fandomismylife Thanks for the kind words. Glad you enjoyed the chapter!
dampish I will, I will! He is an amazing artist. Yeah, this is kinda like that, filler, but this is the last filler chapter for a while, so I hope it'll be worth the wait for some real plot progression. Yeah, Enid is just angry and grieving. She has never really coped with loss well, as far as I've ever seen from her in the show, so it seemed fitting to me to make her isolate herself this time from the people still left in her life, made worse because Oliver left to fish for months without her, as well as ratted on her. She probably just feels very left behind at this point. I imagine she's been kinda off with Earl, Aaron, and Adam, too, tbh.
Thank you, fandomismylife, for proofreading, and for generally understanding the English language far better than me.
While Hilltop settled for bed, Oliver, Enid, Luke, Dianne, Yumiko, Marco, and Eugene gathered in Yumiko's room upstairs. Michonne was standing on the inglenook before the fireplace, her arms crossed.
"I wont keep you long. I know you're all busy. But I wanted to let you all know that the Alexandria Council is in a meeting right now — I was on the radio with Daryl, earlier. Something happened at Alexandria. Margo's dead."
She explained two stories. The first from Lydia: Gage, Margo, and Alfred attacked her. Negan showed up, rescued her, but in the struggle cracked Margo's head open against the wall. The second story, from Gage and Alfred, was that Lydia and Negan had ambushed them. Brandon, the only witness, backed up Lydia's story, but despite this, people at Alexandria were asking to hang Negan.
"Alexandria's council are taking a vote," Michonne finished.
Oliver felt ill. Was all of this his fault for convincing Lydia to mess with them? Had she taken it too far? If she hadn't, and this was Gage's doing, it had still ended up getting Margo killed. Was Negan going to swing for it? For so long Oliver wished Negan was dead, and now that it might happen, it was like suddenly realising he had chosen the wrong turn at a crossroad. He caught Enid scowling at him, jumped, and relaxed his face. She watched him, then looked at Michonne.
"Should we head there?" Yumiko asked her.
"A few of you can," Michonne answered, "if you want to. But Hilltop still needs us... and Oceanside. There's been an incident — Rachel and Thur spotted a Whisperer watching them."
A nasty adrenaline rush seemed to bristle between everyone in the room.
"Rachel and Thur — they're sure it was them?" Enid asked.
"I'm taking over a convoy of volunteers to see." Michonne rubbed her neck. "It might be nothing, but in case it is one of them, you know as well as I do, they move as a pack."
"Where there's one, there's a hundred more," Eugene said, "like the order of Blattodea."
"Ah, the illustrious cock-a-roach family," Luke said.
Eugene cocked an eyebrow at him. Luke winked.
Everyone discussed the possibility of another attack. What with the waves at Alexandria, the tree at Hilltop, and now the sighting at Oceanside, Michonne was starting to agree with Enid that it all seemed less and less likely to be a series of unlucky coincidences. Luke volunteered to join her, claiming the ocean was calling to him, which really meant he wanted to see Jules, an Oceansider who he was interested in.
"Count me in, too," Dianne said.
"Thank you," Michonne said, and asked Eugene if he wanted to return with a wagon to Alexandria in the morning, but he wanted to stay put, droning on in his alien talk about something involving the satellite and the fallen tree. Michonne summed up for him: "You want to fix the wall."
"Yes."
"Fine. I'll bring back supplies from Oceanside so you can do it faster."
"I can go to Alexandria," Oliver offered, reaching for excuses, "err, see how Lydia's doing, you know? And... someone's gotta take Judith home."
"Oh, Judith? She's coming with me."
Oliver's face fell. Michonne noticed, but before she said anything, the door jolted suddenly and everyone turned to see Judith stagger inside the bedroom onto her hands and knees. She jumped to her feet, straightened her Stetson hat, then katana sheath. An empty glass was in her hand. Marco snickered, but stopped at the stern look on Michonne's face.
"Judith..." she said. "What have we talked about?"
Judith pouted down at the glass in her hands, tutting. "No snooping..."
Michonne twisted her mouth in a poor attempt to hide her grin.
"So, I'm coming with you to Oceanside?" Judith asked.
