Chapter 64-Saying Goodbye

Negan's P.O.V

Rosita stared into his eyes after he asked his question. There was no sound as the two of them stood on the porch. "Why?" Rosita asks him stonily.

"I don't plan on using it if that is what you are thinking." Negan reassures her. "I'll never truly be free from that part of my life as long as that bat is out there.'' Negan explains.

Rosita takes a deep breath and nods. "It's under the tree, Rick was the last one to leave and he said he never picked it up" Rosita says to Negan, who nods.

"Thank you, tell 'em I'll be back," Negan says as he turns to leave.

"You're not supposed to leave by yourself," Rosita says.

"This is something I gotta do alone. You going to stop me?" Negan asks Rosita, who shakes her head after a moment. Negan nods thankfully at her as he walks towards the truck and leaves the campgrounds.

Rosita stared after him, hoping she wasn't making a mistake.

Shane's P.O.V

Shane walked out of his cabin the next morning to see Rosita sitting on his steps. "What's up, Rosita?" Shane asks.

"Negan left last night." Rosita says.

"What do you mean left?" Shane asked with worry in his voice.

"He's going after that bat. He said he'd be back, Shane. I think we gotta let him do whatever he is going to do. This might be his last step to letting go of his old life." Rosita says to him. "Give him until tomorrow at least."

"Fine," Shane says after a moment staring at her. "I'll let him handle this."

Beth's P.O.V

Beth was looking at the inventory of everything they had at Hilltop. She looked at the door as there was a knock. Maggie stood there with Hershel in her arms. "It's kind of weird coming in here and seeing someone else sitting there." Maggie says softly. "Can I sit?"

Beth nods reassuringly, and Maggie takes a seat. "How are you doing?" Beth asks her sister.

"I'm okay. Or...trying to be. Any word from Alexandria?" Maggie asks with trepidation.

Her sister knew who specifically Maggie was asking for, reaching out to grab her hand in comfort.

"Rick's home. He's resting." Beth tells Maggie gently, who sighs with relief.

"Where's Tara?"

"Tara is walking the field with Lilly. They are thinking of ways to build up Hilltop's defenses." Beth tells her. "Al?"

"Sleeping,"

"Do you hate me?" Beth asks her in worry after a minute of silence.

"No." Maggie says quickly. "I couldn't hate you, Beth. You're my sister, and besides Hershel, the only blood family I have left, they did a good job with putting you and Tara in charge, Tara knows Hilltop inside and out, and you'll keep everybody safe. Maybe they were right. This could be what is best for me. Only time will tell."

"You hungry?"

"Yeah, come in," Maggie says as she stands up to leave. Beth follows her out.

Carl's P.O.V

Carl sets his bag in the room of his new house inside of Alexandria. "Look at you, all grown up now, got your own house," Daryl says as he sets another bag down.

"I don't think my Dad wants to hear Enid and me." Carl snorted.

"Fair enough," Daryl smirked. "You've come a long way, kid. I still remember you running around that damn quarry."

"So have you. I still remember that asshole who got into a fist fight with my Dad." Carl said back, causing Daryl to let out a rare bark of laughter "Somehow we made it."

"Yeah." Daryl says. "Go help your girlfriend. I gotta go find Clem. She wants me to give her more lessons."

Carl nods as Daryl leaves the house. Carl reaches into his bag and grabs the picture with him Rick and Lori. He sets it down on the nightstand. He promised her he would do what's right instead of what's easy, culminating in the end of the war. No matter how hard it was, he would keep doing it. "You were right, Mom. I am going beat this world," Carl says before he leaves the room.

Charlie's P.O.V

Charlie throws Rachel's last bag on her floor. "You're sure Daryl and Alicia are going to be okay with me staying here?"

"Yeah, I don't think they'll care, and if they do, you could always move in with Daniel and Skidmark." Charlie says. "My bed is big enough, though."

"So when do I get my gun and knife back?" Rachel asks.

"When you can prove you can be trusted," Charlie says bluntly as she lays down in the bed. "You're going to have to prove yourself just like Negan did."

"Great, I'm at the same level as Negan. Way to make a girl feel down." Rachel says with a groan.

"Lower, Negan has his mace, a knife, and a gun." Charlie corrects her.

"Shut up." She mumbles as she lays down beside Charlie. "How would you suggest I start to prove myself?"

"Help around," Charlie says. "Let's get you unpacked."

