DARYL led the way for us on his motorcycle, taking out any stray Walkers in the way down Route B. We remained steady on our horses, thumping along.

I heard Alden talking to Ken about how Marco wants to learn about blacksmithing now, too. I smiled, but Alden probably couldn't tell that it was because of him. I felt eyes on me and glanced over at Maggie, who was staring at me.

"What?" I smiled, innocently shrugging.

"Oh, we already know how Ken feels 'bout Tess," Alden laughed, now glancing over his shoulder at me. "There's no secret he has hearts in his eyes when she's around."

I started to chuckle while seeing how Ken was trying to hide his red cheeks. "Oh, stop teasing, Al," I said over to Alden. "At least, he knows how to make a move – unlike you."

I felt this very brave of me to say aloud since I wanted to keep my little crush to myself, especially because I felt conflicted about how I truly feel inside. I wasn't completely over Dwight, but he was gone. He left me, although he didn't choose to.

"Yeah, yeah," Alden chuckled with his own cheeks red, too. "Whatever you say, Tessa."

"You're gonna choke for calling me that, Aldie," I teased back, and he kept smiling. "Still, don't feel bad about it, Ken. You'll always be my favorite guy around here."

Ken smiled and replied, "Thanks, Tess. This is why you are the very best."

Just then, Daryl came flying up on his motorcycle with Rosita on her own Four-Wheeler. We came to a stop and waited on the news.

—

"TWO other herds meter into Silvia, so now it's even bigger," Rosita claimed now that we were at the bridge. "One of them came through here, and the backend took down the bridge. Took the walkie-repeater with it."

"What 'bout Route A?" Daryl asked. "Is that clear yet?"

"It's still too close to the herd," Rosita answered as I slightly peeked over the edge with Rick. The water was rapid today.

"We can get to Alexandria from this side," Michonne suddenly spoke. "Until it passes."

"No," Maggie immediately barked back. "Route A has taken days to clear before. I need to get home to Hershel."

I walked up to Maggie and rubbed her arm. "We'll get you back to him," I reassured before turning to look at everyone else. "Any other options?"

"We could take Route D. It's early enough in the day," Carol suggested, shrugging with pursed lips.

Rick spoke up next, "Keep an eye on the trade road, in case anyone else tries to move through." He started to walk towards his horse. "Gabriel, y'all can head back to Alexandria from here. The rest of us... we can go to the Sanctuary or Hilltop, stay the night, and head off from there. Take care. Get home safe."

Tara strolled by on her horse and asked, "You coming?"

"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "I'm gonna go with them, see if I can help any. I'll be home tomorrow. Mind letting the girls stay with you tonight? They love their Aunt Tara to death."

She smirked and nodded. "Of course they can. I love my girls." I smiled to that, our eyes meeting. "But, not as much as I love you."

"I love you more and more, too," I replied, leaning over to her and kissing her right cheek. "See you later, alligator."

She smirked as her horse started to stroll. "After while, crocodile."

—

"RICK," suddenly came Michonne's voice. "The horse's can't pull the wagon through this mud."

"Maggie, I think they need a break," Ken huffed out, referring to the exhausted horses that he was dragging along. Even Marco was trying to calm the horses down, too.

"Maybe we should leave the supplies," Maggie turned and said to Rick. "Send a group in a day or two."

"It's risky," Michonne piped in from being up on her horse. "We've seen herds run through and destroy bigger things than this."

Rick tried to calm his horse down when he said, "We can swap out the horses, split up and take 'em out in the clear, give 'em a rest while we see what we can do about the trailers."

I hopped down from my horse with a huff and dusted my pants off in the front, walking up to them. "Alright, what we gotta do?"

"Tess, come over here and hold this rope," Rick instructed, and I immediately came over to hold the rope as tightly as I could. "Marco, Ken, come help her out. Let's do this, guys."

Eventually, we were all holding onto the ropes to get the wagon out of the mud. Michonne called out Rick's name, but we all looked up to see that Walkers were now coming our way.

"Shit," I cursed through gritted teeth. "What are we gonna do now?"

"We're almost there," Ezekiel called out from the back. Maybe.

"One more time," Rick called out. "One, two, three..."

We all pulled while Ezekiel pushed from the back, finally getting the wagon out of the mud. We started to run when Rick added, "Good. Let's get out of here." I ran behind Rick when we were suddenly stopped by new Walkers coming. "Daryl. Michonne. Tess."

