Chapter 148-War is coming

Rick's P.O.V

Rick watched as Alpha stared at him for a long minute, before a smirk grew on her face, and she turned back towards the woods. Making sure she was gone, he turned around and walked back into the woods. He stopped when he saw Daryl, Negan, Rosita, and Alden waiting for him. "Come on, man, we gotta get back." Daryl says as they turn to walk away.

"She's here." Rick says, causing them all to stop and look back at him.

"What?" Alden asks wide eyed.

"She's here; she was at the bottom of the valley. She saw me. I saw her. We have to get back quickly; it won't be long before she attacks."

"Then let's get our asses into gear!" Negan yelled as he starts to run, and the others follow.

Daryl's P.O.V

The gates to the campgrounds open, and the group enters the community, hurrying in. "Well?" Alicia asks as the group walks up to her, seeing the dread on their faces.

"No herd, but Alpha is back; Rick saw her; gather everybody in the big cabin." Daryl tells the group, who nods.

After everybody had gathered in the big cabin, Rick started to speak, pacing back and forth. "Alpha moved the herd, we don't know where, but we'll find it. It's gotta be pretty damn hard to hide a herd of that size. Until we find it, we have to prepare, Alpha is either going to send whispers or parts of that herd to start to attack the communities, so we'll follow the plan."

"We'll split up, the kids will stay here, and the rest of us will split up between Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom."

"What about the Sanctuary?" Reilly asks.

"Richmond will be sending fighters to help the Sanctuary." Javi says, and Daryl nods.

"Richmond will be the last place Alpha attacks, and they have more than enough defenses and size from the city to take down small fragments of that herd. We'll split up and begin to go to the other communities." Daryl tells them as he walks away for a moment. He walks into the radio room and comes back with a list.

"What is that?" Strand asks.

"It's where everybody will go." Daryl tells him. "Negan, Alicia, Morgan, Lydia, Arya, Rosita, and I will be going to the Kingdom. Strand, Cole, John, Daniel, Deacon, and Sarah will be going to Hilltop. Shane, Madison, Clementine, Boozer, Leah, Alden, Charlie, Rachel, and Tobias will be going to Alexandria."

Negan stared "Wait hold on, Lydia is not going!"

Arya shrugged "Ok, I'll sneak in and sneak her out."

"...Your just admitting that?!" Negan asked her in disbelief.

"She wants to help! Come on, no one knows the dead better then her and she's with us!" Arya argued furiously.

"What about me and June?" Kate asks, putting a hand on his shoulder

"You'll both be staying here with Elijah, Kate. You just gave birth not that long ago, and you need to be here for Rose, and they will need a doctor here." Rick informed. The two women slowly nod.

"I'm going to help Eugene at the bullet shop." Shane tells Daryl and Rick, who nods.

"Eugene, grab your need and go. Take Dante just in case you need him for any injuries the workers will get. It's pretty out of the way." Daryl tells Eugene, who nods as he leaves. Shane kisses Madison and follows.

"Alright, everybody grab what you need. We leave in an hour," Rick says, and they all nod as they leave the big cabin.

Carl's P.O.V

Carl walked up to Enid as she set Robert in a crib inside of Daryl's cabin. "I need to talk with you." Carl says to his wife, who nods as he leads her away from the crib. "I need you to stay here."

"No~" Enid protested immediately.

"Enid, please, I need you and Robb safe."

"What about Arya? She'll be fighting with you guys." Enid growls.

"If I could, I would have her stay here too, but she won't; you and I both know that, but this is the safest place for you and our son. He needs to be safe. I need both of you safe so I can fight without worrying about you. He needs his mother alive."

"He needs his father, too." Enid says softly.

"I'll be back." Carl says as he takes her hand. "Right now, he needs you more, and I need you guys safe. I know that isn't what you want, but this time you have to sit back."

Enid stays silent but nods. "Fine, I'll stay, but if anything happens and if you need my help, I'm coming to help."

"Okay," Carl says before he kisses her. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Negan's P.O.V

Negan sat on the couch holding Rose as Kate came in. "She's gonna miss her Daddy."

"Her Daddy is gonna miss her even more," Negan says as he stares at her. "But she'll be safe, and so will you, and I'll give you both so much love."

Kate slapped his shoulder, then sat "Still upset?"

"Excuse me for not wanting those freaks to see her after they already think she's dead." Negan shook his head.

"Negan, you saw that she can survive out there."

Negan stared, then lulled his head back "Ahhh, I know, I'm old and I worry."

"You know you don't have to go right?" Kate then asked worriedly.

"I do. This is my fight too. Lydia is gonna need me too, and that bitch killed Laura, her baby, and our friends. I have to fight."

"You're gonna get yourself killed one of these days." Kate says as she lays her hand on his arm.

"Oh, I know." Negan says before he kisses her. "I'm gonna come back."

"Don't say that. Just stay quiet." Kate says as she lays her head on his shoulder.

June's P.O.V

June watched John as he packed a bag, putting his guns inside for a moment then she spoke. "You can't fight for revenge," June says.

For a minute he kept packing, but stopped...his shoulders slumped "She killed my Dad."

