Lord Revan Reborn-Glad you liked it!
Jason Chandler-The Governor is going to be his comic counterpart just a little less power obsessed as I have an interesting dynamic for Woodbury this time around that I hope everyone enjoys!
Gracie Miserables-Yeah I wanted Lee to reveal his past while it still mattered to the group, if he say brought it up post prison, I doubt anyone would care, this felt like the most effective time to do it so the people who were starting to learn who he was would defend him while the others would still be thrown off.
Whitetiger789-Glad you liked it, hope you like this one!
Don 77-The post prison time is going to be an interesting time in the story, a lot is going to happen and yes, Savannah will definitely be a part of the journey.
Thedarkpokemaster- Lee made a real impression thus far, his fellow prisoners know him and his selfless acts have gained him more respect than he realized, of course Lee is still being watched closely by some like Lori, but yeah things are changing for the better.
Bluntwave-It's possible that Lee may want to leave for sure, but on the other hand he may very well see the prison as a pure sanctuary worth fighting for and even have someone take Clem, or he'd believe in their defense and just have her stay with him, only time will tell.
Enjoy
Chapter 17: The Walking Dead
Doug took a seat in the chair right next to a cell bunk where both Patricia and the now awake Otis. The ginger man woke late last night, his body still weak, and his leg still in pain, but he was still alive. Otis could scarcely believe that he was still among the living, though this thought was matched with the knowledge that his leg was now gone. Thankfully Patricia hadn't left his side, he was able to hold onto that fact, ignore the pain and fear of being one legged in this world and just think about this woman that he was given a new chance with.
Playing on the floor next to the pair were the kids. Sophia sat by herself in the far corner, the little girl had been nearly catatonic since the death of her mother. The twins Ben and Billy played with some toys blissfully unaware of what was truly going on outside and inside the prison itself. Then a bit closer to the bed were Clementine, Carl, and Duck who played cards. Carl looked up and met eyes with Doug who smiled back at him, "Carl, I have some exciting news for you. Your dad is awake,"
"Rick's up?" Otis asked looking over,
"Just got up a few minutes ago, he seems to be good, probably still in a little pain but other than that, he was fine," Doug replied to the man,
Otis took in a sharp breath, "That's some good news to hear,"
"So he's okay? He's awake?" Carl asked looking at Doug with a smile,
"Indeed he is," Doug nodded, "You weren't worried were you?" He teasingly asked,
"Nope, my dad's real tough. I wasn't worried at all!" Carl proudly replied,
Clementine and Duck looked at one another then back to Carl, "You weren't worried?" Clementine asked,
"Not even a little?" Duck added,
"Well...maybe a little, but that's only because it took him so long to wake up last time," Carl admitted,
"How are you feeling by the way?" Doug asked the ginger man who continued to lay down,
"Alright, I suppose," Otis replied with a grunt trying to readjust, "Patty has been taking care of me real good, and my leg ain't hurting as bad these last few days. Hershel been saying that I ain't got a fever no more either,"
"That's excellent!" Doug said with a smile, "I can see about taking a trip over to the infirmary and finding a wheelchair for you so we can get you out of that bed,"
Otis let out a grin and nodded, "Sounds like a fuckin plan to me,"
"Swear!" Clementine and Carl exclaimed causing the older man to sigh,
"Sorry, kids, add it to my tab huh?" He joked,
"Okay so you think you'll be okay if I run out with Patrica and see about that wheelchair?" Doug asked as he got up,
"Yeah, no problem, I got this," Otis nodded as he pushed himself up until he was sitting against the wall, "Right kids, how about you deal me in for goldfish?"
"Yeah!" The trio exclaimed as they rushed for their deck of cards.
Meanwhile outside in the yard, Hershel and the others were continuing their work on the farm, the fields were finished yesterday evening and using the forward momentum of that, Hershel lead the group to actually start planting the seeds. Nearly every survivor was on this task and that wasn't necessarily a good thing, the tension between Tyreese and a few others still remained strong. Though a good amount of the survivors were doing their best to keep the peace, mainly, keeping Kenny and Tyreese as far from each other as possible.
