Chapter 17-Being happy

Carol's P.O.V

Carol stared at Simon. "Jesus was telling me about this place on the way back," Carol says. "About how only a few people here know how to fight."

"That is correct. It makes it easier to control them. That's why they don't have guns."

"But that only leaves one man to scavenge supplies for the saviors," Carol says. "Sure, they give you enough food, but food isn't the only thing you need nowadays. You need guns, ammo, medicine, fuel, and water. Jesus can't get all that by himself, but if these people knew how to fight, you could send more out, they could bring more in, makes everything for you guys better."

Simon stares at her and grins and then starts laughing. "You, you are one of the most interesting people I have ever met, you've been here all but ten minutes, and you are trying to change this place."

"If I'm going to live here, help them keep you guys happy. I'm gonna make sure it stays that way, and this is the best way to do it," Carol says.

"So what are you suggesting, Carol?" Simon asks.

"They get trained, in how to fight walkers, people if needed. So more can go out and get supplies you need."

"What's in it for you?" Simon asks.

"I survive, and maybe you get rid of that asshole out there," Carol says.

"You see, here's the thing, Carol. I like the yarn you are spinning, but if I got rid of Gregory, put you in charge, and trained these people. You could attack."

"I'm not dumb, Simon. I want to survive. Jesus says that you protect this place."

"We do. It's part of the deal," Simon says.

"I imagine you have a pretty big army. It can take on most herds and groups. If that means that we have to give you supplies to live, fine, but if we send more people out, you get more supplies and better supplies, and so do we. We get more supplies to keep us going. Both of us win."

Simon stares at her for a moment. "Okay, let's say I agree to this. I'll let you train seven of them. That gives me four run groups and makes sure not all of them are ready to kill me. If it works out, we'll talk about more."

"And Gregory?"

"I'll deal with that," Simon says. He walks to the door. "Gregory, come in."

Gregory walks into the office. "What is it?"

"We're going to try something," Simon says. "Our new friend here, Carol. She is going to be taking over Hilltop for a little while," Gregory goes to open his mouth, and Simon punches him in the face, grabs his shirt, and pushes him into the wall. "Do you understand!?"

"Yes," Gregory says in fear.

"Good. If I hear of any problems with you, I'll make you wish Negan was alive," Simon says as he shakes his hair. "You have one week, Carol. I better see some results."

Carol nods as Simon leaves.

Carl's P.O.V

Carl sat on the porch with Judith as they walked Alexandria. He looks at Enid as she walks up the stairs. "Hey," Carl says.

"Where is your Dad?" Enid asks.

"He's with Gavin, Dwight, and Alden," Carl tells her as she sits down beside him. She smiles at Judith.

"Ron seems to be doing well," Enid says.

"Looks like it, and so is Sam. He's taking a while to get used to it, but by the end of the day yesterday, he was hitting the tree," Carl says with a chuckle.

"They'll make it, Ron and Jessie are getting stronger each day, and Sam is following," Enid says.

Carl nods. "I got patrol soon. You wanna join me?" Carl asks.

"Yeah, sure," Enid says as Carl leaves the house to take Judith to Jessie.

Carol's P.O.V

Carol sat in the office looking at all the names of the people in the Hilltop. She looks at the door as it opens, and Jesus walks in. "So, what are you planning?" Jesus asks. "Simon told me to stay back for two days and help you."

"Close the door," She tells him. Jesus shuts the door and looks at him. "What I'm about to tell you. It does not leave this room. You tell nobody. You promise me that."

"I promise I won't tell anybody," Jesus says as he sits down.

"I'm from another community. I left it because of something I did. It's called Alexandria, and it has almost a hundred people. One of those people is Negan."

"What?" Jesus asks. "Simon said he killed him."

"He didn't. D.J., Alden, Paula, Gavin, Laura, Dwight, Sherry, Merle, and Tina are in Alexandria. They are preparing to fight the saviors, to fight Simon."

"You know who he is, right?" Jesus asks.

"I do, but we could use people like that if we're going to win. They are talking with another community, the Kingdom."

"I know it. The leader is Ezekiel. Has three men beside him, T-dog, Richard, and Jerry."

"Jerry's dead. T-dog told us he was a part of our group at the start. Benjamin and Henry are at Alexandria. Alexandria and, hopefully, the Kingdom is going to fight the saviors when we get these people trained up, and I get Simon's trust. We're going to help them. That's why Gregory couldn't lead. I need control of this place to train them, not just seven, all of them, but Gregory can not see, and Simon can not know. We need to make sure we find all the supplies I promised him in a week."

"I know a place, but we'll need at least five people," Jesus says.

