Author's Note: It's TWD Day! Hello, season seven! Goodbye, Lucille's victim(s)! *sad face* Even though I know who it is/they are, thanks to spoilers I can never bring myself to avoid reading because I'm apparently a masochist, I chose not to include the victim(s) at the end of this chapter. I instead chose to end it with the same cliffhanger as the season 6 finale. Until I watch tonight's episode to get a feel for how it moves, I didn't want to write anything further. So, as always, enjoy and please R&R!
xoxo - Holly
"No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow." — Euripides
In the aftermath of hearing about Maggie's sudden condition, which seemed to worsen with every passing minute, the remaining figureheads within Alexandria were on high alert. The bulk of the community's muscle currently AWOL meant those left behind for defense and protection was slim pickings; and that was only after most of the remaining muscle decided they needed to travel together in the RV to take Maggie to Hilltop for proper medical care. The other community was the only other they knew of with an actual doctor, now that Alexandria was officially without after the death of Denise. The group had been trained on basic first aid and other minor trauma-related conditions, like how to take care of someone who'd been shot or stabbed. But major issues like Maggie's, things they hadn't spent years in college learning before the outbreak, was above their theoretical pay grade.
Maggie had already been brought into the RV, where she was resting on the bed; her newly shorn hair clinging damply around her face from the perspiration on her skin. Her skin, which was normally golden from the sun, was now pallid. Dark circles were entrenched around her usually bright green eyes, which seemed to have already lost their luster. Despite the sweating, Maggie shivered as she lay there; currently being monitored by Georgie, who was occasionally mopping the younger woman's brow with a clean dish cloth. Aside from keep her company and give her some water to drink, there was nothing more Georgie could think of to do. All their questions about what Maggie was going through and what she needed could only be answered after she saw Dr. Carson at Hilltop.
Space in the RV wasn't necessarily tight, but there were enough bodies within it to make it awkward to move around if everyone was standing up at any given time. Abraham took to the wheel with Rick beside him for the most part. Sasha, Eugene, Aaron and Carl were also present, with weapons, water and bags of other supplies they might need with them depending on how long they'd be at Hilltop. Gabriel was placed in charge of Alexandria and, more importantly Judith. Since the attack from the Wolves and the herd of walkers had come busting into their community, evacuation plans had been drawn up in the event they would all have to jump ship. Vehicles were in place, routes plotted and a rendezvous point decided upon. All that was on the line now, in case those left behind had to leave while the others were gone. Should the others come back and find the place vacated, they would know where to go to find the rest of Alexandria holed up.
Hilltop wasn't exactly just a hop, skip and a jump away. It would take a little while, but not too long. It wasn't a half-day trip or anything. They would definitely get there well before evening and have plenty of daylight left if they stayed the course. But the route wasn't exactly straight, and this time they were doing it without Jesus to tell them which way to turn and when. Abraham, as driver, had to do it all by memory; especially since he was being a typical man and not wanting to rely on a map for directions.
"How's the patient?" Aaron asked, stepping into the bedroom, looking down at Maggie, though presenting Georgie with his question.
Georgie looked up at him and stood up to give him the space to step into the room. "She's good. She'll be right as rain once we get to Hilltop," she replied with a hopeful smile toward Maggie, but then turned her back on the younger woman to eye Aaron. The look she gave him said just the opposite of what she'd spoken out loud.
Aaron was good in not letting that affect how he looked back at Maggie. He kept up the concerned but hopeful façade as not to cause Maggie any undue worry. As he knelt there at her side, placing a hand gently upon her arm, he talked with her for a few moments while Georgie stood close by, just outside the room; looking forward toward the front of the RV. When Rick moved away from hovering over the passenger seat, he turned around and made eye contact with Georgie who was pulling on a plaid shirt she'd brought with her to keep the slight chill in the air at bay. With his assault rifle in hand, he approached and leaned in toward her.
"She the same or worse?"
Georgie. "Both? I wish there was more I could do. I wish I could just give her two Tylenol and a bowl of chicken soup, but whatever is wrong goes beyond the common cold."
"We've all be under stress, on any given day…maybe…" Rick sighed, trying to grasp for straws where an explanation was concerned. "Maybe it's not the baby. Maybe it's an ulcer or a burst appendix."
"Both of which I'm sure can't be good for the baby."
Rick bowed his head and nodded. "Yeah." Touching a hand to her shoulder, he stepped around her and locked eyes with Aaron as he moved closer to the bedroom. Without another word, Rick and Aaron changed places, with Rick setting his gun down and crouching down at Maggie's bedside. "Hey," he greeted her.
"Hey," she repeated, though much quieter, as she lay there somewhat on her side.
"We're gonna get there. The doctor at the Hilltop, he's gonna make things better." As Maggie turned her face away slightly, looking nowhere near as hopeful as Rick was trying to sound, he leaned closer to her and brushed some hair off her forehead in such a loving manner, as if she was his flesh and blood little sister. "Hey."
"How d'you know?" Maggie asked, fighting back the tears in her eyes.
"Everything we've done, we've done together. We got here together and we're still here," he replied more quietly, more soothing. "Things have happened, but it's always worked out for us 'cause it's always been all of us. That's how I know. 'Cause as long as it's all of us, we can do anything."
Carl came up beside Georgie, with a fuller bottle of water in his hand which he passed off to her. "I figured she might need another one."
Georgie smiled affectionately at the teen, taking the bottle with her right hand and placing her left on his shoulder and giving it a gentle squeeze. "She does. Thank you," she nodded.
"Just doing my part."
Georgie's smile began bigger. "You always are." As he slipped away more toward the front, Georgie stepped inside the bedroom and tapped the water bottle against his left shoulder blade.
"Thanks." When he took it, he removed the cap and held it up for Maggie to sip from; not even realizing she already had a bottle she'd been drinking from.
"What the bitch?" came Abraham's colorful exclamation.
