𝑩𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒔 | ᵀᵂᴰ

28: Blonde Reminder

"We're not leaving." Rick said.

"We can't stay here." Hershel told him.

"What if there's another sniper?" Maggie asked. "A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds."

"We can't even go outside." Beth said.

"Not in the daylight." Carol said.

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn told us.

"No, better to live like rats." Merle said from the other side of the door. "You got a better idea?" Rick asked. "Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day." Merle replied. "But we lost that window, didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now."

"We ain't scared of that prick." Daryl said. "Y'all should be." Merle replied. "That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to."

"Let's put him in the other cell block." Maggie said. "No. He's got a point." Daryl said. "This is all you. You started this." Maggie exclaimed at Merle. "What's the difference whose fault it is? What do we do?" Beth asked, going down the stairs.

"I said we should leave." Hershel said. "Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here." Rick started to walk away. "Get back here!" Hershel yelled. Rick stopped in tracks as Hershel walked to him.

"You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something." Hershel told him.

➳

I sat at the top of the stairs, slightly rocking babygirl in my arms. She started to rub her eyes and show signs of tiredness.

"Tú y yo también, bebesita." You and I both, baby girl. I said softly. "Yer good with 'er, Izzy." Merle said. I looked at him before back to at babygirl.

"Take watch. Eyes open, head down." Rick told Maggie. "Fields filled with walkers. I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch."

"I'll get up in the guard tower." Daryl said. "Take out half them walkers, give these guys a chance to fix the fence." "Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place." Michonne said.

"We can't access the field without burning through our bullets." Hershel said. "So we're trapped in here. There's barely any food or ammo." Glenn said.

"Been here before. We'll be alright." Daryl said. "That's when it was just us. Before, there was a snake in the nest." "Man, we gonna go through this again? Look, Merle's stayin' here. He's with us now. Get used to it." "Hey." Rick said, trying to ease the situation. "All y'all." Daryl said before walking away up the stairs.

I followed him, slightly rocking babygirl. "If they got used to Merle at the quarry, they can get used to him here." I told Daryl. He sat on the bed with a huff. I sat across from him.

"What made you come back?" I asked. He messed with his arrow before speaking. "Ya weren't there ta sass Merle's annoyin' ass." He mumbled. I laughed quietly.

Daryl looked at babygirl in my arms. "How's she doin'?" He asked. "Pretty good. Easier than you made it sound." I replied. "Wait till she's older." He said. I shook my head gently and looked down at her. She had fallen asleep.

"Apagado como una luz." Out like a light. I whispered. "Ya didn't sing 'er any of them lullabies did ya?" Daryl asked. "It's all I know unless you want me to sing Def Leppard to her." Daryl let out a small chuckle.

➳

Carl ran in and said someone came through the broken gate. We ran outside with our weapons. I left babygirl inside with Beth.

It felt good to have my arrows on my back again. As well as a bow in my hand. "Go." Rick told Merle. He ran behind the other car and looked around. "Clear!" Merle said. We ran towards the person. "Are you alone?" Rick asked.

"Open the gate!" They yelled. "Are you alone?" He replied. "Rick!" It was a woman. Rick threw Daryl the keys, and he unlocked the gate. Daryl pushed the gate open, and the woman ran through.

No, it can't be. She can't be alive. There's no way.

"Hands up! Turn around." Rick said. "Turn around now!" Rick pushed Andrea against the fence. He gave her a pat down to make sure she didn't have any other weapons.

A walker jumped at the fence where Andrea was. She yelled, and Rick pulled her away from it. "Get down on the floor." He told her. "I asked if you were alone." "I am." She answered.

He took her bag and threw it to the side. "Welcome back." He said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to her feet. "Get up."

We brought her into the prison. She hugged Carol. "After you saved me, I thought you were dead." Carol said. Andrea saw Hershel. "Hershel, my God." She said, breaking away from Carol. "I can't believe this." She said.

"Where's Shane?" I looked around the room. Who's gonna tell her? "And Lori?" I lowered my head. "She had a girl. Lori didn't survive." Hershel said.

"Neither did T-Dog." Maggie said. "I'm so sorry. Carl." She said. He was silent as she looked to her right. "Rick, I-" Andrea stopped. "You all live here?" "Here and the cell block." Glenn said. "There?" Andrea questioned, pointing to it. "Well, can I go in?" She started walking, but Rick stopped her.

"I won't allow that." He said. "I'm not an enemy, Rick." She told him. "We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up." "He said you fired first." "Well, he's lying." "He killed an inmate who survived in here." Hershel said.

"We liked 'im. He was one of us." Daryl said. "I didn't know anything about that." Andrea said. "As soon as I found out, I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out." "That was days ago." Glenn said. "I told you, I came as soon as I could."

No one said a word. Andrea turned around to Michonne. "What have you told them?" She asked. "Nothing." Michonne said. "I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people, and now I'm the odd man out?"

"He almost killed Michonne, and he would've killed us." I said. "With his finger on the trigger." Andrea pointed to Merle. "Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?"

Andrea took a deep breath and covered her face with her hands. "Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together. We have to work this out." "There's nothing to work out. We're gonna kill him. I don't know how or when, but we will." Rick said.

"We can settle this. There is room in Woodbury for all of you." Merle chuckled. "You know better than that." He said. "What makes you think this man wants to negotiate? Did he say that?" Hershel asked. "No." Andrea answered. "Then why did you come here?" Rick asked.

"Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack." "I'll tell ya what. Next time ya see Philip, ya tell 'im I'm gonna take his other eye." Daryl said.

"We've taken too much shit for too long. He wants a war? He's got one." Glenn said. Andrea turned around. "Rick. If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town." Andrea said. "Look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore."

"You want to make this right, get us inside." Rick said. "No." "Then we got nothing to talk about." Rick began to walk away. "There are innocent people." He went into the cellblock and closed the door.

I can't help but see her every time I look at Andrea. Even after all these months. I didn't stick around to see Andrea leave.

➳

We sat around the cellblock in silence. Or it was silent until Beth began to sing. I smiled at her with my back against a cell door.

Rick came down the stairs with Judith. He walked over to Daryl and Hershel. They talked about something I didn't bother to listen to. I'd rather hear Beth sing.