Chapter 60 - Last Day On Earth

"Ready to get her in the RV?"

I look up from Maggie's pale and sweaty complexion to the doorway and see Rick standing there and I nod my head, "Yeah, let's go."

Rick walks in and I let go of her hand, getting to my feet and facing her, "We're going to move you to the RV now? You think you can move?" I ask, looking down at my friend in concern.

She nods her head, wincing slightly, "Yeah."

"Alright, give us your hand." Rick says, holding out his hand to sick woman.

She reaches up and takes his hand as well as mine and we both pull her out. She lets out a grunt and squeezes her eyes tightly as she reaches her feet. We wait for a second before she nods her head and lets out a breath, "Let's go." She pants.

Both Rick and I pull her arms around our shoulders and begin to walk her out of the house. Slowly we go down the steps and then make our way towards the RV, where Sasha, Abraham and Eugene walk in and out of. We reach the door and I turn to him, "I got her, you finish begin the RV ready."

"You sure?" He asks and I nod my head, "Yeah, I'm good."

He nods and unwinds her arm from his neck and I begin to lead Maggie up into the RV. I walk her through the small space until we reach the beds in the back room.

"Easy does it." I whisper, helping her down to the bed.

She lets out a small cry at the movement, "Sorry." I whisper, putting her legs up onto the bed.

I lay her down and prop the pillow under her head up, before reaching down and grabbing the blanket by her feet. I unfold and proceed to draw it over her, making sure she's warm.

"It'll all be okay Maggie, we'll reach the hilltop and then we'll get Doctor Carson to see what's going on." I say, reaching down and brushing the hair out of her eyes.

"Someone has to let Glenn know." She states and I nod my head, "They will when he gets back and then he'll make his way to the Hilltop as well. It'll be fine."

She looks at me for a moment before nodding her head and I smile weakly at her. She looks up at me and I see the corners of her eyes begin to glisten as tears form there, "Bree, I'm scared." She whispers, her voice weak.

I kneel down beside her and grasp her hand, shushing her gently, "Don't be, we'll be there before you know it."

"What if I lose the baby?" She whispers, her voice heartbroken.

I don't say anything for a moment before shaking my head, "You won't."

I hear people climbing into the front of the RV and soon it roars to life, Rick stepping in, "Alright, let's go."

The door shuts behind him and I feel the car begin to turn, making its way towards the front gates of Alexandria. I stay by Maggie's side, holding her hand providing her the only comfort that I can. She looks incredibly weak, her face sweaty and pale and she gets sicker with each passing second. Hopefully we will make good time and reach the hilltop without any difficulties. If not... Things may get a whole lot worse for the woman in the bed before me.

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I sit in one of the seats by the window and look out, watching the trees fly by as we speed along. Aaron asked me if he could sit with Maggie awhile back, so I left them with time to themselves. My gun lays on the bench beside me, Carl on my other side as I let my mind wonder. Soon I hear the creaking of the RV and look up to see Aaron walk in, Rick missing.

He takes a seat across from me and I put one of my legs down, leaning forward in my seat, "How's she doing?"

He lets out a sigh, "She's not doing any better, she's in a lot of pain. I'm not sure what I can do for her."

I shake my head, "There's nothing we can do. We just have to get her to Hilltop and let Doctor Carson take care of her."

He nods his head, a worried look on his face and I lean forward, placing my hand on his folded ones, "She's be okay Aaron."

He looks at me for a long moment before nodding his head. I give his hand a gentle squeeze before sitting back in my seat. Carl gets up from beside me and makes his way to the back room for a moment. I bring my knees up to my chest and lean against the wall of the RV, letting my thoughts run again when suddenly they're interrupted.

"What the bitch?"

I look towards the windscreen of the RV as it begins to slow down, my eyes focusing on the roadblock up ahead. In the middle of the road is a group of men, flanked by two cars cutting off the road. In front of them, someone lies on the ground.

"What?" I hear Rick ask, making his way back into the main area of the RV.

"Enemy close." Abraham states as Rick comes to a stop beside him and we all look out at the scene before us, the men looking right back at us.

"We doing this?" Abraham asks.

"No." Rick says, shaking his head and going to the door.

