DAMNATION.

chapter one, the day will come when
you won't be.
[ season seven, episode one ]

IF SHE'S GOING TO feel like this for the rest of her life, she doesn't want to keep living. She knows Death. They've known each other for a long time now. Death has knocked on her door many times and yet she always outruns Death. But this time she isn't so sure.

She's lost people before. She's watched people she loved die. But knowing... anticipating the brutal death of someone you love... it's whole other thing. Someone in this clearing is going to die tonight. It isn't going to be any of the Saviors standing around. It's going to be one of these people on their knees in the gravel.

And though they don't know who will lose these life tonight, they're all equally scared. Some are scared for themselves, some are scared for each other.

Odessa Grimes doesn't fear for her life anymore. She hasn't for a long time now. Instead, she is petrified for her father and her baby brother. She's scared for every person in this lineup.

Negan has turned it into a game. He has taken their lives right from their bodies and dangles them right in front of these faces. Their fate is quite literally in this monster's hands.

Maybe Odessa feels too alive right now. Or maybe she isn't anything more than a dead girl. She hopes it's her. In an odd sense, it would bring her peace if she knew it would be her that took one for the team. It would comfort her to know her life was taken so her family could live. It's sick and twisted. But it would mean more to Odessa than anything before.

Every time the bat is pointed at Rick or Carl, Odessa grows angrier. She grows more scared. All she wants to do is hit Negan. She wants to kill him. Yet, she knows it would get her and everyone else killed.

By the time Negan reaches "you are" he stands between Rick and Theo. His bat remains pointed at her father. Odessa is terrified. She's scared for her father and her big brother right now.

Theo looks at Odessa. He can't look at Cole right now. Cole can't watch him die. He's already lost everyone. He knows Cole desperately wants this to stop. He can't lose Theo. Not when their last conversation was a screaming match. And it was over something Theo had been right about.

But at the very last second, Negan swings his bat in the direction of Abraham Ford.

"It." Negan smirks.

The man stands tall. He doesn't waver. His eyes are hard, never showing this monster of a human fear. Abraham has always been brave. Perhaps the bravest of them all. He thinks the same thing Odessa had. If he takes one for the team maybe it wouldn't be so hard. Abraham isn't scared.

Sasha and Rosita are. Both woman have tears falling. They can't seem to stop them. They don't even try. The man they love is about to die.

Rosita gasps, her body trembles. Abraham saved her life... right at the start. He looked at her in a way no man ever had. And from then on they needed each other.

Sasha lets out a soft sob. She wobbles on her knees. She stares at Abraham. She's lost everyone. Bob, Tyreese, and now Abraham. It isn't fair.

Negan is smiling. He takes some sick pleasure in this. He's demented and he's sick. He's smiling.

And Kathleen Cooper watches the scene unfold with an odd sense of pleasure. She stands back, her arms crossed in her leather jacket.

She's betrayed her friends. She's betrayed her lover. But were they ever really hers to begin with? Negan had her first. He's had her from the very beginning. He knew about them this whole time and never acted simply because Kathleen had four people she loved living in Alexandria.

And that was the Monroe family. But they're all dead now, only one remains. She wonders what Spencer will think of her now? Kathleen doesn't care what Deanna would think. She's dead. She has been for a while now. She was brave. She died fighting.

But now the woman she trusted with Alexandria is leading the town straight to its doom. Kathleen can't find it within herself to feel any amount of remorse or guilt.

Negan keeps that same sick smile plastered on his face.

"Anybody moves, anybody says anything make the girl cut the boys other eye and feed it to their father and then we'll start." He smiles again. Abraham raises his hand, flashing one final peace sign at Sasha. "You can breathe, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all gonna be doing that."

Cole knows this is the end. He's shakes like a leaf from where he's on his knees between Carl and Sasha. Abraham is his friend. Perhaps one of his best friends. They laughed together, they saved each other's lives, they led the construction crew together.

And know Cole would have to lead them alone. There would be no Abraham by his side cracking stupid jokes or laughing at stupid things like when Cole slipped and fell straight on his ass one day.