I took out my machete and held it steady in my hands, while I heard Michonne say that she was on it. I ran for the first one, stabbing it right through the head before I went to another one, cutting its head right off.

After we got the ones in the front, I started to back up before I called out, "There's more coming! Rick?!"

"Hold them off," he called back to me, trying to help Ezekiel get the supplies in the back of the wagon. "Keep them off of us!"

I did as I was told to do, cutting heads off left and right. I could faintly hear the horses in the front started to go crazy. "What's going on up there?!"

"We gotta go," Rick called to us, just as I stabbed another in the head. "Leave the wagon!"

I started to run after Rick, but I accidentally tripped and fell right on my face after stumbling over a huge rock in the road. "Shit," I cursed, my knee now cut open. My machete fell out, too.

Paul ran up and grabbed my arm, helping me up before he dipped down and snatched up my machete, handing it to me. Luckily, I could still run pretty good, even with the cut in my knee.

However, as we started to run, Ken spun around and yelled, "I gotta free her!" He was referring to the horse who we were starting to leave behind.

Rick walked up behind him and yelled, "Ken, wait!"

I spun around and added, "Ken, wait on us!"

However, just as Ken tried to release the horse go and before we could do anything, a Walker ran up and bit him right in the arm. My face fell, my mouth opened, and my eyes widened with tears. "Ken, no!"

He fell back with the Walker, and we ran to him, as I was the first to be there and hold him up. He was trying to stay awake, crying. "Ken, it's okay. We're here."

"They're gonna fix it," Paul reassured, now sitting beside me. "You're gonna be alright."

"I'm not gonna make it," Ken cried, which made my own tears flow out. "I'm not gonna..."

"Yeah, look at me," Paul huffed at Ken's head. "You're gonna be alright."

Saddiq was there to try to amputate Ken's arm off before the infection can take over and kill him. Everyone was freaking out, but trying to reassure Ken that he was going to be alright.

My heart was pounding inside of my chest while I tried to hold him up. He looked to me with tears in his eyes. "I ain't... I ain't gonna make it, Tess," Ken cried, and I let the tears stream down. "Tell... Could you please tell my parents that I love them? Be there for them, please, Tess."

"I... I will," I reassured him, squeezing his other hand. "I promise you, Ken."

Then, after that, everything was background noise when I could faintly hear Rick say that he was gonna help keep the Walkers off of us while Saddiq and Enid stayed back to help Ken. I was the only one who had already accepted his fate.

Paul flew off to help with the Walkers when Maggie came up beside me, trying to be there for Ken, too. He was telling Maggie basically what he had already told me, and then, he whispered, "Tell my mom and dad I'm... I'm comin'."

Then, just like that, he took his last and final breath in front of me, Maggie, Saddiq, and Enid. "No," I whimpered out, tears clouding my vision. "No, no, no. Ken... No, Ken."

I laid flat across his stomach and continued to cry for him, already bawling my eyes out for his parents when we had to go back and tell them that they lost their son today. All he wanted to do was free the horse, something that I should've done for him. And, then, maybe he would still be here.

Maggie started to sob for him, too, before I stood up and stormed away for a moment. We hadn't lost anyone in a long time, and it hurt so much when we did today. I came up to the wagon and kicked it, but it was not hard enough to do any actual damage to it.

"Fuck!"

I spun around, and Marco stood there with tears in her eyes, too, losing his best friend. I extended my arms out for him when he crashed into them, as we mourned together over the loss of Ken — who was such a great kid.

—

PAUL said that it would be better for me to stay at the Sanctuary for the night instead of Hilltop since I was still emotional. I thought it was a good idea, too. I didn't want to see Earl and Tammy Rose's reactions to finding out that Ken was never coming back home again.

I was with Rick, Michonne, Daryl, and Carol at the Sanctuary tonight, which I thought of as the pound. We walked inside, and someone yelled out, "Rick Grimes is here!"

There was chatter on arrival, even a man who hoped that Negan was suffering in his cage. I could easily get behind that with appreciation. Eugene met up with Daryl and told him all about what happened while he was gone. Laura even came up to talk to Daryl, too, about making a speech — which he most certainly did not want to do.

Daryl started to walk away, but not before Michonne called out his name and he stopped, coming back to her. She pointed out the graffiti on the wall, saying: SAVIORS SAVE US! I was disgusted, especially when I read the red message underneath: WE ARE STILL NEGAN!

"Eugene, Jerry," Daryl called out to them. "You know who did that?"

