Hi Guys! So just a little note before you read the chapter. There are some dialogue that has been taken from certain points in The Walking Dead show. For those that are fans they will probably be able to spot them, if not you're still fine, it will all make sense within the story. Just thought I would give you the heads up. Anyway thanks as always to everyone who is reading, faving, following and reviewing (I would love more of that last one please, fingers crossed). Cheers! D.S x
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural and The Walking Dean. Any OC's are mine though.
Crossroads
Part Thirteen
As the sun rose the next morning, Dean did not expect his mid morning snooze to be interrupted by the loud yells of Eric.
"Dean?! Dean! Where are you?!"
"What the hell?" Dean mumbled as he turned over, trying to extract himself from the blankets that had wrapped around him during the night. When Daryl had walked away and Dean had come back into the house, he'd found Kid had made his way back upstairs, passing out on his own bed. Not wanting to disturb him, Dean had crawled into his own room, surprising himself by falling asleep easily. For once he wasn't plagued by as many nightmares, or at least not ones bad enough to wake him up in a cold sweat.
"Dean!"
"Son of a bitch!" the hunter shouted, finally managing to free himself from the blankets and stumble to his feet. Not caring that he was walking out in just his sleep clothes, Dean marched to the top of the stairs, barely registering another door opening and Kid stepping out, hand rubbing at his eyes to wake himself up. "What the heck is going on?!" At Dean's shout from the top of the stairs, Eric spun around, his face a wash of relief as he caught sight of both Kid and Dean.
"Oh thank god," the ginger haired man breathed out as he stepped closer. "I thought you'd be gone too."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean asked, coming down the stairs to glare at Eric. Kid sat on the top step, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire when Dean let rip. Eric seemed to be calming down, but that didn't mean Dean wasn't pissed about being woken so suddenly.
"Daryl, Michonne, Glenn and Rosita have gone missing, they're not in Alexandria." Dean bit his lip, eyes flickering away. It was enough for Eric to catch on, he narrowed his own eyes. "What do you know?"
"Daryl came to see me last night," the hunter admitted. "He wanted me to help him with something?"
"What?"
"I ..." the hunter bit his lip, hesitant to continue.
"Dean, this isn't the time to be keeping shit to yourself. What did he want with you?" Eric demanded. Dean couldn't help but blink slightly in surprise, he never thought that the ginger haired man could be so forceful.
"He wanted me to help him kill Dwight, the guy that shot Denise," Dean added the second part, just in case Eric wasn't in the know. Eric's face went for harsh to shocked, he gasped, eyes widening.
"You're joking?"
"Wish I was."
"Why would he do such a stupid thing?" Eric growled. "It's bad enough that the Saviours are coming after us now, he just has to go and add fuel to the fire. Michonne, Glenn and Rosita probably went with him."
"Or they tried to stop him," Dean tried to argue, but Eric didn't seem to hear him, still fuming.
"It's not enough that most of our core group is not in Alexandria, but now Carol had to go and take off ..."
"Carol's gone too?" Dean asked in surprise.
"Ah," Eric said. "She left a note saying she was leaving, she didn't want anyone to come after her."
"But, why would she do that?" Kid asked from the top of the stairs, gaining Eric's attention to himself.
"I don't know, honey," Eric said with a shrug. "But she probably had her reasons." Dean couldn't help but agree with that. He hadn't had much interaction with Carol, of course he'd seen her around Alexandria. He and Kid had been in the community for three weeks, it would be stupid for them not to see each other. But their groups didn't seem to overlap. Where Dean and Kid seemed to keep to Aaron, Eric and even Daryl, Carol kept to herself. He'd seen her with Rick a lot, and the man seemed to trust her, she was also a capable fighter from what he'd gleaned from her. Maybe something had happened that broke her, kind of like Dean.
"I take it someone has gone after her?" Dean asked.
"Rick and Morgan," Eric confirmed and Dean nodded. "I got worried, with so many people just gone that you two ..." Eric trailed off and Dean couldn't help but feel a little touched by the man's concern. Especially with the way Dean had been acting since they had got back from the compound. It didn't make the panic and paranoia go away, but it did sooth it a little.
"So there's not many left in Alexandria," Dean muttered. "That's not too smart."
"Yeah, we don't know if the Saviours know where we are, if they decide to attack, we would have trouble holding them off," Eric said, which only confirmed Dean's worst fears.
"Well, best get a lay of the land," Dean said, turning on his heel to march up the stairs.
"Wait, you mean you'll come out of your house?" Eric asked in surprise, to which Dean shot him his shit eating grin, that covered up the nervousness he felt.
"Can't let the place fall to wrack and ruin when the big guns are away, can we?" Dean teased as he disappeared upstairs. It didn't take long for him to dress, with the demon killing knife in place and be back downstairs to head out of the door. Kid was at his heels, not armed, but that wasn't enough to stop him from following the hunter out of the door. Eric had waited for them, leading them to the infirmary where he said that Carl, Aaron and a few others had gathered. Dean walked , trying not to let the panic get a foot hold, Kid came up beside him and Dean took the opportunity to grip his shoulder, letting the action ground him so that he could push back the unwanted feelings that would only get in his way. As they drew closer to the infirmary, Dean heard the distinct sound of shouting, Eric paused a moment, before quickening his pace, so he was dashing up to the door of the house that was the infirmary of Alexandria. Not waiting for Dean he barged in, though the hunter was not far behind.
"Shut the hell up, Spencer!" Aaron was yelling, with Carl just behind him, his remaining eye narrowed in anger. Dean took them in quickly, along with the man, Spencer. He recognised him quickly as the guy that had caught him looking over the wall all that time ago. Spencer Monroe if he remembered right. The guy with a chip on his shoulder.
