"All right. We'll stick to this road, keep to the trees, we'll get there quicker. Plus, we can keep an eye on the road that way." Daryl said as he, Rick, Michonne, Eloise, Carl, Jasper and Maggie looked over at the map he was pointing at.

"Yeah, if they're planning anything, we'll see it." Maggie said and Eloise scrunched her face slightly, turning to Maggie. "You think you can trust Gregory? What he told us?"

Maggie turned to her and nodded. "I locked him up inside the house. He knew I wouldn't let him walk around free. He knew he was coming back to that. He doesn't believe in anything except himself, and he'd have to believe in the Saviors a whole lot to send us into a trap and think it would work out for him."

"Unless Dwight didn't tell him. That asshole could be setting us up." Daryl grumbled, making the group sigh as they all split up.

The sound of a small groan and Morgan yelling made everyone look up. Everyone's eyes went wide at Morgan pointing his stick at Henry who laid on the ground. Eloise and Carl ran over to the pair. Eloise grabbed Henry's hand and pulled him up as Morgan looked at him in shock.

"They were gone... him. They were coming in." Morgan tried to explain before Alden took a step further into Hilltop, pointing to Maggie. "I asked Maggie if we could clear the walkers from the wall. We... drew them away so we wouldn't have to worry about 'em when we rolled out."

"He did." Maggie said, nodding her head to Morgan who sighed, walking away. Rick cleared his throat, gaining everybody's attention. "Let's keep gettin' ready, everyone. First team's going in 20."

Alden and the other ex-Saviors went to walk in farther but Maggie stuck her hand out, stopping him. "He said when we roll out. You and your people aren't coming. You can be here. But you're not us." Alden sighed slightly at her words, nodding. "As long as we got that straight." He mumbled as everyone started walking away

Maggie went to walk away and Eloise frowned, turning to him. "They'll warm up to you guys. Just need time." Alden sent her a small smile, nodding his head as Eloise walked away.

...

"Oh, Jeez." Eloise whispered, looking off the mountains edge at the herd of walkers coming towards them. "Holy damn. You ever seen one that big?" Jerry asked and Carl shook his head. "No. Things are changing."

"Let's go." Rick said, making the group start walking again. "How much further?" Jasper asked, making Eloise chuckle. "Are we there yet?" Jasper scoffed at her words, smacking the back of her head, making her chuckle as King Ezekiel nodded. "We grow closer. Yonder, over the ridge."

Lou's brows furrowed, turning to Carl. "Yonder?" Eloise whispered, confused by the word. Carl chuckled, scrunching his face. "Ridge?"

The Saviors whistle rang through the air, coming from all directions. The sound of feedback shook through the trees before Negan started speaking. "Well, damn, Rick, 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 screamed and Negan chuckled, the group still looking around for where he and the rest of the Saviors were. "Oh, I am everywhere, Rick. 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." Eloise unconsciously shook her head at his words.

"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 is just a... a gutless nothin' 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 got to go, too. We are cleaning house today, Rick. And then... there's you. It never had to be a fight. You just had to accept how things are." Negan said. Eloise turned to Carl beside her as she readjusted the gun in her hand.

"So... here we go." Negan cheered. "Congratulations, Rick. 3!"

Eloise swallowed the lump in her throat, tightening her grip on her gun.

"2!"

She put her finger on the trigger, taking a deep breath.

"1!"

From right across from them, the Saviors appeared from the other side of the hill and when they all went to shoot, their guns blew up, knocking most of them down. "Now!" Rick screamed and the group started firing towards the Saviors while walking up the hill towards them.

"Hell yeah!" Eloise chuckled out. A Savior came running towards her and Eloise quickly shot the man in the shoulder. She quickly let her gun wrapped around her shoulder rest as she reached into her holster, pulling out a knife and throwing it at the mans knee, knocking him to the ground.

Eloise walked towards the man, ripping the knife out of his knee, making him scream in pain. Eloise looked around her and saw Jasper leaned up against one of the Saviors car, trying to stay hidden as he raised his gun, not noticing a Savior creeping up the side of the car to get to him. Eloise didn't hesitate to throw the bloodied knife towards the man, meaning for the weapon to go into his arm but instead lodged into the mans throat.

Jasper looked at the Saviors body in shock before ripping Lou's knife out of his neck and turning to his sister. Jasper tossed her the knife and Eloise somehow caught it by the handle, not hurting herself. Eloise chuckled at the actions as Jasper winced slightly. "I probably shouldn't have done that?"

Eloise smiled, twirling the knife before pushing it back into her holster as she kept her eyes on her brother. "Not the best thing a brother could've done but it was badass!" Jasper chuckled at her words, shaking his head slightly.

"He's running!" Maggie screamed and everyone turned their heads to Negan running away from the line of fire, towards a single tree, Rock chasing after him.

Eloise turned her head at a war cry and saw Gabriel running towards Saviors, still tied up with a gag in his mouth. Eloise quickly shot the Saviors he was attacking, making the priest jump back in shock and turn his head in Lou's direction. He squinted, trying to see who helped him since his vision was getting worse and worse.

