Warnings: Angst. Violence.

Bamby

DPOV

"So we cover you with crossfire from the upper windows, you crash the truck into the walkers and through to the building." Michonne stood with her hands on her hips as she tried to figure out what the plan was.

She, Rosita, Tara and me were out of the truck now, working out the steps we were gonna take to go through with this. To take things to the next level. To end it once and for all. Screw waiting, things needed doing now.

"Yep," Tara nodded, "crack it open, Saviour buffet."

Rosita didn't seem too confident. "You know the workers will make it away, up the stairs?"

"They're on the other side of the building. They should make it." Should was the best I could give.

There was no telling how things had gone down since we'd locked the Saviours inside. But either way, we still had to do this. We just had to trust that they would be okay.

Still, Rosita wasn't convinced. "You sure?"

"After we do this, their only choice is to give up," I noted.

"It's risky," Michonne countered. "They could see the truck comin'."

"There weren't any more weapons at the Saviours' warehouse, right? No more rockets for the RPG's. We work with what we got." Tara was on my side, no matter what. We both knew this had to be done.

Vic wouldn't have agreed. Not completely. She still worried about the workers, the people she saw being ruled by the Saviours. She'd spent more time out with them than I had. She'd been closer to living their life- though I was aware she was still treated differently… not like how I was treated though. She might be okay with killing Saviours, but she would not risk the lives of those who couldn't defend themselves.

I knew there was a bigger chance that they were fine, but she would have doubts. Those doubts were part of the reason why I didn't tell her where I was gone. That and the fact I didn't want her anywhere near the Sanctuary or Negan ever again.

"You got me." We all turned to see Morgan walking towards us. "Other snipers, too. Saviours see you comin', we got you covered, whatever it takes. I want it done. I want them done."

"Good." I nodded and turned to Rosita and Michonne again. "So, we doin' this or what?"

"W-Why don't we just wait it out like we planned?" Rosita asked. "Michonne's right. What you're talking about is risky. Things could go bad."

"The truck with the speakers almost took all those walkers away. It almost did go bad. Something else could." Tara wasn't wrong. We didn't know what kind of contingency plans the Saviours had put in place for emergencies.

"Even if it don't, we don't got the Kingdom fighters no more," I added. "I mean, if the Saviours want to put up a fight, we don't got the numbers to make 'em surrender."

"That's why Rick's talking to the Scavengers," Rosita noted, honestly thinking that was a good move.

Tara looked to her. "You got shot. They lied to us. You- you believe 'em now?"

"I believe in Rick Grimes," Rosita countered.

"I could've done something sooner, to end this. I knew about those weapons at Oceanside, and I waited. I didn't do shit about it." Tara wasn't just doing this because of everything she'd lost, but because of what had happened when she hadn't acted before. "With or without you, I'm not letting that happen again."

"Then it's without me." Rosita lifted her shoulder in a short shrug. "I'm out." Pushing off the truck, she started to walk away.

As she passed Morgan, he stopped her. "We got some cars parked near the east-side lookout. You can take one and go home."

Looking back to Michonne, she asked, "You staying? You good with all this?"

"I helped get this started. Got to see it through."

"You think it's easier to come out here and risk, than to stay back there and wait. And I get it, I used to believe that, too. Thing is sometimes, you just have to wait. Sometimes you don't get to know. I just wish it didn't take seeing Sasha walk out of that coffin to realise it." With that, Rosita left.

"Come on." I gestured for the others to follow as I moved to get back into the truck. "Let's go."

CPOV

I opened the manhole outside our walls but still joined up with our sewers. Siddiq looked down before looking back up at me.

"It's just 'til I can talk to my dad." I was all I had to offer.

He nodded, a thankful smile finding its way onto his face. "I appreciate this."

"I'll bring you some supplies. I just have to make sure I don't get caught."

"You don't have to do this," he assured me.

"Yeah, I do."

With a small nod and one last smile, he began to climb down into the tunnels below. I watched and waited until his feet landed on the ground before covering up the manhole. Making sure no one was watching still, I then headed for the wall. I knew it wasn't going to be easy to climb when my side hurt the way it did, but I'd snuck out, so I had to sneak back in.

