Destination Life or Death

29.

We all gathered back at the house, "Dr. Carson was able to patch Gregory up. He's in pain but he will live." Jesus said while walking into a room we had all sat in. "So, what happens now?" I asked from the chair I was sitting in. "Things like that don't usually happen here, but uh. It's settled." Jesus said, shrugging. "We heard the name Negan. A while back Daryl and Abrahm had a run-in with his men. Who is he?" Carl asked while looking at Jesus confused. "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. They made a lot of demands, and even more threats. And he killed one of us." Jesus spoke calmly, "Rory." He added to himself quickly, "He was 16 years old. He beat him to death right in front of us. Said we needed to understand, right off the bat. Gregory isn't exactly good at confrontation. He's not the leader I would have chosen but he helped make this place what it is, and the people like him." "He made the deal?" Maggie spoke from the back of the room. "Half of everything. Our supplies, our crops, our livestock. It goes to the saviors." "And what do you get in return?" Glenn asked from behind me. "They don't attack this place. They dont kill us." Jesus said, shaking his head. "Why not just kill them?" Daryl asked quickly. "Most of the people here don't even know how to fight, even if we had ammo." Jesus answered. "Well, how many people does Negan have?" Carl asked. "We don't know. We've seen groups as big as 20." Jesus looked at Carl then at me. "Now, hold up," Daryl spoke quickly. "So they show up, they kill a kid, and you give them half of everything? These dicks just got a good story. The bogeyman, he aint shit." Darly spoke not looking away from Jesus. "Well, how do you know that?" Jesus said looking over to him. "A month ago, we took his guys out PDQ. Left them in pieces and puddles." Abraham said quickly "You know, we'll do it," Daryl added "if we go get your man back, kill Negan, take out his boys, will you hook us up? We want food, medicine and one of those cows." Daryl spoke quickly but sternly. "Confrontations have never been something we've had trouble with." Carl said shrugging. "I'll take it to Gregory," Jesus said, smiling slightly and then leaving the room. "Are we sure this is really a good idea?" I asked looking at Carl then to Daryl. "Dez, we can do this and then gain something, start a healthy community." Carl said before sitting down on the couch facing me. "Look, we just have to get in and do our thing." Daryl said quickly. "All i'm saying, is we don't know what this Negan guy is really like and we sound really confident now but that could all change when we see what we're up against." I said shaking my head while looking at Carl then around to everyone else. They all seemed a little doubtful but for some reason, we knew this is something we needed to do.

Carl, Maggie, Glenn and I stood on the balcony and watched the community say goodbye to Ethan. "They have food, we dont. We dont have anything." Carl spoke while looking out, "Except us." He added quickly, "What we can do," He said facing us and shaking his head. "This is the trade." he said looking at us and putting his hands on his hips. "It's gonna cost us something," Maggie said, looking at Carl. "Gregorys up, He wants to talk." Jesus said while opening the door. Carl started walking before Jesus stopped him. "To Maggie." He said, looking at Carl then Maggie. "He wants to talk to Maggie." He said looking at us then Maggie again. I looked at Carl and Maggie, "You got this." Glenn said smiling. "Deanna was right about you." Carl spoke calmly. As we packed up the RV to leave Hilltop we received large amounts of food and medicine. "Even Negan didn't get this much upfront." Jesus said while loading a basket into the RV. "Jesus said you've been taking supplies to Negan since the beginning," I spoke to the man whose arm I had broken a few days prior. "We're gonna get Craig back." I spoke nodding to him. "The only way to get Craig back is to bring them Gregory's head." the man spoke quickly. "We're gonna get Craig back." Carl said while moving up behind me. "How?" the man asked while looking at Carl then me again. "We need to know what you know about Negan's compound." I said pausing, the man looked nervous. "We need your help, we need you to come," Carl added on quickly. The silence stayed for a while before he finally agreed. As he walked away he turned and looked at me. "My name's Andy, strong-arm," He said, shaking his head and then walking away. "You got room for one more right?" Jesus came up to me while I grabbed the last basket. "I mean were talking about righting the world here. Plus you still have my knives." Jesus spoke while getting into the RV. "You up for this?" Carl asked while walking up beside me. "It's gonna be a fight." I said shaking my head. "We'll win!" Carl said nodding at me in reassurance. "We have to." he said, shrugging. "We'll win." I said smiling slightly then pulling him into a hug and then walking into the RV. Glenn handed me a picture of their ultrasound. I smiled and couldn't help but cry a bit. Glenn was there for me even when he didn't realize, seeing him become a father, is something I know he'll be good at. I smiled and then handed the picture to Daryl. Everyone was happy, we all smiled at the sight of a new generation, the generation that could restart it all.