"Then let's get to work," Carol says as they leave the office.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl walks out of the prison and up to Abraham as he loads some more of the supplies into the trucks. "We could leave a day or two early, hit a few of the towns we saw coming through," Abraham says.

"We've scavenged the towns near here. The rest were scavenged when we lived here. We'll probably be able to find some more in towns heading back," Daryl says. "We'll stay here tonight and start heading back tomorrow. If we hit most of the towns, we should be back home in about a week. We'll take some detours and hit as many towns as possible."

"I'll look at the maps and start to pick some town. We've only been gone a couple of days. We still have at least a week and a half before we said we'd be back," Abraham says as he walks away. Daryl nods as he follows the man into the prison.

Glenn's P.O.V

Glenn and Eugene walked through the woods. "How did you kill your first walker?" Eugene asks Glenn, who looks at him.

"I was scavenging in Atlanta, back while we were there. Before Rick showed up, I was in a store, and I heard it, I had a knife with me. Rick's partner Shane gave it to me. I knocked it down, and I stabbed it in the back of the head," Glenn tells him. "After a while, it became easy."

Eugene nods as they hear a growl. They look at a walker as it comes toward them. "It's yours. I got your back," Glenn tells Eugene as he pulls his knife out. Eugene nods as he pulls his machete out, he slams it down on the walker's head, and the blood sprays onto his shirt and the top of his neck. Eugene pulls the knife out and looks at Glenn, who nods. "Good job."

Eugene nods as they continue to walk. "Do you think we are born brave?" Eugene asks Glenn, who shakes his head.

"No, I think we become brave. The people who are alive now, we're brave. We survive no matter what," Glenn tells Eugene. "Once we survive, we get to live."

Eugene nods as they continue to walk.

Rosita's P.O.V

Rosita was putting her stuff as the group had decided that they would leave the prison tomorrow. She walks outside and puts it in the back of the truck as Abraham walks up behind her. "How are you?"

Rosita looks at him. "I'm fine," Rosita says. "Sasha, was she the reason?"

"Yeah," Abraham says as he looks at the woman who is talking with T-dog. "We're moving steadily. We both wanted it. We were just scared of losing each other. But being scared, it's just a part of this now. I'm sorry for the way I handled it."

"I know," Rosita says. "We're still friends, though."

"We are," Abraham says. "What about you? I know Spencer has the hots for you."

Rosita chuckles and shakes her head. "No," She says as she looks at Daryl, who is talking with Merle by Merle's bike. Abraham follows her eyesight and chuckles.

"Tell me how he is in bed. I've wondered," Abraham says with a smirk.

"Shut the fuck up and walk away," Rosita says with a smile. "It might not even happen."

"It will," Abraham says. "A blind person could see he likes you. He trusts you more than anybody here, maybe besides Michonne," Abraham says. "No point in wondering about the what ifs. I have watch with him tonight. Why don't you take it," Abraham says. Rosita nods as he walks away.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan was putting guns in the truck when Michonne walked up to him and started to help. "This place must have been one hell of a home," Negan says.

"It was. It was the first real home I had since all of this started. They became my family here."

"They are becoming my family," Negan says. "I wanna keep these people alive, kill Simon, disband the saviors. Have those assholes live as they should. Helping people, really helping them," Negan says.

"That's the point of all of this, to save everybody we can. The only person who has to die is Simon," Michonne says.

"And I'll be the one to kill him, I will," Negan says.

"I know you will," Michonne says.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl stood in the watch tower that night, staring at the trees as Rosita walked up the stairs. "I thought Abraham was on watch with me."

"We switched. He's gonna take watch with Sasha."

"I don't imagine much watching is gonna be done with those two."

Rosita chuckles as she stands by him. "Probably not," Rosita says. "But we're safe. If a herd shows up, they'll hear it regardless of what they are doing," Daryl nods. "How's Merle doing?"

"He's starting to accept everything how it is. I think being away from Alexandria is helping," Daryl says. "I saw you talking with Abraham earlier. You two okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Rosita says as she sets her gun down. "He's moved on. He's happy."

"Are you?" Daryl asks.

Rosita looks at him and takes his hand. She leans up and kisses him. Daryl lays his hand on her arm and kisses her back. After a moment, she takes his hand and leads him into the tower. "I don't think we're gonna be doing much watching either," She says as she kisses him again and pushes his vest off.

Thanks for reading. The next chapter might have a time skip to when the group is back in Alexandria. I don't know yet. I am having fun with Rosita and Daryl, and I plan on giving some other charchters some time next chapter. The next chapter will probably start with them leaving the prison.