Chapter 70: Compromise
RPOV
~Many years ago~
It was a regular Friday night, Lori had finished work early so she could pick up the kids. Shane and I had the night off. Kat and Carl were out of school for the weekend. All of us were sat around the dinner table, playing Trick or Trade, a game Shane and myself made up when we were younger.
The tradition was every Friday night, we played a couple of rounds after dinner. Eventually, as the kids grew up, Kat had showed Carl how to play and Kat was a master of this game now that we showed her how to play. "Yes!" Kat was excited, having won most of the chips we had put in front of us. "Come home to momma," she was scooping them up into her pile.
"No fair!" Carl whined as he dumped his cards on the table. "Kat, you always win," he grumbled, crossing his arms and frowning at his sister.
This was the stage where Carl was getting real upset over the game, when he would envy Kat for being wiser or older than him. "Relax kiddo," Lori had smoothed his hair down as she laughed. "Or you'll be going to bed early," she warned him.
Chuckling, myself and Shane exchanged a glance and smirked at the sight of Carl getting riled up over a game at such a young age. "You can't do that, its not even a school night!" Carl argued. When he saw Lori's eyebrows raise, her eyes widening a little, Carl slowly closed his mouth.
He knew he was going to lose this battle against his mother. "Please..." he begged.
A faint giggle left Kat as she began collecting the cards and shuffling them all. "So, who's playing?" she asked, glancing around the table as I took a sip of my beer.
"I'm out for this round," I declared, sitting back in my seat, I already had played the game enough times, to know that the master, was now the student.
Shane picked up on it almost instantly. "I don't blame you," Shane sympathised with me, his voice coarse and rough. "Your own kid's got you beat," he teased me. "You, should make a job out of something like this," he was encouraging Kat to do more with this skill.
"You can't make a job out of Trick or Trade!" Carl stated in a tone that was mocking to Shane's suggestion. "Can you?" his voice lowered as his question was serious. His eyes glancing around the room at all of us.
Lori laughed softly, her hand went to tuck hair away from Carl's face. "No, not exactly," she informed our son. "It's a bit more different in the real world, baby," she tried her best to explain there were many business jobs that had their employees or bosses learn the trick of the trade.
Many leaders needed skills like the ones me and Shane had made up many years ago. This game was just some stupid, fun game we made up when we were young, a game we were proud to invent and wanted to each our kids when they were growing up. Fortunately, I was capable of doing this dream we had when it came to the dumb game.
Shane lightly hit the table with the palm of his hand before pointing a finger at my daughter. "I'm telling you, with your dad's eyes, your mom's smile and with that brain of yours...anyone would be a sucker for whatever you're selling," Shane was sure of this as he spoke with confidence.
His eyes went straight to looking at me right after. "Am I right Rick?" Shane asked me, looking to me for back-up.
Chuckling, I looked at the table before leaning in to rest my arms on the table. "Kat's a smart girl, she can be whatever she wants to be and be great at it too," I was confident as I spoke directly to my daughter. I was sure of this.
So very sure. "So don't always listen to your uncle Shane," I warned her teasingly, this made Lori giggle, Carl chuckle loudly, Kat grinned and Shane laughed boisterously.
"Hey!" he acted offended but still wore a huge grin on his face.
Chuckling, I wiped under my eye, having an itch before I sat up a little and glanced to Kat. She was shyly looking down, staring at the cards she slowed her shuffle on. "Smart answer," Lori praised me for my skills on being a father.
Kat glanced to her mother and then back to me. "She's right, that was a good one," she praised me for my smooth words. "Thank you daddy," she thanked me with a warmness in both her eyes and tone. "Are you really sitting this one out?" she wondered if I was being serious about giving up on the game.
Sitting back, I nod and take a sip of my beer once more. "Oh yeah," I was sure of this. "I can't take another beating off you, Kit Kat," I smirked at her. "Not tonight, maybe next time," I assured her there would be more games in the future.
Instantly, Shane started to boo. Then joined Lori, then joined Carl and Kat with him. "But I'll watch," I offered to join in this way. "I'll watch," I repeated as they gradually stopped booing.
Chuckling, I sat back and watched in admiration as my daughter owned everyone in the game I showed her how to play. Sometimes, it was nice to see your children better you. Tonight, I was finally seeing that. And I enjoyed seeing my family all together, having fun and playing a game I invented with the man who was family to us.
PRESENT DAY...CPOV
Hearing a door shut tightly, I woke up because of the sound. Kat had fallen asleep in the bed beside mine and when I heard footsteps that didn't sound familiar to me, I noticed a guy in a huge coat and a beanie walk out of Michonne's room. Shaking Kat awake, she too noticed the guy walk past our room.
Placing a finger to my lips, we got our weapons and sneaked down the hall to him. When I spotted him sat on the steps, I gestured to Kat where he was. Slipping out from around the corner, I stood to his left and Kat went towards the guy's right.
"What the hell are you doing in our house?" I asked him instantly as I appeared behind him. Both of us lowering the hammers on our guns, showing him we were ready to shoot him, if need be.
The man had been hunched over a painting he was holding in his hands. "I'm, uh, sitting on the steps looking at this painting, waiting for your mom and dad to get dressed," the guy awkwardly answered us as he didn't turn around to look at us.
He didn't even move. Possibly afraid we were going to shoot him. "Who are you?" Kat asked this question, protective of us as she glared down at the guy from behind him.
Glancing over his shoulder at me slightly, he then glanced over to Kat. "Hi...I'm Jesus," he greeted himself to us. The sound of a door opening alerted us that there were people around. As footsteps approached, I turned and saw Michonne follow after my dad, both of them half naked.
Michonne wore a tank top, her boots and jeans, while dad was trying to do up his pants. "Carl, Kat, hey, um..." dad fumbled for words as he glanced between me and my sister. The sound of another door closing made me look towards the sounds of footsteps.
Appearing up the steps, armed, were Daryl, Glenn, Maggie and Abraham. All of them were ready to shoot this one guy below me. "It's-it's okay," Michonne tried to reassure them and us as she slowly approached Kat.
"You said we should talk. So let's talk," dad said as he tried to get his shirt on. Daryl, me, Kat and Glenn didn't lower our weapons. None of us trusted this guy. Not when he sneaks in when I'm sleeping in the same room as my sister.
KPOV
Once dad and Michonne were properly dressed, we all went downstairs to sit at the table. So far, Jesus was co-operating with us as we had him sat down at the head of the table, with my dad beside him and Michonne on the other side of Jesus. Carl sat beside Michonne, Glenn at the other head and Maggie to my dad's left.
I stood beside the shelf, between my dad and Jesus, making sure he didn't try and get to my father. While also staring him down, my arms crossed over my chest. "So, how'd you get out?" dad asked him first and foremost the most important question right now.
"One guard can't cover two exits or third floor windows. Knots untie and locks get picked," Jesus began explaining. "Entropy comes from order, right?" Jesus tried to look innocent in this.
Daryl slowed his pacing and stood beside me, Abraham loomed over Carl, like a protective uncle behind him. "Right," Daryl agreed roughly. Glancing to him, he was close enough for me to touch but in a situation like this, we were serious and in a meeting.
Jesus had looked to his hands on his lap and smiled to himself. "I checked out your arsenal. I haven't seen anything like that in a long time," he was speaking distantly, like he was remembering something.
"You're well-equipped, but your provisions are low. Very low for the amount of people you have," he commented on what we had in our pantry. "54?" he made a guess of how many people we had here, living in Alexandria.
We weren't going to tell him exactly how many people we had but I was going to make him feel intimidated by the calculation of numbers. "More than that," I corrected him without giving him any estimate.
My voice was firm, which made him glance to me, then to my father. He can tell I am my father's daughter. "Well, I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef," he made a comment to the snack my father and Daryl had left him for when he woke up.
Daryl's pacing was something I was far too used to. Although, we all were used to it at this point. He stopped beside me and hadn't moved from there. "Yeah, she ain't here," Daryl remarked angrily. Something really must have happened out there.
Jesus shifted in his seat to look at Daryl. "Look, we got off to a bad start. But we're on the same side...the living side," he assured us as he glanced between me, my father and Daryl. "You and Rick had every reason to leave me out there, but you didn't."
I hadn't heard exactly what happened but I knew that he wasn't a welcome sight to Daryl. "I'm from a place that's a lot like this one. Part of my job is searching out other settlements to trade with," he explained which made me a little perplexed.
