Chapter 51

Kate stared back at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. It was jarring. Her bottom lip was spilt and blood had dried in a ghastly imitation of lipstick. Her top lip was angry and swollen and there was a cut across her nose that she couldn't explain. Her eyes were tired, ringed with dark circles, and bloodshot.

She thought of the moment she slammed the pan across the back of Pete's head and the fury in his eyes when he turned and found her. She had half of a second to wonder, stupidly, if he would hit her. After all, she had found the man strangling the mother of his children. Still, there was a part of her that couldn't grasp it. Couldn't reconcile the gentle doctor, with his shelves of art books and years of humanitarian aid, with the monster in front of her. But then he did hit her and the next thing she knew Michonne was standing over her, saying her name over and over, her eyes wide with fear. And now Pete was dead and Daryl was locked away like a criminal.

Kate found Carol downstairs finishing up an extra helping of scrambled eggs and putting them on a paper plate right next to a small stack of pancakes drizzled in syrup. She squirted a generous amount of ketchup over the eggs.

"Just the way he likes them." She said, wrapping the whole thing up in foil and handing them over with an almost apologetic smile that Kate didn't understand.

"Thanks." Kate mumbled, grabbing the plate and an old grocery bag that she had thrown some water bottles in. She opened the freezer and grabbed a Ziploc bag filled with ice. She didn't know what shape she would find Daryl in and she doubted the Alexandrians cared if he was hurt or thirsty.

She made her way down the street with a warm plate balanced in her left hand and a nervous stomach. The street was uncharacteristically quiet for this time of the day and she could feel the stares of the Alexandrians as she passed their houses. People who had looked to her for bandages and comfort now peered nervously out their blinds. She was no longer that person to them anymore, only the wife of the man that killed their doctor. She let out a sigh, unconsciously trying to purge the conflicting feelings swirling in her chest, her churning stomach reminding her again of how anxious she was. Not just because of her neighbors, she hoped they'd get over it, but she was nervous because she didn't know how she was going to find Daryl or even what she was going to say to him.

She was inexpressibly grateful that he was alive. When she'd heard the gunshot ring out - knowing Daryl had stormed out of the house hell-bent on revenge - her first thought was that Daryl didn't even have a gun. Fear, cold and heavy, settled in her gut and she blindly followed Rick as he ran towards the infirmary where a crowd had already gathered. She'd stopped short, fearing what she was sure she would discover. Her feet just ceased to carry her and she sank to her knees on the asphalt. It was Michonne that delivered the news. Daryl was fine, but Pete was dead.

It was a puzzle she was still piecing together. No one seemed to know exactly what happened and she couldn't ask Daryl because he was locked up immediately after, shut up in one of the unfinished houses, guards posted with orders to kill him if he tried to escape.

Aaron had been by their house that morning. He looked weary. She wondered if he felt responsible because he was the one that brought them in. The one who vouched for them. He didn't stay long - he just stood in the entryway of the house and delivered Deanna's message. She had decided that the Alexandrians would meet together this afternoon, right after they buried Aiden and Pete. They were going to vote on what would become of Daryl - of their group. Aaron told them that they could come to speak if they wanted, but that they wouldn't get a vote. So much for being equal parts of the community. The welcome mat had been yanked away.

The only good news Aaron relayed was that Deanna had given Kate permission to visit Daryl this morning. The idea that she had to have permission to see her own husband was infuriating, but she supposed she should be grateful. They might've just shot him in the street for killing their doctor.

Rick had told her which house he was in, far at the other end of Alexandria, beyond the stately townhomes and in the shadow of the chapel. Even though there were several unfinished homes at that end of the community, it was easy to find which it was. It was the only one with guards standing on the porch. Tobin and another man, Tommy she thought his name was, stood watching her with stony faces as she walked up to the house.

"Hi." She said cautiously. "Deanna said I could -"

She was abruptly cut off.

"She told us." Tommy said. He struck a decidedly unfriendly tone. "We have to search you."

She didn't expect that. Maybe she should've.

"Is that really necessary?" Everything inside her didn't want to allow it.

"If you want to see him it is." Tommy said. His eyes were cold and it was obvious this small amount of power was going to his head.

She looked around for a spot to put Daryl's breakfast and did her best to not betray the panic she felt at the idea of men who seemed angry putting their hands on her body.

She set the plate on the porch railing and the bag on the ground. As soon as she stood she was quickly pulled back and positioned facing the house.

