Chapter 28-Choices

Simon's P.O.V

Simon watched as Jared walked out of the room. "How is she?"

"Alive," Jared says. "You sure you don't want a turn?"

"No, I had mine, Amber. She is fun," Simon says. "She talk?"

"No, she did not," Jared says. Simon nods as he walks into the room. Katy lay on the ground. Covered by a blanket.

"This could all end. All you have to do is tell us where your people are," Simon says.

"So you can go and do this to them. Go to hell," Katy says.

"They can do worse, but you know that. I admire your loyalty, but they'll come looking soon enough, and we'll get more, and they'll give up your camp. No matter what, we'll find your camp," Simon says before he leaves the room.

Eugene's P.O.V

Eugene sat in his house making trip mines when Amanda came in. "What are you doing?"

"Making trip mines," Eugene answers. "We'll set them up across the road when Simon comes here. We'll take their cars out."

"Should you be doing that in here?" Amanda asks him.

"Don't worry," Eugene says. "If it goes off, it will be painless."

"That's reassuring," Amanda says sarcastically as she sits down. "You ever do this?"

"No, I have not," Eugene answers.

"You are not good at reassuring people."

"What is the point in that?" Eugene asks. "If I screw up, this thing will go up, and we will be nothing but ashes flowing through the wind."

"I'm gonna go," Amanda says as she quickly stands up and leaves the house. Eugene continues to work.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan stood in the tower, watching the roads. "You've been up here for hours," Michonne says as she climbs into the tower.

"I'm watching for that asshole."

"You don't know where they could be hiding?" Michonne asks.

"They could be in a hundred different places. We would spend a year searching for them. We'd be safer waiting here and preparing for them to show up. Eugene is preparing the trip mines," Negan tells her.

"We'll kill him," Michonne tells him. "You know that."

"I do," Negan says as he looks at the woman. "Or he might kill us. Simon is smarter than you guys think he is."

"We're strong," Michonne says. "We've beat plenty of assholes like that one."

"I hope you're right."

Deanna's P.O.V

Deanna stood in the kitchen making coffee. "We're going to run out of that someday," Rosita says with a smile.

"That is the day I'll give up," Deanna says. "The saviors had plenty of it."

"You doing okay?"

"Yeah...I'm getting by," Deanna says. "You, Daryl, Merle, you'll all helped a lot."

"You mean Daryl," Rosita says.

"You know when you all came through here. Daryl is the last person I thought I'd get close to. But after Reg and Aiden. I felt hopeless, ready to die. Spencer didn't help me. He was drinking most of the time after. Daryl helped me through that and taught me how to survive. I owe a lot to him."

"I bet every person in our group could say that," Rosita says.

"I bet they could."

Merle's P.O.V

Merle walks up to Rick, who looks at him. "Your plan went to shit, Officer Friendly."

"Thanks, Merle," Rick says. "I figured that out."

"So what's the plan? Wait for the prick and his crew to show up here?" Merle asks him.

"Yeah, we're armed, no matter how many guns he has. We have more. We have the weapons from the outposts. It doesn't matter what Simon brings back. We'll be ready for him."

"I hope you're Officer Friendly 'cause my brother is finally forming a life in this fucked up world. Your plan better work 'cause if it doesn't, I will definitely make sure I'm the one that kills you."

"Thanks for the faith, Merle."

"I don't have much faith anymore," Merle says before he walks away.

Simon's P.O.V

Simon stood by the door, watching the woods. "Simon," He turns around and looks at Arat.

"What?" Simon asks as he looks at her.

"There's gotta be a better way of finding these women than what you're doing to her."

"You have a problem with what I'm doing?" Simon asks. "If you do, you can join her back there."

"I don't want to," Arat says.

"Good, now shut the fuck up and help me watch for these bitches," Simon orders the woman, who nods.

"You wanna try again?" Jared asks as he comes out of the room.

"Sure," Simon says as he walks into the room. "You do not look good, sweetheart."

"Fuck you," Kathy says.

"You know you had some exciting equipment, a harpoon gun. Doesn't seem like a good weapon against walkers, but fishing it might," Simon tells her.

"I don't have much."

"And you aren't carrying a gun, which means you have them locked up somewhere in case we ever showed up," Simon says with a smirk. "Now, I know you got some children there, so I'm going to give you a chance. You tell me where your camp is, and none of those children will be hurt or worse," Simon says. "This is your last chance to make sure they don't get hurt. I give you my word."

"Your word means nothing to me. The word of a snake is a lie."

