At Hilltop. A few days later.

Maggie and i were on top of the wall, looking down.

Lance walked up to the wall "Afternoon, Maggie, Kendall. Good to see you again. "

Me "What do you want? "

Lance "There are some killer on the loose. We lost a lot of men. So I'm hunting them down. And the property they stole, the Commonwealth's property. "

Maggie shook her head " I don't know anything about that."

Lance " Well, of course not. So you wouldn't mind if we just do a quick look around, right? Rule you all out. For the paperwork."

Me " She already answered your question. "

Lance did not look happy and turned to his troopers.

Suddenly a trooper stepped to the front "Open up. "

The voice - Daryl.

I shook my head "It doesn't have to be this way. "

Daryl took his mask off " Yeah, it does. Ain't nobody leaving until they look around. It'll be quick, I promise."

I raised an eyebrow, amused " You expect me to trust him?"

Daryl " I ain't asking you to trust him. I'm asking you to trust me, princess"

I froze at the nickname.

Gabriel looked up to us.

Daryl looked at me and i looked down to Elijah to open the gate

They walked in.

--

Maggie and i were following Lance around.

He walked over to a truck " Nice truck! "

Daryl walked to us

Lance looked at it "This new? "

Maggie "I started converting the engine, but it doesn't run."

Lance " You know we found tire tracks at the scene? Not a lot of cars running these days."

Daryl " You got something you want to say, why don't you just say it?"

Lance "Just stating the facts. You know, I come from a long line of gearheads. You mind? "

He opened the hood " She sure is clean for a truck that just sits here. Ethanol conversion is solid. Intake looks good. We left plenty of fuel the last time we were here. No wonder she won't work. The starter relay is disconnected. I'll just... go ahead and hook that back up for you. Let's test it out, see if I've got the magic touch. "

Then he tried to turn on the engine but it didn't work.

Maggie walked to him "You and your people have 'til sundown. Then you can be on your way. "

--

I saw Lance talking to Hershel, he was a little too close.

Then i grabbed my gun and pushed Lance against the wall, aiming my gun at him.

Troopers rushed over to me and aimed their guns at me.

A trooper "Put him down! Go! Release him or we will shoot. "

Daryl and Maggie showed up.

Hershel ran to Maggie while Daryl covered my back.

Me "This guy put his hands on Hershel. "

Hershel "He said something bad was gonna happen. "

Daryl yelled "Back off, now"

Lance "You know, I'm a nice guy, Maggie. I'll even let you back down so no one gets hurt. "

Maggie aimed her gun at him "Plenty others have made the mistake of threatening my family. Most of them are dead now. "

Daryl aimed his crossbow at Lance "And you turned this place upside down and you found nothing. So unless you want to die for nothing, tell them to drop the gun before something really fucking bad happens."

Lance glared at him " Everyone lower your weapon. That's an order. "

They dropped their guns.

Lance looked at me " Back up. We're leaving. Sorry if there was any miscommunication. Shame we couldn't be friends. "

Then they all left.

Next day. Morning..

Maggie, Hershel, Elijah and i were walking through the woods.

I looked at Maggie "you sure?"

She nodded.

Lydia walked to us "Oh, you made it! This way. "

We followed her to a spot. Branches were lying on the ground. Looks like a hatch.

Lydia tried to pull up the hatch and Elijah helped her.

There was a hole, Negan and his people were down there.

Negan " Kendall. Maggie. Hey, kid."

----

Annie "And you're sure this guy Hornsby and his men are coming? "

Maggie nodded "Yes, Elijah spotted a few of them miles outside our walls last night. Thoughts? "

Negan "You helped us, and I am grateful. And I got no problem watching the kid at all. But, Annie, my wife, is pregnant, so there is no way I'm gonna sit in some Whisperer worm hole while you're out... I don't know... saving some shithole of a home that's not worth saving. "

Annie shook her head "Negan, don't. "

Maggie "Actually, he's right. Maybe Hilltop isn't worth saving. Those people are. This fight that I'm in, that I started, with Hornsby... It's not gonna end until I end it. "

Negan nodded "And I got no doubt you will. But I also got no doubt that you are firmly in the crosshairs of this Lance asshole, so... So I'm coming with you. "

Maggie shook her head "No. I'll finish it.

