chapter 73

Chapter 73 – "The Door That Opened":

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The morning light broke over the Sanctuary, soft and golden. Smoke still curled from the chimneys, and the air was calm—almost too calm. Axel stood by the exit gate, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, a cigarette between his lips.

Rosita stood in front of him, tense, uncertain.

"You can go now," Axel said, not unkindly. Just plainly, like it was nothing more than a fact.

She blinked. "What?"

"You're free. Door's open. No one's going to stop you. Not even Silas," he added, casting a glance at the silent shadow standing a few feet away.

Rosita stared at him. "You're letting me walk?"

Axel shrugged. "You didn't kill anyone. You just tried to play a game that cost lives. The weight of that's yours to carry."

She wanted to scream. To curse him. To ask why he wasn't punishing her. Why he didn't beat her, torture her, spit on her for what she did.

But she said nothing. Just walked out the gate.

Step by step.

Out into the world again.

Her boots crunched on gravel. Her breath was shallow. For the first time in days, no one watched her with suspicion, hatred, or command. There were no chains on her wrists. No eyes following her in the dark.

She was free.

But what did freedom mean now?

Rosita walked until the Sanctuary was a speck behind her. She reached a river. Sat there. And cried.

Cried for the man she believed in—Rick. For the friends who supported the plan. For the men who died because of her words. For the childless sister who cursed her. For the boy who wouldn't come home.

She cried until her throat ached.

Because something inside her had cracked, and no matter how much she tried to blame Axel or Negan, the truth kept echoing in her mind:

"This was our plan."

They'd sent her.

She had lied.

They had hoped others would bleed so they wouldn't have to.

And Axel let her go.

No punishment.

Just the truth.

When she finally stood, wiping her face, the fire inside her wasn't anger—it was shame. And maybe something more dangerous than rage:

Doubt.

And for the first time in a long time… she didn't know if she wanted to go back.

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The gates of Alexandria creaked open slowly.

Dust clung to Rosita's boots as she stepped forward, eyes tired, shoulders heavy with days of silence. The guards saw her first—called her name—but she didn't answer. She just walked, hollow and quiet, until the walls swallowed her back into the place she once called home.

Rick was the first to meet her in the square. He ran up, relief across his face. "Rosita—thank God. What happened? You okay?"

She looked at him. Long and hard.

"I'm alive," she said. Her voice was dry. Flat.

Rick nodded, stepping closer. "Did it work? Are they dead?"

Rosita didn't answer.

"Rosita?"

"No," she said, finally meeting his eyes. "It didn't work. You sent me there to get them killed. You told me they were monsters. But they were… people. Broken, violent, yes—but not the ones who betrayed trust."

Rick's face hardened. "We didn't betray anyone. We're fighting for survival—"

She snapped. "By sending me to lie? To turn their own people against them?"

Carl watched from the corner, Judith in his arms, tension spreading through the others who gathered near. Rosita's voice cracked, but she didn't cry.

"I lied to them, Rick. I told them if they killed Axel and Negan, you'd take them in. That they'd be safe. They believed me. And now they're dead. You used me. You used them. And it didn't work."

Michonne stepped closer, gently. "Rosita, what happened in there?"

She swallowed. "They let me live. Axel let me go. No torture. No revenge. Just… truth."

There was silence.

Rick's hands curled into fists. "He let you go? Why?"

"I think… he wanted me to carry the weight," she said, barely above a whisper. "And I am."

She turned to walk past him, toward her house.

Rick called after her. "We did what we had to."

Rosita paused, not looking back.

"No, Rick. You did what you wanted to. You made that choice for all of us."

And she disappeared into her house, slamming the door shut behind her.

Outside, the wind howled softly through Alexandria.

And for the first time in a long while, Rick Grimes felt uncertain.

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