Author's Note: I'm baaaaaaaack.
xoxo, Holly
"We are going to have peace even if we have to fight for it." — Dwight D. Eisenhower
The gate to Alexandria slid open with a rattling clank allowing the RV enter into the community once the path was clear to do so. As the elongated vehicle turned right along the road beside the solar panels and then made a left up the road in front of the townhouses, the occupants inside the RV could hear voices from outside, alerting others to their return. Georgie was once again still seated beside Rick as he brought the RV to a stop near the section of wall that still needed to be removed as part of the community's expansion. As he did so, Sasha crossed in front of RV and Aaron appeared from beside the townhouses to approach Rick's side.
"Get Olivia. She should inventory what we have," Rick told them out his rolled down window. "We'll meet her at the Pantry."
Several of the others hopped out of the RV, such as Michonne, who now seemed a bit more sullen over the ordeal they'd have to soon undertake. Those that had stayed behind, like Carol, Tobin and Rosita began to approach to see how things had gone at Hilltop.
"You have food," Sasha deduced; a statement rather than a question.
"Yeah," Michonne confirmed, walking around the front of the RV. "Enough for another month."
Sasha looked from Michonne, who continued away from the RV on foot, and then back up toward Rick.
"I need everybody at the church in an hour," Rick informed.
"What is it?" Sasha asked.
Rick nodded and waved her off. "We'll talk about it," he replied as reached down to restart the engine.
The others, suddenly sensing things were gonna get pretty hairy, took their leave as Carol approached Rick's window; dressed in her typical Susie Homemaker ensemble as she looked up at him with concern.
"Rick, what's going on?"
With a frown, he replied, "We're gonna have to fight."
Carol cast her gaze further into the RV, saw Georgie seated in the passenger seat and then frowned a bit deeper at the blood that stained the collar of Rick's shirt; no doubt wondering what exactly went down at Hilltop and who they would have to fight, and why.
As the RV pulled away, leaving Carol where she stood, Georgie looked upon Rick's profile. "You think the people here will be ready?"
"There isn't much of a choice now, is there?"
Rick took his eyes off the road long enough to give Georgie a small frown of his own before returning his focus to driving; turning the corner to bring the RV up along the road behind the townhouses where the garage entrance for the Pantry was. When he put the RV into park again, this time Rick removed the keys and turned in his seat to face Georgie. She remained seated even after he stood up and looked back at the others still inside the RV, which included Jesus and Andy; their Hilltop "liaisons," so to speak.
Placing a hand to the back of Georgie's head, he leaned down and gave a peck to the top of her head. "C'mon," he advised. "Let's get this thing unloaded."
With a nod, Georgie agreed and finally made a move to stand.
An hour later, after the supplies had been removed from the RV and left in the Pantry for Olivia to inventory, Rick stood at the front of the church on the altar. He was wearing a clean shirt, on the behest of Georgie, and looking out at a sea of faces that were either staring back at him or had their eyes cast downward. To his right, Jesus sat. To his left, Andy.
"We can work with the Hilltop. Maggie hammered out a deal to get food: eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. 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, and 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." Rick stood there, taking stock of everyone's facial expressions to see how they were taking in everything he'd been saying. He knew where everyone that had been to Hilltop stood. They'd been there with him and knew what they'd have to do. He needed to know that everyone else was on board. "This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your peace."
Seated beside Gabriel in the front pew to Rick's left, Georgie stared up at Rick and gave him a nod of solidarity. He had spoken well, with a cool head and she wanted him to know she had his back even if this was just a town hall meeting. As she turned her eyes from him, she looked over her shoulder, caught Maggie's eye for a moment and saw the younger woman was doing the same in looking around to see who might stand up and speak out against the plan at hand.
At the sound of movement in the back of the church, virtually everyone turned around to see Morgan standing; looking somewhat conflicted, as per usual.
"You sure we can do it?" he asked of Rick, specifically. "We can beat 'em?"
"What this group has done; what we've learned, what we've become, all of us. Yes, I'm sure," Rick answered without a hint of doubt in his voice.
Morgan nodded. "Then all we have to do is just tell 'em that."
"Th-they don't compromise—"
"This isn't a compromise," Morgan interrupted. "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," Rick retorted, placing his hand on his hip, getting increasingly aggravated once more with the stance Morgan always took on things of this nature. "We can't leave them alive."
"Where there is life, there is possibility."
Georgie rolled her eyes, muttering under her breath. "Oh, Christ." Realizing Gabriel was right next to her, she cast him a brief glance as if apologizing for using the Lord's name in vein in a church, but her remark seemed to be the least of his worries these days.
"Of them hitting us!" Rick bellowed.
"We're not trapped in this. None of you are trapped in this."
"Morgan, they always come back."
"They come back when they're dead, too."
"Yeah, we'll stop them. We have before."
"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." Rick shook his head and look around at the other faces. "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?"
"What happened here, we won't let that happen again," Aaron cut in; standing up to join in on the conversation. He looked directly at Morgan. "I won't."
As Morgan nodded at him, Aaron looked at Rick and nodded before taking his seat.
With no one else standing up to go against Rick's plan, he stood there, both hands on his hips as he resumed looking upon each face. There might've been a bit of pride in his demeanor, seeing that everyone felt as he did rather than how Morgan did. "Looks like it's settled. We know exactly what this is. We don't shy from it, we live. We kill them all." That comment there, though, seemed to weigh heavily on several present, and it wasn't lost on Rick. "We don't all have to kill. But if people are gonna stay here they do have to accept it."
