Chapter 93- Truce

Morgan's P.O.V

Morgan was sitting in the radio room waiting for an update on Daryl and Alicia, Coco laying in his arms. A minute later, Rick walked into the room asking in worry. "Anything?"

"Radio silent," Morgan answers, his teeth locked in a grimace.

"If they didn't find them last night, they'll find them today. They'll tell us something when they get back," Rick reassures Morgan, who nods as the radio goes off.

"Morgan," Daryl says. At that familiar drawl, the two men let out silent sighs of relief as Morgan reached forward to the radio, Rick coming over to speak into it.

"Daryl, you okay?" Rick asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Alicia's hurt, but she is resting in the infirmary. We'll be coming back later today after we make a plan," Daryl tells them. "She can't fight anymore, and I wanna be there to help her. Carl, Jesus, and John are going to lead the charge against the rest of Badger's men and then Richmond," Daryl tells them.

"We'll make sure everything is ready for you guys. Lilly can check her when you guys get here," Morgan says.

"Thanks, talk to you soon. I gotta go meet the others at the church," Daryl says before leaving. Rick smiles as he sets the radio down with a proud look on his face.

"Told you they were going to be okay. Both of them are tough sons of bitches," Rick says. "Now, why don't you go take your daughter to the crib, and I'll go tell the others that Alicia and Daryl are okay?"

Morgan nods, his shoulders slumped in obvious relief at the idea, as he stands up and leaves the room with a smile on his face.

Alicia's P.O.V

Alicia opens her eyes and looks around the infirmary. She looked at Charlie, who was sitting in the chair beside her. "Hey," She says softly, making Charlie look at her, and hugging her softly

"Hey, the others are at the church," Charlie told her.

"And you're here?"

"I wanted to make sure you were okay. You feeling okay?" Charlie asks Alicia with worry clear in her voice. Alicia nods as she lays her hand on Charlie's.

"I'm okay, Charlie." She tells her softly. "I'm going to be okay."

"I know, after the meeting, Daryl is taking you back to the campgrounds," Charlie tells her. "And hopefully, we'll be able to finish the this and then take Richmond. Until then, you should get some rest."

Alicia nods as she lays her head back again.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan was on watch while the meeting in the church was going on. Shane had asked him to take over and promised Negan he would tell him the plans after the meeting was over. Negan turns around, hearing an argument suddenly, when he sees David coming towards the gate with Gabe beside him, bags in hand, and Kate behind him clearly yelling after him. "You're not taking him, David!" Kate says as she tries to grab David's arm, but he pulls it out of her grasp.

"He's my son, Kate," David growls.

Gabe turned as well, clearly going along with this "You're all just sitting here instead of going after Joan, avenging Marianna!"

Kate said to him "We need to trust that these people have a plan. Gabe you already put yourself in danger, you have nothing to prove!"

"He's my son Kate!" David added.

Negan climbs down the ladder, and then gets in front of David as he tries to open the gate, the three of them stopping. Kate looked relieved and thankful, Gabe looked a touch embarrassed, and David glared at him in anger, likely remembering the earlier punch.

"What are you doing?" Negan asks him, a warning in his tone.

"I'm taking Gabe, my son, and I'm going home. I'm going to kill Joan and put an end to all of this," David growls, his fists clenched. "And if you try and get in my way, it won't end well for you."

Negan smirks and nods. "You can leave." At this, David paused, giving him a wide eyed look at that "But this boy is staying, and I can give you another black eye if you want."

Gabe opened his mouth to protest, but Negan just stared hard at the young boy who gulped and looked down.

David glares at Negan and snapped. "Don't you dare, I have to do this! Joan was my friend and she betrayed me, and tried to fucking kill me! You know what it's like!? Having a friend, someone you trusted completely, bleed alongside, helped you build something great, helped save you, and it turns out they didn't care for you at all! That they were willing to kill you in a heartbeat for power?!"

