train wreck | rick grimes

chapter thirty-eight

DANIELLE'S MOUTH FELL OPEN ONCE SHE SET HER EYES ON THE LARGE COMMUNITY. The walls were perfectly built and the people were laughing and chatting, almost as if this was a normal world. She looked to Rick and he gave her a tight smile, following Jesus into the large building.

The second she walked in, it smelt of wood mixed with a little bit of lavender, making her eyebrows furrow as she wondered where they had gotten such a scent. The door opened, revealing a man wearing a nicely fitted suit, his facial hair perfectly cut and a large, smug smile on his face. "Jesus, you're back. With guests?"

"Everyone, this is Gregory." Jesus told them and they all looked at him with the most polite smile they could muster. "He keeps everything running around here."

"I'm the boss." The man was eyeing Danielle, making her shift uncomfortably from where she stood, Michonne noticing and moving closer to her, giving him a threatening look.

"Well, I'm Rick, we have a community-"

"Why don't y'all go get cleaned up?" Gregory interrupted. Rick squinted his eyes at him before inhaling, trying to keep his cool.

"We're fine."

"Jesus will show you where you could get washed up and then you'll come back down when you're ready?" Gregory asked them, or more like ordered them. He got closer to Rick and Danielle could sense the anger radiating off from him, as did everyone else.

-

Danielle ran her finger along the books, seeing that they were awfully clean, making her hum to herself. She heard shuffling coming from behind her and she turned around quickly, seeing Glenn standing there with a small smile on his face. "Hey." She breathed out.

"You think that he'd be willing to trade?" Glenn asked her, walking up towards the books as well.

"I don't know, honestly." Danielle told him, shrugging slightly. "Doesn't seem like the trading type. Or even the helping type." She chuckled humorlessly, Glenn laughing along with her.

The door opened, revealing Maggie with an annoyed look on her face, Gregory behind her with a cocky smile. She looked to Danielle and shook her head slightly, silently telling her that he's not willing to trade.

-

"We want to generate trade. Gregory does. But ammo isn't something we urgently need." Jesus explained to everyone.

"Why's that?" Danielle spoke, Jesus turning towards her.

"The walls hold. We just brought in more medicine." Jesus paused, "Gregory wants the best deal possible."

"Yeah, we want things too." Daryl told him.

"We need food. We came all this way, we're gonna get it." Rick shrugged, Danielle nodding her head in agreement.

Jesus eyes him for a second before speaking again, "I will talk to him and we will work this out."

Suddenly, a man came into the room, a frantic look on his face.Gregory came into the room, confusion on his face. "They're back." He gave Jesus a knowing look before the two walked out, everyone following behind.

"Where's everyone else?" He asked the people, somber looks on their faces.

"They're dead."

"Negan?" Gregory asked, tilting his head a bit.

"He has Craig. He said that he'd return him to us if I gave you a message." The man told Gregory, placing his hand on his shoulder. Gregory furrowed his eyebrows.

Danielle widened her eyes once she saw him pull out a knife, stabbing Gregory. Glenn and Rick pulled the man away, her standing there in shock. Rick and the man began fighting, Danielle seeing him pull out a sharp object, pointing it at Rick's throat.

She pulled out her gun, pointing it at the man. "Put it down." She gave him the best deadly look she could muster and just as the man went to attack Rick, he got the quicker hand and pushed the sharp weapon into his throat, blood pouring onto him.

Everyone looked in shock, Rick quickly getting up from off the floor and giving everyone an annoyed look. "What?"

A woman made her way towards Rick, going to punch him before Danielle tripped her easily, her falling to the ground with a grunt of pain. "Don't touch him."

"Drop it now!" A man came forward, pointing his spear at Rick, who drew his gun.

"I don't think I will."

Jesus came running, getting in between them. "Stop! This is over! Ethan was our friend. But let's not pretend that he was anything but a coward who attacked us. He did this and these people stopped him.

Danielle gave him a small nod and he nodded back, dropping his arms once everyone dropped their guns. Jesus and Rick exchanged a couple more words before Danielle walked up. "Let's get you cleaned up." She told him, the man nodding his head before she led him inside, the two walking into the bathroom.

She opened under the sink and grabbed a rag and ran it under the faucet, just getting it damp so she could rub off the blood. Sighing deeply, she started to dab it off from his face, the man instantly shying away from the cloth. "What?"

"It's cold." Rick told her and she scoffed softly, going in to wipe it off again. He watched her the whole time, a small, lingering smile playing on his lips.

Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips were slightly pouted, her concentration all on getting the blood off. Danielle looked up into his eyes and she stopped momentarily, starting to wipe the blood off from his neck.

The two sat in comfortable silence, not feeling the need to say anything. Danielle brushed the dirt off from his jacket once she got all the blood off from his, or almost all of it anyway, some still stayed on his shirt.

Rick reached over and gripped her waist tightly, pulling her a bit closer to him. She hummed and placed her hands on his cheeks, smirking. "I like this." She whispered to him, biting her lip slightly.

Rick nodded his head, his eyes going to her lips before he looked back up to her eyes. "Me too."

"We should be going back, though." Danielle told him, pulling away.

Rick groaned and followed her out, towards where everyone stood, obviously waiting for them.

"Dr. Carson was able to patch Gregory up. He's in pain, but he'll heal." Jesus told them, Danielle sitting down on the couch across from Abraham.

"So what happens now? Michonne asked, her eyes glued to the floor.

"Things like that don't usually happen here. But it's settled."

Rick stepped up, crossing his arms. "We heard the name Negan. Who is he?"

"Negan is the head of a group of people he calls the Saviors. As soon as the walls were built, the Saviors showed up. They met with Gregory on behalf of their boss." Jesus paused, darting his ey eyes to the floor. "They made alot of demands. And even more threats. And he killed one of us. Rory. He was 16 years old."

Danielle leaned forwards at that, her eyebrows furrowing in an expression that was sadness, showing her empathy to the fallen child.

"He beat him to death right in front of us. Said we needed to understand. Right off the bat."