Chapter 36: "High Stakes"
Abe was on the north perimeter wall watch when he heard the faint sound of vehicles. Looking through his binoculars, he saw a contingent of about 8 vehicles heading towards Alexandria. He whistled to Ned at the gate who immediately ran for Rick. ***********************
Gregory could feel the hatred towards him at the Hilltop. He could smell it in the air. The residents are probably blaming him for the deaths of some of their people.
He wasn't worried though. Negan's men are there to protect him. Besides, his mind was on other things like getting back to the Sanctuary and seeing Renée again.
He wondered if she and Negan argued over her not telling him that she knew Gregory and that they had had an intimate relationship that produced a child.
He needs to drive a wedge between them. He laughed to himself. 'It's a pity their child died...it would have been nice to be bonded to Renée for life. That's something that even Negan can't come between….'
Suddenly, David walked up to him and slugged him hard, sending him crashing to the ground. David then kicked him and was about to deliver a second blow when Dr Bryce shouted out to him.
"David!"
David's head snapped around towards the Dr with a furious glare. Then he stalked off. Gregory looked up to see two of Negan's men looking at him...snickering. He gave them a half hearted smile as he dusted himself off.**************************
Jesus was about to come out of the forest, close to home when he saw three strange, armed men patrolling outside the walls of the Hilltop.
He watched and observed carefully, hoping to see one of his people. To get a better vantage point, he climbed a thick, densely foliaged tree nearby to see if he could get a glimpse of what is going on inside the community.
There he saw more of these strange men with guns and some of his people staring at them. Then he saw Gregory coming out of the manor house.
He was about to descend when he heard footsteps coming in his direction. He held his breath as one of the men stood below his tree and began to relieve himself against it's roots.
He then pulled out a cigarette and began to smoke. Jesus contemplated whether to take out this one man underneath him. Before he decided, a second man join the smoker under the tree. They began talking.
"What do you think of this Rick guy?"
"I think he's not a pushover..that's for sure."
"He has a death wish if you ask me."
"Not everyone is going to roll over for Negan…. The guy's a f*cking lunatic! Bashing people's heads in as an example so others will follow! What the f*ck!"
"It work..didn't it….besides...you better watch that kind of talk! That can get you killed."
"Whatever man…"
Jesus listened intently.************************
Rick was in the bathroom with Michonne checking on her arm reflexes when Ned came banging on the door…
"Rick! Rick! You need to come quick!"
Michonne rushed to the bedroom window while Rick sprinted downstairs. He opened the door to a wide eyed Ned.
"Come quick! Some people are approaching the gates!"
Rick grabbed his gun belt and followed Ned out.**************
Michonne heard when Rick left the house. She looked at her three young children asleep on the bed. She quietly reached for her katana and strapped it on her back.*****************
When Sasha heard Abe's whistle, she knew what it meant. After making sure that their daughter was secured safely she positioned herself at the sniper post in their bedroom, peered through her sniper scope and waited.**************
Renée looked around at the residents of the Sanctuary. Everyone was on high alert and armed. She watched as her 18yr old daughter and her friends passed her as they patrol the grounds.
They were all armed as well. Jasmine has become quite good at defending herself using different techniques under the guidance of Negan and Zane. Now that Zane is gone Negan is the only male figure in her life...until now.
Renée spent the last two nights restless….contemplating whether or not to tell Jasmine about her father or at least tell her that he is around and will want contact with her. Negan assured her to take her time in deciding what to do as there will be no turning back.**************************
When Rick arrived at the gate, there were a number of residents already there, fully armed and ready. The others were already spread out throughout the community...seen and unseen and waiting for the signal.
Rick stood at the gates and watched carefully as one of the cars slowly drove forward and then stopped. A man, dressed in a black leather jacket, pants and boots came out of the driver's seat.
The man then walked straight up to the gate causing rick to walk forward. After checking and sizing each other out the man smiled coyly at Rick.
"Hi….I'm Negan and we have very serious problem.******************
Janice was attending to Dr Bryce's leg when Gregory came into the room. They looked at him.
