Spider Monkey

Chapter Seventy - Letters

A few days later and soon letters were given and sent out to every post.

Rick: 'The plan is working. We're doing this. We're winning. We had a hard fight. We lost people, brave people who gave their lives to make sure we won. By the time it was over, there weren't any Saviours left standing.'

Maggie: 'We beat 'em, but things got complicated. Jesus took prisoners, brought 'em back home. We're holding 'em outside our gates for now, till we decide what to do. Until I decide.'

Carol: 'We took the outpost bit by bit. We thought we'd won. We were gathered up in the open when they ambushed us. It was over in seconds. Ezekiel, Jerry, and me, we're the only ones who made it back.'

Rick: 'All of it, it's scarier than I thought it'd be, but we're doing it. We have to. Sasha was first, and now there's been more. The sacrifices are real. We need to make it right for them. The rest of the plan's still a go. We're moving on to the next step. I'm headed there now. The Sanctuary's still surrounded. They're trapped, cut off from their supplies. Every hour that goes by, we're makin' 'em weaker. The lookouts are all around the compound. They open a door, we fire. But if they open a door, seems like they'd have bigger problems. We meet at Sanctuary in two days to end this, to win it all. It's not like we haven't fought before. We fought every step of the way to this place, to this moment. The path has led us here, to who we are, to each other, to now. And we're so close. This can be our last fight.'

****

Eric, Shiva, many people of Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom had died in the fight. And everyone was in mourning over someone. But this was a step forward. A step closer to something better. But there were still a long journey ahead.

Daryl arrived in Alexandria in the early hours, looking for Tara.

Tara spotted him and went over, "Hey. You just get back?"

"Yeah. I was looking for you."

"I was looking for you, too." She said, "I wanted to tell you that you were right when you didn't kill Dwight. We wouldn't have gotten this far without him. The thing is, I know what you said. But after this, I'm gonna kill him. I want it to be me."

"Maybe it could be you and me both." Daryl offered, "He did shit to my kid, let Negan carve him up. I'm not gonna let you have all the fun."

Tara smirked, nodding, "It's a deal."

"Dad?" Hearing Hedley's voice made Daryl turn. Hedley ran over and hugged him. "You're back!"

"Yeah. Thinkin' I should pop in ta make sure you were alright."

"I'm okay." Hedley promised.

Daryl ruffled his hair, gawking at how far he had to stretch in order to reach. "Holy hell, you're gettin' taller and taller by the minute."

Hedley flapped his hands at the words.

"Hedley!" It was Carl.

Hedley turned to see Carl with Judith in his arms, he was waving him down, a big smile.

Hedley blushed slightly, looking up at Tara and his dad, stuttering, "Uh, I should- We were- I-"

Daryl huffed a laugh, gesturing his chin at Carl, "Go on."

Hedley bolted as soon as the words reached his ears and Daryl and Tara watched as he reached the Grimes siblings. Judith reached over for him. Hedley collected her and placed her on his hip. Carl stood on his tippy toes to give Hedley a small kiss to the lips. The boys - not used to it - blushed more, looking round to see if anyone noticed, not seeing the two watching. The trio then went over to the house. Hand in hand as Judith babbled their ears off.

"I guess they're together now." Tara spoke, nudging Daryl's shoulder.

The archer scoffed, "They've been together for years. Only just started moochin' though."

Tara chuckled and so did Daryl.