Jerry shrugged and claimed, "Don't know, man." Before Eugene added, "That would be a negative."

There was some chatter before Daryl barked out, "Justin. Clean that up."

Justin looked up from his book and asked, "How?"

Daryl was already in a mood when he growled back, "What do you mean how? Paint over it."

Justin shut his book and softly said, "We just used up all the paint."

"Figure it out," Daryl kept coming back for more. I didn't like it when he was like this.

Nevertheless, Justin quietly and calmly placed his book on the table and stood up, walking away to do it. Meanwhile, Rick is shaking hands with these people, and if there were babies here, I bet he would be kissing their heads.

The same black man who made the comment before about how he wanted Negan to suffer came back up to Rick and asked if he had seen the crops, which Rick said that he had. "The spring storms will be here in a few weeks, help us out, but we need a boost in the meantime."

Rick faced the man and claimed, "And you'll have it." Now, turning around to announce it to the rest of the people, "We came back with farming tools, heirloom seeds. We're looking to the past to help us with the present. We're all gonna pitch in and make sure that Sanctuary has what it needs, so you all can get back on your feet."

It was a nice speech, but I don't know if Negan would be impressed with it. He truly thought that he was the shit when it came to making his famous speeches.

The black man suddenly said, "Bless you, Rick Grimes. Thank you." They shook hands before everyone started to clap and cheer for Rick like he was actual celebrity, who ended up walking away to speak with Daryl alone.

I shook my head and briefly glanced at Michonne, who silently shook her head back at me before dimming her eyes and walking away.

I was about to take a seat, but Laura suddenly walked up to me with a smile. "Hey, how's your little girl doing?"

I gulped and slowly nodded. "She's doing really well, Laura. Thank you for asking."

She smirked and chuckled, "You would think that she would take over Dwight with the blonde hair, but she still has his eyes, doesn't she?" I nodded, which was very true. "It's good to see you again. Haven't seen you around lately. How are you doing?"

Before I realized it, she and I were talking and walking. "I'm alright," I somewhat lied, especially after what happened today. "How are you doing?"

"We're alright here," she sighed out, playing with her hands. "What was Daryl talking about? Who did y'all lose out there today?"

I nearly swallowed my bottom lip before I answered, "Um, he was just a kid, really. Uh, his name was Ken. He was from the Hilltop. He was really good kid."

She placed her hand on my left shoulder and apologized, "I'm sorry that y'all lost him."

I glanced up and saw Rick waving me over, so I just nodded and said to Laura, "Thank you. I gotta go now." She waved me goodbye before I got to Rick. "What's up?"

With hands on his hips, he started to explain to me, "Carol is going to hang back and take over here instead of Daryl. The rest of us are gonna go to the Hilltop and spend the night there before heading to Alexandria tomorrow. I would've asked you to stay back and help her, but I know that you have kids and you should get back home as soon as possible."

I couldn't believe it, but I just kept my glare up on him. "Alright. I'll go with y'all. Still, I wish that I could hang back and help Carol out."

"She understands that you can't, though," he stated, hands on his hips. "Plus, you need to go say goodbye to Ken, yourself. Are you gonna be alright?"

I nodded and quickly sniffled, still feeling the emotions from earlier today. "Yeah, I'm good. I just..." I paused before I looked up in his eyes. "I haven't cried since that day when Negan was defeated. It kind of felt so weird to cry again. I mean, even giving birth didn't make me cry that much. I just hate losing people."

"I know you do," he breathed out, patting my back. "We all hate it, too. You got this, Tess. You're gonna be alright. Now, let's get to Hilltop."

—

AT Hilltop, I gingerly walked up to Ken's freshly dug-up grave, bending down to place some flowers on top of it. They were just little yellow flowers that I picked up from the weeds.

I decided not to speak. Just took a deep breath and walked on. I kept on walking until I stopped and looked down at another grave, being Glenn's. I bent down, touched the cross, and sighed.

"I miss you," I decided to say, but it came out as a broken whisper. "But, I'm not gonna cry over you anymore, Glenn."

With that said, I stood up and walked away in the dark. I was almost to Paul's trailer until I suddenly heard a loud commotion just before a baby crying. I sucked in my breath before taking out my small knife and heading over there.

I ran back over to the graves, where it was coming from, and noticed a baby stroller was knocked over, and it appeared to be Baby G on the ground. I looked up and saw a hooded figure attacking Maggie, too.