Has he traded with others before? "I took your truck because my community needs things, and both of you looked like trouble. I was wrong. You're good people. And this is a good place," Jesus admitted where he went wrong. "I think our communities may be in a position to help each other," Jesus sounded confident in his words as he turned towards my father once more.
"Do you have food?" Glenn asked the important question.
It was something we were running out of. "We've started to raise livestock," Jesus informed us to start with. "We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorghum," he listed off the things we needed to know that they had.
Dad on the other hand, was still cautious and with good reason. "Tell us why we should believe you," dad suggested he give us a good reason we should believe a single word he said.
Everyone was stiff, curious to hear more and to learn more. "I'll show you. If we take a car, I can take you back home in a day, and you can all see for yourselves who we are and what we have to offer," was Jesus's only way to prove to us that he really had a good settlement back home.
Leaning in, Maggie's lips parted to say something. "Wait, you're looking for more settlements," Maggie put everything on pause. "You mean you're already trading with other groups?" she asked him.
This was the same thing that crossed my mind when he first said it. As he rest his arms on the table, a smile formed on his lips. He had been thinking something over. Thinking of the words to say.
"Your world's about to get a whole lot bigger," he announced to us as he leaned back, with a smile on his face and his eyes darting to each and every one of us in the room.
DPOV
Getting things ready to leave, we thought the best way to get to where Jesus was staying, was to take the RV with us. Packing our things and taking our time to get it ready, I went to check that the engine still worked for the RV, making sure it was being properly maintained. Hearing footsteps lightly approaching, I saw Denise stop behind me.
She had offered me something in cling film that resembled vomit and a very dry cookie. "Here," she waved it at me. "Homemade oat cake. Complex carbohydrates, omega-3's," she said a bunch of fancy words like I really understood all of it.
The look of it alone wasn't appetising and I had eaten many shitty stuff out there. "Nah, I'm good," I politely rejected her oatmeal cake. "We're gonna make a pit stop. I'll pick up something then," I assured her I would eat then.
"Like rabies?" she remarked, making me look at her and slow my move on the RV. Now is not a good time to joke with me.
But I knew she was just trying to get me to accept her offer. She was trying to do a good gesture, to which I felt like she only was doing it because I had tried to do it for her yesterday. "Is this 'cause I tried to get you that stuff?" I asked her.
Done with messing with the engine of the RV, I wiped at my hands and turned slightly to look at her. "Yeah," she answered me. "And you remind me of someone I used to know," she added to her answer.
Finally cleaning my hands, the others were almost done loading the RV with everything we'd need. "Well...I hope it tastes better than it looks," I said as I took the oat cake from her. "'Cause it looks like shit," I remarked on its appearance as I examined it.
Pushing the oat cake into my pocket, I thought that maybe, I could share it with Kat during our trip. "Shit's still better than roadkill," she spoke back. The attitude wasn't helping but I understood her need to not let me talk shit about her food.
"Okay, maybe-" Denise began to fumble with words when she saw me just staring at her. "Just eat it," she ordered before she walked off.
RPOV
Carl had been filling gas tanks for us, I had been looking after Judith as Kat had been helping the others to put things in the RV. When I saw Kat giving Carl a hand, I approached my children. "You sure?" Carl asked me straight off the bat as I arrived in front of them.
I knew he was talking about what Jesus was offering us. That there was another community out there that had plenty to trade with us. "No," I answered him honestly.
Glancing to Kat, then to Judith, I had hope that maybe, what Jesus said was true. Even if I was prepared for the worst. "But if he's telling the truth, this could be the start of everything," I showed Kat I still had hope.
Her smile was soft when I looked at her, but when we heard feet scraping, her smile slowly faltered. Both myself and Carl glanced to where she was looking and that was when I saw Michonne, guiding Jesus into the RV. Her weapon in hand.
Memories of last night flooded into my mind almost instantly. "Look, I was gonna tell you two about me and Michonne, but it just happened," I said after a long sigh left me. "It just happened," I repeated to them, making them know I was being honest about this.
Carl looked to me with a softness in his eye, while Kat was blank, like she was trying to process it. "Last night," I informed them that it wasn't something that happened over time, it only just happened last night. "This is-..." I couldn't find the words as I trailed off. "This is different," I assured them.
"It's cool," Carl commented with a small laugh and smirk on his face.
Letting a little chuckle out, I glanced to Kat while biting my bottom lip and waited for her response on it. "Yeah," Kat agreed. "It's weird but...it's cool," she assured me she would be fine with this. "As long as you're both happy, so are we," Kat smiled warmly at me.
Carl glanced to his sister, a smile on his face and only a look of admiration was what I could imagine, coming from Carl. "Right," he agreed with her.
Feeling relief that my kids were comfortable with me sleeping with Michonne, with starting a relationship with her, it was like a weight had lifted up off my shoulders. "Alright," was my only smooth way to move past the topic.
"Well, get your stuff. Gabriel can take care of Judith while we're gone," I told them as I hoisted Judith up higher, as she began to slip in my arms. Like a new family trip.
Carl shook his head as Kat went to pick up the gas tank but stopped when she heard what came from her brother next. "No, I'm not coming," he refused to join us. "Someone's gotta stay back, keep this place safe," was one of his excuses. "A kid with a messed-up face probably wouldn't make the best first impression anyway."
To hear him say that, it hurt me and even if he smiled, it hurt to think about how he looked. That he took that bullet, that was supposed to be for me. If it hurt me the way it had, I knew it hurt Kat just as much. "Carl..." Kat's voice was soft and sad.
She moved to stand beside him, pulling him in for a hug and hoping it gave him the strength he needed to keep being positive. He isn't messed up. It was an awful accident I wished never happened. "You better get going," Carl encouraged us as he pat his sister's back after a long embrace they shared.
When Kat took a few steps away from her brother, I handed a babbling Judith over to her brother. "Be safe out there," he encouraged us as Kat went to take the gas tank but I took it out of her hands instead.
"We will," I assured him we would look out for each other. All of us.
Once everything was stored and safe, when everyone was ready to go. We began climbing into the RV. "Let's chew up some asphalt!" Abraham declared before Maggie, himself, myself, Kat and then Daryl climbed into the RV. With Daryl being the last to enter, he shut the door behind us and I drove us past the gates.
DPOV
We had been driving for what felt like a while, some of us slept and others were just relaxing. Kat had rest her head on my shoulder, while Michonne and Rick took the front seats. When she woke up to eat the oat cake with me, she then snuggled up closer and fell asleep again on my shoulder.
The fact she was so tired, made me wonder what had her so tired. Tapping on Kat's thigh, she gradually woke up and let me shift to get a look out through the blinds, to see what Rick and Michonne were squinting at. "Yo, Rick. What's going on?" I asked him.
Inspecting what was outside, I couldn't tell exactly what was out there but Kat gradually sat up and tried to get a good look too. "We got a crash ahead. Looks like it just happened," Rick told us as we parked up beside it.
Jesus and Kat perched on their seats to get a good look at what the wreckage looked like. "It's one of ours," Jesus declared with a little worry in his tone.
KPOV
Everyone had tried to get a good look but Jesus was the first one to climb out of the RV to inspect the wreckage. Dad followed after as Jesus examined the car thoroughly. "If this is a trick, it won't end well for you," dad warned him, aiming his gun up at him.
Jesus looked exhausted from all this and looked desperate in how he stood in front of my father, his eyes sad as he stared at him. "My people are in trouble. They don't-we don't have a lot of fighters," he listed off things we needed to know.
Jesus glanced around himself, the smoke was rising and making a brown mist around him. "I know how it looks, but I'll play it out," he offered to play along with whatever we wanted him to follow with. "Can I borrow a gun?" he asked of us.
Daryl was going to be the first one to object to that. "No. We got tracks right here," Daryl gestured to the floor, seeing the same thing I was. There was a trail we could follow to the group Jesus lost.
MPOV
Banging on the door, Rick was making sure to alert the others that we were coming in, or that the walkers were coming to us. "They gotta be in there," Jesus said, getting more and more panicked that his group needed him.
"We moving in or what?" Abraham called to us as I kept my weapon up and stared at him from behind.
Daryl was pacing behind us, up until he took a few steps ahead to one side and looked directly at Rick. "How do we know this ain't firecrackers in a trash can?" he questioned Jesus as he side eyed him.
"You don't," Jesus agreed.
To me, it felt like he was just saying this to get us off his back. "We'll get your people," Kat assured him as Rick took a few steps closer to him and glanced to his daughter. "You're staying here with one of us," Kat was the one taking the precaution though.
She was learning quick and Rick saw that. "That's the deal," Rick agreed with his daughter.
