"We're all infected. We all carry it."

~Dr. Jenner

The early morning sounds of nature contrasted with the tense confrontation that was taking place in front of The Castle.

From the outside of the gate, stood Rick, Carl, Ezekiel, and Sasha; carefully examining the structure in front of them.

The guards already had their weapons pointed down at them, but had been instructed not to attack on behalf of their leader, who was striding through the garden towards the gate.

Maiya narrowed her eyes at the sight of these people. She was distrustful about why they were here, but she was not fearful. She knew if something went wrong they would instantly be shot.

"Are you here to visit Jeffrey?" She called out, coming to stop at the edge of the gate.

"Nope. We're here to see you actually," Rick answered with a tense grin.

"Me? What for?" Maiya raised her eyebrow.

"We want to know if that deal is still on the table. We want to work out a trade," Rick gestured towards the guards. "We don't have any weapons."

"I believe that, but you'll still be searched. But tell me, Rick, are your people waiting nearby in case?" Maiya questioned.

"...They are. We've encountered traps before," Rick took a few steps closer to the gate. "But neither of us want another fight. That's why we just want to talk."

"You're fully aware of what we do here, and you want to talk? I think you can see why I'm skeptical," Maiya argued.

"I hate what you did to Jesus. I was firmly against this idea. But for my people, I need this to work out," Sasha stepped forward.

"We do not have to be friends. We do not even have to like each other. But we are all in the same vessel," Ezekiel mentioned.

Maiya nodded, listening to all of this. "Okay. I will hear what you have to say. Guards," She motioned for them to come down as she went to open the gate.

The four of them stepped into the garden, only to be met by guards who immediately started searching them. It was no sooner that once the guards started frisking them that the gate was shut again. There would be no means of escape. At least not easily.

Once they were cleared of hiding anything, Maiya appeared alongside her brother.

"Follow me to the Schemer Hall. This is where most of our meetings and briefings take place," Maiya motioned.

"This place is truly deserving of its name!" Ezekiel complimented.

"Yeah, this is where you should be," Sasha stated bitterly.

"I'm surprised you didn't bring any weapons," Glenn whispered to Rick.

"I wanted to. But they would be taken away anyway," He whispered back.

"Yeah. I just hope for you and everyone's else's sake you don't try anything..." Glenn sighed.

"It depends on your sister."

"No, it doesn't, Rick!" Glenn's voice rose, causing everyone to turn back and look at him.

"Glenn, this is as far as you go. I'll be fine from here," Maiya advised.

"I'll wait outside the door then." Glenn stood back as Maiya opened the door.

"To make this fair, the boy waits outside too," Maiya affirmed. "We don't want the scales to be too unbalanced, do we?"

For a second, Rick's brows furrowed at this request. "Alright. Carl, wait outside."

"I'm going to find Uncle Jeff then," Carl huffed as Ezekiel and Sasha stepped into the room.

"The last time I checked he was in the infirmary trying to use a cane," Glenn stated as Rick walked into the room. Carl merely ignored him, stalking off in that direction.

"Maiya, if anything goes wrong-" Glenn started to say, but was cut off by his sister.

"It won't. I will do everything to make sure it doesn't."

Then she shut the door, leaving Glenn alone with his thoughts.

~

"I have to admit you guys are pretty brave to come here. It seems like it would be too easy to just ambush you," Maiya put her hands on her hips. "And to be honest, I'm not sure if you were bluffing about your people being close by."

"We weren't," Sasha retorted with a glare. "And you're right. It seems like we just played right into your hands coming here. You have several advantages over us."

"Like I said earlier, you saw what we do here. And you just come over like no it's no big deal. Even though you have such loyal people that they would fight for you, aren't you scared?" Maiya inquired as she sat down at a table.

"We are. I won't deny that. We've even scouted just exactly how you're doing it." Rick took a seat as did the two other leaders. "Us being here doesn't make us any less disgusted and horrified. But we were willing to bet you wouldn't try and harm us because you're scared."

"Scared of what?" Now, Maiya was genuinely interested.

"Us," Rick stared her down.

