Whitetiger789-Glad you enjoyed it, hope you like this one!
Lord Revan Reborn-Can't spoil anything haha, so just keep reading to see.
Jason Chandler-Rick did take one hell of a beating, glad you like the Carol twist!
Blaszczu2500-I'm looking forward to the Governor as well, not to mention the extra characters I'm adding with him.
Gracie Miserables-Glad you liked it! Julie is gonna get some more screen time next chapter as for Carly's safety all I can say is, no one is safe in the walking dead, right?
Thedarkpokemaster-Yeah some major character shifts happened last chapters and the aftermath hasn't even been fully dealt with this chapter so keep on reading friend.
Don 77-I've been thinking about what minor changes I could make in scenes, and I have one show scene I may add later on, so they aren't totally out of the question.
The Good The Bad The X-boy-No worries on the other chapters, just glad to see you're still around. As for Tyreese, he knows Ben is a bit of a screw-up, but he has a father protective nature of him; hence, why he fought Kenny over nothing.
Genocideplayer-Glad you like it! More Lee and Clem scenes are sure to come and building a trusting relationship between Lee, and the rest of the group is definitely going to happen.
TheNightClub-Yeah playing into Kenny's hotheadedness was fun, I mean the man has issues when a good thing starts to get ruined by dumb choices; however, he never really could pick fights he could win.
Worker72-Lee talking with Tyreese may happen in the future, but right now he wouldn't create anymore decent within the group.
Bluntwave-During the downfall a lot of things could happen, Lee may stay and fight, or he may go, only time will tell, so I can't answer that haha.
Guest-Yes Julie and her father will definitely need to talk about things soon, just not this chapter.
Enjoy
Chapter 16: The Committee
Hershel and Doug made their way into the cafeteria where the rest of the group already sat, the only two missing from the group were considered the most important, Tyreese and Rick. Dale stood up and cleared his throat, "Well, how are they?" He firmly asked,
Hershel wiped his brow while moving to a seat in between Maggie and Billy, "Rick is stable, his face is swollen, lots of bruises and I'm certain he has a concussion. All of this would explain the blackout, I don't expect him to wake anytime soon, but he should be alright,"
"And Tyreese?" Dale asked with a nod,
Doug scratched the back of his head and replied, "Given my limited knowledge, I couldn't be sure if anything was broken, but with a little assistance from Hershel and Tyreese explaining his personal history, things got pretty clear. He's always had a bum knee, and when Kenny kicked it, and then he jumped off the walkway and landed on it, his knee gave out. It should be okay after a day or so's rest."
"Right, so both of them are going to be fine, good," Dale said in minor relief before slowly looking around the room, "Obviously we have some things we need to talk about; what happened today can't be taken lightly,"
"Damn right!" Kenny exclaimed, "Tyreese is a fucking mad dog, he was ready to kill me, kill Rick, and he damn sure killed Carol!"
"Hey, hey, hey, we were all their man, you and Rick were the ones that went after him," Mark retorted, "If you did that to me, I'd have taken a swing at you guys too,"
"Of course they went after him, you do realize that it's Tyreese's fault that Carol's dead!" Lori cried out,
"Michonne's too," Kenny growled, "The pair of them should be tossed the fuck out of here,"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Listen, I hate my dad for what he did to Carol, b-but we can't just...toss him out," Julie instantly spoke up, "Please, there has to be another way,"
"Don't worry, no one is getting thrown out," Andrea assured the girl,
"And who are you to decide that you're not in charge here, Rick is!" Kenny boomed out, "And he knows that this shit can't stand,"
"Enough!" Lee surprisingly yelled out, causing silence from the dissenting group, "Listen to yourselves, you're using the death of one of us to argue. Carol took her life today, she's gone and not coming back, and all you want to do is use this to attack Tyreese and Michonne. Of course, they did wrong; we know that, so do they, but we can't just kick them out. That'd be no better than shooting them in the back; it'd be fucking murder,"
"Seriously guys, we all make mistakes, Tyreese couldn't have known she'd take that kinda step. I don't think anyone could," Glenn agreed,
"Thank you," Lee said with an exasperated exhale, "Now, the real issue I've seen since all this started is the fact that Rick is in charge,"
"Yeah, noticed that too," Molly muttered with a nod,
"Excuse me?!" Lori defensively snapped, "You have no idea what my husband has gone through to keep us all safe, he has bled for us, done things no one else could do! If Rick did take up this responsibility, who knows where we'd be! He doesn't like it, but he's the only one who knew he could do it one hundred percent!"
