Chapter 128-Arriving at the fair

Madison's P.O.V

Madison walked through the Kingdom and found Alicia talking with Maggie. "Alicia," Madison called out, making her daughter look at her and Maggie looked over, confused.

"What?" Alicia asks.

"Go find your brother. Meet me at my apartment," Madison almost ordered her.

"Why?" Alicia slowly asks.

"You two are going to spend a day with your mother."

"Uh again, why?"

"Just do what I say," Madison says as she walks away, and Alicia sighs as she goes to find her brother, apologizing to Maggie first.

Carol's P.O.V.

Carol sat in the theater with Ezekiel and looked at Jerry as he came in. "What happened?" She stood up as she saw him with a rag that he had pressed up to his head.

"We were attacked," Jerry says. "We were clearing a road filled with walkers, and they totally bushwhacked us. They took all of our stuff and gave us this." He says as he holds the letter out to Ezekiel, who takes it.

"We are the Highwaymen. The roads surrounding the Kingdom belong to us. All visitors attempting to travel to your fair will be turned back unless you pay our toll." Ezekiel says as he turns the paper around. "It's a list of goods for ransom and a map with instructions for payments."

"They must have been watching us and heard us talking about the fair." Jerry lowered his gaze. "I'm sorry, boss, I screwed up."

"You didn't, Jerry," Carol assured him, dabbing the rag tenderly.

"The fair is hardly a secret. The fair is too important. This is to show all of our progress, and we need everybody here to deal with the Whisperers. Do we know who they are?" Ezekiel asks.

"No," Jerry answers. "The Peeps we invited to the fair are expecting us to keep the roads safe. What do we do?"

"What do you think, my queen?" Ezekiel asks.

"Gather a group, Jerry. Meet me and Ezekiel at the location." Carol tells Jerry, who nods as he leaves the room.

Michonne's P.O.V.

Michonne puts a box into the back of the cart and looks at Enid as she walks up to her holding the box. Michonne grabs the box and looks at her daughter-in-law with an admonishing look. "You should not be carrying anything."

"I know, I'm sorry." Enid says. "I'm just ready to get out of here. I want to see my husband and daughter."

"I know the feeling," Aaron says behind them as he sets a box in the cart. "I want to see Jesus too, and Gracie won't stop talking about him."

"You two know my husband, son, and daughter are there, so I think I beat you both in reasons to get to the Kingdom." Michonne says with a smile. "We're almost ready."

"Good, I'm glad to have a break from this, Alexandria," Enid says with a smile.

"Nice to hear, now sit down and wait." Michonne says as she walks away. Enid frowns as she sits down.

"Enid!" But Michonne lit up as she saw Andrea run up sitting next to Enid, cheering her daughter in law up as she immediately started chatting about what she wanted to do at the fair.

Beth's P.O.V

Beth held Noah and smiled at her son. "Are you ready for this, dear?" Beth looks at Tammy and smiles.

"I'm ready for the fair, we've been planning it for a long time, and Hershel is ready to see his mother again." Beth says.

"I have all the tools and steel loaded up," Earl says as he walks up to them. "We are ready."

"We're waiting for Tara, Al, and Hershel," Beth says. "The rest have left or are going to go after us."

Earl nods as they see Al, Tara, and Hershel walking out of Barrington house. "You ready to go the fair and see your Momma, little man?" Beth asks with a smile, bending down.

"Yeah yeah! And Grandma Carol, Grandpa Ezekiel and everyone!" Hershel says with a smile.

"Then let's go," Beth says as she climbs into the front of the cart and grabs the reins.

Nick's P.O.V.

Nick, Alicia, and Madison sat in Madison's apartment. "So you called us to have a family meeting?" Nick asks with a smile.

"We haven't all been together in a long time, just the three of us," Madison says. "With what we face, I needed this."

"People and walkers have been trying to kill us for years, Mom." Alicia shook her head, clearly thinking their mother was just overworrying. "We'll be fine."

"Just humor your mother for a little bit." Madison held a hand up reassuringly. "Please."

"OK ok." Nick says. "Alright, what do you want to talk about?"

"How about something before the end of the world?" Madison grinned.

"So high school, boyfriends, Travis, Nick, and his pills, or Dad." Alicia says.

"Let's talk about Dad?" Nick says. "How do you think he would react to our partners?"

"He would think Mom is crazy, and he wouldn't like Shane." Alicia says.

"My husband was a cop. You mean he would think you were crazy."

"She's does have a point. Before and after all this, you were into the good boys. Matt, and then Jake, both of them were the good boys, and then Daryl, the hard redneck with an anger problem and something I would rather die than fight cause I would die anyways." Nick says. "Who lets us not forget, you shot him before he got you pregnant, then you dated and then got married."

