Part Six
Last chapter.
This story was one I wrote last year and in one night. I decided not to post it right away since I was planing on coming back and fixing it up and maybe adding a few things. But in the end I realized it was too long so when I was ready to post it I needed to break it up into chapters which working out for me because now I'm three weeks ahead on my writing shedual. So more stories for more fandoms to come after this.
Thank you to everyone who read, favorited/gave kudos and commited on this it means a lot to me.
I own nothing. Thank you Robert Kirkman for making such a great world and characters. Thank you so much.
Enjoy.
XXX
A search party was sent, of course, and they all had high hopes that they would find him with all their collective powers. Andrea, along with the original group that went to retrieve him with Princess, Magna, Yumiko, Kelly and Connie- who all after some thought went to live in Alexandria. While they were doing that, the three harbingers worked tirelessly to train the girls with their lovers as supports.
"You're doing great Maggie."Jesus assured.
"In my mind you mean." Maggie snorted as she made a few stones dance in the air- terramancy.
"Don't think of it that way." he told her watching as she lined them up then sent them off like bullets to embed themselves into a tree. "With Glenn and Morgan's powers combined this is pretty real."
"You mean as real as you can make it." she sighed.
"Mags." Glenn groaned, he was sweating, standing off to the side as he watched her smile strong on his lips. "Just trust us."
"I do." she assured. "I just don't see how learning how to control my powers in my mind is going to make it so I can control them when I wake up."
"It will," he assured. "Trust me."
He left her to play with the pebble bullets and went to check on Carol. The sight that greeted him only made him smile. There they were, Mr. and Mrs. Dixon standing in the middle of a herd of walkers with no weapons, and neither looked scared. Part of that was because this was all mental and those thing's bark was worse than their bite. The other part was their powers.
Taking a deep breath Carol grounded herself and flung her arms out. As she did a wall of diamond appears surrounded them. The walkers gnawed and clawed at it helplessly piling onto the wall like a second skin. This would normally be problematic in a situation like this, seeing as Carol couldn't hold up the wall forever and there was little chance of the walkers walking away from disinterest. But not with Carol's powers. They found out that she could do interesting things with them. Pulling her hands back ever so slightly so the walled pulled with her, she then pushed with all her might forcing the wall to push and send the walkers flying in all direction. She then let the wall down only to create a smaller one that she sent flying like a frisbee. The best part about diamonds, they don't break they cut. The death diamond disk sliced through the walker's heads like a newly sharpened razor through flesh. She sent it back and forth taking out as many walkers as was in her range while Daryl tore apart the ones that got too close. They were a perfect team, Jesus thought. Close range offense and long-range offense plus defense. They were unstoppable.
It wasn't like that in the beginning. When she first woke up- in their dreamworld, but still- she had panicked and wrapped her arms around Daryl and put the wall without thinking, keeping everyone out. It took a lot of coaxing from Daryl to finally get her to put it down. After that, it was easy to find out what was her trigger for the wall. She wanted to protect her family. And she intended to do so with everything she had.
He smiled moving onto Michonne.
Even though he was the teacher here, it was the girl's boyfriends that did most of the training. In all honesty he thought he should be out there with the others hunting down Negan. But they somehow convinced him to stay with the girls. Most of that may have been Aaron's influence.
So when he found Michonne it didn't surprise him to see Ezekiel pushing her. They were fighting another herd, this one just as fierce as the last. Out of everyone Michonne's powers would be the most helpful. She could phase through objects. And after some time and training they found that if she was touching you she could pass on the power to you. So he watched as she phased through the walker's head ripping out their brains then passed through a few so she was behind them using her sword to slash through the tops of their heads. And whenever she sensed Ezekiel was in trouble she would reach to let the danger phase right through him. Even though his powers were not on a level with the others, Ezekiel was just fine with that. His connection with Shiva allowed him to direct her towards the most immediate threats while he dealt with the others with his blade. He was a skilled fighter even without all those amazing powers. So Jesus wasn't too worried about him.