"What?" Rick questioned, passing water bottle duty off to Georgie as he stood up and made a beeline for the front of the RV which was coming to a steady stop.
"Enemy close." As those closest to the front managed to see out the windshield to the group of men blocking the road, Abraham asked, "We doing this?"
"No."
As Georgie stood up to see what was going on, Rick was moving toward the door and Abraham was placing the RV into park. Everyone seemed to be reaching for the weapons, so Georgie prepared to do the same, but Rick saw her before he exited and just shook his head at her.
His meaning was clear.
Stay with Maggie, keep her calm.
Of course, that didn't mean Georgie was going to be.
As everyone, Carl included, exited the RV, they left the door wide open so Georgie could more or less hear some of the conversation. She knew if she could, then so could Maggie. Standing up in the archway between the bedroom and the rest of the RV, she had a good view of the road ahead on the other side of the windshield while keeping herself hidden in the shadows of the RV if anyone from that distance away looked into the vehicle. In truth, all they'd probably see was a glare or some other reflection from their side of the road in the mirror, not Georgie. They would have no idea there were two more people inside the RV. Georgie was already mentally preparing herself on how she could use that to her advantage in a pinch.
Quickly, she began mentally cataloguing where the other weapons and ammo were stashed within the RV and, more importantly, which she was closest to.
Her focus diverted to Rick stepping directly in front of the RV, walking a few feet down the middle of the road with his hands in the air to signify he meant no harm; although the automatic rifle in his hand and the hands of the others signified they were prepared for a fight if it should come to that.
"What's going on?" Maggie asked; her voice shaky and low.
"Rick's talking to some men."
"Who are they?"
Georgie frowned. "Saviors, I think."
"Shit."
"Yeah, tell me about it. And not the best of times to cross paths with them," she remarked. "Not when we got you to focus on."
"Now what are they saying?"
"I can't really tell. Rick gave the signal for everyone to fall back. They're headed back here."
"That's good. No fighting is a good sign."
"I know I'm meant to stay here and keep you calm—"
"But…" Maggie smirked, or at least tried to, as Georgie looked over her shoulder at her. "Well, don't sugarcoat anything for my sake."
"Well, it just doesn't feel like a good sign. I can't really hear what's being said, but the body language is tense and uneasy on both sides. I don't like it."
Everyone began to step back inside the RV and resume their same places, more or less, as before; all but Rick, who paused just outside. Standing just outside the open door, his voice wafted easily inside the vehicle, clear as day.
"You want to make today your last day on Earth?" he asked.
Georgie closed her eyes and was mentally smacking him across the back of the head.
Don't poke the bear, idiot.
Whatever the response was from the Saviors, she couldn't hear, especially now with the others making subtle noise inside the vehicle.
"You do the same," Rick remarked.
No one spoke as he came back up into the RV or even after Abraham turned the key in the ignition and backed the RV up; away from the Saviors' roadblock.
After backtracking for a little while, they soon pulled over to the side of the road to figure out a new route for getting to Hilltop. This time, Abraham couldn't rebuff the idea of using the map. Aaron had taken over sitting at Maggie's bedside, which was an easy task now that she had easily fallen asleep thanks to the quiet in the RV and the rumbling lull as they drove along. Carl, too, had joined in to watch over her, or maybe it was to just keep Aaron company.
At the table, Eugene had the map spread out before him and was tapping a specific spot. "Logrun Road's a straight shot."
"We want visibility," Sasha informed.
Eugene looked across the table at her and then back down to the map to reconsider a different option. "There, you got it on Shelton. Golf course, country clubs, sloping terrain. No bum rush from the bogeyman. We'd see them from a good piece. It is a longer trip by a third, but we'd get the scenic safety of clear-cut dingles and glens."
"You're being serious, right?"
"As coronary thrombosis."
"You got a route?" Rick asked, coming up beside Sasha and glancing down at the map.
"Yeah," she nodded.
As Abraham slipped by, the dull sound of a walker thudding against the side of the RV and growling could be faintly heard. It was of no concern to any of them inside. Georgie leaned over the passenger chair and out the window and could see it was just the one walker. Once Abraham had slipped back into the driver seat and started the RV back up again, Georgie sank down onto the armrest of the passenger chair.
"Let's go," Rick muttered.
Standing up, Sasha moved around Rick and made her way up front and nodded at Georgie. "Mind if I slip by?" she asked politely, gesturing to the passenger chair.
Georgie got off the arm rest and stepped out of the way. "No, go ahead." As she turned around, finding herself face to face with Rick, he gestured for her to take a seat beside him at the table. "So, do you think it was necessary to goad that asshole like that?" she asked him quietly, although it was difficult for Eugene not to hear since he was still sitting at the table, going over the map.
"What do you mean?" Rick turned, turning his back more toward the wall.
"She's talking about how you taunted that Savior about if he wanted today to be his last day on earth. But then he turned it around on you," Eugene intruded into the conversation without even looking up from the map. "We all heard from in here."
"Was it necessary?" Georgie asked again, raising an eyebrow at Rick.
As soon as he opened his mouth to respond, he closed it just as quick and let out a sigh. With a shrug, he muttered, "No, it wasn't necessary. It felt right in the moment. And he was pissing me off."
"We're heading toward a serious confrontation with these people. I don't know when, but I'd rather it not be today. We're not prepared for something like that right now. We're not home for that right now. Too many of our people are missing, we're at bare bones protection back at Alexandria…" Georgie frowned. "Can we just play it safe today?"
Rick just sat there, studying the way she stared back at him. He jutted his jaw out slightly in thought before bringing it back to lick his bottom lip. "I can do my very best," he replied. "It's not like I wanna put any of us at risk right now. Especially not with Maggie so ill and with Carl here."
"Then let's just stay the course, get to Hilltop, and get Maggie the help she needs. We'll figure out the rest when we get there."