"Stop saying it like that. You make him sound crazy when you do," Alicia says. "He should have left me in Texas."

"Would have saved him a lot of trouble," Nick says with a smirk. Alicia grabs a pillow and throws it at her brother, who hits it away.

"The first thing your wife did when she got here was trying to murder Negan. So you're not much to judge. Neither of you are." Alicia says with a smirk.

"Our lives are a mess," Madison says with a smile.

"Yes, they are," Nick and Alicia say.

Arat's P.O.V

Arat loaded up her cart and looked at the other Saviors as they loaded the remainder.. She looked at Brandon as he sat on the steps of the church. "You coming?"

"No, I'll stay behind and keep an eye on the place with the others," Brandon tells Arat, who nods, having a feeling that Brandon was holding up out of fear. She walks up to him. "Rest, Brandon, you've been through a lot in the last few days." Arat tells the man, who nods.

"I will."

Arat nods as she walks to the cart, and they leave the Sanctuary.

Realizing that there were no walkers on the road, filled them all with a sense of unease.

Carol's P.O.V

Carol, Ezekiel, Jerry, Jesus, Magna, Alden, Negan, Yumiko, Morgan, and Rick stood outside of a warehouse staring at it. "So, do we have a plan?" Alden asks.

"Go in there and kill them, we need this fair, and they are trying to stop it." Negan bluntly cut in.

"That sounds like a good plan." Magna says.

"Yeah, they took my sword," Jerry says.

Rick slowly looked at Jerry "We're not killing all of them just cause they took your sword."

"That's a reasonable excuse!" Negan jumped in "Never touch a man's weapon, Rick."

Jesus waved his hands "Wait we're not killing anybody unless we have to. Yes Jerry they robbed you, but they let you go. It sounds like these guys just want supplies. I thought that's what we do, we try to compromise when we can?"

"He has a point, comrades." Ezekiel stood in front, saying firmly "We must shed blood only as an absolute last resort."

"I have a better plan, and we can get your sword, Jerry," Morgan says. "We need people to protect our roads. They are trying to keep our people off the roads. Why don't we have them protect our roads? We'll offer them a place a the fair and trade."

"You mean hire them as mercenaries?" Rick said skeptically.

"I know Rick, but this way everyone wins. And we need to focus on the Whisperers without the Highwaymen at our rear."

"Alright, Ezekiel, Morgan, Rick, Jerry, and I will meet with them. The rest of you surround the building, just in case this goes bad."

Ezekiel nodded at her then looked right at Negan "No One kills anyone else myself or My Queen says so. Understand?"

Negan looked at him then looked at her and seemed to back up a little "I'll behave."

After a long moment, Ezekiel gave a curt nod as they separate, and the four of them enter the building. They walk in and see the Highway men standing there in the darkness, the man in front with a stetson similar to John's started. "You don't have what we asked for."

"We aren't paying your toll." Carol says. "We came with an alternative solution."

"How about this for an alternative solution?" The leader says as his men cock their guns. "If the Kingdom won't pay to use our roads, maybe they'll pay for you."

"We don't have what you want." Carol calmly retorted, seeing Rick and Morgan already inching for their guns, Carol locking eyes with Rick with a small shake of her head to not draw unless necessary.

"Yes, you do." The leader says. They were about to speak when they heard footsteps, and they were surrounded as their friends and fighters started pointing weapons at them.

"Hey wh-" One of them was cut off by Alden pointing a gun to their head while two others were knocked down by swift strikes from Jesus.

Another barked, drawing a rifle "You sneaky little fucks-"

And was cut off by Negan holding a blade to his throat shushing "Now now, let's all just talk rationally here. Had my throat cut before and trust me it ain't pleasant." He looked at the leader who was staring around wide eyed and barked "Drop it."

The leader glared at him, then at Ezekiel as he stepped forward, gritting his teeth.

"What you want will hurt the future of our community." Ezekiel says. "We will fight to stop that, but you know that we have a better offer. I'm Ezekiel,, ruler of the Kingdom. This is my wife and Queen Carol and our friends, Rick and Morgan."

"Ozzy." Ozzy says after a moment. "What's your offer?"

"We have a job offer." Carol says. "We need you to keep the road to the Kingdom clear. So instead of threatening our roads, you protect them."

"Boss." Jerry hisses.

"And Jerry would very much like his sword back." Ezekiel Added.

"What do we get for doing this job?" Ozzy asks.

