Solitude -> The Walking Dead

63

"Where'd you get the gun?" Michonne asked.

Glenn, Abraham, Carol and I entered the room they were holding Rick in. He was sitting down on a matress, his face patched up by Rosita as best as she could.

I leaned against a wall purposefully staring opposite of Rick. If I look at him, my anger will take over and I cannot lose my focus right now.

"You took it, right? From the armory? That was stupid. Why did you do it?" Carol asked.

My eyes narrowed at her tone. I looked her way but she seemed normal. Her expression gave nothing away. It could be in my head.

But I've already been fooled by one person in this group. It's not unlikely that there's more to it than we know.

"Just in case." Rick replied.

The sound of his voice soothed me and disrupted my train of thought. I was glad that he's okay, but nothing could make me forget that he hid this from me.

"Deanna's planning to have a meeting tonight. For anyone who wants to." Glenn said.

Dakota mentioned it early this morning while feeding the twins. The people of Alexandria will come and decide what to do about the situation.

Or at least, express their opinions while Deanna decides.

"To kick Rick out?"

"To try."

My fingers tapped rhythmically on my shoulder as I thought about our situation. It wasn't looking good. After the speech Rick held, all bloodied and unhinged, it'll be a miracle if anyone's not afraid of him.

"We don't know that. Maggie's with Deanna right now, she's gonna find out what it is." Glenn argued.

I could feel Rick's eyes on me which stilled my fingers. He was trying to meet my eyes, but I kept them firmly on the wall in front of me.

Now was not the time to get swept away with relationship issues. We had to figure out what to do for the good of the group. That meant getting Rick not kicked out.

"At the meeting, you say you worried about someone being abused and no one was doing anything about it. You say you took a gun just to be sure that Jessie was safe from a man who wound up attacking you. You say you'll do whatever they want you to."

A scoff left my lips as I looked at her. It was a nice story. Semi accurate, too. But things still won't go our way. Nothing will change in Alexandria if we continue pretending. Rick got that part right.

"So we lie to them? Just like you've been since the beginning? Why?" I demanded to know.

She has been playing the role of a defenseless mother hen since the moment we stepped foot inside these walls. It was a smart play, but to what end? Sooner or later, they'll notice that she's not who she says she is.

I have been holding back, too. Pretending to be a better version of myself than I was so maybe I'd become it. But she's been lying the whole time. Our fresh start is nothing but another lie.

"Because these people are children and children like stories." Carol argued.

Abraham frowned. "What happens after all the nice words and they still try to kick him out?"

We do whatever it takes. We didn't come this far just to be screwed over by a stupid fistfight and a mental breakdown. Rick was protecting Jessie, a member of Alexandria's community. That's gotta be worth something to these people.

"They're guarding the armory now." Glenn warned.

And they're watching us, too. Every single one of our steps is being observed. If we do anything suspicious, they'll know. We're smarter than them, but they're not stupid.