Safe haven | Rick Grimes

060. WAS NEGAN IN THAT BUILDING LAST NIGHT OR HERE

Chapter sixty

"Was Negan in that building last night or here."

When they finally made it back home, Rick stopped the RV in front of their houses first. Scarlett immediately stood up and walked out of the vehicle. Rick went to get up and follow her, but Daryl put a hand out, stopping him.

"You handle this," Daryl told him quietly, gesturing to the dashboard. "I got her."

Daryl climbed out of the RV along with the others. He spotted Scarlett already walking toward her house and ran after her. "Hey!" he called out.

Scarlett didn't stop. She marched right up the porch steps and reached for the front door handle. Daryl caught up, grabbing her hand and spinning her around to face him. "You've gotta talk about it."

"What? Like you talked about it?" Scarlett fired back, her voice dripping with sharp sarcasm. "You blew those guys up on the road and acted like nobody would ever find the remains. Now we find out there's a whole other compound of those guys that we have to go fight. I'd just like for all of us to stop pretending like this is going to be easy."

Daryl's grip loosened, and he let go of her hand. Scarlett turned back around, pushing the front door open and stepping inside. Daryl followed her right into the house.

"Carl!" Scarlett called out.

Footsteps thudded upstairs, and Carl came running down the steps. "Mom!" he exclaimed, rushing forward to throw his arms around her.

Scarlett hugged him back tightly, burying her face in his hair.

Carl pulled away slightly, looking past her toward the open door. "Where's dad?"

"He's fine," Scarlett reassured him, smoothing down his shirt. "He went to give the food we brought back to Olivia. But..." She paused, her expression turning serious. "We're having a meeting in the church in an hour."

Carl's brow furrowed. "Why? What happened?"

Scarlett looked out the window, her jaw setting. "We made an impression."

An hour later, the community gathered inside the church. As everyone settled into the pews, Rick stood at the front of the room, commanding their attention.

"We can work with the Hilltop," Rick began, his voice echoing in the quiet building. "Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food—eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away. These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham on the road. Sooner or later, they would've found us. Just like the Wolves did. Just like Jesus did. They would've killed someone, or some of us. And then they would try to own us."

He scanned the faces of his people, his tone hardening. "We would try to stop them. But by then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure—as sure as we can get—that we win. And we have to win. We do this for the Hilltop, but it's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece."

Hearing the plan, Carl quickly turned to look at Scarlett, completely caught off guard by the idea of an execution mission. Scarlett noticed his wide eyes and offered a solemn nod.

"I know," she whispered to him gently.

Rick watched the two of them from the altar just as the sound of shuffling wood broke the silence. Everyone turned to look at Morgan as he stood up from his pew.

"You sure we can do it? We can beat 'em?" Morgan asked, his expression heavy.

"What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become... all of us? Yes, I'm sure," Rick answered without hesitation.