Chapter 89: Today
RPOV
~A Little Over A Week Ago~
Having discussed with Maggie and Ezekiel our next step, I didn't even notice that Kat was approaching until I heard her clear her throat lightly. "Hey, I have something for you guys..." Kat said as she stopped behind me.
Turning around to see her, it was good to see her dressed in the clothes she normally used to wear. Or at least, a style that suited her better than all black. Or a short black dress, as I heard from Carl.
She was dressed in a regular hoodie, a jacket, pants and combat boots. "What you got?" I asked my daughter as she hesitated a little, collections of papers, maps and all kind of things were in her hands.
Handing it over to me, I began inspecting them before I began handing them over as Kat spoke. "Maps, outposts, look-out spots, shift ends, shift starts, the numbers, the layouts to each post, everything," Kat said as we examined everything she'd listed.
"It's all there," Kat's voice was confident, relaxed as she finally gave us all we needed to win the war. She did this. All of it.
Maggie's eyes rose to look at Kat. "This is what you were looking for all while you were in there?" Maggie asked her, Maggie's voice was lighter as she spoke to my daughter. It was almost like Maggie was impressed by this.
Kat slipped her hands into her jacket pockets and nodded, her hair up made her face look a little thinner than what I remembered. "It's what I gathered," Kat stated. "Admittedly, I was only there to get Daryl out but...everything changed, once the picture did too," Kat rest her hand on her stomach.
How Kat touched her stomach, it only warmed my heart a little more than it should have. My baby is having a baby. Trying to push my emotions to one side, my eyes went back to Kat's smile as her eyes met mine.
My daughter was glowing and she didn't even realise it. "How did you store all of this?" I asked her, proud as I squinted at her. "You came here empty handed," I was curious as to how she somehow got this past Negan.
A small smirk formed on Kat's face. "When you're wearing a really big coat, with big, empty pockets, you find the perfect places to stash everything," Kat explained subtly how she sneaked the information to us under Negan's nose.
Tilting a little to one side, Kat hugged her sides a little tighter by squeezing her elbows into her sides. "Even if having pieces of paper stashed in the back of my pants felt a little uncomfortable until the ride here, it was all worth it," Kat joked.
Myself, Ezekiel and Maggie all laughed at Kat's uncomfortable state for a few moments, but luckily, Kat had got us what we needed. "You, shall make a great successor here for the great Rick Grimes once this war is won," Ezekiel announced with a smile to my daughter once his laughter died down.
Glancing to Ezekiel, I nodded and couldn't agree with him more. Looking down before I looked to my daughter with pride, I held onto the papers gently with a smile. He has no idea how great of a leader she'll become. "Can I be excused?" Kat asked us after a few minutes of silence between us.
"Of course," I accepted her request as soon as my mind returned to the moment. Maggie and Ezekiel had gone to take their stand on the stage we'd had for the speech we were going to give to our collective communities.
Watching Kat begin to walk away, I hadn't seen Daryl and Carl patiently waiting for her. "Hey," I called back to her, seeing her pony tail bounce with each step she took until I saw her face instead of her long hair.
Gazing at my daughter, soft blues met with softer blues. "Thank you," I told her, gesturing the paper as I gently tapped it into my palm. My successor. Sounds like a good title for her.
Unable to not stare at my daughter, who was so strong, so capable, so brave and a soon to be mother on top of that, it was like a dream. A dream that could never be confused with a nightmare. "No problem," Kat smiled back at me before she bowed her head.
Seeing my little girl brush her hair behind her ear, a whistle was heard in the distance. It was Daryl's whistle. "Kat, over here!" Carl waved over to her.
Laughing, Kat glanced to me, nodding her head once before bowing it and turning to make her way over to Carl and Daryl, who were both waiting for her. "I'm coming. I'm coming," Kat called to them as I watched on. My Kitty Kat. No longer a Kitten, now, she's a Lioness.
Following her lead in leaving, I went to stand on the stage, exchanging some brief words with Maggie and Ezekiel before the speech would be done. We need to give these people the courage to keep fighting...
PRESENT DAY...RPOV
Before I could start anything, we'd gone to the Hilltop, to prepare, to build shields for our cars and in the meantime, I'd decided to spend some time by the graves of Abraham, of Glenn. Of the ones that started this whole thing.
I needed the time alone, to reflect, to remember on why I was doing this. Negan needs to stop. He needs to be stopped. He needs to no longer hurt anyone else. Or forcing us to live his way. To take our daughters, our brothers, our friends, to make them be a part of his sick world. Of his sick fantasy.
What we were doing, it was for a future, the kind of future I had hoped Glenn and Abraham wanted. A future that was safe, filled with hope and growth for Judith, for Carl, for my grandchild. For all the babies that were to come.
I hope to do this justice. To do everyone justice. I have to.
CPOV
Driving up to the point where dad told me to park, we needed to look for more gas. The three of us. Me, Kat and dad. We were all going to meet in the intersection. Once I parked, I took out my gas can and began to make my way to the abandoned set of cars in the gas station nearby.
Keeping low, keeping quiet, I didn't want to wake any walkers that were in the cars, as I went to check the actual fuel pumps first, but a soft "Hi," startled me. My can clattered to the floor as I took out my gun.
The noise was of a man, behind me, as I was looking for where the noise came from exactly. "Yeah. I-I'm okay. I mean...I'm not, but...I've been shot at," the voice told me. "Someone threw a microwave at me," the man further told me what happened to him and his well-being.
"So I-I'm just gonna say something my mom used to say and hope for the best here. 'Whatever you have of good, spend on the traveller.' My mom said that-that helping the traveller, the person without a home, that's everything," the guy told me as I finally pin-pointed where the noise roughly came from.
But the voice sounded to be moving. "I'm sure you've seen things, been through things, that you don't trust people. I get it. I get it. I don't, either," the voice told me as I slowly approached one of the cars, ducking down, I removed my hat and listened.
The voice itself, sounded far too afraid to be a Savior. "I've been through things, too. My mom, she also said that, 'May my mercy prevail over my wrath,'" the man said with a scoff at the end. Lowering my body to the floor, I was looking to locate where this guy was.
That way, I knew where to approach him and where he stood. "It's not all my mom. That-That one, that's from the Quran. Probably shouldn't have said that," the voice continued to mumble as I kept looking for him.
"I don't even know you, but I ha-I haven't eaten in a few days," the man said and finally, I saw him, crouched down on the ground. He could be armed. "You might not even be real," the guy sounded worried, like he was slowly losing his mind.
Licking my lips, I needed to stay smart and quiet as I got up. Running to where he was, I took my gun out and aimed it at him. "Hands up," I ordered as I cocked my gun up at him.
This guy did as he was told, the guy looked like he'd been out on the road for weeks. He wasn't clean, he wasn't well kept, he looked skinny from the lack of food he must of had. He's not a Savior. "Listen. I'm gone. Huh? It's cool. I just-" the guy was quaking in his shoes as he stood upright, his hands high up in the air.
"I just wanted some-e-even just some food," the guy pleaded with me but suddenly, gunshots were heard. For a moment, I thought it was me, but my finger wasn't even on the trigger when I looked at it. Many shots were fired as the man ran off.
There was only two people who knew where I was, who would defend me no matter what. That's got to be dad. Or Kat. After the first few shots, the guy had already scrambled off into the woods.
And dad rushed in my line of sight as the man ran off, aiming his gun to the sky to scare him off. Catching up to my dad, I lowered my gun and felt my heart racing. He couldn't have been a Savior and if he was one, he had no intent on killing me.
Or that was what I had hoped for. "We were supposed to meet at the intersection," dad said coolly. But the only look he got off me, wasn't one of gratitude but one of angry disappointment. "I shot over his head. I just wanted him gone," dad tried to make an excuse for his actions.
