Elena was always composed and methodical. She knew how to survive the world way before it finished. She wasn't looking for attachments, for people to call a family. Because attachments are liability, make you weak especially in this new world where...
Chapter warning: Explicit sexual content. Lots of swearing.
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We arrived back home later that afternoon, swiftly urging Sasha to inform Olivia that we were coming with food and to gather as many people as possible in the church to have a meeting. I don't think I will ever forget the look on Carol's face when she was told that we would have to fight. How her lips drew down, and her face drowned in utter defeat.
The first course of the action was to run home. Daryl stopped questioning my weird behavior when I had something on my mind long ago. I hugged Lucy tightly when I saw her with Mich in the living room, leaving them after a few minutes without answering their questions.
The papers were exactly where I left them after coming back from leading the herd away. I didn't even look at them, simply shoved them inside the desk in our bedroom. Of course, I had a clear memory of every page I read on that cold night in December, but others didn't. And I was adamant about making Rick listen to me.
Shouting over my shoulder at Mich to meet me at the church, I left the house quickly, running the short distance to Rick's, only stopping when the entrance door opened, making me bump into the man I was looking for.
"You alright?"
"Rick! I got to talk to you."
We both chuckled at speaking at the same time, and he shook his head, stepping out of the house, closing the door after himself quietly. "Jude is napping."
I nodded at that and bit my lower lip. "Rick, what the fuck are we doing?"
"What you mean, Eli?" He cocked his head to the side, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops.
Sighing heavily, I sat down on his porch swing, waving the papers in my hand. "I told you about the guy in the office building back when we led the herd away, right?"
"Yeah," He confirmed, his jaw clenching at the memory of our conversation.
"So you know he mentioned Negan. That he wanted to scout us out, sent one of their people after us."
"Yeah, I remember. What is it really about?"
"Look." I shoved maps and sheets with drawings toward him. "After everything that happened those days, and without hearing anything about Negan... I forgot."
Rick silently read through the papers and slowly sat beside me, fingers stroking his beard, as his eyes skimped over the plans, numbers, and names. He was deep in thought, and there was not a single paper that he didn't check over twice.
"That's..."
I hummed in reply even though he hadn't finished his sentence, biting on my lower lip. "You still want to go through with this?"
Pulling the sheets into a neat pile, he handed them back to me and stood up to pace the small area of his porch. I wasn't sure what exactly I hoped to accomplish here, but the simple fact was that I was scared. Not going through with the plan, not doing this would mean no deal with Hilltop, and a constant shadow of those Saviors, threatening our safety. But if we did, we couldn't leave it like that. From everything I understood, they were around us, and as much as I wish it was not the truth, they would discover us sooner or later.
