Chapter 50-Searching
Alicia's P.O.V
Daryl woke up when he heard knocking at his door. He looks at the window and sees it is still dark. He climbs out of bed and goes to the door as Alicia wakes up. He pulls the door open and looks at Morgan. "What's wrong?" Daryl asks, seeing the anxious look on Morgan's face.
"Get dressed. Come downstairs."
Daryl nods as he shuts the door. He puts his shirt and vest on and grabs his crossbow.
"We'll hear the babies if they cry. Leave the door open." Alicia says as she puts her leather jacket on. They leave the room and go downstairs to Maggie's office. Maggie, Al, Carl, Troy, Laura, Gabriel, Beth, Tara, Enid, Jesus, Rick, Michonne, Madison, Nick, Alden, and Luciana all stood in the room looking at Morgan and Rosita. Daryl and Alicia stood by the door.
"What's wrong?" Rick asks.
"One of the Saviors, Luke, shot Negan." Morgan says. "He fell into the River. Shane told us to come here to gather a search party."
The room was silent as everybody processed what Morgan had said, many staring taken aback at this big news. Troy wraps his arms around Laura, who is almost in tears, covering her mouth. "Where's Luke?" Daryl asks, jaw tight.
"Dead, he shot himself in the head," Morgan answers.
"What?" Rick gaped at Morgan, bewildered that of all people, it was a Savior who attacked Negan "Why?"
"I talked to some of the others. Luke's wife was killed at one of the Outpost attacks. And from the sounds of it, Luke was one of those who blamed Negan for it." Morgan says.
Daryl punches the door frame making a hole with his fist before he storms out of Barrington house. Alicia turns to follow, giving the Hilltop people and apologetic look.
"Give him a minute," Morgan says. "We need people."
"I'm coming," Carl says quickly. He is quickly followed by Enid, Nick, Alden, Gabriel, Luciana, Rick, Michonne, Troy, Laura, Beth, Tara, and Jesus.
"Go with them." Madison says to Alicia.
"I can't. The babies need me," Alicia argues.
"You can. You have breast milk in the fridge for two days," Madison argues.
"Shane is going to need you," Alicia says.
"Both of you go," Al says from where she sat. "I'll watch the babies. Negan means something to both of you. Find him."
"I bet Kenneth and Earl would be willing to help. Tammy could help Al," Michonne says.
"One of you goes and ask. I'm going to go find Daryl," Alicia says. They nod as she leaves.
Standing to the side watching ALL of this...
None of them, in all the moment, saw the Hilltop's Leaders fist tighten.
Carl's P.O.V
Carl knocks on Earl's trailer. A minute later, Earl opens the door. "It is the middle of the night, son. What is it?" Earl asks. His voice was ruff.
"Negan got shot and fell in the water. They need people to help search for him," Carl explains quickly.
"I'll get Kenneth and my things," Earl says.
"Can you ask Tammy to help Al watch Merle and Ofelia?" Carl asks. Earl nods as he goes into the trailer. He walked away from the trailer and stood in the grass, just staring up at the sky.
"Carl," Enid says softly as she walks up to him. Carl looks at her as tears begin to form in his eyes. Enid wraps her arms around his neck as Carl lays his head on her shoulder.
"I'm sick of losing people."
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl stood on the wall watching the woods. He looks at Alicia as she climbs up the ladder. "I never thought I would see you this worked up over Negan." Alicia says, trying to lighten the mood. Daryl looks at her stonily, and she nods sheepishly. "Right. Sorry. Bad time for a joke."
"We can't even help." Daryl says.
"We can. Al is watching them, and they are asking Tammy to help. If Tammy says yes, we can go," Alicia says.
"You sure you can leave?" Daryl asks her. "I know you've been hesitant."
"Negan's family. He needs to be found regardless of if he's alive or dead," Alicia says as she lays her hand on his shoulder. "We're going to find him."
"I know, whatever else I can say about that asshole is that he's a tough son of a bitch." Daryl says as he kisses her forehead.
