Ch. 38

"Son, you gonna start playing or what" Hershel asked Sam as his fingers tranced the keys of the piano. "Come on now."

"Probably forgot how to play," Merle said as he and Daryl sat at a table playing cards, Sophia and Carl watching intently.

"Come on Sam," Beth nudged him. "Play."

Sam smiled and pressed down on one of the keys, a soft note sounding through the home. He had no idea what he was playing; his hands seemed to simply move on their own, gliding through the keys hitting each one quickly and precisely.

"I thought I heard you playing," Sam looked away from the piano and grinned as Rick walked in. "Haven't heard you play in a while."

"I haven't had time," Sam told him. "I've been busy."

"You work too much," Beth laughed.

"Sometimes work needs to be done."

"You don't have to do it yourself." Rick said.

Sam pressed a few keys and let the soft harmonies fill the room. The notes played easily enough and Sam began to forget about the other around him, opting to focus his attention on the keys. But Beth began to tap his leg trying to get his attention. He tried to tune it out but soon enough Beth began to press harder and harder on his leg until Sam looked over and tried to push her hand away.

The pain spiked when he looked down and soon blood was flowing out of the leg.

"Fuck!"

Sam's eyes opened and he saw a large blonde woman twisting a tourniquet on his leg while blood squirted out of his leg and onto her glasses.

"Sam! Stay down!" He turned and saw Rory and Damien trying to hold him down while he squirmed against them in pain. "Sam she's helping you!"

"Fuck! Knock me out!" Sam screeched before he grabbed Rory by the collar and brought him in close. "Hit me in the Fucking head and knock me out!"

Rory raised his fist and knocked Sam hard. Sam whipped his head around hand head butted the poor Kid.

"Harder Rory!" But Rory was backing away with a bloody nose leaving only Damien to try and hold Sam down. "Fuck! Doc, give me something or get some stronger shites in here!"

"I—I'm," the doctor stumbled over her words as she finished tying the tourniquet on Sam's leg. He could feel the pressure in his leg spike as the blood was caught up in the tourniquet.

"You need to relax!" Sam looked and saw Rick standing over him. "She's got you, but you need to relax!"

"He's losing a lot of blood!"

"Tell me something I don't fucking know!" Sam screamed at her. "Fuck!"

"There's a piece of shrapnel lodged in his leg. It nicked a blood vessel! I need to stitch it up but I need you to hold him down!"

Sam began to sob and laugh madly as he gripped the sides of the bed he was lying on. "Rory! There's a piece of wood wrapped in sponge in my pack! Fucking get it!"

Rory began to dig through Sam's bag with one hand, spilling most of the contents onto the floor until he found a small stick like the one Sam had described. He rushed over to his superior and Sam opened his mouth waiting for Rory to put it between his teeth. He bit down as hard as he could and then shouted through clenched teeth to pull the shrapnel out.

The woman gripped the piece of shrapnel out and a stream of blood hit her square in the face. She then turned and threw up on the ground and Sam could not believe that this was a doctor in the apocalypse. Someone yelled out to her and she wiped her mouth before turning back to Sam's bleeding leg.

She grabbed a needle and a piece of thread and Sam's leg spasmed as she began to stitch up his leg. But as the bleeding subsided and the noise died down, Sam's eyelids began to feel heavy. He smiled and laughed drawing the eyes of the others in the room.

"Now I fucking pass out."

When he came too, the sheets were changed, so were his clothes. His leg was sore and wrapped in a tightly in several layers of gaze and he could hear birds singing just outside of the window. He could hear footsteps in the room and he craned his neck to see who had entered. It looked to be the doctor, glasses blonde and a bit nervous looking, not to mention she was taking inventory of all of the medical supplies.

"Where's Rory?" Sam croaked out. "Where's the others?"

The woman froze and she looked at Sam. Her eyes widened and she backed into a desk. "You're, um, hi!"

"Rory, Prim, Damien, where are they?"

"Resting." A tall black man entered the room with a long stick and grim look. "You must be Sam. My names Morgan."

