Maxcine's P.O.V
It's finally time for the fair and I'm super excited. Seeing all the communities come together for a good cause makes me happy. We're all in this together and coming together today really shows that. When The King gave his speech it really moved me; He brought up Rick and what he did for us. This whole event was in Rick, Carl, and Jesus' honor. All of them had their part in making this world great again. This will forever be a day that changes everything.
After a while, Carol seen that Henry and Daryl didn't come back, so she decided to start gathering people to go out and look for them. It was until we seen the gates open and Magna point to something coming in that we were about to leave to start our search and possibly rescue mission. I see Michonne enter with my daughter and Daryl. That made me smile and I could finally breathe again. I ran up to them and took one of them in each arm. Seeing them together again, us together again, was the best sight in the world.
"I'm so glad you are safe" I said trying not to squeeze to hard.
I was afraid that if I let go, I would lose him forever.
Everyone was taking time to reunite with their loved ones. I even seen Michonne happy to see the rest of the bunch that was here. Our family was together again. Her and Judith needed to be here to witness what The King has put together for all of us to celebrate how far we all have come. Carol was making her rounds too and once she seen Daryl, she got a big smile on her face. She brought him into a huge hug and didn't want to let him go either.
"And you" she said still holding on to him.
I see Michonne out of the corner of my eye. I went up to her and Judith and gave them a hug too. The King came over and joined our conversation. He was the happiest out of us all when Michonne came through those gates.
"Michonne" The King said with joy.
"I was in the neighborhood so" she said with a smile appearing on her face.
This festival was something that we all needed even if we though we didn't. This shows just because we are all far away from each other doesn't mean we won't be there. The joy was cut short and the tension started to rise when Tara noticed that Lydia was brought back too.
"The plan was to bring Henry. Just Henry" she said not very pleased by what she was seeing.
"Gather up all the leaders. We have a lot to talk about" Michonne cut in before anyone could say a word.
We all went into The Kings room. Daryl and I went in, sat on the floor. and waited for everyone else to finish coming in.
"I know I haven't seen eye to eye with everyone in this room, but I never stopped caring about any of you. I was just trying to protect my family and do right by my people. Alexandia's future is here together with you and we lost sight if that for a while, but I'm here now. We're here now" Michonne spoke out.
"I have taken an informal vote with the other council members at the fair, and we all agree. Alexandria is willing to grant asylum to Lydia" said Gabriel.
"She's one of us now" I said with a smile.
"We hope the rest of you can join us in doing the same" added Gabriel.
"Thank you. I'll do whatever I can to earn my keep and pay you back" spoke Lydia.
It's nice seeing that she has a chance in this world and can live on her terms.
"If her mother retaliates it's going to be against Hilltop, not Alexandria. I have to do right by my people. I thought we were on the same page" said Tara.
"We were. Look, when she came to my gates, I asked her to run away and when she didn't, I was angry" said Michonne.
"Then you know why I'm not okay with this" expressed Tara.
"I do. I also know why Rick didn't trust me when I showed up at the gates of the prison and how people didn't trust you after seeing you on the other of the Govenor's fire line" added Michonne.
"I was gonna kill you on sight when you washed up on our shores" said Racheal.
This got Tara thinking. I was thinking the same way as the others. I was so glad that we trusted Rick's group enough to let them stay on the farm. He changed our life for the better and I am thankful for that every day.
"Okay, okay. Fair" said Tara.
"Lydia didn't choose where she came from, but she chose where she wanted to be. Just like everyone in this room" spoke Michonne.
"I left some of my best fighters at Hilltop but if Daryl's right about these skin job numbers, it's not enough people" said Tara concerned.
She is right. We can't just let Hilltop fight alone. We need to make sure that we're ready for whatever Alpha and her people are going to throw at us. She wants Lydia back and will probably do anything to insure that happens.
"We should take a group to Hilltop to protect them" suggested Daryl.
"That's a good idea" I said looking at him.
"I'll take some from The Kingdom" Carol said.
"Oceanside can spare some fighters" Racheal added.
"Alexandria can too" Gabriel spoke up.
Our chances were starting to look better now that Hilltop has the support of all of the communities. Seeing all of us come together again was an amazing sight. Even though we are about to go into war, I couldn't help but admire everyone stepping up to help people that are basically our family.
"So we head out in the morning" asked Racheal.
"No. They can take advantage if we wait" said Carol.
"She's right. We should go today" I said agreeing with Carol.
"Agreed but sending people is only a short-term solution" said Gabriel.
"In order to face this threat, the fair communities have to present a united front. Which is why I'm preparing a mutual protection pact. An attack against one community is an attack on all of us" spoke Michonne.
This was a great idea too. Standing together to fight against these freaks should've been what we did all along.
"The leadership of The Kingdom is very amenable to this idea" said Ezekiel.
"Oceanside is down" Racheal joined in.
"Okay, so how do we seal it. Spit and shake, blood oath" asked Tara with laughter.
"I have just the thing" said Ezekiel getting up to go get something.
We all got up to see what The King was about to pull out. When he pulled out the treaty, Michonne had a surprised look on her face.
"I may have taken a few things with me when I left. I did what I thought was right. I'm sorry for the way it was done" Tara told Michonne
'Me too and thank you. You were right" Replied Michonne.
