• While I am preparing the next chapter, I thought that I would give this one to you. It'll probably be short, but it's meaningful. It's what happens AFTER Negan takes Daryl and Tess, leaving Rick and them to pick up the pieces of Negan's destruction. HOWEVER... It'll be in MY OWN WORDS 🤗 Warning because... There will be tears. Everything hurts. Anyways, I'm surprised that I didn't do this before... Nevertheless, here it is now! 💕 All the love .xx •

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A whole moment had passed before the group could breathe again. Most of them didn't want to be anymore, but they had to get up and keep going.

Maggie was still in such awe and surprise. She was beyond hurt as her heart now felt like it was in the very bottom of her stomach. She had just witnessed her husband, the father of her unborn child, and the love of her life slip right through her fingertips. She was shaking uncontrollably, probably on the way to having a panic attack.

Sasha wasn't far from her, a few spots down on her left. She was still shaking as well, after witnessing two of her close friends die right in front of her eyes. One was her boyfriend, somebody that she had come to love in the last couple of months. The way that Abraham had flashed her a simple peace-sign before he knew that the end was near for him. He had said his goodbyes to her in the most fitting way, that only those two would be able to understand.

Rosita, however, was still sitting there, staring blankly down at the dirt and gravel in front of her. She had been with Abraham for years while they survived on their own along with Eugene, of course. Even when he left her for Sasha not that long ago, she still couldn't help but to love him as he had loved her once before. The most heartbreaking part about it is that she didn't even get to say goodbye to him.

Carl was still sitting there, wanting to get up and be the sunshine on this cloudy day... But, for once, he couldn't do that, either. He just watched two of his closest friends die right in front of his eyes, shedding tears left and right for them. Glenn had been there since the beginning, always protecting him, and — for that, he'll never forget him.

Carl was also still in such shock from the sudden deaths that just occurred and for Negan taking both Daryl and Tess away, too. Carl couldn't describe how he felt about Tess. She was like an older sister that just wanted to push his buttons, but protect him when it comes down to it. She did protect him before she was dragged away along with Daryl. She thought that Negan was bringing the bat down on Carl and, so, she made sure that she would die than him.

He was going to get her back, even if it's the very last thing that he does here on Earth.

Eugene hadn't cried this much in years, after holding such a serious personality with everyone until now. He had just lost the closest thing to being his best friend in this whole world. Nobody had treated Eugene with such respect and protected him from everything like Abraham did. He'll never forget the fearless and strong soul that was Abraham.

Aaron had his hands on his face, trying to drown out the tears that had been shed, but he wasn't okay. He had lost two new friends, that he'll never forget about. He was shaking and grieving. He wanted to be the glue that holds this group together, but he couldn't even be that strong after this. Everyone else here has been together for a long time now, and he was just the newest edition, but he still felt the reflects from all that just happened.

Michonne was barley holding on here. If she was, it was by a very thin thread. She couldn't believe what just happened. She was close to them — both Glenn and Abraham. Especially Glenn, though. She was with both him and Tess before they were taken away. Her new priority was getting both Tess and Daryl back as soon as she could.

Rick... Rick wasn't okay, either. He felt the weight of the world fall on his shoulders and he couldn't function after all this has happened. He blamed himself, he did more than anything else. He had brought them here, all eleven of them, to their ultimate deaths. He was the one, who brought his two closest friends to their actual deaths.

How could he do something like this to them? To... Glenn and Abraham? Glenn was the one who stuck his head out for Rick back in the very beginning, though. "Hey, you. Yeah, dumbass in the tank. You cozy in there?"

Glenn had saved his Rick's life in the beginning when the man had went out to look for his family. He's tried to make it up to Glenn ever since then, but he failed him last night.

Not to mention what Abraham has done for Rick, too. At first, they couldn't stand one another, but it wasn't until Abraham reached out to him and wrote on that map: The New World's Gonna Need Rick Grimes. And, Rick actually believed this... All up until last night, that is, when one of the whole reasons he even came up to Washington died almost right beside him.

This New World doesn't need Rick Grimes.

This New World needs somebody, who isn't weak and fragile to pain. This whole world needs somebody to lead them into the next generation... Somebody like Carl, who can definitely survive this world on his own.

The group was now sitting in their own despair and empty heartbreaking silence. They didn't even know what to do with theirselves after what just occurred. Nobody had said anything yet. No yet.

"Tess," Maggie was the first to speak, deciding to say Tess' name than her husband's. "T-They took Tess... A-And Daryl."

Nobody said anything, some barley even looked up at her. When nobody said anything back, she suddenly screamed out: "They took them!"

That woke everyone up and they all looked directly at her. She was broken. She was hurting and mourning for all different reasons. Everybody was blaming themselves for this, but not like Rick was, though.

