BLOODLINES [twd]

{5}

Bailey decided that the night sky had never looked as beautiful as it did right now.

She laid on the roof of the outpost and soaked in the moonlight.

"Ms. Smith?" someone asked.

"Yes?"

"Hey.. it's Alden here with your dinner, ma'am."

Bailey rolled over onto her stomach. She looked at the blonde man and smiled sweetly.

"When was the last time you ate, Alden?" she wondered.

Alden nervously swallowed. "Not too sure, ma'am."

"Take that," she said and motioned to the platter of food. "I'm not hungry."

"It's my job to-"

"I got motion sick being in a car all day," she cut him off. "I don't think I could keep it down and it's best to not waste it. Go ahead and take it to your family or something."

Alden cleared his throat and ducked back inside. He didn't dare speak out fo the way to Negan's daughter. She was more than royalty here and he didn't want to get in trouble for denying her. But, it would be worse if someone thought he was stealing her food.

No matter how appetizing the food looked and how starved Alden was from days without food, he reports back to Gavin and hands the food off to the leader of the outpost. Better safe than sorry.

--

At the same time Bailey Smith was admiring the night, Lucas Rhee was cursing the darkness.

"Just let me walk it," Maggie asked weakly.

"Just a few more miles," Aaron promised.

With Maggie being limp, it took more hands to carry her than usual. Plus, Rick was still worried that the jostling would disrupt her more than anything, so even more hands were on the cot.

Eugene took the RV to ward off Saviors. Just as Lucas plotted, though a different approach was taken. Instead of just being him and another taking Maggie, everyone stayed with Maggie while one was left in the RV.

Rick and Carl were ahead. Rick was holding Maggie's cot by her head and Carl walked alongside his father. Abraham was at Maggie's feet while Lucas and Aaron were on either side of her.

"Lu," Maggie whispered.

"I'm right here," he swore.

The walking paused when a whistle broke through the air. Lucas' head jerked to his side as another joined in from a different spot.

"Go.. Go!" Rick panicked.

"Wait!" Lucas hissed. "Running with her on this is gonna lead to dropping her and we need all hands on guard!"

"Hurry!" Rick snapped- not trying to be mean, he was just stressed.

Abraham and Aaron helped pull Maggie up. Lucas crouched to the ground and they placed her on his back. Aaron kept one hand on his gun and the other on Maggie's back to stabilize her as the group took off running. Rick, Sasha, Abraham, and Carl had their guns pointed up and ready for a fight.

"Things go south, leave us," Rick told Lucas as they ran.

"What?"

"Get her to Hilltop at all costs," Rick stated.

While he hated the idea, he hated the thought of losing Maggie more. Rick never looked back to see Lucas' reaction. They just kept running.

Maggie's arms were weak around Lucas's shoulders and neck. But, she held on to the best of her ability. Lucas kept a strong lock around her thighs as to not drop her, keeping his strides swift and long so she didn't fumble around and hurt herself.