The group met Aaron and Eric for dinner in an old community center. The large banquet hall held two long fold-out tables, placed end-to-end to make one long one, and they were covered with dark blue table cloths. Bowls of food were placed down the center of the tables with a plain, white plate at each setting.
As they filed in and chose their seats they talked amongst themselves, discussing their new living arrangements and the other survivors they had met.
“Who’d they stick you with?” Tilly asked Tara as she took a chair next to the brunette, Daryl settling in on her other side. The other woman appeared to be freshly showered, like Tilly, and was sporting a clean, gray button-up shirt and jeans, her short hair hanging loose around her face.
“Beth, thankfully,” Tara smiled. “I was worried I’d end up with Eugene. Can you imagine? There’d be mullet hair all over the shower, and I just couldn’t handle that.”
Tilly threw back her head and laughed. “You’d never be able to bring a woman home either,” she added. “He’d probably be watching through the crack under the door.”
Tara lightly punched her in the arm, her nose crinkling up in disgust, which only made Tilly laugh harder.
To her right, Daryl was leaned toward Rick, the two of them talking quietly.
“What’s the meeting all about?” Daryl questioned, his face locked into his trademarked scowl.
“Aaron’s supposed to give us our job assignments,” he answered, leaning down momentarily to pick up a spoon Judith dropped on the floor. “I’m sure he’ll go over the rules of the place, but I figure most importantly this is our chance to ask questions.”
“Like what the hell they’re doing giving away half of their shit to a bunch of thugs?” Daryl spat.
Rick nodded. “We’ll also need to address the situation with those people and Be-“
“Excuse me,” Aaron interrupted, gaining the attention of the room. “Feel free to help yourselves to whatever you’d like, and I’ll fill you in on your assignments as you eat.”
The survivors didn’t need to be told twice, and began passing around the bowls of food and spooning it onto their plates.
“God,” Tilly mumbled, “am I glad to see this spread. I think Beth and I had a handful of pretzels between us over the past couple of days.”
“Why didn’t you say something?” Daryl asked seriously. “You been sitting around here starving all day.”
“Clearly, I’ve survived,” she chuckled. “To be honest, I was a little preoccupied earlier. Food didn’t even cross my mind.” She winked at him, and his face grew noticeably red.
“Shut up and eat something,” he mumbled. She smiled smugly as she began poking at her plate, satisfied she’d gotten a rise out of him.
“What kind of meat is this?” Tilly asked Daryl as she held up a fork-full of something pink and grainy.
“People meat,” he answered seriously, shoving a bite of it into his mouth.
“Smartass.” She rolled her eyes and shoved the substance off her fork and back onto her plate.
Daryl chuckled and nudged her with his shoulder. “It’s Spam,” he answered. “You never had it? If Merle hadn’t taught me how to hunt that’s probably all the protein we’d have had growing up.”
“I try to avoid salty meat from a can,” she replied. “But I guess I can’t be too picky nowadays.” She begrudgingly stabbed the Spam with her fork again and took a bite, her nose turning up slightly as she chewed.
“Ya look like ya just smelled a fart,” he laughed.
“That’s exactly what this tastes like.” She quickly shoveled a scoop of peas into her mouth to chase away the taste.
“Don’t worry,” he said assuredly, “I’ll go out and find us some real meat soon as I can get outta here.”
She smiled at that. The idea of fresh game was much more appealing than the farce that sat on her plate.
“In the meantime,” he continued, “you should go ahead and choke that down. After that long without food you need the protein.”
“Protein, protein, protein,” she mocked in a faux-deep voice. “Always with the protein. I’ll stick to vegetables til you bring us in something that’s not just ground up hooves and pig assholes.”
They continued their banter for a few more minutes, both with each other and the people that sat around them. Tilly was glad to have some time to talk with Tara. She reminded her a little of Lana, and the fact that those two had been friends as well was comforting.
Eventually Aaron went to stand at the head of the table, a clipboard in his hands, to give them their assignments.
