At Hilltop. A couple days later

Alexandria had been run over by Beta. It wasn't save anymore.

There was no sign of Daryl.

Kelly and Yumiko weren't mad at me at all. They knew it was an accident. they were pissed at Carol for doing that kind of shit in the first place.

Suddenly Daryl and Lydia pulled up on the bike.

Yumiko " Any sign of them? "

Daryl shook his head "We didn't get that far. "

Kelly "What do you mean? What happened? "

Daryl" We gotta talk. "

He had gotten into a fight. He looked like he took a beating.

Luke " D, I'm sorry. We gotta find our people, man. "

Lydia shook her head "No. You can't go out there. My mother's coming. "

In the mansion.

Lydia " Even if you took out half the herd in that cave, she's got thousands left. You can't stay here."

Earl " The skins could march straight to Alexandria for all we know. "

Daryl "Yeah, we're right in their way. "

Earl "Maybe she goes around us."

Lydia shook her head " She doesn't need to go around you. She'll just run through you. "

Jerry shook his head " I'm not running again. Hell, no. "

Dianne " Lydia's right. We can rebuild anywhere. "

Earl "Come on. We can't. How many scouting missions you been on, son? Hundreds? Have you ever seen a place like Hilltop? "

Aaron scoffed "No."

Yumiko "We have a few dozen able-bodied fighters here. Maybe. You like those odds? 'Cause I don't. "

Jerry " Neither do I. "

Aaron "Now, we don't have to die here. "

Earl "We're going to have to fight, and if we die, we die fighting for a place that means something. Can you think of a better way to go? "

Aaron nodded "Yeah. We go with my daughter's life intact. And Judith's and Ezra's and Adam's. You want me to keep going? "

Earl looked down.

Daryl nodded "Alright, let's get the kids out first. Everybody, pack up. We're going to Oceanside. Grab weapons, food... whatever you can. We'll regroup there."

Outside.

Daryl and i haven't talked at all.

Damn it.

Everyone was packing up.

Judith "Kenny... I wanna fight."

I nodded " I know you do. Don't argue."

Daryl" RJ, come on. "

He helped RJ getting into the carriage.

Judith hugged me.

Me "Behave, okay? "

Judith nodded, gave me a kiss on the cheek before climbing into the carriage.

Daryl walked over to his bike and got onto it.

Judith "Kenny?"

I looked at her "yes?"

Judith "are you and uncle Daryl fighting because of what i did?"

yeah, right. i had a talk with her about what she did. I told her i was a little mad and that she should have come to me first. but then i told her that she did the right thing. She was only looking out for her uncle and she did what we raised her to do. Always tell the truth. So yeah, at the end of the day, she did the right thing.

I sighed, shaking my head "no, Judi. It's something else now"

Judith pouted "don't fight, please"

I sighed "can't make any promises. "

Then she sat down next to RJ.

I heard Daryl playing little with the engine of the bike and i looked at him.

Daryl was looking at me with a hard look but he nodded his head a little. Like i am pretty sure he didn't nod but i'm also saw a little nod? i don't know.

I walked over to him and was glad that he didn't drive off in front of me.

Then i got on the bike we drove off with the rest of the group behind us.

--

The road was blocked.

Daryl shut the engine off and we got off the bike.

I looked up and saw Felix and Penny hanging off a tree. Dead-undead.

Dianne "Felix and Penny. "

Daryl " All the roads are gonna be like this now. We ain't getting through. "

Me "It's Negan. "

Daryl " He's with her now. "

At Hilltop.

Gracie yelled "Dad! "

Aaron rushed out of the house "Gracie?! "

he hugged her.

The kids got into the house .

Aaron looked at us confused "What happened? "

Daryl "She blocked all the roads. Means they're closing in on us. If we had a window to get out, we just missed it. "

Kelly "But we can't stay here. You said... you all said... we can't stay here. We can..."

Luke " We can call Alexandria, right? Call Alexandria, and w... they'll get fresh fighters here, right? And... And... And it's not just gonna be us. It's not gonna be just us, right?"

