Two Sides

Chapter 17 - Preparing to Fight

Your POV

On your way to Alexandria, you were pretty much paralyzed and you felt like a robot, the only thing your mind was able to focus on was the walker with Ezekiel's looks. Meanwhile your body seemed to move on its own. It was stupid to dwell on this, and incredibly dangerous, but you couldn't help it. The seed had been buried and now the fear was growing like weeds. You wouldn't feel better until you saw him and knew he was alive and well.

Luckily, you found another two guns and a few packs of ammunition – despite your distraction. It wasn't much but at least you had guns and didn't come back empty-handed. It made you realize that you hadn't fired a gun in forever. Well, actually since you had mowed down the Saviors in that outpost. Which hadn't ended well for your group. So, picking one up with the knowledge that you'd have to kill again soon was a very unpleasant feeling.

You reached the gate of Alexandria a few days later; you had lost your sense of time in the woods so you didn't really know what day it was.

Rosita was at the gate, her eyes widened when she saw you, but she still opened up. You were tired of arguing, and she didn't give a snarky remark either, so you actually just greeted her and continued walking.

"Wait," she said then which made you pause.

"Why?" you asked and turned around, trying to be polite.

"I thought I'd bring you up to speed," she continued. "A lot of things happened, you might want to know before going inside."

You stopped. "Alright..."

"Dwight was here," Rosita explained, "We have a plan to fight the Saviors."

You furrowed your brow. "Okay, but why trust him all of a sudden?"

She shrugged. "You should ask Rick. He seems to have his reasons."

"What about the rest? Guns? More people?" you asked, trying to make use of the fact that she seemed to be more cooperative now.

"We found people who agreed on helping us, a lot of people. And we got lots of guns from another community Tara found." She looked down, calmer. "Listen, what I said... You lost him, too, I was selfish."

"It's alright," you replied and nodded at her. You didn't want to press her to say anything more, this was more than you had expected to get from her and you especially didn't want to talk about Abraham now. Maybe she wasn't angry anymore because you actually had a chance to fight Negan and avenge Abraham, not depending on Ezekiel's help. However, you really wanted to speak to Rick, to know what was really going on, so you walked past Rosita on your way to find him. She wasn't your main concern right now. You wanted to know what the plan was.

* * *

Ezekiel's POV

Lately, a lot had gone wrong in the Kingdom. They had lost two very dear people, not only due to the Saviors but to inner conflict and tension. Then Nabila had told him that some of the plants in the gardens needed to be burned down and replanted. Another constant worry for Ezekiel was that you had left, he missed you and he couldn't stop thinking about you.

But no matter what, he still remained positive.

He knew that a fight was inevitable after what happened to Benjamin and that it was only a matter of time until it would happen. Which made him realize that he actually had the chance to help and support you and your group. And of course to free his people from the impact of the Saviors, to lead the Kingdom into a safe and happy future.

There was a lot to gain and a lot to lose, but he was hopeful. He wanted to believe in the future he could here have with you by his side.

Currently, Ezekiel was replanting the crops they'd had to burn, together with Henry, Benjamin's little brother. He wanted to distract the boy, so it was a good way of making him feel useful and needed. Losing his brother was so hard for him that Ezekiel needed to make sure he'd eventually come to terms with it.