Tilly was put on the building crew along with Abraham and Tyreese. She was glad to be given a job where she could help physically fortify the community, and Aaron informed her she that if any electrical problems arose she would be pulled from her duty working on the walls to take care of them.
Daryl was made the head of the crew that would be going out to hunt. They had several willing hunters within the safe zone, but none of them possessed his set of skills. He’d initially insisted on going out alone, but even Rick agreed that wasn’t a good idea.
Rick was added to their small, make-shift police force, and after some begging Carl was allowed to tag along with his father and train to become an officer as well.
The others were given assignments ranging from working in the garden to watch duty.
“Glenn,” Aaron began, “with one of our runners out of commission I’d like you to accompany Heath on supply missions. I know it’s one of the most dangerous jobs, so if you’re uncomfortable with that I can find other work for you.”
Glenn grinned, satisfied with his placement. “That’s always been my role within our group, anyway. It’s fine with me.”
“Who’s left?” Aaron asked to himself, checking over his notes.
“That’d be me,” Eugene responded, raising his hand above his head.
“Ah, yes, Eugene,” the blonde man nodded, “you’ll be part of our research team. You’ll report to Thomas in building 17. He’s working on a way to build a mill so we can begin making flour, bread and the like.”
“Oh my God, bread,” Maggie sighed, causing the rest of them to laugh.
“If you’re done,” Rick spoke up, breaking the mood, “I have a few questions.”
“Of course,” Aaron replied, settling his clipboard against his chest. “What would you like to know?”
“I want to talk about these people you’re turning your supplies over to.” Rick wasn’t going to beat around the bush on that. He wanted answers.
Aaron looked a little nervous, obviously displeased at the topic, but nodded for him to continue.
“From my understanding, these guys-“
“The Saviors,” Eric chimed in. “They’re called the Saviors.”
“The Saviors,” Rick continued, snarling at the presumptuous name, “they’ve threatened to harm you if you don’t provide for them. It’s the same for other communities in the area, correct?”
“There’s only one other major settlement, the Hilltop, near us, but there are a few smaller ones,” Aaron answered, “and yes, they have the same arrangement.”
“What is it about them that has you so scared?” Rick pried.
Aaron cleared his throat before answering. “Initially, we refused. I mean, why would anyone agree to that willingly? He sent one of his men with a truck in the middle of the night and drove it through the back wall. By the time we could get to it, biters were already pouring in. We’re lucky we didn’t lose more people than we did.”
Concern played on the faces of everyone at the table. It all sounded too similar to when the Governor showed up and ran down their gates.
“He has a lot of men,” Aaron continued. “Probably seventy-five or so, certainly more than us, and they’re not good men. Negan, their leader, he’s perfectly reasonable and trustworthy if you do what he says, but he’s not one to let a transgression go unpunished.”
“Have you thought of joining forces with the Hilltop to put a stop to this?” Tilly asked.
“If we tried, it wouldn’t go over well,” he explained. “It’d mean going to war.”
“We’ve done it before,” Daryl mumbled, loud enough for only Rick to hear.
“I understand your hesitation there,” Rick assured him, “but we do have a little bit of an issue with him ourselves.”
“Yes, Beth,” Aaron nodded knowingly, and her face turned red at the mention of her name. “You believe he’s still after her?”
“We know he is,” Tilly answered for him. “He was searching for her when she and I ran into each other. We managed to shake him, but it was close. The way you’ve described him, I doubt it’d end well for her if he found out she was here.”
“It wouldn’t end well for any of us if he knew that we hid her from him intentionally,” Eric replied, his face grim. “I think this is an issue you should take to Douglas.”
“I don’t want to be any trouble,” Beth piped up. “I don’t want to put anyone else in danger. I can just leave, find somewhere else to stay where he won’t find me.”
“Bullshit, Beth,” Tilly said firmly. “You know better than to think any of us would let that happen. I’ll go talk to Douglas,” she volunteered.
