Daughter of the Fallen

Something They Need Part 2

We lead the people to a huge group already on their knees. We put them down next to them

"Everybody stay calm!" I ordered.

"We don't want anyone to get hurt," Carl added. "Stay down and listen to what we say."

"We want this to go as simply and as peacefully as possible," Gabriel added.

Rick came over. "We made a lot of noise. We want to wrap this up quick so you can send people to redirect anything coming this way. Tara said your forests are relatively clear, so we won't take any chances. No one needs to get hurt. This is just about what you have, what we need."

"Nobody's taking anything!" a woman yelled. Her and a younger girl came, holding Tara at gunpoint, making me tense. "You need to let everyone go and leave right now. Just walk away or this one dies."

I slowly took a step forward. "We'll leave you alone," I spoke up. "But we're taking your weapons with us. That's not gonna change." I remembered what Tara told us. "It's Natania, right? Put the gun down, and let's talk about what we can change."

"No," she denied immediately. "Leave right now."

Tara looked in the direction of Michonne, who I was sure was ready to fire.

"Michonne, don't!" Tara called.

"We just wanna be left alone," Natania reiterated.

"We'll leave you alone," I repeated. "Just let go of her. Now. Or we'll kill you. None of us want that."

The younger girl turned to the people on the ground. "They want us to fight the Saviors." The group exchanged hesitant glances.

"We tried that," Natania informed. "We lost. Too much. We're not gonna lose anymore. Not our guns, not our safety, not after everything we've done to get here."

"We're gonna win," Tara emphasized. "With your guns and with or without your help."

"Natania," Rick spoke up. "Put the gun down."

"You kill me and you die," Tara added. "And my people take your guns and nothing changes."

"Maybe we should try," one of the women offered, causing whispers amongst the group.

"Grandma, stop," the younger girl told Natania softly. "It's over, just talk to them."

"It's not over!" Natania shot back. "They've forgotten. You've all forgotten! Some of you actually want to fight them? After everything? We can lose our guns, but leaving this place to fight? After everything? I have to remind you! Yes. I am gonna do this, and I am gonna die. But it's that important. This is your life, all of you! Remember what it looks like! Remember what they did to us! You need to see this! Open your eyes!"

"Rick!" Michonne's voice called. "Bree! Walkers!"

As we turned, the younger girl punched Natania, knocking her out.

"Everybody up!" I ordered. "Get the children behind us! They're coming."

"First shift, join them on the line," one of the women yelled. "Knives out. Dead only. Dead only!"

"Everyone, shots within 10 feet of the line," Rick added. "That's it."

With that, as they came closer, we started firing.

Soon enough, we got them all down. I put my hands on my knees to catch my breath.

We turned as Natania got up.

"No," she grumbled as she walked with them. "We're not fighting them with you. So take your d*mn guns and go."

I glared daggers at the back of her head.

Don't mind if we do.

•••

As we were loading up, Rick caught up to me as I was putting a tub of machine guns in the back of the truck.

"Bree," he said, causing me to turn.

"Yeah?" I responded.

He smiled softly. "I was right in making you a leader. The way you handled everyone today. This is what you were meant to do."

A little smile creeped onto my face. "Thanks, Rick. I learn from the best."

He chuckled and we first bumped before continuing to load everything up.

•••

That night, we arrived back at Alexandria and we were surprised to see Rosita open the gate for us.

"She's back?" I wondered out loud.

We all got off and I jogged over to her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She ignored my question. "There's someone here."

Rick and I exchanged a glance and him, Daryl, Tara, Michonne, Jesus, and I followed her to the makeshift prison cell that Morgan built.

We all froze as we saw Dwight stand up.

What the h*ll was he doing here.

Daryl was the first to snap out of it. He lurched towards Dwight, We blocked him, making him back up.

"He says he wants to help us," Rosita assured.

Rick turned to him. "That true? You wanna help?"

"I do," Dwight confirmed.

He waited a moment before nodding. "Okay."

He pulled out his gun and pointed it at him. "Get on your knees."