Sadie's POV

Even with all that had happened between that day that Aaron had approached Theresa and I outside of that little run down house of hers and now, as I watched the masses of people…..most of whom didn't hardly know each other from atom….gather in the field before us.

People of various communities, people who had been through God only knows what before all of this…..all coming together to fight for each other.

Sure, it was for a big enough cause, and surely each and everyone of them knew what it was to live under the terror that that bastard had been reigning for God only knows how long…..but…..I don't know, I guess….I guess I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

I guess I never did get over that feeling that all of this was nothing more than one big fucking Twilight Zone episode….maybe I never will.

I took Gareth's hand, beside me, and we met up with Maggie as soon as I spotted her just another few feet away.

"Sure you're up for this?" I asked her. "...big enough turn out for you to turn back now, put your feet up a while."

"I got The Hilltop to stand against The Saviors….I need to be there, at least for the first part." She insisted with a bit of a smirk. "They say you can wage war through the second trimester."

"I hear that." I shot her back a proud smirk of my own.

She couldn't help but chuckle at that….Gareth, of course couldn't either.

I gave him a playful elbow jab to the ribs for it.

Maggie nodded. "I've been fighting since my daddy's farm, can't stop now."

"That's what I like to hear." I agreed. "What about tomorrow though?"

"You been thinking about what that looks like?" She asked with a half smile.

I glanced back at Gareth then looked back at her with another smile.

"Yes, I have…..and I don't know if I can wait for it, although…." I took another gaze over the field, shaking my head to myself before I looked back at her.

"...although, at the same time….I still can't really believe it, you know?"

She nodded back sympathetically. "Just one more fight…and I'm gonna be there, at least for the first part."

I nodded back.

"I'm told The Hilltop lost their doctor. An obstetrician, no less." Ezekiel's voice interjected, as I was just noticing his and Jesus's presence just behind us. "...we have a doctor at The Kingdom, a woman of talent. Join us."

"We'll get ours back." Jesus replied before either of us could answer.

Ezekiel chuckled heartily at the response. "Yes, Jesus. Yes, you will. As sure as the day defeats the night, and on this day we begin to reshape this world, for your child and the children to come. So let's get started."

I nodded as he began to walk away. "Let's do it!" I took another glance over of the field, letting myself zone out a little more than before, before noticing how Maggie was looking at me now.

"What?" She finally asked.

"I was just thinking how The Hilltop's lucky to have you."

She smiled back again before I could walk away, myself. "Well, Alexandria's lucky to have you."

"Right." I scoffed. "...you're only saying that because we both wanna kill the same guy."

"We all wanna kill the same guy." She reminded me. "...I said it because I know someone who's worth following when I see them…...even if I couldn't see it before."

"Well, I can't deny you certainly had your reasons." I chuckled.

"Even so." She insisted.

"When I first met him….." I announced as I began to address the crowd. "...Aaron told me that he had good news for us, my family and myself…that he and Eric were part of a community, a great one at that. He told us that the key to that community was its people, that that….was their greatest resource…...and I didn't believe him. None of us did. Why should we have? Nothing we'd been through before this gave us any reason to believe that these people, these strangers would actually be so willing to offer us something like that when they didn't know us any better than we knew them. Why should they trust us?" I shrugged as I continued to look over the crowd of people. "...to tell you the truth, I'm still not sure if I believe it….I don't know that I ever will…...I think I'll always feel...like I could still wake up from all of this one day…..that all that good that I just talked about has been nothing more than just another weird fucking episode of The Twilight Zone, you know?"

Quite a few scattered chuckles could be heard across the crowd at that.

"...As I stand here and look at you all, however…...it's clear to me that you do believe in that great community, that…." I sighed as I paused for a moment. "...that in spite of whatever the hell you all have been through already….that you do still believe in people...and because of that belief, you all are standing before us today….ready to fight for that community, as you should. As is your right. Because it's not only the rights of ours, but the right of anyone else who would live in peace….try to find some sort of common ground, as we all have, it's the right of anyone else out there…..who maybe only needs to be given one more chance…..just one more…..to see that there really is something better out there for them and their own.

People like Negan, and any asshole who would follow someone like that…...they just don't have a place in a community like that…..in a world like that. Not amongst the people that they, themselves, have hurt…..and worse….." I took another pause, trying hard not to space out and forget where I was going with this, as I searched for the words for what I was about to continue with.

"...When Negan…..when that bastard, himself, was here…...I told him….I said, only one person has to die…and I still mean it…..because who are those little goons of his, but extensions of him, so…..when we do that…..when we've taken out him, and anyone else who would follow him…..only then can we really have that community we all are fighting for, only then can we have that world we are fighting for…..together."

"Together!" Ezekiel repeated as I let him take the floor next. "Bound forever! To quote The Bard, For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother!" He moved to place a hand over Maggie's shoulder as he looked at both of us and smiled. "...For she today, my sister."

Shiva, who of course sat only feet away from him, gave a mighty roar back to that...as if in agreement. I chuckled a little at the thought.

"We've practiced….we've been through it over and over again…" Maggie declared as she took the floor from there. "...we all know that the plan doesn't end this morning. That we may have to live in uncertainty for days, maybe more. That we have to keep our faith in each other…..if we can hold onto that with everything we have...the future is ours. The world is ours."

From there, our communities would take our next move on to The Saviors' so-called Sanctuary, quickly surrounding the area upon arrival as we prepared for the bastard, himself, to arrive on the scene.

When it became clear he was taking his sweet, precious time to do so, we all took our guns and collectively fired three shots into the air to get his attention.

Maggie and I stood up at the front, closest to the gate.

It didn't take much longer for him to finally emerge from the door that let onto a balcony where he would best be able to look over us all, him and the four loyal goons who followed closely after him.

That damned baseball bat of his, held proudly over his shoulder.

Of fucking course.

"Well shiiit!" He declared, smugly. "I'm sorry….I was in a meeting!"