Safe haven | Rick Grimes

088. I'M A MONSTER

Chapter eight eight

"I'm a monster."

Back in Alexandria, the tension inside the church office was suffocating. Scarlett stood rigid before the makeshift radio communication tower, her eyes burning with rage. Surrounding her were Laura, Aaron, Siddiq, Michonne, and Father Gabriel.

"So, does everyone but me know about this?" Scarlett demanded, her voice dangerously tight.

"Just Eugene and Rosita," Gabriel answered, trying to maintain a calm composure. "We would've told you if we had found someone out there, but we didn't."

"And you also have absolutely no idea who could've been listening out there," Scarlett fired back, stepping into his space.

"We weren't being careless with it, Scarlett," Gabriel told her firmly.

"Weren't being careless?!" Scarlett's voice finally erupted, the sheer exhaustion and panic of the past forty-eight hours boiling over. "They went out to set up this relay and got hunted down by walker-skin-wearing freaks who almost slaughtered them! And to get them back safe, Jesus was murdered by one of them!"

She spun around, gesturing wildly toward the window that faced the residential streets.

"And for some reason, in the past few days, I can't even leave this place without strangers being marched into our home, or Negan of all people slipping out of his cage and breaking into my house with my kids inside! I can't keep us all safe if everyone keeps hiding things from me!"

Michonne stepped forward, trying to play peacekeeper. "We gave you the power to veto the council based strictly on security concerns, Scarlett."

"But now everything is a security concern," Gabriel interrupted, his voice hardening as he grew tired of the absolute authority. "Our votes don't matter anymore unless you happen to agree with them."

"Well, seeing as everyone loves to disobey me and put my children in danger, maybe there shouldn't be a council anymore!" Scarlett voiced, her hands curled into tight fists.

Gabriel shook his head, looking at her with a mix of pity and frustration. "Just because you want to cut yourself off from the rest of the world doesn't mean the rest of us have to. Who are we supposed to turn to when we need help? We can't be so worried about finding enemies that we lose our friends."

"They're not my friends!" Scarlett screamed, her voice cracking as the overwhelming panic of losing someone else hit her all at once.

The room fell dead silent. Michonne closed the distance between them, her expression softening into pure empathy. She knew the ghost Scarlett was fighting. Stepping up to her, Michonne gently wrapped a hand around her trembling shoulder, pulling her close.

"It's okay. It's okay," Michonne whispered softly, letting her lean in as Scarlett breathed heavily, trying to anchor herself against the storm.

"We did lose a friend," Aaron spoke up, his voice heavy as he broke the silence. "Look, we all set out with the best intentions, but that doesn't change what happened. There's a new enemy out there, and they're exactly what Scarlett was afraid we'd find. I don't regret the time I spent out there with Jesus... I don't. And what happened... maybe it would've happened anyway."

"Maybe," Gabriel said quietly.

"But now we know what's out there, and we can't pretend otherwise," Aaron insisted, looking around the room. "We put Scarlett in charge of security for a reason. Her judgment has saved us time and time again."

"Yes, but at what cost?" Siddiq asked.

Scarlett's head snapped toward him, her eyes flashing with pure rage. "You, of all people, do not get to say that! I could say the exact same thing about bringing you back, and it cost my son his life! So whatever you're about to say next is really none of your business. Shut up!"