Anna, Rick, and Michonne went over the agreed upon positions as they made their way through Alexandria. It was a deceptively bright day, given the circumstances. All around them, the Alexandrians were getting ready, carrying weapons to their locations. Emma, Jesus, and Enid had returned to Hilltop sometime in the night with Judith to fill Maggie in and keep the little girl safe. Rick had decided it would be best for Hilltop to stay out of the fight for now—in case things went south, they wanted another card to play.
"I'll be at the front gates with Jadis," Rick said.
"Jadis?" Anna asked, adjusting her grip on her stick and the rifle on her shoulder. "Oh. The leader of the garbage people."
"The Scavengers," Michonne corrected.
"Right," Anna said as they stopped at the front gate; it rolled open, the RV pulling in with Gabriel behind the wheel.
Men and women on bicycles came behind him, followed by three garbage trucks, and even more people on bicycles.
"How many people did she bring?" Anna asked, watching the Scavengers climb out of the garbage trucks.
She noted how one man didn't have a rifle like the others, but a bright red umbrella.
A tall woman with short blond hair and a long black coat approached them, another, shorter woman and an older man following her. Anna assumed the tall woman was Jadis.
"What you fight for," Jadis said, looking around at Alexandria.
"Not the place—the people, each other," Rick said, looking to Michonne before turning back to Jadis. "You're a part of that now."
"We take. We don't bother—our way," Jadis said. "Maybe another way."
She turned to Michonne and Anna.
"Yours?" She asked, nodding her head toward Rick.
Anna raised her eyebrows and shook her head.
"We're together," Michonne said.
"I lay with him after," Jadis said. "You care?"
Anna scoffed quietly.
"We should get back to work," Michonne suggested.
"Yeah," Rick agreed, backing away.
The two started off, leaving Anna alone with Jadis and her two bodyguards.
"Uh, so…" Anna said, "how—uh—how many people did you bring?"
"Most," Jadis answered.
"And most is?" Anna asked.
"More than enough," she said with a sly grin before wandering off with her people.
"Helpful," Anna grumbled.
She shook her head and headed beyond the gate to the moving truck Jessie had parked nearby. Daryl stood wrapping wire around a bundle of dynamite while Rosita and Jessie crouched over a bomb.
"How's it going?" Anna asked, looking at their progress.
"It's going," Jessie said, not taking his eyes off the wire he was stripping.
"You said this would have a remote detonator?" Anna asked.
"Yes," Rosita said.
"And you're sure we have enough?" She asked.
"Yes," Rosita snapped. "Don't you have something else you could be micromanaging?"
Anna narrowed her eyes at Rosita, ready to lay into her, but Jessie cut in.
"Hey, how 'bout you cool it. Save the sass for the Saviors," he said.
Rosita glared at him, but said nothing as she went back to their work. Anna rolled her eyes, casting a questioning glance at Jessie, who shook his head as if to say not right now. With a fleeting look at Daryl, she left them to their preparations.
Wandering back inside, she watched as Tara and Holly moved the spiked cars in front of the gate, and Gabriel moved another just inside. Just down the street, she could see Michonne heading to her position with one of the Scavengers and two rifles, while Rick spoke with Tobin and Scott, who held an armful of rifles each.
Anna deflated, overcome with an intense sense of uselessness. Now that the planning was done, everyone seemed to know their jobs and where to go. Except her. She didn't even know why she had been so involved in the planning to begin with, but Rick seemed to take her suggestions to heart.
She shook her head. She was nothing more than a soldier with no one to tell her what to do.
"Hey, Anna," Scott called as he and Tobin approached her.
"Yeah?" She asked, looking up at the two men.
"Rick said you knew where these were supposed to go," Tobin said, holding up his rifles.
"Put some behind the RV, some along the walls, and some in the tower," she said.
"All right," Scott said, nodding. "Thanks."
The two headed off to the locations she'd specified as Jessie, Rosita, and Daryl arrived.
"We're done with the explosives," Rosita said as she brushed past.
Anna frowned at her before turning to Daryl and Jessie, glancing at the sun.
"It's time we get in position," she said, heading for the car just inside the gate. "The Saviors could be here any second."
"Anna," Jessie called, and she paused. "You're doing a good job—Rosita's just…"
"A bitch?" Anna offered.
"Upset," Jessie said. "She tends to take it out on others."
"She needs to get her shit together," Anna huffed. "Now isn't the time to be causing tension."
"I'll talk to her," Jessie said, nodding before he followed after Rosita, leaving Anna and Daryl alone.
"You ready for this?" Daryl asked.
"If I haven't completely fucked us in the planning, yeah," Anna said, shrugging as she continued to the car.
She set her rifle down, leaning it against the back-passenger door. Daryl was quiet as he came to stand beside her. Everyone was getting into position as the front gate was pulled shut and locked.
"I'm not Glenn," Anna muttered. "He came up with the plans. I just did what he said."
"You're right. You ain't Glenn," Daryl agreed. "You're Anna and you're smart."
Distantly, she heard the turkey call from the lookouts. It was time. Whether she was ready or not, the Saviors were coming.
