Chapter 60-Stopping her
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl paced outside of the medical tent not having gotten much sleep. He looked at Shane as he walked over. "Anything?"
"No, June and Siddiq are still in there." Daryl says as Shane holds a glass of water out to Daryl. The sun was beginning to rise in the air. Daryl drinks the glass and hands it back to Shane. They both look at the tent flap as it opens.
"How is he?" Shane asks.
"He'll live," June says, wiping her hands with a wary look.
"What happened?" Daryl asks.
"Poison." June tells him. "Someone tried to poison him. Thank god we were able to get to him. A few minutes longer he wouldn't make it."
"He awake?"
"Yeah, but he's weak. You can talk to him," June says. "I'll go tell Michonne."
They nod as they go into the tent. Rick was pale, and his breathing was labored. "How are you feeling?" Daryl asks gently, resting a hand on the bed.
"Like shit," Rick says with a cough, hacking a bit as Shane looks away with a grimace, likely bringing back memories of the last time he saw Rick lying on a bed like this. "Gregory."
"What?" Daryl asks quietly.
"Gregory gave me a drink last night. A few minutes later, I passed out. It was the only thing I drank." Rick says. "I think Gregory tried to poison me."
Daryl turned around and left the tent quickly, followed by Shane. "Daryl, what is it?" June asks as they storm past her. Daryl sees Gregory helping Strand and Cole load some things into the truck. Daryl grabs Gregory by the back of his shirt and slams his face into the truck.
"Daryl!? What the hell?!" Strand says in bewilderment as Daryl throws Gregory to the ground and kicks him. Strand grabs his shoulder, and Daryl elbows him in the face. Shane kicks Gregory in the face.
"Please stop this!" Gregory begged for his life before Daryl punches him again. He pulls out his knife and presses it up against his throat.
"You do it!?" Daryl shouts at him murderously.
"Do what?" Gregory cries out, trying to deny it. Daryl punches him. Alden grabs him by the shoulder as Shane looked at him angrily, looking ready to stop Alden from touching Daryl.
"Daryl!" he says as he pulls him back. Daryl looks at him. "You gotta stop."
Seeing this, Shane pushes Alden away and kicks Gregory again. "Did you poison Rick!?" Daryl shouts, and everybody stops and goes silent. "Last chance, or I'll slit your fucking throat!"
"Yes, I did. I did it! Please don't kill me!" Gregory cries out, and Daryl drops him to the ground. Daryl kicks him in the side again and then the face.
"Load him up." Daryl ordered with a tone that didn't broker argument. "I'm taking him to Hilltop."
Strand and Cole grab Gregory, and Amanda ties his hands together. "Daryl, you're hand." Strand says. Daryl looks at his hand, which is bloody.
"Don't matter," Daryl says. "Tell me if anything changes," Daryl says to Shane, who looked like he was considering giving Gregory another hit, but turned and curtly nodded...heading back to the Medical Tent.
"I'll come." Alden says. "Just in case."
Daryl nods as he walks up to his bike. Alden climbs on behind him, and Strand drives away with Gregory in the back, and Daryl follows.
Maggie's P.O.V
Maggie walked outside Barrington house as Daryl drove the bike into Hilltop with Strand. "I didn't think you'd be back so earl,!" Maggie says. Daryl doesn't say anything as he goes to the truck and pulls the door open. He grabs Gregory by his shirt and throws him out of the car at Maggie's feet with a growl. "What the hell?"
"He tried to kill Rick!" Daryl says angrily.
"What?" Carl asks in horror "Is he ok!?"
"He poisoned him. He's recovering at the bridge camp." Daryl says reassuringly to his surrogate nephew, who already looked half ready to head to his father's side. "Beatrice is dead." Daryl says loud enough for everybody to hear, Maggie shooting up in particular at that. "Oceanside's been banished, they come to any of the communities again they'll die. There are consequences now." Daryl looks at Maggie.
Maggie stared wide eyed "Wait, you banished them!? Why the hell didn't-"
Daryl curtly said "it was the only way to prevent the Saviors from demanding them all to be killed. If they had killed Arat, things would have gone to shit very fucking fast."
