"Life is hard enough. Life is always going to be hard, so you need to push for what you want."
- Dizzee Rascal
The sun's setting light shone through the church's window - illuminating Rick like a rugged god. He looked around them, taking notes of the lack of disagreement from their faces.
"Looks like it's settled."
Rick's voice boomed and echoed like a judge hitting their gavel. And like a disappointed jury, Morgan's head dipped down in disappointment.
"We kill them all."
Aliya released a sigh, knowing what was coming soon. Her body involuntarily released a shiver as she remembered how close they were to getting killed by those saviours. Daryl turned to her when he felt her shake and subtly reached for her hand, giving it a supportive squeeze. She glanced at him and smiled, appreciating his sensitivity and thoughtfulness.
The sound of Morgan scuffling at the back as he sat down defeatedly made Aliya glance at him through her shoulder. Morgan looked at her and they exchanged uncertain nods - Morgan didn't know where she stood in all of this but the fact that she always ends up with a weapon in her hand was enough of an answer.
They broke eye contact a beat later, knowing that they will always be on opposite sides of the bridge.
==+==
They had a whole lot of nothing.
Based on Andy's description, the place is incredibly big but the only place he and the others have seen with their own eyes were the pantry and a big hallway that *might* lead into the Saviour's armoury. But that's not definite and sure.
"But we don't know if they have an armoury or where it even is." Andy voiced out as he looked up from his diy blueprint.
Sitting on a whole lot of maybes and guesses was making Aliya's skin crawl. They could be marching towards their own death. Daryl stared deeply into the map as if just by seeing it, he could imagine how their compound looked like. "We've done more with less." he shrugged before looking towards Rick.
Rick nodded, looking at the map as well, "We go in at night while they're sleeping."
Andy raised a brow at Rick, unsure how to feel about his slight nonchalantness. We don't know much about their compound? We go in while they're sleeping. There will be people on guard the whole night? We make them open the doors for us. Every surface issue, Rick had an solution to.
Want to find a way in? Deliver Gregory's head to them.
----
Delivering Gregory's head to the saviours was easier said than done since the bastard was still alive and well. Trying to find the perfect head that resembled Gregory was extremely difficult as Glenn and Heath have just returned after half an hour or so. Aliya took a look at the heads and winced, almost shuddering at the resemblance.
Daryl walked towards Aliya and tapped her waist, "Come on, Rick's calling a meeting." he informed her. She nodded and allowed Daryl to pull her towards the car. He hoisted her up on the boot before climbing on it himself. Aliya crossed her legs on top of each other to give Daryl enough space. Daryl gently elbowed her, "How are you feeling?" he asked gently, searching her eyes for answers.
Aliya gave him a small smile and shrugged, "Scared, I think." she confessed, feeling a little silly afterwards. Daryl nodded reaching to hold her hand. He looked up at her and sighed, "Me too." he murmured as he rubbed her hand comfortingly. Her heart constricted painfully at the thought of this mission going wrong. And she felt that he felt the same way too with the way he's been holding her hand in some form or another.
Rick's demanding footsteps brought their eyes on him as he stood before them all. He walked them all through the plan once again. They'll scout, take a look around their compound to try to get a feel on their numbers.
"We like how it looks, we go in." he took a step forward, gouging their expressions. THey'll go in a few hours before dawn. By then, everyone inside will be sleeping and the guards will be too tired to be on high alert. But if the environment wasn't ideal, they'll head back to Alexandria, recuperate and make a new plan.
Jesus will be behind the curtain in order to keep Alexandria out of danger. The saviours not knowing who they were, were a blessing that would soon be unraveled. There were a million things that could go wrong here and Aliya's afraid that they're opening a can of worms. But the deal has already been made - killing the Saviours is how they can put food on their tables.
After a beat of silence, Rick nodded at them, "We roll out at midnight.", before turning around to go check on the heads only to be intercepted by Carol.
Aliya pushed herself off of the hood carefully and skilfully landed beside Maggie who turned to her, chuckling. "Hey, Aliya." she greeted before looking up at Daryl who nodded at her before bringing his eyes back towards Aliya. "How is the baby doing, mama?" Aliya smiled holding Maggie's hands gently. Maggie looked down at her stomach and caressed it lovingly, "Baby is behaving incredibly well."
Aliya's smile widened to a grin as she nodded at Glenn, "I'm so happy for you guys." she beamed, relishing the momentary peace the baby has brought them.
Aliya
"Announce yourself, asshole!"
My throat clogged involuntarily, making me gulp for air. The grip that I had on my gun tightened as I braced myself for the next step. Daryl was out of my sight and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
The two guards and Andy exchanged a few more words before the other guard finally went inside for the trade. I watched as Daryl creeped up behind the clueless guard, silently slashing his neck from behind, killing his tune in the process. The guard fell on his knees, blood spluttering from his neck while Daryl stood over him, raising his arm up and immediately bringing it down to finish the job.