"You just don't want to admit it," Spencer was saying. "They're gone, abandoned us because they can't take the heat. We should never have let them in."
"They've helped us, they've fought for us," Aaron argued, but Spencer just scoffed.
"They've brought this on us! If we had never gone after the Saviours, we would still be alight. But no, Rick had to make sure he had the biggest dick in the sand box and now we're all screwed!"
"Bastard!" it was Carl who shouted, even diving forward as though he was going to hit Spencer in the face, but he was quickly grabbed by Aaron before he could get too far.
"What the hell is going on?" Dean spoke over the noise, Aaron jerked his head to turn wide eyes to the hunter, who was glaring at the assembled people.
"Dean," Aaron said, a note of relief in his voice, even as Carl was fighting against his hold.
"Carl?" Kid said, stepping up beside Dean, he cast the hunter a look, seeking permission to move forward. Dean nodded and the boy rushed forward, placing a hand on Carl's arm, helping Aaron to calm him down. Carl snarled, furious eyes glaring at Kid, who just stared at him.
"Kid?" the one eyed teen muttered, coming out of his fury enough to clock the boy.
"Hey," Kid said with a grin. "What's going on?"
"That's what I'd like to know?" Dean added, crossing his arms as he took in the situation. His gaze finally landed back on Spencer, who scowled.
"This has got nothing to do with you," Spencer said venomously.
"Dean lives here too," Eric argued, moving to Aaron, who gave his boyfriend a smile. "He has just a right to know what's happening and have a say as anyone else." Spencer shot the ginger haired man a glare.
"You went running to him because you knew your man wouldn't stand a chance, queer," Eric tensed, face washing with red. Aaron stiffened, shoulders setting and fists clenching, looking ready to punch Spencer in the face. Even Carl and Kid looked angry, but it was Dean who moved first, stepping in quickly and with the ease of long practise, cracked Spencer in the face with a hard punch. Dean felt the man's nose bend beneath his fist, it was followed with a splatter of blood, as the punch broke Spencer's nose as he fell to the floor. "God damn it!" Spencer yelled, hands coming up to cup his nose, blood already filling them as his ass hit the floor. "What the hell man?"
"You'll keep your mouth shut if you don't want a black eye to go with it," Dean growled, wiping the splatters of blood that had got on his hand on his coat.
"I was just saying ..."
"You're saying nothing," Dean cut off firmly and Spencer swallowed back the fear he felt when faced with Dean's quiet anger. He just sat there, watching the hunter who had his signature blank look on his face. "Now piss off out of here." Spencer did just that, scrambling to his feet and scurrying out of the infirmary. Dean watched him go, his anger only starting to lift when the door was slammed shut behind Spencer's retreating form. "Dick head," Dean muttered.
"You didn't have to hit him," Eric said, though he wouldn't look at Dean, the red blush still on his face.
"He deserved it," Dean disagreed. "Now, what did we walk in on?"
"He was saying Dad and the rest bailed on us," Carl said, Aaron having let him go so the teenager was stood with Kid near one of the few beds that made up the make shift hospital.
"And did they?" Dean asked, though he knew the real story, he wanted to test Carl's temper and was rewarded with a angry scowl.
"You know they ..."
"Relax, One Eyed Joe," Dean waved a hand. "Eric filled me in. So what are we doing?"
"There's not much we can do," Aaron said. "Alexandria is meant to be on lockdown due to the Saviours. If we send more people out it will leave us pretty undefended if they attack."
"So we can't go after them," Dean stated, that got him a nod from Aaron and Eric, but Carl was far from happy.
"We can't just leave them out there," the teen protested.
"What do you expect us to do?" Dean asked. "We can't send anymore people out, we don't know if the Saviours are out there, or heck, if any of them are still alive."
"They are!"
"We don't know that," Dean responded calmly to Carl's shout, though a part of him did want to scream right on back. The panic was stroking at the surface, along with the paranoia, but for some reason, the tense situation was making it easier to ignore them. "There are people here that have to be protected," Dean spoke softly, making sure he was looking right in Carl's remaining eye. "If Rick and the gang are still alive out there, if we abandon Alexandria, they'll have no place to come back to." He turned to Aaron and Eric, "we sit tight."
"But ..."
"Dean's right, Carl," Kid chimed in, earning the older teens negative attention for himself. "If we charge out there and the Saviours come, they'll be no more Alexandria. Your Dad will probably be more pissed if this place falls, than tha no one came after him. We got to tough it out." Carl gaped at the eight year old, even Eric and Aaron appeared shocked by how much the boy understood of the situation. But Dean just smirked, his boy was a smart one, after all he was a hunter. Carl didn't say anything for a moment, then finally looked away with a huff, Dean beamed.
"Great, so I think we should set up another watch, maybe get some ..."
"Carl!"
"Enid?" the four in the room jumped as a girl came barrelling through the entrance to the infirmary. Dean had seen her around Alexandria, she was around Carl's age, thin, with brown hair and a wild worried look on her face.
"What's the matter Enid?" Eric asked in concern.
"It's Maggie," that was all that was needed to get Eric into action, he stepped forward, following Enid who had turned tail and run out of the door. Aaron was quick to follow as well as Carl. Dean and Kid shared a look, before going after them.
"Go to the pantry," Dean whispered to Kid as they followed the others out into the street, Enid was leading them towards one of the houses, shouting something about Maggie having collapsed. Kid didn't need any other instructions, just nodded his head and peeled off. Dean pushed his other thoughts to the back of his head and concentrated on what was happening. They all trouped into the house to find Maggie collapsed on the floor of her kitchen.
"What happened?" Eric asked sternly, moving over to the woman who appeared to be barely conscious.
