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"Please let me in," you say as you lean against the door. It's faint, but you can hear that she's crying. "Maggie, it's just me out here. Let me in."She comes to the door and opens it for you, wiping away her tears with the sleeve of her flannel. Her face is red and her eyes are puffy. She sits back down at her desk while you close the door and lock it behind you. You know just as well as she does that nobody needs to see her cry, not now and not ever. You decide to stand at her side and rub her back as she continues to sob. You figure that it would be best to comfort now and ask questions later, and your assumption proves to be correct as Maggie leans into you. You wrap your arms around her in a gentle hug."You're going to be okay, Miss Maggie," you assure her. "I don't really know what's going on, but everything will be okay.""It's over," she states. "Both of them are gone.""What do you mean both of them, ma'am?"She takes a deep breath and pushes her hair out of her face before looking you in the eye. "Negan's gone, but so is Rick.""How?""The bridge."You take a moment to collect your thoughts before realizing that in saying "the bridge," she means someone sacrificed it, and as you had put forth effort to help repair it, a tinge of anger briefly comes over you. "Can you tell me what happened, or?""Rick led part of the herd to the bridge and destroyed it to save the town." Another tear falls down Maggie's cheek, and you have to stop yourself from wiping it for her. "And Negan? I took care of him.""About time he paid." You reach for Maggie's hand, and she lets you take it. "But I'm so sorry about Rick, Miss Maggie. I know you were close to him."She shakes her head. "I don't know what to say about it. Michonne is a wreck and I can't help but cry because I know exactly how she feels. She's lost everything but Judith. I need to find a way to make things easier for her.""I'll do whatever I can to help you, you know that." You squeeze her hand, and she squeezes in return. "Whatever you need me to do, you tell me, boss. I can handle it."Maggie takes another deep breath. "I need you to go take care of the horse that was brought in. It looks like Rick was riding it when he was leading the walkers. Make sure she's okay enough to go riding on."You offer a salute, and a slight smile creeps briefly across her face. "Yes ma'am, Miss Maggie.""Come here before you go." You always follow Maggie's orders like a puppy to its master, so you approach her, and you're met with a tender kiss. She breaks away and tucks a key into your pocket. "That's a copy of my master key. Don't lose it."You nod and head for the door.
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"Easy now," you say slowly, softly. The horse's ears flick back to you as you take a wet cloth to her fur. You know it's going to be a bitch to get the bloodstains out of this mare's white coat, but at the same time, you have to get under the blood to see if the horse herself had any injuries.You think to yourself that you're only worried about it because Maggie told you to look after the horse. Otherwise, you'd scrub out what you could and move on to the other horses that were being brought in.Now that you look at how the blood had covered the mare, you think to how much pain Rick must have been in to even ride out of danger. You never really liked Rick that much, anyway, but you wouldn't wish any pain like that on anyone but the Saviors.As the minutes pass like seconds, you make a note that the horse is fine and is just as ready as the rest to be ridden again. You then look over your shoulder to see the leather tack that needs cleaned, and you swear under your breath. You pick up the bucket of soapy water and begin your work on the saddle. Someone else had taken the saddle blanket to wash in the creek with the clothes, and you were grateful that you didn't have to do it."You missed a spot," a voice called from the other end of the barn."Very funny.""Seriously, there's some blood on the other side of the saddle." You look up to see Enid putting away another horse into a stall. "How did this one turn out?"You shrug. "There's nothing wrong with her. She might be traumatized, but then again, who isn't anymore?" You continue to scrub the saddle as Enid sits beside you. "You supposed to be helping with the horses today?""I was told to just find something to do today. I've been looking after Hershel most of the day and figured I could do something different." She takes the rag out of your hand. "But Maggie told me that she needs to talk to you.""Thanks." You set the saddle on the ground and tell her, "Don't soak the leather. It'll mess it up."The fact that Maggie needs to speak to you means one of a handful of things. One, you did something wrong. Two, you really did something wrong. Three, it's time to head out on a run. Or four, Maggie needs someone to help her make a decision. You take a deep breath and hope you haven't done anything recently to fuck anything up. You make the walk to the big house as quick as possible.You can hear Maggie and Jesus talking in her office since they left the door ajar."You really think it's safe to go out now? After everything that's happened, I don't trust anything.""We need to find out what happened at that camp, Jesus. And there's no one else I trust more."You straighten your shirt and open the door. "You asked to see me, ma'am?""Yes." Maggie stood from her desk. "I need you to go out to the lumber camp and look around to see what happened. Obviously something went down, because half the people that were there haven't come back.""And I have to do this by myself."Jesus jumps in before Maggie can answer you. "I volunteer to go with you if that's what you need.""No, no, I can handle it. But what about all the walkers that came from there, Maggie? What am I gonna do if there are even more there?"She sucked in a breath and turned to look out of the window. "You know that Rick took care of that. Just do what you do best, okay?"