C H A P T E R  1 9

❛ prisoners of war ❜

MILO

     MILO DIDN'T THINK HE'D EVER LAY EYES on this place again. Merely looking at the satellite station was enough to hear the sound of gunfire blasting through his mind once again. To reawaken the sharp sting of guilt, accompanied by the sour taste of failure. If only he tried harder, if only he'd managed to stop this all out war. He was aware that dwelling on those feelings was useless, still, he couldn't help it. He had to remember the past to try better in the future. A future that was currently shaking with uncertainty...

The Hilltop soldiers had arrived at their assigned outpost about ten minutes ago. They'd spend that time observing the building, calculating their best chances. Because the place looked a little different since the last time they were here. Two fences had been placed all around the perimeter, with countless walkers trapped between them. Meaning that silently sneaking up to the door was out of the question.

"Looks like they made themselves a moat," Jesus said, blue eyes focused on the sight in front of them. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised, considering."

Milo eyed him, realizing the very same feelings of guilt and failure he felt were also painted on Jesus' face. It made his heart clench with an unfamiliar anguish, so he turned away.

"We can do this," Tara said as she placed a silencer on her gun. "We did before."

"Yeah, that's what I was considering," Jesus deadpanned.

Despite the situation, Milo couldn't help but grin.

"I wasn't here before," Morgan said. "Just need a clear shot. Right, Dianne?"

"Just a few seconds," Dianne confirmed. She was after all the best archer the Hilltop had to offer. Milo believed she was even better than Daryl but hadn't dared to say that out loud yet.

"So we just need to time it right," Morgan said, as if it was that simple.

"What do you have in mind?" Milo asked. "If they see us, they fire and we won't get in."

Morgan held his gaze for a few seconds before turning to look at Dianne. "Don't let them fire a gun."

Milo tried his hardest to suppress a sigh.

Dianne nodded, determined, as she readied herself to fire an arrow as soon as Morgan's plan would be set in motion. Whatever it was...

"Do you need us to cover for you or something?" Andy questioned Morgan, looking concerned.

"I do not."

Milo frowned. "We're in this fight together, Morgan, it doesn't have to be just you."

"But it should be. If it goes wrong they might think it was just me."

Milo took a deep breath, realizing he wasn't going to change his mind. "Alright, be careful."

They retreated and left Morgan alone near the fence to do whatever he had planned. He couldn't help but feel worried for the man. He hated fighting just as much as Milo did, probably more. But Quinn told him the Saviors had killed a kid who he'd come to love as his son. Meaning he'd lost two sons now...Milo understood wanting to fight to prevent such a thing from happening again. He just feared Morgan would end up right back where he was before he found his peace.

From his position hidden in the greenery, he watched as Morgan walked up to the fence. He took a hold of it and started shaking, the noise drawing all the walkers trapped inside towards him, creating room for Dianne to take her shot. It was smart, but definitely not without risks...

He held his breath when he caught sight of two guards walking over to come and check the source of the noise. They were halfway across the field when two arrows fired right after each other killed them both. Their bodies fell to the ground and disappeared in the high grass.

"Can't believe that worked," Milo said in disbelief.

"Seems like something's on our side," Jesus said, smiling despite the worry hiding in his eyes. Then he turned to the soldiers waiting behind them. "Let's go."

Milo raised his gun and removed the safety, ready to use it if necessary. As silently as possible they made their way towards the front door, now unguarded. Chills crawled down his spine as he recalled waiting here in the darkness when they first attacked this place. This time they weren't hiding. This time they were fighting in broad daylight, their intentions clear for all to see.

Tara opened the door and quickly walked into the hallway. Milo and Jesus were right behind her, entering the building together, with Morgan and Dianne closing the rear.

A door opened on their left and Tara fired without hesitating. She caught the dead Savior and placed him silently on the ground.

They moved on.

Two figures appeared at the end of the hallway. Milo and Jesus pulled the trigger at the same time and the two Saviors dropped dead before they even had a chance to fight back. Milo could feel Jesus' gaze resting on him but he kept his eyes focused forward, afraid the man would see the guilt hiding within him if he were to look at him.

