Deadland

Chapter 126- Alden

"Then help me with him." Maggie replies, looking at me. 

"I did." I huff, walking away. "Hurt my goddamn side with his fat ass head on top of those fat ass fuckin' shoulders." I crouch and grab my whip just as Maggie and Negan, carrying Alden, begin walking toward the glass doors of the shop.

We stopped at a broken-down house to check the map. Alden's in a lot of pain and honestly, I don't know how much farther we can take him.

"It's two miles. It's further than I thought." Maggie says to Alden, closing her map.

Alden sighs, "Then we better get moving." When Negan and Maggie go to help him up, he says, "Holding my hand is not gonna help me walk any faster." 

"Does the thought of one of those ripping your face off do it for you?" Negan questions. 

"Or what about pretending they're Alyssa." I add, raising an eyebrow. Alden rolls his eyes and shakes his head.

All of us skid to a stop when a woman screams a few feet away. When we begin making our way over there, Negan says, "Really? So, we're just gonna go towards the screaming? Cool." I would say it's Alyssa, but that's not her scream. Her's is more high-pitched, this one was lower.

When we get to the balcony, Agatha is killing Walkers, clearly weakened. "Agatha!" Maggie yells, letting go of Alden and running to her. 

"Maggie, it's Duncan." Agatha pants, running and leading Maggie away. 

When Negan and I turn to look at Alden, he's just barely killed a Walker. Negan and I smirk like middle-school bullies at each other and begin walking to where Agatha led Maggie. 

They're crouched next to Duncan, who is lying against a wall. Blood is pooling around his body and his eyes are almost fully closed. His breath is labored and he's staring at Maggie with tired, dying eyes. 

"Duncan..." She whispers. "I'm so sorry...for all of it." 

"Why?" Duncan asks weakly. "You were good. We were lucky." 

Maggie sniffs, "For a little while." 

"Make sure she gets home. Promise." Duncan says, referring to Agatha. 

Maggie nods as Duncan's breath stops, his eyes flutter shut and his body goes limp. Slowly, Maggie grabs her knife and kisses his head, gently plunging it into his temple. 

We've been walking through the woods for a while, Walkers are all around us, about twice as much as two hours ago. 

Negan and I are walking side-by-side, Agatha is behind us, and Maggie and Alden are behind her. 

"What the hell..." I whisper. Before us, a black, charred tree is the base of a torched Walker. It's red muscles are peeking out through pitch-black, flaky skin. "Judas" a sign reads above it. When it lifts its head up to growl, its jaw almost falls completely off. 

"This way. Come on." Maggie says urgently as Walkers get closer and closer to us. While Negan grabs Alden, Maggie, Agatha, and I take care of the Walkers, trying to just clear a path. 

Agatha screams in agony behind me, and when I turn, a Walker is pulling away from her after taking a chunk out of her arm. "Agatha!" Maggie yells, running to her. 

"Go, just go!" Agatha yells as Walkers grab her. Maggie continues to try and help her, no matter the dozen Walkers appearing. I groan quietly and run over to Maggie, wrapping my arms around her waist and dragging her away. 

"No!" She screams, trying to fight me off as Agatha gets turn to shreds. "Get off! No! No! No!" Maggie screams, elbowing me in the wound. 

"Ow-Maggie! She's dead!" I exclaim, grabbing Maggie's shoulders and looking her in the eyes. "She's dead." Maggie whimpers and I pull her in for a quick hug, "Okay, now we have to go!" 

After a few more hours of walking, we decide to stay in an old church, protected from the Walkers, killers, and the goddamn vultures. 

"We'll rest here for a while, and then we'll head out, okay?" Maggie says as she and Alden sit on a dusty pew. 

The inside of the church seems weirdly empty. There aren't as many pews as there should be, there's no chairs on the alter, and all of the walls and ceiling look unfinished. The virgin wood is in between skinny, splintery wood joists holding the building together. With some blood, sweat, and spider webs in there as well.

 Negan looks at Maggie, "I know what you're thinkin'." She says. "The answer is no." 

"He's right, Maggie. I'm slowing you down." When Negan walks away, I follow him and tune them out. 

Negan and I stand by the foggy window, barely able to see anything out of them. He looks at me, though, I don't look at him. My head is resting on the window and I'm staring out of it. Scenarios are running through my mind of possible ways to find Alyssa or get her back. Or scenarios of finding her dead body. 

"She's not gone forever. We'll get her." He pauses, "You'll get her. You're one of the most persistent, hard-headed, stubborn son-of-a-bitch I've ever met. She's not going down without a fight from you." 

I scoff dryly, "Yeah, well, everyone we've found other than Maggie and Alden have fuckin' died. At that point, I'm hoping we don't find her and when we get back to Alexandria, she's there. I'm willing to live with this aching fear for the next few days." 

"You wanna know why I walked away from him...everything he stood for...joined up with you?" Alden's voice asks, Negan and I both suddenly listening. 

Negan shakes his head and looks at me, "Don't." 

I sigh, "You're a human too." 

"I am." He agrees, nodding. "But you've started too many fights on my behalf." 

I roll my eyes, "Don't feel special. I do it for anyone I love. Not just you, buddy-boo." 

Negan chuckles but he doesn't respond. Instead, he stares at the marks on my face. The cuts and bruises from getting my shit rocked by the Whisperers, the scar across and in my eye, his eyes trailing down to the gash in my bicep and waist, then finally landing on my metal foot. "You are one hell of a woman, Adrian." He finally says, glancing at Maggie and Alden. 

I groan quietly, "Whatever." 

He smiles, "Alright, then, Rattlesnake." 

"Oh my god, stop." I say annoyedly, in oddly the same tone as Daryl.

"You should show Magna the same moves you showed me at that party." 

"Go fuck yourself." I groan, walking away and sitting at the first pew. Negan chuckles but it quickly fades at Maggie and Alden's conversation about leaving Alden. 

"The sun is going down." He notes, staring out the window. "Maggie...you have to make a decision." 

"It's easy for you, isn't it? Being reckless with somebody else's life. But you don't get to decide who lives and who dies anymore." Maggie retaliates, avoiding eye contact with all of us. "It's your fault," She says, finally looking at Negan. "That we're here. It's your fault. Because you destroyed everything that we built." 

"Maggie, you're hurting, but do not start because it's not gonna end well." I warn her, leaning forward and resting my elbows on my knees. "You're gonna have to decide sooner or later, and taking it out on Negan is not gonna help that decision." 

Maggie turns to Alden and takes a deep breath before grabbing her bag and handing Alden some supplies. "Here," She says then walking over to Negan to take his extra knife. 

After she hands his knife to Alden, Negan and I carry a pew over to the door for him to barricade it, just in case.