"Will you stay?" Glenn asked of Maggie from behind me.
Truthfully, I was impressed with how we were all working as a team and how Kat was learning quickly from her father. "Yeah. Y'all go. Just be careful," Maggie assured she would watch over Jesus while we all went inside the building Daryl found the tracks stopped at.
Glancing to Maggie, I smiled at her. "Yeah," I agreed with her word of advice. Rick was putting cuffs on Jesus, to keep him from hurting Maggie while we were away. "We're gonna be careful," I assured her we were going to stay smart.
"Just hurry," Jesus pleaded of us.
Glancing behind himself, Rick looked to Maggie, who would watch over Jesus and who I heard, could beat the boys easily in a hand to hand fight. "You hear me whistle, shoot him," Rick warned Maggie of what to do if she heard his whistle.
Maggie had her gun in hand, ready to be left alone with Jesus while we went inside. "I will," she accepted her order that was commanded of her. Now, we went inside.
RPOV
When we got inside, I had split us off into groups of twos. Myself with Michonne, Glenn with Daryl and Kat with Abraham. Sneaking through the allocated halls for each of us, we found two walkers in our hall. Taking one out with my knife, Michonne took hers out using her sword. Entering the room, I aimed for the filing cabinets they were hiding behind and Michonne was the one to find them.
"Come on out. We're not gonna hurt you. We're friends of Jesus. We're here to get you out," Michonne coaxed them to come out of hiding. Both of them appeared to be fairing better than what we expected. As Michonne searched them.
The woman looked more relieved than the guy did, as he looked at me afraid, their hands were up in surrender. "There more of you?" I asked them.
"Two more. They ran ahead," the woman answered me instantly and honestly.
DPOV
Letting Glenn go first, he decided to take the lead as I sneaked up behind him through the corridors. When I heard a snarl, I gestured him to stay back but he didn't expect the walker that came at him, to go for him. Before it could get him, I grabbed the side of its head, guiding it to the wall as I drove my knife into his skull.
Another walker appeared, to which Glenn had shoved his knife though his jaw and into its brain. Guiding it to the floor, we both looked out for any sign of life around here. Seeing what appeared to be a guy crouched behind a filing cabinet, I gestured to his feet, which we could see.
"Come on. We're with Jesus. Let's go," Glenn encouraged the guy to get out of hiding.
Holding my knife up, he eventually got to his feet and raised his hands up in surrender. "I can't go with you. I'm looking for my friend. He's close, and he's hurt from the crash," the man who we had was claiming someone in here was hurt. We needed to go find them next.
KPOV
Staying in the shadows, Abraham lead the way as I aimed low with my bow in hand. I was ready to sneakily dispatch walkers we could hear in the distance. Always under threat, there was always a chance walkers were hiding in the spots we didn't see.
Hearing a scream, Abraham glanced to me and then to where the noise came from, then back to me. Nodding, it was like he waited for my signal to move out. He stormed down the hall and I kept up behind him. Seeing the figure of a man in the dark, Abraham took firm hold of it and forced him to the wall.
The sound he made, was not one of a walker. Just when I was about to shoot, I heard him gape for air. "No!" the man gasped.
Chasing over to Abraham, I saw what was happening, he was choking the guy. "Abraham!" I called to him as I raced over to him. Getting to him, I touched his shoulder. "He's alive," I told him. "Let him go..." I coaxed him to let him go with a soft tone of voice.
Realisation flooded into Abraham as he saw the guy was choking to death. "Let him go," I tried again and eventually he did let him go. "We're with Jesus. Are you hurt?" I asked the man, needing for us to get to safety but noticing he looked far too pale to be well.
He tried to regain air. "From the crash," he panted. "Where are the others?" he asked us.
Daryl suddenly was racing down behind us. "We got 'em," he assured us there was nothing to worry. "Come on, let's go. Come on!" he ordered for us to get out of here, as more walkers were coming after us and the others with us.
"You got him?" I asked Abraham that was now letting the man rest his arm over Abraham's bulky shoulders.
Abraham glanced at me then behind us. "Go," he ordered me to go ahead of him, as everyone else passed us.
"Come on. Come on," Daryl yelled to us as we followed in pursuit. Abraham being the pillar of support for the guy he almost killed.
DPOV
Lately, Abraham had been acting strange, from the way he had asked Glenn a personal question like if it was intentional if Maggie and Glenn had wanted to make a baby or if it was accidental. Then, he almost killed a guy that Kat practically had to pry him off of.
Thinking of Kat, she took a seat beside Abraham but she was lowering her head, deep in thought. Myself, I sat on the perch, watching her from a distance and keeping an eye on the road at the same time. "You okay, Freddie?" Jesus asked one of his people.
The man had hurt his leg and was finally looking back to normal in colour. Nodding, he could hardly look at anyone as he spoke. "For a second back there, just when I thought he was gonna..." he had referred to Abraham and how he was strangling him.
How he trailed off, had me watching him as he spoke. "I saw my wife. She died before all this," he said as his voice began to break. "Just when I thought it was over, there she was," he laughed as he cried. "Clear as day."
Looking at Kat, she was watching him, saddened, just as sad as Abraham looked. Except, Abraham looked to be hurt deeper by this, as his eyes looked remorseful when I noticed him look between the guy and anywhere else but him.
RPOV
The road so far was comfortable, slow but easier, now that I knew what me and Michonne felt, was something that felt right. With Jessie it felt good but...not right. The sound of splats and the tires spinning, signalled to me that we were stuck.
"Damn it," I growled as I tried to rev the motor. "A storm must've passed through. We're stuck," I announced as I tried to come up with a reason as to why we weren't moving. Michonne looked disheartened each time I tried to get us moving but couldn't.
Jesus got up from his seat and glanced at our surroundings. "No worries," he assured me this wasn't a problem. "We're here," he pat my arm as he went for the door and climbed out. All of us followed after him and in the distance, we could see what looked like a wall, made of tree logs and metal parts.
"That's us. That's the Hilltop," Jesus announced to us as we all got out of the RV together.
KPOV
Treading through the mud, I kept close to my dad, to Michonne and to Daryl as Jesus lead the way for us. "Stop right there," one of the guards yelled down at us as they held spears, aimed directly at us.
All of us aimed up our weapons, holding up my assault rifle, I was ready to shoot them down if I had to. All under my father's command, of course. "Whoa!" Jesus spun when he heard us all cock our guns.
"You gonna make us?" Daryl asked them in a challenging tone. He was the one brave enough to edge closer to them.
The guys above us didn't seem impressed by the group Jesus brought along with him. "Jesus, what the hell is this?" one guy asked them.
Jesus was between us, trying to keep the peace between all of us. "Open the gates, Cal," he ordered of his group above, watching down on us. "Freddie's hurt," he stated to them. "Look, sorry about these guys. They get antsy standing up there all day doing nothing," Jesus was apologising on their behalf.
Pointedly, he spoke up to them too, trying to get them to reason with them. "They give up the weapons. Then we'll open the gates," the guy was being stubborn.
Daryl was edging closer but not too close. I feared for him, I didn't want him getting in perfect distance of their spear aim. "Why don't you come down here and get 'em?" he challenged them again.
If they did come down here, they'd have no chance with a spear against our guns. Brushing past Glenn and Daryl, the Doctor came between us too. "Gentlemen, look, we vouch for these people, alright? They saved us out there," he tried to reason with his people too.
The fact they hadn't listened to their own people, made me curious as to why there was little trust in this situation. "Lower the spears," Jesus tried again. Couldn't he tell them that we are here to trade with them?
Something felt off to me. "Look, I'm not taking any chances," dad warned Jesus that we weren't going in there if it meant we could get into any kind of harm in there. "Tell your guy Gregory to come out here," he encouraged for this path to be taken instead.
Jesus turned to my father now. "No," he rejected my father's terms. "Don't you see what just happened? I'm letting you keep your guns," he pointed out to my dad. "Look, we ran out of ammo months ago. I like you people. I trust you. Trust us," Jesus pleaded with us, he tried to reason with us.
As much as I did trust Jesus, something didn't feel right. It felt like there was something missing. If they knew we were here to trade, then they would open their gates to us with welcome arms. Why hasn't he mentioned this? "Dad..." I warned him, cautious as he looked at me.
The way we looked at one another, it was like he waited for me to give some kind of signal to him. In my eyes, he must have found it, as he gestured to us to lower our guns.
"Open the gates, Cal," Jesus ordered as we lowered our weapons and saw the gates open, revealing the green fields and huge mansion sat atop it.