They waited a few seconds but when no one appeared to come and check out the noise, Dianne wistled. The signal for the rest of the soldiers to follow them inside. They continued on into the building, entering the maze of hallways. They stationed themselves beside the doors, making sure each one was covered by three soldiers at least.

Milo found himself facing a door that once had been red, but the paint had long since faded. He clenched his jaw, looking at Jesus who was standing at his right and then at Andy who was standing on his left. At the end of the hallway he could see Tara and her soldiers. She raised her arm, eyes focused on the other soldiers standing around the corner, just out of Milo's sight. Beside him, Jesus raised his arm as well, standing ready to signal to the others down the hallway when it was time.

It was essential they all fired at the same time and tried to prevent as much chaos as possible. If it came down to a hand to hand fight, they were likely to lose. Maggie, Sasha and Rosita had tried their best to turn the farmers into soldiers. But practicing on a tree, or actually shooting a person were two very different things. Though, Milo didn't doubt that all of them were willing to try. They wouldn't have come this far otherwise.

It felt as though they'd been standing there forever, waiting, watching. The silence made his ears ring and every muscle in his body felt heavy with dread. And still the signal came far too soon. Or perhaps he never would've been ready for it.

All throughout the building the noise of doors being opened and guns being fired resounded but Milo only had eyes for what was happening in front of him. Andy kicked the door wide open and before it had even fully opened, Milo had already found his target and pulled the trigger. The Savior seated on his bed fell down, the white sheets stained by his blood.

Apart from him the room appeared to be empty.

Milo turned around, about to follow Jesus and Andy back into the hallway to help the others, but a noise caught his attention and made him turn back, just in time to see a figure disappearing through the door on the other side of the room.

Cursing beneath his breath he took off in a sprint, gun held at the ready. They couldn't have anyone escaping and warning the other outposts, or they'd lose their advantage. He followed the Savior through the door and into the staircase. Their hurried footsteps left eerie echoes behind, accompanied by the loud blasts of gunshots coming from all around them. The figure disappeared through a door on his right and Milo followed without hesitation. He entered the second floor, which appeared to be completely empty.

Slowly, carefully, he walked forward, eyes scanning every inch of the corridor.

A door closed on his left.

Inhaling deeply he took a hold of the handle and with his gun raised he opened the door and entered the room. It appeared to be an office, with a bookcase stacked against the wall and a table standing in the middle. It appeared to be empty otherwise...

He realized his mistake the moment it happened.

"Drop it," a male voice ordered from behind him.

The Savior he'd been following had been smart enough to stand right next to the door, meaning he'd have the advantage as soon as Milo walked into the room. He could feel the barrel of the gun being pressed between his shoulder blades. A rather strange spot. Which made him think either the Savior had never killed someone before, or wasn't very tall. It was likely to be the first option, otherwise he probably would've been dead already.

With no other choice, Milo dropped his gun, his mind scrambling for any possible way he could still make it out of this alive. He had to stay calm, that was an important first step and so he forced himself to keep breathing steadily, trying to control his heartbeat.

"Turn around."

Another confirmation that this Savior probably had no idea what he was doing. By making Milo turn around, without the order of putting his hands on his head or anything, he was taking away a big part of his own advantage. Perhaps he would survive this after all.

Milo did as he was told, feeling a jolt of surprise at the sight in front of him, though he was careful to immediately mask those emotions. As it turned out both of his initial thoughts had been correct. The Savior was short and inexperienced. It was just a kid, probably not much older than eighteen. His dark skin was covered in sweat and his hand holding the gun was trembling. Still, he looked determined, brown eyes bravely holding Milo's gaze. A fiery anger burning brightly inside of him.

Milo remained quiet, a clear sign that the next move was in the kid's own hands.

"You've come to kill us again?" He raised a skeptical brow, his voice betraying no sign of his nerves. "Didn't go so well last time, did it?"

"Believe me, it wasn't my first choice," Milo replied calmly, never breaking eye contact.

The teenager scoffed. "Bullshit. Y'all would say anything to save yer skin."