In another world, Abraham lives.

But in this one, he doesn't.

Negan grunts as he brings the bat down on Abraham's head. Theo isn't sure what to do when it happens. Maggie gasps by him. Theo reaches out for her, being the only one there when she needs someone the most.

The cleaning is so quiet. From Cole's side, Sasha lets out a whimper. He can hear his own heartbeat in his ears.

"Oh!" Negan laughs loudly. And despite his wounded head and the blood dripping in his eyes, Abraham pushes himself back up. He can see Death standing behind Negan, reaching for him. But Abraham's not quite finished with this life yet. "Takin' it like a champ!"

He manages to get out three final words. "Suck... my... nuts."

With another hit, Theo cries out. Maggie grips his arm desperately. Theo had put on a front when they first arrived in this clearing. He hid his fear but now his fear and his anger battle. Both want to be seen. Theo can't seem to tear his eyes away from what's happening. 

At the end of the lineup, Odessa has to force herself to look away. She turns her head despite the voices that screech in her head. "Watch what he does! This is you! You are a monster as he is! You are no better than him!" Her own mind wages war against her. She can do nothing to stop it.

Cole's hands dig into the gravel. A tremor shoots through his body. A sob slips past his lips as he watches Negan murder one of his best friends.

"Did you hear that?" Negan chuckles once Abraham is dead and on the ground. "He said, 'suck my nuts!'" He laughs again before he turns back to Abraham's corpse. He brings the bloodied bat back down onto what's left of Abraham's head.

When the monster of a man finally stops beating Abraham's corpse, he utters that same sinister laugh. "Oh, my goodness! Look at this!" He exclaims. He twirls the goddamn bat. Blood splatters across Rick and Theo's faces.

Theo gasps weakly. Abraham's blood is on his face. He brings his hand up to his face slowly and pulls it back. His fingertips are red. He wipes his hand on his jeans. His fear is shot now. The anger wins the battle with a satisfied screech. It creeps up Theo's back just as a sudden shiver would. It seeps into his pores, his heart begins to pump it.

And suddenly, all Theo can see is nothing but red.

"You guys," Negan looks around at the remaining people in the lineup. He presents them the bat once again. "Look at my dirty girl!"

His eyes linger Rosita. "Sweetheart..." he steps closer to her. He points the bloody bat right at her face. "Lay your eyes on this."

"They were together," Kathleen finally speaks from behind Negan. Odessa's eyes flicker to Kathleen. And she makes a vow to herself, to the dead man on the ground, to Cole Tanner. She will kill Kathleen Cooper. Even if it costs her her life, she will bring Kathleen to her knees. She will make her beg.

"Oh, damn," Negan sighs. He says like he sympathizes with her, with Rosita. They know he doesn't. "You should know, there was a reason for all this. Red— and hell, he was, is, and ever will be red! He just took one or six or seven for the team!" Negan raises the the weapon the murdered Abraham back to Rosita's eyes. "So take... a damn look." Rosita doesn't look at the weapon. But, she does, however, begin to hyperventilate. The woman's pure panic doesn't please Negan. "Take a damn look!"

Before anyone can do anything, Daryl springs up. His fist catches Negan just under the jaw. Two Saviors tackle Daryl as Negan recovers from the sudden hit.

"Daryl!" Rick shouts.

"No!" He bellows and points his bat directly at Daryl. "Oh, no." He lowers the bat and laughs again. "That? Oh, my! That.. is a no-no." Negan crouches beside Daryl. "The whole thing— not one bit of that shit flies here!"

Odessa can do nothing but watch as Daryl is held down by the Saviors. Negan can hear Odessa whispering the word "please" over and over. He ignores her. Dwight steps forward and aims Daryl's own crossbow at his head.

"Do you want me to do it? Right here?" Dwight asks. He wants to kill Daryl. Daryl was the man who saved him and helped him. And yet... there are still bad people in the world.

