Chapter 47-Finding a location

Morgan's P.O.V

Morgan woke up as the sun shined through the window. His arms were wrapped around Rosita's waist. "I was surprised that you were still here," Rosita says softly.

"I wouldn't have done that," Morgan says. "But I do have to get up. I'm supposed to go with Rick," Morgan says. Rosita nods as she climbs out of bed. Morgan walks up to his coat and puts it on before he grabs his stick. Morgan and Rosita leave the R.V. and walk up to the gates that open for them. They walk inside as people start to get breakfast. After they get their food, they sit with Daryl, Alicia, John, June, and Charlie.

"I don't see Shane or Madison," Morgan says. "Or the babies."

"They are with Negan. Madison wanted to spend some time with them while we ate, and Shane didn't want Negan to be alone, so they went back out," Daryl explains. Morgan and Rosita nod as they start to eat.

"Who is going with Rick today?" Alicia asks them.

"Me, Alden, Luciana, Rick, Aaron, Jesus, Lilly, Kenny, Rick, and Carol," Morgan says. "Kenny is supposed to be bringing Clementine and AJ here.

They nod as Rick walks over to them. "We're leaving in thirty minutes," Morgan nods as Rick walks away.

"Okay, I gotta go find Amanda. She wants to talk about patrols with everybody." Rosita says as she finishes eating.

"I thought you weren't part of that anymore because you live at the campgrounds," John says.

"I'm not. I'm like a guest member. It isn't just walkers we have to worry about. We have to keep the peace with the saviors and keep anyone from the communities from pulling anything," Rosita tells them. She taps Morgan's shoulder, and he looks at her. Rosita kisses Morgan and grabs her plate. She smiles at him before she leaves. Morgan looks at his plate.

"When did that happen?" Daryl asks, staring after her then Morgan, causing Morgan to look down with a blush.

"Last night," He says.

"It's a good thing, Morgan," Alicia says reassuringly. Morgan nods as he continues to eat.

Nick's P.O.V

Nick and Henry stood outside of Hilltop. Henry had asked Nick to show him how to use the staff better and fight better with it. They both held their sticks at their sides. "Don't swing to hurt. We don't need to cause any injuries." Nick says. Henry nods as he grips the stick. Henry swings his stick at Nick, who blocks it and trips the boy. Nick falls on his back, and Henry quickly stands back up and charges Nick again. He swings his stick quickly, trying to hit Nick wherever he can. Nick side steps a swing and knocks Henry to the ground. Henry breathes heavily as he looks up at him. Nick sits down beside Henry and sets his stick beside him. "You don't think." Henry turns his head and looks at Nick.

"What?"

"You swing, but you don't think. Your movements are sloppy. Always think before you attack, especially when you have others around you. If you don't, you could get yourself or somebody else hurt." Nick explains to Henry, who nods as he slowly brings himself up. Nicks stands his hand out to Henry, who takes it. "Let's go again."

Negan's P.O.V

Negan sat on the R.V with a book in his hands. "You look ready to throw yourself off the R.V/" Negan turns his head and looks at Laura, who was grinning at him teasingly.

"I am," Negan says as the blond sits down. "I'm trapped here, and if I try to go towards the woods, I bet one of those a*** will shoot me."

Laura chuckles. "So I heard that you and Troy talked last night."

"I just gave him the typical threats that your Dad would have given." Negan tells her. "He's a good guy. I wouldn't date him, but you flirted with Spencer, so you don't have the best taste."

"At least I only date one person at a time," Laura retorts.

"Fair enough," Negan says.

"Come on. They aren't going to shoot me. Let's go on a walk," Laura says. Negan nods as he follows her.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick and Morgan were in a car at the front of the group. Rick glances at Morgan, who hadn't spoken since they left, and looks out the window. "What's on your mind?" Rick asks Morgan, who looks at him.

"Did you ever feel guilty for being with Michonne?" Morgan asks Rick. Rick had seen Rosita kiss Morgan, and he knew his friend was conflicted about his feelings for her.

