A/N: Thank you all for sticking with my story. I want to apologize for being so late in updates. I'm praying to get these updates out in a more timely manner.
Please enjoy or get mad at Carl and Andre's situation with their hateful grandmother.
CHAPTER 8
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Carl and Andre are taken captive and deal with the Alpha and her minions, while their parents race their way to the rescue. Will the boys receive help from some old friends and enemies? Will Rick and Michonne get there in time? Or, will they be shocked out of their minds?
Meanwhile at Oceanside…
"Beta, escort those three mortals to the butcher's hut."
Alpha and her captives reached Oceanside during the evening. As they entered, Carl and Andre witnessed the sea town's weeping residents carrying on with their chores under the lamplights. Several wooden cabins surrounded an open square, most of them covered with seaweed camouflage. The Whisperers stood guard on the outskirts and inside of the village, watching and making hissing noises.
The boys could understand why the residents were afraid for their lives. They didn't see any men or any male children amongst them.
When they reached the middle of the square, Alpha waved toward a building down the way, "Tell Teddy to have them rested, cleaned and prepared. They shall join us for dinner tonight." She nodded toward Carl and Andre, "You two. Follow me."
The Grimes boys could do nothing as they helplessly watched Beta and two minions force Nicholas, Aiden and Enid into a different direction.
Their grandmother kept an eye on them until they were too far to see.
Andre asked, "Where are they taking them?"
Carl added, "Grandmother, even though they're not immortal, they are still a part of our community. Our family. If you hurt them, not only will our dad reign hell down on you and your cult. Our mom will be right there beside them." He caught a brief look of fear in her eyes before he continued. "We were there at Terminus and saw what you did to our Grandpa Z and what you did to our dad. Mom hasn't forgiven you for that. After this, I feel kind of sorry for you."
Andre piped in, "I don't. You deliberately hurt those people and you hurt my family. When they get here and they will, our mom is going to… Kick. Your. Ass."
Alpha stood quietly for a moment, staring at them, then she scoffed, "My son won't harm me."
The boys spoke together, "We weren't talking about dad."
She rolled her eyes, then crooked her finger for them to follow her. When they entered the largest single-room cabin in the village, she pulled off her skin mask and threw it to one of her men. Situated at the back of the drab and dank room was another crappy wooden throne raised up on a small dais. Like the ones in Terminus. Lighted candles were scattered throughout, brightening the broad area enough to show more of her people standing against the walls.
A hissing and shushing sound quietly came from them, but they never moved from their positions.
Alpha pointed to a large dining table taking up space in the middle of the room, "Sit and relax. Dinner will be served soon." She walked up behind them and placed her hands on top of their heads, then tunneled her fingers through the strands of Carl's straight, thick hair while the other massaged through Andre's tight, curly locs.
"My beautiful grandsons. So different. Yet, both of you are so perfect. I am so proud I will be the one to teach you a true immortal life. Not what my ex-husband, as if he could ever get rid of me, believes. Humans are here to provide for us."
The fingers in their hair tightened and her voice deepened as it became more menacing.
She pulled their heads back as she leaned down between them, her voice whispering,
"They are here to do our bidding and are here to sustain us… to feed us."
As the smell of foul death permeated her proximity, Alpha placed a dry kiss on both their cheeks.
Andre and Carl sat still as the demented woman continued to run her fingers through their hair. She finally stopped and made her way around the table to have a seat across from them. One of the men moved as soon as she sat down to put place settings in front of them.
With her hair sticking up in the air from pulling off her mask, Alpha looked like a wild woman. "Now, let me explain something about Negan. He's a bastard, but he has this weakness within him and it all has to do with these mortals down here."
Carl gave her a questioning look before turning his head to peer at the mortals that stood around the room.
She understood his puzzlement. Giving an evil grin, she laughed, "Yes, they can hear me and they are mortal. They're also under my spell, so I can say whatever I want and they won't rebel. They do what I want them to do."
As she talked, screams from several people far away echoed through the village. Carl and Andre jumped and turned their heads towards the direction Enid, Nicholas and Aiden were taken. The brothers grabbed each other's hand under the table.
Not out of fear, but from anger.
Carl turned back to their grandmother, "You're gonna pay for this."
She slammed her hand on the table with a menacing grimace coating her face and cackling voice, "Don't threaten me, boy!" Both teens watched the hatred melt away as the pleasant phony one took its place, "We want to make the best of this place and I don't want to spend it fighting with my family. From what I hear, dinner is on its way to being completed."
She held up a hand, "I know what you're thinking. Teddy the butcher is an excellent cook. You won't be able to tell what you're eating. It's so succulent and flavorful, he'll have you begging for more. It was never this good when I was with Gareth."
She cackled as she clapped her hands, "Good thing his wife came and took Gareth home, huh?"
That reminded the boys of something. Andre discreetly pointed to the forks and leaned in close to his brother, whispering, "Persephone."
Carl immediately understood.