By the time Rick was waking and Lee explained the situation to him, the group in the fields were working for nearly eight hours straight, and it was beginning to drain on the survivors not used to such grueling work. Glenn was soaked in sweat and he could only hear the growls of his empty stomach yelling for food, he wet his lips and looked over at Hershel almost sheepishly, "Are we gonna be eating lunch soon? I am starving,"
"Yeah, man, can't we fucking cool it for an hour?" Molly added on standing up and wiping her forehead,
"We're later in the year than I originally thought, these last few days prove it, so we need these seeds in the ground now." Hershel replied in a stern tone, "Without question we need to finish all the planting today,"
"Can we eat lunch soon?" Glenn nearly begged,
Hershel sighed and shook his head, returning to his work, "A couple more rows,"
"Your dad is a hardass, did you know that?" Molly groaned over to Billy,
The young teen let out a small chuckle and looked up at the blonde woman who stood a few feet ahead of him, "All too well, trust me,"
Molly smirked back at the teen before returning to her work as well, Billy however couldn't help but take a long look of Molly's bent over stance. Of course the teen didn't do this casually, the gawking was caught by Mark who walked over and gave him a small thump in the back of the head, "Ow," Billy hissed while rubbing the back of his head,
"Hey kid, let's finish this planting so we actually have fresh food in a few months, then you can day dream all you want huh?" Mark teased with a light hearted smile,
"I wasn't...doing anything," Billy mumbled back as his cheeks turned red,
"Right, and both my legs were just chopped off," Mark joked back,
Billy joined Mark in a light laugh before Molly turned back, "What are you two joking about back there?"
Billy froze but to his relief Mark smoothly replied, "Nothing, daydreaming about being able to sit down someday soon,"
"Tell me about it," Molly snickered as she turned back.
A few rows over Julie and a now healthy Ben were working away at planting seeds, the teen still had a strong limp and had to be careful not to trip but the days of rest and medicine since his run in with Chris had done him well. "I don't know why they are complaining so much, this isn't so bad, I worked on a goat farm for a few summers this is way easier than that,"
"Yeah and this is so worth it, I'd kill for some fresh squash, or really any veggies ...god a real salad, that'd be amazing," Julie sighed as she almost felt herself start to drool, "I am so sick of canned stuff,"
"It's crazy to think where we were only a few weeks ago, starving, stuck in two RV's, now we're building a farm, I haven't even had to think about a walker sneaking up on me while I'm going to sleep," Ben added on cheerfully, "Who would have thought I'd love prison?" He said with a grin causing Julie to break out into laughter.
Just then Tyreese, who was feeling tired of the daggers Lori was shooting into him for the last few days groaned and turned to the woman, "Lori, please." He begged with slight agitation, "I said I was sorry, and I swear I'll tell Rick too," Lori rolled her eyes and turned away, "As long as he says it first," He added on under his breath,
"Prick," Lori grumbled out,
"Day Rick needs to apologize for that will be a cold fucking day in hell," Kenny called out casuing Tyreese to spin back and narrow his gaze at the man,
"Guys please, you heard Hershel, we have like a lot of work to do and not long to do it," Ben timidly spoke up,
"He just needs to shut his damn mouth," Tyreese retorted jamming his finger forward while pointing to Kenny,
"Dad, shut up!" Julie exclaimed,
"Excuse me, young lady?!" Tyreese shot back,
"Stop trying to cause a fight, if someone says something you don't immediately have to start threatening them!" Julie fired back before turning away from her father, the teen now shaking with anger,
"Whoa, hey, let's just...take it down a notch, alright?" Mark calmly interjected while holding his hands up, "It's hot out, were all tired, no reason for this to all go down right now,"
"Yeah, sun will do funny stuff to ya after too long, maybe we ought to just finish off what we got here and then all go cool off," Chuck added,
The group went silent and slowly began to work once more, this time in deafening silence, it was only broken when Glenn spoke up once more, "Hey, Rick's awake," Lori quickly looked up and couldn't help but smile seeing her husband slowly making her way towards the group with Lee at his side.