"I know, John. I know what she did. What she did to all of us." June tells her husband. "But if you fight for revenge and not our future or JJ's future, you're gonna die because that is gonna consume you as it did before, and it will get you killed, and your son needs you alive, John. So don't fight them to avenge your Dad. Fight to have a future with your wife and son."

"That's easier said than done." John sighed, leaning over the table, and June nods.

"I know, but you can do it. The man I fell in love with, the man who restored the life in me, is still in there, and you need to let him back him because he is the best person I have ever met, and even in the darkest times, his light is what saved me and others, we don't need this John. We need the John Daryl met in Texas, the man you were before Alpha killed your father." June tells John, who nods as he turns to look at her.

"I'll find him again," John says before he kisses her. "I promise."

Alicia's P.O.V

Alicia and Daryl stood in front of Merle and Ofelia, as they got their bags. "You're going to fight the woman who killed Uncle Nick, aren't you?" Merle asks his parents softly, who nodded.

"She's back, sweetie, and if we don't stop her, she is going to kill more people we love." Alicia tells her kids, honestly as she could. "We have to fight."

"But what about your arm?" Ofelia pointed at it with a frown.

"My arm is fine and will even give me an advantage against them." Alicia tells her softly.

"I know you guys don't like us leaving, but we're going to be in the Kingdom with Aunt Carol and Uncle Ezekiel, and they are going to make sure nothing happens to us, and we'll talk with you every night until we come home." Daryl tells them. "We always come back, don't we?"

The twins looked at each other, then up nodding

"This will be no different. Nothing is going to stop us from coming back to you." He then knelt down and put a hand on each of their shoulders "We love you guys so much. You two are so special. I knew it from the day you were born. I couldn't imagine my life without you two, and we will come back when we do. We'll go on a hunting trip for a couple of days, just us, Charlie, and Rachel. Alright?"

They nod as they hug their father, who kisses their head. Alicia bends down and joins in the hug. "We love you guys so much."

Ofelia said "I love you too."

"Love you more!" Merle added, as the family stayed in the hug.

Maggie's P.O.V

She stared...then took a breath and walked up to one of the trucks...Negan had his back to her, shoulders tight, likely still in a grumpy mood of having Lydia go with them, but knew there likely wasn't another chance.

"Negan."

"Huh?" He turned and blinked "Maggie?"

"Can we talk?"

He looked at her, face grim as if knowing what she was going to say...then nodded once.

After a moment, she came out with it. "When I get back, I'm telling Hershel."

Negan stared...then let out a slow breath. "Maggie, when you do this, it all changes."

"I know, and after Al is going to bring him here, I'm going to tell him not tell to tell the others, but if you don't tell them when this is over, I will."

"I'm going to. I'm not putting it off just...it's one thing after another, especially with that crazy bitch." Negan says.

"Good." Maggie nodded, and turned to leave.

"Maggie."

She stopped, looking ahead...Negan's voice low and almost pleading.

"Regardless of what he thinks of me after, I will still die for you and Hershel. I know you don't see me as family, and I don't blame you for that. But I see you two as family. Nothing will ever change that."

For a long moment, she was quiet...then softly said "I'll make sure he doesn't kill you," Maggie says before she walks away but stops. "You've changed, Negan. I know that I know that you aren't the same man that killed Glenn and Abraham. I'll make sure he knows that."

With that she walked, feeling his eyes on her the whole time.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick walked up to Daryl as he watched people load their things into the cars. "What are you thinking about?" Rick asks him.

"I'm fine."

Rick gave him a dry look "You have that thinking look, what is it?"

Sighing, Daryl looked at him tiredly "Our people, how some of them will never come home. I'm thinking about how many bodies we're gonna have to bury, and I'm wondering if the fighting will ever end."

"It has to." Rick says. "I believe it, Daryl. Someday, you and I are going to be sitting on our porches watching our kids as they lead the New World, and when that day comes, I'm going to tell you I told you so."

Daryl chuckles and nods. "Someday, Rick, but first, we have another war to win."

"We'll win it, brother." Rick says as he lays his hand on his shoulder. "I know we will."

Daryl nods. "Ok...let's move. Good luck."

Rick confidently said "No need for luck, we have each other."

Alpha's P.O.V

Alpha stood in the middle of her camp, In front of her, many of her pack had gathered as Beta came to her side, snarling "What are we going to do now? They crossed the border, killed our people, and you saw Rick Grimes. The time for waiting is over, Alpha."

Alpha looks at Beta and smiles. "Yes, it is, Beta. It is time to destroy the New World." She looked to her pack and hissed "send the Guardians. I have been courteous, I set boundaries after they attacked us. They have killed our people and insulted us instead...no more half measures. No survivors."

Nodding, The pack began to leave as Beta whispered "And...her?"

Alpha's eyes darkened and looked to Beta "If my fool of an offspring chooses them, it's time we show her the folly of her actions."

Thanks for reading. Losing my Dad has been a lot harder than I thought and now I'm just trying to return to normal and I'm hoping that this is a start. I've said a lot of times haven't I? Hopefully this time it will true. Also as you may have noticed, I have changed my name and deleted a couple of stories. I'm kind of rebranding and you will some new stories soon. As always suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.