Your POV
On your way to Alexandria, you were pretty much paralyzed and you felt like a robot, the only thing your mind was able to focus on was the walker with Ezekiel's looks. Meanwhile your body seemed to move on its own. It was stupid to dwell on this, and incredibly dangerous, but you couldn't help it. The seed had been buried and now the fear was growing like weeds. You wouldn't feel better until you saw him and knew he was alive and well.
Luckily, you found another two guns and a few packs of ammunition – despite your distraction. It wasn't much but at least you had guns and didn't come back empty-handed. It made you realize that you hadn't fired a gun in forever. Well, actually since you had mowed down the Saviors in that outpost. Which hadn't ended well for your group. So, picking one up with the knowledge that you'd have to kill again soon was a very unpleasant feeling.
You reached the gate of Alexandria a few days later; you had lost your sense of time in the woods so you didn't really know what day it was.
Rosita was at the gate, her eyes widened when she saw you, but she still opened up. You were tired of arguing, and she didn't give a snarky remark either, so you actually just greeted her and continued walking.
"Wait," she said then which made you pause.
"Why?" you asked and turned around, trying to be polite.
"I thought I'd bring you up to speed," she continued. "A lot of things happened, you might want to know before going inside."
You stopped. "Alright..."
"Dwight was here," Rosita explained, "We have a plan to fight the Saviors."
You furrowed your brow. "Okay, but why trust him all of a sudden?"
She shrugged. "You should ask Rick. He seems to have his reasons."
"What about the rest? Guns? More people?" you asked, trying to make use of the fact that she seemed to be more cooperative now.
"We found people who agreed on helping us, a lot of people. And we got lots of guns from another community Tara found." She looked down, calmer. "Listen, what I said... You lost him, too, I was selfish."
"It's alright," you replied and nodded at her. You didn't want to press her to say anything more, this was more than you had expected to get from her and you especially didn't want to talk about Abraham now. Maybe she wasn't angry anymore because you actually had a chance to fight Negan and avenge Abraham, not depending on Ezekiel's help. However, you really wanted to speak to Rick, to know what was really going on, so you walked past Rosita on your way to find him. She wasn't your main concern right now. You wanted to know what the plan was.
* * *
Ezekiel's POV
Lately, a lot had gone wrong in the Kingdom. They had lost two very dear people, not only due to the Saviors but to inner conflict and tension. Then Nabila had told him that some of the plants in the gardens needed to be burned down and replanted. Another constant worry for Ezekiel was that you had left, he missed you and he couldn't stop thinking about you.
But no matter what, he still remained positive.
He knew that a fight was inevitable after what happened to Benjamin and that it was only a matter of time until it would happen. Which made him realize that he actually had the chance to help and support you and your group. And of course to free his people from the impact of the Saviors, to lead the Kingdom into a safe and happy future.
There was a lot to gain and a lot to lose, but he was hopeful. He wanted to believe in the future he could here have with you by his side.
Currently, Ezekiel was replanting the crops they'd had to burn, together with Henry, Benjamin's little brother. He wanted to distract the boy, so it was a good way of making him feel useful and needed. Losing his brother was so hard for him that Ezekiel needed to make sure he'd eventually come to terms with it.
It was a little while later that suddenly Carol appeared, a bag in her hand and a determined but slightly sad expression on her face. While Henry moved on to another patch, Ezekiel stood up to face her.
"I'm sorry," she said, referring to Benjamin's death.
"Thank you," Ezekiel replied rather calmly. While it still hurt to think about what had happened, he didn't want to show weakness. She had been there when he died, that had been the last time he had seen her and while it wasn't long ago at all, it felt like a lot had changed in the meantime. Well, his opinions had, for that matter.
"I'm gonna be here now," Carol explained, letting her eyes wander over the empty patches. "We have to get ready. We have to fight."
Ezekiel kept looking at her. "We do," he agreed. "But not today."
Then he nodded towards Henry and walked over to the boy who was about to plant a new sprout. Ezekiel kneeled down next to him and helped, using his hands to spread the soil around the plant. Just a few seconds later, Carol joined them. The whole act was some kind of metaphor to Ezekiel – they had burned that which had been infected with evil and now rebuilt it with healthy new seeds and sprouts. Just like they would when fighting the Saviors, in order to form a better world.
* * *
Your POV
No one seemed surprised to see you when you walked through Alexandria. Apparently, no one else had suspected that you'd turn your back on them – unlike Rosita. However, you quickly found Rick and to your surprise, he was with Daryl.
God, how long had you been out there?
Now that you thought about it, it had been a while. Longer than you had planned, definitely, and not as successful as you had wished. You really needed to pull yourself together if you didn't want to die.
"Hey, you alright?" Rick asked immediately and scanned you up and down. "Daryl said you should have been here days ago."
You shifted. "Yea, I tried to get some more guns. Well, I did find some, not many."
"Good that you're here, now," he said then with a smile. "We actually have a plan to fight the Saviors."
"Yea, I heard Dwight was here..." you replied. "Rosita told me."
"He's helping us... We're gonna take care of Negan when they come here, take them all out," he explained. "Then we can take out the rest of them in their headquarters and outposts."
"And Dwight will dish them the lie that everything's okay so they won't know we're coming?" you concluded.
"Yea," Rick agreed. "We have guns, people."
"And they can be trusted?" you asked, hesitantly.
He sighed, running his hand over his face. "They get something, we made a deal. A good deal. They're all about the profit."
"Alright..." You swallowed hard, but it didn't sound too great to fight with complete strangers that didn't have a personal problem with Negan. But you trusted Rick and the others, they knew what they were doing. Your judgement was clouded anyway at the moment.
"When?" you asked then.
Rick looked at you, determined. "Soon."
* * *
Rick wanted you on one of the roofs near the main street – a whole lot of knives at the ready and of course a gun, just in case. You had only reluctantly agreed, actually you didn't want to fight in the second row, but Michonne was on one of the balconies, so you figured it was a sign that he trusted you. Plus, he didn't want you to be spotted by the Saviors because, apparently, they thought you were dead just like Maggie.
The waiting was annoying, you weren't scared but still not calm at all.
One the people from the other group, the Scavangers, was with you, a young and lanky guy with really short hair. You didn't really see what happened at the gate, but you noticed that the Saviors had arrived and that someone was talking. It made you nervous, soon you'd have to fight – kill actual people. And if something went wrong, they'd kill you. You tried to think of Abraham and prayed that at least some of his courage was within you, as well.
You observed the scene at the gate and immediately noticed that something seemed to be going wrong. Jadis, the leader of the Scavangers turned her gun on Rick. You inhaled sharply, looking over to the balcony where Michonne was and noticed that she wanted to help him – but the woman that was with her stopped her, pointing a gun to her head. In that moment, you felt something cold on your temple and you froze. That could only mean one thing.
The guy held you at gunpoint.
They had betrayed you.