“I’ll come with you,” Rick offered, and she nodded in appreciation.
“He should be home now if you want to go over after you’ve finished your meal,” Aaron explained, and in unison Tilly and Rick both pushed away their plates and stood from the table.
“You good to go?” she asked Rick, secretly a little sad to leave behind the plate of vegetables in front of her, but determined to ensure Beth’s safety.
Rick nodded, and the two of them exited the building and made their way toward the leader’s house.
“How should we approach this?” she asked the older man as they slowly made their way down the street. She knew what she wanted to say to Douglas, but she valued Rick’s ability to strategize.
“We’ll just be honest, explain the situation to him,” he replied. “If he doesn’t agree to keep her presence a secret, I don’t know…” he trailed off, lost in thought.
“Then we’ll have to leave,” Tilly finished for him. “It’d suck, but I don’t think anyone would hesitate to leave here for the sake of her safety. I mean, you all just got her back. No one will want to lose her again.”
Rick nodded, scratching his beard with a rough hand. “Might lose Abraham’s group if it comes down to that, probably Gabriel, too.”
Tilly couldn’t stifle her laugh. “How would we ever get along without Father Screams-and-hides? Losing Abraham and Rosita would be huge, but we’d manage.”
“Let’s just hope it doesn’t come to that.”
By that time, they had reached the steps of the stately white home. Tilly thought that it looked like it belonged on a plantation rather than on the outskirts of a big city. A few lights shone through the sheer curtains, letting them know he was home. The pair climbed the stairs and Rick pounded firmly on the door while Tilly wrung her hands, a little nervous about how the situation might shake out. She was willing to do whatever it took to keep her friend safe, but she was in no hurry to give up her new home.
A few seconds later the door opened with a faint creak and the white-haired leader appeared in front of them.
“Rick, Tilly,” he smiled, “what a pleasure to see you both. Is there something I can do for you?” His voice held a fake air of politeness, undoubtedly perfected throughout his years in the Senate.
“If you have a moment,” Rick began, “we have an important matter of safety we need to discuss with you.”
“Of course,” Douglas nodded, stepping aside to allow them access to the house, “come on in and have a seat.” He led the two into a small sitting room to the left of the entryway. They took a seat beside each other on a small, formal loveseat as Douglas approached a silver serving tray in the corner of the room and poured two glasses of whiskey, offering them to the newcomers.
“Thank you,” Tilly smiled as she took the glass, and Rick nodded his appreciation.
“Now,” Douglas encouraged as he poured his own glass and sat in an armchair across from them, “what can I do for you?”
Rick cut right to the chase. “We’ve discussed the issue of your relationship with the Saviors with Aaron, and he informed us of your arrangement.”
“Ah,” Douglas sighed, taking a sip of the amber liquid, “yes, it’s not an ideal situation obviously, but we do whatever is required to protect our people.”
“Funny you should say that,” Tilly cut in, “because that’s exactly what we’d like to discuss.”
The old man’s eyebrows raised a bit at her forwardness and brash tone, but he gestured for her to continue.
“When I found Beth she’d been separated from our group for weeks,” she explained. “She was being pursued by a big dark-headed guy, Negan, and one of his cronies. We hid out in a nearby town and Beth explained to me that she’d been kidnapped back in Georgia and was brought up here to be traded to the Saviors by another community.”
“I, uh,” Douglas fumbled, “I’m sorry to hear about that, but she was unharmed?”
“If you’d call being forced into slavehood as one of his wives ‘unharmed,’” she responded sharply, “then yes. She managed to steal a car and ram it through their fences. I found her not long after, then he wound up finding us. We were able to get away and make it into the city, but we have every reason to believe he’s either still looking for her, or would at very least seek vengeance if he ever came across her again.”
“You want to ensure she’s protected,” Douglas injected knowingly.
“Exactly,” Rick confirmed, unable to read the other man’s expression.
