Chapter 9-The Story
Al's P.O.V
Al sat on the couch in Maggie's office. She looks at the door as Maggie walks in. "Hey, what's up?" Maggie asks as she sits down.
"I'm heading to Alexandria today," Al tells Maggie as she stands up.
"Why?" Maggie asks her.
"I'm going to interview Negan," Al tells her.
"You can't," Maggie says. "He doesn't deserve to tell his story,"
"He does. Negan is a piece of shit. But he deserves to tell his side of it," Al says. "I came here for the story, Maggie. And because my friends were coming,"
"Then leave your camera," Maggie says.
"Then what's the point? Maggie, you don't have to be happy about this. But I'm doing it," Al says.
"Just be safe," Maggie says.
"I will," Al says. She goes out to the van and leaves Hilltop.
Strand's P.O.V
Strand and Cole drive down the road heading for the campsite. Cole had the map in his hand. "You think this is going to work?" Cole asks him.
"How do you mean?" Strand asks him.
"These campgrounds. After everything that happened with the stadium. The Vultures. Do you think this place will last?" Cole asks him. Strand looks at him.
"I don't know," Strand says. "Alexandria, Hilltop, and the Kingdom lasted this long. We will have to see," Cole nods as they continue to drive. Cole directs Strand to turn onto a dirt road. They go down the road but are stopped by a car in the road with a walker inside. Cole climbs out of the truck. He pulls out his knife and goes up to the walker, and stabs it in the head. Strand climbs out and walks to the front of the car.
"Let's get this thing out of the way," Cole says as he goes to the hood. Cole and Strand start to push the car off the road. Once they get it off the road, they get back into their car and keep driving.
Al's P.O.V
Eugene let's Al into Alexandria. She drives to Rick's house and gets out of the van. She goes up to Rick's door and knocks on the door. Rick opens the door. "Hey, Al. Is there a problem with Maggie?"
"No," Al says. "I have a reason for being here. I want to talk to Negan," Al says. "And you,"
"You want to interview Negan?" Rick asks.
"Yeah, I mean everything that happened during that war is the reason Daryl and Morgan came to Texas. I want to know what happened. Both sides of the story. You and Negan," Al says.
"Fine," Rick says. "You can talk to him first and then come back here. There will be a guard outside. Just let them know I said it was okay," Al nods. Rick hands her the keys. She goes to her van and grabs her camera. She walks to the stairs and goes down them.
"Rick said I could go in," Al says. Scott nods as Al goes into the room. She looks at Negan.
"Well, who are you?" Negan asks as he stands up.
"I'm Althea. Al if you prefer. I came here with Daryl," Al tells Negan.
"I figured there were more of you. Well, how can I help you?" Negan asks with a grin. Al holds her camera up.
"I'm a journalist. I want to hear your side of the story. From start to finish," Al says. Negan smiles.
"Then let's get started," Negan says as Al unlocks the cell.
"If you try anything. I will kill you," Al says.
"Got it," Negan says as Al grabs a chair and sits down. She turns her camera around and points it at Negan.
"Let's start from the beginning. The saviors first encounter with Alexandria,"
"Daryl blew up a group of my men with an RPG," Negan says. "That is where all of this started. Now a few weeks later, they sneak into one of my outposts filled with men and kill them all. Dozens of men are killed. They kill some of them in their sleep like a bunch of pussies. I mean, they killed so many of my men. So I sent more after them. Dwighty boy killed one. Then he got his dick eaten by Eugene," Negan tells her with a grin. "And they killed more of my men then. And then one of them killed a whole truck full of them. So right now. They have dozens of my men killed. I have one of theirs," Negan says. "Does that seem fair to you?"
"They had their reasons," Al says.
"Did they?" Negan asks. "Sure, after Dwight killed that chick, they did. But they should have stayed out of the Hilltop's business. Maybe if they did. The ginger and the widow's husband would still be alive," Negan says.
"Glenn and Abraham. Use their names," Al says to him. Negan holds his hands up.
"Right, maybe Glenn and Abraham would still be alive. I mean, Rick is a cold-hearted man," Negan says.
"Let's talk about the line-up," Al says.
