Afraid of the Living - Carl Grimes

☆ seven

1238 words

Leah's POV:

We pull back into Alexandria. Rick tells Sasha to get Olivia.

"You got food?"

"Enough for another month." Michonne replies.

"I need everybody in the church in an hour." Rick tells Sasha.

"What is it?" She asks.

"We'll talk about it."

~~~

"And we can work with the Hilltop. Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food– eggs, butter, fresh vegetables." Rick pauses for a moment.

"But they're not just giving it away. These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham on the road. Now, sooner or later, they would've found us, just like those Wolves did, just like Jesus did. They would've killed someone or some of us. And then they would try to own us. And we would try to stop them. But by then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure, as sure as we can get, that we win. And we have to win." Maggie holds my hand.

"We do this for the Hilltop, it's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece."

The room is silent for a second, and then Morgan stands up.

"You're sure we can do it? We can beat them?"

"What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become, all of us– yes, I'm sure." Morgan nods.

"Then all we have to do is just tell them that."

"Well, they don't compromise."

"This isn't a compromise. It's a choice you give them. It's a way out, for them and for us." Morgan tries to reason with him.

"We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage, our safety. No, we have to come for them before they come for us. We can't leave them alive."

"Where there's life, there's possibility."

"Of them hitting us."

"We're not trapped in this. None of you are trapped in this." I look to Maggie, and she gives me a sad smile.

"Morgan... they always come back."

"Come back when they're dead, too."

"Yeah, we'll stop them. We have before."

"I'm not talking about the walkers."

"Morgan wants to talk to them first. I think that would be a mistake, but it's not up to me. I'll talk to the people still at home. I'll discuss it with the people on guard now, too, but who else wants to approach the Saviors, talk to them first?" I want to stand up, but I know why we have to kill them.

"What happened here, we won't let that happen again. I won't." Aaron stands up.

Aaron nods at Morgan and sits down.

"Looks like it's settled. We know exactly what this is. We don't shy from it, we live. We kill them all. We don't all have to kill. But if people are gonna stay here... they do have to accept it." Rick says the last part before walking out of the church.

~~~

I'm sitting at the dinner table with Glenn and Maggie.

"We need someone on the perimeter keeping watch. That could be me. That would be safe." Maggie offers.