Two Sides

Chapter 10 - Revelation

You were looking into Rick's eyes – frozen. To say that you were surprised was an understatement and when you looked past him to see all the other familiar faces, even Daryl's, your mind went completely blank. That didn't matter, though, because in an instant there were arms wrapped around, people mumbling how glad they were that you were okay, and your mind wasn't fast enough to process what was happening.

Rick had hugged you first and he hugged you again when the others were done. You realized in that moment how much you had missed them and now all the worries started to come back. You hadn't really thought about them, having been too distracted by Ezekiel and everything that had happened here.

"How's everyone?" you asked, the thing that had bothered you most. Carl, Michonne, Tara, Rosita, Sasha, Daryl, Jesus... they all looked relatively unhurt, at least physically, but there were still so many people at home you were worried about.

Rick sighed at that question and that said a lot more than his words. "It's... hard. Negan..."

"Did he... kill anyone else?"

He nodded and your heart sank. "Spencer, Olivia..."

The happiness of seeing them again suddenly vanished. This was awful and you hadn't even heard the whole story yet. Some part of you didn't even want to hear it. All the pain that Abraham's and Glenn's deaths had brought were terrible enough, now there was even more grief and hurting.

"What are you doing here, then?" you asked him, trying to get past your thoughts.

"We want to fight Negan and need the help of Ezekiel, or rather the manpower the Kingdom can provide. Jesus brought us here. He didn't mention we'd find you, though," Rick explained. "Neither did Morgan when we met him."

You didn't really understand. "What? Why would Ezekiel help us?"

Rick furrowed his brow, the same did almost everyone else. "The... Kingdom... would be free from the Saviors, too. We hope that they join us in battle."

It took you a long moment to understand what that meant. The Kingdom was under control of the Saviors? That was impossible, why didn't you know that?

You turned to look at Jesus, barely able to contain your anger. "Care to explain? You told me there wouldn't be Saviors here."

He swallowed. "I said that the Saviors don't set foot inside the Kingdom, not that they were free from them."

Taking a deep breath, you tried to stay calm which was hard with the amount of anger and uncertainty inside you. It didn't matter how much this affected you now, though, they couldn't know. At least not yet. You didn't even want to think about how much this changed basically everything and what that meant for you and Ezekiel. He had lied to you. All the time.

"Did you already talk to Ezekiel about this?" you asked, voice trembling. "What did he say?"

"He asked us to stay until tomorrow, needs time to decide," Sasha answered.

Rick sighed and you wondered what the audience had been like... how Ezekiel must have reacted. He most likely knew who they were and that they belonged with you.

"How are you, (Y/N)?" Rick asked, avoiding the topic at hand.

"Uh, I'm better I guess," you replied truthfully, well at least somewhat. "Listen, I will talk to you later again. I need to speak to some people here."

"Can you do anything that would help us?" Michonne asked.

"I can... try."

"Thanks," Rick said. "I'm glad you're alright."