Negan grips Daryl's hair. The redneck lets out a pained growl. "No." He released Daryl. "No. You don't kill then... not until you try a little."

The men drag Daryl back into line. Negan stands back to his full height. "And anyway... that's not how it works. Now, I already told you people, first one's free, then— what'd I say? I said I would shut that shit down! No exceptions." Negan moves back until he stands directly in front of Odessa and Glenn. "Now, I don't know what kind of lyin' assholes you've been dealin' with... but I'm a man of my word. First impressions are important. I need you to know me."

Rick and Carl fear the absolute worst. They both stare straight at Odessa. Her wide, scared eyes bounce between her father and brother. She wonders if Negan is going to take her up on her offer from before. What good is it now though? Someone has already died. She mouths two words to them. "Don't look."

And unlike Abraham, Odessa is not brave. She's just a weak little girl who's had to grow up too soon. She doesn't push herself to stand taller like Abraham did. She doesn't stare Death in the eye. She fears Death here and now. And yet... she wants it to be her.

However, Negan is not a genie. And he does not grant her this wish.

"So..." Negan says. Odessa squeezes her eyes shut, waiting for the blow. Negan readies his bat in both hands. "Back to it."

Odessa doesn't die this night. But apart of her does. The bat never comes down on her head like she expects and desperately wants it to. Instead, she hears the impact of the bat beside her. Directly beside her.

It's what forces her eyes open.

And when they do open, Odessa is met with the worst thing imaginable.

Her scream echoes as Glenn Rhee is hit over the head for the second time. An inhumane sound slips past her lips as her eyes follow Glenn to the ground. This is not real. It's one of her hallucinations. One of the extremely vivid ones.

But it is so real. As real as life is going to get. Odessa's best friend, her very best friend is dying. He won't come back to life. He is going to die tonight right by her side.

Farther down the lineup, Maggie's sob hits Theo's ringing ears. His body somehow manages to stay standing but his heart stops beating altogether.

Maggie utters a sound that will remain embedded in the darkest depths of Theo's brain for the rest of his life. And after tonight, he hopes it won't be a long while until he meets his own end.

Maggie's nails dig into his arm but he doesn't care. He can't say anything. He watches. And all he can hear is the way Maggie Rhee screams beside him as her husband is met with his end.

"M— Ma," Glenn pushes himself up. Blood gushes down his head from the split in it. The man gasps in pain. His eye has popped from its socket.

Odessa wants to scream for Negan to just end it. How can he do this!? Just end it! Stop making him suffer! Odessa can't bring herself to say a word. She can only stare. A horrible gasp comes from her. Her hands dig into the gravel. She can barely feel the pain in her palms. She doesn't care about the gravel that digs into the crescent shaped cuts on her palms. Instead it's her heart that hurts. Her chest is caving in.

Odessa doesn't understand why Negan didn't take her. Odessa is a bad person. She's murdered. She's tortured. She's killed nineteen people. Glenn is a good man. He's a loving husband with a child on the way. He saved people, Odessa killed them.

Negan leans down. "Buddy, you still there? I just don't know. It seems like you're trying to speak, but you just took a hell of a hit! I just popped your skull so hard, your eyeball just popped out, and it is gross as shit!"

Glenn finds his final words. "M— Maggie, I'll— I'll find you."

Negan looks at Maggie. Then he looks back to Odessa. "Oh. Oh, hell. I can this is hard on you guys. I am sorry. I truly am. But I did say it. No exceptions!"

Negan hits Glenn again. Blood flys across Odessa's face; from her left cheek all the way to her right temple. Glenn is knocked off his knees. His body lands in front of Odessa. She screams. Her body reacts before her mind does. She scrambles backwards. Her legs kicks out, gravel flies. She's stopped when a Savior wraps her in a headlock.

"Stop!" Odessa screams manically from within the Saviors grasp. But what help is it now? Negan isn't going to listen to her. And even if he did, it would be much more cruel to make Glenn suffer.

The Savior's arm tightens around her throat. She gasps, her face turning a bright red. Her trembling hand reaches up and grabs hood of his arm. He doesn't loosen or tighten his grip any farther.

