Later. Morning.

I walked over to Daryl who was sitting on the back of truck "Tara is fine. It's been over a day. Still not sick. Doc says she's cool. "

Daryl nodded "She's a tough son of a bitch. and so are you"

I raised an eyebrow a little amused "did you just call me a bitch?"

Daryl "it was a compliment"

I nodded "i'll take it as one, only because you're an asshole"

Daryl nodded "compliment taken"

I sighed "Maybe it means that Dwight shot her with a clean arrow. Maybe the arrow tried to shoot me with was clean."

Daryl shrugged " Could be anything. It's not like a bite. Sometimes nothing happens."

I sighed "Daryl-

Daryl "Look, if Dwight knew, could've warned us, could've sent us a message."

Me " Well, maybe he couldn't. "

Daryl "He let a whole day go by while our people lay around dying. Everybody else in the battle who got injured got sick. That can't be an accident. So he just gets a pass? Is that it? "

I shook my head "of course not. But maybe you should keep him breathing for a while. Because i know for a damn fact that if you had killed him back then..i could've died that night because no one else would have missed me with that arrow. "

Daryl nodded "i know"

Me "but you don't look happy"

Daryl "he shot you, Ken. You didn't see yourself but i did. You were losing so much blood, i couldn't stop the bleeding and your were growing paler and paler by the second. all i was thinking back then was that if i didn't back your back to Alexandria immediately that you'd die -in my arms. your blood would have been on my hands because i didn't kill that son of a bitch. So i am sorry if i wanna kill that guy who had me thinkin' about you dyin' in my arms"

I walked closer to him and kissed him.

Daryl put a hand on my thigh and squeezed it a little.

In the mansion. Maggie's room.

Rosita walked in "The relay cars are in position. If the Saviors are coming back, we'll have , maybe minutes heads-up. "

Maggie "And our ammo? "

Dianne "'Bout what we thought. Not enough to fend off another attack of that size. "

Daryl walked in " Well, maybe we don't gotta worry about that no more. At least for now. Maybe going hand-to-hand's our only option."

Rosita " You think they're low on ammo? "

Daryl "Well, they must've gone through a whole bunch of it getting through them walkers at Sanctuary. "

Dianne "And there's not a lot of places to find more."

Rosita sighed " Mierda. They have our bullet maker. They can make more."

Maggie " You think the Saviors have what he'd need to make them? "

Rosita "If they don't, I know where they'd find it. "

At the Sanctuary.

I handed Daryl the binoculars "Well, looks like you're right. It's up and runnin'."

Daryl "Yep. "

Me "Buckets of casings for Eugene to turn into hundreds of bullets. "

Daryl "Let's do it now. "

I shook my head "We don't take out the machines. We take out the man. "

Morning.

Eugene walked out of the building.

I killed the guard that was at the door while Daryl killed the one that was with Eugene. Eugene turned to us shocked.

Daryl aimed a gun at Eugene's head.

I grabbed the gun from Eugene before we rushed off.

-

we were walking down the road.

Eugene " I can't help but suspect that the reason I'm being taken alive is, despite... what completely warranted bad blood exists between us, you still harbor a vestigial nostalgia for our erstwhile camaraderie. And in light of that, I'm willing to just shut my grub flap and give you your space until you see such a time as you're ready to break the ice, one traveling companion... "

Daryl turned around and aimed his knife at Eugene's face "Shut your mouth before I cut your tongue out! "

I tried to shove him back "All right! We got to keep going. They have to be out looking for him by now."

Daryl looked at me before turning around to walk away.

Eugene " Thank you. I... "

Me " Shut up. Let's go. "

We started to walk again.

Eugene "When I told Negan I made the bullet, it was to save your life. I didn't think. I just acted on your behalf. And I fully expected the crack of the bat to be the last thing I heard, but that didn't happen. And then I thought they would torture me. But they didn't. They gave me a chance to live. And I tried to resist. I tried to rise above my biological imperative, but that is not who I am. "

Me "I know who you are. You're the reason they were able to escape the Sanctuary. Everything that's happened since then, everyone who's died, that's on you."