"You three took down an enemy we couldn't even kill. I know better than to mess with someone like that," Maiya admitted. "That was a risky move to bet your lives on, to be honest. But unlike Negan, I don't underestimate people. I see you all don't either."

"Let's get down to business," Sasha interrupted. "I don't want to be here; I just want to get this over with as soon as possible."

"Okay, lay out what you want," Maiya insisted.

"What we need are medical supplies," Sasha frowned. "As you know, Jesus is still recovering."

"The Kingdom's livestock is ill and needs medicine," Ezekiel stated.

"And we need those weapons you all took from Oceanside," Rick muttered. "I would ask for a medic, but I already know the answer to that."

"Smart decision," Maiya grinned.

"Oh, and most importantly, my brother," Rick demanded.

"...Fine," Maiya folded her arms. "But of course, you will have to help us too." Judging by the trio's expressions, she quickly added: "Obviously not with our experiments."

"What is it you need?" Sasha asked through gritted teeth.

"There is a reservoir nearby that holds hundreds of monsters. We plan to blow them up. We have made bombs before, but we need bomb experts for something this big. Also, we need animals of our own."

"Reservoir?" Rick looked at her curiously.

"Yeah, there was a whole herd of them months ago. But we were able to trap them in a dry reservoir. They're decaying and will eventually be gone, but might as well exterminate them right now. It will also bring in stray ones, acting as a trap," Maiya explained, trying to remember how Lillith phrased it.

Rick glanced down awkwardly as he heard this. Even Sasha shifted her eyes in his direction, sharing the same, embarrassed sentiment.

"Though I disagree with your views, I will assist your people," Ezekiel broke the uncomfortable silence.

"I will too," Rick stated lowly.

"Yeah, sure," Sasha sighed.

"This is what I like; progress. If only all leaders could be like this," Maiya grimaced, remembering the leaders of the old world. "So which community has the bomb experts?"

"Mine," Rick answered quickly.

"I don't know if he's a bomb expert, but he was in the military," Sasha suggested.

"Okay. For your help with the bombs, we will give you Jeffrey and the medicine," Maiya agreed.

"You will help us first," Rick commanded. "And that's final."

Maiya held back her laughter at this. "I don't think so. If you haven't noticed, you all are in desperate need. We could still carry on without your help. But your three communities are about to collapse."

"I believe my problem requires more urgency," Ezekiel suddenly uttered. "I would like to readjust this trade."

"Unless you send a bomb expert here I will not help you. It's an equivalent exchange. But if we can get this all done today, then we can start on our exchange tomorrow," Maiya remarked matter-of-factly.

"Alright," Ezekiel relented grudgingly.

"So are your bomb experts waiting outside?" Maiya grinned, rising from her chair.

"They are," Sasha smirked back.

"Well, then I don't know why you all are still sitting. From everyone here, you're the last people who have time to waste," Maiya stated as she turned on her heel.

~

On the other side of the door, Glenn had decided that his sister would be able to handle this herself and would only drive himself into paranoia if he stayed. So before she and the rest of the leaders emerged out of the room, he left.

If he knew anything about Rick and his friends, it was that they would be proactive about this meeting. With this in mind, he ventured into the garden towards the outside perimeter.

"Where are you going?" A guard called down to him as Glenn approached the gate.

"Do you know where their people are?" Glenn answered back with a question.

"We saw some movement from the buildings. But nothing really visible," The guard motioned.

"I want to go out," Glenn put his hand on the gate.

"Are you insane? No one is allowed to come in or out right now!"

"It's alright, Siddiq. We're all finished here," Maiya came up from behind with Rick, Sasha, and Ezekiel in tow.

"Did everything work out?" Glenn looked to his sister.

"Mmm hmm. Now Rick and Sasha just have to bring in their bomb experts, which will be taken to the explosion site," Maiya explained. "Ezekiel, before you leave, I will have my vet talk to you. You can tell her about whatever symptoms your livestock is having so she can start preparing."

"She's good," Ezekiel nodded impressively to Rick and Sasha.

While Siddiq opened the gate and Maiya went back inside her castle to get Cora, Rick, Sasha, and Glenn stepped out into the open. It didn't take long before the Alexandrians and Hilltop and Kingdom citizens to do the same.

