cassette tapes |d. dixon| [1]

59

CAROLINE KNEW IT WASN'T GOING TO GO DOWN PEACEFULLY.

The Governor hadn't changed. He was still a psychopath.

People were going to die that day.

Caroline could only pray that she would make it through it. That Daryl would make it. And Carl. And Judith. Maggie and Beth. 

She knew it wasn't likely, jut the least she could do was pray.

"I never got to tell him that I love him." Caroline whispered as they sat in the bed of a red truck.

They were heading towards the prison.

"You will." Michonne stated, 

"They have a fucking tank." Caroline hissed, staring at the machine that was behind the line of cars,

"Daryl can fight a tank."

The trucks stopped yards from the fence and three men dragged them out from the back of the truck, forcing them onto their knees.

Tears filled her eyes. They can't take on a tank. They can't fight at all. Everyone was still recovering.

"Fire." The Governor answered from his place behind Hershel.

The tank fired into the guard tower and the Governor climbed on top of the large machine, "Rick!" He yelled up to the prison, "Come down here. We need to talk."

Caroline spotted them grouped up in the courtyard, "It's not up to me! There's a council now! They run this place!" Rick informed him,

"Is Hershel on the council? What about Michonne? She on the council, too?" The Governor motioned down to them, "How about Caroline?"

"I don't make decisions anymore!"

"You're making the decisions today, Rick. Come down here. Let's... Let's have that talk."

After a moment, Rick opened the gate and began walking down the yard, heading towards the fences that separated them.

Caroline tried to find Daryl in the crowd, but he was too far away to make out.

"Let 'em go right now." Rick ordered, "I'll stay down here. Talk as long as you want. But you let 'em go. You got a tank. You don't need hostages."

"I do. This is just to show you I'm serious. Not to blast a hole in our new home." The Governor smirked, "You and your people, you have till sundown to get out of here or they die."

Rick shook his head, "Doesn't have to go down this way."

"I got more people, more firepower. We need this prison. There it is."  He shrugged, "It's not about the past. It's about right now."

"There are children here. Some of them are sick. They won't survive." Rick begged,

"It's true." Caroline spoke up, still staring straight ahead, "Some of those walkers we were burning in the woods, those were our people who didn't make it. They were sick."

"Shut her up." The Governor ordered,

The man behind her smacked the back of her head with the butt of his gun and she fell forward, using her forearms to stop her fall,

"I have a tank. And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about?" He smirked, "I could shoot you all. You'd all shoot back. I know that. But we'll win and you'll be dead. All of you."

"Doesn't have to be like that." Rick responded,

"Like I said, it's your choice." The sound of walkers drew his attention. The Governor pulled out his gun and Caroline flinched as the sound of gunshots resonated, "Noise will only draw more of them over. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get out of here."

Rick stayed still, just staring. 

"You got maybe about an hour of sunlight left. I suggest you start packing." The Governor stated, "The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be for you to get out of here."

"We can all- we can all live together." Rick's voice broke, "There's enough room for all of us. 

More than enough. But I don't think my family would sleep well knowing that you were under the same roof." The Governor responded,

"We'd live in different cell blocks. We'd never have to see each other till we're all ready." He suggested,

 "It could work. You know it could." Hershel called out,

"It could've. But it can't." He shook his head, "Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea."

Caroline scoffed. He destroyed Woodbury. He killed Andrea. No one made him do that. 

"Look, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But I don't think we have a choice." Rick said,

 "We don't. You do."

She knew the Governor was growing frustrated. And he was going to lash out. She was just scared on who his next victim was going to be,

 "We're not leaving. You try and force us, we'll fight back." Rick continued, "Like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of them out. They'll take down the fences. Without the fences, this place is worthless. Now, we can all live in the prison or none of us can."

She heard him jump from his spot on the tank and the sound of a blade being removed from its sheath.

"We'll fix the damn fences." Caroline looked over to see him holding Michonne's sword up to Hershel's neck,

She closed her eyes and prayed. Prayed harder than she ever had in her life. 

Caroline could see the panic in Rick's eyes. They were moments from a war breaking out.

"You. You in the ponytails." He pointed at a girl behind them that looked panicked, "Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?"

"What we want is what you got. Period. Time for you to leave, asshole." The guy standing in the tank responded,

Rick pointed at the Governor, "Look, I fought him before. And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here. Now you put down your weapons, walk through those gates... you're one of us." Rick tried to reason, "We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone who's alive right now. Everyone who's made it this far. We've all done the worst kinds of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone."

Caroline let go of the breath she was holding as she watched the Governor remove the sword from Hershel's neck,

"We get to come back. I know... we all can change." Rick finished,

"Liar."