CHAPTER THIRTY,
the kingdom.

The group entered The Kingdom and saw that they were thriving. They stopped and looked around.

"They have the numbers." Michonne said.

"But can they fight?" Rosita asked.

"Oh, they can fight." Jesus replied.

"Maybe." Daryl said from beside Aiden.

"Morgan?" They all heard Tara call. They looked and saw the man standing beside Richard. The walked towards him and Tara hugged him followed by Sasha.

"How do you know each other?" Richard asked.

"We go back to the start." Rick informed him.

"Well, the King is ready to see you." Richard said. The group followed him.

"Holy shit." Aiden said loudly.

She stared at the beautiful animal on the stage. On the stage sat a man in a large chair, a King's throne. And two men stood beside him. Aiden looked over and saw that Xavier held Elliot. Aiden was hesitant to bring him but Daryl insisted that they did.

"Jesus! It pleases me to see you!" A man, Aiden assumed he was King Ezekiel, shouted. He was African American and he had long gray dreads.

"It pleases him, indeed!" The larger man shouted.

"Jerry." The King said firmly.

"Tell me, what news do you bring good King Ezekiel? Are these new allies you've brought me?" He asked. The group couldn't help but stare at the orange, black, and white animal.

A tiger.

"Indeed, they are, Your Majesty. This is..." he trailed off when he saw the looks on all of their faces. "Oh, right. I forgot to mention that-"

"Yeah, a tiger." Rick said. The tiger roared causing Aiden's eyes to widen and excitement to fill her heart like a kid.

"Oh, my God. It's so cool!" She exclaimed in amazement. Ezekiel's eyes flew to her and he grinned.

"This is Rick Grimes, the leader of Alexandria, and these are some of his people." Jesus introduced.

"I welcome you to The Kingdom, good travelers. Now, what brings you to our fair land?" Ezekiel asked. "Why do you seek an audience with the King?" Aiden stared at him. He was an odd man, clearly. But she thought it was cool. He held himself high. His people respected him and Aiden would respect that.

"Ezekiel. King... Ezekiel. Alexandria, the Hilltop, and the Kingdom- all three of our communities have something in common. We all serve the Saviors. Alexandria already fought them once, and we won. We thought we took out the threat, but we didn't know then what we know now. We only beat one outpost. We've been told you have a deal with them, that you know them. Then you know they rule through violence and fear." Rick said.

"Your Majesty, I only told them of the-" Jesus started bur was cut off.

"Our deal with the Saviors is not known among my people- for good cause. We made you a party to that secret when you told us of the Hilltop's own travails, but we did not expect you to share-"

"We can help each other." Jesus said loudly.

"Don't interrupt the king." The man with the red jacket said. Jerry, that was his name.

"We brought you into our confidence. Why did you break it?" Ezekiel asked Jesus.

"Because I want you to hear Rick's plan." Jesus informed.

"And what plans have you, Rick Grimes of Alexandria?" The King asked Rick.

"We came to ask the Kingdom, to ask you, to join us in fighting the Saviors, fighting for freedom for all of us." Rick responded.

"What you are asking is very serious." Ezekiel said.

"Several of our people- good people- were killed by the Saviors, brutally." Aiden stepped up. Ezekiel looked at her.

"Who?" Morgan asked.

"Abraham. Glenn. Spencer, Olivia. Eugene was taken. They took Daryl. He escaped. He missed his kid being born because of them. Every second he's our here, he's a target. His relationship with Aiden is making her an even larger target than she already is. Their kid, too. You gonna say you were right?" Rosita asked him coldly.

"No. I'm... I'm just really sorry they're gone." Morgan replied.

"Negan murdered Glenn and Abraham, beat them to death." Rick said.

"Terrorized the Hilltop, set loose walkers just to make a point." Sasha said.

"Set fires, too." Aiden said.

"I used to think the dead was something we could live with. A lot of us did. But that's changing. So let's change the world, Your Majesty." Jesus said.

"I want to be honest about what we're asking. My people are strong, but there's not enough of us. We don't have gun- not enough, at least. Not a lot of weapons, period." Rick informed Ezekiel.