He scared off a chance to move forward. A chance at hope. In finding new people and giving them a chance to live, just like we have. "He said that he was-" I went to argue as I glanced to the where the guy ran off to, to my father.
Dad looked back to me, squinting as he kept calm and stern around me. He's always protective but sometimes, too over protective. "I heard what he said. Most of it," dad reassured me I wasn't alone when I was here. "But he could've been one of them," dad was worried that the guy we just ran into, was actually a Savior.
The thought itself, did occur to me but he was too afraid to be one. Or he was a great actor. But I'm not sure. Neither of us are sure. "Like a spy?" I asked him, letting him hear just how stupid that idea was.
Dad shoved his gun noisily into his holster. "I shot above his head," dad repeated the same words from before as he took a few steps towards me. "If he isn't one of them, I hope he makes it," dad said this, like it was going to make anything of what he did, right. Is this how we're going to be every time we cross paths with a stranger?
Doing something, that's keeping hope alive. Hoping, isn't enough anymore. "It's not gonna be enough, Dad," I told my dad my thoughts as I walked away, trying to look for the gas we were supposed to be out here for.
"Enough what?" I heard my father call after me.
Kat would know what to do. Or at least, the old Kat would. "Hope," I answered him before I went to find the little fuel we could gather.
KPOV
Hearing shots, I ran over to where the noise came from. I knew it could only be where Carl was. Please let him be alright. Please let him be alright. My mind said over and over again as I raced over to him.
Slipping past the woods, slicing walker's heads with my machete, I thought I saw a figure rush past me. Aiming my bow up, the figure ran off far too quickly for me to catch them, even as I tried to calm my breathing to see which way they left. Instead, I needed to get back to my brother. When I finally got to the point I knew Carl would be, I found my father had just ended a walker.
It was only me and my father in the space, as I couldn't see Carl behind him. "What the hell happened?" I asked my father, curious as to what just happened here and if Carl was okay. Please let him be alright.
Dad sighed, placing his hatchet back into its holster before looking to me with a tired and slightly angry look on his face. Why is he so angry? "Some guy, tried to get Carl to give him supplies," dad explained to me what happened while I was away.
News of someone coming into contact with us, it straight away lead me to believe it was a Savior, especially when there was gunshots involved. "Was it one of them?" I asked my dad a little worried that maybe, the Saviors were catching onto us.
But I had faith that Dwight wasn't the one ratting us out to them. "Don't know," dad answered me, his hands on his hips as he glanced over to where Carl was. Except, he was nowhere in sight.
"Where's Carl?" I asked him. But dad sighed, lowered his head and this was when I realised that Carl, had left. We need to get to him.
DPOV
A day before we were ready, to prepare the plan, after confirming the spots we were going to take them out, we'd been keeping tabs on all of it with Dwight. Who had let us know if there were any changes in our plans. It was bright, it was early and I knew most Saviors were still asleep by this time.
Sneaking up to the Sanctuary, I stayed close behind one of the wooden panels that blocked me from the line of sight of any Savior out there. When Dwight was out there, fixing his bike at the usual spot. I felt my blood boil a little, and shot at a tire close to him. The note I wrote for him, was attached to my bolt. Tomorrow. Was my note to Dwight.
When he read it, he wrote something back onto the piece of paper before he wrapped it around the bolt again, got up and aimed at the spot I was hiding. Plucking it from the slab, I then left and read the note he wrote back. Ready when you are.
He already knew of our plans, of the places we were going to hit and what we were going to do. He was the one who gave us the times they'd planned on leaving, in case anything changed. As far as we knew, it was all going in the right direction and no one knew the wiser. For now.
RPOV
Looking through the plans, we were all ready to go, getting into our cars, ready to head out onto the road and towards the intersection where we'd all meet to get to the spot where we'd all gather for the pep-talk before the big day. To the point where we'd all be meeting. Stood by the perch near our walls, looking out to the trees, the roads that would lead us out to the great unknown.
All I felt, was a nervous sensation in my gut. More so, because of the people I'd be bringing with me to the fight. Especially, a fight, I wasn't willing to lose or to lose certain people during the fight. Taking a shaky breath, I closed my eyes, trying to control my breathing, with hopes that these plans I'd flicked through, would work.
I have no doubt in Kat but I fear losing her. I fear losing everyone to the Saviors if they somehow get the upper hand. Or if Dwight double crossed us. Hearing someone creak all the way up the ladder, I heard Gabriel before I saw him. "Thirty minutes. Everyone's ready," Gabriel reported to me.
Although, when he saw the unease on my face, he soon realised I was filled with dread. "Are you?" Gabriel asked me, concerned for me.
The thoughts that ran in my head, it was all because one person caused this to happen, rather than to stand down. "It's one person who brought it to this," I pointed one finger to the sky. "One person," I repeated to Gabriel.
"It always starts with one person," Gabriel reminded me. He has so much faith in me. "This did. What we're doing here now," Gabriel was speaking about the people who were getting in their cars, to fight Negan, to finally end him.
It was going to be a team effort, one we needed to stand together on and hope that we were going to get them all. One by one. "This-This isn't about me," I stated. It's about all of us. It's about Negan. And Glenn, the people that started this. All of it. From saving me, to killing him and 'saving' us from the same fate.
"Yes. It isn't," Gabriel agreed with a calm tone. "You made it like that," Gabriel said with a very small smile. Holding back a chuckle, a smile grew instead as I rest my hand on his shoulder. Gabriel is someone I can trust now. And I'm thankful for it.
KPOV
Once I'd taken my bow and quiver full of arrows from the armoury, I had returned to find my baby sister drawing on the floor. The second she saw me, her face lit up. Her arms outstretched for me to pick her up.
Since I had been pregnant, it was like she could sense another little one was taking all the attention away from her. With a laugh, I picked her up and kissed her cheek, many times, making her laugh. The sound was so sweet, it warmed my heart as I slowly lowered her back down, to let her continue her drawing. My dad soon gave Judith a kiss goodbye on the top of her head.
Leaving to go meet with Michonne and Carl, I saw Michonne waiting patiently for us. As I approached, I wrapped Michonne up in a tight hug, as she embraced me just as tight.
Michonne had been wearing my dad's shirt over her clothes, but none of that, changed just how close me and Michonne were. In fact, I felt it brought us just closer than what we were before. I never missed a hug more in my life than the one off of Michonne.
When we pulled back, Michonne's hands gently rubbed my arms as her eyes gazed into mine. "Are you sure you're okay going back out there?" Michonne asked me, with a laugh, I smiled widely at her.
"Are you sure you're goin' to be okay staying in here?" I asked her back, knowing how she would of wanted to be there with us, but was still in plenty of pain to not go.
Michonne let out a small laugh, before she playfully nudged me a little. "You got me," Michonne grinned as I grabbed her hands and gave them a tight squeeze. Seeing my dad, I slowly let her go and let him have his moment with her.
As he kissed her goodbye, Carl slowly appeared and that was when I took off his hat, holding it as I pulled him into a hug. Carl's arms tightly wrapped around me as I grasped the back of his head with one hand. Planting a few kisses to his cheek, like I'd done to Judith, Carl too, began to laugh.
"Stop!" Carl protested. "Stop!" Carl would squirm against my kisses as I didn't stop them.
Not letting him go either, I smiled and held him a little tighter. "What? I can't give my baby brother goodbye kisses?" I joked and he laughed along, trying to get me to let him go.
"You can but don't smother me to death with them!" Carl complained, making me laugh. It's been too long and I've been away from them for far too long. "Kat, please," I heard Carl protest as I gave him my last few pecks to his cheek.
