meanstreak
rick grimes 𝘹 fem!𝘰𝘤
© WANDARYEN ──── 2024

"No! No way in hell. That was not the deal." Gregory waved his hands beside his head, pacing back and forth behind his desk. "You people swore you could take the Saviors out, and you failed. So any arrangement we had is now done — null and void. We aren't trade partners, we aren't friends, and we never met. Hmm? We don't know each other." He sat lazily down in his chair and turned to Rick and I, raising his eyebrows. "I owe you nothing. In fact, you owe me for taking in the refugees, at great personal risk."

I crossed my arms firmly against my chest, leaning all my weight on one foot while I gaze at the man strongly. "I highly doubt you've had to put up with a lot of shit."

Jesus slowly shook his head as well. "Oh, you were very brave staying in here while Maggie and Sasha saved this place. Your courage was inspiring."

Gregory scoffed, "hey, don't you work for me? Aren't we friends?"

Rick took a step away from me and closer towards the desk. "Gregory, we already started this."

"You started it!"

"We did." Rick responded sternly, lowering his head down at the older man. "And we're gonna win."

"These are Killers."

I narrowed my eyes on him. "So, this is how you want to live?" Rick nodded, returning to his original spot beside me. "Under their thumb, killing your people?" He added.

Gregory quickly turned his head away and swatted his hand in her direction. "S-Sometimes we don't get to choose what our life looks like. Sometimes, Ricky, — " My husband tilted his head out the corner of my eye and it took everything in me not to laugh. "-- You have to count the blessings you have."

Maggie stepped forward next. "How many people can we spare? How many people here can fight?"

He scoffed once again. "We? I don't even know how many people we have, Margaret."

"Her name is Maggie," I corrected him through gritted teeth, only for him to ignore me entirely as he continued. "And does it even matter? I mean," he slowly shook his head towards my sister. "What are you gonna do? Start a platoon of sorghum farmers? Cause that's what we got. They grow things — they're not gonna want to fight."

"You're wrong," Tara spoke up. "When people have the chance to do the right thing, they usually step up."

"You're wrong for deciding this for them — for your people, without even giving them a chance to speak for themselves." I abruptly turned around, focusing my gaze on the window between Michonne and Carl.

Gregory groaned behind me. "I mean, people just -- let me stop you before you break into song, okay?" The room grew silent, but I imagined all of my friends sending him several frustrated glances. "And by the way, who would train all this cannon fodder?"

"I will," Sasha spoke up the same moment Rosita responded. "Give me a week."

He laughed in their faces, responding in a sing-song voice that caused me to turn back around annoyedly. "Rhetorical, okay?" I reached up and brushed my hair out of my face tiredly. "I don't want to know. I never want to hear another word about any of it, ever."

"Would we be better off without the Saviors, yes or no?" Rick asked with his arm stretched out towards the man.

"Yeah! Sure. Okay."

"So, let's do something about it!" I snapped as calmly as I could, stepping around Rick to stand in front of the desk. "What are you going to do to fix the problem?"

His eyes slowly lifted towards mine. "I didn't say we had a problem. You did. And what happens outside of my purview is outside of my purview." I brought my hands to my mouth, restraining myself from jumping over this desk and strangling him. "Oh, my God," I muttered under my breath by turning back to Rick and Michonne. "He's fucking stupid."

"Heard that!"

"You were meant to," I scoffed, folding my arms back over my chest.

Daryl pushed himself off the wall towards the center of the room. "What the hell, man? You're either with us or you ain't. You're sitting over there talking out of both sides of your mouth."

"I -- I think I've made my position very clear." He started adjusting the cuffs of his jacket before standing up from his chair. "And I want to thank all of you for not being here today and not having this meeting with me or -- or being seen on your way out. In other words — go out the back."

Rick was the first to nod and make his way out of the office, the rest of us quickly following behind to get out from under that idiot's presence.

"Walking ballsack." Rosita grunted.

