All Out War

Chapter 12

I made my way home. Before I reached it however, I heard the familiar sound of a motorcycle engine. The gate opened and Daryl came through. He was back and a smile spread across my face.

"Amelia, you're back," Carl said.

He'd walked out of the house carrying Judith.

"Hey, bud," I said going up to hug them both.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"The first part is done. Now we just wait," I said.

"I don't want to have to kill them," he said.

"We did kill some of them, Carl. But I know what you mean. There are families at the Sanctuary. There was a baby there at the cache. We took her to Hilltop," I said.

"So you went to Hilltop?" he asked.

"Yeah. I went with Aaron after..." I trailed off.

"What happened?" he asked.

"We lost Eric," I said.

"I'm sorry. He was a good guy," he said.

"Yeah. He was," I said.

"Did you happen to see Enid while you were at Hilltop?" he asked.

"Yeah. She's okay. You guys will be together again real soon. I'll make sure of it. Michonne told me you went on a run. Everything turn out okay?" I asked looking at him.

"Yeah. I uh...I told her it was a run but that wasn't why I left," he said.

"Okay. Tell me why you were out there," I said crossing my arms and leaning against the railing.

"When dad and I went to scavenge for gas yesterday, I met a man out there. He looked hungry and scared. I wanted to know more about him but dad came and scared him away. So, I went back out there to try and find him. And I did," he said.

"And so what happened?" I asked.

"I gave him some food and water," he answered.

"Hmm. You felt it was the right thing, huh?" I said.

"I know it was. Before mom died, she told me to do the right thing. I promised her I would. That's how I honor her. That's how we should honor every single person we've lost to this world. Glenn honored Hershel that way. He was always doing the right thing," he said.

I rested my hand on his shoulder.

"Your mom, she'd be so proud of you. I know I am. But you do know that sometimes, we'll have to choose between right and wrong. We'll be placed into situations that we can't always control. Did the man look dangerous?" I said.

"I know that we'll have hard choices to make. But that doesn't mean we can't try to make the right one. And no. The man was a loner. He said that he was out there taking care of the dead to honor his mom. Because she believed that by doing that, their souls were being set free," he said.

"That's a nice way of putting it. I had never thought of it like that," I said.

"Guys! The others returned. And we got word on the status," Michonne said holding up some pieces of paper.

I took them and read out loud so that Carl could hear.

"This first one is from your dad. 'The plan is working. We're doing this. We're winning. We had a hard fight. We lost people, brave people who gave their lives to make sure we won. By the time it was over, there weren't any Saviors left standing.' Maggie's is next. 'We beat 'em. But things got complicated. Jesus took prisoners, brought them back home. We're holding them outside our gates for now til we decide what to do. Until I decide.' Now's Carol's. 'We took the outpost bit by bit. We thought we'd won. We were gathered out in the open when they ambushed us. It was over in seconds. Ezekiel, Jerry and me were the only ones who made it back.' Now, back to Rick. 'All of it, it's scarier than I thought it would be. But we're doing it, we have to. Sasha was first. And now, there's been more. The sacrifices are real. We need to make it right for them. The rest of the plan is still a go. We're moving on to the next step. I'm headed there now. The Sanctuary is still surrounded. They're trapped. Cut off from their supplies. Every hour that goes by we're making them weaker. The lookouts are all around the compound. They open a door, we fire. But if they open a door, seems they'd have bigger problems. We meet at Sanctuary in two days to end this. To win it all. It's not like we haven't fought before. We fought every step of the way to this place. To this moment. The path has led us here. To who we are. To each other. To now. And we're so close. This can be our last fight.'" I finished.

Carl extended his hand to me and I gave him the papers.

"Shit. We lost the Kingdom. But wait, if Carol, Jerry and Ezekiel were the only ones to make it back, does that mean...Shiva..." I said.

"I think so. We don't have the numbers anymore," Michonne said.

I clenched my fist and banged it against the railing.

"If everything else goes as planned, we may not need them," Carl said.

"What if they do open a door?" I asked.

"I don't think they could take on all those walkers. How big was the herd?" Michonne asked.

"It was pretty big. But we can't be sure of the numbers inside. Plus they have Eugene. I wouldn't underestimate his will to survive. If they do open a door, it'll be because of him. I'm sure they had him start planning something the minute we hit them," I said crossing my arms.

"You really think he'd betray us like that?" Carl asked.

"He already pledged his loyalty to Negan. But what it all comes down to, is who can keep him safe. I don't think he's one-sided in any of this," I said.

"Well, we'll have to wait and see then, won't we?" Michonne said.

I nodded.

"More waiting," I said.

"I'll be back, guys," Michonne said.

She took off toward the gate.

"Amelia!" Daryl called.

I turned and saw him running towards me.

"Daryl, what's wrong?" I asked.

He ran up the porch steps and embraced me tightly. He then leaned back and kissed me deeply.

"Rosita said that Tara and Michonne took you to the infirmary when you got here. What happened? Are you okay?" he said when we parted.

"Daryl, I'm fine. It was nothing. I was feeling a little nauseous. That's all," I said.

I didn't want to tell him that I took a pregnancy test. I wanted to know if I was or wasn't. I didn't want to get his hopes up or disappoint him right away.

"I didn't know you went to the infirmary," Carl said.

"Well, it was nothing. I guess I ate something bad," I said.

"When she said you were taken to the infirmary...my mind went to worst case scenario..." he said softly.

I placed my hand on his cheek.

"I'm still here, Dixon," I said.

He embraced me tightly and I did the same.

"You feeling better?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm okay. And what happened to you?" I asked noticing his lip was bleeding.

He looked at Carl then back at me.

"Amelia," Tara called before he could answer.

I turned and looked at her.

"Could you help me with something real quick?" she asked.

The results were in.

"Yeah. Okay," I said.

"I'll be back," I turned and said to the both of them.

I went over to Tara.

"So. Am I or aren't I?" I whispered when I reached her.

"I think it's better you see that for yourself. I had to hide the test. Daryl came storming in trying to look for you," she said.

"Thanks. I'm not telling him anything until I know for sure," I said.