Sighing, I slowly let him go, but held onto his hat, my other hand rest upon his cheek with my open palm cupping it. "Hey..." I called to him, as his eye didn't want to meet my gaze. "You know what never changes," I reminded him of the conversation we'd had a couple of nights ago.
As our eyes met, he nodded and smiled sadly at me. "I know," Carl reassured me he remembered, regardless. Nodding, I smiled and slowly pulled back. Letting Carl and dad have their moment before we'd leave.
Dad had been patiently waiting, watching me and Carl goofing around, like we always did. "Come here," dad said to Carl, pulling him in a tight embrace as the engine starts and revs behinds us. Brakes squealing indicated our rides were here.
Seeing how my brother and father got closer while I was away, it was a nice sight as they eventually pulled apart from their hug. Handing dad Carl's hat, dad was the one to put it back on his head, correctly.
"This is the end of it," dad nodded to Carl as Gabriel parked up beside us, only get out and hand me the keys. When Gabriel left to join Tobin in his car, I was left to drive the truck with dad. Both of us climbed in, as I looked over to him, I could feel Michonne and Carl watching and listening closely.
"Together," I offered my father my hand.
Dad looked to my hand for a moment, before a small smile was creeping up onto his face. "Together," dad repeated my words after our hands joined, his hand brought mine up to kiss the back of it. My dad. My hero.
Once we let go of each other's hands, I drove us out of the gates and to the meeting point we had all agreed on. It's time to end this. Together.
MPOV
I saw how Rick and Kat drove out, together, hand in hand, ready to take on the Saviors, together, rather than alone. That's how it should be. And I should be with them. Feeling Carl slowly approach me, to stand beside me, we both looked on as we saw two of our most loved ones ride out to war.
"I know you wanted to go with them," Carl said as he looked up at me. "I did, too," Carl spoke, bowing his head a little, like he was sad with himself.
He needs to stay here, to help defend this place. "Everything hurts," I stated, my whole body ached, making it impossible for me to fight after all the damage I went through during the fight with the Scavenger. "But I'll help you defend this place," I promised Carl as I looked to him.
Carl's head quickly turned to look at me. "Help me?" Carl's eye showed the fear and surprise to hear that it was him taking charge while I took the backseat. This his his home. And I know he can defend it. The same way Kat and Rick could.
"Oh, yeah," I told him. "This is your show," I tried to give him the confidence he needed. As a little scoff left him. Shaking his head, he shut his eye and fought a smile that was creeping up. He's in denial but he likes the thought of it. I can tell.
Slowly, I got closer to him. "Okay..." I said as I gently nudged him with my bicep bumping against his. "You'll see," I promised him. He could be just as capable of being a leader. He is a Grimes. I have faith in that.
KPOV
Pulling up at the clearing, everyone else was here. People from the Hilltop. People from the Kingdom. All of them were mingling, ready to fight, discussing to one another. Possibly all of them going through plans.
What none of us knew, was what was about to happen next. There would be a speech, as expected, a re-run of the plans as we spoke them over, so everyone knew where they'd have to be. All of us were ready. But we all needed that extra boost.
Seeing everyone, from all communities, talking to one another, it was a sight of unity. A sight I was happy to finally be a part of. I worked so hard, to somehow get these people together, without even being here. Now, we have the army I dreamed of. And now, we can use my information to take every one of these assholes down.
As I parked up, both myself and my father exchanged a look before we climbed out. Hearing the bustle of different conversations, of different people talking to one another, it was like a dream. Except, my dream was now a reality. This is how it should be...
RPOV
Stood with Maggie, Ezekiel, Gabriel and Jesus, I had been discussing the plan over again but I feared for Maggie most. Last time she did something like this, we had to rush her to the Hilltop. "You up to this?" I asked her, concerned for her health.
Maggie just gave me a look, that told me I needed to stop acting dumb. "I got the Hilltop to stand against the Saviors. I need to be there. At least for the first part," Maggie was speaking like a true leader, inspiring her people to war.
"They say you can wage war through the second trimester," Maggie joked, making me chuckle. She's just like Kat sometimes. "I've been fighting since the farm. Can't stop now," Maggie said with a sincerity in her eyes.
Even if she was willing to fight, there was always going to be another war and there was always the chance that things could go wrong tomorrow. "How about tomorrow?" I asked her, already picturing how Negan would die.
Many images came to mind when it came to picturing the perfect end to Negan. "You been thinking about what that looks like?" Maggie asked me.
Approaching her slow, I kept my eyes on hers. "Yes, I have," I nodded to her. "I don't know if I can wait for it," I told her just how impatient I was to see Negan die. To see his end. He has to die. After everything he did, to all of us. He has to die. He will.
As Maggie heard me, she looked to me with pride. "Just one more fight. And I'm gonna be there," Maggie reassured me we were getting closer to that day. "At least for the first part," Maggie wanted to be there, even if she needed to stay safe.
"What of your daughter? Don't you wager she'd be safer behind Alexandria's walls?" King Ezekiel asked me, forcing my eyes to go in search of my daughter, who was far off in the distance, talking to Daryl, who stood close to her.
It was as though, Daryl was being protective of her as he stood tall in front of her. Seeing her, I smiled and nodded. They look good together. They're going to be a great family. I hope I get to see it become a reality.
"Kat, she's been fighting far longer than Maggie has. Since before Atlanta. She's strong. She's smart. She can handle it," I reassured the King she'd be safe. "I have faith in her," if I didn't have faith in her, I wasn't sure who would.
Ezekiel was silent for a few moments. "Very well," Ezekiel seemed pleased to hear my confidence in my daughter. "I'm told the Hilltop lost their doctor. An obstetrician, no less," Ezekiel then returned his attention to Maggie.
"We have a doctor in the Kingdom. A woman of talent. Join us," Ezekiel offered Maggie treatment at the Kingdom.
Jesus has been listening to Ezekiel's offer with a smile on his face as his head bowed, deep in thought. "We'll get ours back," Jesus said with confidence, making Ezekiel laugh.
How Jesus looked up to Maggie and they exchanged looks, I knew they'd grown closer since Maggie had seeked help at the Hilltop. Their friendship is nice to see. "Yes, Jesus. Yes, you will," Ezekiel agreed.
"As sure as the day defeats the night," the King began speaking in his royal tone. "And on this day, we begin to reshape this world for your child," Ezekiel looked to Maggie. "Your grandchild," Ezekiel then looked to me. "And the children to come," Ezekiel declared.
Carefully, Ezekiel stepped past Jesus to block him from our view slightly. "So let's get started," Ezekiel encouraged us lightly as he nodded once and walked off.
Letting out a sigh, a smile appeared on my face as I approached Maggie. Jesus and Gabriel left us alone, left me and Maggie alone. "What?" Maggie asked me, curious to know what I was smiling about.
"Hilltop's lucky to have you," I answered her bluntly as to what was creeping up in my thoughts.
My words were sincere, as she turned out to be stronger than I ever imagined. She was calm, strong, confident and very smart. She's a good leader. Unlike Gregory. "You showed me how to be someone worth following," Maggie gave the credit to me.
Nodding, I looked to her but then glanced to Kat, who was talking to Daryl quite happily. "Good," I told Maggie, feeling glad she'd felt inspired by my example to lead her own way. Gently, I rubbed her arm before brushing past her and began my approach towards my daughter.
Leaving Maggie alone, I could sense her smile but my eyes were focused on one person and one person only. I need to talk to her. I need her to know...
MPOV
While back at the house, taking care of Judith, I had put her into her cot, to have a nap, as I went to sort out the clothes. Going into Kat's room, I had found her clothes, a dark pile on the ground. Picking up the items, I gave them a good smell and noticed the different stench that mixed with Kat's new smell from being in the Sanctuary.
