"Well, look at that, dawn is breaking. It's a brand new day."

~ Negan

Sasha sighed as she put her head down on the polished desk. These past days had been very stressful for her. She let herself rest for once in Gregory's office, remembering when she had announced to the Hilltop residents she would be their leader...

The citizens looked at Sasha glumly as Jesus explained that Gregory had been killed and Sasha would now be in charge. He assured them he would be an advisor to her, something Sasha was grateful for due to the tense situation.

Jesus understood she didn't need any help, it wasn't like she couldn't handle things on her own. But she did need to know the ropes of how things worked here and of course how to handle The Saviors.

That issue was immediately asked by a citizen, which Jesus answered they would tell Simon and the rest of The Saviors that Gregory had killed himself. It's not like it would be out of character for the coward he was.

"But won't Simon be suspicious of a random woman in charge?" The citizen continued on.

Jesus opened his mouth to respond, but Sasha had already stepped forward with an answer of her own.

"Look, you all barely know who I am so I'm going to spare you all the sentiments of an inauguration speech. Your leader, Gregory, was a coward who only looked after himself. He didn't care about you as long as it meant his survival. He had been lying to you, so I am going to finally put an end to all that bullshit. He made a deal with my people from Alexandria to protect you all from the Saviors and take out Negan in exchange for food. To make a long story short, we failed. Negan cornered us and killed two of our people, the woman who proposed this deal and a man who had previously fought the Saviors. He killed them the same way he killed the teenage boy who lived here. I was a witness to this- I had to watch my friends be brutally murdered in front of their loved ones." Sasha paused.

"Jesus had hoped for our communities to live in peace. And that is still possible. But not with Negan alive. Not with Saviors. Or people like Gregory who threatened to turn my friend and me over to the Savior with a gun. My friend fought him and it ended with Gregory dead. I know you all are distrustful of me and I don't blame you. But I promise I will work alongside someone you do trust to ensure Negan will be defeated."

Jesus applauded Sasha with the Hilltop Colonists slowly doing the same. "I was the one who saw behind Gregory's fake concern and proposed Sasha become the leader here. She genuinely cares, is highly intelligent, and has all the other qualities a great leader should have. Yes, Simon has seen Sasha before so he will figure out that our two groups know each other. Unless... when he comes I can 'pretend' I am the new leader. Just to be safe," He looked at Sasha curiously.

She knew this was a critical time and they needed to account for any variables. She nodded her head in agreement. He could be her stand-in as a leader, a figurehead of sorts while she was the one behind the scenes, pulling the strings.

"In order to win this war, we will need everyone's cooperation. You have mine and Jesus's completely. We are willing to die for this cause. I ask you all, are you? This will be a bloody and dirty fight with very high stakes. We cannot afford to fail, but we can only do that if everyone is willing to fight," Sasha said firmly. Everyone gazed at her for a while before raising their fists in the air. Sasha looked worriedly at Jesus, thinking they were refusing. However, Jesus's blue eyes brightened and his lips gave Sasha a reassuring smile as he nodded his head.

A hand nudged Sasha out of her daze, startling her.

"Sorry," Jesus grinned. "But there's something you need to see..." His tone suddenly turned serious. They walked out to the front walls; Jesus motioning for the gate to be opened.

Dozens upon dozens of women stood in front of the Hilltop Colony. All of them wore tattered clothes. All of them were full of soot, cuts, burns, and grime. The woman in the front stepped forward towards Sasha and Jesus.

"Is this Alexandria?"

Sasha shook her head, her wide eyes never leaving the women.

"This is Hilltop Colony," Jesus answered. "Who are you?"

"We... were from Oceanside. Now we're just wanderers," The woman responded.

"You're not part of The Saviors?" Sasha asked, unconvinced.

The other women tensed up, glares worn on their faces.

"No," the woman hissed. "That name has only brought us pain and death! We could never be affiliated with such evil!"

Sasha and Jesus were taken aback by this outburst. "Um, if you all want to come in you'll have to lay your weapons down," Sasha stuck her hand out. "We can talk inside."

"How can we trust you are not with The Saviors?" A young girl asked.

"We do work for them... But we are quickly trying to change that," Jesus replied gently.

"Please, just put down your weapons. We will not hurt you. We hate The Saviors as much as you do," Sasha pleaded. "I was originally from Alexandria, but now I am the leader here. Why were you even looking for it?"

"I guess you'll find out inside then," The woman responded. "Ladies, put your weapons down... For now."

