For my sister | Negan |

65 - Tomorrow

'I did not shoot at you', Rick spits back. 'We never aimed at you, but he gave us no choice. He has to die.'

'Well, he still alive', I say, throwing my arms into the air.

I don't want him to die. But I can't tell them that. I never switched sides when I was at the Sanctuary. But I did gain an understanding of the situation from another perspective. Honestly, the conclusion is that I don't support the bloodshed on either side. There's good people here. There's good people at the Sanctuary. None deserve to die. But it seems to be inevitable.

'And he's coming for you soon. So you best get prepared.'

'What do you know?' Rick asks immediately, taking an urgent step closer. 'You know what he's planning?'

'No', I sigh. 'I mean, I heard about his earlier plans. He was going to attack the Hilltop with infected weapons. But I think he knows that I know, so I don't know if that's still the plan.'

'Infected weapons?' Michonne asks, sounding alerted. 'What do you mean?'

'Look, I'll tell you everything I know', I say, turning back to face her. I'm starting to feel a little desperate because all of this is taking way too long. 'But right now I just need to see my-'

'Chris?'

My head snaps back to look at the entrance of the big house. I'd know her voice anywhere. But when I see her stunned face, my heart truly lifts up.

I ignore Rick and Michonne and I run for her. She does the same and we meet in the middle, almost toppling over when we crash into each other.

'I was so scared', Ella sobs into my shoulder.

'Oh my God, me too.'

Tears streak down my cheeks too as I hug her so tigthly against me, it almost hurts.

'I thought he was gonna kill you.'

'No, honey, I'm alive', I say, breaking apart to take her face into my hands. I scan her quickly for any injuries and thankfully I don't see any.

'I'm fine, I'm totally fine', I assure her. 'Are you okay? You didn't get hurt in the escape?'

'I'm fine', she says, laughing through her tears. 'Now that you're here.'

I laugh too, my smile brighter than it's been in weeks. Then I hug her against me again and we don't let each other go. I'll never let myself get seperated from her again.

---

Everyone has questions for me. Which makes sense, of course. They don't ask me too much about how I saved his life, for which I'm thankful, because all the lying makes me anxious. Rick has calmed down a little and doesn't come at my throat about it again. From some warning looks shot across the room, I think I have Michonne to thank for that.

Mostly, they want to know about what he's got planned. Unfortunately, there's not much I can say about it.

'Like I said before, he had a plan to attack the Hilltop. He was going to drench the weapons in walker guts so that anyone who would get hit, would turn even if the wound wasn't fatal.'

Everyone in the room has their eyes on me. It's pretty crowded. Familiar faces such as Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Maggie, Carol... But people I don't know that well are there too. Like Jesus, Morgan and Ezekiel. And then there's Ella. She refuses to leave my side and I'm thankful for it.

'But he didn't go through with it.'

'Why didn't he go through with it?' Maggie asks confused.

For me. Because he didn't want me to lose Ella. Shit, there's something else I can't tell them. I decide to stick with the truth as much as possible.