"She was fine a minuet ago," Enid said frantically. "Then she just doubled over, I think she was in pain."
"Was it her stomach?" Eric asked and Enid just paled. "Shit, we need to move her to the infirmary. Aaron?"
"I got it," Aaron stepped forward, moving to the head of Maggie to get hands under her shoulders.
"Here," Dean came up to Eric, moving him aside to get Maggie's legs. "You head back, you'll have a better idea of what she'll need than us. Carl, you ..."
"I'm staying with Maggie," the teen said, tone resolute, one eye narrowing. Dean sighed but didn't argue, they didn't have time right now. Carefully they moved Maggie out of the house, down the street and to the infirmary. They caused quiet the stir, people coming from their houses to take a look at what was going on. Enid took care of crowd control, turning people away with either a glare or a sharp word, though the large ginger Abraham and Sasha were hard to wave off, both worried for their friend. Enid finally convinced them to stay on guard to look out for the others in case they came back. Carl just had eyes for Maggie, whose lids kept flickering as though she was trying to come round. Finally they made it to the infirmary, Aaron and Dean placed Maggie on a bed where they were quickly shoved out of the way by Eric.
"We have to be careful what we give her," he said worriedly. "It could have an effect on the baby."
"Surely there's something?" Carl asked but Eric shook his head.
"It would be too risky, we could make her miscarry if we give her anything that has a bad effect on her body."
"She has bruising on her stomach," Enid said quietly, though she might as well have shouted it from the way Eric and Carl turned on her.
"Bruising?" Carl frowned.
"When did you see this?" Eric demanded.
"Earlier, but she said she was fine," Enid tried to protest as Eric glared at her. A muffled groan though made them all fall silent, turning to the bed where Maggie was lifting a hand to her head.
"Where ...?"
"Maggie, are you alright?" Carl went down by her side. Maggie blinked, turning her head slowly to take in Carl.
"Carl? Where am I? What ...?"
"You collapsed Maggie," Eric explained gently, bringing her focus back to him, though she seemed out of it. "Do you remember what happened?" Maggie frowned, her skin turning paler by the moment.
"I ... wanted Enid to cut my hair, we were in the kitchen. Then pain, so much pain."
"Where?" Maggie's frowned suddenly cleared and worry and fear washed over her face.
"My stomach, it came from my stomach. The baby, Eric, my baby?"
"Calm down Maggie," Eric tried to sooth her.
"Have I miscarried?" she said it like a broken sob, that it made Dean's heart break just to hear it. He shared a look with Aaron, who had turned his back.
"Not that I can see," Eric said softly. "There's no blood, but I'm no doctor, and with Denise ..."
"We need to get her to a doctor," Enid said.
"How do you suggest we do that?" Dean asked angrily. "In case you haven't noticed but we don't have one of those anymore." Enid flinched at his angry tone, but Dean was passed caring. Things were rapidly spinning out of control, the panic was raising and Dean was having some trouble pushing it down, he couldn't let this over come him now. A clatter broke the silence that had fallen, followed by a shout that Dean recognised.
"Carl?! Maggie?!"
"Dad!" Carl yelled back in relief as Rick rushed through the infirmary doors, he was quickly followed by Abraham and Sasha, both having now abandoned their guard posts for their friend. Rick quickly took in the situation, hard eyes moving over Aaron, Eric, Enid and Dean. They were dismissed easily so all his attention was taken up by Maggie laid on the bed.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"Maggie collapsed," Eric said, standing to turn to the leader of Alexandria. "As far as I can tell she hasn't miscarried, but she had pain in her stomach. I won't risk giving her anything in case it has a bad effect. She needs a doctor," Eric spoke the last part quietly, mostly so that Maggie wouldn't have to hear it again. Rick's face twisted, Dean saw the worry, anger and fear, which quickly gave way to a look that Dean could not read. Rick stood a moment in silence, then his eyes found Aaron and jerked his head to the door. Aaron was quick to follow orders, moving to the door and outside, Abraham and Sasha followed. Dean was unsure of what to do, but when Rick's eyes fell on him, and he nodded his head, the hunter went outside to stand with the others. Rick came out with Carl, rubbing a hand over his face.
"We need to get her some help."
"From where?"
"The Hilltop had a doctor," Rick explained. "Glenn and Maggie went to him when we were there before. He could help her." Dean frowned.
"Bit of a risk that," Abraham grumbled lowly. "There's already too many gone from Alexandria," he shot Rick a significant look, but the man didn't meet his eyes.
"We don't have anyone that can help Maggie though, and if we leave things, she could end up loosing the baby."
"That's not happening," Sasha snapped.
"You can't go alone," Aaron said. "The Saviours ..."
"We'll take the RV," Rick muttered. "You, Sasha and Abraham can ..."
"I'll come too," Dean cut in, surprising Rick with his sudden in put. Rick stared at him a second, then raised an eyebrow.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, you'll need the guns if you think the Saviours are out there. Plus the three of you won't be enough to cover Maggie if you get shot up." Rick said nothing, but after a moment nodded.
"Fine, we take the RV straight up to Hilltop, it shouldn't take more than a few hours."
"The light will be gone then," Abraham pointed out and Rick huffed.
"That's a chance we'll have to take," was the last thing he said before walking away. Abraham and Sasha didn't wait around, running quickly over to the gate to get the RV.
"I'll go get some stuff from the pantry," Dean said, though he wanted to go get a gun, he also wanted to head off Kid, in case Rick headed that way. Before he could go too far though Aaron grabbed his arm. "What?"
"Are you going to be ok?" the man asked.
"What are you talking about?" Dean said with his usual grin. "I'm fine."
