Chapter 23-The Meeting

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl shuts the door to the cabin after Maggie walks in. He walks to the table and turns to look at her. "You know you can't change my mind," Daryl says to her.

"How can you do this? You saw what he did. You were there," Maggie says.

"I think about that night every day, but we can't change it, and I need Negan right now. He's the only way Troy makes it out of that building alive," Daryl says.

"How do you know he won't kill you when he gets the chance," Maggie says.

"I don't," Daryl tells her. "I don't. Hell, he could kill when we are alone, but I'm not going in there without him, and you can't stop me. He's put you through hell, Maggie, and I understand that. He put me through it. In that cell, so did Dwight, and he's here. That's why he's staying here after. He isn't going back to Alexandria, where you or Rosita can kill him whenever you want to."

"He will go back in that cell, or he will die," Maggie says. "He doesn't deserve a second chance, Daryl!" Maggie shouts at him.

"But I do?! I'm as much to blame for Glenn's death as Negan is! I threw the punch! I went after Dwight and brought Glenn, Rosita, and Michonne because I was pissed off!" Daryl shouts at her. "This is done, and you can't be a part of it because I don't trust you right now. You can stay, or you can go back to Hilltop, but Negan's off-limits," Maggie glares at Daryl before she turns in leaves, slamming the door behind her.

Beth's P.O.V

Beth watches as Maggie walks out of the cabin and walks towards the van. "Have fun with him," Maggie says as Al grabs her arm.

"Let's go for a walk. Maggie, you need to calm down," Al says.

"That's a good idea," June says. Maggie slowly nods as Al leads her out of camp. Beth looks at Negan, who stood with Carl.

"That's who killed Glenn?" Beth asks Tara, who nods.

"Yeah," Tara says. "He killed more than just Glenn."

"I know," Beth says. Beth walks towards the cabin and goes inside. Daryl looks at her.

"Beth, go back outside," Daryl says.

"I wanna help," Beth says.

"Why?" Daryl asks her. "I'm not letting Maggie come."

"I know. I'm picking sides here, Daryl. But I trust you, and if you think letting Negan out is worth Troy's life, then I want to help you save him," Beth says.

"Maggie isn't going to be happy," Daryl says.

"Regardless of what happens today. Maggie won't be happy," Beth says. Daryl nods.

"Fine, you can help. You listen to everything Morgan or John say," Daryl says. Beth nods as she leaves.

Alden's P.O.V.

Alden sat on the porch of his cabin with his gun in his hand. "You plan on doing something?" Luciana asks as she walks over to him.

"No. Just being prepared," Alden says as she sits down. "We have another hour or so before we have to leave."

"I'm surprised you aren't on Maggie's side," Luciana says.

"If this was before you all showed up, I would be," Alden says. "But I know Troy, and he doesn't deserve to die. This is supposed to be a place for fresh starts, right. At least that's what Daryl wants it to be."

"It is," Luciana says.

"Then who knows. Maybe this place can be a fresh start for Negan," Alden says. Luciana nods.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan stood by the rest of the cars as everybody loaded up their supplies. The group was about to leave, and Negan looked at Daryl as he walked over to Morgan beside him. "Everybody ready?" Daryl asks.

"Yeah, we'll be waiting for your signal," Morgan says. Daryl nods as he looks at Negan.

"Your friend is still glaring at me," Negan says as he looks at Aaron.

"That won't stop," Daryl says as he walks towards his bike. "Come on. We gotta go." Negan nods as he follows Daryl, who pulls out a knife. He holds it out to Negan. "Don't stab me in the back, asshole," Negan grabs the bike.

"Got it," Negan says as he climbs on the back of Daryl's back. Daryl starts the bike, and Rick pulls the gate open. Daryl drives out, followed by the rest of the group. He looks at Maggie as they leave.

Meeting spot

It was dark outside as Daryl stopped his bike where Glenn and Abraham died. Daryl turns the bike off and climbs off. He grabs his crossbow and looks around. "Jed," Daryl says. "We're here."

"Throw your weapons on the ground," Jed says. Daryl sets his crossbow down and puts his knife and handgun on the ground. He looks at Jed as he comes out of the woods with Troy.

"You okay?" Daryl asks Troy, who nods.

"You shouldn't have set that asshole free for me," Troy says.

"I keep my people safe," Daryl says. Negan reaches his hand into his pocket and clicks the radio three times. "I brought Negan. Now you give me Troy."

"First, he comes over here," Jed says. Daryl nods to Negan, who walks over to Jed. He smiles at Troy.

"You even look like the spineless piece of shit I know you are," Negan says.

"Now, Troy," Daryl says. Jed pulls the hammer back on his gun.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?" Negan asks him.

"We should kill them. So they can't follow us," Jed says. Negan nods.

"You know something, Jed," Negan says. "You're a spineless piece of shit too," Negan grabs Jed's gun and pushes it to the side as Jed pulls the trigger. The bullet goes past Troy's head. Negan grabs his knife with his other hand and stabs Jed in the stomach. Jed drops the gun as Negan lays his hand on his shoulder. "I never did like you," Negan says before he pulls the knife out and stabs Jed in the stomach multiple times as Troy backs up towards Daryl. He stabs him for the sixth time and stops. He drops Jed to the ground and lets him die.

