Chuck wakes up in Negan's arms, just like she does most mornings. Though she was always a night owl and Negan was mostly an early riser, they've both adapted to go to bed and wake up at the same time, sort of in the middle.

She hums as Negan traces his fingers over her arm, apparently already awake. "Morning," she whispers, her voice not exactly awake yet.

He brings his other arm around her and gives her a little squeeze. "Morning."

She snuggles more into his chest. "Maddie awake?"

"Yeah. She's fuckin' babbling, but she hasn't cried."

"Must not be hungry yet," Chuck comments then yawns. "Let's go back to sleep."

"Sounds fuckin' good to me."

Not a few minutes later is there a knock on the door.

"It's Simon," comes from the other side.

"Shit," Negan mutters. "Are we decent?" He lifts the blanket to look under it.

Chuck giggles and slaps his chest playfully. "Yes, we're decent." Before Maddie came, sleeping in any clothes was just inconvenient, since the clothes would be taken off at some point anyway. With a new baby, though, their sex lives aren't quite as active. Not that they don't make time for each other, because they definitely do. Just not last night.

"Come in," Negan calls out as he steps out of bed in his underwear.

Simon enters, looking a little disheveled. He's never been one to be up with the sun, but he's really stepped up to more responsibility, being the one most people go to first to allow Negan to have more time with his family. "Sorry to wake you guys up. But, uh, we had a situation."

As Simon speaks, Chuck moves to Maddie's bassinet to check on her. She's completely content to lay there, so Chuck doesn't pick her up yet. She knows she'll get hungry in about twenty minutes, anyway.

"What the fuck kinda situation?" Negan asks tensely.

Simon lets out a heavy breath. "All the guys that were attacked at the pickup the other day turned."

"What?!" Negan reacts in shock. "What the fuck do you mean 'turned'?!"

"Dead," Simon explains. "Most of them turned durning the night. The others were close to it so they got put down."

Chuck is shocked. They haven't had any of the dead inside the fences since Dr. Carson unfortunately died. And that was months ago.

Negan seems just as shocked, too. He shakes his head for a moment before he speaks again. "I thought they got shot with BBs and darts and shit. What the fuck!"

Simon shrugs. "They did. We don't know what the fuck happened. But... a few more got bit before they were put down."

"Goddamnit." Negan shakes his head then looks down. "How many?"

"We lost sixteen total," Simon answers

Chuck gasps. "Oh my god." She hates to hear that people have died needlessly.

Negan raises his gaze to Simon again. "How the fuck..." He lets out a huff. "How the fuck do you die from a goddamn BB gun?"

Simon shakes his head, but doesn't say anything.

"What if they were poisoned?" Chuck blurts out.

Both men turn to look at her.

Chuck clarifies her statement. "There was that guy that got poisoned with ricin by a pellet fired from an air gun. What if there was something on the BBs and stuff that went into their system."

Negan blinks a few times, seemingly thinking it over. Then, he looks up and covers his eyes. "Fuck." He scrubs his hand down his face. "They were covered in biter blood."

Simon's face drops. "Shit. That's fucked up, but..." he rubs his fingers over his mustache, "that makes sense. We know biter blood makes us sick, so I guess it makes sense someone would turn that into a weapon."

Negan lets out a huff. "Call a meeting in an hour," he says to Simon. "And talk to Rick. His people were in that fuckin' ambush, too."

Chuck's head snaps up. "Oh my god. Uncle Aaron..."

"I'll ask about him." Simon nods then takes his leave.

Chuck watches Negan as he casts his eyes down again. "What are we gonna do?" she asks quietly.

Negan looks up to her. "We're gonna find Eldritch and I'm gonna fuckin' kill that motherfucker." He walks over to Chuck and wraps her in his arms. "Don't worry, baby girl." He kisses her head. "I'm gonna end him."

"I just don't understand why he can't stop. Why he doesn't see that living together is better than... fighting. War."

"He's a fuckin' psychopath. All he cares about is his own fuckin' power."

"We're really lucky we didn't have a full outbreak," she mutters.

"I know," he whispers into her hair.

"It could've all been over. We coulda been overrun."

Negan pulls back to look Chuck in the face. "But we weren't. Because my people know what to do. They've been trained what to do. I'm goddamn sure Eldritch was expecting this shit to decimate us, but we're smart. He's underestimated us at every fuckin' turn and this time, it's gonna fuckin' kill him."

— Negan's POV —

I walk into my full fuckin' meeting room without saying a word. When I sit down, Simon starts to talk.