"We have people. And weapons. If we strike first, together, we can beat them." Richard said. He looked at Ezekiel. "Your Majesty, no more waiting for things to get worse beyond what we can handle. We set things right. The time is now."

"Morgan, what say you?" He asked Morgan. Aiden's eyes flew over to him, remembering he didn't want to fight the Saviors in the first place.

"Me?" He asked.

"Speak." Ezekiel demanded softly.

"People will die. A lot of people and not just the Saviors. If... if we can find another way, we have to. Maybe it's just about Negan- just capturing him, holding him. Maybe- I-"

"The hour grows late." Ezekiel stood. "Rick Grimes of Alexandria. You have given the King much to ponder."

"Well, when I was a kid, uh, my mother told me a story. There was a road to a kingdom," Rick motioned around him, "and there was a rock in the road. And people would jut avoid it but horses would breaks their legs on it and die, wagon wheels would come off. People would lose goods they'd be coming to sell. That's what happened to a little girl."

"The cask of beer her family brewed fell right off. It broke. First solar it all up, it was gone. That was her family's last chance. They were hungry. They didn't have any money. She just... sat there and cried, but... she wondered why it was still there... for it to hurt someone else. So she dug at that rock in the road with her hands till they bled, used everything she had to pull it out. It took hours. And then... when she was gonna full it up, she saw something in it. It was a bag of gold."

"Alright." Jerry grinned.

"The king had put that rock in the road because he knew who dug it out, who did something, they deserved a reward. They deserved to have their life changed for the good... forever." Rock finished his story. Aiden looked at him. She remembered that story, she remembered Melissa Grimes telling her and Payton that story when they would stay the night at the Grimes house.

"I invite you all to sup with us and stay till tomorrow." Ezekiel said.

"Yeah, we need to get back home." Rick said.

"I shall deliver my decree in the morn." Ezekiel said and banged his staff on the ground.

»

"This is life here. But it came with a cost." Ezekiel said to the ground. It was a new day and they currently stood around watching the people shoot arrows at targets.

"And I wanted more of this. I wanted to expand. To create more places like this. Men and women lost their limbs. Children lost their parents because I sent them into battle against the wasted when I did not need to." Ezekiel said to Rick.

Rick walked forward, "this is different."

"It isn't."

"It is," Rick said, "the dead don't rule us. The world doesn't look like this outside your walls. People don't have it as good. Some people don't have it good at all."

"I have to worry about my people." Ezekiel said. Rick gave the man a look a backed away from him.

"You call yourself a damn king. You sure as hell don't act like one," Daryl said.

Ezekiel walked towards him and Aiden stared at the two. She currently didn't have Elliot with her. He was actually with Carl, who only stood a few feet from Aiden but Elliot was given a stroller so they didn't have to carry him around.

"All of this... came at a cost. It was lives, arms, legs." He looked away from Daryl before moving back to Rick, "the peace we have with the Saviors is uneasy, but it is peace. I have to hold onto it. I have to try. Although the Kingdom cannot grant you the aid you desire, the King is sympathetic to your plight. I offer your friends Daryl and Aiden, along with their baby asylum for a long as they require it. They will be safe here. The Saviors do not step foot inside our walls."

"How long do you think that's gonna last?" Daryl asked. He walked away from the group and the rest followed.

"Aye, open it up. We're gone." Daryl said to the men at the gate. The gate opened and they walked through.

"You're not." Rick said to Aiden and Daryl. Carl handed the stroller over to Aiden and she took it while staring at Rick.

"I'm not staying here." Daryl said lowly.

"Neither I am, Rick." Aiden agreed.

"You have to. It's the smartest play. You know it is. Try to talk to Ezekiel. Aiden, he seemed to like you. Or state him into submission- whatever it takes. We'll be back soon."

Rick started to walk away and he turned back to see the couple starting at him. Right before the gate closed.

__________________________________

word count: 1,604
episode: rock in the road

and here's yet another edited chapter!! i may try to finish editing this book today.

YES!!! we met ezekiel. one of my all time favorite characters.

there's only three chapters of philophobia left and my heart can't take it because after the valiant is finished we have to wait several months for the walking dead season ten to hit netflix so i can work on the next book.