Sanctuary

The Final Chapter

Negan drives down the road with his men behind him. There are eight trucks in all, and one van.

"You think this will give us the advantage?" Dwight asks from the passenger seat.

"It fucking better," Negan frowns, not taking his eyes from the road.

They pull up at the gates of Alexandria. Rick stands on the platform, a rifle in his hand.

Negan steps out of the truck, his men not far behind him.

"What kind of surrender is this?" Rick frowns.

"You really think i was gonna surrender?" Negan smiles. "You really are a stupid little prick."

Rick shifts his feet. "You really wanna do this?"

"I don't know? Maybe i do, let's see what fucking happens," Negan grins. "Dwight," Negan ushers with his hand towards the van.

Dwight walks towards the back of the van. Rick's eyes widen as he watches Dwight pull Daryl from the back of it.

"Look who i found," Negan licks his lips.

Dwight holds a gun to Daryl's head. Daryl pulls at the rope that binds his hands behind his back, but it's tied tight.

Rick clenches his jaw. "Let him go!"

"Sure thing, Rick. Right after you hand Rachel over. So be a good boy, and go fucking get her," Negan smiles.

"This wasn't the deal!" Rick spits.

"You don't fucking tell me what the deal is, Rick! Now go and fucking get her, or i have Dwight here, blow Daryl's brains out!" Negan yells.

Rick looks down at Gabriel. "Go get her."

Gabriel nods and walks off.

"Things are gonna get ugly, Rick. I fucking hate when things get ugly, so i'm gonna make you a one time only offer," Negan smiles.

"What's that?" Rick asks.

"We go through with this little swap, no one gets hurt. Then i drive the fuck away from here, and come back in one week as if nothing's fucking happened. All water under the fucking bridge, and we go back to being fuck buddies, what do you say, Rick?" Negan offers.

Rick pinches his nose. He looks down at Negan. "I say, go fuck yourself."

Negan chuckles. "Alright, if that's how you want it to be, then fine."

Rick turns around. He sees Gabriel heading towards him, empty handed. Rick frowns, stepping down from the platform. "Where is she?"

Gabriel swallows deeply. "She's gone."

Rick's eyes widen. "What do you mean she's gone? How can she be gone?" He spits.

"I found Shaun unconscious in her cell. He must have gone too close to her, she must have taken the key from him, i don't know," Gabriel shakes his head.

"Shit!" Rick curses under his breath. "Now what do we do? He has Daryl. Soon as he finds out Rachel isn't here, he's gonna kill him."

~

Rachel watches from the woods. Getting out had been easy, what with the pathetic excuse for a security guard. She'd fully intended to stop Negan further down the road, and convince him to go back to the sanctuary. Unfortunately, getting over the wall had taken longer than she'd thought. Just as she had gotten into the woods, Negan had begun to pull up outside the gates. Rachel knew exactly what would happen if Negan knew Rick didn't have her. So she waited, not quite sure what to do. A part of her wished she'd stayed in the cell. Coming out of the woods now would only serve to make Negan more confident, which would most likely cost Daryl his life. On the other hand, she had the rat to contend with. The rat, that currently had a gun aimed at Daryl's head. From what Rick had said, she was confident Dwight wouldn't shoot Daryl. What she was worried about, was Negan.