MELANIE DIDN'T APPROVE of the plan, but it wasn't up to her. They needed guns, a lot of guns, if they were going to have a chance at defeating the Saviors. Melanie knew they had other options, but they were getting down to the wire, and they couldn't risk Oceanside denying them, so a plan was created. Melanie had held people at gunpoint before and killed them, but she preferred only to do that when it was absolutely necessary. The people of Oceanside hadn't done anything to them, and yet, they were about to hold them hostage and forcefully take their entire arsenal.
When Tara and Heath got separated on the road, Tara found another community called Oceanside. According to her, they had an arsenal filled with guns. Rick and the others had found another group willing to help in the fight with the Saviors but they wanted guns in return. The plan was to take Oceanside and get their guns, and possibly get them to fight alongside everyone else, but if it didn't go as planned, they would just take their guns. It was meant to be peaceful.
Tara would go in and attempt to negotiate with the leader of Oceanside. If that didn't work, they would set off bombs around the perimeter of the community before going in and holding the community hostage. Melanie knew they were planning on being peaceful, but if peace didn't work, they would use force and violence to get the guns they so desperately needed. Melanie was familiar with what it looked like watching the life leave someone's eyes, but that didn't mean that she enjoyed it.
Before she came to Alexandria, she had killed innocent people to protect herself. After the trauma of the Claimers, she couldn't risk trusting anyone, so she killed. Now, she didn't want to kill innocent people. The community of Oceanside hadn't done anything to them, so if it came down to it, Melanie didn't know if she would be able to hurt them. She knew they needed the guns, but she also wanted to be able to live with herself after defeating the Saviors.
As she stood in the forest, contemplating what was about to happen, Carl sensed her worry and gently grabbed her hand. Melanie sighed in relief upon feeling his touch. Carl gave her a worried look, "You okay?"
Melanie took a deep breath and nodded, "I'm just thinking."
"Need to talk about it?" Carl asked.
Melanie squeezed his hand before placing it back on the machine gun she was holding, "I'm okay. It's okay."
Carl nodded at her. He knew something was bothering her, but he also knew if she really needed to talk about it, she would say something to him. Even if Melanie wanted to tell him, it was too late. The bombs around the community started to go off. Melanie took a deep breath and gripped her gun as screams echoed inside the community. She looked at Carl and nodded.