"That's my point," Lee calmly replied, "Rick has been the only one to bear this weight, this stress, any man would start to crack under that kind of pressure. Imagine making decisions that impact not only you and your families lives but the lives of twenty other people! It's too much; it isn't fair,"
Dale silently nodded, taking in Lee's words, and the elderly man couldn't deny the truth in his words. "Lee, you have a point, Rick has been making the choices for this group since he showed up, whether they were right or wrong choices they were only his to make. In a group, this size, that's too much, and despite Rick's best intentions, his actions have started to become questionable."
"But no one's got anything to say about Tyreese's actions, huh?" Kenny muttered as he sat back down and shook his head,
"Listen, what happened was a tragedy, but at the end of the day we can't convict Tyreese of murder just because he and Carol ended their relationship and she took her life," Dale firmly replied, "All we can do is figure out a better way to rebuild here, to make things safer, and make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable when a decision is made,"
"So what are you saying, we just...replace Rick?" Lori bitterly asked, "Toss him aside after all he's done?!"
"It's not like that Lori, I promise you," Dale assured her, "I'm just saying, that may be making a change would be for the best,"
"And if we are against it?" Doug curiously asked, "Not saying I am, but just...what if?" He swiftly added on trying to remain neutral,
"Fine, let's do this democratically, we'll vote, who here thinks that Rick should remain solely in charge?" A few hands slowly raised, it was close to half the group, "Okay, and who thinks Rick should be removed from power?" Dale asked again seeing a few more hands raising up nearly matching the last vote.
"Axel, Chuck, Lee, I haven't seen you three vote," Hershel pointed out,
Lee looked over at his fellow prisoners before looking back towards the group, "Well, it just seemed like it wasn't exactly our place, this is your group after all,"
A new silence lingered between the survivors, each thinking that fact over for a moment, Kenny rather quickly spoke up, "Way I see it, you three are in here with us, you deal with the same bullshit, you might as well get to vote on it,"
"Really? After what their other friends put us through?" Dale retorted with a raised brow,
"Hey, it's not their fault," Billy pointed out, "Whatever those other guys did, even the one that took away my sisters, that's not on them."
"Couldn't agree more son," Hershel nodded, "Axel, Charles, and Lee...they are men who have made mistakes, and I say they have more than repaid their debt to society,"
"Beyond that, I think it's time we let go of these titles like criminal and prisoner, let's be honest guys there are only two titles now; either living or walker." Carly firmly stated giving Lee a soft smile while a murmur of the agreement was shared,
"Fine, fine, they are one of us, you get a vote in this group, just like anyone else, that extends to Molly and Michonne all the same," Dale stated while holding his hands up, letting go of his argument, "But this still brings us back to the main point, what are we going to do to change our current situation with Rick, it's clear that it can't stay the same any longer. So suggestions?"
Everyone stopped and thought for a long time then Ben's timid voice spoke up, "Well, maybe we could just have like no leader? I mean, were safe in the prison, couldn't we just decide what we want to do with no one telling us, so no one is under stress?"
"That's fucking stupid Ben," Kenny instantly dismissed,
"No offense Ben, but having no one in charge would just bring anarchy, that's no better than having one stressed-out leader," Lee explained with more respect,
"Yeah, that's not going to do it," Mark nodded,
"Do I have to state the obvious? Let's just leave well enough alone, Rick is fine; he's the only one capable of doing the job," Lori frowned,
"Or maybe Tyreese should just take over, whenever Rick decided he was going to run out and leave us alone for days at a time, Tyreese was the one to hold us together!" Patrica exclaimed with surprising vigor,
"Over my dead fucking body," Kenny growled,
"Hey, don't start this up again, there is no way Rick or Tyreese could be solely in charge and things would be okay. Keep in mind when those two are well, they are still gonna have to live here with one another," Hershel interjected firmly,
"He's right...we can't have one person in charge anymore," Andrea sighed, "It won't work with anyone,"
"So then let's just stop trying to make one person do the job, even in the old world there was more than one person calling the shots," Maggie explained,
"She has a point, our old government had a check and balance system in place to make sure it was democratic, and they were all voted in by the people we should do that here," Julie agreed with a smile,
"I concur," Doug nodded with a calm smile, "I think it's the smartest choice,"
"Hard to argue with all that" Chuck finally spoke, "Put a few in charge, and things should start running right as rain,"
"Does everyone agree to that idea?" Dale asked while scanning the room seeing only nodding heads in response, "Fine, I don't see any issue with that either, so I suppose we should start...electing I suppose. Thoughts?"