"Is this everyone?" Glenn's jaw dropped at the incredibly low number of people who stepped out.

"We didn't want to risk bringing everyone here," Sasha lied. While there was some truth to this, not everyone wanted to come along.

"Oh..." Glenn trailed off, not sure if he should believe this.

"Where's your sister and her goons?" Abraham sneered at Glenn.

"She's talking to Ezekiel," Glenn challenged back.

"Easy now," Rick warned.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting," Maiya approached with her three chemists. "This is who you'll be working with. Lillith, Eveline, and Adrien."

"And this is Abraham and Rosita," Rick introduced.

"Okay, we already have the ingredients ready," Lillith explained to the irritated duo. "We can prepare the bombs at the site."

"Sure, let's just go," Rosita rolled her eyes, following the chemists to their vehicle.

"I don't think they should go alone," Rick stepped forward before Abraham and Rosita left.

"Rick, we're all going to eventually head over there," Maiya confirmed. "But if you're still unconvinced, then yeah. I'll send one of mine and you send one of yours."

"I'll go," Glenn volunteered.

"And so will I," Sherry spoke while Dwight immediately pulled her back.

"Sherry, what do you think you're doing?" Dwight demanded, trying to take her gun away.

"I'm trying to help," She responded firmly. "I can handle this, Dwight."

"Staying alive is enough. You're not goin-" Dwight was interrupted before he could finish his argument.

"Why are you doubting her now? She practically won us the battle at The Sanctuary," Glenn mocked.

"This tiny girl won you the war with Negan?" Maiya studied the woman. "Rick, your people never fail to impress me. That's all the reason to let her go."

Dwight glared at the siblings as he released Sherry. Everyone had been holding their breath at this tension; each one prepared to spring into action at the slightest provocation. Trying to diffuse the situation, Rick asked, "Do we head out and come back later or-"

"You and your people can just wait here. They estimated it should be finished by tonight. I can even give you another tour," Maiya's mouth turned upward into a smirk.

"Well, I'm glad we're leaving then," Abraham commented, walking off with Rosita.

~

While Glenn, Rosita, Abraham, and Sherry went to the reservoir site, only Rick, Sasha, and Carl remained at The Castle. Ezekiel and his people had left as did Rick's and Sasha's. Rick and Sasha both agreed they had no purpose being here any longer. The more people that remained in this unfamiliar territory, the more likely conflict could occur.

However, one of the goals of this meeting was to build trust between the communities. Though they had to take precautions, trust wouldn't be built if their people were constantly on guard.

Even Maiya recognized this as she offered Rick and Sasha something to eat.

"I know we haven't been off to a good start. What happened with Jesus- those women- I'm sorry about all that."

Sasha gave no response to the woman, only eyeing her cautiously. Rick, however, offered her an answer.

"We haven't had the best luck with other communities. So I'm sure you can see our reservations about trusting you."

"We both have reasons that separate us. But also similar interests that could unite us. We've had the same experience of trusting some psychotic clown. I've taken care of your brother and you've taken care of mine- for a while. Anyways, the point is as much as I may not like working with other communities, I know we have to. So instead of looking at what we do differently, we should look at what we share," Maiya clarified.

"Is that what you tell yourself? To help you sleep at night?" Sasha suddenly demanded.

"Everything I've done, or have given the orders to, have been for our survival and for humanity's survival. I have known cruelty and hatred in the old world and in this one. So yeah, why would I lose sleep over what I've done to benefit the new world?"

"I-I." Sasha was at a loss for words at this justification. She looked at Maiya incredulously, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Commander, how is everything going?" Jeffrey approached with a cane, holding onto his nephew tightly.

"Jeffrey!" Maiya beamed. "You-You can actually walk again?"

"Only short distances. Then I get tired," Jeffrey sighed as he came to rest.

"Jeff, that's great!" Rick exclaimed, helping his brother sit down.

"Yeah, I couldn't have done it without you guys though. You all helped me and took care of me so much these past weeks," Jeffrey smiled widely at the people around him.

"Well, tonight you will be going back with your brother," Maiya turned to Rick, offering her hand. "Rick, I hope we can come to a mutual understanding and respect of one another."