Smirking, but mostly just with his eyes, Rick nodded. Throwing an arm over the back of the seat, he slid it behind Georgie and pulled her into his side while carefully keeping his rifle propped up between his knees. "We'll get there."
No less than twenty minutes later, the road was coming to an end; both literally and figuratively. Where the road ceased, it ran perpendicular with another road. To the right of this new road, it curved a few times and was littered with countless fallen, dead leaves that were all different shades and from the previous autumn. The figurative end to the road, though, came in the form of another roadblock set up by the Saviors.
"Bitch nuts," Abraham remarked as the RV turned the corner and he slowly brought it to a stop.
Tapping Georgie's hip, he ushered her to slide out of the booth so that he could get out. When he was standing, he stepped forward to the front of the vehicle and peered through the windshield at the scene ahead of them as the others, sans Maggie, came up behind him to do the same.
As Rick crouched down slightly, he felt an unwavering pang of unease in his gut.
"We making our stand?" Sasha inquired, turning to look over her shoulder at him.
"Yeah, we end it," Carl decided.
"No, not now," Rick countered. "They've been waiting. They're ready. With one of us behind the wheel, that's…five on 16. We're gonna play it our way, how we want it." Turning around, he looked back at his son. "Right?"
Carl looked back and nodded. "Right."
Abraham was nodding, too, as Rick patted his arm briefly. "Alright, go slow."
Standing back up, Rick began to slowly move toward the window on the right side of the RV, staring out at the Saviors as Abraham backed the vehicle up. One Savior standing toward the front of the others aimed his gun upward and firing a few random shots into the air. The others in the RV kept their eyes glued upon the Saviors as Abraham turned the RV and turned left onto that perpendicular road, once again leaving the Saviors in their wake.
Returning to crouch between Abraham and Sasha in the front of the RV, he turned to the larger man. "How are we on gas?"
"Half a tank. I pulled some more cans before we left."
"Those weren't the same men who blocked the road the first time," Sasha commented.
"Same outfit, different soldiers," Abraham deduced, looking briefly and seriously at Rick. "They got numbers."
"Yeah, we keep driving, we get her there," Rick insisted, thinking on getting Maggie the help she needed. They weren't in the position to delay that at the moment. A fight with the Saviors would have to wait.
Sasha gave an adamant nod of her head. "We will."
"If we have to shove each and every one of them up their own asses," came Abraham's remark, expanding on Sasha's reassurance. Just as he turned to look forward at the road again, he was forced to bring the wheels to a screeching halt as he pressed his foot firmly against the brake pedal.
Rick was growing more anxious and more frustrated with every passing moment.
Directly before them as a wall of walkers; chained together to create yet another roadblock they all had to deal with.
"We can't go through it. Can't risk the RV. You stay behind the wheel, just in case." The latter comment he'd meant for Abraham, and then checked his rifle, out of habit. "We'll clear it."
Leading the way out of the RV, Rick immediately raised his gun, looking carefully around at the sloping incline of woods on either side of the road to keep an eye out for anyone or anything. Everyone else followed and each with their own gun in hand; Georgie, Sasha, Aaron, Carl and Eugene. The chained walkers snarled and rattled with the chains holding them together as the living neared.
"Putting together a red rover like that takes people," Eugene commented. "A lot of 'em."
"C'mon, let's do this." Lowering his rifle, Rick let the strap hold it safely under his arm at his side as he reached for his hatchet instead.
"Dad—"
When Georgie saw where the teen was nodding toward, her eyes scanned to the female walker and how she was dressed. "That's Michonne's," she realized, pointing at the walker with the SIG Sauer P228 in her hand. The walker was wearing Michonne's brown, leather vest and a few of Michonne's dreads was stuck upon the walker's temple. The blood at the base of the dreads gave the clear impression that they had to have been forcefully pulled from Michonne's scalp and not gently cut off.
"That's Daryl's," Sasha spoke, nodding with her head toward the long-haired male walker at the other end with two bolts from Daryl's crossbow sticking out of its chest.
As Rick considered all this, he sneered while moving forward toward the female walker. Reaching out, he yanked the dreads from the walker's temple and emitted a frustrated grunt. As he raised his hatchet to end the female walker, automatic gunfire rang out and bullets began to ricochet off the ground at their feet. Everyone practically jumped out of their skin as they began to scatter and run for cover the RV offered.
"Get back to the RV! Go!" Rick shouted, waving everyone off, as Abraham left his post behind the wheel of the RV to join them; not about to sit this out.
Gunfire continued, but this time it was also from their group. They weren't about to go silently into that goodnight. Like an animal backed into a corner, they lashed back. With Abraham leading them, they began to fire up toward the top of the embankment on either side of the road; their group shooing at any movement they saw. Only occasionally did they actually spot bodies of the men darting between the trees that were firing back at them.
Georgie cried out suddenly and she dropped her arms down at her sides while Rick took his hatchet and hacked at the female walker's arm. In cutting her arm in half, it created a gap between the walkers which would allow them to go forward on the road. The walker that had been linked beside the female walker ambled after Rick in an attempt to bite him, but Rick pushed at its neck and kicked its knee. The walker dropped and Rick took his hatchet to the skull of the next walker.
"Abraham: start it up!" Rick shouted over the din of the gunfire.
Sasha shot through the face of the female walker, which took out the other two standing directly behind. Three birds with one stone, so to speak. Rick hacked at another walker's face, as their group gradually began to properly retreat.
The last inside the RV, Rick slammed the door shut as Abraham wasted little to no time sliding back behind the wheel and putting the idling vehicle into drive. The second the RV lurched forward, Aaron grabbed for Rick's arm and yanked him back slightly.
Caught off guard, Rick whipped around, instinctively ready to get physical, until he blinked that away and took note of the seriousness of the other man's face as he gestured to Georgie who was slumped into the kitchenette table's booth. Following Aaron's gaze, he looked to see there was blood seeping from Georgie's right thigh and she was sucking in air at a rapid rate. His blue eyes suddenly wide with fear, Rick dropped to his knees in front of Georgie and placed a hand on her knee.
