THE NEXT MORNING, THOSE WHO VOLUNTEERED TO GO PILED INTO THE RV,

There were more trucks following behind. They drove out onto some road many miles out and laid on the horn.

The plan was to attract walkers, a bunch of them, and find one that looks similar to Gregory.

If this was a few years ago, Vivian would think they were insane for purposely drawing walkers in. Heck, she thinks they're insane now.

"We'll peel off every quarter mile, meet back here in a couple of hours." Rick announced to the group, "See what we got."

Vivian paused and glanced around, deciding which area she wanted to explore. She spotted Heath and Glenn walking off into the woods and decided to join them.

Glenn gave her a small smile, holding a fist out for her to fist bump him. She returned the gesture before walking beside him, with Heath in front.

"How'd you do it?" Glenn asked quietly, glancing over at his friend,

"Do what?"

"Step up. Be a... be a mom, I guess. To Liam, and Judith. To Carl." Glenn explained,

Vivian gave him a smirk, "You're nervous. I get it." She shrugged, "I just... I had to. It was sudden I didn't get to think about it." Vivian squeezed his arm, "It'll be the same for you. You have to be a good dad. You have to be there. For Maggie and for the baby."

But just like her, he had a whole group behind him. Everyone was ready to step in and help.

Unlike her, he had walls. He had a safe place to raise his child.

He was so lucky.

Past the trees, there was a field with tall grass. They could hear multiple walkers making their way towards the road, and the three of them got ready. With only their knives, they took down half a dozen walkers before observing their faces, trying to find one that could fit Gregory's description.

They couldn't be too decomposed. It had to have the right head shape, the right skin tone. It was a lot harder than it looked.

"What do you think?" Heath asked motioning to a walker laying in the grass,

Vivian stared down at the body, trying to compare it to the mousy man that's in charge of a whole ass community.

"Maybe." Glenn sighed, kneeling down next to the corpse, "If we, um, cut the hair... trim the beard."

"If it's dark." Vivian muttered,

Glenn stood and Heath spoke, "We're gonna kill those people. Tonight." They both stared at him, trying to understand what he was getting at, "Look, I've been lucky. I haven't had to do it before. Have you?"

The two glanced at each other before Glenn shook his head, "I've been lucky, too."

Heath's eyes turned to Vivian, who nodded, "I've... I've had to, yeah. In the moment, when it's life and death, you can't think about it. It's surviving... But... I haven't gone up to someone in their sleep and murdered them in cold blood." She glanced at the two men between her, "You're both nervous, aren't you?"

Glenn nodded, "Have you ever seen something that, um... afterwards, you- you didn't want to sleep and you weren't hungry because when you close your eyes you could see it? And when you try to eat..."

"Yeah." Heath replied,

"Me, too." Glenn paused, "Killing somebody has gotta be worse than that. It has to be. So, yeah... I'm nervous. For the whole thing, man. For the whole thing."

"It'll go the way it has to." Vivian sighed, kneeling and holding her hand out for the hatchet Heath was holding, "The way it was always meant to."

Once they decapitated the walker, they began heading back to the road where the others were waiting. Before they made it to the asphalt, Vivian reached out to stop Glenn,

"Hey." He paused and turned to her, "It takes a village. And you have one. You're not alone. We'll be there for you and Maggie and the baby."

Glenn have her a soft smile, "Thank you."

Once back with the main group, Rick gathered everyone around to go over the plan. Daryl was sat on the hood of the truck, while Marcie kept her feet on the ground but leaned up against the front of the vehicle, not far from him.

In front of the truck, leaning up against the grill, was Maggie. Marcie didn't want her out here, not with her being pregnant. Not after the wall collapsing in Alexandria and they got surrounded by walkers.

Marcie was being more protective of her, but was not trying to be overbearing. But she wasn't sure why Glenn or Rick allowed her to be a part of this mission.

"We're gonna take a look around, try to get a feel for how many people are in there. We like how it looks, we go in. A couple of hours before dawn. The guards outside'll be tired. Everyone inside'll be sleeping."

Marcie didn't like the sound of that. Ambushing people in their sleep, not giving any of them a chance to defend themselves. It reminded her of the Governor, and not in a good way.

"We don't like what we see, we head back, make a new plan. They don't know who we are. We'll keep Jesus in the shadows. This is how we eat." Rick stated, reminding them that these weren't good people, "This is how we eat."

He stayed silent, waiting for any objections, "We roll out at midnight."

Everyone separated and Marcie approached Rick, arms crossed over her chest, "Why is Maggie here?"

"She's guarding the perimeter." Rick answered,

"Yeah, but why is she here?" Marcie asked again. Rick knew of her condition, yet he let her come out here where things can so easily go wrong.

"'Cause it's her choice." He told her,

Marcie sighed, running her fingers through her hair, "I want to stay out there with her."

Rick shook his head, "Well, this whole thing's a race to the armory. We need as many people inside as we can get."

"You know she shouldn't be out there alone. She shouldn't be out here in the first place. So please... let me be with her." She begged.

Their leader glanced around and made eye contact with Daryl, who was still sitting on the hood of the truck.

"Yeah... yeah, okay."

"Thank you."

He gave her a nod before walking away, going to see which walker they decided to make their Gregory.

Marcie watched him leave, and a pair of boots scraped the asphalt behind her, "All good?" Daryl grunted,

"Yeah." She turned to face her partner, "I'm on perimeter watch with Maggie."

"Good." He moved to stand next to her, "Won' have ta worry about keepin' an eye on ya."

