Troopers " Drop your weapon! Hold it right there! "

Suddenly Mercer showed up with Pamela, Negan and Carol " Everyone stand down! ("

Pamela looked at Daryl "You heard him. Lower your weapon. This is not just about you. I need him alive. "

Mercer"Dixon. Not here and not like this. "

Daryl "You choosing this piece of shit? "

Mercer "If I was, you'd already be down."

Daryl " Do what you fսcking gotta do. "

Carol "Daryl. "

Daryl asked her "What have you done? "

Carol "I made a deal for us. "

Daryl looked at her before ramming his knife through Hornsby's palm and then letting him go.

Outside. At a warehouse. 

 Aaron " So the slate's just wiped clean? "

Maggie had joined us. as well as Lydia and Elijah and the kids.

Carol" Debt, deaths on both sides. We get supplies, water, weapons. Pamela provides everything that we need to finish rebuilding. Free and clear. "

Gabriel "Then we just go home? "

Carol " That's up to everyone to decide. "

Maggie "What does Pamela get out of this? "

Carol "Hornsby. We tell the people what he did. Out here, back at that house where... Where folks died. He takes the fall for it. "

Daryl "So this is about saving her son."

Carol " It's not our problem anymore. "

Annie " We'll talk about it with our people when they get here. There's a lot to think about on our end. Right."

Negan nodded " Yeah. Like how they killed most of our people. "

Carol sighed "Anybody else? "

Daryl looked at me and i looked at him.

me " I think the most important thing is that we're together. I don't want to go it alone anymore. I don't trust them. But if you say that this deal gets us back in our homes, with our own rules, then I think it's worth the risk. "

Daryl nodded and grabbed an apple "" Alright. "

Then he walked away. 

--

Aaron " Now, we'll make sure Oceanside is okay. I'll fill Cyndie and Rachel in on the plan, see what they need. "

Maggie "It'll take a bit to get everybody ready and gather up all the supplies. Head to Alexandria first. It's in better shape than Hilltop."

Aaron " We'll see you there. "

Maggie nodded "Be safe. "

I looked at Lydia "Sure you wanna go?"

Lydia nodded " Yeah. Yeah, it's fine. Been on the road a few weeks, so what's a few more, right? "

Elijah showed up and touched Lydia's shoulder "Hey"

Lydia smiled "hey"

Elijah ". Um, pack's all set. I'll grab us some water, okay?"

Lydia nodded " Alright. Thank you. "

Then he walked away. 

I shot her a look "you are blushing"

Lydia tried to hide her smile "Ken"

I shook my head "you don't have to explain anything to me. I understand it."

She smiled. 

Daryl to Lydia "Take care of yourself"

Lydia nodded "you too"

Aaron was saying his goodbyes to Gracie.

I took something out of the back "Jude"

She walked over to me "yes"

I handed her something "it's yours."

Judi looked at Dad's gun before shaking her head " I don't want it. "

I grabbed it before nodding " Alright."

Judi " My mom talked about the day she'd hang up her sword for good. Not that we'd be completely safe, but enough to feel like she didn't need it anymore. If I keep that, things go back to how they were. But they should be better. "

Me "They will be once we get home. "

Judi asked confused "How? It's still broken. And what about everyone else here? Shouldn't we stay and help them? Isn't that what you and Mom and Dad did at Alexandria and Hilltop? "

Me "That was different."

Judi shook her head " It wasn't. The only difference now is that you'd rather run away than stay and fight. "

I snapped "God damn it. Stop. Stop. Just stop."

She looked at me with sad eyes before walking over to Gracie and hugging her. 

Aaron, Jerry, Elijah and Lydia were leaving for Oceanside.

In Commonwealth. in the house. 

I ran upstairs and into Daryl's room "Judith...i can't find her. "

Daryl looked at me.

Outside. on the streets. 

Daryl "calm down, we will find her"

I shook my head.

Daryl looked at me. 

I looked at him "what?"

Daryl "She's your sister"

I shook my head "she's more than that, Daryl. "

Daryl grabbed my hand to stop me from walking "Talk to me"

I looked at him and sighed "I've never thought i would be a parent in the middle of this apocalypse. But when she was born i was in the middle of my twenties, Daryl. Mom was dead and Dad .....he did everything to make sure his kids had a future....he did everything to make sure that she would have a safe place to sleep at night. And she doesn't even remember him or her big brother. She's not just my sister, D. She's the daughter i never had... and i would die for her"

He looked down.