As Rick stalked off away down the aisle to leave the church, his eyed Morgan on purpose in regard to his last comment. He yanked the doors open letting some overcast light inside, leaving everyone else behind to look from one to another.
Slowly, one by one, each person seemed to follow. Georgie, unsurprisingly, was the first to leave, followed by Daryl, then Abraham, Michonne…
After doing just as he said he would, talking with the people at home or on watch and getting the same agreement to his plan as everyone else but Morgan, Rick made his way home where he took the time to embrace his children. Georgie had already arrived home before him and decided to start dinner, which Carol normally did, but was currently not present for. Dinner wasn't much. Instant mashed potatoes, rice, and a few slices of tomatoes she had seasoned with vegetable oil, garlic powder and pepper. Rick sat down quietly to eat with his children and Georgie; watching as Judith sat in Georgie's lap and was being spoon fed some of Georgie's mashed potatoes and making funny faces at the consistency of the food. It was enough to bring a smile to Rick's face and help take his mind off everything else for a little while.
Moments like this made him feel like it was the old world again, just…different. A good different, though. In the old world, there was no Judith and no Georgie in his life. It was just Carl, Lori and him. Either way, this was still his family, altered as it may be now, and he was extremely content with it.
Carl sat there, shoveling the potatoes into his mouth, apparently having skipped lunch, so he was plenty hungry now, to which Rick gently admonished him for doing. In between bites, the teenager told his father and Georgie about his day and then listened as Rick finally explained what they would be doing with the Saviors. There was no keeping his son in the dark anymore; not after all the boy had been forced to do and experience.
After dinner, Rick gathered everyone's dirty dishes, offering to clean up as Georgie went upstairs to give Judith a bath and while Carl disappeared to go up to his room to probably read some comic books. It was quiet in the house, aside from the sound of running water as he washed the dishes.
He was so engrossed with his thoughts and cleaning, he didn't hear Michonne and Daryl return until his name was being called. Turning to look over his shoulder, Rick looked upon the pair with a raise of his eyebrow.
"Huh?"
"We're gonna meet up with Jesus and Andy tomorrow morning to discuss the layout of the Saviors' compound," Michonne commented, taking a seat at the kitchen island.
"Got 'em put up in one of the apartments for the night," Daryl added, sidling up beside Michonne. "Figure since we're friendly with them now, they deserve better accommodations than where we left Jesus last night."
Rick nodded. "Alright."
"I know you're the main person championing for this cause, but are you okay with it?" Michonne inquired, drawing circles on the granite countertop with her finger.
"I was fine with it, but Morgan…he has this way of making me start to doubt myself. I mean," Rick remarked, shutting off the water and turning around so that the small of his back pressed against the edge of the sink. "He means well. I know that. He just doesn't get it. It drives me nuts."
"Yeah, I can see his point of view, even though it's not practical," Daryl quipped. "Before this world, maybe. Not now."
Rick nodded again. "I was glad to see everyone else was on board. I don't recall meeting with any hesitation even from the people I stopped to visit in their homes. They fought for this place when the walls came down, and they're ready to fight again. This is where I wanted this place to be when we first arrived. It would've been nice for Deanna to live to see it happen."
Michonne and Daryl both nodded.
"There's some rice and mashed potatoes left in those pots on the stove," Rick continued, gesturing to the appliance at his right. Pushing off the edge of the sink, he decided to leave the rest of the dishes behind. Wiping his hands on his pants, he gave a small sigh. "I'm gonna head upstairs. Call it a night."
"See ya at the ass crack of dawn," Daryl called after as Rick disappeared around the corner and up the stairs to the second floor.
With tired footsteps, Rick sauntered down the hallway where he poked his head into Carl's room first before anything else. Inside, he found his son sitting on the floor with his back against the bed, cleaning a gun rather than reading a comic book as Rick had expected.
"Are you worried about what I'm doing tomorrow night with the others?" he inquired.
Carl looked up briefly and shrugged before shaking his head. "No. We've dealt with assholes like this before. We can do it again."
Rick didn't bother chastising his son for he expletive. He just smirked. "You know 'we' doesn't include you, right? You're staying here."
"I figured as much." Carl began putting the gun back together as he looked up at his father again. "Someone's gotta stay behind and keep Judith safe."
"It's for your safety, too."
"Yeah, I know."
Rick hovered in the doorway a bit longer, watching his son put a gun back together like a seasoned veteran; something that made him feel a weird mixture of pride and sadness. Pride in how capable his son had become, but sadness because why his son had to become so capable. This was not the life he wanted his son leading and what it had cost him at so young an age, but knowing Carl could hold his own and protect himself, his sister and others was a comforting thought.
It was quite the double-edged sword.
"Don't stay up too late," Rick advised, his hand balancing on the doorknob.
"I won't," Carl answered; his focus on the gun instead of his father.
"G'night, Carl."
"Night."
Smirking again, but this time at how the gun held his son's attention, Rick closed the door behind him and continued toward the bathroom where he heard Georgie talking to Judith. Inside, Judith sat bare naked on Georgie's lap while Georgie was towel drying her off. Water in the tub had already drained out and there was a fresh diaper and a pink and purple striped onesie on top of the closed lid of the toilet.
Georgie looked up as soon as she felt the added presence in the doorway. "She had a very good bath," she greeted, nodding down at Judith. "She didn't put up a fuss about getting out of the tub this time. I think she must've had a busy day and is just too tired to care."
