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Strategy
Glenn and Maggie sat alone at their kitchen table in the dim light of their home.
Glenn had that look on his face that he got when he was stressed.
He was anxiously tapping his fingers on the table.
"I could be out on perimeter watch. Katie could be out there with me. It would be safe," Maggie proposed calmly.
Glenn scoffed.
"Safer," Maggie added.
"Whatever safer looks like now," Glenn sighed.
"Yeah," Maggie sighed.
"I don't want you out there. Either of you," Glenn said, looking out the window at Rick and Katie's house across the street.
Through the window, they could see Katie, Rick, and Carl eating dinner.
Glenn looked back at Maggie.
"We made the deal. She and I. This wasn't our idea, but we led y'all to this. We have to come. We have to be there," Maggie said.
Glenn sighed.
He knew that she was right, but he wasn't happy about it. He definitely did not want his pregnant wife or his pregnant best friend in danger's way.
"Katie's not gonna go for the whole staying outside thing. She'll fight us on it. She wants to go inside. She wants in on the action," Glenn sighed.
"She's just gonna have to accept it. It's not just her anymore. She'll understand," Maggie said.
"I don't want you out there, but I can't stop you," Glenn said with a sigh, wrapping his strong hands around Maggie's small ones.
"Thank you for understanding," Maggie whispered.
Inside Katie and Rick's house, the family was eating dinner quickly. Rick and Katie had to get to a strategy meeting.
"Are you guys even tasting the food?" Carl asked, laughing.
"There will be plenty of food to taste after we finish this tomorrow," Katie said with a smile.
She quickly finished her plate and ran to start the dishes.
Rick came up beside her and put his plate in the sink, kissing her on the cheek.
"You ready?" Rick asked.
"Let's go," Katie said.
Rick and Katie walked hand in hand towards the church.
"It's getting colder out. I guess that means winter's coming soon," Katie said, shivering slightly.
Rick pulled her tightly against his warm body, making her smile.
"Don't worry about the winter, baby. I'll keep you warm," Rick said with a chuckle.
"I'm more worried about crops and food than I am about myself," Katie said honestly.
Rick sighed.
They finally got to the front doors of the church.
"I guess we'll find out who our brave volunteers are," Katie said with a laugh.
Rick pushed open the doors.
Glenn, Maggie, Carol, Daryl, Sasha, Abraham, Rosita, Heath, Tara, Father Gabriel, Michonne, Aaron, and Jesus were inside. Andy, the man from the Hilltop who had been to the compound, was there as well.
"Well isn't this just a lovely group of recruits?" Katie said with a laugh.
They all looked up at Rick and Katie, their chatter falling silent.
They all gathered around the altar.
Andy started to draw out a map of the parts of the compound he had seen.
"Are you sure there's no other rooms?" Maggie asked.
"No, I'm not sure. It's a big place," Andy replied.
"This is the only hallway I saw," Andy added, pointing to the map he just drew.
"And every time they had you bring things in here?" Michonne asked, pointing to the pantry on the map.
"Jesus. We brought them two spears one time, and they took 'em down that hallway, but they must've done something with them because they didn't come back with them," Andy said.
"Maybe a weapons locker. An armory," Jesus suggested.
"Okay. We get in there, we secure the armory. That's how we end it," Glenn said.
Rick nodded.
"That's how Carol ended it here," Maggie said.
"But we don't even know if they have an armory. Or even where it is," Andy interjected.
"A group like that definitely has a place to store weapons. They would be stupid not to. There's got to be something, somewhere," Katie sighed.
"Well, we have a lot of good guesses," Daryl said.
"And we have a lot of good guessers," Katie added, smiling at the group of people standing around her.
"We've done more with less," Daryl sighed.
"We go in at night while they're sleeping," Rick suggested.
Katie nodded.
It was a solid plan.
"The guards won't be sleeping. Like I said, I think there's only one way in and there's no way to bust through that door without waking up the rest of them," Andy said.
"We don't need to. They're gonna open it for us, let us walk right in," Rick said.
Katie turned around to look at him.
"They want Gregory's head, right? We'll give it to 'em," Rick said.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Rick whispered to Katie.
"If you're thinking that the beard is coming back which is so sexy I can't even stand it, then yes. We are 110% on the same page," Katie whispered back.
Rick chuckled lightly, rubbing his chin.
"So tomorrow morning, we meet at the gates, load up the cars and head out to grab a Gregory look alike walker to bring back to the Savior's compound. Then we do what we have to do," Rick said to the whole group.
The group all stood up straighter.
They were ready.
If mass murder was how they kept their family fed, then mass murder was what they would do.
That night, once the meeting was over and everyone had gone home, Katie laid in bed wide awake.
Rick was snoring softly beside her.
Every ounce of her being wanted to wake him up and say, "I'm pregnant", but she knew she couldn't.
