RIDE OR DIE | DARYL DIXON

the saviors

"WE HEARD THE NAME NEGAN." Rick said, pushing himself off of Gregory's desk. "A while back, Daryl and Abraham had a run in with his men. Who is he?"

Jesus swallowed hard as they all sat around Gregory's office, listening eagerly. "Negan's the head of a group of people he calls the Saviors. As soon as the walls were built, the Saviors showed up. They met with Gregory on behalf of their boss. They made a lot of demands, even more threats. And he killed one of us- Rory. He was 16 years old. They beat him to death right in front of us. Said we needed to understand, right off the bat."

Willow looked down at her lap, her stomach burning and twisting at the thought of a child enduring that.

"Gregory's not exactly good at confrontation. He's not the leader I would've chosen, but he helped make this place what it is, and the people like him." Jesus continued.

"He made the deal." Maggie said quietly.

Jesus nodded. "Half of everything. Our supplies, our crops, our livestock, it goes to the Saviors."

"And what do you get in return?" Glenn asked.

Jesus sighed, sticking his hands in his pockets. "They don't attack this place. They don't kill us."

"Why not just kill them?" Daryl asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"Most of the people here don't even know how to fight, even if we had ammo."

Rick adjusted his weight on his feet. "Well, how many people does Negan have?"

"We don't know." Jesus responded shortly. "We've seen groups as big as 20."

"Now, hold up." Daryl said, sitting on the window sill. "So, they show up, they kill a kid, and you give them half of everything? These dicks just got a good story. The boogeyman, he ain't shit."

"Well, how do you know?" Jesus asked.

Abraham cleared his throat, speaking up. "A month ago, we took his guys out PDQ. Left them in pieces and puddles."

"You know, we'll do it." Daryl said. "If we go get your man back, kill Negan, take out his boys, will you hook us up? We want food, medicine, and one of them cows."

Jesus looked to Rick to see if he agreed with the proposition Daryl suddenly had to offer.

"Confrontation has never been something we've had trouble with." Rick said plainly. 

Jesus tilted his head in thought for a moment, but came to his conclusion. "I'll take it to Gregory."

-

They had waited around for a while for Gregory to wake up after the incident with Ethan, and when he did, it was Maggie he wanted to speak to about the deal. It took no more than five minutes for Gregory to accept it. Maggie had bargained for their group to take half of everything up front, and in return, they will carry out their end of the deal and take out Negan and the Saviors.

Willow put the last of the supplies into the RV with Daryl and Abraham before heading over to Rick. He stood firmly, talking to one of the men that had showed up with Ethan. She soon came to know his name was Andy, and he was less than thrilled to be in her presence.

"Jesus said you've been taking supplies to Negan since the beginning. We're gonna get Craig back."

The man looked at him weird. "The only way to get Craig back is to bring him Gregory's head."

Rick took a step closer, confident in his response. "We're gonna get Craig back."

"How?"

"We need to know what you know about Negan's compound." Willow said simply.