"Carl did say at dinner that he'd taken her on a few walks, as well as building castles with those oversized Legos that Sasha found for her on one of those supply runs last month."
Georgie nodded. "She loves those big Legos, and I love them, too, because they're too big for her to stick in her mouth and choke on," she remarked, turning the child in her lap and kissing her cheek. "I love you too much to see something bad happen to you."
Rick's heart swelled in seeing how attached Georgie was, and how in love she was with his daughter, and how clearly attached Judith had become to Georgie as well ever since the two had met just before Terminus, not even four months ago. The two most important girls in his life now fell easily into a mother-daughter bond that it made Rick happy, and he hoped that wherever Lori was, if there was an afterlife, that she was looking down on him and their children and approved of Georgie taking on more of the role of mother to his children, even though there were still plenty of other female figures in their lives sharing the responsibility.
"Not trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I used to wonder what Carl would look like when he grew up and what college he'd go to…what he'd want to do for a living. Nowadays, I look at him and Judith and I just wonder if they'll make it that far. Every day there's something new and I just get scared that the next day might not come for any of us."
"It will," Georgie muttered; understanding where he was coming from. "It has to. Law of averages, remember?" Off his nod, Georgie gestured toward the toilet. "Hand me the diaper, will ya?"
Stepping further into the bathroom, Rick grabbed the diaper and passed it to Georgie as she laid Judith down on the floor. The little girl immediately began to get antsy; turning on her side as she shoved her thumb into her mouth. Rick sat down on the edge of the tub and watched as Georgie managed to straighten Judith out and get the diaper on and then pulled the onesie one; the process of which drew a frustrated whimper out of the child when her head was forced through the neck hole of the onesie. Bathed and dressed for bed, Judith babbled incoherently as she reached for her daddy, who readily took her into his arms. Taking comfort there, Judith rested her head against his chest as he stood up with her while Georgie hung the damp towel onto a hook on the back of the bathroom door.
Placing one hand on her hip, Georgie reached the other out to brush gently against Judith's wispy, dark blonde hair. "I know how you feel, Judy," she remarked with a smile, eyeing Rick. "Daddy's got really nice arms to be in."
Situating his daughter in one arm, Rick smiled back and reached his other arm out to rest upon the back of Georgie's head so he could pull her toward him. When she took the hint and stepped forward, closing the gap between their bodies, he pressed his lips firstly down upon her forehead; just letting them linger there.
"My girls," he murmured.
At that very moment, Judith picked her head up and placed a hand on the side of Georgie's face with a soft, smacking sound. She just held it there and looked at Georgie with a shit-eating grin. The gesture was sweet and that little smile was plenty amusing. Turning her face, Georgie brought her hand away from Judith's head so she could use it to claim Judith's hand instead and press kisses into her palm.
"You want me to tuck her in or do you want to?" Georgie asked Rick.
"Why not both of us?"
Georgie smiled. "Okay."
After twenty minutes of being rocked in a rocking chair and read Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss, Judith had begun to fully nod off to the point where Rick could lay her down in her crib without any more of a fuss being put up. Laying her down on her back, Rick watched the way Judith fought to keep her eyelids open and failed miserably at it. Georgie pulled her blanket up to mid-chest and gave a soothing tummy rub before stepping back and turning on the baby monitor so that she and Rick could keep an eye on her while she slept from their room. Both leaned down and kissed the child goodnight and once Judith had rolled onto her side, with her back to them, the pair made their escape out of the bedroom and closed the door quietly behind them.
Taking refuge in their room, Rick sank down almost immediately onto their bed and then dropped backward where he stared up at the ceiling.
"An end to another long day," Georgie muttered from over near the dresser where stood, reaching her hands up behind her and up under her shirt to unclasp her bra. Once undone, she pulled at the straps from within the short sleeves, freeing her arms of the damned contraption and pulling it off completely from underneath the front of her shirt. All the while she was unaware that Rick had propped himself up on his elbows and was watching her. When she turned around, tossing her bra to the floor, she stopped and shook her head with a grin when she finally realized she'd had an audience. "Enjoy the show?"
"Just waiting for the main act to take the stage."
"Oh yeah? What's the main act?"
"Topless dancer."
Georgie chuckled heartily as she sauntered over toward Rick and climbed up over him on the bed so that she was straddling his waist. His hands went to her hips without missing a beat, rubbing his thumbs gently upon her hip bones as he dropped his head back down onto the bed and just stared up at her.
"Dancing is better with a partner," she remarked.
"That's a very good point." A mischievous grin slowly spreading upon his lips, he casually braced an arm around her back and then swiveled them both around so that he was pinning her to the mattress underneath him. "Not only is it fun, but a great way to burn calories."
Georgie continued to laugh as she looked up at him, placing her hands on either side of his incredibly stubbly face he'd decided to go without shaving for a while now. She had a feeling he was opting not to because of how she had on more than one occasion admitted to him how much she had liked the beard he'd worn when they'd met, and during the time on the road before Alexandria when the beard had begun to get a bit unruly. Granted, he would likely never let it get that out of hand again, but it was possible he might grow it out again. After all, it would be great insulation for his face when the winter months rolled around.
"Have I ever told you just how breathtakingly handsome you are?" Georgie inquired. "I mean, seriously. I look at you and my brain just stops functioning for a few seconds until I remember to breathe."
