Sadie's POV

"So, are you ever gonna tell me what you really did to that hand?" Theresa chuckled.

I swear, if there was anybody left in this world that I or anyone else could call a sister, it was her.

This woman would be on her deathbed and still be more concerned for me than herself.

"T, you could've gotten killed last night, and you're worried about a little scrape?" I chuckled back.

"Sadie, you've basically been my sister since I met you." She reminded me. "It's my job to worry about the shit you get yourself into, now talk."

"Geez, I feel like I'm getting the third degree here." I teased. "But, if you must know…..I punched a barbed wire fence."

"You PUNCHED a- " She was desperately trying to keep her composure, but failing. "Sadie, that's a little far from just a scrape."

"Not compared to a stab wound, it's not."' I pointed out.

"Fine, I'll give you that." She sighed. "Still, though, you should at least let Siddiq take a look at it, he's good. He's done well enough by me, at least. We're lucky to have him."

WERE we though? Even with what getting him here cost us?

"Fine…" I, begrudgingly, agreed instead. "Only because I trust your word over just about anyone else's, I will consider it."

"That's all I ask." She chuckled.

"That's all you should expect." I corrected.

She just laughed that off as well, before changing the subject

"...So, did you get him?" She finally asked.

"It wasn't about getting him." I corrected her. "That's not my honor to take, it was about sending a message…...directly to recipient."

"Well, you were always good at that." She chuckled. "..Better than anyone I've known."

"The best." I agreed. "Yeah, Sadie don't fuck around."

"No, she does not." She agreed with another chuckle. "So, where's that damned bat of his? Thought you had it last night."

"Someplace safe." I assured her. "I don't want Maggie knowing I have it, not just yet."

"What? Is that gonna be her red handled machete now?" She asked.

"Her red handled machete?" I repeated back to her.

"Oh, come on. You think I don't know why you still carry that damn thing around?"

"No, I just expect you not to call me out like that, you bitch." I teased.

She shook her head in amusement. "Well, whatever you did to him, I'm sure he deserved it."

"Ohh, what I did was better than what that bastard deserves, but like I said..." I reminded her. "...just a message."

"Right."

I stayed with her, catching up and taking shots at each other like we hadn't gotten to in…..god knows how long, til it got dark and Gareth and I settled into the bedroom Maggie was letting us have while we were here.

As I removed the weapons from my belt for the night, I glanced back over at the bed, smirking to myself as I relished the knowledge that this had been Gregory's room up until Maggie had taken charge.

I was gazing down at that goddamned bat, which I had placed on the dresser just beside the machete, when Gareth returned.

I smiled when I saw him come in the door. "Hey, you….Alex asleep?"

"Pretty soundly, considering." He assured. "Jessie said she'll watch him tonight."

I nodded. "I swear, that woman is a saint."

"We are lucky to have her." He agreed, making his way up behind me.

I nudged my head up against his as I let him put his over my shoulder and his arms around my waist.

"So, about that promise you made before you left…" He whispered playfully in my ear.

I smirked as I looked back at him. "I am a woman of my word."

"Mmmm, prove it then." He growled playfully, softly, as he kissed along my neck.

"With pleasure." I whispered back, slipping my jacket off and teasingly smacking him with it before letting it drop to the ground as I turned and threw my arms around him and we started to make our way to the bed.

I pinned him down onto the bed, kissing him until I straddled my legs around him and let up my grip from his shoulders just long enough to sit up and remove my tee shirt while he began to unbutton his.

I placed my hands down on his, now, exposed chest and began to slide my hands down it and toward it and to his jeans.

I had just made my way to the zipper, when we started to hear the screams coming from outside.

As the screams persisted, I grabbed my shirt up from beside me, grabbed my knife out of my pocket and ran to the door while Gareth dressed himself to get up and follow me.

I grabbed up my crossbow, which was propped carefully against the wall closest to the door, and opened the door to find the commotion that quickly escalating before my eyes.

The darkened hallway was filled with people running, screaming, dead ones that had somehow gotten in.

More doors opened as Maggie and the others who were also just now coming out to see and join in the fight against the apparent swarm of dead ones.

I fired as many arrows as I could at some from the door, til it was clear enough for us to get out and start stabbing them as we made our way through.

Gareth took the machete from the dresser and began swinging at some more of them.

As the chaos continued, I realized I needed to get back to Theresa and get her out of here however I could, and began shouting for her.

I continued to call her name, fighting my way through them all, when I decided to stop briefly to help out a woman who was clearly losing her fight against the one she was trying to hold back

"Gar- "

"I got your back!" He reassured before I could finish.

I ran ahead and grabbed it off the woman, slamming it against the wall as I reached for my knife.

I stopped short, however, when I looked up and into the eyes….and recognized, beyond the flesh that covered the rest of the face I was now taking a closer look at that it was Theresa.

Tears filled my eyes, as I looked into hers…..now cold and dead...for the last time, and I had to choke back a sob that was threatening to escape, as I raised my knife and drove it through her skull.

As her body fell with a thud, that felt louder than it probably was, I probably would've fallen too, had Gareth not been there to catch me.

I finally couldn't hold my composure any longer and just lost myself in his embrace, as he tried to comfort me.

"She's gone." I sobbed. "It was her….it- "

"I know…" He said gently. "I know, I got you.

I didn't say anything else, I couldn't. I just held onto him, whimpering as I continued to sniffle into his shoulder.

Shortly after all the chaos that had caused this had died down outside, and all the dead ones had been put down, Maggie came running in to find us.

Daryl came running in too, shortly behind her.

Great.

I sniffled again as I turned around, with Gareth still keeping a supportive arm around me, and tried to regain enough composure to speak again.

"Are you guys okay?" Maggie asked.

I just shrugged, at another loss for words.

"It was Theresa, she…" Gareth started to explain, trailing off.

Maggie glanced down at the floor then back up at me.

"I'm sorry…" She said softly.

"Thanks." I whispered.

"Well, was she bit?" Daryl asked.

"No, Sadie was just talking to her a few hours ago. I think she would've said something if she was." Gareth answered.

The mention of that brought back the last conversation I'd had with her, to the front of my mind, which triggered me to recall the state that bat of Negan's had been in when I took it.

I shook my head to myself at the sudden realization.

"The fucking bat." I finally said.

"What?" Daryl asked, rather abruptly.

Maggie put her hand out in front of him, as if she thought he might start something.

"Negan's bat." I clarified. "...I saw him out there when T and I left with the lookouts, T ran his car off the road so I could get him alone. I chased him into an abandoned building and tried to kill him…." I looked back up at Maggie. "I didn't….but I tried…"

I figured she didn't need to know yet that I had actually only intended to taunt him, get him good and scared again, before I let her take the first swing of the bat at him.

It wasn't a TOTAL lie, though…..I probably WOULD have killed him, once the place was on fire, had he not been able to make a break for it.

"...Thank you." Maggie said quietly.

I nodded. "...When I came face to face with him, the bat was covered in blood…at the time, I just figured he ran into some dead ones or even…..well, worse."

"You think he did this on purpose?" Gareth asked. "That he had the Saviors…."

"I wouldn't put anything past them." Maggie added with a sigh. "...they got us workin for them again, killin our own."

"...Not for long." I corrected.