We walked down the side road.

Eugene " Rick's the one who pushed us all to take the Saviors on. He's the one who jumped headlong into this shit-storm with no waders. "

I took my gun out and held it against his throat "You're selfish, and you're a coward, and you're a traitor. You turned you back on the only friends you ever had. Shooting you in the head right here would actually make the world a better place. But we're not gonna kill you, not because we give a rat's ass about you. We just need what's in there! We're gonna stick you in the darkest hole we can find, and the only time you'll see the light of day is when we need you to teach us how to do something. So don't worry... You'll get what you want. You'll live. But we're gonna force you to do something useful with your pathetic life."

--

We got out of the truck and walked down a road.

Walkers were coming our way.

Daryl "They must've heard us pull up. I got it. Watch him"

Me "But i can't shoot without giving us away"

Daryl aimed his crossbow at the first walker and shot him.

Suddenly i got kicked in the gut and coughed out.

Eugene took it as a chance to run off.

I went after him but ran into walkers.

I grabbed the gun and hit them with the back of it.

Then i shot after Eugene who escaped through a hole in the fence.

Daryl and i walked through the hole.

He looked around and saw footprints in the ground "He couldn't have got far. Come on."

We rushed after him.

Me " We can't let him get back to them! If you see him, blow that pig's head off! no, wait, let me do that"

Next day. At Hilltop.

We weren't able to catch Eugene. Damn it.

Daryl "All right. We'll stick to this road, keep to the trees, we'll get there quicker. Plus, we can keep an eye on the road that way. "

I nodded "Yeah, if they're planning anything, we'll see it. "

Michonne "You think you can trust Gregory? What he told us? "

Maggie "I locked him up inside the house. He knew I wouldn't let him walk around free. He knew he was coming back to that. He doesn't believe in anything except himself, and he'd have to believe in the Saviors a whole lot to send us into a trap and think it would work out for him. "

Daryl "Unless Dwight didn't tell him. That asshole could be setting us up. "

Dad nodded and grabbed the map.

On a field.

Daryl was the first to stop walking and looked down the hill we were on.

My jaw dropped when i saw the horizon.

Everyone stopped and looked at it.

Me " Oh, Jesus. "

Jerry " Holy damn. You ever seen one that big? "

Dad shook his head "No. Things are changing. Let's go. "

Daryl "How much further? "

Ezekiel " We grow closer. Yonder, over the ridge. "

We started walking again.

Suddenly we heard whistling.

We all took our guns out and looked around alarmed.

Suddenly i heard Negan's voice "Well, damn, Rick, look at that. Pegged again. Pegged so very hard. I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush. "

We couldn't see him.

Dad yelled " How about you step out and face us?! "

Negan " Oh, I am everywhere, Rick. Some more bullhorns, more walkies. Pick a direction to run. See how you do. Make it fun for all of us. Guess what else I did. I brought you some of your old friends. You remember your old buddy Eugene? Well, he is the person that made today possible. Same goes for Dwighty boy here. In case you were wondering, he didn't ream you on purpose. No, he is just a... a gutless nothin' that sucks at life, and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die, and he's gonna live with that. Gabriel, well.. he's got to go, too. We are cleaning house today, Rick. And then... there's you. It never had to be a fight. You just had to accept how things are. So... here we go. Congratulations, Rick. Three! "

Daryl stepped in front of me.

Negan "Two!"

The top of the hill was lined up with saviors who were aiming at us.

Negan "One! "

They all pulled the trigger but the bullets exploded in the guns and they all started to scream before they died.

We just looked at each other confused.

Dad yelled "now!"

We ran up the hill.

Negan was running away .

Maggie "He's running!"

-

A female savior sighed "Don't shoot. Please. We're done. It's over. "

She went to her knees. Some of the saviors that had survived did that too.

I looked around "where's dad?"

Then i walked down the field.