…

I'd cleaned myself up bandaged up my side as best as I could. I knew there was no real point, though. I knew what my fate was going to be. That was okay though, there was no point in fight or denying it. Instead I was going to spend the rest of what time I had left helping my family and Siddiq.

Dad was going to be pissed when he found out I'd brought him back, but I knew it was the right thing to do. He'd understand eventually.

Turning for the door, I opened it only to find Vickie standing on the other side, her fist lifted, ready to knock.

"Where the hell did you go?"

She glared at me, trying to scold, but I could see the worry behind it. She was always worried about me. The world might've changed but she would always see me as her baby brother.

"I found someone."

"You found someone? What someone? A Saviour?"

"No." I shook my head, trying to explain, "He's just a guy. He was out there on his own. I… I wanted to help him."

She paused, looking me up and down. If she had been anyone else I would expect her to yell. I knew most of our people would be skeptical that he's actually just some random survivor out there. Most would think he'd be a Saviour sent out to spy on us or something. Vickie, however, didn't always think like the others.

"Where is he?"

"Safe. I just… I need to get some supplies. Just a few," I assured her.

Nodding, she stepped aside. "Okay. But next time, don't go off without saying something. I worry about you."

"I know." Smiling, I leaned over to kiss her cheek. "I'll be back soon," I called before hurrying down the hall.

I knew she wouldn't follow. I knew I could trust that she wouldn't tell anyone about me sneaking off, or helping someone, or taking supplies. I knew I could trust her just like she trusted me.

…

Siddiq had everything he needed for now. I'd made sure he had light, some food and water, a travel bed and things to make it a little more comfortable down there. I hadn't managed to get a lot but it would do for now.

I didn't have much time to explain to everyone why I'd brought him. I knew dad was going to be the hardest to convince. That's why I needed him to come back as soon as possible.

"If he's not back soon, we'll meet him there," Tobin assured me as we stood on the lookout by the front gate. "Hopefully, they'll be with him."

I didn't know if the Scavengers would join us. I wasn't sure if I trusted them. They were the least of my worries right now, though. All I wanted, all I needed, was to see my family.

"What about Michonne?" I asked.

I hadn't been able to find her. I'd looked, hoping to maybe start explaining who Siddiq was and why I'd brought him back. But she was nowhere to be found.

"Ah." Reaching into the front pocket of his shirt, Tobin handed me a letter.

I unfolded it, seeing Michonne's handwriting looking up at me.

I had to see it for myself.

I'm sorry I didn't say goodbye first. Will be back soon.

Michonne.

She was gone, and I had no idea when she'd get back. I had no idea if I'd even get to see her again.

NPOV

With Lucille resting on my shoulder, I sat at the table in the meeting room, waiting as Eugene stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Gesturing to one of the other many seats, I waited for him to sit down.

"If things don't get fixed soon, a lot of people are gonna die. My people," I started. "Not me, of course. I'm livin' no matter what. I am too good at this shit. But others I can't have that. I don't want to see people get shot up, chewed up, and chewing up the rest. I don't want to see you get eaten, Eugene."

He watched me intently, with obvious fear and some curiosity.

Getting up, I started towards him before taking a seat on the table. "This place, it's about pooling and organising strength. And you my friend, are strong. That spongy organ between your eyes and your spectacular mullet is strong, and I just want to make sure that you know that I know that."

"Consider me made. Our pages are utterly and completely one and the same," he assured me.

Pushing off the table, I stood before him and offered my hand.

Looking down at it, he hesitated before reaching up to take it… and reaching in to kiss it.

I was quick to stop him by snatching my hand away. "Eugene I was going for a handshake." Embarrassed, he gave a small nod, making me grin out of amusement. "Stand up." As he rose, I took his hand to shake it. "Now, I can see where you'd be confused, as I rarely do that shit. A handshake is a sign of mutual respect. Not many people get that from me."

"There's work that needs getting to." Nodding, he hurried out of the room.

Watching him leave, I wondered if I'd put my respect in the wrong corner. Was he the one helping Rick the prick? Or was he the one who would get us out of this shit show?

DPOV

"Hey, cut that engine," Morgan's voice called through the walkie. "Any closer, you'll draw walkers from the yard."

