Chapter 8: Guns for Hire
Rick
We thought we were alone.
"Paul Rovia. But my friends used to call me Jesus."
We thought we were the only community.
"That's us. That's the Hilltop."
We're not.
"Gregory made a deal with some people. They call themselves the Saviors."
We were not safe. We were in danger.
"They killed the others. They still have Craig."
We had to do something, so we volunteered to take care of it. Once and for all.
"We'll do it. We'll take 'em out."
It was up to me to convince my people, the Alexandrians, that we should do this. I had to convince them so the ones that were here before we arrived, the ones that weren't survivors like us, would fight beside the survivors. "We can work with the Hilltop," I said from my spot at the front of the church, where I gathered everyone to tell them. "Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food. Eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away. These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham on the road. Now, sooner or later, they would've found us. Just like those Wolves did. Just like Jesus did. They would've killed someone or some of us. And then, they would try to own us. And we would try to stop them.
"But by then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure, as sure as we can get, that we win. And we have to win. We do this for the Hilltop. It's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece."
Morgan, he was the first to stand. It didn't surprise me, really, that he was the one to voice his doubts. "You're sure we can do it? We can beat 'em?"
"What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become, all of us. Yes, I'm sure."
"Then all we have to do is just tell them that."
"They don't compromise, Morgan."
"This isn't a compromise. It's a choice you give 'em. It's a way out, for them and for us."
"We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage, our safety. No, we have to come for them before they come for us. We can't leave them alive."
"Where there's life, there's possibility."
"Yeah, the possibility of them hitting us."
"We're not trapped in this. None of you are trapped in this."
"That's funny," an accented voice drawled from the back of the church. Heads turned to the Sokovian, and Pietro got to his feet. "It's funny you would say that. I know what it is to be trapped, and we are not that. But we made a promise."
Bucky said, "Someone very important to me once told me something that I think about a lot. She told me I've never broken a promise I made to her. That was because promises are something you don't break, no matter what." He looked down, continuing, "No, that's not quite true. I did break a promise, and it was one to her. I swore to her that I'd be there to save her, whenever she needed me, and I wasn't there when she died."
We all looked down as we realized he was talking about Clary, whose death still hurt all of us, even after these months. I looked up as Bucky stood, declaring, "I'll stand with you, Rick. We fight against them. We made the promise to the Hilltop that we would, so that's what we'll do. Even if no one else does, I'll be there."
"Thank you, Bucky," I said.
He nodded once, and Pietro said, "Well, hell, I guess I'm already standing." He cracked a grin, despite the situation. "Yes, Rick, I'll follow you."
Wanda stood next. "I will, too."
"You know I'm there, man," Daryl said. "Whatever we do. We do it in her name."
"To honor Clary Dixon," Glenn agreed, speaking a name that hasn't come out of our mouths since her demise. It was always there, hanging in the air, her ghost hovering, but no one dared to say it aloud.
"For Clary," Clint said. "And I think I know where this is going. I think I know we're going to war, but there might be people that don't want to fight."
"Morgan wants to talk to them first," I said. "I think that would be a mistake, but it's not up to me. I'll talk to the people still at home. I'll discuss it with the people on guard now, too, but who else wants to approach the Saviors, talk to them first?"
Aaron stood, and for a minute, I thought he was going to object. "What happened here, we won't let that happen again." He looked at Morgan. "I won't." He nodded once to me, and I knew he was on my side. Aaron started to take a seat, then stood back up again, having more to say. "I don't know about the rest of you, but the ones that have stood, we're doing this in the memory of a fallen hero. She's not here to save us anymore, the way she used to. It's up to us to do it ourselves. When I found that the Wolves found their way here because of a bag that I dropped, that had a map and pictures of this place in it, I blamed myself. I blamed myself for their attack on this place. But Clary convinced me it wasn't. She told me I didn't make the decision for them to attack, that I fought to keep them at bay. I fought to defend this place, and to kill them. I killed that day, and the people in this room, they did, too. The twins, they took bullets that day. We lost some of ours, but we kept this place standing. So that's why we have to hit them first, so we can keep this place standing without losing any of ours."
"Looks like it's settled," I said. "We know exactly what this is. We don't shy from it. We live. We kill them all. We don't all have to kill. But if people are gonna stay here… they do have to accept it."