"Hands on the wall, legs apart." The man grunted, a hammy fist holding onto the back of her sweatshirt.

She looked at Tobin, a man she knew better than most the Alexandrians, a man she'd had conversations with and joked with. She hoped he would be compassionate enough to tell his buddy to chill out, but he had already started pulling the foil back from the plate of food, using the small plastic fork Carol had included to dig through it as if she might have smuggled a gun underneath the pancakes. A knife in the eggs.

Tommy ran his hands roughly down her arms, around her ribcage, and then down the inside of each thigh, before finishing up at her ankles.

It all felt like overkill - one too many cop movies. If she wasn't so pissed off she would have found it amusing. Did they not realize that if Daryl planned to escape he wouldn't need a smuggled weapon to kill them? Daryl would only be in that house for as long as he wanted to be. She knew the only reason he'd even participated in the charade this long was for her.

"She's clean." Tommy grunted, running a hand over his crooked flat top.

She turned around and watched Tobin put the foil back over the plate, noticing there was ketchup on the pancakes. He handed it to her without meeting her eyes. She bent over to retrieve the bag and then followed Tommy to the front door. He fished a house key out of his padded jean jacket and let her in.

"Twenty minutes." He bellowed. Kate wondered if Deanna had really told him to limit their time or if this was part of his prison guard routine. If he was smart he wouldn't have opened the door unless he knew Daryl wasn't standing just on the other side of it, waiting to bash his skull in.

But Daryl wasn't. He was just standing in the middle of the empty living room, arms crossed over his chest.

As the door was shut and locked behind her she looked around for somewhere to put the stuff she'd brought, but there wasn't anything. She hurried to put it on the ground and launched herself at Daryl.

How many times had they reunited like this? Seeing each other after thinking the other might be dead.

"Did those guys give you a hard time?" He asked, his breath warm on the side of her neck, his hands rubbing up and down her spine. His body was cold and she wondered if he'd even had a blanket to sleep with last night.

She shook her head against his body. It wouldn't help anyone to tell Daryl about how they had treated her.

"You're cold. You need a blanket." She asked, pulling away from him enough to look him over, to take his scruffy face in her hands and examine him for injuries. He didn't have a mark on him, which just confused her more. "Are you ok?"

He nodded dismissively and it was only when he brought his hand up to trace the cut that split her lip that she noticed his knuckles were purple. She took his hand in her's, examining his swollen fingers.

"I brought an ice pack."

He shook his head, but she walked over to the bag and dug out the plastic baggy. Taking his hand back into her's she plopped the bag gently down on his knuckles. She could feel his eyes on her face, examining her wounds. She could feel the anger boiling up in him again as if it was the first time he was seeing them. As if the man who was responsible for them wasn't dead.

"Piece of shit." He mumbled. "Can't believe he fuckin' touched you."

"Daryl, I'm fine." She let out a deep breath, anxious to move on from her injuries. "You shouldn't have gone after him. You could've been killed."

Daryl snorted.

"I'm serious."

"So what, I was supposed to come home and find you like this and just let it go?"

"No, but we could've let the community handle it. Deanna would've done something."

"Ya, that's why Pete's been beatin' the shit out of his wife and kids since he's been here."

"But Rick and Michonne, they're constables now. They wouldn't just let that go."

"The man deserved to die, Kate."

"Maybe, but this isn't 'out there' anymore, Daryl. We have to play by the rules, the laws. We have to act like civilized people if we are going to make this work."

He sneered. 'So I ain't civilized enough. Got it." He pulled his hand away from hers.

"You know that isn't what I meant." She said firmly. She knew she'd made a misstep, she had to be careful. "Daryl, their doctor is dead. They aren't going to just do nothing."

"Well fuck them then."

"Fuck them?" She let out a frustrated breath. "Daryl, do you know that this afternoon, after they bury Aiden and Pete, the town is going to vote on whether you can stay? Whether we can stay?"

He shrugged like it didn't bother him, but she knew it did.

"I ain't sorry."

She nodded. "He was awful. Anyone that would hurt their family like that probably does deserve to die."

He seemed to visibly relax hearing her say it. She dropped the dripping bag of ice onto the floor next to the rest of the stuff she brought.

"Do you want some food? Carol made you breakfast."

He shrugged and she picked up the plate, peeling off the foil.

"Sorry about the pancakes, the ketchup got all over them." She didn't mention that it was because his guards insisted on searching his food.

"Don't matter." He said, taking the plate and digging hungrily at the eggs. She watched him shovel a bite into his mouth.