Rick made a face akin to embarrassment; as if he found her words hard to believe. "I think you might've mentioned it once or twice."
"I need to say it more often, then." With a smile, Georgie snaked her fingers into his chocolate curls and lowered his face toward hers with little to no convincing. "So handsome, so sexy," she mumbled when his lips finally pressed against hers in a slow, sweet kiss.
"You are the company you keep," he retorted, burying his face into her shoulder and then turning it to kiss his way up her neck, just below her ear. "I keep forgetting to thank Carol for picking you up off the side of the road and bringing you to me." Lifting his head and kissing her jaw briefly, he smirked. "Best present ever."
Another chuckle escaped Georgie's lips as Rick dropped his head back down into her shoulder and the two of them just laid there for a few moments in silence; feeling each other's hearts beating through their chests, and listening to the sound of one another breathing.
"How many Saviors do you think we'll find at that compound tomorrow?" Georgie asked after a couple minutes of silence.
"All of them, I hope. Take 'em all out in one sitting. That would be ideal."
"Okay, but how many do you think there are, overall? What if they're not all there?"
"Jesus said, at Hilltop, they'd seen groups as large as twenty. If that's the largest they've seen, we can only hope that that's the most there really is."
"Do you really think that's all there is?"
"Honestly, no," Rick admitted.
"I wonder what Negan looks like, and if he'll be there."
Rick released a sigh. "Well, fingers crossed we kill him in the foray. We take down their leader and it'll be easier to snuff the rest of them."
"True," Georgie agreed. "If you died, I'm sure Alexandria would fall to ruin."
"I doubt that. There are plenty of capable hands here that could step up to the plate and fill my shoes. Probably better than I do, too."
"Nah. There's only one king."
Rick snickered. "I'm no king."
Georgie started to laugh at something in her head that went unsaid at the moment.
"What?" Rick pestered.
"Nothing. Well…I was just going to say that if you're no king, then how come only you can royally fuck me?" Turning her face, Georgie watched as he lifted his head and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Too cheesy?"
"Just a bit," he nodded.
"Would you have it any other way?"
Smiling, Rick pushed himself up a bit so he could better situate himself between her legs. "No, I wouldn't," he answered before kissing her and grinding slowing into her hips. "Now, weren't we talking about dancing?"
Replying with a simple grin and nod of her head, Georgie pushed him up away from her and proceeded to help him out of his T-shirt. Once she'd removed it, she tossed it somewhere to the floor and then allowed Rick to help her out of her own shirt before they both began to fumble with getting out of their own pants. Shifting around on the bed, they slipped under the covers, wrapping themselves up in each other's arms and focused solely on each other's bodies in that particular moment instead of focusing on the next day that hadn't even arrived yet.
"Describe it," Rick spoke.
He was standing around a makeshift particle board table in the basement of one of the townhouses, before the sun even rose for the day. Unable to sleep and wait for daybreak, Rick had gotten up to go find Jesus and Andy to wake them up to talk over the plan for attacking the Savior's compound. In the process of getting redressed he had woken Georgie, who insisted on coming with him. On their way out the house, they found Daryl awake on the porch, smoking a cigarette; also unable to sleep. Informed on what the couple was going to do, Daryl tagged along. Seeing a light on in the home Glenn and Maggie now lived in together, just the two of them, the trio knocked on their door and brought the younger couple along with them. Since Andy was the only one who had actually been to the Saviors' compound, there really was no need to wake Jesus, and instead, just went to get Andy, bringing him to where they were all gathered now.
With their only light source coming from a couple of workshop flood lamps, Andy hunched over the particle board with a blank sheet of paper and a marker to draw out a map of the Saviors' compound.
"Rectangular building, big satellites on it…"
"Any windows?"
"I don't remember any," Andy replied, continuing to draw. "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?" Georgie 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 wondered.
"Yeah. They had us load in supplies one time."
Slapping down a fresh sheet of paper on top of the one Andy was already drawing on, Glenn asked, "What do you remember?"
As Andy began to draw out, to the best of his memory, the interior of the Saviors' compound, Maggie shifted her weight around. "And you didn't see any other rooms?"
"No, it's a big place," Andy replied. "This is the hallway I saw. There is more."
"And every time, they had you bring things into here?" Georgie asked, pointing to the section Andy had marked off as 'Pantry'.
"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," Georgie suggested with a shrug as Andy wrote down 'Armory?' on one of the hallways he'd drawn.
"Okay. We get in there, secure the armory, that's how we end it," Glenn remarked as Rick nodded in agreement.
"That's how Carol ended it here," Maggie added, referring to when the Wolves attacked.
Andy shook his head slightly. "But we don't know if they have an armory or where it even is."
"Well, we've got a lot of good guesses," Daryl piped up. "We've done more with less."
Rick nodded again. "We go in at night while they're sleeping."
"The guards won't be sleeping," Andy insisted. "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."
"We don't need to. They're going to open it for us, let us walk right in." Rick looked around at the others. "They want Gregory's head, right?" Off the silence in the room, he added, "We're gonna give it to them."
A few hours later, sometime past the noon hour, three vehicles from Alexandria crested along a country road, littered with a couple rusted, burned out abandoned vehicles. The RV had taken lead, with Rick at the wheel and Andy in the passenger seat to play navigator since he was the one familiar with the route they were taking. Behind the RV was a Toyota Land Cruiser, and behind that was the van that had transported Glenn, Tara, Nicholas, Aidan, Eugene and Noah to that warehouse where Aidan and Noah ended up dying. As all three vehicles came to a stop, Rick laid on the horn for a few moments before everyone began filing out onto the road with weapons at their sides.
