Chapter 41-Heading for Washington

Two days later

Daryl's P.O.V

Two days had passed since Ofelia and Merle were born. Alicia was able to go back to their cabin the day after with the babies. He walks into the cabin and sees Alicia sleeping with the two babies on the couch. He walks over to them and sighs, thinking about what to say today. He walks to the door and opens it. He looks at Negan as he walks past the cabin. "Hey," Daryl says to Negan, who looks at him. "Can you tell everybody to go to the main cabin?"

"Everything okay?" Negan asks. Daryl nods.

"I need to tell them something," Daryl tells Negan, who nods as he walks away. Daryl walks back into the cabin and shakes Alicia's shoulders. She opens her eyes and looks at him.

"Do you know who is going with Rick on the run tomorrow?" Alicia asks softly.

"Yeah, come on. I got something to tell the group," Daryl whispers. Alicia nods. "Can you take Ofelia?" Daryl nods as he takes her, making sure not to wake her up. Alicia slowly stands up, and they leave the cabin.

Everybody stood in the big cabin. Madison was now holding Ofelia. "So why did you call us all here?" Shane questions.

"I'm stepping down," Daryl tells them. "I can't be helping organize runs, make big decisions, and helping Alicia with the babies. I have to prioritize them. So for a little while, I won't be making those big decisions unless I have to. Morgan and Shane have been helping me lead, so they'll continue to do that," Daryl tells them. He looks at John. "I would like you to lead to."

"I will," John agrees. Daryl nods.

"So for now on, go to them. Only come to me if none of 'em are here," Daryl explains. Everybody nods. "We agreed that Alden and Luciana would go with Rick to Washington tomorrow, but I think a few more of you should go."

"Who?" Tobias asks.

"Morgan, Shane, Rosita, and Negan," Daryl says.

A double take was seen on Negan's face, looking at Daryl like he grew three heads "Wha- what?! No way in hell! Maggie will be on that run, and the second she sees me, I lose my head."

"I think you should," John says. "You can't hide here forever, and Maggie will find out eventually. You're a part of this now. Whether she likes it or not."

"He has a point," Alden says. Negan sighs but nods.

"I'll let Rick know," Morgan says. Daryl nods as the group slowly leaves the cabin. Madison hands him Ofelia and leaves, leaving him in the main cabin with Alicia.

"You sure about this?" Alicia asks him. Daryl nods.

"Yeah, I'm sure," He says as he sits down beside her.

Morgan's P.O.V

Morgan sat at the radio as he waited for Rick. "Morgan, do you know who is coming?" Rick asks.

"Yeah, Luciana, Alden, Rosita, Shane, me, and Negan," Morgan tells Rick, who stays silent for a moment.

"You sure about Negan? Maggie's coming," Rick says, unsure of Morgan's choice.

"Yes, Negan's part of this. He's one of us now" Morgan says firmly.

"Okay," Rick says with a sigh, Morgan thankfully he wasn't gonna fight against this. "The meeting spot was Hilltop. Are we keeping that?" Rick asks.

"Yeah," Morgan says. "We'll see you tomorrow," Morgan says before he turns the radio off.

Hilltop

The next day

Negan's P.O.V

Negan sat in the back of the truck shifting in his seat. Shane and Morgan were upfront. Alden and Luciana were in bed. Rosita was beside him. They pull into Hilltop and stop the truck. "If she kills me, I'm coming back and killing all of you," Negan warns the entire car, making Shane chuckle and Morgan smirk.

"We won't let her," Shane says. He pushes the door open and steps out as Rick walks down towards them. Negan pushes the door open and steps out of the truck.

"Does she know?" Negan asks Rick.

"No. We just got here," Rick tells Negan, who nods. He walks forwards as the door to Barrington house opens, and Maggie walks out, followed by Tara and Beth.

"What the hell is he doing here!?" Maggie asks, furious.

"He's coming on the run. He's been doing runs for the campgrounds for about nine months," Shane says. "Negan knows what he is doing, and we and things could go wrong. He'll be helpful."

"He's not coming," Maggie growls.

"He is. You may not trust him, but we do," Shane says. Maggie looks at Alden, who looks down, then at Rosita.

"He killed Abraham. Have you forgotten about that?" Maggie asks her.

"No, I think about it every day. I don't like him either. I've been living at the campgrounds for a while now, and Negan has changed. You have every right to be mad, Maggie. But the more people we have, the safer this will be," Rosita argues.

"I went on the first run with him," Carl says from behind Maggie, making her look at him.

"Is that what you were doing when I dropped you off at the campgrounds?" Al asks Carl, who nods.

"He could have killed me. He could have run. He didn't. None of us are suggesting that you be okay with it or even like it. But Shane's right. Negan knows what he is doing," Carl defends. Maggie looks around but sighs.

"He's your problem. Keep him away from me, and if I see one thing, I'm putting a fucking bullet between his eyes," Maggie growls before she walks away.

"We'll leave in an hour. We'll be taking horses to save fuel," Rick tells them before he walks away.

"That went great," Negan says sarcastically.

"Fuck you," Shane says tiredly. Negan smirks as he follows him.

Al's P.O.V

Al walks into Maggie's office and sees her with a bottle. "I should go out there and kill him," Maggie growls before she takes a drink.

"Maggie, you need to calm down," Al says, only to step back when Maggie whipped to her, eyes ablaze.

"How am I supposed to calm down?! Not only is Negan coming on a run. He's been doing this for almost a year!" Maggie says in anger. Al walks over to Maggie and grabs her hands.

"Maggie, you are allowing Negan to control you. He may not be physically controlling you, but he is. You missed the birth of Ofelia and Merle because of him, and he is piss you off. He may even be enjoying this. Making you feel like this," Al says firmly. "Take a deep breath."

