AT the Sanctuary now, Rick and I arrive from apart the caravan as they hold back. I lifted the sniper rifle that I was given to by Rick and took aim, shooting down one of the lookouts on the roof of the Sanctuary while Rick got the other one. I shot the guy directly through the head, just like Rick did.

He nodded towards me as I looked forward, slowly approaching the gates. The cars soon showed up, and people began to pile out of them. I got close and noticed Dwight standing there. He looked down and noticed me, too.

He stared and even grinned before dimming his eyes and nonchalantly walking back inside of the Sanctuary. I silently prayed that he wouldn't be one of the ones that get killed today. He is probably the one so-called 'Savior' that I want to survive this.

The caravan arrived at the front gate, parking in formation to create a wall with the metal sheets retrofitted onto each vehicle. I soon sped up to join behind Rick and in front of my brother, keeping my two closest people with me at all times.

Maggie was right behind us, actually coming up behind me and standing there. Rick waited on her until she gave the signal, lifting her hand up and down. We all lifted our guns and shot up in the air.

Once... Twice... Three times.

Then, now, we just wait... Wait for Negan to come through those doors and try to talk his way out of this, too.

Then, suddenly, the front doors opened with a whiny creek, and Negan stepped out with his lieutenants. This would be Dwight, Simon, Regina, Gavin... And even Eugene, too, for that matter.

Of course, the devil was wearing a smile...

"Well, shit," Negan started off the talk with while Rick was glaring through an opening spot in the metal sheets from the cars. "I'm sorry. I was in a meeting."

Growling from the nearby chained-up, Walkers continued in the distance, but my focus wasn't on them. It was on Negan.

"I see you got your little mudflaps with you. So, I'm not exactly feeling a reason for us to try throwing lead at each other. I care about my people," Negan continued without an interruption from anyone. I almost puked when Negan said he actually cared about his people. "I don't want to just march them into the line of fire because I want to play 'My Dick is Bigger Than Yours.' It is. We both know it. But, I'm also comfortable enough to accept the fact if it wasn't. I'm certainly not gonna let my people die over that shit... like you're about to."

After a moment of silence, I turned towards Maggie and she glared back at me with those eyes with the same vision in our heads, Negan finally asked the burning question on his tongue, "So, Rick... What the hell can I do for you?"

Right after, Rick pointed above at each of them and announced, "Dwight. Your name is Simon. You're Gavin. And, you..."

"Regina," she called out for him to remember, but I could've told Rick that by myself.

"Rick, I'd feel remiss if-"

"No," Rick suddenly cut Negan off from speaking any further. "I know who you are. Listen, you five. The Saviors inside. All of you have a chance to survive here. To survive this. You all can live if you surrender. Can't guarantee it any time, but now. Right now."

Honestly, I see the good to Rick's broken heart, but I don't know how comfortable that I - or even Maggie, for that matter - would feel having all those people living with us as our neighbors. Most were involved in the killings of Abraham and Glenn. However, I can't talk... One of my main focuses today was keeping Dwight alive, too.

"So, they surrender... and you and your little piss-patrol don't kill them?" Negan asked, finding humor in Rick's kindness. "That sounds like a good deal! What about me, Rick?"

"I told you. Twice," he countered, obviously not being so friendly to Negan, himself. "You know what's going to happen."

"I do," Negan confidently replied. "I do know what's gonna happen. You don't. You have no idea the shit that's about to go down. Let me ask you something, Rick... Do you think you have the numbers for this fight?" A moment of silence washed over us. We all looked to one another and tried to remain confident in our fight against Negan once more. "You don't. Simon?"

I didn't know why Negan said his name until I decided to look through one of the cracks and took a look for myself. It was Simon, who was sent back to get Gregory, who came out and stood next to Negan. "Son-of-a-bitch," I silently cursed and gritted my teeth while shaking my head.

Maggie and I looked to Paul, who nodded his head and was almost amused. He simply said, "Of course, that's where he went."

"What do you have to say to Rick and the piss-patrol, Gregory?" Negan asked of him, having his hand on Gregory's shoulder to back him up with.

Fearlessly, Gregory stood up proud and demanding with his hands on his hips. "The Hilltop stands with Negan and the Saviors," Gregory suddenly announced. "Any resident of the Hilltop who takes up arms or who supports this ultimatum against the Sanctuary or any of the Saviors, for that matter - they will no longer be welcome in the colony."