Sasha slowly shook her head, stopping in front of me. "Wanna knock that idiot's teeth out." I raised my eyebrows, silently nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, well, we don't need him anyway." Daryl spoke, being the last to step out of the room.

"Yeah, that's right." Rick nodded. "'Cause we have Maggie and Sasha and Jesus here."

The front door of the building opened and Maggie turned, a smile stretching across her lips. "And Enid." I smiled upon seeing the young girl — our last conversation being when Maggie had her accident. It was nice to see her still holding it together — maybe even happier here at Hilltop.

"What's wrong?" Sasha questioned.

She shook her head, gesturing outside. "Nothing, just — " She chuckled softly and bowed her head. "Come outside."

Rick and I briefly exchanged glances before following Maggie outside on the front porch where a group of residents here at Hilltop gathered. "What's going on?" Maggie questioned first and an older black woman, who's name I wasn't familiar with, stepped forward. "Hey. So, if you don't remember, I'm Bertie. And I owe my life to you all, twice over. A bunch of us do." She nervously rubbed her hands together. "Enid says that you want Gregory to get us to fight the Saviors with you. Is that true?"

"Yes." Maggie nodded.

"Do you think we can win, that we really could beat them? Us?"

"I do."

The woman, Bertie, sighed like she was hopeful — as if the weight on her shoulders was finally falling off. "Well, Enid says you could show us the way. I'm ready."

"Me too," a man spoke, followed by several "yeah's" amongst the group.

A large smile slowly stretched and I quickly peered up at Rick — noticing he was already watching me with a lingering smile. His hand reached for mine, and I quickly laced our fingers together with a gentle squeeze.

Maggie appeared beside me, a small paper bag in her grasp and held it towards me. "Here, we have plenty of prenatal vitamins to spare — I'm not sure if you've run out in Alexandria." I took the bag happily, throwing my arms around her neck for a hug. "Thank you," I breathed out softly. "It's more than enough – thank you for thinking of me."

"Of course," she smiled wide, lightly brushing my hair off my shoulders. "It's getting longer — sure you don't want that haircut?"

I laughed softly, "no, not yet. Maybe once all of this is over."

Rick gently took the bag from my grasp, rolling up the object with the bottle of pills and tucking it into his back pocket. "Thank you, Maggie. We'll find a way to exchange something else in return." His hand found mine again and I watched as my sister tilted her head at us.

"All you need to do is protect my niece or nephew," she nodded at Rick while gesturing towards my stomach. "Keep my sister safe — that's all I ask."

He bowed his head with a nod, smiling to himself before pulling her into a strong embrace. "We'll be back when we can. Take good care of yourself." We started walking down the steps and I quickly pointed towards my sister, calling out to her before we moved too far away. "Tell that baby its aunt Sienna is anticipating its arrival!"

Maggie laughed wholeheartedly with a nod of her head. "I will!"

"It's a start," Michonne nodded as the entire group started making our way towards the gate.

"We'll get more," Sasha added. "It might not be enough – "

"No, it won't," Rosita added as well.

"Well, we find the right stuff, then maybe we don't need the numbers." Daryl turned to us and I quickly looked up at him, a nervous feeling growing in my stomach thinking about Negan ever finding him again. "Blow 'em up, burn 'em to the ground."

Tara turned to face the group, walking backwards carefully without missing a step. "You said there weren't just soldiers with the Saviors, that there were workers there."

"Didn't have a choice," he shrugged. "We gotta win."

"We need more hands, another group. Negan has outposts." Rick added, his hand tightening in mine. "The geography, the distance works against us. We gotta get back. If they come looking for Daryl, we need to be there."

Before we reached the gate, Paul rushed up to us and raised his arm in the air. "You don't have to get back. Not yet." He pulled a walkie from his pocket and smiled. "It's one of theirs, long range. We can listen in, keep track of them."

Michonne slowly shifted beside me. "So, if we're not going back, what are we doing, then?"

