Sadie's POV

"Hey!"

Daryl's voice cut like a razor through my wandering mind, but the urgency of his tone, like this wasn't the first attempt from him or the others at getting my attention, is what eventually pulled me back into reality.

"...You good?"

I shot him a glare. "...Ask me again after Negan's in the ground."

"Ditto." Maggie stated, just as coldly.

Daryl nodded, redirecting his attention to the plan. "Alright...we should stick to the road, keep to the trees. We'll get there quicker, plus, we can keep an eye on the road that way."

"Good call." I agreed. "If they're planning anything, we'll see it."

"You think we can trust Gregory though? What he told us?" Gareth asked.

"I locked him up inside the house, he knew I wouldn't let him walk around free." Maggie pointed out. "He knew he was comin' back to that."

"Yeah, and that coward doesn't believe in anything or anyone except his damn self. He'd have to believe in The Saviors an awful lot to send us into a trap and think it'd work out for him." I added.

"Unless Dwight didn't tell him. That asshole could be settin' us up." Daryl pointed out.

"Yes, he could." I agreed. "Which means we've gotta be ready for anything….and soon, first team rolls out in twenty."

"How did it happen?" Tyra, who had been considerably quiet for most of the journey up until this point, finally asked.

I looked down to where my hand was gripping the bat, gazing upward to where it lay over my shoulder as I thought about how it still had some infected blood on it….partly from what that bastard had done from it and partly from my adding to it.

If Maggie wanted to let anyone who might surrender live, so be it, but everyone else…...oh they were about to find out just how crazy a little lady named Sadie could be.

"...fucking Saviors doused their weapons in blood from the dead ones…" I eventually answered. "T got stabbed, during the attack on The Hilltop. Turned overnight, as did anyone else that got stabbed or shot by The Saviors that night. She…" I sighed, trying to fight back any tears that were threatening to escape, and possibly threaten this whole mission. "...she came at me I- I had to put her down."

"Sadie, I'm so sorry." She said, reaching her hand out to me.

I brushed it off my shoulder, probably a little too harshly.

"Yeah, so am I." I scoffed. "Fucking taunting that prick. I should've fucking killed him when I had the chance. Excuse me."

As we finally drew closer to our destination, The unfortunately familiar sound of those bastards whistling to signal their arrival, began to fill the air.

Everyone quickly drew their guns and started looking around for them.

I raised my crossbow and handed the bat to Gareth.

"Hold onto this until either I take it back or give you the signal." I reminded him.

He nodded as he took it, just before raising his own gun with his free hand.

"Well, damn, Sadie!" Negan called out over his radio. "Look at that…...pegged again, pegged so very hard! I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush."

"How bout you get your asses out here and face us, you pussies?!" I shouted back.

"Oh, I am everywhere, Sadie!" He boasted. "Some more bullhorns, more walkies.

Pick a direction to run, see how you do. Make it fun for all of us, and by the way, guess what else I did….I brought back a couple of your old friends, in fact, Dwighty Boy, to start, is the person that made today possible. But don't worry, he

didn't ream you on purpose, in case you were wondering. No, he is just a...gutless

nothin' that sucks at life, and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die,

and he's gonna live with that." He chuckled proudly. "Gabriel, well...he's got to go too! We are cleaning house today, Sadie….and then... there's you. It never had to be a fight…..you just had to accept how things are, so...here we go. Congratulations, Sadie."

I was about to make a snide remark about how I still had his bat, til something happened to their weapons…...as if someone had purposely sabotaged them, giving us the chance to charge at them while they were down.

"NOW!" I shouted.

As The Saviors all began to, finally, get back on their feet and fire back at us, Negan tried to get his cowardly ass out of it all.

"HE'S RUNNING!" Maggie shouted.

"Not on my watch!" I muttered under my breath, as I started after him. "Gareth!"

Gareth fired a couple more shots at them then followed closely behind me in my pursuit, still carrying the bat

Maggie hung back to deal with some Saviors who were actually surrendering, while Gareth and I continued our chase after Negan til we got him cornered by a tree.

I raised my crossbow and began firing at him until one of my arrows pierced right through his ankle, temporarily bringing him to his knees.

"Now!" I told Gareth, as I quickly traded him my crossbow for the bat. "Thanks. Now, go find Maggie."

He took back off in the other direction, while I headed back after Negan to have some fun.

As soon as I got close enough to him, I started swinging it at him.

I swung it at his ribs, which he mostly dodged. I swung it behind his knees, finally bringing him back down, at least temporarily.

He started trying to grab at it, but I reached down and yanked at the arrow in his ankle.

He let out a pained shout, but managed to turn back over and grab me down til I hit the ground with him.

