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Niklaus and Roxanne took Nik's trailer to drive all the way back to the Alexandria where they were met with emptiness. It seemed as if the Saviors won. Alexandria looked like a war zone. It was all wrecked. Houses were bombed. The wall was knocked over. The entire community was abandoned and ablaze with hot fire. Roxanne didn't even want to dare check the other communities, fearful of the Saviors presence. "They're gone. All of them." Roxanne announced as she dug the toe of her boot into the gravel. She bit her bottom lip sadly, attempting to restrain the wave of grief overcoming her.
"They're alive. There's not bodies. No walkers around here. They've got to be hiding somewhere or they could've moved on somewhere to run away." Niklaus reassured her as he rubbed her back calmly.
Roxanne shrugged him off. "Stop it! No! That's not Rick. That's not what he would do! Shit. I shouldn't have ever stayed with you. I should've came right back. They needed me. I left my post and I fucked it all up." Roxanne fretted as she ran her fingers through her greasy and matted scalp. Her fingers tugged as her stiff hair, only frustrating her more. An iron taste spread throughout the palate of her tongue, indicating her nervous system reacting to her fretting— which only caused her to stress out even more.
Niklaus felt horrible for her. He wanted to comfort her but she would only push him away. "You want to look around? Something or someone could've been left behind." Nik suggested.
Roxanne nodded firmly and stalked away to house that she and Rick called home. Where she and Rick loved each other. Where he betrayed her. Where she forgave him. Where she once raised and held Kali. She walked throughout the house— everything was ransacked. Seeing the house so tattered made her heart tear into pieces. She shook her head at the sight and walked into the kitchen. She opened the cupboards, expecting to find food to take back for herself and Nik, but instead, she found a note. It was neatly labeled: Roxanne.
Roxanne snatched it up and opened it. It read: Roxanne. If you're reading this, I'm dead. And I'm sorry for that, I really am. Thank you for everything that you've done, but I have to ask you for one more favor. I need you to take care of Judith and my father. You have to end all of this. This war with Negan is only killing us. We need to stop fighting. I know I am asking the wrong person but, if you want all of this to change— for Kali— everyone has to change. I love you Roxanne.
P.S. The hilltop is the only safe zone. Go there. Maggie and company are there.
Carl
Roxanne began to tear up at the letter. "Carl is gone." She breathed out, her breath hitching as her lip quivered. Roxanne calmed herself by breathing in and out deeply. Her face stiffened and she turned her head to crack her neck. She finally had a goal: go to the Hilltop and end the war. Although Roxanne knew that Carl meant for her to stop fighting, she couldn't for the sake of Kali— she was her own daughter, after all. She needed to feel Negans life being taken away by her own hands. There was no way Negan was going to slip through her fingers after murdering Kali.
* * *
The gates of the Hilltop community stood before Roxanne and Niklaus. Roxanne banged on the gate, and within seconds, the gate opened to reveal Maggie standing with other Alexandrians and allies. "We thought you were dead." Maggie snarked, opening her arms to greet the woman.
Roxanne scurried over to her to embrace her, never did she think she would be so happy in her life. "I thought I was dead, too. What's going on around here, Mag?" Roxanne squeezed the pregnant woman.
"Rations are stretched out to almost nothing, Rox. We got Jesus scavenging and prisoners to tend to. Rick and Michonne are still gone, well... because Carl died and they wanted to bury him someplace. Daryl and the Alexandrians just made it back from Alexandria after the Saviors destroyed it— they managed to escape. The Saviors are going crazy looking for us and especially you— Negan suddenly grew a heavy interest in getting you to him. It's nothing like before, Rox. Things have changed in only a matter of a few days, and it's probably changed for the worse." Maggie admitted, then looked over to take a peek at Niklaus.
"Damn," Roxanne cursed to herself, "well... Maggie, this is Niklaus, Niklaus, this is Maggie. This is my husband." Roxanne introduced the two.
Maggie's jaw dropped. She had no words to express her shock. Before anyone could say anything else, the guard at the top of the gate began to shout: "It's Rick! Open the gate again!" And with that... the gate was swung open.
