A Spark (A Carl Grimes Fanfiction)

A Favor

Carl's P.O.V
With the cold nipping away at our faces, we walk.

We've been walking for about four hours, but the cold makes it feel much longer. Hands numb and faces frozen, we push threw. Desperately trying to make it to The Hilltop. I'd say it's as cold as hell out here, but that'd be kind of contradictory. But you get the point.

I'm very impressed with Maggie. Earlier she was complaining nausea, now she's sucking it up and trudging along with the rest of us. I know how bad I'm feeling, but man.. She's gotta be feeling at least ten times as bad with the baby and all. And still nobody knows she's pregnant except for Glenn, Enid, and I.

You'd think you'd come across a running vehicle in these four hours, but nothing. Not one damn vehicle.

"We're getting close."

Thank God. My nose is like a faucet; snot just won't stop running out. It's driving me insane.

"Just another couple of miles."

Dammit.

____________

The Hilltop is just coming into view. All we have left is a short, but damn it's so long, walk up the hill to the gates.

Glenn and Daryl are supporting Maggie now. The nausea is back and now she's also complaining of dizziness and back pain.

"We're almost there, baby," Glenn whispers to her, "Just hang on."

It's taken us around six hours to travel here on foot. We're all exhausted. The climb up the hill is torturous. But we eventually make it and the gate eventually opens.

Maggie and Glenn are taken to see the doctor while the rest of us are taken to meet with Gregory.

Once inside their main building, we see him emerge from a room to our left.

"Rick, good to see you. What can I do for you?"

"I though you might want to be filled in on what's happened recently. I might even ask for a favor."

"Ah, a favor?" Gregory asks looking around at us. Then he spots me, "Carl..?"

I nod.

"How did.. Rick, when..?" he trails off.

"Like I said, I wanted to fill you in on some things."

___________

Gregory led us into the room he appeared out of. It had a desk with a couple of chairs in front of it, with a painting hung behind it.

Gregory walked around to his desk and sat, motioning to the two chairs in front of him.

Dad and Michonne took a seat in the chairs while the rest of us stood around the room. Carol and Daryl stood back near the door, and Sasha, Enid, and I stood behind the two chairs a bit.

"So, go on. Fill me in."

"You knew I was looking for my son, you knew he ran away. But you never saw him. All you knew was his name. But when you saw him here, you recognized him. How is that possible?" Dad asks.

"I've been here before," I say causing Dad and Michonne to turn and look at me. "Negan brought me here. He wanted me to learn how to collect supplies from other communities. He said it'd be my job one day."

"When we met for the first time, you had already met my dad," my attention is on Gregory now, "That's why you acted so weird when I told you my last name."

"That is true."

"Why didn't you try to save me?"

"Save you? You were Negan's play toy. He owned you. There was no way I could've saved you. Not even if I wanted too."

"What?!" Dad yells.

"Why didn't you tell us before Negan showed up at Alexandria? We could've had leverage!" Michonne hissed.

"It wouldn't have mattered. You still would've had zero leverage. Think about it, you had no hostage. And you have no idea where Negan lives, know one knows. Everything would have turned out the way it did."

"That's bullshit," Daryl scoffs.

"Of course you would think so. All you are is some dumb redneck, you barley have a brain. You couldn't have taken Negan down, you couldn't have gained any leverage."

Daryl starts to go after Gregory but Carol holds him back.

"Now, Rick. Would you like to fill me in?"

"Negan attacked us. He made me kill Deanna and Eugene in order to have Carl back. He also killed Luke."

I wince at the mention of his name.

"We thought you might like to know that," Michonne adds.

"That doesn't concern me. Why would I care if Negan attacked you? The only thing remotely interesting is that you got your son back."

"It should concern you, a lot actually. If Negan attacked us, who's to say he won't attack you?" Sasha corners.

"I'm to say he won't attack. I keep up my end of the deal with Negan. I deliver my supplies to him. He won't attack us," Gregory says.

"Maybe. Or maybe his attack on us is just a warm up. Negan's unreliable, he might decide to attack The Hilltop," Carol replies.

"That's insane. Why would he attack us if we provide enough supplies? I'm afraid you wasted a trip, you should get going."

"We can't. We ran into a herd, they tipped the RV. We don't have a vehicle anymore," Dad states.

"Listen, Negan got pissed we didn't have enough supplies to hand over. He threatened us. He said we'll soon find out what he's capable of," Michonne adds.

That got Gregory's attention.

"This isn't going to end well for you," he says concerned, "You should leave while you can. Get out of Alexandria."

"No. There's no way in hell we're leaving. That's our home," I argue.

"Then you'll die. And to me, it sounds like you'll be dead pretty soon," Gregory says matter of factly.

"You needed a favor," Gregory says changing the subject, "I don't know if I could do you one. After all, you promised to kill Negan. But yet, he's still breathing."

"A father wanted so see his son again. That's a reasonable excuse," I say.

"A promise is a promise. Now, you mentioned you didn't have enough supplies to hand over to Negan. You wouldn't want me to give you supplies, would you?" Gregory asks arrogantly.

"Actually, yes. We would," Michonne confirms.

"No. But since you're short of a vehicle, I'll give you a place to sleep."