Rachel nods as she starts to help her. "I have a question."

"What?" Charlie asks as she looks at her.

"Did you save me because you believed I deserved a second chance or because you have feelings for me?" Rachel asks after a moment.

"Both," Charlie answers. "Don't you dare try anything. Just because I like your means, I trust you. Those two go together."

"Then I guess I'll have to get you to trust me again," Rachel says with a smile. "If I do, you gotta give me a chance, though."

"Fine, deal," Charlie says as she goes back to work, and Rachel helps with a smile.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan threw the shovel to the side, reached into the dirt after an hour of digging around the damn thing, and grabbed the bat he used to kill Glenn, Abraham, and so many others. The symbol of fear and supposed 'salvation'. All of that felt like years ago now. Hell it had been almost over 2 years now. He looked back at the tree, flashes of him bleeding out, Rick standing over him with that bloody knife and Carl begging to save held it in his hands, and it felt wrong. Negan frowns as he stares at the bad. "It all started with you. Now it ends with you," Negan says as he walks back towards the truck with the bad in hand.

Alicia's P.O.V

Alicia sat on the porch with a cup of coffee in her hands. "Babies sleeping?" Michonne asked

"Yeah," Alicia says as Michonne sits down beside her. "Do you think it will last this time?" Alicia asks Michonne, who looks at her confused. "The peace?"

Michonne sighs and stays silent for a moment. "I hope so, but every time we get peace, something always screws it up. If somebody tries to screw it up this time, we'll beat them, just like we did the True Saviors, Oceanside, and we stopped Maggie from killing Negan."

Alicia stared at her for a moment, then asked "Do you trust him then?"

Michonne said immediately and simply "Carl does, that's enough for me."

Smiling, Alicia accepted that and changed the subject "You want to help me with something?"

"That depends. What is it?"

"You want to help me plan a wedding?" Alicia asks.

"For you?" Michonne asks looking at her wide eyed.

"No, for my Mom and Shane. They'll never do it if we want peace and to build a new world. Let's do things we haven't done since the old world ended. Let's have a wedding. Not today or even this month, but why not?" Alicia asks.

"Okay, let's do it." Michonne says. "When you think?"

Alicia's eyes twinkled "When Rick starts walking properly of course. Shane's not getting married without his Best Man."

John's P.O.V

John sat on his porch cleaning his guns. His hat was sat on the table beside him, and the guns were in front of him. "I used to do the same thing," Dorie says as he walks up to John.

"You find a cabin?" John asks, not looking up.

"Yeah, I'm sharing with Daniel and the cat." Dorie says as he walks up the stairs. "May I?" Dorie asks as he motions to the seat beside John. He nods. Dorie sits down beside him.

"You were wrong when you said I only wanted to see you because I didn't want to die alone. The truth was I thought you'd be better off without me. I thought I didn't deserve to be your father, and I was right. John, I can not express in words how god damn proud of you I am. You have a loving girlfriend and family. You are leading a group. I know I don't deserve it, but," He pauses. "I want a second chance, John, and I beg you to give me one, let me make up for those years, please. I know I can't change the past. Let me be a part of your future," Dorie says. John doesn't say anything, and Dorie sighs as he stands and walks towards the stairs.

"I'm going fishing tomorrow. Do you want to come?" John asks. Dorie stops and looks at John, and then he smiles.

"I wouldn't miss it," Dorie says before he leaves.

Morgan's P.O.V

Morgan stood with Nick as they trained. Nick stopped as his staff almost hit Morgan's face and looked at him. Morgan smiled at him as he put his stick against the ground. "I don't think you need me anymore," Morgan says with a smile.

"I don't, but I enjoy these." Nick says before he takes a drink of water. "So you and Rosita."

"Crazy, isn't it?" Morgan asks with a chuckle, knowing that would come up sooner or later.

"I'm happy for you, Morgan." Nick says sincerely. "You've found your place. It's here, leading and with her. You're happy. I can see that."

"I am." Morgan says slowly and hearing his tone "But you don't sound like you are."

Nick sighs but nods. "I don't feel like I'm doing any good here" Nick says. "I want to, and I think I'm know how I'm going to do it."

"How?" Morgan asks.

"There are more people in the communities like you and I. We're troubled, and we just needed the right person to send us in the right direction. You were that person for me. I want to be that person for others. I think I'm going to do a little bit of traveling, help people in The Kingdom, The Sanctuary, Hilltop, Alexandria."