"Well, yeah," Michonne said. "Who else is gonna be my pair of friendly ears?"
Judith stood fizzing out of her skin.
Michonne dismissed everyone, and as they all disbanded into the landing, Oliver tried to push the nasty, miserable feeling in his stomach away, but the image of Negan dangling at the end of a noose made him wince. He cornered Enid on her way towards the stairs, desperate for something to take the weight off, and even more desperate for her not to hate him anymore.
"How's it going with your patients?" he asked.
"Fine," she said, fidgeting awkwardly with her sleeve. "I... shouldn't be away for too long."
"Well, do you need any help? I can offer a hand—" He raised his amp arm and smiled hopefully. "—just one though."
Without even a nod, Enid said, "I'm good," and walked away into the office. She shut the door behind herself. Oliver's arm dropped and his smile faded. He choked, but didn't know why. He'd have thought he was drowning if he didn't know any better. Luke, coming downstairs behind him, made a sympathetic hiss as he patted Oliver on the shoulder.
"Well, I thought it was a good joke."
"Thanks," Oliver told him, forcing the thickness from his voice.
"Fighting with friends blows," Luke said.
Oliver could barely nod. He was at a loss. One minute Enid wanted him around, then the next, when he was, she gave him the cold shoulder. Luke gave him a sorry look and placed an arm across his shoulders. He was short, so Oliver had to bend slightly, but it still felt comforting. He hoped his repressed silence didn't make it seem like Luke meant less to him than he really did.
"You're not my lawyer anymore!"
Oliver and Luke both looked up across the foyer to the top of the staircase where Yumiko and Magna were sitting together — the latter, it seemed, had just ended their argument. As Magna stormed away downstairs, Yumiko buried her face in her hands and began to cry.
Luke patted Oliver's shoulder once more, then left to comfort her.
Oliver slept restlessly. He kept getting nightmares, but forgot them by the time he woke up, and would lie there under the dewy tent canopy, wiping his eyes dry and listening to Jerry and his family turn occasionally in their sleeping bags until he fell asleep again. Eventually, after enough nightmares, he was done feeling sorry for himself and got up. The sun was rising. The clouds were pale grey and gold. Hilltop was still asleep, except for the overnight guards waiting for their shifts to end. Oliver went to the stables to prepare some horses and mules for Michonne's convoy to Oceanside. This was amusing to Oscar, who, a few hours later, arrived in time to see Oliver half way through morning chores. He asked, jokingly, if Oliver was trying to get his old job back, but Oliver assured him he was just filling time. To prove it, he left Oscar and the other stable hands to the rest of their morning chores.
He headed back to Jerry's tent and saw Quan watching him from the distillery, but turned a cold shoulder.
When it was time for the convoy to Oceanside to leave, Michonne pulled Oliver aside.
"Hey," she said, "I forgot to thank you in the meeting, for offering to go and check on Lydia. You still can, if you want to. You and Daryl could help her to not feel so alone."
Oliver winced twice, first because he'd only used Lydia as an excuse to see Negan again, then secondly because Lydia's welfare was an odd thing for Michonne to be concerned about.
Michonne seemed to sense his suspicion. "Look," she said quietly, checking those loading the carriages weren't eavesdropping, "Alpha's had so many excuses. I think... I think it's not about changing their rules, or tiring us out... but Lydia. I think she's the only thing stopping her mom from really coming for us."
It was a terrifying thought, but Oliver still scratched his head. "I don't know. All I've done is make things worse for Lydia."
"You don't have to go, if you've changed your mind," Michonne said mercifully. "I know this is difficult for you... I know you care about him."
Oliver frowned. "Who?"
"You know who."
Oliver wanted to deny it, but couldn't. He looked at the ground, ashamed.
"Can't stand to see him swing," Michonne predicted in her low, gravelly voice, crossing her arms, "can't stand to see him walk, either."
Oliver looked at her, searching for disappointment in her face.
He asked, "Is it wrong to want him to live?"
Michonne thought about it.
She said, "If it helps, Carl would be proud of you."
Oliver snorted. He had to wipe his eyes, suddenly. He must've been losing it. His emotions were all over the place lately. It'd felt like he'd been living on the brink of bursting into tears for months, since the barn. It was like his mind had been caught and strangled there, and ever since he'd just been making a concerted effort to ignore it.