Once the body hit the gravel, we all scampered towards them, helping Andy and Daryl clean out the scene before the other guard returns. Daryl held onto my elbow as he pulled me towards the bushes. We exchanged glances before putting our focus back on Andy when the door shrieked open.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is." the guard mocked, shaking the man gently to show Andy just how emaciated the man was. But not even a second later, Michonne's katana protruded from the man's chest as he yelped in shock before dropping like a limp vegetable to the ground. Rick walked towards the fallen guard and crouched down to stab it in the head. We can't afford leaving any risks right now.
Once Daryl opened the door, we poured inside with our guns drawn and no hesitation to kill. We walked in line, movements calculated as we were not only keeping our own selves alive but are also covering each other's backs. Abraham was the first to get inside the hallway while Sasha and I followed closely behind him. I felt Daryl's familiar tap on my back as I passed him. Without looking back, I nodded and reached for his hand, squeezing it once before I jogged behind the two.
Once we reached the door, we all exchanged nods to check if we were all ready. With a nod from Abraham, Sasha opened the door while I turned around with my gun drawn, scouting our surroundings. I could feel Sasha do the same behind me before I turned to my right to look at her when she nodded.
I took that as a signal to move forward, to the next door to open it when it resisted. It was locked. I tore my gaze away from the knob and looked at them both for confirmation. Sasha sighed and flared her nostrils in annoyance before gently pushing me out of the way. I watched as she wiggled around the knife when I heard Abraham groan in pain. He head-butted the guy and pushed him away only for him to attack me with his knife, slicing my cheek in the process.
Sasha pulled him away from me and stabbed him in the stomach multiple times before he fell backwards, his back against the wall. He then turned to his side and pulled on the alarm and all hell broke loose.
They were popping up from all over the place. "Come on!" Sasha yelled for me as they both made their way backwards. I shot a few more round until the gunshots from the man's direction ceased, indicating that he was dead. Abraham finally got the door open, revealing a marijuana greenhouse. Without hesitation, we all ran inside and shut the door behind us, creating a barrier between us and them.
We shot at the door continuously until our bullets ceased and only opened the door when we realised there were no retaliation shots. Abraham opened the door to reveal dead saviours piled on the floor. "It's clear." he called out to us. I followed behind Sasha and Abraham until we reunited with the others.
Daryl and Rick opened up the roll-up doors that lead to the outside. My eyes involuntarily squinted at the unexpected brightness that overcame all of us. Has it been that long? All I know is that we came in when it was dark out and came back out with the sun in the sky. We wasted no more time and walked out of there. I wiped down at my shoulders to leave the bad memories behind me.
If only it was that easy.
"Hey."
I looked up from my hands and came face to face with Daryl. He searched me over before his eyes settles on the cut on my cheek. I raised my hand up to wipe at it when he gently did it himself. Leaving me to drop my hand beside me. "Just a scratch." I reassured him, smiling tightly. But he just stubbornly wiped the dried blood off as well as some dirt from my face.
When he was done, I held onto his shoulders and straightened his hands down beside him. "Your turn." I whispered as I looked him all over, trying to search for any injuries. I sighed a breath of relief when there was none, "I'm glad you're okay."
He looked down at me, "Let's go home." he smiled warmly.
A cough behind us made us separate only to see Tara. I smiled at her and greeted her with a hug, "Glad you're okay." she whispered as she squeezed me gently. My eyes fluttered shut and I patted her back, "I'm glad you're okay too, Tara."
We walked around for a bit, giving each other hugs and comfort as we all took a breather to recover from the chaos that had just went down. When, from the outpost, a lone saviour riding Daryl's bike bursted out. "Son of a bitch!" he snarled in disdain. Rosita gunned the man down effortlessly while Daryl ran the distance between the saviour and him.
We ran behind Daryl, creating a protective circle around him. "Where'd you get the bike?" Daryl demanded as he rained punches down the man's face.
Rick walked calmly towards the two and aimed his gun at the saviour, over Daryl's shoulder. "Do it! Like you did everyone else, right?", the man on the ground grounded out as he spat out blood. Rick's head tilted to the left anomalistically as he stared the man down.
The walkie talkie clicked, "Lower your gun, prick." the voice commanded. We all turned around with our weapons aimed as we tried to pinpoint where the owner of the voice could be hiding in. "All of you, lower your weapons now." the voice demanded once more as Rick crouched down to retrieve the walkie talkie.
We were all still looking around while Rick talked to the voice, "Come on out. Let's talk." he rasped out, his tone solid. It didn't sound like Rick was trying to negotiate but rather like he was demanding it. But the voice was unrelenting, "We ain't coming out but we'll talk. We've got a Carol and a Maggie."
The revelation was like a ton of bricks raining down on all of us all at once. I couldn't bring myself to look at Glenn, scared of just how much that information just broke him. I closed my eyes tightly as I looked down at the grass. They had Carol and Maggie.
"I'm thinking that's something you want to talk about."