Bucky
I gathered with around a table with the Alexandrians, Rick's group and the Avengers, that were going to fight, along with Andy, from the Hilltop, and Jesus. I grabbed a Sharpie, passing it over to Andy as Michonne spread a paper out in front of him. He was the only one that knew the compound we were going to hit, so we needed him to draw it out. He described it as he drew, saying, "Rectangular building. Big satellites on it."
"Any windows?" I questioned.
"I don't remember," Andy answered. "I think they made it so there's only one way in."
"Guards outside?"
"Yeah, two of them, at least."
"And you don't know how many people they have?" Michonne questioned.
"No," Andy replied. "Uh, I mean, not really. But I saw a place where they stored food. It wasn't that big, so…"
"You've been inside?" Rick questioned.
"Yeah. They had us load in supplies one time."
Glenn slapped another piece of paper down in front of him as he asked Andy, "What do you remember?"
He didn't speak as he drew the inside, quiet as he thought. "You didn't see any other rooms?" Maggie questioned, looking at the drawing from across the table as he labeled one pantry.
"No," Andy answered. "It's a big place. This is the hallway I saw. There is more."
"And every time, they had you bring things into here?" Michonne asked, pointing to the pantry.
"So we're going in blind, essentially," I said. "Okay. I've done more on less."
"We brought a couple of spears for them," Andy continued. "Two of the Saviors took them down this hallway. Now, they must've done something with them because they didn't come back with them."
"Maybe a weapons locker," Jesus suggested.
"Exactly," I agreed. "An armory. Swing a right at the end of this hallway. That's what we go for. We take the armory, we take the compound."
"That's how Carol ended it here," Maggie said, remembering the Invasion of Alexandria.
"But we don't know if they have an armory, or where it even is," Andy sighed.
"Well, we've got a lot of good guesses," Daryl said. "Like Bucky said, we've done more with less."
"We go in at night while they're sleeping," I said. "Use knives, keep it quiet."
"The guards won't be sleeping," Andy pointed out. "Like I said, I think there is only one way in and there is no way to bust through that door without waking up the rest of them."
"We don't need to," Rick said. "They're gonna open it for us. Let us walk right in."
"They want Gregory's head, right?" I questioned. "We're gonna give it to 'em."
As we slowed to a stop, the drivers pressed on the horn, using the noise to draw any walkers nearby. Our big plan to trick the Saviors into thinking we killed Gregory was to find a walker that looks like him, and give them its head.
We climbed out of the vehicles, breaking off into groups. "You know what to do," Rick called from the lead. "Break off every quarter mile. We'll meet back here in a couple of hours, see what we got."
Steve joined me as I met up with Glenn and Heath, putting his shield on his arm. We broke off about a mile from the group, heading into the woods. We stood around in a clearing, and Heath glanced up at me after a few minutes. "You've done stuff like this before?"
I nodded once. "Yeah."
"You remember it?"
"Yeah, I remember all of it. Everything I did as… him. As the Winter Soldier. It doesn't go away. I still see it."
"That sucks, man."
"It does. And… I remember their faces. Everyone that I've killed. Stark's parents, they were the worst. It's been over twenty years and I still remember it like it was yesterday."
"That wasn't you, though," Glenn said. "I mean, it was your body, but it wasn't your mind."
"Guys," Steve said. "We've got walkers."
Steve started forward, and the rest of us followed, taking down the few walkers that stumbled upon us. We gathered around one of them, Heath questioning, "What do you think?"
"Maybe," Glenn said, kneeling to get a better look at the walker. "If we, uh, cut the hair, trim the beard. If it's dark."
"We're gonna kill those people," Heath said as Glenn straightens, watching him. "Tonight. Look, I've been lucky. I haven't had to do it before. Have you?"
"I've been lucky, too," Glenn said.
"You nervous?" Steve asked, and he received nods from the two.
Glenn asked, "Have you ever seen something that, um, afterwards, you… you didn't want to sleep and you weren't hungry because when you close your eyes… you could see it? And when you try to eat…"
"Yeah," Heath said.
"Me, too."
"I think we all have," I said. "I know I have."
"Killing somebody has got to be worse than that," Glenn said, looking up at Heath. "It has to be. So, yeah, I'm nervous. For the whole thing."
Glenn
"Something's wrong," I muttered, watching as Andy pulled up to the compound's door. "There's no guards on watch."
"Maybe it's a changing of the guards?" Pietro suggested.
I shook my head as I saw Andy wave to where Daryl was, gesturing him over. "It's not that. I think… I think they're dead."