Milo nodded. "Fair. But if that's what you believe, I got a question for you."

The kid wasn't quick enough to mask his surprise, having no idea how to respond to such a strange, almost polite, request.

When it seemed like he wasn't going to get a response, Milo took matters into his own hands and continued with that same calm voice: "Why haven't you pulled that trigger yet?"

His words weren't meant as a challenge, but the kid clearly interpreted them that way. He took a step forward and pressed the gun against Milo's forehead. "Don't think I won't!" Though his heavy breaths betrayed his nerves.

Milo simply smiled, still not breaking eye contact.

"Dude, you got a death wish or somethin'?"

"No," Milo replied calmly, "but I'm starting to think you do."

He frowned. "How's that?"

"Because I'm still breathing."

The teenager looked at Milo as if he'd suddenly grown wings.

"See, the smartest thing to do would've been to shoot me as soon as I entered the room. You had the advantage. My back was completely exposed. Which you knew, otherwise you wouldn't have done it," Milo said lightly, as though he was talking about something as mundane as the weather. "Instead you revealed yourself and held me at gunpoint, ordering me to put my gun down. Not a terrible idea, but again, the smartest thing to do would've been to pull the trigger immediately."

The kid was frozen, staring at him like he was insane. He probably was. But some part of him knew this boy didn't want to kill him. And he held onto that hope with everything he had.

"Instead you then asked me to turn around. Interesting choice, since usually such a request is only made when you have a personal connection with your opponent and would like to look them in the eye before you kill them." He raised a brow as if to silently question if he was truly that coldblooded.

When the teenager didn't react, he continued, still speaking with that same calm and unbothered voice. His heart wasn't even racing anymore. "Oh and another thing, you should always ask your opponent to put their hands on their head, or bind them on their back. Otherwise they might do something unexpected, like, say-" And before the kid could blink, Milo grabbed his arm and pushed it upward.

As he'd expected, the teenager didn't react fast enough and pulled the trigger far too late. The bullet hit the ceiling, harmless. Milo was quick to untangle the weapon from his fingers and aimed the barrel at the kid instead. All within a matter of seconds.

Suddenly, the door was thrown open, as if the gunshot had been some sort of command. Jesus and Tara entered, both with their guns raised. Though Jesus was quick to lower it when he caught sight of the scene in front of him. A small smile pulled at his lips and he turned to look at Tara.

"Told you he knew what he was doing."

Tara simply rolled her eyes.

"You guys are great back-up," Milo said sarcastically but he was relieved to know they'd followed him. He turned back to the teenager and lowered his gun. "What's your name, kid?"

His eyes flickered between Milo and his two friends, not yet convinced they wouldn't kill him after all. "It's Lucas."

Milo extended his hand, watching the conflict on the boy's face closely until finally, although hesitantly, he shook his hand. "Milo," he introduced himself.

Lucas was quick to retreat his hand, as if Milo's touch had burned him. He kept eyeing the three of them suspiciously. "You're not going to kill me?" He asked.

"What kind of terrible person would I be if I killed you when you spared me?" Milo said, phrasing it like the kid had spared his life out of the goodness of his heart, though they both knew that hadn't been the case. Still, he'd spared him and Milo rather had him believing it was because he wanted to than because he'd been a coward. Sparing someone's life was more often than not the much harder choice, especially in this world. Which was why he never wanted any kid growing up thinking they were a coward for not killing someone.

Lucas opened his mouth, seeming to want to protest but one raised brow from Milo silenced him. He nodded curtly, then extended both his hands.

Milo frowned.

"You said it was smart to bind your opponents' hands," the teenager shrugged.

He tried to suppress a smile. "You're a quick study." He sighed and rubbed his neck. "One slight problem, I don't have any rope with me."

A quick smile flashed across Lucas' face but it was gone almost as soon as it came.

"Just keep them on your head," Milo instructed, then gestured for him to start walking.

The four of them left the room. Tara walked in front with her weapon at the ready. Lucas walked behind her, keeping his hands perfectly on his head. Milo walked behind him, gun ready in his hand but no longer aimed at the teenager. Jesus closed the rear, covering their back.

