𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 ↠ 𝘤.𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

68: Rock in the Road

"No. No way in hell!" Gregory refused as he paced. "That was not the deal."You people swore you could take the Saviors out, and you failed. So any arrangement we had is now done, null and void." He claimed. The group had suggested to him that Alexandria and Hilltop come together to fight the Saviors, but of course, Gregory isn't on board. "We aren't trade partners, we aren't friends, and we never met." He said, stopping to rest his hands on the desk. "We don't know each other." He sat down and turned to Rick. "I owe you nothing. In fact, you owe me for taking in the refugees, at great personal risk."

"Oh, you were very brave staying in here while Maggie and Sasha saved this place. Your courage was inspiring." Paul spoke up from Maggie's side.

"Hey, don't you work for me? Aren't we friends?"

"Gregory," Rick spoke, walking up to the desk. "We already started this."

"You started it."

"We did. And we're gonna win." Rick insisted.

"These are killers."

"Well, so are we." Elle mumbled under her breath as she fiddled with her knife that Paul had retrieved from his trailer.

"Is this how you want to live? Under their thumb, killing your people?" Rick was quickly getting annoyed with Gregory's lack of empathy and common sense.

"Sometimes we don't get to choose what our life looks like. Sometimes, Ricky, you have to count the blessings you have." Gregory was sure that he made a good point, even though nobody else agreed.

"Zero. We have zero blessings." Elle argued. "With the Saviors dead, that's one."

"I'm talking to the adults, sweetheart." Before Elle had a chance to react, Maggie stood up.

"How many people can we spare? How many people here can fight?" She asked, her hand resting in the chair across from him.

"'We'?" He scoffed. "I don't even know how many people we have, Margaret."

"Just another example of how great a leader Gregory is, everybody! Keep up the good work." Elle sarcastically remarked, adding a slow clap.

"Does it even matter? I mean, what are you gonna do? Start a platoon of sorghum farmers? 'Cause that's what we got. They grow things. They're not gonna want to fight." He ignored Elle's comments and continued to talk in his unfortunately natural condescending tone.

"You're wrong." Tara piped up. "When people have the chance to do the right thing, they usually step up. I mean, people just—"

"Let me stop you before you burst into song, okay?" Gregory held a hand out, cutting Tara off. "And, by the way, who would train all this cannon fodder?"

"Give me a week." Rosita shrugged.

"I will." Sasha said, their voices overlapping.

"Rhetorical, okay? I don't want to know, and I never want to hear another word about it any of it, ever." He pouted.

Getting sick of listening to Gregory make pathetic arguments, Rick asked him a simple question. "Would we be better off without the Saviors, yes or no?"

"Yeah. Sure, okay." Gregory sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"So," Michonne walked up to the desk. "What will you do to fix the problem?"

"I didn't say we had a problem. You did. And what happens outside of my purview is outside of my purview." Elle scoffed as she tried her hardest to keep it together, not wanting another lecture from Rick about making stupid decisions.