virago|c.g.|

xxxiv

Clary sat in the chair, her eyes still glazed over with the thoughts of Negan and his men. The group around her watched her carefully, worried as they saw the usually strong girl seemingly falter.

"Clary—" Rick began, his voice cut off as the door opened, Jesus walking in to tell them that the Doctor had patched up Gregory. The information went in one ear and out the other for the girl as she kept her eyes on her hands, scanning the faint crescent shape scars on her palms. "We heard the name Negan. A while ago, Daryl and Abraham had a run in with his men. Who is he?" Rick questioned Jesus as he leaned against a wall.

Hearing the name, Clary's head snapped up. Rick looked to her, surprised at her reaction as she stood up. Jesus watched her carefully, surprised as her eyes landed on him with a contained rage. "You didn't tell me you were still being targeted by him, Jesus. You knew, and you didn't—" Jesus held up a hand, causing her to go silent. "I didn't want to worry you. They weren't due to come for a while so I thought you'd be safe." She scoffed, shaking her head before she looked to the group surrounding her. "Negan's the leader of a group he likes to call the Saviors, but they are far from it. Everything I talked about in my tape with Deanna, the runners and Second Commander under Leon being killed? That was all Negan's men. And a couple months later, it was Negan that strolled up to our doors and beat my—" the images flashed in her head.

The screaming.

The blood.

His laughter.

"He killed my sister right in front of me. In front of her husband." Remembering the death of her sister, she clenched her jaw. "That's what he does. To prove a point he kills at least one person. He chose Leon since he was the one that had gotten away the first time. He said we had to understand our place." She took a deep breath. "Leon was supposed to die, but my sister couldn't let him. She volunteered to take his place, and Negan liked the dramatics and took her up on it." The group watched as she seemingly tried to calm herself, as she clenched her hands into fists. "After that I— I had to agree to give him half of our supplies every month, just like Hilltop does. He said if I didn't, then he would take Leon. That he would continue to kill until I learned my place."

Everyone was silent as Clary looked to Jesus, who nodded his head solemnly before she continued. "It was the Saviors we had been preparing to battle. I was scouting the route we would use to get to them only to come back to see Solaris in ruins." The girl said, her voice firm yet holding an underlying tone of pain. "That was them. They destroy and they steal and they kill because that is who they are." Rick rubbed his face hearing her words, frustrated and wondering if she would've kept that to herself had they not been threatened. "And you're just telling us now?" Clary shook her head. "It's why I tried to go! I didn't want them finding me. But being in Alexandria for those months, I thought that maybe— maybe they fell too. I was stupid to think that." Rick clenched his jaw and she let out a soft sigh. "I'm sorry for keeping it from you, I should have told you—" Rick scoffed. "Yeah, you should've."

"This ain't her fault," fought a rugged voice, all eyes falling upon Daryl. Hearing and seeing the frustration on Rick's face, he could understand, but he could see the fear and pain in the girl's and knew who he stood by. As Rick clenched his jaw, Daryl turned towards Clary, keeping his eyes upon her yet they held no anger. "You had plans, right? Your people were ready to fight?" He questioned, the girl sending him a quick nod. "So how many people they got? Weapons, you know any of that?"

Seeing where Daryl was going with their conversation, she perked up. "The Saviors didn't trust us to take supplies to their compound. With our skill and military tactics, they were scared of a retaliation on their home base, so they'd pick up the supplies from Solaris. But when they did go to Solaris, there was a good twenty men with Negan. They were able to suppress us because we knew they had the numbers. The only thing that we didn't have going in was where they are."