Marcie rolled her eyes, "I can take care of myself, Daryl, you know that. You don't have to worry about me out here."

"I know." He squeezed her hand, the only PDA he was comfortable doing around other people, before dropping it, "C'mon, let's get ready."

Night soon came, and once the clock hit midnight, Andy was sent in to the outpost with the rotting head in a bag. While the guards greeted Andy, Daryl went in on foot. Once they got a look at the head and was fooled into believing it was Gregory, one guard went inside to get Nathan's brother.

Daryl took out the remaining guard before signalling for the group to swoop in. They all ran in, taking the guard's body away quickly before leaving Andy behind to take care of the other one.

The man walked out with Nathan's brother, who looked a little beat up, "Well, well, well. Look who it is." He didn't get the chance to say anything else as Michonne ran her sword through the man's chest.

Nathan's brother gasped and before he could scream, Andy grabbed onto him, "It's okay, it's okay. We're bringing you back. We're bringing you back."

Rick put the man down, stabbing him in the head, before grabbing the keys and tossing them to Daryl.

They stayed quiet and efficient to keep from waking any of the others.

Andy, Tara and Gabriel took Nathan's brother to the truck while the others went inside, armed and ready.

Vivian stayed behind Glenn, her eyes searching the rusty halls filled with dingy lighting for any sign of danger, "Check the doors. Find the arsenal." Rick whispered, "We take them out."

She stayed in the hallway while others entered the bedrooms, taking out the enemy side one by one while they slept.

Vivian didn't want to do it. It was cold and calculated, so unlike what she has done before.

But she didn't want Glenn to do it either.

She spotted him in a bedroom with Heath, raising a knife above a man's sleeping face. Vivian stepped in and placed a gentle hand over his.

She would bear it, so he doesn't have to.

Vivian took the knife from him before bringing it down into the man's brain. Glenn stepped back, forcing himself to keep the tears at bay.

She turned to Heath, who was dealing with the same mental struggles. Vivian did the same thing, using Glenn's knife to take the stranger out.

Heath gave her an appreciative nod before walking out of the room.

"There's no way back from that." Vivian whispered to him, "I'll take the weight."

"Thank you."

She nodded before her eyes moved to polaroids that were pinned to the wall above the bed. She had similar ones at home of the kids, or her family.

But these weren't that kind of sentimental photos.

They were brutal and gory. Full of blood and brain matter. Beaten in heads.

They kept trophies of their conquests.

That triggered the switch in Vivian. These men weren't innocent.

They were monsters who needed to be put down. Before they harmed Vivian's family.

Vivian let out a gasp and covered her ears as a loud alarm began to resonate throughout the building. She knew what it meant.

They were awake. And they were going to fight back.

Now it was kill or be killed.

Vivian knew Glenn wouldn't hesitate in this situation.

They ran down a hallway, Vivian shooting behind them while Glenn was shooting at a locked door. The trio ran into the door, having it open immediately. Vivian slammed it behind them and they covered themselves as bullets rained through the metal.

Once the shots stopped, Vivian stood up and smiled, "Fuck yeah."

They found the armoury.

The three of them grabbed a gun and began shooting through the door once again, knowing they had all the ammo they needed.

Right when they thought it wasn't going to work out, things began to look up.

Luck was on their side just a little bit.

After emptying their magazines, Glenn went to open the door. Vivian tried to keep everything in her stomach at the sight.

There was so much blood. While she wasn't a stranger to it, it still made her feel uneasy.

Bodies littered the floor, and chunks of flesh had been ripped off their corpses. Some of them were unrecognisable.

"If it wasn't them, it was going to be us." Vivian whispered.

A man sitting against the wall, who happened to still be alive, raised his gun towards Vivian. Before any of them could reach, a shot went off.

Vivian closed her eyes, thinking she was a goner. But she didn't feel any pain.

In front of them stood Jesus, a bandana over his face. He lowered his gun and face covering, his eyes locked on the bodies,

"So, this is the next world."

The sun had rose by the time it was over. The group exited the building, making their way to their vehicles parked in the back. Heath and Tara said their goodbyes before heading out on their long mission.

Vivian stood there for a moment, letting the soft rain hit her skin. Rick walked over to her, sliding his hands along her waist and pressing a kiss against her hair,

"What is it?" He mumbled against her skin.

"Just wanna know which one of them was Negan." Or if any of them were Negan.

The sound of a loud motor caught everyone's attention. A man on a motorcycle, a familiar motorcycle, came speeding out of the garage. Rick and Daryl fired their guns and the man fell off the bike.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl began sprinting towards the man, who was now on his feet. He tackled him back into the grass and landed a few punches to the face before speaking, "Where'd you get the bike?!"

Vivian looked over at the motorcycle, it was Daryl's. The one he got stolen from him during their mission to lead the hundreds of walkers away from Alexandria.

Rick aimed his gun at the man, ready to end it once Daryl got his answers. Everyone else raised their guns and were on high alert, in case they missed anyone else.

"Just do it!" The man spat blood onto Daryl, "Like you did everyone else, right?"

The radio laying in the grass next to them began to crackle, "Lower your gun, prick." A woman spoke, "You, with the Colt Python. All of you, lower your weapons right now."

Rick didn't listen, keeping his gun trained on the man while he grabbed the radio and raised it to his lips, "Come on out. Let's talk."

Daryl stood, aiming his own gun at the man,

"We're not coming out, but we will talk." The woman stated, "We've got a Carol, a Marcie, and a Maggie. I'm thinking that's something you want to chat about."

Vivian began to spin slowly, trying to figure out where the woman was, "Shit."