"Nice to meet you lad. You in charge here?"

"No, I'm not, but they sent me in here to talk to you—"

"Get a feel for me. I get it. Listen, I'm not here to kill anyone, I'm jus' trying to find some people and not get shot by the Saviors, bunch of pricks." Sam sat up and began rubbing his leg. "It wasn't even a bullet. My own bike fell on me. Granted I was being chased by Saviors, but still, wasn't a bullet that clipped me."

More footsteps and Rick walked in. Sam scoffed and wished that just once the damn hallucinations would leave him be.

"It's good to see you Sam," Rick smiled, "Never thought I'd see you again."

Sam tuned him out and looked at Morgan. "So, who's running the show?"

Morgan furrowed his eyebrows and looked to the doctor and then where the hallucination stood. "I thought you said you knew him."

"Sam, it's me," Rick said. "What, are you alright."

Sam blinked. He looked to Morgan, then Rick, then back to Morgan. "You—you can see him? You can see Rick?"

Morgan nodded slowly, but with a sense of understanding. "I can. He's here. How long were you out there? By yourself?"

Sam looked to the ground and nodded a bit "Six months. Maybe a bit longer. I've been seeing him, a few others. Is he— Rick, are you really, here?"

Rick nodded and took a few steps forward. "It's me, Sam. I'm here."

Sam laughed and felt a few tears spring up in his eyes. He tried to move off of the bed but the pain in his leg halted that thought and then he fell back onto his bed. "Fuck me! Rick, I knew you were alive. Hilltop told me so!"

"You've been to the Hilltop?" Rick asked. "When?"

"How long has it been since you found me?"

"A day."

"I was there a day ago. One of 'em was leading me here, a lad by the name Jesus. When I got ambushed he got clipped, and then Rory and co. found me pinned down behind a tree."

"Wait, Jesus got hit?"

"Aye, he's dead far as I'm concerned. Rolled off the bike and took a tumble. Were you and him close?"

Rick nodded slowly. "Yeah, we were. He helped us get in contact with the Hilltop, then take out an outpost of Saviors."

"Right. Sorry 'bout him." Sam said. He adjusted himself so that his good leg was hanging off of the bed and so that he was sitting up. "How long have you lot been here?"

"A little less than a year."

"Oh, alright. Well, I just, I was wondering, if—"

"She's here. She's fine. I just wanted to talk to you first, make sure you were alright. That you weren't, you know."

"Batshit? Don't worry, when I was alone, I was plenty mad, but, I'm alright now. What, they've gone down the past few months?"

"Good, I just had to be sure." Rick looked at Sam's leg. "Pretty good scar you're gonna get, I saw that you have a few others. Some probably needed stitches, now I remember when we were back in the Prison and on the road, you weren't really good at patching people up, let alone yourself. How'd you patch yourself up?"

Sam smiled. "I found a group. I was only alone for six months, the other time I was with a group. When I found out about the Saviors, The King asked me to fight 'em. Guerrilla style hit and run. Me and five others went out, eventually, we recruited Rory and a few others."

"What were you doing at the Hilltop?"

Sam gave Rick a deadpanned look. "How many Walkers have you killed? How many people? Why?"

"Can you blame me?"

"Fuck you, Rick."

"Answer it then. How many Walkers? Since we last met at least"

"You mean since you left me? Should we include when I was out on that run?" Rick glared at Sam and the Irishman smiled. "Right. Probably close to a hundred since you left me, give or take a dozen or so."

"People."

"Probably around forty. Oh, don't look so surprised. I went to war Rick," Sam smiled. "Though to be fair, I did get about fifteen of those before I made it to the Kingdom."

"Did you—"

"Yes. I went back, again. Dog eat dog world, Rick, I did what I needed to. If it meant killing a few people that were weak, so be it." Sam could see the man named Morgan shift a bit uncomfortable, and the doctor pale considerably. "Oh, come on, don't tell me you lot haven't had to do anything distasteful."