I watched as Paul tucked the walkie back into his pocket, tilting his head to the side with a lingering smile still resting on his lips. "I think it's time we introduced you to Ezekiel. King Ezekiel."

"King?" Rick and I responded simultaneously.

Paul and Rick were the first to step out of the vehicle. I purposely stepped over Daryl, ignoring his grunts and hand swatting to get me out of his personal space. "It's called the kingdom?" Rick asked – clearly unsure of the entire thing.

"Yeah," Paul pressed his lips together in a firm line. "I didn't name it."

I propped my hands on my waist and took a second to briefly scan the area. "So, how much farther?" I turned back to Paul and he nodded. "Well, technically, we're already here. I mean, we're always here, but here we are -- at the Kingdom. Well, its outer edge."

The others started piling out of the car, a very annoyed Daryl making an appearance beside me now. "Hey, what the hell we waitin' on?"

The corner of Paul's lips curled upwards as he turned and pointed down the road. "Waiting for them." I squinted past the sun, raising my hand to block the rays from beating against my face — that's when I heard the sound of horses approaching. Their feet kicking against the pavement in a soft patters.

"Oh my God," I sighed softly, amazement flickering across my face. "Horses? They have horses?"

"Haven't seen any since the farm," Rick whispered in my direction and I nodded quickly.

"Who dares to trespass on the sovereign land of the — " The first man that spoke paused abruptly, tilting his head in our direction the closer he and the other drew closer. "Oh, shit. Jesus, is that you?"

"Who are all these people, Paul?" The other man spoke.

I slightly tilted my head back towards Rick, dropping my voice down to a whisper but focusing my gaze on the men riding horses. "Did they just approach us like we were in the medieval times?"

He chuckled softly beside me. "I think so, angel."

"Hi, Richard." Paul waved. ""Nice to see you."

The men on horses stopped a few feet before us. "It's good to see you, too." Richard responded before nodding towards us. "Your friends, who are they?"

Standing beside us, Paul turned to Rick and I. "This is Rick and Sienna Grimes. They're the leaders of a like-minded community." He slowly turned to Daryl, Michonne, and the others that waited awkwardly by the car. "These are some of his people. We would like to request an audience with King Ezekiel."

Richard climbed down from the horse, lightly petting its back with one hand while the other carried a handgun. "Get out of the car." One by one the others of our group climbed out of the vehicle but remained silent. "You say they're a like-minded community. Like-minded how?"

"We live, we trade, we fight the dead." Paul spoke, slightly shrugging his shoulders while directing his gaze towards Richard. "Sometimes others."

The man nodded once. "Line up."

Daryl scoffed from beside the car, ready to turn back around. "Okay. This is a waste of time. Come on. Let's go."

"Maybe you're right." Richard spoke up with an unbothered tone. "The King is a busy man. And it's a dangerous world. We don't usually allow a pack of strangers to waltz through our door."

Michonne took a stance beside me, followed by Carl, and Sasha. "We want to make the world less dangerous," she nodded. "And we are all here to show the King how serious we are about that."

"One chance to speak with him is all we ask," I added in agreement.

Richard's gaze flickered between mine and Ricks before ultimately nodding. "The car stays outside. You gotta hand over your guns."

Rick sighed beside me and I immediately handed over the handgun. "We only have three." He pulled out his own, taking mine and Carl's before handing it to the others.

"Okay, follow me," Richard ordered.

The moment we stepped inside the kingdom after our long walk from the parking lot, I was immediately enthralled by the beauty of the community – how large it was and full of life. Children running around, small groups of people training, and endless pots full of plants.

"They have the numbers," Michonne smiled wide.

"But can they fight?" Rosita questioned just as I kneeled down in front of the bright green plant resting in front of me. "It's beautiful," I complimented while reaching up and gently stroking one of the leaves. "I'm almost a little jealous — our Alexandria, it's been through so much." I gazed up at Rick from over my shoulder and he nodded knowingly. "They've managed to keep this place intact — alive." My eyes fell upon a figure behind Rick, a familiar face that brought me joy. "Morgan?"