I then remembered this had been the outfit she showed up with, wearing it. A style that didn't look like that Kat I knew, but was a kind of Kat she became. Folding it up, none of it stunk, but it didn't fit the life I knew Kat wanted to live.
Folding it up, I placed it on the end of her bed, to find out what she wanted to do with it. Kat can decide what to do with it. If it were up to me, I'd save it or burn it. Kat, she could possibly swing either way. It's her decision to make.
RPOV
Standing on top of the back of a truck, I had been waiting, on the time and for the right moment to speak. Reflecting on everything and everyone that got us to this point right now. Glenn. Abraham. Sasha. Kat. They all did this.
"When I first met him...Jesus said that my world was gonna get a whole lot bigger," I began my speech as I looked on to every individual stood before me and around me. "Well, we found that world. We found each other. That...'bigger world' is ours by right," I stated what everyone already knew.
"That we've come together for it, all of us...it's that much more true," I was so confident about this as I glanced down to my daughter. You were the fuel to this, Kat. You were. I'm just the one who's going to light the match now. "It's ours by right," I repeated.
As I talked, I'd move around so I could talk to everyone. "Any person who would live in peace and fairness, who would find common ground...it's their right, too," I said to everyone, which was mostly in reference to the Saviors.
Kat didn't seem to move but her head did bow, as she listened on. Carl was right on that. We need to let the innocent, those who don't want to fight this war, to live in peace. She understands it. She has to.
"But those who use and take and kill to carve out the world and make it theirs alone...we end them," this was the only balance this situation had now. "We don't...celebrate it. We don't have shame about it, either," I tried to calm everyone into the thought of killing people today.
Sometimes, we have to kill, in order to live in peace. "There's only one person who has to die...and I will kill him myself," I pointed to the sky, symbolising the one person I was going to kill. Negan.
Feeling my face scrunch up just at the thought of him. After everything he did to Kat, to everyone, to Glenn, to Abraham. I was ready to bash his skull in like he'd done to those I'd seen as family. "I will. I will," I reassured them that I'd be the one to kill Negan.
"But if it's the others...the others who prop him up, stand by his side, even those who just look the other way, so be it," if they died too, it wasn't going to be anyone any of us would miss. Then...we keep making the world bigger," I stated what would happen after.
We have to win. We have to make this work. "Together," I smiled, nodding once as I thought of how this union, was going to take out the leader to a dictator that only took what he wanted. Without fairness, without reason and without consideration.
"Together," Ezekiel repeated. "Bound forever!" Ezekiel rose his arms like the preacher he could be. "To quote The Bard, 'For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother,'" Ezekiel spoke of me, as his hand went to my shoulder.
Feeling a little pride, I nod in agreement. We're all a family now. All of us. "'For she today...my sister,'" Ezekiel then turned to Maggie, placing his hand on her shoulder. Maggie's hand went to his arm, nodding with a smile, with Shiva roaring loudly upon her truck.
The sound itself, blew us away and left us feeling the power we needed to plough down these Saviors. "We've practised. We've been through it over and over again," Maggie stated that we all knew what we were doing now. We all knew our plans.
"We all know the plan doesn't end this morning. That we may have to live in uncertainty for days, maybe more. That we have to keep our faith in each other," Maggie was pointing out that there may be days where we needed to lock up, hold tight and wait until the next moment to strike.
That we needed to hold on to hope if we were to survive. "If we can hold on to that with everything we have, the future is ours," Maggie said calmly. "The world is ours," Maggie spoke with confidence as she turned to look at me, giving everyone the strength from both the Hilltop and Alexandria, what we needed to hear.
Gazing at the faces around me, at the Sanctuary in the distance, that held the man who was responsible for all of this, I thought to myself. Bowed my head and clutched my gun a little tighter. I don't know if I can wait until tomorrow.
"I don't want to wait for it anymore," I announced to them all. "You don't either," I pointed out to everyone, speaking up after the speech we all just gave.
"Yeah, I know. So we don't have to wait for it," I encouraged everyone to try and gather their courage because we were all impatient when it came to ending Negan, all whilst I dropped down onto the ground with them.
Those around me, looked at me, holding onto my every word. "If we start tomorrow right now...with everything we've beaten, everything we've endured, everything we've risen above, everything we've become..." I listed all the things that made us stronger.
Everyone looking at me, I could tell they were getting inspired to fight. "If we start tomorrow right now...no matter what comes next...we've won," I stated with a loud voice. "We've already won," I declared and everyone began cheering loudly.
Looking down, my eyes eventually fell on Kat, who was cheering just as loudly as the others. Pride in her eyes as she would yell and scream at the top of her lungs. This only gave me the small push of strength I needed as I nodded and looked around to the others. Tomorrow, it starts today. Right now.
KPOV
Before any of us could move ahead to the Sanctuary, through its roads, with the Saviors at each outpost that lead to the Sanctuary, their lookouts were the ones that were going to get in our way. It was me who was to start this off, as I went to the platform on the tree, where the Saviors had a view point on us coming down the roads.
Taking out my bow and an arrow from my quiver, I stayed in the distance, near the trees. Aiming as high up as I could, seeing the walker underneath the post, I knew that once I got him, he'd fall and become a nice meal for the walker. Getting into my stance, my aim was ready, the air was still and it would be a perfect shot.
Letting go of my arrow, I watched as it flew straight up and into the Savior's eye. As his body fell, hard in its collision to the ground, the walker approached on it. "Just as I predicted," I whispered to myself. Reporting back to my father, we were ready to keep moving forward, to take out the rest of the Saviors on watch.
DPOV
Seeing one of the Saviors, in the neighbourhood watch point, another spot Kat had found for us. I sneaked up around the car he sat on, while he was enjoying his smoke break. Pulling him off the hood of the car, I choked him out until I snapped his neck. Using my knife, I ended him before he could turn.
Checking what he had, he had a good gun and a packet of smokes. Taking this for advantage, I thought I had might as well enjoyed a smoke. Seeing as I could never smoke around the women who were carrying children anymore.
Especially not Kat. Sitting myself on the hood of the car, once I reported back to Rick, I went to examine the gun and saw markings at the very top of it, scratch marks on it. I began to wonder if this was him keeping a tally of how many people he had killed with this gun.
Relaxing with every puff of the smoke I took, I glanced to the guy and was glad he was dead. Asshole must of taken too many lives, that he needed to keep track of them all. Looking back at the gun, it felt good, had enough ammo in it too. This will work. For what I gotta do next.
RPOV
Everyone was in place, as they reported back to me, time and time again, I was ticking the look outs on my list. So far, Kat, Daryl, Morgan and all the others were doing their part in stopping the Saviors from knowing we were coming. It was now my turn to take out one of the guys on watch.
As I sneaked up, I whistled to him, just as he turned around to look at me, I dug my knife into his gut, then again and again, as I forced him to look at me as the life slowly was drained out from his eyes. Tossing him to the ground, I had noticed he was keeping watch of a walker they had tied to a post.
Wiping my knife, I strolled over to a cooler and a box that was possibly full of weapons and ammo. Returning my knife to my holster, I crouched down and began picking up whatever was inside of it. The look out was breathing heavily as he lay there dying. "What are you up to, Rick?" the guy coughed out to me.
Checking the cooler first, there was nothing in there. Then, the box itself beside it, had nothing either. "You think you're gonna take us on?" the guy asked me, straining as he then let out a few coughs and groans. "I saw you...beggin'. Crying," the guy informed me.
