Ch. 52

AN: So before we begin I just wanted to thank you all for sticking with me through this story and putting up with my grammar and my poor writing and it means a lot to me that you all have been with me on this journey. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart thank you. So I meant to put this out yesterday but it was my birthday so I couldn't. But here is the next chapter. I was happy with it but at the same time I wasn't but I'm using it because it's the catalyst for the things to come and they are very exciting. So enjoy!

Sanctuary stood alone, troops from all the communities surrounded it. Torches illuminated the night as the men and women of the militia against Negan kept their rifles trained on the old building. There had been only silence from Sanctuary since they had first arrived. There had been some small arms fire at the beginning but with the militia hunkering down in cover and Negan cowering behind the walls of Sanctuary, there was little that could be done except wait.

Rick walked through the lines of men and women his eyes sharp as he looked at the faces and then to Sanctuary. He tensed slightly as he saw some of Sam's men gathered around each other and whispering. Rick gave them a suspicious look and then turned walking back towards his own men. He hated the wariness that Maggie had seemed to have infected him with. He could feel his nerves get put on edge simply by being near the Foundry soldiers.

He sighed heavily and moved to search for Maggie and the Hilltop group. He moved through his own group and made his way to the Hilltoppers. Rick had placed his men between them as a buffer zone so that the Foundrymen and Hilltoppers wouldn't come to blows. The King had done the same but set up on the Foundries opposite flank.

Rick hoped that it would be enough to quell the thick tension that had sprung up between Maggie and Sam's forces. Rick hoped that the groups would keep the peace until Negan was killed. Perhaps even a bit after, if only for Maggie's plan to be enacted. While it was not something that Rick wanted to do, after much deliberation, he relented that it was necessary. But he did ensure that the deal he had made with Maggie had come with some stipulations.

People began to filter out of the Sanctuary slowly. Mainly the workers and some of the newer Savior's. Negan's more fanatical followers were still barricaded inside alongside him. But it was, for all intents and purposes, over. Negan would most likely hold out for a time until the food ran out, and then he would either die fighting or he would surrender.

Sam smiled though, with the Saviors dropping their weapons on the ground and moving with their hands up. It was over, the Savior War, as he was sure it would be recorded as in history. His men smiled, all of them eager for the end of the war, patting themselves on the back and enjoying the looming peace that was on the horizon.

Sam moved away from the surrendering troops, his legs taking him back to the motor pool where Rick, Maggie, and Ezekiel were waiting for him. There were all talking quietly amongst themselves and as Sam approached Ezekiel smiled and motioned for him to join them.

"Samuel! Good to see you, my boy! I heard of the troubles that came to be at the Foundry. I'm sorry I was not able to assist."

Sam waved the man off. "It's fine. We managed them fine, besides you were busy dealing with the supply caches that the Saviors have hidden all over the area."

"True," Ezekiel nodded. "But those were secured easily enough."

"Lucky you," Maggie whispered.

Ezekiel gave the woman a glare but turned his attention back to Sam. "We were simply discussing the plan to deal with the surrendering Saviors."

"I think we should disarm them, leave them in Sanctuary, but disarm the whole place, other than our own guards," Rick said.

"I agree," Ezekiel said.

"That's true enough. I feel like we should move some of them through the other settlements though. At least some of the higher-ranking Saviors. Keep them from stirring the pot back home."

"A good suggestion," Ezekiel nodded. A Kingdom Soldier rushed into the tent and whispered into Ezekiel's ear, bringing a stony look to the man's face. "If you will excuse me, it seems that some of the prisoners we have in the Kingdom are causing trouble."

"Need any backup?" Sam offered.

"Nothing so serious. Simply a matter of disagreement with some of my guards."

"Take some Foundrymen," Sam insisted. "Merle! You and some Men go with Ezekiel!"

"I thank you, General," Ezekiel smirked giving Sam a knowing smile.

"You may like your title, I don't," Sam told the King.

"It will grow on you. Now, I must be off." With the King departing Sam looked to Rick and Maggie, feeling the awkward tension between the three of them.

He sighed and dipped his eyes toward the table, though he still felt Maggie's eyes boring into his skull. He looked up and as his eyes met hers. Her glare wasn't as intense as he had thought it would be. Though it certainly wasn't impassive, it didn't hold as much, malice as he had once seen.

"So, I was thinking of peeling off some of our manpower from here. Sending them home, or even diverting them to Hilltop. Help with the rebuilding there," Sam said, extending an olive branch.

Maggie nodded to the suggestion. "I like it. But I had to head back to the Hilltop right now. One of my men thinks that there's some leftover Saviors heading up there."

"Need any help?" Sam asked.

"You volunteering?" Maggie asked clipping her gun to her hip.

"Course."

"Then come on." Sam moved to follow her. He only had his pistol on his hip, but if it was a small group of Saviors moving toward Hilltop then it would most likely be a quick skirmish, even then the Saviors would likely surrender once they saw Hilltop forces.

Several Hilltop Soldiers followed Maggie and entered a vehicle which Maggie motioned Sam to get into. He did, taking his seat and watching Maggie enter the seat beside him. The drive was short. The car bumping along the main road, the interior of the car quiet and hushed.

"So, what's next for Hilltop?" Sam asked hoping to break the silence.

"Rebuilding for now. From there we'll focus on getting crops planted."

"Good thing the Kingdom has enough gardens to keep us going too," Sam said. "With both Hilltop and the Kingdom growing food, we'll be set. Maybe even have enough for seconds this winter."

Sam laughed, but his smile fell when he saw that Maggie didn't share his same enthusiasm. He shook his head and faced forward as they approached several men. They wore green bands around their arms and held their rifles at the ready, Hilltop men.

