Negan's Daughter

| Chapter 24 | Coda

My shift of keeping watch consisted of brief walks around the area before circling back to Sasha to check in. The area was relatively quiet and empty of walkers. This, I suspected, was due to the effects of the Grady police force. As I ended my fourth shift and started back towards the old factory I entered and noticed the odd silence. Immediately, I rushed in and stood in shock at the sight of Sasha on the ground unconscious and Lamson gone. He would tell Dawn everything we had planned. I stumbled back. Rick said to stay. I let out a frustrated sound as I spun around and darted out the building.

My legs ran as fast as possible as I started towards Grady. Lungs constricted, skin laced with sweat, I kept on my path until I finally saw the forbidding hospital in sight. I grabbed the edges of a building corner and watched with narrowed eyes. There would cops patrolling, a sniper, and cops on the inside. The only way to get in would be to cause a distraction. With the lack of walkers however, it would take time to lure them to some kind of noise. Time I didn't have. Just as I stepped forward I felt hands yank me back and spin me around. I raised my gun and immediately stopped as my eyes met Rick's blue ones. How the hell?

"I," my voice died in my throat. There was no excuse.

"Get in the car," Rick spat. Without another word, I started towards the car.

The drive was silent. No matter how many times I had opened my mouth I couldn't seem to speak. When the car had finally stopped Rick sat back and stared out the front window. "Lamson is dead." The words left Rick's mouth and bled into the air around us. "We made a negotiation to trade with Dawn." I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"Last time-"

"This isn't last time," Rick interjected. "I know it was hard for you but that is over. You have to move past it." The words stung. My eyes shifted out the window next to me and I held my breath.

"It feels exactly like last time." I spoke up. "Last time Carl warmed you, this time I'm warning you. When the termites attacked we killed them without hesitation. What's stopping us from doing the same to get Beth back?"

"We don't kill innocent people," Rick replied firmly. His brow furrowed and he leaned back. "Last time I checked you weren't willing to kill anybody."

"If it's to protect our group we have too." I bit back my tongue. The words seemed false in my mouth, coming out as if I were reading a slip of paper.

"If there's a way no one dies we take it." Rick stated. Without another word he opened the car door and stepped out. I followed begrudgingly and faced the backside of Grady Memorial Hospital. Outside waiting were the others. I approached them and noticed the machine guns ready in their hands. Once I approached Daryl handed me one and I aimed it towards the ground.

We walked in silently, the two hostage cops in our grasp. Just as Rick approached the door I looked back at Noah. He nodded. We continued closer and I felt the tension immediately hit me.

"Holster your weapons," a woman's voice broke out from the walkie-talkie.

"You too," Rick responded. I attached my gun to my belt and followed Rick into the hall immediately my eyes began to search for the familiar blonde hair and blue eyes of my best friend. My mouth gaped as I approached and finally noticed her standing with Carol seated in a wheelchair in front of her. My eyes furrowed at the hard appearance now grasping her features, two stitched up cuts bulged from the skin of her face and a wrist cast laid limply on Carol's wheelchair. Her blue eyes seemed duller and her skin paler. She noticed me and smiled softly, a flash of the girl I knew returning briefly. My lips trembled as I felt my shoulders drop from their tense position. She was okay. She was alive.