Chapter 78-Setting the meeting location

June's P.O.V

June looked at Kate as she slowly opened her eyes. She looks around and then looks at June. "Where am I? Who are you?" Kate asks.

"I'm June Dorie. You're in the campgrounds, one of the communities up North. David and Javier brought you her," June tells her, seeing her face darken at David's name, clearly having an estranged marriage.

"Am I going to live?" Kate asks her. Tired and pale.

"Yes, you'll need your rest." June tells her with a smile.

"Where's Gabe?"

"He's with Shane. He's showing David, Javier, and Gabe the cabin you will be staying in for the time being," June tells him. "They'll be back soon. Just rest."

Kate nods as she lays her head back, thoughts likely full of how fast things have gotten in the last few days.

Carl's P.O.V

Carl looks at Rick as he walks into his house. "How are you doing?" Rick asks as he sits down beside him, Judith and Andrea playing upstairs.

"Since I've become the leader of Alexandria, nobody has died. We've been at peace for the last three years. It sucks losing someone." Carl says. Rick nods as he lays his hand on his shoulder.

"You can't save everybody, Carl. I tried, oh believe me I tried. I wanted to save everybody, but we can't, and that is something you'll have to accept. We save those who can, and we keep going," Rick says softly. Carl nods.

"A lot of people are going to die," Carl says.

"Probably," Rick says honestly. "But we'll win. We beat the Governor, we got out of Terminus, and we beat the Saviors. You can handle this." Rick reassures him.

Smiling, Carl nodded at his father in thanks.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl drives his bike into Alexandria and turns it off. "She's at home." Gabriel tells him, knowing why Daryl was here. Daryl nods as he climbs off his bike and walks towards Clementine's house. He knocks on the door. Lilly opens the door and looks at him eyes red from crying. "Hey," Daryl says softly. "Sorry about Kenny."

"Thanks, she's upstairs. It will be good for her to see you. I heard something break up there. I'm going to take A.J to Hilltop for the day. Maybe seeing Hershel will make him feel better."Lilly tells him. Daryl nods as Lilly leads A.J outside. Daryl walks into the house and goes up the stairs. He pushes the door open and looks at Clementine, who is standing by the window.

"This feels familiar." Daryl mummered under his breath. Clementine looks at him.

"I don't feel any guilt this time, Daryl. I feel overwhelming rage. I want to go to Richmond and kill every person there regardless of if they had anything to do with it." Clementine growls. "I want to tear Joan's eyes from her face and let her bleed out."

Daryl stays silent for a moment. "I've told you the story about me driving the truck into the Sanctuary. I did it for the same reasons as you, all I cared about was killing as many Saviors as I could and it didn't work, and it won't work now. We gotta be smart," He tells her as she looks away. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Clementine asks him.

"Campgrounds. Lilly and A.J. are going to be gone for the day, and you shouldn't be here alone. You can come to the campgrounds for the night," Daryl tells her. Clementine nods as she grabs her hat and bag and follows Daryl outside. Daryl nods to Rick as he walks past them to Daryl's bike.

Morgan's P.O.V

Morgan walks into his house and looks at Rosita, feeding Coco. He walks over to her and sits down. "Our luck, we have a kid, and then we have to fight another war." Rosita says.

"I have to fight another war. You are not going to be fighting," Morgan tells her. "In case something goes wrong, Coco will need you."

"She needsher father too," Rosita says softly.

"That's why I'm staying here. I'll only fight if they need me or the people of Richmond attack the Camp." Morgan tells her. Rosita nods as she stands up and takes Coco to her crib. She lays her down in her crib. She walks back over to Morgan and sits down beside him. She says, her head on his shoulder.

"Well, for now, you're going to stay with me," Rosita says. Morgan nods as he kisses her head.

Daniel's P.O.V

Daniel wiped the blood off his hands and looked at Max, who was breathing heavily. Daniel had pulled off all of his fingers nails with pliers. "Once again, I'll who gave you the order."

"Fuck you." Max says weakly. Daniel nods, grudgingly impressed with his resilience, as he pulls his knife out and walks up to him. He grabs his hand and presses the knife down on his index finger.

"I tried being nice, but now I'll start to remove fingers. Who gave the orders?" Daniel asks again, and Max spits in his face. Calmly wiping his face, Daniel pulls the knife down and takes his index finger off, making him scream in agony. Daniel pulled to his pinky finger. He turns around when he hears a knock. "I guess you will have a break," Daniel says before he walks to the door and leaves the shed. He looks at Strand. "What is it?" Daniel asks him roughly.

"How is it going?" Strand asks him.

"He is loyal to his people, but he will crack. Everybody does." Daniel says as he grabs for the door. "Keep the kids away. Things are about to get ugly," Daniel says before he goes into the shed.

He was just able to hear Strand's snort as he walked off.