He and her stared at each other, Daryl silently informing her that they were N.O.T done by a longshot for giving Cyndie the go ahead...but decided to change the subject for now, pointing at the sniveling worm on the ground.
"You kill him, or I do. He's gotten too many chances. He sold us out to Saviors. He left Gabriel. He tried to kill Rick. He dies today, either by you are me," Daryl says.
"Take him downstairs," Maggie orders two men who nod as they grab Gregory.
"Let me go!" Gregory says that as they pull the door open, he is taken downstairs. Daryl looks at Alicia as she walks outside. He walks up to her and hugs her.
Maggie walks inside.
Morgan's P.O.V
Morgan walks inside of Rick's tent and looks at him. "This looks familiar," Morgan says as he sat down on the chair, trying to lighten the mood.
"Only this time, I wasn't hit in the face with a shovel by Duane." Rick says with a chuckle. Morgan smiles as he sits down.
"Daune started to yell for me when he hit you. He said you were a walker. I came up to him, and I looked at you, and I told him. 'He's alive, Daune. This man is alive,. Getting you inside of that house was one of the hardest things I have ever done," Morgan says, making Rick laugh.
"I owe all of this to you, Morgan. Thank you...for saving me." Rick says.
Morgan just smiled at him and shrugged if off, clearly having told that a few times "I was just a stranger who made a decision to save a man I didn't know, a man who could have harmed my son, that was one of the best choices I ever made, and I can't say I've made a lot of good decisions since then."
"You lost yourself, Morgan, but you found yourself again. We've all been there," Rick says. Morgan nods as Rick coughs. Morgan grabs a glass on the nightstand and hands it to Rick, who drinks it.
"June said your body will be weak for a few days. You need to rest." Rick nods as Morgan stands and leaves.
"Tired..." Morgan turned, curious as Rick said wearily "I'm tired Morgan. I...since the war ended, all I tried to do is what's right."
Morgan said sternly "It's not easy, that means you know it's the right thing. I'm not excusing what Arat did by any means, but she was a leader and a respected member of the Saviors. You and we all did what was necessary...Rick I want you to listen to me. Real close."
As Rick looked up, Morgan said gently "We got this, you can trust us. You don't need to carry this burden of being in charge all on your own...Daryl's stepped up, you have Michonne, hell that boy of yours probably braver then all of us." He paused seeing Rick's face shine with pride at the man his son's become "You did your part...Abraham said that the 'New World is gonna Need Rick Grimes'...well the new world is here. Now your family, your child needs you."
Rick paused...then muttered "Children."
"...What?" Morgan paused a moment.
Rick looked up with a shine in his eye "Morgan, can I trust you to keep a secret?"
Morgan said without hesitation, coming to the foot of the bed "Always Rick. What is it?"
Maggie's P.O.V
Maggie walked down the stairs and into the basement. Gregory sat on a bench behind a cell. She opened the door and looked at him. "You can't do this," Gregory begs, holding his hands up. "You know, you're here to kill me, but I'm not your real enemy Maggie. Your real enemy is the man I tried to kill. He kept Negan alive. He kept your husbands' murderer alive. he let him free, Glenn's death be damned." Gregory says.
"Shut up." Maggie says as she walks closer to him. "Rick? You tried to poison HIM?"
Gregory stared then sneered, standing up "Everything was fine and dandy. Then one day the 'famous' Rick Grimes, you and the rest of your goddamn band of maruaders came inside with Paul." He pointed at her "I built this fucking place you Bitch! Then Rick comes along and hands it to you, you know...I was gonna poison you." Maggie's jaw tightened as Gregory slimely said "But with your nosey reporter friend and blond bitch of a sister here, I could never get the chance. And...well I didn't want Hershel to lose both parents."
Maggie stared for a moment "Wo what? You think all of this is... Rick's fault?"
"Of course it was! Hilltop wouldn't have lost it's people in the war, we would have kept our deal going, then one day your mentor and you screw it all to hell!" The former Hilltop leader ranted.
Maggie stared then turned around "Your being hung tonight, best think about what you did."
But she stopped as Gregory continued, the asshole never knowing when to stop pushing buttons, smugly saying.