Alicia's P.O.V
Alicia grabs her barrel out of her bag and holds it in her hand for a second before she puts it on her hip. She walks out of the room and walks downstairs. She walks into Maggie's office and looks at Al and Tammy, who had Merle and Ofelia. "I fed them. As Mom said, there is milk in the fridge," Alicia says to them.
"Be safe," Al says. Alicia nods as she goes outside. She walks up to Al's van and a truck. She climbs inside the van, and they leave, heading for the bridge camp.
Shane's P.O.V
Shane stood by the bridge and watched the water as it flowed. "Shane." Madison says from behind him. He turns around and looks at her. Madison walks up to Shane and hugs him. He puts his face in her neck. "Come on. Everybody's ready," Madison says. Shane nods as Madison grabs his hand. They walk up to the bridge camp. Shane looks at Daryl and Alicia, who nodded.
"The river flows to the east," Shane says. "We'll split into groups and search the bank and woods. "I'll assign the groups. The rest of you will stay here and continue working on the bridge," Shane says.
"Daryl, Alicia, Morgan, Rosita, John, and June will start at the riverbank and go towards the river. You'll take the other side of the river. Nick, Madison, Michonne, Rick, Jesus, and I will take the other side. Carl, Enid, Earl, Kenneth, Amanda, and Dwight will start in the woods. Look around for any place he could find shelter. Take the same side as Daryl. If you merge together, cover more ground. Troy, Laura, Cole, Strand, Gabriel, Beth, and Tara will take the same side as me. We'll go as far as we can until nightfall."
"What about us?" Carol asks.
"You're staying here. You, Ezekiel, and Jerry are in charge of the camp," Shane tells them. Shane looks at Reilly. "Keep your people under control."
Reilly nods, knowing it was best for him to stay quiet. "Let's go," Shane says as everybody gets into their groups and leaves.
Carl's P.O.V
Carl walked in front of his group. He looked at Dwight as he walked up beside him. "I'm a little surprised to see you help," Carl says.
"Me too," Dwight says. "If this happened a year ago, I would be at Hilltop throwing a party with Maggie."
Carl cracks a small smile at his words. "He's changed," Dwight says. "As much as I hate to admit it, believe me it does. The Negan who got shot isn't the one who fought in that war."
"I think we all changed because of the war," Carl says as they see feet. Holding out a hand to stop the conversation, Carl pulls out his knife and slowly moves towards the body. He moves around the tree and lowers his knife. On the ground a walker laid, not moving. Carl was focused on what was in its head. He walks up to the walker and pull the weapon out, quickly recognizing Negan's mace, studying.
"Anybody see anything?" Carl asks. The group looks around them, but nothing was there but trees
"No." Earl says.
"This means that he isn't in the river anymore." Enid says. "That's good. He was alive at one point, at least...right?"
"We don't know when this walker died. Let's keep going," Carl says as he begins to walk again.
But as he looked at the Mace, a growing sense of unease was forming in the pit of his stomach.
If the mace was here, where was Negan?
Al's P.O.V
Al layed Merle in his crib and walked out of the room. She walks downstairs. "Al," Maggie says. Al looks at her and walks into the office.
"What is it?" Al asks her, crossing her arms as she sat.
Maggie sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you. You didn't do anything wrong."
"Well, it looks like you were right. They used the guns." Al says. "It might not be bad from your side." Maggie sighs as she stands up and walks over to Al.
"I don't want to talk about Negan. Are we okay?" Maggie asks Al, who nods. Al kisses Maggie.
"I need to eat something before the babies wake up. Tammy said she'd make something in the kitchen," Al says. Maggie nods as she stands up. Al walks towards the door.
"Al," Maggie says, causing Al to look at her. "I'm mad I wasn't the one who pulled the trigger."
Al just stared at her...then turned and she left the room without a word.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl and Alicia walked at the front of the group. Daryl was looking at the riverbank. He stops when he sees a walker. "I got it." Alicia says as she pulls her barrel out. She walks up to the walker and stabs her barrel through the jaw. Daryl walks up to her and nods. They continue to walk for about five minutes.
