Fear the Dead, Fight the Living
Rick POV...
"The plan is working. We're doing this. We're winning. We had a hard fight. We lost people, brave people who gave their lives to make sure we won. By the time it was over, there weren't any Saviors left standing."
Maggie POV...
"We beat 'em, but things got complicated. Jesus took prisoners, brought 'em back home. We're holding 'em outside our gates for now, till we decide what to do. Until I decide."
Carol POV...
"We took the outpost bit by bit. We thought we'd won. We were gathered up in the open when they ambushed us. It was over in seconds. Ezekiel, Jerry, and me, we're the only ones who made it back. Tell Sam that Shiva...Shiva sacrificed herself for Ezekiel."
Rick POV...
"All of it, it's scarier than I thought it'd be, but we're doing it. We have to. Sasha was first, and now there's been more. The sacrifices are real. We need to make it right for them. The rest of the plan's still a go. We're moving on to the next step. I'm headed there now. The Sanctuary's still surrounded. They're trapped, cut off from their supplies. Every hour that goes by, we're makin' 'em weaker. The lookouts are all around the compound. They open a door, we fire. But if they open a door, seems like they'd have bigger problems. We meet at Sanctuary in two days to end this, to win it all. It's not like we haven't fought before. We fought every step of the way to this place, to this moment. The path has led us here, to who we are, to each other, to now. And we're so close. This can be our last fight."
Phoebe POV...
I was sitting at the grave I dug for Eric just looking at it, I still felt so much pain, we've all lost so much since this all began but it never got easier. A part of me felt guilty, I told him and Aaron I would always have their back yet I didn't even protect him from being shot. I wanted to scream, cry, punch something but instead I just sat here feeling empty.
Daryl POV...
"Hey," Tara says walking out of the infirmary, "You just get back?" She asked me
"Yeah. I was looking for you."
"I was looking for you, too. I wanted to tell you that you were right when you didn't kill Dwight. We wouldn't have gotten this far without him. The thing is, I know what you said. But after this, I'm gonna kill him. I want it to be me." She told me
"Maybe it could be you and me both. And maybe we don't got to wait so long."
Phoebe POV...
"Good night buddy. Sweet dreams" I tell Kayden after tucking him into bed then I closed the door to his bedroom. I walked down the hall to mine and Daryl's and saw him sitting on the bed, "Hey you"
"Hi"
I walked over to him and knelt down in front of him, "You ok?" I asked and he looked at me
"Just thinking, about the plan"
"What about it?" I asked
He grabbed my hands and lifted me up then sat me on his leg wrapping his arms around me waist, "They ain't gonna surrender. I just know it, something else needs to be done"
"Like what?" I asked him
"I had an idea, but you're not gonna like it"
"Then don't tell me," I said and she looked at me confused, "As long as this plan involves you coming back, I don't want to know."
"I'll come back, I hate leaving you but..."
"Pregnancy doesn't really mix well with any of this. Like I said though, just come back"
"Always" He tells me and I kissed him again and I stood up then straddled his lap, "Kayden asleep?"
"He sure is, took three bedtime stories"
"You're good with him, it's kind of hot." He mentioned and I giggled
"Oh yeah?"
"Mmhmm" He mumbled then kissed me again deepening it as I started to unbutton his shirt trailing my nails down his chest then he flipped us then continued.
Daryl POV...
"Our people are gonna be at the Sanctuary soon, asking for their surrender. We're almost there." Rosita pointed out as we all stood there and I looked through a scope at the Sanctuary
"That's why we do it. We make it happen." I tell her walking over to them
"So we cover you with crossfire from the upper windows, you crash the truck into the walkers and through to the building." Michonne says repeating the plan I came up with
"Yep, crack it open, Savior buffet." Tara said
"You know the workers will make it away, up the stairs?" Rosita asked me
"They're on the other side of the building. They should make it."
"You sure?" She asked
"After we do this, their only choice is to give up." I tell her
"It's risky. They could see the truck comin'." Michonne pointed out
"There weren't any more weapons at the Saviors' warehouse, right? No more rockets for the RPG's. - We work with what we got." Tara says
"You got me." We turned and see Morgan walking towards us, "Other snipers, too. Saviors see you comin', we got you covered, whatever it takes. I want it done. I want them done."
"Good. So, we doin' this or what?" I asked everyone
"W-Why don't we just wait it out like we planned?" Rosita asked then scoffed, "Michonne's right. What you're talking about is risky. Things could go bad."
