Has anyone noticed on Walking Dead that if they just talked about their problems, a lot of things would be resolved? But then there'd be no show...thus the Walking Dead paradox.
The sun had just set behind the woods, the sky changing from blue to orange and pink. It was, by almost all accounts, a beautiful evening.
Sadie could remember days like this. She would sit on her front porch, looking out at the energy her neighborhood exuded. Children would play tag in the street, crossing over yards to chase one another. A man would go for a jog with his dog in tow. Her neighbor adjacent from her had the most beautiful garden that she worked on almost daily. Sadie would bring the woman a glass of sweet tea and talk about the finer things in life...like chrysanthemums or petunias.
But that was almost a lifetime ago. The group stopped their trek in front of Sadie's house.
"What in the hell..." Rick muttered as he got the full grasp of what they had done to the place. A barrier existed around the home, but unlike a normal fence, the perimeter consisted of scrap metal piled taller than any person. It wrapped around in a complete circle with no visible entrance.
"How do you get in?" Carl questioned. As they continued to gawk, Olivia and Sadie moved to a particularly large group of tires sticking out from the rest of the metal wall.
"There's two sides to the entrance. If no one's home, you block the outside with tires. Once we're inside, we'll block the entryway again with a different set of tires. The Creeps can't get in unless the entrance is compromised."
Sadie and Olivia began moving the tires out of the way. The men eventually joined them and the entrance, a small crawl space at the bottom of the metal was soon revealed. Olivia crawled through first, followed by Sadie, Carl, Daryl and Rick. Once on the other side, they begin moving another set of tires in front of the hole.
The gargles and moans of a nearby Walkers had the men uneasy, dealing with more than their fair share for the day. "They ain't gettin through," Sadie said, walking up to the house. "The metal is too heavy for them to push past."
"Where did you get all of it? How the hell did you get it here?" Daryl questioned as they followed her into the house.
"Long story." It was dark with the windows boarded up. "The second floor is a bit brighter. We stay up their the majority of the time The wood from the staircase blocks out any light. We didn't worry too much about the upstairs windows, though."
"How do you get upstairs if there's no staircase?" Carl questioned.
"A ladder," she said, pointing through the living room. Indeed, there was a ladder laying next to a wall. The second floor could be seen but there was no staircase-just evidence of it's demise.
"Why knock out the stairs?"
"Creeps can climb them, but not a ladder."
Everyone dropped their belongings on the hardwood floor. Olivia grabbed the ladder and set it in it's nook, climbing them and disappearing down what was visible of a hallway. Sadie entered the kitchen and returned with three bottles of water, handing them out to the guys.
"There's no running water, so the backyard is your bathroom. There's a can of beans that you can split between the three of you, but that's literally all I can spare. There's two bedrooms upstairs. Olivia and I can share one of them and the boy can have the other. You guys are downstairs. I'll drive you to wherever you need to go at first light."
"Thank you," Rick broke the silence after her speech. "We appreciate your help."
She gave him a nod before heading up the ladder, Carl in tow. She pointed down the hallway. "Bedroom is the last door on the left."
"I could sleep downstairs with my dad and Daryl if you want me to."
"Hardwood floor or a bed. Your choice."
She left him in the hallway to decide, closing her own bedroom door behind her. Olivia was sitting on the bed, questioning her with a single look.
"Don't start."
Olivia began signing to her. Who's Daryl?
"I was a bartender. He was a patron. End of story."
Is it? He couldn't stop staring.
"I look a little different than the last time we saw each other."
You should talk to him.
"About what?"
I don't know. Think of something.
The truth was, Sadie couldn't stop thinking of all the things she wanted to tell him. He had so many questions, too. Questions he wouldn't voice. Their last encounter five years ago made her heart drop to her stomach as she replayed the scene over and over in her head. Daryl was just a person she knew. They were never friends. They were barely acquaintances. But when they parted, she'd never forget that final glance he gave her. She'd never forget when he said he wished he had courage to talk to her before then...because then was too late.
What had stopped him?
She knew the answer immediately when she looked down at her left hand and the ring that weighed her down. Ahh. Tommy. Of course. She hadn't realized she was even wearing it.
Olivia stomped her foot on the ground, getting Sadie's attention. You should talk to him.
"Yeah, yeah..." Sadie said as she left the room, closing the door behind her. She headed down the ladder again, entering the dark living room. Beams of moonlight streaked across the room, breaking through the cracks in the boarded windows.
"We have a few candles...if you want some light," Sadie whispered. Rick laid on the couch, sleep the furthest thing from his mind. Daryl sat next to the window, looking through one of the cracks. His head snapped up when Sadie spoke, breaking him from his trance.
Daryl didn't speak but she could see the slight nod of his head. Sadie walked over to a table, lighting some of the unscented candles that occupied it and spread them around the room. She laid one next to Rick on the floor.
"Blow 'em out when you're ready to sleep." She then moved to Daryl, placing one on the windowsill next to him. He looked at her then, the light from the soft embers of the candle danced across her face. The deep, hideous scar he couldn't unsee was cast in shadow.
"Why'd you come back?" he voiced, but barely. Sadie didn't know if it was a question she could answer truthfully.
But she couldn't lie. "There wasn't anythin for me in Oklahoma." Vagueness always worked.
He turned to face her. "Sit down." It wasn't a command or a request. It just was there, lingering in the air until she had some form of response.
