Flashback continued
"Are we all set?" Michonne asked Rick after she slung her pack over her shoulder alone with her katana.
"Almost. Where's Carl?" Rick replied. "It's almost been an hour."
"We're here," Carl said, running up to the group.
Enid was just behind him.
"What's this?" Rick questioned, referring to Enid.
"She's coming with us," his son answered.
"Enid, I don't want you to get hurt. Are you sure you wanna come along?"
"Yes, Sir," she nodded.
Rick sighed, "I'm okay with it if Maggie's okay."
"We'll go ask," Carl encouraged.
Together in the dark, the pair ran off to find the sickly woman.
"Better catch her before she and Sasha leave for Hilltop!" he shouted after them.
After a moment's silence, Michonne smiled, "Carl's getting so big."
"Yeah," Carl's father agreed. "It almost scares me."
"I don't blame you."
Soon, the pair returned to Rick and Michonne.
"What's the verdict?" Rick asked.
"She said I could go, but I have to be with someone at all times," Enid answered.
"That shouldn't be a problem," Michonne said.
"Okay. Let's head out!" Rick announced to the team.
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Maggie and Sasha left in the quietest vehicle Alexandria had. Sasha drove through back roads and untouched parts of land as to remain undetected by the Saviors. Between bursts of pain, Maggie slept in the passenger's seat. Her face was ghostly pale; her body shook. Hopefully, for the sake of her unborn child, they'd reach Hilltop soon.
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Meanwhile, the rest of Alexandria's fighters were hunting, sneaking, killing. They travelled in groups of two or more for safety. Rick and Daryl were standing back to back, fighting off walkers while Carl, Enid, and Michonne managed to find and strangle two scrawny Saviors. Carol and Morgan went for some of the bigger guys and slit the throats of four, armed Negan-followers. Aaron and Tara only found one Savior, but together, they managed to kill her.
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After a half-hour of driving through back roads and untouched terrain, Sasha made it to the Hilltop. The gates opened as soon as her vehicle was visible to the guard on duty. Both she and Maggie were quickly ushered to the infirmary. As Sasha waited impatiently outside for the doctor's news, some of the inhabitants of the Hilltop, including Jesus, brought them gifts of fruit, canned goods, and a few blankets; this was all without Gregory's knowing thankfully. Soon after Sasha had filled two baskets of presents, the doctor came out of the infirmary and delivered the news.
"How is she?" Sasha asked.
"She'll be just fine," he smiled.
Sasha heaved a sigh of relief and thanked him.
"Can I see her?"
"Of course," he answered.
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The pairs had annihilated about thirty of the fifty Saviors. Just an hour more....
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"Hey, girlie," Sasha grinned.
"Hay," Maggie said faintly.
"Did he treat you right?"
"Oh yeah," Maggie giggled. "I've been set up with some light pain killers."
"That's good! I really hope you feel better."
"Me too."
"Hey! Some of the townspeople gave us some gifts."
"There's no way Gregory is behind this," Maggie smirked.
"I don't think he even knows we're here," Sasha noted.
"He'll find out sooner or later I suppose."
"Probably, but he doesn't know right now. Get some rest," she soothed.
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It really wasn't very hard for the hunters of Alexandria to take out the other twenty Saviors. They'd all made it back to the RV with only minor wounds before sunrise. Now, they'd just have to take out the other bases, but with the help of the Hilltop and some new community that Jesus knew (The Kingdom), they'd be able to do so easily.
"Any last words?" Daryl asked the last remaining Savior of the original fifty.
Daryl's crossbow was aimed at the man's head. Everyone was waiting in the RV except Rick, Carl, and Daryl. The Savior was positioned about fifteen feet away from Daryl. He stood alone, his face filled with terror. He never thought this day would come. But it didn't matter. He knew Negan's legacy would live on with the group that escaped with that new girl...what was her name again? Dawn? Fawn? Yes, Fawn. More like Yawn. She had to be the most insignificant being on the planet. She showed no skill or talent, had a very boring and predictable past, and hardly
ever spoke. However, he hadn't seen Ron's body anywhere after the massacre. Perhaps he'd escaped during the commotion. The Savior hoped so anyway. So to him, it didn't actually matter whether or not he died, but he did have to put on a show. With "fear" in his eyes, he thought about what his last words on this miserable earth would be.
"I'd like to say, Rick, you've been a worthy rival. Carl-"
"Don't talk to my son!" Rick interrupted.
"Ok, Rick, your son will make a great killer someday."
"That's enough!" Daryl blurted.
"Go to h–"
Whoosh.
Daryl's arrow penetrated the Savior's brain before he could finish his sentence. He slammed into the earth with a resounding thud. There he lay, he and the rest of his dead crew heaped in piles to be burned around him.
"I guess we'll never know what he was going to say," Carl murmured.
Like a gush of wind, peace and relief surrounded them. They'd won. They'd done it. Negan was dead. The Saviors were dead. They were free of their bondage.
Daryl walked over to the once terrifying Savior and retrieved his arrow as he slung his bow around his shoulder to his back.
"It's done," he smiled.
"Let's light 'em up," Rick ordered, whipping out a pocket lighter. "Get in the RV, Carl."
"No," the teenage sheriff replied. "I was as much a part of this as you."
Rick nodded and reluctantly passed the lighter to his son. After Daryl finished dousing the bodies in gasoline, Carl passed over to a pile and lit it up. The flames penetrated the vastness of the dark sky. Shadows fell behind the three as they stood and watched the first pile burn...then the next, and the next, and the next, until at last they came to Negan's single body. Lighter in hand, Carl flicked it on and threw it on the body. The stench became unbearable eventually, and one by one, they retreated to the RV to pick up their shovels and bury their dead. Rick stood for an extra moment, being the only one remaining outside. This was it. He was safe. His family was safe. For now, it seemed that no one could stop them.
Carl walked up to his father, two shovels in hand; he handed Rick a shovel, and together they walked to where the rest of Eugene's body lay. With the three men working together, lifting it was easy. They carried their friend over to the hole they'd already dug and lifted him into it carefully. Then, they continued to shovel dirt over Eugene's cold, mangled torso and legs. Each lift of the dirt seemed like a memory of the good man was secreting itself into their minds permanently. Each precious moment spent with him before his terrible death was now treasured like gold. The saying is true, "You never know what you have until you lose it." Rick raised his shovel one last time before laying the last pile of dirt over their friend.
Slowly, he piled into the RV with everyone else.
"Let's go," Rick ordered.
He put the key into the ignition and started the mobile home. They were on their way back Alexandria.
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Fanfiction[Quick Note: I've been slowly rewriting and editing old chapters and making new ones. So if you started reading this when it first came out, I promise it's not NEARLY as cringey as before.] Carl and Enid go into the woods to find fish, but what they...
