Volume 24: Life And Death

Volume 24: Life And Death is the twenty-forth volume of Image Comics' The Walking Dead that includes issues 139-144.

Plot
A small group from The Kingdom head towards the coast. Ezekiel leads the way, slaying walkers and "having some fun."

They meet with the other group, composed of Rick, Heath, Aaron and Magna. Ezekiel remarks on how the group is wasting ammunition on the dead, with Rick saying they have more than they really need, and that they also want to draw them away from the coast before the others arrive. They discuss that the next big project is a road leading to the coast, meant to start construction after the fair.

At the Hilltop, Maggie is told that no one can find Carl, who disappeared earlier that day after The Whisperers' visit. After some thinking, Maggie and the others reach the conclusion that Carl went after the Whisperer girl, with Dante crudely remarking that "the first piece of ass you get makes you do crazy things," much to Maggie's dismay. She goes on to state that, should the Whisperers assume Carl is a spy, it could cause problems.

Elsewhere, Carl wakes up from a brief rest, Alpha and other Whisperers are right in front of him. She questions him, asking if he's following them. Carl explains, pointing his gun at Alpha, that he left on his own and that he just wanted to make sure that Lydia is okay. She suggests he should put down his gun before he hurts himself, and he taunts her saying the dangerous end of the gun is not pointed at him.

She says that whatever his options is, shooting her or not, he'll probably end up killed by the others, and tells him to use his head and that he might just live. She then gets up, asking him if he'll come with them.

Back at the coast, a fishboat arrives. Rick asks if Ezekiel is nervous, much to the latter's discomfort. He says it's clear that he's not over her, and that everyone knows including, including her: Michonne is the first to leave the boat. She argues if there was no one else to do it. Ezekiel mentions he was keeping her Katana warm for her. They start to load up the fish.

Rick approaches Michonne privately, jokingly asking if she missed him. She asks about the new woman. Rick tells her about Magna and her group, saying that she's smart. Michonne jokingly asks if Andrea has something to worry about it, a joke misunderstood by Rick, who rebukes that he'd never do that to anyone. She apologizes, saying that they don't do a lot of talking on the boat and that she's getting bad at it. He jokes that she was always a talkative person.

He asks her if she found what she was looking for, but gets no response. She apologizes for everything. Rick argues that she disappeared and they spent a great deal of time looking for her, and that people could have died. She explains that it just didn't feel right, being there at The Kingdom with Ezekiel, happy, after everything she's been through and everything she's done. She says she abandoned her children because of her job and destroyed her marriage.

Rick says that they do deserve happiness after everything they've been through, telling her to get her shit together and stop punishing herself for stuff that wasn't her fault, and to go home.

At the pier, Rick and Michonne continue to talk for a while about her daughters. When telling her that she shouldn't live her life in misery due to their believed deaths, Michonne becomes defensive. She however is quickly defused when Rick apologizes explaining that he didn't want his best friend to be miserable. They then talk about the fair, Michonne explains that Pete is attending but she plans to remain at the pier; Rick asks her to attend stating that Carl would like to see her, she says she would like to see him too and when Rick cheerfully believes this to mean her attendance, she says "we'll see" with a smile.

At the Hilltop, Gregory has been locked up and is begging Harlan to be freed making up a story that both Maggie and Jesus were attempting to frame him. Harlan does not believe the story however and points out many flaws within it before Maggie also comments on the lie explaining that she had already told him that Gregory would make up a story. He seems surprised when he hears Maggie's voice and the two enter a angry, short lived conversation which ended with Gregory asking if he would be killed and Maggie remaining silent.

Jesus and Maggie then talk about Gregory and how to handle the situation; Jesus suggests that the bullies families were probably aware of his plan and Maggie agrees that it makes sense and plans to talk to them when Dante enters cheerfully. Due to his happy tone Maggie assumes that it means he was able to find Carl however he reports that he has not, Jesus comments that Rick will not be pleased but Maggie disregards it explaining that she has bigger problems and that Carl is on his own.

Carl, Lydia and the Whisperers continue their journey. They explain that they only have to travel a little further and Carl believes that this means they have a camp, an unnamed Whisperer then explains that they don't have camps and instead live how they were intended to live (Without shelter, instead huddling together for warmth). They then arrive to a large group of people, disguised in the same costumes with camp fires, livestock and other necessities.

Maggie then interviews Tammy, she reveals that she and the other parents did indeed know about the planned attack and apologizes as she sobbed. When Jesus asks why Tammy hadn't come forward to warn them she explains that she was still angry about the fight between her son and Carl and that it was this anger that frequently blinded her judgement. When asked if this was the same for the other parents she admitted that Gregory could be persuasive.

After discovering that both the Rose and Harlan family were aware of the attempt on Maggie's life, Jesus asks what should be done to them, suggesting exile however Maggie tries to remain focused on Gregory which frustrates him as she still remained undecided on what to be done with him. She reveals however she is no longer undecided and that Gregory must be killed.