Dianne " Oceanside can't get here. Alexandria, either. Not in time. Not after what happened. We're on our own. "

Earl "Divvy up your arsenals. We got catapults up on the walls. And a damn good militia. This is what you've all been practicing for. Come on, now, people! Do whatever you need to get your heads on straight! This is gonna be the fight of our lives. "

--

I walked over to Lydia and sat down next to her.

She looked at me.

me "i am sorry"

Lydia nodded "i know. You know, Daryl told me what happened"

Me "he hates me"

Lydia shook her head "no, he doesn't. "

Me "He's stubborn"

Lydia nodded "yeah"

Me "Just like me"

Lydia nodded "yeah, i figured. you two are literally the same person but from the opposite gender"

I nodded "Yep. that's a bite in the ass"

Lydia nodded "mhmm"

Me "Thank you, for being here"

She nodded.

--

Everyone was gearing up. The horde was coming closer. Oh boy.

I walked over to Judith who was in the living room.

Me "Hi. You should be with the other kids. "

Judith "I wanna help. I can fight. "

I nodded "You're a Grimes. Of course you can fight. "

She nodded.

Me " I'm sorry about today. You didn't need to see those bodies like that."

Judith " They were just walkers. I've killed plenty of walkers."

I nodded " I know. But they weren't just walkers. "

Judith shook her head " I'm not scared."

I nodded " I know you're not. Maybe I am, a little bit. "

Judith "If I was scared, maybe I'd be scared for RJ because he's so little."

I nodded " Yeah. I get that. "

Judith "Maybe I'd be worried about my mom. Maybe I'd be scared that you'd get hurt and I'd lose you. And uncle Daryl. And Aunt Carol, too. "

I shook my head "There ain't no shame in that. You know who you're fighting for. "

Judith "I made Daryl something. "

I looked at her confused.

She showed me his cut. She had painted one wing white, or more like a dirty white since that cut probably hasn't been washed since this whole apocalypse started.

Judith "It's for luck. Do you think he'll like it?"

I smiled "He'll love it. "

She nodded.

Me "there's one other thing. If, during the fight, Ezekiel or Daryl comes looking for you and RJ, you go with him, whether you know where I am or not. Okay? "

Her face fell.

I kneeled down to her"Hey. You gotta promise me."

Judith hugged me " I promise. "

Outside.

I grabbed my blades from Daryl's bike and sighed.

Someone walked up behind me.

I turned around.

It was Daryl.

Me "Daryl"

Daryl just hugged me.

I hugged him back.

Daryl "i know it was an accident"

I breathed out relieved.

Then i let go of him "no matter what happens tonight, i love you"

Daryl "no matter what happens tonight, you don't leave my sight"

I shot him a look "Daryl"

Daryl shook his head "Na, i'm serious. Don't go off running on your own, okay?"

I nodded "okay"

Night.

We all walked out of the gate and lined up in front of it.

The archers were in the back.

Daryl and i walked to the front.

It was silent.

Suddenly we heard walkers. Then we saw them at the other side of he field.

Aaron "Formation!"

the shields went up.

Daryl and i looked at each other.

I nodded.

Then we looked back to the walkers. .

They were slowly walking into the electric fence.

It was slowing them down a bit. It reeked of burned flesh. suddenly the fence gave in.

I took my blades out. Everyone aimed to the front.

Aaron "They're splitting into two! They're gonna load up! On my command, splitting ranks! And... break! "

The barrier split into two so that the archers could shoot down the some walkers.

Daryl and i walked into the front.

The walkers got held back by the wooden fence and we tried to take them out from our side.

It was working but i don't thing it's gonna be successful for long.

I yelled "The fence isn't gonna hold!"

Suddenly the shields were hit with something similar to water balloons.

Some liquid was splashed onto us.

Jerry "Smells like a Christmas tree! "

Suddenly fire arrows were shot at us.

The liquid went up in flames.

Jerry yelled " It's like gasoline! "

We were all covered in it.

Aaron yelled " Get ready to fall back! "

I yelled "Back inside! Come on! Come on! "

We all ran behind to the walls as the wooden fence gave in.

Aaron yelled "Retreat! Go, go, go! Come on! Go! Let's move!"

Suddenly the walls were set on fire by the arrows.

My jaw dropped "oh my god"

Fire ahead of us. Death behind us.

oh shit.