In the end they already had a good team. If Negan's powers were not the defining component of the battle they would just go ahead without him. Unfortunately he was the main defense they would have against the Alpha.
"Great work my queen." The king cheered as she slew another bunch of walkers with her sword and offed another by tearing out its brain.
"I thought we agreed you weren't going to call me that." she panted wiping her brow of mental sweat.
"But you are my queen, or will be once this ugliness with the whisperers is settled." he smirked.
"Did you just propose?"
"I may have." he shrugged. "But such matters can be discussed once the battle is won."
She wanted to continue, looking flabbergasted and beyond terrified, but Glenn's voice rang out cutting her off.
"Guy's." he called looking shaky. "Morgan and I are at our limits." to push his point he slowly lowered to his knees. "We need to take a break."
Jesus looked around hearing this and noticing that the world around them was beginning to waver and the walkers were no longer in abundance. They had been in there well over an hour, they should let the telepath and illusionist rest for a bit. Not to mention the girls, they were still recovering. Though he could tell by the scowl Daryl was sporting and by the way Ezekiel's smile faded that neither were too pleased about the idea. Even Glenn, who had suggested the idea, didn't seem thrilled. The only reason he was probably even saying this was because he was about to pass out.
"We'll be back later tonight." he promised them. "To say goodnight and to do some last-minute training. But I think you girls are doing amazing. By the time you wake up you'll have full control."
Even Maggie- who was skeptical about this whole mental training thing- couldn't bring herself to damper the spirit. She and the other women were all proud of themselves. They've come so far and accomplished so much.
The Whisperers won't know what hit them.
The men said their goodbyes to their women, sharing chased kisses and scenting in Daryl and Carol's case, then the world began to darken.
When he opened his eyes, the walls were orange with the setting sun. He blinked a couple of times, then slowly sat uplifting his arms up in the air in a long stretch. Groaning as his muscled released their tension.
"Rough time?" Aaron asked from his bedside.
Jesus couldn't help but smile. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of waking up to Aaron's face. Something that- with any man- used to terrify him.
"Just the opposite." he answered. "The girls are doing well. I think that by the time they wake up they will be unstoppable." he paused watching his boyfriend for a moment before asking the million-dollar question. "Any news about Negan?"
Aaron's smile deflated and he looked down at his folded hands leaning back in his chair.
"No." he sighed. "They've searched to the edge of our territory, but nothing."
"I see." Jesus nodded. "Then he's probably either been caught by or is with the whisperers."
"What does that mean for us?"
"It means we haven't got a prayer." Jesus groaned, swinging his legs over so his feet were planted on the ground. "With both the Alpha and Negan's powers against us even our strongest B!TTEN haven't got a chance."
"Oh." Aaron murmured looking horrified.
"But," Jesus smiled thinly. "I think that until we have proof that he really has joined their side we shouldn't think too much on that. Until they come back with news we should focus on the now. Training the girls and ourselves for the fight ahead."
"Yeah." Aaron nodded still looking disheartened. "I'm gonna go check on Daryl and the others."
"I'll go with you."
"No you should rest."
"I am rested."
"Paul-"
"C'mon, I know you're the empath so can't you tell I know that this is bothering you?" his smile went from thin to genuine and loving. "Just let me be here for you."
The fact that he honestly meant that made him want to laugh hysterically. He had never met a man that could have him so completely at their mercy. Never, he would never allow it.
Aaron was truly something else.
Said man smiled listlessly but nodded waiting for Jesus to stand before making his way to the other rooms. Morgan was in the same room as Michonne and Ezekiel sharing a small meal with the king most likely brought in by Jerry.
"Daryl and Glenn aren't gonna want to leave the other's sides either." Aaron noted softly so as not to disturb them.
"Bet no one's brought them food yet." Jesus added. "Let's check in on them and then bring them some if the case may be."
Aaron nodded and moved to the other room housing the archer and scout. Both were at the bedsides of their "spouses" Glenn looking tired and Daryl looking pensive. Both nibbling on some fruit.