"Don't bullshit me Dean," Aaron growled, fingers tightening their hold. "You locked yourself up in your house because of that breakdown. Oh I know you had a break down, I'm not stupid," Aaron cut through Dean's protest. "You couldn't deal and you've only just managed to pull yourself back together. Now I'm asking you, are you going to be ok going out there." Dean didn't know what to say. He was floored, he should have known that he couldn't hide anything from Aaron, he'd seen him after all, in the compound, seen how he reacted. But Dean had to be grateful to him, he hadn't said a word, just let Dean deal with it how he wanted. Not many could resist interfering. The hunter let out a sigh.
"Aaron, I know you won't probably believe me, but I'm fine. I know freaked out," he added when Aaron raised an eyebrow. "I'm still dealing with it, in my own way. But I can't let it break me. I have to move on, keep going forward, because if I just stay holed up in the house, I might as well die in there."
"And if we meet the Saviours?" Dean winced at the question, but he steeled himself. He didn't agree with how all this started, he knows that he and the Alexandrian's held some blame, but he wasn't going to let the Saviours just shoot him.
"I'm not going to let them kill me," Dean said stonily. Aaron said nothing, though he lowered his head and released Dean. The hunter grunted than stomped off to the pantry to head off Kid, he had to prepare for what might come.
The RV was ready and Maggie was on board and Carl had managed to convince his father to let him come with. Though Enid was turned away even when she argued. Another had joined their little band, a portly man named Eugene, Dean had to like his style, he hadn't seen anyone with a mullet for years. Though his tendency to ramble on about facts and references made it hard for Dean to follow what he said. They were all on board, Abraham driving, but Dean was staring moodily out of the window, where empty space greeted him.
"He'll come around," the hunter turned to Rick, who was smiling grimly at him.
"You don't know Kid, that boy can hold a grudge," Dean said in mild amusement. The boy had gone nuts when Dean had told him he couldn't come with them to the Hilltop. The talk had descended quickly into a shouting match before Kid had stomped off, not even offering Dean a goodbye. He hadn't seen him since.
"Boys are like that," Rick said, coming to sit beside the hunter as the RV roared into life, and started to move out of the gates and out beyond the walls of Alexandria. "Think they know what they're doing and blow up the first time you tell them no."
"Ah, but that was before the world went to shit."
"The world being shit doesn't change how a boy is," Rick offered sagely. "It just makes it more important to teach them what they need to know." Dean was surprised by the sound advice, though he really shouldn't have been. Rick was after all a father, his oldest was a teen and Judith had all of this to come. If anyone knew how Dean probably felt it was him.
"I just want to make sure I'm doing it right," Dean admitted and Rick laughed.
"You can never know, you can only watch and hope they manage to take the good bits out of all the crap you tell them and take it to heart. But as long as you try and don't give up, you'll know you've done your best." Rick clapped a hand on Dean's shoulder and for once Dean could see why this man was the leader of such a tough group. Underneath all the harsh edges and hard exterior was a kind man. One that probably wouldn't have thought he would end up like this, but was doing the best he can with what he had, to protect his family.
"You think Alexandria will be alright?" Dean asked and Rick shrugged his shoulders, removing his hand to lean back in his seat.
"Gabriel has put some measures in place in case the Saviours attack."
"You think they'll work?"
"We'll have to hope," was Rick's last say on the matter before he got up and disappeared into a small room at the back of the RV where a bed was that held Maggie.
"They'll survive," Carl said, surprising Dean that he had been listening to their conversation. "Some how they'll make it through this." Dean refrained from commenting, though he hoped that the Saviours wouldn't even attack Alexandria. Kid was still there, with people that probably had no clue how to fire a gun until over a year ago. He trusted Kid could make it out of a fight, but he didn't want the boy to have to do that if he could help it. They carried on in silence, Abraham driving as fast as the narrow roads and large RV would allow him. Suddenly they slowed.
"Hey Rick," Abraham called. Rick came from the back, marching to the front of the RV, leaning over the seats to look through the front window.
"What the hell?"
"It's a full block and they're packing, there's no way we can get round them," Dean heard Abraham say. That got his heart beating quicker, getting to his feet, he took a few steps forward.
"What's wrong?" Sasha asked, Aaron, Carl and Eugene all watching with concerned eyes.
"The Saviours," was all Rick needed to say, not even bothering to stop and wait he marched to the door and stepped outside. Sasha followed, along with Aaron and Carl, but Dean moved to the front with Abraham, looking out of the front window. He didn't want to go outside, from what he had discovered at the compound, there were demons with the Saviours and they were looking for hunters. They probably wouldn't know who he was, different reality and all that, but he wasn't going to risk exposing himself if he didn't have to. The road was completely blocked, with cars and trucks, plus a good few men, all packing.
"Shit," Dean muttered.
"It is indeed."
"How'd they know we'd come this way?"
"Logic," Abraham shrugged. "If they wanted to block us off from Hilltop they have only a few roads to choose from. They narrow it down to the main roads for a car to get through, if they have the man power they could do it." Dean frowned, that sounded a little to organised for a group that they had supposedly dealt a big blow to. Was the compound raid really as effective as they thought? Dean's thoughts were interrupted however by Abraham rolling down the window, so the voices from outside could filter through.
"Sorry, my deal is the only deal. We don't negotiate," Dean heard someone say, it wasn't a voice he recognised so he assumed it was a Saviour.
"Me and my people are leaving," was Rick's reply, blunt and to the point, like the man usually was. There was a pause, then the Saviour from before spoke again.
