Under the threat of death, the others hightailed it and set up shop in the Oceanside campground, hidden from outsiders’ eyes.
Before Oceanside was formed, the group’s previous community became one of Negan’s conquests, but it didn’t take long to reach a breaking point.
So it’s pretty obvious how Rick would be assisted by coming into contact with them, since he’s also going to begin planning a mutinous retaliation against Lucille’s owner.
The survivors faced the Saviors head-on, but their valiant efforts were thwarted, and Negan’s posse slaughtered all of the male residents, taking some of the consenting females back to the Sanctuary.