I gaze out to the forest, looking for any signs of a threat. I let out a yawn, watching the sunrise as I look over at Daryl.
"Looks like watch time is up.," I say, grabbing my gun. He lets out a tiered sigh as he stands up.
"A'ight, lets go.," he replies, stretching. I push myself to my knees using the help of the chain linked fence. I quickly stand up after, ignoring the pain I feel in my leg.
"No!," I hear a random scream coming from the group. Daryl and I quickly glance at each other before racing to the door. He beats me there as I limp as fast as possible behind. He holds the door open behind him for me, waiting a second for me to walk through. We both hurry down the stairs. By now, I'm ignoring the sharp pain my wound brings.
"Johnny, no!," Jenny screams, huddling around a lifeless body with Ryan, her husband, and Kenzy, her daughter. The three of them are full of tears. I see Kenzy turn around and run to a corner, her blond hair stuck to her red and stressed face. Carl quickly chases after her, pulling her into a hug.
"No...," I say as I walk closer. Jenny shoos me away as she looks at her little boy. He's...dead. I scoot backwards a few steps, falling to my knees. The Governor killed him! Rage, fear, hate, and sadness all occupy my emotions. I bury my face in my hands, thinking about Johnny. I feel a pair of arms wrap around me. I look up, my face full of tears as I see Carol.
"He's gone Carol! He's gone!," I say, returning my face to my hands. She rubs my back in a small attempt to comfort me. Tears occupy her face too. I hear she used to have a daughter named Sophia. I realize that Carol knows what this is like, yet she's the one comforting me even though I'm not the one feeling the hole in my heart bleed.
"I know Nicole, I know.," she says, still holding me. Carol really is a good person. Daryl is right. My anger seems to take over all of my emotions as I keep thinking about it. Jenny and Carol never deserved to go through this tragedy. Same with Johnny. I look through my hair which is covering my face. Everyone is distraught.
"No...," I say, standing up. "No, I can't take this anymore!," I shout, heading to the stairs as I walk away from Carol.
"Where are you going?," she asks, attempting to stop me as she grabs my shoulder. I turn around to face her.
"The Governor needs to die.," I say, marching up the stairs. I am too fueled by anger to feel my wound throb.
"Well you can't just go out there by yourself!," Carol says, still following me. I pick up my knife and stuff it in the inside of my leather jacket.
"I can't see anyone else die, Carol. We both know that blasted creep isn't going to stop at Johnny.," I say, hoping to convince her to let me go without anyone knowing.
"There has to be another way. Here, I'll go talk about it with Rick. I'm sure he already has a plan.," she says, holding on to my shoulder.
"What's Rick gonna do? Send more people out so they can get killed? No. I'm not letting that happen. Ever since Travis died, I'm not letting anyone else go.," I say, looking at her right in the eyes. She just looks back at me, not knowing what to say. I break from her grasp as I turn around.
"Where do you think you're goin'.," Daryl says as he grabs both of my wrists, his tone more like a statement than a question.
"Out. Now let go of me.," I say, my voice perfectly calm.
"With that wound?," he speaks, looking down at my bandages. More blood must have slipped through because I keep walking so hard on it. I let out a sigh, looking up at him, tears beginning to fill my eyes.
"I have to, Daryl. The Governor will stop at nothing until we are all dead. I have to kill him.," I say, my voice shaky. I feel Carol place a comforting hand on my shoulder. I look over and see her eyes shinning with tears. I sigh, finally giving in.
"You know what, fine. I give up. But we have to do something about the Governor.," I say, returning my gaze back to Daryl. He nods, letting go of my wrists.
"You're right. We have to plan something, and fast. I'll talk to Rick about it.," he says, looking at me. That's exactly what Carol said! Why is he the boss of everyone? Why can't we make out own decisions like this? I guess all I can do is give in.
Face it, even if I were to go out alone, especially with my wound, I'd easily get killed.
"Fine. But whatever you're planning, I want in.," I say, looking at Daryl right in his eyes. "I want to be there to see the Governor take his last breath. Got it?," I deal, sticking my hand out.
"Deal.," Daryl says, taking my hand. He nods at me and Carol and walks away. I then turn around to face her, my eyes still full of tears of anger and sadness.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that.," I say, pulling her into a hug. Ever since this whole disease happened, Carol has been the only one to really reach out for me, and I've known her for only a few weeks. She gives me a reassuring smile.
"It's fine. But promise me you wont do anything stupid, okay?," she asks, giving me a serious look in the eyes. I nod, giving her a side smile.
"Promise.," I respond, nodding my head. She nods back at me with a smile and walks away. After she's down the stairs, I plop down on my mattress. I continue to think about Johnny. Frustration builds up in my stomach. Daryl too enters my mind. I begin to feel sorry for him as well after hearing he lost his brother.
I lay on my back, my hands behind my head as I stare up at the ceiling. It's barely morning. We still have this whole day ahead of us. I wonder what we are going to do with Johnny. Is it safe enough to go outside to bury him? We have to do something.
"Hey Nikki Nick.," Austin says, walking up to me and breaking my thoughts. I lift an eyebrow as I look over to him, still laying down.