"Okay, friend. Plenty of ways to get to where you're going. You want to make today your last day on Earth? No, but that is a good thing to bring up. Think about it. What if it's the last day on Earth for you? For someone you love? What if that's true? Maybe you should be extra nice to those people in that RV, 'cause you never know," Dean heard the snap of some fingers, so sharp it was almost like a bullet going off. "Just like that." Dean didn't hear the rest of the words as Rick had turned around and made his way back to the RV. When everyone was inside, Aaron heading to the back to sit with Maggie, he signalled to Abraham, who revved the engine as he turned the RV around. No one spoke as they made their way from where the Saviours had blocked them off. Finally it was Eugene that broke the silence.
"Does anyone else feel that that last encounter was designed and not simply chance?"
"They didn't try anything," Sasha pointed out.
"Why though?" Dean added, making his way back to his seat, where he fell heavily into it. "We were a prime target, why not take us out, they had the guns."
"It doesn't matter," Rick cut through the chatter. "We need a new route to get to Hilltop," Eugene nodded, bringing out a map from his pack and placing it on the small table where he and Sasha leaned over it. "How much gas do we have?" he directed the question to Abraham.
"Half a tank."
"There's another road," Eugene muttered. "It's longer, but offers long range visibility," he glanced at Sasha, who nodded.
"That would be better, we could see if the Saviours are coming well before they could get that close to us again." Rick frowned, looking at Abraham, who shrugged.
"We can make it work."
"Dean?" the hunter jumped at being spoken too, he was sure they would not want his input in the situation.
"What other choice do we have?" he said, eyes scanning over to the door that led to Maggie, Aaron and Carl were sitting with her. Rick tracked the movement and nodded.
"We come across any cars we'll pump them," he said. Eugene folded away his map and Sasha moved to climb into the front seat with Abraham. Rick sat at the back and Dean settled into his chair, leaning his head so he could look out of the window. Something inside him didn't feel right. Not like when he went to the compound, then he had just felt sick, nervous and on edge with what he was a part of. This time, it was as though something was creeping up on him, steeling the breath from his lungs and he knew that no matter how far he tried to run, it would catch him. And Dean didn't want to know what would happen when it did. So lost in his thoughts, Dean didn't notice it getting dark, nor did he clock when the RV pulled up again, until Rick cursed along with Abraham. He jerked himself back into focus, one hand reaching for the demon killing knife and the other settling on his gun.
"It's even bigger this time," it was Sasha that had spoken.
"We could try ramming them."
"That would do no good," Rick said, shaking his head. Dean crept up on the gathered group. Aaron had left Carl with Maggie, his face was pinched and pale as he looked through the front window. Dean leaned over his shoulder, seeing even more Saviours than before, all with their guns out and cars blocking the road. "Turn around," Rick muttered to Abraham, who reluctantly did as asked. As they shuffled back to their seats, Dean couldn't stop from jumping in surprise when a gun shot went off. He spun around, expecting more to follow, but managed to catch a glimpse of one of the Saviours with his gun raised in the air, having fired into the sky.
"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered, running a hand through his hair, as he took back his seat.
"Alright?" Aaron asked and Dean nodded, he didn't even have the energy to smile.
"As good as I can be. How's Maggie?" Aaron sighed, shaking his head.
"She's starting to get a fever. We don't have anything to give her, nor dare we, we don't want to harm the baby."
"Shit," Dean mumbled, not liking how things seemed to be getting worse.
"Maggie's strong," Aaron reassured. "She won't give up."
"It's about her giving up I'm worried about," Dean said quietly. Aaron didn't reply and once again they fell into silence., only the growl of the RV's engine and the occasional mutter of conversation from the back room filled the heavy air. Dean could feel the tension as the sun started to set. This was taking longer than they had thought and Maggie wasn't getting any better, plus there was the baby and Dean didn't think any one of them would be ok if something happened to that unborn life. As they turned down another road, Dean was shocked when Abraham slammed on the breaks.
"What the hell?" Carl shouted from the back.
"Abraham?" Rick asked.
"Look." Dean stood up, with Aaron and Eugene, though they didn't get to look out of the window before Rick swore, opening the side door of the RV and stepping out.
"Rick," Aaron called, following him. Dean, not thinking about what was out there, went after him, stepping out into the cool air, with the rapidly darkening sky. He was met by the moans and groans that had become so familiar since coming to this reality. It had almost become too easy to ignore them, his brain having come to associate them with such a familiar noise.
"Holy shit," Dean heard Abraham say, having come out of the RV, killing the engine to stand with the rest of them. Dean turned and saw a line of Walkers, all chained together across the road, with think metal links. Two ends wrapped around trees to make sure they were stretched across the entire road. Dean narrowed his eyes, as he assessed the new road block. It had to have been done ages ago, the time it would have took to gather the Walkers, chain them in place and leave them here. The bad feeling rose in Dean again and it was getting harder and harder to ignore it.
"Rick," Aaron said, having stepped close to one of the Walkers being careful not to expose too much so the Walker could lunge at him. He pointed at something embedded in the Walkers shoulder. Dean stepped up, along with Rick, his breath catching as he caught the sight of a familiar crossbow bolt.
"Daryl's," Rick confirmed, turning to look at another Walker along the line. Dean tracked his gaze, seeing something long and dark attached to another Walkers head. Dean was surprised when the leader of Alexandria reached out and ripped whatever had been attached to the Walkers head clean off.
"Dad?" Carl asked from close to the RV. Instead of saying anything Rick just held up what he held in the headlights of the RV, it was a dread lock.
"Michonne," Sasha whispered.
"Son of a bitch," Dean uttered his favourite phrase.
"What the hell is going on here?" Eugene said nervously.
