Author's Note: Nothing of importance to say this week other than ENJOY! R&R!

xoxo —Holly

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way..." — Charles Dickens, 'A Tale of Two Cities'

Georgie stood at the window of her temporary bedroom she was sharing with Rick and Judith at Hilltop. It was only just three in the afternoon but it felt like it should be midnight. The day was dragging horribly and she just wanted it to end so that they could all just get past how this day had started and get on with starting a new day already. The sun overhead was at an awkward angle that caused a beam of sunlight to shine directly into the window and into Georgie's eyes, causing her to stand there with her hand across her forehead to block it all out so she could see. Down below, the gates to the Hilltop closed and just beyond the walls, Rick was driving away in an SUV down the winding access road that connected Hilltop to the main road. She couldn't see the SUV but she could see the dust it kicked up as he went until he was already too far away and it was all blocked by trees.

At the base of the bed behind her, Judith was playing with a stuffed teddy bear that someone had found for her to play with, as all her toys had been left behind at Alexandria and they just hadn't been a necessity to bring to where they were now. In retrospect, however, it probably would've only taken a moment to grab some kind of toy. After all, Rick and Michonne had managed to grab some of Judith's clothes and diapers; the latter being important since they still hadn't managed to fully potty-train her yet. What with how chaotic their lives have been, there just hadn't been the time to focus on that. But that would change as soon as this war was over. Potty-training was going high on the list of priorities when they got home to Alexandria.

That and, obviously, rebuilding whatever had been destroyed.

They would find a way to get back something of the old world again and go forward.

At least, she really hoped they could.

"Mama."

Georgie turned from the window; from the sight of people bustling about outside in preparations for the next fracas against the Saviors. Turning her gaze downward, she smiled at Judith, who was no longer sitting at the end of the bed and instead standing very close to her. The teddy bear was discarded and she was reaching her hands up toward Georgie; clenching and unclenching her fists.

"What's up, sweetie?"

Putting one little hand up to her mouth, she pulled at her bottom lip and whined. "Hungee."

"You want something to eat?" It was rhetorical, asking the child. She wasn't expecting an answer of yes, even though Judith seemed to understand and nod in response. Leaning down, she hoisted the girl into her arms and onto her hip. "Let's see if there's something other than turnips to give you. Maybe something canned and fruity in the root cellar that we can steal, huh? How's that sound?"

Judith nodded, though Georgie doubted the girl truly knew what the hell she was talking about. She likely just found comfort in Georgie talking with her and the soothing sound of Georgie's voice. Really, she just found comfort in Georgie, in general.

Georgie was her mommy. Rick was her daddy.

They were her constants.

There were so many people coming and going in her young life and she had just lost the other constant — her big brother. She wasn't aware he was gone forever. She was too young to understand that. But over time, she would no doubt come to wonder where he was. And what was worse, despite any and all photographs of Carl lying around, or any memento left behind to prove Carl was once alive and with her, Judith would eventually forget her brother. Her memories of him would fade as she got older and anything she saw of him would be secondhand; photographs, other people's stories about him, and even that video Deanna had taken of Carl, that they had all had taken of them, when first arriving to Alexandria. Someday, Carl would be another ghost Judith would never know, like Lori, her real mother.

As the twosome headed downstairs, Judith laid her head down upon Georgie's shoulder and, while sucking the thumb on one hand, wrapped her spare arm around Georgie's back and began to twirl Georgie's hair around her fingers. A few people were coming and going from the house, passing the mother-daughter duo on the way with warm smiles and a "hello" here and there. Outside, in the warm sunlight, both squinted their eyes, but Judith had the added benefit of being able to turn her face away and bury it more toward Georgie's chest.

"Hey, Jesus…" Georgie called out, spotting him helping one of his fellow Hilltop residents with fortifications for the community.

"Hey." Taking pause, he smiled kindly at her and gave Judith a friendly, little wave. Giving the other resident a silent gesture that he'd be right back, he walked up to Georgie, taking off his work gloves and shoving them into pockets he gave her a nod of his head. "What's up?"

"I know food is tight here right now, but I was just wondering if there's anything that's not a turnip that I can give to Judith. Would the root cellar have any canned fruits or some sort of cheese? Maybe even some bread and a jar of peanut butter so I can make her a sandwich?"