Negan stays silent for a moment before answering quietly and in a low tone. "Yes, I do," Negan answers. David stares at him and is about to say something when they hear a truck. Negan withdraws his gun and nods towards the gate, the argument between the two suddenly forgotten. David nods as he pulls his gun out of its holster. David pulls the gate open, and Negan raises his gun. Standing there in front of the truck, he blinked for a moment then remembered this was Kathy as she had her hands raised...seeing who it was her face soured somewhat, but relented as she said.

"Don't shoot."

"Why not? Some of our people are dead because of your people." Negan growls.

"Cyndie. That was all Cyndie. I have something for you. A peace offering, I can help you end this war. Just let me talk to Daryl and Rick."

"Drop your weapons," Negan says to Kathy, who throws her weapons on the ground. Negan searches her and then motions for her to follow him.

He stopped and glared at David "Well?"

After a moment, David looked at Kathy in admitted curiosity then relented and followed the pair with his son, Kate letting out a breath of relief.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl, Shane, John, Carl, Clementine, Ezekiel, Carol, Rachel, Enid, Maggie, Al, Reilly, Arat, Aaron, Jesus, and Javier stood in the church talking about their next move when the door opened, and Negan, David, and Kathy walked in. "Don't shoot. She said she has a peace offering," Negan says as everybody turns and looks at Kathy.

"My wife almost died because of your people," Daryl growls.

"Cyndie made that deal with Badger, she didn't listen to anybody about it, and she died because of it," Kathy says as she looks at Maggie and then back at Daryl. "I don't want to fight in this war. Oceanside wouldn't survive, so I came here with a peace offering."

"What is it?" Rachel asks her softly, Carl holding her shoulder in comfort as she was still reeling at the idea that Cyndie was trying to kill her as well.

"Badger and all of his men," Kathy says. This answer got almost everyone looking at her in surprise. "I have him in my truck. And I'll give him to you for peace, and I'll give you the rest of his men for trade."

Nobody says anything for a couple of minutes as they all looked at each other before Daryl speaks. "Let us see Badger," Daryl tells her. Kathy nods as she leads them out of the church. She opens the bed to her truck and pulls Badger out, dropping him on the ground, his feet and hands bound. She pulls the tape off his mouth as he was screaming bloody murder.

"YOU DUMB BITCH, I'M GOING TO TEAR YOUR HEAD FROM YOUR SHOULDERS!" Badger shouts at her before he looks at them. "You fucking son's of bitches, I'll-" He was soon silenced by David punching him hard in the face.

"Where's Rick?" Kathy asks as she looks at everybody, suddenly realizing he wasn't there.

"I guess no one ever told you." Shane says. "Rick fucked up his leg in an accident a few years back. He can't fight anymore."

Kathy nods as Daryl withdraws his gun from his holster, as Badger kept screaming bloody murder.

But then he stopped, staring at Badger, and looks at Clementine and Javier. "He's yours." Daryl says as he steps back.

Staring at the man in hate, still yelling in defiance...he said "Do it."

"Javi," Clementine says.

"Clem, I don't care how he dies, as long as he is dead," Javier says as he looks at Kate, who nods...

"Did I hurt your feelings? Killing that old fuck, I should have shot him in the chest, made you watch him die," Badger growls. "Wish I killed your friends cause you're a pretty girl."

*BANG!*

Shooting him in the head, Clementine soon put an end to the New Frontier's life, the body on it's knees for a moment as if surprised by the shot and then fell onto the ground in a heap.

"You talked about trade?" Daryl then asked Kathy, who nods as Aaron and Jesus grab Badger's body and drag it away.

"You trade with Oceanside, food, medicine. Just like before the bridge," Kathy says. "I'm not asking to be let back into the alliance. I'm just asking for help, and maybe someday you will trust us enough to let us back in."

"We aren't giving you weapons," John says as he leans against the truck.

"We have weapons," Kathy says. "We need help with everything else."

