Shambles- The Walking Dead [Alden x Maggie] [1/2]

16- It should've worked

Simon yanked Alden out of the car roughly and threw him to the ground. The rough tarmac bit painfully into his hands as he caught himself.

"Now, luckily for you, Hilltop has been chosen to keep producing for Negan." He lifted Alden up by the collar of his shirt, cutting off his air supply slightly. He began walking back to the truck, dragging Alden with him. "All this wouldn't have been possible without your friend Eugene," Simon continued as he stopped in front of the truck. He held Alden's hair firmly in, forcing him to stay on his knees with nowhere to go. Simon looked at Maggie. "Oh, you care about him? That's going to make this part a whole lot easier." He pressed her gun against Alden's temple.

Alden whimpered pitifully and closed his eyes. It was better to die with his eyes closed to save people the trouble of having to close them. He hoped they'd bury him and take care of Rose. But they would, right? Maggie had said he was one of them.

"Because there's a couple ways to go for him. I could put you in this box and take you back to Hilltop. Gather everyone up and kill you in front of the whole place. Could probably figure something out for Alden as well, string him up as a sweet display there. Then we'll drag you to Sanctuary and put you on a spike. And then my people will lead the walker herd to Hilltop and pull off the same move that your people tried unsuccessfully at our place." He scoffed. "A pain in the ass for everyone concerned. Or two, we'll settle things by letting us deal with this traitor here."

Another harsh yank on Alden's hair forced him to go up higher on his knees. He opened his eyes to look at Maggie and he managed to nod ever so slightly at her. Now all she had to do was act like she cared for him. From what he could tell she was succeeding, she looked actually distraught.

"No, please, don't," she begged convincingly. Maybe a little bit too convincing. "He's one of us."

Alden noticed the tears welling up in her eyes from his position. He never figured she'd be able to sell it that well.

"Then it's your lucky day!" Simon beamed. "Because we're going to need to kill one of you. And although I would've enjoyed breaking all his limbs and beating him to death, I'll allow him to take one for the team." He clicked the gun's safety off and Maggie clenched her eyes shut. "I'm really going to need you to see this, Maggie."

Alden was keeping it together, struggling wouldn't help him, but even he could tell that Maggie wasn't. Her breathing was fast and irregular. She was only just about able to stop herself from breaking down. Her reaction assured him that she'd take care of Rose. At least he could die with the peace of mind that she'd be safe and cared for. A bullet to the brain was a fast and painless death. He'd be dead before he knew it, a whole lot less painful than what Simon had planned for him. He closed his eyes again in anticipation of what was about to happen.

The gunshot rang out.

Alden's eyes spurted open, he wasn't dead. He was still there. Only now did he realize how uneven his heaving breaths were.

"Oh, my bad," Simon laughed. "I lied. We've got something else planned for him entirely" he chuckled to himself. "I don't even know who they decided to kill. How funny is that?"

Alden was still too startled to even move, aside from the shaking he couldn't control. He remained in place when Simon let go of him and walked back to Maggie. She was still doing her best to keep it together, a ragged sob escaped her throat. "Now, tell me I don't have to kill more people. Tell me! Now!"

"No!" she cried out. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "You don't need to do any of it, I just want to ask you a favor."

"What is that?" he asked, entertained.