He steps out and I get to my feet, grabbing my gun and following out after him. He walks towards the men with his arms raised high, signalling that we mean peace.

"He's someone who was with a whole lot of someone's who didn't listen." A man states, gesturing down to the man on the ground.

"We can make a deal. Right here, right now." Rick states, authority in his voice.

"That's right. We can." The man nods, "Give us all your stuff. We'll probably have to kill one of you, that's just the way it is but then we can start moving forward on business. All you have to do is listen."

Rick lowers his arms and tilts his head to the side, "Yeah... That deal's not gonna work for us. The fact is I was about to ask for all your stuff, only I'm thinking I don't have to kill any of you. Any more of you."

One of the other man begins shaking up a spray can in his hand and walking forward towards the man on the ground, proceeding to spray an 'x' on his front. Rick turns back and meets my eye, the two of us exchanging a look before he turns back to face them.

"Sorry, our deal is the only deal. We don't negotiate." The man states, not backing down.

Rick nods his head before raising his hand up, signalling for us to make our way back to the RV, "Me and my people are leaving."

"Okay friend." The man says, raising his arm in the air, "Plenty of ways to get to where your going."

We all climb into the RV and Rick goes to as well, but he stops and turns back to look at them, "You want to make today your last day on Earth?"

"No, but that is a good thing to bring up. Think about it. What if it's the last day on Earth for you? For someone you love? What if that's true? Maybe you should be extra nice to those people in that RV. Cause you never know-" He says, snapping his fingers, "Just like that. Be kind to each other. Like you said, like it was your last day on earth."

"You do the same." Rick says before stepping into the RV and shutting the door.

I watch through the window as the man gives us a wave before proceeding to kick the man on the ground in the ribs. Abraham starts up the RV, backing his way towards the way we came. We begin to drive back a fair ways before Rick speaks, "Pull over here."

Abraham pulls the car over and he turns to Eugene, "Find a new way to get to the hilltop."

He begins to search and Sasha speaks up, "What the hell was that back there?"

"Scare tactic." Rick states.

"A weak one at that." Abraham adds.

"It doesn't matter, we just need to focus on getting Maggie to the hilltop. Eugene, you find anything?" I ask, looking towards the mulleted man.

"Logrod roads a straight shot." He states.

"We want visibility." Sasha clarifies and he's sighs, looking at the map once more, "There, the road off Shelton. Golf course, country club, sloping terrain. No bum rush from the bogey man, we'd see him from a good piece. It is a longer trip by a third but, with the scenic safety it would ding cut dingles and glints." He explains.

"You're being serious right?" Sasha asks and he nods his head, "As coronary thrombosis."

"Let's go."

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We've been driving for an another hour and a half now, the RV mostly silent. I think of Daryl and I wonder if he's back yet? Did he catch up to the saviours or did the others get to him in time? A lot has happen in the past forty eight hours, many things changing. As usual, things change so quickly and it catches me off guard.

"Think we can do it?" I hear Abraham ask and I glance up to see Sasha looking at him, "What?"

"What they did, Glenn and Maggie." He states and I know he's referring to the baby.

She looks back at him with wide eyes, "Just asking if you could do that? For doing something as big as that, if that's living."

"Could you?" She asks.

"Yeah, I could. Now." He states with a smile on his face.

I look away from their encounter as a weird feeling over comes me, a million thoughts running through my mind. However once again, they're interrupted once more.

"Bitch nuts."

The RV comes to a stop and I look out the windscreen, seeing the group of people blocking the road up ahead once more. This time, the group is slightly larger than the last. Rick walks forward and comes to a stop by the two in the front.

"We making our stand?" Sasha asks, looking up at him.

"Yeah, we end it." Carl states and Rick shakes his head, "No, not now. They've been waiting, they're ready. With one of us behind the wheel that's six on sixteen. We're gonna play it our way, how we want it. Right?" He asks, turning and looking back at his son.

"Right." Carl says with a small nod.

"Alright, go slow." Rick instructs, tapping Abraham on the arm.

Abraham proceeds to reverse the RV and one of the men outside steps forward, firing his automatic into the air. Abraham turns the RV around and drives away, the man firing once more. We speed away from them, leaving them in our wake. However something tells me this isn't the last time that we will see them.