"You were shot?"
She nodded. "I think it was a ricochet," she panted. "They were aiming at our feet."
Turning abruptly at Eugene, Rick pointed. "First aid kit. Now."
"On it," Eugene nodded.
"The bullet's still in there," Georgie added. "It didn't go through." She sucked in a pained breath. "Oh, fuck me. This hurts more than the last time I got shot."
"Last time your mind was in shock. You weren't feeling anything, especially not a gunshot," Rick commented, trying to remain calm. "You were on autopilot."
"I got this, Rick," Aaron insisted, taking the first aid kit from Eugene and nudging Rick out of the way.
Forcing himself to stand up, Rick silently acquiesced as he watched Aaron take over in kneeling down in front of Georgie and opt the kit up. He removed a pair of scissors and began to cut at the material of Georgie's jeans around the bullet hole to give him better access to the found.
"I'm absolutely no doctor, but I don't think the bullet hit anything major," Aaron commented.
"Just get it out," Georgie winced.
"Here." Carl climbed over the back of the seat and sank down behind Georgie. Snaking his arms under her armpits, he wrapped them over her chest and held her back against his chest. "Hold on to me. Don't think about the pain."
Lifting her hands up, Georgie gripped his wrists tightly and bit down on her bottom lip just as Aaron poured some rubbing alcohol into the wound to clean it, causing her to promptly cry out in further pain. Rick knitted his brow together, his hands shaking from having to just watch her squirm as Aaron used tweezers to fish the bullet out of her thigh. His hands were also shaking from the fear that Michonne and Daryl might be dead, from the items placed upon those walkers. Not to mention the fear that they might not get Maggie to Hilltop in time, or at all; that the Saviors wouldn't stop messing around with them.
"I got it," Aaron muttered, holding the bloody bullet up with the tweezers.
Eugene held out a coffee cup to allow Aaron to drop the bullet and the tweezers into it so that Aaron could focus on the next task, which was pouring a bit more rubbing alcohol into the wound again, causing Georgie to cry out yet again in pain. Next came the needle and thread, which would hurt just as much. Like a nurse assisting a doctor, Eugene set the coffee cup into the sink and then grabbed a clean towel and held it up to Georgie's mouth.
"You're gonna want to bite down on this so you don't grind your teeth and break a tooth."
Glancing up at Eugene with eyes watering from pain, Georgie simply nodded and opened her mouth for him to stick the cloth in. Biting down, her eyes wandered over to Rick as Aaron began to task of trying to stitch her wound up. The moment the needle punctured her skin and the thread was being slid through, Georgie's yelp was muffled slightly by the cloth. As the needle was pulled through the other side, as Aaron began to torturous task of sewing the wound shut, the mix of pain and minor blood loss seemed to suddenly hit Georgie. Her eyes drooped shut and her head tilted backward onto Carl's shoulder; passing out.
Rick lurched forward, leaning over the crouched Aaron to reach for Georgie but was quick to realize that passing out is all that had happened. Her mind had shut down to escape the pain her body was in; having to go through all that without any sort of anesthetic. Rick brushed aside some of her hair and looked from her face to his son's.
"She's okay, dad," Carl assured. "I got her."
"How's Little Red doing?" Abraham inquired from the driver's seat, invoking a nickname for Georgie he had given her but only used a few times in the few months they'd known each other. She was Little Red because, obviously, he was Big Red, due to their difference in height and build.
"She'll be okay," Aaron insisted.
As Aaron was finishing up with Georgie, Sasha had grabbed for the map so they could determine where they were going to head next. The sound of the RV squealing slightly caused Sasha to turn and look briefly toward Abraham.
"What's that sound?" she wondered.
Eugene moved back toward the front of the RV, stepping around Aaron to stand beside Sasha and look down at the map with her. "Undercarriage could've caught a bullet," he presumed. "Or could be transmission. It could be nothing."
Aaron finished stitching Georgie's wound and trimmed the excess string with the scissors before placing them into the first aid box. Removing the cloth from Georgie's mouth, he placed the material down over the stitched wound instead and eyed Carl. "Hold this hear for me until I can find an bandage of some sort to wrap around her leg, okay?"
Carl nodded. "Okay," he agreed, doing as instructed.
Standing up, Aaron pushed on his knees and turned to head toward the back bedroom, knowing they'd more of the first aid they'd brought with them into the RV was there. It also gave him the opportunity to check in on Maggie.
"They were firing at our feet," Rick muttered, repeating what Georgie had said, as the RV began squealing again. "They blocked the road, but they weren't trying to stop us. They want us in this direction."
"Barton Road takes us north, but they gotta know we wanna go north," Sasha remarked, looking over at him.
"Meadows," Eugene spoke, pointing to a spot on the map. "Could take us east a piece, but we can get back on track on Mayhew."
"We're down to a third of a tank. We could top off at the next stop, but no refills after that."
Rick looked down at the map and nodded. "Alright."
Stepping out of the bedroom and over toward Rick, Aaron grabbed Rick's arm and gestured in Maggie's direction. "She's burning up."
Rick looked down dejectedly.
With the RV squealing further, Abraham broke the temporary silence within the vehicle. "Rick," he called out; the brakes also squealing as he brought them to yet another stop.
Leaning forward to glance out the windshield, Rick was struck with the sight of what looked like almost two dozen Saviors standing around and atop several vehicles blocking the road up ahead; and all were heavily armed.
"Go back," Rick muttered; his fear silently eating at him.
Abraham just looked at him. "Where?"
"Just go back."
Without further question, Abraham did as asked, even though they were virtually out of options now. Standing up straight, Rick teetered slightly as the RV backed up on the road and turned around. Glancing over at his son and Georgie, his heart felt like it was being squeeze like a dog's chew toy. Not in a physically pained way, but with an emotional ache. Seeing that Carl still had a protective hold around Georgie as Aaron had sank back down to wrap a bandage firmly around Georgie's thigh, Rick moved toward the back bedroom to check in on Maggie.
