BLOODY MARY || c. grimes

fifty-two - hilltop

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO,
hilltop
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WHEN THE SMALL group drove back through the gates of Alexandria, Rick told Sasha to gather everyone in the church. This caused Ellie to grow anxious for whatever the leader had to say.
"Come on, AJ. Dad and the others are back." The Dixon girl nudged her brothers shoulder. "Come on, get up. It's almost noon."
AJ grumbled, swatting her hands away lazily. "No."
"AJ Dixon. Get your ass up." Ellie grabbed his pillow right from underneath his head and smacked him with it. "Rick wants to talk to everyone."

"Now, we can work with the Hilltop." Rick paced back and forth in front of the pews, glancing each and every one of the survivors in the eye. "Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food-eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away. These Savoirs, 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've killed someone or some of us. And then they would try to own us. And we would try to stop'em. But 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. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece." The building was deadly quiet. All until a pew squeaked and everyone turned around.
Morgan stared at the floor. "You're sure we can do it?" He locked eyes with the Grimes man. "We can beat'em?"
"What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become, all of us-yes, I'm sure." Rick assured him, but also assured anyone else who was too afraid to speak up.
Morgan nodded. "Then all we have to do is just tell them that."
"Well, they-they don't compromise." Rick reminded.
"This isn't a compromise." Morgan waved him off. "It's a choice you give'em. It's a way out, for them and for us."
"We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up on our advantage, our safety. No, we have to come for them before they come for us." The leader placed his hand on his hip. "We can't leave them alive."
"Where there's life, there's possibility." Morgan quoted.
"Of them hitting us."
"We're not trapped in this." Morgan raised his voice slightly. "None of you are trapped in this."
"Morgan..." Rick sighed softly. "They always come back."
Morgan nodded his head curtly. "Come back when they're dead, too."
"Yeah, we'll stop them. We have before."
"I'm not talking about the walkers." Morgan's voice lowered. Ellie glanced across the room at Mimi and Enid, both of them sending their friend a shrug.
Rick paused for a second. "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 now, too, but who else wants to approach the Saviors, talk to them first?"
Aaron stood up quickly. "What happened here...We won't let that happen again. I won't." He sent a nod to Rick and sat back down.
There was a tense, heavy pause in the room.
"Looks like it's settled." The Grimes man shrugged softly. Morgan scoffed lightly, nodding his head.
"You know exactly what this is. We don't shy from it, we live. We kill them all." Rick kept eye contact with his old friend. Morgan glanced around before taking his defeat and sitting down again.
"We don't all have to kill. But if people are gonna stay here..." Rick stepped down the short steps, looking back at Morgan as he walked away. "They're gonna have to except it."

"Ellie! AJ!" Glenn called towards the kids, waving them over to himself and his wife. When they jogged over, Maggie smiled softly, handing a piece of paper to the girl.
"What's this?" Ellie furrowed her eyebrows, glancing down at the faint image printed on the white paper. "Wait, is this-" She cut herself off. A bright smile overtook her face and tears pricked her eyes. Maggie and Glenn nodded.
"What is it?" AJ took the picture gently, trying to decipher its meaning as Ellie pulled the Rhee couple into a tight embrace.
Maggie pulled away gently, crouching next to the boy. "See this little spot here? That's my baby." She spoke softly, pointing from the picture to her belly. AJ smiled.
"Really? It's so small." He studied the picture. "What do you think it'll be?"
Glenn and Maggie shared a glance. "A boy." The Rhee man said hopefully.
"It may be." Maggie smiled brightly.

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AS THE SUN fell and the hours ticked away, Ellie couldn't figure out the best position to sleep. She was tossing and turning for hours until she gave up on resting completely.
She slowly walked down the stairs, flopping down to the sofa with a sigh. She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath when a banging came from the front door.
Ellie jumped up, grabbing a knife from under the couch and slowly walked to the door. She yanked the curtain back, sighing when she saw Mimi standing there.
The door swung open with a squeak. "What're you doing up so late?" The Dixon girl asked nonchalantly.
Mimi grabbed her friends arm and tugged her from the house. "I need your help." She pulled the front door closed before dragging Ellie off the porch and to the house next door.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Mimi, what the hell is going on?" Ellie stopped her before they walked inside.
The Espinosa girl sighed. "It's Rosita. Abraham broke up with her and she's...she's not doing too good."

Ellie knocked on the closed bedroom door gently, pressing her ear to the wood.
"Go away, Eugene." Rosita's broken voice yelled in annoyance.
"It's not Eugene." Ellie called back. Footsteps walked to the door before it was yanked open. Rosita couldn't help the smile that came across her face when she was Ellie and Mimi standing there, a bowl of popcorn in their hands and smiles on their faces.
"What are you two doing up?" The Espinosa woman crossed her arms, trying to hide the puffiness of her eyes from them.
"I heard. We wanted to cheer you up." Mimi told her firmly, not letting her sister try to lie her way out of it. Rosita sighed, nodding softly as she moved to the side and let the girls in.
The three of them sat on the large bed, the popcorn in between them in silence.
"Boy are stupid." Ellie broke the quiet, earning a snicker from the Espinosa girls.
"Very stupid." Mimi nodded.
"I don't want to think about him." Rosita grabbed a handful of popcorn, turning to the Dixon girl. "Tell me about what's going on with you and Carl."
Ellie squinted her eyes at Mimi, grabbing some popcorn and tossing it at the girl. "I told you not to tell anyone."
"I couldn't help it!" Mimi laughed. "Rosie's a good interrogator."
Ellie rolled her eyes at them. "Well, long story short, Carl kissed me. Then I kissed him. And now every time we see each other, he either blushes or kisses me. What do you think that means?"
"I think that means you've got yourself a boyfriend." Rosita smirked at the girl, taking a bite of popcorn. "It took you two long enough."
"What are you talking about?" Ellie flushed slightly.
Rosita and Mimi shared an amused glance. "Ellie, honey, everyone knew you and Carl liked each other. I mean, I knew since we first met. You're not very subtle." The eldest Espinosa laughed. Ellie had a hard time coming up with words. Carl told her Michonne said the same thing.
"Really? You think he knew I liked him for a while?" The Dixon girl hid her face with her hair in embarrassment. This time Mimi laughed.
"No way." She emphasized. "You two are the most oblivious people I've ever met."
"Hey, I don't wanna hear it 'Ms. Enid-Hates-Me-Doesn't-She?'." Rosita snickered at her sisters face, leaning over to Ellie and whispered loudly. "She asked this after they kissed the first time."
They three sat in a short silence before busting out in laughter, talking about anything their minds came to during the late hours of the night.

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