"Do you have to go?" Alyssa complains.
I smile, "Yeah. This could be really important, 'Lyss. I offered you to come. And Inej."
"I know but Carl's staying. I wanna stay with Carl."
I smile, "When's the wedding again?"
"Bye!" She yells, shoving me lightly and walking over to Carl.
Just then I hear Abraham's voice, "Let's chew up some asphalt."
I scoff and walk over to the door to the R.V, "Where do you come up with this shit?" I ask.
He smiles, "Yank it out of my ass."
I chuckle, "That you do."
I climb in after Maggie and the rest follow, Daryl closes the door.
I'm sitting next to Abraham when he says, "Hey," to Glenn. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Sure." Glenn replies.
Abraham looks left and right before scooting closer, out of curiosity, I scoot closer as well. Glenn leans in to hear better.
"When you were, uh, pouring the Bisquick, were you tryin' to make pancakes?"
"Oh, good god." I mumble, rolling my eyes.
Glenn looks at him confusedly before saying, "Uh...yes? It's something we talked about, yeah. Why?"
I sit back to avoid the rest of the awkward conversation and lay my head on Daryl's shoulder. "You're sweaty." I whisper.
Daryl scoffs, "I'm never clean enough for you, am I?"
"You're never clean." I smile.
Suddenly, the breaks of the R.V slowly squeal to a stop.
Daryl quickly looks out of the blinds of the window, "Yo, Rick. What's goin' on?" I sit up quickly, my body tensed.
"We got a crash ahead," Rick says from the driver's seat. "Looks like it just happened."
"It's one of ours." Jesus quickly says, running to exit the R.V and get to the flipped car.
All of us silently follow. Once we see Jesus stop in front of the smoking car, Rick aims his gun at his head.
The car has multiple shredded Walkers growling around it. Some stuck in the car's mechanics, some stuck under the car.
"If this is some trick, it won't end well for you." Rick grunts.
"My people are in trouble. They don't-we don't have a lot of fighters." Jesus pants. "I know how it looks but I'll play it out. Can I borrow a gun?"
"No." Daryl quickly responds.
"We got tracks right here." He points to footprints in the grass.
"Then let's fucking go." I sass, motioning for Rick to walk.
He looks at Jesus before following the tracks, Jesus walks in the middle of the group so that we have eyes on him.
The footprints lead to a small run down building, no signs of life inside.
Rick approaches it and pounds on the door, waiting for a sign of movement.
"They gotta be in there." Jesus says quickly, shifting from foot to foot nervously.
"We moving in or what?" Abraham asks.
"How do we know this ain't the firecrackers in the trash can?" Daryl asks, approaching the building.
Huh?
"You don't." Jesus admits, throwing his hands up.
"We'll get your people. You're staying here with one of us." Rick orders, approaching Jesus.
Finally, I've needed some adrenaline.
"That's the deal." Michonne says.
Glenn and Maggie whisper indistinctively before Maggie announces, "Y'all go. Just be careful."
Rick handcuffs Jesus' hands behind his back, "Yeah, we're gonna be careful."
"Just hurry." Jesus orders.
"You hear me whistle, shoot 'im." Rick says.
"I will." Maggie agrees as we all walk into the building.
My senses are on high alert as Abraham and I turn down a hallway, my heart pounds silently in my ears and throat.
Suddenly a Walker pounds out of a room, "Abraham!" I warn quickly.
I snap my whip on the Walker's head just as Abraham braces for the Walker.
Blood splashes in the air and covers the knife tip of my whip.
"Thanks." Abraham nods to me.
I nod back as a silent "you're welcome" and Abraham continues forward.
"Sh!" I shush, stopping and listening. Abraham stops immediately and listens.
In a distant room, a man screams as a Walker snarls near him.
"Go, go," I whisper, motioning for Abraham to follow the screaming.
With a puffed-out chest and broad shoulders, Abraham stomps through the hallway. A man is fast walking towards us and Abraham grabs him by the throat, pinning him to the wall.
"Jesus! Abraham!" I whisper-yell.
Abraham quickly holds up his knife but I pull him back. "Abraham, fucking stop!"
Daryl and Glenn come running down the hallway, "Come on man, let's go!" Daryl yells, running past us and grabbing me by the wrist to follow him.
We lead them out of the building and past Jesus, not giving him time to greet them.