"Bring the men here, and if you're telling the truth, you have yourself a deal," Daryl tells Kathy, who nods as she climbs in the truck and leaves. Daryl looks at Shane, Carl, and Jesus. "Can you guys handle this?"

"Yeah, get Alicia to the campgrounds. We'll finish off Badger's men and then take down Richmond," Carl tells him. "We'll be fine."

Daryl nods as he walks towards the infirmary.

"Daryl," Leah says as she walks up to him.

"Hey, what's up?" Daryl asks her.

"I plan on fighting Richmond, so I won't be here. I was wondering if you would take dog with you to the campgrounds."

"Yeah, no problem," Daryl says. "Just take him to the truck," Daryl tells her before he walks towards the infirmary.

Clinton's P.O.V

Clinton and Pual walked into the church and looked at Joan, who was waiting for them. "What is this meeting about?" Joan asks them.

"We want to talk about the communities up north," Clinton says as he motions for her to sit down. Joan sits down, and Clinton and Paul sit across from her. "I heard guards talking about the day Badger went out to see the group. They told me all they were carrying were guns, Joan. things in this add up."

"They attacked them, Clint. There is nothing else to it."

"That doesn't make sense, Joan. They did everything we asked. They brought a camera. Joan, Badger, follows you. He listens to you. Did you order him to attack them?" Paul asks Joan, who stays silent for a moment.

"Yes, I did," Joan says, making the two of them look at her in shock. "Yes, they could have been telling the truth, but I was not willing to risk Richmond on the word of strangers. We had a tough winter. We lost good people, and I was not willing to lose more. So I made up a story to protect them. Badger failed us," Joan says as she stands. "I will protect Richmond at all costs."

"You are no longer a part of this council; you need to leave," Clinton growls as he stands up.

"No, I will protect this place," Joan says as she looks at the door and motions a group of men in. "Take them to lockup," Clinton and Pual look behind them as the men grab them.

"Let us go," Clinton says as he tries to pull his arms out of his grasp as they are pulled away.

John's P.O.V

The group walked outside Alexandria as the rest of Badger's men were put on their knees. The women from Oceanside stood by their cars as John withdrew his gun and walked in front of one of the men. Members of the group stepped in front of soldiers from the army and withdrew their guns. Once John saw that everybody was in front of a soldier, he pulled the hammer back on his revolver and pulled the trigger, followed by everybody else killing the soldier in front of them, killing the rest of Badger's army.

Daryl's P.O.V

Daryl stops the truck inside of Woodbury and climbs out. "Dad!" Merle and Ofelia exclaim as they run up to Daryl and hug him. Daryl bends down and hugs his kids. He kisses their heads and lets them go.

"How are you guys doing?" Daryl asks them softly.

"Good," They say softly. Daryl nods as he stands up and looks at Rick as he walks up to him. Rick hugs Daryl.

"It's good to see you, brother," Rick says. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah," Daryl says as he lets him go and walks to the truck's passenger side. He opens the door and helps Alicia out of the truck.

"Are you okay, Momma?" Merle asks softly.

"Mom got hurt fighting the bad guys," Alicia tells them softly. "I'm going to be okay, though. Come on, give me a hug," They smile as they gently hug Alicia as Daryl goes to the driver's side as Morgan walks up to him and hugs him.

"I might never let you leave this place again," Morgan says with a grin.

"You take on the army next time. I'll stay here and babysit," Daryl says as he lets him go.

"Deal," Morgan says as Daryl opens the driver's side door and lets dog out.

"Is that a dog?" Rick asks as Merle and Ofelia run over to dog as he starts to walk around the campgrounds.

"Long story, brother," Daryl tells him. "I gotta get Alicia to the infirmary. Can you make sure the kids don't kill the dog?"

They nod as Daryl helps Alicia go to the infirmary.

Thanks for reading. I was gone, and that is why I didn't upload. But I am back now, and I am ready to finish off the war between Richmond, which we are getting close to. I have a lot of ideas for after the war, and there will be a decent amount of chapters before we get into the Whisper war. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.