Day 13

by tikxy

(find more of tikxy's writing under our favorite authors or check out her tumblr page)

The sleep they fell into after their heart-to-heart left Rick and Michonne feeling greatly refreshed. They were both still distressed over their situation, but they each knew they'd faced losses in the past and survived. Barely, but they'd managed it. And they would do it again if they had to. So when when part of their plan came to fruition, they couldn't help but feel a tiny glimmer of hope. But only a small one. The walker-infested world was no place to let I bloom in full.

"What do you have for us?" Rosita asked without preamble as she closed the front door behind Jesus.

He'd shown up at the gates of the ASZ with his usual stealth and nonchalantly told them he'd managed to get some good intel on the locations of important base within the Saviors' holdings.

Jesus pulled a crinkled map from within the folds of his trench coat and spread it over the tabletop in the center of the meeting room. They'd all gathered in the dining room of the house the Grime's family stayed in.

"From what I can see, they keep their food stores in a number of different places, so it'll be hard to weaken them by stealing it without spreading ourselves too thin. The same for their weapons and enforcer units. Their vehicles are distributed in similar manner."

Rick chewed on his lower lip, seeing how hard this was going to actually be. The saviors held much more land than they did, had more people, and way more resources. Even with the help of the Kingdom and Hilltop, this was going to be an uphill battle in a blizzard without shoes on.

"What about Negan?" he asked softly, glancing over at Carl who Rick had invited to the meeting to keep an eye on him and to show his son that he was doing something about the problem and why he'd held himself still before. "Where is he located?"

Jesus's finger landed on a slightly off-center location that appeared well-guarded with quick escape routes Jesus had drawn in using combinations of two and four tightly drawn circles to represent cars and motorcycles.

"If we cut off the head, we can kill the snake," Rick murmured, his eyes narrowing. "You think they got anybody to step up after Negan? Cause I don't."

Michonne pinched her lips and nodded in agreement. "If you want to control this many people, you have to make sure there's nobody who thinks they're as powerful as you are and certainly don't have the will to lead. I'm thinking he's a wolf herdin' sheep."

Other people in the room thought it over and realized she was probably right. The way Rick ran things was more of a democracy and there were a number of strong people, including Michonne, who could step in for him if he fell. But they were also constantly challenging him to find different ways to approach a problem. Negan and the Saviors on the other hand, seemed to be one trick ponies. They went in, they threatened, they blackmailed, they got what they wanted, they got out while keeping the threat constant. Any sign of resistance equaled death. If that's how Negan treated others, it was most likely how he treated his own crew.

"So…" Rosita said. "We gotta find a way to get in there and kill Negan without getting caught."

"We'll need to be really careful and have people in place ready to take down Negan's hit crews if they catch us on the move."

"We should probably make some explosives to create distractions and take out more people at a time," Rick tossed in, his fingers squeezing gently at Michonne's shoulder. "Somethin' to start a fire or two."

Jesus nodded. "We'll need to find out what supplies the Kingdom and Hilltop can contribute along with how many vehicles and people are willing to fight with us."

Rick's lips turned down bitterly. "I know a lot of the people in Hilltop are brave and able, but they've got the weasel Gregory running things. If Negan offered him a handshake, he'd probably tell 'em everything we've been planning."

Jesus came from Hilltop, but he couldn't help but agree. The man didn't exactly have a fighting spirit unless he was backed into a corner, and even then, he was the type to bite off his own hand to escape just so he wouldn't have to offer it to anyone else to help.

Their eyes met across the table and Jesus gave a slight nod. Rick shrugged and threw an arm around Michonne's neck.

"Let's see if we've got anything besides beans in the kitchen."