MPOV
Glancing inside, briefly the doctor had spoken to Maggie and Glenn, about where he would be but my focus was completely on the area surrounding us. There was live stock, plants, all kinds of wonderful things that I felt like I hadn't seen since the prison.
"There was a materials yard for a power company nearby. That's how we put up the walls," Jesus began explaining how they got their walls up. "A lot of people came from a FEMA camp. Trailers came with them," he informed us when my eyes drifted over to the group of trailers that were sat in front of the mansion.
Just seeing this place, made me feel like I was in completely awe of it. "How did people find out about this place?" I asked him, wanting to know more.
Kat's steps slowed as she came to walk beside me. Stopping in front of the mansion like building, Jesus gestured to it. "That's called Barrington House," he gave us the name of it. "The family that owned it gave it to the state in the '30s. The state turned it into a living history museum," he gave us part of the history of its ownership.
"Every elementary school for 50 miles used to come here for field trips. The place was running a long time before the modern world built up around it," he gave us his opinion, leading me to believe that he visited this place before in the past.
How he spoke of it, showed me he was a very thorough historian when it came to this place. "I think people came here because they figured it'd keep running after the modern world broke down," he gave his honest opinion.
Glancing to Kat, we both looked to each other before glancing back to the house. "Those windows up there let us see for miles in every direction," he gestured to the windows high above. "It's perfect for security," he informed us how they kept safe so far of attacks, seeing them before they could come.
Noticing how we were all just staring at this old, huge building, he knew that the majority of us were in awe of the place. "Come on. I'll show you inside," he wanted us to follow after him as he lead us inside.
RPOV
Entering the building, it was huge, with a large staircase that could go for miles if it wanted to. The walls were tall, the paintings were old and there was a smell of it that just reeked of history. "Good gracious, Ignatius," Abraham made his own comment, his own way.
Jesus had shut the door behind us as we examined the huge building. "Most of the rooms have been converted to living spaces. Even the ones that weren't bedrooms," he informed us of how the Hilltop kept so many people here.
"People live here and the trailers?" I asked him.
Truthfully, the building could hold plenty of rooms if it wanted to. "We plan to build," Jesus informed us what their plans were here, which was much like ours. "There's babies being born," he stated as he briefly looked to each of us but I noticed his eyes lingered on Maggie, Michonne and Kat more than anything.
The only women that joined us on this trip. The sound of a door opening startled Daryl a little as he turned around. "Jesus," an ageing man greeted the man who lead us here. "You're back. With guests," he pointed out all the obvious things.
"Everyone, this is Gregory," Jesus introduced us to him. "He keeps the trains running on time around here," he stated that he was basically the one keeping things more or less in line here.
Proud, the man had looked as he spread his arms to either side of himself. "I'm the boss," he declared like it was something great for him.
It was only a title and I found no humour in this. Boss. Governor. People think this world is a joke. "Well, I'm Rick. We have a community-" I introduced myself and went to get into business but he didn't like that.
The fact I was starting the conversation, must have annoyed him for my boldness to assume we could talk business now. "Why don't y'all go get cleaned up, hmm?" he cut me off.
Suggesting we needed to clean up, to make ourselves presentable for him, annoyed me more than I was letting on. "We're fine," I mumbled unenthusiastic-ally to his stupid shenanigans.
The way he acted, how he puffed his chest and gestured around him like he was a King, it was really getting under my skin. "Jesus will show you where you can get washed up. Then come back down here when you're ready," he suggested for us what our next series of actions should be.
His steps were slow and heavy as he approached to be face to face with me. "It's hard to keep this place clean," he commented that clearly, we were too filthy to be in his presence.
"Yeah. Sure," I went along with his stupid charade.
Jesus must have sensed I was on my last nerve as I watched him glance around us. He had nodded, winked and looked to almost all of us in the short amount of time we had silence before Jesus spoke. "Follow me," Jesus guided us up to the rooms we could use to get cleaned up.
Leading the way up the stairs, I followed behind him and felt Kat come up beside me. We both walked, side by side up the steps. "You clean up first. You talk to him. Bring Maggie with you," I gave her orders of what I wanted her to do.
Her head whipped to look in my direction, confused as to why I was giving this task to her. "Why?" she asked me.
Not wanting to lie or to go into detail, I knew my limits and talking to Gregory, would only turn out with me fighting him. "I shouldn't," I answered her bluntly. "And you gotta start doing these things," I was confident, that one day, my daughter would be a future leader.
"Both of you," I had faith that both her and Maggie would be leaders in time. They were both smart women.
DPOV
After our shower, it had been too late. Kat was already inside, as had Maggie. The rest of the others were taking their showers, while we waited for them. Glancing out the window, I was nervous, I wanted to know what Kat was talking about with that asshole, Gregory.
"How long do you think Rick and Michonne been ugging bumplies?" Abraham asked me out of the blue.
It made sense for him to ask me, in a sense, seeing as I had been living with them and spending my nights with Kat, keeping her bed warm. But I didn't expect those two to get together, at least, not so soon. "I don't know," I answered with a shrug.
I kind of needed the distraction but I couldn't quit pacing a little on the spot. Abraham got to his feet and approached me slowly. "You ever think about it?" he asked me. "Settling down?" he interrogated me in my mind set with Kat.
With what I imagined with her. Even if I was with Kat now, nothing was settled, not with how our lives had been crazy since the world went to shit. For me, my life was never normal. Although, Abraham's question did have me thinking to the possibilities of myself and Kat.
The image of Kat, with me, being a mother. Us being married, it all seemed surreal and pleasant at the same time. To have a settled life with her, it seemed both bizarre but peaceful. Like it was something I was deeply considering after picturing it.
Not wanting to admit this to him, I knew that he'd understand the fact that I hadn't been capable of having a break since me and Kat got together. "You think shit's settled?" I asked him in turn. As I walked away, not wanting to admit what I had just envisioned.
KPOV
When myself and Maggie were ready, we made our way to Jesus, who told us where Gregory's office was. Taking a deep breath, both of us were nervous but she understood what was asked of us from my father.
We all could sense this guy was an asshole, thinking he was top of the food chain and in reality, he was top of the food chain. I was sure this man knew nothing of how to survive out there in the walker infested world.
"Gregory," Maggie greeted him with a small smile as she stepped in first.
Moving away from his papers on his desk, the older man smiled at us. "Natalie and Georgia, right?" he asked Maggie then myself.
He had thought Maggie was Natalie. "Maggie," she corrected him.
"Kat," I had corrected him, after his assumption I was Georgia.
Maggie stepped to one side and I shut the door behind us, knowing that the others weren't going to be with him during this meeting, or at least, not the start of it. "That's pretty close," he waved his arms to his sides, not apologising for it being an honest mistake but rather just something minor.
Maggie glanced at me, giving me a look that this guy was an asshole through and through. "Not really," Maggie defended her own name.
"Not at all," I said it like it was. Georgia sounded nothing like Katherine or Kat.
This man had made assumptions of our names, based solely on our appearance. "They call them like they see them," Gregory laughed as he got to his feet. "I like that," he commented as he stepped closer to us.
"Come in, let's chat," he gestured for us to step deeper into the room. Strolling into the room, we found ourselves glancing around at history, at old things that had probably been sat here since the 30's or older. Maggie was the first to stop by a huge painting of a man on a horse.
Gregory had slowly followed behind us. "Yeah. I-I came to this place once before, when it was a museum, this, um, Chamber of Commerce thing," he gave us information I didn't really care about. "Love that painting. I never figured it'd be mine, here it is. It's like it was waiting for me the whole time."
The way he spoke, made my skin crawl, like he was so...full of himself. It was beginning to irritate me. "Hmm," I hummed, not really caring for him or his dumb painting.
Maggie offered him a stiff, polite smile. "Jesus told me your group saved Dr. Carson," Gregory got to business as he took a seat on a chair he placed, making him the head of the conversation. There were a couple of chairs placed in front of him. Maggie took the one on the far right and I took the one in the middle.
The empty chair on my left, I had forced myself to picture my father beside me. For him to guide me through this conversation. "Obviously, a doctor's a rare commodity today, so I want to thank you for bringing ours back," he thanked us for saving their doctor.
"My husband saved him," Maggie announced that it had been Glenn who rescued him. "And so did Kat's boyfriend," Maggie glanced to me.
Daryl had split off with Glenn and had been the ones to rescue the guy from walkers that were approaching the room, close to getting him. "I'll be sure to thank them, too," Gregory smiled between myself and Maggie.