Jesus smirked, letting his eyes focus on the girl. "I'm sure there's something more suitable than a turnip."

"If not, I'll take a turnip, but I'll need to boil it a bit to soften it up and maybe add some sugar to it, if there is any, to get her to eat it."

"Sugared turnips?" Jesus made a face that was somewhere between nausea and curiosity. "I think I've officially heard it all now."

Georgie let out a chuckle. "You should see what I can do with pecans, vanilla extract, brown sugar, and a touch of vegetable oil. I've had to get creative on the road."

"I bet." Placing a hand upon her shoulder that wasn't occupied by Judith, Jesus smirked at Georgie and then gestured toward the house. "I'll check the cellar real quick and get back to you. Don't go anywhere."

"Thanks."

Letting out a small sigh, he nodded and smiled a bit ruefully, from Georgie, down to Judith. "We've had a rough day. Some of us more than others." Reaching a hand out, he brushed a knuckle along Judith's cheek. "This little girl deserves something better than sugared turnips to eat today."

As Jesus walked off toward the house and disappeared around the right side of it, Georgie turned and looked around at all the busy bodies. Even though she preferred being exactly where she was, holding and caring for Judith, she still felt like she should be contributing elsewhere.

Even Maggie was doing something; standing upon one of the watch posts with Rosita, keeping lookout.

Turning around to glance back at the house, she saw Michonne sitting down on the steps with Enid, who was reading her letter from Carl.

Georgie hadn't read hers yet and she wasn't sure if Michonne or Rick had read theirs. It was possible both had. Rick had taken that time after they pulled over on the road, when he went into those woods for a while. He might've gone and read his letter then, but he hadn't mentioned it, one way or the other.

Georgie contemplated when she would read hers; maybe that night, maybe tomorrow morning.

Maybe reading it with fresh eyes would be better or maybe getting all the sadness of this day done away with was better.

She inhaled a deep breath and released it. Leaning her head down, she placed a kiss atop Judith's head and encircled her arms a bit tighter around the girl's midsection. Her own stomach was rumbling with hunger, having not eaten since…well, she couldn't remember when. They had all been so occupied with those first tasks with attacking the Sanctuary and the outposts, and then getting locked overnight in shipping containers, and then last night in the sewer in Alexandria. It was probably two and a half days. There had been water to drink in the sewer, she recalled, some of which had been given to Carl, to bring him some sort of comfort in the end. With the lack of food and the lack of sleep, she was running on fumes. And she could only imagine how Rick was doing.

Honestly, at this point, it was all pure adrenaline that kept them all going.

Tonight, though, no matter what, she would see to it they had something to eat and drink and that they got some good rest. After all, If God could take a day off, they could sure as shit take a few hours to recharge their batteries. She could wager a guess that even Negan took the time to kick back and relax during all this fighting.

A throat being cleared behind her caused Georgie to turn toward the sound, whereupon she found Jesus standing there with two turnips and a Rubbermaid container filled with sugar. The look on his face was that of regret.

"Unfortunately, and I checked twice, we are out of anything canned, with the exception of something that looks like it was canned during the Nixon administration that I wouldn't even feed to Negan," he informed. "No cheeses, no bread, no peanut butter. Sorry. This really is the only thing we have an abundance of right now, and even that's low. I mean, we have supplies to make bread and other things, but that takes time, obviously, and you two need to eat now."

"That's okay."

"I just can't wait till all this is over so we can just get back to living our lives. So we can focus on building our communities and, most importantly, growing food."

"We do what we can with what we have."

Jesus smiled. "Here, here."

"I can take all this," Georgie remarked, reaching for the turnips and the container in his hands. "You were busy before I stopped you."

"I can't take a few minutes extra and carry this wherever you need it."

Smiling, Georgie gave a nod of thanks while shifting Judith to her opposite hip. "Just show me to the nearest stovetop and some cooking utensils."

