Chapter 142-Broken Trust
Shane's P.O.V
Shane, Madison, Strand, and John all stood in the snow, staring at the spikes lined in a row, Shane and John's face particularly dark.
After a moment, Madison quietly said "I couldn't imagine what it was like, seeing them here, seeing my son's head on these spikes."
"I'm glad you didn't see it. It haunts me every time I close my eyes." Shane muttered.
"He's right." John says then looked at the trio seriously. "I need this to be clear to everybody here. If we cross this border and Alpha is still on the other side, we'll be starting a war."
"Not if we kill her." Shane argued. "I can't sit at home acting like nothing is wrong. I won't sit behind the lines that she set after she killed our families."
"...Fine. Come on" John says as Shane steps over the border, and the other three follow him as they head into the woods.
Daryl's P.O.V
Daryl was sitting in his cabin sharpening one of his bolts when the door flew open. He looked at June who looked worried. "Rick's on the radio with Ezekiel, Javier, and Reilly. He said it was an emergency. He needs you right away." Daryl nods as he quickly stands up.
"Find Morgan," Daryl tells her.
"Tobias is getting him." June tells Daryl, who nods as he goes into the big cabin where Morgan is waiting for him.
"Rick, we're here." Morgan informed.
"Strand is gone." Rick says on the other end, his voice tight with strain. "We think he's going to the border."
"What? Rick that can't be right, Strand isn't stupid. He wouldn't cross that border...alone..." Daryl trails off as he turns around and looks at Rosita, who is listening in near the door as they met each other gazes. "Go find Madison, Shane, and John. NOW!" Daryl orders. With a nod, she quickly ran out calling for help to find them.
"You don't think they would go, do you? Maybe their just out on a run." Reilly asks. "I mean...Shane and John saw what Alpha can do. They can't be stupid enough to go after her."
"All four of them are consumed by grief, anger, pain, and alot of hate. Yeah, they would do something this stupid." Daryl gripped his fists, rubbing his head "I've seen it before."
"They're gone, we're getting people together right now." Rosita answered as she comes back into the room.
"They went to the border. Rick, Ezekiel, get a group together; Javier, Reilly, get everybody in your communities armed; Reilly, you guys stay at the Sanctuary; Javier, bring a small army to the rest of the communities in case Alpha is there, and that fucking cunt sends her army after us. Rick, Ezekiel, we'll meet you with our group at the border." Daryl says.
"You heard the man. Let's get to work." Rick finished as the radio shuts off.
Daryl and Morgan quickly leave the cabin with Rosita. They walk outside and see the gathering group in front of the cabin, drawn by Rosita's yells. "Did they go to the border?" Alicia asks.
"Shane, Madison, John, and Strand went to the border." Daryl says. "We're taking a group." He pointed at several there. "Negan, Alicia, Daniel, Alden, Maggie, Beth, Rosita, and Charlie; get your gear, and meet us by the gate. The rest of you, get this place ready for a fight; in case Alpha is there and starts this war early. Let's go." Daryl says as he follows Alicia back to their cabin.
As he did so, he heard Negan calling out, his deep voice almost frantic "Arya you get her inside, you lock the doors now!"
John's P.O.V
John, Madison, Shane, and Strand walk through the woods, crunching through the snow, John tracking footprints that they have found. They walk in silence until they see six walkers traveling in a group. John immediately withdraws his revolvers and shoots all the walkers in the legs. They fall, and one of them lets out a shout. John shoots the five walkers in the head as the Whisperer on the ground withdraws his knife and starts to crawl back as Strand walks up to him and kicks the knife out of his hand as he swung it at them, and grabs the man by his shirt. Lifts him up and pushes him against the tree as Madison pulls his mask off. The man stares at them in rage, spitting in their faces. "Where is Alpha?!" Shane demands.
"Go to hell, you think you scare me? You're nothing compared to what she can do." The man growls. Shane walks up beside him and presses his thumb into the man's bullet wound, making him cry out in pain. "Fuck you."
"Gag him; there is a building near here; we'll get our answers there." Shane tells Strand, who nods as John hands him a rope.
Carl's P.O.V
Carl, Rick, Michonne, Gabriel, Cole, Arthur and Earl stood by the pikes with Ezekiel's group, which consisted of Ezekiel, Carol, Deacon, Boozer, Rikki, Jerry, and Sherry.
Carl paced back and forth, staring grimly as Earl seemed to have his head bowed.
Michonne came up, touching Carl's shoulder "If you want to go back son, you can."
Carl gave his foster mother a smile "I'm fine, just tense."