The heat of the fight had died down. Most of the Saviors inside the building would've been taken care off by now. But they had to make sure that was truly the case. Which was why the last part of their plan was for the group to break off into two and cover the two exits, to make sure no one could escape and put other outposts on alert.

They made their way back down the stairs, taking the same route back to the front door. But as they entered the hallway on the first floor, running footsteps caught up with them. Gunshots blasted and bullets rained down on them. Tara jumped aside, hiding behind a pile of boxes stacked against the wall.

Milo was about to reach for Lucas and pull him to safety. But this time, the kid reacted faster than Milo anticipated. He took off in a sprint, zigzagging through the hallway as he made his escape and disappeared through the front door. A strong hand landed on Milo's shoulder and pulled him out of harm's way, pinned him against a door. His head was still trying to catch up to what was happening when his eyes met a pair of ocean blue eyes and his heart stopped.

The noise of the fight died away, his mind reeled to a sudden halt and every bit of air seemed to have abandoned his lungs. The warmth blossoming within his chest completely caught him off guard, leaving his body trembling with a strange kind of shock, almost like missing a step when walking down the stairs.

Jesus' face was only inches away from his own. Their bodies pressed against each other within the small recess in order to avoid getting hit by the bullets still flying. Their heartbeats melted together, their haunted breaths warming each other's cheeks. Neither man was able to look away, their gaze pulled towards the other as though their eyes were magnetic.

Milo couldn't deny he'd always been attracted to him. Though, he'd never considered it to be much more than a silly crush. But the, not entirely unwelcome, fireworks exploding throughout his entire body at that moment were proof of something else entirely...

The entire world had faded so far away that he didn't even notice the silence had returned. Only when Tara called out both their names did his surroundings come rushing back to him. He blinked, feeling as though he was waking up from a dream. Though he couldn't bring himself to tear his eyes away from Jesus just yet, who looked just as disoriented as Milo felt.

"Oh thank god, you're okay," Tara said as she approached them.

Forcing himself to focus on the war still surrounding them, Milo finally stepped out back into the hallway. His gaze flickered to the bodies of the men who'd attacked them and then to their Savior. Morgan.

He stood on the other side of the hallway, his eyes glued to the corpses of the people he'd just killed. Every line on his face was hardened. And for a moment the man resembled a statue, chiseled from the hardest of rocks. Then, suddenly, he looked away and marched down the hallway with large strides.

Jesus sighed, his gaze saddened as his eyes followed Morgan's retreating figure. His thoughts were written clearly on his face. Morgan saved them but every time he pulled the trigger it seemed like he was offering a part of his soul. As they all were...

"Let's finish this shall we?" Tara said, a strange, mischievous gleam in her eyes. "Follow me, lovers!" She called out as she walked after Morgan.

Milo grimaced at the nickname, realizing it meant she'd noticed them staring at each other. Trying his best to mask his emotions, he was about to follow her but then his eyes fell on the boxes Tara had been hiding behind. Or rather, what they contained. Rope.

Shaking his head with a small smile, he made a mental note to come back for it later. Then he readied his weapon and followed Tara and Jesus outside. Most of the Hilltop soldiers were already waiting in the courtyard. Milo quickly scanned their faces. There were fewer of them than this morning but more than half of the group had made it out alive. Now it was time to finish this.

"Circle the door, wide, at least 20 feet," Jesus ordered and immediately they all took their positions. "Guns up, but hold your fire."

"What?" Tara snapped.

"They're gonna give up," Jesus said firmly. "We only fire if they fire first."

"They fire first, one of us dies," Dianne protested, though with a lot less anger than Tara.

Jesus nodded. "Then let's hope, for my sake, that they don't." He turned to look at Tara. "You can try to stop me."

She wasn't given time to form a reply. The door in front of them rattled, panicked voices shouted at each other to hurry up as the Saviors tried to make their escape. He braced himself, heartbeat steady, breathing calm and weapon aimed.

