𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗥, 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻

❝𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗦 𝗨𝗣!" Maggie announced as she watched the girls eyes flutter open. Maggie quickly moved to her daughters side and grabbed her hand. "Hey, good mornin'."

Ivy's lips formed a small smile. "Hi, mom." Ivy greeted. Her voice was weak, and she was extremely pale. Ivy's eyes shifted to Rick, Michonne, Enid, and Rosita walking in.

Enid quickly ran up to the bed. "You're okay." The girl breathed out happily. Ivy began to sit up, but Enid tried to stop her.

"I wouldn't recommend sitting up, o—or standing." Siddiq noted as the girl stood up slowly from the bed. Maggie looked over at the man. "You know, that's actually really normal. Due to all the adrenaline, she kinda can just... conquer the world."

Rick crossed his arms and laughed. "Yeah, and all that sleeping she's been doing." Rick added. Ivy's legs wobbled, but she straightened herself. "You we're out for a few hours."

Ivy shrugged. "I feel great."

𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗔𝗗𝗩𝗜𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗩𝗬 to stay inside, but she never listened. It had been a day since she got released from Siddiqs custody and she felt fine— well, that's what she said. She stood on the steps of the Barrington house, looking down at an old newspaper with writing on it. Ivy looked up at Maggie and sighed.

"This is the end?" Ivy asked.

Maggie nodded. "I hope so." The woman said. "I don't want you coming, but I know I can't stop you."

"He killed Glenn, and Abraham, and he might've killed Carl. I want to be there." Ivy stated. Maggie sighed softly. "I just... I want to know what happened to Carl before Negan dies. He's the only one who can give me the real answer."

Ivy wanted Negan dead— needed him dead, even. But, Carls words stayed in the back of her head. He told Enid and Ivy in the car as they drove to The Hilltop. His words weren't cruel, but they hurt. And the sad part was he was right.

"We killed Negans people, and he killed ours. Everyone's in the wrong."

Maggie frowned. "I'll do everything I need to do to find out what happened to Carl." Maggie assured the girl. Ivy pulled her lips into a forced half smile. "I promise."

𝗜𝗩𝗬𝗦 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗕𝗢𝗢𝗧𝗦 stepped over leaves, crunching heard beneath everyone's boots. It was a beautiful day. It was entering autumn, and it was lovely. It was such a beautiful day for bloodshed, a massacre, homicide,

and the death of Negan Smith.

Ivy shivered, her army green jacket not helping the wind blowing on her. She walked in between her mother and Rick, her two protectors. A strand flew out of her ponytail as the wind blew directly into her face.

"You alright?" Maggie asked. Ivy nodded, which Maggie didn't believe. "Stitches? Tired? Cold?" Maggie looked around before continuing. "Carl?"

The name made Ivy flinch, and Rick as well. Having to hear his supposed to be daughter in law take about his late son was hurtful.

"Just... thinking." Ivy answered. "Big day."

Everyone stopped in their tracks and looked out into the distance. "Oh, jesus." Rosita muttered. The sight of a massive herd of walkers filled everyones eyes. Ivy sighed and looked down at the ground.

"Holy damn." Jerry added. "You ever seen one that big?"

Rick shook his head. "No." The man replied. "Things are changing." Changing, yes, but for the better? Who knows anymore. "Let's go."

"How much further?" Daryl asked Ezekiel.

"We grow closer." The king answered "Yonder, over the ridge."

Everyone began walking, but Ivy stopped and looked at the herd. A million thoughts ran through her mind. She didn't want to believe Carl was dead, but if he was alive, he would've found his way back already. None of it made sense. It didn't make sense how someone could just get so comfortable with you, and make their own spot in your life, then just leave.

"Shoulda stayed home with all them stitches." A voice broke Ivy from her thoughts. She turned to see the archer standing before her, holding his crossbow and shooting her a sympathetic look. "You bust them things open, girl... We gon' have some problems."

Ivy smiled slightly and grabbed his hand. The two started walking, following the group not far before them. Everyone made their way uphill, walking for a few more minutes. Ivy didn't dare to let go of Daryl due to her needing some form of touch, someone reminding her that they're there, for her.

As the large group took a few more steps, they heard a familiar sound. They heard the sounds of the whistles they once heard a few weeks back. Hitting the same keys they once heard before the deaths of Abraham and Glenn.

Ivy felt her chest tighten, and her breath started to jag. She looked around, and her head felt like it was spinning. It felt like the whole world was spin, and no one was with her. Her eyes fluttered open and shut as sweat dripped down her forehead, even with the cool fall air flowing through.

She started hearing whispers around her. Which sent her into a full panic. Her vision blurred slightly as she saw a figure flash in front of her, and then another one, and another one.