Stopping the truck, I parked it not too far from the sanctuary. From here we still had a bit of a view, which I checked out with the spyglass before handing it over to Tara.

"You take fire from the windows, we fire back."

"Come on." Tara opened her door and slid out. "There's a spot for cover by the chutes," she noted before walking away, leaving Michonne and me in the truck.

I looked to her. "You up for this?"

"I came here 'cause I wanted to see things for myself. I wanted to know that things were gonna work. But you know what?" She shook her head. "I don't get to know that. None of us do. What I do know is that things are working now. So maybe we just need to trust that things are gonna keep working, because this what we're about to do it's not worth risking us."

"It is for me. Just is." There were so many reasons… some I could never tell anyone else.

"I hope it works. I-I really, really do, but I-I can't do it. I just can't."

"Then you shouldn't."

I wasn't going to be mad at her. I could understand where she was coming from. I could see her points. She didn't have the things driving me. She hadn't been treated like an animal, caged, striped, tortured. She hadn't almost lost her partner to a monster. She knew she had a lot to lose, but it wasn't enough to push her forward and I could understand that.

Slipping out of the truck, she looked to Tara without a word and then turned, heading off in the other direction.

Realising it was just us now, Tara came over to my side of the truck. "We got Morgan and the snipers. We can do this."

"Yeah. We will."

VPOV

I was pissed. I was pacing the kitchen, pissed. Daryl was gone. Michonne was gone. Dad was gone. Carl was going off on his own to save people.

I felt sick.

Hurrying to the bathroom, I dropped to my knees as I threw up in the bowl. The stress of the day had me emptying out the contents of my stomach. My head pounded as every strange scent I came across had my insides churn.

Everything was becoming too much.

"You okay?" Carl asked as he stood in the doorway, watching as I got up and washed my face.

Nodding, I watched him through the mirror. "Just dandy."

He looked down at the ground before meeting my gaze. "I was wondering if… if you wanted to hangout?"

Frowning, I turned to lean on the counter as I studied him carefully. "What's going on, Carl?"

"What do you mean? Can't a brother want to hang out with his sister?"

"That's the thing," I pushed off the counter and started towards him, "we don't get to hangout anymore. Shit's always hitting the fan. We're too busy dodging the next hit to even think about 'hanging out'. So what the hell is going on?"

He sighed, shrugging. "You're right. We don't get to hang out anymore, and I miss it. I missed you when you were gone. And let's face it, you haven't been yourself since you came back. I know you've got secrets, and I know you're not gonna tell me what happened. But I worried about you, and I still do. So I wanna hang out."

I didn't answer right away. Instead I watched him, trying to figure out if he was lying or not. There didn't seem to be any reason why he would lie, though. Everything he said made sense, and to be honest I missed being able to just be brother and sister.

It was tiring being Victoria, daughter of Rick Grimes, wife of Daryl Dixon. The title, the expectation. Even though I'd stepped back from a leading role there was still responsibilities that fell on my shoulders. Honestly, life had become exhausting.

Things were only going to get worse, though. We all knew it. While dad believed the Saviours were going to fold easily after our attacks, I had my suspicions. We wouldn't crack so quickly, so why would they?

Right now I had a moment to just be, and to enjoy the time with my brother. So I was going to enjoy it while I can.

"Okay, we can hang." I softened, smiling at him. "But there's one big difference between now and when we were younger."

"The world fell apart and the dead came back to life?"

"No," I scoffed. "Now I'm a mum. Which means it's a package deal."

He shrugged. "Sounds perfect."

CPOV

Vickie sat on the porch, helping Aly press her painted hand-print on the porch along with mine, Judith and Vickie's. The hand-prints were all blue, but each a different size. It brought a small and sad smile to my lips.

They didn't know. No one knew yet. I didn't want to worry them. I didn't want to distract anyone.

Tell people I was dying was only going to make things worse. So, instead, I wanted to leave my mark. It's why I wanted to hang out with my sisters and my niece. I wanted the girls to remember me, and I wanted Vickie to just… I wanted her there.

She was my best friend. We'd been through hell together. We'd always been close. I knew she was still a mess from losing Glenn and Abraham, and I knew being taken to the Sanctuary had done a number on her. Losing me was only going to make things worse. I didn't want her last memories of me to be anything other than this.

