Here We'll Remain>>C.G

Part 20

A/N: A little edit I made for chapters 18-20. It took me forever and the timing is still off, but oh well. I'm quite proud of it and hope you all enjoy it. 

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Thea's PoV

     I slowly regained consciousness. My head and body hurt like hell. Every time I shifted my body, my stomach burned like fire. My eyes refused to to open, until I heard a voice from above me.

"Thea? Are you awake?" It was Rick. I opened my eyes as best as I could, momentarily blinded from the lights above. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. I looked around the unfamiliar room. I brought my gaze back to Rick in confusion.

"We're still at Hilltop. We couldn't move you, or you would die. Plus, our work here wasn't finished. Gregory woke up about an hour ago from his wound. Him and Maggie are talking," he informed me. I nodded my head, but I instantly regretted it. A large headache pierced my brain.

"Is everyone else okay?" I croaked. He cracked a small smile.

"They are. You should worry about yourself though. You took a big hit," he said, motioning to my stomach. I looked down to see the large bandage wrapped around my torso. The memories of how I got the injury came back. I gave it a wincing smile.

"She got me pretty good. Too bad she was trying to kill me; she seemed pretty cool," I laughed, but it sooned turned into a cough. Rick shook his head in amusement.

"You're one tough kid. I think you'll be okay to move by the time we leave later. Carl is gonna have my head for not protecting you," he joked. I sighed. If anything, he'll have mine. I told him I'd be fine after all.

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     Rick left, but came back a while later with Daryl in tow. I smiled at them. The last couple of hours, the pain had dulled some, but it still hurt. I knew getting moved to the R.V. was going to hurt like hell.

      I was right. Daryl, as carefully as he could, lifted me up bridal style from the bed I was in. I hissed at the agonizing pain that erupted from the bullet wound.

"Are you alright?," he asked softly. I nodded my head tiredly.

"Yea, just great. I just want to get home," I muttered through clenched teeth. He smiled a little.

"We'll be home before you know it," he reassured.

     Daryl carried me into our large vehicle and placed me on the bed in the back. He tucked me in and got me a glass of water. He then left and began helping the rest of our group members bring in large amounts of crops and other food. I looked at all of it confused. Even if Maggie sealed the deal, we shouldn't have gotten this much stuff up front. I caught Rick's attention when he came back in with a basket of corn.

"What is all of this?" I asked, my voice gradually getting stronger.

"We made a deal with Gregory. We're going to find man, Negan. We're going to kill him. He told us of him coming, taking their stuff, and killing their men. One boy in particular. Rory. He was about your and Carl's age," he told me.

     My eyes widened at the boys name. I haven't heard it since I was back at Woodbury. He was my first boyfriend. He was my everything. Then we was taken. His skull bashed right in front of me by Negan himself. He let me go, said he wanted me to go back to Woodbury. He wasn't after me. I knew Rory was from Hilltop, but he refused to go back when he met me. I grabbed onto Rick's arm tightly.

"You can't, Rick. Negan is evil, and has a lot of men. I knew Rory. He was killed right in front of me. Not merciful either. Negan, he has this bat, covered in barbed wire. He uses it to bash the head in until it's all a bloody mess. He enjoys it. If we go after him, he'll catch us before we can make a move. He's smart," I told him
frantically. Negan was the one thing I truly feared in this world.