Entering the room, he knelt down and brought a hand to her forehead and could easily feel for himself the fever that was raging within the young woman. Her skin looked even more pallid and clammy than before; her face slick with fresh perspiration as she looked tiredly up at him.
"Are we close?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Smoothing the hair back off her forehead and holding her hand in his, Rick nodded and somewhat lied. "Yeah, we're—we're getting there."
"Were there—I heard shots."
"Yeah, the Saviors, but they're gone. We are. We're gonna get you there." He opted not to tell her the part about Georgie getting shot. He felt it wasn't something she needed to worry herself with. Not now. Not like this, how she was.
"I know."
"You're gonna be okay. The baby's gonna be okay. This isn't it. This isn't it," he insisted with tears in his eyes; staring as lovingly down at her as if she were his own flesh and blood. "There's more. There's gonna be more."
"I believe in you, Rick."
Rick brushed his thumb along her hairline and smiled slightly and kissed her forehead. "You just rest. We're gonna be to Hilltop real soon, okay?"
Maggie attempted to nod, but she was too weak to really move. As she slowly closed her eyelids to succumb once more to sleep, Rick stood back up and just looked her over for a moment. When his eyes wandered to the other bed, he thought about having Georgie lay out upon it, but worried about how it might worried Maggie might get about it. He didn't want to stress Maggie out and Aaron assured him Georgie would be fine. The bullet hadn't gone deep enough nor had it nicked anything serious. Aaron had cleaned and stitched the wound quickly and without hesitation. Rick had no reason to doubt the woman he loved would recover. He just hoped that whenever they were able to make it to Hilltop that Dr. Carson could also spare a moment to look at Georgie and maybe give her something for the pain and to stave off any infection she might incur as time passed while her body tried to heal.
A short while later, the RV came to park under an overpass because up ahead was yet another roadblock. This time, it was in the form of giant wall of logs that the group had no way of moving out of the way. Georgie had woken up but was considerably drained from the wound she'd incurred. Despite his worry over how Maggie might worry about Georgie being hurt, Rick felt it better if Georgie laid down as well. Sitting up in the booth wasn't enough. Helping her to her feet, he helped her walk to the back to the bedroom as she hopped slightly on her good leg, which caused the RV to shake a little, but not enough to stir awake the sleeping Maggie. As Georgie sank down onto the opposite bed, she looked up at Rick with a tired smile.
"Sorry I threw a wrench into our already fucked up plans," she muttered quietly as she sank down against the mattress.
"This wasn't your fault," he insisted, leaning over her and brushing her hair away from her face the same he'd done to Maggie's. "This is them. Not us. You just lay here and rest until we figure out what to do next, okay?"
"Okay."
As he began to retreat out of the bedroom, Rick tapped her boot and muttered a quiet "I love you" before joining the others in leaving the RV.
Slowly they all approached the wall of logs.
"These tracks they would indicate they not only have people, but some big-ass toys and capabilities," Eugene remarked in regard to the dark tire marks in front of the wall.
"What it indicates is we are neck-deep up shit creek with our mouths wide open," Abraham countered. Before anyone could say anything about anything, a man screamed and they all turned around in time to see the same victim the Saviors had been beating on earlier being hung from the overpass with a chain wrapped around his neck. As the man struggled and gasped pointlessly for breath that would soon leave him, Aaron pointed his rifle up at the man. "Don't," Abraham asserted with a wave of his hand at Aaron.
"I can try and break the chain."
"It won't work."
"I can try."
"It won't work," Rick repeated as the man continued to choke. "And we need the bullets."
As the man took his last few gasps of air, Rick turned around at the sound of fire crackling. Spots between the logs had sprung flames and the smell of burning wood quickly reached their nostrils.
"You're treating your people good, right?"
It was the voice of the Savior that Rick had spoken to on the road earlier; the one that had been kicking the man who was now hanging dead from the overpass.
"Like it was your last day on Earth? Or maybe one of theirs?" The Savior continued; unseen, somewhere on the other side of the wall of logs. "You better go. It's gonna get hot. You go get where you're going."
"Go, go," Rick urged his people. They wasted no time in retreating back into the RV. "Get on."
As Abraham returned to the driver's seat, he started the engine up again and backed the vehicle up under the overpass so they could head back in the direction they had come from. After a few minutes, though, they veered off onto a more private road that didn't really go anywhere. They simply needed somewhere out of the way where they wouldn't be spotted so they could once again get their bearings. While they'd still been moving, Rick had gone back to check on both Maggie and Georgie again. While both were asleep, only Maggie seemed to be worse for wear.
Returning to the front of the RV once they were parked, Rick stepped among the others.
"So, what's the play?" Abraham asked.
"She needs a doctor," Rick answered, referring to Maggie.
Sasha was standing at the table, once more pouring over the map. "There are two more routes north from here."
"They're probably waiting for us right now," Aaron remarked, saying what they were all thinking.
"So, they're ahead of us, probably behind us. But they're not waiting on us, per se," Eugene rattled, his voice a bit shaky with nerves, but also sounding somewhat resolute. "They're waiting on this rust bucket. And they don't know the moment-to-moment occupancy of said rust bucket. And the sun sets soon."
Abraham nodded at Eugene, and then looked up at Rick, who looked between both men and also nodded. The three of them alone seemed to understand what it was that Eugene was inferring.
The sun overhead had already begun its descent. Because of the tree coverage, it was impossible to tell if it had slipped below the horizon just yet, but now the blue sky had taken on pink and dark purple hues. Before long, it was practically pitch black and crickets were singing their timeless tune. After the group had agreed that the Saviors would likely be expecting them to be traveling in the RV and not by foot, by foot is how they opted to go from there on out, as risky a move it could prove to be what with it being after nightfall and not being able to see very well if walkers approached. It was a risk they had to take, though. Truthfully, it was their only viable option and they couldn't waste any more time. They needed to get Maggie to Hilltop without any further delay.
