Chapter 152-A stupid plan
Rick's P.O.V
The group walks back into Hilltop as the sun starts to rise in the air. The people of Hilltop gathered in front of Barrington house. "Well?" Tara asks, grimacing at making a deal with her sister's killer.
"For now, we have peace with them."
"What did she want?" Daryl asks warily
"The creek that winds into the valley. That is the new southern border. We will mark the new border to the north." Carl informed.
"That's our hunting grounds, Rick!" Carol says as everybody starts to speak.
"I know that this is bad!" Rick shouts, causing everybody to stop talking. "But we needed the peace. It will give Eugene and his people more time to make ammo and traps. It will give us more time to prepare ourselves. We have enough food in each community to last us a couple of months. We will be fine right now; go home, rest, and get ready because we have a lot of work to do." Rick says before he walks up to Daryl. "We gotta talk."
Daryl nods as Rick leads him into Beth's office and shuts the door, Daryl looking worried as it was clear something happened. "What happened?"
"Beth tried to shoot Alpha." Rick tells him.
"What?" Daryl's eyes widened, spreading his arms in shock. "Beth?"
"Alpha got under her skin, and Beth pulled her gun. I was able to stop her, but Daryl, we need to talk to her and make sure she doesn't do anything. We need to talk with her, Daryl. She's filled with anger. I saw it in her eyes." Rick sat on the desk rubbing his face.
Nodding, Daryl said "We will."
"But...for now, I think I got a plan." Rick looked up as Daryl's face looked intent.
Rick continued warily "It's risky, dangerous, and stupid."
"Rick..." Daryl said flatly "That's better then no fucking plan at all. What is it?"
"Well first off, Negan's gonna hate it."
Beth's P.O.V
Beth follows Daryl into her office and looks at Rick as he stands by her desk. "I feel like I just got called into the principal's office." Beth looked back and forth. "I swear, I didn't give that kid a swirly."
"This isn't a joke, Beth!" Rick growls. "Alpha was goading us into attacking! What you did could have gotten us all killed!
"I did what you haven't been able to do, Rick. Deal with Alpha."
"You did something rash, something stupid, just like you did at the fucking hospital!" Daryl growls. Beth looks at him in shock.
"Are you fucking serious? Neither of you gets to talk to me about doing something rash or out of anger! You two are the kings of doing stupid shit like that! You don't know what it is like to watch your wife grieve her sister? Cry herself to sleep? Sometimes, she does not even sleep, go outside, and fall asleep beside her dead sister's grave, and I have to get her back inside. To watch the woman you love fall apart!"
"Beth-" Rick tried to say.
"I mean what the fuck is the plan anyway, just wait for that fucking maniac to kill all of us with her pet hordes!?"
"BETH!" Daryl screamed, causing Beth to lose her voice.
Even Rick looked at Daryl in surprise, never having yelled at her like this before.
"I do know about it." Daryl growls. "Cause my wife is going through the same damn thing. She lost her brother too, but you don't see her doing stupid shit like what you just pulled and losing a friend, someone you saw as a hero. I understand that 'cause that's how I felt when I lost you." Beth stares at Daryl in silence. "You showed me that the world was still a good place. You gave me hope, Beth, even when we shouldn't have had it. You gave me a reason to be hopeful, to keep going, so don't tell me I don't understand. You are smart, Beth. You know that was stupid. If she dies when we're not ready, that is it for everybody because Beta will send that entire herd, and everybody we love will die. Think about your choices next time."
Beth doesn't say anything as she looked down.
Rick held Daryl back and more quietly said "Just think about it...and can you get Negan please?"
"...Alright." The blond turning and leaving.
Negan's P.O.V
Negan walks into the office and looks at Daryl and Rick with his regular smirk, sitting in the chair Beth was in minutes before. "You two just having meetings in here?" But it fell off his face when he sees the looks on their faces. "I am going to hate this conversation, ain't I?"
"Oh yeah." Daryl says flatly.
