"This is the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life," Rosie muttered as she hiked her backpack further up her shoulders. She, Henry, and Ian had left shortly after the sun went down, leaving behind nothing but a note in Henry's room, telling them where to find them if anything went bad. Rosie had insisted that that was stupid, because as soon as anyone found it, Daryl was going to be out there, following them, searching for them, and stopping them from saving Lydia. But Henry left it, anyway.
"That's not true," Ian said with a laugh that sounded a bit more like a scoff.
"Yeah, I know," Rosie murmured. She'd done her fair share of stupid shit, but this wasn't nearly the stupidest. It was definitely, up there, though. Daryl was going to be so fucking mad. Rosie turned to Henry, who was walking on her left side. "Why'd you want me to come, anyway? I punched you," she asked.
"Because you're smarter than us," Ian mused with a shrug.
"Uh, no," Henry said with a scoff, scrunching up his face at Ian. Ian had become more of a brother to him than a friend, after all the time that had gone by. He certainly annoyed him like a brother. "Because you know how to track," Henry corrected, "and you've been out here. You know what you're doing."
"So, in simpler terms, because she's smarter than us," Ian said, raising his eyebrows.
Henry rolled his eyes. "She's not smarter than us," he said.
"Are you insecure about your intelligence or something? She's definitely smarter than us, dude," Ian said, amused with how Henry was acting.
"I'm not-"
"Shut up. It doesn't matter," Rosie interrupted the both of them. She liked to think that she was smarter than the two boys, too, but right now, she was feeling pretty fucking stupid. "Be quiet, or you're gonna attract walkers," she scolded them. She took her flashlight out of her bag and pointed it down at the grass. It had been pretty easy to follow Alpha's trail when she and her people were walking on the dirt road that led up to Hilltop, but as they veered off into the woods, it wasn't as easy. It was hard to tell the difference between their tracks and walker tracks, because of how they mimicked the way the walkers moved, but Rosie figured that it didn't matter if she followed the people's tracks or the walker's tracks, since they were moving together, anyway. Keeping her flashlight pointed at the ground, Rosie followed their trail. "Looks like this is where there went off into the woods," she said, beginning to follow the tracks.
"How can you tell?" Henry asked, squinting his eyes to try and see what she was seeing.
Rosie pointed down at broken twigs and brushed over patches of grass. "You can see where they stepped," she said.
"See? Smarter," Ian joked, looking over at Henry with an amused smile.
"Shut up, du-"
"Both of ya, shut up. I a'ready said that," Rosie snapped at them. Henry and Ian both snapped their mouths shut and began following silently behind Rosie. Rosie had supplied Ian with a knife and Henry already had his stick, so he was set. Their job right now was supposed to be keeping watch and taking down any walkers they ran into while Rosie tracked, but they got distracted pretty easily.
"Hey, can I tell you something, if I talk quietly?" Ian asked in a hushed voice. It wasn't quite a whisper, but he wasn't speaking very loudly, either.
"No," Rosie muttered, keeping her focus on the trail.
"Well, I'm gonna, anyway, 'cause I think you need to hear it," Ian said, making Rosie roll her eyes. But Ian was right. She did need to hear what he was about to say. "I think it's good you're doing this. Not because it's, like, dangerous and stupid or whatever, but because you're doing it even though your dad doesn't want you to," Ian explained.
"What the hell's that s'posed to mean? You want me to get yelled at?" Rosie asked, scoffing.
"No, no, no. That's not what I mean. I mean, he treats you like you're still some nine-year-old little kid that can't be trusted to do things on her own. But you can be trusted, because he's taught you how to keep yourself safe. You go out and do this, you're proving that to him," Ian elaborated.
"You're stupid," Rosie murmured, shaking her head at him.
"I'm not. I'm serious. He needs to get that you aren't a little kid anymore," Ian said.
"Ian's right. Daryl's extremely overprotective," Henry agreed, widening his eyes to exaggerate his point.
"He's like that because he's trying to make up for the time he wasn't there for, but he doesn't have to make up for that. He just needs to lay off a bit," Ian explained.
"Jesus. You ain't a therapist. You don't know what you're talkin' 'bout," Rosie said, rolling her eyes. Ian huffed and rolled his own eyes, because he knew she was only being like that because she secretly knew it was true. She always got hostile when he tried to talk to her about anything that was actually important.