"My right-hand man at the time knocked on my door, telling me they were all there. I come out with Lucille and my badass jacket," Negan says.
"Lucille?" Al asks.
"My bat," Negan says, making Al nod. "Anyway, I told Rick who things were, and I told him how much of an asshole he was. I only planned on killing one of them. Even after they killed dozens of my people before, I am a forgiving guy. So the gin- Abraham was the unlucky guy. You want to know what his final words were. They were suck my nuts," Negan says with a grin. Al tightens her grip on the camera. "So I kill him, and I show his blood to Rosita. They were together once. I guess before all this, Glenn jumped out after I threatened the widow. So Daryl got up and punched me. I told them I would shut that shit down if it happened again. And it happened again. So Glenn died because Daryl couldn't control his anger. Now I realize I should have just killed Rick and saved myself the trouble. The only reason Rick is alive is because I didn't want to beat him to death in front of his son," Negan says.
"How nice of you," Al says. "What's next?"
"I went to Alexandria a few days later with Daryl, who I took and my men, and we started taking half of their supplies. This doesn't matter much. But they did make me believe that the widow was dead. Also, Carl threatened me, and we took all of their guns," Negan says. "A few days later, Carl came to the Sanctuary and killed a few of my men. I brought him home safe and sound. I made him spaghetti. I killed a man who wanted me to kill Rick so he could lead. I helped them. Now Eugene made Rosita a bullet, and she shot Lucille. So we killed another one. Now five of them are dead, and still, dozens of my men are dead. We left,"
"Okay, let's get to the first fight," Al says.
"Once we found out what they were doing, we made a better deal with some garbage people. They betrayed Rick, and I lined Rick and Carl up. So I told Rick I was going to kill Carl in one nice hard swing because I like him. When I am about to kill Carl, a tiger shows up, and I find out the widow is alive. They won the first fight. Then they come to the Sanctuary and shoot at us and lead a herd to us. Me and Gabriel got trapped outside, but we made it back, and then Daryl drove a truck into the Sanctuary, letting the walkers in. To hell with the people, the kids, and the workers. We got 'em out, and we lit Alexandria on fire with grenade launchers. As we were heading to Hilltop to kill some people, Rick ambushed me, and I got captured by Anne, the leader of the Junkyard people who Simon killed. So after Anne let me go, I went home, and I talked to Dwighty boy who betrayed us, and then I killed Simon, so they all knew I was in charge. To the final fight in a field. Eugene, who had been making bullets for me, sabotaged my men's guns and killed a lot of them, which gave Rick and the pricks the advantage. We fought, and I got my throat slashed. Rick allowed them to save me, and I got locked up, and now here we are," Negan tells Al. "Moral of the story. Rick's people are no better than the saviors or me. They are cold-hearted," Al turns the camera off.
"I'll be back," She tells Negan, who nods as she leaves the room. "Can you ask Rick to come here?" Al asks Scott, who nods as she leaves.
"What are you doing?" Negan asks.
"Shut up," She tells Negan as she waits.
Strand's P.O.V
Strand and Cole stop the truck outside the campground. They get out of the truck and look around. "They weren't kidding. There are a few holes," Cole says. Strand nods as he pulls the gate open, and they walk in. Strand stabs a walker as it comes towards them.
"We can't clear all of these cabins," Strand says.
"It will take a while. We don't have to check them all. We'll hit the doors, and we'll move on," Cole says. Strand nods as they go to the first cabin.
"These are pretty big cabins," Strand says as he hits the door.
"These walls were made after," Cole says.
"Makes sense," Strand says. "Looks like the people here were killed,"
"We'll fix it up," Cole says as they move to the next cabin.
"Who do you think did it? If a person did?" Strand asks.
"The Saviors," Cole says. "Why wouldn't they,"
"We could always ask Negan," Strand says. "Even though I would prefer not to talk to him,"
"It doesn't matter anymore," Cole says as they hear a walker hit the door. Cole opens the door, and Strand stabs it in the head. The two of them continue to go through the campgrounds.
Al's P.O.V
Al sat across from Rick and Negan, who sat beside each other. "Thank you for doing this," Al says as she turns her camera back on. "Okay, let's start from the beginning once again. Rick the bikers,"
"Daryl told me that Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham got stopped by bikers. They tried to take their supplies, and Daryl killed one of them behind the bike and blew them up," Rick says.