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"How are we on gas?" Rick asks.

"Half a tank. We pulled some more cans before we left." Abraham answers.

"Those weren't the same men that blocked the road the first time." Sasha states.

"Same outfit, different soldiers. They got numbers." Abraham explains.

"We keep driving, we get her there." Rick says, looking back towards the room.

"We will." Sasha affirms, "Even is we have to shove everyone of them up their own asses." Abraham adds.

We slow down once again and I stand up to see the road blocked once more, this time is being much more different. In front of us is a line of walkers that are chained across the road, forming a blockade.

"We can't go through it, we can't risk the RV. Stay behind the wheel just incase. We'll clear it." Rick states.

I grab my gun and follow him out, Carl, Sasha, Eugene, Carl and Aaron following after us. We all have our guns aimed as we make our way forward towards the blockade, all of us keeping an eye out for any sign of threat. We approach the walkers and they grow louder, hungry for their next meal.

"Putting together a red rover like that takes people. A lot of them." Eugene says.

"Come on, let's do this." Rick says, putting his gun over his shoulder.

He goes to step forward when Carl speaks, "Dad." He says and I see it, my heart beating furiously in my chest.

"That's Michonne's." Aaron states as I look at the dreadlocks stuck to the walkers head.

I turn to the side and I squeeze my gun tightly in my hand, knuckles turning white, "Those are Daryl's." I say, my eyes locked on the bolts in the walker's chest.

Fear begins to take over me as my eyes don't leave the bolts when suddenly gunfire begins. I duck and look around wildly, seeing people raining fire down at us from the trees to the side.

"Get back to the RV! Go!" Rick yells to us all.

I aim my gun and begin to fire back at them, them moving out of the way as other begins to fire. We all slowly begin to make our way backwards as we shoot and soon I rush into the RV, the others behind me and we soon speed forward. A million thoughts run through my mind, but one thing stays in my mind. Daryl has been captured by these people, and they're not going to stop until they get to us too.

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We drive down another road, having turned around from another roadblock of men in the road, this time around forty men there. I can see everyone is beginning to get scared, knowing that there is a lot more threat then when we originally thought. Rick left Maggie while ago, her getting worse and worse by the minute.

I went in and I now sit on the bed opposite her, my knees pulled against my chest and tears streaming from my eyes. I feel completely overwhelmed, so many different emotions running through my mind. Tears stream down my face as silent sobs rock my body.

"Bree?"

I look up and see Maggie looking over at me and I quickly wipe my eyes, stepping over and kneeling down beside her. I take her hand in mine and look into her eyes, "You okay?"

She nods her head weakly before looking into my eyes, "You're not."

I shake my head, "I'm fine." I say, lying to her.

She gives me a look and I sigh, looking down at the ground below me, "Everything's so messed up Maggie and I don't know what to do." I whisper.

"Everything will be fine Bree, we'll be at the hilltop soon. I'm going to be fine." She says, trying to reassure me.

I let out a sad chuckle and shake my head, "God I wish that was just it."

"Then what is it Bree? Tell me." She says, her voice fragile as she looks up at me with worried eyes.

I look into them for a long moment, trying to process everything that's running through my mind. There's so much going on and it's hurting my head. But maybe, just maybe letting out the most important piece of information will help even a little bit. I shake my head and let out a shaky breath before meeting her eyes once more, "Maggie... I'm pregnant."

Her eyes widen as she stares at me in total shock, "Bree..."

I shake my head, another tear falling down my cheek, "I just don't know what to do Maggie. With everything that's going on how am I meant to deal with this?" I ask, my voice breaking.

She looks at me for a second before giving my hand a squeeze, "You aren't alone okay? You have so many people that will be by your side, there to help you and support you. You are not alone."

My bottom lip trembles as her words sink in, providing some comfort during this crazy time. I nod my head and squeeze her hand tightly with both of mine. Maggie has always been so strong, since the moment I met her. We've been through so much together and I know that she will help me through this no matter what.

The RV begins to slow down and I look out towards the front, seeing everyone raise to their feet. I let go of Maggie's hand and grab my gun before looking at her, "I'll be back."

