Emma swayed with the truck, her shoulders pressed against Dianne's and Neil's on either side. It had taken some convincing to get Maggie and Jesus to agree to let her join them. She wanted to be there at Sanctuary. She just knew this was going to be historic.
"Do you think they'll surrender?" Jesus asked from behind the wheel.
"They will," Maggie said from the passenger's seat. "Eventually."
"Not now?" Emma asked.
"Would we give up that quick?" Maggie challenged slyly.
"Nope, we wouldn't," Jesus agreed.
"Damn straight," Neil cheered.
"They don't surrender today, they will soon," Maggie assured. "Just need to run out of food, water…, choices."
That was the plan. That had always been the plan. To get them to turn on Negan when he couldn't deliver the Saviors from suffering. It was psychological, and based on human instinct.
"Slow down," Maggie ordered.
"What is it?" Dianne asked.
"Tree in the road—wasn't there before," Maggie said.
"Could've fallen on its own," Jesus offered, taking the caravan closer. "Trees do that."
"It's them," Maggie insisted. "Something happened."
Jesus slowed to a stop and Maggie pulled out her walkie.
"Bertie, turn around," Maggie said. "Bertie," she repeated when there was no answer.
Emma and the others shifted in their seats to look out the back window.
"Maggie," Dianne called.
Driving over the hill, straight for them, were headlights. Emma watched as a long line of cars parked behind them and a moving truck drove past them, parking between them and the tree. Once it came to a complete stop, the back door slid open, revealing three Saviors standing over a beaten Jerry from the Kingdom.
"Oh shit," Neil huffed, looking over his shoulder.
One Savior climbed from the back of the truck and lowered the ramp. He pulled Jerry to his feet and forced him down the ramp, only for Jerry to stumble and roll down the rest of the way. Frustrated, the Savior dragged him across the ground and brought him to sit on his knees. He pulled a gun but did not hold it to Jerry's head.
The other two Saviors unloaded a wooden box and propped it on the hood of their truck, directly in front of Maggie. The passenger door of the moving truck opened and Simon stepped out, sauntering toward them. On the other side, Isaac appeared.
"Hello, hello, hello," he called, raising his hand as if greeting some friendly neighbors. "Ah, What a damn nice night."
"Shit," Emma hissed.
"You all know the drill," Simon continued. "Due to your recent decisions, everything has changed. And yet, nothing has changed. Everyone needs to hand over their guns. Gary, shoot that beautiful bastard if anyone tries anything," he instructed.
Gary pulled Jerry's head up by the hair and aimed his pistol at the man's head.
"Same goes for everyone in the cars," Simon added as he approached Maggie's window and Isaac stopped at Jesus's window.
Jesus passed his rifle through the window. Dianne and Neil passed their rifles forward, and Emma handed over her pistol. Simon held his hand out for Maggie's revolver and she dropped it in his hands.
"How'd you get out?" Maggie asked.
"Three guesses," Simon grinned, leaning against the door.
Maggie simply glared at him.
"Well, let's just say we figured it out," he finally said.
"What'd you do to the others—"
"Oh, yes!" Simon said, interrupting Maggie. "That's exactly where I was going next. Right now, Kingdom is getting its innards splayed out for the world to see. And the Saviors will be taking possession of that property, starting tonight. Same with Alexandria. As long as they don't make it complicated," he chuckled. "But Hilltop? The farmers? The breadbasket of our nascent civilization? It's your lucky day. You've been chosen to keep producing. Gregory made a little bit of a fool out of me in front of the big man, so I am hoping that you are the one to make things right."
Softly, music played in the distance.
"You hear that?" Simon asked, pointing to his ear. "I need you to shift into active listening. Eugene!" He cheered. "Who, by the way, I was admittedly skeptical of, but, man, worked out like gangbusters. He helped us get out of the situation with the masses of the cold and impolite. And now my guys are leading the rest of the herd away. So… this can go one of two ways. One, I can kill this likable gent on his knees over there," he said, gesturing to Jerry. "Drag you out of this car, and put you in this box," he hummed questioningly.
