Daughter of the Fallen

Worth

It was night by the time we arrived back at Hilltop.

Cal opened the gate for us and Rick and Michonne came to meet us as we got out of the car.

"Hey," I greeted Rick as we hugged.

"You okay?" he asked, sounding concerned.

I pat his back and pulled away. "Yeah. I, uh, I think it was good for me."

He nodded and dawned a surprised look when he saw Enid get out of the car.

"She came with me," I explained. "I hope that's okay."

"Of course," he said softly. "You okay, Enid?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."

"Any luck on the missing Saviors?" I asked him.

He sighed. "We found them. They're dead."

Not knowing what to say, I pursed my lips and nodded.

"I'm gonna head to bed," I sighed before walking to my trailer.

I walked inside and caught my reflection in the mirror. As I looked at myself, I ran a hand through my long dark hair.

Something felt off. The length didn't feel right to me anymore.

Quickly picking up the scissors, I grabbed sections of my hair and cut them off, not fully conscious of what I was doing.

Once I was done, my hair reached my chin, scraggly and uneven.

I looked down at my long hair covering the floor before glancing at my reflection one more time.

Feeling empty, I wandered over to my bed and collapsed.

•••

The next morning, I walked outside, almost getting blinded by the sun.

Looking around, I saw Michonne playing with Judith.

Judith saw me soon after.

"Bree!" she cried happily and ran over to me.

Despite everything, I managed a dry chuckle and picked her up when she reached me.

"Hey, Juds," I greeted as she hugged me.

Michonne walked over, a surprised look on her face.

"Good morning, Bree."

I forced a smile in response.

"I like your hair," she commented.

I touched it self consciously. "Thanks. Mid-life crisis, I guess."

"Bree, you're seventeen," she reminded.

"You're right. A past mid-life crisis, then."

Without giving her a chance to respond, I continued. "Where's Rick?"

Michonne gestured and I looked over to see him sitting on the balcony of the Big House reading a piece of paper.

A brick seemed to settle on my heart when I realized he was reading Carl's letter.

I took a deep breath and handed Judith back to Michonne, running a hand through my short hair.

"I'm gonna, uh...I'm gonna go take stock," I told her.

Michonne nodded and I walked off, knowing my responsibilities as a leader are the only thing that'll distract me.

•••

I was heading over to the gate when I saw Maggie putting Gregory back in the pen.

Confused, I jogged over to her.

She turned to me as I got there and handed me a map with writing on it.

Furrowing my eyebrows, I started to read.

"Tomorrow Afternoon—
NEGAN and Ten Men at the X.
Other 11 Person Teams at Each of the Circles.

END NEGAN, END THE REST
END THIS"

I unfolded the map to, in fact, see an X surrounded by circles.

I sighed.

"What are we gonna do?" Maggie asked.

I stared at the map before looking at her.

"We do what it says," I replied, my voice hard. "We end it."

She nodded and we headed towards the armory.

———
an: hey y'all! sorry this update took so long. i've been recovering from a wisdom teeth removal lol.

bree and maggie are ready to fight!