Sadie's POV

Upon our decision to split up to cover more ground, we agreed that I should be the one to take with me the map that asshole, Dwight, had drawn up of the place.

Committing any form of set of directions to memory was always more Gareth's strong suit than mine.

I took one more glance over of the small piece of paper in my hand before folding it up into my pocket and continuing my way down the long hallway, crossbow raised, as there was no telling what was behind any corner in this place.

Sure enough, once in the first room I came up on, it wasn't long before one of that bastard's assholes ambushed me from behind.

I allowed myself to be wrestled down to the ground by him just long enough to give him the impression that he had the upper hand before I made my move by nailing him in the crotch, bringing him down just long enough to get him off of me and into a headlock as I yanked him back up onto his feet.

He quickly began reaching back up, trying to get a grip on any part of me he could reach to get me back off of him, but I persisted. One of his hands almost grabbed at my hair but I bit it, forcing him to pull it away and distracting him long enough for me to pin him up against the wall, choking him until he talked.

"THE M2S, WHERE ARE THEY?!" I spat back at him.

"No….guns!" He gasped out, desperately. In his feeble attempts to fight back, he also managed to choke out a name that I could barely make out.

I took him and began to throw him towards another wall as he screamed out.

"No! No!"

He continued to choke and gasp in my grip as he tried, desperately, to pull himself out of it, but I threw him against the next wall before he could.

I shoved him against a sharp, metal pole that was sticking out of said wall as I did so, impaling him and killing him instantly.

I fell down to my knees in exhaustion, panting as I took time to catch my breath before picking my crossbow back up and making my way back out into the hallway and continued onto the next room.

The next room I entered had walls that were painted in baby blue and that were decorated with paintings of wild animals, clearly intended for a young child.

I continued to scope out the moderately sized room, and it wasn't til I noticed the crib that was now in front of me, inside which was a peacefully sleeping baby girl, and saw the name that was painted above them that it registered in me the name that that asshole in the last room had choked out.

"Gracie." I read the name to myself. I lowered my crossbow as I approached closer to the crib and looked down at her….and imagining if this had been Alex, back at home, as I started to recall how Tara had mentioned how some of these assholes were workers. People who very possibly may not have had a choice, people who were just doing whatever the hell they had to just to survive.

"Shit." I muttered out loud to myself. I reached my hand down to her, gently stroking it across her small head before I left.

I would be coming back for her before I eventually either found what we came here for or became forced to give up and met back up with Gareth.

I tried to shake the thoughts from my head as I sighed and made my way out and back down the long hallway once again.

The next room that I entered and began to scope out was significantly shittier looking and definitely belonged to another one of these assholes.

I had paused to examine a small, framed, photo on the nightstand when I heard an eerily familiar voice break my focus from behind me.

"Guess this is a bad time to say hi, huh?" The woman's voice said.

I turned around immediately but cautiously, confirming on first sight that my memory had indeed served me right.

She chuckled softly as she eyed me up and down. "Ohh, Sexy Sadie, what have you done?"

"Riley…" I uttered back, staring back as the woman who once upon a time ago swore she would have my back no matter what now appeared just as willing to stab me right in it as she aimed her raised gun right toward my face and seemingly ready to fire it at any moment. ""...How…?"

"How could I?" She finished for me, shaking her head. "...no. How could you?"

"How- " I started to repeat back to her. "...Riles, I was good to you." I nearly snarled it as I tried desperately to bite my tongue.

"DON'T FUCKING CALL ME THAT!" She shouted, nearly losing her composure. "...Not after what you did."

"Riley, you knew I had to get out of there."

"Yeah…" She scoffed. "You know, I used to believe that too. Right up until your shiny new boy toy moved in down the street from you, right?"

"It wasn't like that, and you know it."

"Do I?!" She spat back at me. "...because it sure as shit doesn't look like it, does it?!"

Before I could say anything else, she continued on this clearly long planned out rant of hers.

"...Oh, don't worry." She began to explain, as if it was supposed to reassure me somehow, as she held up a small radio. "I did call The Saviors back and they are on their way, but we've been told not to kill you, not if we don't have to…..not you, not the widow, and not the king…guess Negan thinks you're some kind of damned prize or somethin" She chuckled again, at an apparent new realization. "...but that precious little boy toy of yours, oh he's fair game."

I shot a new glare at her, as I struggled to continue to hold my tongue at her obvious resentment towards Gareth, refusing to allow her anymore fuel to that fire that was clearly raging inside her against me.

She glanced up briefly, as if only just now noticing the crossbow on my back

"I did always say you'd look good with one of those." She chuckled snidely. "You wanna lay it down now?"