~

Glenn had avoided the main road and arrived back in Alexandria long after Negan had left. He eagerly entered the city, calling everyone to a town meeting.

"I managed to sneak into Negan's base," He proudly stated much to everyone's shock.

"What?! Glenn, I told you not to!" Rick furiously approached him.

"I know. But Dwight captured me and I got to see the base," Glenn answered, his morale still high. If the people were originally surprised, this really knocked them off their feet.

"I would hardly call that sneaking into, boy," Abraham stated.

"That's not the point! Glen-Wha- How did you even get away?!" Rick continued shouting.

"Okay, let me start from the beginning. So I arrived at their base- which is a huge factory by the way. Dwight immediately took me prisoner, but I managed to sneak away." Glenn started, emphasizing his last words. "And I literally run into Dwight's wife- er- ex-wife since she's Negan's wife now, and she helped me out twice to avoid being caught. We talked about our lives and empathized with each other. We found out we were more alike than we were different. Dwight found me, but I convinced him to be our inside source. So now we have two people inside Negan's base who will fight alongside us!" Glenn smiled, as the citizens stared at him, all feeling overwhelmed by the turn of events.

"So it was all just cocktail hour between the three of you?" Abraham did not hold back on his sarcasm.

"It did start off that way..." Glenn dug into his pocket for the drawing. "But Dwight managed to come up with this for me. He's no Picasso, but this map should be alright. Sherry, the woman, said she would take hold of the armory when we attack." Rick, Abraham, and Michonne studied the map intently.

"I also found out The Saviors numbers. There are about 150 of them combined with their outposts. But at the factory there are fifty," Glenn explained.

"Glenn, I don't know how you did this, but this is unbelievable. You secured a big advantage for us," Rick praised, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"I am impressed!" Abraham got Glenn in a headlock and ruffled his hair.

"You're amazing, Glenn. You said you would, and you did," Michonne hugged him with a big smile on her face.

"Thank you- But I'm not great or anything," He responded modestly. "I'm just a supply boy..." He started pulling out the supplies Dwight gave him. "By the way, these are for us only. They were originally from Negan's supplies." This sent everyone into an uproar, laughing and cheering for once in the longest time.

As people looked to the future in hope, Glenn noticed something folded at the bottom of the backpack. He curiously lifted it up and unfolded it. As the design came into view, his hands started trembling. He sniffed, trying to hold back his tears as he recognized the familiar black vest.

Everyone turned their attention towards Glenn; their voices coming to a halt.

"I didn't even realize Dwight had taken off the vest," Glenn thought out loud. Rick put his hands over the angel wings, feeling a sense of warmth and nostalgia coming off of it.

"We have to win this. It's not just for us anymore," Rick said shakily as he stared at the vest of his best friend. "It's for Daryl. Maggie. Carol. Dwight. Sherry. Jesus. Ezekiel." Everyone nodded their head in agreement.

"Should we put it by his grave?" Glenn asked quietly. Rick remained silent for a while before answering.

"Yes, but not now. When we attack... I want to wear it."

~

"I am Netanya. I am the leader of these women. We used to live in a colony called Oceanside, but it was set on fire. I came looking for Alexandria because some people from there had found us. They tried to convince us to fight The Saviors, but we refused. Some of us had worked for The Saviors before and we know how vile they are. We went into hiding to escape them and we didn't want to be found," Netanya effortlessly explained. The other women were being treated for their injuries nearby.

"So you hoped to find Alexandria so you could join them?" Sasha furrowed her eyebrows.

"To be honest, no. I hoped to find it to seek vengeance," Netanya answered, alarming Jesus and Sasha. "We would have been fine if they hadn't come to us. At first, I believed they were the ones who burned our huts...Until we found the body."

"The body?" Sasha looked at Jesus filled with concern.

"The body of one of our women...Her head had been smashed in and there's only one person who's known to do that," Netanya's face grew darker. "Your people led Negan right to us!" She spat at Sasha. "My friends died because you all couldn't fight your own war! They would still be alive if it wasn't for you!" She stood up immediately, prompting Jesus to leap to his feet.

"Maybe," Sasha rose up. "But have you thought that even though you were living in the illusion of safety, you still were not safe? You lived in hiding, but he still found you. As long as Negan lives, you'll never be safe. You worked for him so you know firsthand that no matter how much you obey him and listen to him things still go wrong."

Netanya stayed silent at this, thinking Sasha's words over.

"You're welcome to stay here. But on the condition you fight Negan with us. You will not pursue your revenge against Alexandria," Sasha ordered.