"Rick lost thirty one. Aaron is fine. But I guess his husband is one of the thirty one."

"Fuck," mutter as I set Lucille down in front of me.

"Two more had to get an arm and a leg amputated." Simon shrugs. "So they might not make it."

Everyone is fuckin' quiet for a moment. This shit sucks and everyone knows it.

Gavin leans forward. "We know it's Eldritch?" he asks.

I nod. "Yup. It's gotta be him. He sure as fuck left that note for me up north, so I think we can safely assume this shit has his stink all fuckin' over it."

Regina shakes her head. "How did you let him get away the first time?" She's not looking at anyone, but I fuckin' know she's talking to me.

And it pisses me right off.

"That shit we did at his compound wasn't a fucking precision assassination by design," I bite back. "We blew shit up! Sent hundreds of fuckin' biters in to do our fuckin' bidding. Yeah, I thought we killed the fucker and I'm fuckin' pissed that he's still alive, but I wasn't seeing you coming up with a better fuckin' plan to infiltrate his shit to slit is fuckin' throat, Regina."

"I'm just saying-" she starts, but I don't let her finish.

"I'm just saying that we wrecked. his. shit the first time! And this fuckin' stunt he pulled proves that he's scrambling. He can't come at us with fuckin' herds of dead cuz we've taken care of all of them in the immediate fuckin' area. He can't ram us with fuckin' trucks cuz we came back from that assault with what was left of his goddamn fuel. And there sure as fuck ain't enough out there for him to scavenge anymore. He's coming at us with this covert shit, but it fuckin' failed. He wanted us to get overrun, but we fuckin' stopped it."

"Sixteen of our people are dead," Regina spit out.

"And it coulda been a fuckin' hundred!" I roar back with a slam of my fist. "I fuckin' hate that a single goddamn soul under my watch was lost, but you," I point my finger right at her, "acting like all this shit coulda been easily prevented are completely fuckin' wrong. And it gets us fuckin' nowhere with what we are going to have to fuckin' do to put that psycho fuckin' dickweed down so he doesn't fuck any more lives up!"

Everyone is quiet again. They know I'm fuckin' pissed and that's not a good fuckin' thing.

Regina clears her throat. "I'm sorry, sir," she says quietly, but not insincerely. She knows she fucked up. "I was close with a few of those guys."

"I know," I respond. "This shit sucks, but we're gonna fuckin' end it." I sit back in my chair and take a deep breath. "We got that nerdy Alexandrian Eugene scrounging up some cameras for us. If we can get that shit to work, then we can get a heads up if people cross over into our fuckin' territory."

"Where are we thinking Eldritch is?" Simon asks.

Dwight jumps in. "There's not a camp within our territory. We would've seen something on our patrols."

"He set those Negan lookin' biters loose up north," Bill starts. "Could be up that way."

I shake my head. "He's not between Alexandria and The Kingdom. And any further north is DC, which is such a fuckin' shit show, no one could live up there."

Simon nods, too. "West and south are real fuckin' rural. Barely any buildings for miles. I don't think Eldritch is the kinda guy to rough it. But..." he shrugs, "maybe."

I shake my head. "I bet he's got numbers, though. That cowardly fuck wouldn't attack unless he had the men to fight his fuckin' battles for him. And living out in the woods with a few dozen or so people is pretty fuckin' impossible now."

"That leaves across the river," Dwight says.

I nod. "Yup. Get some guys out to cover that bridge near Alexandria. That's the easiest fuckin' way to get over here. And get some guys out on scouting missions south and west, just in fuckin' case."

I get some nods.

"But I want to know if someone crosses that bridge. Because if they do, we'll fuckin' know that Eldritch's base is across the river."

"And then?" Dwight asks and everyone looks at me.

I chuckle low in my chest. "Then we find that fucker and make him fuckin' pay for all this shit."

— —

The next day, Negan enters his apartment and sits beside Chuck on the couch with a sigh. She had taken the news of her uncle Eric's death a little hard, but she's trying to put on a brave face. Especially for Aaron's sake. She had ventured down to the radio room to talk to him and he was, understandably, a little bit of a mess.

One of the cats, Moe, immediately jumps up on Negan's lap and lays down.

"You doing okay, baby girl?"

She looks up from her book. "Yeah. It sucks losing Uncle Eric."

He runs his fingers down her cheek. "I know, sweetheart."

"I wish I could have seen him more often."

Negan nods. "He knew you loved him."

She really hopes that's true.

"Didn't I say at some point that these cats weren't fuckin' allowed in here when Maddie was?" he comments, lightening the mood a little.