The door was forced wide open and a group of at least fifteen Saviors, men and women, appeared. As soon as they caught sight of the enemy waiting for them, they raised their weapons, both sides calculating their best chances at survival.

"Drop your weapons!" Jesus shouted.

No one reacted. The tension was thick in the air, like a thunderstorm waiting to be unleashed, neither side willing to be the first to give in.

"Drop your weapons and surrender," Jesus repeated with a loud but calm voice.

A man with blond curls was the first person to move, slowly placing his gun on the ground. "Living sounds good to me," he said. He threw a look over his shoulder at the others. "Don't be as dumb as they think we are. Put your guns down."

Still no one moved. Milo narrowed his eyes, observing his opponents, trying to calculate their next move. Gradually, one by one, the Saviors placed their weapons on the ground. All of them seemed to have come to the same conclusion; this was a fight they couldn't win.

"It's okay," Tara breathed, eyes as cold as ice. "We can do it the hard way. Because even if Maggie listens to you, Rick will listen to me."

Milo eyed her with worry. He knew she was determined to get her revenge for Glenn and Abraham. But he wasn't aware she was willing to murder every single one of them to do so. Such anger could only cause more damage, which meant he had to put an end to it as soon as possible. "We're being childish now, Tara?" He questioned, letting a short silence fall to let his words sink him.

She frowned at him.

He shrugged. "Fine, let's be childish. I'm sorry to tell you this but Rick won't listen to you. He'll listen to me."

He held her gaze, eyes burning with warning. It wasn't a bluff, it wasn't an insult, it was a simple fact. He wasn't trying to suggest that Rick cared more about him, or valued his opinion more than he did Tara's. All he was trying to say was that he wouldn't allow her to use Rick for her own ends. He wouldn't stand by and watch as she lost herself by chasing some insane revenge fantasy. That's not a fate he wanted for her. And neither would Glenn or Abraham...

Tara was the first to look away, clenching her jaw as she swallowed her protests.

Milo turned his gaze back to the Saviors in front of them, who'd nervously watched the exchange between the two friends. "Everyone, get on your knees and put your hands on your head," he instructed.

While half of the Hilltop soldiers continued holding the Saviors at gunpoint, Milo went back for the boxes containing the rope he'd spotted in the hallway. First they collected the Saviors' weapons, then used the rope to bind their hands. As Milo finished tying up the last man, he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye. He got to his feet and looked towards the treeline, watching as a familiar figure approached.

Lucas crossed the field with his hands in the air, heading straight towards Milo.

Dianne appeared at his side, fingers holding an arrow at the ready. "You know him?"

Milo nodded. "Yeah, it's fine."

The teenager came to a halt in front of him. Once again Milo remained silent, letting him know the ball was in his court.

"I, uh," he stammered awkwardly, "I don't have anywhere else to go."

Milo simply smiled. "No problem, kid. In fact." He held up the last piece of rope that was left. "You bolting like that actually gave me some time to find this."

Lucas didn't even bother trying to hide his smile.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

Hey guys! I'm finally back with a new chapter!

I know I said it last time as well but I've been very busy with school. The end of the year is approaching and I've got so much projects and deadlines to finish. Which is why I can't make any promises about when the next chapter will be updated. So please bear with me :)

Lots of things going on in this chapter! I think this is one of my favorite chapters for Milo, like, ever. The scene where he meets Lucas was incredibly fun to write. It shows who Milo really is. He's a badass, a fighter who has a lot of knowledge about the darker things in the world. But at his core, he's a good person who believes in the goodness of others. He forges his own path and searches for possibilities to do things his way.

Speaking of Lucas, please welcome my latest oc! Lucas Griffin, portrayed by Aubrey Joseph, wasn't planned at all. I only thought of this character a few weeks ago but I couldn't get him out of my head. He'll play an important role in the future so I hope you guys liked this first introduction of him! I added him to the cast list in the very first chapter so go check that out if you're interested :)

Also sparks are flying between Milo and Jesus! I adore these two so much!

As always, please leave a comment with your thoughts and don't forget to vote. I love to hear from you! Hopefully I'll see you guys soon.

xx Nelly