Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter 129.

It was a trap.

"Mom" Iris turns and spots a figure sitting on the porch steps of her house, "Carl?" she questions, walking closer to the figure, "hey mom" the boy says, Iris smiles as his faces becomes clear, she sits down next to him and holds onto his hand.

"Hey kid" she says, her voice comes out soft and broken, the boy grips onto her hand "it's good to see you" he says, Iris looks over to him, tears fighting their way out of her eyes, "it's so good to see you Carl" Iris cries, using her free hand she moves his hair from his face and reveals both his eyes perfectly fine.

"I've missed you so much" she whispers, "i've missed you too. But you need to wake up now. It's time" Carl says, Iris looks at the boy confused, "what? No" she argues, Carls grip starts to losen around Iris's hand, "you have to go" Carl says, "no. no. i dont want to let go" she cries trying to grip onto the boys hand, "i'll see you again soon" Carl says as everything slowly goes black.

........

Iris's eyes shoot open and she looks around the room, Juniper and Maggie stand in front of her concerned looks on their faces, Iris stands up from the armchair and pinches the bridge of her nose, "sorry" she mumbles before walking out of the room, she walks out of the building and pulls out a cigarette, bringing it to her lips and lighting it with shaky hands, she takes a long drag of smoke, holding it in and closing her eyes slowly letting the smoke escape from her lungs.

.........

"All right. We'll stick to this road, keep to the trees, we'll get there quicker. Plus, we can keep an eye on the road that way." Daryl says to the small group, pointing to a spot of the map, Iris stands back, keeping her eyes down as she listens to them.

"Yeah, if they're planning anything, we'll see it." Rosita says "You think you can trust Gregory? What he told us?" Michonne asks "I locked him up inside the house. He knew I wouldn't let him walk around free. He knew he was coming back to that. He doesn't believe in anything except himself, and he'd have to believe in the Saviors a whole lot to send us into a trap and think it would work out for him." Maggie explains.

"Unless Dwight didn't tell him. That asshole could be setting us up." Daryl says, Iris looks up from the floor and sees Rick already looking at her, she nods to him but their attention is pulled away, Iris watches Morgan rush towards the gate as it opens.

Before Morgan can attack Alden, henry steps in, fighting Morgan with the moves the man had taught him, Carol steps in before Morgan kills the young boy, "They were, uh... They were gone... him. They were coming in." Morgan says.

"I asked Maggie if we could clear the walkers from the wall. We... drew them away so we wouldn't have to worry about 'em when we rolled out." Alden explains "He did." Maggie says, backing him up, "Let's keep gettin' ready, everyone. First team's going in." Rick says, walking over to Morgan.

Iris sits her rifle on her back as she walks out of the Hilltop gates, Daryl grabs onto her hand as they lead the group, Iris glances at the man before quickly moving her focus ahead again.

........

The group crouch down behind the bushes, Iris grips onto her rifle and Carol signals to the rest of the group, 10 , just like Dwight had told them, Iris stands with some of the others, they slowly move closer, she raises her rifle and lifts her left hand in the air and counting down with her fingers, 3    2    1    0

When Iris hits zero everyone starts shooting the saviours together, making them drop at the same time. Iris walks onto the road and covers the others as they take the men's gear. "Good people, found something on our quarry." Ezekiel announces, Iris walks over to the man to find out what it is.

"What is it?" Michonne asks "A list and another map. And what appear to be other facts." the king explains "They're lining up Saviors on the Old Mill Road. That's where Negan will be." Rick announces.

"We have to get to Negan before they figure out what happened here." Iris says. "Maggie." Rick says into the walkie, "I'm here." "It's time. It was a trap. So we're changing the plan." Rick says to the woman through the walkie.