Imagining my father beside me, didn't give me any kind of whispers or ideas of what he would say. But it did give me courage to speak up. "This place, what you have here, has been here since the start?" I asked him, curious to learn more about the Hilltop and how it came to be.
"That's right," Gregory grinned at me.
Maggie laughed, smiling at me as she was also taking charge of this conversation, just like I was. "And how-" she laughed to herself as she glanced to me. "How is it-how have you survived here?" she struggled to let her emotions not get the better of her.
We both thought it. This guy was a schmuck but the place itself was incredible. Considering they had no fighters. "You're looking at how," Gregory gestured to himself as he put his hands up. The ego inflation was getting on my last nerve.
"I'm good at this," he was confident in himself but leaders like him, didn't last long unless they were undeniably evil. "And I don't get hung up on the details," he commented, brushing it off. "Where you live, is it as nice as the Hilltop Colony?" he asked us, curious about Alexandria.
I didn't know how to answer it without being specific, so I swallowed hard and tilted my head slightly. "It's different," I answered him subtly.
As I looked him dead in the eye, Gregory didn't look away from me either. I really am my father's daughter. "How do you feed everyone? Jesus said you had land for gardens, but no crops," he wondered how it was possible for us to stay standing.
Before, I didn't like how Jesus had sneaked into our pantry but now that Gregory knew our weaknesses, he would also know our strengths. Or at least, learn of it. "We just started planting," I answered him just as quickly as he questioned us.
"Planting what?" Gregory asked, but I didn't know this answer. Maggie was the one who took charge of the crops.
"Cucumbers, tomatoes-" Maggie began listing but left it there because the asshole cut her off.
But Gregory, of course, had to cut off Maggie. "Oh, crops-" he understood us quickly, which was a dumb move. We're not going to grow pigs out of the soil, are we? "Soy, corn, hemp, sorghum," he listed the things we could have.
"Garden stuff," Maggie interrupted him this time. This made me proud of her.
This guy was really grinding my gears and I didn't know why, other than his inflated ego. "But you have guns, so I assume you have a decent weapons cache," Gregory noted, taking the other information Jesus found out about us.
Squinting at him, I sat back in my seat and let their part of the conversation take its course. "It's decent," I answered him without giving him any numbers to fall on.
"And your infirmary, is it stocked?" how he asked us what we had, made me wonder just where he was going with it, when we also were here to talk trade.
Leaning in, I furrowed my brows and stared directly into his eyes. "Is yours?" I threw back at him. My tone was intimidating but it was a question we needed answering no less.
Maggie could feel the tension between me and Gregory. I wasn't going to let him think he was the one in charge of this conversation. "We came here hoping to talk trade," Maggie said softly but firmly enough to drive the conversation back on its course.
Blinking a few times, I leaned back and raised my head a little. "Do you have enough here for that?" I asked him, feeling a kind of energy that I never felt before. Maybe dad is right. Maybe I do need to start learning how to do these things for myself.
Although, as much as I felt like I was taking charge of the conversation with Maggie as my co-pilot, Gregory could see through us. "You see what I have here. You see what I've built," he made it seem like it was all him.
It wasn't just him, it was all of these people. "Jesus said that your food situation was challenged right now. You don't keep people fed, it comes apart," he was making a jab at us. "Let's speak the common tongue here, huh?" he was trying to get the upper hand.
His eyes were mostly glued to me when he was acting like he was winning a challenge. "You don't have shit," he called us out, called our bluff. "Now, I'm happy to help. I'm a nice guy. But we can't just give things away for free," I understood this was part of the deal.
Glancing to Maggie now, he leaned in as he clasped his hands together. "How's this?" he began to make an offer. "Since you can't offer much, I'll let your people work here for their share," this was a deal he was making.
Just when we needed people, he wanted to take them from us? I wasn't going to let that happen. "You'd both be a welcome addition to the community, two smart and beautiful women," he gestured to us, his eyebrows raising.
Something felt off the moment he mentioned us staying here with him. "Getting back to that common tongue, I can tell ya, I can make it worth your while," the way he said it, made me think that maybe, he wanted us to warm his bed and do more than just earn our share the hard working kind of way.
Disgusted by him, I squinted at him and felt my brows furrow. I would of knocked his teeth in if I didn't have self control. "Excuse me?" I snarled at him, perplexed by his vile meaning.
"Let me stop you right there," Maggie held a hand up, to stop both me and Gregory from taking this further. More than anything, she was stopping Gregory and his vile suggestions.
Gregory though, hadn't listened to our warnings. "Listen, honey," he was calling out to Maggie more than to myself.
This infuriated Maggie. "Stop coming on to us with calling us honey," she warned him, which made me realise that maybe, she was just as angered by this than I was.
Stopping from the conversation from getting as heated as it was. To stop myself from beating him half to death, I leaned back and kept my cool. "You don't have any ammunition," I commented the truth here. Remembering the spears, the fact Jesus told us this too.
"Who said that?" Gregory looked betrayed by us calling his bluff too.
How he looked away from us, I knew I was right. Taking this as an advantage, I tilted my head to the other side to catch his gaze. "You're low on medication. You need things. We need things," I stated everything I knew.
Gregory seemed humoured by my words. "What, are you gonna give us a bottle of aspirin and a box of bullets?" he asked us with a chuckle.
"Our communities can help each other," Maggie argued, trying to calm the conversation from escalating.
Did dad know I could handle this but with help? If Maggie wasn't here, I might have this asshole pinned to the ground and beaten half to death. "Thank you, Natalie, Georgia," he said our names incorrectly again as he got up, tapping a hand on a book in front of us. "Been a good talk," he said without looking to either of us.
This was his way of ending our conversation. But to me, it wasn't over. "Maggie's right, we can help each other," I agreed with my partner in the negotiation. There had to be some way we could make it work.
Gregory was making his way over to the desk. I got up, as did Maggie as we approached him. "We're doing fine," Gregory sounded so sure about it but his eyes screamed differently to me. "Are you?" he challenged us. He's hiding something...
RPOV
Hearing how the negotiations went for Kat and Maggie with Gregory, I was both impressed by the fact that Maggie told me Kat took charge of it but they worked as a team to balance things out. Gregory was being hard to negotiate with but my ways were...different to their lighter, more sensible ways.
If I had been there, I was sure we would of got into a fight. Discussing the discussion the girls had with Gregory, we tried to see a way forward. "We want to generate trade. Gregory does. But ammo isn't something we urgently need," Jesus tried to make us understand this place.
Hearing this, I couldn't understand why it wasn't urgent. They are using spears for Christ's sake. "Well, how's that?" I wondered how they didn't need something as vital as ammunition.
Jesus was stood tall, at the centre of the room. To me, he was more the man in charge than Gregory should be. "The walls hold. We just brought in more medicine," he informed us of things we wouldn't of expected. "Gregory wants the best deal possible," he explained.
Daryl had been pacing around the room, Maggie and Kat had stayed stood beside one another. In this together, I was sure they felt they were the ones to blame for coming out with no deal. "Yeah, well, we want things, too," Daryl stepped forward to talk to Jesus.
Kat gripped the couch she was leaning against and glanced up at Jesus. "We need food," my daughter spoke up what was needed for us to survive. Which was what we came for.
Nodding, I agreed with my daughter and knew that we had to get it. No matter what. "We came all this way, we're gonna get it," I threatened him.
Jesus understood my threat. Especially as he was the one who made us lose all the food we had in that truck he had sink in the lake. "I will talk to him and we will work this out," Jesus tried to halt us from doing anything irrational.
"Circumstances change. We're doing well now, and you will next," Jesus was sure of this as he glanced to almost all of us. "I will make him understand that. Can you give me a few days?" he pleaded for us to give him time to convince Gregory differently.
Silence filled the air as I debated this. "We can," Michonne spoke up.
Glancing at her, I admired her hopefulness in that we would be able to negotiate with this place. If Michonne hadn't of said it, I was sure Kat would of. Glancing to the two most important women in my life, I nod and sigh. "Yeah," I agreed with her.
Jesus let out a soft laugh through his nose as he turned away from us. The sound of yelling outside startled us as we all got to our feet and saw the door open. One of the people from Hilltop entered and was heading for Gregory's office.
Luckily for the man, Gregory opened the doors and stepped out of his hiding spot. "What's wrong?" Gregory wondered what the yelling outside was about.
"They're back," the man answered him. Who is back?
The way Gregory glanced to us, before he glanced to the door, made me think maybe there were more visitors than just us. Following after them, everyone followed shortly after me.
