Chapter 84-Going to Alexandria.

Rick's P.O.V

Rick opens the gate and looks at the three men who stand in front of it, Arya saying that they had arrived only minutes before "Can I help you, gentlemen?" Rick asks them steadily.

"Just looking around sir." One of them says as he looks at Rick with a smile "We just got away from some of those things. Mind if we stay the night?" His eyes soon drift down towards Rick's cane, and his smirk gets wider. He shares a look with the other two men as they reach for their guns.

"Don't be stupid," Rick says calmly, his fingers tightening.

Another of the man said, "Hey you cripple why don't-"

Before the three could even react, Rick quickly drew his handgun and shoots all three men in the chest without a change in expression. Holstering his gun, Rick walks inside and pulls the door shut as Morgan and Kenneth come over. "What was that?" Morgan asks.

"Three Richmond scouts. Burn the bodies." Rick says as he walks away.

Kenneth looks at him wide-eyed in some awe while Morgan pats his shoulder "Well, you heard the man. Let's get to it."

Negan's P.O.V

Negan walked into Barrington house's basement and looked at Daryl as June patched his head up. "You doing okay, boss?"

"June says I might have a concussion," Daryl tells him. "Ain't nothing too bad. I'll be fine."

June rolled her eyes "And you're still going out there."

"Damn straight."

Negan nods as he looks at Maggie, who is sleeping on a cot. "She gonna be okay?"

"She should be. Edwards said as long as the wound doesn't get infected, she'll be fine." Daryl says. "Reilly leave yet?"

"Yeah. But look, we gotta lower their numbers more if we want to push them back. We might win a war of attrition, but a lot more of us could get killed." Negan tells him, knowing Hilltop's walls suffered serious damage from the rockets.

"I know. I got a plan," Daryl says. "We'll talk more in Alexandria. Go make sure everybody is ready."

"Oh...right." Negan's jaw tightened and he left.

It would be the first time he step foot there since he left that cell.

John's P.O.V

John climbed into the MRAP and looked at Al, holding her camera. "I just heard the news."

Al looks at him stonily, and nods, her eyes full still of shock and grief. "I thought he was dead, John. I was so sure of it. And he's part of the community who killed Kenny. Who just helped destroy Hilltop, my home, kill our people, my friends."

"Shane plans on taking him to Alexandria, putting him in a cell, and giving him an option. He gets to live...join us, but he has to tell us what we need to know."

"And if he doesn't?" Al asks hesitantly.

"I don't know. Hopefully, seeing his sister will convince him that we are on the right side." John says, placing a hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Al, no matter what happens. I will make sure no one kills him. I promise."

"Thanks, John," Al says. "I need to go help, Maggie. We are leaving soon."

John nods as Al leaves the MRAP.

Shane's P.O.V

Shane stops the van inside of Alexandria and looks at Madison. "Let's get him downstairs!" Shane says as he turns the truck off. He goes to the back and opens the truck. Jesse was now awake, glaring at Shane as he picked him up and pulled him out of the trunk. He tries to say something through the tape. Curious despite himself, Shane grabs the tape and pulls it off his mouth. "What?"

"Let me go. My people will come for me!" Jesse demanded angrily.

"And they'll die." Shane says as he pushes Jesse forward. "You all made the mistake of attacking us."

"We did no such thing! You started this when you attacked our group coming to give you a map!" Jesse defensively yelled.

"We didn't. Just some bullshit story your leaders made up. David will tell you when he gets here." Madison says as Jesse goes down the stairs.

"David?" Jesse looked at her in disbelief "He's alive?"

"He's fighting with us, not too happy about getting double crossed and one of your guys killed his daughter." Shane says as he opens the door and pushes Jesse in. "Welcome to your new home. Been a few years since someone has been in here." Shane says as he opens the cell door and pushes Jesse in before he shuts the door. "Someone will come down to talk to you later."

"Who?" Jesse asks.

"A friend," Shane answers as they leave the room, Jesse glaring after them for a minute then sighed, sitting on the cot.

Carl's P.O.V

Carl, Daryl, Shane, John, Madison, Alicia, Al, Michonne, Maggie, Javier, David, Ezekiel, Carol, and Arat stood around in the church. "Negan said that to push them back, we need to be able lower their numbers, and he is right." Daryl says. "We don't know when Beth, Arthur, and Tara are going to be back, so we need a second plan. They'll be expecting a flank now. That isn't an option again."

"So what is?" David asks.

"Walkers. I had John send Dwight, Sherry, Nick, and Amanda out to start collecting walkers. Daniel and Strand are at the warehouse getting them a place to leave the walkers," Daryl says.

"You wanna lead a herd to them?" Madison asks.

"Yes, they'll cover the woods and roads behind Alexandria, making it harder for them to run together. They'll be fighting two enemies at once, and if we need to leave, they'll be distracted while we go through the sewers." Daryl explains.

"It worked on us for a time," Arat says, shrugging and conceding.

"Okay, so let's say this does work. What do we do after?" Carol asks.

"We start to push them back to Richmond." Shane answers. Shane looks at Al. "He's ready whenever you are."

"I'll go talk to him," Al said as she left the room.

"We could use Prescott if we do need it," Javier says. "It may be in ruins, but if we need to retreat or plan. We can go there."

