It had been two days. Dr Ackles had fixed up my leg. We buried our dead. We had a plan to get rid of Negan. The first group moved out, they didn't want me, Sophia and Carl there... So, half an hour after the first group left, and half an hour before the second group left, me, Carl and Sophia snuck out. We were some of the best fighters they had, they may have benched us for six months, but they had no idea what we'd done. I was responsible for the deaths of 143 people, I probably had one of the highest body counts in the world, and they really wanted to sit me out?

We were walking through the forest, catching up with the first group. "I can't wait to see Negan dead." I blurted out. "After everything he's done to us? To Maggie and Glenn? He deserves to rot in Hell."

"I don't know." Carl said.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't think we should kill him." Carl stated.

I over took him to stand in front of him so we stopped. Him and Sophia stopped walking as well. "Come on, guys, we don't need to argue right now." Sophia said.

"No, no, I wanna know what he's talking about." I responded. "You don't think Negan deserves to die?"

Carl sighed. "I think he deserves a real punishment. If we kill him? And the rest of the Saviours? We're just as bad as they are. We could all work together to build something. Something more than just war and death."

"They started this war." I reminded him.

"A lot of them were dragged into it just to survive. Your grandfather and aunt are Saviours-" I interrupted Carl.

"Don't even go there, Grimes. I barely know them, I don't know them. Why would I give a shit? If I see them out there? I'm gonna kill them like every other Saviour I see." I responded.

"I've already talked to my dad. He agrees." Carl stated. "We're going to try and take Negan alive. Strike a deal with the rest of them. Build a real community: Alexandria, Hilltop, Kingdom, Sanctuary and Oceanside."

"This ain't a good idea, Carl." I shook my head. "Negan deserves to die! After all the people he's killed, you can't be serious!"

"Ellie, stop yelling." Sophia ordered, slicing the head of a nearby walker that had heard me.

"Negan's going to die, Carl. He has too." I stated, before turning around and starting to walk.

"We'll see." Carl responded. I turned around, ready to yell at him but Sophia got between us, facing me.

"Keep walking, El. We don't need to argue. We just need to catch up." Sophia reminded me.

"You agree with him?" I asked.

"Everyone deserves a second chance." Sophia nodded. "Negan deserves punishment, not the easy way out. The rest of them deserve a second chance."

I scoffed, shaking my head and continuing to walk. "This is bullshit." I muttered to myself.

An hour later, I saw them. It was clear that they were taking a walking break. "Ellie?" I heard Rosita say. "Sophia, Carl, the hell you three doing here?"

Dad, mum and Rick stood up when they saw us. "Didn't really think you could do this crap without us, did you?" I grinned.

"Wipe that grin off your face and turn your ass back around. You ain't doing this. We're waiting for the second group, then we're going. You three are going home." Dad ordered.

"Yea, I think the hell not." I denied.

"Excuse me?" Rick furrowed his eyebrows.

"Dad, we're staying." Carl stated, before I had a probably more colourful answer.

"No, you're not." Mum ordered.

"We deserve to stay in this fight." Sophia tried.

"That's not happening." Dad stated.

"We've been surviving on our own for six months. Without you. We've done things you don't even know about. We took out a whole cult last week. You think you have any idea what we've been through? You're wrong. So, don't you dare think that you have any right to tell us that we can't be here." I explained, I briefly glanced over to Glenn and Maggie before looking back to my father.

"If you get yourselves killed-" Dad started.

"You'll resurrect us and kill us again yourself. Got it." I interrupted, pushing past him to go sit with Jesus.

"Maybe you should listen to your dad." Jesus suggested. I glanced at him, before taking the bottle of water that was next to him and taking a sip.

The second group finally caught up to us, and then we were walking. I was standing next to my father as we walked along a grassy mountain. "I'm sorry, baby." Dad said.

"For what?" I asked.

"Trying to bench you and the others. You and Sophia are still my little girls, and even though I've never said it... I love Carl, too. I don't want anything to happen to any of you. But, I do need to accept that you can take care of yourselves. Even though you're still kids, you grew up way too fast. You especially." Dad explained.

I looked up to him and gave him a reassuring smile before shrugging. "It's alright, dad." That's when I noticed people stopping and looking down onto a field below the mountain. "Jesus." I let out as me and my dad stopped too. The herd was massive, bigger than anything I'd ever seen. They weren't moving though. There had to be thousands, maybe seven or eight. 

"You ever see one that big?" Jerry asked everyone.

"Soph, you remember what I told you when we were lost in the forest after the highway?" I called over to her.

