CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
"Trust Issues"
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In Meridian, Carver tortures Frost and demands to know where his people are. Frost says nothing. "This bother you?" Pope asks and immediately looks over to Silas who looks away from him because every time he hears his voice and sees his face he thinks back to what Pope did to his family. How he killed them without a care in the world. "We've done worse" Daryl answers for both of them while Frost continues screaming in the background.
"Why don't you take a turn, then?" Pope asks but it was clear he wasn't giving Daryl much of an option. "Speed things up for me" Pope orders as he opens the door to the room where Carver is doing his torture.
"I'm up" Daryl says as he walks in the room but Carver immediately hates the idea. Silas tries to go in next until Pope places a hand on his chest, not letting him in the room. "Not you" Pope declares as he pushes Silas out of the doorway and closes it, leaving them two in the hall.
"Why not?" Silas asks as he slowly backs away from Pope who rests his hands in-front of him. "You remember me" Pope states and not as a question. "Yeah," Silas answers. "I remember you" He adds making Pope smile slightly before looking into the room seeing Daryl put Frost in a chokehold and orders him to give up his friends' location. Frost refuses.
"Don't look happy to see me, son" Pope says and those words leaving his mouth cause Silas to hall his fist up angrily. "I'm not your son" Silas mumbles and watches as Pope steps closer and closer to him, trying to intimidate him but Silas wasn't afraid, not anymore. "You see, I believe in fate. I believe in god. I think fate brought us back together but I believe god will make us stronger" Pope says as he interlocks his own hands together. "That's what he tell you?" Silas asks, slightly mocking Pope's faith.
"Yeah, he told me that because I believe. All those years ago, you didn't. That's why your family—". "You don't get to talk about my family. Not about my father, my sister, my brother" Silas argues as he steps towards Pope, defending his family's name. "Ahh!" Frost screams loudly in the room after Daryl chops off his finger and again demands to know the location of his friends. This time, Frost finally reveals the location of the supply depot and Pope overhears.
"I think it's best you stay on my good side... son" Pope taunts before he swings open the door and walks in while Frost is screaming in agony. Pope then dispatches Leah to scout the location with a crew of Reapers and wants Daryl and Silas to tag along.
Daryl, Silas, Leah, Carver, and a crew of Reapers approach the supply depot. "We gotta figure out how to signal to them" Daryl whispers to Silas as they wander off alone. "Are we sure they're in there?" Silas asks and Daryl nods their head. "They gotta be" Daryl answers and Silas nods his head, going with whatever Daryl says as Leah and her people start to approach the house. Daryl quietly shakes a hanging telephone wire to warn Maggie and the rest of their arrival.
"Maggie, Maggie. We gotta go" Jane says as she looks out the window. "Why?" Maggie asks as she comes up beside Jane and notices the signal. "Jane, what's going on?" Ashton asks as Jane starts to grab their things. "We have to hide" Jane says quietly as she pushes Ashton towards the hiding spot before the Reapers burst into the supply depot and search the house but no one seems to be home.
"That son of a bitch jerked us around" Carver states. "They gotta be here somewhere. We can stay and look around" Silas asks as he rests his arm on the wall while secretly looking around the house for any sign of Ashton or even Jane. "We'll search the rest of the town first. Quick and quiet, in case they're still nearby" Leah orders and gives everyone a different spot to search.
Later, The Reapers search another house. Leah finds some wet, bloody bandages, indicating someone was recently there. Daryl and Silas look around knowing this is the house the group planned on going in the first place. Silas snaps his fingers and shows Daryl the hatch in the floor before he quietly slides the rug over the door.
"Nobody's here" Carver states before Daryl offers to track Maggie's group outside. "Are you in a hurry to leave?" Carver asks, slightly stepping towards Daryl. "Hey, back off" Silas says extending his hand before Carver quickly shoves it away knowing Carver is starting to suspect something.
