The End

Chapter 39

Once we were all inside, we joined the others in the cell block. We left Merle outside and locked our gate. There was no way in hell that he was coming in with us. We were all gathered around to see what Rick had to say. Daryl was upstairs along with Beth and Carol. I leaned against one of the cells across from Rick.

"We're not leaving," Rick said.

"We can't stay here," Hershel said.

Hershel was sitting on the steps while Rick reloaded his rifle.

"What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds," Maggie said.

"We can't even go outside," Beth interjected.

"Not in the daylight," Carol followed.

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running," Glenn responded.

"No, better to live like rats," Merle said leaning his arms on one of the bars.

I looked over at him and gave him a look of disgust. He'd know what rats lived like.

"You got a better idea?" Rick asked him.

"Yeah, we should have slid out of here by now and live to fight another day. But we lost that window didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now," Merle replied.

"We ain't scared of that prick," I heard Daryl say above me.

"Y'all should be. That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place...shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to," he continued.

Although I hated the thought of taking Merle's word, this Governor sounded completely demented. And all that Merle was saying made a lot of sense.

"Let's put him in the other cell block," Maggie said.

"No. He's got a point," Daryl interjected.

"This is all you. You started this," Maggie said looking at Merle, her voice raising.

"Maggie, it doesn't matter who started it," I said.

"What do we do?" Beth asked making her way towards Hershel.

"I said we should leave. Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here," Hershel said.

Rick looked at him for a moment and then turned to start to leave.

Hershel then got up yelled, "Get back here!"

Rick stopped dead in his tracks. We all fell silent as Hershel made his way to Rick.

"You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something," Hershel finished.

"We need you here, Rick. Here. Not somewhere else," I said making my way next to Hershel, arms crossed.

He looked at me and then at Hershel. He put his fingers to his eyes and rubbed them.

"You're right...You're right. Let me go and check for anything outside," he said.

He took off and we were silent once again.

"Go and check on him will you Carl?" I said.

Carl nodded and followed where his dad had gone.

"If we are going to stay we need a plan and we need it now. If we're gonna leave, we should do it now. We can't sit idly by and do nothing. We have to be on the same page here," I said turning to look at my family.