VIVIAN SAT IN THE GRIMES HOUSE, EXPLAINING THE SITUATION TO THE OLDER KIDS.

Meanwhile, Judith and Liam were playing on the living room carpet. Debbie was nervously playing with her hair while Carl stared down at his sister, trying to process the situation,

"So... we're going to war?" Debbie asked,

"Most likely, that's what it's going to come down to." Vivian nodded, "I don't want you two apart of it, especially you, Carl." He looked up at her, his one blue eye piercing hers, "I know you've been part of this before, but we're not gonna risk it this time. Daryl has already dealt with some of these guys, and they're dangerous. They're not gonna take it easy on you just because you're kids. This Negan guy killed a sixteen year old at Hilltop, that's not much older than you two. I'm not risking any of you, you hear me?" 

Carl stared at her for a moment before nodding, "Okay."

She was surprised at his cooperation. Back at the prison, he wanted to help to take down the Governor. She guessed that now, he knew how easy it was to lose your life out here, even behind the walls.

He's seen what some people could do.

It was silent for a moment, except for the sound of Judith's babbling while smashing the plastic car against some of the other toys,

"Can we... can we go watch a movie at ours? Just us? We've been watching Judy and Liam all day-"

"Yeah." Vivian gave them a small smile, "Sure. Go have fun."

Carl and Debbie shared a look before heading out, the Grimes boy giving his sister a pat on the head before leaving.

Vivian stared at the two youngers kids before sighing, "You want a snack?"

"Yeah!" Liam smiled up at her and Judith copied him.

"Alrighty, c'mon." Liam got to his feet and Vivian stood up, watching Judith.

She smiled as the girl pushed herself to stand and began to waddle towards Vivian, her arms raised. Judith stumbled a little, but caught herself on Vivian's legs, "Good job, Judy!" The brunette lifted her into her arms and followed Liam towards the kitchen.

The toddler was a little late on reaching her milestones. Being on the road so much, she was taught not to be loud and she was used to being carried everywhere. Vivian and the others have been trying to get her to walk and talk for a while now, and now she loved the attention she got every time she got to her feet and made a few steps.

Once the kids had some vegetables as a snack, she put them down for their nap. Vivian began to tidy up the living room when the front door opened,

Vivian turned to see Rick, who sighed and grabbed his jacket, "We're gonna go figure out a plan." He slid his jacket on and approached her slowly, "You don' have to be apart of this." 

"I should." Vivian stated as she wrapped her arms around his torso, sliding her hands into his back pockets, "You're gonna need the numbers. We don't know exactly what we're dealing with yet."

Rick leaned down and placed his lips gently on hers, "Kids?" He mumbled against her mouth,

Vivian pulled away, "The younger ones are sleeping. The older ones are at mine, watching a movie."

He raised an eyebrow, "Alone?"

"Yeah." Vivian took a step back, "Why?"

"You trust them?" Rick asked her,

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because they're teenagers, Vivian." Rick smirked, "Don't you remember being their age?"

Vivian's eyes widened once she realised what Rick was getting at, "Wait... you don't think..."

"They might be." 

Obviously they were close, but Vivian just thought that was because of their age and being in close quarters with each other. She didn't think there was anything... romantic between the two teenagers.

She never asked... why had she never asked?

"Didn't you give him the bird and bees talk?" Vivian questioned him as they walked towards the front door, grabbing the baby monitor on the way,

"No, I didn't think there was a reason to." Rick answered,

"He's fourteen, of course there's a reason to. Didn't you ever watch The Blue Lagoon?" She opened the front door to see Tara and Denise standing on the front porch,

Tara raised her eyebrows, "Gross movie. Brooke Shields was a literal child." She reached for the baby monitor, "We'll be on baby duty."

Vivian gave her a small smile, "Thanks."

The couple left the house and began heading towards one of the town houses that were still under construction, "When this is over, we're sitting those kids down and having a talk."

"A talk with who?" Finn asked as he snuck up on the duo,

"With Debbie and Carl." Vivian answered, looking over at her brother, "Are they a thing?"