I wanted her to remember me as I sat on the rocking chair on the porch, rocking Judith on my lap. I wanted her to remember me as I told jokes to Aly and pulled funny faces at her. I wanted her to remember me as I played fetch with Houdini. I wanted her to remember the good, the mundane.

"Oh!" Aly suddenly jumped to her feet. "I have a great idea!" She beamed before hurrying to head inside.

"Wash your hands before you touch anything!" Vickie called out to her.

Aly didn't call back or answer, but she was a good kid. She'd do as she was told.

"You're a good mum." I smiled at my sister. "Mum would be proud."

She looked down at her lap, a smile teasing her lips as if she wasn't sure if she wanted to smile or not. "Sometimes I worry she'd disagree with how I raise her. How things turned out."

I just shook my head. "No, I know she'd be proud. She was always proud of us."

Vickie had come a long way since we'd lost Mum. She'd barely been able to talk back then. Things had been so disconnected and scrambled for her. I'd never really thought about what it must've been like for her.

Sure, I had been the one to kill her. I'd been the one to end things before she had come back to life. It had always haunted me, and part of me was glad I would finally be able to rest without having nightmares of that day. But Vickie was going to have to live with it.

"Daryl wants a baby."

My eyes went wide as I stared at her in shock, having not expected those words. I didn't respond. I wasn't sure I even knew what to say.

She sighed, pushing herself off the ground as she used a rag to wipe the blue paint from her hand. Leaning against the railing of the porch, she looked out at our neighbourhood with a sad look in her eyes.

"Dr Carson said there's a good chance I can't get pregnant. Didn't say it was impossible, but there's so much scarring from everything I've been through…" Her gaze dropped. "Daryl doesn't know."

A furrow grew on my brow. "You haven't told him?" She simply shook her head. "Why not?"

"Because I feel broken." She shrugged, looking out at the field in front of our home. "Because I feel like the chances are so low that there's no way it'll happen. But I don't want to tell him because I know he wants it, more than anything. Pretty sure he wants a baby more than he wants Negan dead," she scoffed.

"Do… do you want a baby?"

Looking over her shoulder, she smiled. "Yes."

They were perfect parents, Daryl and Vickie. In the world we lived in, they'd done a great job raising Aly. She was as strong as she needed to be for her age- which I wasn't entirely sure what that was, but she wasn't any older than 6. She knew how to take an order when needed. If things got bad you could count on her to stay safe until she was allowed out.

At the same time, though, she was still sweet and innocent. It was hard to stay like that as a kid growing up in the hell we lived in.

The front door opened then as Aly rushed out, carrying her polaroid camera. "Look!" She held it up in the air. "I thought we could take some pictures."

I smiled at her as she came over to my chair, a little out of breath. "That sounds like a great idea."

DPOV

"I'm here. I'm ready," Tara's whispered voice came through the walkie once she was closer to the gates of the Sanctuary.

"South lookout ready for go," Morgan's voice followed, closely by the other snipers'.

"East lookout, ready."

"North lookout, ready."

"West lookout, ready."

Once I knew everyone was in position and ready, I started forward. "Now," I called through the walkie.

Just a few seconds later, I heard gunshots.

They came from the Sanctuary. I wasn't sure what was happening, because I couldn't see a damn thing, but I had no doubt they'd seen and heard the truck, and they were trying to stop it. That added a new level to the situation.

With the snipers, Saviours, and Tara shooting at each other, I had no choice but to speed up as I headed straight for the Sanctuary. Once I neared where Tara was waiting, I grabbed the cinder block and shifted my foot over to replace it with the brick. Then I jumped out of the truck.

Running over to a turned over car, I hid from the walkers and watched as the truck crashed into the wall and opened up a spot for the walkers to head into the Sanctuary.

"Daryl, you're clear to the south. You and Tara should head home," Morgan suggested through the walkie.

Not wasting the opportunity, I gestured for Tara to follow before we both ran up the road, away from the chaos, and started towards the waiting vehicles so we could get back home.

NPOV

Eugene had laid out his plan to get everyone the hell out of the fucked up situation we'd been put in. I wasn't a hundred percent sold on the idea, but the look on his face was pissed and determined… a great combination.