Once he realized it was Eloise, he smiled. The girl cut his restraints and gag while Carl kept watch, making sure no one attacked them while they weren't lookin. "Are you okay?" Gabriel slowly nodded as Carl walked over to the two. "Get behind us."

Gabriel instantly nodded, getting behind Carl and Eloise as they joined the rest of the group in getting the last of the Saviors.

As soon as they got to the Saviors, a blonde girl with a neck tattoo threw her hands in the air. "Don't shoot. Please. We're done. It's over." She slowly kneeled, the rest of the Saviors following after her. Eloise sent a confused look to Rosita and Maggie, not knowing what to do but before anything could be said, Rick walked over from the tree where he and Negan were figting.

"Save him." Rick yelled, making Siddiq run towards Negan to check his injuries.

Maggie came running passed Eloise and Michonne quickly wrapped her arms around her as she screamed. "No!"

"Maggie! Maggie!" Michonne whispered, trying to calm the woman down but Maggie just shook her head as she tried to break out of Michonnes grasp. "No, he can't! No! No, he killed Glenn! We have to. We have to end it! Rick! We have to make it right!"

Eloise felt Carl slowly grab her hand as they continued watching the scene ahead of them unfold. Eloise squeezed his hand as Rick sighed, shaking his head. "We can't make it right, but this makes it over."

"No! It's not over! It's not over until he's dead! It's not over till he's dead! No! No!" Maggie sobbed. Rick shook his head at her, looking off towards the rest of the group. "What happened, what we did... what we lost... there's gotta be something after. The ones who have 'em up, put your hands down." Rick said, pointing to the Saviors that surrendered and they all slowly obliged as Rick continued.

"We're all gonna go home now. Negan's alive. But his way of doing things is 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. That's death!" Ruck screamed, pointing at the herd that was a lot closer than it was before the fight.

"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 somethin' after." Rick said and the group started to scatter. Rick walked towards Carl and Eloise, sending the girl a small smile as he grabbed Carl's shoulder, leading him away to talk to him."

"What happened to their guns?" Rosita asked a few feet away from her, making Eloise turn her head to find Rosita talking to Eugene. Eloise crossed her arms as she walked towards the pair. "Was that you?" Eloise asked Eugene and the man gave a curt nod.

"It was. I introduced a sabotaging aspect to the manufacturing process unbeknownst to my colleagues, inspired by Gabriel's purposeful ineptitude. And a few things you imparted to me before I vomited on you. Ergo, I created a modicum of phooey for a full kablooey." Eugene rambled and Rosita nodded before she punched him in the face, sending him to the ground.

"That's for the puke." Rosita grumbled, walking away. Eloise sighed, helping the man up as she looked at him with slightly disgusted eyes. "Come on. Get up." Eloise groaned and the man sighed, sending her a small nod. "Thank you."

Eloise just nodded at his thanks before she turned to him with a slightly disgusted expression. "You puked on her?" Eloise asked as they walked back towards the car. "Indeed I did."

...

"We know you're awake." Carl mumbled, he and Eloise standing over Negan's hospital bed as Jasper stood by the doorway with Siddiq in case anything happened.

"I never said I wasn't." Negan grumbled, keeping his eyes closed. Eloise nodded, crossing her arms. "Good. Because we need to tell you some things."

Carl nodded, glaring slightly at the man. "And you don't have to open your eyes now. But you're gonna open them soon. Because we're gonna make you watch what happens."

Negan opened his eyes, looking at the two teens as Eloise sighed. "And this isn't about who you killed. No, we've... we killed people. No, this is about what you did to us, what you did to so many people. How you made people live for you, how you put people under your boot."

"I saved people!" Negan yelled, sitting up slightly, making Jasper walk over in front of Carl and Lou, gripping Negans throat and pressing against his stitches.

"Jasper." Siddiq warned and Jasper looked back at the man, nodding. "He needs to know this isn't a discussion. We can open up his stitches for a little while just to remind him." Jasper whispered, his voice dark and low and Negan chuckled. "You know, Im disappointed we haven't met before, Jasper, you look like a goddamn delight." "Don't push me." Jasper whispered to the man as he slowly let go of his throat.

Eloise gulped as she glared at Negan. "Jace pictured something better. All of us working together for something bigger than all of us."

"And you'll have a job, too." Carl said, making Eloise let out a chuckle, nodding. "Yeah. You get to be a part of it. You'll be an example of what this will be. We're not gonna kill you. We're not gonna hurt you. You're gonna rot in a cell. For the rest of your life, day after day."

"You're gonna be evidence that we're makin' a civilization, something like what we had, something we're gonna get back." Carl said and Eloise lifted her chin higher. "And you get to watch it happen. And you get to see how wrong you were about what people can be, about what life can be."

"You, alive, is gonna help show people that things have changed, that keepin' you breathing earns another way, a better way. That's the part you'll play." Carl said and Eloise gave the man a chilling smile, shrugging her shoulders. "So after all this... maybe you're good for something."

–i wanna keep writing after the time jump only bc there are so many natalia gifs i didnt get to use that I really want to use...

the amount of times i almost wrote jace-🥺