Tossing stuff, as I looked through all he had, it was all a bunch of nothing. All of it was empty or useless. "You're gonna beg again, Rick," the guy was sure as he kept coughing, as he kept breathing. Die already.
"Your-your boy's gonna die," the guy panted out as he let out a few more coughs. These words, angered me, as I felt my blood boil. Carl is going to live. We're all going to live. The only one who has to die, is Negan and those that get in my way, can die too.
Angered with the guy, I knew of one way to shut him up. Once I found all I needed, I got to my feet, strolled over to the post. Taking out my hatchet, I began chopping down the rope. As the walker was set free, it fell to the ground and began to devour the asshole that spoke to me the way he did.
As the screams and the protests were eventually being overpowered by the noise of his flesh being torn apart to be devoured by the walker, I didn't care. I walked on, putting my hatchet into my holster. Looking to the distance, to where the Sanctuary was, I signalled for the others to approach.
It's time to defeat the real evil here. Negan. He's going to die. One way or another.
DPOV
As time was ticking, I rolled out to the others, speeding up as I came to a halt close by them. Morgan was sat on the floor, while Tara and Carol were waiting for me patiently. As I parked up, all we had to do now, was wait.
"Here we go," Tara announced. She then began counting down from ten, until one. Morgan had got up, off his rear to stand with us. Looking to the distance, the walkers hadn't shown up. We need them for this plan to work. "Shit," Tara said as she finished her count down.
All of us kept watching, but I could feel the others close to giving up. We can't give up. Not yet. These assholes are slow. So maybe they're just taking their time. Just as I thought this, I saw the herd appear. "No. There," I told them, pointing to the herd that began appearing from behind the trees.
"Okay. Close enough," Tara declared before turning around, ready to go back to her car.
Getting ready to get onto my bike, the plan was still on track. "Alright, let's go," I ordered.
"Got it?" I heard Carol say behind me as I sat on my bike.
Footsteps sounded behind me. "Yeah," Morgan replied to Carol as we all got ready for the next step to our plan. Starting my engine, I rolled out, making the most noise as we got as far as we could from the truck. Rigged with explosives. This will get the Savior's attention...and the walkers too.
As the truck exploded, the rest of us got ready for the next step. The next stop, it was close and it was another trap for the Saviors to rush right into. I can't wait.
DWIGHT'S POV
The noise of the explosion was heard in the distance, the others were on high alert, took all they had and went to investigate. Armed, they were prepared for anything Rick's group had, but in truth, they had no idea what was coming.
Only I did. They're a day early but, I'm ready. "It went up towards the herd-way," Roxanne said on the walkie to me.
Bringing the walkie-talkie to my lips, I radioed back to her. "Go big. Two cars, ten guns. We're not messing around, not now," I told her. "You take the Sister route. It's locked down," I made sure they knew where to go, as that would lead them directly into the trap we'd made.
"Do you think it was them?" Roxanne asked me through the walkie talkie as they drove off.
Looking to the distance, I could only hope this plan would work out the way it should, because I craved now, more than ever, to see Negan get crushed by Rick, the King and the Widow. "Nah. Probably something left over, maybe under one of the bodies," I told the group back.
I was acting like it was nothing, but I knew it was them. Only I knew this fact. "I want some bang bang, Dwighty. I want some scream scream. I want blood," Roxanne told me through the walkie, indicating she wanted a fight.
"Well...maybe you'll get lucky," I ended the conversation with this. As it, was enough. I hope so too. But I hope it'll be you guys doing the screaming, instead of Rick and the others.
Looking to the distance as the Saviors in their two cars and few bikes rode off, I gazed at the spot the explosion sounded, then to my walkie and back to the sky. Hoping to God, that this all worked out the way we had planned.
DPOV
Once the trap was fixed, we knew Dwight would lead them directly to the route we had chosen for the bomb to be placed. When everything was in place, ready for them to find us, we stood atop the bridge and waited for the group to show up.
Carol and Morgan had come up the steps to join me and Tara as we were on lookout for the group and for walkers. "How close are we?" Carol asked as she approached us, to stand with us.
Gazing out to the distance, I could faintly see the Sanctuary in the distance and I knew, the group on the road, would be here any second now. "Close," I told them as everyone then glanced to the same spot I looked at. It will all be over soon...
DWIGHT'S POV
Having a meeting called, so we could discuss with Gregory, from the Hilltop. I already had a feeling of dread the second he opened his mouth and spoke to Negan, singing his praises. Clearly, this man had been here to save his own skin because he had no belief in his people.
Already, Gregory had been scolded lightly by Simon. "Negan, let me lay this down straight for you," Gregory said with a small laugh. "I know how it is...negotiating the slippery, steep terrain of managing resources and the population and the big, scary you," Gregory tried to sympathise with Negan.
"But you might know, it's called the unknown. Listen, I-I mean it when I say it-Negan, I don't like killing people any more than you do," Gregory stuttered more than a nervous man should. A coward. I can tell.
Hearing Gregory's words, Negan instantly knew he and Gregory weren't alike by that final assumption. "I like killing people," Negan corrected Gregory himself when it came to murder.
This only stunned the old man as Negan picked at his bat and kept his feet on the desk. "Oh. Well, I-" Gregory seemed more startled than he was afraid.
"I say it's about killing the right people. So, you kill the right people at the right time..." Negan was happy with his words, which only made my skin crawl. "Everything falls into place," Negan finished his sentence. "Everybody's happy. Well, some people more than others," Negan kept talking.
"But you kill one, and you could be saving hundreds more. And that is what we are all about," Negan stated before he rose his ands to either sides of him slightly, bent at the elbows. "We save people," Negan basically explained why we were called 'the Saviors'.
The more he talked the more bored I got, the more anxious I got. I hope the others are ready. That they aren't going to wait until tomorrow. "That's...that's why you're called the-the Saviors. Oh," Gregory mused nervously.
Hearing any more of this, was only going to make me want to run away harder. I need to see this through. To make sure Negan never hurts another life again. "Gonna grab a smoke," I declared as I got up.
"Now?" Negan asked me as I went for the door. Stopping beside him, I crossed my arms and watched him looking up at me. "You don't want to hear this?" Negan wondered if I planned on coming back to hear the rest of his pathetic words.
Looking to Gregory, I could already tell what kind of shit story he was going to try and sell. That he was the big man at the Hilltop, when all he was, was a weasel. "Don't need to," I told Negan as I looked back at him.
"Tell me where to go and what to do, I'll make it happen," I was 'proving' my loyalty to Negan regardless as Negan chuckled before I opened the door and walked out into the balcony. I had seen the clear skies above me, as I lit up the cigarette and tried to relax.
In the distance, there was a sign, a small glimmer of light to tell me, it wasn't tomorrow, that it would be today. Now, I want to hear and see Negan die. It's all I want.
KPOV
Waiting a way away from the cars, myself and Dianne were the first to approach, behind the fences, behind the things that would hide us, I signalled a small glimmer of light to Dwight, as I saw him stood outside but neither of the guys over his head noticed.
The second one went to check us out, I looked over to Dianne. "Ready?" I asked her, to which she nodded. Lifting up my bow, with my arrow in place, I aimed at the guy on the right while Dianne would aim for the one on the left. "Now!" I ordered.
Letting the arrow soar into the sky, as Dwight turned his back to us, once his smoke break was over, I watched as my arrow landed in the guy's head, right between his eyes. Watching as he fell, Dianne's arrow hit her target in the throat, as they both collapsed, dead on the roof.
It's show time. Signalling for the others to start making their approach, Dwight had gone back inside and now, myself and Dianne only had to wait a few seconds more as the others pulled up to block all of us from the Savior's sights.