"Jerry." they both said with a snort.
That man was one of the best things about this community. They both made a mental note to make sure he survived the coming battle. He's always pleasant personality was something they were not willing to lose.
"Do you want to go get something to eat, or maybe take a walk?" Jesus asked gently still intuned with Aaron's dower mood which made him worry since he was always such an optimist.
"Not really hungry." Aaron shrugged.
"Then a walk it is." Jesus said giving a cheeky smile and pulling on Aaron's elbow.
"I have no choice in this do I?"
"Nope."
They didn't go outside the walls like they would normally do. Right now it was too dangerous even with their powers. So they just walked around the community side by side not much for holding hands in public.
They walked in silence for the longest time just enjoying the quiet. Most of the citizens were inside eating.
But eventually the silence would have to be broken.
"I never asked." Jesus started looking up toward the sky. "What did you do before the turn?"
"You don't already know." Aaron snorted. "I would have thought that Princess would have told you."
"She couldn't see your past like she could the others. We didn't have anything of yours old enough to scry with." he reminded.
"Scry? Is that what she does?"
"That's what I'm going to call it for now." he shrugged. "Can't think of any other way to describe it."
"Huh."
"You're dodging the question."
"There isn't much to tell." Aaron sighed stopping and taking a seat on a bench, Jesus following suit. "I was a politician for a little while, but I gave that up to help others in Africa. I was part of an NGO, handing out supplies and dealing with men pointing guns in my face. Then I met Eric and we moved back to DC. Things got complicated since the new world started soon after."
It was the first time they talked about Eric. Jesus could tell that it was still a sore spot. His pain was palpable, so much so that Jesus couldn't even feel jealous.
"I'm sorry." he said looking at the ground. "I didn't mean to-"
"It's fine." Aaron assured. "It's never going to stop hurting, but it's manageable now."
"Still-"
"I promise I'm fine." Aaron's smile was watery even though he tried his best to make it anything but. "What about you, what did you do before this?"
Jesus could tell he was trying to change the subject, but he didn't mind.
"Um…" he thought about the best way to describe his past. "I was kind of a drifter." he admitted. "I grew up in group homes, not fun let me tell you." he chuckled humorlessly. "As soon as they found out about my preference I was public enemy number one."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be." He smiled. "In a way, it made me as tough as I am now. So I'm kind of thankful. After that I just… drifted. I didn't really have any ambition to do much but survive. So I backpacked back and forth from one end to the country to the other. Would stay for a few months working at bars, cafes and diners. Saved up when I could and visited places like England and Germany."
"That sounds… both sad and liberating."
"It kind of was." Jesus smiled. "Most people, when I tell them how I lived look at me with pity or mention how rough that sounds, but I was honestly content. I got to see some cool places, and I was free to do whatever I want. Yeah there were hard times, like when I couldn't get work or would have to spend time on the streets. But I honestly didn't mind that."
"How did you learn to fight then?"
"I had a phone, cheap as hell, but it had internet." Jesus shrugged. "I watched a few training videos on YouTube and trained myself."
"That's impressive." Aaron smiled. "What about the obsession with books. Was that a result of the end of the world or did you always love reading?"
"Always." Jesus chuckled. "It was one of the only things that kept me sane in the group homes. And when I started backpacking I would spend hours in libraries just reading whatever was available. I even stole a few of the ones I really liked."
"For shame." Aaron laughed, getting a hilarious image of Jesus being a sneaky ninja and stealing a mountain of books from a library, angry library hot on his tail. "That explains why your such a survivalist."
It made Jesus's whole world light up to hear Aaron laugh. He hoped that when all this Whisperer business was over he would get to hear it all the time. But for now he'll settle with what he can get.
"Hey," he called gently. "We're going to win this. You know that right?"
The laughter died, just as Jesus knew it would but he still needed to hear Aaron's thoughts on this.
"No I don't know." Aaron murmured looking down, then taking Jesus's hand. "But I won't give up. I'll stay and fight by your side till the end. Whatever way that may go. I won't give up."
