A few days later. At Alexandria. On the wall. 

I walked over to dad "30 minutes. Everyone's ready. "

He nodded.

Me "Are you? "

Dad " It's one person who brought it to this. One person."

Me " It always starts with one person. This did. What we're doing here now. "

Dad shook his head "This -- This isn't about me. "

I nodded "Yes. It isn't. You made it like that."

At my house. 

I walked over to Judith who was sitting on the street painting with chalk on the street "hey baby"

She looked at me with big eyes. 

I gave her a kiss on the head "behave while i'm away, okay?"

She nodded. 

At the gate. 

Then i walked to the gate. 

Carl and Michonne were staying back. 

I walked over to my brother "Champ"

He looked at me. 

I hugged him "come here, bro"

He hugged me back "be careful, Ken"

I nodded "you know me?"

Carl grimaced "well, if we look at the amount of times you got shot and nearly bled to death..."

Me "bro, you lost an eye"

He rolled his eyes "bite me"

I smiled.

Carl "keep an eye on the old man"

I nodded "Dad's gonna be fine"

Carl "i was talking about Daryl"

I shoved him a little, amused. 

He chuckled and hugged me again. 

I hugged him back "i love you, Champ"

Carl nodded "i love you too"

Then i got in the car with dad. We all started to drive away. We had geared up the cars with metal walls to make the cars bullet proof. 

On an open field.

Dad "When I first met him... Jesus said that my world was gonna get a whole lot bigger. Well, we found that world. We found each other. That..."bigger world" is ours by right. That we've come together for it, all of us... it's that much more true -- it's ours by right."

We heard walkers growling in distance.

Dad " Any person who would live in peace and fairness, who would find common ground... it's their right, too. Down. But those who use and take and kill to carve out the world and make it theirs alone -- we end them. We don't...celebrate it. We don't have shame about it, either. There's only one person who has to die... and I will kill him myself. I will. I will. But if it's the others... the others who prop him up, stand by his side, even those who just look the other way -- so be it. Then... we keep making the world bigger. Together. "

Ezekiel nodded " Together. Bound forever! To quote The Bard, "For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother." For she today... my sister."

Shiva roared next to me.

That tiger loves me.

Marry "We've practiced. We've been through it over and over again. We all know the plan doesn't end this morning. That we may have to live in uncertainty for days, maybe more. That we have to keep our faith in each other. If we can hold on to that with everything we have, the future is ours. The world is ours. "

--

Dad "You up to this? "

Maggie " I got the Hilltop to stand against the Saviors. I need to be there. At least for the first part. They say you can wage war through the second trimester."

I smiled. 

Maggie shook her head "I've been fighting since the farm. Can't stop now. "

Dad "How about tomorrow? "

Maggie "You been thinking about what that looks like? "

Dad "Yes, I have. I don't know if I can wait for it. "

Maggie "Just one more fight. And I'm gonna be there. At least for the first part."

Dad nodded smiling. 

 Ezekiel " I'm told the Hilltop lost their doctor. An obstetrician, no less. We have a doctor in the Kingdom. A woman of talent. Join us."

Jesus "We'll get ours back. "

Ezekiel laughed "Yes, Jesus. Yes, you will. As sure as the day defeats the night. And on this day, we begin to reshape this world for your child and the children to come. So let's get started."

I walked over to my car and grabbed my gun. 

At the Sanctuary. 

We drove to the building. 

Walkers were chained to the fences. We brought the cars in position and got out. 

We all aimed our guns to heaven. 

Maggie gave the signal and we shot bullets in the air. 

The door opened and Negan stepped out "Well, shit. I'm sorry. I was in a meeting. I see you got your little mudflaps with you. So I'm not exactly feelin' a reason for us to try throwin' lead at each other. I care about my people. I don't want to just march them into the line of fire because I want play "my dick is bigger than yours." It is. We both know it. But I'm also comfortable enough to accept the fact if it wasn't. I'm certainly not gonna let my people die over that shit... ...like you're about to. So, Rick, what the hell can I do for you? "

Dad looked through the gaps of the metal walls "Dwight. Your name's Simon. You're Gavin. And you... "

The woman "Regina."