He slowly walked up to us, Richard standing beside him, and a smile stretched across his lips once he recognized us as an entire group. "Hey," he greeted softly, accepting Tara's hug on approach.

"It's so good to see you," I smiled widely at the man – in which he put an arm around my shoulder. "Good to see you too," he nodded.

"How do you know each other?" Richard asked.

Rick smiled. "We go back to the start."

"Well, the King is ready to see you." Richard was the first to enter the building and I followed right behind him. One by one the group followed my lead, Rick being the last to enter the building so I took my chance to ask the most basic question I could conjure up. "So, do we bow?"

Unfortunately my question was ignored, but when I stepped out from behind Richard after entering a theater — my jaw nearly fell to the ground as I watched a tiger sink down beside a man sitting on a throne.

"What the fu—" I quickly clamped my mouth shut when Rick suddenly tapped my shoulder, insisting I keep my mouth shut out of fear.

"Jesus!" The man in the chair stretched his arms open wide with a greeting smile. "It pleases me to see you, old friend."

"It pleases him, indeed!" Another man spoke happily, earning a soft glare from the king. "Jerry." My gaze flickered back and forth between the men before falling back on Ezekiel. "Tell me, what news do you bring good King Ezekiel? Are these new allies you've brought me?"

Paul took a few paces ahead of us with a nod. "Indeed, they are, Your Majesty. This is — " just as he turned to face us, I immediately raised my eyebrow at him before pointing a single finger towards the giant tiger. "Oh, right," he smiled sheepishly. "I forgot to mention that — "

"Yeah," Rick drawled. "A tiger."

It roared in response and I voluntarily leaned backwards, only to bump into Michonne. "This is Rick and Sienna Grimes," Paul quickly added, gesturing towards us. "The leaders of Alexandria, and these are some of their people."

As a single file line, we slowly moved down the center past the chairs and towards the stage. My gaze carried back and forth between the people dressed — characteristically, before focusing my attention back on the wild animal lounging in front of us.

"I welcome you all to the Kingdom, good travelers. Now, what brings you to our fair land? Why do you seek an audience with the King?"

Rick hesitantly stepped forward. "Ezekiel – King Ezekiel." He quickly corrected himself with a nod. "Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom -- all three of our communities have something in common. We all serve the Saviors." Richard, who placed himself on the stage beside Ezekiel, silently turned to his king hoping for some kind of reaction but his expression remained still. "Alexandria already fought them once, and we won. We thought we took out the threat, but we didn't know then what we know now. We only beat one outpost. We've been told you have a deal with them — that you know them. Then you know they rule through v*violence and fear."

I silently watched the king turn his gaze down towards Paul, eyes narrowing slightly. "Your Majesty," Paul spoke up nervously. "I only told them of the –"

"Our deal with the Saviors is not known among my people -- for good cause." Ezekiel slowly turned back to Rick. "We made you a party to that secret when you told us of the Hilltop's own travails, but we did not expect you to share –"

I carefully took a step forward beside Rick. "We can help each other, in any way – we'll offer – "

"Don't interrupt the King." Jerry cut me off strongly, my gaze falling on him briefly before focusing on Ezekiel again who continued. "We brought you into our confidence. Why did you break it?"

"Because I want you to hear Rick and Sienna's plans." He quickly responded.

"And what plans have you, Rick and Sienna Grimes of Alexandria?"

"We came to ask the Kingdom, to ask you," Rick gestured towards the stage, remaining in his position beside me. "To join us in fighting the Saviors, fighting for freedom for all of us."

Ezekiel slightly turned his head. "What you are asking is very serious."

"We've lost a lot of people," I lowered my head towards the man and his gaze flickered towards mine. "Good people — our family. They were killed by the saviors, brutally. They weren't supposed to die."