Sadie's response was to sit on the floor across from him. Not close enough to touch, but close enough to whisper and not be heard by the man on the couch-not that she cared a bit.
"I...I don't even know what to say to you," he worked out.
"I know."
"Are you okay? I mean-is...you're doin okay?"
"I'm alive."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the best one I got."
He leaned against the wall and scratched the back of his neck. The heat from earlier was finally starting to wear off and Sadie breathed a sigh of relief.
"What about Tommy?"
Sadie sat up rigidly. "What about him?"
"He live here?"
"It's his house."
"Where's he at now?"
"I don't know."
"Really," he scoffed, the disfavor oozing from his words.
Sadie leaned forward. "There are rules-rules I gotta follow in order to survive."
"Pretty sure society threw out the rulebook when people started eating each other."
"I have to live by a different set of rules than society...than you or your people. They ain't my rules. I don't like 'em, but I do what I have to."
"These..."rules"...are they Tommy's? He make 'em up?"
"Yes."
"And what happens if you break the rules?"
She hesitated, but stuck true to her vow of not lying to Daryl. "People get hurt."
He stopped, unable to move. Unable to breathe. Sadie saw his pulse at the hollow of his neck quicken. "How'd you get that scar?"
"Which one?" she asked sarcastically. Sadie laughed at her own words but stopped when she realized Daryl's reaction grew even darker. "It was a joke. Trust me, you don't wanna know."
"I think I do."
"No, you don't. I'm tellin you," she searched for the words. "...What do you call the Creeps? Walkers? Well, there are worse things in this world than Walkers. Leave it at that."
"If I ever see Tommy again, I'll kill him."
"That's why you're leaving tomorrow...before he gets the chance to kill you."
"You can come with us, you know? You don't have to stay here. We got plenty of space."
"It ain't that simple."
"Just because you're making it difficult."
Sadie shook her head in defiance. "Why'd you come back, Daryl?"
"Lookin for weapons, ammunition."
"Is that all?"
"'Course not. But that's most important. Don't matter, though. Everything's been cleared out."
Sadie was filled with an idea that nearly choked her. She had no idea where it came from, but now that it was present, it was stifling all other thoughts. "Rick," she said louder. "You still awake?"
"Yup."
Of course Rick had heard their entire conversation, but Sadie appreciated that he didn't interfere. She stood up, never breaking eye contact with Daryl until she reached the ladder, climbing upstairs and entering Olivia's room.
The girl was already in bed but still awake. She looked up at Sadie through the darkness.
What is it?
Sadie crouched by the bed, her face close to Olivia's. "What if I told them?"
Told them what?
"Everything."
Olivia shook her head in confusion.
"If there was a chance...a chance at freedom, would you want to take it? If we could get away from Tommy? If it was just you and me?"
How?
"We give them what they originally came to Barbourville for."
Tommy has the key.
"I know."
How would they get it?
Sadie didn't need to respond. Olivia already knew the answer.
Sadie had come back down the ladder. Daryl and Rick hadn't moved from their spots. "Still awake?"
"Yup," Rick repeated.
"I need you to follow me. Both of you. Grab a candle." She didn't wait for them as she exited the living room and moved toward a door. Daryl stood up the same time Rick hopped off the couch and they gave each other a look. Daryl shrugged as they both followed her to the door.
She opened it. A staircase led down to the basement. One step at a time she made her way through the darkness, feeling for the next stair with her foot, unable to see it. Sadie finally landed on the concrete floor with Daryl and Rick in tow.
She flipped a switch on a wall, and the dark room was at once illuminated.
"You have electricity?" Rick asked.
"Generators. Tommy was always obsessed with preparations before things went bad. Turns out he was one of the smarter ones. We can't stay down here too long. It'll take up too much power and he'll know about it."
"That one of his rules?" Daryl asked spitefully.
"Technically we ain't supposed to be down here at all."
They walked into a room that wasn't lit until she hit another switch. It was illuminated immediately, and what they saw made Rick utter expletives.
It was a room entirely devoted to weapons. Semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, pistols, knives, swords, magazines, scopes, crossbows, and ammunition stood in cases against all four walls. The only thing separating Rick and Daryl from everything they have been looking for was the thick glass coverings.
"Holy shit," the men would occasionally mutter as they walked about the room, taking it all in.
"There's a reason the gun shop and shootin range was cleaned out. As soon as everything started happenin, Tommy took it all. These cases are bullet resistant. The generators are used specifically to power the security. In order to gain access, you have to have the passcode and the key. I know what the passcode is, but I don't have the key. Without it, the alarms will trigger and every Creep-Walker-in a 10 mile radius will be knockin on our door."
"Who the hell is the Tommy guy?" Rick questioned.
"He's the one in charge."
Daryl stopped his perusing. "How'd he get all of this?"
Saide shook her head. "You know what kind of a guy he is, Daryl. Do you even have to ask?"
Rick intervened. "Where's the key?"
"Tommy has it...it's on a chain he wears around his neck. I'm not allowed access. Part of the rules." Sadie swallowed, choosing her words carefully. "If I were to get the key...I'd give you all of it. Every gun, every bullet, every weapon you could possibly want. It's yours."
"Why?" Daryl watched her as she struggled to find the right thing to say.
"I don't need 'em. I don't want 'em. You can have it all."
"But there's a catch."
She stared at the glass and weapons behind it, as if they held the answer to everything.
"You have to kill Tommy."