in a line. Rick and Glenn helped Maggie as she struggled to stand up. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground.
"What the hell do we have here?", Negan commanded.
"She's very sick and we need to get her to a hospital…she's pregnant", Glenn replied.
"Well isn't that shit unfortunate", Negan replied sarcastically.
The group looked up at Negan in disgust as he paced up and down in front of them.
Rick studied Negan carefully. He remembered that he had a bat: Lucille. Lucille was a wooden baseball bat that was covered in barbed wire. Rick knew for a fact that Negan loved using Lucille on other people.
"Do you know why I have gathered you sack of shits together on this lovely evening?", Negan aksed.
The group all stared at the ground refusing to say a word.
"It's because your group has taken what is mine, Rick", said Negan angrily.
"Our guns!", bellowed another savior.
"Very good", Negan responded… "Our fucking guns…"
Rick looked at Carl, and Carl looked right back a him. There was pure fear in his sons eyes and there was nothing Rick could do to stop Negan from hurting the group. Him and his men were far too powerful, and their numbers were bigger when it came to people.
The group knew what was coming. One of them wouldn't make it out of this fight alive. They had been outnumbered.
As Negan paced back and forth, he studied the group trying to decide who he wanted to eliminate. The survivors all held their breath, trying not to say a word.
"You know, if you pricks didn't take what was mine, I wouldn't be killing one of you today", Negan yelled.
"We didn't steal shit", Daryl murmured.
"What was that Dixon?!", Negan screamed.
"I said…", the volume of Daryl's voice increasing, "We. Didn't. steal. Shit".
Negan's devilish grin slowly turned into a frown. He began to walk closer to Daryl. The whole group stared at Daryl in awe not knowing what was going to happen to him next.
"You know, you've got a lot of balls thinking you can talk to me like that", Negan explained to Daryl.
Daryl looked up at Negan in disgust.
"Well everyone, what do you think should happen to this sorry piece of shit", Negan asked the saviors. Negan began to question his people more on what should happen to Daryl.
"Should we… let him go?"… "NO!", chanted the saviors.
"Should we… take him as our prisoner" … "NO", chanted the saviors again.
"Or… should we just kill him", asked Negan with an evil grin.
"KILL HIM", shouted one of the saviors.
"Well, looks like I have to do what keeps my people happy", Negan says as he looks over at Rick.
Negan raises Lucille into the air, the barbed wire wrapped her shines in the moonlight only for a second until her sharp blades insert into Daryl's skull.
The air was cold and smelled like death. The only sound that was audible was the sound of Maggie Sobbing. The group still heard the echo of Daryl's skull being crushed to mush in their heads. Blood had saturated the ground in front of Daryl's body.
The group was in shock. They couldn't believe what had just happened. They watched as Negan as he contented to swing his bat up and down, striking Daryl's battered skull.
Just when Rick had seen enough, Negan stopped beating Daryl and began to approach Glenn as if he were next. All the blood in Rick's body began to boil. He felt a fever in his mind and an ache in his heart. Rick slowly began to approach Negan.
"Don't even try Rick… You know you'll never win", Negan says as he takes his attention away from Glenn.
Without saying a word, Rick tackles Negan and begins punching him in the face. He begins crying because he's so upset over what had just happened to Daryl. The group begins screaming at Rick demanding that he stops before he makes the situation worse. Blood was pouring out of Negan's nose and mouth as Rick continued to beat him.
All of a sudden there is a growling off in the distance. The growling becomes closer, more intense… This caused Rick to get off of Negan. He knew exactly what was happening.
King Ezikiel appears from out of the woods with other survivors from "The Kingdom", another sanctuary Rick and his people are close with. King Ezekiel has a pet tiger named Shiva. She is trained to attack anyone or anything that might make a threat to him or his people. This time, the King doesn't have to say a word, Shiva goes right for Negan. It's almost as if she knows already what he's done.
Rick steps back and watches the Tigers claws rip through Negan's flesh. Negan screams in pain unable to move due to the beating he had just taken from Rick. His intestines and blood were being ripped out of him like stuffing out of a plush toy.
Rick could tell there was still some life left in Negan. He tells the king to commence Shiva to stop for just a few moments. Rick begins to walk over to Negan who appears lifeless and pale, but still intact. He leans down to Negan and whispers in his ear. "We fucking won". Those were the last words Negan heard before he died.
The saviors look at Rick and his group unsure of what to do next. Little did they know, Rick had a plan…
Three months had gone by since Negan was killed. In the meantime, Glenn and Maggie are proud parents to a happy and healthy baby boy named Herschel. Rick had convinced the majority of the Saviors to join his group, and lead them on a better path than the one they were on. A memorial was built at the Hilltop dedicated to Daryl. Flowers were planted all around his grave.
Rick knew that this was a start of a new beginning for him and his group. Especially since they won over the majority of Negan's men.
Losing Daryl was an extreme loss, but in the loss, the group realized that they were stronger than ever. They knew from that moment on that they could take on anything that this new world had to offer.