"I ..." Rick started to say but was cut off when a gun shot rang out loud and clear. The group ducked, as more began to rain down on them. "Get too the RV!" Rick shouted, though he moved to the Walker chain as the rest of them rushed to safety. Dean didn't need telling again, running back to the door of the open RV and diving inside. He was quick to get out of Abraham's way who rushed to the wheel. Keeping low, Dean moved up the RV and to the front window, where he saw Rick, aiming his gun at the chains and firing, so that they fell, snapped clean in half by the bullet.
"He's nuts," Dean said as Abraham barked a laugh, while revving the engine.
"He's a down right crazy bastard," was all he said as the RV surged forward, just as Rick reached the side door, throwing himself inside. As they moved off down the now unblocked road bullets pepped the side of the RV, making a clanging noise all the way along it. It lasted for only ten seconds though, before the dull ring of the bullets went back to the ground. Aaron helped Rick to his feet, who caught his breath on one of the chairs.
"That was close," Aaron said, but Rick shook his head.
"They were aiming at our feet."
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"They could have taken us all out," Rick said. "They were in the woods and we didn't even know they were there. We were out in the open and they didn't kill us." Rick paused, waiting for his words to sink in.
"They wanted us to come this way," it was Sasha that said it, and they all knew that she was right.
"Dad," Carl's voice cut through their moment of revelation. "It's Maggie." Rick didn't say anymore, moving back to where the woman was resting, leaving the other members of the group to wallow in the news.
"What the heck are we supposed to do now?" Dean asked the question that all of them didn't really have an answer to.
"We'll find another route," Sasha said, grabbing a hold of Eugene and sitting at the table, the map once again coming out. Dean looked to Aaron who had moved to the back of the RV, away from everyone else. Not knowing what else to do, Dean sat down beside him, he opened his mouth to speak the next question that no one wanted to voice, but Aaron shook his head.
"Don't say it."
"They had her hair."
"That doesn't mean anything," Aaron denied. "It could have been fake, taken from someone else for all we know."
"And Daryl's crossbow bolts?" Dean asked.
"We don't know for sure they were his."
"Aaron ..."
"I don't want to hear it," Aaron hissed. "They're alive, that's what I believe, that's what I choose to believe. I'm not giving up on them." He turned away and Dean took that as his queue to drop the subject. He glanced around at the others, all of them were focused on something else trying to ignore the thoughts that maybe some of their friends were already killed by the Saviours. Sighing, Dean sat back while Abraham, Sasha and Eugene plotted yet another route. The sun was almost set, painting the sky orange, pink and red. The hunter though felt frustrated, they were running around like rats in a maze and he didn't know the reason why. Why were the Saviours toying with them? What did they want? Would they be able to reach Hilltop at all? It had to have been another hour before yet again Abraham pulled up the RV.
"Now this is just getting annoying," was his rumbling comment as again, the group got up to see what was blocking their way this time. Dean stepped out of the RV to see a pile of logs, there was an over pass just ahead, but they could only just make it out because of the pile blocking their way forward. "This is just getting stupid now," Dean muttered, fingers twitching for his demon killing knife. "They have to have set this up well in advance."
"Yeah, but why?" Sasha asked. Rick had gone closer to the longs, reaching out to see if maybe he could climb up them. But a scuffling sound had him stepping back, gun out, along with Dean and the rest of the group. But no Saviours appeared, instead a figure was thrown over the overpass. Dean winced as the man, as he was sure it was a man wiggled, the drop wasn't enough to snap his neck and instead he was left to dangle, chocking to death slowly.
"Shit," Aaron muttered, aiming his gun to hopefully cut the rope.
"Aaron, don't," Rick called.
"But," Aaron said angrily. "We can't just ..."
"We need the bullets more," was Rick's answer and Dean couldn't help but agree with him. That man, no matter how much it made Dean's panic and paranoia stir, was dead already. Aaron looked set to argue further, but a crack came from behind the logs and suddenly the pile was engulfed in flames. Heat and licking fire was thrown at the group, who stepped back to stop themselves from being burned. Rick didn't even have to shout at them to get back to the RV, they retreated anyway, climbing back in and Abraham turning them around to yet again find another way to get to Hilltop.
"This is getting ridiculous," Sasha growled. "They more than likely have every way blocked that we can get to Hilltop by car."
"They're probably looking for this vehicle too. An RV if not something that is easy to overlook," Eugene added.
"What can we do?"
"Dump it," Eugene said, though he was looking nervously around the group. "Only way to avoid detection."
"Going on foot would be too hard on Maggie," Aaron said.
"The Saviours won't expect us on foot," Eugene said, holding his ground in the face of Aaron's anger. "They're looking for the RV, that's something we can use."
"He's got a point," Dean said, which earned him a wide eyed stare from Eugene.
"Dean, you can't be serious," Aaron protested.
"The have the roads blocked, we'll have more room to move if we go in on foot."
"But ..."
"If we keep going like this then we'll never make it to Hilltop," Dean pointed out. Aaron snapped his mouth shut, though he didn't look to happy.
"Foots probably the only way we're going to make it," Rick agreed, coming up behind Eugene, who looked even more nervous. "We can carry Maggie between us. We'll wait for night fall."
"And the RV?" Abraham asked.
"I'll pilot the vehicle," Eugene said, a determined look in his eye. "It'll be a good direction and will afford you all time to get clear with Maggie to Hilltop."
"You sure?" Sasha said with a raised eyebrow. Eugene nodded and Rick seemed satisfied. As they got into the finer details, Dean got up and moved to where Maggie was resting in the back of the RV. Carl was sat with her, his face pale and worried as he watched her take deep uneven breaths.
"She ok?" Dean asked, startling Carl, who turned to him wide eyed.
"Dean."
"Yeah, she alright?"
"She's not getting any better," Carl admitted, turning back to Maggie. "Her fevers high."