We bring them into the R.V and allow them to sit wherever, though keeping a watchful eye on them.
We sit in the same spots though Glenn and Maggie are in the room with the man Glenn found in the back of the R.V.
"Hey," I whisper to Abraham. He doesn't look at me, he just continues staring at his feet.
"Hey," I whisper again, this time slightly louder. He finally looks at me, "What the hell was that back there?" I ask.
He doesn't say anything, he just stares at me. "Abraham, what the hell is going on with you?"
He doesn't get the time to answer because the R.V stops in something smushy. Rick tries to drive but the tires just spin, not bringing us anywhere.
"These have got to be bad omens." I whisper.
"A storm must've past through. We're stuck." Rick says.
Jesus stands up and looks out of the windshield, "No worries." He looks back at all of us. "We're here." He says, walking out of the R.V.
I look at Abraham with a "please don't be an ass" face and follow after everyone out of the R.V, my black converses getting coated in mud when I step outside.
"That's us." Jesus says. "That's The Hilltop."
I look forward though I can't see anything other than a log wall surrounding what I guess is a community.
Jesus leads us up a muddy path, leading to a large metal gate.
"Stop right there!" A man orders from atop the walls.
Everyone immediately aims their guns, "You gon' make us?" Daryl yells.
"Woah!" Jesus quickly turns to us and puts his hands up.
"Jesus, what the hell is this?" Another man asks.
"Open the gates, Cal. Freddie's hurt." Jesus orders Cal. "Look, sorry about these guys. They get antsy standing up there all day, doing nothing."
"They give up the weapons. Then we'll open the gates." Cal says.
"Why don't you come down here and get 'em?" Daryl sasses. On queue, I pump my shotgun, a motion that shows the guards we're not scared to shoot.
I don't trust this place at all. Just being here makes the hair on the nape of my neck stand up.
"Gentlemen," One of the saved men says, walking in between the group. "Look, we vouch for these people, all right? They saved us out there."
"Lower the spears." Jesus orders.
"Look, I'm not takin' any chances." Rick voices. "Tell your guy, Gregory to come out here."
Gregory- The Hilltop's leader. He sounds like a pretentious asshole to me.
"No." Jesus quickly responds. "Don't you see what just happened? I'm letting you keep your guns. Look, we ran out of ammo months ago. I like you people. I trust you. Trust us."
I scoff silently, "As if." I whisper.
Rick motions to us to lower the guns and Jesus turns back to the men, "Open the gates, Cal."
As ordered, the large metal gates creak open revealing a small settlement with a large, three story, red brick house at the back and in the middle of the walls. There are small trailers on the right side and a small farm and livestock area on the left.
I walk next to Daryl, my eyes quickly scanning the place for any dangers.
"There was a materials yard for a power company nearby." Jesus recollects, walking backward to face us. "That's how we put up the walls."
There are people outside, talking, doing their jobs, they look normal.
"A lot of people came from a FEMA camp." Says Jesus. "Trailers came with 'em."
"How did people find out about this place?" Michonne asks.
Jesus motions to the big red house at the back of the settlement. "That's called Barington House. The family that owned it gave it to the state in the '30s. The state turned it into a living history museum. Every elementary school for fifty miles used to come here for field trips. The place was running a long time before the modern world built up around it. "
"Okay?" I sass.
Jesus looks at me, "I think people came here because they thought it'd keep running after the modern world broke down. Those windows up there let us see for miles in every direction. It's perfect for security."
He waves us on, "Come on. I'll show you inside." He says, walking up to the house.
"Looks like a bunch a' pussies lived here." I whisper to Daryl, he snorts.
Jesus holds the doors open for all of us to come inside then closes it behind us.
Inside is a grand staircase curving to a second floor. The second floor has a balcony looking down to the foyer and there's a large chandelier in the middle of the roof.
The wallpaper is a baby pink and there's fancy furniture or paintings everywhere.
"Most of the rooms have been converted to living spaces." Jesus notes. "Even the ones that weren't bedrooms."
"People live here and the trailers?" Rick asks.
"We plan to build. There's babies being born."
Behind Daryl and I, two double doors open suddenly. We both back up and a man dressed like a president steps out into the foyer. He's got grey hair on the side of his head but not the top and a salt and pepper beard and mustache. He's wearing a blue, button up, dress shirt with a dark grey suit jacket, dark grey dresspants, and suspenders with black dress shoes.
