Deadland

Chapter 52- The Fall

"Come down here. We need to talk." The Governor orders. 

It's quiet for a moment while Rick weighs his options until he yells, "It's not up to me! There's a council now. They run this place." His voice is loud and deep, barely hiding his fear. 

"Is Hershel on the council?" The Governor asks, looking to the right. A woman grabs Hershel out of a red van. I hear Beth and Maggie gasp from behind me, their fear evident.

"What about Michonne?" My heart stops at his words. 

This time, it's a man who grabs her, walking her to where Hershel is kneeling in front of the tank. "She on the council too?" 

"Michonne." Damien whispers from next to me. 

"I don't make decisions anymore!" Rick yells. 

"You're makin' the decisions today Rick. Come down here, let's have that talk.

Rick thinks for a second before handing Daryl his gun and walking over to the gate, creaking it open, and beginning to walk down the gravel road. 

Daryl approaches Tyreese, Sasha, Damien, and I. "We can't take 'em all on." He whispers. "We ain't got the numbers no more. We'll go through the admin building to the woods, like we planned. When's the last time someone checked the stash on the bus?" 

"Day before we hit the Big Spot." Sasha recalls, her voice in a whisper as well. "We were running low on rations then, we're even lower now." 

"Yeah, we'll manage. Things go South, everybody heads for that bus. Let everybody know." 

"What if everybody doesn't know when things go bad? How long do we wait?" Tyreese asks. 

"As long as we can." Daryl answers, walking away.

Alyssa turns to me, "What if I..." I crouch down in front of her and hold her biceps, 

"They'll have to kill me first. You stay with Damien or me, understand? I will do everything in my power to make sure that we do not get split up." 

Alyssa's lip quivers and she nods, "PBND." She whispers. I smile, 

"PBND." 

Rick speaks to the Governor through the fence for his protection. They talk at normal volume so we can't hear them from up behind our fence. The only thing I'm able to make out is, "...sundown to get out..." And I know everyone else heard it because we all exchanged glances.

Two people are guarding Michonne and Hershel to make sure they won't get up and run. I feel my blood set on fire at Michonne being used like that. 

I hear another snippet of their conversation, "...I have a tank. And I'm letting you walk away from here..." 

Suspense builds as we await for something, anything. The air is thick with tension and my heart pounds. 

Daryl quietly grabs the cart of guns and brings it over to us, he secretly hands Alyssa, Damien, and I a machine gun. I feel his hand on the small of my back as he whispers, "You okay?" I nod, 

"Amazing." I inhale before I whisper back. 

Alyssa's breath shudders as she checks to make sure her gun is loaded. 

Damien flicks the brim of her red hat and crouches down in front of her. "God you're a badass." He whispers. 

A gunshot causes us all to flinch, "Just him tryin' to be a badass by shootin' Walkers." Damien reassures Alyssa. Her trembling form stands in front of him, 

"I don't like killing people." She whispers, looking at her feet. 

"Good." Damien and I say at the same time. She looks at us confusedly, I stand next to Damien, in front of her.