"Look Daryl, I love you for being the sort of man who wants to defend and protect me, but Daryl, that can't be our call. We've been living in a lawless world for so long, but it can't be that way anymore. They don't want people that go around like vigilantes. They want a real society, a community. So do I."

He narrowed his eyes, but he wasn't angry, he looked sad and defeated.

"They ain't gonna let me stay, Kate."

"You don't know that. They said our group can't vote, but we can speak. They'll see my face, I'll tell them what Pete did. How many men out there don't want to at least pretend that they would want to defend their wife? I'll explain what happened. You went to the infirmary, Pete was there, he had a gun, he shot at you. Daryl, it was self-defense."

"Pete didn't have a gun." He stuffed a piece of pinkish pancakes into his mouth with his fingers.

"But I heard the gunshot." She shook her head in confusion. "You don't have a gun."

He glanced towards the front door and lowered his voice. "It was Carol. She shot him."

"What!?" She was stunned, angry. "Then why isn't SHE here?" She spat. "Why are they voting on whether YOU have to go?"

He moved towards her quickly, motioning for her to keep it down. He glanced nervously towards the door.

"It don't matter. If she hadn't killed him, I would've. Fuck, he probably would've died from what I already did to him. I beat the shit out of him Kate."

"But still, if we explain they can't make you go." She hissed. "This changes everything."

"How do you think that plays out Kate? If they somehow decide I can stay, which I ain't holdin' my breath for, you think I'm just gonna let Carol be banished? Go out there on her own?"

"Maybe all this fake Carol bullshit will pay off."

He shook his head adamantly.

"They trust her. They think she's harmless. She can explain her past, tell them she knew about Jessie and the boys. Tell them that Pete was going to kill you, they'll have mercy on her. I know they will. They aren't afraid of her."

"No."

"GODDAMMIT DARYL." She exploded. "I know you don't really like this place, but I'm done with sleeping on the cold ground with one eye open, hoping I don't get torn open in the middle of the night. I don't want to search the woods for puddles to drink out of, or eat dog, or hope I'm not raped and murdered by the next 'Joe' that comes along. Why don't you understand that?!"

She pinned him down with her stare, her eyes blazing with anger, her chest heaving with each breath.

They stood in a silent stand off for a moment and then Daryl looked away.

He took two steps away from her and then turned and threw his plate of breakfast across the room. It crashed against the living room wall and slid down to the floor. Streaks of ketchup ran down the unfinished drywall, bits of scrambled eggs sticking to it.

"What the hells goin' on in there?" Tommy shouted from the front porch. Tobin peaked in through the window.

"You don't think I get that?" He shouted, seemingly unconcerned about the guards. "That I don't lose sleep at night worryin' about fuckin' this up? What do you want from me Kate?"

"I want you to…"

"You know what, I don't want to hear it. Whatever it is, it ain't gonna work, I'll just go. They don't have to bother with the vote. You can stay."

"You'll just go?!"

"You'd be better off without me." He snarled.

"That is NOT what I want."

"He was right, he said I didn't belong here." Daryl paced back and forth across the empty room. He was mumbling to himself more than saying the words to her, but she heard every one. "If I loved you, I'd let you stay." He turned to her, his face contorted into a mask of anguish. "This is your home, it ain't mine."

"My home?!"

She flew at him, pushing him - her open palms slapping at the leather of his vest. He took a step back, but didn't bother to react. She came at him again, slapping furiously at his arms and his chest. He just stared at her with wounded, angry eyes. She curled her hands into fists and hit him harder, until he grabbed her wrists gently and pinned them to his chest. She could feel his heart thudding hard inside of him. She was out of breath and hurt. She thought they had been through this before, she didn't understand why she couldn't convince him she would never leave him.

"YOU are my home Daryl." She ground out, tears stinging her eyes. She struggled against his tight hold. "What do I have to do to convince you that you are worth more to me than anything else? More than this place or anyone in it. You really just want to leave me?"

"Course I don't." He said in a rough whisper. "But I fucked up, it'd be selfish of me…"

"Stop it." She said firmly, trying to banish the idea from him forever. She had started to cry.

"But you don't want to leave." His voice was thick with emotion.

"I don't, it would be hard. But being without you would kill me Daryl. I would never stay here, or anywhere, without you and I never want you to doubt that ever again. I just want to at least try to stay, to fight it."

He nodded, wrapping her in his arms so tightly she could barely breathe.

The door swung open and Tommy appeared.