"He's right," Rick said, "We've all done things. But Sam, that was it, you ever, and I mean ever do anything like that again—"

"You'll what? Toss me out like you tried to Carol? Or better yet, abandon me, again? Sorry Rick, but I actually don't take orders from you anymore. I'm not apart of your community, I was jus' trying to find out if you lot were alive."

"Then what? What was the plan after that?"

"Wait out the cold, then go to war again." Sam smiled and looked at Morgan. "Hell, since a few of my guys are down, I could do with some good shots."

"Don't bother," Rick snapped. "Morgan doesn't believe in killing."

"Ah, well then. Doc! You got a cane I could use? Something that'll help me move around." The doctor looked at Rick who nodded a bit hesitantly, and then she walked to a closet and produced a wooden cane. Sam took it and set his feet on the ground, favoring his uninjured right leg and then leaning on the cane. "There's still a bit of throbbing, but that's to be expected. Thanks for patching me up doc. Rick, where is she?"

Sam limped behind Rick dealing with strangers that looked at him just like the people of the Kingdom did when he first arrived, a wild animal that was out of its cage. Though that was his role, his Merles, even Daryl sometimes. The attack dogs that would fight for the group, not that he minded that role, it was rather fun at times.

"So, the others, who made it?" Sam asked quickly.

"Pretty much everyone, though, Noah got killed by Walkers a bit after we got here, and Carl lost his eye." Sam stopped Walking and looked over to Rick, his looking saying, You've got to be shitting me. "It was a hard night."

"Carol?"

"She's fine, doing better, but somethings off with her."

Sam scoffed. "She lost her daughter barely a year ago, something would be off with anyone."

"Paddy! Paddy Fucking Riley!"

Sam smiled and turned around. "Merle you redneck piece of shite!" The two men laughed and Merle walked over and they embraced each other tightly. "Still missing a hand?"

"Still getting shot at?"

"Course, life would be dull without it!"

Merle's hand brushed against the beard Sam had grown and he laughed. "Holy shit! I see you finally grew a beard, I just had to make sure it was real."

"Ha fucking ha. Jesus, good to see you're still kicking Merle!"

"You too Paddy! After you finish doing what you gotta, we need to catch up."

Sam smiled and shook Merles good hand. "Aye, I got a bit of a proposition for you and a few others."

"Sounds good. Have fun, Paddy."

"Fuck you." Sam turned to Rick and nodded, and so the group began moving again. "Good to see him. It's hard to believe that it's been a year."

"Yeah, it's been tough without you. There were a few times we could've used you."

"But you got through 'em. I wasn't here, and you lot got through it. Looks like you don't need me that bad."

Rick stopped Sam and looked the man in the eyes. "I'm sorry Sam. You were two days gone, I had to think about the group."

"And I get that. But no scouts, no search party? Tell me, would you have done that if it had been Carl?"

"Do you know how hard it was to do that Sam? How hard it was to leave you behind? Beth tried to attack me. She and Merle wanted to go out, the did, but I wouldn't let them because I couldn't risk them going off. I had to practically strap them into their cars. I'm sorry it happened Sam, but it happened."

"Which house is it?" Sam said, jaw clenched and his hand wrapped so tightly around the wooden handle of the cane he could swear he heard the wood crack.

Rick turned and pointed at the next house on the right. "Just up here."

May your dreams bring you peace in the darkness. May you always rise over the rain. May the light from above always lead you to love. May you stay in the arms of the angels," Sam closed his eyes as he heard the gentle singing of the lullaby. Judith was getting older, being about two and a half years old by then, but Beth had kept the habit of singing a lullaby to the little girl. "May you always be brave in the shadows. Till the sun shines upon you again. Hear this prayer in my heart. And will ne'er be apart. May you stay in the arms of the angels."

He was careful to watch his step and had climbed the stairs sideways so that he could limit the use and noise of his cane. Don't be nervous Sammy. You got this! You've killed packs of Walkers, scores of Saviors, you can do this.

