𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍, rick grimes (ON HOLD)

EIGHTY-ONE

      GREGORY WAS BEING TENDED TO BY HARLAN, WHILE EVERYONE ELSE joined Jesus in his study. "Doctor Carson was able to patch Gregory up. He's in pain, but he'll live."

      "So what happens now?" Michonne asked.

      "Things like that usually happen here, but, uh, it's settled," Jesus replied.

      "We heard the name Negan," Rick said. "A while back, Daryl and Abraham had a run-in with his men. Who is he?"

      "Negan's the head of a group of people he calls the Saviors," Jesus began. "As soon as the walls were built, the Saviors showed up. They met with Gregory on behalf of their boss. They made a lot of demands, even more threats, and he killed one of us. Rory. He was sixteen years old. They beat him to death right in front of us. Said we needed to understand, right off the bat. Gregory's not exactly good at confrontation. He's not the leader I would have picked, but he helped make this place what it is and people like him."

      "He made the deal?" Maggie guessed.

      "Half of everything," Jesus nodded. "Our supplies, our crops, our livestock. It goes straight to the Saviors."

      "And what do you get in return?" Josie asked.

      "They don't attack us," Jesus answered. "They don't kill us."

      "Why not just kill them?" Daryl asked.

      "Most of the people here don't even know how to fight," Jesus replied. "Even if we had ammo."

      "Well, how many people does Negan have?" Rick asked.

      "We don't know," Jesus replied. "We've seen groups as big as twenty."

      "Now, hold up," Daryl spoke up. "They show up, they kill a kid, and you give 'em half of everything? These dicks just got a good story. The boogeyman, he ain't shit."

      "Well, how do you know?" Jesus asked.

      "A month ago, we took his guys out PDQ," Abraham explained. "Left 'em in pieces and puddles."

      "You know, we'll do it," Daryl offered. "If we go get your man back, kill Negan, take out his boys, will you hook us up? We want food, medicine, and one of them cows."

      Jesus looked at Rick, who shrugged. "Confrontation's never been something we've had trouble with."

      Jesus sighed and nodded. "I'll take it to Gregory."

      After Maggie struck a deal with Gregory, everyone took half of whatever they had. Josie carried a crate along with Abraham and they entered the RV, setting them down as the rest of the group waited for Glenn and Maggie to finish with their ultrasound.

      They got back on the road and Josie sat in the passenger's seat before Glenn walked up to her, leaning on her seat as he handed her an ultrasound picture.

      Josie looked over her shoulder, taking the picture from him as she smiled. The brunette loved thinking about Glenn being a dad, and she couldn't wait to see him become one.

      She handed Rick the picture and he took it, a smile appearing on his face as he looked at Glenn. Josie stood from her seat, pulling her best friend in for a hug.

      "I'm so happy for you," she whispered.

      Glenn hugged her back. "Thank you."

      When they arrived back at Alexandria, Rick called a meeting in the church. Josie sat in the front rows with Parker as they listened to Rick speak about the Hilltop, eventually reaching the topic about Negan and what they would do.

      "—And we can work with the Hilltop," Rick explained. "Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food, eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away. These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham on the road. Now, sooner or later, they would've found us just like those Wolves did. Just like Jesus did. They would have killed someone or some of us, and then they would try to own us. And we would try to stop them. By then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure, as sure as we can get, that we win. And we have to win. We do this for the Hilltop, it's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. Anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece."

      Morgan stood up, making his presence known in the back of the room. "You sure we can do it? We can beat them?"

      "What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become," Rick said. "All of us. Yes, I'm sure."

      "Then all we have to do is just tell them that," Morgan replied.

      "Well, they don't compromise," Rick said.

      "This isn't a compromise," Morgan explained. "It's a choice you give them. It's a way out, for them and for us."

      "We try to talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage," Rick said. "Our safety. No, we have to come for them before they come for us. We can't leave them alive."

      "Where there's life, there's prosperity," Morgan said.

      "Of them hitting us," Rick replied.

      "We're not trapped in this," Morgan pointed out. "None of you are trapped in this."

      "Morgan, they always come back," Rick said.

      "Come back when they're dead, too," Morgan added.

      "Yeah, we'll stop them," Rick nodded. "We have before."

      "I'm not talking about the walkers," Morgan replied.

      Rick sighed before he spoke again. "Morgan wants to talk to them first. I think that would be a mistake, but it's not up to me. I'll talk to the people still at home. I'll discuss it with the people on guard, too, but who else wants to approach the Saviors? Talk to them first?"

      "What happened here," Aaron began, getting to his feet. "We won't let that happen again. I won't."

      Aaron nodded at Rick and sat back down as Rick placed his hands on his hips. "Well, it looks like it's settled. We know exactly what this is. We don't shy front it, we live. We kill them all. We don't all have to kill, but if people are gonna stay here, they do have to accept it."

      Rick walked out of the building without another word.

      Josie sighed and got to her feet as Parker ran off before quickly returning with a young brunette girl. Josie raised a brow, placing her hands on her hips.

      "Mom, I would like you to meet Molly," Parker smiled.

      "Hello, Molly," Josie said. "It's nice to finally meet you."

      "It's nice to meet you, too, Mrs. Grimes," Molly replied.

      "Oh, please, call me Josie," she replied.

      Molly nodded. "Okay," she looked at Parker. "I'll see you around."

      "All right," Parker nodded.

      Molly walked off and caught up with her mother and Josie looked over at Parker, wrapping her arm around her shoulder.

      "She's pretty," Josie bumped her hip against Parker's.

      "Yeah, she is," Parker agreed with a smile.

      Josie smiled softly at her daughter, pulling her in for a side hug before they began to make their way back to their house.

eden speaks!

we're getting closer to you know what 😔