"The truck with the speakers almost took all those walkers away. It almost did go bad. Something else could." Tara tells her
"Even if it don't, we don't got the Kingdom fighters no more. I mean, if the Saviors want to put up a fight, we don't got the numbers to make 'em surrender." I added
"That's why Rick's talking to the Scavengers." Rosita said
"You got shot. They lied to us. - You... You believe 'em now?" Tara asked her
"I believe in Rick Grimes."
"I could've done something... sooner, to end this. I knew about those weapons at Oceanside, and I waited. I didn't do shit about it. With or without you, I'm not letting that happen again." Tara mentioned to her
"Then it's without me. I'm out." Rosita says and walked away
"We got some cars parked near the east-side lookout. You can take one and go home." Morgan tells her as she walked over by him
"You staying? You good with all this?" Rosita asked Michonne
"I helped get this started. Got to see it through."
"You think it's easier to come out here and risk than to stay back there and wait. And I get it... I used to believe that, too. Thing is sometimes, you just have to wait. Sometimes you don't get to know. I just wish it didn't take seeing Sasha walk out of that coffin to realize it." Rosita says and walked away
"Come on. Let's go." I tell them and got inside the truck, I needed to do this. It was the only way my family could be safe, Rick and his family, everyone. I was doing this for Phoebe, our baby, and Kayden
"Hey, cut that engine. Any closer, you'll draw walkers from the yard." Morgan tells me over the radio as we got near the Sanctuary so I stopped and turned it off
"Here." I handed Tara the scope after looking through it
"You take fire from the windows, we fire back." Morgan says
"Come on. There's a spot for cover by the chutes." Tara tells Michonne and gets out
"You up for this?" I asked Michonne
"I came here 'cause I wanted to see things for myself. I wanted to know that things were gonna work. But you know what? I don't get to know that. None of us do. What I do know is that things are working now. So maybe...we just need to trust that things are gonna keep working, because this...what we're about to do...it's not worth risking us."
"It is for me. Just is." I tell her
"I hope it works. I-I really, really do, but I-I can't do it. I just can't."
"Then you shouldn't." I said
"Just be careful, ok? Phoebe needs you, your family needs you. Be safe for them" She says to me and gets out. Then Tara walked over to my window
"We got Morgan and the snipers. We can do this." She tells me
"Yeah. We will."
I started up the truck and put it into drive, "Now!" I said over the walkie and drove forward as gun shots fired at me. As I got closer I put the brick I had on the gas pedal then opened the door and rolled out getting up and running behind a car
"Daryl, you're clear to the south. You and Tara should head home" Morgan told me over the radio and I ran over to Tara and we took off.
Phoebe POV...
"Are you out of your mind?" I asked Daryl when him and Tara got back and he told me what they did, "Why-why would you do something like that?"
"Because I want this done" He told me and I looked at him
"I want it done too, I want every single one of those saviors dead even if I have to kill them myself, I want Negan to suffer and die for killing our friends. But I don't want you risking your life for this Daryl I can't...I can't..."
"Hey," He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug, "I told you, I'm not gonna leave you, ever again." He says and moved my chin up to look at him, "I love you Phoebe, you've made me a better man and there is nothing I wouldn't do for you. I'm sorry I scared you. Ok?"
I sighed and buried my face in his chest, "I love you too. Don't scare me again."
"I won't"
"Hey." Michonne says to us walking over from Judith
"Hi."
"I'm glad you came back. It's better we go out there together." She says to Daryl
"It worked. We'll roll in, tell them to give up. They're gonna give up." He said and looked at me
"I'm sorry. I couldn't."
"Don't be. It worked." He says and walked away
"How are you doing?" Michonne asked me
"I'm ok I guess, still can't...I feel so useless because I'm pregnant and I can't help like I want to, I mean I could but Daryl won't let me." I chuckled and she pulled me into a hug
"You're not useless, you may be pregnant but you are still helpful. No matter what"
"Thanks Michonne." I said
"Carl." Michonne called to him as we walked over, "We've been lookin' for you. We're about ready to head out. What are you doing?" She asked him
"I'm helping someone. A traveler."
"In the sewer?" I asked him. He was about to say something but then we hear a banging noise at the gates
"You may be wondering why the hell your lookouts didn't sound the alarm." We hear Negan say over a speaker and my heart sank as Carl moved forward, "See, we are polite. I mean, I don't know when they're gonna wake up from that kinda shot, but they should wake up. So let's just cut through the cow shit - you lose. It's over. So you're gonna line up in front of your little houses, and you're gonna work up some apologies, and then the person with the lamest one is gonna get killed. Then I kill Rick in front of everybody, and we move on. You have three - count 'em, three minutes to open this gate, or we start bombing the shit out of you!"
