(9 Years ago, Savior bombing of Alexandria)

Rick and Michonne walked into the sewer tunnel. Alexandria was burning above them, but their people were here – exhausted, scared, but safe.

As they moved through the dejected group, Rick saw an unfamiliar face. He turned to Daryl with a question in his eyes….

"Carl brung him here" Daryl explained, holding Judith "He's a doctor, already patched up a few folks."

Rick turned to Siddiq "You're the guy from the gas station? Did you follow Carl back here?"

"No, he came looking for me. Brought me food and snuck me down here." Siddiq explained "He was planning to talk to you when you got back, but…."

Another explosion shook the tunnel and showered them with dirt.

Looking around, Michonne asked "Where is Carl?"

Rosita stood up "Scouting the exit grates, he said he secured them earlier and wanted to double check they're clear of Saviors and walkers"

Rick looked at his watch, it takes about 30 minutes to hit all four grates "How long has he been gone?"

"About 10 Minutes" she replied

He turned to Michonne "If he isn't back in 20 minutes, we'll go look for him."

Michonne nodded and took Judith from Daryl "Hey Babygirl"

Rick knelt next to Daryl and turned to the rest of the group "Catch me up, what happened up there?"

Carl slowly climbed to his feet, leaning against a tree to steady himself. He applied pressure to the knife wound in his side and looked down at the savior he just killed. Carl grazed him when he tried to come into the sewer, but he couldn't let him get back to Negan. His skull was pretty well caved in, so he wasn't likely to turn. Pushing off the tree, he started moving away from Alexandria. The noise from the fight drew walkers, there was a herd coming toward him.

"I'll lead them away and double back…."

"Michonne to Rick!"

"Go ahead."

"The grate in tunnel two was open, and there's a dead savior outside near the trees. Carl is nowhere to be found and we got walkers everywhere. I'm going toward the road to look for him"

"No! Wait for me, I'm almost there. Daryl, you copy?"

"Yeah, I'm back and they're gone. It's clear"

"Get everyone to Hilltop. We'll find Carl and make our way there."

Rick climbed the ladder to find a dozen dead walkers and Michonne pacing "This all you?"

"Yeah, I thought that was Carl" she replied, gesturing toward the dead savior. Her voice trembling, she took him through the scene "Hard to tell what happened, walkers trampled most of it. But I think this guy must have tried to get in and Carl grazed him. When I flipped him over, I could see a bullet traveled across his collar bone. His skull is bashed in, so I'm guessing Carl went after him and they fought. Walkers didn't get to him until after he was dead, it doesn't look like he fought them. That bloody knife isn't Carl's, I think he's hurt."

Rick reached out and squeezed her arm "We're gonna find him. We stay together while its dark, if we haven't found him by sun up we can split up."

A full moon bathed the sky, giving Carl an unobstructed view from the deer perch. There were more walkers coming, called by the sounds of the ones who drove him up this tree.

Getting the group into the sewers safely, he felt like a man. But now; alone, scared, and bleeding out, he felt like a kid again. All he wanted was his dad. He wanted to tell him so many things, and he needed to thank him. He needed to thank Michonne too, for being a friend and mother to him.

All he can do now is wait. Wait for help until he can't wait any longer. He had a round in the chamber if it came to that. He opened his bag, he had planned to leave a note for his dad so he could find them after the attack. Now, he would leave a note so that he could find himself.

Jadis and Brion, standing atop a garbage truck, lowered an unconscious Carl onto the cab.

Brion shakes his head "Not A"

Jadis shrugged "Will be. No time for another, they come at dawn"

Kneeling next to Carl, she took his gun and his bag. Handing the bag to Brion, she gestured toward a branch "Hang this, hat too." Turning, she fired his gun in the air before throwing it among the walkers.

"Why waste?"

"Want Rick to think he died" Jadis replied, banging on the cab "Go Tamiel!"

Okafor looked down at Carl "He's just a kid!"

The solider shrugged "She said he was an A, Sir. And he isn't bit, that's a knife wound. Medic stopped the bleeding and gave him fluids. Designation 2?"

"No" he shook his head, thinking of the son he lost "Take him to Consignee designation and get him to the hospital. Make sure they keep him there until I question him."

