Fear the Dead, Fight the Living
"And we can work with the Hilltop. Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food- eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away." Rick tells the people who came to the church after we got home, "These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham on the road." He tells them and I looked at Daryl, "Now, sooner or later, they would've found us, just like those Wolves did, just like Jesus did. They woulda 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." He finished and everyone stayed quiet until Morgan spoke up
"You're sure we can do it? We can beat them?" Morgan asked him
"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." Morgan says and I looked at him confused
"Well, they don't compromise." Rick says
"This isn't a compromise. It's a choice you give them. It's a way out, for them and for us."
"We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage, our safety." Rick says Morgan, "We have to come for them before they come for us. We can't leave them alive."
"Where there's life, there's possibility." Morgan says to me
"Of them hitting us." Rick adds
"We're not trapped in this. None of you are trapped in this."
"Morgan...they always come back." Rick tells him
"Come back when they're dead, too."
"Yeah, we'll stop them. We have before." Rick mentioned
"I'm not talking about the walkers."
"Morgan wants to talk to them first. 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?" Rick asked everyone else and Aaron stands up
"What happened here, we won't let that happen again. I won't."
"Looks like it's settled. 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." Rick tells them and leaves
"You're not going" Daryl told me as I gathered up my stuff then looked at him
"I'm just gonna be on look out with Maggie. I'll be fine"
He walked over to me and put one hand on my face and the other on my stomach, "I won't be there to save you if something goes wrong, what if.."
"Daryl, I know you're worried, I am too but...I can't keep playing it safe here. I wanna help. Please let me"
He looked at me then sighed pulling me into a hug, "How can I say no to you?"
I chuckled then looked at him, "You can't" I said and we finished getting ready
"Describe it." Rick tells Andy who is drawing the layout of the building for us
"Rectangular building, big satellites on it."
"Any windows?" Rick asked him
"I don't remember any. I think they made it so there's only one way in."
"Guards outside?" I asked him
"Yeah, two of them, at least."
"And you don't know how many people they have?" Michonne asked
"No. Uh, I mean, no. I saw a place where they stored food. It wasn't that big, so..."
"You've been inside?" Rick asks
"Yeah. They had us load in supplies one time."
"Hmm. What do you remember?" Glenn asked putting another piece of paper on the table in front of Andy.
"And you didn't see any other rooms?" Maggie asked him
"No, it's a big place. This is the hallway I saw. There is more."
"And every time, they had you bring things into here?" I ask pointing to the pantry part of the paper
"Jesus. We brought a couple spears for them. 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, an armory." Jesus points out
"Okay. We get in there, secure the armory, that's how we end it." Glenn mentioned
"That's how Carol ended it here." Maggie adds
"But we don't know if they have an armory or where it even is." Andy points out
"Well, we've got a lot of good guesses. We've done more with less." Daryl tells him
"We go in at night while they're sleeping." Rick says to us
"The guards won't be sleeping. Like I said, I think there's only one way in and there's no way to bust through that door without waking up the rest of them." Andy says to him
"We don't need to. They're going to open it for us, let us walk right in. They want Gregory's head, right? We're gonna give it to them."
Carol POV...
"We're gonna take a look around, try to get a feel for how many people are in there. We like how it looks, we go in. A couple of hours before dawn. The guards outside'll be tired. Everyone inside'll be sleeping. We don't like what we see, we head back, make a new plan." Rick says to all of us and I look over at Phoebe, why is she here? Why is Maggie here?, "They don't know who we are. We'll keep Jesus in the shadows. This is how we eat. This is how we eat. We roll out at midnight." He says and walked away
"Why are Maggie and Phoebe here?" I asked him as he walked towards me
"They're guarding the perimeter."
"Yeah, but why are they here?" I asked trying to get my point across to him
"'Cause it's their choice."
"I want to stay out there with them." I told him
"Well, this whole thing's a race to the armory. We need as many people inside as we can get."
"They shouldn't be out there alone. They shouldn't be out here in the first place." I said
"Okay."
Phoebe POV...