Maggie and the men in the driver and passenger seats got out, Sam followed, a bit unnerved by the silence. He could see Maggie whispering to the soldiers that had stopped them and his eyebrow furrowed at the strange interaction. He glanced around and saw no saviors, no signs of a battle, no one getting ready.

"Sam," Maggie called out, motioning for Sam to come over.

He did and heard footsteps coming from behind him. He glanced back and saw Daryl, his stride long and his stance aggressive.

"Daryl?" Sam asked.

Shots went off and Sam flinched as he saw several of the Hilltop men open fire onto the car they had just been in.

"What the fuck?" Sam gasped stumbling back. He shifted his gaze to Maggie and saw her raise her own gun. The barrel pointed directly at him. His eyes widened and out of instinct he reached for his own pistol but froze when he felt Daryl's gun on the back of his neck. "What the fuck?"

"Put your pistol on the ground." Daryl's voice growled out.

"No," Sam whispered, his eyes wide and voice shaky. "No. No, you're not doing this."

"On the ground."

Sam looked at Maggie and saw her glare at him. "No. No. What the fuck!"

"Put it down!"

"Fuck you! You are not doing this to me!" Sam shouted. "You are not killing me!"

Maggie scoffed. "No, we're not."

"What the fuck is this?" Sam demanded.

"I'm stopping another Negan. I'm stopping you from being him. From turning into him."

"Fuck you!" Sam took a step forward but Daryl grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "You think I'd turn into Negan. After what we did to fight him. After I fought him longer than any of you!"

"I won't take the risk. I won't."

Sam shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly. "So, what? Gonna tell everyone I ran off?"

"No," Maggie said. "No one would believe that."

"No one or just Beth?" Sam countered. "You know she wouldn't think I ran off on her. Let alone our kid." Maggie stood her ground, shifting a bit uncomfortably before motioning for her men to move. "So, you know? And you're still gonna do it?"

Maggie's men came back, carrying a corpse, presumably a Saviors. They moved the body into the seat Sam had occupied and strapped the body in.

"Oh. So that's how you'll explain it?"

"Burn it," Maggie ordered the men. "We got ambushed by a small group of Saviors. They fired into the truck and hit you. We managed to get out, but you got burned in the car. Congratulations Sam, you're a hero."

"You know. I knew you never liked me," Sam said watching as the Hilltop men threw a Molotov-cocktail at the car, "but this is taking it to some extremes."

"Shut up!" Maggie snapped at him. "Maybe I should just kill you. Put a bullet in your head and bury you out in the woods."

"You should," Sam said, his voice low and a smile dancing onto his face. "You really should. Because I guarantee you, I'm coming back. And I'm gonna burn Hilltop to the ground."

Maggie and Sam held their glares for a time. Both of them feeling an intense hatred flow through them. Maggie broke her gaze first and looked to Daryl nodding. The bowman reached over and took Sam's pistol from his belt throwing it to the floor.

"We'll have to keep it. I'm sure you understand." Maggie bent down and picked up the 1911. Sam nearly felt naked without it. He had carried it with him for nearly the entirety of the apocalypse. Strapped to his hip with one in the chamber. Now Maggie would use it to confirm his demise.

Sam took a shaky breath and shook his head, praying that tears wouldn't fall from his eyes. "Get it over with. Kill me, or let me go. My life's in your hands."

"We won't kill you," Maggie told him. "We can't."

Sam scoffed and looked to the gun that Daryl had thrown on the ground. "Do I at least get any supplies?"

One of Maggie's men came forward and threw a backpack to his feet.

"There's food and water. Enough for a few days." Sam glared at the man and scooped the pack up in his arms checking the backpack and taking stock of the food.

"No weapons?"

"There's a knife." Maggie sighed and pulled a gun from her belt. It was an old revolver, single action, and Sam saw that there were no bullets and gave another swift nod. Sam then felt Daryl's hand connect with the back of his skull before darkness enveloped him.

They had blindfolded him, driven for hours, and then tossed him out of the car. He had to cut himself free of the wire they had bound him with. He had sat where they had dropped him off for hours, his body boiling with anger. His hands were clenched in fists and shook as he took in his options.

He could go back. He wanted to. Go back and help with the rebuilding of the community, bury the dead. He wanted to. He could. The road was there. Walking back wouldn't have taken very long. But as his eyes wandered to where he had come from, his mind pondered the consequences.

Through all the grime and horror of the apocalypse he and always been sure of himself to pull a trigger when necessary. To kill whoever needed killing when it came to it. But now, with Maggie and Daryl, at least only them, on the wrong side of the barrel, Sam wasn't sure if he could pull the trigger himself. Of course, he was angry, and he felt he could most certainly hurt them, badly. But kill? He wasn't quite sure about that.

So, his eyes wandered north, the opposite direction of home. He couldn't go back. Not yet, not while everything was so fresh. Maggie would just be out for his blood and not even Rick could be able to stop her from killing him.

But as he felt his mind settle on the choice he felt his heart yearn for home. For Beth, for his friends and comrades. But going back would just get him killed, or worse, cause a bigger fracture and throw the communities into a war. The King and the Foundry would be with Sam, while Maggie would be against him Alexandria caught in the middle. A war between three of the four settlements would be beyond destructive, and it was more than likely that none of them would be able to come back from it.

So, with a heavy heart, Sam slung the backpack Maggie had provided him with over his shoulders and as his sore legs stood up, and his backpack over his shoulder. He glanced down the road going south and turned his back to it.

Okay! here we are, Sam has been cast out of the communities and Maggie told everyone that he was killed in a Savior ambush. I know some people are not gonna like that and I accept it, but this was a direction that I always meant to go and I hope you guys will stick with me as we continue this story. Review! ~Pacco1