She nods and I turn, following out after them as they exit the RV. I spot it straight away and I feeling of dread comes over me. The mammoth structure is overwhelming, showing us the strength and numbers that these saviours have. Blocking the road ahead of us is a barricade of trees that have been cut down and made into a dam, cutting off our way once more. We all walk towards it, none of us able to take our eyes off of it.

"These tracks... They would indicate not only to they have people, but they have some big ass toys and capabilities." Eugene states.

"What it indicates is that we are up shit creek with our mouths wide open." Abraham says, stepping forward.

"Ahh!"

We all turn suddenly and aim our guns towards the source of the noise. The man from before, the one with the x spray painted on him hangs from a chain from the bridge above us. He thrashes above, trying to pull the chain away to no use.

"Don't." Abraham warns.

"I could try and break the chain." Aaron says but Abraham shakes his head, "It won't work."

"We could try!" Aaron argues but Rick speaks over him, "It won't work. We need the bullets."

The man stops struggling, his face much redder now due to the suffocation. Aaron lowers his gun sadly and we all look up at him. Suddenly I smell fire and I turn around to see the logs being consumed by flame.

"You treat your people good right? Like it was your last day on Earth, or maybe one of theirs? You better go, it's gonna get hot. You go get where your going." The man from before taunts from his place on the bridge.

"Go." Rick instructs, "Go!"

We all turn and rush back to the RV, all of us climbing in and soon we pull away from the scene before us.

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"So what's the play?" Abraham asks.

"She needs a doctor." Rick says, walking back into the room.

"There are two more routes north from here." Sasha says, her fingers running over the map.

I shake my head, "They're probably waiting for us right now."

Eugene shakes his head, "So they're ahead of us, probably behind us. But they're not waiting on us per se, they're waiting on this rust bucket. They don't know the moment to moment occupancy of said rust bucket. And the sun sets soon."

We all look at Eugene for a long moment before turning to look at Rick, who gives a small nod. Sadness comes over me as Rick speaks, "We better start getting ready. It's a long time ahead."

After our preparations are ready, night surrounds us outside and the rest of us gather everything we need. I am in the room with Maggie, Aaron beside me as we set up the stretcher. We quickly assemble it together and I turn to him, "Let's get her on the stretcher."

He nods and Sasha and Carl walk in, taking either end of the stretcher. I walk over to Maggie with Aaron on her other side and I look down at her, "Here we go."

We lift her up and she lets out a cry as we carry her to the stretcher. We set her straight before I drape the blanket over her, tucking it in. Rick steps into the RV, "She ready?"

I nod, "Yeah."

"Okay, we gotta get going." He says, walking in and talking the stretcher off of Sasha, Aaron doing the same to Carl.

We walk her down the RV until we reach the door, us filing her through. We reach outside and Eugene comes to her side, "Thank you." She says weakly.

He gives her a nod and I exchange a brief nod with Eugene as Abraham takes the back, Sasha and Aaron flanking both sides as Carl and I are in front. We make our way into the forest, quick on our feet and I hear the RV start and drive away. I pray in heart that this works, that Eugene is okay as well as the others. Fear comes over me but I push it away and focus on getting Maggie to the doctor, to save her life.

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We've been going for a Lo time now, our pace not slowing one bit. A walker stumbles into our path ahead of us but Carl quickly takes it down. We keep going for a bit when Carl starts to speak to his father, "I heard what you told her, when we were leaving. We can do anything, we'll do anything we need to do. We have and we will. What happened to Denise, I'm not going to let anybody die like that again."

"Son." Rick says and Carl answers, "What?"

Suddenly I hear a chorus of whistles coming from the forest surrounding us, from every direction. My heart pounds in my chest as I look around, unable to pin where it's coming from. In the shadows, I see figures move and in grip my gun tightly in my hand.

"Go!" Rick instructs.

We begin to run forward, Carl and I covering the front , Aaron and Sasha the back. We zig zag through the bushes until we reach a small clearing, blinding lights suddenly flashing on and illuminating the place. People walk out and surround us, not leaving a gap to go through. Absolute fear and horror fills my body as I look around, taking in the RV as well many different vehicles. In front of the RV Eugene kneels down with a beaten face, fear in his eyes.