Emma winced at the assertion.
"In which you will not suffocate to death, like your friend, Sasha," Simon assured. "And then we take you to Hilltop, gather everyone up, and kill you in front of the whole place. And then drag you back to Sanctuary and put you on the spike in front of HQ. And then my people will lead the walker herd to the Hilltop and pull off the same move that your people tried unsuccessfully at our place."
Maggie looked to him stoically, and Simon scoffed. Emma's heart pounded in her chest and she thought she might throw up.
"What a pain in the ass for everyone concerned," he groaned. "Or two, you turn around, go home, start watering that sorghum, save everyone and, most importantly, me, a lot of trouble. And, yeah… we're gonna have to kill one of your people. But then we're aces."
Simon stood back from the truck and Gary readied to shoot Jerry.
"Nah, Gary," Simon called. "I got this."
Simon pulled his gun and fired so quickly that Emma barely had time to react. Hot blood sprayed across her face and Neil slumped heavily against her. She stared wide-eyed in front of her, her vision blurring.
"I just really needed you to know what I was talkin' about," Simon said. "I need you to smell it. Now tell me I don't got to kill the gent with the lustrous mane." Maggie didn't answer. "Tell me I don't got to go down the line. Tell me, Maggie! Gary!"
"No!"
Emma jumped at Maggie's shrill demand.
"You don't need to do any of it," Maggie said, quickly calming herself. "I just want to ask you a favor."
"What is that?" Simon asked, seeming genuinely curious.
"I'd like that box," Maggie requested. "Take Neil home, to bury him in."
Simon chuckled, leaning further into the window.
"Favor granted," he said.
He raised his hand and gestured for the Saviors to leave. Simon and the Saviors loaded up, leaving Jerry behind on the road as they pulled out and drove away.
"You need to make it look like we're escaping out back," Carl said, shoving some smoke grenades into a bag. "Get to the woods, halfway to the quarry, and cut the lights. Get enough of a lead on them, hit them, and get away on foot. You know where we'll be."
Anna nodded, checking her rifle and adjusting her stick on her back.
"Just have to get the guns, get everyone else here, and we'll meet you there," he went on, slinging the bag across his body.
"Two minutes, people!" Negan called. "Dig deep. I want these apologies to be memorable. Bonus points for creativity. Work up a poem, sing a song. I love that shit."
"Get going," Carl ordered. "There's gonna be people in the infirmary. They're gonna need your help."
Tobin, Scott, and Andy nodded and rushed off for the infirmary.
"Look, we got guns," Tara said, stepping forward. "We can fight them."
"We will, but not now," Rosita interjected.
"Carl's right," Anna agreed.
"We can't just let them have this place," Michonne implored.
"We can," Carl assured. "All you need to do is survive tonight. This is my show. You said it. This is my plan, and you're gonna do it. You're all gonna do it," he said, heading off.
"One minute!" Negan shouted.
"Let's go," Anna said, grabbing a couple smoke grenades for herself.
She led Jessie, Tara, Rosita, Michonne, and Daryl to the back, where they had lined up the two garbage trucks the scavengers left behind and the vans. "You know where to go," Anna said, gesturing for Daryl to get into the first truck. "Everyone load up. We're driving straight through. Do not stop until we reach the halfway point," she instructed as she moved down the line.
They all loaded up in the vehicles before Anna jumped into the van at the back of the line, buckling in for good measure. She turned the engine and watched as the brake lights of the van in front of her blinked on. And then they were off, and Anna hit the gas pedal.
She heard the back panels of the walls burst open as Daryl drove the first truck through it, and the caravan sped through after him. By the time she passed the Saviors waiting for them on the other side, they had already gathered what was happening and fired on her, their bullets striking the hull of the van.
