ꜰᴏᴏʟ'ꜱ ᴍᴀᴛᴇ || ᴛᴡᴅ

127: ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ᴅᴇᴀʟ

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Alexandria was still in ruins. Honestly, probably moreso than before. 

Walker bodies were being burnt in piles all around the church, which was now burnt from a storm the night before, as was the windmill. Things had blown down, blown away. The holes in the walls were back. The ground was pure sand and ash. 

Sami stood by the carriage with the food and the others, looking at a pile of bodies burning. What were they supposed to do now?

"Uncle Daryl!" Judith ran forward, her pink shirt bright against the burnt remains of their home, as was Rachel's hair, as she and RJ joined the hug. 

Lydia was the first to reach Sami, hugging him, and he ignored how much it hurt. She had a wide smile on her face, so he couldn't complain.

"Where's Negan and Grace?" She asked, looking around as she pulled away. 

"They left." He paused. "I'm sorry."

She nodded slowly, and then turned to Daryl as he handed out apples.

Rosita was behind her, holding Coco, and Sami made his way over to them, hardly having the energy to hug them and just putting his head on Rosita's shoulder, Coco holding onto one of his un-bandaged fingers. Thankfully, Rosita didn't seem pissed at him anymore.

"That all food?" Rosita asked, as she looked over at the wagon. 

Sami nodded, head still resting on her shoulder. "Yeah."

"You look like shit." Magna looked at him, grinning.

Sami stood, hugging her, though it was much softer than his usual hugs thanks to all the pain. "You learnt how to tie your hair yourself."

"Shut up." She glared at him as she pulled away. "No word from Danny or Yumiko."

Sami nodded. He hadn't expected it, honestly. "That's alright. Gotta focus on here."

"HEY!" Jerry's voice yelled. "WE GOT SOMETHING COMING!"

Everyone grabbed their weapons, Sami and Maggie climbing up onto the lookout where Jerry was, and seeing a whole squad of people in armor, on horseback and in trucks. And holding up guns. 

God, Sami just wanted a fucking minute.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!"

Eugene ran forward, standing among the armored men. Clean, in new clothes, with a hat upon his head. And Sami remembered the war with the Saviors, when Eugene stood outside the walls with them, on the other side. 

His presence didn't exactly make him feel better.

"we're all friends here! We're all friends!" Eugene smiled so gladly up at them, that Sami felt better for a moment. "They're here to help."

Against his better judgement, they were let in.

The armored men already got to work. In their trucks and wagons was fuel, wood, food, supplies, and more things Sami hadn't even seen since before the Fall, all just being handed out. Eugene set everyone up sitting in front of the church as they worked, and spoke to them, standing in front of them like at a school assembly.

"Ezekiel, Yumiko, Danny and I set out on a journey. Charged ourselves with finding hope in our darkest of days. Suffice to say, we hit the proverbial jackpot. It's probably best that I step aside so y'all can hear it from the horses mouth as it were. I give you Mr Lance Hornsby diplomatic representative of the Commonwealth."

Eugene was alone as he clapped and stepped aside for Lance Hornsby, a short man with styled hair and a three piece suit, his shoes matching his waistcoat. 

Sami glanced at Rosita, who was next to him, Coco in her arms as she played with Sami's un-bandaged hand, and knew she was thinking the same thing as him. 

This guy fucking sucks.

"Hello. I'm Lance. Thank you for allowing us into your home. I must say, I am impressed by everything you've built here and what I've heard of your other communities. But it's clear . .. " He looked around at their destroyed home. "You've fallen on some hard times and that is where the Commonwealth is more than willing to help. If you remain, we can provide labor and materials to help you build back all you've lost. However, if anyone is interested, I do have another . . . potentially more interesting choice to offer. . . "

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I didn't know how to end this, I'm sorry. 

Anyway, the FINAL END TO AN ACT WITH MORE TO OFFER!!

I've got lots of plans for this final act. As you've seen, Sami kind of snapped again with the Reapers, so we'll see where that goes. We'll also find out what that coughing has been about (it's not nothing) and we'll find out who's going to actually survive this book and get a semi sequel in a spin off series. 

Anyway, bye, and I'm sorry for what our boy's gonna go through

Also, as I was writing this I remembered that the guy who plays Lance Hornsby, Josh Hamilton, was in Alive in 1992 and played Roberto Canessa.  Enzo Vogrincic, who is Sami's face claim, is in the most recent film about the same tragedy, Society of the Snow, and plays Numa Turcatti in it. Just strange how that happened, idk. Anyway, watch the more recent film, it's brilliant alright BYE