The Fear (The Walking Dead / Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 75 - This Is Them

"At the meeting you say you were worried about someone being abused and no one was doing anything about it." Carol spoke, turning to Rick with a matter of fact voice. "You say you took the gun just to be sure Jessie was safe from a man who wound up attacking you. You say you'll do whatever they want. Just tell them a story they want to hear. That's what I've been doing since we got here."

"Why?" Michonne asked.

"Because these people are children and children like stories."

"What happens when all the nice words are done and they still try and kick him out?" Abe asked.

"They're guarding the armoury now." Glenn answered.

"We still have knives, that's all we'll need against them." Carol spoke.

"Tonight at the meeting." Rick began. "If it looks like it's going bad, I whistle. Carol grabs Deanna. I take Spencer, you grab Reg." Rick nodded to Michonne. "Glenn and Abraham cover us, watch the crowd and Kat... Katherine." Rick repeated a little louder when it appeared she wasn't paying much attention. Kat's head snapped to him, sort of half taking in the plan but slightly lost in her own little world. "You go for Olivia. She'll have the keys to the armoury and you'll take the lead when the time comes to go get the guns."

"We can talk to them." Michonne argued.

"Yeah we will, but if we can't get through... we take the three of them. Say we'll slit their throats."

"Like at Terminus." Glenn stated. Kat's hand pressed into the front of her head as if she felt a headache coming on. Her mouth felt dry and she was sure if she stood too fast the room would spin. It came from nowhere.

"No, we just tell them. They give us the armoury and it's over."

"Did you want this?" Glenn asked.

"No, I hit my limit. I - I screwed up. And here we are. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm just gonna sleep some more." Rick stated.

Kat began to get to her knees and headed for the door quickly, out into the daylight that shot daggers into her eyes after leaving the darkened room. She pinched the bridge of her nose and power walked on.

"Kat!" She was making a B-line for the infirmary, desperate for something to take her mind off it. "Kat, hey!" Glenn finally caught up grabbed her arm and forced her to turn around and face him. "What was that?" He asked.

"Sorry." She breathed. "I just... I - I think I'm getting a migraine."

Glenn's eyes narrowed. "You ever had a migraine before?"

"Ah, yeah. Once or twice. Things haven't exactly been stress free."

"Kat..."

"I'm okay, Glenn. Really."

He didn't look like he believed her. "Did you know about the gun?" He asked. Her silence was answer enough. "Do you have one?"

"No." She said. He still didn't look like he believed her. "I don't have one, Glenn. I turned it down." She then admitted.

"Why?"

"Because I can try... or I can take the easy way out. Taking this place... that would be easy. And nothing would change. We'd just... bring what's out there in here. Not through the walkers, but us. We're broken, Glenn... these people are weak and they need us to survive... but we need them as well. We can't just keep surviving... we need to live."

"And Rick's plan?"

"That was plan A." Kat stated, her voice going a little cold. "If it doesn't work... if things don't go well tonight... we go to plan B."