We all followed Ezekiel outside, looking around at all the people. They seemed happy. It seems as if nothing bad ever happened here. "This is life here. Every day." I watched a girl with one leg, sitting on a stool and firing arrows at a target. "But it came at a cost. And I wanted more of this. I wanted to expand. To create more places like this. Men and women lost their limbs. Children lost their parents, because I sent them into battle against the wasted when I did not need to."
"This is different." Rick nodded, walking towards him.
"It isn't."
"It is. The dead don't rule us. The world doesn't look like this outside your walls. People don't have it as good. Some people don't have it good at all."
"I have to worry about my people." Rick glared at him, turning away.
"You call yourself a damn king. You sure as hell don't act like one." Daryl shook his head.
Ezekiel walked up to Daryl. "All of this...came at a cost. It was lives, arms, legs." He walked back over to Rick. "The peace we have with the Saviors is uneasy, but it is peace. I have to hold onto it. I have to try." Rick looked frustrated as Ezekiel turned away. "Although the Kingdom cannot grant you the aid you desire, the King is sympathetic to your plight. I offer our friend Daryl asylum for as long as he requires it. He will be safe here. The Saviors do not set foot inside our walls."
"How long do ya think that's gonna last?" Daryl asked. Ezekiel glances at him and he walked away, tugging me with him. The others followed right behind us.
"Shouldn't you stay here? It's safer."
Daryl shook his head. "Nah, I'm gonna stay at Hilltop. It's closer to you." I smiled, looping my arm through his. "Hey, open it up, we're gone." Daryl waved his hand at the people by the gates.
The gates opened, everyone in a rush to leave.
"You're not." Rick stopped us.
"I ain't staying here."
"You have to. It's the smartest play. You know it is." Daryl scoffed, turning away. "Try to talk to Ezekiel. Or stare him into submission-whatever it takes. We'll be back soon. Lottie, say your goodbyes, it'll look suspicious if you're gone too."
I nodded, turning to Daryl as Rick walked away. "I love you. We love you." I grabbed his hand, setting it on my stomach.
He nodded, kissing me. "Right back at ya."
I tried to push down the lump in my throat and hold back the tears welling in my eyes. "I'll come back as soon as I can. Promise."
~*~
As we were driving back, the radio we got from the Saviors came to life. "For anyone out there who loved the obese bastard as much as I did, I just wanna say a few words. Fat Joey was not the most badass sonuvabitch, but he was loyal. He had a great sense of humor. In fact, we were just joking about oral sex with Lucille the other day. Things will not be the same now that he's dead. Without Fat Joey, Skinny Joey...is just Joey. So it's a goddamn tragedy." We came up on a bunch of cars lined up deliberately, blocking the road. "So, lets have a moment of silence."
"Someone's trying to block the way. Gotta be the Saviors." Jesus stated.
"Look." We all looked in the direction Carl was, seeing what looked to be a factory. "I think that's their base over there."
"Yeah, that's it." Jesus nodded. "Must be trying to make it hard to get to them."
Rick nodded. "Yeah, we gotta keep moving. We'll move 'em, then we'll move 'em back. They don't need to know we were here."
Michonne and I kept watch while the others moved the cars. It wasn't long before they got through. "Rick." Michonne called. "Come take a look at this." She handed the binoculars to Rick.
~*~
"Holy shit." I whispered as we looked at the long cable stretched across the road, sticks of dynamite tied all along it.
"What is all this for?" Michonne asked.
"Wait. When I was hiding in the back of the truck, I heard a couple of them talking about this. This is for a herd." Carl said.
"That's why it's a steel cable. It's not just for one walker. It's for a lot." Rosita added.
"We need these explosives." Sasha looked at Rick.
"Yeah." Rick nodded. "But we have to figure out how to disarm it first."
Rosita crouched in front of a grate, lifting it slowly. Underneath was a hole with more explosives connected to the cable with wires. "Uh...okay." Tara took a big step back.
This didn't go unnoticed by Rosita. "Backing up is not gonna make a difference if this thing goes off." She continued fiddling with the wires.
"We got ourselves a red situation." Negans voice came suddenly over the radio. "I need a search party. See if Daryl ran home like the dumb animal that he is." I clenched my fists.
"On it. Be there in time for lunch."
"Turn that sleepy little burg upside down."
"We gotta go. We gotta get there before them, but we need these." Michonne said. We need to clear a path anyway."
"Yeah. Rosita?"
She kept fiddling with the wires, carefully pulling out a big battery. "First parts done."
"What now?"
She stood up. "We gotta unwrap the secondary explosives-the dynamite, the RPG's. Make sure these casings are not messed up, and do not mess them up either. This thing could still blow."
"You all heard her. Let's go."
We went to work, slowly and carefully cutting the cords that held the dynamite to the cable. Once we were done, we were on the move. "You can load the explosives into the trunk as long as they're in good shape. No dents, no tears. They're not live. They still need to be triggered to be set off." We loaded the car as quickly as we could.
"Dad." We looked at Carl. "Look." He pointed down the road. Walkers.
"Okay. There they are. But they're far, we still have time." I cut off another one, bringing it to the stack to be checked. Rick stood up. "We need to get the cars back in front of the on-ramp."
"They'll know we took their explosives so does it matter?" Jesus asked.
"We want that herd to stay on the highway."
"Why?"
"We may need it."
We loaded what we could, a few of us getting in the car to put the cars back. We moved them as fast as we could, keeping an eye on the quickly approaching herd. I glanced over at Rick and Michonne once we were done, noticing them getting into the cars the cable was attached to. "Oh god." I whispered. We ran back to the car, getting in right as the herd reached us. We couldn't see anything, but we heard Rick and Michonne honking the horns. As they got closer I saw the cable cutting the walkers into pieces. "Holy shit." They came to a stop and got out, fighting through the walkers. I opened my door, pulling Michonne in. Rick came shortly after, slamming the door. Rosita slammed on the gas, speeding down the road.
We looked back at the herd, Rick and Michonne catching their breath. I jumped when it exploded, a huge cloud of black smoke filling the air. "Yeah, I didn't like the look of that shit at all."
~*~
The Saviors came almost immediately after we arrived. They trashed our houses, looking for Daryl. There was no reason for it, just because they could. Gabriel was missing, along with or food. I didn't want to believe that he would do something like this, that he changed. Rick said he left a note. Boat. That's all it said. They were going to find him. I wanted to go, but Rick insisted I stay. He wasn't sure how long they'd be gone, so he needed me here in case the Saviors came back. I tried to reason. "What if we-what if we tell them I died, like with Maggie? Then I can go see Daryl, stay with-"
"That won't work. They'll think we're lying, you know how they are, how he is." I sighed, turning away. "Lottie, I'm sorry. They won't think you died right after Daryl escaped, they won't. Look at me." I looked up at him. "We'll beat them. Daryl will come home. I promise."