"At first, I was a little." Rick admits. "I was worried about how Carl would react. He had a good reaction. Lori wouldn't want me to be unhappy, even if we didn't get along in the end. Still, I like to think that Lori would be okay with it," Rick explains to Morgan, who nods. "I never met Jenny. But I did meet Duane and I know he would want you to be happy even if it wasn't with Jenny."

"Before or after he wacked you in the head?" Morgan couldn't help but grin.

Rick rolled his eyes but still chuckled "that's not the point. The point is that it couldn't hurt to give it a chance, Morgan. Both Rosita and you have been through some shit. You both deserve to be happy."

"Every time I've been happy, I've had that torn away from me," Morgan says. "Eastman helped, and he died. I bonded with Benjamin, and he died. Daryl almost died." Morgan says.

"Have you been happy since you've come back?"

Morgan gives a slow nod. "That wasn't your fault" Rick points out as he stops the car. "This is it. It's close to the location, and there is plenty of wood, and somewhere we can put lumber," Rick says as they get out. "Think about what I said," Rick says as they enter the woods with the others behind them.

Clementine's P.O.V

Clementine walks out of the trailer they were staying in. She, Kenny, and A.J had gotten there right after breakfast, and Kenny left with the group. Michonne had offered to watch AJ, but Kenny didn't like leaving AJ alone for that long a period of time, so he insisted he come with them. Clementine walks over to Charlie, who is sitting against the wall. She looks up at her. "Where's A.J?"

"Sleeping. I'll hear him," Clementine says as she sits down beside her. "Why are you on the far side of Hilltop by yourself with a notebook drawing?"

"Because I'm avoiding Rachel." Charlie tells her.

'Who? Why" Clementine asks her.

Charlie looked sheepish, realizing Clementine only came a few months before "Oh right sorry...she's someone from one of the other communities. Oceanside...and it's because she wants to be friends with me," Charlie answers.

"That's a bad thing?" She asks, confused. Clementine didn't know much about Charlie, but from what she saw, there were no kids at the campgrounds, and she hung out with Daniel most of the time.

Charlie sighs. "Before the war, the one that happened before you, Kenny, and AJ were found... the Saviors killed all the men in their group. They hate the Saviors and Negan. They want to kill Negan. I'm not a freaking moron, I'm fully aware of what he's done. The things that he did. But it's history now... Negan is family, and he didn't order that act. One of his men, some feral lunatic named Simon, ordered it without him knowing. I know she is trying to get info or use me for something. The group I was with before Daryl did that. I'm not going back to it."

"Use it against her." Clementine Offers...as Charlie looked up, confused. "If she is trying to use you for info, then be careful what you say and wait for her to slip up. You could save lives that way if she just wants to be your friend. You'll get a friend." Clementine explains to her.

"...You think that would work?"

"...The group that I was with, that Kenny and I were with...it fell apart cause we were fighting among ourselves. Some of the people soon left, taking our supplies. I got shot when it happened."

At Charlie's horrified look, Clementine said "That's why you and the others can't just fall apart. We need people to survive."

"...Alright, I'll give it a try. Thanks...and...sorry." Charlie patted her shoulder.

Clementine smiled "it's fine...it's the past."

Carl's P.O.V

Carl was making axes at the forge, so they cut down wood for the bridge. He looks at Earl, who is working on something else. "What are you making?" Carl asks Earl before he goes back to his work.

"Negan's weapon," Earl answers without looking up. He picks up the weapon and looks at Carl. "What do you think?"

Carl looks at him as Earl hands him the weapon. The weapon's handle was made out of wood. "What is it?"

"It's a mace," Earl answers. "They were mainly used in medieval times," Earl grabs it and shows Carl a button on the side. He presses it, and a small blade comes out at the bottom. He presses the button again, and the blade goes back. "This took a lot of work. If he didn't save my son, all he would get is the mace," Earl says.