"Aaron! Rosita! You start here," Rick called out after he climbed down from the rarely used driver's side door to the RV. As he walked toward the front of the caravan, he continued to call out the immediate plans for everyone involved. "We'll peel off every quarter mile; meet back here in a couple of hours. See what we got."
As everyone began breaking apart, pairing up and going off in different directions, Georgie sidled up beside Rick. One such surprising tag-along for this mission of sorts happened to be Father Gabriel, who had an assault rifle draped over his shoulder and had warranted an arched eyebrow from Georgie as she watched him walking toward her and Rick.
Rick gave the preacher a side glance, brandishing his hatchet in hand while he kept his Colt holstered. "There's no turning back now," he reminded Gabriel in a quiet voice.
"I could walk. Maybe run a little, maybe a lot," Gabriel remarked, holding Rick's eye in an unfaltering gaze. "I'm not going anywhere. I wanted to learn and you taught me for a reason."
"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, huh?" Georgie quipped.
Gabriel didn't respond verbally, but a slight smirk donned his lips as he looked between the pair.
"Why are you still wearing that?" Rick questioned, referring to the preacher's uniform and clerical collar.
Gabriel shrugged a bit. "It's still who I was. I think. And it'll be harder for them to see me in the dark."
All three smiled and chuckled. Rick patted Gabriel on the shoulder as the latter headed off toward the woods, the same as some of the others. Rick and Georgie continued onward up the road, coming up to join Michonne.
The plan was to find a walker that resembled Gregory the most and decapitate it. The head Andy would bring to the Saviors' compound as a proof that Gregory had supposedly been killed at Negan's request in order for Andy to get his friend Craig back. It was also a way to get the guards to let their defenses down so the others could sneak up and take them down, and then sneak into the compound and begin the slaughter which was definitely unavoidable by this point.
Rick was right.
There was no turning back now.
"I'm not playing the third wheel here, am I?" Michonne asked as they walked in silence for a few moments.
"Huh? Why?" Georgie wondered.
"The two of you might've wanted to take a detour, make the most of some alone time…" An impish grin began dancing at the corners of Michonne's mouth, causing Rick to blanch slightly and Georgie to roll her eyes.
"We're the ones that joined you, not the other way around," Rick reminded, keeping his eyes forward. "If we'd wanted to go off together, we would've."
"Plus, we had some decent alone time last night," Georgie added.
The look Rick shot her was priceless. It was a mix of embarrassment, amusement and mock betrayal.
"Let's not air our dirty laundry, shall we?"
Michonne snickered. "Oh, please. The walls in that house aren't as thick as you might think. The two of you already air that dirty laundry more than you might realize."
Rick grimaced. "Fuck."
If Michonne could hear them at times from her room downstairs, his own son was sure to hear something more easily from just down the hall.
Seemingly understanding his dilemma, Michonne bit back the chuckle she wanted to emit as not to cause Rick any further embarrassment. "Don't worry; Carl's a much heavier sleeper than us adults. If it takes him forever to get up in the morning, there's no way a few groans and moans and oh yeses are gonna wake him."
"You're not making this easier, Michonne," Rick commented, still grimacing.
"I don't think she's trying to make it easier," Georgie remarked.
Michonne smiled and shook her head. "I'm not," she confirmed. Nodding at Rick, she added, "Watching that face of yours turn beet red is my entertainment for the day."
A couple hours later, only three walkers had been killed and brought back to the caravan that seemed like they could somewhat resemble Gregory. Finding ones that didn't look too decayed was what made it especially difficult. Once the heads had been severed from the bodies, Abraham and Gabriel carried the bodies off into the woods so they'd be out of the way. Everyone else was gathered back together, listening as Rick went over the steps to the task they would next be undertaking.
"We're gonna take a look around, try to get a feel for how many people are in there," Rick was saying. "We like how it looks, we go in. A couple of hours before dawn, the guards outside will be tired. Everyone inside will be sleeping. We don't like what we see, we head back, make a new plan. 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."
While he'd been talking, Carol stood beside Georgie, her face pinched and looking uncertain about something. When Rick finished, he turned and made his way toward both women as the older of the two looked up at him with the question that had been burning on her lips.
"Why is Maggie here?"
"She's guarding the perimeter," Rick answered.
"Yeah, but why is she here?"
"'Cause it's her choice."
"I want to stay out there with her."
"Well, this whole thing's a race to the armory. We need as many people inside as we can get."
"She shouldn't be out there alone. She shouldn't be out here in the first place," Carol threw back, her voice rising the more insistent she became.
"Carol's right," Georgie agreed, catching Rick's eye. "Maggie's pregnant, and at risk enough as it is. Being out here alone isn't the right thing. If she's gonna be here, she needs someone with her." Georgie placed a hand on her hip and nodded. "Carol's a better shot than I am. I'll stay and guard with Maggie."
"No," Carol contradicted, turning to look at Georgie. "You go with Rick. You belong at his side. I'll stay with Maggie."
The couple both looked at Carol. While Georgie was more readily accepting of the older female's decision, Rick shook his head in defeat; clearly biting back the urge to argue against it.
"Okay," he caved, stalking off without another word.
"Good."