"I would think so considering they're cuddling on the couch at our place right now." Finn responded,

"What?!" She paused, ready to head over to the Davis house before Finn grabbed onto her arm to keep her moving, 

"Relax. I told them hands on top of the blanket." The younger Davis replied,

"They're alone!" Vivian hissed,

"As if we've never been left alone before with the opposite sex at their age."

"Exactly."

Rick placed a hand on her lower back, "I'll send Daryl over at some point to scare them, don't worry."

They got to the house, where everyone was waiting. Andy, the Hilltop member, was drawing on a piece of paper, creating a diagram of the Saviours compound, 

"Rectangular building, big satellites on it."

"Any windows?" Rick asked, crossing his arms over his chest, 

"I don't remember any. I think they made it so there's only one way in." Andy pointed at the door,

"Guards outside?"

It would be stupid if they didn't.

"Yeah, two of them, at least." He answered,

"And you don't know how many people they have?" Michonne questioned,

"No." Andy shook his head, "Uh, I mean, no. I saw a place where they stored food. It wasn't that big, so..."

Rick shared a look with Vivian, "You've been inside?"

"Yeah. They had us load in supplies one time." Andy explained, 

"Hmm." Glenn placed another piece of paper in front of him, "What do you remember?"

Andy continued to draw the inside of the compound, it was vague, and they were still going in nearly blind, but anything helped at that point, 

"And you didn't see any other rooms?" Maggie questioned,

"No, it's a big place." He answered while continued his diagram, "This is the hallway I saw. There is more."

"And every time, they had you bring things into here?" Michonne asked, pointing at the room labelled 'pantry',

Andy paused for a moment, "Jesus." He sighed before drawing arrows, "We brought a couple spears for them. Two of the Saviors took them down this hallway. Now, they must've done something with them because they didn't come back with them."

"Maybe a weapons locker, an armoury." Jesus suggested,

"Okay." Glenn glanced at Rick, "We get in there, secure the armoury, that's how we end it."

"That's how Carol ended it here." Vivian stated, recalling the night they broke into the armoury during the party,

"But we don't know if they have an armory or where it even is." Andy told them,

"Well, we've got a lot of good guesses." Daryl grunted, "We've done more with less."

Rick nodded, "We go in at night while they're sleeping."

"The guards won't be sleeping." Andy grabbed the first paper, where he drew the outside of the Sanctuary, "Like I said, I think there's only one way in and there's no way to bust through that door without waking up the rest of them."

"We don't need to. They're going to open it for us, let us walk right in." Rick replied,

Marcie raised an eyebrow, "And why are they gonna do that?"

"They want Gregory's head, right? We're gonna give it to them."

Finn shook his head, "Look, I get that this Gregory's a grade-A douchebag, but do you think killing him is the thing to do? Might kill our chances on creating an alliance with Hilltop."

Rick turned his gaze to him, "We just gotta make them think we killed Gregory. Find a walker that looks like him, bring them its' head."

Everyone nodded, now understanding his train of thought. 

Rick ended the meeting, telling everyone to get a good night's rest. Vivian went back to her house with Finn, knowing if her and Rick were in the same bed that she wouldn't be getting any sleep.

Carl had already left the house and Debbie was in bed by the time they got back, and Vivian knew she was going to have to give them a talk after their mission.

"I think I'm gonna stay back this time." Finn stated as Vivian went around, folding the blankets the teenagers left behind on the couches, 

Vivian nodded, accepting his statement before glancing over at him, "Have you... have you had to kill anyone?"

"Not yet, no. And hopefully not anytime soon." He answered,

"It's hard. And I never thought I would have to, but it was a life or death situation." Vivian told him, "I don't want you to ever have to do that. And if I can protect you from it, I will. I don't want you apart of this."

"You can't keep everything on your shoulders, you know. You can share the weight." Finn stated,

She gave him a gentle smile before ruffling his wild hair, "I bear it so you don't have to."