A year and a half later. At the Sanctuary.

I was leaning against Daryl's bike. waiting for him.

Daryl had taken charge of the Sanctuary were they had decided to plant crops. Dad had sent him here to do that and i decided to switch between Sanctuary and Alexandria.

I saw Daryl walking over to me with his crossbow.

Daryl looked at me surprised.

I smirked "what? surprised to see me?"

Daryl shrugged, shaking his head "nah, just haven't seen you in two weeks"

I nodded "i know. I didn't really have the time"

He nodded.

Then i showed him one of Judith's paintings "Judith drew that. It's supposed to be you and me"

Daryl looked at the painting "cool"

Me "she drew it for you"

Daryl grabbed it and looked at it "how is she doing?"

I smiled "Growing up fast. she's so cute. She's the only pure thing in this fucked up world"

Daryl nodded and folded the drawing before putting it in the bag of his bike.

Me "you okay?"

Daryl nodded "yeah"

Me "heard you're requesting a run in the city?"

Daryl nodded "you joining?"

I nodded "of course"

Daryl "and here i thought you were here to see me"

I walked over to him and put my arms around his neck "you're the only reason why i show up here in the first place, handsome. "

He nodded.

I kissed him and he kissed me back.

---

I was sitting behind Daryl on his bike.

we were driving over the bridge and came across Jerry who was on his horse.

Jerry "Clear to the rally point, dude. See you on the flip. "

Daryl nodded and kept driving.

Downtown. Washington D.C.

Daryl drove over to dad and Michonne who were walking down the streets on their horses. Maggie, Enid, Ezekiel, Jesus and the rest were on horses too.

We all stopped in front of the Smithsonian.

Dad opened the door a little and Michonne peeked in.

Michonne whispered "We're good for now. Sweep protocol when we get in."

We slowly walked inside and looked around.

Dad whispered "Y'all got your lists. Circle back here when you're done. Be safe."

We all nodded before walking into the great hall.

Maggie, Michonne, Daryl and i walked further into the room.

My jaw dropped when i looked down the glass floor and i hissed.

Everyone looked at me and then down.

They all stepped away from the glass floor.

There were countless of walkers on the ground underneath us and the only thing separating us was this glass floor.

Holy shit.

They didn't seem like they noticed us since they were normally walking around like drunk people.

We all slowly walked over the glass and to the stairs.

Suddenly we heard noises from upstairs and a walker with some concrete fell to onto the glass floor.

Daryl shot the walker with an arrow.

Ezekiel "Onward. We'll figure it out. "

We just walked upstairs.

I walked over to Cyndie who sniffed a little while looking at a canoe "you okay?"

She nodded " Uh, yeah. I was just, um... just thinking about my brother. We were fighting during a canoe ride at the county fair. It's funny, you know, how certain things just bring up random memories like that. "

I nodded.

Cyndie "Does it happen to you? "

I nodded "All the time. "

Then she walked to one end of the canoe and i walked to the other end.

We lifted it up.

-

Dad and the others were trying to get one of those big wagons filled with farming equipment down the stairs. Thing is that this thing is heavy as fuck and they have to go over the glass floor in order to get it out.

Dad " All right. Easy. Last step. Easy. All right, hold... hold! "

we were all holding it with strings.

Dad stepped onto the glass floor and managed to only walk on the iron bars that were holding the glass up "So far, so good. "

We slowly put the wagon on the glass.

I could hear it slowly break.

Dad " Easy. Slow, slow, slow. "

We slowly drove off the glass.

There were already cracks in it.

Maggie and Cyndie tied some ropes around their waists and carried some part of the wagon over the glass.

Daryl reached out for me.

I grabbed his hand and he pulled me back to the stairs.

Then we grabbed the canoe and slowly stepped onto the in cracks covered glass.

Dad "No sudden moves. Just keep going nice and slow. "

I hissed "Dad, shut up, you're making me nervous"

Daryl and i slowly walked to the end of the glass.

Then it was Carol and Ezekiel's turn. They walked onto the glass and it suddenly started to crack completely.