RPOV
Once Kat and Dianne gave us the go ahead, we began our approach to the Sanctuary and began pulling up, joining Kat and Dianne as we all got into formation. Getting out of the car, I felt Kat stand beside me, on my right, which quickly changed when I turned my back to the panel. As when I looked to my right, I then saw Maggie.
Giving her a nod, Maggie raised her arm and everyone began pointing their guns up. Kat's gun instantly aimed skywards as we all got ready for the warning shots to be fired, to alert Negan that we were here, at his doorstep.
When Maggie gave us the go ahead, we all began firing shots into the sky. Only four. As it was enough to let him know we were here. Kat too, had joined in, as she had swapped her bow and arrows, leaving it in the car, for an assault rifle.
Lowering my gun, I got my assault rifle out, ready for the moment we'd start shooting down Negan and his group. If they had no plans of surrendering, of course. Now, we stand here and we wait.
The tensions were high, as everyone, including myself, waited for Negan to arrive. As I gazed out to the doors, I eventually heard it open, before I saw Negan and a group of others slowly appearing to us, all of them walking out, single file from their sanctuary.
DWIGHT'S POV
Before they could hear the shots, I had already returned to the talk and watched as Negan and the others tensed up. Negan got out of his seat and approached the window. "Should we get our people out there? Line 'em up, light 'em up?" Simon asked our 'leader'.
"No," Negan answered quickly. "They got some sort of hillbilly armour. We'd just be wasting metal on metal. And the RPG is stashed at the cache, so..." Negan put our options all out there. Meaning, there was no way we'd win against them.
"Let's have ourselves a little chat," Negan suggested this be the best play. "Simon, bring your new little friend. We may need him to say some words," Negan instructed of Simon as we all got ready to walk out with him.
"Gregory, you're on deck," Simon ordered of the weasel of a leader.
As Negan returned to us, I could only hope this went exactly the way it should go. "Gary, put three and three in the windows. Tell them to stay the hell down till we need them," Negan ordered before we all went to walk out the door and into the open.
Following after Simon, who followed after Negan, we all began spreading out onto the top of the stair case. This is it. This is the end.
KPOV
Staring between the gap, I kept my eyes glued to any doors, knowing far too well which ones Negan could get out of. I knew the main entrance, was the one that lead to the courtyard, it was the same door that he entered every time. The same door he'd enter, as everyone would kneel the moment he arrived.
But this time, I was sure we'd be the one making him kneel. Eventually, I kept my eyes peeled for Negan as he slowly slid out from behind the door, with a smug grin on his face. "Well, shit," Negan began.
"I'm sorry," Negan falsely apologised. "I was in a meeting," Negan explained why he didn't come out sooner. While he got out, so did Simon, Dwight, Gavin, Regina and Eugene. He's got all his minions out in the open with him.
The smile on Negan's face, only proved he thought he was the tough one to beat here. "I see you got your little mudflaps with you. So I'm not exactly feelin' a reason for us to try throwin' lead at each other," Negan said as I felt my father shift, to look around to the other leaders, to look at me.
But my eyes were glued to one person. To Negan. I want him dead. "I care about my people. I don't want to just march them into the line of fire because I want play 'my dick is bigger than yours,'" Negan stated why he wasn't going to play in to the game we had prepared for him.
Little does he know. It won't be a line of fire that's coming. It's a herd. "It is. We both know it," Negan smirked as I glared at him, his eyes glanced to me. "Katherine can confirm it, for sure!" if he saw me, he was only saying this to annoy me.
It only made my father, beside me, become just as tense as I was. "But I'm also comfortable enough to accept the fact if it wasn't," Negan went to say, as he was 'comfortable' being wrong about who was stronger in this fight. Or the 'big dick' fight between my father and him.
How twisted can this guy get? "I'm certainly not gonna let my people die over that shit..." Negan continued to talk, to act like he gave a shit about his people. "Like you're about to," Negan was trying to threaten us, but I didn't fear him as he used his bat to point it at us, at my dad in particular.
The grin on Negan's face, was one I was dying to wipe clean off of for him. He's going to pay. He knows it. He does. "So, Rick, what the hell can I do for you?" Negan asked my dad with a grin on his face, his arms outstretched to either side of him, as his arm looked longer with the bat in his right hand.
"Dwight," dad began pointing to the people around Negan, calling them out by their names. "Your name's Simon," dad then began pointing at each individual he called on. "You're Gavin," dad went to the next one. "And you..." dad drifted when he pointed towards the girl.
Staying where I was, I glared at Negan but let my eyes dance over to the face I already recognised. "That's Regina," I told my father as I returned my deadly glare to Negan.
"Regina," dad finished his list of people he was recognising because of all the information myself and Dwight gave him.
Eugene was nervous as he stood beside Regina. "Rick, I'd feel remiss if-" Eugene went to speak up but we were at a point where, we no longer gave a damn about Eugene. He turned against us in the end, I don't know if he's taking a play from my book but in the end, he was the one to help Sasha end her life, her own way.
Regardless what my father was trying to get at, I knew he was trying to make them realise that they weren't all Negan. The only Negan, was the one we were trying to kill. "No," dad cut Eugene off. "I know who you are," dad reassured Eugene there was no need to say his name.
Either way, Eugene would say he's Negan. Let him be Negan. "Listen, you five. The Saviors inside. All of you have a chance to survive here. To survive this," dad began to tell them. "You all can live if you surrender," dad gave them their options.
"Can't guarantee it any time but now," dad made them know that this offer, wasn't going to stand forever. "Right now," dad made it crystal clear to those that were listening. My eyes were dark, focused solely on Negan. I want him dead. I need him to be dead.
DPOV
As we waited for the cars to drive to us, to drive past us, a walker began making his approach towards the wire we'd set up. "Shit," Tara gazed to the walker, moving directly towards our traps. "Could that thing set it off?" Tara asked, worried for what could happen if the walker got any closer.
Morgan was the first one to get into action. "I got it," Morgan reassured us he'd handle it before it could trigger our traps. Jogging down the steps, we watched as he approached the walker and killed it before it could touch the wire.
RPOV
Having seen how Kat had gazed to Negan with a murderous look, I knew she had every right to hate him, to wish him dead. After everything he did, to her, to all of us, I don't blame her. "So they surrender...and you and your little piss patrol doesn't kill them," Negan summarised what I had just said to them. "That sounds like a good deal!" Negan mused.
Although, I had a feeling I knew where he was going with this. "What about me, Rick?" Negan asked me what I had planned for him, if he surrendered or not. He's still going to die.
His eyes were gazing right at me. No longer, was his attention sometimes drawn to my daughter, who was giving him death glares from the start. "I told you. Twice," I reminded him again. Not today. Not tomorrow. Today is tomorrow. "You know what's going to happen," I stated that he already knew my promise to him.
"I do. I do know what's gonna happen," Negan was confident in his words. "You don't," Negan pointed to me with his finger. "You have no idea the shit that's about to go down," Negan was so sure of himself as he spoke.
Gritting my teeth, I glanced over to Kat, only to see her face become darker, sterner as her hair was tied back, her locks no longer covering her face. "Let me ask you something, Rick," Negan went to start, like he always did when he wanted to taunt me.
"Do you think you have the numbers for this fight?" Negan asked me rhetorically but I didn't answer him. I wouldn't answer him. I'm not giving into his bullshit. "You don't," Negan said after a few moments of silence. "Simon?" Negan ordered of his guy.
Soon enough, Simon disappeared to go back inside and the man that stepped out with Simon, was none other than Gregory. Looking to Jesus, Maggie and myself, we both looked to him, a little confused and concerned as to why Gregory was here.
"Of course that's where he went," Jesus said, like it was something he should have known. He's trying to weasel his way into a deal, only to save his own pathetic skin. Glancing to Kat, now her jaw would clench tightly together. She's pissed.
