The Wolf You Feed

Chapter 82

Carol spotted Jesus first. His face lit up when he saw her pass through the open gates, walking slightly behind Rick. Before she knew what was happening, her feet were lifted off the ground and she was being crushed nearly to death. Grey Wolf lowered her gently to her feet but did not release his hold on her.

"I thought I lost you to Poseidon," he said, pulling her against the hard planes of his chest. Carol allowed the contact. Until the man leaned down with the clear intent of kissing her in front of everyone. She wasn't comfortable with that. Carol pushed back, her hands against his chest. She ducked under one of his arms and spun her body, extricating herself from his embrace. Instead of taking her not so subtle hint, Grey Wolf reached for her again. She took another step back, darting out of his reach. When that still didn't deter the man, Carol skirted around Rick, putting him between them and using him as a human shield.

Aaron was hugging Enid while Michonne quietly explained to him where she was and why she never turned up at Hilltop. Aaron's eyes widened and he clutched the girl protectively in his arms. Despite Enid's protests, it was quickly decided that she would go to the medical center to let Dr. Carson examine her and make sure she didn't require any further medical attention.

Deanna was eventually able to get some form of control over her small but rowdy group. They came to Hilltop for a very specific purpose and she preferred to make the visit as short as possible. Not only because the saviors were liable to show up at any time, but because Gregory was already hovering nearby and the less time she had to spend in his presence the better.

This time, Deanna let Rick do the talking. Not that it helped. The meeting with Gregory still went about how Deanna expected. She understood fear. She was afraid of the saviors too. But Gregory was a coward. A coward that started this fight. And now didn't want to even take responsibility for that. Gregory showed some mild interest when he found out Katie and her partner were from another camp. But Deanna guessed most of his interest was due to the fact that they were women.

"Are you from the other camp as well," Gregory asked, gesturing towards Sherry. Sherry shook her head.

"She escaped the Sanctuary with us," Carol explained, hoping that would put an end to Gregory's questions. But the man was like a dog with a bone. Sherry was a pretty girl. Carol guessed that was the main motivation behind his interest. The man was not only a coward. He was a pig as well.

"She's part of your group then?," he asked. He didn't fail to notice the group was exchanging glances at each other and not answering his question. Sherry took a deep breath.

"No," she admitted, "I'm not part of their group. I just didn't want to stay at the Sanctuary anymore." Sherry wasn't sure about the tall native american man that she had escaped the place with. He seemed half crazy and all the way unpredictable. But when he shifted his body closer to hers while she spoke, Sherry was grateful to have him next to her. If anything, she was sure the man would not allow anyone to force her to go back to Negan.

"And why is that?," Gregory asked.

"Negan made me one of his wives," Sherry said. She knew everyone would find out eventually. So there was no point in denying it. She did feel guilty for putting everyone here in more danger than they were already in. But there wasn't a lot she could do about that.

The group suddenly had Gregory's full attention. The man leaped up from his chair, knocking it over backwards and onto the floor with a clatter. His eyes flew open as he stared at the girl. She was pretty. He was considering offering her safe haven in Hilltop. With any luck she would show him the proper appreciation later. But now he wanted the woman gone.

"Are all of you CRAZY?," Gregory hollered. "Do you have any idea what Negan is going to do to us if he finds out we have one of his WIVES here?" Gregory pointed towards the door. "You've all got to go right now!"

Jesus attempted to reason with the man. But Gregory wasn't listening anymore. These people were clearly insane. They had no chance at beating the saviors. And he had no interest in dying for their cause. Hilltop could afford to pay their tribute. If other communities couldn't, that was their problem. Not his.

The tears were welling up in Sherry's eyes as she descended the stairs of the Hilltop mansion. She felt an arm go around her shoulders. Looking to her right, she was expecting to see Carol. That was the only woman she knew. But instead she saw it was the woman with the scarred face that was offering her comfort.

"You can come with us," Katie offered. Sherry leaned into the woman and thanked her. She was grateful for the offer. And thought the woman was quite brave to help her knowing who and what she was.

Deanna was as relieved as Sherry when he heard Katie offer to take the woman in. She wouldn't have turned the woman away. But hiding her in Alexandria was just one more problem in a long list of problems that seemed to multiply daily. They were already going to have to figure out what to do with Carol and Rowan's father. Carol would be easy to hide. But Grey Wolf was another story. Not only was he easily recognizable, he was unlikely to stay hidden in the event of a conflict.

Deanna was glad to see Carl and Enid were done at the medical center. They needed to leave. And if Enid was already released, that meant nothing was seriously wrong with the girl. Deanna felt horribly guilty that the girl was held captive and assaulted under her watch. She knew Ron had a crush on the girl and was jealous of Carl. But Deanna had literally no idea that the boy was so far gone. Looking back, she felt she should have been paying closer attention to that situation. But hindsight was always 20/20.

Carl and Enid standing near the base of the stairs. Deanna saw there was a semi large crowd of Hilltop residents standing around nearby, making conversation with the young couple. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, one of the men spoke up.

"Are you really going to fight the Saviors?," he asked. Deanna glanced at Rick. Were they going to fight the Saviors? She wasn't so sure anymore.

"Yeah, we are," Rick answered without hesitation. Deanna smiled. Carl turned towards his dad.

"They want to help," Carl explained.

Deanna saw the farmers nodding their agreement to the boy's statement. The man that spoke up asked another question but this time it was directed towards Aaron and Jesus.

"Are you going to fight with us?," he asked.

Jesus and Aaron looked at each other. The faith the residents of Hilltop had in Gregory was slowly eeking away. They looked to Jesus next for leadership but he wasn't equipped to lead the town, even if he wanted to, which he didn't. But Aaron was a natural leader. People trusted him. And the people of Hilltop already started looking at the two men as not only a unit but as their leaders. Jesus nodded his head and ticked his chin towards the group, indicating that Aaron should answer.

"We'll fight," Aaron said. He was planning to elaborate but knew that no one would hear him over the loud cheering of the crowd.