I crawled over to get on top of him, pinning him til I yanked him up by the collar of his jacket and threw him back down, letting the back of his head slam against the ground beneath him. He then, finally, grabbed a hold of me again and tried to pin me down, but I kicked him in the crotch, causing him to fall over backward.

"Just give it up, already." I snarled. "Spare yourself the embarrassment."

"I'll get out of it." He groaned as he struggled to stand back up. "...I always do."

I let him pick the bat back up as he did, only to grab it and yank him back down to the ground with it when he finally managed to stand.

He shouted again as he hit the ground, dropping the bat just before impact.

When he finally managed to begin struggling back to his feet again, I picked the bat up but held it down so that it was dangling by my side.

I looked him dead in the eyes, grabbed the front of his shirt so that he was too stunned to continue to try to stand again, and continued to stare at him.

The big, bad, Negan…...down on his knees.

The way he looked back at me was just the look I'd been searching for

It was a look of genuine fear….and helplessness. A look I hadn't seen in two years, not since Rick had Gareth in that same position. His helpless, pleading eyes, begging Rick for even just the slightest bit of mercy for him and everything he loved…...just as Negan was clearly praying for now.

"When we first met….." I finally said to him. "...you told me you didn't like killing women, so tell me now…." I took my knife, carefully and deliberately off my belt, as he watched. "...how's it feel knowing you're gonna die by one?"

I growled that last part as I took that knife and quickly, and swiftly, swiped it across his throat.

He grabbed at his throat, trying desperately to stop anymore blood from streaming out of it, as he struggled for the last words that he would ever get to say to me.

"Y-you..bitch!" He choked out, groaning as his body thudded to the ground.

Seeing that he was, thankfully, still alive, I gazed back down at him

As I looked down at his now helpless, even more pathetic self, I was reminded of how it felt when I had Rick in almost this same exact position, just two years ago.

I smiled to myself at the satisfaction, which turned into a smirk at him as I reached back down and yanked him back up onto his knees.

"...Now get your ass back up!"

He trembled in his place, watching as I took his bat with me and started to walk away.

The crowd, a combination of our people and those of his who had made the wise choice to save their asses by surrendering, watched on in curiosity at what I was going to do next.

Michonne appeared to be smiling as I approached the crowd, though I decided not to concern myself with why.

Maggie watched in horror, desperation in her eyes as she began screaming.

Did she actually think I was about to SPARE him.

"FINISH HIM!" She screamed. "You HAVE TO FINISH HIM! SADIE!"

"No…..I don't…." I stated calmly, walking over to her with the bat.

She sniffled but looked at me curiously.

"...He isn't mine." I held the bat out to her, urging her to take the message as I looked back at him. I gave her a smirk when I looked back at her.

She looked back at me, tears escaping down her cheek as she finally took the bat from me.

"Thank you." She whispered.

As satisfying as it would've been for me to do it myself, it gave me even more satisfaction as I watched her walk back over to him with it.

I was too far away, as were everyone else, to hear if she said something to him when he set those same pleading eyes on her…..just before she took the first, hard swing at him.

Once she started she just couldn't stop, and I hoped to whatever God or being there might be that he felt every last ounce of that rage.

I hoped that with his last, dying breath, that he was wishing that I had been the one to put him out of his well earned misery…...and I smiled again, to myself.

I walked back up to where they were, right as she delivered the final, fatal blow, and dropped the bat to the ground.

As she sobbed again, falling to the ground herself now, I could feel the relief radiating off of her.

The combined feelings of relief and disbelief that she had finally done it, while obviously satisfying, I'm sure, was equally as overwhelming to her.

She sniffled as she tried to regain her composure.

I put my arms, gently around her and just held her.

She turned to look at me, at the gesture and wrapped her arms, more tightly, around me.

"It's over now…" I reminded her. "...it's all over."

I didn't see her face, over my shoulder, but I could sense that she was probably smiling as she nodded. "...I know." She sniffled again. "...I know."

When we both, eventually, returned to the waiting crowd, it was me who addressed them.

Maggie remained by my side, as I did so.

I took another moment to look over the raised hands of the surrendering Saviors and looked back and Maggie before I began.

She gave me an approving nod, sensing what I was considering.

"The ones who have 'em up, put your hands down…..we're all gonna go home now." I told them. "Negan's dead…..and so is his way of doing things…...anyone who can't live with that will suffer the consequences, that is a promise….and as you've seen today, I'm a woman of my word…..and everyone else? Everyone who wants something better, something more…...anyone who wants to be better than what they thought they had to be….this new world, the one that we're going to build…..it's yours too…..if you want it. Now, I know that sounds scary….unreal, even. Hell, it almost scared me away…...but….if someone like me can see it, and accept it…..then you can too. I hope that you will…...so, go home….so we can start making that real."

I looked back at me and nodded as she smiled back at me.

"Us, too." I said. "Let's go home."

"Yeah."