"Please be safe" I tell Daryl and he pulled me into a hug
"You too"
"I love you" I said to him and he kissed me
"I love you too"
I stood there on the side of the road looking into the woods when my mom walked up to, "Don't start" I told her still looking out into the woods still
"You know how reckless this is?" She asked me and I sighed then faced her
"I said don't start, ok? Trust me Daryl doesn't like it either but it's fine, I'll be fine, so will Maggie" I said and looked forward again
"Did you even consider what would happen to your baby if..."
"Stop! Just stop mom," I said facing her again, "I am a big girl and I can take care of myself. I won't let anything happen to my baby and I need you to trust me on this. Please." I pleaded and she just walked away.
Suddenly an alarm went off, "They're in trouble." Maggie says and we both start to move forward
"Stay here." My mom told us
"We're going with you." I told her
"I said stay here."
"No." I insisted
"Damn it, Phoebe." She says grabbing my arm
"We have to." Maggie says
"No, you don't. You don't have to."
"Yes, we do." Maggie told her
"What the hell are you two doing here?" My mom asked
"What are we supposed to do?" I asked her
"You're both supposed to be someone else." She says and I looked at her
"They need our help" Maggie said and we hear a walker behind us, my mom moved passed us and killed it.
"You are staying here" She tells both of us
Daryl POV...
We walk out of the compound to a fenced in area with cars after we dealt with the Saviors, just then we hear an engine roar and turn to see a man drive out on a motorcycle, my motorcycle
"Son of a bitch!" I yell and run after him, Rosita shot the guy making him fall off the bike and I land on him then punched him, "Where'd you get the bike?" I asked as Rick pointed his gun at the guy.
"Just do it! Like you did everyone else, right?"
"Lower your gun, prick." We hear a lady say over the walkie, "You, with the Colt Python. All of you, lower your weapons right now."
"Come on out. Let's talk." Rick responded picking up the walkie
"We're not coming out, but we will talk," She says and there's a pause, "We've got a Carol, Phoebe and a Maggie. I'm thinking that's something you want to chat about." She tells us. I felt my heart stop when I hear Phoebe's name, I knew I shouldn't have let her come. I stand up and point my gun at the guy I tackled off the bike.
"You can see we have one of yours. We'll trade." Rick tells her
"I'm listening."
"First I want to talk to Maggie, Phoebe and Carol, make sure they're all right.
"Rick, it's Carol. I'm- I'm fine, but-" She started to said but was cut off, "Rick, it's Maggie. We're both okay. We'll figure thi-" Maggie was cut off then I hear her, "I'm ok, everything will be-" She got cut off as well and I tightened the grip on my gun, "You have your proof. Let's talk."
"This is the deal right here. Let 'em go, you can have your guy back and live."
"Three for one, that's not much of a trade." The woman said to him
"You don't have another choice or you would've done something about it already." Rick says and there's a pause, "Look, I know you're talking it over. It's a fair trade. Just come out, we do this, we all walk away. Do we have a deal?"
"I'll get back to you."
Phoebe POV...
"You are staying here" My mom told us then I see her pull out her gun pointing it in our direction, both me and Maggie whipped around trying to grab our when we see a man walking towards us. My mom shot the guy then Maggie moves over to him raising her gun, "Damn it, Maggie, let's go!" My mom said
"Not until it's done."
"Stop! Or she's dead." A woman told her as she and another woman point a gun at the both of us and another one pointed one at Maggie, "Guns, knives on the ground right now." the lady told us and I raise my hands up putting my gun down then my knife
"Nice jacket." The older one who had a gun aimed at me said to Maggie
"For a murderous bitch." The one by Maggie says
"Well, we'll take it off her before we shoot her." The red head next to my mom says to them and the man my mom shot stands up
"It ain't on there right, I can feel it. It ain't stopping." The man says to the older woman
"I'm getting it tighter. Jesus, give me a second."
"Son of a bitch, you're cutting off my circulation." He told her
"Well, sport, it's supposed to." She said to him and I hear distant gunfire and an engine, a familiar engine
"Hell was that?" The younger woman asked
"It's Primo. Damn it, they've got him. Give me the walkie." The red head told the man
"Babe, what's happening?"