"It'll take an ass-load of ammo," I noted.

He gave a short nod. "It will. Even with shot discipline and P and Q minding."

"Can my bullet maker fill my guns back up?"

"If you give my machines to me or me to my machines that is an affirmative."

Pacing the room, I grinned at him as I watched to see his reaction to my next comment. "You do realise the storm of shit I'm gonna dump on Rick as soon as I am clear of the shit storm he dumped on me."

"I do, indeed." He didn't even flinch.

"Goddamn, Eugene. How does it feel to be the second-most important person here? How does it feel to save these good people?"

"It feels great." His lips tugged up into the slightest of smiles. "Got something else of urgency for you. Another item solved."

"More than a way out and a promise of bullets on the way? Jesus, Eugene, you are magnificent."

"I am."

"So, what is it? Tell me." Before he could say anything, however, there was a knock on the door. "What?"

"We have the stairs," Regina stated as she walked in, followed by Dwight and a few other Saviours. "But the dead ones have the lower level. The whole thing.

I wasn't worried. Not anymore. "Not much longer. See, Eugene has solved us a way out of this mess. And he actually says he has a topper."

"Yeah?" Dwight looked to Eugene, waiting to hear what he might have to say.

Eugene paused a moment before speaking. "I think I could fix the intercom system. Which, uh would absolutely change the face of communications here."

I'd be lying if I wasn't disappointed by that anticlimactic information. "That's it?"

"Sorry. That kind of thing, uh well, cranks my shaft," he mumbled as he turned to leave the room. "I'll leave you to the last action item."

RPOV

The doors to the storage container opened again, only this time it was just one guy outside. He grabbed me by my bound wrists and neck, pulling me to stand in front of him before leading me out into the open area surrounded by garbage. Across from us was another storage container, a closed one.

Pushing me down to my knees, he ignored me as ai struggled, watching and waiting for something to happen.

The other storage container opened… and a walker was walked out.

It was naked like I was, its wrists bound behind its back unlike how mine were tied in front. A metal headpiece had been crafted onto its head, making it harder to kill. The added spikes were just another level of complication. On the back of the headpiece was a metal rode, being held to control the walker.

Jadis stopped beside the person holding the rode controlling the walker. Her eyes set on me. "Time for after."

Still being held down, I began to struggle more as the walker was moved towards me. When it was just a few feet away I quickly threw my bound hands up and back, punching the Scavenger behind me, and then rolled away.

The person controlling the walker hadn't expected me to move so fast, which meant they lost control. As they tried to collect themselves and the walker, I took the opportunity to get up and knock them out of the way as well. Then I grabbed the rod.

"Subdue!" Jadis ordered.

Now in control of the walker, I didn't use it against the Scavengers. Instead I used the rode to add force to my punches to keep them away. The more I moved the rode, however, the more the walker's head began to tear off.

Once the head was free I was more free to use the rod, which made it easier to knock the Scavengers to the ground hard enough to keep them there. Then I went for Jadis.

She pulled out a gun. As she went to shoot me I moved faster, grabbing her hands to aim the gun at the ground. She struggled, pulling the trigger a few times as she tried to get it aimed at me again, but in the end I managed to push her down to the ground and pull the weapon from her grasp.

Grabbing her neck, I edged her closer to the snapping jaws of the walker's head which lay just a few inches away.

"I'm walking out now, and me walking out means all of you die," I called to all the Scavengers, seeing them itching to help but not risking it when I was so close to killing their leader. "My people. There's a lot of them. Won't attack today, but we will attack. You can play your games, draw your pictures, sculpt whatever shit you want, but I am leaving! After that maybe you should just run." Looking down at Jadis, I asked, "We done?"

"Yes." She nodded quickly but tightly against my grip.

Letting her go, I stood back and watched as she got to her feet again. I was fully expecting them to try something else, but I was hoping I'd proved enough that I wouldn't go down without a fit.

"Join you. What then?" Jadis asked.

"The Sanctuary is surrounded. Walkers. 20 deep around the compound," I reminded her. "You'll come with me there we'll wait till the others meet us. When they do, we'll ask the lieutenants to surrender. All of us, together. Then I kill Negan, me alone. We have a deal?"