"We'll give you access to the fair and the Kingdom, and the supplies." Morgan says.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Ozzy laughed and barked out.

"It's a trade market. That's the point. What good are the things if you can't trade them for things you need?" Rick added.

"You're gonna have to do better than that." Ozzy growls, starting to raise his own gun as the other fighters started to tense.

"All right." Walking forward, Carol then asked a question with a beaming smile. "When was the last time any of you saw a movie?"

"Seriously?" Ozzy looked at her in disbelief.

"Wait you guys have a movie? When the fuck were you-"

"Shut up." Carol said without looking away from Ozzy.

"Yes Ma'am." Carol saw out the corner of her eye Rick and Morgan giving Negan incredulous looks over their own raised guns.

"Yes," Carol says. "If you do as we ask, you'll get access to the fair, and you get to see a movie."

"You have yourself a deal," Ozzy grinned ear to ear. "Give the man his sword," He tells his man, who throws Jerry's sword down in front of him.

Daryl's P.O.V

Dary was setting up one of the carts when the gates opened and Michonne came into the Kingdom. Daryl walks away from the stand and up to the carts. "Hey," He says with a smile.

"Mom!" Arya and Judith both called out as she runs up to them and hugs Michonne and Enid.

"Where are our husbands?" Michonne asks as Judith and Arya were almost tackled hugged by Andrea who was already asking where her father was.

"Rick is with Carol dealing with something and Carl. I don't know." Daryl tells him.

"I'm here." Carl says as he runs up to them. "Hey!" Carl says as he hugs Enid and kisses her.

Enid happily returned it then stepped back "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, any trouble?" Carl looked over as his sisters were talking and Arya slowly came over, actually looking nervous and wringing her hands.

"Arya and I have someone we want you to meet." Carl then stated.

Enid stared a moment then looked over, confused "Someone?"

"...Uh yeah." Arya shifted "Someone?"

"Your actually nervous." Enid's eye brows raised to Daryl's amusement as she was led off, Daryl shaking his head.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and Michonne asked gently "How are you doing?"

Sighing, Daryl said "Better I think, you don't look happy yourself?"

Shaking her head, his de facto sister in law had her hands on her "No I'm not. I don't think this fair is a good idea, with an enemy right at the door."

Daryl grimaced "Yeah but it's Ezekiel's decision, my hands are tied. Anyway come on. Andrea!" He turned to the youngest of the Grimes "Come on, let's see your cousins!"

"Yes Uncle Daryl!"

Carl's P.O.V

Carl and Arya led Enid into the garden, where Lydia was waiting for them. "Enid, this is Lydia," Carl says. "Arya's-"

"Girlfriend," Arya says slowly, almost a mutter. "Yeah, girlfriend."

"This is Alpha's daughter, right?" Enid whispers to Carl, who nods, worried for her reaction at the child of the newest threat.

After a moment, his fears were relieved as Enid walked up, holding a hand out with a warm smile "Hi, Lydia. I'm Enid. I'm Arya's Mother."

"Hi." Lydia says as she shakes her hand, her other hand at her side with an outright shy expression.

"Will she be joining us for the fair?" Enid asks politely.

"She will," Carl says, causing Lydia to look up a bit surprised and then down.

"Good, I need someone to talk to that doesn't annoy me," Enid says with a smile.

Arya glared at her mother "I'm right here."

"Yes. I know that's intended."

Carol's P.O.V.

Carol walks up to Daryl and Rick and smiles at them. "We're doing it. The fair is coming together."

"We still have to worry about the Whisperers." Daryl shook his head, still clearly on the fence about this.

"We'll worry about the Whisperers in three days. We'll enjoy tomorrow and the fair the next day, and then we'll deal then." Carol reassured. "Now I got an idea. How about the day just for the three of us?"

Rick blinked, looking at Carol puzzled "Us?"

"The three of us have been together since the start. I don't think any of us would have thought we would make it here, why not spend it with each other?" Carol asked kindly

"Huh. Sounds like a plan and believe me I didn't," Daryl says. "I figured you'd get eaten by walkers, and I'd kill you," Daryl says to Carol then to Rick, making the two of them laugh.

"I thought the same thing," Rick says. "I thought I would kill you as well."

Carol just grinned and pulled them both into a hug "Let's enjoy the next three days."

Brandon's P.O.V.

Brandon watched up to the gate and looked at the guard standing there. After a moment Brandon saw him look away as he scuttered off. He walks to the back of the wall and opens the entrance that Reilly had made. He went through it and walked into the woods.

Thanks for reading. The next chapter will be the calm before the storm, as they say. We are getting very close to the Pike. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.