The Next World

Chapter 31

The both of us joined the group and Daryl made his way to the front to keep tracking.

"Asshole, are you there?" the woman said through the walkie.

"I'm here," Rick said.

"We've thought about it. We want to make the trade," she said.

"That's good," Rick said.

"There's a large field with a sign that says 'God is dead' about two miles down I-66. Good visibility in all directions," she said.

"We'll meet you there. 10 minutes?" Rick said.

"10 minutes," she said.

"We're close!" Daryl called out from the front.

I walked next to Glenn.

"Hey. I uh...I wanted to say I'm sorry. I was...I was going to join her on perimeter watch...I should have joined her on perimeter watch..." I trailed off.

"Amelia, stop. None of this is on you. You understand me?" he said.

"That's what Daryl said but...I can't help but feel responsible..." I started.

"You're not. Come here," he said.

He stopped and embraced me. I hugged him back.

"Let's go get them," he said.

"Yeah. Let's get them back," I said.

We continued walking. We'd reached the 'God is dead' sign. I looked around but there was no one there. I looked up and saw smoke coming from a building close by. A fire must have just been started. I toward it.

"Amelia! Wait!" Rick called.

I didn't stop. They had to be there. They just had to be. Others had joined me including Glenn and Rosita. Daryl and Gabriel were nearby as well. We got to a door that was sliding open. We all held up our guns. I almost fell over when I saw Maggie and Carol's faces. They were alive.

"Maggie," Glenn said.

They embraced one another.

"You okay? We got your trial. You start a fire?" Daryl asked as he went up to Carol.

Rosita and Gabriel went to make sure we were clear.

"Yeah," Carol replied.

"Hey, you good?" Daryl asked her.

"No," she said.

"Come here," he said embracing her.

I rested my hand on her shoulder. Daryl parted from her and I went and hugged her.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

I kissed her forehead.

"They're dead. They're all dead, the ones that took us. They're all dead," Maggie said.

I turned to look at her. The both of them seemed to be shaken up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Glenn asked her.

"I just...I can't anymore," she said her voice breaking at the end.

"It's okay," Glenn said hugging her tightly once more.

I held her hand. She looked at me then parted from Glenn and hugged me as well.

"I'm sorry," I whispered again.

"Your friends are dead. No one's coming for ya. So you might as well talk," Rick said.

I parted from Maggie and looked at him and the man we had taken hostage.