I saw Negan on the ground, my dad was standing over him.

We all looked at them.

Dad's hand was bloody as he walked to us.

he looked at Siddiq"Save him. "

Maggie yelled " No! "

Michonne held her back "Maggie! Maggie! "

Maggie screamed crying "No, he can't! No! No, he killed Glenn! "

Dad "We have to. "

Maggie screamed "We have to end it! Rick! "

Michonne "We have to make it right! We can't make it right, but this makes it over. It's over. "

Maggie cried out " No! It's not over! It's not over until he's dead! It's not over till he's dead! No! No! No. No. No. "

Dad shook his head "What happened, what we did... what we lost... there's gotta be something after. "

Maggie fell to her knees while Michonne hold her.

Dad looked at the saviors that held their hands up to surrender "The ones who have 'em up, put your hands down. We're all gonna go home now. Negan's alive. But his way of doing things is over. And anyone who can't live with that will pay the price, I promise you that. And any person here who would live in peace and fairness... who would find common ground... this world is yours, by right. We are life. That's death! And it's coming for us. Unless we stand together! So go home. Then the work begins. The new world begins. All this... All this is just what was. There's gotta be somethin' after."

At Hilltop.

I was sitting outside of the fence on an empty spot. Dad had spared Negan's life but Negan will never see the outside of a cell ever again. Daryl had spared Dwight's life so he could find Sherry and never return.

I was sitting on Daryl's bike that i had lend from him with a letter in my hand. Carl's letter.

Dad and Michonne have already theirs but i couldn't do it.

I looked at the letter and took a deep breath.

Carl "I remember my the birthday at the KCC with that giant cake and Aunt Evie showing up on leave, surprising all of us. I remember Mom. I remember Codger. I remember school and going to the movies and Friday-night pizza and cartoons and Grandma and Grandpa and church, those summer barbecues in the kiddie pool you got me. And i remember your little hide out places you had all over the house that were filled with candy and that mom and dad had no idea. I found all of the 38 hiding places but made you believe that i only knew of 25 so i would get more candy. "

I smiled in tears.

Carl "why didn't we decided to do something like that at the prison? You told me about how you'd teach me how to swim when i was a little boy and we were at the beach. I didn't know that I remembered them, but I do. 'Cause I see the sun and the blue water and that crab that tried to bite my toe. You said that you were only crying when mom and dad tried to teach me how to swim and that you were the only one that was able to hold me without me crying. You holding me - I felt happy and special. I felt safe. I thought growing up was about getting a job and maybe a family, being an adult, but growing up is making yourself and the people you love safe... As safe as you can, because things happen. They happened before. Dad was shot before things went bad. Kind of felt like things went bad because he was shot. I want to make you feel safe, Kenny. I want you to feel just like I felt when you held my hand while teaching me how to swim. Just to feel that way for five minutes. I'd give anything to make you feel that way now. I wanted to kill Negan. I wish I did. Maybe it would've been done. I don't think it's done now. You went out there again, but I don't think they surrendered. I don't think they will surrender. There are workers in there, Kenny. They're just regular people... Old people, young people, families. You don't want them to die, Kenny. We're so close to starting everything over, and we have friends now. It's that bigger world Jesus talked about... The Kingdom, the Hilltop... There's... there's got to be more places, more people out there, a chance for everything to change and keep changing, everyone giving everyone the opportunity to have a life... A real life. So if they won't end it, you have to. You have to give them a way out. You have to find peace with Negan, find a way forward somehow. We don't have to forget what happened, but you can make it so that it won't happen again, that nobody has to live this way, that every life is worth something. Start everything over. Show everyone that they can be safe again without killing, that it can feel safe again, that it could go back to being birthdays and school and jobs and even Friday-night pizza somehow. Make that come back, Ken. And go teach Judith everything you've taught me. She'll remember all of it. I love you, sis. Carl."

I let a tear roll down my cheek and saw it soak through the paper.

My voice cracked "i love you, bro"