KPOV
Following after Gregory, we approached a group, a group of three people. "Nathan, what happened to everybody else? Where's Tim and Marsha?" Gregory asked as he saw the group of more people, become less.
"They're dead," the guy I presumed was Nathan answered him.
This news startled the older man. "Negan?" Gregory stuttered.
"Yeah," Nathan answered as we all stopped around them.
Gregory's hands were on his waist as we all listened to what went on. "We had a deal," Gregory stated, like his deals were set in stone.
One of the guys, the one at the further back had been glaring at Gregory. "He said it wasn't enough," the man informed him. "Was the drop light?" he asked his leader.
How Gregory handled this situation, made me realise the people they were exchanging with, weren't ones to be messed with. "No," Gregory acted like he knew nothing of what they were talking about.
"They still have Craig," the woman informed him.
Nathan took a step forward. "They said they'd keep him alive, return him to us," he spoke slowly to his leader. "If I deliver a message to you," this was the only agreement they seemed to have with the leader of the other community.
Gregory looked defeated, like he wanted to make this right. "So, tell me," he encouraged him to talk, to tell him what the message from Negan was.
How the guy wasn't far away from Gregory, I saw his hand go to his knife. "I'm sorry," Nathan apologised before his knife came out and went straight into Gregory's stomach. Groaning in pain, Gregory was in shock at the betrayal.
As soon as dad saw this, he went rushing over, as did Michonne, as she took him away from Gregory. Maggie and Jesus rushed to assist Gregory in his fall on the ground. Glenn too went to help, as he held the man's back.
Dad and Michonne tried to restrain the guy who stabbed Gregory but he was big and he fought back. "Get off of me!" Nathan yelled as he shoved Michonne away from him. "I had to!" he screamed as he went to punch dad.
Dad blocked it and kneed Nathan in the gut. Suddenly, Nathan fell and dad climbed over him, punching him in the face. When the guy in red went to grab him, Abraham rushed over. Michonne was struggling with the girl who had tried to rush over and break the fight.
When dad was shoved off of Nathan, Abraham tackled the guy in red and dad continued his attack of punches to Nathan. Abraham somehow, during the fight lost the upper hand and was held down in a choke hold. Daryl ran over, taking the guy's arm off and breaking it, setting Abraham free.
When I saw the girl getting free of Michonne, I went to help her but just as I went to her rescue, Nathan got the upper hand and got the knife to dad's neck. "Hey! Stay back!" Glenn rushed over, his hand went to his gun but the closer he got, the more he pressed the knife into dad's neck.
Stopping in my tracks, I stood behind Nathan and aimed my gun at his head. "Let him go!" I yelled at him, not liking how my father looked up at me, with a knife pressed against his neck.
"Anybody who tries to stop me is killing my brother!" Nathan yelled, warning us to stay back.
Michonne had let go of the girl, her hand on her sword, ready to kill the man if she had to. "Drop it," she ordered firmly.
Out of the blue, dad took his own knife and drove it into Nathan's neck while he glanced at Michonne, distracted. Blood pouring out of his neck, as it spilled all over my father. Groaning as he died, dad shoved the man off of him and got to his feet.
Blood covered his clean white shirt, his coat and his face. "What?" he asked those that looked at him in shock horror of what he just did.
The man who was dumped to one side by Abraham rolled over, clutching his broken arm. "Nathan! You killed him," the guy cried as he saw his friend dead and tossed to one side. Daryl held his gun up on him, so he couldn't do anything.
Placing my gun back in my holster, I felt like the fight was finally over. The girl Michonne tried to keep back was staring in horror at the whole thing, "He tried to kill Gregory, then me," dad told them the facts.
What I hadn't seen was the girl come up behind my dad and punched him in the face. Grunting as he fell, I pushed the girl back with one arm, watching as she fell flat on her ass. "Ah!" she yelped when she fell.
Taking my gun out again, I aimed it straight down at her as my dad got to his feet once more. "You want to be next?" I threatened her as she stared up at me with fear in her eyes. Panting as she also gave me daggers in her eyes.
When the guy saw me with the gun, one of the people from Hilltop raised his spear and approached me slowly. "Drop it now!" he ordered me, he ordered all of us.
Michonne and dad came to my side. Dad came forward more, meeting with the guy with the spear and protecting me, his gun up, ready to shoot whoever tried to hurt me for protecting him. "I don't think I will," dad snarled challenging him.
Jesus had ran over, getting between them as he held his hands out to separate us from them. "Everyone, this is over!" he declared as he was panting. "It's over," he then told us.
Noticing that Jesus was the one trying to keep the peace, I had to respect him for that. "Ethan was our friend, but let's not pretend he was anything more than a coward who attacked us," he pointed out the facts to his people. "He did this. And these people stopped him," he gave us credit for stopping their leader from getting killed.
The girl was whimpering in front of me, as I kept my gun up on her and didn't let it leave her. She was where I was aiming. Glancing at Daryl, he looked to me with a little bit of worry before looking back at those we held at gun point.
"What can I do?" dad asked Jesus as he wondered how we could go back to how things were. To the point when no one saw us as a threat.
Jesus kept his eyes on dad and then glanced to me. "Put the gun away. You've done enough," was his suggestion to how we could make things right again. Dad did as he was suggested, to which I did too, then Daryl.
The guy with the spear then lowered his weapon and the woman instantly crawled over to Nathan's corpse. Crying as she cradled his face. "You need to know that things aren't as simple as they might seem. Just give me some time," Jesus spoke to my father, pleading with him to give him time.
DPOV
Stepping away from the guy, I went to Abraham and saw he had just laid there. All through it, he had laid there and hadn't got up since I saved him. "Hey, man," I called to him, there was a faint smile on his lips.
"Huh?" he mumbled as he came back to the reality of the moment.
It was like he was miles away. "You good?" I asked him, wondering if something happened to him while he was in that choke hold.
A grin grew on his face as he glanced to me. "Yeah," he assured me he was well. "I'm better than all right," he let out a soft chuckle as a smile grew on his face. Offering him my hand, he took it and I helped him up. What is he smiling about?
MPOV
It didn't take long for Dr. Carson to take Gregory inside with Jesus's help to stitch him up and help him feel better. As it was going on, we waited in Gregory's office, waiting for any news off Jesus or someone. "Dr. Carson was able to patch Gregory up. He's in pain, but he'll live," Jesus told us after himself and the Doctor parted ways outside the door.
"So, what happens now?" I wondered, not knowing where it left us now.
Prior to Jesus's return, we had been discussing what we saw, what we heard and what happened before we met Jesus. "Things like that don't usually happen here, but, uh, it's settled," Jesus assured us it was a one time thing.
Kat had been sat on Gregory's couch, sat in the middle of it. "We heard the name Negan," Kat spoke up, the way that name left her, it didn't sound right but it sounded strangely familiar coming from her.
Her eyes met with Jesus's and Rick got off from leaning against Gregory's desk. "A while back, Daryl and Abraham had a run-in with his men," Rick explained how the name sounded so familiar to us. "Who is he?" Rick asked.
Jesus glanced between Kat and then Rick as each spoke. "Negan's the head of a group of people he calls the Saviors," he informed us of who this man was. "As soon as the walls were built, the Saviors showed up. They met with Gregory on behalf of their boss," he explained that perhaps, they never met the man himself.
To me, Gregory didn't seem strong enough to handle a tyrant. "They made a lot of demands, even more threats. And he killed one of us...Rory. He was 16 years old," this news shocked us all but Kat more than any of us.
Imaging a boy not much older than Carl, horrified me to think of, dead before us. "They beat him to death right in front of us," the way he spoke, showed he was upset by this, even today. "Said we needed to understand, right off the bat."
As he spoke about the boy, he looked at Kat, directly at her, like he knew this got to her the most. A boy, no older than Carl. Beaten to death. "Gregory's not exactly good at confrontation. He's not the leader I would've chosen, but he helped make this place what it is, and the people like him," he gave his opinion to Rick more than any of us.
"He made the deal," Maggie figured this part out.
Jesus glanced to Maggie, his hands clasped in front of him. "Half of everything," Jesus stated just how much they were offering these Saviors. "Our supplies, our crops, our livestock, it goes to the Saviors," he listed it all off.
Kat glanced up at Jesus, her soft blue eyes were curious and sad. "And what do you get in return?" Kat kept a steady voice as she asked this question.
Jesus seemed pleased Kat had asked this very important question. "They don't attack this place. They don't kill us," was the part of the deal that came with them giving the Saviors what they wanted.
