Make it Till You Don't

Three's Better Than Two

After discussing our options, we went with the plan Tyreese suggested: Take two of Dawn's cops hostage and propose an even trade... them, for Carol and Beth. It's a great plan and I know Tyreese is looking for the most peaceful option, but a part of me is still not sure. After all, Noah said she was trying to hold things together. Trying.

I watched from the spot I was crouched in, watching as the cop car cut Noah off. A man and woman got out, aiming their guns at him. "Put it down, Noah."

"Put the gun down."

Noah turned towards them, lifting his arm out and placing the gun on the ground. "Hands up. Turn around."

Noah turned around with his arms out as the man took out a zip tie, walking over and zipping Noah's wrists together. "You let me know if it's too tight, okay?"

"I thought you were smart, Noah. You think we wouldn't hear you?" The woman asked Noah.

Noah didn't reply as the man finished zip tying his hands. "Where are those Rotter's you were shooting at?" Rotter's? That's a new one.

"Come on." Rick whispered, walking out from behind the crates we were crouched behind. The five of us walked over, aiming our guns as Rick whistled, gaining their attention. "Hands."

The two cops spun around, aiming at us now. "What do you want?"

"Whatever this is, we can help." Rick told her, referring to the situation. "You do what we say, we don't hurt you.

The two looked at us for a moment before the man lowered his aim, holding his hands out. "Okay." The woman looked at him before lowering her arms.

"Good. Now turn around." Rick instructed the two, stepping forward. "Put your guns on the floor and kneel."

As the two kneeled, we wasted no time in disarming the two, Sasha handing Daryl a zip tie, tying their hands up. "Here." I spoke up, handing Tyreese my knife so he could cut Noah free.

"We need to talk." Rick told them. "There's water if you need some- and food."

Finished, Sasha and Daryl pulled the two onto their feet. "Mind if I ask you something?" Rick looked at the man as he continued. "The way you talk... the way you carry yourself... were you a cop?" Rick just looked at him, not speaking up. "Believe it or not, I was, too."

Rick looked over to Daryl, giving him a nod. "That's Lamson. He'll be down for this." Noah whispered to Rick. He's one of the good ones."

"Good or not, we need this to-" I stopped my sentence as we heard tired squealing, seeing a car coming towards us. I quickly grabbed Noah's arm, pulling him beside me as Rick and Daryl began shooting at the car.

As the car came to a stop, I felt the woman grab at me while Lamson took Noah from my grasp. Feeling a kick on my back, I fell to the ground as Noah was shoved into the car.

"God damn it..." I muttered, getting back up as I saw the woman climb into the car. I grabbed hold of Lamson trying to pull him away before he slammed the back of his head into my nose.

I stumbled back a couple steps, placing a hand over my nose as he got in the car, it pulling off as Sasha ran out and shot at it.

Not having time to think about anything, I ran with the others around the corner before Rick motioned for us to stop. Glancing around, we saw a bunch of FEMA trailers burned up and the remains of Walkers strewn about and the car.

Cautiously stalking forward, I brought my hand away from my face, aiming my gun in front of me. "Rick." I alerted him, pointing to where I saw the two cops rounding behind the trailer.

Not wasting a second, we ran after them. "Two, on me." Rick told everyone.

I took a moment to walk over to the FEMA trailers, glancing around for any sign of Noah. "Noah." I called out, cautiously stepping around one of the Walkers. I heard footsteps coming up behind me. "He's not here."

I turned around, facing Daryl as he lowered his gun slightly. He motioned to the door, raising his gun along with me before opening the door. "Come on." He placed his hand on my back, motioning for us to walk off before he was tackled to the ground.

I turned around quickly, grabbing the cop by the shoulders before throwing him off of Daryl as he scrambled back onto his feet. Not wasting a second, the two began fighting each other as I picked up Daryl's gun.

I watched as the man picked up Daryl, slamming him on the ground between two Walkers, one crawling closer. Not wanting to waste bullets or alert anyone else, I quickly went over and stomped on the head, smashing it.

I quickly brought Daryl's gun up, bashing the hilt against the cop. Taking the moment he slacked his grip, Daryl got up as a gunshot went off, killing the other Walker. Looking over, I saw Rick pointing his gun at him.

"Okay." The cop said, glaring at Rick. "You win, asshole."

Rick didn't lower his aim as I walked to Daryl, helping him up before handing him his gun. "You alright?" I asked him, looking for any bites.

"Fine." He gruffed out, looking at me. "You're bleedin'." Daryl added, pointing at me.

I brought my hand up to my nose, bringing it back to see blood. I let out a sigh, nodding over to dickhead. "Got headbutted by officer friendly over there."

Daryl let out a small chuckle at my words, causing me to look at him in confusion. He shook his head before looking over to Rick. Glancing over as well, I noticed the look in his eye as he had them and his gun trained on the man.

"Rick." Daryl tried to gain his attention. "Rick! Rick, three is better than two."

Rick looked over at Daryl, the two having a silent conversation as I went over to Rick, placing a hand on the arm he had up. "He's right." Rick then glanced at me for a moment, slowly lowering his gun as I nodded at him. Daryl began restraining the man as we went to join up with Sasha and Tyreese.

Meeting up with the two, we saw that Noah was alright and found a building to lay low in for a while as we came up with a strategy. Rick took Noah to another part of the building, going over some details with the plan as we stayed back to keep an eye on our three bargaining chips.

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Published: 02/17/2025