"What the hell just happened?" Troy asks Daryl.

"We killed the leader of the True saviors," Daryl says. "Now we wait for the others." Troy slowly nods as Negan stabs Jed in the head.

"I'm going to need some new clothes," Negan says with a smile.

Morgan's P.O.V

Morgan shoots a savior through the chest as he runs out of the outpost. He looks at Rick, who is beside him. "How many have you got?" Morgan asks as he goes behind the tree.

"I don't know. Alicia's group should be getting in the back pretty soon," Rick says. Morgan nods as he shoots at another man hitting him in the leg. They shoot at the men outside for about two more minutes when they hear gunshots coming from inside. The two men outside fall as Shane comes outside.

"Come on," Shane says. Morgan, Rick, and Michonne follow Shane inside. They check the rooms clearing out every savior they see until they get to the final room. Morgan kicks the door open and shoots the savior through the eye. The man falls to the ground.

"I think we're clear," Alicia says as she walks into the room. Morgan nods as John hands him the radio.

"Daryl," Morgan says.

"I'm here," Daryl says. "Is it done?"

"Yeah, we have cleared the outpost," Morgan says. "We'll meet you at home. We are going to get what supplies we can, and we'll head home,"

"Send someone here to get Troy," Daryl says.

"Okay," Morgan says. "Alden!" Alden comes into the room. "Take a truck and go get Troy with Luciana, Nick, and Tobias,"

"Got it," Alden says as they leave.

"This seemed too easy," Rick says after Alden leaves.

"We caught 'em off guard. They were in the process of leaving. Probably didn't expect the man they were trying to save to betray them," Alicia says.

"Let's get this done and go home. I could use the sleep," Rick says. They nod as they start to gather what supplies they can. After they gathered the supplies, Rick walked up to Morgan. "Tell Daryl I'm here if he needs help. We're going to head back to Alexandria. Rosita's coming. Beth said Maggie probably went back, so I'm dropping her and Carl off before we go home," Morgan nods.

"Thank you, Rick," John says.

"Good luck, guys. You're going to need it," Rick says as he goes to his car.

"Don't we know it," Alicia says as she climbs into the truck.

Daryl P.O.V

Daryl drives his bike in after Dwight opens the gate. Daryl turns off his bike as Alden turns the truck off behind him. Daryl looks at Dwight. "Everybody's gone to sleep. Figured we'd wait till tomorrow to unload the supplies," Daryl nods as Troy gets out of the truck.

"Place looks pretty good. This place might work as a home," Troy says.

"You mind sleeping in the big cabin tonight. We'll find you your own tomorrow," Daryl says.

"Yeah, that's fine," Troy says.

"I'll show him where it is," Laura says. "I'll stay here tonight," Daryl nods as Laura leads him away.

"Get some sleep," Daryl says to the others, who nod as they walk away.

"So what kind of cell do I get here, boss?" Negan asks. Daryl motions for Negan to follow him after he grabs his crossbow. Negan follows Daryl until they get to a cabin. Daryl opens the door and walks inside.

"One of the smaller cabins, but it has a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, and couch," Daryl says.

"What's the catch?" Negan asks.

"There isn't one. I'm not building a cell, and you did good tonight. Already pissed Maggie off enough she won't talk to me probably, but you did what we asked. Remember that we have guards all night, though, and they won't hesitate to shoot you if you try to run," Daryl says. Negan smiles.

"Good night," Negan says. Daryl turns to leave. "Hey," Daryl looks at him. Negan holds the knife out to him. Daryl grabs the knife and leaves as Negan goes to the bedroom.

Maggie's P.O.V

Maggie looked at Beth as she walked inside. "Did you do it?" Maggie asks her.

"Yeah, the true saviors are dead, and Troy is alive," Beth says. "I'm tired, Maggie. I'm going to bed," Maggie nods as Beth walks up the stairs. Maggie looks at Tara, who is sitting on the couch beside Al.

"What are we going to do? That means Negan is with Daryl," Tara says.

"We'll wait, and we'll prove to Daryl that Negan needs to be behind a cell or dead," Maggie says. "He won't get a second chance, and he better enjoy the short one is getting because I'm not giving Rick the chance to save him this time. Negan will pay for what he has done," Tara nods as she stands up and leaves the room. Maggie looks at Al. "Are you with me?" Al walks up to Maggie and kisses her.

"I won't hurt my friends. They are my family too," Al says. Maggie grabs her hand.

"You won't have to. Nobody else besides Negan has to die. We'll wait and do it when the time is right," Maggie says. Al nods.

"Come on. Let's get some sleep," Al says. Maggie nods as she follows Al upstairs.

Thanks for reading. I know that wasn't the most action-packed chapter, but I'm not the best at writing action. I think I did pretty well. So the next chapter will start out on the following day but will go into a two-week time skip that will last a few chapters before we go into a little bit of a long one. I have some things I need to cover with characters. One is mainly Alicia and, in part, Daryl. Let me know what you think about it. Also, if you have any fun story arcs you might want to see, let me know. This would be the best time because we are kind of in between them. Last thing is I want to say thank you to all the people supporting this story and I have been getting a lot of feedback and talking with readers which has been awesome. So don't feel hesitant to ever message me. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.