Maggie nods and takes a deep breath. "This is going to help everybody. Think about that instead of Negan."

Closing her eyes, Maggie rubbed her brow and sighed "Fine."

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl lays Merle in his crib and slowly leaves the room. He walks over to Alicia, who is lying on the couch. "They're both asleep," Daryl says to her softly. Alicia nods as Daryl sits down.

"I don't think I've even been this tired," Alicia says, her tone exhausted as she sits down and lays her head on his leg.

"It will get easier over time," Daryl says. "We'll figure it out."

"Are you going to talk to Maggie anytime soon?" Alicia questions him. She knew that Maggie not coming to the campgrounds hurt Daryl.

"Yeah, I will...eventually at least Today she's got enough on her plate with Negan being at the campgrounds," Daryl says, rubbing her hair.

"I know," Alicia says.

"Go to sleep. I listen for the babies," Daryl tells Alicia, who nods as she closes her eyes. Daryl looks at the wall and looks at the picture of Merle that Anne had drawn.

He couldn't help but smile...Christ, what would he say about all this?

Carl's P.O.V

Carl walks up to Earl after he says goodbye to his son Kenneth. "Keep my boy safe," Earl says to Carl. "You stay safe as well."

"I will," Carl says. Earl nods as he hugs Carl fatherly.

"Watch his back," He tells Enid, who nods.

"If I don't, he'll hurt himself," Enid says with a smirk. Carl lets Earl go and walks back over to Enid. "Let's go help and get the horses ready," Carl nods as he follows Enid.

Shane's P.O.V

Shane rides beside Negan as they go down the road. They were the back of the group, and Maggie was upfront with Michonne, Maggie, and Al. "Stay by me," Shane tells him.

"I planned on it," Negan says flatly, thinking that was a stupid thing to suggest. "This was a bad idea."

"It was. But it was going to happen sooner or later. Rick knew that, and that is why he agreed to it," Shane explains to Negan, who nods. Shane looks at Carl as he slows down and falls in step with them.

"We should reach the city pretty soon." They nod.

"How have things been at Hilltop?" Negan asks.

"Good, Maggie's been pretty pissed off. I know that the saviors are still trying to fix that place," Carl says.

"New place?" Negan asks Carl, who nods.

"They are leaving the factory. They can't grow food there. They are relying on the other communities for supplies," Carl explains to Negan, who nods.

Carl blinked "You...don't look surprised."

"What? Hell no Kid. That fucking factory sucks. The only reason it worked was because you guys were giving us supplies," Negan tells them.

Carl was curious "Why did you stay there?"

Negan shrugged "it was well defensible and I figured the tough location would harden the people...plus Laura's father died helping take that place...I didn't want it to be for nothing."

Carl fell silent...realizing he never asked How the Sanctuary was founded.

Before he could ask, Negan looked back to change the subject "Who's leading it?"

"Arat and Reilly," Carl tells Negan, who nods.

"Arat's a good choice. Everybody respects her. Reilly was one of the saviors at the outpost that you guys took, right?" Negan asks Carl, who nods. "I'm surprised Laura never returned."

"I don't think she wants to," Shane comments. "It seems like she gets closer with Troy every day."

Then Shane wondered if he said too much as Negan turns and stares at Shane for several moments.

"Have they now?"

'Oh crap' Shane thought and knew if that was the case, Troy was gonna get a 'talk' sooner then later.

Cyndie's P.O.V

Cyndie rode her horse up beside Maggie and looked at her. "You want to scout ahead with me?" Cyndie asks Maggie, who nods. "We'll be back, Rick," She tells the man, who nods as they ride forward. They got ahead of the group and slowed down. "He shouldn't be here."

"I agree," Maggie says. "But there isn't much we can do."

"Not yet, there isn't," Cyndie says. "The saviors that killed my people. My brother, some of them are still alive. Some of them live at the factory, and I think it's about time they pay for what they have done."

"If you kill them, you'll break the treaty that we signed. If I kill Negan, I'll break it. I agree with you, but we could make it much worse for each other. If you want to kill them, wait until the opportunity presents itself," Maggie tells her.

"What are you going to do about Negan?" Cyndie asks.

"I don't know," Maggie says with a sigh.

"Why? Cause Rick says it's so?" Cyndie said bitterly.

"Look I've known him since almost the start of this, my Father loved him like a son, we can't-" Maggie tried to explain.

"Didn't he once look you in the f*** eye and promised that that bat swinging monster would die?" Cyndie asked.

Maggie remained silent.

"If he can't keep his word to you, why should you keep your word for him?" With that Cyndie turned and went back...

After a moment, Maggie bit her lip and soon followed.

Morgan's P.O.V

Morgan looks at Rosita. They were on the side of the group. "Did you mean what you said? Do you think Negan has changed?" Morgan asks Rosita, who looks at him.

"I meant everything I said. I do think he has changed. I think a lot of that is because of Shane, but I believe Negan has changed. But I have not forgiven him for what he did. I don't think I ever can," Rosita tells Morgan, who nods, deciding that was fair enough. They go over a small hill and see Washington.

"Here we go," Rosita says as they ride into the city.

Thanks for reading. I was hesitant to add Negan to the run, but I feel like it will help further the story and set up some more things that will happen in the upcoming chapters. I do want to say this. These chapters will not follow the show exactly. There will be different lines and scenes. So don't expect them to follow the show. The last thing is that you will see a little less of Daryl during this. What I mean by that is Daryl won't be a part of the main bridge story for a little while. His story will mainly be with Alicia in the campgrounds getting used to being a father. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.