"Rosita," Rick called from the platform beside Jadis. "Get into position. I'll signal you. And the wall's gonna hold?"
"It'll hold," Rosita assured.
The sound of engines grew louder and louder as they watched three trucks pull toward Alexandria, led by a flat bed with one Eugene Porter standing atop. Anna didn't want to believe what she was seeing. He wore all black and held a megaphone to his face as he spoke.
"All points are covered. Every contingency is already met. I come armed with two barrels of truth. A test is upon you, and I'm giving out the cheat sheet," he said as his truck squealed to a stop.
He turned to face them from where he stood beside what looked like a covered box. The engine shut off.
"H-hello," he stammered into the megaphone again. "I come salved with the hope that it is my dropped knowledge that you heed. Options are zero to none."
"Fucking hell," she heard Jessie sneer.
Anna ground her teeth, glaring at Eugene, her skin heating.
"Compliance and fealty are your only escape. Bottom-lining it," Eugene sighed, "you may thrive, or you may die. I sincerely wish for the former for everyone's sake. The jig is up and in full effect. Will you comply, Rick?"
"Where's Negan?" Rick asked, glaring down at Eugene.
Eugene dropped the megaphone to his side.
"I'm Negan," he said.
Anna clenched her jaw, bowing her head in frustration before looking up at Rick, her fingers inching toward her rifle. Rick seemed to hesitate before he finally looked to Rosita and nodded. Everyone dropped, taking cover when—
There was no explosion.
Anna furrowed her brow, her mind racing until she came to the only logical conclusion. She swung around—only to be met by the barrel of two guns and smirking Scavengers.
"Around," one Scavenger ordered.
Her grip on her stick tightened as she slowly turned to face forward. Negan came to stand in front of the flat bed with Eugene.
"You ever hear the one about the stupid little prick named Rick who thought he knew shit but didn't know shit and got everyone that he gave a shit about killed?" Negan asked as he climbed out of his truck. "It's about you. You're all gonna wanna put your guns down now,"
"No one drops anything," Rick snapped. "We had a deal," he said to Jadis.
"Tamiel came for the boat things. Followed ones who took. Made a better deal," Jadis said simply.
"You mother—" Anna hissed when Negan cut in.
"You push me, and you push me. And you push me, Rick," he sighed. "You just tried to blow us up, right? I mean, I get me, my people. But Eugene? He's one of yours. And after what he did—he stepped up. You people are animals. Universe gives you a sign, and you just shove your finger right up its ass," he laughed. "Dwight, Simon, chop-chop."
Dwight and Simon climbed onto the flatbed. They unstrapped and uncovered the box to reveal a shiny, gray casket, which they moved to stand on its short edge. Negan climbed up to stand beside it.
"So, you don't like Eugene anymore. You guys gotta like Sasha," Negan said. "I do, too. Got her right here, packaged for your convenience, alive and well."
Anna didn't think he was bluffing. Negan had proven to be a lot of things, but she couldn't recall him ever lying.
"Now, I brought her so I wouldn't have to kill all of you, and not killing all of you could get complicated. See, I know there's a lot of firepower left in there, Rick. So, I'm gonna make this simple. I want all the guns you've managed to scrape up. Yep, I know about those, too," he grinned. "I want every last grain of lemonade you got left. I want a person of your own choosing for Lucille."
He pointed at Daryl.
"Daryl – Ooh, I gotta get me my Daryl back. I see you," he chuckled, and Anna stepped closer to him. "I'll take Anna, too, while we're at it. And the pool table and all the pool cues and chalk. And I want it now or Sasha dies, and then all of you. Probably. C'mon, Rick. Just because I brought her in a casket doesn't mean she has to leave in it."
Rick said nothing and Negan sighed, scratching his forehead.
"You know what? You suck ass, Rick," Negan snapped. "You really do. I don't want to have to kill her, but that's exactly what you're gonna make me do."
"Let me see her," Rick demanded.
"Oh," Negan chuckled. "All right. Just give me a second. I might have to get her up to speed. You can't hear shit inside this thing."
He tapped on the casket.
"Sash," he called, pulling the casket open. "You're not gonna believe this crap—Holy goddamn!"
Negan fell backwards off the flatbed, Sasha toppling on top of him. It took her a moment to register what she was seeing as Sasha snarled and snapped at Negan's face.
"No," she breathed.
Distantly, she heard three gunshots. Blindly, Anna whirled around, swinging her stick upwards, knocking the rifle aimed at her out of the Scavenger's grip before bringing the stick back around, slamming it into the man's face.
She pulled the 9mm strapped to her hip and fired a single shot into his forehead. Gunfire erupted around her.
"Find cover!" Anna shouted, taking her own advice as she ran for the tower.
She took down the Scavengers that got in her way, using her stick to conserve ammo. When she reached the tower, she threw herself into the door and ran up the stairs. Once at the top, she spotted the rifle she had stored there and grabbed for it, dropping her stick to the ground.
POP!
A burning pain ran through her arm and she fell to the ground. She clutched the epicenter of the pain and drew her hand back to see red blood coating her fingers. She looked to the door and went cold.
With his gun aloft, Isaac stood in the doorway, smirking at her.
"Hey there, Annie."