"I have a plan to find the herd." Rick started slowly.
"Why is that a bad thing?" Negan snorted "And thank god, was getting antsy sitting on my ass. We going on the attack?"
"Well, in a sense yes...because I need Lydia for the plan to work." Rick said right away, leaning back as Negan's face went thunderous in an instant.
"Hell to the fuck no!" Negan says sharply. "We are not sending her near that crazy bitch."
Rick looked at Daryl tiredly "Told you he would hate it."
Daryl raised his hands "Look just hear Rick out."
"I don't want to but she knows what we need." Rick turned back to Negan with firm eyes.
"Oh really? The fuck you need her for?" Negan growls.
"Because I need her to show us how to become Whisperers." Rick says, and Negan's eyes widen as he looks at Rick. He looks at Daryl, who just nods his head.
"Did Alpha hit you on the head?" Negan turned back to Rick incredulously.
"No." Rick says with a snort. "Think about it. Alpha knows if we cross the border because we stick out like a sore thumb, but if we send two or three people in wearing masks, dressed in rags and walking in a herd, Alpha will never know the difference. They can find the herd and get out without her or her people ever knowing."
"This sounds like a suicide mission." Negan stated.
"We're running out of options. We need this peace for as long as possible." Daryl says.
"Who the hell would even do this? None of our people are this-" Negan stops, and he sighs. "Strand?"
"That's one of them, who we're thinking of at least." Daryl nodded.
"I hope the other isn't me because I will stick out like a sore fucking thumb."
Daryl snorted "Yeah we're not sending your fat ass."
"I'd hit you for that, but I'm too tired right now from the herds, so I'll settle for a Fuck You." Negan looked at Daryl with narrowed eyes.
"No it's Daniel." Rick Answered getting the meeting back on track.
"Yep, that makes sense." Negan shrugged.
"This won't work unless Lydia agrees, and we still gotta talk with Strand and Daniel." Rick stood
"I'll talk with her, but if she says no, that's it." Negan stood as well, looking firm
"Agreed," Rick says, and Negan leaves the room, shaking his head.
"Fucking hell, if those two pull this off-"
He stopped and felt being watched...looking up to see Hershel staring from the top of the stairs.
Negan just stared back silently, Hershel soon scowling and saying "You should be dead."
Hershel turning and heading back to his room, slamming the door behind him.
Feeling a twinge in his gut, Negan shook it off and headed back outside without a word.
Alpha's P.O.V
Alpha sat in front of a tree, glancing at her people regathering the guardians from the previous waves while sharpening her machete.
Hearing footsteps, she turned to see Beta walked behind her. "There is unrest," Beta says.
Shooting her head up, Alpha hissed at her ever loyal Second "What?"
"There is a rumor spreading that you did not kill Lydia." Beta said solemnly.
"Do you believe that, Beta?" Alpha tilted her head, sneering at him dangerously...causing Beta to bow his head obediently.
"Of course not, My Alpha." Beta says. "I know how strong you are, but others do not see your strength after the woman's words."
"Then we shall show them." Alpha snarled, cursing that bitch from the border, as she walks in front of Beta. "Who questions that I killed my daughter?"
"I do."
Alpha slowly turned and saw that a crowd had formed from her words with Beta with two of the Pack members approaching, a man and a woman, the woman speaking.
"...Tread carefully." Alpha turned to them with a warning in her tone "Retract your words and I shall accept your apology."
"No." The woman pointed at her accusingly, voice loud enough to cause the Pack to mumble amongst themselves. "That woman said that she is still alive. You've always had a weakness when it came to her. You are not fit to be Alpha."
"You wish to challenge?" Alpha says as she walks up to her.
"I do." The woman drew a blade, snarling.
"Accepted." Alpha with a cruel smile as she takes a step back. "Anybody else?"