Not even a half hour later, Georgie was sitting at a picnic table with Judith on her lap. The little girl was feeding herself spoonfuls of mushy turnips coated with sugar, which actually tasted really good. Georgie knew only because she had tested it. If she didn't like it, there was no way Judith would, since kids were such fussy eaters. When she had come to the table after cooking up the food, Maggie and Rosita were no longer atop the watch post where she'd last seen them and Michonne was no longer on the front steps up to the house with Enid. She looked around, seeing everyone else was still doing their part to get shit done in preparation for whenever the Saviors arrived and her eyes finally settled on the sight of the gates opening up and an SUV, not the one Rick had left in, driving into the community and coming to park alongside the wall.

Michonne and Enid came out of the woodwork, walking around to the trunk and opening it up, as Rosita climbed out of the SUV's driver's seat and was making her way over. Something was going on and she didn't like feeling left out of the loop. Spying Barbara not too far away with baby Gracie, Georgie flagged her down.

The other redheaded woman smiled and came walking over orphaned Savior child in her arms. "Whatcha got to eat there, Judy?" she asked. "Looks yummy."

Bypassing pointless commentary, Georgie looked Barbara in the eye. "Would you be able to keep an eye on Judith for a little while? I have something I gotta check on."

"Of course."

"Thank you."

Slipping Judith off her lap, she then lowered the bowl Judith was eating out of onto the bench of the picnic table because otherwise Judith wouldn't have been able to reach the food without standing up and that just wasn't exactly safe. Having raised toddlers, Georgie knew all too well how easy it would be for Judith to lose focus, move her foot forward or backward and slip off the bench and possibly hit her face as she fell. It had happened to Tristan when he was three. He had been sitting at the kitchen table and in the seconds it took her to walk away and get something from the fridge, he had stood up to goof around, lost his footing and fell. As he fell, the chair flew backward and out from underneath his feet and his chin came down on the edge of the table and cut it open. She ended up having to rush him to the emergency room where he'd received nine stitches and then a lollipop for his troubles. Georgie could've used one, too.

Standing up, Georgie placed her hands on either side of Judith's head and kissed her crown. "Be good for Barbara."

As the little girl craned her head to look up a bit at Georgie, Georgie felt a slight sense of peace at the little smile Judith gave her in response. With a second "thank you" to Barbara, who sat down beside Judith with Gracie in her lap, Georgie stepped away, hooking her thumbs into the back pockets of her jeans. Approaching the SUV, she found Michonne, Enid, Maggie and Rosita were standing around, talking amongst themselves.

"I'll go," Michonne spoke.

"Go where?" Georgie inquired.

Extending her hand forward, Michonne held out a piece of paper for Georgie to read. "This and four empty milk crates were outside these walls from someone."

"Saviors?" she asked, taking the paper and looking down to read it. "'If you fill the crates with food or phonograph records, I will gladly exchange them for a key to your future.'" Glancing back up with an arched eyebrow, Georgie looked at Michonne and then Maggie. "What kind of mindfuck is this?"

"It's not the Saviors," Michonne insisted. "It's someone else."

"And we're not gonna bother with whoever they are," Maggie maintained.

"A key to our future?" Georgie repeated. "Sounds like bullshit to me."

"Exactly."

"And I think it's someone who genuinely wants to help us," Michonne remarked.

Maggie sighed. "But that's not a risk we should be taking right now."

"And I think it's worth the risk. I'll go and see what's up."

"You go, I go," Rosita offered without missing a beat.

Enid turned toward Michonne; her arms folded. "Rick wants us here."

"I know," Michonne nodded. "But the last time we took a chance like this, it changed everything. Rick didn't agree with me then. He may not understand me now."

"He won't," Maggie muttered.

"But he could," Georgie countered. Handing the letter back to Michonne, she mirrored Enid by folding her arms across her chest. "He'll huff and puff for a little while, but tends to come around."

Michonne shared a knowing smile with her. "Yeah, he will."

"Jesus and the others have been scavenging, and we're still starving," Maggie commented, continuing to focus her attention primarily upon Michonne. "Maybe this person does have something that can help."

"Then I'm coming with you," Enid said to Maggie.

"Okay. I'll grab records in case this is real. You get extra clips in case it isn't." Shifting her gaze to Georgie, the 'Widow' gave her a nod. "You gonna come too?"