"Don't worry about Lydia," Michonne told him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Daryl is looking after her, for all of us. Just, please, keep what I said about her between us for now."
Oliver nodded.
Luke came along, groaning in his way as he wrenched Oliver into a tight hug, then Luke went to Connie, Kelly, Yumiko, and Magna, who he held one at a time. Even though Oliver knew little sign language, he still understood enough to know that Luke signed to the four of them, "I will miss you all so much." He put his hands together and said, "Namaste," to everyone else and then climbed into his carriage, blowing kisses to all as Michonne drove her carriage from the courtyard and out along the driveway. Oliver waved to Judith, sitting in the back of the carriage, until she and it had disappeared beyond the cornstalks.
There was a moment of peace and quiet, then—
Ezekiel rushed from the house.
"I just got off the radio with Alexandria. It's Negan. He's gone!"
As well as Negan, Brandon was missing, too. Everyone knew he must've let Negan out. Not even Quan tried to defend him. He seemed devastated, honestly, but Oliver paid little attention to that. In fact, he paid little attention to anything stressful over the next several days. He left Enid to her sulking, he avoided wondering how Lydia and Daryl were getting on at Alexandria, and he didn't even bother to help the search parties for Negan and Brandon. Instead he spent all his time helping Eugene's crew rebuilt the breach. It was a hard and tedious job but it kept his mind busy either building, protecting the breach, or going out every morning to pile the walker bodies away from Hilltop where they could burn all day until the fire burnt itself out, smoke and all, before dark.
It felt good to work and not think.
On one hot, late-July afternoon, Oliver had spent half his morning body blazing and the other half dissecting the last few remains of the fallen tree. The breach was almost fixed, and people were debating over what to do with the spare logs and shavings. Eugene was coming up with a zero-waste plan, wanting to use every inch of the tree, even the bark.
"Seems as good a time as any to master the Pueblo art of basket weaving," he said.
Yumiko, who wasn't yet accustomed to Eugene's cosmic language, nodded blankly, then helped Oliver fill some buckets with twigs.
"Hey..." Enid said. "Can I talk to you a minute?"
Oliver turned instantly, but to his disappointment Enid, who'd just left the house, moved around him and took Yumiko's wrist instead.
"Earl and I were talking," she told her. "Instead of using the extra wood for baskets, what if we made some weapons? You know, big ones, defensive... couple of catapults for the north wall?"
"Yeah," Yumiko said, "no, look, I think it's a good idea — honestly, just not right now, what with half the Kingdom still in tents."
Oliver saw the tolerance drain from Enid's face. A vein in her temple pulsed.
"We have to at least act like we're trying to fight them..." she hissed. Earl came over from the blacksmithery and took her shoulder but Enid shook him off. "No! The Whisperers smashed a giant hole in our wall! They've—"
"We don't know it was them for sure."
"So, what, we're just gonna sit here waiting?"
Earl put his hand on Enid's shoulder again and this time she let him.
"I know, hon," he told her gently.
Enid seemed to calm down. She left for the infirmary. Earl, too, left for the blacksmithery. Yumiko looked unhappy, but left when Brianna called her over to the courtyard. Oliver got on with work. Dog arrived at some point, tongue rolling, panting, and demanding attention. Daryl came along a few minutes later. Sitting on the back-seat of his motorbike, to Oliver's surprise, was Dante. Daryl had been among the search parties. Oliver had no idea why Dante was with him. He went over, returning Dog, who'd left a big muddy paw-print on his shirt. He gave Dante a quick downward nod, then Daryl an upward one, which he returned.
"How's Carol?"
"Alright," Daryl answered, "her arm's fine."
He reached out a hand. Oliver took it and squeezed. Daryl squeezed back, then went off to park his bike. Oliver went back to loading a wheelbarrow with logs. He realised too late that Dante was behind him. He grabbed Oliver by the shoulders, much heavier than Oliver was comfortable with. He shuffled out from his grip, forcing an uncomfortable laugh.
"Oh, come on!" Dante cried. "You can hold Daryl's hand but you won't give me a little piggy-back?"
