FOURTY - SIX

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"More?" Luna sighed, her hands resting on her hips

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"More?" Luna sighed, her hands resting on her hips. "You brought them seventy guns and they want more?"

"To be fair, we did take 20 of them with us." Michonne said. "But yeah, they want more. They want all of their people armed before they'll fight with us."

"Bullshit, they'll just turn on us when we give them what they want." Carl said.

"I don't think they will." Rick said. "I trust them. We trust them." Carl scoffed. "Besides, even if they turn on us, we can still win."

"How?" Luna couldn't help herself. "If you were gonna give them that many guns and it wasn't even enough, they'll have over a hundred people. Between us and the Hilltop we don't even have that many who are ready to fight. If we had the Kingdom, maybe, but there's no way with just us."

"It won't be just us." Michonne said. "Tara told us about another group she met after getting separated from Heath on the road. Oceanside. Negan killed all their men and boys and they fled during the night to escape the Saviors. They have guns, they have numbers, and they have a reason. They'll help us."

—————

"You ready for this?" Carl asked, looking around the woods.

"I have to be." Luna nodded, her hands flexing on her rifle. "Even if I don't want to be."

"Luna..." Carl sighed.

"You heard what Tara said." She argued. "Women and children, terrified, running for their lives. And our plan to get them on our side is to raid their camp and take them hostage until they agree? It's psychotic."

"We might not have to." He reminded. "Tara could get them to agree to talk."

"And what if she doesn't?" She asked. "What if she get's caught or someone surprises her while talking to the leader and she's compromised?" Before Carl could speak again, they heard a rock hit a tree behind them. They both turned, seeing Daryl and Jesus making their way away from them down the line, of explosives. "It's too late." Luna turned back to Carl. "I just hope she's still alive in there somewhere." Another rock hit another tree, and just a few seconds later the first explosion went off. Carl took point, Luna quickly following him as they moved through the trees. The others were flanking them, and they soon came upon the group of women and children.

"Everybody put your hands on your head and stay down!" Aaron called out.

"We don't want anybody to get hurt." Gabriel continued. "We want this to go as peacefully as possible." Down the trail, Daryl and Jesus were leading two more women towards the group.

"Now we made a lot of noise. We want to wrap this up quick so you can send people to redirect anything coming this way." Rick said as he moved in front of the group. "Tara said your forests are relatively clear, so we won't take any chances. No one needs to get hurt. This is just about what you have, what we need."

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