Chapter 92-Making her move

Kate's P.O.V

After being radioed about the bodies, Gabriel had sent a group to start to clean up the bodies. As the group was cleaning up the bodes, Javier stood with Kate, looking outside their house...Kate said softly, "This could be a fresh start. For us. It looks like the old world...I just wish..." She gulped. "I wish Mari was here to see this."

Javier looked at her. "So do I. But...maybe we can help Richmond."

"Why? Cause your brother is there?" As she walked into the kitchen area, Kate looked away, arms crossed.

Following, he said, "Kate, he's also your husband still. I promised my Father myself and him we would always take care of each other before the cancer took him. He's family."

"He's an asshole!" Kate turned to him, eyes sharp. "When this whole thing started, he abandoned us, and he was barely even there before things went to shit! He also helped found and led the people who killed his daughter!"

"That was Joan and Badger's fault!" Javier tried to say, "Those two will be punished, Kate, I promise. But when all this ends, we can help rebuild the damage. No more sleeping out of the van. Start a new life. For us, for Gabe."

Kate stared then looked away, saying darkly, "I'm staying here. I'm not staying around him. Ever since we saw him again, he's treated us like his soldiers and not his family."

Javier's eyes softened, and put a hand on her shoulder "Kate-"

The door swung open, causing them to leap back as they turned. And saw David stomping inside, with a clear bruise on his face.

"Oh shit, 'Hermano' what happened?" Javier asked, his eyes widening at the black eye as he went past him.

"Where's Gabe?" He asked briskly instead.

"Upstairs," Kate said curtly, arms crossed. "He's still grounded for his little sneaking out stunt he pulled."

"Get him. We're leaving." David said as he grabbed his backpack, to the two adults' surprise.

"Wait, what?" Javier sputtered, "David, slow down a second. What happened?"

David turned, growling, "Those fuckers are still killing people I know, I bleed with. My soldiers, we need to get out of here and head to Richmond. I can convince Paul and Clinton to remove Joan from power, and things will return to normal."

Kate blinked incredulously. "So what, you want to go straight to the damn lion's den?! For all we know, Badger will find us and kill all four of us, among them your son and brother!"

David growled, turning to his estranged wife, "Kate, I'm not arguing about this. Pack your things, get Gabe, fuck these people. You're my priority!"

"Oh, like you've ever cared!?" Kate pointed at him "we are not going anywhere. We are NOT your fucking soldiers, David! I lost Marianna, and I'm not losing Gabe too!"

At the mention of his daughter's name, David's eyes were pained for several moments but went back to being firm and stomped upstairs.

Javier said gently to Kate, "I'll talk to him. Just try to cool down."

Kate scoffed but sat on the chair as Javier followed his brother.

Kathy's P.O.V

Kathy sat in Cyndie's trailer, staring at the blood stain on the floor without a word. She looks at the door as it opens, and two women walk in, one having a thin figure and red hair while the other was Asian and more slender, the red head and her friend Ruby saying. "Badger is looking for you,"

"I didn't know Badger was in charge of Oceanside," Kathy scoffed, to the other two female's surprise. "Ruby, Claire, if we follow him, we're dead."

"What do you suggest we do then?" Ruby asks her, holding her arms out in protest

"We make an offering to Daryl and Rick."

The two other woman stared at her, bug eyed, then Claire snapped "They are the reason we are here! Their still protecting the fucking animal who murdered Cyndie's Brother!"

"Yes, they are." Kathy says as she stands up. "But they are now the only people who can get us out of this shit. Ava isn't back with her men yet, they are probably dead by now. That leaves Badger and his remaining men. We can take them out and give them to Daryl and Rick and make a peace offering, they leave us alone and give us some supplies, and they get their enemies, and nobody else dies. We need the supplies, and we all know that Badger can't win. And when he doesn't who do you think is in the line of fire?" She scowled darkly, the man reminding her way too much of Simon.