"Why not just kill them?" Daryl asked out of the blue.
How he was now gaining confidence, we could tell he got it from being with Kat more. From being confident in himself and his role in our group. He's family. He's Kat's partner and because of that, it meant she was influencing him. Same way she influenced others around her too.
When Jesus heard this, a little laugh left through his nose. "Most of the people here don't even know how to fight, even if we had ammo," he explained how these people wouldn't benefit from a war.
Somehow, I could see the cogs turning in Kat's mind from where I sat. I saw how Rick was already thinking fast on his feet. "Well, how many people does Negan have?" Rick wanted to know the numbers.
I knew Rick was trying to calculate how many of us he would need to take them down. "We don't know. We've seen groups as big as 20," Jesus answered Rick honestly.
Everyone was bouncing ideas and thoughts around in the room. "Now, hold up," Daryl spoke up. "So, they show up, they kill a kid, and you give them half of everything?" he questioned Jesus and his story.
Jesus didn't say anything but Daryl glanced to Abraham, who was sat on a chair, then Kat and back up to Jesus. "These dicks just got a good story," Daryl commented on their methods of terrifying people. "The bogeyman, he ain't shit."
Jesus must of forgot what Rick said a few moments ago. That Daryl and Abraham crossed paths with some of Negan's men. "Well, how do you know?" Jesus asked, curious to know why Daryl thought that.
Abraham was now the one to speak up. "A month ago, we took his guys out PDQ. Left them in pieces and puddles," he teased about the group of men they had crossed on their way back home.
Daryl's pacing on the spot came to a halt. "You know, we'll do it," he declared for us. "If we go get your man back, kill Negan, take out his boys, will you hook us up?" Daryl asked of Jesus if this was all it took for us to get in.
"We want food, medicine, and one of them cows," Daryl had listed things off, enthusiastically.
Glancing to Kat, she didn't seem sure about this. Like she wasn't sure if Daryl making this suggestion was going to help us at all. "Confrontation's never been something we've had trouble with," Rick was confident that we could handle it.
Jesus glanced to Daryl, then Rick and his eyes seemed to soften at the thought that a threat would be gone because of us. "I'll take it to Gregory," was his only response. In the end...Gregory is 'the boss'.
RPOV
Stepping outside for some fresh air as myself, Kat, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie and a few others debated what we could do here. We looked on outside and saw a fire burning. From the gathering, I sensed it must have been that they were burning Nathan.
"They have food, we don't," was the first thing I needed to point out. "We don't have enough of anything," I didn't want to sound negative but I needed to be realistic.
The only positive we had, was our numbers, our fighters. "Except us. What we can do," I knew we could fight this. I knew we could win. "This is the trade," it was our only option.
Turning, I saw how Maggie's eyes were sad, Kat's were blank, like she was still thinking everything through. "It's gonna cost us something," Maggie was sure of this.
The sound of a door opening made us all look towards it. Appearing from it, was Jesus. "Gregory's up. He wants to talk," Jesus declared. Taking a step forward, Jesus rose a hand to me, stopping me in my tracks.
"To Maggie and Kat," he informed us that they were the only ones Gregory would talk to. "He wants to talk to Maggie and Kat only," he repeated, making sure we all understood that the two girls were the ones doing the negotiation.
Taking a step to Kat, her jaw tightened when she was mentioned in this meeting. I placed my hand on her shoulder, forcing my daughter's bright blues to look up into mine. "You've got this," I tried to give her confidence. Glenn had said the same thing, but to Maggie.
How her eyes met mine, they softened and came back to reality. "Deanna was right about you," I agreed with the note Deanna had given my daughter. "About both of you," I then said to Maggie, knowing that both girls were capable of anything.
What we needed now, was hope that this was going to work. Nodding, the girls took a step closer to Jesus, who was waiting for them. "I'm sorry in advance. Gregory can be a real prick," he apologised on behalf of his leader.
"We know," I heard both Maggie and Kat say at the same time as they walked beside Jesus to find Gregory in his room.
KPOV
Knocking on the door, Maggie stiffened up next to me. Neither of us were confident in ourselves at this point when it came to negotiating with Gregory. The first time didn't work out so well.
"Come in," we heard Gregory's small voice call to us. "Mm," he grumbled while we opened the door and took a step inside. "Sorry for the gloom," he apologised for how dark it was in the room.
The more he droned, the more we didn't care. Maggie shut the door behind us this time as I walked to the foot of his bed. "They have me on these antibiotics that make me sensitive to the sunlight," he explained why the room was so dark.
Only source of light, were candles everywhere. "This is agony," their leader complained like a big baby. "It's like somebody's twisting my intestines with a cement mixer," Maggie could hear him complain too as she came to my side.
Staring at Gregory and then his wound, I didn't look too long. As to make him realise I didn't find this revolting, coward of a man attractive. "It could've been worse. You could have died," I stated bluntly. "So I'd say you were lucky that we were here," I remarked to him.
Maggie already saw the stand off I was having with this man. "Jesus told you about our offer?" she had asked, trying to steer the conversation in the right direction.
Maggie paced a little to one side while I stayed stood where I was, hands in my pockets, as to not strangle the man laying there. "He did," Gregory answered. "What makes you think you can do what we haven't done?" he questioned our abilities.
The fact he questioned our abilities, irritated me. The man couldn't even defend himself from one of his guys. We fought many, both of our own and of our enemies. I killed a man once with my own bare hands. "We've handled people like Negan before," I was going to spare the weak man the details.
"How?" Gregory continued to interrogate us as he looked to me.
His hand grasping his would lightly. "They're dead," Maggie was blunt about her answer to him.
Taking a step closer to his bed, I tilted my head slightly to him. "And we're still here," I pointed out the obvious.
We fought the Governor. We fought Joe and his group. We fought the cannibals. We fought the wolves. Daryl and Abraham took out a group of Negan's. And now we're here.
Feeling her glance to me, then to Gregory, we were both working on the same field and on the same team. Having Maggie working with me, it made me feel more confident than before. "We can get your man back," Maggie was sure of this.
However, Gregory had to be a prick about it. "I don't know if Craig's worth the trouble. I mean, it's his brother who did this," he gestured to the wound on his side, debating if one of his people's lives was worth saving.
Feeling my lip twitch, threatening to become a snarl, I relaxed and glared at him instead. "He was fighting to save someone he loves," I defended Nathan. "Can't fault a man for wanting to save his family from someone you were supposed to protect him from," I made sure he felt that pain.
As a leader, it was his job to protect his people and he failed when Craig got kidnapped. Putting the blame on him, didn't make Gregory appreciate me or my tone. "Nathan was afraid," he thought he was right. "That makes him weak. Frankly, I don't know if I want him back in our gene pool."
How he was so calm about letting one of his people stay kidnapped by the enemy, made me angry. "My dad used to tell me forgiveness takes more strength than anger," Maggie tried to settle the discussion myself and Gregory were having.
Gregory's hard eyes directed at me turned soft when they looked at Maggie. "Yeah, I guess," he agreed with her. "He's a hell of a cook. He makes these amazing baked eggs with green tomatoes," he mused about Craig.
Not wanting this conversation to steer too far from where we started, I brought his attention back to us. "You give us supplies, we'll save Craig and take care of Negan and the Saviors, permanently," I made the deal for him.
Gregory laughed drily at my offer. "I'm sorry, I find this whole conversation pretty funny," he apologised to us falsely. "I mean, you balked when I proposed that your people work for our supplies, but now...isn't that exactly what's happening here?" he questioned us.
I didn't enjoy how he spoke to us, like he was the smart one. "See, I had leverage and I used it. See? It wasn't personal," Gregory acted like he was the one who got exactly what he wanted.
Perhaps, it was what they wanted. They don't have fighters. We do. They don't have ammo. We do. They don't have courage. We do. "Yes. We need food. You have it. We're willing to work for it," Maggie agreed with him softly.
Gregory's tone and expression had softened. "Then I'll get supplies for your people," Gregory had settled on the arrangement of the deal we had just made.
"Good," Maggie was happy with this turn out.
As I thought it over, I noticed that this seemed far too easy. "I'll talk to Jesus and he'll make the arrangements," he assured us that this would get done. "See, this was fun. Exciting," he mused in a false, playful tone.
Maggie began to walk over to the door but I didn't move. No. This isn't settled. "Half," I spoke up, breaking my silence.
Gregory's head turned to me. "Excuse me?" he was confused as to what I meant by this. Using the same words I had earlier when he made his proposal.