"Daryl," Morgan says as he looks at the bank. Daryl looks at him and sees where he was pointing. Daryl goes down to the mud and looks at it.
"What is it?" Rosita asks.
"Someone was dragged," The hunter says as he looks at it.
"Which way?" June asks. Turning around, he started to walk into the trees. He walks for about a minute and stops.
"It ends here." Daryl says as he looks around. "I got a set of footprints."
June frowned, getting more and more concerned "He just walks? Do you think he has a concussion?"
Shane's P.O.V
Shane walks at the back of the group with a machete in his hands. "I don't see anything," Michonne says. "Maybe the others have had some better luck."
"Or he's farther down the river," Shane comments. He looks up at the sky. "We got a few hours left of sunlight. We'll walk for about another hour before we start going back to camp," They nod as they keep going.
Madison stops beside Shane and gives him a reassuring smile. "Negan's one tough son of a bitch. You know that."
"Being tough doesn't save you from a gunshot," Shane mutters.
"I survived a stadium on fire and filled with walkers. Beth survived a gunshot to the head," Madison says. Michonne looked over, now very interested in hearing that story.
Shane was about to speak when his radio went off.
"Guys, come to my side. A mile north of the bridge," Daryl says. They turn around and begin to walk. It took them about an hour to reach Daryl. Carl and Beth's group were already there. Shane walks up to Daryl, who is holding Negan's jacket. The inside was soaked in blood.
"I also found this." Carl says as he holds his mace. Shane looks around the road they were on.
"How did he get out here? This is the main road," Rick says.
"I don't think he did," Daryl says, making them look at him. "Someone was dragged from the river. I think Negan was dragged and picked up," Daryl throws Troy the jacket and points at the ground. "These are tire marks. They end pretty quickly, but someone has him. Whether he is dead or alive is the question."
"We'll continue tomorrow," Shane says.
"We gotta go back to Hilltop," Alicia says.
"I know," Shane says. "Tell them what we found, and thank you."
They nod as they begin to walk back towards the camp.
Last one to leave, Carl looked at the road again, both concerned and confused...his jacket was gone, his mace was gone...
What happened and who picked him up?
A cabin
The cabin was small. There was a couch and a cot up against the wall. There was a bathroom and a fireplace which was lit. There was a small kitchen and a bathroom. A cough could be heard from the cot. Negan opened his eyes and groaned as he turned his head. "Took you long enough. Usually you never shut the fuck up." A woman says from the fireplace, not looking away from the fire. Startled at the voice, Negan looks at the woman as she turns and looks at him.
Negan starts to laugh in disbelief as he looks at her. After a few seconds, he coughs. "Laughing hurts." Negan groaned.
"Something funny, Negan?" She asks, annoyed
"You might be the only person in this world that matches Maggie in reasons to kill me." He said cautiously now, now disbelieving of who was there.
"How do you know I won't kill you?" She says.
"I don't, but usually, you don't save someone you're going to kill." Negan snarked as she walked closer to him. She bends down and puts her hand on his wound with fire ablaze in her eyes. He grits his teeth.
"Don't test me." She growled as she stood.
"Okay, fine. You didn't save me out of the goodness of your heart. Why did you save me, Sherry? Why am I even here? Where the hell have you been?" Negan asks. Sherry had long brown hair and hazel eyes. She had a slim build and was of average height.
"Because we're going to have some fun and decide if you deserve to live or die," Dwight's estranged and long vanished now reappeared wife says with a grin. "I would sleep, Negan. Tomorrow could be your last day on Earth." Sherry says as she walks back towards the fire. Negan tries to move but realizes his hand was cuffed to the metal pole at the end of the cabin...he then looked between Sherry and the cuffs, now realizing the predicament he was in.
"Fuck."
Thanks for reading. Of course, Negan is alive, Negan still has so much story to come, but I have been trying to figure out the best way to bring Sherry in, and this felt right. We'll learn more about her reasons in the next chapter. Negan will have to play the game right if he wants to walk away alive. As always suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time