"I gave you a chance," Simon says before he leaves the room.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan sat in the watch tower and looked at the hatch as it opened, and Noah climbed up there. "What do you want, kid?" Negan asks.

"To talk to you about the future," Noah says as he pulls his journal out. "When we attacked the Sanctuary. I got a good look at the place. It is a piece of shit."

"Thanks. I didn't stay there because it was a five-star hotel, it was easy to defend, and it had good vantage points. That's why we took from other communities. I hope you didn't come up here to talk about that shithole."

"No, I came up here to talk about something better," Noah tells him. "For the saviors that survive, for the new group you plan on building."

"What are you talking about?" Negan asks.

"A new community," He says. "I've been writing up plans. We could build around a town nearby. We have the materials we need to do that."

"You think Deanna is just going to hand those over?" Negan asks.

"I've already talked with her," Noah says. "She's agreed to this."

"Alright, kid, show me what you got," Negan says as he turns to face the boy, who smiles as he sits down.

"There is a town near here, about an hour. We can build walls there, just like in Alexandria. We'll use solar panels to give you all electricity. We'll get you fresh water, and it will be just like another Alexandria. A new start for you and the people who want to join you," Noah says as he shows the man the drawings and notes he had made.

"Who would lead this project?" Negan asks him.

"I would," Noah says.

"What did you do before all of this, kid?"

"I went to school," Noah answers. "Deanna's husband, Reg, he showed me a little bit before he died. I can do this."

"Alright, kid, I trust you."

"Thanks. Deanna wanted to talk with you."

"I'll be down soon," Negan says as Noah leaves the watch tower.

Deanna's P.O.V

Deanna sat in her house with Negan, Rick, Daryl, Ezekiel, and Carol. "So what is this meeting for?"

"You intent to lead the saviors again when this is over, correct?" Deanna asks the man, who nods. "We don't know who will make it out, which ones will surrender, but even if they do surrender, it does not guarantee them a new start."

"What do you mean?" Negan asks.

"The ones who did the worse kind of things during the war, they will be locked up or killed for that, all of Simon's lieutenants."

"Besides Arat, if she continues to help us," Carol says.

"Alright, those pricks don't matter to me anyways."

"We also need to know the ones that you think will try and retaliate," Daryl says. "We don't want any problems after this man," Daryl tells him.

"I get it," Negan says. "I want a fresh start for my people after that. If that means that the worse of them has to go, you'll find no complaints from me. They did betray me."

"They will get a trial," Ezekiel says. "To plead their case, we are trying to build a better world. We must be fair to all."

"Will I get a trial?" Negan asks them after a moment.

"You don't need one," Rick says. "You've done things in the past, but you are making up for them right now."

"Anything else?"

"Who do you want to lead the saviors if you die?" Deanna asks after a moment, and Negan stays silent.

"Laura," He answers. "Is that all?"

"Yeah."

Negan leaves the house.

Carl's P.O.V

Carl sat in his room, just staring at the wall. He looked at the door as it opened, and Enid came in. "You okay?"

"I almost died out there," Carl tells her. "If Daryl didn't show up when he did, that walker would have got me."

"It was pretty stupid going out there in the first place," Enid tells him.

"I know," Carl says. "But it did make me realize something," Carl says. "All of this has."

"And what is that?"

"You're wrong," Carl says. "Back in the tree, you said that this is their world. We're just living in it. It's still our world. We're going to bring it back."

"You're too hopeful, Carl Grimes. I guess we could all use a little hope in our lives."

"It also made me realize that we could die at any moment," Carl says as he stands up and walks over to her. "I don't want to waste any of the time I have left," He says before he kisses Enid, who kisses him back.

Simon's P.O.V

Simon was sitting by the window when the door flew open, and Jared came in holding a girl. "Who is this one?"

"Found her sneaking around by herself," Jared says with a grin.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Simon asks.

"Fuck you," The girl says to him. Simon smiles as he grabs her by the hair, and Jared drops her as Simon drags the girl to the room that Kathy is being kept in. He pushes the door open, and Kathy looks at the girl.

"Rachel! Let her go!"

"You have two choices now!" Simon says in anger as he withdraws his gun and presses it to Rachel's head. "YOU TELL ME WHERE YOUR CAMP IS, OR I LET MY MEN RAPE HER IN FRONT OF YOU AND THEN BLOW HER BRAINS OUT, OR YOU TELL ME WHERE YOUR CAMP IS. CHOOSE NOW!" Simon shouts in anger as he pulls the hammer back.

Thanks for reading. Next chapter, Kathy makes a choice, Simon prepares, and the group continues to prepare for Simon and make plans for the future. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.