Lupe and Daryl retrieved her dad's truck from its spot without issue. She was ecstatic, because it was untouched and the Saviors hadn't even left one tiny little guard. That meant their efforts are focused elsewhere, which is currently good news for the Alexandrians. With the medicine Lupe and Alma scavenged, Denise is able to almost fully stock the Infirmary and help Carl heal.
It isn't long after that, disaster strikes. Maggie had been feeling off and on for a while. She thought it was all the stress with supplies and all the terrible people. Unfortunately, she collapsed one day while working. The medicine they've got isn't sufficient. The doctor isn't very familiar with pregnancies, especially not the possible emergent types. Everyone knows what their only option is. A trip to Hilltop is how they make sure Maggie and the baby survive.
Maggie's in the back of the RV laying in the bed with Glenn on one side and Barbacoa on the other. Rick's helping pack up some things for Glenn and Maggie in case they needed to stay. Carol offers to tag along since she'd never dream of not being there for Glenn and Maggie. Michonne, Enid, Daryl, and Lupe all volunteer to go for support, no matter what kind is needed.
Carl holds Judith as he approaches the RV and Rick turns to greet him. His brow raises. "You not coming with?" he asks, tone almost disappointed, but trying not to show it.
Carl looks at the RV longingly, but shakes his head. "Doubt some kid with a disfigured face is gonna make a great impression."
Rick looks stricken, stuck on words to tell his son that will prove no such thing is true. Thankfully Lupe is shoving a bag in the RV's side compartment.
"Carl, don't say things like that about yourself. You went through something seriously scary and you pulled through. You don't have to be perfectly okay with it or anything, but don't take on the responsibility of how others think. We love you and you should love yourself, because you deserve that." Her statement is politely admonishing and Carl looks bashful. Lupe's lip quirks into a smirk as she looks around. "Plus, we're letting Daryl come along and look at his face."
"What you say about me!?" Daryl snarls, coming from out of no where.
Carl guffaws as Lupe yelps and jumps up from her spot on the ground. She sprints around the back end where he and Judith stand. Daryl whips around after her hollerin'. Carl shakes his head and laughs with his dad. Rick puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes.
"She's right, son. I'm so sorry you got injured. You'll get to heal and I'm here for you, I love you." He nods tearfully at Carl and they both start sniffing and snuffling.
Lupe's head pops out from over the edge of the RV roof. "He's so right Carl. You're amazing and everyone knows that. A kid surviving through all this with a badass facial scar and one day the option of an eye-patch or tasteful half facial mask? Trust me, you'll have everyone breathless with admiration." Her head quirks to the side and her face goes slack, she pulls back over the edge of the RV and disappears.
Daryl comes stuttering to stop around the back end of the RV in a full oval. "Where'd the hell she go?" He looks around and then at Rick and Carl. They both just shrug. Daryl starts grumbling and goes back to working on the engine, shaking his head.
Lupe pops over the top again and winks at Carl and Rick.
Rick nods to her then turns to Carl. "We want you there. I want you there." He squeezes his son's shoulder. "But only if you feel like you're ready. We trust you."
Carl nods a few times with a weak smile on his face. "I'm ready dad."
Rick nods and goes back over to finish checking in with the rest of the group and Father Gabriel who's taking charge of the community. They're in the middle of some tactical conversations about escape routes and defense plans when Deanna, Reg, and Spencer approach him.
"Rick," Deanna starts, "if you have room, Reg and I would like to come to support Maggie. She's been there for us and we want to be there for her." Reg stands next to her and nods, his hand on her shoulder. She turns to motion to Spencer. "Spencer wants to stay and back up Gabriel."
Rick nods to the two who built up this place and let his group make it more. "I think Maggie would appreciate that. She could use someone not focused on the pregnancy. It might help her to try and stay looking towards the future."
"It's what I do best, make plans and imagine." Deanna winks at Rick and climbs into the RV with Reg at her back.
Father Gabriel and Spencer stand together talking. Spencer looks over to Rick with concern. "Rick, if the Saviors find us while you're gone…"
"You follow the plan." Rick nods to him and Gabriel.
Spencer sighs, tense and irritated. "Don't you think we should make a deal with them? Even just temporarily?"
Rick smiles. "You tell them to wait for me. I have just the right deal for'em." He turns away from Spencer's annoyance and climbs into the RV, checking to make sure everyone is there before he sits down at the driver's seat.
Daryl walks to the back and finds Lupe holding Maggie's hand with Barbacoa's head on top of the grasp. He chuckles and watches for a little bit as they lean in towards each other and murmur sweetly back and forth, not even noticing him.
Glenn shuffles up behind him, pausing at the same scene and smiling the same way Daryl is. He bumps Daryl and grins. "Beautiful to see, even with all the stress, right?"
Daryl nods. "Damn right."
"I don't know what I'd do without her," Glenn says in a barely restrained whimper.
Daryl wraps an arm around him and holds him tight. "We'll get her to the doc and check on the baby alright? They'll be okay." Glenn nods into him, staring at Maggie like she's the only thing left on this earth. It makes Daryl a little scared, because he feels that way when he looks at Lupe too. This world wouldn't be a good place anymore if she left it. Not for him.
Glenn nods and then goes to join his wife. Lupe happily switches places with him and joins Daryl.
"Sweet isn't it?" she mumbles and curves against his side.
Daryl nods, speechless cause she feels so good against him he doesn't want to let her go. He kisses the top of her head a little roughly and she giggles against him, his scruff rubbing into her scalp despite her growing hair.
"Wanna sit down?" she asks.
"Shit, if there's spots left. We're like Sardines in a can," he chuckles. "Bathrooms open," he quips. She pinches his arm till he hisses at her.
