all of us were gathered around the illuminated fire that brought us light outside, and when i mean us i mean most of our former group members, and most of the alexandrian residents. everyone around me were chatting and murmuring their opinions to each other, while i sat in between carol and eugene, clenching my fists in my pockets. this whole thing was making me anxious, especially of how the outcome may be, i'm just glad the kids aren't here. "we're going to start!"
"can we wait!" maggie protested instantly, a look of concern spread across her face, "we still have people comin'. glenn? rick?"
deanna shared quick eye contact with maggie before looking out to the rest of the quiet crowd, "we're going to start! it's already dark." she continued, "we're gonna talk about what happened, not the fight, not what precipitated it, we're dealing with that. we're gonna talk about one of our constables—rick grimes."
"—we're gonna talk about how he had a pistol he stole from the armory, about how he pointed it at people, and we're gonna talk about what he said. i was hoping he'd be here-"
"she said he's coming." i interrupted curtly, furrowing my brows and glaring at deanna. "i'm sure he'll be here, and i'm sure we can work this all out." carol adds, grabbing onto my hand and squeezing it for support.
deanna then asked a few of ricks group members to speak their peace first, michonne went first, then carol, and thirdly i was next. the feeling of all eyes on me had me uneasy, and nervous, because i didn't know what the right thing was to say to these people, so i just spoke as i went on.
i take in a deep breath, "i've known rick since before the virus hit, then we were just friends, but now he's my husband." i speak, looking out into the crowd, all of them listened intently, "he has saved me, in every way a person can be saved. mentally, physically, all of it. the rick you saw yesterday, was the rick who cares, who's protective and insistent on safety. because if you were out there with us this whole time, you'd be on his side."
"—everything that he's done since the beginning, was to protect his group. hiding behind these walls, and acting like it was before, isn't gonna keep you alive. i watched my ex husband bleed to death, i saw my best friend die of blood loss, i watched my sister who raised me die, whom i was forced to leave there. i've watched more than ten of my friends die as well. all of what we've been through out there, has made us into this today, and soon that's gonna be you."
i pause to take another breath, looking out among the crowd. their faces expressed shock, sorrow, pity, fear, and confusion. "he just wants to help us—that's his purpose, protect and serve, it always has been and always will be. trust me, you're gonna be scared, and you're overwhelmed—but it's just our world now and we've learned to live with it, so will you."
i nodded my head towards deanna to signal to her i was done talking, but what roamed my mind was where the hell is rick? i had to find him, so i murmured a quick "excuse me" and left the group.
jogging down the streets in the dark was horrifying considering there were no street lights. it was cold, a little windy, not my cup of tea. just what i didn't understand is where the hell rick was? wouldn't you want to be on time especially if it's about you? as i made my way down more streets towards our house i hear an unusual noise, grunting, yelling, and snarling. an all too familiar growl that i knew from the heart. i yank my knife from my thigh holster and sprint toward the noise.
i landed in between two houses, where i saw rick struggling on the ground, trying his hardest to push the walker on top of him away. my heart reamed with fear, and i acted fast when i noticed another stumbling walker was near him.
i raised my knife and stomped toward it with no hesitation, when i got close i noticed it's guts were spilling right on me, which caught myself off guard for it to grab ahold of me. the walker slammed me into the wall, i could feel it's leaking guts on me, disgusting. i managed to stab the walker and push it away from me, and when i got to rick i saw he had killed it, but still on top of him. i grabbed the walkers blood soaked clothing and threw it off of him with all my might.
when i turned my direction back towards rick, i could see he was drenched in blood, and so was i. i felt it on my hands, on my shoes, my pants, and my jacket. he stood up with no problem, concern clear in his orbs, "you okay?"
breathing heavily, i nod, "yeah, i'm okay. but we gotta get you to the campfire, right now."
he nods with a gulp, and proceeds to throw a random third walker over his shoulder, "i was walkin' the perimeter when i saw the gate was open, i found the walkers over here". i had already gotten the context of what he was going to do with the walker, it was pretty clear to see.
"okay." i pant as i waved him to follow me, "c'mon we gotta go." both of us covered in walker blood, we speed-walk as fast as we could down the streets—to get back to the meeting.
it was all sort of a blur when we arrived, it was like the trip to get there was short, and now all of the sudden we're back, with them all staring at us in horror. rick throws down the dead walker body on the pavement, causing singled gasps of fear from the crowd.
me and rick just stood there, at a loss for words, these people just saw me seven minutes ago and now i'm covered in blood. "well jesus christ." abraham says with slim shock in his tone, "it's the king and queen of hell."
no one said anything after until rick spoke up, the nickname was funny, but shouldn't be in this very moment, "there wasn't a guard at the gate—it was open." rick explains in a rough tone, breathing heavily from tiredness. "i-i asked gabriel to close it!" spencer frantically explains to deanna, who ushered him to go to it.
"i didn't bring it in it came in by itself." rick explains as he moves toward the crowd, i just stood near the exit shivering from the cold, "they always will—the dead and the living, because we're in here. and the ones out there, they'll hunt us, they'll find us—they'll try to use us, they'll try to kill us."
what rick said stuck to me, because sadly—it was true more than ever. i moved toward carol who wrapped a blanket around me, and started to rub my back in comfort. "but we'll kill them, we'll survive—i'll show you how." he paused and looked at the crowd, "y'know i was thinkin'—i was thinkin' how many of you do i have to kill, to save your lives? but i'm not gonna do that, you're gonna change."
he pauses, and looks toward deanna for a split second, "i'm not sorry for what i said last night, i'm sorry for not saying it sooner. you're not ready, but you have to be. right now—you have to be. luck runs out."
when rick goes to take a pause, sudden footsteps are heard approaching. everyone including myself go to look, where jessie's abusive husband stood angry with a weapon, looking towards rick, "you're not one of us!" he charged toward him but was caught by reggie, deanna's husband.
reggie tries to talk him down in a calm manner, but it seemed his words weren't registering in his head as he crept closer, until finally—he snapped, screaming, and slitting reggie's throat. my eyes widen in shock, screams of fear are heard, and my heart drops at the sudden situation. abraham tackles him to the ground as blood spewed continuously from reggie's neck, deanna cried holding him and shouting for him to stay awake.
"this is him!" pete shouted over and over again as abe held him down. i didn't know what to do, so i just stood next to carol. as pete continued to scream and resist abraham's hold, it wasn't long before reggie bled out—leaving deanna sobbing.
tears falling down her face, she looks up at rick, "rick." she pauses, "do it."
rick knew what she meant, and so did everyone else. with no hesitation, he whips out the pistol from his belt and executes pete with a single headshot. screams of shock come from the crowd, but i just stood there—used to the sights and sounds of sudden death and gunshots.
"rick?"
silent falling upon us, i peel my eyes away from a dead pete and focus my direction on daryl—and a random african-american guy standing at the entrance, expressions of shock and confusion. who the hell was that?
-
!gif is of nikki seeing pete bleed out!
end of season five! that was a weird ending wasn't it?
thank you so much for reading haha, only one more season to go before i end this book:(
moving on, see u for season six!<3