During their studies, they came upon a passage that spoke of their Aunt Persephone's marriage to their Uncle Hades. Eons ago, he kidnapped her and took her to the Underworld. There was this thing that if she ate the food of her kidnapper, she would have to stay with him forever. She was able to hold off for a while until Hades tricked her into eating half of a pomegranate. There was a big fight with her mother afterward because Hades wouldn't give her up. They eventually compromised. Because she ate six seeds out of twelve from the pomegranate, Persephone would spend half the year with her husband and the rest she could spend at Olympus with her mother.
These days, Persephone was now running the whole shebang.
She's the boss.
The Grimes boys made the decision they wouldn't eat anything put before them by their grandmother. No matter how long she kept them.
Andre let go of his brother's hand then reached into his pocket. He passed on more chocolate pomegranates to his brother. They at least would have something to snack on.
Nicholas and Aiden whimpered quietly as they walked ahead of the two soldiers and Beta. The path was surrounded by trees and the sounds of the ocean waves could be heard nearby. Enid held onto her stoic stubbornness and refused to show her fear. A lot of things were going through her mind: how to escape, why the wonder twins didn't do anything to help them and why did she stay in Alexandria in the first place. All those people ever did was find trouble, day after day. She was better off on her own.
If she got out of this mess somehow, she was taking off and not going to make the same mistakes by joining another community.
From the distance they walked, they were pretty far from everything. Enid didn't see any of the villagers or other Whisperers. They finally reached an isolated building. The smell of putrid and rancid meat permeated the area when they stopped at a set of steps leading up to the mold crusted, wooden cabin.
Beta spoke for the first time, "Halt." The soldiers behind them stopped as well, their quiet whispering the only sound that could be heard.
The two young men grasped each other's hands and when Aiden tried to grab a hold of Enid's, she swatted him away.
They didn't know what was going to happen next, but they knew it was something terrible. So, they stood there waiting with bated breath for something horrible to come out that door. Between the sounds of their frantic breathing and the Whisperer's creepy murmurs behind them, they heard the metallic hissing of a bone saw coming from within.
The boys panic started to rub off on Enid and before she made the move to bolt, two distinctive thuds crashed at their feet, cutting through their terror. All three screamed loudly at the sound, as they whipped around to see Beta standing over the two dead soldiers. Through her mask, they could see her bright blue eyes peeping through the tough leathered skin of a walker, go from the bodies, then back to them. In her hands, she held two short, curved scimitars. Blood dripped from the blades and their necks.
She sheathed her weapons and held up a finger to the captives. They understood that they weren't to make a sound. Beta grabbed the men by the back of their necks and picked them up, effortlessly. Then dragged them up the stairs to kick at the door.
A bald, beefy black man answered. Beta leaned forward and whispered something the three mortals couldn't hear.
But, they heard the man. "Ah, hell naw! She's got Rick's son here? Fuck that!"
He turned his attention to the three terrified teenagers, "Y'all get y'all asses in here before somebody sees you." He opened the door wider and let Beta through, then held out his hand for the other reluctant three to follow. "Come on, ain't nobody gonna hurt you."
Nicholas was the first to make a move, followed by Aiden, then finally Enid.
After they entered, the big man shut the door and locked it. Beta carried the dead bodies over to a hidden door on the floor. She spoke as she dropped them down, "She expects you to prepare them for dinner. I don't know how much time we have before Rick and Michonne get here. Do you have any food ready?"
"Yeah," then the bulky man told the scared teenagers, "Y'all sit over there. I ain't gonna kill ya and feed you to that monster." Beta walked back over to them as he talked, "We're gonna get ya outta here. But we got to get the villagers, too. Shit is about to go down and humans will be the first to get fried." He leaned into the still frightened teens, "See, I've been feeding her pig and it's so good, she can't tell the difference. So, don't worry. Nobody's gonna be eating people here today. Not on my watch."
He backed up and spoke to Beta, "Imma give this bitch her food, then give the signal to Natania to get everybody to the bus. You're gonna have to go back and watch Rick's kids. He's got two boys now? How that happen?"
She waved her hand, her voice muffled by the skin mask she wore, "We don't have time for explanations. We gotta get moving. Zeus might be on his way, too. They going to blow this place to bits and we got to get everyone out that we can. Take her the food. I'll meet you in her cabin after I put these three on the bus."
He nodded and left to go into the other room. Tinkering and clanking of pans and dishes could be heard from what they assumed was a kitchen.
Beta head toward a back door, "Come on. Stay low and keep quiet. I'm going to put you on the bus. You'll go to the back and sit on the floor. Don't get up and don't try and peek to see what's going on. Once we get everyone, Teddy is going to take you to a safe place until this is over."
Enid stood up straight, "I don't need your help and I'm not going with them. I'm better off on my own."
Beta recognized some of her own bad traits that she had to let go, "Look, I understand you think you're some bad ass that thinks you can take care of everything by yourself, but you need to understand something. These are gods. As in, immortals that cannot die. You will if you don't start listening. I heard you out there in the woods. Carl came out to protect you, didn't he? And, you threw it in his face? You got some hard lessons to learn, girlie. After we get you out of here, you can go wherever the hell you want."