"Looks like you all have been busy, miss me?" Rick smirked as he reached the group only to see the others nervously look between the sheriff and Tyreese nervously, "Lee here has told me that since yesterday there have been some major changes and I fully support these changes. No one person is fit to make decisions for all, a committee just makes more sense and I back the idea. However, Lee also informed me there have been some things said about me personally, and I'd like to talk about them right here, right now, that way it's all out in the open." Rick continued in a stern but understanding tone,
A silence lingered for a moment but Tyreese was the first to swallow any concern and confront Rick, "Listen Rick, we all respect and appreciate everything you've done for this group...but you've gone off the deep end...you killed Dexter and-"
"What?! That's what you people can't get over?! That's what made you think I've lost it?!" Rick shouted out, his eyes bulging with anger,
"Not all of us," Kenny gruffly reminded the man as he crossed his arms,
"Rick, maybe just take a breath here," Lee easily tried to say,
"Don't interrupt me!" Rick snapped with a quick glance to Lee, "You are all gonna listen to what I have to say, after everything that's happened you owe me that much!"
"Fine, say your peace," Carly frowned as she crossed her arms,
"I'm a cop, I know technically by law, what I did was wrong, I know how things used to be!" Rick began before throwing his hands up, "But things have changed!"
"We can't just ignore the rules Rick, we have to hang onto our humanity!" Tyreese tried to explain,
"That's what I'm saying!" Rick boomed back, "I killed Dexter to save all of us, just like Kenny killed Andrew to save me! Dexter was going to kick us out of our sanctuary, send us back out there with our families, back into the damn wild! How humane would we have been out there, how many more of us would have died from walkers if not the cold or starvation! Think about how many we've lost just trying to make it here!" Rick argued seeing a few nods from Hershel and his children as well as Dale who remembered the loss of Donna and Allen who left their twins orphans,
"But Dexter didn't draw on you Rick, we don't know if he'd have shot," Julie gently tried to argue,
"Why would I have waited?! For him to kill one of us? Of course I didn't know, but I couldn't take the chance to find out. I saw an opening and I took it! There was a lot of confusion during the attack. And I'll admit, I should have come clean, right then right there, but I didn't. I thought it would have been better to spare you all the tragic truth of just how savage we needed to be for just a little while longer! You understand what I'm talking about, right?" Rick asked while slowly glaring around the group in front of him, seeing once again a few short nods from Kenny, Andrea, even Billy and Mark. However, he couldn't help but focus on the horrified faces of most, such as Glenn and Maggie.
Rick clenched his fists and continued, "Things in this world have changed and we are going to have to change with it! Understand? Do you people still think you're going to be rescued? Do you?! They're not coming! It's been almost a year, think about it! We're on our own it's just this place, and us! That's all we have for sure! If you still think things are going to return to the way it was, stop! It's never going to be the same, ever! Now you can accept that sad fact, or you can sit here, following all these forsaken rules we used to have to make us feel less like animals and you can die!"
Tyreese frowned and slowly shook his head in disappointment, which Carly couldn't help but follow, "We will change! We will evolve! We will make new rules and still be humane, kind, we'll still care for each other but we'll be ready to do whatever it takes! And I mean absolutely whatever it takes to be safe and survive!"
"Damn straight, after I lost my wife and what happened to Hershel's daughters...enough is enough, no one else is gonna die here!" Kenny all but yelled in agreement,
"Exactly, we have to do whatever it takes to keep us safe! You kill and you die, that was probably the most naive things I've ever said. The fact is now, you kill and you live," Rick admitted in near sorrow, "We need to adapt if were going to make it, and if you don't want me as leader anymore fine, I'm happy to not have that pressure but I will tell you this. No matter what I am always going to do whatever I have to so we all survive. If you want to stop butting heads with me that's what you need to accept and understand!"