And suddenly, Glenn Rhee becomes was.

Even after Glenn is dead and gone, Negan continues to beat his corpse. There's a deep pain in Odessa's chest. Her heart races, still pumping blood through her veins. She is still alive. But she doesn't want to be. Not anymore. Not after the worst night of her life.

"You bunch of pussies," Negan grits out. He slams the bat onto Glenn's corpse again. Every time he lands another blow more Glenn's blood winds up on the gravel where Odessa previously was. "I'm just gettin' started!"

Something happens to Odessa tonight. A part of her is ripped from her body. Glenn is murdered. Her best friend, the man that had asked her just a month ago to be the godmother of his and Maggie's child. She agreed.

And despite how petrified she is, no matter how much she cries, she makes another promise to herself. Negan is going to die. And her father won't be the one to do it, Maggie won't, neither with Sasha or Rosita.

It will Odessa Grimes that kills the leader of the Saviors. And it might get her killed but her life is already over. She died the moment the bat connected with Glenn's head.

"Lucille is thirsty! She is a vampire bat!"

And when Negan is done with Glenn, his eyes fall on Odessa. Her young and horrified eyes don't look at him. They stare right at the body of Glenn Rhee.

Negan steps over the body of the man he just murdered carelessly. He crouches in front of Odessa. Her breaths come out in gasps. Her body quivers as he reaches out and gently pinches her chin. Her eyes finally meet his.

And he is shocked to find such utter rage in them. Never in his life has he seen a look so terrifying in the eyes of a person so young. She has real, genuine murder in her eyes. "Oh," he whispers. "I truly am sorry, Little Miss Murderer. But it had to be done. I needed to make you understand." He tilts his head to the side, "but I still don't think you understand."

Odessa doesn't say anything because if she does, her rage will certainly get the best of her and someone else will die.

"I like you," Negan smirks. He stands and steps back over Glenn's body. The Savior finally releases her. She gasps and lurches forward. She's on her hands and knees now.

She's farther away from her group than anyone else. And she's alone. She's more alone than she ever has been.

Negan comes to a stop in front of Rick. "What? Was the joke that bad?" He asks with that same sick smile.

"I'm gonna kill you." Rick whispers. Negan hears him and crouches in front of him just as he did Rick's daughter a moment before.

"What?" Negan asks. "I didn't quite catch that."

"Not today... not tomorrow... but I'm gonna kill you." Rick affirms, he stares Negan in the eyes. Negan clicks his tongue, the smile remains on his face.

"Jesus," Negan chuckles softly. "Kath, what'd he have? A knife?"

"A hatchet." Kathleen answers.

Negan's eyes turn to her. The woman is unscathed from the whole event. There is no ounce of emotion on her face. If she had truly cared for this people, it would have shown through. Maybe she really is a sociopath.

"A hatchet?" He asks, shocked.

"He had an axe." Kathleen sighs.

Negan grins crookedly. He looks back at Rick. "Kath's my right-hand woman. But I take it you've already guessed that, yeah? You people already know my best girl! Simon is my right-hand man. Havin' one of those is important. I mean, what do you have left without 'em? A whole lot of work. You have one? Maybe one of these fine people still breathin'? Oh... or did I?" Negan clicks his tongue and waves the bat in front of Rick's face. He sighs. "Sure. Yeah. Give me his axe."

Footsteps walk forward, Kathleen hands the man Rick's axe. Negan holds it in front of Rick's face. He stands and pushes the axe into his belt. Then he grabs Rick by the jacket. "I'll be right back. Maybe Rick will be with me."

Odessa gasps painfully as Negan drags her dad through the gravel and towards the RV. "Please," she begs quietly. Negan doesn't hear her. "No," she bows her head.

"If not, we can just turn these people inside out, won't we?" Negan stops and turns back to the others. "I mean... the ones that are left."

And just like Negan and Rick are gone. The group is left in a painful silence. The only noises that fill the air are Maggie's sobs and Odessa's panicked, gasping breaths. Even the insects have seemed to go silent in Negan's presence.