Simon smiled and raised his hands "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Nellie! Everybody keep their horses inside the gate! After all, we're friends!" Turning to Jadis he asked "Right?"

Michonne raised the sewer grate slowly and peered out. Alexandria was still smoldering, seeing it in the light of day broke her heart. They'd survived thanks to Carl, now they just needed to find him. She and Rick split up at first light to cover more ground and she doubled back to search the sewers and Alexandria.

Sword drawn; she carefully opened the door to their home. She could see the damage caused by Rick's fight with Negan, but the place was otherwise still. "Carl? Carl!" she called out, as she moved through the house.

Sitting on the top step, she placed both hands over her heart. Closing her eyes, she focused on her breathing, trying to push away the panic. He is alright, we will find him, or he will find us. He is alright, we will find him, or he will find us. It was what she repeated in her head over and over as they searched through the night. No other outcome was acceptable.

Hearing the front door open, she stood, raising her sword. She descended the stairs, her heart pounding in her chest.

It was Rick – devastated. Carl's gun was tucked into his waistband, and he held his hat and bag tightly.

She swayed on her feet and dropped her sword. Rick caught her, and they both slid to the floor, their sobs ringing through the empty house.

Negan dropped to his knees "Look what you did." Blood was soaking his hands as he clutched his throat "Carl didn't know a damn thing" he whispered, before crashing to the ground

Rick inhaled and looked toward the heavens for strength. Picking up Lucille, he knelt next to Negan. He leaned in to make eye contact "Carl was right. He pictured something better. All of us working together, for something bigger than all of us. Your people, most of em, are gonna live. The communities are gonna come together and the Sanctuary will thrive. We will all thrive, not just fight to survive. We're gonna make a new beginning. But you won't see it. I already told you, you're gonna die. You're gonna die for what you did to people. Making them live for you, putting them under your boot. You're gonna die for Glenn and for Abraham. You're gonna die for Denise, and Olivia, and Spencer. You're gonna die for Oceanside and the Scavengers. You're gonna die for Carl." Rick looked a Lucille and tightened his grip on the handle. "Once you're dead, after you bleed out and turn, I'm gonna use this to break your arms and legs. You'll lay here and rot as an example for anybody who wants to go down the same path. Then I'm gonna take my axe to this bitch and use the wood for mulch in my fucking garden. Carl was right, he was, and we're gonna make it real"

Rick stood, taking Lucille, and walked over to Michonne and Maggie. "Make sure he's dead first, I want him to die believing what I just told him. After he turns, put a blade through the base of his skull."

Rick dropped Lucille and yelled out to the saviors "Where's Dwight?!"

Several pointed up to the cars lining the ridge. With Daryl and Michonne right behind him, Rick approached Dwight and asked "Oceanside, Scavengers? Who did that?"

"Simon's crew" Dwight replied "He's dead now. Most of his crew was captured or killed at Hilltop and when you hit the satellites."

Nodding, Rick asked "Any of them here?"

"Yeah" Dwight stood and pointed out seven Saviors

Turning to Daryl, Rick ordered "Round them up. We'll talk to Oceanside about em."

Inhaling deeply, he looked at Michonne "I'm gonna give the rest a way out, a path toward peace. And we'll help the Sanctuary recover. Negan doesn't get to live, there has to be some…. some justice for Oceanside, the Scavengers, and everyone in between. I don't know if that's how Carl wanted it…"

Michonne took his hand "You are giving them a way out and offering a way forward, but I don't think there is any peace as long as Negan is alive. I'm less worried about the lesson for him than the lesson for others. People need to understand it will end very badly for anyone who tries to order the world this way again. That's how you make it so nobody has to live this way. That's how you make it so this won't happen again. That's what Carl wanted."

Reassured, he squeezed her hand "We found a way…."

Maggie embraced Rick as they came to face the prisoners, through tears she shared "It's done, Negan's dead. Thank you."

Moving to stand over Lucille, Rick drew his axe. In a single motion, he split the bat in two and continued swinging until the bat was reduced to splinters and dust. Turning to the surviving Saviors, he shouted "The ones with your hands up, put them down. We're all going home now. Negan is dead, and his way of doing things is over!"