Chapter 81-Putting old friends to rest

Beth's P.O.V

Beth, Tara, and Arthur rode up to the gate of Georgia's community. Two guards had their guns aimed at them. After a second, one lowered their guns with a raised eye "Arthur?"

Arthur curtly nodded and gestured for them to open the gate, causing the other to say "Wait who are these two?"

"Beth Greene, leader of Hilltop," Beth says.

"Tara Chambler, also the leader of Hilltop. We're here to see Georgie."

The guard looks at the other guard and nods. He leaves them as the guard still on the wall stares at them. They were there for ten minutes before the gates opened, and Georgie walked out with two guards behind her. After hugging Arthur with a warm smile she turned "Beth, it is good to see you. Though we don't have anything planned."

"We don't. We need your help." Beth says.

"Oh, well, come inside. I bet you are hungry," Georgie says, eyebrows raised at the worried tone.

"Thank you," Beth says as they rode their horses inside the walls.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl, Alicia, Carl, Strand, Alden, and Negan sat at a table the next morning eating breakfast. "Do you know what I wish we had? A nuke." Negan suddenly says, breaking the silence.

Carl chokes on his breath, Alden and Strand look at him wide-eyed, Alicia hides a smirk while Daryl looks more than a bit worried, imagining Negan with a nuke.

"You sure you didn't find one among those military places?" He asks Eugene.

Eugene looks at him, horrified "...No, I did not. Why do you want a nuke?"

"Would solve the Richmond problem." Negan said absently.

"...Would also wipe out many people, wiped out an entire city, and would cause catastrophic radiation problems." Eugene said slowly.

"...Yeah." Negan sighed. "Worth a shot, at least."

"You wouldn't even be able to launch it," Alicia says, patting her husband's back as he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fair enough," Negan says. "So, what's the plan today, boss?"

"I'm taking a group out to gather some supplies for Eugene from another warehouse." Daryl says.

"What's in this warehouse?" Negan asks Eugene.

"It has what I need for a bomb that will stop this army in their tracks," Eugene says. "These components will help us make bigger problems."

Negan grinned with excitement "So a mini Nu-"

"It's Not a nuke." Eugene said tightly

"Damn it, ruin my fun. You have your group yet?" Negan asks.

"Only Alicia." Daryl says.

"Count me in, boss, beats sitting on my ass waiting." Negan says, wanting to get away from this place and hopefully give Maggie more time to process

"We need three more people." Daryl says.

"I can come," Carl says.

"No, you need to stay here and help organize the defense." Daryl says. "We'll take Amanda, Nick, and Dwight."

"I'll go tell them," Eugene says as he walks away.

Maggie's P.O.V

Maggie sat in her office, watching as Negan got in a truck with Nick, Amanda, and Dwight. Daryl and Alicia were on Daryl's bike. The gate opened, and they left Hilltop. "The wise old queen is watching her people." Al says as she walks into the room. Maggie looks at her, and the smile on Al's face falls seeing the bags under Maggie's eyes, indicating not much sleep. "What's wrong?"

For a long minute Al wondered if Maggie was going to respond, but then she did "He apologized." Al's eyebrows raised in surprise "Last night Negan apologized, I don't forgive him, but I couldn't stop listening. I didn't feel the urge to kill him for a minute."

"I'm surprised he did apologize." Al says as she walks up to her.

"He burnt the bat. Did you know that?"

"No, I didn't," Al says, surprised again having heard how deeply he loved that old thing. "He probably did it after the bridge because he did ask Rosita about it. She told me about a week after...I didn't want to bring up memories of that damn thing."

"I don't know what to think right now," Maggie admits. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel."

"Stop thinking about it. You don't need to forgive him, but maybe you can finally let go of the hate, the urge to kill, accept that he isn't the same person but remember what he did and what he can be." Al says as she grabs her hand. "I'm going to go radio Morgan and make sure Hershel is okay."

Maggie nods as Al leaves the room.

John's P.O.V

John and Dorie rode horses through the woods, going to a stash of weapons that Daryl and John had made an hour away from the campgrounds in case it ever fell. "You know we'll have to replace this when this is over," Dorie says.

"We will but right now, those guns are needed at Hilltop," John says. "Are you prepared to fight this? We've been at peace for the most part since you've arrived."

"I have been fighting people for a long time, son. I was fighting Teddy's people before Sherry found me. Killing people is not something I have a problem with. If killing these people means that you are alive, and so are June and the kids, then I am ready to kill them," Dorie says as he climbs off his horse. He walks over to a tree trunk and pulls out two shovels. He holds one out to John, who takes it.

"I have never been a fan of killing, but I do it when needed," John says as they dig. Dorie nods as they continue to dig the weapons up.

Beth's P.O.V

Beth, Arthur, and Tara sat in Georgie's office as she sat down in front of them. "So why have you come here?" Georgie asks them warily.

"We have a problem. There is a community coming after us." Beth says.

"How did you meet this community?" Georgie asks them, a worried look across her face having heard about the last war with the Sanctuary.

"Jesus took a group to meet them. They thought it went well, but as they were coming back, a group from the community ambushed and killed Kenny." Beth says.

"Kenny was a nice man." Georgie sighed sadly "He came with Carl when we met. What do you need from me?" Georgie asks.

"Fighters, weapons, supplies. We don't know how many of them there are. We need to make sure we are prepared." Beth says. Georgie nods as she leans back.