"Rick," Lori frowned, "If this whole thing is about balance and taking the stress off of him that's fine, but he still has our best interest at heart,"
"I don't know; I'd rather how you over Rick," Patrica suggested only for Lori to glare over at the woman, "O-Or Rick, yeah, Rick is still a good choice, I think Otis would vote for him too," She nervously gulped before lowering her head,
"Yeah, Rick should be on this committee for sure, just like Tyreese," Mark noted,
"Oh, Jesus, really? You want to put that bastard up there?" Kenny scoffed,
"They have been leading us from the start, it doesn't matter what issues you have with him Kenny, not liking him doesn't mean Tyreese isn't a good candidate," Andrea butted in,
"I vote for Tyreese too," Ben piped up,
"If Rick is in there Tyreese should be too, that's fair, and it makes sense," Glenn nodded,
"I agree with Glenn, perfectly said," Doug smiled,
"Okay, okay, so Rick and Tyreese are in, is that fair to agree with?" Dale asked, seeing more nods, "Good, now anyone else?"
"What about you?" Andrea smiled, "You've led this little meeting, you're...wise,"
"Wise, huh?" Dale frowned back,
"Dale, I think I speak for us all when I say, we trust your judgment, you have a good way of thinking and that balanced head would be a great mix for Tyreese and Rick," Glenn confidently said,
"Not to mention that you've been helping create side projects like fixing the gates and repairing our vehicles, just because you don't make plans to kill walkers doesn't mean you don't make useful ones. That technical thought is invaluable," Doug added,
"I agree, we trust you, Dale," Lori thoughtfully added,
"Alright, if that's what you all feel, then I accept," Dale replied with a small smile, "Anyone else?"
"I vote my dad," Billy firmly said while standing up, "It's not just because he's my father, and it's not because he's our doctor, but it's because he thinks long term. My dad from day one has been pushing to create a farm for us; he knows that we need food and he knows how to make it, so we never have to risk our lives outside looking for a few cans. He won't let us starve, he won't let us die from some wound, and he won't abandon us. My dad looks out for all of us like family, and...and seeing how much family we've lost, I think that kind of care is something we all need in a leader,"
"Billy...son, thank you, but I-" Hershel said wholeheartedly,
"No daddy, he's right, you kept us all safe at the farm, and you do just as much as anyone else here," Maggie argued against her dismissing father,
"I'd vote for you too, important to have someone focusing on food, that's one of the most important ones, you follow me?" Axel smirked,
"Yeah, I vote Hershel too," Glenn nodded,
"Alright, Hershel as well," Dale nodded, "Four of us, that should be-"
"Hey, I'm not trying to make this into a big thing but, shouldn't we at least have one woman on the committee?" Julie asked with a small frown, "I'd appreciate the representation, and I already have the perfect candidate in mind,"
"Who's that?" Andrea asked,
"Carly," Julie said making the small woman's eyes go wide,
"Me?" Carly retorted, "I don't know about that Julie,"
"Carly you've always been one to preach about doing what's right and giving people second chances, you have morals, and you care about everyone who is still breathing. That's a good sign, that's someone who I think should be voting when it comes to the group," Julie explained, "Can anyone argue with that?"
"No, I don't think we can," Dale nodded, "As long as Carly doesn't have any objections,"
"No, I don't but...I have a condition," Carly said before glancing over to Lee then back to the bulk of the group, "Lee is put on this committee as well,"
"Lee?" Lori scoffed, "I don't mean to sound harsh, but the man is a convicted criminal! It's one thing to agree that the prisoners can...vote as a member but to lead us is-"
"Ma'am, I've been with this here man since the moment he stepped into this here prison," Chuck interrupted, "The issue here isn't him, it isn't that he was a criminal, it's that folk like you are too interested in titles. Prisoner, civilian, cop, man, woman, child, all of them useless in these days. You need to take all of that out of the equation; it's just like this missy here said, you're either alive, or you're not. Now this man, " Chuck continued while pointing over to Lee, "I trust him, not because he thinks of Axel and me, but because of what he's done. He pulled apart them two boys fighting twice, he's started taking care of that little girl, and damn near got himself killed three times over since you folks showed up and never once raised a hand in malice."