Me "and i know that you feel the same about her. you are more than just her uncle, Daryl. you know that, i know that and she knows that"

Daryl " What would he do? "

i shook my head "Don't. Dad's not here. You are. "

Daryl looked at me nodding "we will find her, i promise you that"

I nodded. 

At church. 

Daryl and i walked inside. 

Rosita had told me that Judi had snuck into the church. 

I sighed and sat down next to Judith.

Judith " I wasn't trying to worry you."

I nodded. 

Judith " I just... "

Me "You just wanted to be alone. I get it. I used to have a spot like this. When -When you were a newborn and we had lived in a prison... i-i i always in one of the watchtowers. I used to go up there and calm down."

Judith " You were alone a lot? "

Me "before this whole walker mess started....yes, i was. "

Judith "I don't mind being alone. Sometimes I like it better. "

Me "Gives you time to think."

Judith " Figure things out, I guess. "

Me " I'm sorry about earlier."

She nodded " It's okay. "

Me " I still don't really know what I'm doing. But I'm trying really hard. I wish things were like how you want them to be. That's the way they should be. But they aren't, Judi. Everything i do is to keep you safe...Everything Daryl does is to make sure you are safe....even if you don't always agree with our decisions. We are trying and of course it's not really now days to keep people which makes us frustrated sometimes and that's why we snap. It's human. "

She looked down. 

Me "Dad's gun. i'll hold on to it for now....when you are ready to have it, it's yours. Dad would have wanted you to have it"

She nodded. 

Then i looked at Daryl who was standing in the isle "you know, neither of us ever thought that we would have to raise a child in this mess ...but trust me i wouldn't change it for the world. and neither would he, even he would never admit it"

She cracked a smile. 

I looked at her "you know i love you, right"

Judith hugged me "i love you too, Ken"

Outside. 

There was a feast going on. 

Judi saw one of her friends waving her over. 

Daryl nodded "Go have fun."

I smiled at him and he rolled his eyes. 

--

We were watching the fight. 

 Announcer " Ladies and gentlemen... I'll be fine. Please take your seats, as the main event is about to begin! People of the Commonwealth, are you ready to witness a battle for the ages?! "

Two guys started to fight each other while everyone cheered. 

Pamela got on stage "Let's extend a hearty thank-you to our combatants! And now to continue with this wonderful day, my son, Sebastian, has prepared a few words."

Daryl and i looked over to Mercer who looked at us.

Sebastian got on stage "Thank you. It is, uh... It is an honor and a privilege to be with you today to celebrate the, uh... to... I, um... I know that a lot of you don't think very well of me. I know that I probably deserve that. Now, it is gonna take a long, long road for me to earn your trust, and live up to my legacy. I don't have the words to describe what this place means to me. But my grandfather did. So, humbly, if you would join me in listening to the wise words of President Milton, founder of the Commonwealth. "

People started to clap. 

Suddenly an audio was played from the speakers "Please. The Commonwealth is built on buying into bullshit. The desperate need to believe that the ol' American dream is still real. You know, "Anything is possible!" "We... We could rise above our station!" It's a friggin' joke. The reality is that the poor stay poor so that the rich can do whatever the hell we want. The game is rigged. There are no bootstraps to pull up. Christ, my mom hand-picks the lottery winners. And none of it matters... I knew it. And nothing will ever change."

It was Sebastian's voice. people started to get pissed off. 

Suddenly people started to freak out and went crazy. 

I looked around when i suddenly heard growling from behind me. 

Daryl killed the walker from behind me with a piece of wood.

I looked at him shocked before grabbing Judith's hand and we rushed through the people. 

Judi "where's Daryl?"

I looked around and called out "Daryl! Daryl !"

Daryl showed up from behind me "you okay?"

I nodded. 

Judi looked at me "Give me the gun. They need our help."

I handed her Dad's gun " We'll do this together, alright?"

She nodded. 

---

A walker was on to of Sebastian who was begging for help. No one helped him though. 

The walker bit Sebastian's shoulder and then Judith shot the walker in the head.