"People of the Sanctuary…" Rick says with a hard tone, brokering no argument, "We've come to make a deal."

There is a long peel of silence. Rick waits patiently with Ezekiel, Maggie, and Glen by his side. Several other Alexandrians man the other semi trucks, but they remain quiet and hidden. Abraham and Sasha sit in the cab of their rig with the windows open, stabbing walkers in the head if they try to climb up. Aaron and Eric are chilling on the roof of the cab, playing cards. Rosita and Tara are in another, checking their guns and making sure they have enough ammo packed, and more to spare. Michonne and Morgan are in one, sorting through all the goodies they have in case they need to infiltrate. Eugene and Carter man the other truck, and they're ready to make repairs if necessary. Jesus and Heath sit, gripping the wheel and the seats, respectively. Carol is in another, she drove in with Ezekiel, so she is just waiting patiently for the signal. Enid and Carl took over Glen and Maggie's rig, they aren't there for the fight, but they have a few ideas tucked up their sleeves. Daryl and Lupe are in the last one. Both of them sit, holding hands, silent, with Barbacoa in the middle, wagging her tail weakly.

"We came here together to settle this," Rick says. "We are here to form a future together. A future based on equity and cooperation."

Everyone turns their engines on and climbs to the top of their rigs, joining Rick in making a stand. He looks around as they walk to the back end of their trailers, facing the grim building. Lupe and Daryl are two rigs to the right. He glances over at them and sees Daryl taught as the crossbow on his back. Lupe stands abnormally still, her fingers occasionally flicking at her side by her gun. She has the bright red bandana covering her face.

Rick turns back to the Sanctuary. He's about to speak when one of the doors on a platform creeks open. Negan strolls out with Saviors at his back and his bat on his shoulder. They line up behind him, fifteen wide and four or five deep. His smile is too big for the setting, but that's a general trait of his.

Negan has his own megaphone and lifts it to his lips. "Rick, Rick, Rick, you crafty, lying son of a bitch!" He grins out at the gathered people. "And Carol and Daryl! Y'all didn't even stay long enough for the good parts of the tour! We can remedy that now, can't we?" He stares Rick down. "You return my prisoners, and I won't end all of you here and now."

Rick smiles at that and shakes his head. "We're not here to fight you Negan, but we will if we have to."

Negan laughs and it's loud even without the megaphone. He replies in a snarl, "Rick, you will be a stain on the pavement after my men are done with you!"

Rick gives him a rueful nod. "To the people of the Sanctuary," he starts again, ignoring Negan's fuming, "I, Rick Grimes of Alexandria, King Ezekiel from The Kingdom, and Maggie and Glenn Rhee from the Hilltop, stand before you as the leaders of our communities. We joined together with one single thought in mind: Peace." He looks to the windows, the doors, anywhere that might hide the people under Negan's thumb, and continues, "We do not want to fight, we do not want to kill," he insists, "we only ask for your surrender."

"Rick! You stup—,"

"There is a New World Order," Rick bites through Negan's blathering. "It is not a single man, woman, or person. It is not a single place or a type of weapon. Our New World Order…" he grins, "…It's cooperation. It's trust. It's effort. It's compassion. It's us working together, and not under the heel of some egomaniacal tyrant!" Rick's eyes go dark and sharp. "Our future doesn't have room for that. We'll be too busy making things better to slop through that shit."

"Our New World Order will thrive with or without The Sanctuary." Rick makes sure this part is clear. It's not a show, it's not an act. This part, they all agreed on and he really means it. "We know there are more than just Saviors in there. We know there are workers and care givers, there are gardeners and cooks. We know there are children who deserve a better world, the elderly or sick that deserve safety and care. Whoever surrenders now will be granted clemency and an opportunity to be part of a real community. They'll be given a chance at reintegration, and they will receive assistance and instruction on how to work with their new people." His voice builds into a shout, "We do not want a fight. We do not want a war. We want peace!"

"You've got some fucking balls, Rick," is Negan's immediate reply. "What you want is a fucking fairy tale!" he snarls. "You're trying to lead dumb and scared people into a future where nothing is left!" Negan shouts, "The world is dying Rick! You can go your way, try to keep your weak and sad grasp on a ruined past, but you will be torn apart!"

A smile grows on Negan's lips. "The weak don't survive in this world anymore. Not without protection. Not without saving," his snarl rattles through the space. "The world will always need Saviors, Rick. The world will always need men like me to do the dirty work!" His smile is a knife slash glinting in the dawn. "So take your deal…" he chuckles, "And shove it." He flicks his wrist as he turns to go back inside and the Saviors all along the platform open fire on the semi trucks.

Prepared for such a thing, the people on top of the trucks dive and flatten themselves out on the roof of their trailers. The person closest to the sides crawls their way over to the edge. A wave of hands slam down on the green button of the remotes Eugene and Carter cobbled together. The liftgates all squeal and rumble before shooting up and becoming a barrier that the people on the rigs can hide behind. The guns come out and they start firing back. They end up taking out a slew of Saviors and driving them back inside the building.

Rick shuffles back from the barrier in a crouch and starts looking around to check on everyone. Eric caught a bullet in the arm, but it went straight through and didn't do much damage. He stopped bleeding quick, and Aaron is doing first aid. Everyone else seems to be unharmed and in relatively good spirits. Rick waits a little while to see if there will be any response from Negan or his Saviors. Alas, the groans of the dead are all that call out to him.

They've got crowds of walkers scratching at the sides of their trailers, but they can't reach, and soon won't be a problem anymore. He looks around to the surrounding rigs and finds his megaphone, also unharmed. He picks it back up and shuffles back to with Ezekiel, Glenn, and Maggie.

"Should we give them another chance?" Glenn asks.

Rick nods. "We'll give the people as many chances as they want, but we have to go to step two. They need to know we're serious." Rick pulls his radio up to his lips. "Step two is a go. Daryl, prep now. Set free the first wave on my mark." Rick waits a good ten seconds and gives two short but loud bursts of the megaphone horn.

A person on top of each big rig goes back to the remote on the side of the truck. They press the red button this time. The backs of each truck slowly start to roll up. Nothing much happens after that. But then it's Daryl's turn.

Once the doors are all open, Daryl pops up from behind his barrier with the rocket launcher on his shoulder. It just takes one little RPG and an enormous explosion to blow away nearly half of Negan's front gate and the walker moat. Bits and pieces of walker and fence fly through the sky. Some of it smacks against the semi's shielding, and some of it ends up littering the Sanctuary yard.

After the explosion, activity in the trucks finally sparks to life. Fifty or so walkers come falling out of each truck like water from a tap. They splash on the ground, but slowly stand and make their way towards the fire and noise. Many of the walkers are dressed strangely: riot cops and hockey players, kevlar vests and football padding. Some of them have weird contraptions fashioned from metal that wraps around their entire head, aside from crude eye holes.

For more enticement, Enid and Lupe start sling-shotting fire crackers and smoke bombs into the yard, pulling more and more of the dead into the space just outside the doors of the Sanctuary. Daryl doesn't fire another shot from his rocket launcher. They leave the building intact. The undead take over the space completely, and The Sanctuary is officially walled in. There is no escape.

The gathered people wait behind their barriers, and hope against all hope that the end will come soon.


we're in the home stretch folks