"The baby?"
"Ok as far as I know," Carl said and Dean nodded.
"We're going to try and get to Hilltop on foot," Carl choked, spinning back around to pin Dean with a disbelieving look.
"You can't be serious?"
"We're being blocked at every turn," Dean explained calmly. "We have to do something to slip through their net."
"But Maggie ..."
"I ...I'll be fine ...Carl." Dean jumped a little at Maggie's voice, it sounded so frail compared to what he was used to hearing.
"Maggie, you need to rest," Carl tried to get her to lay back down, even as Maggie was pushing herself back up. She waved him off, sweat was dripping down her face, she fixed a smirk on Dean.
"I know what I need, and that's to get to Hilltop so that the doctor there can check on my baby." The words were spoken so resolutely that Dean couldn't help but smile at the shocked look on the teens face.
"She's right Carl, she needs to get to Hilltop and this is the best way to do it. Besides, don't write Maggie off, she still needs to keep her promise to castrate me, if Kid goes for her knickers again." Carl gaped, even as Maggie let loose a hacking laugh. Leaving Carl to help Maggie get herself together, Dean retreated to the main part of the RV, to sit and wait for their time to move.
They made their move at night fall. The sky was dark, Maggie was laid out on a make shift stretcher, a piece of flat wood, that they had managed to scavenge from the side of the road with some blankets on it to try and give some comfort. Maggie had insisted she could walk, going so far as to say she didn't think they could carry her all the way, but Rick wasn't willing to risk her or the baby's health even more, and had eventually won the argument. They left Eugene with the RV, who continued to drive it down the road as they cut through the woods to once again try and make it to Hilltop. Dean kept to the back of the group, Rick having one end of the stretcher and Aaron the back. Sasha watched the front while Carl and Abraham took the sides. All had their guns out, ready and waiting in case anything came to them. They were carefully picking their way through the wood debris, Rick and Aaron trying to be careful with Maggie. Finally they broke free of the woods, pausing before stepping out onto the road that would take them deep into another part of the thick tree cover. One they were part way across however a faint whistling sound came to them. Sasha stopped, gun coming up, Dean turned, trying to peer back into the darkness that they had come through, but he could see nothing. Suddenly in a flurry of movement, men popped up around them, some from behind, from the woods they had just come from. Others from ahead, to where they had been going. The roar of engines filled the air, cars and vans coming from both sides of the road they found themselves trapped on, blocking them in all the more. As the men crept closer, others jumping from their vehicles, Dean saw all had their guns raised and pointed at the group of seven they now surrounded. Dean twitched, wanting to shoot, but a voice stopped him.
"That wouldn't be a smart thing to do," the voice was familiar, and Dean saw one of the Saviours step out, a smirk on his face as he looked at the them. Dean frowned, if his memory was right this was the Saviour from the first road block. He stood in front of them, that grin not leaving his face. "Welcome to where you're going, we'll take your weapons now."
"We can talk ..." Rick tried to speak but the guy cut him off.
"We're done talking," he said, that smug look becoming all the more prominent. "Time to listen," he jerked a thumb behind him and Dean heard Rick swear as Eugene was pushed into the circle that had formed around them, looking pale and frightened. "This is yours right?" he didn't wait for a response before moving on. "Yeah, it's yours." He gestured to a few other Saviours, who moved forward. Dean was instantly set upon, one wrenching the gun from his hold, another going for the demon killing knife. Dean wanted to fight, to pull the thing out so that they couldn't take the one thing that could put him ahead of the demons in this game. But he couldn't, not unless he wanted to end up dead, and Dean had too many things to do to end up that way. He let them take it, watching the guys face carefully. The eyes didn't darken, but that was no guarantee that he wasn't possessed. Once divest of his weapons, the lead Saviour spoke again. "Okay, let's get her down and get you all on your knees. Lots to cover." Rick and the gang didn't have a choice but to put Maggie down. They were moved into a circle, all on their knees, forced to look up at the Saviours like some sort of slaves. Dean bit his lip, not wanting to let his loud mouth loose, even though he wanted to crack a joke and be his usual sarcastic self, he just couldn't. The panic he thought he had finally got under control was stirring, not helped by the feeling of something bad creeping up on him, it only added fuel to the fire. Once they were all in position, the lead Saviour called, "Dwight!"
"Yeah?"
"Chop – chop!" Dean heard the sound of a car door opening, then another man appeared. He was a skinny thing, with a bad burn scar down one side of his face, blonde ratty hair fell to his shoulders as he looked at the surrounded group. He walked to the back of a van, quickly unlocking the door.
"Come on," he called into the dark inside. "You've got people to meet." Dean heard Maggie hold in her gasp as Michonne, Glenn, Rosita and Daryl stepped out of the Van. All looked a little beat up and Dean saw Daryl holding his shoulder, but they were alive, and that was all that mattered. The missing group looked just as shocked to see them, but they didn't have time to speak as they were directed to their knees, finishing off the complete circle. The lead Saviour chuckled, looking pleased with himself. "All right! We've got the full boat. Time to meet the man." The sound of heavy boots filled the air, followed by something knocking on metal, like a bat or something.
"Pissing our pants yet?" Dean stilled at the voice, his shoulders tensing as the steps got closer and closer. "Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close." Dean turned wide eyed to stare at a man, dressed in a leather jacket and red scarf, a baseball bat wrapped in wire in his hand. He sauntered into the middle, looking at those forced to kneel before him with a grin on his face. His hair was slicked back, Dean didn't know if it was from gel or sweat. A dark scruff covered the bottom part of his face, but it didn't hide much of his features from Dean shocked eyes. "Yep," he spoke again, voice clear and sounding amused. "It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon." He glanced round at them all, and Dean turned his face when the guy's attention was focused on him. "Which one of you pricks is the leader?" They didn't get the chance to answer when the lead Saviour spoke.