Daryl raised his hand, waving us all to them. We stepped out of the woods, running to meet them in the center of the parking lot. "It wasn't walkers," Daryl said, gesturing down to the dead men. "Someone's here."
"What do you mean?" Rick asked.
"There's someone else," Bucky said. "Another group, maybe. But they just hit this place."
"Then where's Craig?" Andy questioned.
"He might be inside," I said. "Someone get Jesus."
Pietro took off, returning about a minute later, piggybacking a slightly disoriented Jesus. "Be ready for anything," Bucky said, drawing his gun. "They could still be in here."
"You mean we're still going in?" Heath questioned.
"Craig's in there, if he's not dead," Jesus said. "Yeah, we're going in."
Bucky knelt, digging in the pockets of the two dead guards, and he pulled out a set of keys. He tossed them to Daryl, who held the door open as we filed inside, weapons raised. We started splitting off, checking every inch of the place. "Check the doors," Rick ordered in a whisper. "Find the arsenal. We take them out."
"Rick," I said, sliding open a door, only to find two dead bodies behind it. "Oh, holy shit. Rick, they're all dead."
"I've seen this before," Bucky suddenly said. "But it was me."
"Buck?" Steve questioned, resting a hand on the ex-assassin's shoulder.
"I've done something like this before. When I was the Winter Soldier." Steve dropped his hand to Bucky's, gently squeezing it. "There were other Winter Soldiers. But I thought they were all dead."
"We could possibly be dealing with an enhanced supersoldier, a master assassin," Steve said. "Rick, I need everyone that's not an Avenger out. The rest of us, we'll sweep the building. We'll make sure they're not here, look for Craig. We'll get you when it's safe to come in."
"You got it," Rick said. "But I want Daryl to stay. He's a tracker."
"If you're up for it," Steve said. "It could be dangerous."
"What do I have left to lose?" Daryl questioned. "I'll stay."
"I'll stay, too," I volunteered.
"Glenn, you sure?" Rick questioned, and I nodded. "Okay, I'll get everyone out. Michonne?"
"I'll get 'em," she said. Michonne took off to get the others, and Rick led Aaron, Rosita, and Heath outside. Pietro arrived a few seconds later, setting Wanda down. Clint, Natasha, and Stark were about a minute behind. "Everyone out?" Steve questioned, and Wanda nodded.
"What're we up against?" Natasha questioned.
"Someone like Bucky," I said. "Another supersoldier."
"Wanda," Stark said, taking control now. "Do you think you could do your thing, find them?"
Wanda nodded, closed her eyes, spreading her powers out to find the assassin. "There's someone," Wanda said after a minute. "He's in a room, alone. He's… he's scared."
"That'd be Craig," I said. "Which way?"
"Hold up," Daryl said. "We can't go barrel assing after him. The person that did this, they're more dangerous than the Saviors. We've gotta find 'em and take 'em out."
"There's someone else," Wanda said. "They're hurt. They're not a threat. The person that did this is gone." She opened her eyes. "Craig's this way. Someone want to get Rick?"
Pietro was gone before the second was up, heading out to get everyone else while we went for Craig. "He's in there," Wanda said as we stopped outside a door.
Steve threw open the door, while Bucky reached in and pulled Craig out. The man from Hilltop squirmed under Bucky's grip, crying, "Don't hurt me!"
"Craig," I said. "It's alright. We're not going to hurt you. Jesus, Buck, let him go."
Bucky released Craig, who backed up until he was against a wall, looking around at us. He asked, "Who are you people?"
"We're friends," Stark said. "We know Jesus, Gregory. We're here to rescue you."
"Craig!"
The call came from down the hall, and Andy and Jesus ran to meet their friend from the Hilltop. Andy wrapped him in a hug, while Jesus hung back. "It's good to see you, Craig," Jesus said, placing a hand on his arm. "But what the hell happened here?"
"There must be a place around here where we can talk," Rick said, joining the rest of us, everyone else filing in behind him. "You find them?"
"They're long gone," Bucky answered.
We found our way to the place that served as their cafeteria, and sat Craig down at a table. Rick took a seat in a chair near him, Jesus and Andy on the other side. "What happened?" Rick questioned. "Who did this?"
"There's been talk of a new player on the board," Craig said, glancing up from his hands. "Most of the Saviors don't think she exists. Well, they didn't, anyway. The ones that did, they called her the Executioner. She's a ghost. The one that did this, you'll never find her. She's fast, accurate. If she wants you dead, then you're dead. It took her five minutes, if that, to take out every single Savior in here. I never left that room, 'cause I didn't know if she was gone. I caught a glimpse of her when the guard that was with me went out to fight. It was just a glimpse, so I don't remember much. Uh, dressed all in black. In a suit, like something the Black Widow would wear."