She looked over to me, a small scoff of a laugh escaping her lips as she nodded. "Maybe one day they'll form one massive herd the size of a city." She quoted me from over two years ago.

"They're not quite there yet, but they will be." Rick nodded.

"How much further?" Dad asked, as we continued to walk.

"We grow closer. Yonder." Ezekiel answered.

"That was annoyingly vague." I muttered.

We walked for another ten minutes before we heard it. Whistling. That same damn tune. Everyone lifted their guns in sync when they heard it. We couldn't see anything yet so we covered all angles.

"Well, damn, Rick." We heard Negan's voice over a megaphone. "Look at that. Pegged again. Pegged so very hard. I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush."

"How about you step out and face us?" Rick yelled.

"Oh, I am everywhere, Rick." Negan taunted, his voice still over a megaphone coming from somewhere. "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's just a gutless nothing 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 gotta go too." Negan ranted.

"Since when did they have him?" I muttered to myself.

"We are cleaning house today, Rick." Negan continued. "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."

Somehow, Negan not speaking, the silence, was scarier than when he was boasting. Nearly a minute past of the Saviours being silent, not a single person spoke. That's when all the Saviours came into view. They were further up the mountain, and showed themselves over the grass line. My heart sunk at how many there actually were. We were outnumbered by a lot. "It was nice knowing, y'all." I said to Sophia and Carl.

Just like that, it was a massacre. It was like the Saviours guns blew up in their hands. Most of them fell dead, the ones who lived had life threatening injuries or just injuries. It was very loud, the sound of all the bullets going off at once, but not at us. There was a lot of screaming and confusion coming from the Saviours.

"Now!" Rick yelled.

We all charged up the mountain, towards the Saviours, with our guns raised. We got closer, I shot three Saviours, two more, then another six. "He's running!" I heard Maggie yell as Negan tried to make an escape. I couldn't see him, but I knew Maggie was right. I ran through the scattered dead bodies as I did my best to make sure he wouldn't survive.

154.

There was two groups of Saviours. All the first group were dead, and when we made our way to the second, they were on another banking. Their guns were on the floor and their hands were in the air. "Don't shoot. Please." Megan said, standing at the front of them all. "We're done. It's over." She said, getting on her knees. Slowly, the rest of the Saviours got on their knees. Including Carlos.

I raised my gun to shoot her, but Rosita pushed it down. "They're surrendering. We're not killing any of them."

"What about Negan?" I asked.

"He's the acceptation." She muttered, tightening her grip on her gun. 

We looked around. "Where's Rick?" Michonne asked.

"He followed Negan. Over the hill." Carlos informed her.

"All of you. Up. Come on." Michonne ordered.

We went to the other side of the banking. We saw a single tree that had Rick and Negan behind it. Rick had broken glass in his hand, his hand and the glass were covered in blood. When we got closer, we saw that Negan was on his knees. His throat was slit before he fell to his side. I let out a breath when I thought Negan would die. That this would finally be over.

Me, Michonne, Maggie, Glenn, Sophia, Carl and dad moved closer to the front while everyone else made sure the rest of the Saviours, who were behind us, didn't act out. A few seconds of peace. A few seconds of hope. A few seconds of thinking Rick did the right thing.

"Save him." Rick ordered Siddiq. A man I'd never talked too, but was brought in by Rosita who found him alone in the woods. He was a doctor.

It took everyone a few seconds to realise what Rick had just said. It clicked for Maggie when Siddiq made his way to Negan. "No!" She yelled, trying to get forward, but Michonne held her back. "No, he can't! No! No, he killed my baby! He killed my baby! Rick! Rick!" She screamed. "We have to make it right! Rick!" Her voice was full of grief, of agony.

Glenn was standing in shock. I figured he agreed with Rick and Carl. That Negan deserved long term punishment, not death. I disagreed. "Screw this." I muttered, trying to get forward. I felt arms wrap around my middle and hold me back. I looked back and saw Carl. "Get off me! Carl! Let go! He can't live! He doesn't deserve to live!"

I heard Maggie yell and cry more in Michonne's arms. I struggled to get Carl to let me go. Rick began speaking. "What happened, what we did? What we lost... There's gotta be something after." Rick spoke, I watched as Maggie fell to her knees, Michonne going with her to comfort her and hold her back. "The ones who have them up, put your hands down." Rick continued. "We're all going to go home now. Negan's alive. But, his way of doing things are 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." Rick then pointed down the hill to the herd. "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 something after!"

Then silence. Rick walked away. Carl slowly let me go. I didn't move. I just stared at where Siddiq was saving life of a murderer. A monster. Will this be the final battle?