"Lower your gun, prick. You, with the Colt Python. All of you, lower your weapons right now." The red head told Rick over the radio
"Come on out. Let's talk."
"How many we got?" the older woman asked the red head
"Eight in sight. Too many."
"No, we can take 'em. We took more." The man told her
"We're not coming out, but we will talk." She says over the radio then looked at us, "Names. Names!"
"I'm Maggie, that's Phoebe and she's Carol." Maggie told her
"We've got a Carol, Phoebe and a Maggie. I'm thinking that's something you want to chat about." She told Rick, "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. We'll trade." Rick offered
"I'm listening."
"First I want to talk to Maggie, Phoebe and Carol, make sure they're all right." Rick says and I hear a walker growling
"I'm gonna put you on. You say you're fine. I'll know if you try anything else." The woman told us and put the walkie by my mom
"Rick, it's Carol. I'm- I'm fine, but-" She got cut off and the woman moved it to Maggie
"Now you." She told her
"Rick, it's Maggie. We're both okay. We'll figure thi-" The woman cut her off
"Shut up." Then she came to me
"I'm okay, everything will be-"
She moved away then looked through the binoculars again, "You have your proof. Let's talk."
"This is the deal right here. Let 'em go, you can have your guy back and live."
"Three for one, that's not much of a trade." She told him
"You don't have another choice or you would've done something about it already."
"We have to get him back." The man said to the red head
"Primo can take care of himself. He can patch me up. I need him, thanks to that bitch. You lost your balls, Paula. You should've shot her in the head so they could hear her die."
"If you could just shut up, I'll solve this." Paula says to him
"Then make the deal or we go in."
"She said shut up, so shut it. You should be glad she doesn't have a sack of gonads to trip over." The older lady told him
"Look, I know you're talking it over. It's a fair trade. Just come out, we do this, we all walk away." Rick told Paula over the radio
"Smug prick. He must think we're stupid." The younger girl says
"That's a good thing." Paula mentioned
"Do we have a deal?" Rick asked
"I'll get back to you." Paula told him and I looked at Maggie and my mom then suddenly the back of my coat gets put over my head
"Move!" Paula told us as I tried to walk as carefully as I could without tripping while looking at the ground under my coat, I dragged my feet a few times and would hit a small branch with my legs to try and leave a trail for Daryl so they could find us, "Turn." She says and I see a part of a road and we stop, "Wait." We get put in the car and I see a pair of hands tape mind together, "Omega, omega, Saviors down. Go to Gamma, code "fire." Alpha channel is not clear. We follow the protocol." She says over the radio, "Where the hell are you guys?"
"Out west of the-" A male voice responded then it cut out, "15 mi- on- way."
"We're headed to the break point. Switch to Theta channel, same code. If I'm not there, toggle to Alpha, listen in." She told the guy
"Copy that."
"I hate this damn place. Safe house." The older lady says as we walk into some sort of building, "There ain't nothing safe about it."
"This place is gonna save our asses." Paula told her and we walk a little further then our coats get removed, I see a walker in front of Maggie but then Paula kills it, "Get on the ground. You there." She told me pointing to one side of the room, "You, over there." She tells my mom pointing to the wall across from me, "and you there" She says to Maggie pointing to a wall by me, I sit down then look at my mom who glanced at me, "You're wondering if there's a way out of this. There isn't. Not unless I say so." She said to us then tapes my mom's feet, then Maggie's, then mine
"Paula, I need backup!" The younger girl yells to her outside of the room
"I want to kill you three right now. It's taking all I have not to, so go ahead, I dare you, try something. Just see what happens." Paula warned us then walked out closing the door behind her.
I started to look around at the same time Maggie did then I started to use the corner of the wall to try and cut my tape and I see my mom use her feet to move a necklace to her, I then see Maggie try to use the corner of a machine next to her when we hear the gunfire stop, me and Maggie looked at each other then moved ourselves back to sitting how we were. Suddenly my mom starts to hyperventilate and I look at her confused then looked at Maggie who shrugged then the other door opened
"When's the last time anyone checked this place?" Paula asked helping the guy in and putting him down against the wall by the door
"It was fine a month ago." THe younger woman says
"Sweetie, that was a month ago. shit hards quick." The older one tells her, "The guns have gone bye-bye, the food's gone bye-bye, and we got growlers up and down the halls."