Georgie eyed Carol. "Everything alright?" she inquired. "Lately you've seemed…sad. Is it what we're about to do?"
Carol sighed and shrugged. "I've just…had a lot on my mind." She looked Georgie in the eye and held her gaze for a moment. "Right now I just want to make sure Maggie stays safe. Beyond that…I don't know."
"Carol, you're my best friend. If something's bothering you, I wanna know."
A small, rueful smile toyed at one corner of Carol's mouth. "Pot calling the kettle black. Where was this need to talk about worries and fears a month ago?" Immediately biting her lips together, Carol looked sheepishly down at the ground. "I'm sorry. That was harsh. I didn't mean—"
Georgie shrugged. "It's okay. We all deal with our baggage in different ways," she assured. "At least we aren't pushing each other away. I mean, if that's what you felt I was doing to you after I lost Tristan, I'm sorry. I know you bonded with him in the short time you knew him, and I'm sorry I wasn't mentally available to talk about with you…or anyone."
"It's okay. You're doing better than me," Carol remarked. "I still don't like talking about Sophia."
"Well, you just said her name, so that's something." Reaching up a hand, Georgie placed it down upon Carol's shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. "For what it's worth, I really do agree with you about Maggie being here, and that she shouldn't. What we'd give to have our children still here and she's putting her unborn child at risk for no good reason."
Carol didn't respond. She silently agreed with a simple nod of her head to the slight bitterness in Georgie's voice. Without needing to say anything else, both women parted; with Georgie walking over to where Rick had gone, to find him setting one of the three severed heads down onto the paved road.
"Was the middle head's nose crooked like that before?" she wondered.
Rick and Jesus both looked away from the head and over to her.
"We had to make a cosmetic alteration," Rick offered a sugarcoated explanation.
Georgie raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you punch a severed head in the nose?"
Rick shrugged and smirked a little. "Like I said: a cosmetic alteration."
There had been time to kill until it got dark and closer to midnight. Most lingered outside the vehicles, or in; resting or keeping guard around their temporary perimeter on the road. Knowing it would be an all-night adventure Maggie was ordered to take a nap in the back of the RV to which Glenn seconded, due to the fact that, as a pregnant woman, she needed to rest where she could. It was a suggestion brought up originally by Georgie, who had voiced it to Rick, and Carol had overheard, and then it escalated from there.
Before nightfall, Rick and Georgie sat on the hood of the Land Cruiser with their weapons draped over their laps. They were leaning back against the windshield, looking up at the slowly darkening sky, sharing an apple; one of many that had been brought with the group to snack on during their downtime.
"I wish we didn't have to do this," Georgie commented. "Not because I don't want to. I mean, no one wants to. I'd just rather be home right now. I wish these Saviors didn't exist or pose any threats so we could just live our lives."
"Which is why we're doing this," Rick replied, turning his head and staring at her profile. He accepted the apple when she passed it to him took a bite, and wiped away excess juice rolling down from the corner of his mouth with the knuckle of his right index finger. "We do this now…before the Saviors and Negan have a chance to find us and do to us what they've done to the Hilltop and probably other places. We do this for us, so we can live as peacefully as we can."
Georgie took the apple back. "Fighting for peace is like screwing for virginity."
Rick swallowed back the last bit of apple he'd been chewing on and furrowed his brow as he looked skyward again. "Why does that sound familiar?"
"George Carlin."
Rick chuckled a little. "He was funny."
Turning her face, Georgie stared at Rick's profile this time. "I'm not gonna lie. I'm a little scared about tonight."
Sitting up, Rick shifted his weight and turned as he looked down at Georgie. He brought his right hand up to the top of her head, smoothing back her ginger locks while brushing his thumb against her forehead in a soothing gesture. "We'll be okay," he offered with a comforting smile.
"I hope so."
"I know so."
"You can't know."
Rick shrugged. "Maybe I have psychic powers you don't know about," he replied; a coy grin forcing her to smile back at him. Finding his own comfort in that smile of hers, Rick leaned forward and placed his lips upon hers, breathing in her breath as she opened her mouth up to him a little.
Someone banging once on the side of the Land Cruiser jolted the couple back to reality. They abruptly pulled apart and reached for their weapons on instinct before they realized it was only Abraham standing there on the passenger side.
"Check your libidos at the door and canoodle some other time," the burly redhead stated. "Sun's gone down. We're rolling out soon."
Abraham didn't wait for any sort of response. He walked on toward the van behind them as Rick and Georgie stared at each other and smirked shyly like two teenagers who'd just been caught with their pants around their ankles by a parent. As they both sat up straight, Rick slid down the hood of the Land Cruiser and dropped down to the pavement first, assisting Georgie as she followed suit. No one else seemed to care that the couple had been sharing an intimate moment in the open like that, probably because they were all so used to the pair being gradually more open with their relationship. Not that they'd been hiding it until now. It's just that they hadn't been prone to public displays of affection until after the walls had fallen in Alexandria, and after the month Georgie had spent in deep mourning for her son.
As the pair headed for the RV, Rick looked around them, at everyone drawing in closer to the caravan, and called out to them. "Alright, everyone, let's pack it in."
Several hours later, well after midnight, the caravan had made its way to the Saviors' compound, which was apparently an old communications building, complete with two, very large satellites. The RV and van were parked and hidden much further up the road and the others continued on by foot toward the compound while Andy drove alone up the road with the walker head in a sack. While Andy was pulling into the compound's parking lot, the rest of the group had already snuck up and approached the building from all sides and were already lying in wait by the time the three, red flood lights on the building were turned on; pointing down at the Land Cruiser that Andy had just rolled up in.