"It's nice," Carl says. "Let's go give it to him." Earl nods as he grabs a sheath he had made for the weapon and follows Carl. They leave Hilltop and walk to Negan's camper, where he talks with Shane. The two men turn and look at them as they come up to him. Earl holds the mace out to Negan, who smiles. Negan stands up and grabs the mace. He looks around the weapon and presses the bottom. He presses it again, and the smile on his face grows larger.

"This might be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," Negan says. Earl hands him the sheath.

"Once again, thank you." Earl says.

"Pleasure was mine." Negan says. "Don't know if I'm coming back, but next time I see you, I'm getting your ass a drink." Earl and Carl nod as they walk away, Earl snorting in amusement.

Negan looked down at the mace...grinning a bit and slinging it over his shoulder.

Shane deadpanned "I swear to god, you better not name that thing too."

"Wouldn't dream of it...now, what were you saying...right. You said you were at the CDC?" Negan questioned.

"Right, so there we were, there was a doctor named Jenner..."

Charlie's P.O.V

Charlie finds Rachel at the back of Barrington house with a book. Rachel looks up at her. "Hey," Rachel says with a smile as she stands up. "What's up?"

"Do you really want to be friends? You aren't using me for info?" Charlie asks her.

"I'm not," Rachel lies.

"We don't talk about the saviors at all or your people's feelings towards them," Charlie says.

"Okay," Rachel says with a smile. Charlie nods as she turns to leave. "Hey, wait. You want to hang out?"

"Sure," Charlie says. Rachel smiles as she leads her away.

Rick's P.O.V

John, Morgan, Rick, Maggie, Michonne, Ezekiel, Shane, Carol, and Al all stood in Maggie's office. "We know where we will set up camp. Tomorrow we will begin to set up camp and cut trees. Eugene says with enough effort, we can have it done in just under a month." Rick says.

"We could use the supplies at the warehouse as well. That could be used to reinforce the wood." Morgan says.

"We'll need the Savior's help with that." Ezekiel says.

"I'll send Dwight and Amanda to tell Reilly tomorrow." Shane offers.

"Okay." Rick says.

"How long until the camp will be ready?" Maggie asks Rick.

"Two days at least," Rick says to her. "Al, if you wouldn't mind, we would like to take your van and put it by the lumber when it starts to build up. If walkers show up, we can take them down."

"That's fine," Al says.

Shane raised a hand "I got a question...Rick brother, are...you sure it's a good idea?" At Rick's furrowed brow, Shane explained "The majority of the laborers are going to be Saviors...is that a smart thing to do?"

Rick explained calmly "Yes. They'll do the labor work, and after the bridge is finished, the next project is moving them out of the Sanctuary. We'll leave that place behind and get to the church. It'll be a new beginning. A start over."

At this...Shane nodded, crossing his arms...knowing that was a point, but the workers there were going to be quite pissed seeing their former leader there after he 'turned his back' on them.

"Alright then...that's all. Inform everybody," Rick says. The others nod as they leave the office. Rick and Maggie were the only two left. "Daryl told me about the confrontation between him and Cyndie."

"We've talked about it." Maggie mutters as she sits. Rick puts his hand on the desk and nods.

"I also know why it started. People are worried that you may follow them."

Maggie just stared at him for a moment, then leaned back "Them or just you? I don't think I'm supposed to be the one following anyone."

Rick pauses for a moment, then his face turned guilty "Maggie-"

"Is there anything else Rick?"

Deciding this wasn't the time for an argument as the camp needed to be set up...Rick changed the subject "Yes. I made the treaty for a reason. We all need to work together on this Maggie. Please. We're all in this together." With That Rick turned and left the office.

Maggie's face couldn't help but fall as she saw the guilt on Rick's face...but then she remembered...

'Hilltop's lucky to have you'

'You showed me how to be someone worth following'

'Good...cause after this...I'm following you.'

And her face turned hard again as she turned her chair around, staring out the window.

Thanks for reading. I think I might do a time skip next chapter. It will only be able a week. That will leave two more weeks before the killings begin. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.