"Jesus, you're back." He greets. He looks around. "With guests."
"Everyone, this is Gregory." Jesus introduces him. "He keeps the trains running on time around here."
"He looks like a putz." I say a little too loudly. Daryl elbows me gently. "Shit, sorry." I whisper.
"I'm the boss." Gregory smiles.
"I'm Rick. We have a community-"
Gregory interupts him, "Why don't you all go get cleaned up, hm?"
I scoff, "Oh my god."
He motions upstairs, "Jesus will show you where to get washed up. Then come back down here when you're ready." He approaches Rick, "It's hard to keep this place clean."
"Yeah. Sure." Rick rolls his eyes.
"Follow me." Jesus says. He leads us up the steps, I walk next to Abraham. "Opinions?"
"He's a fuckin' prick."
After I shower, Daryl, Abraham, and I are in the foyer waiting for everyone else.
"How long do you think Rick and Michonne been ugging bumplies?" Abraham asks from the chair next to the stairs.
I scoff and shake my head, Daryl, who is looking out of the window, turns to Abraham, "I dunno."
Maggie walks downstairs and into the office, we suggested she go in because Rick was gonna be an ass and she's a part of the "government" at Alexandria.
I turn to Rick, "Do not ever let me speak to him. I'ma humble him so quick his head'll be spinnin'."
Rick scoffs, "Me too."
Not long after Maggie goes inside, she comes out, irritated. "He doesn't want to trade." She huffs after closing the double doors.
"Why the fuck not?" I ask.
"We want to generate trade. Gregory does. But ammo isn't something we urgently need." Jesus says.
Rick straightens up, "Well, how's that?"
"The walls hold."
"Not forever." I mumble loud enough for Jesus to hear.
He doesn't acknowledge me, "We just brought in more medicine. Gregory wants the best deal possible."
"Yeah? Well, we want things, too." Daryl spits.
"We need foot. We came all this way. We're gonna get it." Rick states.
"I will talk to him." Jesus assures us. "And we will work this out. Circumstances change. We're doing well now, and you will next. I will make him understand that. Can you give me a few days."
It's quiet for a moment before Michonne agrees, "We can."
Rick thinks for a moment, chewing on his cheeks before saying, "Yeah."
Jesus laughs softly before a man quickly runs inside.
Gregory comes out of his office, "What's wrong?"
"They're back." The man says.
They?
We all follow the man outside, Gregory included.
Two men and a woman are walking inside the gates, their faces hair and ther footsteps purposful.
"Nathen, what happened to everyone else? Where's Tim and Marsha?" Gregory asks.
"They're dead." The man in the front says.
"Negan?" Gregory asks.
"Yeah." The man confirms.
My heart stops before beating heavily.
Negan?
I quickly look at Daryl and he looks at me too. He never really knew Negan like I did. Daryl and Merle usually hung out with the druggies. I hung out with everybody, Negan included. Negan usually.
Negan was the main person to get me out of Nick's relationship. Him, Lucille, and Cato we're the only people in the gang I trusted.
Is he here? What if it's just a coincidence? He's not the only person named Negan. Should I go find him? Search for him?
"We had a deal." Gregory questions though I can't particularly listen to the conversation.
"He said it wasn't enough." The man in teh front with the beard says.
If Negan is alive, is he here? Is he so close but I don't even know it? I have to find him. What if it's not even him?
"Was the drop light?" The man behind the woman asks.
"No." Gregory responds.
"They still have Craig." The woman says.
"They said they'd keep 'im alive, return him to us, if I deliver a message to you." The man in the front steps closer to Gregory.
"So, tell me." Gregory says.
The man puts his hand on Gregory's shoulder, "I'm sorry." He whispers before Gregory gasps and a knife stabs into his lower stomach.
Rick and Michonne quickly spring into action, tackling the man to the ground. "Get off of me!" He bellows. "I had to!"
As Rick is punching the man, the other man runs to Rick to grab him but Abraham tackles him to the ground.
Abraham and the man with the red shirt begin fighting, the man pins Abraham to the ground and wraps his fingers around his throat squeezing them.
My blood runs cold and I run to the man, tackling him to the ground and rolling, hay getting stuck in my shirt and hair.
I pin the man to the ground and punch him twice before he switches his body wait and rolls us, pinning me to the ground instead.