The door was slightly ajar, and Sam would catch glimpses of her as she passes back and forth rocking Judith gently as she went. His heart began to pick up, but not the nervousness that had gripped him a second ago. It was the anticipation, the excitement, and most importantly, that warm feeling that he was getting, one he had not felt since the Funeral Home.

"May you always be brave in the shadows. Till the sun shines upon you again. Hear this prayer in my heart. And will ne'er be apart. May you stay in the arms of the angels," He saw her lower Judith into the crib as she finished the lullaby. "Goodnight Judy."

Sam picked up his steps, ignoring the pain in his leg and pushed the door open softly. Beth turned and gasped when she saw him. Sam could feel a few tears picking up in his eyes and he smiled more brightly than he had in months. She was there, in front of him, corporeal and not a figment of his company starved mind.

She bum-rushed him, and brought him close wrapping both her arms around him and squeezing him tightly before burying her head in his chest. He brought his arms around her, he let his head fall to the top of hers and he breathed in her scent. She smelled like apples and vanilla, and he could hear her whispering something, but her voice was so low that he could only hear bits and pieces.

"Knew you were alive… happy you're back… a whole year…"

Sam got her out of the hug and lifted her chin up so that he could see her. Beth's eyes were red and puffy already, several tears cascading down her cheeks.

"Hey," he told her. "How are you?"

Beth laughed and wiped her eyes. "After all this time you ask, how am I?"

"Give me a break lass, I've never exactly been in this kind of situation before."

"Neither have, I," she smiled and a few tears let loose from her eyes.

"I know," he said. "Lass, I have missed you more than—"

She brought her mouth to his and began pushing him out of the room. Sam followed her lead until she broke the kiss and grabbed his hand, dragging him to one of the spare rooms in the house.

I~

Rory was left with a deck of cards that he had in his pocket. The new group seemed alright with him keeping them which was good seeing as the deck provided some much-needed alleviation from the boredom. They had locked him and the others in some sort of homemade cell. It was a bit tight between him, Damien and Prim but at least they were alive, and enjoying themselves thoroughly.

"Got any fives?" Damien asked as he very obviously tried to keep his eyes open.

"Go fish," Prim said. "I mean no one knows how to play poker?"

"Never learned," Rory said. "Eights?"

"Fuck you!" Damien seethed as he gave Rory three cards. "And my dad was a gambler before all this, never really wanted to learn how to get myself in as much debt as him."

"What about you? How come you don't know, Prim?" Rory asked her.

"Mom thought playing cards, booze, and pretty much everything under the sun was a sin. If I even wore perfume she would freak out." Prim rolled her eyes as she examined her cards. "Glad it was my dads weekend when everything went down. Rory, fives?"

"Go fish." There was a clang from the outer door and Rory stood up, his arm instinctively going for his gun, which wasn't there. The man that led the community walked in followed by a man with a knife attached to what seemed like a prosthetic arm. "Is Sam alright?"

"Paddy's fine," Knife-hand said. "Hell, he's probably more than fine right now."

"Merle." Rory looked for a name in his mind, but it escaped him. He had met the man earlier when Rory and the Asian man that had found them brought him into the Alexandria Safe-Zone, but the past twenty-four hours had made his mind forget the name. "You're Rory, right?"

"Yes," Rory said simply. Sam had tried to teach him how to speak in case he was captured, and as far as Rory knew he and the others were most definitely capture at the moment. The key was to be quick and to try and stick with one syllable words. "I am."

"So that settlement that got hit, that Library, that was where you three hung our hats?" The Leader asked.

"Yes," Rory said stiffly, the memories of the massacre still fresh. "It was."

"How'd that happen?"

"Traitor. Sold us out."

"Bastard," Damien spat on the ground.

"Got a lot of people killed," Prim agreed. "Our friends."

"How'd you three get away?" The Leader asked. "Couldn't have been easy, three people getting out during an attack, under fire."

Rory's eyes narrowed, but he bit his tongue at the not so subtle accusation. "It was hard. But we got out."

"How?" He pushed.

"Very carefully." Three syllables, not good. "They hit us, we hit back. We got out when our group died."