"Let me speak with the man who runs our army. Give me till tomorrow. I'll see what I can do." Georgie says.

"Thank you, Georgie," Tara says.

"Of course, we are partners. We must protect each other," Georgie says.

Alicia's P.O.V

Alicia climbs off Daryl's bike and pulls her gun barrel off her hips. She looks at two walkers as they walk up to them, taking a breath and approaching as behind her, Daryl climbs off of his bike and grabs His Crossbow. He shoots one walker as Alicia grabs the second walker and stabs her barrel through its just and through the top of its head. She drops the body and looks at Daryl. "Guess you haven't lost your edge."

"You're just scared that I can still kick your ass," Alicia says with a smirk as Nick, Negan, and Dwight get out of the truck. "So, what do we know about this place?"

"Glenn and Tara came here a few years ago," Daryl says. "We lost a friend here. Noah," Daryl says as he walks around the building until they get to a revolving door with a herd of walkers in the lobby, all pressed inside, starting to growl at the live humans appearence

"Are we killing those fuckers?" Negan asks.

"Yeah." Daryl says as he walks back towards the truck. "They haven't come back here, but it has everything Eugene needs," Daryl says as he pulls a bag out of the truck and opens it to reveal a bag of guns. He grabs an assault rifle and holds it out to Negan and the others. "They have suppressors. There are a lot of walkers in here. We're splitting up. Amanda, Dwight, and Negan clear this part. We'll take the walkers in the lobby," Daryl says as he stands up. They nod as Daryl, Alicia, and Nick walk around the warehouse until they get to the revolving door. Daryl raises his gun and shoots through the windows in the revolving door. The walkers look at the revolving door and start to walk toward them. They start to fire on the walkers as they get outside, the herd slowly starting to thin out as they fell to the ground. Daryl soon froze as one walker walked through the glass. He raises his gun and shoots it through the head as Alicia and Nick kill the last of the walkers. Daryl walked over to the mangled body and bent down. After a minute of studying and turning his withered features...he nodded, with a sigh.

"You knew him?" Alicia asks him.

"Yeah, his name was Noah. Helped Beth at the hospital. Good kid. He didn't deserve this," Daryl says softly as he stands up. "I brought some sheets. Can you go grab one from the truck?" Daryl asks Nick, who nods as he walks away. Daryl and Alicia enter the building and slowly move through it. They turn a corner and come face to face with Negan, Amanda, and Dwight.

"Where's Nick?" Dwight asks.

"Getting a sheet," Daryl says as he walks past them. They walk into the main part of the building. Daryl shines his flashlight at a forklift and looks at the walker of Aiden, soon stabbing him in the head "We're taking him and another body back to Hilltop. They need to be buried." Daryl says. They nod as Nick walks into the room with another sheet. Dwight and Negan pull Aiden off the forklift and set him down as Nick covers him up.

"Let's get what Eugene needs, and then we'll move the bodies," Alicia says. They nod as they start to look for what Eugene needs.

Arya's P.O.V

Arya was walking around the walls inside the campgrounds. "You find a place to sneak out yet?" Rosita joked with a hint of seriousness as she walks up to her. Arya looks at her wide eyed

"Uh...No, these walls are better than the ones in Alexandria. I can't climb them." Arya says, making Rosita chuckle.

"That's the point, Arya," Rosita says. "You're a kid. You don't need to fight this."

"Charlie and Rachel are. They are only a few years older!" Arya says angrily, gesturing over the walls ahead "I'm a better shot then half those fuckers," She stopped at Rosita's glare then sighed "stupid people. Happy?"

"Yes. And they have experience fighting in these kinds of fights. They have fought in wars. You haven't, and your parents need to be able to focus on this fight." Rosita says softly.

"Daryl and Alicia have to worry about Charlie." Arya replies.

"Don't think about it like you're being left behind or treated like a child. Think about it as they are trusting you to help defend the children. Daryl and Alicia are trusting you with their kids. Michonne with her daughters. We need fighters here too," Rosita says. "I'm going to need help keeping Coco safe."

Arya sighs but nods. "Okay, I'll stay, but can you show me how to fight? Dad said you have military experience."

"One hour a day, starting tomorrow," Rosita says.

"Deal," Arya says with a smile.

Maggie's P.O.V

Maggie was looking at the number of guns and ammo they had. She looked at the door as Daryl pushed it open. "What's up?" Maggie asks him.

"I wanna show you something," Daryl says. Maggie nods as she follows him outside to the truck. Daryl pulls the truck bed open and shows her the bodies. He pulls the sheet off of Noah's head.

"Noah." Maggie covered her mouth.

"Went to the warehouse Noah and Aiden died at. Figured it's time they got buried," Daryl says. "Marco and Kal are digging graves,"

Maggie nods as she looks at Noah. "His death hurt Glenn. He had nightmares for a few days after it."

"He was a good kid," Daryl says. "I would have never found Beth without Noah's help."

Maggie nods as she covers the body. "Beth will be very happy to know he was buried. I'll tell her when she get's here. Thank you."

Daryl nods. "Eugene has what he needs. We should be able to start to put the bombs out tomorrow. It won't be long now."

"We're ready. John and Dorie brought back the stash," Maggie tells him. Daryl nods as Alicia motions for him.

"We gotta go talk to the kids," Daryl says. Maggie nods as Daryl follows Alicia inside.

Thanks for reading. The next chapter should be the last one before the first fight. Unless I come up with something else, I think the chapter after next will be the battle at Hilltop. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.