His fist connects with my cheekbone, nose, and lip. The fact a man is above me, holding me down makes my muscles tense and my heart pound faster.
I buck my hips and thrust up, causing him to fly over my head.
I stand up quickly, grab the man's arm, and snap it over my leg. He screams an agonizing scream. "Never hit a woman." I spit.
Daryl grabs me and spins me toward him, "Are you okay?" He asks urgently.
I nod, "Is my lip split? It feels spli-"
"Nathan!" The guy I fought screams. "You killed 'im!" He's wiggling on his stomach on the ground, holding his arm.
"He tried to kill Gregory, then me." Rick recalls, his face and clothes covered in blood as a man lays dead next to him.
The woman quickly runs up to Rick, sucker punching him before Michone kicks her legs, causing her to fall, "Don't."
I wipe the blood off my nose and look at Daryl, "You're eye's turnin' black." He tells me.
"It is? I didn't think he hit me there."
"Drop it now!" Cal yells, noticing Rick aiming his gun.
"I don't think I will." Rick sasses, holding his gun at Cal.
"Everyone, this is over!" Jesus bolts through the group and puts his hand up at Cal and the other man who are holding spears. "It's over."
"Nathan was our friend, but let's not pretend he was anything more than a coward who attacked us. He did this. And these people stopped him."
"What can I do?" Rick asks after a moment of silence.
"Put the gun away. You've done enough." Jesus orders. Rick complies quickly and holsters his gun.
I look over and see Daryl holding a gun to the man who fought me's head.
"You need to know that things aren't as simple as they might seem. Just give me some time." Jesus tells Rick.
According to Jesus, Gregory is fine. We're all in the office, talking to Jesus.
"We heard the name Negan. A while back, Daryl and Abraham had a run-in with his men. Who is he?"
Fuck. I don't know if I want it to be the Negan or not.
"Negan's the head of a group of people he calls the Saviors. As soon as the walls were built, the Saviors showed up. They met with Gregory on behalf of their boss. They made a lot of demands, even more threats. And he killed one of us-Rory. He was sixteen years old. He beat him to death, right in front of us."
Jesus continues, "Said we needed to understand, right off the bat. Gregory's not exactly good at confrontation. He's not the leader I would've chosen, but he helped make this place what it is and the people like him."
"He made the deal." Maggie thinks aloud.
"Half of everything. Our supplies, our crops, our livestock, it goes to the Saviors." Jesus says.
"What do you get in return?" Glenn asks.
Jesus sighs, "They don't attack this place. They don't kill us."
"Why not just kill them?" Daryl asks.
Jesus scoffs, "Most of the people here don't even know how to fight, even if we had ammo."
"Well how many people does Negan have?" Rick asks.
"We don't know." Jesus admits. "We've seen groups as big as twenty."
Should I ask about the details on Negan or stay quiet?
"Now, hold up." Daryl says. "So, they show up, they kill a kid, and you give 'em half of everything? These dicks just got a good story. The bogeyman, he ain't shit."
"Well, how do you know?" Jesus asks.
"A month ago, we took his guys out PDQ." Abraham says from a chair next to Jesus. "Left them in pieces and puddles."
"You know, we'll do it." Daryl suggests.
"What?" I ask, nobody hears me.
"If we go get your man back, kill Negan, take out his boys, will you hook us up?" Daryl says more than asks. "We want food, medicine, one of them cows."
"Confrontation's never been somethin' we've had trouble with." Rick communicates.
Jesus looks around, thinking for a moment before saying, "I'll take it to Gregory."
I turn to Daryl, "How do we know it's not-"
"We don't." He says. "I never knew Negan, he doesn't mean shit."
"He means shit to me. Daryl I can't-"
"You're gonna have to Adrian."
"Daryl, Negan practically saved my ass. He got me out of Nick's apartment. He helped me after I overdosed. I can't kill Negan, I can't," My heart begins to pound harder and I feel my breath catch in my throat.
"Daryl, I can't, we can't. We can't go after Negan we-we can't."
"Adrian," He puts both hands on my shoulders and looks into my eyes, "We can. We have to."
"No, no, no, Daryl."
"It's not Negan Smith. It's not. That's almost three states away. He's not up here."
I let out a shaky breath and nod, my eyes closed, "Okay." I whisper. "Okay, you're right." I exhale slowly, "It's not him."