"They were in the front—"

"No," Rory snapped at Prim, "We don't owe this asshole anything, he wants to interrogate us, I want Sam here. If he doesn't, I still want Sam here."

"Like Merle said, Sam's a bit, preoccupied, right now."

"Doing what?" Prim spoke up.

Merle and the Leader shared a look. Merle smiled and looked at Prim. "He's uh, well he's probably fucking that girl he hasn't seen in a year."

Prim flushed red and took a step back while Merle laughed at her response and Rory looked to the ground. In the months that they and Sam had been fighting together, he hadn't given off the vibe that he was with anyone, or had previously been. It somehow didn't fit in with the cool and dangerous persona that he had given off.

"Oh, uh right. Do you, uh, do you know when he'll, when uh when they'll be—when they'll be done?" Merle began to laugh harder and even the Leader, whom Rory had yet to see smile, lips tilted upwards a smidge.

"Listen, I'm sure Sam's gonna be a bit, but he trusts you, the first thing he asked when he woke up was where you three were. So, I'm gonna let you out of there, get some fresh air, something to ear," he put his hand on his gun and got closer, the volume of his voice dropping. "But if you try to do anything, I'll kill you all myself."

Rory simply smiled at the man. "Are you and Sam related?"

And Merle's laughter increased, yet again.

Sam thrusted upwards into Beth enjoying the moaning that was brought on by it. Her hands gripped his shoulders and her nails began to drag lightly across his back. She brought her head out from the crook of his neck and Beth kissed him just as she felt her inner walls begin to clench and waves of pleasure flowed through her body. Sam, using what self-control he had, pulled out and released himself onto her stomach then fell beside her on the bed.

They laid like that for a few minutes, enjoying the sound of each other panting, being that close for the first time in more than a year. There hadn't been much privacy on the road, and Sam had closed himself off to, many of the group after Grady Memorial.

"Jaysus," Sam said. "I love you, lass."

Beth leaned over and kissed him softly. "I love you too. And I missed you a whole lot."

"I can tell. You hadn't even seen me for five minutes and you pounced on me. I feel used," Beth began to laugh and Sam kept his face as straight as he could. "I'm serious lass, I mean there I was prepared to have a meaningful conversation, and you just take advantage of me."

She slapped him lightly on the chest. "Stop it. Besides, I don't remember you fighting me too much on that."

"Fair enough." There was a sharp cry and then a wail as Judith woke up from her nap in the other room "And duty calls."

Beth got up and walked to the bathroom. He could hear her turn on the shower and quickly rinse herself off before returning to put on the clothes that they had scattered about the room.

Sam got out of the bed and began to put his clothes on, sneaking glances over at Beth as he did so. The past hour and a half had been, quite nice, a pleasant reminder that the world was still good sometimes.

"So, this place, it's yours?"

"No," Beth called from the other room. "Hey there Judy, come on. It's Ricks and Michonne's, but I live here to help with Judy. You, where are you living, out in the woods?"

"No, or well, yes and no. I'm part of a community called The Kingdom, stayed there for a few months, then I went out again, fought the Saviors." Sam buttoned his shirt and walked into the room where Beth was taking care of Judith. "I went back, but then I started looking for you lot again."

Beth kept rocking Judith but she seemed a bit nervous. "Are you, going to go back? Or are you going to stay here?"

"Honestly? I haven't really thought about it. I've been busy with other things. Looking, getting ambushed, my leg stitched up. Then there's the fun we had just now. My minds been a bit occupied."

"Right."

Sam walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders. "If I was to go, I'd be a lot happier if you came with me."

"I, I don't know. I mean there's Judy, and Maggie's pregnant, I couldn't just leave." Judith managed to calm down and so Beth set her back into the crib. "I don't know if I could go."

"Think about it. I need to leave one way or another. I need to tell the King what happened. Not to mention I need to get Rory and the others settled. Just, think about it, aye?"

Beth leaned forward and kissed him. "Aye."

"Want to go for a walk? I could use the air, plus my leg's been itching to be used for a bit."