The two women stay silent for a moment before they nod. "Okay, then how do we do this then?"

Negan's P.O.V

Negan walked beside John through the woods. "We'll need to head back to Alexandria soon," Negan says. "If we don't, we'll be looking in the fucking dark."

"Let's give it another hour," John says as they hear a branch break and saw a blond woman coming out, staring with wide eyes at the guns "Don't move!" John ordered as he raises his gun at her.

"I'm not here to hurt you. Are any of you John Dorie and Carl Grimes?" Leah asks with her hands in the air.

"I'm John Dorie." John answers warily, his eyes sharp and darting around in case this was another New Frontier assault. "Why?"

"I was sent to find you by Daryl. He's in a cabin not that far from here."

"Alicia?" Shane asks frantically, coming up next to John in worry.

"Alive and healing, I patched her up." Leah says. "Can I lower my arms?"

"Slowly," John says as behind him Nick and Madison came up, looking at the woman in guarded hope while Leah lowers her arms to her sides. "How far is this cabin?"

"Thirty minutes away," Leah says. "I'll lead you there as long as you promise not to shoot me in the back."

"We won't shoot you in the back," Shane says.

Negan grinned "Unless your up to something. Then no promises."

Leah nods with a smirk as she walks away, with the group slowly following her.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl sat with the dog by his feet, looking up at him big eyed. "I never thought I would see a dog again," Alicia says as she looks at the dog as well, turning to her with a small bark.

"There was a dog at Alexandria when we first got there, died when the walkers got in," Daryl tells her. Alicia smiles at that image, but then they hear talking outside, Daryl grabs his gun off the nightstand and stands up, turning to Alicia to tell her to get down but heard Leah's voice soon after.

"Daryl," Leah says as she pushes the door to the cabin open. "I found them," Daryl sets his gun down and walks into the front room, where a grinning John walks up to him and hugs him.

"You scared the hell out of us," John says.

"Alicia?" Madison asks.

"Back room." Daryl answers. Madison, Nick, and Shane almost run into the back room as John lets Daryl go.

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking the Dixon up and down.

"Relax I'm fine, Alicia's the one who got shot." He says as he looks at Leah. "Thank you. That's twice you helped us now."

Grinning, Leah quipped "Well you took care of my Dog so we can call it even."

"Good to see you, boss. And here I was thinking I was gonna get a new one," Negan says with a smirk, looking around the cabin absently

"I was hoping Badger's men killed you." Daryl says, but he knew the corners of his mouth were twitching up, as he looks at Carl. "You doing okay, kid?"

Carl doesn't say as he almost tackled hugs Daryl. After a moment, he lets him go. "We got a lot of them after they attacked you guys."

Daryl nods as they go into the back room, where Shane, Madison, and Nick are sitting on the bed with Alicia. "Holy fuck, that's a dog!?" Negan asks with a joyful look.

"Yes, I'll explain later" Daryl answers. "How many did we lose?"

"About 12." Carl answers, causing the Archer to curse, rubbing his hand through his hair. "Shane radioed Gabriel and had him sent out a group to bury them."

"They got Maggie, but she got out. They were working with Oceanside. Maggie killed Cyndie," Shane tells Daryl. "We'll have to kill them."

"I know. That means they are probably camped out there," Daryl says. "We'll come up with a plan when we get back," Daryl stays silent for a moment before he speaks again. "A plan that you guys will have to follow through with. Alicia can't fight anymore," Daryl says as he looks at his wife. "Someone will need to be there to help here. So I'm putting you John, Carl, and Jesus in charge of finishing Richmond off and deciding who will lead it and rebuild it." He then sighed "And make sure to tell that asshole David, yes he's a prick but he was one of the original leaders so he deserves to know."

"We'll finish 'em off, boss. You just worry about making sure your wife doesn't make herself worse," Negan reassured.

"I'll get some peace and quiet with you gone," Daryl grumbled walked inside to get Alicia.