Jesus smiled and leaned forward resting his brow on Aaron's.
"That's all I ask."
"Speaking of books." Aaron smirked pulling back a little. "Think we'll be able to finish The Deathly Hallows tonight?"
Jesus snorted leaning back on the bench. He had started reading aloud to Aaron after that one night. Now Jesus could barely read a book without having to read it to the other man.
"Maybe if we pull an all-nighter." Jesus smiled.
"We have to." Aaron urged. "Harry is about to face off against Voldemort. We have to finish it tonight."
"I can't tell if you want me to read to you because you actually like the story or if because you just like my voice."
"Can't it be both?"
They both laughed at that, all the tension from earlier washed away from their muscles.
"Someone get the king, Rick is here!"
And like that the tension was back. They both looked up at that, seeing the gates opening. Rick had returned to Alexandria to organize the search party. If he was back that meant there had to be news on Negan.
"Did you find him?" Jesus demanded as they came up the safe-zone leader, seeing the members of the search party with him.
"Not exactly." Rick tisked tilting his head.
"What does that mean?" Aaron asked looking up at the other man.
Before Rick could answer, however, someone groaned in the back of the wagon Abraham was steering. They glanced over in time to see Negan pop up and lean over the side looking green. His leather jacket was a little worse for wear and he was missing his little red scarf.
"What happened to him?" Jesus questioned backing up as the man began to gag.
"He came back." Andera answered.
"He what?" both men gawked.
"Said he found the Whisperers." Sasha informed. "Said they took him in, but he had to accept something before he became one of them."
"The bite." Jesus took an educated guess receiving a bunch of nods.
"And it did that to him?" Aaron gulped thinking this was a bad sign.
"Nah," Rick shook his head. "Wagon made him motion sick, hasn't had a chance to rest."
"But he came back?" Jesus asked again.
"Yeah." Manga nodded jumping down from her horse. "Hey teach. Turns out unlike us, Negan wasn't too keen on accepting his knew situation. So he ran as soon as he got the chance and came back to us."
"He told us something else." Kelly translated for Connie. "He told us about the Alpha's pet. She called it Beta."
"Beta?" Jesus wondered looking to Princess. "You never said anything about this."
"I never saw it." She groaned laying back in her saddle. "But I know why now."
"He said it's a B!TTEN turned." Rick told him. "What you said about the B!TTEN gettin' bit again."
"She controls it." Princess growled. "The Alpha bitch, and the reason why I never saw it is because it's power is super speed."
He stared at her like she had just announced they were all going to die.
"Your visions?" he demanded.
"Still the same." she assured.
"Then the plans the same." he nodded. "We just have to prepare for it."
"And how are we going to do that?" Andrea asked.
"The same way we trained the girls." Jesus assured. "But first, we have to get Negan on our side."
"And how do you plan on doing that?" Rick snorted.
"Don't worry, I have a plan." Jesus smirked.
When Negan woke up a few hours later he was slightly relieved to see that he was in his cell in Alexandria.
"It was all a dream." he sighed.
"Sorry to say," He jumped up from his bed backing himself into a corner staring horror-struck at Jesus through the bars. "But it wasn't."
"You." Negan sneered. "What the fucking shiting hell are you doing here?"
"I'm here to help you." Jesus assured.
"Really," Negan snorted. "Don't need it thanks."
"But you do." Jesus insisted. "That bite on your neck caused something. Your already clearing."
Negan's hand shot up to his neck where he indeed felt a bite on the verge of healing.
"Not a dream." he muttered.
"Nope."
"So then what now?"
"Now I'm going to try and talk to you."
"And why would that be?"
"Because your powers will make you dangerous, Negan. But they don't have to. You could be one of us. You could be part of us."
"Really. You really think I'm going to go for that. Don't forget you slaughtered more than half of my guys."
"The people I killed… you know who they were. They were the people that forced you to be who you became. They were the rapists and scum of the earth that you had to keep in line. You were tough before the world turned, no one will deny that. But you don't have to be that kind of tough. Not anymore. You can become one of us. You can live out your days in peace, helping the community thrive."