"I thought you had to stay at Alexandria," Oliver said.
"Nah..." Dante beamed a toothy grin, standing too close. "Mrs. Preggo had her baby, Siddiq said he could handle things, so I've been sent here to help Enid with the folks recovering from the tree fall. Looks like it did a number on this place."
"It did."
Oliver backed up when Dante's chest bumped him. He almost tripped over a pile of sticks. He was forgetting his own size again, like he sometimes did, and he had to remind himself that he and Dante were almost the same height. Albeit, Dante was broader, but not so much that Oliver needed to feel intimidated enough not to step back and reclaim his personal space.
"Hey," Dante said, not seeming to take any notice as he took another step forward, "at least it means I can get to know some of you folks a little better. Especially you!"
Oliver didn't know whether to take Dante seriously or not, so he just nodded, stepped back again, and said, "Okay," as convincingly as possible. "Err... well, Enid's, err, gone to the infirmary."
"Which way's that again?"
Oliver pointed to the trailers. Dante turned, winked at him, then left. Oliver blew air through his cheeks, shook his head, and tossed another log into a bucket.
By sunset, Oliver's lousy leg was bad enough that Yumiko told him to visit the infirmary. He couldn't pretend not to go because she went with him to get something for her own brewing migraine. Enid wasn't inside, but Dante was. He offered to help but both Oliver and Yumiko were quick to make up an excuse and search for Enid instead. Maggie's old office smelled of disinfectant, as opposed to the usual ancient varnish and dust. Several people were resting in make-shift beds with various body parts wrapped in bandages. Enid was deep in conversation with Ezekiel, but stopped when she saw Oliver and Yumiko.
"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt," Yumiko said.
"Not at all," Ezekiel said, smiling, "I'm just leaving."
Enid watched him leave, then listened to Yumiko explain what was wrong. Finally, Enid pushed a pot of anti-inflammatory cream into Oliver's hand and left him to apply it, then, more kindly, gave Yumiko some pills for her migraine and a cooling pad to put on her forehead.
"Know what brought it on?"
"Just stress," Yumiko said. "This is good, thanks."
"I must not've helped this morning," Enid admitted.
"No, no," Yumiko said, "it's not you. It's just... Magna and I, we've been fighting."
Enid made a face like she'd noticed. Everyone had. Magna had been sleeping on the landing with Jesus' old phonographs for days now.
"It'll work out," she said.
Yumiko chewed her fingernail. "Maybe. Maybe not... Sometimes things are just broken. Sometimes things can't be fixed."
Enid cast Oliver a tiny glance. He looked away the same time she did. He heard her clear her throat. She and Yumiko chatted for a few minutes, then Yumiko left. Oliver sat quietly, applying cream to his ankle and shin and waiting for the pain to fade. Enid took a seat beside him. She sighed.
"She's wrong."
Oliver double took, surprised she was speaking to him. "I hope so. It'd suck to see them break up."
"No, no, about the Whisperers being behind all this. She doesn't want to accept it's them," Enid explained, and Oliver's shoulders deflated. "I'm glad Michonne's getting on board with the truth, but Yumiko's distracted."
Oliver agreed, but sympathised with Yumiko so didn't say so. Enid rubbed her forehead. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail. Her eyes were bloodshot, flitting side to side on the floor.
"That tree didn't fall on its own," she went on, her brow creasing. "Earl told me it wasn't leaning or dying. The roots were healthy. How can anyone be convinced that the Whisperers aren't coming back for worse? It's like everyone's forgotten what they did."
"I haven't forgotten..."
She cast him a glare that softened to a wince. "I know."
"I think about it everyday," Oliver confessed. "Sometimes it's like I haven't even left that barn."
"I know, but—"
"Not everyone is as strong as you," Oliver told her. "Not everyone can just... stare right at what scares them most, without even flinching."
"You think that's what I do?"
"I know it's what you do."
It was meant to be a compliment but it didn't sound like one. Enid tutted and shook her head. A flourish of angry heat rushed Oliver's face as he suddenly realised he'd blown any chance he had of making up with her today. It was like they'd forgotten how to not argue with each other anymore, like they no longer had any idea how to be friends at all. Oliver got up, forgetting his limp, and left the office alone.