Approaching from the rear of the RV with an empty gas canister, Rick walked up to Eugene. "That's the last of it. If you see a car, try to siphon the gas. Other than that, you keep moving."
"I'll have them thinking we're playing their game. All phases of the turn, level after level, move after move, I'll keep them spun. I assure you, I will," Eugene remarked with his usual mundane tone, but not without some vigor this time. "I got something for you. It's a recipe, and it ain't gazpacho," he added, withdrawing two sheets of paper from his pocket and handing them over to Rick. "How to Build Bullets 101. Abraham can show you where, just in case."
Rick looked down at the papers and then up at Eugene. "Thank you for this. For all of it," he spoke honestly. "We're lucky you're here."
"I won't argue with that," Eugene retorted. "I like to think I'm no longer that same guy of whom Georgie wanted to kick the teeth in."
Rick smirked. "I'm fairly certainly you aren't," he commented, touching Eugene briefly upon the arm before stepping away just as Abraham walked up.
"You go steady on the pedal. You don't make that thing gulp."
Eugene just stared back at Abraham. "How come you never let me drive the truck?"
"I didn't think you could do it," the burly ginger admitted. "I was wrong. You're a survivor." With a slight chuckle, he added, "You always were. We just didn't know it. Me and you both."
As Abraham offered his hand, Eugene just looked at it for a moment and then chose to throw his arms around Abraham for a hug instead.
When they parted from their embrace, Abraham stepped away. Rick, Aaron and Sasha were carrying Maggie out on a stretcher she'd been lying on while Carl had already stepped out ahead. His task would be to clear the way for them as they made their trip through the woods.
"Thank you," Maggie whispered, looking up at Eugene as he walked over.
He just nodded back and then looked over at Abraham who was holding his hands out to Georgie. She was standing at the top of the steps inside the RV, but she wasn't exactly in the place to be walking around on her leg right now with that wound so fresh. If she were to try, she'd probably yelp out in pain the entire time and draw unwanted attention to them. She had offered to stay with Eugene but Rick had been absolutely and very adamantly against it. He couldn't leave her behind, especially since Eugene was running the risk of being the decoy which could likely prove fatal for him. And that's where Abraham came in.
He was going to carry her.
"How we doing this?" she asked with a smirk. "Piggyback or bridal?"
"Piggyback," Abraham replied, turning around. "I might need the use of my hands."
"That's what she said," Georgie muttered as she reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck.
Reaching his own arms backward, Abraham chuckled at her comment as he helped hoisted her onto his back. "I knew I liked you for a reason. You got a dirty mind," he quipped, hooking his hands under her knees so that she could wrap her legs around his waist.
"Ah," she grimaced in pain; the muscle in her right thigh flexing.
"Don't worry, Little Red. I got you," he assured. "I won't let you fall."
"Thank you," she whispered.
"You can pay me back when we get home to Alexandria."
With a smile, Georgie glanced over at Eugene. She simply nodded her goodbye to him as Abraham began to walk forward with her on his back. Bringing her focus back forward, she did her best to ignore the throbbing, aching pain in her thigh as she watched the way Rick looked briefly over his shoulder to make sure Abraham and her were following.
As they slipped into the woods, Eugene slipped into the RV and closed the door behind him.
Moments later the engine started up and the rest of them could hear the vehicle drive away; none of them really sure whether or not they would see the vehicle or Eugene again.
They all tried not to think of how far they had to go, on foot, in the dark. It would be a few miles, at least, and they weren't all too sure they were even going in the right direction, but they had to keep going. They couldn't stop, except to rest their arms for a minute or two for those carrying Maggie.
"You can set me down, you know," Georgie muttered into Abraham's ear. "Just let me throw an arm around your shoulder and I can hop the rest of the way on one foot."
"Not gonna happen," he replied adamantly.
During one of their few, brief rest periods, while Sasha was giving Maggie the remainder of their water to drink from, Rick came over to both gingers and placed a hand on the side of Georgie's face. "How you holding up?"
Georgie smirked. "Abe won't let me walk. Either he's too manly and needs to be my knight in shining armor or he just thinks I'm an invalid who'll slow the rest of us down."
"Both," Abraham grunted with slight amusement in his voice.
Rick smirked, looking from his brusque friend and then back to his lady. "I can carry her for a while if you want?" he offered to Abraham.
"Nah, I got her just fine. Just keep helping the others with Maggie."
Looking once more between the pair, Rick focused primarily on Georgie as she nodded at him and said she was fine with Abraham. Rick nodded back and patted Abraham's arm. He didn't say anything else as he turned back to pick up the front of the stretcher, hinting to Sasha and Aaron to literally pick up where they left off.
Continuing on through the dark woods, they happened upon a single walker in their path. It was ambling toward them with a rather large tree branch impaled through its midsection, but was effortlessly taken out by Carl as the teen sliced its head in half with the machete in his hands.
"Aaron, please," Maggie spoke quietly. "Just let me walk it."
"Relax. Just a few more miles," he replied, keeping his eyes open for anything ahead of them.
"If they won't let me walk, they sure as hell won't let you walk," Georgie remarked, trying to help bring some lightness to their situation.
The corner of Maggie's mouth curved upward in an attempt to smile. But she was too drained to see it through.
"I heard what you told her when we were leaving," Carl spoke, walking beside his father. "We can do anything, 'cause we'll do anything we need to do. We have and we will. What happened to Denise, I'm not gonna let anybody die like that again."
Rick looked to his teenager, this young man. "Son—"
"—What?"
Before Rick could say whatever he had been about to say, whistling began to echo throughout the woods, coming from all directions. The group came to a halt and began to nervously look around, catching brief glimpses of men moving around between the trees, in the dark.