When my eyes met his, I was serious about my part of the deal I was about to take from him. "Half of what you have," I repeated. "I saw what happened out there. I saw how you have guys with spears instead of guards with guns. People like Negan, would be prepared and armed to the teeth..." I stated.
Gregory had nothing to say to this. "What I also noticed, was that Negan's expecting more supplies from this place. And more and more. And if it keeps going like that, pretty soon you won't have anything left," I summed up what would happen if we didn't put a stop to it.
"What happens then?" I questioned him but he stayed silent. Maggie watched me as I did my work and gave him no choice but to accept my terms. Taking a few steps closer, I held onto the wooden frame of his bed at his feet.
Gregory stared at me with disbelief that I was winning him in this deal. "Without ammo, without fighters...you'd be a dead man. And with us putting our lives on the line to help save this place...I'd say you owe us," I proposed.
His eyes were glued to mine and Maggie was stunned by my method. "So half of everything you have right now or the deal's off," I made my deal with him. "You see? We have leverage," I repeated the same words he said earlier to us.
My tone of voice towards the end was challenging but mocking of him. If he had thought he was the smart one, I had proved him wrong. Groaning, Gregory clapped his hands at me. Defeated in this old game of Trick or Trade.
"Congratulations," he declared. "You girls have yourself a deal," he announced to us. "You want anything else? Kidney, maybe?" he jested but I didn't find any humour in it. Neither did Maggie.
Maggie walked up beside me as I leaned away from his bed and stood tall in front of him. "Not that...but I do want something," Maggie stated she wanted something. What came next, was her own little, personal proposal.
RPOV
Maggie and Kat proudly returned to us, Maggie had told us how Kat persuaded him to give us half up front. That this way, we were going to get rid of the Saviors and how Kat took charge of the situation. I was very proud of my daughter for what she was capable of.
It reminded me of Shane, how he said that anyone would be a sucker to Kat having my eyes, Lori's smile and her incredible mind. When Jesus and Gregory were done discussing the terms of the amount to be given to us, we all went outside and began collecting the food and supplies offered to us.
Collecting all we were offered, from baskets, to crates, to all kinds of things, we stuffed them into the RV and were getting ready to head back home. "Even Negan didn't get this much up front," Jesus commented as he strolled by me, carrying a basket full of vegetables.
I had sent Abraham and Daryl to fetch the guy they had fought earlier. I had a sense that he would be the only one who would help us. Rather than the woman, who possibly hated me after killing her partner.
"What?" the man said as he strolled over to us, his voice angered and tone proved to me he wasn't pleased I called upon him.
Sighing, I had hope that he would listen and work with us. "Jesus said you've been taking supplies to Negan since the beginning," I stated vaguely something that was going to lead up to my request from him. "We're gonna get Craig back," I was determined.
"The only way to get Craig back is to bring them Gregory's head," the guy stated the terms of how they would return Craig to the Hilltop.
If we didn't need Gregory alive, I would of done it happily after how cocky he thought he was being. After he thought he was God's gift and how he spoke to my daughter and Maggie before. I would of done it myself happily.
Regardless, we needed Gregory better alive than dead. "We're gonna get Craig back," I was proving to him we were going to get him back, no matter what and that we had our ways.
"How?" the guy asked me, curious to know my ways.
Instead of worrying about the head of Gregory, we needed to focus on taking the Saviors and Negan out. "We need to know what you know about Negan's compound," I took a step closer to him. "We need your help. We need you to come," was my offer to him for him to help us.
Doing this stuff in Hilltop, would make us vulnerable, should they come here instead. And our families were waiting back home for us. Hearing my proposal, the guy didn't take long to think about it. "Yeah," he agreed to it. "Okay," he said as he looked directly into my eyes.
The guy decided to climb up into the RV and join us back to Alexandria. Collecting another bag and basket, Jesus was carrying a tray of stuff beside me. "You got room for one more, right?" he asked me.
I wasn't sure if he was offering to go back with us to fight, or if he was joining us to go back to Alexandria and away from Gregory and his shit. "I mean, we're talking about righting the world here," he was offering to help us. "Plus, you still have my knives," he teased.
KPOV
Hearing dad chuckle before he got inside, I had done my fair share of taking things into the RV but I needed a minute to process what I got us into. We were going to have to gear up for war. We could easily lose people and I didn't know if I was comfortable with that.
Watching Jesus climb up into the RV, following one of his guys and the rest of us, Michonne took the basket of stuff. As she took it inside, it left me and my father outside, alone. "You did good today..." dad spoke out to me.
"I'm proud," his words pulled at my heart strings, making me look to him with sadness as I tried to fake a smile. "Hey, you up for this?" he asked me, putting a hand on my shoulder as he got closer to me. He could tell something wasn't right with me.
The fact my father knew me so well, made my smile become soft and genuine. "It's gonna be a fight," I stated. I got us into this. I went along with dad and Daryl's idea blindly and twisted it to our advantage.
Sensing my worry, dad levelled his eyes with mine and kept them firm but hopeful. "We'll win," he was determined to make this happen. "We have to," his words were weary but at least they were honest.
Keeping hold of his gaze, I nodded once and smiled faintly. At least, it was genuine this time and not forced. "We'll win," I agreed with him. We have to...
MPOV
While we had been loading up the RV, Maggie and Glenn went to visit Dr. Carson to see how their baby was doing. So when everything was loaded up and everyone discussed their next plans, the next part of the plans we had too, we eventually all climbed in and waited for the couple to return from their meeting with Dr. Carson.
As we drove off, Glenn handed me the picture of his child. A smile grew on my face as I saw the small bean they had growing inside Maggie. Glancing to them, they were both happy, cuddled to one another, in love and content with their growing child.
Staring at it, this reminded me of my own son. Of Andre Anthony. Of Mike, Terry and the life we had lived. It reminded me of the fact that I was here, now and I was living a completely different life to then. I was with Rick now, or so I hoped and now, was far too early to be thinking about babies.
Handing over the picture to Daryl, he was sat, with Kat beside him and Abraham to Kat's left. Daryl leaned over, taking the picture from me as I pursed my lips and offered them a tight lipped smile.
DPOV
Taking the picture lightly from Michonne, I looked down at it and it took me a few seconds to find where the baby was. Chewing on my inner cheek, I felt Kat lean in, her chin resting on my shoulder as she pressed herself into my side.
Her hand lightly went to hold my bicep as she glanced down at the picture. Pointing to where the baby was with her finger, she helped me actually find it. Nodding, I couldn't help but stare at it. Both a sense of nervousness and a fluttering feeling bounced inside of me.
All of this, made me wonder if myself and Kat would ever have a child in our lives. Or if I'd make a good enough father. Or if I was ever going to get the chance to become one with her. Glancing down at her, her eyes were light and happy as she stared at the growing baby that lived inside of Maggie, represented in a picture.
Does she want us to have a baby? These were all topics that had been brought up as of recently, with Abraham, with Glenn and Maggie having one. And with the fact myself and Kat finally became official after what felt like a lifetime of us dodging it and each other.
Glancing up at Maggie and Glenn, he gave me a small, proud smile and when I glanced back down again, the thought of myself and Kat having a kid tried to enter my brain again. Before it could, I handed the picture over to Kat, who passed it on to Abraham.
Shuffling back into her seat, it was like Kat sensed I was a little uncomfortable, like I didn't know what to make out of the picture of a baby. I was good with Judith. I'm good with Carl. Could we actually do this? Did she even want that? With me?
Feeling Kat getting comfortable in her seat, Abraham had studied the picture long and hard before giving it back to them. With time, with the ride back home, I eventually found the courage to take her hand in mine and this was my way of assuring her, it was only a momentary thing.
That I still wanted her. That I still needed her in my life.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who wrote a review for the last chapter. I deeply appreciate that you did. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter may take a few days longer to write but I'll get it out as soon as I can.
Again, I request only 5 reviews to give me insight on what you guys think of the story so far. So, sadly, there will be no chapter posted until 5 reviews have been posted for this chapter also. It's all I ask. 5 reviews to let me know what you think. NO CHAPTERS UNTIL 5 REVIEWS HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR THIS CHAPTER.
Questions to answer in the 5 reviews:
1) What did you think about this chapter?
2) What was your favourite scene in this chapter?
3) What did you think about the Kat/Maggie and Gregory negotiations?
4) What do you predict will happen in the next few chapters?
5) After seeing how Kat acted in front of the people of Hilltop and Gregory, do you think she is capable of being a leader in the future? Have you predicted she would become a leader in the past?
Until the 5 reviews...
Much love,
HeroJustInTime90
