Daughter of the Fallen

Not Tomorrow Yet

My mom, Aaron, and Carol walked up to us as we rolled into Alexandria.

Rick rolled down his window. "Get Olivia. She should inventory what we have. We'll meet her at the pantry."

I got out and walked over to my mom.

"You have food?" she asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "Enough for another month."

She sighed and nodded, hugging me.

"I need everyone in the church in an hour," Rick ordered.

"What is it?" my mom asked.

"We'll talk about it."

"Bree!" I heard a voice call.

I turned to see Carl jogging over.

I smiled and walked over, meeting him halfway. We hugged briefly.

"How did it go?" he asked.

I took a deep breath. "We got half of everything they have."

He noticed my tone. "But..."

I pressed my lips together. "To repay them, we're gonna need to fight."

He furrowed his eyebrows but he didn't ask for an explanation. "Well, if we need to fight...then we'll fight. And we'll win."

I gave a small, unconvincing nod and stared at the ground before looking up at him. "We should go meet your dad," I said softly.

He nodded and I felt his hand on my back as we walked to the church.

•••

We all sat and listened to Rick as he explained everything that had happened at Hilltop.

"And we can work with the Hilltop," he explained. "Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food. Eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away. These Saviors, they almost killed Bree, Sasha, Abraham, and Daryl on the road. Now, sooner or later, they would've found us, just like those Wolves did, just like Jesus did. They would've killed someone, or some of us. And they would try to own us. And we would try and stop them. But by then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure, as sure as we can get, that we win. And we have to win. We do this for the Hilltop, it's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece."

Though I said nothing, I couldn't get the thought of some of us dying out of my head.

I saw Carl look at me out of the corner of my eye. I busied myself by staring at the floor, studying every fault in the wood flooring.

No one said anything for a moment. Then, we all turned as Morgan stood up.

"You sure we can do it?" he asked. "We can beat them?"

"What this group has done," Rick answered. "What we've learned, what we've become, all of us....yes, I'm sure."

Morgan nodded. "Then all we have to do is tell them that."

Rick gave him a disbelieving look. "They don't compromise."

"This isn't a compromise. It's a choice you give them. It's a way out for them and for us."

"We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage, our safety. No, we have to come for them before they come for us. We can't leave them alive."

"Where there's life, there's possibility."

"Yeah, of them hitting us!"

"We're not trapped in this. None of you are trapped in this."

No one said anything.

"Morgan," Rick said. "They always come back."

"Come back when they're dead, too."

"Yeah, we'll stop them. We have before."

"I'm not talking about the walkers."

Rick looked at him for a moment before signing. "Morgan wants to talk to them first. I think that would be a mistake, but it's not up to me. I'll talk to the people still at home. I'll discuss it with the people on guard now, too, but who else wants to approach the Saviors and talk to them first?"

I saw a few people glance at me but I didn't speak up. I agreed with Rick more than I did with Morgan.

Aaron stood up. "What happened here, we won't let that happen again." He looked at Morgan. "I won't."

They exchanged a nod and he sat back down.

No one else said anything and Rick nodded. "Looks like it's settled. We know exactly what this is. We don't shy from it, we live. We kill them all." Morgan sat down. "We don't all have to kill. But, if people are gonna stay here, they do have to accept it."

His speech over, he walked out of the church.

As everyone started getting up, I kept asking myself: do we really know what this is?

•••

That night, I was ok my room packing everything I needed to go on the trip when my parents walked in.

My mom sat on my bed. "Honey, you aren't gonna go on this trip."

I looked over at her in shock. "What do you mean? Yes I am."

"Darlin', you've been working nonstop for two months," my dad pointed out. "You need to rest."

"I'm fine," I claimed. "I like doing this. Glenn said this group needs me.

He walked over. "He's right. We do need you. But you're more useful when you're healthy and rested. We'll be okay this one time. You need to let yourself recover."

I was about to protest, but all of a sudden, it felt like, since my fatigue had finally been noticed, it came washing over me and I had to sit down.

"Okay," I whispered. "Just once."

He nodded. "Just once."

•••

Carl and I watched as everyone loaded up the RV to head out.

My mom walked over. "We'll be back soon, baby. I promise."

I nodded slightly. "Just make sure Maggie stays safe."

She nodded. "We will."

"And Glenn," I added. "And dad, and-"

She laughed. "Bree! We'll be fine."

I exhaled. "Okay."

She gave me a hug before walking back over to Rick.

As we watched the RV pull away, Carl turned to me.

"You nervous?" he asked.

I looked at him. "Terrified."