“I’m going to be honest,” the Senator began, leaning forward a bit in his chair, “it would end badly for my people if he found out we knew about her being here and hid it from him. I don’t think you understand what he’s capable of.”
“We have an idea,” Rick replied. “We’ve dealt with similar men and survived. He should be more concerned with what we’re capable of.”
“I’d never doubt your capabilities, Rick,” he replied. “I have great faith in the competence of your people. You’re a tough bunch, but his group is large. Very large. And they have no issue performing whatever kind of evil he orders if he doesn’t get his way.”
“So what are you saying exactly?” Tilly questioned, gulping down the last bit of whiskey in her glass, the liquid giving her more courage. “You’re going to tell him she’s here to save your own ass?” She was nearly yelling. “She’s a kid, Douglas. A kid,” she stressed, and Rick gently laid a hand on her knee, reminding her to keep her wits about her even though anger bubbled inside him as well.
Douglas shook his head as he rose to refill Tilly’s glass, the redhead quickly emptying the second drink as well. “I don’t know what I’m saying, to be honest,” he answered truthfully as he took his seat again. “You’ve put me in a tough spot.”
“I’ll make it simpler for you,” Rick injected firmly, leaning forward to match the Senator’s posture. “You’re going to assure me you’ll keep her presence a secret, or our group will be leaving.”
Douglas sat back in his chair, rolling his glass between his fingers as he thought for a few minutes.
“Ok,” he began, “but the responsibility falls to you to make sure she’s hidden when his people come. If he sees her, there’s nothing I can do. Fair?”
Tilly and Rick both nodded.
“We can handle that,” Rick confirmed as he rose and extended his hand to the older man. “We appreciate your help.”
“Don’t make me regret it,” he responded, standing as he shook Rick’s hand. “The Saviors are due the day after tomorrow to collect the month’s supplies. Make sure she stays in her house. You can take her meals and she’ll be excused from work for the day.”
“Thank you,” Tilly smiled before following Rick toward the door.
Douglas patted the woman on the shoulder as he held the door open for them to exit. “Now, you two have a good night,” he said politely before closing the door behind them.
“That went alright,” Tilly sighed as they made their way back toward their houses, her head buzzing a bit from the alcohol.
“It’s not a permanent solution, though,” he replied. “We need to take him out.”
“You sure we can handle it?” Tilly asked, her heart pounding a bit at the idea of war.
Rick smiled confidently. “Has Daryl ever told you he took out a tank?”
“A tank?” she chuckled.
“A tank,” he confirmed. “Ask him about it sometime. My point is, we can handle it. We have to. I’d like to meet with everyone tonight to discuss all of this. Think you could round them up and have them meet at my place?”
“You got it, boss,” she responded with a fake salute, drawing a smile from him before heading off to collect the others.
A while later the last of the group finally trickled into the living room of the Grimes family’s home. A few of them bunched closely together on the large sofa and a couple of chairs while the others made themselves comfortable on the floor. Judith chirped sleepily from a playpen in the corner of the room while Tyreese cooed at her softly.
The large man had grown close to the child during their time after the prison, and it was clear he had a special place in his heart for the blue-eyed little girl. Sasha smiled at her teddy bear of a brother as she watched the two interact. Her heart was still heavy from the loss of Bob, but moments like that allowed a bit of happiness and hope to seep back into her.
Ashton sat in front of Carol on the floor, the older woman playing with her dark hair absently as she chatted with Michonne and Morgan. Daryl talked quietly with Beth, and Rick and Tilly stood in the kitchen discussing how to go about filling in the rest of the group. She insisted he let her lead the conversation and he obliged, leading her back into where the others sat.
“There are some things we need to discuss,” Tilly announced, loud enough to get the attention of the room. “Rick and I just got back from speaking with Douglas about the situation with Negan.”
“He gonna stop giving that prick half of our shit?” Daryl spat. “I ain’t going out hunting just to pass most of it off to a bunch of perverts.”