Dad "You got to go! "

Ezekiel broke through the glass and hung over the walkers who already reached for him.

Carol "Ezekiel! Ezekiel! Hold on!"

The guys grabbed the rope and started to pull him up.

The rope was scratching against the broken glass.

Daryl helped him out of the pit and pulled him away from the glass "come on"

My jaw dropped when i saw Carol pulling in Ezekiel for a kiss.

Outside.

Daryl and i were driving ahead of the others who were behind us with the new wagon.

We came across a walker.

I grabbed the spear and impaled the walkers' head on it.

It fell to the ground.

Daryl turned the bike around so i could grabbed the spear again before continuing to drive.

Suddenly i saw Rosita driving to us with her quad.

--

We looked at the bridge.

Rosita " Two other herds merged into "Silvia," so now it's even bigger. One of them came through here, and the back end took down the bridge. Took the walkie repeater with it. "

Dad "What about Route A? Is that clear yet?"

Rosita " It's still too close to the herd."

Michonne " We can get to Alexandria from this side, stay there till it passes."

Maggi shook her head "No. Route A has taken days to clear before. I need to get home to Hershel. "

I smiled a little.

Hershel was Maggie's little son and my godson. I was crying my eyes out when Maggie asked me to be the godmother of Hershel because she knows who much Glenn would have wanted that.

Carol "We could take Route D. It's early enough in the day. "

Dad "Keep an eye on the trade road in case anyone else tries to move through. Gabriel, y'all can head back to Alexandria from here. The rest of us... we can go to the Sanctuary or Hilltop, stay the night, and head off from there. Take care. Get home safe."

--

Michonne got off her horse "Rick, the horses can't pull the wagon through this mud. "

Ken "Maggie, I think they need a break. "

Maggie " Maybe we should leave the supplies, send a group back in a day or two."

Michonne shook her head " It's risky. We've seen herds run through and destroy bigger things than this. "

Dad "We can swap out the horses, split up, take 'em out in the clear, give 'em a rest while we see what we can do about the trailers."

--

Dad "One, two, three. "

We tried to pull the wagon out of the mud. didn't seem to work.

I froze when i heard walker growling.

Me "dad "

Ezekiel " We're almost there. "

Dad "One more time. One, two, three."

We pulled at it again and it moved.

Dad " Good. Let's get out of here. Daryl, Michonne, Ken. "

Michonne "On it. "

The three of us started to kill the walkers that were coming too close while the others refilled the wagon.

Dad "We gotta go. Leave the wagon! "

One of the horses was still leashed to the wagon.

Ken rushed back to her "I gotta free her!"

Dad "Ken, wait! "

Suddenly a walker bit in his arm.

Ken screamed out.

--

Ken was on the ground crying.

Siddiq was trying to tend his wound.

Dad "We'll keep the walkers away. "

Siddiq nodded " Okay."

We rushed to the walkers and killed them.

Maggie started to cry.

We turned to her.

Ken didn't make it.

At the Sanctuary. night.

We walked inside.

Mel yelled " Rick Grimes is here! "

Potter "That's the man that ended the war. Is Negan suffering? I hope he damn well is. "

Eugene " Hello. All was well in your absence, other than a certain cabal of Saviors slingin' me some serious stink-eye, but I've compiled a list of items that need your semi-immediate attention. "

Daryl shook his head "Not now, man. "

Laura " I checked out the supplies. It's a pretty good haul. You should let everybody know. "

Daryl shook his head "I ain't getting up on a stage and giving a damn speech like him. It's bad timing. We just lost someone out there. "

Me "Daryl"

He looked at me and i nodded to the window.

There stood in blood "SAVIORS SAVE US!"

Me "Does this happen often? "

Daryl "More and more since the crops been dyin'. Eugene, Jerry! You know who did that? "

Jerry shook his head "Don't know, man. "

Eugene " That would be a negative. "

Daryl "Justin. Clean that up."

Justin" How? "

Daryl "What do you mean, "how"? Paint over it. "

Justin "We just used up all the paint. "

Daryl "Figure it out. "

Justin sighed annoyed and stood up.

