CHAPTER TWENTY,
the hilltop colony.

"That's us. That's the Hilltop." Jesus said to them as they looked at the walls. The group followed him up the hill.

"Stop right there." They heard a man's voice. They group instinctively raised their weapons.

"Woah!" Jesus exclaimed.

"You gone make us?" Daryl asked harshly.

"What the hell is this, Jesus?" The man asked him.

"Open the gates, Cal. Freddie's hurt." Jesus replied. "Look, sorry about these guys. They get antsy standing up there all day doing nothing."

"They give up the weapons. Then we'll open the gates." The man said.

"Why don't you come down here and get 'em?" Daryl said.

"Gentlemen!" The doctor, Harlan, stepped up. "Look, we can vouch for these people, alright? They saved us out there."

"Lower the spears." Jesus said to them in a stern tone.

"Look, I'm not taking any chances. Tell your guy Gregory to come out here." Rick said to Jesus quietly.

"No. Don't you realize what just happened? I'm letting you keep your guns. Look, we ran out of ammo months ago. I like you people. I trust you. Trust us." Jesus said to Rick. Aiden shrugged. Rick motioned with his hands.

"Open the gates, Cal." Jesus said and the gates opened. The group followed the leather clad man into the settlement. It was small but it was something.

"There was a materials yards for a power company nearby. That's how we put up the walls. A lot of people came from a FEMA camp. Trailers came with them." Jesus explained.

"How did people find out about this place?" Michonne asked.

"That's called Barrington House." Jesus motioned towards the large building. "The family that owned it gave it to the state in the '30s. The state turned it into a living history museum. Every elementary school for fifty miles used to come here for field trips. This place was running a long time before the modern world built up around it. I think people came here before they figured it'd keep running after the modern world broke down." Jesus said.

"Those windows up there let us see miles for every direction. It's perfect for security. Come on. I'll show you inside." They followed him inside. They entered the building and looked around it in awe.

"Most of the rooms have been converted into living spaces. Even the one's that weren't bedrooms." Jesus told them all.

"People live here and in the trailers?" Rick asked.

"We plan to build. There's babies being born." Jesus said.

A pair of doors to the side opened and an older man stepped out, "Jesus. You're back," he looked at the group, "with guests."

"Everyone, this is Gregory. He keeps the trains running on time around here." Jesus introduced the man to them all.

"I'm the boss." Gregory stated.

"You're the boss?" Aiden scoffed.

"Well, I'm Rick. We have a community-" Gregory cut Rick off.

"Why don't y'all go get cleaned up, hmm?" The man suggested. Aiden rose her eyebrows and looked at Daryl. He looked down at her and shook his head. She didn't like this man.

"We're fine." Rick told him.

"Jesus will show you where you can get washed up. Then come back down here when you're ready." Gregory. "It's hard to keep this place clean."

"Yeah. Sure." Rick said.

"Follow me." Jesus said. The group followed Jesus upstairs.

»

"How long you think Rick and Michonne been ugging blumlies?" Abraham asked Daryl.

"I don't know." Daryl replied.

"You ever think about before Aiden? You know... settlin' down?" Abraham asked him.

"You think shit's settled?" Daryl asked, "but nah, I wouldn't want nobody other than her." He walked off.

»

"We want to generate trade. Gregory does. But ammo is something we urgently need." Jesus said to them.

"Well, how's that?" Rick questioned.

"The walls hold. We just brought in more medicine. Gregory wants the best deal possible." Jesus said.

"Yeah, well, we want things, too." Daryl stepped up.

"We need food. We came all this way. We're gonna get it." Rick stated.

"I will talk to you him and we will work this out. Circumstances change. We're doing well now, and you will next. I will make him understand that. Can you give me a few days?" Jesus asked.

"We can." Michonne said.

"Yeah." Rick replied. Suddenly, they heard people outside.

"What's wrong?" Gregory exited his room.

"They're back." The man said. The group left the Barrington House and walked outside.

"Nathan, what happened to everybody else?" Gregory asked the man with a beard. "Where's Tim and Marsha?"

"They're dead." The new guy replied.

"Negan?" Gregory asked and Aiden eyebrows her eyebrows.

"Yeah."

"We has a deal." Gregory said.

"He said it wasn't enough. Was the drop light?" The man with a red shirt asked.

"No." Gregory replied.

"They still have Craig." The woman said.

"They said they'd keep him alive, return him to us, if I deliver you a message." Nathan said as he stepped closer to Gregory.

"So, tell me." Gregory said.

The man grabbed ahold of Gregory's shoulder, "I'm sorry." He stabbed the man. The group reacted quickly.

Rick took Nathan to the ground while red shirt guy and Abraham went at it. Suddenly, the Red Shirt Guy was knocked off of Abraham by Daryl.

"Drop it." Michonne said darkly to Nathan who was holding a knife to Rick's neck. He looked at her and Rick took that has his opportunity to kill the man.

Aiden's eyes widened as he stabbed the piece of glass into the man's neck and his blood coated Rick's face, clothes, arms, and hands. He threw his body off of him and stood.

He looked around and saw everyone stared at him, "what?" He asked them.

"Nathan! You killed him." Red Shirt Guy yelled.