"Sure, let me just get Judy dressed."

Rory!" The boy and his two friends were sitting outside the church on one of the many picnic tables that dotted the safe zone.

"Sam! Hey!" Rory dropped the cards he had in his hand and ran up to Sam, Damien and Prim railing behind him. "We were hoping to see you around! You're leg alright?"

"Aye, should be good to go in a week or so." Beth tugged his sleeve. "Right, Rory, Prim, Damien this is Beth."

The three seemed a bit nervous, and Prim was blushing a bit. But they all stuttered out hellos.

"You alright? Seem nervous."

"No, we're fine. It's just. Merle—"

"Don't say anything else. Let me guess, Paddy's a bit preoccupied?" Rory nodded. "Yeah, you get used to him."

"No, you don't," Beth muttered.

"Not important. Listen, we're leaving tomorrow, I'll be taking you to my community, I'll talk to Rick about getting me a car, so enjoy this while you can. Once we're back at the Kingdom it'll be a bit of a whirlwind for you, got it?" A chorus of yes sirs and then the three of them went back to playing whatever game it was, but it didn't look like poker or blackjack.

"So, you're leaving tomorrow?" Beth said.

"Aye. Kingdoms got doctors, they can take out the stitches. I need to let 'em know about the Library, get those three settled."

"You just got here."

"I know. My original plan was to stay for a week when I found you, but, the ambush, the Saviors changed everything." Beth sighed and shifted Judith on her arm.

"Is it far? The Kingdom?"

"Not really. Half a day if you hike it, a few hours if you're driving. There's still time for you to come with. Like I said, we don't leave until tomorrow. I know you take care of Judith, but someone else could do that, plus, it's always good for you to be around. Decent shot, good with first aid, invaluable."

"Paddy!" Merle ran up to Sam as he was leaving the house. "You done already? Man, I thought you would've had some more in ya'!"

"Funny Merle."

"I know. You said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Aye. I'm not staying, not indefinitely. I need to get back to the Kingdom and let Ezekiel what happened to the Library. But, when I leave, I want you there with me. You're a good fighter, and I trust you, I want you there with me when I go after the Saviors after Winter passes."

"Why wait 'till after winter?"

"Well I wanted to see if it's gonna snow this winter, if it does then we wait 'till it melts, if not, I'm giving my guys a break, then back to it. We're living in the woods, hit and run shite. You up for it?"

Merle nodded. "You got a base?"

"We move around a lot, never more than a night."

"You can't do that Paddy, your guys 'll get burned out, not to mention gas. How the fuck you do that before?"

"Hit the Saviors, take their shite. Say what you will about them, but they're well supplied."

"Point is Paddy, you need a base. Somewhere to hang your hat, and take a nap, recharge." Merle told him.

"I suppose. I'll need to talk to the King—"

"No, you're the one that's out there, you make decisions for your guys and your guys alone. Don't take orders your whole life Paddy. Because at the end of the day, it's down to the decisions you make for our men."

Sam smiled as an idea came into his mind. "You know what Merle, you are absolutely right. Do me a favor, tell Rick I need to talk to him."

Rick was looking over a map of the region that Alexandria sat in looking at the different areas marked where Saviors had been spotted. Rory had at least given him that seeing as Sam had told him to trust Rick.

"Rick, Paddy want to talk to you." Rick nodded and the man walked away only to come back with Sam in tow, not a minute later.

"Rick, listen, I wanted to know if I could give a talk to your people before I head out. I know you're getting ready for the Saviors, but I think my ways a bit more effective than sit and wait."

"You want to try and convince my people, to go with you and fight?"

"Fight a war that you're already in. You got dragged into it as soon as you hit that outpost, I'm simply offering your people a chance to not be sitting ducks, to take the fight to the Saviors. Plus, I lost seven men, eight if Allen didn't make it." Sam leaned forward and looked at the map. "Rory missed one here, Bellpine Creek, caught them replenishing their water. Look, I'm not asking to conscript, just to request some volunteers. If people want to come, let them, if not, then I won't force anyone. What'd be the harm?"

