The start

Execution

After showing Carol everything that you need to know about the place in all the people Eugene was gonna stay for one more day to walk her through exactly what goes on while were not there as well.  Rick, Michonne, Daryl and I head up to Hilltop. It's been a while since weve been there. Especially since nobody could watch the sanctuary for us. I thank and bless Carol for everything. She has no idea how happy I am to get out of there.

We finally reach hilltop and great Maggie at the gates. A man comes up to take the horses from Rick and Michonne as Daryl parks the bike. Maggie looked like she got beat bad.

"We need to talk." She looked at Rick. They both head toward the house as I look back at Daryl.

"Good thing we got here." I tell him.

I look around the compound notice things are being built fairly quickly. Fresh new wood they cut from the trees. I also noticed one more thing.  A noose. This was something new. Something that was not the Rick way.  Jesus walks up and tells us what happened. Apparently Gregory tried to have Maggie killed right in front of Hershel. Enid was injuried trying to protect them. He didn't physically do it but he had someone do it. The boys father that died on the run from the museum. Gregory tried to make it look like it was Maggie's fault that he died. Honestly the boy died from his own stupidity if the walker got the horse it probably would have bought us time to escape. Instead he tried to save the horse which was stupid. But nobody wanted to say that.

They were going to hang Gregory. I saw nothing wrong with this. Gregory is a coward. He definitely traded from the saviors to hilltop back and forth. He only did what was good for himself. A selfish prick. Gregory only cared about one person and one person only and that was himself. He didn't give two shits about hilltop and didn't care about the saviors. He honestly deserves to die for the amount of times that he backstabbed us. He needed to be dealt with.  Permanently.

It was soon getting dark as they finish building the tower for the noose.  Maggie gathers her people around as they light the torches for light. All the children were put away into bed. I stood next to Rick and Michonne. From what I've been told people in front of her was the mother and father of the boy that died on the run. Daryl stood next to them and the horse that held Gregory up. Maggie asked Daryl to carry out with the  execution. Normally I wouldn't want him to do it but he wanted to help Maggie.

"I don't want to do this. But people need to understand that at Hilltop, the punishment fits the crime." Maggie says. I nod my head in agreement. This is what needs to happen.

"Do you have any final words?" Maggie asked Gregory. He sputtered for a few minutes trying to think of something clever to say.

"What you're doing isn't right. Somebody stop this, please. Killing me in the dead of night because you're ashamed." He cried out.

"You're wrong. I'm not ashamed." Maggie looked at him cold. She nods her head toward Daryl as he nods back. He walks forward and gets ready to release the horse as Gregory continues to cry. He begged for his life but it was completely meaningless. It was going to happen regardless of how much and how little he begged.

"Maggie stop this!" Michonne yells as I turn around to see the children were out. I could hear the slap on the horse as it runs past the corner of my eye. I turn back around and see Gregory flapping around and gasping for air.

"Get the children back in bed. I made this decision. But this is not the beginning of something. I don't want to go through it again." Maggie says as she looks at the crowd. I look back and see a few people grabbing the children and taking them away.

"Cut him down." Maggie says as she walks toward the house. I turn around and watch Daryl cut Gregory down from the noose.  Gregory's body hit the ground like a sack of potatoes. Everyone that was in the crowd spread out and went to bed. I stood there and watched Daryl deal with the body. It was something that I didn't think I should ever want to happen. I don't think he enjoys it but he did it for Maggie. I don't ever want him to do that again.

"I did what I had to do." Daryl says as he was finished with Gregory. We head for the house to get some sleep.

"As much as I agree with what had to be done I don't think you should have been the one to carry out with it. I know she ask you to and you did it because she did. But I don't want you to do it because you want to." I tell him as we get to our room.

"You think I wanted to? Like I enjoyed it? She asked me to. That's all." Daryl said as he gets undressed.

"It's just stuff like this has a mental toll on people. I just don't want you to blame yourself for Gregory's death. I worry about you." I get undressed and climb into bed.

"Harley, I'm fine. Don't worry. Ain't nothing wrong with me." Daryl shot back. It took me by surprise of how he responded. He hasn't snapped at me like that in a while. I stayed quiet as I sat there in bed. Daryl turns around and shakes his head.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at ya. This is Maggie's place. We do things Maggie's way. It's not Rick's way here." He sat on the bed next to me. It was quiet in the house except for the candle that was crackling on my nightstand. It lit the room up but not too much.

"I don't wanna fight. I just want to make sure you're ok because I love you. If somethings bothering you it bothers me too. Your problems and worries are mine. Killing someone that isn't trying to kill you. It's a different feeling. We've only had to kill people because they tried to kill us. We've never had execute anyone and the fact that you had to do it today makes me worry that hurts you." I tell him as I lay down.

"I'm fine. I promise. I love you too. Get some sleep. We've got to work on the bridge for the next few days." He leans
over and gives me a kiss. After a quick second he rolls over. I stared up at the ceiling as minutes passed he started snoring. Now I know for sure he's asleep. I roll over on my side and blow out the candle as the room goes dark. I close my eyes and try to force myself to sleep.