"I probably shouldn't," Georgie shrugged. "I told Rick I'd stay here with Judith…"

Rosita smirked at her. "But?"

Unable to contain her own smirk at the fact that Rosita had sensed the 'but', Georgie shrugged again and unfolded her arms. "But…Judith is safe here. Barbara's looking after her right now, and I suppose this jaunt outside the wall to assess this situation won't hurt. Fingers crossed."

"Grab a gun," Maggie said with a nod. "We'll plan strategy on the way to this meet."

An hour later, all five ladies had come to a stop half a mile down the road from the meet up location listed on the back of the letter. Armed with a gun, a knife and a walkie-talkie, Georgie climbed out of the SUV first, with Rosita following after her.

Maggie rolled down her window at the front passenger's seat. "Let us know when the two of you are in position."

Georgie nodded. "Gotcha."

Looking over at Rosita, she nodded at the Latina as well, and both of them separated; heading into the woods on opposite sides of the road. Without missing a beat, they each began to walk at a fast pace within the trees, but not too close to the road that they'd be seen. The entire time, Georgie kept her eyes peeled for any walkers that might be hanging out in the woods as she stalked past. She didn't really want to be hindered by them when she had something else to deal with. Fortunately, she was left unbothered. Peering through the trees, she soon caught a glimpse of a dark van at a crossroads. Outside of the van stood two lackey types that appeared to be female, but had definite masculine qualities to them. The pair was staring down the road, waiting; fully unaware that Georgie and Rosita were in the woods, watching them.

Staring through the trees, across the road to the woods on the other side, Georgie caught a faint glimpse of Rosita and knew she was in place and just as ready to go as she was. Bringing the walkie-talkie to her lips, she pressed a finger to the button and whispered into it.

"We're in place."

Maggie responded back without words, but a simple clicking of the walkie-talkie button from her end to let Georgie know she heard her. After a moment, the sound of the SUV approaching caught not only Georgie's attention but the three women in front of the van. As the van rolled to a stop, Maggie climbed out of the passenger's seat, Enid from the seat behind her and Michonne from behind the wheel. Armed with guns, or a katana in Michonne's case, the three of them slowly walked forward toward the duo at the van. They came to a stop, a safe distance away, but kept their weapons raised or at the ready as one of the two lackeys reached for the van's side door and rolled it open.

Without hesitation, an older woman with short, fair hair and glasses, who was dressed like some sort of high school principal, climbed out; clasping her hands together and smiling warmly. Michonne, sensing no major threat, sheathed her katana and slung it over her shoulder.

"My name is Georgie," the woman introduced herself, and then gestured to the two on either side of her, "and these are my friends, Hilda and Midge."

Seriously? Georgie thought from the woods. Did she just say her name was my name?

Michonne must've been thinking the same thing and cast the briefest of glances toward her Georgie's side of the woods and smirked, before focusing her attention back forward.

"And you are?" the other Georgie inquired. When no response came, she nodded. "Suspicious. But," she continued, stepping forward a few paces, "curious enough to see what I have to offer for food and music. I do hope the records are music. I don't accept spoken word." Coming to a stop, she looked around at their surrounding area and then focused on Maggie. "If you're out here, you know you can take care of yourselves, and I like that. I don't care to share this with the weak."

"Good," Maggie remarked; her resting bitch face giving nothing about her feelings or motives away.

Off the slight tilt of her head, that was Georgie and Rosita's cue.

The two of them came stepping silently out of the woods with their guns raised; approaching the odd trio from the van from either side. Other Georgie looked from side to side when she realized what was happening, but then she smirked, as if she wasn't too surprised or bothered.

"Ladies," Maggie spoke, eyeing Georgie.

Without hesitation, she and Rosita stepped up to Hilda and Midge. Keeping their own guns raised, the removed the guns from the pair who, on closer inspection, seemed to be twin sisters. Georgie and Rosita patted them down a bit to check for any other weapons they might be concealing and the entire time, the twins made no move to stop them from doing what they had to do. Satisfied that the twin she had patted down was clean, Georgie stepped forward to check Other Georgie.

"None for me," the older woman declared, sensing Georgie approaching.