"Means people can get through, too. Maybe we should get gone." The man pointed out and I looked back at my mom as she continued to hyperventilate
"Mom!" I yelled but it was muffled and they continued talking
"Yeah? Where the hell to?" The younger girl asked him
"Nowhere. Got dead in the halls? Free security. Those assholes get here before our people, the cold bloods will buy us some time." Paula says to them tending to the mans arm
"Jesus, it's bleeding. It's not supposed to keep bleeding." The man pointed out
"Molly, give me the rope." Paula tells her
"I'm not losing it. I'm not." The man said
"So you grind it out. Jesus, Donnie." The younger one says
"Screw you, 'Chelle! We have to get him back. He can fix it. We have to, Paula." Donnie told her
"No. I saw them, you didn't. They took the place down, they got the guns, they'll kill us, too."
"Hey!" I yelled through my gag
"I'm not going down like that, not after making it this far." Paula continued
"Hey!" I yelled again and Paula walked over to me taing my gag off
"What?"
"She's hyperventilating. Somebody needs to take her gag off." I told them
"She's a nervous little bird, ain't she?" Molly pointed out moving over and taking my moms gag off
"Look at you. Bitch, how did you make it this far?" 'Chelle asked her pointing a gun at her and I glared at the girl
"Honey, you need to take some yoga breaths and calm your ass down." Molly says to my mom
"I can't-" my mom panted reaching for her pocket and Molly pulled out a rosary necklace then handed it to my mom who calmed down and held it to her, I sat there looking at her confused
"Oh. You're one of those." Molly says
"What are you so afraid of? Are you actually afraid to die?" Paula asked my mom then scoffed, "All this and you're scared of getting your ticket punched."
"It doesn't matter what happens to me. Just don't hurt Maggie or Phoebe. Don't hurt their babies." My mom told her and I looked at her then Maggie
"Yeah, right." 'Chelle says turning and pointing the gun at me then Maggie
"They each got a bun in the oven, they don't look it." Donnie says
"We're only two months" Maggie says after 'Chelle took her gag off
"You both are some kind of stupid, getting knocked up at a time like this." Paula says to us and Maggie chuckled, "You think that's funny?"
"When was it ever smart to get knocked up? Women used to just die in childbirth. And they always thought the world was gonna end. Living through it, why would you just give up?" Maggie asked her
"But are you gonna live through it?" Paula asked, "Anyway, that's cute. Babies are the point. Children are our future. Making bite-size snacks for the dead. The point is to stay standing."
"No. Walkers do that. We're choosing something." I told her
"That's right. You are. You did." She says and walked out of the room
Molly reached into her pocket and pulled out a pack of smokes lighting one while Donnie groaned then Molly coughed, "The babies." My mom told her and Molly looked at us then laughed
"Honey, in case you haven't noticed, you've got bigger problems than a little secondhand smoke."
"Molls." 'Chelle said and Molly snuffed it out
"Y'all are worse than a bunch of evangelical second graders." Molly told us and started cughing again then hacking
"Those things'll kill you." My mom pointed out to her
"They already have. I'm a dead woman walking. Which puts us in exactly the same boat."
"Ah!" Donnie groaned and I looked over at him as Paula walked in moving over to him, "My arm feels like it's on fire."
"You pull that off, you gonna be nothing but a spigot." Molly told him
"Okay, hold on. Scout crew is coming. They're 30 minutes out, maybe less." Paula says
"He doesn't have 30 minutes. His nerves are dying. If he doesn't get medical help, he's gonna lose his arm, maybe his life. I'm not a doctor, but my dad lost his leg, and I know that much." Maggie told her
"Your man, Primo, you think he can help you? It's time to end this. Talk to Rick." I insisted
"30 minutes." Paula tells him then stood up
"You know my problem?" Donnie asked standing up and moved towards my mom, "She did this to me. She did it and she's just sitting there right as rain, fully intact."