The man steps forward and takes out his knife as well, the pair side by side. Scowling, Beta moved to step, but stopped as Alpha grins, raising a hand to stop him. She would deal with these interlopers herself. She drew her own blade and motioned both of them forward. The man swings at Alpha, who ducks under his swing and stabs her knife into his side. He grunts in pain as Alpha grabs his shoulder and puts him in front of her as the woman swings and stabs her knife into the man's neck, causing her to scream. Alpha lets him go and punches the woman in the face. The man falls to the ground with the knife in his throat, gurgling as Alpha kicks the woman in the face as she tries to crawl away. She then bends down and grabs her chin. "I am the Alpha. You are the weak, but you will serve me as a guardian," Alpha says before she slits her throat. The woman choked on her blood as Alpha stood and looked around. "I am the Alpha. I am not weak. Do you still doubt me?"
Gamma was in front, eyes wide, shaking her head as the rest of them bowed their heads, terror clear on their features.
"Good. My daughter is dead. I killed her myself. She was weak." Alpha says before she walks away, fist clenched.
Alicia's P.O.V
Alicia went around the house to see Maggie in front of Glenn's grave. "Do you remember the day Ofelia and Merle were born?" Maggie asks her, hearing the footsteps.
"Every second of it, mainly because it was one of the most painful days of my life but also because it was the best day besides my wedding day." Alicia says, and Maggie chuckles.
"I remember when I first laid my eyes on Hershel, the amount of love I felt for him, but there was also fear cause even back then, in the back of my head, I knew Negan would become one of us. That one day, I would have to tell my son about him and have to explain to him why his father's killer is still alive."
"A couple of weeks after all this started, I was in a helicopter with my Mom's husband, Travis. We got shot at, and Travis was shot in the stomach. To make sure he wasn't a danger to me, he threw himself out of the chopper. We found the man who killed him, his name was Lee, and My Mom didn't kill him, and a couple of weeks later, he saved our lives on that dam. I wanted to kill him, but I'm glad I didn't. Someday, you will be glad you didn't kill Negan, and so will Hershel."
Alicia watched Maggie silent for several long moments...then whispered "I hope you're right."
"I usually am." Alicia says, making Maggie chuckle as Alicia puts her hand around Maggie's shoulder. "Daryl hates it about me."
Negan's P.O.V
Negan finds Arya and Lydia on a platform that the Hilltop residents made for the teenagers, overlooking the vast field, mercifully clear of the dead. He silently climbed the ladder and popped behind them, Arya wrapping arms around Lydia, both looking content...well till Negan spoke up "Next hangout spot."
"It's for teenagers, Uncle Negan. You're too old." Arya shot back "Like super fucking old."
"Rude. I'll have you know. I was a fun teenager." Negan snorted.
Arya smirked "When, a century ago?"
"Next snark, I'm throwing you down here." Negan grinned at her teasingly as he sits down. "We gotta talk."
"What's wrong?" Arya asks, hearing the seriousness in his voice, causing Lydia to sit up, her face a deep blush from him catching the girls there.
"Your dear old Grandpa Rick has the plan to find the herd." Negan says.
"What is it?" Lydia spoke up quietly.
"He wants Strand and Daniel to go into a herd, act like walkers, but look like Whisperers. He needs you to show them how to do that."
"No way in hell!" Arya shouted. "She is trying to put that part of her life in the past. All this will do is bring it back. She can't do it."
"I don't like it either, Arya. But it isn't a bad plan, and she won't be in any danger. She will just show them the ropes, and then she will be done. I wish this was my choice or yours, but it isn't," Negan says as he looks at Lydia, who is looking at the ground. "This is your choice, Lydia. If you decide that you don't want to do this. I will support you fully, same for if you do."
Arya sighs but takes Lydia's hand. "Me too."
Negan once again cursed at the teenage girl having to fight against her mother, a monster or no...but then she looked up at him, eyes meeting and said.
"I'll do it."
Thanks for reading. In the next chapter, Lydia shows Strand and Daniel how to be whispers, Rick has a talk with Hershel, Eugene gets closer with Stephanie, and Shane starts to suspect something is wrong with Dante. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.