Georgie, however, wasn't convinced. Tucking her gun into the back of her pants, she proceeded to pat Other Georgie down anyway. After determining the woman was indeed void of any weaponry on her person, Georgie stood up straight and nodded over to Maggie; the latter of which raised her own gun directly at Other Georgie.

"Give us what you have," Maggie demanded.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Other Georgie replied with a slight chuckle. "I come bearing knowledge to trade — essential knowledge for the future, primarily in my head," she added; tapping a finger to her temple, "and, uh, I prefer to keep that where it is."

"You're trading knowledge," Michonne commented with a questioning tone.

"That's what I have." She glanced slightly at Georgie who was still standing close to her and had her gun back out, just in case. "I've made the same offer before—fill the crates, get the knowledge—simple as that. It's not a trick, just a fair trade. I promise you."

"It's an act of benevolence," one of the twins said.

"Why would you do that?" Maggie inquired.

"What else should I do?" Other Georgie retorted.

After a couple moments to mull that over, Maggie glanced to her left. "Rosita."

Without pause, Rosita walked forward and opened up the back doors to the van.

"Uh, what's in there isn't part of the deal," Other Georgie asserted.

"There is no deal."

Rosita came back around, with her gun aimed at the twin that had spoken. "How many communities have you found?"

Other Georgie turned toward her. "Communities like yours? Not many at all." Turning back forward, she returned her focus onto Maggie. "And not one for a very long time. What you have is special, unusual. The dead have brought our best and worst, and the worst has been outpacing the best lately, but that won't last forever."

"It won't," the other twin insisted.

"If, perhaps, people can believe in people again, four crates of goods is worth far less than a sustainable future and perhaps an exercise in trust. I know—'trust' probably sounds like a made-up word now, like flibberschticky."

"Or klompf," the first twin added with a smirk.

"Or moisture," the second twin joined in, garnering strange looks from everyone, except from her sister, but including Other Georgie.

"Stop," Enid spoke up. "This isn't real. No way anyone survives going around doing what you say you're doing."

"But we do," Other Georgie assured. "And we will, because I can divine that you are a fine group." Focusing on Enid, she added, "Manners notwithstanding."

Georgie watched at Michonne leaned in and whispered something to Maggie, while she herself made the choice to lower her gun even though Rosita and Enid maintained their aim. She was seeing no true threat from this odd trio and she was certain Michonne was of the same belief as her and was expressing as much at that very moment.

"No," Maggie shook her head. "These people and their van are coming are coming with us back to Hilltop." She looked over at Georgie and gestured her forward. When the redhead approached, she pointed at the van. "You and Michonne take Georgie," she remarked, emphasizing the name with a sense of amusement in her voice. "Take her in her van. The twins will ride with Rosita, Enid and me in the SUV. You follow, we'll lead."

Georgie cast a glance over at Michonne and exhaled a sigh. "Alright."

Without another word, Rosita grabbed one twin by the arm and Enid stepped forward to grab onto the other twin. As they led them toward the SUV, Michonne walked over to Other Georgie and placed a hand upon her shoulder.

"Is this truly necessary?" Other Georgie questioned as she was led toward the opened side door.

"Put yourself in our shoes," Georgie remarked. "Would you let your guard down so easily?"

"No, I suppose not."

"Then, in you go."

With a gentle push from Michonne, Other Georgie begrudgingly reached up and pulled herself up into the van.

"Passenger seat," Georgie directed.

With a nod to Michonne, she watched at the woman climbed in behind Other Georgie. With a look back toward Maggie and the others, she saw them ushering the twins into the second row of the backseat area, while Enid was climbing into the last row with her gun maintained on them the entire time. Rosita was making her way to the driver's side and Maggie was climbing back into the passenger's seat. Stepping round to the driver's side of the van, Georgie raised her left hand and pulled the door open. With her right hand, she grabbed onto the seat and pulled herself up inside. The van being raised unusually high made the task a little trickier. Once inside, though, she sat down behind the wheel and closed the door behind her. She looked down at the ignition, saw the keys were there and then looked at Other Georgie and then at Michonne; the latter of whom had slid shut the side door and was now crouched down and keeping an eye on Other Georgie in case she tried to pull anything.