"Hey." Paula says to him
"No, you're not gonna make the trade then we just do 'em both now."
"No, we wait for the others. We have to be smart. We need insurance." Paula told him
"Then shoot her in the arm, too."
"No." She tells him
"You really gonna stick up for some gutless bitch over me?" He asked then hunched over in pain, "God damn it!"
"Shut up." Paula told him
"Don't push me, Paula." He groaned again
"Shut up!" She yelled at him and he stood up back handing her across the face then went to move to my mom
"Leave her alone!" I yelled kicking his feet then moved myself so I was on my knees then he grabbed my hair picking me up
"No! No!" I hear my mom scream
"You dumb, uppity bitch!" He yelled at me then I head butted him making him stumble back and my mom grabbed his leg but he got free and started kicking her, I was about to move to him but Paula clipped him on the back of his head with the butt of her gun and he fell down then looked at me
"You really are some kind of stupid." She tells me then looked at Maggie, "Take that one out. See if she knows anything. Should've done that before." Paula told 'Chelle who lifted Maggie up and they walk out, "Sit" Paula says to me and I sit back down and look at my mom
"Mom?" I asked looking at my mom who was still laying on the floor, both Molly and Paula looked at me
Paula chuckled, "Mom?" She asked with a smile then looked between us, "Oh that's rich" She says and touched her face again then Molly moved over to her
"He got you good, kid."
"He's in pain. Guys can't handle pain." Paula told her
"Excuse me?" My mom says after sitting up and Paula looked at her, "Just wanted to say thank you for helping Phoebe, for helping me. My husband Ed, he used to-"
"Yeah? I don't care if your old man used to ring your bell." Paula said cutting her off and I looked at my mom, "I see exactly who you are, Carol. I know. You're pathetic. You wanna think we're just the same? Go ahead. You're wrong. He's just a warm body for my bed. That's it. I could kill him in his sleep." She told her then looked at the necklace my mom was holding, "Do you really believe in that crap?"
"My faith got me through the death of my other daughter." My mom says and I clenched my jaw. Did she really just use Sophia as a card
"Hmm. Well, the good news is maybe you'll see her again soon." Paula tells her and it took everything in me to not attack her right now.
"Have you thought about it? Talk to me." I hear Rick say over the walkie
"You weren't listening. I said I'd contact you." Paula told him
"Would it make a difference if I said I was sorry about that?"
"What do you think?" She asked him
"I think we're gonna make the trade, so tell me where."
"We haven't agreed to that." She said
"You will."
"You know what? I'm not so sure. We'd be taking most of the risk, not getting much in the way of a reward." She says
"The other option won't work out for you." He told her
"We'll take our chances." She says to him and put the walkie back on her belt
"You don't have to do this. You don't have to fight." My mom begs to them
"Your people killed all of my people. Of course we gotta fight." Molly told her
"We didn't want to."
"But you did. So tell me why." Paula says
"Your people ambushed my people on the road, tried to take everything we had. They were gonna kill them." My mom cried
"Well, damn. So now we know what happened to T's group. Those idiots. Probably put on a big show." Molly pointed out
"Okay, fair play. You were just defending yourselves. But, see, your people killed them on the road, right? Blew them to pieces. So, why not stop?" Paula asked
"They said they were working for Negan." I told her
"And what do you think you know about Negan?"
"He sounded like a maniac. We were scared. We had to stop him." My mom said
"Sweetie, Sweetie. We are all Negan." Molly told her taking a drag of her smoke then started coughing and I looked at them confused
"What do you mean?" My mom asked, "What does that mean?"
"Can I have one?" My mom asked Molly and I looked at her
"Well, look at you, little bird. I didn't think you approved."
"I don't." My mom says and Molly put one in her mouth then lit it
"You are weak. What are you so afraid of?" Paula asked her, "So scared, you can't even stick to your own principles."