"What, so she's a combination of Bucky and I?" Natasha questioned. "Anything else?"
"Dark hair, um, she had this… war paint or something around her eyes. I mean, it was like so she'd blend in."
"Did she speak?" Rick questioned. "Did she look familiar?"
"Like I said, I only saw her for about five seconds. No, she didn't look familiar at all. She had this mask, thought, that covered the lower half of her face."
"Sounds like what you wore, Buck," Steve said.
"Yeah," Bucky muttered, pushing himself away from the table he was leaning against. "Can you remember anything else? Something that stood out?"
"Yeah," Craig said, looking up, towards the Winter Soldier. "She had a metal arm."
"Oh my god, that's her," Jesus suddenly said, causing heads to turn. "I know her. I've seen her. It was about two days before I met you guys."
"What happened?" Bucky demanded, leaning down to look at him.
"When I was out there, I overheard some people talking about someone called the Executioner. I heard the name once before, the day before, when Gregory made a deal with a second group. I never thought she was real. These two guys, they started saying some stuff that made me realize I needed to get the hell out of there. I turned to run, but this third guy grabbed me. It was the middle of the night. I didn't even see him. This guy, he dragged me to the road, put me on my knees. I thought I was dead. Next thing I know, these guys, they're getting their asses handed to them by this girl in all black. She had a mask, like what Craig said. It came off during the fight. After it's done, after they're dead, this girl, she turns to me and she says, 'I was never here.' She turned to run, but I called after her. I wanted to know who she was. I had to. She stops, and what she said, I'll never forget it. 'They call me the Executioner.' Then, she was gone. Like a ghost."
"You've seen her face?"
"It was dark, hard to see, but… yeah."
"You could identify her?"
"If I saw her again, heard her speak."
Bucky looked down as he reached into his pocket, asking, "Did she look like—"
"James," Steve said, putting a hand over Bucky's, stopping him from pulling out the picture of Clary he kept. "Don't. She's long dead."
"You thought I was dead," Bucky returned. "For seventy years."
"It was war, not the apocalypse. She's dead. Let it go."
"You mentioned a second group," Rick noted.
"Who were they?" Bucky questioned.
Jesus looked down at his hands, as if he was ashamed to admit Gregory made a deal with this group. "Everyone knows about them." He glanced up at Bucky. "You know them better than anyone."
"Who were they?" Bucky repeated.
"Hydra."
The Executioner
"They're on the move," I reported through my earpiece, speaking Russian like my handlers. I shifted in the tree I was perched in, watching the group that came through a pair of binoculars. After I took out the compound last night, we stayed, wanting to make sure I didn't miss anyone inside, or anyone that might not have been in the compound when I went in. "The group. I don't think they're Saviors."
"No," one of my handlers agreed in the same language. "They're someone else. Let's watch them."
"Whoa, Sokolski," I said, staring at a guy with dark, curly hair and a beard. "That dude looks like you."
"Yeah, he kind of does," the handler in charge agreed.
We watched as two of them, a dark skinned guy and a brunette lady, climbed in an RV after saying goodbye to the rest of the group, then drove off. The group watched the two leave, then turned as a door opened, a motorcycle roaring to life. They took off as one of the Saviors, someone that I saw but didn't go after because I thought I imagined him, drove out from the compound. "Fuck," I said. "I wasn't sure if I saw him or not last night. I didn't go after him 'cause I thought I didn't."
"You missed someone?" my second handler questioned. "Oh well, it looks like they're taking care of it."
One of the women opened fire on the Savior, knocking him off the bike, and a man with a vest, angel wings sewn on the back, ran to meet him. The Savior scrambled to his feet, but Angel Wings knocked him back to the ground before he could get up. Wings straddled the Savior, throwing punches. He barked to him, "Where'd you get the bike?"
The Savior tried to fight back, and the dude with curly hair, who looked to be in charge, aimed his gun at him. He looked up at the leader, shouting, "Just do it! Like you did everyone else, right?"
"They're not taking him out," I noted, getting anxious. If this guy wasn't dead by the time we left, I'm in for it. I learned early on not to fail in my missions. Just because I couldn't kill a little girl.
"Executioner," Sokolski said. "Take him out. The one on the ground."