"Go! Go!" Rick cried out to them.
Without wasting a moment, they began to run as fast as they can while carrying Maggie on the stretcher and Georgie on Abraham's back. They veered right, dodging tree branches and continued to weave around among the trees as the whistling persisted. It seemed that no matter which way they went, the whistling continued and it sounded like more and more people were contributing to the whistling. The numbers seemed to be increasing with each step their group took.
As they darted out into a clearing, flood lights popped on; halting them where they stood as the whistling Saviors came stepping out of the woods, but also revealed so many already waiting right there in that clearing. Waiting for them.
There were at least a hundred Saviors, standing around all sorts of vehicles; vehicles the group had seen on the road as roadblocks. Turning around to assess their surroundings, the group easily deduced just how trapped they were. They'd been basically led through a maze and brought purposely to this place; to the end of the line, trapped like animals against a much larger predator. Predators that were standing around, still whistling, and holding mostly blunt weapons like bats, lead pipes and hammers.
Directly in front of them was their RV, and a few feet in front of it, somberly on his knees, was Eugene, with fresh cut over his right eyebrow and blood that had been running down from it. Rick was visibly shaking with a fear he couldn't remember ever feeling before. His curls were drenched in sweat, which dripped down the sides of his face as he continued to look around; wishing and hoping for some silver lining. Any silver lining.
But there was none.
There would be none.
"Good. You made it." Out from the shadows stepped the head Savior that Rick had interacted with; the same one who had spoken to all them from the other side of the flaming wall of logs. He was smiling at them, specifically at Rick. "Welcome to where you're going. We'll take your weapons." Without missing a beat, he withdrew a gun and aimed it at Carl. "Now."
Rick stared at the Savior, suddenly very broken. "We can talk about—"
"We're done talking," the Savior interrupted. "Time to listen."
Without hesitation, several Saviors walked up to the group and began to strip all their weapons from them; their guns, their knives. Everything. In doing so, Georgie was forced down from Abraham's back so the Saviors could properly frisk them both. She landed roughly down on her legs, which forced her leg muscles to tense and sent a jolt of pain to her gunshot wound. She winced and inhaled a sharp breath, but kept quiet as she clung closely to Abraham after the Saviors stepped back with the group's weapons in their hands.
"That's yours, right?" The head Savior was asking Carl as he held the gun that teen had been carrying.
Carl simply glared back, defiantly; somehow managing to appear less fazed than his father or any of the other adults in their group.
The head Savior leaned in and whispered, "Yeah, it's yours." As Carl wavered and noticeably gulped, the Savior flicked Carl's hat and leaned back up. "Okay. Let's get her down and get you all on your knees. Lots to cover."
As a few of the Saviors walked over to Maggie to get her down from the stretcher Rick, Sasha and Aaron were still holding, Abraham spoke with an angered tone. Then again, that really wasn't anything new. "Hold up. We got it," he insisted.
"Sure, sure," the head Savior conceded.
Abraham stepped forward to help Rick, Sasha and Aaron set the stretcher down and then helped Rick with getting Maggie up to her feet since she could barely stand on her own. At the same moment, Eugene was picked up off his knees and led over to his own people before being dropped back down upon his knees once more. Abraham knelt down, still holding onto Maggie, while Rick stood up and looked around, focusing on his son who was furthest away from him.
"Gonna need you on your knees," the head Savior reminded as he stepped up in front of Rick.
Father and son looked at each other again before Rick moved to finally kneel. When he did, the others still standing followed suit. Sasha, closest to Rick, knelt down on his left while Maggie was at his right. Georgie hobbled forward, and used Abraham's right shoulder as a brace as she slowly brought herself down to her knees. She dropped forward initially but quickly moved to right herself. Aaron knelt beside Sasha and Carl between Aaron and Eugene. Eugene and Georgie made up the bookends to their line.
"Dwight!" the head Savior called out.
"Yeah?" a Savior with string, chin-length blonde hair and a burn scar along the left side of his face stepped forward.
"Chop-chop."
Dwight walked over to a van with holes that peppered the doors he opened up. Inside, Daryl was immediately revealed, sitting there with a blanket around his shoulders and squinting from the bright flood lights that had immediately assaulted his sight. He looked almost as pallid as Maggie, but his reasoning for looking like shit was clearly the wound he had at his shoulder, judging from all the blood.
"Come on. You got people to meet."
As Dwight yanked Daryl from the van, other Saviors stepped forward to yank the rest out. Next revealed was Michonne, then Rosita, and finally Glenn. Each of them were dragged forward and forced to kneel down in the line with the others.
When Glenn saw his wife, his stomach did a somersault. "Maggie?"
"On your knees," a Savior demanded, grabbing at Glenn.
Georgie turned and looked to her immediate right, at Michonne beside her, kneeling straight. After her was Daryl who was sitting back on his feet despite technically being on his knees. Rosita, blank-faced but nervous, followed, and then Glenn, who was still holding his gaze with Maggie, wondering why she was there and what was wrong with her. And…what happened to her hair?
As the head Savior stepped back from the lineup, he instead moved closer to the RV and reached for the door. "Alright. We got a full boat! Let's meet the man." He knocked twice on the outer wall beside the door and then walked off, dropping Carl's gun down a foot or two in front of the teen.
A moment later the RV door opened up and out walked a man wearing a black leather jacket and a red scarf while holding a bat over his left shoulder.
The man smirked.
"Pissing our pants yet?" he asked before moving further out from the shadows into the glow of the flood lights. "Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close." He began walking in front of each person on their knees, taking in their faces as he smiled again. "It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon." When he got in front of Michonne, he stopped and looked around again. "Which one of you pricks is the leader?"
The head Savior, who had moved behind the line, pointed at Rick. "It's this one. He's the guy."
