We're The Ones Who Live | The Walking Dead (2)

Part 4 - Warning Signs

CJ didn't realise quite how literal her words were when she assured Daryl that Justin would never hurt anyone again.

Because the following morning, Justin was found dead.

It was just her luck that the day after she had been seen fighting with the man and blatantly threatening him that he would be murdered. Under different circumstances, CJ hated the excuse of a man and would have been glad to see the back of him, but his death wasn't on her. She had no clue what had happened, or who was responsible.

It had to be assumed that the other Saviors that had gone missing in the past month had suffered similar fates, only they were lucky enough to be put down before their corpses to wonder back to their friends. With a small round wound in the middle of his chest, Justin had been left to turn.

"Guess they're gonna execute every last one of us!" Jed shouted.

"Will you shut up!" CJ yelled.

"Or what, huh?!" Jed got right up to her face. "You gonna beat the crap outta me now too? Like you did Justin?!"

"Just give it a rest!" CJ snapped.

The Saviors were still yelling over each other, and one of them tried to attack Gabriel, who seemed unfazed. Everyone fell into a mess of fighting in a scramble of weak punches and shoves; Jed grabbed CJ's arms, and she kicked his leg and pushed him off angrily.

"Hey! Hey!" Alden shouted as he got into the middle of the crowd. "Stop this shit! Stop it! Stop it!" The crowd finally quietened down, glares and firm looks being sent from both sides and Alden held his hands up and addressed everyone. "We're gonna find out who did this, and we're gonna make sure it never happens to us again, alright?"

"Us?" Jed scoffed. "You're not one of us anymore."

"'Us' means all of us," Alden said.

Jed grabbed Alden by his shoulder and punched him in the face. "Go shovel that horse shit to whoever killed Justin!"

He advanced again, and this time CJ was quick to stand in his way and put her hand on his arm, her free hand hovering over her gun. "Back up."

"Thought you were supposed to be our leader," Jed said.

"Enough," she seethed. "Turn around. All of you."

"No, can do, Mrs D," Jed shrugged. "Why don't you go ahead and yank out that weapon, pop me right here. It's better than worrying about getting it in the back."

Without a word, or taking her eyes off of the Savior, CJ unholstered her gun and pointed it at the ground. The few people behind her followed her lead, taking their weapons out too.

The Saviors all took a step back, and Laura stepped forwards. "Hey, we don't want this. We just need to protect ourselves."

"No guns!" CJ heard Daryl's voice. Turning her head, she saw him stood atop the mound, watching the scene play out before him.

"That 'cause you're the one who took out Justin?" a Savior asked.

"Nah, my money's on the garbage lady," another glared at Jadis pointedly.

Regina agreed. "Revenge for Simon's play, for sure."

"No, it's him," the first Savior persisted, pointing up at Daryl. "Finishing what he started."

He and one of his buddies went over to a tree and picked up two axes, their gazes set firm on Daryl. Arat rushed over to her friends and tried to push them back. "Hey, stop. It's gonna go too far."

"Nah," Daryl shook his head. "It won't." He raised his crossbow at the two men, prepared to fight back.

"Maybe it's both of 'em," the first man suggested, gritting his teeth.