[Finished] Living Among the Dead

22. First Time Again

After Mason went to bed, Rick, Daryl and the stranger Daryl brought with him are sat in the front room, Daryl is eating and I have my head laid on his shoulder.
"You were right," the stranger named Morgan says to Rick. "It wasn't over."
Rick nods, "We should talk more tomorrow." He starts walking to Morgan. "Listen... I don't take chances anymore."
"And you shouldn't."
I glance up at Daryl who looks at me, "Sorry I didn't say bye."
He shrugs, "Didn't expect you to." After a moment of silence Daryl asks, "Don't ya got watch duty?"
I shake my head, "Sasha said she'd cover me so I can spend time with you... is that okay."
"It's okay."

I'm stood outside while Daryl is working on his bike. Rick comes out the door.
"So, is he okay with it?" Daryl asks.
"It was pretty much his idea. He gets it." they're talking about Morgan living in one of the unfinished houses instead of with the rest of our group.
"It's got a bed and a bath, but it's still a cage, you know?"
I frown as Rick responds, "He gets it. He told me what happened out there with the trucks."
Daryl stands up, "He tell you about those guys he met? The Ws?"
"Like that walker we saw, yeah. We need more watch points. And I'm gonna tell Deanna we don't need to go looking for people anymore." Daryl stays quiet. "You feel different about it?"
"Yeah, I do."
"Well, people out there, they got to take care of themselves, just like us. I'm gonna get him out. Shouldn't leave him in there any longer than we have to."
I walk away, not saying anything. They both have heard my opinion on both subjects, more than once. I go find Sev, who asks how I'm feeling.
"Like if I throw up any more, I'll pass out."
Sev shakes their head, "You tell Daryl yet?"
"No, don't know if I'm going to until I know I'll keep it, y'know? I just... it's not a good time."
"Will it ever be a good time, in this world I mean?"
I scoff, "Right. Well I'm still going to wait."
They nod, "Alright."

We are asked to go to a community meeting, Rick and Morgan saw something that everyone needs to be aware of.
I'm standing next to Sev and Daryl who is sitting in a window sill as a new guy, darker skinned with dreads tied back in to a ponytail; his name is Heath, speaks. "My team; we saw it early on, back when we were on one of those first scouts, finding out what was around here. There was a camp at the bottom. The people, they must have blocked the exits with one of those trucks back when everything started to go bad. They didn't make it. They were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of them."
"No one's been back since?" Maggie asks from her place sitting on the couch next to Glenn.
Heath shrugs, "DC, every town worth scavenging are all in the other direction. And I never really felt like having a picnic next to the camp that ate itself."
"So all the while the walkers have been drawn by the sound," Michonne observes, "and they're making more sound and they're drawing more in."
"And here we are," says Rick. "Now what I'm proposing, I know it sounds risky, but walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now. Maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends them east. All of them. Right at us. This isn't about if it gives, it's when. It's gonna happen. That's why we have to do this soon."
"This is-" Carol says, her voice slightly shaky. "I don't even have another word for it. This is terrifying. All of it. But it doesn't sound like there's any other way."
"Maybe there is," Carter a man around Carol's age speaks up. "I mean, couldn't we just build up the weak spots? I-I could draw up plans. I-I worked on the wall with Reg. Construction crew- we can try and make it safe."
"Even if we could, the sound of those walkers is drawing more and more every day," contradicts Rick. "Building up the exits won't change that."
Deanna, with her back to the room speaks up, "We're gonna do what Rick says, the plan he's laid out."
"I told you all," Rick continues. "We're gonna have Daryl leading them away."
I clear my throat loudly, reminding Rick of our earlier argument, one ending with me getting a spot on the back of Daryl's bike. "And Anne." Rick corrects.
I nod at him as Sasha says, "Me, too. I'll take a car, ride next to them. Can't just be them. I'll keep 'em coming, Daryl and Anne keeps 'em from getting sloppy."
"I'll go with her," Abraham says, "It's a long way to white-knuckle it solo."
"We'll have two teams," Rick continues. "One on each side of the forest helping manage this thing. We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Sev, Spencer, and Holly. So they're out."
"Anne should stay behind and help with watch," Sev speaks up.
I shoot them a glare, the earlier argument between Rick and them versus Daryl and me still fresh in my mind.
"We've already argued that enough, Daryl's fine with me shooting while he drives, it's safer than him trying to drive and shoot that damned crossbow at the same time." I speak up, icily.
"Ooh, trouble in paradise," Glenn teases, and I shoot him a glare, to which he smirks.
"Shut it, Glenn. My point being, it's decided, I'll pick my watch shifts back up once we're done with all this."
"Exactly," Rick agrees. "And we need all the people we can get, so who's in?"
"Me," Michonne says.
After some whispered words between Glenn and Maggie, Glenn says, "I'm in."
"I'd like to help as well," Father Gabriel offers.
"No," Rick says, flatly. "Who else? We need more."
Carter speaks up, "There's got to be another play. We can't just control that many."
"I said it before," Rick states, "walkers herd up. They'll follow a path if something's drawing them. That's how we can get 'em all at once."
"So, what? We're supposed to just take your word for it? We're all supposed to just fall in line behind you after..."
"After what?"
"After you wave a gun around screaming, pointing it at people. After you shoot a man in the face. After you-"
"Enough!" Deanna snaps.
"I'll do it," Heath volunteers.
"Me, too." A short haired woman offers.
"Whatever you need," Tobin says, "I'm in."
"Now who else?" Deanna asks.
"I'll go." Nickolas offers, and I roll my eyes. "We have to do this. I need to help."
"You sure you can handle it" Rick asks.
"You need people."
"We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe. Keep our families safe. We will."
"The plan," Carter says. "Go through it again."
"Man, he just said it." Snaps Daryl.
"Every part again. The exact plan."