Eugene " Rick, I'd feel remiss if -- - "

Dad " No. I know who you are. Listen, you five. The Saviors inside. All of you have a chance to survive here. To survive this. You all can live if you surrender. Can't guarantee it any time but now. Right now. "

Negan smirked amused " So they surrender... and you and your little piss patrol doesn't kill them. That sounds like a good deal! What about me, Rick?"

Dad " I told you. Twice. You know what's going to happen. "

Negan nodded "I do. I do know what's gonna happen. You don't. You have no idea the shit that's about to go down. Let me ask you something, Rick -- Do you think you have the numbers for this fight? "

Dad didn't answer. 

Negan " You don't. Simon? "

Simon brought Gregory out. 

Maggie rolled her eyes annoyed and looked at Jesus. 

Jesus shook his head annoyed "Of course that's where he went."

 Negan " What do you have to say to the Rick and the piss patrol, Gregory? "

Gregory "The Hilltop stands with Negan and the Saviors. Any resident of the Hilltop who takes up arms or who supports this ultimatum against the Sanctuary or any of the Saviors, for that matter -- they will no longer be welcome in the colony. "

Negan "And? "

Gregory "Their families will be thrown out and will be left to fend for themselves. "

Negan "And?"

Gregory " Go home now. Or you won't have a home to go back to. "

Maggie looked at the Hilltop people and nodded "You do what you need to do. "

Jesus shrugged "All I have at the Hilltop are a bunch of books and an old lobster bib. " 

Negan "You heard the man. Go back to separating wheat and shit or whatever the hell it is you people do. "

Maggie yelled "Doesn't look like anyone's goin', does it? "

Gregory "Hilltop stands with -- "

Jesus yelled "The Hilltop stands with Maggie! "

I smirked. 

Simon cornered Gregory "I feel... like I invested a lot in you, and I am very, very disappointed. "

Then he pushed him over the railing. 

We saw the explosion in the back of the woods. 

I nodded. good. 

Negan "Sounds like shit is goin' down, Rick. "

Dad "You "lieutenants..." you're gonna have to make up your minds. "

Gavin "Maybe we can take a time-out here -- "

Negan shook his head "No."

Dad shook his head " This has to happen now. This is the only way. You're gonna make me count. "

The growling was slowly coming closer. 

He chuckled "Okay. Okay. I'm counting. ! ! ! ! ten, nine, eight, seven..."

Then he started to shoot at the plattform. 

We all started to shoot at the windows. 

Negan and his guys rushed back inside. 

Maggie yelled "now!"

We got back into the cars and started to honk. 

We rolled the RV through the gate. 

Gabriel gave dad the signal and Dad made the bomb in the RV go off. 

Dad was shoot at the stairs. 

Negan was hiding behind them. 

I walked to dad "dad! He's not going anywhere! dad! dad! We have to go! "

He wasn't listening. 

I put a hand on his shoulder but he shoved me back. 

I yelled "Dad! He's not going anywhere! We have to leave now! It's not about you, right? "

Dad looked at me. 

Me "Not about you. "

He nodded and we got into the car and drove off. 

At a clearing. 

We were all waiting for Gabriel.

He stayed back at the Sanctuary for some reason. 

I Walked over to Dad and Daryl. 

Daryl " You all right? "

Dad shook his head "this isn't about me. Let's go. Yeah."

Daryl whistled and signaled that we're leaving. 

On an open field. 

 Dad "I don't want to wait for it anymore. You don't either -- Yeah, I know. So we don't have to wait for it. If we start tomorrow right now... with everything we've beaten, everything we've endured, everything we've risen above, everything we've become... If we start tomorrow right now... no matter what comes next... we've won. We've already won"

We all cheered.