"Maggie!" I exclaimed before I came over with my knife in hand; however, before I could get a move in, the figure swat me away like I was a bug. I still managed to jump back up and tried to help her. "Get the hell off of her!"

I ran up and stabbed them on the side, which made them moan and groan but still didn't back down from brutally attacking Maggie. I stabbed them again, and this is when their elbow flew back right into my nose. I flew back, and the blood started to gush out, slipping down the sides of my face and down my neck.

Enid ran up and tried to fight the figure off of her, too, but he threw her off of him, and she hit the side of something, knocking her out. "Enid!"

Alas, two people ran up — being Alden and Cyndie — who took down the hooded figure. Maggie took off their hood and revealed the assailant to be a drunken Earl, who is Ken's father. What the hell?!

Nonetheless, I finally started to stand up and went over to Hershel, taking him up in my arms. "It's alright, sweetheart," I whispered in his ear, rubbing his back. "You're okay. So is Mommy, too. We're okay."

Maggie took off, and I feared for the worst, but I stayed with Hershel and tried to keep him calm. "Check on Enid," I said to Alden and Cyndie. "She's hurt. Make sure she's okay, please."

They both nodded and headed over to her, trying to wake her up. I kept holding and trying to soothe Hershel until he finally started to hush up some. I lightly pecked his forehead after getting blood off by the inside of my shirt and held him close to me.

I glanced down at Glenn's grave and whispered to it, "I'll always keep them safe, as long as I'm alive. For you and for them, too."

In my mind, I could hear Glenn's voice say: Thank you.

—

THE very next night, we were all here to end what Gregory started last night. He sent Earl out to kill Maggie while the man was drunk and mourning the loss of his son. Maggie could forgive Earl for what he did, sending him to the basement in the cage.

However, for Gregory, he was going to suffer. It was all his plan to have Maggie killed so that he could take over Hilltop again. I never thought that I would be alive to see the old bastard die, once and for all.

I was standing there with Daryl, Alden, Tammy Rose, and a shameful Earl. He knew what he did was very wrong, as I did have to stab him twice in an attempt to get him off of Maggie last night. I was suffering from a fractured nose since he elbowed me, too.

"I don't want to do this," Maggie started to say in her speech. "But people need to understand that at Hilltop, the punishment fits the crime."

I glanced up, seeing Rick and Michonne standing there; however, I couldn't see if they approved of this or not. I did completely.

Maggie turned and looked up at Gregory, who was on a horse with a noose around his neck. "Do you have any final words?"

Gregory is sick in the head, but he is trying to beg for mercy here. "What you're doing isn't right," he whimpered, now somewhat looking around at everyone. "Somebody stop this, please. Killing me in the dead of night because you're ashamed."

I should've known that the deadbeat would try to turn this around on everyone else, especially right at Maggie. "You're wrong," she countered calmly. "I'm not ashamed."

Maggie nodded towards Daryl, who would be the one to smack the horse for it to leave under Gregory. "Stop this! Please! Now, for the love of God, stop it!" Gregory is yelling and screaming to be saved.

Suddenly, Michonne screamed out, "Maggie, stop! Wait!"

I cracked my head around to see what was happening, but it was at that very moment the horse went flying away, and Gregory instantly hung. I spun my head back around to capture his last moments while he suffered.

Seeing him hanging there, I could hear every comment that he made towards me. Every smart reply, how he didn't help in taking Negan down. As a matter of fact, he tried to help Negan over us down to the day he kicked me out of here. He was a vile human being who just wasn't made for this world, unfortunately.

Someone came up beside me, being Paul, who placed his arm around me, and I sunk my head into his neck. It was truly a bittersweet moment, as I didn't want anyone else to die, but Gregory would never stop until Maggie was dead and he was leading this place again. He dug his own grave, as far as I'm concerned.

Maggie spun around and yelled, "Get the children back in bed!" This was what Michonne was screaming about. "I made this decision, but this is not the beginning of something. I don't want to go through it again."

I personally understood where Maggie was coming from about this, so I remained silent in Paul's arms and my head still in the crook of his neck. He knew this was going to hit me and make me different in a way, so he was immediately there for me.

Gregory was dead due to the cracking of his neck and no more sounds coming from him. Maggie turned back towards where Gregory hanged and demanded, "Cut him down."

Daryl cut the noose, and Gregory's lifeless body fell down to the ground with a soft thud. I sighed, and just for Paul to hear, I whispered out, "Goodbye, Gregory. Good riddance."