Fire With Fire // D. Dixon

chapter forty-seven

Chloe Grimes didn't know what the plan was.

She didn't know what Eugene had crafted up, nor did she know where they were headed. A part of her was thankful for Eugene getting them out of that death trap, but another part of her hated Eugene for getting the Saviors out of there alive.

She was very conflicted, but even more so when they pulled up to Alexandria's gates.

Negan had gotten out of the car, leaving Chloe in the passenger seat. He had proceeded to get situated as he stood on a truck bed and began shouting through a megaphone. Chloe rolled her eyes once she heard he had a megaphone. Of course, he had a megaphone.

"You may be wondering why the hell your lookouts didn't sound the alarm. See, we are polite. I mean, I don't know when they're gonna wake up from that kinda shot, but they should wake up. So let's just cut through the cow shit; you lose. It's over! So you're gonna line up in front of your little houses and you're gonna work up some apologies, and then the person with the lamest one is gonna get killed. Then I kill Rick in front of everybody, and we move on. You have three, count them, three minutes to open this gate...or we start bombing the shit out of you!"

There was silence, nobody from Alexandria had said anything. Chloe had hoped they would find a way to escape, somehow get the hell out before Negan did anything crazy. If he did what he said he would, they would die.

"Two minutes, people! Dig deep, I want these apologies to be memorable. Bonus points for creativity. Work up a poem, sing a song...I love that shit!" Negan shouted.

Still, nothing had been said. Nobody had come out, nobody had gone in. Negan was frustrated to say the very least.

"Okey Dokey...Brought this on yourself, Rick. See, I was willing to work with you. All you had to do was follow a few very simple rules. Now? Well, now I see that you got to go. Scorched earth, you dick!" Negan was quickly cut off, by a voice that made Chloe get out of the car.

"He's not home," Carl spat back, catching everyone off guard. He stood just atop the tower lookout, to the right of the front gate.

"Holy shit!" Negan spoke happily, "Everybody hold your fire, it's Carl. Look at you; answering the door like a big boy. I am so proud. Daddy's not home, huh? Well, I guess he's gonna get back to a big old smoky surprise."

Carl growled, "There's families in here, kids...my little sister."

"Well, that shit just breaks my heart. There's kids at the Sanctuary. You must've seen them. We even had a little baby at one of the outposts...I wonder what happened to her...None of this shit's fair, kid. Hell, you know that. You had to kill your own mom, that is screwed up."

"Enough, Negan!" Chloe spat, making Negan roll his eyes.

"Ergo, we need someone in charge who's willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that shit doesn't happen. Oh, wait..that's me." Negan spoke, but Carl cut him off.

"Bad stuff does happen, but we can figure this out. We can stop this." Carl pleaded, his voice more desperate than intended. Chloe looked at her brother, seeing him look more pale than usual. She was worried, as she always was, but more so now.

Negan only laughed, "Oh, now you want to talk? See, your Dad had it that I died, no matter what. He gave my people a choice, not me. Now we're gonna need a new understanding. Apologies...punish-"

"Kill me."

"NO!" Chloe screamed, her voice angry. Chloe wondered worriedly, why the hell would he say that? She wouldn't let Negan kill him, not a chance.

Negan didn't move from his position as he watched Carl closely, "What did you say?"

"If you have to kill someone, if there has to be punishment, then kill me. I'm serious." Carl's voice didn't shake, his face never faltered. Negan knew he had meant it, but why?

Negan looked at Carl, "You wanna die?"

"No, I don't...but I will. It's gonna happen. And if me dying could stop this, if it could make things different...for us, for you, for all those other kids...it'd be worth it. I mean, was this the plan? Was it supposed to be this way? Is this who you wanted to be?"

Several cars had left, using another exit to escape. The noise had caught everyone off guard, Carl was quick to dive back behind the walls. Chloe smirked at her brother, proud would be a bit of an understatement.

"Son of a bitch, Carl!" Negan yelled angrily, "Was that just a play? I thought we were having a moment, you little asshole! Bombs away!"

With that, an assortment of fire, bombs, and guns were fired into Alexandria. Effectively setting ablaze Chloe's only true home.

Negan had ordered his men inside the gates, making him look around. Everybody was gone, but they didn't know where they had gone.

"That convoy...they got away, huh? All of 'em?" Negan asked, his men only nodded, "Kid's still gotta be here, I think he wanted to go down with the ship. Search the place, find him, tie him up, don't kill him. Blow up every other house...I'm gonna go to Rick's house, make a little spaghetti. When he shows up, send him my way."

-X-

Chloe had been left alone, so she had used that time to look for her people. If she found them, she'd rejoin them. Maybe she'd survive this, maybe she wouldn't...but she certainly had to try.

She went from house to house, hoping to find something. Anything, really. Just when she was about to give up, there he was. Rick.

"Dad?" Chloe spoke in a very low whisper, scared for anyone else to hear. She looked at him, seeing him sweaty and tired, he dropped his gun at the sight of her. He rushed over to hug her, taking her body into his protectively. He had missed her, he had spent so much time wondering if she was okay and here she was.

"Chloe...are you okay?" Rick asked his daughter, pulling away and placing a gentle hand on her belly. He smiled when he felt the baby kick where his hand was, that told him a great deal.

He smiled for a moment, the first true smile he'd let show for a long time, taking in the moment and celebrating the fact that he had his daughter right here.

"Yeah, we're alright...but are you?" Chloe spoke, looking at her father's worried glance.

She was just glad to be with him again, and she allowed herself to feel safe again.

A voice rang out from behind them, "Not for much longer, he ain't."