Eventually, the gun fire stopped, and they raced to the halfway point. When Anna saw that the caravan had stopped, she slammed on her breaks and parked the van, cutting the engine.
"Get into position," Anna barked out, pulling the smoke grenades from her satchel.
The others rushed to the trees, disappearing within as she pulled and dropped the grenades in the road. She darted off to the right and settled in between Jessie and Daryl.
"They didn't get out because of what we did with the truck," Tara said, looking at Daryl.
Daryl looked to her, then to Anna, who clamped her mouth shut and focused her glare on the road.
"Even if they did, it was just a mistake," Rosita said. "And I made one, too. If I hadn't gone to the Sanctuary to kill Negan, maybe Sasha would still be alive. Maybe she would've gone herself. Maybe everything would've ended up going exactly the same way. I didn't want you guys to do it, but maybe you needed to. Maybe you needed to play things out to figure shit out."
"Where the hell are they?" Michonne hissed.
"They're coming," Anna assured.
Just as the words left her mouth, the sound of vehicles approaching filled the air, and they readied their rifles. The line of cars pulled into the smoke and squealed to a stop.
"Now," Daryl called, and they opened fire.
Their bullets clanged against metal and pierced flesh as the Saviors jumped out of their cars to return fire. Mixed in with the clap of rifle fire was the baritone explosion of a pistol, and the fire they were taking from the Saviors soon died out.
Anna could see one Savior left and fired on her, only for her to round the car. There was another shot.
"Tell them to stop!" Anna heard over their rifles.
Finally, Anna spotted her through the window and fired, shattering the glass only for the woman to dart away. They continued to shoot at her until she disappeared into the trees on the other side of the road.
"It's over!" Called Dwight.
After a moment, Anna lowered her rifle and the others followed her out onto the road where they found him sitting against the front car, clutching his left arm. Daryl and Tara kept their rifles aimed on him.
"I made sure you guys could get out the back," Dwight explained. "I drove the convoy right up to the roadblock. I knew what it was."
Daryl dropped his gun.
"I can't go back," Dwight said. "One of 'em got away. She's gonna tell them."
"How'd they get out?" Daryl asked. "Was it what I did?"
Dwight dropped his head.
"Eugene," he said. "I can still help you. I know how they work, how Negan thinks. I want you to win. I want Negan to die. And we can settle up after."
Daryl reached forward and grabbed the vest Dwight wore, pulling it over his head roughly, and Dwight groaned in pain. Daryl shook it out before walking away.
Michonne rounded the car, several guns hanging from her shoulder.
"We need to get back—now," she said, heading for the vans.
Tara and Jessie followed. Anna looked to Rosita before turning to Dwight. The two women helped him to his feet and guided him to Anna's van, where they placed him in the passenger seat. Anna assured Rosita she'd be fine and climbed back into the drivers' seat.
"Thank you," Dwight said.
"Was it what they did?" Anna asked, keeping her eyes forward as she gripped the steering wheel with both hands.
Dwight was quiet for a moment.
"It was part of it," he finally admitted. "Letting the walkers into the building gave us a chance to take 'em out without worrying about the snipers."
Anna bit her cheek and nodded, starting the van and taking the lead on returning to Alexandria.
The caravan pulled into the gates of Hilltop, and Emma jumped out of the truck as soon as Jesus put it in park. Maggie got out as well and stormed over to the prisoners. Emma furrowed her brow and followed after the woman.
Maggie stood at the fence, and Gregory scrambled up to her.
"Margaret, I—I understand you putting me in here, a-a-and message received but… you know I don't belong in here," Gregory implored.
"Shut up," Maggie said, surveying the Saviors.
"What happened out there?" Kal asked.
"That one," Maggie said, pointing out a tall Savior with shaggy brown hair. "Get him out."
"He gets out?" Gregory asked, incredulous.
"Maggie, what are you doing?" Jesus asked as he approached.