"How were you led to the outpost?" Al asks Rick.
"A few of the people in Hilltop tried to kill Gregory. Once we heard the name, we told Gregory we would kill Negan to get supplies. So we did it. We didn't know then what we do know now. Once I killed the last man. I thought that was it, but I didn't know they all were Negan," Rick says.
"What do you mean?" Al asks.
"He didn't tell you?" Rick asks, making Al nod. "Negan has all the saviors saying I'm Negan. They were all Negan in his mind,"
"Is there anything he didn't tell you about the line-up?" Rick asks.
"He told me everything up to Glenn's death," Al says. She looks at Negan.
"Fine. I was going to make Rick cut off Carl's arm to break him. But that didn't happen because I did break him," Negan says.
"Okay, you stay quiet," Al says to Negan. "Start Rick,"
"After the line-up, we served Negan. We didn't know what was happening at the Hilltop. Negan had his men putting walkers inside Hilltop to make them believe that they need protection. Maggie, Sasha, and Jesus cleared the walkers. Negan took from people who needed the supplies to make the saviors stronger and weaken the communities who needed their supplies. One of Negan's lieutenant led men to kill the entire male population of Oceanside. He had a harem of women and would punish their husbands. Dwight was one of them; he burnt his face. My side isn't important here, Al. You know how the war went down and the ending and what led to it," Rick says.
"I was saving people. I was bringing order to the world. We were the saviors, and we helped, saved, and protected people from people like you. Everybody who has died is Rick's fault. I was saving these people," Negan says in anger. Al looks at the two men.
"Anything else?" Al asks.
"Negan and the saviors put my friends and family through hell. We lost friends and family. People from the Hilltop, Oceanside, the Kingdom, and Alexandria suffered because of him and his people. I almost lost my son. Nobody walked out of the war without an injury," Rick says. Al nods as she turns the camera to Negan.
"I have said all I needed," Negan says.
"What you did. It wasn't the answer to any of this. I have met people like you out there who think they can save the world. But they can't, and they will never be able to because you need people to trust, and love or you are as dead as the walkers. And because you never realized that. You will die in this cell. You will be forgotten to time as just another asshole. Maggie may never be able to kill you. But I think you being forgotten is your biggest fear, and that is worse than death for you," Al says. "She'll find solace in that," Al says before she turns her camera off and leaves. Rick follows her out, locking the cell. "Negan may be the reason all this happened. But you aren't innocent in any of this either," Al says before she walks to the van and climbs inside. She leaves Alexandria, passing Strand on the way out.
Hilltop
Maggie's P.O.V
Maggie sat in her room when there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Maggie says. Al walks into the room and sets her camera down. "How did it go?" Maggie asks as Al walks over to her. She sits down beside Maggie.
"He'll be forgotten, Maggie. Glenn's killer will be forgotten in time in a few generations," Al says. Maggie nods as she looks at the wall. "I'm tired after today. I'm going to bed," Maggie grabs her hand. Al looks at her.
"Thank you," Maggie says. Al nods. Al kisses Maggie's hand before she leaves the room. Maggie watches her for a moment before she smiles and goes to her bed. Maggie lays down on the bed and goes to bed with a smile on her face.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl sat on the hood of the car. He looked at the Georgia state sign. John walks over to him. "You okay?" John asks.
"Yeah," Daryl tells him. "Tomorrow, we'll arrive at the prison, John. I'll see his body and the place I lost my friends,"
"You and Carl are both so strong," John says as he sits down. "You'll get through this, and we'll start our lives at the campground," Daryl nods. "I'm here for you, brother," Daryl nods and pats John's shoulder.
"Get some sleep," Daryl tells John, who nods as he walks away.
Thanks for reading. As you can see, Maggie and Al's relationship is coming along slowly. This was one of my favorite chapters. I loved writing Negan, who is one of my favorite characters. Negan's story is just starting in this story. I didn't feel like Rick's side was as important because we all know it. I am very excited for chapter 10 as that will be the prison. It will have a lot of fun moments and a very important one for Daryl and Alicia. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.