The moon was bright that night. Daryl had decided to return to Alexandria last minute to help on a new lead for Negan and Brandon's search party. Oliver saw him off.
"I'll radio Carol, tell her you're on your way."
Daryl thanked him.
"Wish you could take Dante back with you," Oliver added, but realised that sounded mean, so forced a smile to negate it.
"I don't," Daryl said. He whistled for Dog to follow, and with a nod to Oliver, revved his motorbike and sped away from Hilltop. Oliver watched them disappear, then went inside the house and limped upstairs to the attic, where Eugene had his radio set up. It was modified now, and bigger, spanning several desks, and with the new satellite parts its reception could apparently reach halfway across the country — Eugene boasted about this for several minutes until Oliver found a moment to politely ask for some privacy.
As Eugene left to get supper, Oliver sat in the desk chair and radioed Alexandria's channel. Siddiq answered, which was strange because usually Rosita or Gabriel did, since the main radio was in their house. When Oliver enquired about this, Siddiq said Rosita was in the infirmary.
"Gabriel's over there visiting her. I'm here at their house looking after Coco."
"Is it the stomach bug?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, but, I don't know, none of it makes sense..." Siddiq sighed. "Never mind, I have to talk to Enid and Dante about that. What can I do for you, Oliver?"
"I'd like to speak with Carol?"
"Sure. Give me a minute to find her."
Oliver sat back and listened to Siddiq walk away, then a few minutes later someone else approached. A chair pulled up. "Hi, sunshine."
Oliver smiled. Relief loosened his shoulders. "Hey. I was just letting you know, Daryl's on his way. And, I wanted to check in, you know... on you."
He could hear her smile. "Did you try radioing me earlier?"
"No. This is my first chance to get up here."
"Oh. Then it must have been someone else."
She was quiet for a moment so Oliver asked, "Everything alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Been going out looking for Negan." Oliver heard something strange in her voice but couldn't place what it was. She moved on quickly: "Is the wall repair going well?"
"It is, yeah."
"How about you and Enid? You talking yet?"
Oliver shifted uncomfortably. He didn't realise she'd noticed they weren't getting along. "I'm giving her some time. I think we all just need... time."
"We do," Carol said.
"Maybe we should've gone back to the ocean."
"Hm. Things seemed easier out there."
Footsteps came up the attic stairs. Oliver leaned back to peer past a heaped crate on the desk filled with burned satellite parts. Dante popped his head over the banister, grinning. As he emerged fully, Oliver saw the bowl of stew in his hands.
"Eugene said you were up here," he said. "Figured I could bring you supper before all the good stuff's gone."
Oliver took the bowl, careful around the radio equipment. "Thanks."
As he took his first bite, Dante's smile widened. Oliver nodded politely, thanked him again, and eventually Dante took the hint and left down the stairs. Oliver put the bowl down and blew air out through his cheeks.
"Everything okay?" Carol asked.
"Yeah..." It was embarrassing to admit that Dante made him uncomfortable, as well as probably an overreaction, so instead he just said, "Yeah, fine. Got some food. Probably shouldn't be eating it around the radio equipment."
"Okay, well, I can leave you to your meal."
"That alright?"
"Sure."
"Hey. Can I reach you again tomorrow?" Oliver asked, but realised he sounded clingy, so cleared his throat. "Err, you know, 'cause work's dying down a bit, and I've got more time on my hands lately, so it's something to do."
"Of course," she said. "Tomorrow. I'll be around. Oh. Could you find Enid? Siddiq wants to chat with her."
"Sure. Dante, too?"
"No. He just asked for Enid."
"Sure. Night, Carol."
"Night, sweetie."
Notes
I know Brandon didn't let Negan out but it's relevant that they think he did for now. I also skipped the Kelly missing/Magna stealing supplies arc because beyond Yumiko and Magna breaking up it just happened not to be relevant to Oliver's story imo. Dante's at Hilltop, too, for reasons that will become clear next chapter. Sorry this one was kinda slow. Nothing really happened except Negan escaping, Oliver being miserable, and set up for the next chapter (which I've been super excited for for months). This is the last filler/set up chapter for a while, and I'm uploading it right after to make up for it.
As always,
Happy reading.