"After, Saviours' things our things. Yes and yes," she tried bargaining.

"It'll be all of ours. You'll get a fourth."

"Half."

"A fourth." I wasn't bending this time. She gets a fourth, or nothing.

"Fourth, and I sculpt you after. Stand for me, those off." He gestured to the last of my clothes, my boxers.

"These off," I lifted my hands and nodded to the rope tied around my wrists, "no sculpting. My boots and my clothes now."

"Fourth," she grumbled. After a pause, though, she calmed herself down. "Fourth."

DPOV

I had a feeling I was going to be in the shit when I returned home. Entering the gates, something in my gut told me Vic knew I'd left and she was pissed. Honestly, I'd expected it. I knew my actions would have come with consequences and her temper was a possible one. It was worth it, though. I had to go to the Sanctuary. I had to finish it.

Off in the distance I spotted Michonne and Judith under a tree.

Michonne knelt on the ground, smiling down at Judith as the little girl played with a stuffed bear. "We'll be back soon," Michonne assured her, smiling so as not to worry the little girl. "I'll bring your daddy, too, okay? Can you say bye-bye?"

"Bye-bye," Judith said in return, making Michonne's smile grow.

Leaning forward, Michonne gave her a kiss. "Bye." Pausing one more moment to watch the little girl, she then stood and headed my way. "Hey."

"Hi." I nodded at her, watching as she stopped in front of me.

"I'm glad you came back. It's better we go out there together."

"It worked. We'll roll in, tell them to give up. They're gonna give up." I was sure of it.

She took a breath. "I'm sorry. I couldn't."

"Don't be. It worked."

That's all that mattered. Knowing that the win was waiting for us to take it. Knowing no more of our people had to die. She didn't need to be there for the middle part. She just had to be there for the end.

We all did. Even Vic.

I didn't want her anywhere near Negan, but I wanted her to come with us now. To see what we'd done. To see the place that had torn her down and tore me apart was in pieces. I wanted her to see she would never have to step foot in that place again.

No one, none of them, were ever going to touch her again.

RPOV

I led Jadis and her people towards the Sanctuary. We couldn't see it yet, but I knew we were getting close. Gesturing for them to stay back, I started towards the water tower… and stopped when I spotted the three walkers eating one of my people.

After dealing with the walkers, I grabbed the sniper's walkie and sent out a radio message to the others. "Snipers, report in. This is Rick Grimes. Does anybody copy?" There was no response.

Looking up at the water tower, I decided to head up to get a look of the situation. Grabbing the rifle the sniper had dropped, I started the climb and turned to the Sanctuary. What I saw had my blood run cold.

The walkers were all dead.

Lifting the walkie to my mouth again, I tried for a response one more time… but deep down I knew there would be none. "North, West, South, report."

Somehow, the Saviours had gotten out, and if that was the case they'd be out for blood.

Hurrying down the water tower, I ran back the Jadis and the others. I didn't tell them what was going on because I didn't want them to betray me again. Instead I just told them to follow me before we started towards the Sanctuary. With each step, I just kept praying the Saviours hadn't had time to leave yet.

The closer we got, though, the obvious things became. The Saviours were gone.

Seeing all the dead walkers, Jadis turned to me. "Different from picture."

Right then, people began to shoot at us. We all ducked away, Jadis going right while I jumped left.

"Jadis!" I called. "It's coming from the window! We hit it and fall…" as I looked around my barrier to her, I saw the Scavengers running away, leaving me behind, "back."

Just as I began contemplating making a break for it myself, knowing the chances of me getting hit were high, a car sped around the corner and stopped close by.

I jumped up and made a break for it as Carol opened the door for me. Once inside, I yelled, "Go!"

Putting her foot on the gas, she got the hell out of there.

"They got out. It hasn't been long. We have to warn everyone. They're gonna hit back," I noted as Carol sped down the road.

"We can get the cars near the East lookout and split up," she suggested.

"Might have to find other rides. The snipers probably used theirs to get away," Jerry- who sat in the passenger seat- countered.

I shook my head. "I don't think they got away." If one sniper had been killed and left for the walkers, I got the feeling the others had, too.

Bamby