“No,” she replied, a bit of anger playing in her voice. “Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be an option for him, but he agreed to keep Beth’s presence here a secret. It’s on us to make sure she stays out of sight when the Saviors are here, though.”
Rick stepped forward, patting Tilly lightly on the lower back to let her know he would handle it from there. “He’s afraid Negan will retaliate if he finds out Douglas knew he was looking for her and hid her anyway, so we need to be diligent about making sure she stays in her house, and that we don’t mention her name when he’s here.”
“Seems easy enough,” Beth said quietly, a bit embarrassed at the fuss that was being made over her.
“Here’s the thing, though,” Tilly chimed in, her face serious, “Rick and I have been discussing it, and we think something needs to be done about this situation with the Saviors. These people are clearly too chicken shit to deal with it, but we just aren’t comfortable with risking our people to go out and gather supplies just to give them away.”
Rick nodded. “We aren’t going to live under the thumb of anyone else,” he said firmly. “We’ve done it before. Most of you remember what that was like, and I won’t stand for it happening again.”
“What’s the plan?” Michonne asked, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees as she listened intently.
“I’m not sure yet,” Rick replied. “Negan and his men are supposed to be here the day after tomorrow to pick up the supplies. Beth will be excused from her duties and will be laying low, but the rest of us need to take the opportunity to learn everything we can about these guys.”
“So we’re gonna chat ‘em up?” Morgan questioned. “Make friends?”
Tilly nodded in confirmation. “We do whatever we need to do to gain information about them. The people here are pretty tight-lipped, and all we have to go on is what Beth saw while she was there. Don’t be fake. I’m sure he’s smart enough to see right through that. Just do your best to seem eager and trustworthy.”
“We’re not going to rush this,” Rick added. “It will take us a little while to gather the information we need, but we’re going to eliminate this threat if we’re going to stay here.”
“Why rock the boat?” Eugene piped up from where he sat against the arm of the couch, drawing stares from everyone in the room. For a moment he seemed to regret speaking up, but continued anyway. “I mean, things are pretty good here even with half the supplies being given away. I don’t see any need to get involved.”
“Then you can sit on your pasty ass and stay out of it,” Michonne said harshly, feeling no pity for the cowardly man as he lowered his head. “I’m not sitting around living in fear of this asshole. I’ll kill him myself if I get the chance.” Memories of what the Governor had done to Andrea and Hershel flashed in her brain, and though she had never met Negan she wasn’t going to waste any time eliminating a threat if it meant ensuring nothing that heinous happened to anyone else in the group.
“Well,” Tilly smirked, “seems like Michonne’s in. Everyone else good?”
The others nodded, some more hesitantly than others. Eugene just continued to hang his head, knowing his opinion was in the minority.
Rick clapped his hands together in satisfaction as he continued to elaborate on the plan. “Tilly,” he turned to the redhead beside him, “since you’re on the building crew you’ll most likely be near the gates when they arrive. I want you to be the one to speak to Negan. It’d seem suspicious if Abraham or I started chatting him up, but I think you could pull it off.”
She was taken aback for a moment at the enormous task he was trusting her with, but she swelled a little internally with pride. “You want me to dazzle him with my sparkling personality? I can handle that,” she agreed. She glanced over to Daryl, his scowl even deeper than normal.
“The rest of you,” Rick continued, “talk to his men. See if you can find out how many of them there are, whether they have other outposts, anything else useful. We’ll meet here that night after dinner and see if we have enough information to come up with a solid plan.”
“Sounds good, boss,” Tilly smiled uneasily, put off a bit by the look Daryl was giving her. “We should all go get some sleep. We’ve had a long day.”
Everyone rose and said their goodnights before retreating back to their new homes.
No sooner had Tilly opened their front door Daryl stormed past her and rushed up to the bedroom, leaving her to close and lock it behind her. The meeting had gone well, a plan was in place, and no one but Eugene had been opposed to it, so she was confused as to what had him so worked up.