"I—I found you." Ivy heard. Her heart dropped as she saw Glenn standing in front of her. A few feet away, the father she used to look up to, all bloodied with his eye popping out. "Hey, V."

Ivy heard another pair of feet shuffling towards her. She looked to her right and saw Abraham, bloodied as well. "Negan can suck my nuts, that's for sure." The man joked, laughing a little.

The two men flashed away when a hushed voice spoke. "V!" Daryl whisper yelled. Ivy looked over at Daryl with wide, tear filled eyes. Ivy whipped her head in every direction as she inspected everyone, guns up, and ready. Ivy mimicked everyone else and raised her sniper.

The whistles came from every direction just like the last time. It mentally pained Ivy, and she tried to keep herself together.

"Well, damn, Rick, look at that." The painfully familiar voice boomed through the trees. Negans voice always hurt Ivy, but this time, she felt ill listening to the sound of him. "Pegged again. Pegged so very hard."

"In fact, you are pegged, more pegged if you don't do what I want." Negan explained. Ivy sat there, not knowing a few moments later she was going to see one of her best friends and her dad die brutally. Right in front of her.

Ivy shivered, but not from the cold, the mans choice of words. He knew what he was doing. He wanted the group to suffer, even after everything he's put them through.

"I ambushed your ambush with an even bigger ambush." Negan stated. Ivy bit her cheek, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth and staining her teeth.

Rick lowered his gun slightly. "How about you step out and face us?" Rick yelled.

"Oh, I am everywhere, Rick." Negan answered, his designated spot still anonymous. "Some more bullhorns, more walkies. Pick a direction to run. See how you do. Make it fun for all of us."

"Guess what else I did?" Negan asked as he continued. "I brought you some of your old friends. You remember your old buddy Eugene?"

Ivy's jaw clenched. "Pendejo." Ivy muttered only loud enough for herself to hear. The girl herself didn't know if she was calling Eugene or Negan the crude name— but maybe it was both.

"Well, he is the person that made today possible. Same goes for Dwight boy here. In case you were wondering he didn't ream you on purpose." Ivy looked around along with the group, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. "No, he is just a—a gutless nothin' that sucks at life, and now he gets to stand up here and watch you all die, and he's gonna live with that."

"Gabriel, well..." Ivy didn't expect her body to have a reaction, but a singular tear from her eye at the sound of Gabe's name. Negan was ruthless, He'd kill anyone.

Ivy flinched when she heard a gun cock. "...he's got to go, too." Ivy frowned at Negans words. Everyone was dying because of The Saviors, and then she remembered—

Her sister and Lacey are Saviors. They're working alongside an evil man. The most cruel, and vile person known to mankind.

"We are cleaning house today, Rick."

The way he could make jokes about this kind of stuff like it was nothing was sickening. It made her ill. Reminded her of the day Negan killed her father and laughed. The day he bashed poor Abrahams head and joked.

That made her see red.

The memories of all the blood, the trauma, and the thoughts she would now have to live with because of Negan blurred her thoughts. Glenn, and Abraham stuck in her mind, bloodied and beaten. But, one name snapped her out of everything.

Carl.

This isn't what he wanted. Ivy was torn once again. Does she honor her dead boyfriend, or her dead father? The girl was always stuck in the middle of the worst situations. If she didn't honor Carl, she would have to live with that fact that she didn't fulfill her boyfriends dying wish. But if she didn't kill Negan, she'd have to live with the guilt of not honoring Abraham and Glenn.

"And then... there's you." Negans voice pulled Ivy from her thoughts. "It never had to be a fight. You just had to accept how things are. So... here we go. Congratulations, Rick."

Ivy took a deep breath in and looked at Maggie, who just simply nodded. Everyone raised their guns and awaited Negans first move.

"Three!"

"Two!"

Everyone looked up and saw a line of Saviors emerge from behind the hill. The stood on top, looking down at everyone, armed to the teeth.

"One!"

The Saviors all began shooting, but they're bullets exploded. They were all sent flying back, even Negan. All The Saviors were shooting in pain, and the group looked around at each other with confused looks.

"Now!" Rick yelled. The group ran towards The Saviors, ready to fight. Ivy could see out of the corner of her eye a beautiful sight. Eugene, Dwight, and Gabriel attacking Negan. It was lovely.

A Savior came towards Ivy, who she easily shot. Another came closer, and Maggie shot the man, not wanting him to get to close to Ivy.

The two Rhee girls looked and saw Negan running away. "He's running!" Maggie yelled. Ivy followed the group, shooting at about four Saviors, not sparing any lives.

The group stumbled across a bunch of Saviors dead on the ground, and some live ones. But, they had their guns down, and their arms up. Ivy lowered her gun and held it by her side.