Sasha looked at Rick suspiciously as he shook her hand, stating, "I think we can make this work. If it does, we could build a network between our communities."

"I would like that," Maiya approved cheerfully.

To Rick, he was bewildered how this woman could seem so normal and welcoming while having a dangerous and possibly insane side to her. She wanted the same world Rick envisioned, but seemed oblivious to how she was going about it. In fact, she was the antithesis of their former threat.

"I don't," Sasha scoffed.

"Sasha, you're just going to have to deal with your grudge against us. I was willing to overlook the attack and Rick's outburst in our lab. I even say this for my brother who was obsessed with revenge," Maiya reasoned. "And this comes from someone who was set on turning her people into an army to destroy Negan."

"Don't tell me how I should feel!" Sasha retaliated.

"You don't know what we've been through," Carl retorted. "So don't you even lecture us on how we should feel about your mistakes."

"... Of course, I shouldn't police how you feel. But what I mean is that you have to at least try and work with us," Maiya quickly retracted, seeing her error.

"I'm sure it'll just take some time," Rick interjected.

"Well, we've got plenty of that," Maiya looked at the setting sun. "It's about time to head out. Let's see if these nerds are ready to blow up some monsters."

~

From a distance, Glenn and Sherry watched the team put together bombs around the large reservoir. A vast majority of the walkers were at the final stage of decomposition, but there were still some who could be a hazard. The 'bomb squad' not only had to be careful in making their bombs, but where they placed them. First, Abraham and Rosita and The Castle team would set up their bombs in the area they wanted, connecting them with a long stretch of wire. Then, The Castle team would make sure the bomb was correctly made and add an extra ingredient. This went on for hours since they had to be meticulous in the dangerous process.

"Why did you really come?" Glenn suddenly asked after staying silent for the whole time.

"I wanted to talk to you. Dwight told me about the garbage dump," Sherry replied, not taking her eyes off the reservoir.

"Oka-" Glenn started to say, but Sherry's hand shot out and slapped him.

"Everything that's happened- Practically everyone who gotten hurt since the battle at The Sanctuary has been because of you. Even before then, with Oceanside. You have killed so many people, Glenn. And got so many people killed. I have too, but what you've become... don't you see? This fear and anger you're spreading- it's just causing more death and violence."

Glenn was too stunned by her actions to process her words. He placed a hand to his stinging cheek, feeling the area where she had hit him.

"But maybe it wasn't all your fault," Sherry muttered to herself. "Maybe this began long before with Dwight and me and Daryl. And you were just another casualty."

Before Glenn had a chance to respond, two vehicles approached. Rick, Carl, and Sasha in one and Maiya and Jeffrey in another.

"I thought you would bring your whole motley crew!" Glenn called out to his sister.

"I wanted to. But then Dante advised me leaving the castle empty at night wouldn't be a good idea," Maiya answered back. "As much as everyone wanted to see this, he's right."

"Commander, we are ready whenever you are!" Lillith shouted from the opposite side of the reservoir.

"Is it dark enough yet?" Maiya cupped her hands over her mouth, projecting her voice.

"Why does it need to be dark?" Rick squinted his eyes, glancing up at the evening sky.

"Explosions look cooler in the dark," Jeffrey grinned from the grass from which he sat upon.

"Everyone, stand back!" Lillith warned, directed mostly to the Alexandrians. She exhaled slowly, before connecting the wires to set off the detonation.

Nothing happened.

"I told you we should have used the detonation wire!" Lillith huffed to her peers.

"But then we wouldn't have been able to add the-" Adrien started to argue, but Maiya's concern interrupted him.

"Lilly! What's wrong?" Maiya started making her way towards her group.

"Something went wrong! I think there might be a loose wire somewhere!" Lillith met her leader halfway around the reservoir. "I can go back in-"

"That's stupid. It could be any one of those bombs. Just leave it for the morning," Maiya interjected.

"We can examine them. We have the equipment," Eveline approached the pair with Adrien carrying their tools.

"Even though we did a final check, those newbies didn't seem very competent," Lillith pointed out.

While Maiya and her people debated about what to do, Rick started to grow uneasy about this whole situation.