Tara's P.O.V

Tara walks outside of Barrington house as Lilly steps out of the car. She walks down to her sister as Tammy leads A.J. inside, rushing outside, Tara hugs her sister. "I'm sorry," Tara says.

"Is everybody here, okay?" Lilly asks her softly.

"Yeah, we're all fine." Tara tells her. "I have to go to Georgie's community tomorrow, but I can stay if you need me to."

"No, get what you need from Georgia. I'll be okay." Lilly wiped her eyes. "I'm concentrating on A.J. right now."

"How's Clem?" Tara asks her.

"Daryl's with her. I'm hoping he took her back to their cabin." Lilly says.

"Come on." Tara says as she leads her sister inside.

Beth's P.O.V

Beth walks into her office and looks at Maggie, who is sitting behind the desk. "You sure you want to do this? I can ask someone else."

"I'm fine, Beth. I'll be okay. Sitting in this chair again feels strange, though."

"That's because it's been three years since you stepped down."

"Forced to step down." Maggie says with a smirk, but it fell seeing her sister biting her lip raising a hand "I'm glad it happened. I was able to focus on Al and Hershel, which is why I hope you plan on taking back your position when you get back."

"Don't worry. I won't put you through the hell of my everyday life for too long." Beth says as she sits down causing Maggie to chuckle. "Lilly's here. Tara's with her. Can you keep an eye on her while we're gone? Maybe talk to her?"

"I'll talk to her, Beth," Maggie reassures her sister, who nods.

Joan's P.O.V

Joan looked at Badger as he met her in his apartment. "You had one job. What the hell happened?!"

"You sent idiots with me, that's what happend." Badger growls. "We got one, and the others moved. You underestimated them. They were smart and knew what they were doing."

"That won't happen again," Joan says. "There are two men I wanted to be killed first."

"Who are we looking for?" Badger asks eyes furrowed seeing the gleam in Joan's eyes, clearly having an idea.

"A man with a cane, Rick Grimes, and a man with a crossbow, Daryl, he wears a west with angel wings on the back. They were shown the most in those films. They are high up in their leadership. The one eyed kid even said the man with the cane was one of their little Militia's founders. We take them out, I know they'll surrender." Joan says. "Make sure everybody knows this."

Badger nods as he leaves, itching for revenge for the humiliation.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl stops his bike inside the campgrounds and lets Clementine climb off. "You can stay on our couch," Daryl tells Clementine, who nods as she follows him to his cabin.

"Clem!" Merle says with joy as he runs up to the girl and hugs her. Clementine smiles as she hugs him back.

"Why don't you keep Clementine company while I go talk with Shane, Morgan, and John?" Daryl says to Merle, who nods as he grabs Clementine's hand and leads her into his room. Daryl leaves his cabin and walks toward the big cabin. He walks inside and looks at Shane and John, looking around to see who was gone. "Morgan?"

"He's with Rosita. He said if you showed up, just continue with him," John tells Daryl, who nods.

"Maggie radioed us. Beth and Tara are going to Georgia's community with Arthur tomorrow to see if they can get supplies and soldiers. Ezekiel told us to let him know where the meeting will be." Shane tells him.

"We'll have it here. We'll talk about Hilltop first. It will likely be the first place they hit, being the furthest south." Daryl says.

"We need to fortify it then."

Daniel's P.O.V

Daniel watches June as she patches up Max. She looks at Daniel as she finishes. "Maybe go a little bit slower. If you keep going at this rate, you'll kill him by the end of tomorrow." June tells Daniel grudgingly, who nods. She leaves the cabin, and Daniel walks up to Max. He grabs him by his chin and makes Max looks at him.

"Who gave you the orders? Tell me, and all this ends." Daniel says. Max doesn't say anything. Daniel nods.

"We'll continue tomorrow."

"Wait, it was Joan. Now please, just kill me." Max pleads.

"The other two? David, they have anything to do with this?"

"No, it was just Joan and Badger," Max says.

"Good," Daniel says as he walks towards the door.

"What are you doing? You said you'd end it," Max says.

"I lied. Tomorrow, we'll talk about your military and the layout of Richmond," Daniel says before he leaves the cabin leaving Max in complete darkness.

Beth's P.O.V

The next day

Beth puts her bag on her back and grabs her gun and knife. She walks out of her room and walks downstairs. She walks over to Maggie and hugs her. "Be safe." Maggie says worryingly.

"I will. We'll be back before you know it," Beth says. She lets go of Maggie and hugs Al. "Keep her safe."

"I'll try."

Beth smiles as she bends down and kisses Hershel's head. "Tara?"

"She's outside with Arthur. They are ready whenever you are," Maggie tells her. "We're going to the campgrounds soon."

Beth nods as she walks outside and over to Tara and Arthur. She climbs on her horse, and they leave Hilltop.

Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be the meeting and whatever else I think of. We will get to the first fight soon enough. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.