"You don't want me to stick to my own principles." My mom told her taking a drag
"I was a secretary before. I fetched coffee for my boss and made him feel good about himself. I spent most of my days reading stupid inspirational e-mails to try and feel good about myself. There was this one that kept going around. A young woman was having a hard time and told her mom she wanted to give up, so her mom went to the kitchen and started boiling three pots of water. She put a carrot in one, an egg in another, and ground coffee beans in the last one. After they had boiled a while, her mom said, "Look, all three things went through the same boiling water. The carrot went in strong and came out soft. The egg was fragile and came out hard. But the coffee beans changed the water itself." You're supposed to want to be the coffee beans. See, to me, coffee was just a thing that my boss would drink up. No matter how many times I refilled his damn cup, it was just never enough. I was at work when the Army took over DC. We weren't allowed to leave. They had to evacuate all the important people first- members of Congress, government employees. So I was stuck with my boss. Not my family- my husband, my four girls..." She paused, "My boss was weak and stupid and he was going to die and he was going to take me down, too. He was the first person I killed so that I could live. I stopped counting when I hit double digits. That's right around the time I stopped feeling bad about it. I am not like you. I'm still me, but better. I lost everything and it made me stronger."
"You sure about that?" My mom asked her
"I'm alive."
"With those people, those killers." My mom says
"Your people are killers, Carol. That makes you a killer."
"You- you're the one." My mom said
"Excuse me?"
"You're the one who's afraid to die. And you're going to. You will die. It's what's gonna happen if you don't work this out."
"Are you going to kill me?" She asked my mom
"I hope not."
"Asshole, are you there?" Paula asked over the walkie
"I'm here."
"We've thought about it. We want to make the trade." Paula told him and I noticed something
"That's good."
"There's a large field with a sign that says "God is dead" about two miles down I-66. Good visibility in all directions."
"We'll meet you there. 10 minutes?" He asked her
"10 minutes." Paula says and shook her head, "Mm-mm. Now, that was too easy."
"Maybe they're just itching to get their people back." Molly told her
"No, there was no static. There should've been static." Paula pointed out, "They're close. They're probably already here. We were careful, but there were tracks. There had to be." Paula says and my mom looked at me, "They killed everybody back home. They have the weapons. They know what they're doing. They're probably waiting to kill us as soon as we walk out those doors. That's what we'd do."
"No. You have to listen to me, please. Rick is a man of his word. He wouldn't put me, Phoebe and Maggie at risk to attack." My mom told her
"Then he's just as stupid as you are." Paula says and grabbed the radio changing the station, "What's your ETA?"
"A few minutes away, but the car is running on fumes."
"We have gas. We'll fill you up and then we move. Radio when you're back in the perimeter." Paula told the man
"Copy that."
"We gotta get ready. Pull 'Chelle out so she doesn't get stuck in a fight. We have to be ready to move at any second." Paula says putting her bag on
"What about the girl?" Molly asked her
"Leave her for now. If we leave, we travel light. And if the pricks are here, we pick 'em off at the door." Paula told her and opened the door by my mom killing the two walkers that were by it, "Molls we need this hall clear" She tells her and the older lady shut the door
My mom took a deep breath then put the cross of her rosary on the floor and started scraping it then used it to cut her hands free then moved to me and cut mine, "Are you okay?" She asked and I nodded then we left the room running down the hall to a door that said Kill Floor on it looking to see if Maggie was in there then moved again. I checked another door as my mom moved forward and I caught up but she pushed me back as I hear growling
"Just a sec sugar" I hear Molly say then she killed it
We moved to another door and I saw Maggie trying to cut her bindings on a piece of metal on the wall, I opened the door and walked over to her as my mom shut it, "Are you ok?" Maggie asked my mom as she hugged her
"I have to be"
"Phoebe?" Maggie asked me and I nodded my head
"They've spread out, but I think we can make it past them." My mom told us, "We have to try."
"We can't leave them alive." I pointed out
"No, we should just go."
"Carol, we have to finish this. We have to." Maggie tells her
"He was already dead." Maggie pointed out looking at Donnie, "He's turning."