"I heard my mom talking to my dad about it, a little while ago. She was saying that you should stay at the Kingdom for a while," Henry said.
"You gotta real problem with eavesdroppin'. Ya know that?" Rosie said, finally looking up from the trail to turn and look at Henry. She shined the flashlight into his eyes, making him squint and cover his eyes. "And I told you, if you keep talkin' 'bout him, or anythin' else that ain't your business, I'mma hit you again," she reminded him.
"Ok. We're just saying, you should probably talk to him about how overprotective he is, or else he's gonna, like, lock you in a cell or something, so nothing can get to-"
"Shut up!" Rosie snapped, shoving Henry back by his shoulders. She wanted nothing more than to hit him, but she'd already left a bruise on his cheek, and she didn't really want to leave another on his other cheek. "I told you to stop fuckin' talkin'! Say one more thing 'bout my dad, Negan, or David, and I swear to God, I'll cut your tongue out your mouth!" After that, Rosie turned and picked up the pace, so that Henry and Ian were far behind her.
"I was kidding," Henry muttered to Ian, confused as to what he had done wrong.
"That's what Negan did," Ian said quietly.
"What?" Henry asked.
"Negan. He locked her in a cell, so nothing could get to her," Ian explained, shoving his hands into his pockets.
•
Henry and Ian stayed back, a few steps behind Rosie for the rest of the night. Just as the sun began to rise, Rosie halted to a stop, shoving both Ian and Henry down, into a ditch. It took them all night long, but they had finally caught up to Alpha's people. Rosie had followed their tracks, and this was where the tracks ended. Rosie peeked over the edge. She could see several of Alpha's people scattered around. They were all still wearing their masks, except for Lydia. Lydia didn't have a mask. She was sitting with her back up against a tree, pulling something out of the dirt.
"Do you see her?" Henry asked, his eyes wide. Rosie nodded and put a finger up to her lips, telling him to quiet down. But Henry was stupid. He was so, so stupid. "Let's go get her," he whispered. Her expression tense, Rosie shook her head adamantly. If they were going to get her, it wasn't going to be now. They needed a plan first. A plan that didn't involve trying to sneak through an unknown amount of people who wanted them all dead. "Let's go," Henry insisted, standing up to peak over the edge himself, his stick in hand.
Just as Henry stood up, Rosie heard footsteps behind her, and she spun around to see a walker- no, a person- walking towards them. She let her backpack drop to the dirt and pulled out her weapon. "Put it down, boy," the person whispered, holding a knife out in front of themself. Henry quickly and quietly got the person on the ground with his stick, knocking them out cold.
But just as he did that, Rosie heard bigger, heavier footsteps from the other side of them. She spun around and readied her knife, stabbing it into the person's hand. This person was huge. He was tall and strong, and he wore heavy boots and a long, black coat. He easily pulled the knife out of his hand and grabbed Rosie's wrist with his uninjured hand.
"No! No!" Ian shouted, jumping up and handing his knife to Rosie. Rosie now tried to stick the knife into the man's thigh, where she knew he would bleed to death, but he caught her hand before she could. Rosie was lifted of the ground by the back of her shirt, then Henry was being lifted, too. They were thrown onto the dirt, right at Alpha's feet, and Ian was soon to follow.
"Been tracking them since the glades. They've been tracking us longer," the man said. His voice was deep and growly. He sounded like a monster. Maybe he was one.
"Just these three?" Alpha asked the man.
"Just these three," the man confirmed with a nod.
"Thank you, Beta," Alpha said, giving a grateful nod. Rosie's eyes flicked around until they landed on Lydia's big, brown ones. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she tried to mask it. Alpha crouched down in front of Rosie, who was once again in between the two boys. "Who are you?" she asked. Rosie glared at her, giving no answer. Soon, the man- Beta- grabbed onto her arm, pulling it back so far that Rosie felt like it was going to snap. She tried to remain tough, but she couldn't help her cry of pain. "I'll let him break it. And the other one. Then, your legs. And then I'll leave you out here to feed the hungry ones, and I'll get what I want from your friends, here," Alpha threatened in an eerily calm voice.
"Fuck you!" Rosie spat.
"Break it," Alpha said.