"You were too" Tara said back to her.
"I knew this day would come. Never doubted it for a moment. John Hancock eat your heart out" Ezekiel said as he signed his name.
The King, Carol, Racheal, Tara, and Gabriel all took their turns signing the document, cementing our pact to each other. This is a day that will always be remembered in the new history books we are all creating together.
After all of that, we went on and started to get ready for what is about to happen next. I decide to stay back at The Kingdom to make sure that nothing happens here and travel with Tara in the morning. I was walking with Carol and Ezekiel talking until we heard Lydia and Henry.
"No, it isn't, it's cause of me. I wish I could go too" said Henry as we walked up.
"Go. You just got here. Hilltop can survive without you. I expect to see you both at the movies tonight" said Ezekiel.
"You're showing a movie" asked Lydia in disbelief.
"Yeah. have you even seen one" asked Henry.
"Yeah when I was a kid but. I'm sorry. Just with everything that just happened, the idea of watching a movie just feels a little" she started to say.
"Frivolous" I added in.
She nodded her head slowly.
"It's okay. You get used to it" said Carol.
"When are you leaving? Do I have time to show her around a bit more" asked Henry.
"Go. I won't leave without saying goodbye" said Carol.
I smiled at that. it was starting to look like our world again. It was nice to be able to just live on the inside and forget about what is on the outside for a little bit. After finishing up talking to Carol and The King, I went to find Colleen to see what she was up to and show her around the fair.
At the gates, I walked up with Tara to see Michonne out and say goobye to Daryl before he left.
While saying goodbye to Daryl, I seen Connie walk up to us with a notepad.
"Be careful" she wrote on the notepad.
"You too" Daryl said Right back to her.
"She is right. Please be careful. I will try to come as soon as I can" I said giving him another hug.
He nodded and bent down giving Colleen a hug too. After they were done, Connie took Collen and Dog with her while I said my Goodbyes to the rest.
"Thanks for, um, keeping me out of trouble" Henry said walking up with Carol and Ezekiel.
"Take care of your mom" said Daryl.
"Thank you. When Hilltop is secure, know the doors are always open to you two. We'd be honored if you'd consider calling The Kingdom your home" said Ezekiel to us.
Daryl looked at me and I smiled. I would love to stay in The Kingdom.
"We'll think about it" said Daryl.
"Good" Carol added before Daryl walked off.
I gave Carol a big hug and then walk off to give her, Henry, and Ezekiel privacy as they say their goodbyes. I ended up talking Colleen in to watch the movie. I thought it would be something fun for both of us to do together. After it is over, she went with Jerry's wife and her kids to sleep at their place while I find Tara and get ready to leave in the morning. As we were walking, I noticed Tara fall in front of me before everything went black.
Daryl's P.O.V
After talking with Alpha got me thinking. I just didn't know if this was going to be peace or war. Whatever it is, we are going to be ready. As we kept walking, Michonne ran up and seen someone laying against a tree.
"Siddiq" she yelled and ran up to him.
"What happened" I asked trying to figure out what the hell happened to him.
"I......I......I" was all he could get out.
My heart dropped. I looked to see something in the distance. It looked like heads on a stick, we went to figure it out. We walked up to see all our friend's heads stuck on the end of them. I looked to see Max tied to a one right in the middle beaten to a bloody mess. I went up and untied her, pulling her back away from what we were seeing. Most of the people we loved and cared about were up there. I looked down the line and as soon as I seen Henry, I tried to shield Carol from seeing it, but it was too late. Looking at this makes me realize that Alpha got her revenge for Lydia staying with us.
Maxcine's P.O.V
Siddiq and I were talking about what we went through at the hands of Alpha. I was still in shock. When Daryl came and saved me, it seemed like a dream. It's still just so unreal all the people we lost. It's a lot to take in.
"We were there. We were taken with the others and we saw.... we were supposed to die with them. I was ready to" said Siddiq.
"Alpha whispered in his ears Tell Them" I said trying to hold back tears.
"Something hit me, and everything went black and when I woke up, I was alone" continued Siddiq.
"What happened was evil. It was evil and I think she left him alive to tell that story to scare you and drive us all apart again. I was supposed to be dead, but I am here telling you this " I said with tears rolling down my face.
"But we want to tell you a different story. See, before the end Ozzy, Alek, and DJ found us and gave us an opening and we fought back. They fought like hell. What they did was more than brave cause they defended each other, and they sacrificed for each other. And some of them didn't even know each other but they still fought like they did. Like they were family. Till the very end" said Siddiq fighting with his tears also.
"And in the end, their time was cute to short, but ours keeps going. So, we have to keep going for them, and for all of us. I was told when I was left tied to that pool that I was going to die, and she wanted to use me and the others who died as an example. I am grateful that I am here right now so we can honor them. We need to honor them" I said fully crying at this point.
"We need to honor them, and we need to remember these friends, our family, died as heroes. That's the story we want to tell you. That's the story I want all of us to remember" Siddiq said finishing up.
I don't know what this means but Alpha and her group messed with the wrong people. I know this won't be the last time our paths cross. I just hope they know what's coming. Losing more family is rough and trying to rip us apart won't work. This will only bring us together. We will band together to fight for our communities and our people if it is the last thing we do.