Chuck puts down the book she was reading. When she laid Maddie down for her nap, she decided to pick up a light mystery novel to pass the time and get her mind off of what happened. "They're not bothering her. And it's not like I'm letting them jump in her bed with her."

"You know, most people are scared fuckin' shitless if they think they're disobeying a direct order from me," he says with a smirk.

Chuck raises her eyebrows. "Oh, you order me now?"

He chuckles a little, but it turns into a sigh.

"What is it?" she asks, seeing that something is weighing on him.

Negan scrubs his hand down his face. "Just got off the radio with Ezekiel. Eldritch attacked them, too."

"What?" she calls out in shock.

"Some people came up the their gates asking for fuckin' refuge, I guess. They let them in and two days later, they fuckin' turned. I guess they found syringes in their rooms filled with biter blood. Those crazy fuckers killed themselves just to wreak havoc." He shakes his head.

"Did they lose anyone?"

"About twenty, I guess."

"God," she whispers in shock. "That's so horrible."

"Ezekiel's on board now, obviously. There's that, I guess. He says he'll join the fight whole heartedly."

"Why did Eldritch go after them? They weren't even involved in the attack in his compound."

"Eldritch is fucking insane is my best guess. He has to be. With all of our groups banded together," Negan shakes his head, "no fuckin' way I would mess with us. But that egotistical fuck thinks he's gonna take over shit here. I know the type. Probably a trust fund kid all his life and now that money is fuckin' gone, power's the only thing he wants."

"He said as much," Chuck admits.

"He did?"

She nods. She doesn't like to talk about her time at Eldritch's compound, so Negan doesn't know a lot of the details. "He told me he moved down here from Baltimore because it was a free for all up there. Then when he saw you making a real community and adding Hilltop to it, he wanted to stop you from becoming even more powerful." She looks down. "'Power has to be absolute' is what he said."

Negan shakes his head. "I've never hated anything like I hate that motherfucker."

Chuck leans into him, cuddling up to his side. "He's a horrible man and he deserves it."

He kisses her head. "After he's gone, everything will go back to fuckin' normal. I promise. We can watch Maddie get bigger. Hear her say 'dada' as her first word."

Chuck giggles. "'Dada', huh? Not 'Mama'."

"Of course 'Dada'." He chuckles. "Her first steps are gonna be right over there." He points to the empty area of his floor. "She's gonna meet her first boyfriend at the age of twenty five."

Chuck hits his chest. "Don't wish that on her."

"What?"

"I didn't exactly have a boyfriend until I was twenty five and I can tell you, it made for a lonely teenage existence."

"I'm sorry, baby girl." He kisses her head. "I don't really know what to fuckin' say to that because I sure as fuck don't want to say I wish you had a bunch of boyfriends. But I don't want to say I wish I had been messing around with you back then, either."

Chuck laughs. "Yeah. That would have been a little illegal."

"A lot illegal."

"Wow, you really are a dirty old man," she jokes.

"Watch it, little girl."

She giggles, then gets somber. "I wouldn't have changed anything, though," Chuck replies quietly. "I wouldn't have changed a single thing because I'm here with you now. And Maddie is here, too."

Negan gives Chuck a sweet kiss. "All the shit I've been through... You and that little girl make it all worth it."

Chuck smiles up at her husband. "Ditto."

Negan laughs. "You can't just 'ditto' that! That was heartfelt as shit!"

Chuck can't help but laugh back at him.

— Negan's POV —

A bunch of days later, I'm trying my fuckin' hardest to understand this mulleted son of a bitch sitting in front of my desk as he tries to explain what he's been doing all morning.

"...range is not ideal," he drones on about the fuckin' cameras he's set up. "But given the fact that electronic security equipment was not a high priority for people to extract from buildings, especially in lieu of food, water, weaponry, supplies, and the like, we can find more cameras in basically every store and some of the statelier of homes. Then, of course, we can set up small manned stations along our borders using renewable energies such as solar panels or windmills to power our security equipment with said cameras. This could cut down on patrols and manpower in certain areas leading to better management of resources all around."

"Sounds fuckin' great," I reply unenthusiastically. It's not that I don't want this shit, I do, but my mood has been fuckin' sour for a while. Chuck's still upset about her uncle fuckin' dying and not being able to visit Aaron. Which sucks. But I can't have her outside the fuckin' gates. Especially now. And the longer it takes us to find Eldritch, the more pissed off I get at everything.