"What do you want Gregory? What are you doing back here?"
Gregory smirked at them.
"Payback's a bitch...ain't it. You think that I would let you kick me out and not get some sort of revenge?"
"You got yourself kicked out. When a woman says no...she means no!"
Gregory frowned at him.
"You don't know what happened."
"I know what I saw. We have had enough of your sh*t. It was a unanimous decision…by all of us."
Gregory shrugged his shoulders.
"You can keep the Hilltop...I found somewhere much better."
Dr Bryce laughed at him.
"Not for long...wait till Negan finds out about the kind of person you are. He will most likely kill you."
'Not if I kill him first…' Gregory thought to himself as he walked away.*************************
The men beneath Jesus's tree was getting agitated with the heat in the forest. When the cigarette was finished, the two men walked back to the community. Jesus waited to see when they went through the gates and he jumped down from the tree.
'I need Rick's help. Can't get rid of these saviours all by myself..' Jesus reasoned as he made his way back to Alexandria. ************************
Rick tilt his head slightly to the side, hands on hips looking at Negan through the gates of Alexandria. Some of his men came out of the vehicles, guns in hand. Abe was up on the guard tower, guns trained on the enemy to fire at will while Daryl and Glen flanked Rick's right and Aaron, Carl and Ned stood to the Rick's left.
Michonne, Maggie, Carol, Rosita, Sasha, Enid, Denise and Tara stayed indoors to protect the children. That was their first and main priority. However, they have been keeping an eye on their men and are ready and willing to cover their backs if need be.
"We?"
"Yeah….we. You killed a lot of my people."
While Negan has no proof that it was Rick who attacked the camps...Rick decided that it was best to face this threat head on.
"Not before your people attacked my people and killed some of them."
"It was my men but I didn't gave no such order to attack your people."
Rick scoffed at him.
"And I'm suppose to take your word for it?!"
"The person who made that foolish mistake has been adequately punished."
Rick squinted his eyes at Negan. Negan signalled and Trevor brought out a wounded Dwight out of one of the cars. He was forced to kneel down infront of Negan….his face..heavily bandaged. Rick glared at Dwight.
"So you're the coward that shot my wife."
Rick was taken aback that Negan was surprised at his statement. Rick looked at Negan smugged.
"Yeah...he shot my wife."
"So here's the deal...you hand over my people that you have, give me half of your stuff and work for me."
Negan said this with a smile on his face. It was Daryl's turn to laugh in Negan's face.
"Who the f*ck is this clown?!"
Negan ignored Daryl, keeping his eyes fixed on Rick. No one said anything for a few minutes as Rick and Negan stared intensely at one another. Some of Negan's men began to figet nervously on their feet.
Daryl, Glen, Abe and the other residents kept their eyes also on Negan and his men, their fingers on their triggers ready to fight for their home.
"So what's it's gonna be….Rick?!"
Negan's tone was condescending….sarcastic. Rick chuckled.
"You see what we can do. I suggest that you go home while you still can."
"Is that your final offer?"
Rick made no response.
"Hmmmm...ok. I am sooo looking forward to showing you what I can do."
Negan turned to leave, dragging Dwight behind him. Dwight looked at Rick with frightened, pleading eyes.
"Run like the bitch you are!" Abe shouted at the men as they jumped into their vehicles. Negan looked at Abe with a smile on his face.**************************
Later that night...
The sound of gunshot shattered the night's calm. Samuel, Jackson and Reggie who was on the north wall watch posts began returning fire in rapid succession.*********************
Abe threw his body over his wife and daughter at the sound the gun fire. Sasha looked at him wide eyed and he saw the fear in her eyes. He kissed her on the forehead to calm her down as he soothe his crying daughter.