"Stop right there! Announce yourself, asshole!" came a muffled shout from somewhere inside the compound.
"It's Andy, from Hilltop!" he called back, waving his hand out the driver's side window. "It's done!"
"Step out!"
Hidden by darkness, Rick and the others watched as Andy turned off the ignition and stepped carefully out of the Land Cruiser with one hand raised and the other holding the sack.
"That it?"
"Yeah!"
"Bring it here, shit brain!"
Slowly, Andy walked forward as two Saviors came out of the compound's main entrance, guns pointed as they met him halfway. The others continued to watch as Andy pulled the walker head out of the sack and one of the two Saviors inspected it. The three were conversing and it looked like Andy wanted to shit himself, but was keeping his composure very well, regardless. The Savior inspecting the head seemed content in believing it was Gregory; tossed it and then wiped his hand on Andy's chest while the other Savior began whistling the tune to the Birthday Song. As the first Savior disappeared back into the compound, and while the second Savior kept whistling, Daryl had already begun creeping around the front of the building and came up right behind the second Savior, grabbing him to hold his head in place as he slit his throat and then jamming the same blade through the top of the Savior's head as his body dropped.
On cue, the others came running out of hiding as quiet as possible as Abraham, Heath and Aaron lifted the second Savior up and carted his body out of sight and Andy tucked the Savior's gun into the back of his pants, under his jacket. As everyone scattered back into hiding, but closer to the building, Andy resumed his position just before the first Savior came back outside with a bound Craig, the resident from Hilltop being kept hostage.
"Well, well, well, look who it is," the first Savior remarked, moments before Michonne ran her katana through his chest from behind.
In a flurry of motion, Andy grabbed his friend, assuring him he was bringing home to Hilltop while Rick shoved his knife through the first Savior's skull and tossed his keys to Glenn. Andy hurried away with Craig, Tara and Gabriel to the Land Cruiser while everyone began slipping inside the building with their weapons at the ready.
Slowly, and with catlike stealth, Rick's group walked quietly into the main hallway, holding open doors where needed and splitting off to cover more ground.
"Check the doors. Find the arsenal," Rick whispered. "We take them out."
While everyone else seemed to break off into pairs, Rick remained part of a group made of up of Daryl, Georgie, Michonne and himself. At the end of the hall there was a door he approached. Letting his gun rest on its strap around his back, Rick removed his knife and carefully opened the door. The yellow lighting from the hall was all that filtered into the room to reveal a sleeping Savior. While the other three kept guard outside the room, Rick slipped inside and killed the Savior in his sleep with a simple stab to the skull. Glenn and Heath, who were just up the hall to the right slipped into another room to repeat the same process.
As each group or pairing continued on, killing the Saviors in their sleep, with the added goal of finding the arsenal, an alarm started to sound off.
Seemingly all at once, shit began to get crazy.
Saviors came hurrying out of wherever they were sleeping, guns blazing as they fired at Rick's group, who in turn fired back without hesitation. The sound of gunfire inside the building was deafening as bullets exploded from barrels and ricocheted off metallic walls. In the large stairwell of the rounded section of the compound, Rick fired up at three Saviors approached; peppering them with dozens of bullets with the goal of killing them and not carrying if any shot was a headshot to prevent them from reanimating later on.
"Go!" he shouted to Daryl, Georgie and Michonne, who skated past him once the coast was temporarily clear.
They foursome ran up another hallway together. As Rick stuck his head around corner, a Savior popped out of a room and began to fire at Rick's head. Georgie grabbed his arm and pulled him back in time. Rick snarled in the process; at the Savior, not at Georgie's assistance. Stepping back forward with his automatic rifle raised, Rick stepped into the other hallway and began to fire, taking out said Savior before leading the other three down that new route; each ducking into alcove after alcove to get out of the way of gunfire aimed for them while taking their own shots when they could.
Georgie could feel the adrenaline spiking in her that she knew the others were feeling, too. It was what allowed them to suppress any panic or fear and instead funnel it.
Daryl stormed down the hallway their team was in, with the others covering him. He blasted a few rounds of his gun into the door he was approaching and as a Savior on the other side of it stepped out, Daryl smashed the end of the rifle into the Savior's head. As the other man dropped to the ground, Daryl kept bashing his head in until he was dead.
Continuing on, one particular Savior seemed to come out of nowhere as it jumped out in front of Georgie and grabbed at her gun with one hand while trying to shove a knife anywhere into her. Michonne came up behind him and smashed the barrel of her rifle against the side of his head and Rick doubled back to fire a single shot into the Savior's head. As soon as he stepped in front of Georgie to make sure she was okay, two more Saviors stepped hurried out of a door behind them. Georgie lifted her rifle and fired a few shots into one Savior's chest and Daryl and Michonne went halfsies on taking out the second Savior. Rick spun around from that particular flurry of motion and protectively placed a hand to the side of Georgie's face. Stepping around him, Georgie pressed the end of her rifle's barrel against the first Savior's head. He was still alive and attempting to hoist up his gun but seemed to give up when he made peace with it being useless.
Without a second thought, Georgie pulled the trigger and blasted a significant hole into the Savior's head before turning and looking back at Rick who gave a nod of his head and a raise of his brow to silently inquire if she was okay. Nodding back, she responded with the same silence that she was.