"They got out." Michonne says and we look at each other as Negan whistled
"Come on." Carl told us, but me and Michonne stood there not being able to move, "Michonne, Phoebe. Come on!" He says and we ran
"Kayden!" I yelled running over to him
"Is the bad man here?" He asked me and I picked him up
"Yeah buddy. We gotta go"
"You need to make it look like we're escaping out back. Get to the woods, halfway to the quarry, and cut the lights. Get enough of a lead on them, hit them, and get away on foot. You know where we'll be. Just have to get the guns, get everyone else here, and we'll meet you there." Carl told everyone as he packed up smoke bombs into a bag and I held Daryl's hand while holding Kayden
"Two minutes, people! Dig deep. I want these apologies to be memorable. Bonus points for creativity. Work up a poem, sing a song. I love that shit.
"Get going. There's gonna people in the infirmary. They're gonna need your help." Carl told Tobin and a couple others then they ran off
"Look, we got guns. We can fight them." Tara pointed out
"We will, but not now. Carl's right." Rosita told her
"Carl, we can't just let them have this place." Michonne tells him
"We can. All you need to do is survive tonight. This is my show. You said it. This is my plan, and you're gonna do it. You're all gonna do it. So let's go!" Carl told us and Daryl tugged on my hand making us move.
"One minute! One minute!"
I sat in the seat of the garbage truck with Daryl who reached his arm out the window and signaled the others to go and we drove forward smashing through a wall.
"They didn't get out because of what we did with the truck." Tara tells Daryl as he walked over to us
"Even if they did, it was just a mistake. And I made one, too. If I hadn't gone to the Sanctuary to kill Negan, maybe Sasha would still be alive. Maybe she would've gone herself. Maybe everything would've ended up going exactly the same way. I didn't want you guys to do it, but maybe you needed to. Maybe you needed to play things out to figure shit out." Rosita says and I put my hand on her shoulder
"Where the hell are they?" Michonne asked and we hear vehicles approaching. Daryl pops open a smoke bomb then threw it onto the road. The cars get closer and eventually stop
"Now!" Daryl yelled and we start firing our guns at the cars. A few saviors get out and some fire back then I hear a gun go off from behind the cars shooting at the remaining saviors.
"It's over!" I hear Dwight yell from behind the car and we moved out of the trees over to him raising our guns, "I made sure you guys could get out the back. I drove the convoy right up to the roadblock. I knew what it was. I can't go back. One of 'em got away. She's gonna tell them."
"How'd they get out? Was it what I did?" Daryl asked him
"Eugene. I can still help you. I know how they work, how Negan thinks. I want you to win. I want Negan to die. And we can settle up after."
Daryl looked at him then moved to Dwight reaching behind him taking his vest off of him and walked away, "We need to get back - now." Michonne tells us walking over with some guns, Rosita looked at me then helped Dwight up.
Daryl moved the cover to a man hole as we stood there hearing explosions go off inside our home. Tara goes in after Daryl, then Rosita, I stood there with Michonne and Dwight.
"I'm sorry," Dwight tells us, "I am"
I looked at Michonne and she looked at me then ran towards the houses, "Michonne!" I quietly yelled moving to go after her but Dwight held me back, "No! Michonne!" I struggled against Dwight but he moved me to the manhole forcing me in then I feel someone grab me as I got to the bottom and I looked at Daryl then Dwight followed me after closing the cover.
"Kayden?" I asked looking around, "Kayden?"
"Here" He says and I see him sitting with Judith as the others all sat around inside the sewers. I rushed over to him pulling him into a hug then I hugged Judith
"Are you okay?" I asked him
"I'm ok. Are you?"
"I will be buddy" I tell him then looked over at a man I never seen before sitting at the end, "Who are you?" I asked him then Carl came down the sewer, "Carl" I hugged him then looked at him, "What's wrong?"
After a while I hear footsteps coming towards us and I see Rick and Michonne coming towards us looking around as Daryl sat with Judith and I finished patching up Dwight's gun shot wound. I see Rick look at the man we met, "I brought him here. That's how it happened." Carl told Rick as he sat against the wall and they moved to him.
Rick knelt down to Carl who lifted his shirt and showed him, the walker bite. Michonne goes down in front of him and I put my hand over my mouth feeling Daryl wrap his arms around me as I cried into his shoulder.
A/N: Damn it here come the tears again, I will never be able to watch that or future episodes without getting my heart stabbed. Anyways, this is it for now until February and I'll try to update as much as possible but I have this one and another story that I am gonna be updating for with the premiere. Thank you all who are enjoying this story it means a lot.
