Safe and sound, Carl Grimes

072. I'M NOT GOING BACK, I CAN'T

Chapter seventy two

"I'm not going back, I can't."

Things had been mostly quiet, and on the day they were gonna make their move, Katniss had told Maggie she was gonna lead the walkers away from the wall and bring Alden and the others with her to help, which is why they were all walking down the road with the walkers following behind them, where once they were far enough, Katniss turned running off into the woods and as she did, Alden and the others followed after her.

Making it back, the gate then opened, as they all were walking in, Morgan came walking toward's them and as he did, Henry walked up to him "Henry, no!" Katniss voiced, running over, Henry hit Morgan's bow staff, and as he did, Morgan turned hitting Henry with his, knocking him to the ground, but before he could aim his bow staff at him, Katniss tackled him to the ground, the bow staff rolled away, as Carol helped Henry up, Katniss got off the ground, so did Morgan "they were, uh..they were gone..him. They were coming in." Morgan shared "cause I told Maggie I was gonna clear the walkers from the wall and that I was gonna bring them with me, so when we left they wouldn't be a problem." Katniss shared.

"She did." Maggie said, as Morgan looked at Katniss to Henry, Rick came walking up "let's keep getting ready, everyone. First teams going in twenty." he shared, as Maggie looked to Katniss "he said when we roll out. You can't bring them with you." she shared "no them, no me." Katniss told her, crossing her arms "Katniss don't do this." Maggie told her, as Katniss stepped around her, walking off, Alden and the others followed her, where as they did, Katniss walked past Carl, as the two looked eyes, Katniss was the first to look away.

Where the first group had headed out, and as they did, Katniss was standing with Alden "you and me both know whatever intel they got whether it's the one they have or from a convoy it's all a trap." Katniss shared "so what are we supposed to do? Nobody here's gonna let us leave." Alden shared "which is why we're gonna sneak out. We're gonna find out where there going." Katniss shared, turning and looking at Maggie who was on the walkie, no doubt with Rick "and we're gonna go out there and I'm gonna kill Negan and nobody's gonna be there to stop me." she shared, walking off toward's Maggie to get the information she wanted.

In which as Maggie's team was rolling out, Katniss head to the back, opening the secret hatch, Alden went through first followed by the rest of them, Katniss then climbed in after them, as they all began running into the woods.

Back at the hilltop, Carl and Enid were looking around for Katniss but couldn't find her, as they walked up to Henry "Henry, have you seen Katniss?" Carl asked him "no." Henry told him fairly quickly "Henry, I know you've been watching her." Carl shared "that's because he has a crush on her." Enid shared, smiling "no I don't!" Henry voiced "where did she go?" Carl asked him, as Henry sighed "when Maggie and the others rolled out, she escaped through the back with Alden and the rest." he shared "she left?" Carl asked "saviors!" Kal voiced, as the three of them went running off, they met up with the others, as they began heading through that same escape hatch.

Having made it to the open clearing where the fight was gonna happen, the saviors whistle could be heard, as Katniss crouched down the others followed her lead "looks like we made it just in time." Alden shared "well, damn, Rick, look at that. Pegged again. Pegged so very hard. I ambush your ambush with an even bigger ambush." Negan's voice could be heard, but not the others "we're closer to them." Alden shared "oh, I am everywhere, Rick. Some more bullhorns, more walkies. Pick a direction to run. See how you do. Make it fun for all of us. Guess what else I did. I brought you some of your old friends. You remember your old buddy Eugene? Well, he is the person that made today possible. Same goes for Dwighty boy here. In case you were wondering, he didn't ream you on purpose. No, he is just a..a gutless nothing that sucks at life, and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die, and he's gonna live with that. Gabriel, well..he's gotta go, too. We are cleaning house today, Rick. And then..there's you. It never had to be a fight. You just had to accept how things are. So..here we go. Congratulations, Rick. Three! Two! One!" Negan voiced, as the gunfire went off, Katniss then stood up and began running off and as she did, Alden and the others followed her.