"Stop trying to make the bathroom happen!" she hisses back, buying into the joke. "This a white people thing? Is it like a kind of redneck custom? Am I missing some deeply cultural aspect of your people here?"
He twists his face in a half-hearted scowl. "Redneck custom…" he grumbles at her, equally incredulous and affectionate. He curls an arm around her head, like a hug and a headlock all at once. "You ass."
He smirks as he tugs her along with him and she laughs into his arm. They find a seat and Daryl pulls Lupe onto his lap without hesitation. She squirms uncomfortably on top of him and for a second he thinks he crossed some line. "You alright? I can find another seat —,"
"No…" she whimpers nervously at him, "I'm just not used to being on top of someone. I'm fat and people usually act like I'll crush everything. I like you, I just don't know how to feel about it. I haven't really done this."
Lupe's words are soft, but since they're all piled on top of each other, Carol hears. She leans in looking at Lupe with a smirk. "Daryl's a grown ass man, he can handle it. Don't you ever be afraid of being on top."
Michonne has her head leaning back against the window, sitting next to Carol. With her eyes still closed, she mutters, "If he dies, he dies." The tiny group ripples into held back peels of laughter due to the old 'Rocky' reference and giggles until everyone looks at them strangely.
"Don't you say a fuckin' word!" Lupe warns the others as she's sputtering. She huffs and Daryl pulls her closer on his lap and kisses her shoulder nice and soft. She feels dainty all of the sudden and it's a rush of an emotion she's not quite used to. Lupe eventually loses her tension and really gets to feel comfortable in Daryl's arms. They drive a good long time like that.
"Ah shit," Rick snarls. The RV rolls to a stop. "Lupe, I need you to come take a peek at this."
They roll up very slowly and take their sweet time approaching an improvised road block. It consists of three big trucks.
"Eight men," Daryl huffs over her shoulder as she crouches next to Rick and tries to remain unseen. "They got a fuckin' hard on for the number eight or something?"
"They're so full of bull shit I'm sure they could justify it," Lupe replies. "The man with the mustache is Simon," she snarls with a vehement hatred, "he is 100% a nightmare and basically Negan's right hand man. I see Gary, Jack, and that might be Kevin. The other four are new, and young too."
"Can we get through?" Rick asks, a murderous implication trailing each word.
Lupe sighs. "We can…" She looks around at the group. "We have numbers, but we're down three. Do we want to risk a firefight?"
Rick grits his teeth and finally slows to a stop at a healthy distance away from the roadblock. He'd rather shout and draw walkers than catch a bullet. "Who's the man on the ground?"
Lupe sighs heavily, looking at the unrecognizable bleeding man rolling at Simon's feet. She shakes her head. "Probably a lesson to drive the point home. I don't know what he did, but this is his punishment. The Saviors want to show you what they can do to you."
"We doing this?" Carol asks and her voice is indicative of a reaping every one understands.
"No," Rick growls and shifts the RV into park. He stands up and grabs the guns, picking out some people to follow him out. "Lupe, Carl, Enid, stay inside, protect Maggie, Deanna, and Reg at all costs."
Everyone else follows Rick out. They have their guns in relaxed positions, appropriate for the apocalypse. Rick doesn't say a word as the group fans out in front of the RV.
"Howdy there folks, fancy meetin' you 'round these parts," Simon starts jabbing with his big smile that barely hides his true near-demonic cruelty. "What's yer business?"
"Gotta get somewhere." Rick pauses to look around. "What's yours?"
Simon's grin stretches. "We protect these parts." He scoffs. "Especially after several of our brothers went missing nearby. We sure are worried that it's not safe to be traveling around," his tone is sinister and highly suggestive as he speaks. "Where you headed?" Simon pantomimes interest.
Rick chuckles, "Now how is that your business?"
Simon's smile tightens, and from the RV Lupe can see the telltale signs of agitation rattling through him. He's not much different from the last time she saw him and she still has the urge to stomp on his neck until she drives it through the earth's crust.
"You want to use this road, but this road is the property of Negan," Simon chimes. He's about to open his mouth when Rick speaks again.
"Don't happen to see his name on it."
Everyone on the line stays still as stone. The group in the RV is giggling like mad and thankful the open back window doesn't let so much sound out as it does in.
The Saviors gathered all shift, aggressive and defensive. "Don't need his name on it. It's Negan's." Simon steps forward with a menacing stare. "The road is his." Another slow step. "The trees are his." Simon takes his last step and raises his arms, expansive and enthusiastic. "All this land belongs to Negan!" Simon scoffs. "Now I'm not sure who you think you are —,"
"Rick," he interrupts. He puts up a hand and swings his index finger in a lazy circle. "The name's Rick." Everyone starts getting back on the RV. "You let this Negan know we choose a different way."
As they got back on the RV one of the Saviors starts to spray paint an X on the man lying on the ground. Simon shouts, "No worries friend! There's plenty of ways to get to where you're going."
The RV thrums to life and they start the slow process of turning it around. Once the side faces the Saviors, Lupe sneaks into the bathroom during the kerfuffle of everyone getting back. As they start to drive away, she slips silently onto the roof and pulls out Alma's gun and takes aim. It's a hard angle as she lays pressed as flat as she can go behind the roof racks. She lets off her silent shot and it hits its mark. The man with the X twitches and instantly goes still. The Saviors start looking around, raising up their guns, but even when they look back at the RV slowly pulling away, they see nothing of the assailant.
Lupe grins when Simon kicks the now dead body and whirls around on his men, yelling at them to go search the woods. She crawls back towards the sun roof and climbs back in.