"And we'll sing kumbaya and hold hands." Negan chuckled. "You really think they're going to go for that. I killed three of their people. I almost killed two others in that clearing. I put them through hell. And you think they are gonna let me be one of them after all that."
"I do."
"Why?"
"Because Princess saw what happens if I convince you to fight with us, to be apart of us."
"And what would that be?"
At this Jesus tilted his head slightly upwards.
"Glenn, patch Princess through, Morgan remove the bars." at his request the cell disappeared so they were in a dark classroom instead with a projector. "Clever." Jesus praised looking back to Negan. "Watch the board."
Slightly freaking out about the fact that the room just fucking changed without any notice, Negan numbly did as he was told and turned to the whiteboard where a film was playing.
It was him in the film, he had his beard back and he was wearing plaid. He was kneeling in the dirt with a little girl.
"See that, you put this part in the dirt and cover it then give it some water." he told demonstrating what he was saying. "Then in a few months this little leaf stalk will be a bunch of tomatoes."
"And you'll use it to make spaghetti sauce?" the girl asked smiling up at him.
"Indeed I will little lady." He nodded his own smile bright and genuine.
"Negan."
Turning they saw Rick with his grey beard walking up the garden path,
"Daddy." the little girl, Judith cried running up to him and squealing as he picked her up and swung her around. "Daddy, Mr. Negan's gonna make our tomatoes into spaghetti sauce."
"Oh is he now?" Rick smiled. "Maybe we can talk him into sharing some."
"Only if I can get Carl to make me a new set of knives in return." Negan laughed standing to his full height. "My old ones are on their way out."
"I'll see what I can do." Rick smiled taking the last steps toward Negan
"What can I do for you sheriff?" Negan teased wiping his hands on his pants.
"Council meeting in an hour." Rick told him. "Talking about expanding, we need all council members there."
"I'll be there." Negan nodded.
"Good, also Daryl is coming from Hilltop and Morgan from the KIngdom to discuss the next fair. Guess we're hosting it this year."
"I'll talk to Eugene and the others so we can start making preparations."
"Good to hear." Rick nodded. "I'm glad you're with us. Seems like a long time since the war. I am sorry for how that all happened. We shouldn't have done what we did."
"No, you shouldn't have." Negan agreed. "But let's be honest, I shouldn't have tried to enslave all those places. Eventually one of them would have revolted. In a way, I'm glad it was yours."
"How's that?"
"No one else would have been stupid enough to leave me alive."
They both laughed at that.
"Rick." looking back the leader saw Andrea waving him over, her belly bulging out with new life.
"Best go." Rick said. "Don't forget the meeting."
"Already on my way." Negan nodded.
"Bye Mr. Negan." Judith waved over her daddy's shoulder.
"See you later little lady." Negan called back.
The film stopped there on Negan's smiling face. The man himself couldn't quite comprehend what he saw. Couldn't understand why the hippie was showing him this.
"That was a possible vision of the future." Jesus told him. "One that could happen if you choose it."
"Future." Negan choked. "That's my future."
"It could be." Jesus nodded. "You don't have to control a bunch of scum anymore. You can be apart of something greater. Even help lead it. You just have choose to do so."
The man said nothing for the longest time. Just stared at the image of his smiling face. At a happy man in an unhappy world.
"What do I have to do?" he finally asked.
"Just choose to stand with us." Jesus told him. "I'm not gonna lie to you, it's not going to be easy. There is still a lot of tension. But after this war, we can start to mend this bridge. For now just fight with us."
"And you think we have a chance." Negan barked. "I saw them, I saw that monster. We're all as good as dead."
"No we're not." Jesus assured. "If you fight with us we will win."
Negan finally turned to him, contemplating his options and finding he didn't have much to think about.
"Fine." he sighed. "Don't have anything better to do."
"Good." Jesus smiled pulling the ink from his arms. "Then your training begins now."