Negan had clutched onto Gregory's shoulder happily. "What do you have to say to Rick and the piss patrol, Gregory?" Negan asked of the man he was clutching.
He's not a man, he's a coward of a man. "The Hilltop stands with Negan and the Saviors. Any resident of the Hilltop who takes up arms or who supports this ultimatum against the Sanctuary or any of the Saviors, for that matter, they will no longer be welcome in the colony," Gregory announced, his hands on his hips as he tried to look like the kind of leader we should fear.
But none of us feared him. "And?" Negan urged for Gregory to say more.
Gregory appeared to be uncomfortable about this whole thing. "Their families will be thrown out and will be left to fend for themselves," Gregory said, like a string on a puppet, forced to say its lines.
"And?" Negan continued to push Gregory to keep throwing consequences out to those that would chose to side with us.
Gregory watched as Negan stepped away from Gregory with a huge smile on Negan's face. "Go home now. Or you won't have a home to go back to," Gregory ordered in a firm but unconvincing tone of voice.
Those around us, they began to look around, doubtful of themselves and their stance. "You do what you need to do," Maggie reassured them she wouldn't be mad if they left.
But it was Jesus that started this from the day we had all met. "All I have at the Hilltop are a bunch of books and an old lobster bib," Jesus shrugged his shoulders with a small scoff at the end. He's siding with us.
Negan appeared to be a little disappointed no one was running away just yet. "You heard the man. Go back to separating wheat and shit or whatever the hell it is you people do," Negan encouraged of those who were doubtful.
No one though, had dared to move. We're standing up for something. Something that's ours by right. Our freedom. "Doesn't look like anyone's goin', does it?" Maggie yelled back, mostly to taunt Gregory more than it was to taunt Negan.
"Hilltop stands with-" Gregory tried to go against Maggie.
"The Hilltop stands with Maggie!" Jesus cut Gregory, shouting this twice as loud, so everyone could hear.
Seeing Maggie and Jesus smile to one another, it was a nice sight. But when I looked to Kat, I had finally seen Kat's eyes avert from Negan to see this exchange too. I'm glad Maggie found friends at the Hilltop.
"I feel...like I invested a lot in you, and I am very, very disappointed," Simon growled as he got Gregory to slowly back up, a finger pointed at Gregory the closer they got to the top of the steps and eventually, Simon had shoved Gregory down the stairs. What a coward.
DPOV
Watching Morgan rush to hide behind a dumpster, I saw the cars cross into the trap and set off the explosives. Cars were flying, as smoke and shades of red, yellow, orange, white and black licked the sky. The cars that went flying from the explosive, had taken the bikes that showed up behind them.
Knocking them into a fiery pit of nothingness, I was proud of our work here. Less Saviors to kill back in the Sanctuary and perfect way to lead the walkers straight back to the Sanctuary. We're ready for this. We always were.
RPOV
Once we heard the explosions, we knew things must have been going on track with Daryl, Carol, Morgan and Tara. I have faith in them. "Sounds like shit is goin' down, Rick," Negan said after he heard the explosions too.
"You 'lieutenants...' you're gonna have to make up your minds," I spoke up once I was ready to give them their choice. They're going to have to decide. Now.
One already became a little nervous. "Maybe we can take a time-out here-" Gavin said but I sensed it was either to give them more time, or to suggest they actually figure out their choices. Either way, I wasn't willing to take the risk.
"No. This has to happen now," I barked back, stopping them from having that chance to figure a way out of this before we could take them down. "This is the only way," I urged them to hurry up and decide.
Negan had appeared angry since Gavin tried to ask me for more time. No one moved, no one said anything and no one left Negan. Instead, Negan glared me down. "You're gonna make me count," I mocked.
Chuckling, it felt good to be the one to have the power this time. "Okay. Okay," I was willing to play along with it, treating him like the big baby he was acting. "I'm counting," I told him firmly. "Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!" I began to count down but waiting until one, was making me impatient.
I had the element of surprise on my side and I was going to use it. As rage fuelled my decision to cock my gun and start shooting. Without any warning, I aimed straight for them and fired. He needs to die. For all he's done and would continue to do.
DPOV
While Morgan finally made his way back to us, we went back to our vehicles. "It's started," Carol announced as we could hear the gunfire going off in the distance. I hope Kat is being safe and smart.
At first, Rick had hoped they'd surrender but we all knew it wasn't going to turn out that way. "Yeah," I grumbled. "It was always gonna be that way," I told Carol, as we all predicted this was the outcome that would likely happen.
Morgan had finally returned to us and did so without a scratch. Sitting on my bike, I watched as the herd began its approach towards us. "Pleasure doing business with you," Tara said all formally before she walked back to the car and climbed into it.
"Beat 'em," Morgan warned us as he mostly said this to Carol.
Taking a long sip of my flask, I was already feeling the heat taking over. Sealing it back, ready to put it back where it was, I kept my eyes on the walkers approaching. "We will," Carol reassured Morgan as he left to join Tara in the car.
When Morgan left, Carol came to me, wrapping her arms tightly around me, I raised a hand to rest it on her back. "Be careful," Carol encouraged me to stay safe. I gotta. For me, for Kat and our child.
Hearing the engine start behind me, Carol gave me a small squeeze before she pulled back. "Shit, this is gonna be fun," I tried to make light on me playing bait for the walkers to follow to the Sanctuary.
The growl of collective walkers became louder and louder. "No, it isn't," Carol disagreed with me as she looked back at the walkers.
"It's better than lettin' things be, though, right?" I asked of her as her eyes met mine. Carol seemed to understand this more than I had liked. I can't sit around and do nothing. Can't let Negan take control of us. And I'm not going to let him anywhere near Kat and our child, ever again.
Carol's eyes were on mine, like she understood where I was coming from wit this. "Yeah. It is," Carol agreed with me. She gets it. I knew she would.
With a nod, she began to rush over to her car and while I waited, I got up and checked how many shots I had left. Rolling it back in after I inspected how many bullets I had, I was content with the amount. Fully loaded.
Looking back up, the gurgling, growling freaks were slowly beginning to get closer and closer to me. Placing my gun back where I had it, I sat back down and got myself ready. Taking one last drink of water from my flask, I swallowed it slowly, as I didn't know when the next time would be when I could have the chance to stop for a drink.
As they got closer and closer, I waited until they were just about as close as they could get to me, before I began riding away. Time to bring a gift with me to the Sanctuary. A nice little surprise for Negan.
KPOV
Watching as Negan dove out of the way, once my dad started firing, I too did the same and kept firing at anyone and everyone that got in between me or Negan. I was doing my best to shoot at him, as was my father as we saw him fall down the stairs and into the court yard.
Everyone else, they had been shooting up the windows of the Sanctuary as they did their best to offer them no cover and no shelter in their home. Broken window theory put to its real test.
"Now!" Maggie shouted as everyone began moving around, ready to leave for the next phase of the plan. It's time to hit the outposts but I'm not done yet. The more people moved around, the more space I had to look for Negan.
He's got to be close. He has to be. Moving around, others began to leave too, until it was almost myself, my father and Gabriel, along with a few others. "Kat, you should go with them!" dad called to me.
"I can't," I shouted back to him. I needed to kill Negan. I needed to watch him die. Finding him, rolling around in the court yard, I began shooting, as did my father. Both of us attacking at different angles as we both tried to get him.
Everyone else began leaving. "Everyone else is leaving!" dad shouted at me, like this was reason enough for me to go with them.