She took off her thin jacket, which thankfully one of the others had grabbed from the house after she got separated, and pulled out the creased polaroid of Lana. She took a moment to stare at it before placing it back in the pocket and hanging the coat over the small hook in the entry.
When she reached the doorway of their shared room she saw Daryl sitting on the edge of the bed unlacing his boots, his dark hair falling into his face as he bent forward.
“Care to tell me what crawled up your ass?” she asked as she leaned against the doorframe, drawing only a huff from the hunter. “You gonna talk to me?” She approached where he sat and laid a hand on his shoulder, which he quickly shrugged away as he jumped up to face her.
“You wanna know what’s bothering me?” he growled, leaning his face close to hers. “Rick’s sending you out to play grab-ass with that evil bastard.” He had become much more adept at controlling his anger since the group left the farm, but the idea of her being put in danger again made it roll out of him like thunder.
“It’s not like I’m going home with him,” she snapped, taken aback by his words. “I’ll be in the middle of fucking town, surrounded by the good folk of Alexandria. And I’m not playing grab-ass, as you so eloquently put it. I’m helping to take down the asshole that stole Beth.”
“Exactly!” he spat. “He stole Beth! What makes you think he ain’t above pulling that shit with you, too, or any of our women.”
“He’s not going to-“
“You don’t know that, Tilly!” he yelled, beginning to pace.
“He’s left all of the other women here alone,” she offered. “I doubt he’d want one as mouthy as me anyway.”
“Stop trying to make it into a goddamned joke,” he demanded, annoyed that she didn’t seem to be taking the threat seriously. “You damn near got yourself shot in the head a while back, then I lost you after that dumb prick in the cabin forced you to stay, and now you’re goin’ face-to-face with a guy we know nothing about, ‘cept that he steals little girls and occasionally kills folk when he don’t get his way.”
Tilly’s face grew red as he laid it all out. “You think I’m not fucking capable of taking care of myself?”
“I didn’t say th-“
“Listen, Dixon,” she hissed indignantly, getting close enough to his face that he could smell the whiskey on her breath. “In case you forgot, I didn’t get shot in the head. I made it out of that cabin and managed to get all the way up here, keeping Beth and I both safe. Rick and the others seem to realize that I’m plenty competent to take on something like this. I don’t know why you can’t have that kind of faith in me.”
He shook his head as he backed away from her, trying to figure out how to put his thoughts into words. His inability to voice his feelings was hampered even further by his frustration.
“I know you’re tough,” he explained, choosing his words carefully, “that ain’t the issue.”
“Well, what is it then?”
“I just got you back,” he admitted, anger still playing behind his voice. “Don’t even like the idea of letting you out of my sight right now, let alone heading out to hunt while you’re here with that sonofabitch.” He ran his hands over his face and through his hair as he paced, anxious at having admitted he wanted to keep an eye on her.
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” she assured him, her demeanor softening a bit. “Broad daylight. Lots of people around. He’d be stupid to try anything. Plus, Abraham and Tyreese will be nearby. They’ll have my back.”
The last part did calm him down a little. If he couldn’t be there himself, he trusted those two men to step in if something went awry. He relaxed a bit, stepping toward her and wrapping an arm around her waist. She leaned into his solid chest and stroked a hand across the rough leather of his vest.
“I still don’t like it,” he said softly, his face against the side of her head. He breathed deeply, inhaling the fresh smell of her supple hair, committing the fragrance to memory.
“I’m not exactly excited about it either,” she agreed, “but we all do whatever’s needed to keep the group safe.”
He nodded and gently pulled her toward the bed, lying her back onto it easily. “We should get some sleep.”
“You won’t hear me arguing,” she smiled, scooting over to make room for him. “Goodnight, Daryl.”
“Night, Tilly” he sighed, sprawling next to her on the soft quilt.
“Hey, Daryl?” she whispered as he shifted his pillow and got comfortable.
“Hmm?” he mumbled, throwing an arm over her and pulling her to his chest.
“Did you really take out a tank?”
"Go to sleep, Matilda."