Potter walked to dad "You see our crops, Rick? "

Dad nodded " I did. "

Potter "The spring storms will be here in a few weeks, help us out, but we need a boost in the meantime. "

Dad nodded "And you'll have it. We came back with farming tools, heirloom seeds. We're looking to the past to help us with the present. We're all gonna pitch in and make sure that Sanctuary has what it needs so you all can get back on your feet. "

Potter nodded "Bless you, Rick Grimes. Thank you. "

They all clapped.

Dad looked at Daryl who just looked at him.

The two of them walked upstairs to me who was looking down at the people from the railing.

Dad "What's up? "

Daryl sighed "I don't wanna be the one leading these people anymore. "

Dad nodded "Okay. - Why? "

Daryl shrugged " I don't know. Bein' here behind these walls again... It just don't feel right, man. I'm better out there. I always have been."

Dad sighed " You kept this place together. You kept people in line here. We can't just let the Sanctuary fail after everything that's happened. "

Daryl "Man, it's gonna fail anyway. Nothing grows here. It's a damn factory, man. Look, when Negan was around, he needed people to provide for him. It's still the same. Nothing's changed. "

Dad "It's different now. We give what we give willingly. "

Daryl "How long's that gonna last? Most of the bridges are out after the big storm. The highway's done. We've scavenged every drop of gas for miles. And we can't make enough corn fuel to run the cars or the trucks. Pretty soon, it's gonna be more than a day's ride from one spot to another. "

Dad "Well, it's on us to figure out how to make it work."

Daryl " Man, there ain't no "us" anymore. Everyone's everywhere. That small group we had back in the beginning... We could do anything. That was right. That's what I know. "

Dad "Well, you wanna come home to Alexandria, then? "

Daryl shook his head "No."

I looked at him surprised.

Daryl " I'll go back to Hilltop, check on Maggie and the baby."

Dad " Well, you go, someone's got to take your place. Rosita and Eugene are headed to Oceanside next. Maggie's sending food, but not people, and Kingdom's got its own problems rebuilding after losing its fighters. If Alexandria sends another person out, I could use the help back home. "

Daryl shot him a look.

Dad scoffed "Huh. We're not together because things have changed. Mm-hmm."

Daryl "The thing is, you changed them, Rick. But I get it. "

Then he walked away.

Outside.

I walked out to Daryl who was sitting on the concrete wall.

Daryl offered me his cigarette.

I took a drag from it and handed it back to him" Those things'll kill you."

Daryl "says the girl who just took a drag from it"

I sat down next to him "We're already dead. its just a matter of time"

Daryl "Why aren't you in bed? "

Me "Why aren't you?"

Daryl shrugged.

Me "Daryl, Carol offered to take over for you for a while. "

He nodded.

I asked confused "why didn't you tell me you wanted to go back to Hilltop?"

Daryl shrugged "don't know. you gonna come with me?"

I nodded "of course"

He nodded.

Me "you were right, you know"

Daryl looked at me.

Me "i miss the little group we were. But everything changed since we left that farm and then everything went to hell when we lost the prison"

Daryl put a hand on my thigh.

I put my hand over his "i just wished things would go back to how they used to be"

Daryl nodded.

Next day. Morning. At Hilltop.

I got off Daryl's bike and looked at Maggie.

Her face was bruised. Oh boy.

Night.

Maggie looked at her people" I don't want to do this. But people need to understand that at Hilltop, the punishment fits the crime. Do you have any final words? "

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

There was a string wrapped around his neck and he was sitting on a horse.

Maggie "You're wrong. I'm not ashamed. "

Then she nodded to Daryl.

Gregory " Stop this! Please! Now, for the love of God, stop it! "

Michonne " Maggie, stop! "

Dad held her back "Wait! "

Daryl slapped the horse on the back and it ran off.

Gregory started to cough as the air was cut off from his lungs.

Maggie "Get the children back in bed. "

Some people took care of the children.

Maggie "I made this decision. But this is not the beginning of something. I don't want to go through it again. "

Then she turned to Daryl " Cut him down. "

Daryl cut the rope and Gregory fell to the ground, dead.