No one dares to say a word. Odessa reaches for her chest, she presses a hand to her heart. It all hurts so bad. It's beating too fast.

"Des," Carl's whispered voice comes through the clearing.

"Hey!" Dwight snaps. "Shut up, kid!"

"Don't." Odessa weakly pleads. "Don't— don't hurt him. Please."

"Shut up, Odessa." Kathleen glares down at her. "Don't make me kill your brother."

No one says another word as dawn breaks. Odessa can't stop hyperventilating. Everything has ended. The world has crumbled around them. They thought they were unstoppable. Rick even said it himself. Confrontation's never been something we had trouble with. 

But it is, it was.

Somewhere deep in Odessa's aching heart, she finds a way to put the blame on Jesus, Cori, and the Hilltop. She knows it isn't fair. They didn't lead them to this point. The consequences of their own actions have finally caught up to them. This is their reckoning. 

When the RV returns, it's day. Everyone stares at it. Half expecting Negan to walk out of the door without Rick Grimes. The anticipation claws it's way up Odessa bruised throat.

When the door open, Rick falls out of it. A weight is lifted off of the daughter's shoulders. Negan drags him back to where the group is still on their knees. "Here we are. Let me ask you something Rick— do you even know what that little trip was about?"

Rick doesn't say a word. So Negan does. "Speak when you're spoken to."

"Okay. Okay." Rick whispers.

"That trip was about the way you looked at me. I wanted you to change that. I wanted you to understand. But you're still looking at me the same damn way... like I shit in your scrambled eggs and that's not gonna work. So... do I give you another chance?" Negan lowers himself beside Rick.

"Yeah. Yes. Yes." Rick says after a moment.

"Okay. Alright." Negan's stands again. "And here it is— the grand prize game. What you do next will decide whether your crap day becomes everyone's last crap day or just another crap day. Get some guns to the back of their heads."

Cole doesn't flinch when Kathleen presses the barrel of her gun against his head. His lips curl. Anger suddenly takes grip of the wheel. It bubbles in his chest. It begs him from within to be released.

"Good now... level with their noses, so if you have to fire..." Negan imitated an explosion, "it'll be a real mess."

Negan decides what to do next. "Kid," Odessa's eyes shoot to Carl. Negan motions for Carl to come forward with his finger. "Right here." When Carl doesn't stand, he demand. "Kid... now."

Carl stands and walks over to Negan.

"You a southpaw?" Negan asks her baby brother as he takes off his belt.

"Am I a what?" Carl snaps.

"You a lefty?" Negan repeats his question with different wording.

"No." Carl answers.

"Good," Negan tightens his belt around Carl's upper arm, "that hurt?"

"No." Carl tells him.

"Should. It's supposed to. Alright. Get down on the ground, kid, next to Daddy. Spread them wings!" He takes Carl's hat and throws it off.

Negan then looks at Odessa. "Come here, Little Miss Murderer." Odessa doesn't hesitate to stand. She is far too scared to go against Negan's wishes.

"Kath... you got a pen?" Negan asks Odessa comes to stand beside him.

"Yeah." Kathleen replies. She takes a pen from the pocket of her jacket and tosses it to Negan. He catches it and kneels next to Carl.

"Sorry, kid," he put the cap of the marker between his teeth, "this is gonna be as cold as a warlock's ballsack, just like he was hanging his ballasck above you and dragging it right across the forearm." He draws a like across Carl's forearm. "There you go. Gives you a little leverage."

"Please. Please. Please don't." Rick please with Negan.

"Me? I ain't doing shit" Negan stands and he looks at Odessa. "Your name is Odessa, right?" She barely nods. "Good. Now, Odessa, I want you to take a knee beside your brother and dad. Then I want you to grab your dad's axe and cut your brother's left arm off, right on that line. This is for the way you looked at me."

She stares at him, too stunned his words. She's in utter shock. How could he ask this of her?