"You want to know what I think. Maybe you just don't care, maybe you've forgiven the bitch, or maybe you are just a coward, or maybe you never truly cared for Glenn, you just wanted a fu-" Gregory stopped as Maggie turned around stabbed him in the chest. He coughs out blood and looks at Maggie in shock, not expecting her to go through with it. She pulls the knife out and slits his throat. Gregory grabs his throat as he falls to the ground and falls, gurgling at his own blood. Maggie stares at the body and walks out of the cell. He walks outside and grabs a crowbar that is up against the wall. She calmly walked up the steps and started to walk towards the gate.
"Maggie?" Carl says from behind her. "Where are you going, what about Gregory?"
"Tell Beth she is in charge." Maggie says as she leaves Hilltop. She walked down the dirt road. She walked in silence for about ten minutes, mind racing a million miles a second, when she heard a car behind her. She looked at it, and then the window rolled down.
"Get in." Enid says.
"I'm not going back." Maggie says sharply.
"I'm not taking you back," Enid says with a sigh. "If killing Negan will bring you some kind of peace so you can live your life, so be it. Now get in."
Maggie pulls the door open and climbs in as Enid starts to drive. "What about Carl?"
"He'll live. I loved Glenn. I just want this stop. Just be prepared for the consequences." Enid says.
Maggie's jaw tightened "I don't care about them, just like they don't care about what I feel."
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl walks outside and walks towards the cellar as Earl comes over. "Have you seen Carl?" Earl asks Daryl, who shakes his head as he pulls the door open. Daryl goes down the stairs, and Earl follows him.
"What are you doing?" Earl asked.
"Gonna talk to that fucking snake and ask why he tried to poi-"
Daryl stops when he gets in front of the cell. Gregory turned towards him and growled as he reached for him through the cell bars. He bit at him. "What the hell?" Earl yells, jumping back in shock, seeing the former leader dead as can be.
"Maggie killed him." Daryl says as he pulls his knife out. He stabs him in the head and pushes Gregory's walker to the ground. Staring at the body in grim realization, wondering what this jackass said to Maggie, Daryl goes up the stairs quickly and sees Beth. "Have you seen Maggie or Carl?" Daryl asks Beth, who shakes her head.
"Enid's missing too," Alden says.
"What's going on?" Alicia asks.
"My best guess? Maggie's going after Negan." Daryl says. "Carl and Enid might be trying to stop her. Radio Shane." Daryl goes towards his bike. "Alden, let's go," Daryl says. "Beth, make sure everybody is ready to leave. We may have to send search parties out to look for 'em."
Beth nods as Daryl starts the bike and leaves Hilltop with Alden behind him.
Maggie's P.O.V.
The forest loomed high overhead as Enid kept driving through the woods.
Sitting at the front, Maggie looked around and turned to her, confused about this shortcut. "Enid, what's going on? Where's the camp?"
Enid remained silent as they stopped at a clearing in the middle of the woods, not a walker or person in sight...she turned off the car and got out.
Frustrated by the silence, Maggie got out of the truck, snapping, "Enid, you answer me! Why are we here!?"
"I can't you let you do it," Enid turned, staring at the woman she considered her new Mother.
"What did you do?"
"I'm saving you from yourself," Enid says.
Maggie just stared at her. Then her ears perked as she turned to see another car coming up the road, soon coming to a stop.
It opened, and Carl Grimes stepped out, shutting the door.
"...What is this?" Maggie turned. Her voice is small and hurt.
"I'm sorry." Enid teared up, looking away.
"Enid, head to the camp," Carl said softly, not looking away from Maggie.
"Carl-" Enid tried to protest.
"I'll be fine. We'll both be." He said comfortingly and reassuringly.
She looked between the two and sighed, turning back.
The two stood there in the forest clearing, just staring at each other, barely noticing the truck leaving.
"...You roped Enid into this?" Maggie started, voice clipped.
Carl shrugged, crossing his arms. "She was worried. You left Hilltop in a rush. It looked like. With a Crowbar."
She just stared at him, then looked at the car he arrived in, then turned back. "Give me the keys, Carl."
"No." His response was flat and simple.