"I didn't get your names," Other Georgie remarked with a smile; trying to keep the mood light.

"We didn't give them," Georgie countered.

"Michonne," Michonne offered up.

Other Georgie turned slightly in her seat and smiled. "It's nice to make your acquaintance, Michonne." With a nod, she turned and looked upon Georgie with an expectant expression upon her face. "And you are?"

Turning on the van, Georgie pressed down on the gas pedal a bit and began to turn the wheel so that the vehicle was facing in the direction they had come from. She wasn't focused on making small talk at the moment, she was focused on the SUV and waiting for it to turn around and start heading back down the road.

After a moment, when Rosita finally made a 180 with the SUV, Georgie threw a brief look at the older woman beside her.

"Georgie."

"Yes?"

"No, not you. Me."

A chuckle escaped Other Georgie's lips; keeping her attention completely upon the redhead at her left. "Your name is Georgie, too?"

"It is."

"What is it short for, if you don't mind me asking?"

Moving forward with the van, Georgie began to follow the SUV as he started off down the road at a normal speed. "Georgianna. You?"

"Not Georgianna," the older woman replied with a smirk. "How did you end up Georgie, then?"

"I was named for my grandfather, George."

Other Georgie leaned back in her seat with a nod. She turned her eyes forward and draped her hands, fingers interlocked, upon her lap. "My father wanted a son. He got a daughter instead."

Upon arriving back to Hilltop, Georgie drove the van up near the front of the house. Other Georgie, along with the twins, were led out of both vehicles and up near the front steps. Rosita and Michonne went to grab a bench from a picnic table on Maggie's request, and brought it over for the trio to sit upon. Rosita, Enid and Michonne remained, keeping watch on them, while the rest of the community occasionally looked over to see what was going on, but mostly kept going about their duties in preparation for the impending fight with the Saviors.

Inside the house, Maggie was in the office, along with Georgie; the latter was looking out a window while Maggie was being debriefed by Jerry.

"The handoff horn started up but no confirmation hits," he informed. With a tilt of his head and a smile, he added, "Saviors could've slowed their roll. Let 'em. We'll slow 'em down more."

"That's good," Maggie replied. "It'll be dark soon. Get people ready. You know what to do."

Georgie smirked as Jerry moved to exit the office. Turning away from the window, she folded her arms across her chest and walked over to the younger woman. "Gotta say, you've certainly grown into your role as a leader here," she admired. "Was kind nice to take orders for once instead of giving them. Though, giving orders is plenty fun sometimes."

Maggie smiled a little. "It's no walk in the park, though."

"No, it isn't," Georgie agreed. "You know, back at Gabriel's church, back in Georgia, after I joined the group, I was talking to Rick after that argument he'd had with Abraham. I told him that uneasy is the head that wears the crown. Especially at a time like this, it's even heavier, I imagine."

"It's not exactly a role I was aiming to take."

"No one really ever is. It's just something that tends to happen. When there's no one stepping forward to make the hard choices and rally the troops, figuratively and literally, sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do."

"You led before, right?" It was rhetorical. Maggie had been aware for some time that Georgie had been the de facto leader of two separate groups prior to meeting Carol, and that the first of those groups Bob Stookey had been a part of. "How did you manage to get through it all?"

"Stupid luck," Georgie replied. "And sheer force of will. Whatever your convictions, you gotta stand by them, and you gotta do what's best for everyone, not just yourself. Sometimes that's a line that's hard to distinguish."

"Would you ever want to lead again?"

"If I absolutely had to, I suppose. But I wouldn't want to. I'm happy being a Rick's second fiddle."

The sound of the front door creaking open was followed by the sound of footsteps approaching the office. Both women turned to see it was Michonne.

"We should make the deal and let them go before the Saviors get here," she announced like a woman on a mission.

"I can't let her go; not with what they have," Maggie retorted. "I got too many mouths to feed. They have crates of food in that van. People here could be starving soon."

"Maggie's right," Enid remarked, appearing almost as if out of thin air from behind Michonne. "We take their stuff. Otherwise, someone else will. Someone else will kill them. It's a miracle they're still alive, anyway."