Back at the hilltop, Carl was running through the woods with them all "is Gregory already out here?" Kal asked "we left him inside the house. Let them have him." Enid told them, as she shushed Gracie "the others should already be there." Tara shared, looking to Carl "where's Katniss and the saviors?" she asked, and when Carl didn't answer her, it gave Tara an answer "she left with them even when Maggie told her not too? We can't trust them!" Tara voiced "yeah, well all we can do now is try to slow the saviors down." Carl shared, turning and heading back toward's the hilltop "I'm coming with you." Tara told him, walking after him.

The two were waiting in the woods, watching the saviors go to enter the hilltop "give it another second." Tara told him, as the saviors began to catch on fire, Carl and Tara furrowed their brows, as they moved out, they looked to the right and saw the woman from oceanside throwing molotov cocktails as Aaron stood with them, Tara and Carl ran over to join them.

Where out there, Katniss was still running with Alden and them all, as the gunfire ceased, only one other gun could be heard, until it stopped, as well, where they all then came upon Negan standing in front of Rick on the ground holding Lucille "just so you know. Eenie meenie minnie moe. That was bullshit." Negan said, as Katniss raised her bow, aiming at his neck, she didn't notice all the others standing behind her and watching, as she let the arrow fly, it went through Negan's neck, as he began choking on his own blood, he fell to his knees and then fell over, as Rick got up off the ground, he stared at him, seeing the all to familiar arrow in Negan's neck, all he could think about was that scared little girl who once told him she would never feel safe with somebody else and in the end, he turned her into this monster.

As he turned to them all, walking toward's them "save him." he told Siddiq, and when he did, Katniss's eyes "no!" she screamed, notching another arrow, she went to shoot him, as Daryl ran up to her, knocking the bow out of her hand and wrapping his arms around her "you! You told me we would kill him!" Katniss screamed, trying to fight Daryl off of her, her feet swung in the air, as Siddiq ran past them "no, he can't! No! No, he killed Glenn!" Maggie voiced "we have to." Rick said "no, we don't! You do! Cause your a liar! Your a liar!" Katniss screamed, crying, as her legs gave out on her, Daryl fell with her "I know! I know!" he whispered, moving his hand through her hair, Katniss was sobbing.

"We have to end it! Rick! We have to make it right!" Maggie voiced, looking at Katniss "Katniss, it's not over! Get up! It's not over until he's dead! No. No." she said, crying "what happened, what we did..what we lost" Rick shared, as Maggie fell to her knees, Michonne fell with her, comforting her "there's gotta be something after." Rick shared, going toward's Katniss who's head was on the ground sobbing, Daryl threw his arm out "you stay back!" he voiced, as Rick stopped where he was, looking at the rest of them "the one's who have em up, put your hands down." he told them, as the saviors put their hands down.

"We're all gonna go home now. Negan's alive. But his way of doing things is over. And anyone who can't live with that will pay the price, I promise you that. And any person here who would live in peace and fairness...who would find common ground..this world is yours, by right. We are life! That's death!" he voiced, pointing to the herd of walkers "and it's coming for us. Unless we stand together! Go home. Then the work begins. The new world begins. All this..all this is just what was. There's gotta be something after." he shared, turning and walking toward's Negan.

Katniss had stopped crying, as she reached her hand out and grabbed her bow, she pushed herself up off the ground, Daryl stood up with her "I'm not going back. I can't." Katniss told him, her voice coming out hoarse, Daryl nodded, leaning down and kissing her on the forehead, Katniss began walking off, and as she did, Alden and the others followed after her.

Walking through the woods, they were walking in silence, where the sound of a branch snapping could be heard, as all of them stopped walking, a deer came walking out in front of them and as it did, it turned looking at Katniss and began walking toward's her, it soon stopped and bowed it's head "the new world does begin today. And so does the antler queen." Katniss told them all.