Just as Beta began to pull further back, making Rosie cry out in pain, Ian shot up onto his knees. "Her- her name's Rosie! I'm Ian, and that's Henry," he shouted. Beta paused his movement, looking to Alpha for instruction. Alpha nodded and Beta released Rosie's arm. Hesitantly, the three teens stood up to their feet.
"We're from Hilltop, but they didn't send us. We came for her," Henry said, turning to nudge his head in the direction of where Lydia was standing.
Lydia seemed frozen in her spot for a moment, then a furious expression came over her face. She marched forward and slammed her fist into the side of Henry's face, knocking him to the ground and adding another bruise to his face. "You're so stupid," she hissed.
Alpha seemed to be amused by this. She turned to Lydia. "Your friends are comin' with us," she said to Lydia as Henry stumbled back up to his feet. Rosie felt Alpha grab onto her arm while Beta pulled Ian and Henry to their side by the backs of their shirts. "Eyes open. Where there's one, there's more," Alpha said as she pulled Rosie's spare knife out of her belt. Now she had nothing to protect herself with. Alpha pulled Rosie even closer to her side. "You were at the gates," Alpha whispered into Rosie's ear. "That man who hugged you- is he your father?" she asked. Rosie kept her mouth shut, refusing to answer. Alpha dug her nails into Rosie's arm.
"Yes. She's his daughter," Lydia answered for Rosie.
"Well," Alpha said, seeming to be amused by that fact, "we'll see how he likes his daughter being taken."
With the dead, Rosie, Ian, and Henry were dragged along with no choice other than to obey. Rosie was trying to think of a plan. They needed some way to get out of this, but she didn't have any weapons to use. She hadn't hidden her tracks, so that if anything went bad, Daryl would be able to find her. But maybe he wouldn't be able to. She couldn't just rely on Daryl to save her. She had to figure this out on her own. There had to be something she could do. She just needed time to think. It was pretty hard to think, though, when she was being kept between Alpha- a woman who would love to see her dead- and Lydia- the one person who seemed to be able to make Rosie nervous by simply existing.
"Know why your friends decided to follow you?" Alpha asked Lydia just as they made it out of the woods, into some sort of clearing.
"They're not my friends," Lydia replied quietly, with a hint of disgust in her tone. Alpha glanced over at her, trying to see if she was lying. "The boys were in the cell next to time, and the girl brought us food. All I know are their names," Lydia lied. Rosie wondered if Lydia was lying to help herself or to help them.
"You didn't mention them," Alpha said with a threatening sort of quality to her voice.
"They didn't seem worth mentioning," Lydia murmured.
"You didn't think it was worth mention that that man had a daughter of his own?" Alpha asked.
"I thought you knew. You saw them," Lydia said, her voice wobbling slightly.
"They thought it was worth risking their lives, chasin' after you," Alpha said with a hint of disbelief.
"I acted helpless and they fell for it. Guess they're dumber than I thought," Lydia said, making Alpha chuckle. Henry turned to look at her, but Beta grabbed him by the back of his shirt and shoved him forward.
"Don't sell yourself short," Alpha chuckled. She paused her walking to look Lydia in the eyes. "Maybe you're just a good liar," she said. Lydia hesitated for a moment, then looked away. Alpha was onto her. Rosie wanted to help her, but she wasn't sure how. "Know why I trust animals? Because they don't lie," Alpha said. She grabbed Lydia by the chin, forcing her to look back at her. "You had to lie. So did they. It's what they do. They're just words. Air. Nothing more," Alpha said, continuing on walking and tugging Rosie along with her. "Remember that."
They followed Beta's lead until they walked into an opening behind some trees. Alpha finally released Rosie's arm and shoved her forward so that she could walk alongside Ian, Henry, and Lydia. Rosie couldn't believe what she was seeing. It wasn't just that small group of fifteen, maybe twenty, people. It was way more. There were people scattered around everywhere.
"This is your camp?" Henry asked quietly.
"It's home," Lydia replied, walking further into the camp. "For now."
"You're so fuckin' stupid, Henry," Rosie muttered, furious with what they were now dealing with. There were people everywhere, armed with knives and other weapons. Some of them were skinning deer. Some were skinning walkers.
"I didn't make you come with," Henry whispered back.
"You couldn't do it on your own," Rosie hissed.
"Clearly, we couldn't do it together, either," Ian whispered to the both of them.
"All of you, shut up. You shouldn't've come," Lydia snapped at all of them.
