Rivers & Roads || The Walking Dead Fanfiction

19. What the hell?

Chapter 19
3.037 Words
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I know this is not going to be as friendly of a visit to the Hilltop as usual as soon as I step foot out of the truck. I don't know if it's the eerie tension in the air, or Simon's smug expression that tips me off to it. But either way, I'm going to make sure I keep my guard up today. Simon had us bring the trucks in this time, he's not wasting anytime today.

Mason and I group up with the rest of the saviors behind Simon, like always. I notice patches of the Earth are scorched inside of Hilltops walls as Simon leads us hastily to the front door of the brick house the Hilltop is built around. He swings the doors wide open and all of us saviors pour in, our rifles resting in our hands as we enter the room.

The crowd breaks off to search the place for anything Negan might want, plus half their shit. Gregory, the Hilltop's leader, nods at us as we pass through the doorway.

"Hello." Gregory speaks up, greeting all of us. "Do, uh... make yourselves at home." He says, trying to be cordial.

"Thank you." Simon says in a sarcastically friendly tone. "But this isn't a social call." He says.

"Oh, well, I-I wouldn't think it is." Gregory stammers over his words. I stand off to the side by the stairs watching, Mason standing beside me. I can see Simon's large toothy grin as he looks at Gregory.

"We need to talk." Simon says with a nod, the creepy smile never leaving his face. Simon looks around at us saviors. "And it's getting a little claustrophobic in here," He looks back at Gregory. "Right?" Gregory opens his mouth to speak but Simon cuts him off. "Let's talk in your study, I wanna see that painting of yours. Don't remember who told me about it originally, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't matter much anymore. Simon pauses as he looks at Gregory. "Don't know if you heard what happened." He finishes.

"W-What happened?" Gregory asks, a confused look on his face.

"Well, some of our people you used to deal with," Simon says. He looks over us saviors again. "Our brothers and sisters in arms and operation," Simon looks back at Gregory. "Well, they've been removed from the field of play." Simon says, an eerie look in his eye as he stares down at Gregory. I can't help but wonder why he's telling them this, did the Hilltop aid Alexandria in the attack on the satellite station?

"Brothers and sisters, w-what, what do you mean?" Gregory fumbles over his words again as he speaks with a confused expression. Simon lets out a strained laugh.

"I think you know what it means." He says. Gregory nervously shakes his head. "It means we need to talk!" Simon exclaims with a crazy, throwing his hands up before grabbing Gregory and dragging him into the double doors of his study. I watch as another savior closes it behind them, and we're all left alone in the foyer.

Jesus and a few others from the Hilltop stand by the door as we wait, watching us like hawks. Not much happens, a few saviors talk amongst themselves and I play with my fingers. When the doors to the study finally do swing back open, we all straighten up when Simon steps out.

My eyes follow Gregory as he leads Simon past my spot by the stairs, to a closet down the hall a bit. I can't help but notice how much Jesus tenses up when they get to the closet, as if there's something in there he doesn't want us to see.

Gregory stops in front of the closet door and looks back at Jesus. I see the long haired man try to discreetly shake his head 'no' but Gregory turns back to the closet door and sighs, swinging it open. Simon stands behind him, and we all hold our breath to see what is behind the door.

Gregory and Simon peer into the open closet, I can't tell what's inside from where I stand, but the look on Simon's face tells me it's not what he was expecting.