"They always like this?" Leah asked Shane.

Shane cackled "Oh trust me this is them getting along, but they like each other."

"Don't push it Walsh!" Daryl yelled from the other room.

"We're gonna need to carry that mattress," Sherry says, biting back a chuckle. "Who's doing that?"

"We'll figure that out," Daryl says as he looks at Leah. "You coming?"

"Can I?" Leah asks, looking at him with surprise

"Yeah, we owe you more than you'll ever know, least we can do is give you somewhere better than this shitty cabin." Daryl tells her. '

Smiling in thanks, she said "Give me a few minutes to pack and we'll get out of here."

Paul's P.O.V

Paul sat in his office inside Richmond, occasionally glancing outside...as if wondering if Jesse and Badger would walk through those gates any minute. He looked at the door as there was a knock. "Come in," Paul says as the door opens and Clinton walks in, Paul soon smiling at his friend. "How can I help you, Clinton?"

"I just heard some guards talking Paul," Clinton says as he sits down beside the doctor. "They were talking about the day David died. They said that the group Badger led didn't have a map or any bags, but they left with guns."

"Wait, you think Badger lied?" Paul asks as he leans forward. "Why would he do that?"

He knew that Badger always had a temper and a violent streak, but he was always one of their best soldiers.

"I'm starting to think we may have been wrong, Paul," Clinton looked around and whispered to him hastily "Things don't add up. That group listened to everything we said, they gave up their weapons willingly without a struggle, and they even brought a camera to show us these places. If they wanted to attack us, why would they do any of that?"

"I know, but they did kill people, we saw the bodies, and Max is gone," Paul informed then paused. "Badger usually listens to what Joan says more than us, you don't think she sent him and a group after these people, do you?"

"I don't know what to think anymore, Paul, but I do know that we don't know the entire truth," He tells his friend. "Friend or not, I think we need to talk with Joan."

Badger's P.O.V

Badger walked into Kathy's trailer and looked at her. "What do you want?" Badger asks gruffly

"You said you wanted to talk strategy," Kathy says calmly. "So let's talk."

"Ava's silent, so I assume that she is dead along with the rest of her men. This means that I have lost more than half of my forces in the last day," Badger says through gritted teeth as he sits down across from her. "Even with your information, I am losing this war."

"You underestimated them, we did the same, and you see how it went for us. So what are you going to do then? Maybe retreat and regroup?" Kathy asks him.

"Yeah that could be a good idea, but take my men back and get more and some better weapons. Or you can tell me where they are keeping their children. I know they are fathers. I can use their children as leverage," Badger says with a smirk, but he then hears a shout outside and gunfire. He stands up, confused out the window, but then Kathy pulls out her gun and aims it at him. "What are you doing, you bitch?!" Badger yelled at her "We had a deal!"

"Uh, no. Cyndie was the one you made the deal with and she's dead. Me? I'm saving my people, throw your weapons to the ground," Kathy says as she pulls the hammer back on her gun.

Badger was seething red as he threw them on the ground at her feet. "My men are going to kill you cunt and then come in here and kill you!"

"No, they're not. A lot of them are injured and tired," Kathy tells him with a smile. "Cyndie should have never worked with you, and because she did, she died. I won't make that mistake."

"So what are you going to do then? You have no allies, either way, you're fucked!" Badger says as the door opens and Ruby walks in.

"We got them, some are dead, but most are alive," Ruby tells her, causing Badger to look at her, veins throbbing on his head about to explode.

"Good, I'm going to give you to Daryl and Rick."

And with that, she raised her gun and brought it down onto his head, and he knew no more.

Thanks for reading. Daryl and Alicia are back with the group, and Daryl is going back to the campground, which I have been thinking about for a while, and I want some of the other characters to shine in the final part of the Richmond war. Paul and Clinton are getting suspicious of Joan, and Kathy has made her move against Badger. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.