Georgie narrowed her eyes. "Just taking their stuff? Just like that? That sounds an awful lot like a Savior thing to do. And taking their food could be as good as killing them. We don't know their situation. We know they seem to be doing okay and they've been nothing but respectful." She caught Michonne's eye and the sense of thankfulness that she agreed with her line of thinking. "We should give them the benefit of the doubt. If we didn't reach out to other communities, Hilltop, Alexandria and the Kingdom would've never allied to rise up against the Saviors. We don't need to involve Georgie and wherever her community is with this fight, but afterward, we're still gonna need people. I mean, it's better than make a friend than an enemy."

Enid stepped up to her and Michonne. "The Saviors are on their way. We're gonna fight and some of us will die, so why should we give a shit about people who don't give a shit about themselves? I mean, out there living like that? We take their stuff and we use it. We stop pretending that things just work out. They don't."

"Carl rescued Siddiq and now we have a doctor, and we have a friend," Michonne countered, keeping her cool despite the teen girl's agitated commentary.

Reaching forward, Georgie slipped the gun out of Enid's hand that she was holding. "Carl was brave."

Her eyes, which were filling with tears, flitted back and forth between both women standing before her. "And now he's dead," she spoke, her voice breaking.

"Step back," Michonne whispered.

Filled with possibly more frustration than she'd been feeling before, Enid turned on her heels and exited the office without another word. All three of the women in the room watched the girl go; left with a certain heaviness hanging in the air above them.

"Things just don't work out," Maggie muttered.

"No. No, they don't," Michonne replied, turning to face Maggie. "But I think he knew that. He didn't give up on who Rick wanted him to be. And we can't on who he wanted us to be. We can't."

Georgie tucked Enid's gun into her back pocket and turned as well toward Maggie; watching the younger woman's resolve falter a little. After a few seconds of silence between the three of them, Michonne took her leave; having said her peace. Georgie remained still, however.

"Things might not always work out, but sometimes they do. It's hard to forget all the terrible things done to us and the people we've loved and lost. But, at the same time, a lot of good has happened, and we've gained wonderful friends since. Friends who've become family. The force of a door closing opens a window and whatnot." Georgie sighed, taking note of how Maggie wasn't looking at her or even in her direction. She could tell the younger woman was mulling things over. "Point is, we have to be better people if we want to create a better world."

Not knowing if any of that had helped get through to Maggie, Georgie chose that moment to take her leave. Exiting the office, she walked over toward the staircase where Barbara was seat on a bench beside it with both Judith and Gracie.

"I'll take Judith now, thanks."

Barbara looked up with a smile. "Of course. She was well-behaved the entire time you were gone."

Reaching for her stepdaughter, she lifted Judith into her arms, kissed her cheek and then looked back at Barbara. "That's good to hear." Then, turning back to Judith, added, "Wanna go outside?" Off Judith's nod, Georgie walked toward the front door.

Out on the front porch of the house, Michonne stood, staring down at Other Georgie and the twins, who were sitting quietly and patiently; not daring to so much as blink the wrong way. When Georgie came out of the house with Judith and sidled up beside her, Michonne turned and nodded; giving Judith a small smile and grabbing her foot. Judith giggled and then tried to playfully slap at Michonne's hand, but Michonne had yanked it back too quickly.

"I almost feel like we should make the deal, with or without Maggie's two cents," Michonne whispered for Georgie's ears only.

"I know. But we can't. We might be a united front, the three communities, but this isn't our home. Alexandria is. This is Maggie's home now and she's its leader. The deal is with Hilltop, not the rest of us. Maggie has to make the deal. We just have to support her, whichever way she ends up leaning, whether we agree with her decision or not."

"Maybe when all is said and done, and when the Saviors are a thing of the past, we can seek out Georgie's community and work with them then."

Georgie shrugged. "Maybe."

"That's weird."

Turning to look at Michonne, Georgie raised an eyebrow. "What is?"

"Saying 'Georgie' and not meaning you. It's like if there was another Michonne, or another Rick, or Maggie."

Georgie snickered. "Well, there was Richard from the Kingdom."

"Yeah, but he was Richard, not Rick."

"Maybe we can call her something else," Georgie suggested. "I've been calling her Other Georgie in my head."

"I've been calling her Old Georgie in mine."