"We should go." My mom says
"We need a gun." I said
"Give me that." Maggie indicated to the rope she handed my mom
"Eat shit and die, Donnie!" I hear Molly yell, "Where are ya, Magnolia? I wanna bloody up that nice-" She got cut off when Maggie got her from behind grabbing her knife then gun and started killing Molly with the handle then handed it to me
"Let's go." Maggie tells us and we left the room moving down a hall to see a few walkers on some metal poles alive
"They're using them to keep us in, keep the others out." I pointed out
"Come on. We have to find 'em." Maggie says and killed one coming towards us then gunshots went off and my mom grabbed Maggie pulling her down as I ducked then I feel my mom grab the gun from me and point it at Paula
"Just run."
"Shoot her." I told my mom
"Go on, do it. You've killed Donnie, you've killed Molly. Your people have destroyed my home." Paula tells her
"Get outta here."
"Carol." Maggie says
"You have no idea. The things I've done, what I've given up, what I had to do."
"Just run."
"Mom, shoot her." I told her
"Go ahead. I've already lost everything." Paula says and a walker slipped off a metal pole and went for my mom causing the gun to go off. I grabbed the walker off my mom then Maggie stabbed it
"Paula? Paula?" We hear 'Chelle ask and Maggie stands behind the wall with the knife, "Molly?" She comes out and Maggie swings at her but the girl moves Maggie to the wall then Maggie moves away and I see 'Chelle knee Maggie in the stomach, or at least I thought she did then Maggie threw her against another wall and I grabbed the gun from my mom
"You lying bitch!" 'Chelle yelled pulling out a knife swinging it at Maggie who dodged it then I see it go at her stomach but luckily it only got her shirt. I moved over to them as 'Chelle stood there and shot her in the head then we walked back down the hall Paula was at.
"I'll do it." My mom says to us taking the gun from me
"You're good. Nervous little bird. You were her. But not now, right? Me, too."
"I told you to run." My mom says to her
"If you could do all this, what were you so afraid of, Carol?"
"I was afraid of this." My mom told her moving closer. Paula laughed then knocked the gun away from my mom and they start to struggle and my mom shoved her onto the metal pole a walker was on and it started to eat her face
"Paula, we're approaching the perimeter. Are we a go?" A man asked over the walkie and my mom grabbed it, "Do you copy?"
"Meet us on the kill floor." My mom says imitating Paula
"I think I might have killed 18 people. 20." My mom told us as we stood by the door waiting, "I should've killed Donnie, too, in the woods. I had a clear shot. I didn't miss. None of this would've happened if I had just killed him."
"Don't think about it." I told her
"I can't stop."
"We're almost done." Maggie says and we hear foot steps
"Careful. The floor's slick." One man said
"You sure this is it?" Another asked him
"She said kill floor."
My mom grabs a smoke out and lights it, "Hey, this one's locked." Another man says and we shut the door as my mom threw the cigarette in theresetting them on fire with the gasoline we poured
"What the hell?! Agh!"
We make our way back down the hall and see a now turned Paula on the pole with the other walker, Maggie killed her with the knife then the other one, I killed one on the floor and we walked to the entrance door. Maggie opened it and I aimed the gun up seeing the others standing there. Glenn rushed to Maggie as Daryl moved to me pulling me into a hug
"Maggie. You okay?" Glenn asked her
"We got your trail." Daryl told me and I sniffled as he kissed my head, "You start a fire?" Daryl asked my mom hugging her
"Yeah."
"Hey, you good?" He asked me
"No."
"Come here." He pulled me back into a hug
"They're dead. They're all dead, the ones that took us. They're all dead." Maggie says
"Hey, are you okay?" Glenn asked her
"I just... I can't anymore."
"Your friends are dead. No one's coming for ya. So you might as well talk." Rick says to the man they had who I assumed was Primo
"Let him burn." Daryl said
"I'm gonna ask you one last time... how'd you get the bike?" Rick asked the guy
"We found it."
"Like hell you did." Daryl told him
"We found it."
"Was Negan in that building last night or was he here?" Rick asked Primo
"Both. I'm Negan, shithead." He tells Rick, "There's a whole world of fun that we can talk about, so let's have a chat."
"I'm sorry it had to come to this." Rick says to him then killed him. Daryl pulled me to him and I buried my face into his shoulder as he rubbed my back
"Let's go home" Daryl tells all of us and we left.