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The gates closed behind Negan's convoy long before the silence settled.
Raven was gone.
Taken in chains, forced to her knees, her chin lifted not in fear—but defiance. Rick could still see it when he closed his eyes. The way she never begged. Never screamed.
She just looked at her people.
And that look—that promise—was what made everything unravel.
It started quietly.
Whispers. Glares. People gathering in small groups, voices sharp and trembling with barely restrained rage. Raven's people didn't cry. They didn't panic.
They burned.
Rick stood near the porch, arms crossed, jaw set, convinced this was temporary—shock, grief, fear. He'd seen it before. Leaders made hard choices. People didn't always understand them right away.
He underestimated them.
A woman stepped forward first—one of Raven's lieutenants. Blood still dried along her sleeve. Her eyes were red, but her voice didn't shake.
"You gave her to him."
Rick didn't move. "I made a call."
Another voice joined in. Then another.
"You sacrificed her."
"She trusted you."
"You stood there and let him take her."
Rick finally turned to face them. "Negan would've killed more people if I didn't."
A man shoved forward, fists clenched. "She would've found another way."
Rick scoffed, the sound sharp. "You don't know that."
The crowd grew—Raven's people filling the yard, their anger no longer contained.
"If you don't bring her back," the woman said again, stepping closer, "you won't be leading this place."
Rick laughed.
Actually laughed.
"You serious?" he said, shaking his head. "You're gonna threaten me because I made the call that kept this place standing?"
Someone snarled, "She was the reason it stood."
Rick's expression hardened.
"Y'all needed a better leader," he said coldly. "Raven wasn't it."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Carl froze.
Every head turned toward Rick—some in disbelief, others in pure fury. A few hands drifted toward weapons.
