cassette tapes |d. dixon| [1]

31

"Now was not the time to think about Daryl. We had to think about when the other group will strike. We had to prepare ourselves."

"DO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT?" Maggie asked, leaning against the entrance to Caroline's cell,

"No." She looked up at her friend who looked like shit, "Do you?"

Maggie sighed, "No." She sat down next to her on the bed and held out a bottle of vodka for them to drink.

Caroline immediately grabbed it and took a swig and winced. She handed it back to Maggie who copied her actions, "He cared about you, ya know."

The blonde scoffed, "Yeah, I'm sure. Cared enough to ditch all of us to go after his piece of shit brother." She looked over at her friend, "Did your dad check you out?"

"Maggie looked like shit. Something bad must have happened in Woodbury. I wish I would have been there to help. I should have been there to help."

Maggie nodded, taking another sip of the alcohol, "Just a few bruises. He's looking over Glenn right now."

Caroline looked over at her best friend, "What the hell happened over there?" Maggie froze and she sighed, "You don't have to talk about it."

Maggie looked at her, "Can I stay here tonight? I can't really be around Glenn at the moment."

Caroline looked at the mattress that was outside her cell. Where Daryl slept. The blonde slid off her bed and grabbed her bag before holding her hand out for Maggie, "C'mon."

The two made their way downstairs and went into an empty cell. Caroline placed her bag on the ground, "You can take bottom bunk."

"Of course you want the top." Maggie smirked, "Haven't changed at all."

Rick and Hershel walked past their cell and the two girls stuck their head out to see them heading towards Carol and Axel, who stood near the door,

"He was my friend." Axel stated, talking about Oscar,

"He went out fighting." Rick told him,

Beth walked over with the baby, "So what now? You think the Governor will retaliate?"

"Yes." Maggie immediately answered,

"There is no doubt in my mind that they won't retaliate. They will attack. The only question is when it will happen."

"Let him try." Glenn responded from his cell,

"Sounds like he's got a whole town. We're outnumbered and outgunned." Caroline commented,

"We could use some reinforcements." Hershel stated,

Caroline knew where he was going with it. Everyone walked out of the cell block to the group Carl and Caroline rescued the day before. The survivors stood and faced them, "I'm Tyreese." He greeted, holding out his hand as Rick approached him,

Rick didn't say anything and Tyreese lowered his hand, "Sasha, Allen, Ben." Hershel introduced the rest of them,

"How'd you get in?" Rick asked,

"Fire damage to the administrative part of the prison. Wall's down." Tyreese explained,

"That side's completely overrun with walkers." Rick commented, "How'd you get this far?"

"We didn't. We lost our friend Donna." Tyreese replied,

"They were lost in the tombs." Carl stated,

"You brought them here?" Rick asked his son,

Caroline nodded, "We both did."

"They had no choice." Hershel said,

Rick turned back to them, "I'm sorry about your friend. We know what that's like."

"Hershel said you could use some extra hands. We're no stranger to hard work. We'll go out and get our own food, stay out of your hair. You got a problem with another group, we'll help with that, too. Anything to contribute." Tyreese told him,

Rick looked down at his boots, "No."

"Please." Sasha begged, It's like '10 Little Indians' out there. It's just us now."

"No." Rick repeated,

"Let's talk about this." Hershel stated, "We can't just keep-"

"We've been through this." Rick interrupted, "With Tomas, Andrew. Look what happened."

"Axel and Oscar weren't like them." Carol commented,

Rick turned towards her and raised his voice, "And where's Oscar now?" Everyone went silent and Rick turned back to the other group, "I can't be responsible."

"You turn us out, you are responsible." Tyreese responded,

"Rick." Hershel called him over, "You've done so much for us. I appreciate that. We all do. We owe you our lives. We've done everything you asked without question. And I'm telling you, you're wrong on this. You've got to start giving people a chance." Hershel explained to him,

"Despite what Rick thought, we needed this group. We needed the muscle. They could help us with the Woodbury group. Now that Daryl was gone, we were weaker than ever."

Everyone watched Rick as he thought it over. Then, suddenly, he started shaking and brought his hand to to pinch the bridge of his nose, "No, no, no, no." He kept muttering,

The group took a step back as Rick looked up at the walkway above them, staring at nothing, "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"

"Dad?" Caroline wrapped her arm around Carl and pulled him back,

"Why are you-- no. I can't help you!" Rick turned back to Tyreese's group, "Get out!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Tyreese tried to calm him down as Rick seemed to have a breakdown,

"Get-- get out!"

"What are you doing?" Carol asked,

"Hey, easy, Rick. There's no need to-" Maggie tried to comfort him,

"You don't belong here!" Rick yelled and he pulled out his gun. Caroline reached out to grab Maggie and pull her back while keeping an arm around Carl,

"Get out! Please!"

"Relax, brother. Relax. We'll leave. We're going. Okay? Ain't nobody got to get shot here." Tyreese stated as they backed towards the door, "We're going."

"What are you doing here?!" Rick screamed,

"Just go! Go! Go!" Glenn led them to the door,

"What the hell was happening to our group? We are falling apart."