"Chuck, Carly, thank you but if people aren't comfortable with me being on this council then I-" Lee calmly began,
"It's not like that man," Mark cut him off, "They have a point, and I'm not afraid to say I agree, Lori's in the wrong here,"
"While I understand Lori's hesitation, ever since I met Lee I've thought he was a great guy, and if he were to make some decisions around here, I'd trust and follow them all the same," Doug said with a smile,
"I'm with Chuck on this one, smart fella with a good sense," Axel agreed,
"Listen, if this is what is happening if this is what you all feel then you deserve to know a few things," Lee said while running a hand over his head, "I...lied when you found us in the cafe,"
"Lee...hold on," Carly softly interjected,
"Son, probably best that we do this later," Chuck added on,
"No, it happens now," Lee firmly replied, "I'm here because I killed a man, a state senator,"
"What?" Dale said with wide eyes,
"My God," Lori gasped,
"It wasn't a callous, brutal attack; it happened at the moment. I wasn't myself, and...I became someone I never thought I could have been." Lee explained while hanging his head, "He was with my wife, and when I showed up and started yelling, he went after me. I went too far, and I knew I was wrong, but I can't change it,"
"Jesus Christ," Andrea whispered out,
"Now all of you just hold on a damn minute," Kenny nearly demanded while standing up, "A couple of weeks ago you were all there when I shot Andrew down. I killed him, Rick killed Dexter, Julie shot Christ, Carl shot Shane, and god damn it, Tyreese may as well have killed Carol!" The fisherman shouted out with clenched fists, "Now we all know that Thomas was a murderous sonofabitch, he took my wife, and...changed my boy forever, so hear me when I say this, Lee ain't that. Lee...he's a good man, and I trust him. He's got my vote,"
Silence lingered while everyone weighed the pros and cons of Kenny's argument, Lee looked at each of their faces unsure of what they meant, if he had just bought himself a one-way ticket out the front gate and into the unknown hell that is this world. "Please…" A small squeaky voice suddenly said, "Please don't make Lee go anywhere...I need him," Clementine begged,
"I've known about Lee since I met him, and he's only proved that despite what he did, he's a good man," Carly stated,
"I...stand by what I said earlier," Doug cautiously added, "Personally history doesn't factor in,"
"It took balls to say that," Molly smirked, "I respect that, and that makes you someone I'll actually be voting for,"
"I speak for my kids and me when I say, honesty is key, and as long as you aren't hiding anything else, well...at least being a representative for Axel and Chuck on the committee would be fair,"
"Lee saved my life, mine, and Clementine from that crazy bastard," Andrea nodded, "That's enough for me,"
"We all died the day the dead started walking, we all got a fresh start to be the person we needed to be," Glenn thoughtfully said, "Lee's became the kind of person we all needed to be,"
"So I think that settles it, Lee is on this committee," Carly finished before sitting back down, the prisoner scanning the room one final time before nodding and doing the same.
The following day the committee had their first sit down, discussing where things needed to go from here. By the time Tyreese had regained use of his leg and made his way down to the meeting, the decision was made, the farm needed to be finished. "Hey, Michonne gave me the rundown, sorry I was late, limping here took longer than I thought." Tyreese explained as he fell into a seat at the cafeteria table, "Too bad we didn't clear the offices, could have made this all look a lot more official, huh?"
"Suppose it could have," Hershel said with a minor chuckle, "Anyway, sorry to tell you Tyreese, but for our first meeting here, you and Rick were mostly cut out. I didn't expect either of you to be recovered enough to join,"
"That's fine, I didn't think I'd be here either," Tyreese admitted, "But I got it taped up, and it's not as bad as I thought,"
"Good to hear," Dale replied,
"So, what were we meeting about?" Tyreese inquired,
"We wanted to plan out our next move, we discussed making a few more rounds through the cell block to clear it, but Hershel told us that we needed to get moving with the farm, with Chuck, Billy, and Axel being his only real help, we aren't as far along as he'd hope," Lee explained
"If we want a good harvest for this year, we need to have the farm created by the end of this month and everything planted by the next. After that, it'll need constant tending, but that's thinking too far, we just need to focus on the first step," Hershel confirmed,
"Well, food is important, and I'm not gonna argue after what we went through on the road last winter, so if we need to finish the farm prep to do that, then I'm in," Tyreese agreed, "Anything else?"