The sinister look of the men chills me to my core as smirks covering their faces, their eyes looking at us hungrily. I feel my hands shake as my breathing quickens, my eyes taking it every direction. I feel sick in my stomach and I throw up a bit in my mouth. I turn and glance at Rick, who looks completely broken and in that moment I know how much trouble we are in.

"Good, you made it." The man from before states, walking from the crowd towards us, "Welcome to where you're going. We'll take your weapons. Now." He says, pulling a fun out and aiming it at Carl.

"We can talk about it-" Rick begins but the man cuts him off, "We're done talking. Time to listen."

Men surround us and two grab at me, snatching my gun. Hands begin to pat all over me, lingering over my breasts and ass. I let out a shaky breath as a tear streams down my face, my eyes locked on the man ahead of me. The men walk back expect for the main one and he looks at Carl, holding a gun in his hand, "That's yours right? Yeah, it's yours." He says before reaching up and flicking his hat.

He straightens up and takes us all in, "Okay, let's get her down and get you all on your knees. Lots to cover."

I step towards Maggie and see men going for her when Abraham speaks, "Hold up, we got it."

"Sure. Sure." The man says, waving them back.

I help lower the stretcher to the ground and look into Maggie's eyes, seeing the fear in mine reflected in hers. I help pull her to her feet with Rick as we slowly walk over towards the man. Another man lifts Eugene up and pushes him over towards us as I lower Maggie and I to our knees.

The man walks forward and stops in front of Rick, "I'm gonna need you on your knees."

Rick looks at him for a moment before exchange a look with Carl. Slowly he lowers down, the rest of them following suit as I keep my arm around Maggie to keep her stable with Abraham by side.

The man turns and calls, "Get the rest of them out. Dwight?!"

A man walks out amongst the throng, half of his face burnt and I know exactly who he is, "Yeah?"

"Get the rest of them out. Chop, chop." The man instructs.

Dwight walks forward towards a trailer and opens it up, "Come on, you've got people to meet." He says.

Two men pull someone out and my heart stops beating my chest, tears flowing freely down my face. They walk Daryl out and kneel him to the ground. He is extremely pale, a blanket around his shoulders with blood coming down from one arm. We exchange a look of pure terror, both of us wanting nothing more than to get the other person out of here.

Michonne, Rosita and Glenn come out after him and are pushed to their knees in our and Glenn stares at Maggie in horror, "Maggie?"

"On your knees!" One of the men commands, pushing him down.

"Alright, we got a full boat!" The main man says with a smile, "Let's meet the man." He says, knocking on the door to the RV.

My eyes focus on the door, feeling completely terrified and sick to my stomach. I wait until suddenly the door creaks open and a man steps out. He's an older man, leather jackets and clean holding a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire over his shoulder.

He smirks as he looks over at all of us, "Pissing our pants yet?"

He begins to walk forward towards us with an all American boy grin, "Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close."

He takes in our long line, walking over towards Eugene before walking along, "Yeah, it's gonna be pee pee pants city here real soon. Which one of you pricks is the leader?"

"It's this one, he's the guy." The main one says, pointing towards Rick.

Negan glances at him for a moment before signing and walking to him, "Hi, you're Rick right? I'm Negan, and I do not appreciate you killing my men. Also when I sent my people to kill your people for killing my people, you killed more of my people. Not cool, not cool. You have no idea how not cool that shit is, but I think you're going to be up to spread shortly. Yeah, you're so going to regret crossing me in a few minutes. Yes you are."

He shifts on his feet before he speaks, "You see Rick whatever you do, no matter what, you don't mess with the new world order. New world order is this and it's really very simple. So even if you're stupid, which you very well may be, you can understand it. You ready?" He asks, meeting Rick's eye.

"Here it goes, pay attention." He says, pulling his bar down and pointing it at Rick, "Give me your shit, or I will kill you." A smile comes to his face and it sends a shiver down my spine.

He begins to walk down the line, meeting all of our eyes, "Today was career day. We invested a lot so you could know who I am and what I can do. You work for me. You have shit, you give it to me. That's your job. Now I know that is a mighty big, nasty pill to swallow. But swallow it, you most certainly will."