Jane looks over to Ashton as they both heard Silas's voice and are happy to know he's alive. Leah sends Carver upstairs to sweep the rooms one more time and warns Daryl not to anger Carver while Jane, Ashton, Maggie, Negan, Gabriel, and Elijah listen from the basement.
Carol, Rosita, Ivy and Magna find Kelly in the woods in a pile of mud. "Whoa" Ivy says as she rushes to Kelly helping her out of the mud with a smile on her face, trying not to laugh. "What the hell we're you thinking?" Magna asks as she walks up to Kelly. "Listen, I'm fine. But Connie's not" Kelly states and Ivy and Magna lock eyes before looking back to Kelly. Ivy and Magna were never really sure if Connie was alive. They both wanted to think of the best since it's Kelly's sister, her family and you never want to believe your family is dead especially without seeing a body.
Kelly tells them she found Connie's camp and is with some guy who knew Michonne. Magna reads Connie's notebook, which reveals that Connie and the mysterious guy were being followed. "She's out there. She's scared" Kelly states and Ivy lets out a sigh. "Then we should find her" Ivy says as she places her hand on Kelly's shoulder but quickly removes it and wipes away the mud. "Yeah, we should" Carol and Rosita agree while Magna is hesitant but if Kelly believes she's alive then why not? Let's find her.
"They ran. They ain't coming back here" Daryl informs Carver and it just makes Carver even more suspicious. Daryl criticizes the Reapers' plan of attack and slyly incorporates intel about the Reapers as he talks, knowing that Maggie's group is listening. "I'm sorry. Is there a point to any of this?" Carver asks while Silas rolls his eyes. "Damn, man. You have like major trust issues" Silas groans. "Can we just go. There's nothing here" Leah suggests.
Carver then accuses Daryl and Silas of being disloyal. "Here we go" Silas mumbles as he rest his body up against the wall. "Nobody is here! This place is empty!" Silas shouts as he looks around the house once again. Daryl admits that the only reason he joined the Reapers is because he cares about Leah, but says he will follow Pope out of fear. "It's time to move on" Leah states while Silas looks between Carver and Leah.
"Fine" Carver says as he looks down at the ground which alarms Silas. "Hold on" Carver states as he pushes Daryl out of the way and discovers the trap door and opens it but it's empty. "Told ya" Silas shrugs.
"Sh" Jane whispers as she helps Ashton out of the basement. The rest of the group quietly sneak out of the basement and escape before things could go wrong.
Ivy and the group group search for Connie into the night until they reach a crossroads. "Which way now?" Ivy asks breathlessly as she hears the thunder start to roar through the sky. "We could spilt up, check both trials, double back" Carol suggests but Magna shuts down the idea since it's clear it's about to storm. "I guess, it's up to Kelly" Ivy says and everyone looks to Kelly before she picks a direction and they stick to it and continue there journey.
Later, Connie and the mysterious man she's been traveling with stumble outside and collapse. Two ferals escape the house. Kelly shoots it with her slingshot while Ivy throws her knife into one of their backs and walks up to them, snatching the knife out their back before stabbing them in the head so they weren't a threat anymore. As rain poured down from the sky, her hair and clothes began to soak as she looked over at Kelly and Connie who tearfully reunites and she only thinks, would she be that happy if she didn't kill Willow?
The Reapers return to Meridian and Carver immediately tells Pope that Maggie's group got away and apologizes. Pope begins to laugh which confuses Silas but looks like a relief to everyone else. "I thought you'd be disappointed" Leah states while Popes laughter slowly dies down. "Well, this day was just a success" Pope declares and Silas tilts his head in confusion as he looks to the bright smile plastered on Pope's face before he reveals that he continued to interrogate Frost after they left and got all the information he needed.
They see Frost tied to a post but he is now a walker. Silas drops his arms to his sides as he looks to now a dead Frost and couldn't help but think he didn't deserve that. Pope confers privately with Carver as they head inside while Leah looks at Daryl who looks at Silas with determination.
They must wipe these Reapers out...
WORD COUNT: 1617