Beta stepped up into her face, "Right now, I don't need you running around out there getting caught and fucking up this plan."
The light surrounding Beta became darker, colder.
All Enid could focus on was the fire within Beta's bluer than blue eyes, "Right now, you are supposed to be chopped up, boiled and broiled for Hera, the queen of the Greek gods."
Enid gasped.
"You get it now?" She poked Enid's chest, "You are supposed to be supper for that crazy bitch. So, I suggest you pull your head out of your ass and take it to the bus and stay there until I say otherwise."
She turned and walked over to the back door and pulled it open, shoving Enid outside. "Let's go."
Once outside, Beta led the three captives further into the trees. Using the cabin to block their escape, they kept traveling in a straight line until there was enough distance from the village to make a turn and head for the bus hidden under more camouflage made of seaweed.
Moving the covering to the side, she slid open the door and directed them inside.
Relieved she got no more arguments from Enid, Beta made her way back to the Alpha's stolen home. She couldn't believe how stupid this woman could be, snatching up those boys. She also couldn't believe how stupid she was by allowing that woman to recruit her. Granted at the time, she was a little angry but she should have known better.
Hopefully, her days of doing stupid shit are over.
One good thing she had in her favor, she never ate mortal flesh. She used to be one, a long time ago and no matter how mad or how sorry she felt for herself, she would not go down that route. When patrolling the woods and they lucked upon the five teens, she had to contain her gasp when she recognized Carl and Andre.
She immediately knew she had to do something. Something that wouldn't bring suspicion to Alpha. So, when they head back to Oceanside, she knew Daryl would pick up their trail easier if she left strands of her own hair on the ground to lead them straight to Rick and Michonne's children.
She had done some foul things in her lifetime but what the Alpha was doing here, went against everything she vowed not to do. When they first invaded Oceanside, she was unable to do anything that would rouse Alpha's suspicions.
On the day they invaded, she stood on the outside, watching the devastation and there was nothing she could do. One of the residents had escaped and recognized her since she removed her mask. It was Teddy and he explained that he had been living in Oceanside for a while and was able to get some of his people to safety after the Whisperers attacked.
He wanted to know whose side was she on and would she help him save more of the men. She chose his side and they both worked together to get as many male children and the men of Oceanside away from the devastation. Teddy came up with the plan to infiltrate the cult with the help of Beta. He became the groups cook and substituted pig's meat for mortal flesh.
He had a special talent. She didn't know how he did it, but Alpha and the others didn't know the difference. In fact, they praised Teddy, it tasted so good.
While Teddy kept the Whisperers fed, they both worked on killing cult members one at a time and hiding them underneath the cabin. Their dead bodies kept the smell of death around to fool anyone into believing it was the house where humans went to become The Whisperer's special of the day. All captives that were to be served up for dinner were discreetly moved to the bus, then taken to a faraway community who would give them refuge.
The leader agreed to take in the those in exchange for information on the Alpha's movements. He wanted to attack but Teddy advised against it. He explained that their plan was to slowly whittle away her force until a special team could come in and dispatch her.
On his way to the Alpha's hut, Teddy had given the signal to Natania. She understood it was time, so she gave the secret signal to Beatrice, her second in command, now that her granddaughter Cyndie, escaped seeking the help of Alexandria.
When Beta finally reached the cabin, she opened the door to find a masked Teddy serving the three immortals. The boys sat next to each other with a look of disdain on their faces. While their grandmother smiled with glee on how scrumptious and succulent their meal was presented. There were no vegetables, no side dishes, just carved slices meat, browned to perfection and smothered with a brown sauce. He even went overboard, displaying them on the plate in a circular fashion.
Not only was it beautiful to look at, the pleasant aroma wafting across everyone's nose made Beta's stomach growl. Knowing that she was eating pork, she had no problem sitting down at the end of the table, her place setting in front of her and waited to be served next.
Only she could sit down for a meal with Alpha and now her grandsons have joined them.
Due to their flying overhead, Rick and Michonne would reach Oceanside first. As they came closer, they spotted bolts of lightning, flashing and crackling through the trees, brightening the night sky. They hurried for fear their children were in imminent danger. Below, the rest of The Family raced along to catch up with the two flying immortals.
Rick hollered over to his wife, "We're going straight for the boys. Fuck everything else," as they began their descent upon the war-torn village. He pulled his Colt ready to blast anyone in his way.
Michonne nodded while unsheathing her sword, as she searched for her babies.
Landing just on the outside middle of town, they saw the source of the illumination.
Bolts of lightning were flung back and forth between the Alpha and someone they've never seen before.
They both looked at each other in confusion.
Together they spoke, "Who the fuck is that?"
A/N: Thank you all to those who are still with me on my TWD/Greek Mythology journey. Stay tuned for the next chapter where we find out who the mysterious person is fighting with the Alpha. Is it Beta or Teddy, who?
KEY
Michonne-Nike-Goddess of Victory
Rick-Ares-God of War
Negan-Zeus-Lord of the Sky
Alpha/Mary-Hera-Wife of Zeus
Gareth-Hades-Lord of the Underworld & brother of Zeus