I nodded once, taking my sniper rifle and heading through the trees for a better shot. I slowed to a stop as I saw a group of people in a clearing, and hunkered down behind a tree, not sure who was Savior and who wasn't. Two women, the one with long hair younger than the one with short hair, were held at gunpoint by a brunette about the age of the younger one. Two older women stood by, the redhead with a walkie talkie, while the older of the two bandaged the arm of a man. "What's happening?" the man questioned, looking to the redhead. "Paula?"
Into the walkie, Paula ordered, "Lower your gun, prick. You, with the Colt Python." The leader, I realized, remembering he held a Colt Python. "All of you, lower your weapons right now."
A moment later, the leader's voice came through the walkie. "Come on out. Let's talk."
"How many we got?" the older woman questioned.
"Fifteen, in sight," Paula answered. "Too many."
"No, we can take 'em," the man argued. "We took more."
"No, we're not gonna risk it," Paula said, then spoke into the walkie. "We're not coming out, but we will talk." To the two women, she ordered, "Names."
The older of the two woman, who said her name was Carol, was hesitant to give over her name, but complied once the younger one, Maggie, did it first.
"We've got a Carol and a Maggie," Paula said into the walkie. "I'm thinking that's something you want to chat about. Now, we're gonna work this out right now, and it's going to go our way."
"You can see we have one of yours," the leader said. "We'll trade."
"I'm listening."
"First, I want to talk to Carol and Maggie. Make sure they're alright."
Paula turned to her hostages. "I'm gonna put you on. You say you're fine. I'll know if you try anything else."
Paula gave it to Carol first, who said, "Rick, it's Carol. I'm fine, but—"
She pulled the walkie away, giving it to Maggie. "Rick, it's Maggie. We're both okay. We'll figure this—"
Paula told her to shut it, then said, "You got your proof. Let's talk."
"Alright, this is the deal," the leader, Rick, says. "Right here. Let 'em go, you can have your guy back and live."
"Two for one? That's not much of a trade."
"You don't have another choice. Or else you would've done something about it already."
"We have to get him back," the man said, still keeping one hand on his injured arm.
"Primo can take care of himself," Paula said.
"He can patch me up. I need him." He glanced over at Carol. "Thanks to that bitch. You lost your balls, Paula. You should've shot her in the head so they could hear her die."
Paula said, "If you could just shut up, I'll solve this."
"Then make the deal or we go in," he replied.
"She said shut up, so shut it," the old woman snapped. "You should be glad she doesn't have a sack of gonads to trip over."
Over the walkie, Rick said, "Look, I know you're talking it over. It's a fair trade. Just come out, we do this, we all walk away."
"Smug prick," the dark haired girl holding her gun on Carol and Maggie snapped. "Must think we're stupid."
"That's a good thing," Paula said.
"Do we have a deal?" Rick asked, grabbing their attention again.
"I'll get back to you." To the girl, Paula said, "You know what to do, Michelle."
The dark haired girl, Michelle, pulled Maggie's jacket so it was over her head, blocking her vision. As soon as she did the same to Carol, I stepped in. I fired on the one closest to Carol and Maggie first, knowing that she had a gun. Carol and Maggie instinctively ducked, but if I was shooting at them, they'd already be dead. The remaining Saviors turned to face me, and I fired on the old woman as she pulled out a gun. I holstered my gun, not wanting to draw any more of the dead to the area with more shots, while the two remaining Saviors backed away from me, shocked. The redhead turned to run, but before she made it five feet, I threw one of the knives I was carrying. She dropped to the ground, the knife stuck in her back. The man of the group backed away as I started forward, moving to hide behind Carol and Maggie, to use them as shields, as they pulled off the jackets covering their faces. "Take them," the man said, nudging Carol forward.
"I don't want them," I replied, reaching behind me to pull out my second knife.
"Vatican cameos!" Maggie suddenly cried, and the two dropped to the ground. I froze, remembering that I heard that before. "Look out!"
I snapped back, then raised my metal hand, using it to block the bullets from the Savior's gun as I made my way towards him. I kicked the gun out of his hand when he ran out of bullets, wrapping my hand around his throat. Despite him easily being a foot taller than me, I lifted him off the ground, watching as I choked the life out of him. His injured arm hung limply at his side, while he clawed at my hand, trying to free himself. Slowly, he stopped moving, and I dropped him before plunging my knife into his skull so he wouldn't turn. I stepped back, knocking someone to the ground when they touched my shoulder, raising my knife. "Whoa!" Maggie cried, then held up the knife I threw, gesturing for me to take it. "Easy."