To add even more pressure on the spineless creep that is Gregory, Negan pushed forward, "And?"

Almost hesitantly, somewhat showing that he has a heart, Gregory continued, "Their families will be thrown out and will be left to fend for themselves." This was sick and definitely twisted, even for Gregory and Negan to cook up together.

Another push and Negan egged on, "And?"

Proving himself to Negan, Gregory raised his tone and demanded, "Go home now. Or, you won't have a home to go back to."

Maggie looked to the people from the Hilltop, who all were definitely concerned for their home, and said, "You do what you need to do."

Paul shrugged and replied, "All I have at the Hilltop are a bunch of books and an old lobster bib." He looked to me and added, "My family is here. Tess is here. That's all that matters, so let's finish this."

"You heard the man," Negan added to what Gregory said. "Go back to separating wheat and shit or whatever the hell it is you people do."

Immediately, Maggie raised her own voice and called back, "Doesn't look like anyone's goin', does it?"

"The Hilltop stands with-"

"The Hilltop stands with Maggie!" Paul suddenly exclaimed, cutting Gregory off before he could break into song once more. I couldn't believe his ambition, but I admired it so much. Although, I always pictured Paul leading the Hilltop after Gregory will be eventually thrown out for his lack of being the right leader for the place.

Just as this has been said and determined, Simon approached Gregory from behind and gripped his arm. "I feel... like I invested a lot in you, and I am very, very disappointed," Simon growled into Gregory's face before legitimately shoving him down the stairs. It looked bad from the distance, too.

Then, out of completely nowhere, the nearby explosion is heard here at the Sanctuary. With that, we all looked to one another and nodded. Then, of course, Negan had to add insult to injury, so he said, "Sounds like shit is goin' down, Rick..."

Instead, Rick continued to try to negotiate with Negan's closest crew once more. "You lieutenants...," Rick continued, dominant over Negan at this point. "You're gonna have to make up your minds."

"Maybe we can take a time-out here-"

"No," Rick cut off Gavin before he got on a roll. "This has to happen now. This is the only way." Nobody said anything, but Negan stared on while he paced slowly. "You're gonna make me count?" Rick actually managed to chuckle and continued, "Okay. Okay. I'm counting. Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!"

I just didn't even make it to one before we raised our guns, cocked them, and pointed them right up there and began shooting. I didn't shoot at Dwight, though, as I actually tried to guide his way back into the Sanctuary with ease.

I was aiming right for Negan.

We continued to spray bullets at the Sanctuary right as Maggie exclaimed, "Now!"

We quickly retreated to our cars for evacuation, but I followed after Rick until I felt a sudden pain in my shoulder. I stopped, halted my breathing, and realized that I had been shot in the shoulder. It might have been a stray bullet. Obviously, none of my people did this. I didn't have time to sit and cry about it, especially since the pain wasn't that bad right now. I've been shot before. It's nothing new.

I looked around to find Rick in this mess of chaos but couldn't pinpoint where he had run off to. However, the horns started blaring altogether to alarm Daryl and them out there. I just hope to God that they're all safe.

I started to travel through the various cars until I could find one to get in to ensure that I won't be shot again. I can clearly hear out in the distance of explosions going off, getting closer and closer towards us - which means that Daryl is near.

I found a car and slid inside from the passenger side, about to slide into the driver's seat until I realized that somebody was already there. I slowly looked up and recognized the person to be my own twin brother, Paul. I almost thought that it was someone else.

"Paul, thank God," I sighed out in relief and hugged him as quickly as I could. "We gotta get out of this! I don't even know where in the bloody hell Rick went, though!"

"Tess, wait," Paul stammered out before yanking me around from looking out the window. "You've been shot."

"It's okay. I'm fine," I tried telling him and shook my head. "The bullet went straight through, but what isn't so clear is what we do now!"

"We have to go," Paul said before turning completely around and starting the car up. He pressed on the gas and flew as fast as he could on it. Though, I was still worried about where Rick was.

I looked out the closed window, where the mirror hung out there and could see the chaos unfolding without me back there. I could see the RV right in front of the Sanctuary fence before it exploded in flames, successfully breaching the gate. The herd was coming in closer, and I could only hope that everyone got out before they could totally consume the place.