"Mark it on the map. It's a good backup plan," Carl says. "There isn't much we can do here while we wait. We don't have enough supplies to make that many bombs. Eugene is making what he can right now. Until then, rest and make sure your wounds are healed," Everybody nods as they leave the church.

Al's P.O.V

Al stood in front of the door to the cell. She takes a deep breath as she opens the door. Jesse lay on the cot staring at the ceiling. "I'm not speaking."

"You just did," Al tells him. Jesse looks at her, his face twisted into disbelief, and stands up hastily.

"Al?"

"Hi, Jesse." Al says.

"I thought...I didn't know if you were alive," Jesse says as he stares at his sister, looking like he saw a ghost.

"I thought you were dead. I went home when it all started, and everybody was dead. I thought you were a walker. I looked for weeks. Trying to find some sign, but I never found it." Al says.

"I got out quick when the military came. I left by myself and traveled for a while until I met Clinton and a small group. And then we found Richmond."

Al nods, then dove into what had to be said. "Your friends killed one of mine. A good friend."

"Al, Richmond is safe. Come on, help me out of here. We can go back. I can plead your case. We can keep you safe from these people."

"These people are my family. I have a girlfriend and a son. Adopted, but he is my son. Richmond isn't what you think it is, Jesse. It's a lie, but this. These communities they aren't. We have built lives here. We've had weddings. Birthday parties, we're rebuilding the world. We're starting the new world."

"Your new world is a lie, Al!" Jesse says as he sits down. "I know Richmond, I know the people, I know the leaders. They are good people."

"The man they killed. His name was Kenny. He had two kids and a girlfriend. He helped people!" Al says.

"And we help people! We were trying to help you!"

"Maybe some of you. Look at what that has done for you. You almost died last night because you came after Hilltop."

"Your men didn't even hit me. Badger did, and when I get out of here, I'll make sure he gets the punishment he deserves." Jesse says.

"I'm going to give you some time to think. Jesse, this is our chance to have a life together. You can be happy here. We can be a family again. So please just think about it. Because I don't want to hurt you, but I will protect Hershel and Maggie at any cost," Al tells her before she leaves the room.

Nick's P.O.V

Nick walked up to the truck's driver's side and looked at Sherry as she climbed out. "Trailer is sealed shut. Those walkers aren't getting out." He tells his girlfriend.

"Good. Amanda and Dwight should be here soon with the other one," Sherry says as she climbs out. Nick nods as he looks at the trailer. Seeing this, Sherry gently asked "What are you thinking about?"

"The stadium. This is what the Vultures did to us. They unloaded trailers filled with walkers on the stadium." Nick explains grimly. "You can imagine how that isn't a day I like to think about."

"The difference between the Vultures and us is that we have a good reason to keep our friends and family safe. They were just a bunch of assholes who couldn't accept that you could make a community work/" Sherry says as she lays her hand on his shoulder. Nick nods as they see Dwight and Amanda's truck.

"Let's go help them so we can get back to Alexandria," Nick says. Sherry nods as she follows him.

Maggie's P.O.V

Maggie walks into the house she was staying at with Al and looks at Al, who is sitting on the couch. "That bad?"

"Worse," Al answers as she looks at Maggie. "He thinks we're the bad guys Maggie."

"Then we'll have to convince him that he is wrong." Maggie says as she sits down beside her.

"And if we can't?"

"We will." Maggie says firmly.

Then she paused and took a breath, causing Al to look at her in worry now "What is it?"

"Rick, Carl, and Daryl were able to convince Negan he was wrong, and he has an ego bigger than a mountain. If they can convince Negan, then we can convince your brother, that we are on the right side."

"I hope so. I just got him back. I don't want to lose him again."

Maggie wraps her arms around Al and kisses her head. "You won't."

Negan's P.O.V

That night Negan stood by the gate watching the woods. He looked at Daniel as he walked up to him. "Daniel," Negan says. "What are you still doing up?"

"I wanted to talk to you. Daniel says. "In private."

"About?" Negan asks him, raising an eyebrow

"A way to lower their numbers before they even get to Alexandria," Daniel says.

"You have my interest," Negan says as he turns to face the man. "How the hell do we do that?"

"There is a quarry not far from here," Daniel says. "We could lead some of them into that."

"And then kill them," Negan says in approval with a grin. "We'll have the high ground. How do you propose we do that?"

"We use bait," Daniel says. "When Reilly returns, he may have a location, and if he does, we can use that to lure some of them to the quarry. Kill them but leave them to turn."

"More walkers," Negan points out. "It could work, but what do we have to lure them with?"

"Prisoners."

"Al's brother is one of those prisoners," Negan responded with a grimace "Look I don't want Al to be the next one to try to kill me."

Daniel snorted "First off, this is my idea, not yours so I'll take the blame for that if she objects. And he will survive. We all must make sacrifices in war. Her brother will be alive. He may be hurt, but he will be alive," Daniel says. "I will find you when I find out more," Daniel walks away, leaving Negan alone.

Negan stared after him, knowing Althea AND Maggie were going to throw a fit hearing that idea.

Thanks for reading. Daniel is making plans of his own, and Reilly is still tracking Badger. Next chapter, we will get more into those things as well as Beth, Tara, and Arthur will come back. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.