Rick ran names through his head as he tried to think of who would even go with Sam. Merle was a definite, maybe Abraham and Sasha, but other than those three, three of his best, most would most likely stay in Alexandria. But then again, Abraham was loyal, and Sasha wouldn't stray too far from him. So, in reality, all Rick would run the risk of losing would be Merle, a problem he was more than happy loosing.

"Alright, I'll get everyone in the church."

"Father!" Sam greeted as he hugged Father Gabriel. "Good to see you, sir. Are you alright?"

"I am," Gabriel said. "The journey has not been easy, but we keep moving."

"Aye Father, aye." Sam grinned and patted his shoulder. "Will you be staying for my announcement?"

"I shall, speaking of which," the doors to the church opened and people flooded in chatting amongst themselves and taking their seats quickly, "it seems you are to go on soon."

"Aye, seems I will." Sam walked to the corner of the church where Rory and the others were standing quietly. "Rory, Prim, Damien, I need you three with me, at the front."

"Yes sir," Rory said quickly following Sam as the man lead them to the front.

Rick had taken his place and had finished explaining who Sam was and how he knew him before giving Sam the floor. He peered out toward all of the faces, spotting Abraham, Daryl, Maggie and Glenn, then, finally, Carol. Her gaze seemed to pierce him, and he felt just so timid and small the way her eyes studied him. It was as if she was inspecting him, trying to find every flaw in his presentation.

He looked away from her and then took a quick breath.

"Hi there. Now, as Rick said, I'm Samuel Conall, and I'm here to ask you lot to fight with me. You all know about the Saviors, but you don't know what they can do. You took out an outpost, and that's impressive granted, but that was one outpost, in the dead of night. I've fought them in the day, in the rain, in the wind and in the open. I've killed them, and they've tried to kill me. The Saviors are killers, not much to it. Their leader is a man that is hellbent on dominating every settlement in his path. He rules through fear and violence, the tribute he demands is a tax we pay to keep breathing. I lost people recently, someone ratted out a settlement that was too weak to fight back, that couldn't defend itself, and I lost seven men and women. That was a settlement that had been loyal, granted for the most part, to Negan and his Saviors, what do you think they'll do to you lot? What do you think they'll do to you after wiping out an entire outpost of his men? Like I said, I'm here to ask you to fight with me, so that the war never reaches your doorstep, and your loved ones can sleep easy at night. I'm here to ask you to fight with me so that Alexandria doesn't get annexed by Negan and they take everything that you hold dear."

Several people looked at each other and a wave of hesitation and apprehension took hold of the crowd. Some wanted to fight but weren't sure if they should do so with Sam. He could see fear grip a few people as tears began to well up in their eyes as if the gravity of the situation had just gripped them.

Sam waited for someone to stand up. He could see others looking at the crowd wondering who would stand, waiting for someone else to make the first move, so they were sure that they wouldn't be in the situation by themselves. And they waited, and waited, and waited.

"Fuck it," a hoarse voice said from the back. "Might as well Paddy, plus, I owe ya' for leaving you behind."

Sam smiled and rolled his eyes. "Of course, Merle, we could always use a one-armed redneck like you."

"How about me?" Sam saw Rosita stand up.

"Welcome aboard."

"Me too." A man with curly hair and green eyes stood up despite the protest of a red-haired lanky looking fellow beside him.

"Course and your name is?"

"Aaron."

"Hell, might as well count me in. No amount of shit is gonna keep me from ripping off the nutsack of a man called Negan."

Sam grinned widely, "Welcome aboard Abraham."

At the end of it, he had gained fourteen people. Some seemed more fit for combat than others, but he knew what he was getting with three of the fighters he had picked up. And as Sam laid in bed that night, the woman he loved cuddled against him, he could only feel hope for what lied ahead.

AN: Hey guys, its late and I've barely any time to write since school started so here is the new chapter, not really sure how it came out, but I liked it so yeah gonna be taking my sleep deprived brain for it. Please leave a review and I will see you next time. ~Pacco1