"Who?" Morgan piped up from the corner of the room, near the exit door.

"Abraham." Rosita bit out strongly. "Glenn. Spencer, Olivia. Eugene was taken — they took Daryl. He escaped. Every second he's out here, he's a target." She leaned forward with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. "You gonna say you were right?"

Morgan bowed his head quickly. "No, I'm — I'm just real sorry they're gone."

I felt Ricks hand hover over my back and I subconsciously covered my stomach with my arm while he spoke. "Negan murdered Glenn and Abraham, beat them to death."

"Terrorized the Hilltop, set loose walkers just to make a point." Sasha added.

Paul nodded his head and turned back to Ezekiel. "I used to think the deal was something we could live with. A lot of us did. But that's changing. So let's change the world, Your Majesty."

"I want to be honest about what we're asking." Rick countered softly. "My people are strong, but there's not enough of us. We don't have guns -- not enough, at least. Not a lot of weapons, period."

Richard, who was still focusing his gaze on the king, turned to us quickly. "We have people. And weapons. If we strike first, together, we can beat them." Hope began to blossom in my chest as I watched Richard turn fully to his friend. "Your Majesty, no more waiting for things to get worse beyond what we can handle. We set things right. The time is now."

Ezekiel tilted his head, "Morgan, what say you?"

"Me?"

His eyebrows raised slowly. "Speak."

I turned to Morgan, my arm still weighing over my stomach as he slowly shifted on his feet nervously. "People will die. A lot of people, and not just the Saviors. It — If we can find another way, we have to." My lips parted slowly, a subtle shake of my head as he spoke. "Maybe it's just about Negan -- just capturing him, holding him. Maybe — "

I quickly stepped forward, Rick reaching for my arm but I grabbed onto one of the theater seats with sudden tears rushing between my eyes. "Morgan. There is no other way. He's not just going to let this go, he's not going to just throw the white flag." I raised my eyebrows at the man. "You were there when that group attacked Alexandria. They were killing us. Imagine that but ten times worse. " My grip on the chair tightened and my knuckles turned white against the strain. "My children — "

"The hour grows late." Ezekiel cut me off by standing from his chair, followed by the giant beast growling towards my group. Rick gently pulled me back into his chest but held my hands, giving me something to grasp onto instead of the furniture. "Rick and Sienna Grimes of Alexandria — you have given the King much to ponder."

Rick slowly stepped beside me but kept his hold on my hand as he spoke. "Well, when I was a kid, uh, my mother told me a story. There was a road to a kingdom, and there was a rock in the road." His fingers lightly strummed against my inner wrist, the pad of his finger grazing against the spot that carried my heartbeat. "And people would just avoid it, but horses would break their legs on it and die, wagon wheels would come off. People would lose the goods they'd be coming to sell. That's what happened to a little girl. The cask of beer her family brewed fell right off — It broke."

"Dirt soaked it all up, and it was gone. That was her family's last chance," he continued calmly. "They were hungry. They didn't have any money. She just — sat there and cried, but she wondered why it was still there for it to hurt someone else. So she dug at that rock in the road with her hands till they bled, used everything she had to pull it out. It took hours." I furrowed my eyebrows slightly, intentionally listening to his story and the message behind it. "And then when she was gonna fill it up, she saw something in it. It was a bag of gold."

"All right," Jerry whispered happily, earning a look from the younger boy beside him.

"The king had put that rock in the road because he knew the person who dug it out, who did something, they deserved a reward. They deserved to have their life changed for the good — forever."

The king bowed his head slowly, his gaze faltering on the stage floor before bringing his attention back to us. "I invite you all to sup with us and stay till the morrow."

My shoulders slacked immediately and I shook my head. "We can't," I muttered softly. "We need to get back home."

Ezekiel breathed in slowly through his nose and tilted his head. "I shall deliver my decree in the morn." He banged his staff against the floor and just like that — all my hope in its tiny bubble burst.