"Something small," Carly replied, "We need to figure out who's gonna be the one to tell Rick about these changes when he wakes up,"
"Wouldn't that be pretty simple? His wife?" Tyreese replied,
"We thought about that but Lori's pregnant and well, let's be honest, she can be a bit bias and might not give him a very fair story," Carly replied,
"And besides, if he doesn't take it well, we need someone who can control him and make sure he doesn't do anything in retaliation," Dale explained,
"I still think he wouldn't act out," Lee argued,
"Either way, better to be cautious," Hershel argued,
"So what, you want me to tell him? I won't let him do anything that'd risk hurting any of us," Tyreese firmly stated,
"Absolutely not," Carly immediately replied, "If you tell him that's just asking for a fight,"
"Well who then, me?" Dale asked,
"I think it should be me guys, I'm not the closest person to Rick, but we're on good terms, I think he trusts me and will listen to what I have to say," Lee piped up, "Plus, I don't think he's gonna do anything so I won't make him feel like he's in a position where he needs to defend himself or fight," The four other members of the committee looked at each other for a moment before nodding, "Alright, you guys get farming, and I'll go wait with Rick."
Early the next day while Doug was doing a routine check-up on Rick, the sheriff finally began to stir. "Rick? Oh, oh geez, Rick, you waking up?" Doug said in a mixture of shock and even concern as Lee hadn't arrived yet,
"Doug?" Rick groaned as he slowly sat up, "How long was I out?"
"Well, I believe it should be just around twenty-six hours, maybe a few more," Doug replied as he scratched his head, "It would be Thursday now if Andrea's calendar is correct, so you missed the last day for sure,"
"Twenty-six hours...so, dead people still walking around?" Rick smirked while rubbing his face,
"What? Uh, Rick, of course, they are," Doug replied with a set of wide eyes, "Did Tyreese hit you that hard?"
"It was a joke, Doug, last time I woke up from a coma dead people started walking so I thought maybe...forget it, wasn't that funny," Rick said with a small shake of his head,
"Oh, sorry, I just didn't really get it," Doug apologized with a smile,
"Jesus, I just cracked a joke, a friend of mine beat me down, another just died, countless people are dead and now eating who are left, and I cracked a joke. Maybe I am losing it," Rick sighed while holding his head in his hands,
"On the contrary, humor is often a good coping mechanism when dealing with trauma, most people who go mad are said to be silent, writing in books and keeping everything bottled up, it's only after they snapped some are known to go crazy with jokes and laughter, but that's quite rare and usually more of a cliche in movies. In fact-" Doug quickly began to ramble,
"Doug," Rick sharply interrupted,
Doug stopped and looked at the man's glaring gaze, "Right, sorry, I'll go let someone know you're awake," The nerdy man quickly stood up and left the cell heading down towards Lee's cell, hoping he was still there.
In the meantime, Rick struggled against the pain aching through his body and forced himself out of bed and to his feet. His bones felt like glass, his legs were shaky and muscles burned if he moved too much, but he was able to keep himself upright. After another few minutes he shuffled out of the cell only to hear Lee's voice, "Rick, glad to see you up and moving, it's a relief,"
"Lee? Hell, I feel like I should be eating pieces of you," Rick groaned out,
"Don't joke like that," Lee chuckled as he reached Rick and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, let's head back in there for a second, I gotta talk to you,"
"That bad, huh?" Rick simply sighed back,
"Could be I guess, depends on how you take it," Lee shrugged,
"Take what?" Rick snapped back slightly,
"Here just sit down for a second," Lee gently ordered while pulling a chair over for Rick,
The sheriff lamented and fell into the chair, "Fine, but you don't even know how painful it was for me to stand up, so this better be important Lee,"
"Look, it's nothing major it's just...to put it bluntly? You're not the leader anymore, man," Lee stated,
"Lee," Rick frowned, "You have no idea how dumb and uncomfortable I felt with everyone in my group calling me the leader, so I'm not in charge anymore, good, I'm all for it,"
Lee let out a small exhale of relief, "That's kinda what I figured you'd say, some of the other's thought we'd have to pull a gun on you for you to get the picture. Glad to see you still got your head,"
"Fuck that, Tyreese had it coming, I was out cold for twenty-six hours, and now he's in charge, isn't he? They put him in charge?" Rick hissed back,
"No, we voted, we formed a committee," Lee replied,
"A...committee?" Rick repeated,
"You know like a council, a group of people making decisions instead of just one person," Lee explained,
"And who's on the committee?" Rick asked with a raised brow,
"You, me, Carly, Tyreese, Dale, and Hershel," Lee answered,
"You?" Rick replied, "Sorry, I'm just...you're a prisoner, I didn't think the group would vote you in,"
"Me either, especially when they learned...that I killed someone to get in here," Rick stared at the man in shock, "It was a state senator that was with my wife when I did it, it wasn't me. It all happened in an instant. I'm sorry I lied to you man, honest, but I didn't know what you'd do to me if you found out,"
"Lee...how did everyone else take it?" Rick asked as he ran his hand along his chin and thought,
"Dale and Lori weren't accepting. The fact that I lied and what I had done didn't sit well with them. The others? Surprisingly they took it well, Kenny and Carly openly defended me, and Chuck vouched for me too." Lee explained, "After that well, from the things I've done, everyone else couldn't find a reason to hold the past against me." Lee locked eyes with Rick, "What about you?"