Turns out, training Negan was way easier than the others. He took to his powers like wet on water. Which was terrifying if Jesus was honesty. But as long as he was on their side he wasn't complaining. On the outside, the girls had woken and turns out the mental training worked exactly like they wanted. The girls were masters with their powers, moving earth, casting diamond walls, and moving through walls with ease. So he knew as soon as Negan woke up they would be ready. For now he was going to continue to have him manipulate the mental walkers and himself till he was perfect.
Then he woke up, and the real preparations began.
"Alright, he's the plan." Princess called, swinging on the ink loop she made Jesus make for her to float in the air- the girl had no idea how to be serious it seemed. "I have seen tons of way this fight can go down. So we're going to prepare for all of them."
"And how do you propose we do that?" Abraham asked.
All three communities were standing in a clearing in one enormous group, ready to prepare for the coming battle.
"The same way we trained a few of the B!TTEN." she yelled falling backward so she was hanging by her knees making Jesus groan as he turned the loop around. "Mentally. Glenn is going to channel the visions to Morgan and he's going to make you see them. This way we can plan for every possibility."
No one argued that.
"Alright," she smiled jumping to the ground and throwing her arms in the air. "Let's get this party started."
For three weeks they met like this and practiced with every possibility. There had been times that they failed and the enemy killed most of them and took others captive. But when they failed they started the vision again and kept at it until they won. In a way it was like a video game. Just keep hitting the restart button till you finally beat the boss. However, when the real fight came they wouldn't get a readoe.
When she wasn't ordering them around, Princess was focusing on the Whisperers tracking their progress.
When the time finally came for them to meet the enemy, none knew if they were truly ready, but didn't have much choice.
Time to go to war.
They stood in the field waiting for the Whisperers around nine in the morning. All were tense as bowstrings as they searched the horizon for any sign of them. The tension so thick it was like a blanket overtop them.
It made Aaron grind his teeth.
"Hey." Jesus soothed taking his hand. "Focus on me."
He did, he pushed out everyone else and zeroed in on Jesus, feeling calm wash over him like the lapping waves of the ocean.
"How can you be so calm?" he whispered.
"We've trained for this." he answered. "We got this. No matter what happens we're prepared. It also helps that there is a rather handsome man right next to me."
Despite the situation, Aaron couldn't help but laugh at that.
"Yeah, I guess it's hard to be nervous when that's the case."
It was a bald-faced lie and Jesus knew it, but he appreciated Aaron for making the effort.
"Heads up." Princess called getting everyone's attention.
There they were, staggering over the horizon, a mass of the dead ranging in the high thousands. Though they now knew that not all of them were truly dead. And at the center was something that just wasn't right. A creature seven feet in height was twitching and vibrating like it took all its will to not just dash off and do some god awful things. Its face was contorted in what looked like a permanent snarl and its skin blurred as if even that was moving just too fast for the human eye to track. And standing next to it was a woman wearing a decayed face.
"That's her." Princess told Rick. "That's the alpha. She's controlling all those walkers."
Rick nodded stepping forward.
"I want to talk to Alpha." he hollered across the field. "We can meet in the middle, I'll bring four of mine and you bring four of yours. Sound fair?"
There was no answer, and for a few minutes there seemed like there wouldn't be. Then five figures started to move through the sea of death.
"Glenn, Maggie, Ezekiel, and Daryl." Rick stated. "Let's go."
Ezekiel quickly gave a kiss to Michonne's cheek and Daryl pressed his brow to Carol's before they joined the others as they walked across the field.
The whole time Glenn was broadcasting the exchange to the eleven.
"You're Alpha?" Rick asked as they stopped a few feet from the other survivors.
"I am." she nodded keeping close to her turned B!TTEN.
"I'm Rick Grimes I lead Alexandria." he introduced himself. "This is King Ezekiel, leader of the Kingdom, and Maggie and Glenn Rhee leaders of Hilltop."
Alpha said nothing to this.
"This doesn't have to happen." Rick told her. "We don't have to fight."
"Yet you amass your armies against us." Alpha snorted.