"And if we don't fight this senseless war?" Netanya smirked.

"I'll remove you. With force, if I have to," Sasha narrowed her eyes.

"So it's either work for you or you're useless and get hurt?" The older woman sneered. "How ironic."

"We're offering you food, shelter, protection, and medical care. This is a fair exchange," Jesus glared, understanding the meaning behind her words.

"I suppose you believe you're saving us... and we owe you," Netanya's smirk didn't falter.

"I've been wanting to ask... Why are there just pure women with you? Where are the men?" Sasha questioned, her gaze locked with Netanya's.

"We kill any man who tries to join our group," Netanya wanted to know exactly what Sasha was getting at. "In this world, you can't take any chances."

Sasha nodded, content with the answer she received. She started to walk out of her office, heading over the infirmary. But not before she stated,

"You should clean the blood off your hands before you start pointing fingers."

~

"Were you able to pinpoint the outpost locations?" Eugene asked Glenn.

"Uh, no," Glenn sighed. "I can't believe I didn't ask for that." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"Well, that hurts the plan of attacking the outposts first then the main base..." Rick though out loud.

"We were going to attack the outposts first?" Glenn looked at Rick confused.

"Yes, to make sure no backup comes. Now we'll definitely need to make sure no one escapes the compound," Rick leaned on the table that the group had set up for brainstorming.

"I think it's better we attack the main compound then the smaller ones. If we kill Negan, we'll break their spirits. They'll have no one to follow, no one to look to for guidance and leadership," Glenn placed his hand on the map.

"I don't want to make a martyr of Negan," Rick stubbornly answered, unaware of the parallel he had just drawn to Negan.

"We won't. If The Saviors see that these scrawny little colonies could defeat their leader, they'll lose all willpower," Glenn's voice rose.

"Rick, he's right," Abraham stepped forward. "They only follow Negan out of fear. If they see he can't protect them, which he promises, they'll be crushed. Our biggest problem is getting to Negan."

"Okay," Rick finally agreed. "What about Dwight and Sherry? We need to emphasize how we cannot kill them. Sherry will hole up in the armory, right?"

Glenn nodded.

"Dwight will have to be in the fight against us, but no one can kill him. Understood?" Rick stressed. Everyone nodded their head in understanding.

"I have a time estimate of attacking in two weeks minimum. Four weeks maximum. We can't draw this out too long without Negan becoming suspicious. No more than four people can leave Alexandria on a daily basis to communicate between colonies. When too many people are gone, it brings attention," Rick clarified. "Eugene, will two weeks be enough for you to make bullets?"

"Yes. If not, I will go into overdrive," Eugene answered.

"Aaron, you will need to find as many guns as possible in a short amount of time," Rick instructed. "You and Eugene will need to communicate to know what types of bullets should be made." Rick thought deeply before going on. "I'll elaborate on the battle plan more when the attack draws closer. All I know right now is that we need to pick a spot where we all can meet the day of the attack. A spot away from the communities. We'll also need to plan who goes where and when they attack. I don't think a full-scale attack with everything we've got is smart. We send people in at different times. The most important things are to secure the armory and get Negan, which will be reserved for certain people. Finally, we need to inform the other communities of what has happened."

This moment felt surreal to all of them. They never imagined they would get this far in their war tactics. They were going into the belly of the beast and there was no turning back.

~

Michonne headed off towards The Kingdom, Abraham towards Hilltop, and Eugene and Aaron towards the nearby town where Eugene had accomplished making his first bullet.

The citizens watched as they went off, knowing that the end was near. Maybe for Negan, maybe for them, maybe for everyone.

As everyone walked off to start the mandatory training Rick had ordered, Rick and Carl were the last ones remaining by the wall. Carl had glared at Enid and Glenn as they went to train together, but Rick eased his anger by telling him to stay and watch the sunset with him. They watched it in complete silence, enjoying this rare moment of bonding.

"Hey, dad?" Carl looked up at his father. "When all of this is over, can... can we play a game of soccer?"

Rick was surprised by this question, but nonetheless smiled at his son. "Yes, we can play a game of soccer."

"I know it's a stupid thing to ask, but I just want a normal moment for once... I just want a life I'll never get...At least for a little while," Carl began to tear up.

Rick brought his son in for a hug, holding the son who had been forced to grow up too soon. He felt his own tears sting his eyes. He tried blinking them away, not wanting to let his son see him cry.

"I told you when you had gotten shot that I would show you the new world..." His grip tightened on Carl. "Trust in me... We'll play that game of soccer."