"Should we just leave?" He asked, looking to his friends.

"Might as well. These tykes don't seem to know what they're doing," Abraham grumbled.

"Yeah... The more I think about it, this plan just seems so strange," Sasha hinted.

"Our people know what they're doing. Look, they're already going back out," Jeffrey gestured to the silhouettes going into the reservoir.

"Lillith," Maiya grabbed onto the woman's arm. "Be careful."

"Obviously," Lillith gave her a teasing smirk before going in.

Maiya, as did the others, watched tensely as the trio made their way to the first bomb. They quickly began their work since the last ray of sun had vanished and they were attracting the attention of walkers.

"We have to distract the monsters from them!" Maiya cried out, starting to make a lot of noise from where she stood.

"We're almost done!" Lillith exclaimed. "Lucky for us, it was this bomb. I don't know how we missed-"

A sudden burst of flame shot out, flinging itself onto Lillith and Eveline. Eveline fell to the ground, screaming as she tried to put out the flames. Adrien took off his shirt, swatting at Eveline's burning clothes. Lillith, who had gotten the brunt of the fire, was howling in agony. Her entire body was aflame, and since this was a chemical fire her hair and skin were beginning to melt away.

Maiya remained motionless at this horrific scene; her breathing becoming heavier and faster. One of her closest friend's face was melting in front of her. And her other friends were either being consumed by a walker or rendered unconscious.

It was no sooner than the moment her legs regained their function the bombs finally detonated.

And she was knocked back, staring up pathetically at a moonless sky.

Bright lights popped up above her, illuminating her dazed face for a brief second before they sprinkled down to Earth.

"That's right... the fireworks..." She numbly stated to herself.

"Maiya! Oh my God! Maiya!" Glenn carefully lifted her upper body up. She clutched onto him for support, bringing herself to her knees.

"What the-What the hell just happened?!" He yelled at her, but she offered no answer. Instead, she watched what was left of what lived in the reservoir burn with anguished tears.

"Maiya... What was this plan..." Glenn knelt down beside her.

"The bombs would kill the monsters and would shoot up fireworks as a flare... alerting anyone or anything this way. We had to get our patients somehow.." Her voice cracked as she explained weakly.

Glenn took her in his arms, comforting her as best as he could despite the atrocious explanation.

Rick's group slowly walked over to the siblings, just as horrified and shocked with what they witnessed.

"Maiya-" Rick began to plea.

"You fulfilled your end of the deal. Take Jeffrey and leave," She blurted out.

"Commander, I can't just leave right now!" Jeffrey sobbed.

"It's fine, Jeffrey. I have my brother. And now you have yours." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she said this.

Jeffrey opened his mouth to say something back, but a strangled cry was all that came out as he broke down.

Rick's people ultimately left one by one, each taking a glance back at the burning reservoir and the grieving Commander.

"Rick..." Maiya said breathlessly as he started to leave. "I'll send the medical supplies to Hilltop later."

"Don't worry about it right now. You have bigger things to deal with. I understand."

"Glenn, you know where Hilltop is right?" She questioned, ignoring Rick.

"Y-Yeah," Her brother finally released her from his embrace.

"That's good. Then you can deliver it," She struggled to get to her feet, but Glenn aided her.

"Come on. There's nothing left for us here," She tugged at her brother's arm.

~

Maiya closed her eyes once she got into the vehicle, seemingly drifting to sleep. Glenn started to drive off, taking one last look at the ashen place.

In the wing mirror, a figure stood with its back to the ash, lifting in its hand-

A baseball bat.

Glenn must have made a sound because Maiya's eyes opened quickly, asking him what was wrong.

"I-I thought I-I saw someone," He gasped.

"Who?"

"...Negan. Maiya, I used to see him before-before I ran into you. He-He was constantly watching and taunting and-"

"Glenn," She whispered. "He's dead. The dead are no longer a threat. Ghosts, spirits, monsters, they're not something you should fear anymore. This world- it belongs to the living now."

A/N: I know the description of how bombs are made and are detonated are probably way off- base. But I wasn't willing to be put on the FBI Watch List just to Google 'How to make a bomb.'