"You attacked us first." Maggie accused. "Went after two of my people while they were on the road."
"Then again right outside my gates." Ezekiel pointed out. "We have done nothing to provoke such actions."
"This world is not what it once was." Alpha told them looking them each in the eye. "It is a world where only the strong survive. We are nature taking its course. We are riding the world of the week and giving it the strong as it wants. We are simply animals following our instinct."
"Madam." Ezekiel chuckled. "That is not the way of the animals. I know much about such things. That tiger back there-" he pointed to Shiva who stood snarling by Michonne. "-she is my friend. And she does not think as you do."
"Animals do not think." Alpha countered. "They only act."
"On that you are sorely mistaken." Ezekiel hissed.
"Look," Rick said getting the attention back on him. "We can form a connection. Just like all our communities are connected, you and your people could be part of that. We can put everything that happened behind us. We've done it before. A few of the people standing over there were at war with us a year ago. Now they stand with us, as pillars of our communities. It could be like that now, with you."
Alpha didn't even hesitate.
"Only the strong survive." she growled. "The week will die. GET THEM!"
And like that, the battle began.
Everyone rushed forward to help Rick and the others who were now all fighting the Alpha's own B!TTEN. Though they didn't get very far-seeing as how another had used their powers to teleport most of the herd right in front of them.
"Don't panic." Jesus called. "We've trained for this."
On cue, Carol threw up her hands calling up a wall and letting the herd crash against it. She held it there for a moment letting the walkers and humans become piles of gore against her wall before pushing with all her might and sending them flying away. It of course didn't get them all. there was still another waved after that. Negan stepped forward then glaring at the herd.
"Halt." he called and about one-third of them stopped. "Turn to the nearest body next to you and rip their brains out. No biting!"
And they did. There was a symphony of screams and gargled growls as flesh was torn from bone and head beat to a bloody pulp. But two-thirds of the herd were still advancing.
"Take them out!" Jesus called.
All the none B!TTEN started firing off their rifles and bows not caring if what they hit was dead or not. Aaron was sending attacks from enemy B!TTEN right back at them throwing them off and in some cases killing them. Michonne was slashing with her sword and ripping out brains with her powers ignoring the begs and pleads as she went. Andrea was lifting groups of a dozen or more in the air before sending them headfirst into the ground crushing their skulls. Jesus was using his ink to create swords, knives, guns or just whipping it around like a water whip, slashing, and stabbing staining his ink a dark crimson while keeping an eye on Aaron. Princess and Morgan worked together swinging their spear and staff impaling and bludgeoning their opponents with ease.
Eventually, it got to the point where Carol got impatient. with Jesus and Aaron's help she rounded the remaining herd and trapped them with her wall then started to compress. Soon enough there was nothing left but a cube of blood and bile.
Finally they could see Rick and the others, and they were not doing too good.
They were holding their own against Alpha and the others. Maggie put up a wall of dirt to keep them at bay while Ezekiel, Rick and Daryl shot the enemy down and Glenn warned them of their opponent's moves. They had managed to gun down all her lutenists and seeing this as well as most of her people were gone, Alpha decided it was time to use her trump card.
"Get them." she told her turned.
It was only thanks to Glenn's powers that they weren't destroyed. He was able to warn all of them when the turned would strike letting them barely escape certain death. Jesus and the others rushed forward trying to track the turned.
"Where the fuck is it?" Negan snarled rushing to Glenn. "Tell me so I can stop it."
"Carol behind you!" Glenn cried.
She barely got her wall up in time before it slammed into it and disappeared again.
"Mother dick." Abraham snarled.
"Carol put a wall around the none B!TTEN."Jesus told her.
"Ya get in th're too woman." Daryl barked at her jumping out of the way of another attack.
"What no!" she cried back.
"Do it." Daryl snarled. "Ya can't defend yerself if yer defendin' 'em."
"He's right." Aaron told her. "Do it."
She didn't look happy but she did as she was told.