"Now, I know— I know. You're gonna have to process that for a second. That makes sense. Still, though, I'm gonna need you to do it or all these people are gonna die. Then, Carl dies, so do you... then the people back home die... and then your dad, eventually. I'm gonna keep your dad breathin' for a few years, just so he can stew on it."

"You— you don't have to do this. We understand. We understand." Michonne says suddenly. Odessa's eyes shoot to her. She shakes her head furiously. Why is she talking!?

"You understand." Negan says to her. "Yeah. I'm not sure that Rick does. I'm gonna need a clean cut right there on that line. Now, I know this is a screwed up thing to ask, but it's gonna have to be like a salami slice— nothing messy, clean, forty-five degrees— give us something to fold over. We got a great doctor. The kid'll be fine. Probably. Odessa... this needs to happen now—chop, chop—or I will crush the little fellas skull myself."

Odessa slowly kneels by Carl and takes the axe in her hand. She looks at Carl. His eye moves to her.

"It can— it can be me. It can be me. W— w— you can do it to me. I ca— I can go with— with you." Rick begs Negan. He doesn't want either of his babies to hurt anymore.

"No. This is the only way. Odessa... chop off your brother's arm." She doesn't move. "Not making a decision is a big decision. You really want to see all these people die? You will. You will see every ugly thing."

"Please," Odessa's voice breaks.

"Oh, God! Are you gonna make me count?" Negan asks her. Her pleading eyes cut up to him. "Okay. Three!"

"Please!" Rick sobs suddenly, "it can be me! Please!"

Negan crouches beside her father. "Two!" He shouts.

"Please, don't do—" Negan slaps Rick across the face before grabbing his face, "this is it." Negan smirks.

Rick cries out. "One!" Negan yells.

"Please!" Rick screams.

Odessa has never seen her father so broken before. Nothing in the world has ever shattered Rick the way Negan has in the last several hours. And it terrifies her.

"Des, just do it." Carl tells his big sister. She lets out a sob before she raises her arm. Before she can bring it down, a hand grabs her wrist.

Her head snaps to Negan. He kneels beside Rick but keeps his hand locked around Odessa's frail wrist.

"Rick. You answer to me. You provide for me. You belong to me. Right?" Negan asks him. Rick nods. Negan angrily snatches Rick's face towards him. "Speak when you're spoken to! You answer to me. You provide for me."

"Provide for you," Rick hyperventilates.

"You belong to me, right!?" Negan thunders.

"Right," Rick says.

"Right!" Negan repeats. Only when he sees the look of pure fear and submission in Rick's eyes is he content. "That... is the look I wanted to see."

Negan stands, snatching the axe out of Odessa's shaking hand. "We did it, all of us, together... even the dead guys on the ground. Hell, they get a spirit award, for sure. Today was productive damn day! Now, I hope, for all your sake... that you get it now... that you understand how things work. Things have changed. Whatever you had going for you... that is over now."

Odessa lowers her head onto Carl's back. She grips his flannel. It's over. It's finally over. No one else is going to die or get hurt.

It's not over. Because Negan gives a simple order. "Dwight, load him up!"

She lifts her head to see Dwight and several more Saviors grab Daryl and haul him into the same truck they were in before.

But Negan doesn't stop there. "Rick's oldest, too." She fights back as three men grab her. She screams as they drag her toward the truck. She swings her elbows and fists. She kicks and she bites. But she is no match for the Saviors.

"Please, please." Rick begs Negan. "Not her— please! Not my little girl."

Odessa is thrown into the truck with Daryl. Before she can react the door is slammed shut. Darkness surrounds them.

Negan is level with Rick again. "See, your little girl she's got guts. So does he— not like a little bitch like someone I know. I like them. They're mine now. But you still wanna try something? "Not today, not tomorrow. Not today, not tomorrow!" I will cut pieces off of— hell's his name?"

"Daryl." Kathleen answers.

"Wow!" Negan exclaims. "That actually sounds right. I will cut pieces off of Daryl and put them on your doorstep, or, better yet, I will bring him and Odessa to you and have you do it for me."