He looked to see Ezekiel staring in particular at the spikes on the ground, face stoic yet saddened.
Seeing it, his father said softly "Ezekiel, this wasn't your fault either."
"But John was right." Ezekiel turned to Rick "I never should have hosted that damn fair it gave that horrid woman access...that monster walked among my people."
Boozer said "Hey come on Zeke, the only one to blame is that twisted bitch." He paused "Wait should we stop them?"
"Yes." Carol said sternly, causing Boozer to tense up in respect to the formidable Queen of the Kingdom, looking back at Rick in worry "is...was this army of dead that big?"
"It stretched to the damn horizon." Rick confirmed seriously, nodding "There were tens of thousands at least. This storm maybe froze some, but they have more to spare."
Hearing steps, they glanced at the tree line and saw Daryl's group arriving...seeing some of them, Michonne furrowed her brow looking at Carl in concern "Should he be here?"
"He won't put Lydia in danger." Carl said matter of factly...thankfully that besides a tightening fist, Sherry gave no visible reaction while Ezekiel looked unbothered knowing the seriousness of the situation.
By then they had arrived in earshot as Rick pointed to Daryl, his other hand on his brother's shoulder. "They went through here."
"Dammit." Daryl says with a sigh.
"What do we do with them when we find them?" Alicia asks.
"If Alpha isn't here and she doesn't know we crossed...we take their guns, and they will be on house arrest until they figure their shit out. If anybody agrees with what they are doing and is going to lose their shit if we see Alpha or a Whisperer, they need to leave."
For a moment there were silence, shaking their heads...Daryl and Rick looked at a few in particular, nodding in approval
"Alright, stay alert and together. We don't know what we are walking into." Rick says as they cross the border and head into the woods.
June's P.O.V
June sat on the porch holding JJ, eyes down in worry. God she knew her husband was bitter and heartbroken over his father's murder, but she didn't think she would risk their child's safety for revenge. She saw Merle, Ofelia, and Hershel sitting by the gates, staring out into the snow covered woods with concern. "Hey, guys, come here," June says to the kids who walk over to her. "You worried about your parents?" June asks the kids, who nodded hesitantly as they looked at her.
"These are bad people." Hershel said softly.
"They are...but let me tell you something. Your parents are some of the most badass people I have ever met. Your Dad took a bullet through the gut and made it out as if nothing happened; I've seen him take on groups of walkers by himself, and your Mom, she was able to kill most of the vultures by herself. She went through a giant herd of walkers to get us and survived getting shot in the gut and your Mom," June says as she looks at Hershel. "She has been through more pain than anybody should ever have to go through, and she came out fighting. My point is that your parents are not easy to take down and will do whatever they must to make it back to you. Okay?" The kids nodded looking more hopeful now, and June smiles. "Alright, now let's go check on the others, make sure they don't need anything."
The kids nod as they follow June toward Kate's cabin.
As they got there...Kate walked out saying inside "I know it's frustrating, but pack just in case."
She stopped seeing June and the others behind her, saying "June, no word?"
"None. Lydia coping?" June asked in concern, worried if the girl was terrified of her Mother returning.
Kate bit her lip "She's packing but Rose is with her, I think she calms her down."
Then she turned and saw one in particular...June was worried but then Kate walked up confidently, kneeling down "Hi there, you must be Hershel. I'm Kate very nice to meet you."
At the immediate friendly demeanor, the boy beamed back "Nice to meet you too."
Madison's P.O.V
Madison sits the Whisperer in a chair inside a run-down cabin, still struggling. "You're going to tell us where Alpha is now, or you'll regret it."
"I will not betray my Alpha, fuck you bitch!" The man growls. Madison looks at Shane, who nods as he withdraws his knife. He walks up to the man and grabs his hair.
"Talk!" Shane shouts, and the man says nothing just staring coldly at him, and Shane stabs the knife into his hand. He lets out a cry of pain as Shane then punches him, and Strand hands him his knife. "TALK!" He shouts again, and still, the man stays silent, and Shane slams Strand's knife down into his hand. He cries out as Shane removes his second knife. "Now I'm going to start taking fingers. Where is Alpha!?" Shane shouts.
"Gone." The man growled out as tears fall down his face as they looked stunned. "Hehe...that's right, the one you want? She's not even here! She left before winter hit, she left myself and members of the Pack behind to make sure you didn't come back."
"Where did she go?" John asked.
"Far from here." He replied, gritting his teeth through the pain
"Where is this camp?" Strand cut in, curious.
"East of here, two miles."
"How many of you?" Madison asks.