"Hey.," I reply, curious of what he has to say. The fact that he's here and away from Beth must mean he has something important to say. The two have been becoming good friends ever since the Woodbury people came in. It's funny to see in a way.
"Whatcha doin'?," he asks, sitting down on the floor next to me.
"Oh, just hunting zebras. You?," I sarcastically reply, a slight smirk on my face. He chuckles, shaking his head as he looks down.
"Zebras eh? Well I'm huntin' wolves.," he says, knowing I like those animals. I slap him on the knee as I turn around and lay on my side, my back facing him.
"Jerk.," I playfully say, pretending to be mad at him. I still don't get why Austin is my friend. I was the loner girl who sat in a room playing with a knife my father gave me, while he was Mr. Party Animal, becoming friends with everyone. He's always been there for me.
"Oh come on, you know I was kidding.," he teases, pretending I hurt his feelings. I chuckle and turn around, laying on my other side as I face him.
"Yeah, sure. Anyways...what are we going to do about.," I say, pausing a moment to look down. "Johnny."
"I don't really know. Rick doesn't want to risk everyone going outside again. He only lets Daryl or someone go get supplies or something.," he replies with a shrug. I sigh, my gaze focused on a piece of string I see on the floor. What are we going to do?
"I have an idea. Why don't we have a funeral inside, and a few people can go outside and bury him. That way not everyone goes outside.," I suggest, looking back up at Austin. He shrugs, nodding his head.
"I'll go talk to him about it. He'll probably send Daryl and Glenn or someone out to bury them anyways though.," he says, standing up to walk away. "Well I'll go talk to him about it. 'Kay?," he says, waiting for me to reply. I just nod. He then turns around and heads down the stairs.
But what are going to do about the Governor? I know I've asked myself that question dozens of times, but we have to do something. Hopefully Daryl already talked to Rick about it.
I stand up and begin to head to the stairs. Each step I take is slow. I've been too hard on my leg lately. It needs to heal soon if I'm going to help get rid of the Governor.
"Nicole. Come here," Rick says, looking up at me coming down the stairs. I nod and pick up the pace a little bit. I hurry on over, looking from Daryl, to Austin, then to Rick. "Everyone follow me, we're goin' to talk about several things.," he says, looking at all of us before turning around. He heads to a different room where no one else is.
There's a table with four chairs around it. We all sit down. I'm across Rick, with Daryl to my left and Austin to my right. Once we are all situated, Rick begins to speak.
"So you're idea about what to do for Johnny's funeral was a good one.," Rick says, looking over at me. I nod, letting him continue to speak before saying anything. "We'll have a funeral shortly."
"Alright, so who else is gonna go out and bury him?," Daryl says, basically telling Rick he's going to go for sure. Rick looks over at Daryl.
"You, Austin, and Nicole seem to be one of the few capable of doing something right now.," he says, looking down slightly. "The others are too upset." He then looks back up at us, continuing his words. "Nicole, because of your leg, you keep watch while the other two dig.," Rick says, looking at each of us in the eyes.
"Okay.," I say, waiting to see if the other two agree. I see them look at each other, then to Rick and nod.
"Good.," Rick says, his voice confident. "Now with the Governor, what are we going to do?," he asks, looking at us for our ideas.
"We could send a couple of people to town and search for any signs of him. He's obviously going to be in the area because he's not just gonna let us go like that.," Austin suggests, gazing at Rick with a serious look.
"We could. Or we could trick him like he tricked us. We get a little group and hide them somewhere in town. I'll take my bike and pretend I'm alone to lead him out. Then we ambush him.," Daryl says, his tone full of hatred. I can tell he's still angry at himself for falling for the Governor's trap.
"But, I don't think the Governor is going to try anything funny with Daryl. He knows that you want revenge, so he's going to be more careful than to just show up and try something stupid.," I say, looking at Daryl.
"Someone else will have to go into town and pretend to be alone.," Rick says, looking at me and Austin.
"I can take a truck and go.," Austin says, looking at Rick for an approval.
"No. He'll think we are hiding people in it so he wont show up.," I say. They nod, and we sit for a moment to think.
"Well...I could just you know, use Daryl's bike.," Austin says as he shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.
"Not a chance, big shot.," Daryl spits, leaning forward as he glares at Austin.
"Daryl, it's either the bike or walking. We have to act like we are on a supply run or something. The Governor isn't going to buy one person walking into town.," Rick says, trying to convince us we need his bike.
"Then again, it's hard to buy one person going into town to grab supplies. We'll probably need two people going on the bike.," I say, looking from Daryl to Rick. Daryl just shakes his head, running a hand through his hair.
"Y'all think about it today, and we'll talk tomorrow.," Rick says, looking at all three of us. "We have to think about Johnny right now. We all nod, standing up.
"Lets go.," Daryl says, walking passed us. I can tell he's not too happy about us using his bike.
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Well here's another chapter! I hope y'all like it. I'm spending a lot of time on this. Let me know what you think, or if you want to see any changes. I'd appreciate all of your opinions. :) Well, see y'all next chapter! <3 Vote/comment!