Don't look back

Thirty three

"Daddy!" Mary screamed, waking up from a nightmare.
"I'm here." Rick groaned groggily, walking into her cell in his boxers and shirt, "What's wrong?"
"Bad dream." Mary sobbed, running over to him. Rick picked her up and held her close, checking on Carl and seeing he was fast asleep still.
"She alright?" T-Dog asked, looking in to the cell.
"Yeah. Did she wake you? Sorry, man." Rick sighed.
"Nah, man, it's not even that early." T-Dog shrugged. Rick smiled back softly, and walked into his cell with Mary. He sat down, and held her close until she stopped crying, then went back into Mary's cell, and she put on her dungarees, having only slept in her underwear and shirt. Then she went and she ate scrambled eggs with Carol, Daryl, and T-Dog, all up and ready to secure the outside of the prison, while Rick got dressed.
"Alright. Let's go out, move these cars." Rick nodded, walking over to the others.
"Yep." Daryl nodded, getting up.
"You stayin' here?" Rick asked Mary, and she shook her head.
"I wanna help."
"Okay." Rick shrugged. Mary pulled her cowboy boots on, and walked outside, holding Rick's hand.
"Okay," Ruck instructed, "let's get the other car in. Park them in the west entry of the yard."
"Good. Our vehicles camped out there looked like a giant vacancy sign." Daryl replied harshly.
"After that we need to load up these corpses so we can burn 'em." Rick continued, after watching Mary stare at the dead Walkers.
"I'll be a long day." T-Dog nodded.
"Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help." Carol asked.
"Up in the guard tower."
"Guard tower? They were just up there last night?" Rick asked with a slight scoff.
"I'll run up and wake them!" Mary grinned happily.
"No!" Rick said suddenly, making Mary sigh.
"Glenn! Maggie!" Daryl shouted.
Suddenly, Glenn appeared from the top of the guard tower, doing up his belt, topless. "Hey! What's up guys?" He yelled, running a hand through his mess of black hair.
Everyone began to laugh, and Mary looked up at Rick. "What's so funny?"
"Nothin'." Rick laughed.
"You coming?" Daryl asked loudly.
"What?!" Glenn shouted, making everyone laugh even more.
"You comin'?" Daryl repeated, just as loud. Glenn looked at Maggie in confusion, and Daryl scoffed. "Come on, we could use a hand!"
"Yeah we'll, we'll be right down!" Glenn nodded.
"What's funny?" Mary asked, her forehead in wrinkles.
"Nothing, sweetie." Rick chuckled, picking her up and walking away, T-Dog hanging back.
"Hey Rick!" He shouted, and Rick looked over, seeing the two remaining prisoners, Axel and Oscar, stood watching them.
"Come with me." Rick sighed to the others, walking over to them.
"Where's the other two?" Mary asked innocently.
"Gone." Daryl replied, and Mary nodded.
"That's close enough. We had an agreement." Ruck said firmly.
"Please mister, we know that. We made a deal." Axel nodded, as Glenn and Maggie came out of the guard tower.
"Go to Maggie." Rick whispered to Mary, putting her down. Mary nodded, and ran over to Maggie.
"You... You gotta understand we can't live in that place another minute. You follow me? All the bodies. People we knew blood, brains everywhere. There's ghosts!" Axel insisted.
"Well then you move the bodies out." Daryl shrugged.
"You should be burning them." T-Dog said firmly.
"We tried. We did."
"The fence is down the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body our those things just line up. So we're dropping the body and just running back inside." Oscar explained.
"Look, we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew. Nothin'. You trying to prove a point, you proved it bro. We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just please please don't make us live in that place." Axel begged.
"Our deal is non negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave." Rick shrugged.
"Daddy, be kind." Mary hissed loudly, making the prisoners stare at her, and Rick give her a slight glare, then the silence resumed. Glenn picked her up, and she hid her face into his neck in embarrassment.
"I told you this was a waste of time. They ain't no different to the pricks who shot up our boys. You know how many friends corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw 'em out like... These were good guys! Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint, like Tomas and Andrew. Now we've all made mistakes to get in here chief, and I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me, we've paid our due. Enough that we would rather hit the road than to go back into that shit hole. That place. Sorry." Oscar ranted, correcting himself at the end for Mary's sake. Rick looked over at Daryl, and the other man shook his head.
"We need to talk about it." Rick decided, before Daryl locked the two men behind the fence, and they gathered together.
"I say they join us." T-Dog said slowly.
"Are you serious? You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons. You want you want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?" Rick retorted.
"I never stopped! Bring them into the fold. Now, we send 'em off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves."
"I don't know. Axel seems a little unstable." Glenn sighed.
"He's nice, dumbass." Mary mumbled with a smile.
"Language." Ruck sighed, taking her out of Glenn's arms and into his own.
"After all we've been through? We fought so hard for all this. What if they decide to take it?" Carol sighed.
"It's just been us for so long - they're strangers. It feels weird all of a sudden having other people around." Maggie added.
"You brought us in."
"Yeah but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms, and a sobbing toddler. You didn't give us a choice." Maggie replied.
"They can't even kill walkers!"
"They're convicts, bottom line." Carol sighed.
"What's a convict?" Mary asked to ignoring ears.
"Those two might actually have less blood on those hands than we do." T-Dog attempted.
"I get guys like this. Hell, I grew up with them. They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos. I could have been in there with him as much as easy as I'm out here with you guys." Daryl nodded slowly.
"So you're with me?" T-Dog asked.
"Hell no! Let 'em take their chances out on the road just like we did."
"I agree, T-Dog." Mary smiled.
"Thanks honey." T-Dog nodded gratefully.
"Mary, this is grown up talk, okay?" Rick sighed.
"Mister Axel! Mister Oscar! Will you play with me and make eggs?!" Mary shouted.
"Sure!" Axel attempted.
"You're in!" Mary laughed happily.
"Mary! Stop it now. Or you'll sit in the guard tower. This is grown up stuff." Rick hissed in annoyance. Then he turned to T-Dog. "When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid nineteen years old wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. Kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial. Suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and then two weeks later shot another girl. We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands." Rick said firmly, before walking away.
"Mary. You can't say stuff like that. You can joke with me and Glenn and everyone in the group. But not people we don't know." Rick said firmly.
"I was being nice." Mary cried softly, breaking down suddenly.
"I know. I know, I'm sorry." Rick sighed. As everyone else walked over, he turned to them. "Move the cars to the upper yard. Point them facing out. They'll be out of the way, but ready to go if we ever need to bail. We'll get the prisoners a weeks worth of supplies for the road."
"They might not last a week." T-Dog mumbled.
"It's their choice." Rick shrugged.
"Do they really have one?"
"Hey. Hey! Who's blood would you rather have on your hands? Maggie's, Glenn's, Mary's, Carl's, or theirs?" Ruck hissed angrily.
"Neither!" T-Dog snapped, waking away.
"Daddy, can I ride in Maggie's car?" Mary asked.
"Sure." Rick muttered, and she got down, and ran over to Maggie.
"Can I sit in the front?" She grinned excitedly.
"Of course." Maggie smiled back.
"Can I come next time you and Glenn sleep in the guard tower?" Mary asked innocently.
"No," Maggie said quickly, "no. That's only for... Adults on watch duty. Okay? You gotta stay in the cell block." Maggie added, saving the conversation.
Mary nodded. "Can I put the window down and song on?"
"Yep." Maggie laughed slightly. Mary smiled back at her, and the young woman drove up to the prison, Mary giggling, as a scratched "the Little Mermaid" CD played, the pair singing along in amusement. For a second, they were worryless.