"Along with the cameras, I designed a rudimentary program to control the spotlights I have placed around your perimeter. They can be remotely turned on, or when they're tripped by motion sensors, alert one of the men stationed in the security office by the gate." He looks down a little. "I admit, my coding is a little underdeveloped, but it should get the job done."

"Coding?" I remember Chuck telling me that's what she did before all this shit blew up society. "My wife might be able to fuckin' help out with that." I look away from him and to the guard by my door. "Arat!" I call out.

"Yes, sir?"

"Get Chuck and Maddie out here. We're going downstairs."

Just a few minutes later, we're all in the little room we have set up by the gate. (Arat is waiting outside. Just in case.) There are a bunch of monitors and a computer set up on the desk. Looks professional as fuck, actually.

"So you want me to make a program to control all the lights?" Chuck confirms as she sits in the chair.

"That is correct," Eugene answers. "Coding is not my forte, though I did read a book about it."

"I might be out of practice; it's been a few years. I think I can use what you made as a jumping off point."

She gets to work and, fuck, she's a fast typer. Not that I know what the fuck she's typing. Looks like gibberish to me. The whole time she's typing away, I got my little princess in my arms, just bobbing her up and down and talking to her. When she starts to fuss, I know she's hungry.

"Lunch break," I call out then turn to Eugene. "Why don't you go get us some food."

"Oh, uh. Yes, sir," he answers.

Once he leaves and we're alone, I hand Maddie over to Chuck so she can do her thing.

As Chuck pulls up her shirt and situates Maddie on her chest, she lets out a little contented sigh. "I forgot how much I loved coding."

"I can get you a computer upstairs."

She giggles. "I would like that. Even if I'm just messing around. I could make some little games for Maddie when she's older." Chuck looks fuckin' excited about that. "Or maybe we could actually start to use computers around here. Automate some stuff."

I shrug. "Maybe. I don't know shit about any of that shit."

"Maybe I could make something for the points system. Make a network that people can look at so runners wouldn't have to give out the daily tolls."

I think it over. "That would be kinda fuckin' awesome, actually."

She shrugs a shoulder. "There are already hook ups in most of the rooms for the wires. This was a pretty modern factory before all this. I'm sure we can find a million computers out there, too." She looks down at Maddie for a second, checking on her. "As long as we have the electricity, why not?"

"Shit yeah! You and Eugene can get that stuff all set up at some point."

Before Maddie is completely finished, Eugene comes back in the room without knocking.

"What the fuck!" I call out and stand in front of Chuck to shield her from his view.

"Oh, god," that mulleted fucker mutters with a look on his face like he's about to piss his pants.

"It's okay, Negan." Chuck says from behind me. "I don't care if he's in here. Breastfeeding shouldn't be embarrassing."

"I don't want him looking at your tits!" I say without turning back.

She lets out a huff. "He's not-"

The man in question interrupts. "I am very uncomfortable, so I am going to de-ass this area. Call me when you're done." Eugene drops the trays of food on the table and leaves like the fuckin' place is on fire.

When I turn around, Chuck is shaking her head. "What?" I ask.

"Breastfeeding shouldn't be taboo."

"I didn't fuckin' say it was taboo. I just don't want people to see you with your titties out."

She shakes her head again, but I just shrug.

A few hours later, we finally get everything done and the lights work fuckin' fantastic. And the saviors on guard are excited as shit about this stuff.

"I am pleased as fuckin' punch with this." I call out. This seems like the first fuckin' step to re-modernizing shit."

As me and Chuck walk back upstairs, I look down at Maddie fast asleep in my arms.

"She's tuckered the fuck out," I comment.

"She'll be up at dinner time," Chuck says with a smirk and takes the little girl from me.

That reminds me. "Let me ask you something, Arat."

She turns around a little as she walks in front of us. "Go ahead, sir."

"If you had a fuckin' baby, would you be okay to breastfeed it in front of men?" I know she's gonna side with me, so Chuck will maybe see my point. "Like random fuckin' men," I tack on.

She shrugs. "I would feed my baby wherever. I wouldn't give a shit who was around, sir."

Shit. That didn't go as planned. And Chuck knows it.

"See?" she calls up to me with a smug fuckin' expression on her face.

"But you know men are are gonna fuckin' ogle you."

"That sounds like a man problem," Arat throws back.

"Yeah," Chuck agrees. "Like instead of keeping women locked up or covered, maybe men should just, I don't know, not be creeps and keep their eyes in their sockets."

"Men's eyes just go to titties automatically," I say. "We can't fuckin' help it. This guy knows." I point to Fat Joey, who just happened to walk by right at that moment.