The gun fire startled Rick and Michonne and on immediate reflex, Michonne grabbed Judith who was closer to her as Rick grabbed Avery and Dominic and they both rolled off the bed and unto the floor.*******************
Glen was downstairs getting a glass of milk for Elsa when the gunshots was heard. He dropped the glass on the floor as he leaped towards the stairs. ******************
Carol was on the bathroom floor, in one of Tobin's shirts crying when she heard the gunshots. She grabbed one of her guns from under the bathroom sink and rushed downstairs. *****************
Rosita was straddling Daryl, passionately kissing him on the bed when she was interrupted by the sound of gunshot. Daryl pulled her down to him and rolled to the floor. He then belly crawled on the ground to their son's room as Rosita reached for the two shotguns underneath their bed.*******************
When Rick, Abe, Glen and Daryl raced outside, Alexandria was a war zone but the Alexandrians..his people was in full combat mode. From first glance he saw that the north and east gates were covered well.
Rick and Abe headed to the south gate while Glen and Daryl made their way to the west gate. ********************
"Are you guys ok!"
Michonne screamed into the walkie talkie as she cradled her children on the upstairs bathroom floor. Carl and Enid covered the downstairs portion of the house.
"Yeah! I'm ok."
Rosita answered with Caleb on her belly on the bedroom floor...shotgun in hand facing the door.
"Me too."
Maggie answered with Elsa strapped to her chest, pistol in hand. However, there was no word from Sasha.
"Sasha! Are you alright?"
Rosita yelled into the walkie talkie. Sasha sat rigid in a corner, looking into Robyn's face. 'No one is going to hurt me or my baby...never!' Sasha thought to herself.
"Sasha!" Maggie shouted into the walkie talkie.
"Yes! I am here!"
"We all need to get to Carol's now!" Maggie instructed.
"No! It's too dangerous! We need to get to the house closest to us! We dont know what's going on out there!" Michonne reasoned.
"Ok. Sasha and I will go to Carol's and you go to Maggie's." Rosita called out.
"Good...when we get there we will all check in!"
"Ok!" came a unison reply.
Soon after Carl and Enid came rushing in.
"We need to go mom! What's the plan?!"
"We are going to Maggie's...now!"
Carl took Avery and Enid took Dominic. Michonne held on to Judith. The children were screaming.
"What about the others?!"
"Rosita and Sasha are going to Carol's first and then we will see what we can do from there…. Now move!"
Carl, Enid and Michonne raced down the stairs, making sure to stay close to the walls and at times had to crawl on their bellies to protect the young ones.
The bullets seem to be flying everywhere. They crawled on their bellies until they reached the back door. Suddenly, Michonne froze.
She stared at the spot on the back porch where her blood once stained it. A huge lump formed in her throat. Her eyes instantly looked up at the tree where she was shot from. She couldn't move.
"Mom! Keep moving!"
Michonne couldn't breathe.
"Mom!"
The sound of Carl's voice gave her a jolt and she made a mad dash around the corner towards the back of the house, Carl and Enid following closely.******************
Rosita kicked in Sasha's back door as she dashed through it. Soon a bullet grazes her arm. Holding her son tightly against her chest, she spun around and dropped herself on her back and crawled backwards in towards the living room behind a sofa.
Sasha was already behind another sofa waiting for her.
"What the f*ck took you so long?!"
"It's crazy out there!"
Both Sasha and Rosita turned on their bellies with their children tuck safely underneath...supportingtheir own upper body weight on their elbows. They listened at bullet struck the walls of Sasha's house.
Rosita saw the way Sasha was looking at Robyn.
"Hey!"
Sasha looked at her.
"We are not dying today! None of us!"
Sasha nodded.
"I don't think we can make it to Carol's!"
"The safety room's upstairs but I'm not going back up there...it's too risky now to even try. There is a spare room to the left of us! It has one small window and a deadbolt on the door. We can barricade it with whatever is in the room. It should be secured enough!"
"Ok! Let's go!"**********************
"Come on!" Maggie screamed as she saw the three figures moving breathless towards her house. One minute later, Maggie, Michonne, Carl, Enid and all the children were safely in Maggie's safety room. Michonne picked up the walkie talkie to check in.******************