INTO THE SHADOWS. Negan

Part title

They all got out of the car at once, doors thudding shut behind them. The air was colder out here, the world too quiet for comfort. The line of cars blocking the highway looked even more deliberate up close—tight, precise, staged. Rick scanned the scene, then motioned forward. "Let's move 'em. Put everything back the way it was."

Everyone split off without question. Jesus started with the first car in the row. Tara and Sasha checked the trunks for walkers. Michonne moved along the edge, katana drawn, razor-focused. Tessa followed Rick and Carl toward the front of the blockade, her stomach still twisted from Negan's voice echoing in the car moments before. She tried to breathe normally, to steady herself, but every piece of this setup screamed danger.

Carl stepped closer to her, quietly.
"You okay?"

Tessa nodded once, though her voice came out thin. "Just... watching."

Rick grabbed the bumper of a car and started pulling. "We don't have much time. Let's move."

Rosita shoved a sedan forward with a frustrated grunt. "They did this on purpose."

Jesus nodded. "Saviors. Trying to slow us down."

Tessa swallowed hard. Her eyes drifted to the tree line—dark, still, watching.

He's going to find out... he always finds out.

She shoved the thought down and helped push the next car, metal groaning loudly.

After a moment, Sasha called out, "Rick! There's more up ahead."

Rick jogged forward, motioning for them to join him. Tessa followed, heart hammering, boots crunching on broken glass.

Further down, she saw it—
the truck blocking the far end of the road.

The truck with the dynamite.
Michonne frowned. "This isn't just a blockade. It's a trap.

Rick's eyes narrowed. "Check it carefully. Don't touch anything unless I say."

They moved closer to the truck, every step slower, more careful. The smell hit first—burnt rubber, gunpowder, something metallic. Jesus was the one who spotted it.

"Rick... look."

A thick wire was stretched through the open truck doors, lined with red sticks and dirty yellow tape.

Explosives.
A whole chain of them.

"Dynamite," Tara breathed.

Rick lifted a hand. "Don't touch anything yet."

They circled the truck in silence. Tessa's heart climbed into her throat. This wasn't something the Saviors used for intimidation. This was something they used for war.

Sasha crouched. "They must've been clearing walkers. Making some kind of trap."

Jesus nodded. "And they left it. They'll notice if it's gone."

Rick exhaled slowly. "We only take what's safe. What's clean. Leave the rest."

Rosita, already crouching beside the wire, muttered, "I know what I'm doing."

Carl pulled Tessa back a little, guiding her away from the danger zone. She didn't resist. Her chest was too tight, her pulse too loud.

Suddenly, a voice booms through the walkie once more. "We got ourselves a red situation. I need a search party. See if Daryl ran home like the dumb animal he is."

"On it," Tessa recognized that as Simon. "Be there on time for lunch"

"Turn that sleepy little burg upside down."

Michonne stepped beside Rick, voice low. "We have to hurry."

In the distance, a faint groaning rose—soft at first, then growing.

A herd.

Carl's eyes widened. "Dad..."

Everyone froze.

Then Rick spoke fast, "Move! Whoever can help, help! Whoever can't, get ready to defend!"

Rosita ripped the safe dynamite off the line with practiced speed. Sasha grabbed some, Tara grabbed some. Jesus threw open the back of the truck.

Rick looked around. "Tessa — stay with Carl. Keep him covered."

She nodded, forcing her legs to move. But the herd was close now—figures stumbling from between trees, dozens and dozens, their groans echoing like a warning. Tessa lifted her gun, breath shaking. "They're getting closer!"

Carl steadied his aim beside her. "Just keep firing!"

Gunshots cracked through the air. Walkers dropped. More pushed through.

Rick hooked the last section of wire to each car. The entire cable snapped tight. A thick, taut line stretched across the road. Rick and Michonne floored the pedal. Engines roared.

And then—

A massive sweep of the cable tore through the herd, slicing walkers clean in half in a wet, horrific arc. Bodies collapsed everywhere, falling like broken mannequins.

Silence followed — heavy, shocked.

Tessa stood frozen, chest heaving. "Holy shit..."

Michonne and Rick looked at each other, breathless but alive. She grinned just slightly.

"We can make it," she told him softly.
"We're the ones who live."

Rick didn't smile — not fully — but something shifted in him. A spark. A beginning.

Tessa caught it. And for just a heartbeat, the fear inside her loosened.