"Not a fucking chance." I growled, slowly taking it and aiming it right back toward her, challenging her to let her obvious rage get the best of her and break whatever promise she'd made to that bastard about dealing with me.

"Same old Sadie." She scoffed, holding her own aim toward me. "So, it is you…..you are the same, big, bad Sadie from Alexandria too." She scoffed again at that. "You know, I'd like to say it's a pleasure, but then again, I'm not the goddamned liar here!"

"You called your men in for nothing." I told her calmly, ignoring the added personal remarks against me. "The fight's out there, it's just me in here."

"Did you hear what I just said or not?!" She raised her voice again. "I know you….or at least I did...nah, cause you're not just the bitch who walked out on me all those years ago anymore." She shook her head. "No, now you're much worse…..because now you're a monster."

This time it was taking almost as much out of me not to at least chuckle at that.

My God, if she only knew.

"Now, why are you here?" She continued. "...What's the matter, cat got your tongue? Hmm? …...Not gonna start running your damn mouth off like you're oh so infamous for?"

I didn't even dignify that remark with a response as I just glared back at her.

"...Whatever." She scoffed with a shrug. "...wouldn't have mattered anyway. It's as I said before, for some reason Negan thinks you're a goddamned prize….so we're gonna get you back to him. Whatever it takes."

I nodded quietly before deciding to speak again, attempting once more to trigger some smidge of mercy within her.

"...Is your sister here?" I finally asked her. "...does she know what you've…."

She shook her head. "...What do you think?"

"I think…." I sighed, recalling how she was the reason Riley couldn't agree to just up and take off with me all those years ago, before Gareth even came into the picture.

"...I think, whatever happened to her, I'm sorry."

"Are you, Sadie?!"

"I am." I insisted. "We've lost people too…..Mary, Gareth's mother…..his brother, Alex. Maggie…..a good friend of mine, she lost her husband...and the father to her unborn child." The glare that I'd held toward her just before returned at the thought of it. "...She's the widow….your precious new leader murdered him. Beat the shit out of him right in front of her."

She got quiet but was still clearly trying to hold her composure as she tried to hide whatever what I had just revealed resonated with in her.

"So, tell me….Riley…" I continued, while she processed that. "...are you Negan too?"

"I lost my family…." She reminded me, clearly trying to justify herself and her position. "...The Saviors found me when I was at my very lowest…." She chuckled. "They thought I was worth a damn. Worth bringing back with 'em, even. So, yeah, Sadie…..I am Negan. To make it this far, for this long….I had to be. I had to be somethin….just like you."

"Oh, you haven't the foggiest idea how so very far from the truth that is." I scoffed back, more humorously than she could've ever realized. "...we are not the same."

"Oh yeah, how is that? Hmm? Enlighten me, because where I'm standing, we're just two assholes who'll do whatever it is we have to just to keep going. Just to survive in this world. In fact, the only thing that is confusing me, is why the hell you've taken this long to put one of those pretty little arrows of yours right through my skull…..you didn't care about me way back then, why should you care for me now. What could've possibly changed?"

Before I could say anything else, Gareth showed up in the doorway behind her, with his own gun raised.

"Gar, don't- "

But she was already dead on the floor beneath us before I could even finish.

"That- that was…" I started to say, still attempting to process all that had gone down in the time leading up to this.

"Yeah, I know…." He replied sympathetically, glancing down at her. "...you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I will be...but we gotta get out of here. She already called the Saviors back from the courtyard, they're- "

The sound of the commotion that arose from outside interrupted me before I could finish.

"...Shit, they're already here." I sighed

We glanced around out in the hall and made break for it while we could, taking our guns out and firing back at the Saviors when they showed up as we started to fight our way out.

Just as I'd hoped, even in all that was going down, I did manage to finally get us back to Gracie's room to get her out with.

However, as much of a relief as that was, now we were faced with the dilemma of what to do with her.

I cradled her in my arms, trying to calm her back down as she started to fuss by the time we finally met back up with some of the others outside.

"She was inside?" Tobin, I think his name was, asked us upon noticing her.

"Yeah, she was." I sighed, glancing briefly around. "Gareth and I have another stop to make from here though, so we were hoping maybe you or somebody here could…." I started to explain, just as Aaron was catching up behind us.

"We'll take her." He offered. "Eric and I are going up to The Hilltop to update Maggie, anyway. She'll be safe there.

I smiled a little at the thought, exchanging some looks with Gareth before nodding back to Aaron and allowing him to take her into his arms.

"Her name's Gracie." I told him before taking Gareth's hand into mine and heading back off with him.