Now the B!TTEN focused on the turned. For what felt like hours they just dodged and preyed. Getting warnings from Glenn, Princess and Aaron. But they couldn't keep this up forever.
"It won't stay still long enough for one of us to get it." Andrea shrieked as she and Maggie tore up the terrain around them trying to trip the monster but having no luck.
"And anytime we try to attack the Alpha it knocks us down." Michonne gritted slashing out with her sword.
"It's playin' wit us." Daryl snarled.
"Just take out the Alpha!" Negan suggested turning his gun on her.
"No!" Jesus warned pulling the gun down. "She's what's keeping it in line. You kill her and we stand zero chance of killing it."
"Dammit!" Negan snarled turning back to the fight.
"Rick." Princess called. "Remember that move we talked about."
"But we never tested it." he hollered back at her.
"No time like the present." she urged.
With a gruntled groan he looked to Glenn and Aaron.
"Glenn connect me to Aaron." he told his friend feeling the connection. "Aaron connect me with the monster."
"You're not going to like what you feel." Aaron warned.
"Just do it." Rick roared.
He wasn't wrong. The amount of pure unadulterated rage that filled him nearly sent him to his knees. But he gritted his teeth and focused. He was connected to the monster now, in two ways. Emotionally and mentally. He had what he needed. Didn't matter where the creature was now, he just had to focus.
Turns out this was a pretty good distraction.
He held out his hand, knife in the other.
"Stop him." Alpha cried not knowing what he was doing but not liking it.
"It's going after Rick." Princess cried.
"Like hell." Daryl growled as he and Jesus jumped in front of Rick.
Daryl launched himself at the blur throwing it to the ground while Jesus then secured it there with his ink. Andrea jumped in using her powers to hold it down as best as she could. Maggie pulled a huge boulder from the ground and slammed it right on the torso of the monster missing the brain by inches but keeping it down. That is until it started to vibrate.
"Shiva!" Ezekiel called as he and his feline friend jumped forward.
The big cat made quick work of ripping off its right leg while the king cut off the other with one clean stroke.
Now all that was left was the;
"BRAIN!" Rick called ripping the brain from its skull so it appearing in his palms.
"Ew." Princess gripped.
"NO!" Alpha screamed.
They all turned to her and she realized just how outmatched she was. She pulled out a gun firing three shots. None of which hit them. Carol was marching forward her hands raised, diamond wall standing strong without a scratch as the bullets shattered against it. Panicked, the Alpha turned quickly on her heel and began to sprint.
"Don't think so." Negan ticked holding out his hand. "Stop."
And she did. Carol dropped her hands and the wall with them and they all marched forward. They circled her so they could see her glaring eyes.
"I offered you peace." Rick drawled. "This didn't have to happen. Your people didn't have to die."
Her mouth twisted into a sneer as she spat at him.
"They were weak, only the strong survive."
"You're wrong." Rick shook his head. "But you won't ever see that." With a nod from Rick Michonne pulled a knife from her belt, stepped forward and phased the blade through the Alpha's head. Letting it solidify and giving it a twist the former necromancer fell dead without any chance of coming back.
"It's done." Jesus sighed sagging a little were he stood. "It's finally done."
They did a quick headcount finding they had lost a few of their people. They knew it was a possibility but it didn't make the hurt any less. The only solace they had was that none of them died from friendly fire. They got to work making arrangements for their fallen making plans to reconvene on the morrow to talk about what comes next.
Looking forward to a new brighter future.
"I can't believe it's really over." Aaron sighed.
They were curled up in bed, Aaron with his head on Jesus's chest and Jesus's arms wrapped tightly around him.
"I'm not sure what to do without this." he yawned. "I mean for the longest time this was life. What do we even do now?"
Jesus laughed at that, kissing the top of his head.
"We live." he smiled. "We build. We thrive. The world is ours now. Whatever it throws at us we'll handle it. This is the new world." he sighed tightening his hold.
"And it will be what we make it."
XXX
That's it.
Thank you so much for reading this, it was a lot of fun to write.
Hope you liked it.
Thank you again.
See you in the next story.
