Reflections - TWD

59. Someone else.

Isabella hadn't said a word on the way back. Nobody had. Once they arrived back, Isabella saw Freddie walking up to the RV alongside Carol.

Freddie could see that Isabella wasn't happy by the look on her face, so he decided to keep quiet and let her be.

"I need everybody in the church in an hour," Rick said, still sitting in the drivers seat of the RV.

"What is it?" Sasha asked.

"We'll talk about it," Rick mumbled and waved a hand.

Sure enough, after an hour they were all sat in the church.

"We can work with the Hilltop. 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 Sasha, Daryl and Abraham on the road. Now, sooner or later, they would've found us, just like those Wolves did, just like Jesus did,"Rick paused, then continued. "They would'a killed someone or some of us. And then they would try to own us. And we would try to 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."

"Who are we fighting for? Gregory?" Isabella tilted her head. "'Cause he's too pussy to do it himself?"

Abraham turned around. "Watch your mouth, little girl."

Isabella scoffed and looked away. "It's true," she whispered under her breath.

"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," Rick looked around and nodded at them all.

Morgan stood up and they all turned around to look at him. "You're sure we can do it?" He took a breath. "We can beat them?"

"What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become, all of us, yes, I'm sure," Rick spoke with a tone of confidence that confirmed that he was convinced they could win this.

"Then all we have to do is just tell them that," Morgan tilted his head, trying to keep the peace.

"Well, they don't compromise," Rick shook his head.

"This isn't a compromise," Morgan said, barely letting Rick finish his words. "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," Rick raised his voice as he seemingly got increasingly frustrated.

Isabella suddenly felt her heart sink to her stomach. Something was wrong about it, not just about killing. But about the Saviors, something bad.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach and shifted uncomfortably in her chair, her gaze flickering around the room from Abraham, to Glenn, to Rick, to Morgan.

Rick and Morgan went on like that for a couple of minutes, before Morgan sat back down and Rick walked away. Isabella had stopped listening half-way through.

In the evening, Isabella was sat in her room. She needed to do something to make the pit in her stomach go away. So, she decided to grab the box of paints from under her bed and paint some pink, blue and purple flowers on the walls.

Daryl came in her room in the middle of the night, presumably to check if she was sleeping. She wasn't.

"What're you doin'?" Daryl grumbled as he walked into her room.

"Painting," Isabella mumbled back.

"Go to bed, Bells," Daryl told her in a slightly annoyed tone.

"I can't," She replied. Isabella usually didn't have much trouble sleeping, she was usually so tired that she'd just pass out once she hit the mattress. But tonight there was something keeping her up.