The firefight continued for probably a half hour before Rick's group made their way to the same area, coming together again at the end of a docking bay with a large sliding, garage-like door. Pulling up and letting the door slide toward the ceiling, the group was immediately greeted by sunrise and the smell of morning dew on the grass.
They all stepped outside into the daylight, guns raised for any other possible attacks that might await, stepping passed vehicles belonging to the Saviors they'd just slaughtered.
Choosing the Nissan Dolphin RV that was parked against the building, Heath and Tara said their goodbyes to the group, as they already had a two-week supply run planned to go on before all of this. As the pair started up the RV, Rick and Georgie walked to the chain link fence and opened the gate to allow the duo to leave. Once they'd gone, the sun seemed to leave as well; disappearing behind some rain clouds that had been lingering in the sky since the day before. The rest that had remained stood around, getting their bearings after everything that had just transpired.
"What is it?" Rick asked of Michonne, seeing something was on her mind.
"Just—just want to know which one of them was Negan."
"What does it matter? Every one of those Saviors in there is dead," Georgie piped up.
"But was he one of them?" Michonne countered, bringing a heavy feeling of doubt down upon Rick and Georgie's shoulders.
Before either could respond to her, the sound of a motorcycle revving up snagged everyone's attention. Darting out the same docking bay they had all exited from a short while ago, a lone, surviving Savior made his attempt to escape on the suddenly all too familiar bike. When Daryl tore off after him on foot, angrily shouting 'sonofabitch' over the sound of the bike's engine, it became quite clear who the bike really belonged to.
Not only had Daryl lost his crossbow the day they'd tried leading the herd away from Alexandria, but he'd also lost his motorcycle; all to the same couple he hadn't come across since.
Rosita fired a couple of shots at the Savior, catching him somewhere near the shoulder. The impact of being shot sent him flying off the bike, which tumbled and skidded to a stop in the tall grass. The others began running over the Savior attempted to get to his feet and run away, but Daryl had sacked him like a quarterback and then climbed up over him to punch him a few times in the face.
"Where'd you get the bike?" Daryl demanded.
Rick stepped up and pulled back the hammer to his Colt Python before pointing it in the Savior's face.
"Do it!" the Savior shouted, daring Rick. "Like you did everyone else, right?"
Tilting his head as a steady, misting of rain began to fall, Rick contemplated whether or not to shoot the guy right there, or maybe take him hostage and question him a bit. Before he could make a decision, however, static from the walkie-talkie crackled beside the Savior's head.
"Lower your gun, prick," spoke an unfamiliar female voice over the radio.
Rick raised his eyes but made no move to do what the voice said.
"You, with the Colt Python," the voice pressed. "All of you: lower your weapons right now."
Everyone stood with their backs to one another as they face outward, guns raised as they looked around for where the voice might be coming from. Crouching down, Rick picked up the walkie-talkie and brought it up to his mouth, but he still maintained his gun's aim on the Savior on the ground.
"Come on out," Rick spoke, his eyes scanning the line of trees around the compound's property. Whoever was speaking to them could see them, which mean they had to be nearby, but hidden from view. "Let's talk."
"We're not coming out, but we will talk."
The group continued their scan of the area, suddenly feeling quite exposed. It was quite clear to them now that they hadn't killed all the Saviors.
"We've got a Carol and a Maggie. I'm thinking that's something you want to chat about."
Rick immediately winced in anger. Glenn seemed more visibly shaken as that was his wife out there being held captive by whoever was out there. Each one of their group felt their stomachs drop, really.
"Now, we're gonna work this out right now, and it's going to go our way."
Rick nodded to Daryl and Glenn. "Pick him up," he said to them, referring to the Savior they had. Bringing the walkie-talkie back to his mouth he, pressed the button to further communicate with the woman on the other end. "You can see we have one of yours. We'll trade."
"I'm listening."
"First I want to talk to Maggie and Carol; make sure they're alright."
There was a moment or two of radio silence, and then the walkie-talkie crackled to life again.
"Rick, it's Carol. I'm—I'm fine, but—"
The radio kicked out for a moment, and then—
"Rick, it's Maggie. We're both okay. We'll figure thi—"
Radio silence again, but it lasted only seconds.
"You have your proof," the unknown female voice informed. "Let's talk.
"This is the deal right here," Rick spoke. "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 you would've done something about it already."
As the radio went silent once more, Rick and the others looked to each other.
"What do we do?" Glenn asked, worriedly. "What if they won't give them back?"
"They will," Rick insisted, looking over his shoulder at his friend. Even though he wasn't completely sure, he knew he had to verbally insist it for Glenn's sake. He didn't want the younger man falling apart. He needed him strong; to fight for the woman he loved.
"If it has to come down to an even trade, Carol will stay behind and let Maggie come back to us," Georgie muttered. She caught the look Daryl threw her, but she simply shrugged. "It's who she is. It's the choice she would make if she's forced to make it."
Hanging his head and biting angrily down on his lip, Daryl held tighter onto his gun as Rick and the others kept their eyes scanning the trees around them.
Tire of the radio silence, Rick spoke into the walkie-talkie again. "Look, I know you're talking it over. It's a fair trade. Just come out, we do this, we all walk away," he insisted. Of course, he couldn't let them walk away, whoever this woman and whatever people she was obviously with were. "Do we have a deal?"
Radio silence again was cut off by, "I'll get back to you."