-

OUTSIDE the fence of the satellite station outpost that we previously cleared out, I stood there alongside Paul, Morgan, Tara, and Dianne. Dianne was from the Kingdom, whom I have gotten the pleasure of knowing since we've all started this. I was back with my two closest friends of Tara and Morgan, and this is all that mattered.

However, the satellite station has since been re-settled and fortified by Saviors once more. I heard Morgan and Dianne talking behind me while he hid in the woods around the place while Walkers consumed the outer rim of the fence as well.

I felt Tara's eyes on my back, burning a hole in me, but I didn't care. Yeah, she's still my best friend, but things have been on thin ice with us recently. She suspects something. I knew that I needed to talk to her, but every time that I tried, I suddenly didn't know what to say to her.

Then, her hand fell on my shoulder, and I almost cringed at the contact. However, I didn't allow her to see that - mostly because I didn't want to hurt her feelings. I slightly looked over my shoulder, and fully serious, she stated, "We need to talk."

I followed her out just a little from the other three that we were with, enough to where we were still being hidden by the trees and brush. Still, we didn't want everyone to hear our conversation, either - if I could finally find the words.

She looked at me with her wide dough eyes, crossed her arms over her chest, tucked her hands under her arms, and shrugged. "What's up?"

"What do you mean 'what's up?' You called me over here to talk,' I countered, and it seemed to make her even madder than sadder.

"That's the thing," she pointed out and leaned in. "We don't talk anymore, Tess. What's been going on with you? I feel like I never see you anymore."

"You see me all the time," I reminded her and raised my arms. "What's your point?"

"My point is you're supposed to be my best friend," she growled before quickly regrouping with herself. She somewhat turned her back on me and sighed with a shrug. "I don't know. I mean... I just miss my best friend, that's all."

"I'm right here," I whispered and stared at her side than her hidden face. "I'm not going anywhere, T."

"I-It's not just that..."

"Then, what is it?" I asked, trying to lean in closer to her. "What else do you want from me?!"

"I just want you to love me back!"

I almost fell back, stunned by what Tara just confessed. I didn't understand. I did love her. Bloody hell, I loved her a lot. I probably loved her more than I loved myself, but now, I'm just sitting here in a pool of questions.

"What?" I breathed out in question, trying to study her facial reactions. "I do love you. You're my best friend, T. Nothing has changed that."

With tears in her eyes, she faced me and raved, "No, you don't get it. Okay? I thought that you would be the one female friend that I would have and not be attracted to. But, dammit, I am attracted to you. I... I love you, Tess, but not in the way that you think and definitely not in the way that you love me. When you told me that you were in love with Glenn, that hurt me - but not in the way that I showed. It only hurt me the most because... I don't know. I was with Denise and loved her very much, but... I loved you just the same way as I did her. Then, she died, and I felt so damn guilty for that - because, yeah, I loved her... But I also love you."

Tara's sudden confession threw me off, completely blindsided me for the moment while this war is going on around us. Maybe I did take a chance by becoming best friends with Tara, who is openly lesbian. Yet, I never expected that she loved and seen me in that way, though. I'm flattered, but... I don't feel the same way, though.

"Tara, thank you for telling me. It means the world to me that you did. But, T, I don't feel the same way. It's not because I'm not attracted to you. It's because, well... I-I can't tell you exactly why, but-"

"Is it Glenn?" she suddenly asked, which made my face fall. "Are you still in love with him?"

"What? No, of course not! I mean, I loved him as someone who was my friend when I needed one - but, he's gone and I can't keep chasing a ghost," I spat back, somewhat angry and surprised that she would even ask that.

Her face dropped, somewhat speechless now, before I decided to finally turn my back on her. I had taken barely three steps before I stopped and sighed, shaking my head. "I love you. Nothing will ever change that. You're still my best friend, but... I can't be with you when my heart belongs to another."

I gulped and heard her sniffle from tearing up. "What?" Her voice broke and was real hoarse, which only broke my heart more. "Is there someone else that I don't know about - who isn't Glenn?"

I couldn't believe that I was all but saying his name, but I simply nodded - without looking back at her - and quietly replied, "Yeah, there's someone else, but I don't want to say his name yet. Please try and understand that."

I wanted her to understand, for I saw the light at the end of this tunnel of war and despair. At the beginning of this, Rick urged us to fight for tomorrow and assured us that we've already won.

I was going to fight for her and the love that we shared... As best friends.