"She was right," Rick suddenly breathed out, which brought everybody's eyes to him. "Tess... She was right. She kept saying that we didn't need to pursue them because something bad was going to happen. I-I should've listened to her."

"Her best friend died," Carl whispered next to his dad, adding that thought. "She almost died, too. She would've died for them both."

"I've never met anyone like her before," Michonne added, letting the tears fall down her cheeks while she sat across from Carl. "She hasn't even known us that long and, yet, she was about to die for them both. Even Carl, too."

The silence took over once again as nobody still hadn't gotten up yet to do anything. By this point, Maggie was folded over and crying into her lap, shaking with each sob that left her body.

"We need to take them home," Aaron suddenly said, finally rising to his feet and slowly approaching the rest of the group. "Both Daryl and Tess would want them to be laid to rest somewhere else... Home."

The sudden stirred movement of the gravel and dirt caused everyone to turn, their eyes falling upon Maggie, who was now staggering to her feet with the help of herself. She was wheezing, sobbing uncontrollably, and Sasha quickly rushed to her side.

"We need to get her to the Hilltop," Aaron spoke shakily, and everyone slowly nodded, obviously agreeing to such action.

"No. No, we need to get ready," Maggie corrected firmly, her voice still shaky.

"For what?" Sasha questioned of her friend, holding onto her as tight as she could.

"To fight them," Maggie struggled to spit it out, but it hit everyone as soon as she said it.

"They have Daryl and Tess. They have a whole army," Rick suddenly said to her, struggling to get to his own feet. When he finally did, he was hunched over in front of Maggie. "W-We would die, all of us."

"I need to go," Maggie whimpered, which brought everybody's looks of concerns to fall on her. She was shaking her head as she looked towards the RV. "...And you all need to go back to Alexandria. You all need to go, now."

Another sob escaped her lips and she heaved, stumbling forward. Sasha was there, however, to catch her before she could fall. She placed her hands on Maggie's shoulders to steady her.

"Maggie, we need to get you to the doctor," Aaron insisted once again, coming even closer to her with concerned eyes.

"You're all out here because of me, so you all need to go. I can't have you all out here anymore," she cried out, which broke everyone's hearts to shreds. "I can't have you all out here, so you all need to go."

She was practically pleading with everyone by this point with fresh tears streaming down her face every second that passed by. "I can make it to the Hilltop. I can make it there, but you all need to go."

"There's no way in hell we'd let you go alone," Sasha stated, slowly letting go of Maggie as she began to roam freely without her assistance.

"Please," she begged, becoming hysterical. "You need to get ready to fight."

"We can't—" Rosita tried to tell her.

"Yes, we can," Carl interrupted, getting up from the gravel as well. "And we will."

"We can," Sasha agreed, slowly looking up at Rick. "Isn't this what they would all want? Glenn, Abraham, Tess, and Daryl? They would want us to fight back. They didn't die for nothing, Rick. Tess and Daryl didn't get taken for nothing, either. They would want us to fight back and to get them out of there as soon as we can. Maggie's right. We gotta do this... For them."

Rick slowly lowered his shaking hands, revealing his red, blood-shot eyes and tear-stained cheeks. When he glanced up to Sasha, his eyes scanned the rest of the group before his eyes then settled upon the two bodies still on the ground. He rubbed his face roughly with his hand, then exhaling heavily as he regained his composure.

"Rick... What do we do?" Michonne questioned, now having her eyes wide open, looking to her boyfriend in this time of need.

"Sasha, get Maggie to the Hilltop," Rick began to give out orders to the people that constantly follow him. He was slowly slipping back into his old ways. "The rest of us are going back to Alexandria. Glenn and Abe go back with you, Maggie, and Sasha. First, together, we're gonna bury them. They are our main priorities today." His voice seemed to crack when he uttered their names.

He swept his tongue over his bottom lip and quickly continued: "Then, we start to prepare to get Daryl and Tess back."

"And tomorrow?" Rosita asked, standing herself beside Maggie.

"Tomorrow, we get ready," he simply said, turning his back on them for a second as he seemed to be making his way back to the RV.

"For?"

Rick was quiet for a second, contemplating on what he could say to them to get them ready for this new enemy. Negan killed two beloved people, two great men. Then, he turned around and took two more good people.

Rick wasn't going to just sit back and let this happen play out right in front of his eyes. He was going to fight back.

Looking over his shoulder at the rest of his group, he grunted out: "All out war."

• And... That is it! 👏🏻 I hope that you guys enjoyed, as much as I did! This is just a little something-something 🙃 I may end up taking it down, but Idk yet, tbh... Let me know! 🤗 Also, check out the pic that I made up there for later... If you know what I mean 😏 All the love .xx •