"Don't shoot." Laura spoke. "Please." She got down on her knees, and the rest of The Saviors did the same. "We're done. It's over." The rest of Ivy's group lowered their guns. The Saviors weren't in the way anymore, it was just Negan.

Ivy heard one gunshot, and she knew it was Rick or Negan. Everyone moved cautiously towards the sound, finally locating the sound of punches and grunts. The sight of Rick and Negan fighting came into view.

Rick was on the ground, groaning in pain as Negan stood above him with Lucille. Negan was telling him something, not audible for anyone to hear.

But, one thing was audible.

"Had I done it, that kid might still be alive."

Maggie looked over at Ivy who had a terrified look on her face. He was dead. Carl was dead. Just... gone. Ivy brought and hand to her mouth to silence her cries. Maggie brought her into a hug, a few tears threatening to spill of her own.

Rick kicked Negan, sending the man with the bat to the ground. "You're beat. Your people are down." Rick told him. The two men slowly got up.

"I'll get out of it." Negan groaned. "I always do." Ivy cried into Maggies chest. "It's just you and me, Rick. And you— you are torn open. I am bigger, I am badder, and I got a bat."

The two men's conversation became hushed again. Ivy dropped her gun and brought Maggie into a full hug. The girl felt weak, crying in front of all of these people. She would've never broken down like this, ever. She felt pathetic, but everyone breaks sometimes.

Ivy couldn't hear anything until Carl was mentioned. It was like his name was the only thing that made sense anymore.

"Just give me ten seconds for Carl."

Ivy could almost see tears swell up in Negans eyes. It was weird. But, Negan was sick and weird, so she wasn't surprised.

"Ten... Nine..."

"Carl said it doesn't have to be— it doesn't have to be a fight anymore." Rick stated.

"He was wrong. Eight..."

Please ask him, Rick. Ivy thought. Just ask what happened to my boy.

"No, no. He was right." Negan began crying at Ricks words. Obviously crying. "You're cryin' cause you killed him, aren't you?"

Rick did it.

Negan began falling to his knees, a thin red line on his throat turning red. Blood gushed from the slit on his neck, and he held it tightly. Ivy looked up from Maggie's neck and her mouth gaped. Negans body thudded onto the ground as Rick stood above him.

Rick turned around and looked to the group. Maggie and Ivy stepped forward a bit.

"Save him."

Those two words echoed through Ivy's ears, and everything went silent. Siddiq ran to go tend to Negan. Maggie fell to her knees, and Michonne caught her.

"No!" Maggie yelled as she fell to the ground. "No, he can't! No! No, he killed Glenn!"

Tears fell rapidly down Ivy's face. Her slow cries quickly turned into sobs. She lowered herself onto the ground and brought her knees to her chest.

"We have to! We have to end it!" Maggie sobbed. "Rick! We have to make it right! No! Its not over! Its not over until he's dead! It's not over till he's dead! No! No!" Ivy looked over up and saw Glenn standing beside Maggie, Abraham with Rosita, and Carl standing above herself.

Ivy jumped slightly, and was sent into a shocked state. She stood up and quickly began walking away, but Jesus stopped her. "Where are you going?" The man asked her. She wiped away a bead of sweat dripping down her face as her breathing heaved. "Woah, V..."

"I can't... I can't be here." Ivy cried. Jesus nodded and grabbed the girls hand.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗚𝗥𝗢𝗨𝗣 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗝𝗨𝗦𝗧 𝗥𝗘𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗡𝗘𝗗 to The Hilltop. Ivy knew she was losing her mind completely. She was off the rails. Just gone. It hurt Ivy so much as she watched herself slip away, but there was nothing she could do to stop it, or prevent it.

Ivy was walking beside Maggie after the bid a farewell to everyone. They were stopped by Alden. "Excuse me. Maggie?" Alden spoke. "The... guys are going back to the Sanctuary. Gonna try and make something else out of it. I don't know. The thing is... I was never meant to be there. I—I've been reading that book, uh... "A key to a Future." You know, I—I can build things, I can make some of that stuff real, for— for this place, for these people. It— It's what I want to do with my life."

Ivy looked over at Maggie with a pleading look. "And, no joke, you, uh— you have me that life, so...." Alden concluded.

"Okay." Maggie smiled. She nodded at the man and walked away. Ivy stayed behind and stood in front of Alden.

She pulled the man into a hug, stepping up on her tippy toes to wrap her arms around his shoulders. "Thank you for saving my life." Ivy sighed. "And Henrys..." The two stepped out of the hug and Alden nodded.

"It was the right thing to do—" Alden was cut off by Kal yelling from the watch post.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!" Kal yelled. Everyone turned their attention to the sound of his voice. Ivy stepped forward and looked up at the man. "Open the gate! Now!"