Morgan smiles and reaches into his pocket, and pulls out his book. "You'll need this." Morgan says as he holds it out to Nick, who grabs it.

"Thanks." Nick says. "One more time?" Morgan smiles and nods, readying his staff.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl was helping Rick move around with the cane. They have been at it for about ten minutes. Rick takes a step, and his leg bucks, and he starts to fall. Daryl catches him and helps him back on the couch. "Dammit." Rick says through gritted teeth.

"It's going to take some time, brother." Daryl says. "You gotta get used to it."

"I know. That's the idea." Rick says with a sigh. "How much longer are you going to be here?"

"Two days," Daryl says. "You good by yourself. I told Alicia I'd be back by now."

"Yeah, Carl is coming by soon." Rick says with reassurance. Daryl nods. "Daryl, before you leave, I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything." Daryl says.

"Don't treat Maggie like the enemy." Rick says.

Daryl looks away from Rick. "She almost got you killed man. She almost got Carl killed." Daryl snarls.

"We are not allowed to judge here, brother. We've both done stupid shit. We've both done reckless shit." Rick says calmly but firmly. "I attacked Pete in the middle of Alexandria and waved a gun around at the people like a psycho. Deanna almost kicked us out. You ran the truck into the Sanctuary. You could have killed innocent people and Gabriel, Eugene, Laura." Rick says. Daryl stays silent but still looking away. "She's family. She has always been and will forever be our family, we've all held hate at one point or another, and people got hurt because of it. You don't hate her just like I don't either. We've lost so many people already, Daryl. Let's not lose her too. Just think about it," Rick says. Daryl nods as he leaves the house.

Maggie's P.O.V

Maggie walked outside of Barrington's house as the sun was setting in the air. She had given Hershel to Al. She walked to the graves and bent down in front of Glenn's grave. After a minute of staring at it she started "I wish you were here. You always knew what to say, what to do," Maggie says. "Since you've died, all I could think about was seeing Negan dead, and that one goal hurt the people we love. I just hated that he gets to see this new world while your in the ground. But you would be pissed if you were here. I know you loved Rick just like Rick loved you. I know what you and Daddy would say. You would tell me to forgive him because you two just couldn't hate anybody. But I can't, and I don't think I ever will, but I'll live with him alive and free. I'll treat Al and Hershel right. I'll honor you. I'll give Hershel the life we wanted for him. I'll live instead of surviving." Maggie says as she lays her hand on the cross. "I love you so much, Glenn, and I will spend the rest of my life loving you. There's enough room for both you and Al. I'm going to do right by you for now on." Tears streamed down Maggie's face as he gripped the wood tightly. "Goodbye, Glenn."

Negan's P.O.V

Negan bent down beside Franklin's grave and started a fire. He started into the flames and set the bat down. "God damn, I failed both of you at one point or another. Franklin, thank you...for helping me even when I pulled a goddamn gun on you. I will keep her safe, and if that asshole ever hurts her, I'll kill him. I hope you are at peace, my friend. If not, rest now and let me worry about her." Negan then looked at the bat sadly, looking around at the worn and tear and even the bullet from where Rosita shot at him. "I miss you so damn much." Negan says as he stares at the bat. "I failed you most of all. I became a man you would have shot on the spot, and I'm so sorry, I left you alone, and you died alone. I should have been there. I should have been stronger for you. I'm going to do better now." Negan grabs the bat. "I'm sorry I named a fucking bat after you. Goodbye, Lucille. I hope your proud at least a little." Negan says as he throws the bat in the fire. Negan looked around at the fire, the Sanctuary, and Franklin's grave as the wood started to burn. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The man who led the Sanctuary was finally dead. This new man was going to spend the rest of his life making sure that man never came back and making up for what he did, even if it took the rest of his damn life. Negan smiled as he walked back towards the truck. He stopped at the door and turned around. He looked up towards the door of the Sanctuary and saw himself standing there with Lucille in his hands and a cocky grin on his face. "Bye, fucker." Negan says as he climbs in the truck and leaves a new man.

Thanks for reading, and that is a wrap on the bridge arc. There will, of course, be a few chapters before we get into our next arc that will take place about three years after this, and no, it is not the whispers. Not yet. There is one more thing before that. The next few chapters will be like the ones before the bridge arc. Mainly character building and minor stories. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.