"I don't know Lee, I'll admit it, I'm not sure I'm even one to judge character anymore," Rick sighed, "My partner Shane, before the apocalypse, was my best friend. We grew up together, we joined the force together, and we would have died for each other. He protected my family when I was in my coma and then…" Rick pursed his lips for a moment, swallowing hard, "He and my wife started something, I don't blame her, she thought I was dead, and Shane was always close to us. Then when I came back, and she shunned him, he snapped. I thought that man was rock solid, a good person through and through, and he put a shotgun to my chest, ready to pull the trigger." Rick raised his eyes and looked at Lee once more, "So the way I see it, if Shane could go from being an officer of the law to a cold-blooded murderer, then you can come back from whatever you did and be a different person you seem to be. It's just up to you to make sure that my thought is true,"
"I hear you, and I intend to prove you right," Lee firmly replied,
Rick nodded to himself and thought for a moment, "So, everyone voted on this?" He simply asked, turning back towards the main reason for this conversation,
"Yeah," Lee replied as he cleared his throat, "We only did this Rick because we thought the pressure was starting to get to you. The weight of making all these choices on one man's shoulders was too much, get it?"
"Yeah," Rick replied,
"So we started talking, at first it was thought about just replacing you with someone else, but that wasn't going to work, Ben had the idea of us just going without a leader, but that was shut down pretty quickly. In the end, we all came to the conclusion that we should have a group of people deciding things, six of us, equal votes, equal power to make decisions after discussing it between ourselves. Julie said it was like a good check and balance system," Lee continued, "You and Tyreese were voted in first, though Patrica argued that Lori should be put in your stead, but that idea was quickly dropped,"
"Guessing Lori wasn't for that idea?" Rick asked,
"Not in the slightest," Lee lightly chuckled, "Anyway, we kept talking about things, not sure how Michonne feels about everything, I think she's just happy we didn't vote with Kenny's idea of throwing Tyreese and her out,"
"Jesus, that's...extreme," Rick admitted,
"Yeah, hence why it was a hard no," Lee replied, "Julie insisted we have a woman on the committee and Carly was her pick, she agreed as long as I was as well and they put me after a short discussion. Dale and Hershel were pretty unanimous thoughts, but that didn't surprise me much,"
"Me either," Rick agreed,
"So, that's it, Rick, all this wasn't an attack on you or anything like that. Everyone here wanted to relieve the pressure on you and more importantly feel safe, you know? They just want to feel protected and feel like the person in charge is gonna do whatever it takes to make sure they stay that way." Lee finished,
Rick wet his lips and let out a sharp exhale through his nose, "Give it to me straight Lee, everyone thinks I'm crazy,"
"I don't know Rick, I'll be honest," Lee said with a shrug and a small shake of his head, "Some of them do for sure, Not everyone but some of them can't get past the calls you've had to make. Killing Dexter, wanting to hang Thomas, cutting off Otis's leg...all of it. They don't know what to think, but they're freaked out,"
"What do you think?" Rick replied
"I don't think you're crazy Rick, honestly, but I'm not able to just make everyone believe what I think," Lee simply answered,
"Fair enough," Rick retorted, "Here, help me up, I want to talk to everyone," Lee stood up and reached out taking Rick's and pulling the man out of the chair.
Alright everyone, sorry for the long wait on this chapter, I put some thought into how I wanted the conversation to go, and for a while, the words weren't sounding right, so I got held up. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm curious as to what you all thought about it, so let me know! Also, thank you all for the reviews on the last chapter; it was the most any chapter had gotten thus far!