Ivy looked as a few people ran to open the gate. The girl crossed her arms and waited for the gate to be opened. Maggie had stepped out of The Barrington house to see what all the ruckus was about.

The gate slowly opened, and revealed three people. Three extremely familiar people. Ivy thought she was hallucinating at first, but by everyone's reactions, she knew she wasn't.

"Carl?" Ivy breathed out. Carl dropped his bag as Ivy ran up to him. She jumped onto him, legs wrapping around his torso as they fell to the ground. "Oh my god..."

"I'm here, I'm here." Carl whispered. Ivy began crying rapidly into his neck. Carl rubbed her back as she cried. "I'm here."

Aaliyah and Lacey stepped beside the two with smiles on their faces. "This dumbass managed to get stuck under a house." Aaliyah laugh. "Thought he was supposed to be super badass."

Ivy looked up at her sister and Lacey, standing up slowly. She took Aaliyah into a tight hug. The reunion was sweet, and simple. It warmed everyones heart after the recent events.

"Holy crap, you guys are alive."

❝𝗦𝗢, 𝗜 𝗚𝗢𝗧 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗧, 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗚𝗨𝗬 𝗔𝗟𝗗𝗘𝗡—" Ivy explained as she played with the hem of Carls shirt. The two sat tangled in each other. The night fell over The Hilltop quicker than expected.
Everyone was asleep, so Ivy had Carl all to herself.

"Alden?" Carl asked. Ivy looked up at him and nodded. "He saved you?" Ivy nodded slowly and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What is it?" Ivy inquired. Carl bit his cheek and shook his head. "What's wrong?"

Carl shrugged. "It's just that... there's so many men... that like, you know, aren't deformed." Carl pointed to his eye. Ivy frowned and straddled the boy. "Just feel like you could find somebody so much better."

Ivy placed her hands on his shoulders and massaged them slowly. Carl wrapped his hands around her waist as he continued talking. "You're just so perfect... there's nothing wrong with you. You're so gorgeous, and lovely. I don't deserve you." Carl ranted. Ivy kissed him passionately to shut him up.

"Do you know why I always wear long sleeves?" Ivy asked. Carl furrowed his eyebrows, but his eye quickly widened once Ivy slipped off her shirt. "We all have some scars we aren't proud of."

Ivy held out her wrists so Carl could inspect her scars. "These aren't so noticeable, but... I'm not proud of them." Ivy stated. "These show that I was weak. But, this," Ivy pointed to his eyepatch. "this shows that you were strong. You survived a bullet to the head. You're a badass. You don't have to hide it from me, or be ashamed."

Carl gulped slightly as he tried to keep his eye from wandering anywhere but Ivy's face. "Y—you sure?" He stammered. Ivy nodded and Carl slowly reached for his bandage, slipping it off. He kept his face down, so Ivy pushed his chin up gently.

His wound came into view, and his lip quivered slightly. Ivy rubbed his cheek with her thumb. A singular tear fell down his cheek.

"You're so pretty." Ivy whispered. Carl stopped shaking as Ivy put her lips onto his. "Got any other wounds? Cause I got a few." Ivy pointed to her stitched up gunshot wound, and a stab wound. Almost opposite from each other. "Savior. Some random guy." She stated as she pointed to each wound.

Ivy sat back a bit as Carl pulled off his own shirt. Ivy blushed slightly at the sight. She noticed another gunshot wound, and she swiped her finger over it.

"Never knew you got shot twice." Ivy spoke. Carl nodded. "My boyfriend is such a badass."

"I was about 12. Got shot by some guy." Carl explained. "His name was Otis." Carl stopped before speaking again. "That's how I met Maggie... And, Beth, and Hershel."

Ivy smiled widely. "They saved my life." Carl stated. "You saved my life, too. I don't know what I would've done without you."

Carl initiated a soft kiss, a love filled one. Ivy wrapped her hands around the sides of Carls neck gently. Carl moved down to her neck, and sucked a hickey in a spot where it would be obviously noticeable. Ivy let out a sigh and her lips pulled into a small smirk.

"Got a few more scars." Ivy told the boy. Carl nodded as she reached for the buttons of her pants. She slid her pants down, and Carls breath hitched.

Ivy point to some scars on her thighs. "Self inflicted. No cool story to that." Ivy sighed. Carl ran his thumb over one scar close to her hip. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Carl whispered. "So, so much." Carl licked his lips and kissed her again. He moved down her neck, but he didn't stop. He moved down to her chest and stopped, looking up at Ivy.

"Please." Carl pleaded. Ivy ran her hands through his hair and smiled. "V, please."

Ivy took his hands and trailed them up her waist, and then to her bra hook. He struggled a bit, which made Ivy giggle. Her bra fell into Carls lap and he immediately looked captivated.

"Let's hope I don't tear my stitches."

𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘
😀