Annie " Maggie, we can help fight... "

Maggie " No, please. I need you to stay here... with Hershel, with those others. Keep them away from Hilltop and safe until this is over. "

Negan "He doesn't exactly trust me, you know?"

Maggie " But I'm starting to. You saved him... at Riverbend. Whatever else happens, and whatever else has happened, I will never forget that. "

I looked at her surprised

Negan nodded, impressed "Wow. You have big balls, Maggie Rhee. I got you. And I got your boy. "

Maggie looked at her " Annie... "

Annie nodded "He'll be waiting for you when this is done. I promise you that. "

Maggie "Thank you. "

The insect noises got louder.

Negan "Oh, shit. If that ain't a sign from the Man Upstairs. "

In the mansion. night.

We were waiting outside, hiding.

Some guys snuck into the house and we waited for the explosion to happen.

I smirked when something inside exploded.

Marco nodded " Let's do it. "

Suddenly we heard a gunshot and Marco gasped.

Maggie shoved me down "get down"

Lydia cried out " No. Marco! "

Leah had shot him.

I looked at her..

Maggie shoved Lydia, Elijah and me away.

In the woods.

Elijah "You sure it was her?"

I nodded " Yes. Go, please. I'll lead Leah and the others away."

Maggie shook her head " I am not gonna leave you. "

Me "I will not risk losing you too."

Lydia " We can handle ourselves, Ken, okay? We'll draw them away, too, and then, when everyone's safe, we'll just go meet up with the others."

Me " I'll find you. Go"

They ran away.

The insects noise died down.

--

I heard a walker coming closer and froze. It walked over to me and i killed it with a knife.

Then i slowly took some steps and...i saw Leah hiding behind a tree.

I shot at her but hit the tree.

Then I shot at her again as she moved.

She cried out.

I guess i had hit her since there was blood on the ground.

Suddenly i got hit in the head and everything went black.

Morning.

I opened my eyes and saw Leah aiming a gun at me.

i was tied to a chair in some cabin

Leah "I have waited for this moment for a long time. "

Me " I know what you want. I wanted it myself for a long time. You can't kill me. That would be too easy. If that was what you wanted, you would've done it already. You want me to suffer. Feel everything that you felt. All the pain. 'Cause somewhere inside you, you think that'll take away your pain. It won't. You're wrong. It's not just you. "

Leah "By the time I'm done... Everyone you love will be dead."

I started to slip my fingers through the rope "Then I guess that makes us even. I took your family, you take mine. "

Leah "Nature has a way of taking care of these things. "

I shook my head "It's not nature. Or fate. It's us. I killed your people because it was what I wanted. If this is what you want, Leah."

she aimed the gun at me.

Me " Go ahead. You want it, so do it. Go on. "

I freed myself of the ties and kicked the gun on of her hand.

Then i kicked her against the wall.

She punched me and i threw a punch back.

I took my knife out and went to cut her but only able to cut her arm.

She kicked me to the ground and i stood back up.

She took out her own knife and cut my leg and i cried out while she threw me to the ground.

Then she was on top of me and punched me and was gonna stab me with the knife but then i heard a gunshot go off and she fell on top of me.

I rolled her off of me and looked up. Daryl.

Daryl shot out of the window and grabbed me before pulling me out with him.

Troopers were shooing at the house.

On a clearing.

We met out with the others. Negan and his people showed up.

Maggie hugged Hershel.

I was sitting on a fallen tree while Daryl was kneeling in front of me, wrapping my cut in a cloth.

Daryl looked down "Ken-"

I hugged him.

Daryl froze surprised before hugging me back.