The man turned toward Rick and then walked up to him. He smiled a smile that in any other situation could be construed as beautiful and charming. "Hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan. And I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool. Not fucking cool. You have no fucking idea how not fucking cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed here shortly." As Rick shook slightly while looking back up at him, the man — Negan — shook his head. "Yeah. You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes." Negan smiled that charming smile again. "Fuck yeah, you are. You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter fucking what, you do not mess with the new world order. The new world order is this and it's really very simple. Even if you're fucking stupid, which you very well may be, you can understand it. Now I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow, but swallow it you most certainly motherfucking will."
Negan maintained his place primarily in front of Rick, but he was occasionally glancing around at everyone's faces; clearly sizing each person up. Rick' shoulders were slumped. His defeat was obvious and it was something their group had never experienced before. There had always been something to intervene and save the day. Usually Carol, but this time there was no Carol there to help them. Carol would not be saving their ass this night. They were royally fucked and it was truly terrifying.
"You ruled the roost. You built something. You thought you were safe," Negan continued. "I get it. But the word is out. You are not safe. Not even fucking close. In fact, you are fucked. More fucked if you don't give me what I want, and what I want is half your shit, and if that is too much, then you can go make, find or steal more and it'll even out sooner or later. This," he spun slowly around for dramatic effect to emphasize his point, "is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be. So, if someone comes to your door, you fucking let us in. We own that fucking door. You try to fucking stop us, we will fucking knock that fucker down. You understand?"
No one answered, especially not Rick, either because they thought the question was rhetorical or they were just too scared or nervous to speak up. And when no response came from the group on their knees, Negan leaned forward toward Rick and dramatically held a hand to his ear as if he were hard of hearing.
"What, no answer?" Running a hand over his mouth, Negan looked considerably amused. Taking a few steps back, he looked around at everyone. "You don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, now, did you? I don't want to kill you people. I want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're fucking dead, now, can you? I'm not growing a garden. But you killed my people, a whole fucking damn shitload of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that, for that you're gonna fucking pay. So, now I'm gonna beat the holy fuck fucking fuckety fuck outta one of you. This," he gestured to his bat which was wrapped with barbed wire, "this is Lucille, and she is awesome. All this…all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor." Letting his eyes scan everyone's faces again, he smirked when he turned toward Abraham and watched the way the muscular redhead stood tall and stalwart on his knees. "Huh."
He seemed a bit impressed with just how not bothered Abraham seemed; like a captain more than ready to go down with his ship. Someone who would take a beating and then say thank you afterward. Abraham was someone Negan could probably see as one of his crew, had this situation been different or had they all met under different circumstances. Narrowing his eyes, he looked at Abraham and then at Georgie; glancing between them a few times. Taking Lucille, he brushed it gently against Georgie's ginger locks and chuckled.
"You two related?"
Georgie couldn't bring herself to look up at Negan, let alone answer him. She began to shake slightly as the bat neared her face. The fear she felt in regard to what this man had planned for one of them had completely forced her to ignore the pain in her thigh.
Looking away from the pair, Negan instead glanced in the opposite direction, down over at Carl and smirked. Walking over, he crouched down in front of the teen and picked up the gun that the head Savior had dropped there. "You got one of our guns. Whoa. Yeah. You got a lot of our guns." When he got no reaction except for a glare out of Carl, he added, "Shit, kid, lighten up. At least cry a little." Again, he got no reaction out of Carl. Standing up, he sauntered back toward the right again. Giving Lucille a simple twirl, he turned and looked at Maggie. "Jesus. You look fucking shitty. I should just put you out of your misery right now."
As Negan lifted Lucille up, Glenn darted forward.
"No! No!" Glenn shouted.
Dwight, holding Daryl's crossbow, knocked Glenn forward with a blow to his back.
"Stop it!" Maggie cried out, fresh tears springing from her eyes as her hands reached uselessly for her husband as Dwight pointed the crossbow at him.
Glenn, on his back now, just looked over at Maggie. "God—"
Glenn and Maggie weren't the only ones getting emotional now. Georgie, Eugene and Rick were struggling to keep their tears at bay while Negan threw his weight around. The fear they all had for themselves and each other was mounting, moment by moment.
Tears stung eyes, chins quivered, nostrils flared, and shaky breaths were inhaled and exhaled.
"Nope," Negan muttered. "Nope. Get him back in line."
"No," Glenn grunted as Dwight dragged him back to where he'd been previously kneeling. "No. No. Don't."
"Alright, listen. Don't any of you do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First one's free. It's an emotional moment, I get it," Negan smiled, pointing at Glenn. He then turned and looked back at Rick. "Sucks, don't it? The moment you realize you don't know shit." Continuing to smile, he glanced down the line toward Carl and pointed his bat in his direction. "This is your kid, right?" Stepping over toward the teen, Negan chuckled. "This is definitely your kid."
"Just stop this!" Rick shouted.
"Hey!" Negan barked. "Do not make me kill the little future serial killer. Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order." He smirked and began to whistle. "I simply cannot decide." As he paced a moment or two, he suddenly stopped and turned to face the line again. "I got an idea."
He stepped forward, he pointed the end of the bat at Rick's face and then moved down the line to his left to point at each next person. "Eenie…meenie…miney…mo. Catch...a tiger…by…his toe." Finished with the left, he began to move toward the right, each person getting a turn with the bat pointed in their face. "If…he hollers…let him go." He began to point randomly next. He could just feel their fear emanating off them like an expensive and fragrant perfume. "My mother…told me…to pick…the very…best…one…and…you…are…it."
Rick turned his head to his right and saw Negan pointing his bat, but he couldn't quite determine which person. From where he was kneeling, it looked more like Lucille was aimed between two different people instead of just one which made Rick anxious. He felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest right there. He prayed to a God he barely believed existed, nor acknowledged anymore. He prayed to God to stop this, to do anything to prevent it from happening.
"Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start," Negan spoke. "You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that."
Without warning, Negan lifted Lucille up and swung down hard, making instant contact that was paired with the sickening crunch of skull bone as everyone screamed.