Rick gazed around his full living room, taking in all of the people in it. His family. Everyone he arrived to Alexandria with – minus Noah, of course, and Tara still being in the infirmary. It reminded him of their first night there – all of them sprawled across the couches and floors to sleep. Now, they were situated around the room, looking up at him, waiting for him to speak on yet another problem that needed to be addressed.
"I wanna thank you all for comin' over so late," Rick declared. "I know it's been a long day." He leaned against their dining table, in a small space between where Carol and Michonne were sitting. "I did a lot of things wrong when we first got here," he admitted. "Did a lot of lying. And I don't wanna do that again." He caught Michonne's eye, her looking up at him encouragingly as he spoke. "And I don't wanna make this an 'us' versus 'them' thing, but the truth is, that's what it is."
"It ain't gotta be," Daryl piped up from his corner near the window. He had yet to hear the news, same as most of the other people in the room. "Can't make this a home if we just gonna keep fightin' each other."
"You're right," Rick conceded, glancing up at him. "But they're not giving us a choice."
"'They' who?" Carol asked, frowning in confusion.
"We're not sure who all is included, which is why I brought you all here tonight. Ethan's been trying to gain support to take over this place, and I'm not all that excited to find out how many of 'them' he's got on his side."
"So… they plan to overtake Alexandria?" Rosita questioned. "And then what? Kick us out?"
"Probably," Glenn answered from one of the couches.
Abraham walked across the room, leaning against the mantle as he crossed his arms. "They can fuckin' try."
"We're not trying to start a war," Michonne inserted before the guys got the group too riled up. "We're trying to keep our wits about us. We want full disclosure amongst the people we trust. But this is not about fighting."
"But it could come to that," Carol retorted in her usual soft but firm voice. "And the neutral people – Morgan, Aaron, Jessie? They're gonna have to choose a side."
Rick sighed heavily, his eyes darting around the room, nodding at her assertion. She was right. As much as he didn't want to have to pit everyone against each other, he needed to be clear on who was with him. He looked over to Michonne for her approval, but she was staring at the floor. "First thing in the morning, I'll go around and talk to the few people are likely on the fence."
"Maybe if Ethan knows he's in the minority, he'll back down," she agreed.
"That's if he's in the minority," Michonne inserted quietly. "People are scared. And they do silly things when they're scared."
"Maybe we should just have another town meeting," Maggie suggested. "Get this whole takeover nonsense out in the open."
"We had one yesterday, and all it did was make them angrier," Rosita replied. "We can't keep trying to play nice with people who hate us."
Carol nodded, gesturing towards Rosita. "She's right."
"Let's just see what Rick finds out tomorrow," Michonne said, glancing over to him to confirm. "We can figure out what to do from there."