"While a true description, not exactly kind."

Michonne shrugged. "OG?"

"Original gangsta?"

With a smirk, Michonne shook her head. "Other-slash-Old Georgie. OG."

"Works for me," Georgie replied with a nod of agreement. "But to her face, it's probably polite to call her by her actual name. Or maybe, in time, we can learn what Georgie actually stands for like how mine is short for Georgianna. Maybe's she's a Georgia or Georgette. Or, hell, maybe even just George."

"Maybe."

The click of the handle and the creak of the door behind them opening caused both Michonne and Georgie to turn slightly. Maggie was holding one of the milk crates and it was filled with a number of records. As Maggie descended the stairs, she moved to stand in front of Other Georgie; placing the crate at her feet

"No spoken word?" Other Georgie questioned.

"I'm agreeing to your deal," Maggie replied as Other Georgie stood up with a warm, grateful smile. "We'll fill your four crates, then you can go. You're gonna want that to be sooner than later."

"I accept," Other Georgie replied without hesitation. "But, I'm changing the terms."

That didn't go over well, and it showed on Maggie's face as she breathed heavily and looked toward the others.

"This one, no more," Other Georgie continued. "In addition, you can have a sizeable portion of my food stores." She gestured for the twins to get up. "From the looks of things around here, you need it far more than we do."

"You're giving us food?" Off Other Georgie's nod, she added, "In exchange for what?"

"Records. And good faith. To be clear, this isn't a gift. It's barter. I'll be back. Maybe not for a while, but I will, and by then I expect great things." Walking over to the van's opened door, Other Georgie was handed something bulky by one of the twins. "Here…is the aforementioned key to a future." Turning around again, she walked back over to Maggie; presenting her with a book of some sort while the twins went about setting crates of food outside on the ground. "Inside there are handwritten plans for windmills, watermills, silos, hand-drawn schematics, guides to refining grain, creating lumber, aqueducts — a book of medieval human achievement so we may have a future from our past.

Accepting the book, Maggie turned it around so she could properly look down at it. A bit confused and also amused by it, she looked up at Other Georgie with a bit of a smile.

"Yes, I know, the originals are in my head, but I made photocopies," Other Georgie remarked. "Still, it's been an evolving document since the copy shop."

"Thank you," Maggie muttered.

"Build this place up. I want those other crates filled when I get back; cheeses for Hilda, pickles for Midge.

"We'll see what we can do."

Reaching a hand out, Other Georgie placed it firmly upon Maggie's arm. "You will," she assured.

With a smile, Other Georgie and the twins turned and headed into their van. As Maggie pulled the book close to her chest, looking thoughtfully after the trio, both Michonne and Enid walked away from the house and down toward the gate, where they climbed up onto the watch post. As Other Georgie and the twins started up the engine to their vehicle, Other Georgie turned to look out the passenger door window and waved, and then began to drive off without a word. As the van made its way down toward the gates, Georgie walked down the front steps of the house and joined Maggie at her side.

"That's not at all what I was expecting the key to our future to be," Georgie remarked; both her and Maggie watching the gates being opened and the van soon passing through.

"Neither was I," Maggie replied. "Honestly, I'm not even sure I was expecting."

After a moment of silence, Georgie turned and looked directly at the younger woman; shifting Judith from one hip to the other in the process. "I'm glad you decided the way you did."

Maggie smiled a small smile. "So am I."

After the food was brought down to the root cellar and the book was tucked safely away in Maggie's office, everyone kept on doing what they'd been doing all day. Preparations continued, but now there was a sense of increasing anxiousness in the air. It was getting much closer to sunset and the scouts weren't back, but it was only a matter of time now until the Saviors arrived. It could be an hour or two more, or possibly minutes. Children and anyone unable or too terrified to fight were taken into the house and tucked away as safely as Maggie's book. No one could sit still. The waiting was almost as bad as the notion of being attacked and killed.

Inside, the house was busy with activity of people getting into places once the sound of a horn blared in the distance. It was the last in a succession of horns; one alerting the next, and so on, that the Saviors had been spotted on the road, a ways away, heading in the direction of Hilltop.

It was now time to hunker down.

It was time for a fight.