"It's this one," he pointed at Rick, who had been watching the new guy with a degree of hatred Dean had never seen from the man before. The new guys eyes widened.
"He's the guy?" It was more of a question than anything. When no one corrected him he huffed and squatted down on his knees in front of Rick. "Hi. You're Rick, right? I'm Negan." Dean shivered. Negan, this was who they were supposed to have killed for the Hilltop. So much for that. "And I do not appreciate you killing my men," he said, almost talking to a child with the tone he used. "Also, when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people," he tutted, shaking his head, Dean didn't know whether he was taking the piss or not. "Not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is. But I think you're gonna be up to speed shortly," he paused for a moment, staring at Rick, waiting for a reaction that didn't come. "Yeah. You are so gonna regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes, you are," Negan shifted his positon, as though getting comfortable. "You see, Rick, whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. And the new world order is this, and it's really very simple. So, even if you're stupid, which you very may well be, you can understand it. You ready? Here goes. Give me your shit or I will kill you," he spoke the last part softly before suddenly rearing back to his feet and addressing the whole group, like a ring master. "Today was career day," he said loudly. "We invested a lot so you would know who I am and what I can do." He raised a hand and pointed at them all. Again Dean made sure he didn't look directly at him. He didn't want to, but he also couldn't bare to confirm what he thought. "You work for me now. You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job. Now, I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow," Negan spoke almost sympathetically, but he was far from moved by their plight. "But swallow it you most certainly will. You ruled the roost. You built something. You thought you were safe. I get it. But the word is out," he stood, rooted to the spot, like an immovable object or a statue of some god that they should all worship. "You are not safe. Not even close. In fact, you are pegged, more pegged if you don't do what I want." Negan shrugged, letting loose a small laugh. "And what I want is half your shit. And if that's too much, you can make, find, or steal more, and it'll even out sooner or later." He waved a hand, encompassing them all with the one gesture. "This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be. So, if someone knocks on your door," he mimed, almost theatrically, which got a laugh from the gathered Saviours. "You let us in. We own that door. You try to stop us and we will knock it down. You understand?" Negan waited, seeing if anyone would speak. Dean looked out of the corner of his eye at the others. They were frightened, they had every right to be, they were up shits creak with no fucking paddle and a hole in the bottom of the boat and they were sinking fast.
"What, no answer?" Negan said in fake surprise. Then his whole body shifted, his body language and face into something more serious "Now, you don't really think that you were gonna get through this without being punished, did you?" Negan paused again, shaking his head sadly as he glanced at them all. "I don't want to kill you people. Just want to make that clear from the get-go. I want you to work for me. You can't do that if you're dead, now, can you? But you killed my people, a whole damn lot of them. More than I'm comfortable with. So, now I'm gonna beat the holy hell outta one of you." He lifted the baseball bat up close to his face, almost showing it off to them. "This—" he spoke almost reverently. "This is Lucille, and she is awesome." He swung the bat round, handling it easily, a grin on his face the whole time. "All this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honour." Negan bent and started to speak to them individually, not loud enough for any of the rest of them to hear. Dean started to feel sweat dripple down his neck. Negan wasn't far from him, working his way down the line, pausing at Carl, who he used to taunt Rick some more. Dean felt someone move next to him, he turned to glance at Maggie, who was beside him. She was having trouble keeping her focus, slumping in her knelt position. Dean held his breath as Negan stopped in front of her, looking down his nose, which he wrinkled in disgust. "You look shitty. I should just put you out of your misery now."
"No," the shout shattered the spell Negan seemed to have cast over them. Glenn tried to get to his feet, to rush to Maggie, but he was instantly set upon by Saviours, kicking and beating him down, but all the while he shouted to Maggie, until finally they got him in the face, silencing him.
"Get him back in line," Negan order once the Saviours were done. Glenn tried to protest, but it did nothing to stop the inevitable. "All right, listen. Don't any of you do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions." He paused, letting the moment sink in for them. Dean watched, making sure not to raise his head to much, as Negan paced a little, seeming to calm down. Finally he stopped and turned to face them once again. "First one's free," he said, though Dean wasn't sure what he meant by it. "It's an emotional moment, I get it," he nodded his head as though he understood what they were going through. "Sucks, don't it? The moment you realize you don't know shit." He looked at them all, like horses for sale or pigs up for the slaughter. "I gotta pick somebody. Everybody's at the table waiting for me to order. I simply cannot decide." He frowned, but immediately brightened with a smug smirk. "I got an idea," he stepped close, pointing Lucille out in front of him. "Eenie," he jabbed it at Sasha. "Meenie," he moved on to the next in line, counting them out like they were going to decided who was it in hide and go seek. "Miney, mo, catch a tiger by his toe. If he hollers let him go." Dean flinched as the bat came and passed by his field of vision. He was still looking down, not wanting to see who Negan had chosen as his prey. "My mother told me to pick the very best one and you are it," Dean flinched, he could feel his group wanting to say something, to rush to the unlucky souls defence, but they could do nothing. But you can, a voice said. You just need to confirm it, you know you're right. Dean wanted to shake his head, to deny what his brain knew to be true, he didn't want to admit to. "Anybody moves," Negan kept talking, reminding Dean he was on a time limit. "Anybody says anything, cut the boy's other eye out and feed it to his father." Dean didn't know what to do. He didn't want to say anything in case he was wrong, and he wanted to be wrong, he really did. This couldn't be the same man he knew, the same man that had shaped so much of his life. That meant so much to him and Sammy. "You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that." Dean opened his mouth to speak.
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