Dead Man Walking

lxxv

 Someone killed Justin. Now Hunter would love to say it was him but it wasn't. He hasn't taken out his gun in a long time. He would love to praise the person who killed Justin. He wasn't a leader anymore, he didn't care about the Saviors who didn't want to fall in line and follow the rules. Justin was an asshole and he was no use to them. That might be wrong to think, a man is dead. But Justin could've gotten them all killed and Hunter wasn't okay with that.

But Justin's death was starting a riot. Some of the Saviors were starting arguments with all of them and Hunter had to stand there and listen to whatever nonsense these Saviors were saying.

"Guess they're gonna execute every last one of us! Just like Justin!"

"Not if we have guns, too."

Words were said, things were shouted. Rosita let go of Hunter's hand and shoved a Savior that was trying to charge at them. Hunter chuckles, this was the reason the Saviors didn't have any guns, 'cause they just choose violence.

A bigger guy came running toward Hunter, the man having every intention to take Hunter down. But with one swing Hunter took the man down and kicked him back over to the Savior's side. Hunter didn't think of himself as the leader anymore. But the people of Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom, still saw him as the man that stopped the war.

And when they saw Hunter take down one of the Saviors, they all charged into the fight that was breaking out. Hunter stood tall as his people started to defend him, he watched as they made a barrier around him, stopping any Savior from coming at him.

A small smirk appeared on Hunter's face at the protection detail. As he looks up his eyes meet Jed one of the Saviors. Hunter raised a challenging brow at him. Jed was the one who started this whole brawl.

"Hey! Hey! Stop this shit! Stop it! Stop it! " Alden shouted as he tried breaking up the fight between all of them. Hunter pulled Rosita behind him as everyone seemed to quiet down, "We're gonna find out who did this, and we're gonna make sure it never happens to us again, alright?"

"Us?" Jed questions, "You're not one of us anymore."

"Us means all of us," Alden says and Jed was quick to punch Alden in the face.

"Go shovel that horse shit to whoever killed Justin!"

Hunter shoved through his barrier and grabbed Jed's fist. Alden was one of the Saviors he liked and Hunter wasn't going to let this piece of shit punch him again. With one hand holding Jed's fist his other hand rested on his gun.

"I thought you were supposed to be our leader."

Hunter's brows pull together, "Shut the hell up. You know what? You can also get out of my face. All of you. Get back to work."

"No can do H. Why don't you go ahead and yank that Taurus, pop me right here?" Jed says, "It's better than worrying about getting it in the back."

Hunter chuckles with a shrug of his shoulders and pulls his gun out of his holster, causing his people to do the same. Jed cowered down just a bit and Hunter's smirk widened just a bit.

"We don't want this," Laura, another Savior spoke up, "Hey, we just need to protect ourselves."

"No guns!" Daryl spoke up causing everyone's attention to turn to him.

"That 'cause you're the one who took out Justin?"

"Nah. My money's on garbage lady."

"Revenge for Simon's play, sure."

"No. It's him," D.J. says firmly as he stares at Daryl, "Maybe even got some help. Little bitch boy Hunter. We saw what they did to Justin yesterday. Finishing what they started."

Hunter's eyes darken as he watches two of the Saviors pick up axes. Hunter didn't want to kill anyone. He hasn't killed anyone since the war. He's been trying to stay true to what Carl wanted but the two guys who picked up the axes were getting on his last nerve. Hunter raised his gun and the rest followed his lead.

"Maybe it's all three of them."

Hunter fired a warning shot at the tree behind the Saviors, "Take another step, I dare you. I ain't scared of any of you. It doesn't need to be this way. Now I would take full credit for Justin's death if I did it. But I ain't a coward if I wanted him dead I would've done it yesterday. Now, I'm gonna put away my gun, 'cause again, it doesn't have to be like this. We will find who killed your boy."

Hunter slowly lowered his gun and clipped it into his holster as Arat stepped in front of D.J. and took the axe away from him. Laura stepped in front of Jed, "Alright, we are not doing this. Let it go."

Rick watched from the hill as his brother took lead on controlling the situation. Since everything happened, Hunter hasn't pulled out his gun. Hunter stepped away from everything, it wasn't what he wanted and Rick understood that. But watching his brother stop this situation and step up, it was something he never thought he'd see again.

"We'll make sure that everyone feel's safe, alright?"

Jed shakes his head and starts to walk away, "Start the redirect," Rick instructs as he came down the hill on his horse, "Pair off to work the grid. Hunter, I want to talk to you."

Hunter sighs as he turns to face his brother, "Now, I know what you're gonna say. But that was a one-off. You're better for all of this. Leading them, "Hunter smiles softly, "I mean when we were kids you were always bossing me around. Taking lead. Telling me what I should do. I followed you into everything. You're my leader. Everything I've learned is from you. You're better at this."

Rick runs his fingers through his beard, "But you joined the army and you came out a leader. It's what you were born to do. You know that. No point running away from it."

"Look, I love you, but I don't want to be the leader of the Saviors. Not worth my time," He pats his brother's arm before walking away.

"I'll never lead again my ass," Rosita shakes her head with a smile, "You were born to lead. Don't fight it."

"I stopped a riot, that doesn't change how I feel about them," Hunter says with a shake of his head, "I blame all of them for what happened. What kind of leader would I be if I wasn't fair to everyone? Rick can handle the Saviors. I don't want any part of them."

____

Daryl, Rick, Hunter, and Rosita ran towards the house in the woods where Maggie and Cyndie were dealing with walkers. They had taken out most of them, Daryl only had to take out one.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Cyndie nods, "Just opened it back up."

"What happened to grid five?" Rosita asks, "Should've been here before us."

Rick pulled out his walkie, "Grid five, what's your status?"

When they didn't get an answer they started making their way through the woods. Grid five had Saviors part of it and they currently working well as a team. But when they got into the woods they saw Beatrice laying face down in the dirt.

"Bea, Bea, wake up."

Beatrice woke up and her hand reached up to the back of her head, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think so."

"What happened?" Rick asks.

"Arat called in the all-clear, and we headed towards the road, and then...I don't know. I think something hit me from behind."

"And Arat?"

Beatrice shakes her head, "I don't know."

_____

Hunter's lost most of his family, he's lost, Lori and Carl. And it took a part of him when they died. He had no idea he was going to lose more of his family. He thought everything was fine. He thought everything was going to be okay.

He didn't know that he would start disliking the people he loves. He didn't know he was going to lose more of his family. He didn't know any of it.