Maggie's nostrils flared as if fire was brimming...Carl continued, starting to walk around, "If you seriously think you can just go behind my Dad's back, Daryl's back-"
"You shut the fuck up."
"You seriously think they'll TRUST you again after this!? After everything we've been through, Maggie, the Farm, Woodbury, Terminus, the Prison, you're letting it fall apart!? Over this?!" He stopped, over a dozen feet away, staring at her with disbelief in his one eye.
"There is nothing left to say. It's been a YEAR and a HALF, and I CAN'T move on." Maggie hissed, her eyes glaring at him "...Negan shouldn't have been released, hell he shouldn't have been in that CELL. He Should have bled out under that damn tree."
Carl said firmly, "But he didn't, Maggie. It's DONE."
"WHY? Cause your Daddy said so?" Maggie sneered. "He promised to follow me. He didn't. He promised me Negan would D.I.E. He's still alive."
His own temper up, Carl took a step forward. "You think that was easy for him? It tore him up every day! He knows what he did, what he took from you, but it's what Had to be DONE!"
"...You were there, Carl." Maggie's voice burned with hate. "You saw what he did...to Abraham...what he almost did to YOU...to...to my..."
Carl said softly, "He was my family too, Maggie."
"HE WASN'T!" Maggie screeched, "HE WASN'T YOUR FAMILY! HE WAS JUST YOUR FRIEND. HE WAS MY GODDAMN HUSBAND!"
Growling, insulted at this implication, Carl pointed at her, "HEY HEY, THAT IS NOT FAIR!"
"Fair?! FAIR!? When the hell did you and Rick give a damn about being fair?! Was it fair I didn't even get a damn CHOICE in sparing that monster?! Was it FAIR that Daryl lets him out without my damn say!?"
Carl said stonily, "Yes, like it was 'Fair' that you were willing to let Troy die."
"DON'T." Maggie hissed, the two now almost circling each other.
"Like it's FAIR that you were gonna once rob that woman. Georgina. For her supplies, who does that remind you of?!"
Her eyes flashing dangerously, she growled, "You sanctimonious fucker...if your Dad was SLAUGHTERED under that damn bat, you would be the first one to kill him!"
"...Maybe." Carl shrugged. "But what's done is done. It's not about forgetting. It's about MOVING AHEAD. Do you really want to start this? We kill him. Then Sanctuary gets into an uproar! Hell, they're already tense enough with the disappearances! You want to threaten everything we're building for him!?"
"The fuck is wrong with you!? He tried to cut your arm off. He threatened to kill you at Alexandria-"
"CAUSE WE DID THE SAME! Remember the people at Terminus? We had THEM on their knees, and we killed all of them! He's not evil-"
Maggie stormed forward, face to face now. "He laughed. He SLAUGHTERED my husband, and he laughed!"
Stepping away, Carl stared at her, now in disbelief. "What would Glenn say? Your Dad? Beth and Al? You really want to get through me. For Negan?"
"..." Maggie choked up. "I don't know...I didn't say goodbye... I DON'T KNOW what they would want."
Carl pressed his lips together...it dawning on him.
This was a woman who genuinely felt that her family had turned their backs on her...Rick for sparing Negan...Daryl for releasing him...and now Enid and Carl for stopping her.
"You have a future now." Carl said, "Hilltop, Al, HERSHEL...it's time to build one not soaked in blood."
For a moment, Carl wondered if he was able to get through to her...but her head shot up "it's already soaked, now give me the Fucking Keys!"
She tried to reach for his pocket, but Carl grabbed her hand, growling as the pair started struggling. "Goddammit, Maggie, stop."
"GIVE ME THE DAMN-" Maggie then tackled him, and the two tumbled down into a hill...
Soon they landed badly at the bottom of a dirt pile...
Carl coughed, rubbing the dirt and trying to keep his empty socket clear...he looked up to see the pair in a massive ditch-like area.
He slowly stood up as Maggie staggered...looking, then they looked at each other, eyes hard again. "It was me. I wanted my Dad to keep Negan alive. I talked him into it. It was all me."
Thanks for reading the next chapter. Maggie and Carl get out of the hole but are faced with another problem, the group must come together to save their family, and Rick makes a decision that will change everything. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.