Rick took a moment making sure everyone understood his words for what they meant before gulping and continuing, "But you all need to stop this charade, you've got to stop fooling yourselves. This is it. This is our lives, were not waiting for rescue, were not biding our time, this is all we have. This is all we'll ever have. If we want to make things better here, that's the first thing you need to accept,"
"That's what you don't understand Rick, we have accepted that, we know this is our home now, but that's why were trying to begin again! To recreate what we lost in the fall!" Carly shot back bewildered by the man's rant,
"She's right, we're trying not to become savages Rick, that's the part you're not hearing!" Tyreese angrily added,
"Oh god," Rick nearly growled while shaking his head, "Clearly I'm the only sane one here. We already are savages Tyreese! You especially! The moment we put a bullet through one of those monsters skulls," Rick said while looking to Carly, "The moment you drove a hammer through one of their skulls," He continued while glaring over to Tyreese, "We became what they are! And that's it, that's what it comes down to, nobody realizes what we are! We're surrounded by the dead. We're among them, and when we finally give up, we become them! We are all living on borrowed time, every minute we live is just a minute we steal from them!" Rick exclaimed while pointing to the horde of dead pressing against the prison fences,
"You see them out there. You know what happens when we die, we become them! You think we hide behind these walls to protect us from the walking dead? Don't you fucking get it?! We are the walking dead!" Rick yelled with an icy stare, "We are the walking dead," He said a bit lower, huffing hard as he tried to regain his composure.
Lee along with nearly all of the group in front of Rick looked at the main in horror and shock, "J-Jesus, Rick...you don't...you can't really mean…" Lee stammered out only to see the man turn and silently return back to the prison without another word. He left his words to sit in everyone's mind, hoping, praying, that it'd at least get through most of their heads and wake them up to the real world.
It took nearly another ten minutes before the others finally regained enough sense to disperse from the fields, even Hershel couldn't help but leave the work behind to take a few minutes for himself. Lee moved to Carly who slowly wandered towards the fences, hugging herself with a sunken in expression. "Hey, you okay?" Lee gently asked the woman as he reached her,
"I can't believe he said all that," Carly softly replied,
"I know, when I talked to him, I didn't think he was gonna say something like that. He was upset about Tyreese sure, and I figured that maybe he'd argue about something with the committee maybe but to say that," Lee said with a shake of his head, "I mean, I get accepting the new world and even can understand how the rules need to change but...saying we're the dead is-"
"It's true," Carly hardly stated, interrupting Lee, "As sick as it makes me to admit it, Rick was right about almost all of it. Those fucking things outnumber us all, for every living person left there has to be at least a thousand of them, and when we die we just add to their numbers,"
"That's why we need to make every day matter," Lee wholeheartedly stated, "Each day we need to be making this place into something great, something that we don't have to think like that anymore. One day the dead can just be that, dead, an afterthought we have in our life that we know is coming but don't focus on. We can focus on living here and doing something right for the kids we have with us."
"Maybe," Carly sighed in response, "When you put it like that it sounds simple, but nothing can really be that simple anymore,"
"It'll only be as hard as we make it," Lee easily replied, "We can't stand in our own ways,"
Carly finally looked over to Lee and couldn't help but feel herself smile at his hopeful thoughts, "You're really cut out for this, you know that?"
"Well, I don't think I learned how to rebuild a society from university," Lee chuckled back,
"No, just...you know how to inspire people," Carly warmly explained, "It's why I knew you needed to be apart of this committee,"
"That and the fact you didn't want to do this alone, right?" Lee lightly teased,
"Yeah, there is that too," Carly admitted with a soft laugh of her own. The pair went silent for a long moment merely looking at each other, holding one another's gaze. Then at once they slowly began to lean in until their lips finally met in a soft passion filled kiss. Despite only having met such a short time ago Lee and Carly couldn't help but feel so close already and in this moment nothing felt more natural. After a short few seconds Carly pulled away from Lee's lips letting out a soft gasp while lowering her head and resting her forehead on Lee's chest, "Wow, didn't...um, see that coming,"
"Me either," Lee quietly agreed,
"C'mon, we should...go get some lunch," Carly said, moving past Lee trying to hide her blushing cheeks,
"Right behind you," Lee smiled as he followed the short woman back into the prison.
Alright so it's been a little bit since the last chapter but I hope this chapter was worth the wait. It was fun finally getting to the infamous We are the walking dead speech in the story and I enjoyed writing Carly and Lee's real first kiss as well as the start of their relationship. Please let me know what you thought of the chapter and in the next chapter we'll have a short time jump and begin the ever closer trek to meeting The Governor, as well as some other survivors in the woodbury camp that I think you'll all like! Anyway, I look forward to your reviews and I'll see you in the next one!