And not even a moment later, they were all grabbed onto again. Rosie, Ian, and Henry were pulled over to a tree, where they were all tied up against. Rosie had the honor of watching Beta skin one of the walkers for Lydia. She wanted to throw up. She was sure she was going to if he didn't finish soon. Oh, nope. There Beta was, finished skinning the walker. He pulled the skin off of its head, leaving nothing but exposed flesh and bone. Rosie had to look away, or else she would've vomited up the dinner and breakfast that she didn't even have.
"You wonder why we do this, why we hide among them... why we become them," Alpha whispered, circling the tree that the three teens were tied up against.
Henry shook his head, his jaw tense. "You're not them. You're not dead," he said. Rosie wished he would just shut his damn mouth before he got them all killed. But he always had a problem keeping his mouth shut.
"Civilization is. The strong adapt. The weak die," Alpha replied. Rosie looked over to where Lydia was standing. She had changed out of the fresh clothes she was given. Now she was wearing a blue shirt and a gray sweater. She was staring at Henry, looking pissed beyond belief. "Like nature intended," Alpha finished.
"So, that's what yesterday was? You letting the weak die?" a man asked, stepping forward. He had brown hair and a brown beard. His face and clothes were covered in dirt and grime, just like every other person's were. "We don't go back for the lost. Never have. Until your cub got nabbed. We gave up two of theirs for your girl. I don't like that math."
"You know who they are now. Where they are, what they have. We know, if there's conflict, we'll win. And we've got three of their own, now. The trade was worth it," Alpha reasoned, stepping closer to the man. Other people began to gather. "If you have a problem with me as leader, you know what to do."
The man looked at the crowd of people, then back at Alpha, before taking a step forward. "I challenge you," he said, standing tall. He was acting brave, but Rosie could see the hidden fear in his eyes. "You're not fit to lead anymore."
Alpha laughed at that. "You think you're the man to replace me?" she asked. She looked to her left, to where Beta was standing. "To become the new Alpha?"
Just as the words left her mouth, Beta grabbed the man by the shoulder, holding him back with a knife against his throat. "You're changing the rules again," the man said.
"You have the right to challenge my leadership at any time," Alpha said. Beta slowly released the man, but kept his weapon ready in his hand. "And I have the right to defend it," she said. She walked right past the man and suddenly lashed out, grabbing onto his girlfriend and shoving her next to the man. "I know it was you!" she hissed.
"What are you doing?" the woman asked.
"I saw you in the woods, plotting with your boyfriend."
"What? No, we were-"
"Oh, yes, you were," Alpha said condescendingly. She stroked the woman's chin, looking her directly in the eyes. "Challenge isn't his. It's yours."
After a few moments of hesitation, the woman stood tall. "You led us into danger," she said. Alpha didn't say anything, so the woman continued. "With these kids here, we're still in danger. Their people already killed many of ours. And where is the payback for that? You haven't failed me. You failed all of us."
Alpha turned to the crowd of people who were watching. Her movements and mannerisms reminded Rosie of a snake, slithering her way to getting what she wanted. "Have I failed you?" she asked her people. They all looked down at their shoes. Alpha spun back around to look at the woman, holding her hands out to her sides. "They all follow me by choice. 'Cause I make them strong. Because I keep 'em alive. Me."
"I don't wanna fight you," the woman said. Alpha walked around her, coming up right next to her ear. Rosie could see the woman shaking. Her hands, her arms, her whole body. It was shaking with fear.
"Too late," Alpha whispered before pulling a string through the woman's neck, cutting her head off completely. Blood poured from her neck and Rosie's eyes were wide. What was stopping Alpha from doing that to Ian? Henry? What was stopping Alpha from doing that to her? Alpha held the woman's head up to the crowd, then to her boyfriend, who was cowering away with fear. Slowly, Alpha put the woman's head into the boyfriend's hands. "Sh, sh, sh, sh," she whispered, brushing her hands over the man's face. "Crying is weak," was the last thing she said before sticking Rosie's knife into the man's stomach.
Rosie squeezed her eyes shut, turning her head away. She had to remember this. She had to remember all of this, so that when she got back to Hilltop, she could tell them about it all. About the conflicts within their group. About the leadership. The ruthlessness. She had to tell them about it all. Just once she finished getting the rope behind her back untied.
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School starts for me tomorrow so no updates on most Mondays and Wednesdays for now, due to my schedule