He comes to a stop in front of Rick, "You rule the roost, you built something. You thought you were safe, I get it. But, the word is out. You are not safe. Not even close. In fact, you are pegged. More pegged than if you don't do what I want and what I want is half your shit. And if that's too much you can make, find or steal more and it'll even out sooner or later."

He gestures around him, "This is your way of life now. The more you fight back, the harder it will be."

He begins to walk down the line once more, "So someone knocks on your door, you let us in. We own that door. You try to stop us, and we will knock it down. You understand?" He asks, coming to a stop in front of Rick once more.

Rick doesn't say anything and Negan leans forward, his hand cupping around his ear, "What? No answer? You didn't really think you could get through this without being punished now did you?"

He looks down our line, "I don't really want to kill you people, I just wanna make that clear from the get go. I want you to work for me, you can't do that if you're dead now can you? I'm not growing a garden. But, you killed my people. A whole damn lot of them, more than I'm comfortable with. And for that, for that you're gonna pay. So now, I'm gonna beat the holy hell out of one of you."

He looks at us before twirling his bat in his hand, "This, this is Lucille. And she is awesome. All this, all this is just so we can pick out which one of you gets the honor." He says, walking down the line again.

He walks past me and comes to a stop in front of Abraham, who straightens up beside me, "Huh." Negan says, rubbing his hand over his chin, "I gotta see this shit."

He walks way down the opposite side and comes to a stop in front of Carl, kneeling down, "You got one of our guns. You got a lot of our guns. Shit kid, lighten up. At least cry a little."

He looks at Carl before turning to Rick, eyeing him for a moment before smiling and looking at Carl again. He tucks the gun into his pants and rises to his feet, walking once more. I hold onto the back of Maggie's shirt and hear her whimpering from beside me when Negan comes to a stop in front of her.

"Jesus. You look shitty. I should just put you out of your misery right now." He says, lifting his bat and going for her.

"No!" Glenn roars, charging forward when Dwight stops him, knocking him to the ground and beating him.

"Stop it!" Maggie screams, reaching for him but I hold her back, my eyes taking in the sickness of it all.

Dwight stands over him, holding Daryl's crossbow in his hands and aiming it at Glenn. Glenn grunts and Negan turns to face him, "Nope, nope. Get him back in line."

Dwight drags Glenn back into line and Glenn cries out, "No! No! Don't! Don't!" He pleads.

Negan tilts his head back and laughs before turning to face us all, "Alright listen. Don't any of you do that again. I will shut that shit down, no exceptions. First ones free, it's an emotional moment, I get it." He says, pointing at Glenn.

He turns and looks at Rick, a side smile on his lips, "Sucks don't it? That moment you realise you don't know shit."

He looks at Rick before glancing at Carl, pointing his bat between the two, "This is your kid, right? This is definitely your kid." He chuckles.

"So stop this!" Rick yells and Negan looks at him, "Hey! Do not make me kill the future little serial killer. Don't make it easy on me. I gotta pick somebody, everybody's at the dinner table waiting for me to order."

He begins to whistle as he walks down the line, his eyes taking us all in and taunting us as far as he can. As large smile comes on his face, "I simply cannot decide."

He turns and rubs at his head with a chuckle before turning and looking at us all, "I've got an idea."

He steps forward towards Rick and points the gun in his face, "Eeny."

"Meany." He says, stepping and pointing it at Maggie.

He steps next and looks at me with a smile and my heart pounds in my chest ferociously, "Miney."

"Mo." He says, stepping and pointing it next at Michonne.

"Catch." He taunts, pointing it to Glenn.

"A tiger." He sneers, aiming the bat at Daryl and it takes everything in me not to dive for the man in front of me.

He turns and I look down at the ground, tears streaming down my face as he begins to point the bat at all of us, saying the old rhyme, "By... It's toe... If... He hollers... Let him go... My mother... Told me... To pick... The very... Best... One... And you... Are..."

"It." He says, his feet stepping into my view.

I look up at him and my heart stops beating as he turns and looks around, "Anybody moves, anybody says anything cut the boys eye out and feed it to his father and then we'll start. You can breath, you can blink, you can cry. Hell, you're all going to be doing that." He says before raising his bat into the air and taking the swing.