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CHAPTER SIX: RIGHT OR EASY?
( tw! mentions of assault & self harm )
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RIGHT OR EASY? Melanie had been thinking about that question ever since Rick's meltdown in the middle of town. In this new world, you constantly had to choose between what was right and what was easy. The right option is always the harder one. It's difficult and it hurts but it's necessary. The easy option isn't usually the one you should go for no matter how much you want to. It was easy which felt good but it wasn't good in the long run.
Melanie had learned that if you were going to survive in the new world, you needed to choose what was right instead of what was easy. Melanie knew that the easy thing to do would be to exile Pete. He was a man who beat his wife and kids, and he wasn't going to stop even if he was exiled. He would come back no matter what. The Alexandrians wanted to choose the easy way out. They didn't want to kill anybody even if he was a bad person.
The easy thing for Melanie would be to continue to shut everyone out. It would be to not let her guard down. The easy thing to do would be to keep everything inside, bottle it up, and take it out on her body. The easy thing would be to never tell her sister about what she had experienced after getting kidnapped. The easy thing would be to ignore Carl's attempts at trying to get to know her and continue to be cold to him.
The right thing was to let someone in whether that was Margot or Carl. The right thing would be to risk letting her guard down no matter what might happen if she did. The right thing to do would be to let it all out. The right thing to do would be to talk to her sister about what had happened. The right thing to do would be to stop shutting Carl out and let him attempt to help her.
Right or easy?
Melanie was choosing right. She walked up to one of Rick's houses and stood at the front door. Melanie pulled her shirt down over her hands. It was a bit too big for her as she had found it in a store she had raided after Daryl freed her from the basement. Melanie played with her fingers and bit her lip before raising her fist and knocking on the door.
A few seconds went by before Carl opened the door. He seemed surprised to see Melanie. Melanie didn't blame him as he was surprised that she had even worked up the courage to come. Carl smiled at her, "Uh -- come in."
Melanie smiled and walked into the house. Carl shut the door behind her. Melanie walked in and looked around the house. It was just as big as hers was, maybe a little bit bigger but it had to house more than just two women.
"So... why are you here?" Carl asked.
Melanie continued playing with her fingers as she turned around and faced Carl, "I -- um -- I know everyone is kinda pissed and scared at what your dad did, and I think it wasn't the best approach but... Pete deserved it."