Clamping my jaw shut, I kept shooting, with the hopes I'd get Negan, but all he did, was run out from where he was and go into hiding. I kept moving, trying to get to him, while my dad had been shooting at the walkers blocking his line of vision. "Not until he's dead!" I yelled back at my father.
DPOV
Firing at the first barrel on the way to the Sanctuary, I knew it would keep the walkers following the direction of both the noise I was making on my bike and the sight of the barrels in the Sanctuary's direction.
As I kept riding, the walkers following me like if I was the pied piper. I had been leading them down the roads, all of which, were clear, no of them were bumping into cars in their way. The herd kept following me, even as I shot at the barrels and continued to shoot the remaining bullets I had left.
Each barrel, was a beacon of light, leading them to where we needed to be. Up until one walker almost got into the line of sight of my explosive I could shoot. Aiming between its legs as I rode past, I shot the explosives and watched as it lit up the sky, walker guts flying up with it.
Luckily, the walkers kept following, as I kept leading them down the roads, down the flames and they followed me obediently. The gun itself, echoed louder than the explosions did too. Time to show Negan who he should really be afraid of.
RPOV
Gabriel was the one to drive the RV, rigged with explosives into the gates and when I was ready, I pressed the button, exchanging glances before I hit the button, myself, Kat and Gabriel stayed hidden as Kat kept Negan pinned in an attempt to kill him.
As the sparks flew, and the fire touched the sky, the gates were open, the walkers protecting him, were laying in pieces at his courtyard. The sight, was a beautiful landscape. As I kept shooting, I saw Kat too, after taking cover, began shooting as much as she could at Negan.
Watching Negan hobble along, he'd ended up falling behind a chunk of metal. I could hear a voice shouting at us, but I was too focused on killing Negan as me and Kat gave him all we had. "Rick! Rick! He's not going anywhere!" I heard a voice say but I hadn't been paying attention.
A hand grabbing my shoulder, was what pulled me out of my angry, determined state, as I didn't hear anything until Gabriel got closer. "We have to leave now!" Gabriel encouraged as he tugged on my arm, trying to get me to leave.
I couldn't. I wouldn't. Pulling my arm out of his hold, I continued to fire my shots at Negan. "Get Kat out of here, safe and sound!" Gabriel tried again, as he tried to drag me back by making me look at my daughter.
Kat was deadlier than I was, as her eyes were dark, her hands never shook and her body tense. My daughter was focused on killing her abuser, on killing the man who'd made her life hell in there. "It's not about you, right? Not about you," Gabriel said the same words we spoke before.
Nodding, I looked back at him and then back to Negan. Then, I looked to Kat. "Come here," Gabriel encouraged me to go with him. Instead, I began firing shots at Negan as I approached the car.
Taking the Polaroid, I took a picture of Negan, pinned and the destruction of the Sanctuary. Going back to the car, I placed the Polaroid inside before I began my fast approach towards my daughter.
"Kat, we've got to go," I said, resting a hand on her shoulder as she continued to mercilessly use bullets on someone who was too much of a coward to face us and meet his fate.
Kat was angry, her jaw clenched as she'd fire shots and stay put where she stood. Stronger than a tree, she planted herself there. "But he's pinned!" Kat argued with me over the sounds of her echoing shots.
Trying to look into her eyes, I hoped her seeing my eyes, would calm her down. "I know," I reassured her that she wasn't the only one who saw this. "But we've got to go, now," I knew that sooner or later, Daryl would arrive with the walker herd.
"We knew this wouldn't end today," I reminded her, but when her eyes finally rose to meet mine, our expressions softened as we finally met, eye to eye after not acknowledging each other for the longest moment.
Kat's lips parted as her eyes gazed briefly to my shirt. "Not today, not tomorrow," Kat repeated my words before her eyes met mine again. A firmness but calmness was in them. I've never seen her this determined.
Glancing at Negan, he was pinned to the piece of metal that kept him covered. "He's already dead," I growled, promising her this to her. Nodding to each other, we began making our way over to the car. All while Gabriel protected us, but before we left, I saw Negan pop out a little.
It was as though he thought the coast was clear, but it wasn't. Firing a few more shots, Negan jumped back to the spot he hid. Climbing in, it was my turn to drive as Kat sat on the safe side. As walkers were approaching, we got in as quick as we could, as we had another stop to make, before the day was over. We've got jobs to do.
CPOV
While everyone was out fighting, I decided to walk back to the same gas station we were at once, where we saw the guy. I had hope he would come back this way and take what I would plant for him to find. Getting to my knees to take out the stuff from my back pack, I placed a few cans of food for him.
Taking out my note, I slid it under the cans, to keep it from blowing off with anything that could come this way. Sorry. Was written in black sharpie on the note. Staring at my note, I could feel eyes on me. Taking my backpack, I shrugged it back onto my shoulder and made my way back home.
This, it was me doing my part to a better future. Not everyone out here is bad or trying to hurt us. There are good people out here too. We have to hope that. If not, we can always change the bad people, a good way.
Like the guy had said. Doing something, that was everything. Hoping for something, it's only an idea. We should be putting those ideas, into action and that way, the world would slowly become a better place. That, is building a future.
RPOV
Stopping at our spot, Daryl had finally returned to us, once he lead the walkers to the Sanctuary and met with us on the road to the spot. Kat had decided to sit in the car for a while, to just relax. The others were taking care of her, mostly, it was Daryl who took care of her as I waited for Gabriel to get back to us.
But the time was ticking and we needed to get moving if the next part of the plan would work. "We can wait some more," Daryl suggested as he slowly approached me.
Glancing back up, I had hope but it was slowly drifting away the longer I waited. "We can't," I shook my head, as we were running out of time. "He stopped to get us," I told Daryl as I gazed up at him.
The look that crossed Daryl's face, showed me just how concerned he was to hear this news. "How's that?" Daryl was curious to know the full story on that one.
"Negan," I answered and let out a sigh. "He was on the ground. We were trying to kill him, and Gabriel stopped to get me," I began explaining the first part as I glanced to Daryl while I spoke.
Hearing about Kat, that must have really upset him, as it did me. Kat was trying to kill him, like a lunatic she was aiming to kill him today. "Then I got Kat. She was so focused on killing him...but walkers were starting to surround us," I explained what happened a little further.
Looking ahead, I nodded slowly and knew what was to come next. "We gotta start out," I told him before I finally accepted that Gabriel, was just no longer part of our plan anymore.
As much as it pained me, I had hope he got out and that he'd be on his way back. "You all right?" Daryl asked me as his eyes then went from the distance and then back to me.
Chuckling, I was shocked Daryl gave a shit about how I was feeling. I'm fine. I'm angry and worried about Gabriel. But Daryl is trying to make this about me, or how I'm feeling about any of this.
"This isn't about me," I said it for the hundredth time but this time, with a smile. "Let's go," I ordered before I made my way back to Kat.
"Yeah," I heard Daryl reply back before he whistled the rest out there, back to us. We've got work to do. Picking up my gun, we all went to the cars, that started up and everyone else got back to their cars, ready for the next part of the plan. Time to get in motion.
A/N: And so, it is the start of season 8. Boy oh boy, is this one going to be a tough one. Between Kat willingly trying to end Negan, Daryl trying to keep his head screwed on to keep him and Kat safe. Then, there's Rick, trying to kill Negan any way possible while butting heads with Daryl too, also while protecting Kat and his grandchild. It's all going to get a little...tricky.
Get ready for this season because it was difficult for me to write, just as it will be hard for you to read. I hope you enjoy it though and continue to stick with me, as the road Kat is going to go on, is only going to get tougher from here on out.
To paraphrase Maggie, even pregnant, both her and Kat can still wage a war. And that's what they're going to do.
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1) What did you think of this chapter?
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HeroJustInTime90
