Too Far Gone // D. Dixon

chapter twenty-two

The next day had rolled around quicker than the last.

With the discovery that Rick had made and the fact that Jessie was being abused by her husband, Pete...the group knew something had to be done. Some could see that he had formed some sort of attachment to the married woman, but none of them thought too much of it. They knew that he was heavily invested in getting the woman out of the abusive relationship, as he had informed the group of the situation, but he hadn't been quite sure how to fix it.

He had spoken with Deanna, hoping to find some sort of common ground, a way to help everyone. However, Deanna was against the idea of executing him, or even exiling him just yet. That only made Rick more frustrated. There was someone that needed his help. It was his job to do that.

Maren watched him walk to that house, watching from the front porch. She had Daryl by her side as she watched, but she was worried. Something in her gut had told her to keep an eye out. She was worried that he'd do something rash, go too far.

Her gut instinct had been right.

When the front window busted out with two bloodied men raging in a fight coming into the street, Maren and Daryl ran.

She had kept her knife on her person at all times, despite the weapons being stowed away in the armory, for times like this. That had been her little secret.

She ran, seeing Rick's bloody face hovering above Pete's. He kept throwing punches at the groaning man, making his hands appear more bloodied with each punch. She had to stop him.

"Rick!" Maren kept running towards him, trying desperately to pull him off, "Stop!"

A crowd had formed around them, watching in fear as Rick beat the living hell out of Pete, the town's sole resident doctor and surgeon.

Maren tried prying the pair apart, but to no avail, "Stop fucking fighting! Just stop so we can figure this out-" Just as Pete had gotten on top of Rick, the abusive man had felt the girl try to pull him away so he was quick to pull his fist back and slam it into Maren's jaw sending her crashing to the pavement.

Rick raged as he saw the punch, tackling the man again. He was back on top, but Maren wasn't aware of that. No, she was seeing stars. She knew she had been hit and was on the ground, but she didn't know much more other than the striking and stinging pain she felt radiating in her jaw.

Daryl had gotten closer, witnessing the moment from afar. When he saw the impact of Pete's fist on Chloe's face, he ran to her immediately. When he finally got there, he lunged for Maren desperately wanting to make sure she was okay. 

"Shit!" Daryl held her head in his lap as he looked her over, "You alright?" She looked so out of it, dizzy. A blotch of her skin had already begun to turn an aggressive shade of red, he knew there would be a nasty bruise later. He was utterly enraged. Nobody hurts her and walks away. No one.

"STOP IT!" Deanna yelled, catching Rick's attention and everyone else's too.

"Touch them again...and I'll kill you." Rick spoke into Pete's ear, glancing over at Maren. She was on the ground, now in Daryl's arms. He could see her face beginning to turn red. That fact made him angrier. This asshole had hit her, just like he'd been doing to his family. He should kill him just for that.

"Damn it, Rick! I said stop." Deanna spoke again, but Rick was still pissed.

"Or what?" Rick said, pulling a gun on everyone, "You gonna kick me out?" This was bad, very bad.

"Put that gun down, Rick." Deanna spoke calmly, trying her best to diffuse the situation. She was stunned at how quickly things had escalated.

"You still don't get it..." Rick said, in a bit of a wild tone, "None of you do! We know what needs to be done and we do it. We're the ones who live. You...you just sit and plan and hesitate. You pretend like you know when you don't."

Maren stood up, with help from Daryl, "Stop him, Daryl..." She sighed in both frustration and pain, but Daryl shook his head.

"Sh, just lean against me. I don't want ya to fall," Daryl spoke, holding onto her more as she struggled to stay upright. She found herself having to lean back against Daryl for support. All of this was making her dizzy, more than she already was.

"You wish things weren't what they are. Well, you want to live? You want this place to stay standing?" Rick stopped for a moment, "Your way of doing things is done. Things don't get better because you want them to. Starting right now...we have to live in the real world. We have to control who lives here."

"That's never been more clear to me than it is right now." Deanna said, looking at Rick.

Rick only laughed, "Me? Me? You...you mean me?"

Everyone froze. Rick had crimson blood dripping down his face, his hair was a mess, he looked rabid. Crazy. It reminded Maren of how they had looked in that warehouse. She shivered at the thought.

"Your way is gonna destroy this place. It's gonna get people killed...it's already gotten people killed! And I'm not gonna stand by and just let it happen. If you don't fight, you die." Rick spoke, just as Michonne knocked him out.

It was probably for the best.

- TOO FAR GONE -

"I'm fine, really," Maren spoke, reassuring Daryl and everyone else, "I was just a little dizzy, nothing to worry about."

Daryl watched her like a hawk, wanting to be certain that she was okay. He was still seething about the whole thing, he wanted Pete dead just as much as Rick did. He just wished he had done it sooner.

With the sound of stirring, the group looked at Rick, who sat just against the wall in the cell. There sat Michonne in a chair, Daryl leaning against the far wall, and Maren sitting next to him.

Seeing the situation, Rick laughed. As if there was any humor in the situation at all.

"What's so funny?" Maren asks Rick, watching as he leans against the wall behind him.

"It's like the train car..." Rick sighed, "After the whole thing, I'm still there."

"Deanna wanted you in here...to calm things down," Michonne spoke, looking at Rick sternly, "Rosita patched you up, Carl came by for a while but we sent him home. Rick...what are you doing?"

Rick looked away for a moment, thinking about how he should answer that. Truth is, he didn't know. He was just trying to do what was right; getting Jessie out of an abusive relationship seemed like the right thing to do. Sure, his execution of the plan didn't exactly pan out well. But at least he tried.

Rick looked at Maren, seeing that the red on her face he remembered had now turned an agressive shade of purple, "You okay? I heard the hit before I saw it."

Maren drew a quick breath, "Yeah, I'm okay. No need to worry. Besides, you took a hell of a lot more hits than I did." Rick sighed, and looked at Daryl. Stubborn as usual.

"We put Pete in another house," Michonne stated, getting Rick's attention once again, "You could have told me what was happening."

"It moved fast. And then Noah..." Rick paused, "I couldn't tell you about the gun. You wanted this place and now we have to stay here."

"We had to stop being out there." Michonne put in plainly. The longer they were out there, the colder they got. The more ruthless they became. The more they were willing to do to survive. It had brought out the worst parts of them, taken the good parts away from them.

"You're right," Rick spoke, "we need to stay here."