Meanwhile at Alexandria, Negan is bathing in a small tub provided for him outside of his cage. He is being guarded at gunpoint by two men during this. Olivia is also trimming his hair and the two share uncomfortable words about his scars as she does so. Andrea enters to assure that everything was 'good' to which Negan responds "The one thing I've never been accused of is being good". The two men then take the tub as Negan dresses and Andrea orders him to go back into his cell with her gun drawn. Olivia seems to initially struggle with locking the cell but eventually believes to succeed. The two women then also leave and Negan sighs, but much to his surprise, he realizes that in fact the cell door was still unlocked.

Rick arrives at gates of Alexandria, back from his trip to the coast. Before he can enter, he is greeted by Dwight, who doesn't feel like going inside the zone and talking with the others.

After being questioned about Sherry, Dwight says she found a nice guy, someone who "has more face than he has" and that they're in good terms with each other. He then opens up to Rick, saying he doesn't feel like he's fit to be a leader, and asks him to choose a new leader for The Saviors.

Rick states that he can't do that, because Dwight took control of The Saviors, back there at the end of the Battle of Hilltop, and that he needs to tell his people that he's stepping down, and that they will need to elect a new leader.

After The Saviors leave, Aaron and Heath discuss how everyone doesn't particularly like The Saviors, and how they're the weirdest group of the mix, joking that The Sanctuary should be renamed a "[place with] bunch of weirdos."

Andrea meets Rick inside the gates, asking him how the trip went. He greets her, and they discuss the upcoming fair. The conversation is cut short by Rick going to visit the jail, much to Andrea's dismay.

He goes down, and much to his shock, Negan is sitting inside his cell, with the door open. Negan sarcastically welcomes him home.

Rick reaches for his gun, only to be taunted by Negan about his leg and his "grandpa" appearance. Negan then questions Rick about the gun, since he could have easily sneaked behind and subdued Rick, but instead he decided to stay, as to make Rick trust him a little. He goes on and say that he could have booby-trapped the safe-zone, he could have started a fire in the house to kill Rick and Andrea while they're asleep or that he could have simply raped Andrea without anyone knowing.

Much to Negan's surprise, Rick still says that nothing has changed and that he has no trust in Negan. Knowing that nothing he says will work, Negan proceeds to taunt Rick about the reason why he's keeping him here, only to prove to himself and no one else that he has mercy, and that he wants others to believe he's a good person and the only one who can fix the world.

Elsewhere, Rosita announces to the Alexandrians that she and Eugene are going to have a baby. Discreetly, Rick takes Olivia away from everyone and harshly chastises her for leaving Negan's cell unlocked.

Later, he and Andrea talk about what happened and discuss the risk of having Negan there, "living" with them close to everybody else. Andrea suggests that they should just kill Negan already and be done with it. Rick then proceeds to talk about how he must give an example and prove that they've changed, that death as a punishment isn't necessary anymore, that they can control their emotions and prove that they're civilized people, and that if they let that go and kill again, everything will fall apart.

At the Hilltop Colony, Maggie and the rest of the residents watch Gregory being hanged as punishment for his attempt on Maggie's life.

Gregory's corpse is taken down from the tree, as Maggie delivers a speech to the Hilltop citizens, saying that she expects it to be the last time an execution has to happen, and that she wants everyone to work with her to ensure the success of the town.

In Alexandria, Andrea wakes up and goes to check up on the structures set up for the fair, which will happen later that day.

At The Whisperers' Camp, Carl and Lydia watch the skinning of a zombie. Soon, Alpha approaches Carl, and, after noticing the latter's aggression, reminds him that he's still a captive. She announces that there is no other way, and that she must learn more about Carl's people.

Back in Alexandria, Siddiq shows Maggie, Sophia and baby Hershel their room. Later, Paul joins her when she goes tell Rick about Carl's disappearance. After a brief moment of tension, Rick accepts Maggie's apology for not telling him sooner, and Rick decides he must go out and look for Carl himself. Shortly afterwards, Rick, along with Andrea, Michonne and Dante go out to search for Carl.

At the fair, Earl Sutton is talking to a mysterious woman about her work, impressed by the machetes and spears she is showing off at her tent. He asks her how long ago she joined the communities, to which she responds that she joined them very recently. Unbeknownst to him and everyone else, the woman is Alpha, the leader of The Whisperers, infiltrated in the fair to learn more about the communities.

Credits

 * Rick Grimes
 * Carl Grimes
 * Andrea
 * Sophia
 * Maggie Greene
 * Michonne
 * Rosita Espinosa
 * Eugene Porter
 * Aaron
 * Heath
 * Olivia
 * Paul Monroe
 * Earl Sutton
 * Gregory
 * Harlan Carson
 * Brianna
 * Samuel
 * Dwight
 * Negan
 * Carson
 * Ezekiel
 * Alex
 * Oscar
 * Magna
 * Marco
 * Siddiq
 * Hershel Greene
 * Dante
 * Alpha
 * Lydia
 * Morton Rose
 * Tammy Rose
 * Mrs. Harlan
 * The Whisperers

Deaths

 * Gregory

Trivia
(TBA)