"Uh, what?" he asks, not having a fuckin' clue what I was saying.

We all stop and I put my arm around him. "Titties," I start. "You like 'em, right?"

"Uh..." His eyes flick over the two women in my company, trying to gauge how to answer. Shit, I love fuckin' with this kid. "Y-Yes, sir," he finally gets out, though I can tell he's not sure if that was the right thing to say. FYI, pretty much nothing is the right fuckin' thing to say in this situation.

Chuck and Arat both roll their eyes. But I don't care. I'm actually having fuckin' fun right now.

I turn back to Fat Joey. "So, say... your significant other started to walk around topless. Would you think it would be overstepping to suggest that she cover up so motherfuckers wouldn't eyeball her?"

"Breastfeeding isn't walking around topless, Negan," Chuck bites back immediately, but she's not really fuckin' angry. "And, anyway, what women are wearing or not wearing isn't an excuse for men to act like dicks."

I think for a second. She's probably fuckin' right. I guess I never thought about it like that.

"I-I agree with her, sir," Fat Joey almost whispers. "I wouldn't look at a woman feeding a baby like that."

I stare at him. "Really?" I shake out my head and let go of him. "Alright, alright. You've enlightened me. I guess that's a fuckin' archaic way to see shit."

"Exactly!" Chuck calls out.

Just then Maddie lets out this noise and we all look at her.

"Did she just fuckin' laugh?" I move over to her and, sure enough, she's got a huge fuckin' smile on her face. Even though she smiles a lot, we've never heard her laugh yet.

Chuck's whole face lights up. "Are you laughing at Mommy and Daddy?" she asks the little girl in her arms.

Maddie lets out another little laugh and I start to tickle her.

"My little laughing princess." I make a face at her and she laughs even more.

Me, Chuck, Arat, and Fat Joey all stand around and make faces at my little girl like the fuckin' idiots we are. But Maddie is having a good old fuckin' time, laughing like it's going outta fuckin' style. After a few minutes, my fuckin' cheeks hurt from smiling so much.

That little girl fuckin' kills me. And it's nice to get my fuckin' mind off of shit for a minute.

— —

Another day, another rude awakening.

"It's Simon," the familiar unwanted greeting comes from the other side of Chuck and Negan's bedroom door.

Negan lets out a groan. "Hang on, we're fuckin' naked," he calls out. As he pulls up his boxers, Chuck throws on her robe and cinches the tie around her waist. Negan opens the door and lets Simon in.

"Hilltop was attacked," Simon says simply.

Negan just looks at him for a second. "Attacked how?" he finally spits out.

"Guys broke in during the night and burned the crops."

Negan lets out a heavy breath and scrubs a hand down his face. "Jesus fuckin' Christ."

"No one's hurt," Simon quickly clarifies. "And they got the fires out. Half the crops are fuckin' damaged, though."

Negan pauses a second before he suddenly punches the wall, putting his fist right through the drywall. "Fuck!"

"Negan!" Chuck yells in shock, but her attention moves over to Maddie, who is now crying. "Shh," she tries to soothe the baby as she picks her up and cradles her in her arms.

Simon puts his hand on Negan's shoulder. "The Hillfolk said it's still early enough in the season they can maybe plant some extra stuff to replace the shit we lost. Everything is going to be alright, brother."

Negan looks up and meets Chuck's gaze for a moment before looking at Maddie, who is still crying in her arms. "Fuck," he mutters and walks over to them. "I'm fuckin' sorry." He bends down to kiss his daughter on the head.

"Are you okay?" Chuck whispers to Negan as Maddie finally calms down.

He looks down at his hand. "I'm fine." He gently sets his forehead on Chuck's. "I'm sorry," he whispers.

"It's okay," she responds. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

Simon cuts back in. "There is a silver lining."

Both Chuck and Negan look to him, waiting for him to elucidate.

"The men watching the bridge said they saw some guys cross from our side back into Maryland early this morning," Simon explains.

Negan doesn't say anything for a moment. "They didn't fuckin' see them come over in the first place?"

Simon shakes his head. "They must've been over here before we started to scope out the bridge. Maybe scoping shot out. But I'm sure those assholes were Eldritch's men. And now we got some guys following them back home."

Negan stares for a moment before his lips creep up in a slow grin. The sight almost scares Chuck, seeing such a cold expression on the face that she's used to seeing so caring.

He lets out a low chuckle, almost snarl, before growling out, "Those fuckers just signed their death warrant."