I hesitantly took it, then stepped away from them, back towards the woods. I asked, "You guys alright?"
"What language is that?" Maggie questioned, accepting the hand Carol offered to pull her to her feet. "Is that Russian?"
I rolled my eyes, not understanding why she didn't answer my question, then picked up the sniper rifle I dropped. I took aim through the trees, searching for the Savior that was on the bike. I paused on the man with the vest, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar, and then did the same to the guy with the metal arm. I glanced over as Maggie tried to wrestle the gun out of my hands. "What the fuck?" I questioned. I used my right arm, the one made of metal, to pull the gun away; and I used my flesh one to shove her away, not wanting to hurt her. "I'm tryin' to help you."
"Executioner, what the hell are you waiting on?" Sokolski questioned.
I raised the rifle, then fired, watching the last Savior drop. There were cries of surprise from the group, Angel Wings shouting, "What the fuck!"
To Sokolski, I said, "I ran into others. They weren't there when I went in. They're taken care of. They were holding two of the other group."
Over the walkie, Rick's voice asked, "Carol! Maggie! You there?"
Carol picked up the walkie, telling him, "We're here."
"What the hell just happened?"
"Someone saved us."
"Is she in all black? A mask?"
"Yeah."
"It's the Executioner," Sokolski's look alike said. "We need to speak with her."
"Get Bucky. She speaks Russian."
"Palach," Sokolski ordered through my earpiece. "Get back here. Now."
"I've gotta ditch these girls first," I said. I secured the rifle on my shoulder, the strap across my chest because I knew I was going to have to run. "They're with the other group. They're not a threat."
"Get your ass over here," Sokolski repeated.
I took off, heading back towards my handlers. Behind me, I heard Maggie cry, "Hey! Wait!"
"Maggie, stop!" Carol called after her, and I glanced over my shoulder to see Maggie chasing after me through the woods, Carol behind her. But I knew this place better than her, having studied it during the scouting missions before I took the Saviors out.
"Sokolski," I said. "They're following me. Rendezvous at the river!"
I didn't have time to know if he heard me, or even if they would meet me, as I had nearly reached the cliff that overlooks this portion of the river. I didn't hesitate, running until I was at the edge. I jumped, and as I fell I heard Carol yell, "Maggie, don't! It's the middle of November!"
I hit the water, sinking below the surface. I stayed under, swimming back towards the cliff. I came up for air, pulling my mask off, unable to breathe through it wet. I gasped for breath, knowing the water would be cold but I didn't think that it'd be this cold. I kept my back pressed against the rock wall, hoping the cliff created enough of an overhang to cover me from the two women. I looked for a place downstream to climb out, knowing I had to get out of this water soon. Then, I realized that with the last of their super soldier serum in my veins, I couldn't get hypothermia. Still, the water was cold and I didn't want to stay in longer than I had to. There was nothing before I reached the bend, and there was still a ways to go before I spotted a place to climb out, near where I was supposed to meet my handlers. The river started to pick up its pace as I reached the meeting point, where I had to climb back up a cliff. I caught hold of an edge as the current swept me past, pulling myself back up. I reached up, grabbing onto a ledge. I started my climb, this cliff higher than the one I jumped off. I almost slipped a few times, the rocks slick due to ice. "She's here!" I heard Sokolski call to the others.
When I reached the top, I almost lost my grip again, the rock there fragile. Maybe it was just my arm, the strength in it enough to punch through concrete like it's butter, so breaking rock's nothing. A hand was extended, and I looked up to see one of my handlers, the one that was nicer to me than the others, reaching down to pull me up. I ignored his hand, pulling myself up, but I did pass the rifle on my back to him, along with the mask I carried between my teeth. "Let's go, Executioner," Sokolski said as soon as I was standing.
I followed him, sitting in silence as we drove back to base. "The man with the angel wings vest," I said. "Who was he?"
"You saw him when we had you scouting earlier this week," Sokolski answered. "He was there at the Hilltop."
"I knew him."
"Your work's been a gift to mankind, or rather, what's left of it. You're shaping the new world. We're going to need you to do it again. This world, it's at a tipping point between Negan's rule and ours. We're going to give it a push. But if you don't do your part, then I can't do mine. And Hydra can't give what remains of this world the freedom it deserves. We can't save it from the dead."
"But I knew him."