The guards opened the gate and Eduardo led the man out.
"Kal, I need your gun," Maggie said, ignoring Jesus.
Kal hesitated a moment, confused, but handed it over nonetheless.
The Savior tore his arm out of Eduardo's grip and stood there, glaring at Maggie.
"Maggie, you don't need to do this," Emma said.
"This one tried to kill you," Maggie said, speaking to Jesus.
"Maggie, you don't wanna do this," the Savior, Alden, called.
"Shut up, Al," the Savior standing in front of Maggie shouted. "If Cupcake wants to put on a show, let her put on a show," he said.
Maggie glared at him and, without a word, fired into his chest. He fell to the ground and she aimed at Alden.
"You wanna be next?" She threatened.
"No, I don't," Alden said, openly fearful.
Maggie finally lowered the gun before looking to Kal.
"Saviors killed one of our own tonight on the road," she explained. "We aren't even, but that was a start."
"Maggie," Jesus called when she turned to leave.
"Get more guards on duty. Start fortifying the walls and bury Neil," she ordered. "First light, everybody else starts tending crops."
"I thought we don't give up?" Jesus asked.
"No, we don't," Maggie snapped. "Simon said the others are under attack, which means there's no more supplies going in, but there might be people. We have to be ready. Gonna be up to Hilltop to make the last stand."
Emma looked to Jesus, unsure, but followed after Maggie.
"Maggie," she called and the woman turned to her. "Two wrongs don't make a right."
"You have Neil's blood on your face," Maggie said simply.
Then she walked away.
Emma wiped at her cheek without thinking, and red coated her fingers.
Daryl pulled the manhole cover aside, the solid metal scraping against the concrete. Once it was out of the way, he grabbed a rock and dropped it within to check for walkers. As Anna had predicted, there was no response to the rock splashing into the filthy water.
Before the group could begin their climb inside, they looked toward their home; walkers filtered into the opening in the wall they had created and fire gleamed, smoke curling into the air.
As Daryl climbed into the sewer, she wondered if their house had fallen victim to Negan's bombing of Alexandria. If all of the books and the memories were being burned away. And for some reason, she worried about the little papier-mâché bird.
Tara followed Daryl into the sewer, and Rosita carefully passed their guns through before making her way inside as well.
"I'm sorry," Dwight said, calling Anna's attention. "I am," he insisted, looking to the heartbroken Michonne before he climbed in.
"We can rebuild," Anna assured before following.
They stood at the ladder, waiting for Michonne to join them.
"Michonne?" Rosita called when the woman made no move. "Michonne," she repeated.
Michonne looked down on them before kneeling down and grabbing the cover.
"Michonne, don't," Anna said. "Michonne."
But it was too late. Michonne shut them inside the sewer. Anna knew they could have gone after her, but what good would it have done? The woman had made up her mind, and Anna needed to get the others moving. So, she sighed and started down the tunnel.
"Before we get there, I should probably let you guys know something," Anna said when she heard them following her through the water. "There's a man. Carl and I found him in the woods. He's been staying down here until we can talk to Rick."
"Don't you think that's a little risky?" Tara asked.
Anna paused and looked at her, cocking a brow, and Tara clamped her mouth shut. They continued on.
As they drew closer, Anna could hear hushed murmurs. They rounded the corner to see the Alexandrians sitting and standing along the walls of the sewer. Tobin held Judith and Siddiq sat on his cot, looking around at them in confusion and panic before turning to Carl.
Anna picked her way through, noting the sweat coating Carl's flushed face.
"Carl?" Anna asked, crouching in front of him.
"I should have said something sooner," Carl said, barely able to keep his eyes open.
She furrowed her brow.
"What are you talking about?"
"When we were fighting those walkers in the woods," he said, pulling up his shirt to reveal a bandage on his side.
Anna inhaled sharply as he pulled the bandage away, an angry red bite mark beneath.
"No," she breathed.