"Four." He says then started to chuckle, smiling through bloody teeth. "You can kill them and me, but when Alpha comes back, she will kill all of you. She killed her own daughter to protect us. She won't hesitate to kill you."
"She told you she killed Lydia?" Shane asks with a smirk, and the man nods slowly, then looked around at the faces, the smile dropping slowly.
"Well, here is a little news flash before you die. Lydia is alive and living in the Campgrounds. Alpha couldn't kill her, she wasn't strong enough, and she won't kill us," Shane growls as the man's eyes widen, but before he could react Shane had already slit his throat. "Let's go kill these fuckers," Shane says as they leave the cabin, the man already rasping in blood on the floor.
Daryl's P.O.V
Rick and Daryl lead the group through the woods, hearing the sounds of crunching snow and fallen trees.
"Anything?" Daryl asked softly.
Rick grimaced "No, no Walkers, no Whisperer...it's eerie. If she's here we won't win."
"I know." Daryl sighed then looked over as Rick kept glancing over "...Something you wanted to ask about?"
"I have a plan. Well...the start of one."
Daryl looked surprised "To fight the Skins?"
Nodding, Rick answered "When winter is over, I'm sending Eugene, Arthur, and a group away to find more communities to help us, that's if Alpha isn't here."
"That's smart." Daryl nodded, happy Rick was bring proactive, but then paused "And a bit of a gamble, for all we know any of those communities could be another Woodbury or Terminus."
"Or another Hilltop or Kingdom." Rick said back "I know it's risky, but we need more people if we have any chance of fighting her or her Attack Dog."
Daryl couldn't help but snort at the description for Beta "Hmmm your right. Every person we find is another that can fight." Daryl says as he looks behind him and sees Alicia in the back of the group not talking to the others and staring at her feet.. "Give me a minute," Daryl says as he goes to the back of the group and starts to walk with his wife. "You okay?"
"I just..." Alicia pauses. "I can't believe they would do something like this. They are putting everybody in danger and dishonoring everybody Alpha killed, grandchildren, friends, John even his fucking son."
"I know." He assured her, seeing her temper flare. "We'll make sure they don't do something like this again."
"What if Alpha is here? We can't wait for her to come and kill us. What will we do then?" Alicia asks him.
"We can't beat her horde, there's too many of them. not in these conditions, not without better weapons. If we have to, we'll leave and start over again." Daryl says quietly to not alert the others seeing Alicia's horrified face.
"We can't do that. Those are our homes." Alicia protested.
"I would give them up if it meant keeping you, Ofelia, Merle, Charlie, and Clem safe. I would do anything to keep our family safe." Daryl tells her.
"I know," Alicia says as they hear gunshots, immediately Daryl runs to the front of the group as they run through the woods toward the sound. They stop when they see Madison, Shane, Strand, and John standing over four dead Whisperers, then they turned with guns drawn...the four looked worried as they saw Daryl's livid expression to contrast Rick's stone look...looking at the 4 on the ground and then back up.
"Daryl-" Shane tries.
"Drop your guns on the ground!" Daryl tells them. "Now."
"We had to do this!" John shouts.
"Buddy I'm already in a bad mood." Negan said warningly "Don't make me force you to drop them unless you want your ass whipped again."
"Alicia-" Madison tries.
"Drop the guns," Alicia says. "Now."
"Fine," Strand says with a grin as he drops his weapon. "Betray your own people."
"You betrayed our trust first," Carl tells them as Shane, Madison, and John followed. Ezekiel motions Deacon, Boozer, Rikki, and Jerry forwards, and the four of them grab the guns and step back.
"Is Alpha here?" Rick asks, looking around to see the woods still quiet.
"No, there were five of them, Now there are none," Madison says. "We did what we had to."
"No, you put everybody in danger and dishonored everybody who died," Maggie growls.
"Your full of shit!" Madison snapped back "If Hershel had been on that spike you would have done the same thing!"
"OK, that's enough!" Daryl stepped forward, pointing at them "You got lucky this time. None of you will be allowed to leave your homes until Rick, and I agree. If you try, you will be put into a cell." Daryl says.
"Start walking. Don't make us make you." Rick finished, and the four of them start watching. "Alden, behind Strand, Negan behind Shane, Jerry behind John, and Deek behind Madison."
As they left, the two leaders shared a glance, wondering where Alpha had gone and if she would know about this.
If she did, the consequences would be dire.
Thanks for reading. Next chapter, Madison, Shane, John, and Strand deal with the consequences and their families. Daryl and Rick have to start preparing for the war that is coming sooner than they expected, and Alicia deals with what her mother did. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.