traded my life [TWD]

『87』

The first thing I saw when I was placed on my knees in front of the prison was the burning remains of Woojin and I's guard tower.

I'd felt the crash from the tank firing, but it hurt more to know the target was something so sacred.

Then, I saw Rick's eyes.

He was standing behind the fence, looking at me. He looked sad. Sick. 

"I have a tank. And I'm letting you walk away from here," the Governor announces. "What else is there to talk about?"

I turn my head enough to look at the tank. I roll my eyes a bit and wriggle my shoulders. My hands were now tied behind my back.

To my left, Hershel was on his knees. Beside him, Michonne. 

"I could shoot you all. You'd shoot back, I know that. But, we'll win and you'd be dead. All of you.. and it doesn't have to be like that. Like I said.. it's your choice."

My body lurches in a jump when a gunshot fires behind me. Then,a. second.

"Noise will only draw more of them out. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get out of here."

I meet Rick's eyes again. I could see his desperation. I slowly shake my head. Not like this.. Not after everything.

"We could all live together," he announces. "There's enough room for all of us."

I bow my head, feeling utterly defeated. 

"It's not gonna be easy.. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But, I don't think we have a choice."

"We don't," The Governor denies. "But, you do."

"We're not leaving. We took this place. We spilled blood. There are children here.. If you try and force your way in, we'll fight back. And like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of 'em out. They'll take down the fences and without the fences, this place is worthless," Rick explains.

Either way.. we were in a losing battle. We weren't prepared. The sickness that rocked the prison took over half of our numbers. We were already low on bullets before, even less after the herd from last night and the people that turned inside.

"Now.. we can all live in the prison or none of us can," Rick offers.

I hear footsteps as the Governor gets down from the tank. Then, his voice as he draws near. "We'll fix the damn fences."

He knocks my body to the side and grabs Hershel, placing Michonne's sword at his neck.

I wriggle my bound arms, desperate like Rick now. The woman beside me points her gun at me as a warning. 

I look at Rick again. Despite that I wasn't allowed to move, I could talk.

"Let's just go," I plead with Rick. "We.. We've made it on the road before. We can do it again.. Please, Rick."

"I'd listen if I were you," the Governor says, not removing the weapon as he threatens Hershel's life.

Rick points at a girl further in the back. "You.. in the ponytail.. is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?"

"What we want if what you got. Period," the man in the tank announces. "Time for you to leave, asshole."

"Look, I fought him before. Less than a year ago, even," Rick says, pointing at the Governor. "And after he slaughtered his army himself, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here."

I look up at the Governor, then to Hershel. Hershel takes a deep breath, keeping himself calm despite his life at risk.

"Now, you put down your weapons.. Walk through those gates.. be one of us," Rick leads. "We let go of all of it. And nobody dies."

Hershel gives me a nod. I knew what he was trying to say. Rick was back. He wasn't chasing ghosts anymore. And we were going to be safe.

"Everyone that's alive right now and made it this far, we've all done worse kinds of things just to stay alive. But, we can still come back. We're not too far gone."

I feel a tear drip down my face. It's been so long since I've heard Rick sound like this. I felt proud, amidst my terror.

The Governor slowly lowers the sword from Hershel's neck.

"We get to come back. I know. We all can change," Rick promises.

I look away from Hershel and back at Rick. The Governor had lowered the sword to be between Hershel and I. His grip lessens.

Rick nods at me, slowly. He takes a deep breath. I smile through my tears. I was so happy to have him back to himself.. thinking straight.

"Liar."

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

uni is killing me so yk what you can all suffer too

(i am once again asking for validation to get through the final 2 assignments for this course pls spare change)