"Well, he tried to kill Gregory, then me." Rick replied. The woman stepped up and punched Rick in the face. Michonne slammed the woman to the ground. "Don't." Michonne hissed.

Aiden pulled out her pistol and aimed at the woman. "I may be pregnant but lady, I'll still kick your ass." Aiden threatened.

"Drop it now!" The guy from the gate came running at them all. Aiden moved her gun from the woman to the man.

"We don't think we will." Rick said to thin.

"Everyone, this is over!" Jesus ran between the men and woman. "It's over. Nathan was our friend, but let's not pretend he was anything more than a coward who attacked us. He did this. And these people stopped him." Jesus said.

Aiden lowered her gun and walked away from the scene and towards her husband. He wrapped his hand around Aiden's and pulled her close to his body. She looked down at the red head on the ground. He was dazed and she could see the bruises from Red Shirt Guy's hands already forming.

"Hey, big guy." She said.

"Huh?" He hummed.

"You good?" Daryl asked him.

He grinned, "yeah. I'm better than alright." Daryl helped him up and Aiden grabbed his arm when he swayed.

"You sure?" She asked with furrowed brows.

Abraham clapped her on back, "I'm good, Aid."

»

"Doctor Carson was able to patch Gregory up. He's in pain, but he'll live." Jesus said as he entered the room the group stood around in.

"So, what happens now?" Michonne asked.

"Things like that don't usually happen here, but, uh, it's settled." Jesus responded.

"We heard the name Negan. A while back, Daryl and Abraham has a run-in with his men. Who is he?" Rick confronted him about the man.

Negan.

"Negan's the head of a group of people he calls the Saviors. As soon as the walls were built, the Saviors showed up. They met with Gregory on behalf of their boss. They made a lot of demands, even more threats. And they killed one of us- Rory. He was sixteen years old. They beat him to death right in front of us. Said we needed to understand, right off the bat. Gregory's not exactly good at confrontation. He's not the leader I would've chose, but he helped make this place what it is, and the people like him." Jesus explained to the group seven.

"He made the deal." Maggie stated.

"Half of everything. Our supplies, our crops, our livestock, it goes to the Saviors." Jesus said.

"And what do you get in return?" Glenn asked him.

"They don't attack this place. They don't kill us." He said.

"Why don't you just kill them?" Aiden quizzed.

"Most the people here don't know how to fight, even if we had ammo." Jesus told her.

"Well, how many people does Negan have?" Rick asked.

"We don't know. We've seen groups as big as twenty."

"Now, hold up. So, they show up, they kill a kid, and you give them half of everything?" Daryl spoke. "These dicks just got a good story. The bogeyman, he ain't shit."

"Well, how do you know?" Jesus asked.

"A month ago, we took his guys out PDQ. Left them in pieces and puddles." Abraham informed.

"You know, we'll do it. If we go get your man back, kill Negan, take out his boys, will you hook us up?" Daryl asked. "We want food, medicine, and one of them cows."

"Confrontation's never been something we've had trouble with." Rick stated.

"I'll take it to Gregory."

»

While Gregory and Maggie talked in privately, Daryl and Aiden went to the medical trailer.

The mom-to-be laid on the bed with her shirt rolled up. Daryl stood beside her and watched as Doctor Carson put the gel on his wife's stomach. She shivered at the coolness of it.

Daryl furrowed his brows at her reaction. She looked at him, "it's cold."

Doctor Harlan grinned at her before turning back to his machines.

After a couple seconds a small heartbeat filled the air, Aiden gasped at the sweet sound. Daryl grinned down at her, his own small sound leaving his mouth. He rubbed her arm gently.

"Look." Harlan said and pointed. "It's a boy."

The couple stared at the screen, a little person was moving around. "Aiden-" Daryl couldn't even form a sentence as he stared at his son.

His son.

His little boy.

Aiden let out a small cry and covered her face. "It's a boy." Daryl also let a few tears slip.

"Congratulations." Doctor Carson said, smiling at the couple. He printed off a picture of the baby. "He's due within the next two weeks, I'd say. I would say stay here but I was informed you know quite a bit about labor and delivery. But consider coming back before he's born."

»

The group left the Hilltop. Aiden and Daryl sat side-by-side and he had his arm around her shoulder. Two ultrasound pictures were being passed around the RV. The first person to hold Aiden and Daryl's picture was Glenn. He grinned at the two.

Finally, Rick looked at the picture and looked at the review mirror and made eye contact with Daryl. Both vowing to protect him with their lives.

Rick would protect that little boy and his mother like Aiden had been protecting Carl since he was born, like she protected Lori from everything bad after the world ended.

That little boy.

That little Walsh-Dixon mix.

Rick smiled.

_______________________________

word count: 1,887
episode: knots untie

i actually really enjoyed editing this chapter and the dixon's finding out the gender of the baby.

well, IT'S A BOY!!!! IT'S A BOYYYYYY! we'll be welcoming elliot glenn dixon to the crazy world of the calamity series in the next act 🤭. i'm beyond ready for my little guy to be born, i feel like a grandma.

but we officially know the hilltop now. we've met gregory 🤮. but that just means we only have a few chapters left of act two.