Negan chuckles and stands. "Welcome to a brand new beginning, you sorry shits! I'm gonna leave you a truck. Use it to cart all the crap you're gonna find me. We'll be back for our first offering in one week. Until then..." Negan begins to walk away. He throws the axe over his shoulder. "Ta-ta.

They remain in place as the Saviors around them pile into their vehicles. Once the clearing is gone of all Saviors, everyone remains silent and on their knees.

Two of them are dead. Two of them have been taken.

What was once fourteen people in a lineup is now ten people scattered carelessly in the gravel.

Maggie is the first to stand.

"Maggie. Maggie," Rick says.

She lets out a small sob.

"Maggie, you need to sit down." Rick rises to his feet.

"No." Maggie says.

"We need to get you to the Hilltop." Rick tells her.

"You need to go get ready." Maggie doesn't look at him.

"For what?" Rick asks.

"To fight them." She answers.

"They have Daryl. They have— they have Odessa. They have an army. We would die— all of us." Rick tells her. But to Maggie, she's already dead. 

"Go home. Take everybody with you." Her voice breaks. "I can get there by myself."

"You can barely stand." Rick tries to reason with her.

"You need to go to Alexandria. You were out— out here for me." She blames herself. Cole's heart breaks for her.

"We still are." Rick says.

Maggie breaks down into sobs. She breathes heavily. "I can make it now. I need you to go back. I can't have you out here. I can't have you all out here anymore. I need you to go back."

"Maggie... we're not letting you go. Okay?" Michonne stands.

"You have to." Maggie tells her.

"It's not gonna happen." Rick says softly. Sasha makes her way over.

"I'm taking her." She says to the group. "I'm gonna get her there. I'm gonna keep her safe." Then she looks at Maggie. "I'm not giving you a choice."

"I'm taking him with me." Maggie sobs. She collapses beside Glenn's corpse. 

And the worst night of their lives is over. Maggie and Sasha take Abraham and Glenn's bodies to the Hilltop to be buried.

The others— they leave for Alexandria where they begin to plan for what happens next.

No one can possibly know what's to come. After tonight, no one can predict anything. Not after Negan has ripped apart their family.

As Rick drives away from the clearing, he remembers something Edwin Jenner told him years ago. He leaned in close and whispered, "the day will come when you won't be."

The day has come.

_______________________________

word count: 5,324

what a rough start to damnation. this is one of the saddest chapters in this whole book, possibly the entire series.

but WELCOME back to the wastelands series!! our best girls and best boys and that one traitorous bitch are back and definitely not better than ever.

this is the longest chapter i've ever written in any of my books. but i feel like i've done this episode justice with this chapter. let's just say i am obsessed with this chapter. did i cry while writing? oh, for fucking sure.

this stupid ass chapter ripped my heart out of my chest and stomped all over it. but there is quite a lot to talk about.

first, odessa grimes is the single most heartbreaking character i've ever written. sure, aiden and ruby and lilith are all super depressing but odessa tops them all. this poor girls has been through the mill. and it only gets worse in this book. yk she loses her bestie, her brother, her dad... yikes.

her reaction is so sad. and then the fact negan tried to make her chop of carl's arm. like excuse me, bitch!? fuck you. i HATE HATE HATE negan. and don't worry odessa never ever forgives him for what he's done. and also the fact her took her?? like what!? odessa mental health is about to PLUMMET.

also, theo being the lifeline maggie needs :((. their relationship growth in this book means so much to me. also his unhinged era has officially began. as soon as abraham's blood splattered across his face, negan fucked up. are y'all ready for a completely unhinged theo blake?

and my poor baby cole </3. he just lost her best friend and his girlfriend betrayed them all. i love him so much, i really should stop putting him through so much shit. but will i? hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, nah!!!

also, kathleen, you better sleep with two eyes open, bitch! because two completely unhinged teenagers just declared war on you. i'd be shitting bricks if i were you tbh.

rip abraham :(.
rip glenn </3.