"Time's up."

"Give us a minute." Daryl growled.

"Prisoners don't call the shots."

She could feel Daryl's muscles tense up under her hands. She didn't want to make the situation worse.

"I'll figure something out." She promised.

"Leave Carol out of it." He whispered.

She grabbed his face in her hands and kissed him hard.

She turned back around and walked out the door, leaving Tommy staring at the mess splattered across the wall.

The Vote

Deanna Monroe stood at the bottom of the brick steps that led up to her townhouse and watched as the Alexandrians trickled in. The deep lines on her face were pronounced and the exhaustion from the last couple of days made her look much older. All the warmth and positivity were gone and in their place was grief.

Someone had thought to drag a fire pit out and the Alexandrians, already cold from standing in the cemetery while Aiden and Pete were buried, gathered around it gratefully. There were folding chairs set up in a semi-circle and when those chairs were filled the rest stood. It seemed like every Alexandrian had turned up to have their say in the fate of Daryl Dixon.

Kate fixed her eyes on the flames that licked at the side of the fire pit and tried her best to batten down the emotions that warred within her. Maggie stood at her side, a comforting arm around her waist and she was aware of the rest of the group too, standing there with her just a few feet away from the Alexandrians who suddenly felt like strangers.

"We're going to start." Deanna said finally.

If there were more people coming Kate couldn't think who they would be. Besides Daryl, the only person she knew was missing was Father Gabriel and Kate didn't think that would be a big loss. There was no one guarding the wall, no one up in the tower, no one at Daryl's door, electing instead to tie him up with rope. Deanna had made sure that everyone could be here. Everyone could have a say.

"We're going to talk about what happened. We're going to talk about Daryl Dixon and the death of Dr. Anderson. We're going to talk about what led to the altercation and how Pete Anderson was killed."

"Daryl Dixon doesn't belong here!" Nicholas shouted from the back of the crowd, effectively cutting Deanna off from explaining further. He pushed his way towards the fire, his face red and contorted with anger. "There is no way we can let him stay. We just buried two of our people because of him.!"

Kate clenched her teeth together so hard she thought they'd crack. The Alexandrians muttered to one another.

Nicholas pointed to his stitched up face. "And you all saw what he did to me. His temper is out of control and it would just be a matter of time before he does it again."

Nicholas made no move to sit. She thought he would probably keep going as long as he had an audience and the idea panicked her. But then Aaron stood and Kate felt grateful, she didn't know how he stood on the matter but it had to be an improvement on Nicholas' hatefulness.

"As you all know, I brought the Grimes group in. I wouldn't have done that if I wasn't absolutely sure that every single one of them was a good person. Now, I know Daryl better than most of you. We've been outside of the walls together, we've fought the dead together. He's had my back and he's fought for all of us. Yes, he is rough around the edges - but he is a good man."

Kate's heart swelled with gratitude and she felt Maggie's squeeze of encouragement as Aaron continued.

"I also knew Pete Anderson. I was as thankful as any of you that we had a skilled doctor in our town, which, like most of you, I think is why I turned my eyes from his troubles at home. We all saw the bruises on Jessie, on Ron, on Sam. We told ourselves it wasn't our business and I regret that I did that"

He turned to Jessie who was sitting quietly next to the fire, looking like she wished the ground would swallow her up. "I am sorry Jessie."

Jessie nodded, looking quickly at him before returning her eyes to the flames. Aaron continued. "Maybe instead of judging Daryl, we should look at ourselves as a community and consider what we could've done before it came to this."

"I understand what you are saying Aaron," Reg said gently, stepping forward. "And I agree we as a community failed Mrs. Anderson, but does that mean someone should be shot dead? There was no trial. Is that what we want for this place?"

"Daryl came home to find his wife beaten." Aaron returned, gesturing towards Kate. "He knew what Dr. Anderson had been doing to his family and he knew we'd done nothing about it. You're telling me if you came home to find Deanna injured at the hands of another man you wouldn't want to defend her? Do any of you think you would just let it go?"

"I didn't." Abe's voice boomed over the group. "Once upon a shitty-ass time I had a wife. I came home from a supply run and some men had hurt her. I didn't stop to ask questions, I killed each of them."

Kate hadn't expected Abe to say anything, much less to defend Daryl. The two men had perfected the art of tolerating one another, but there was no love between the two of them. It hadn't been that long ago that they'd tried to kill one another. The gesture was not lost on her.

"Great!" Nicholas said sarcastically. "Two maniacs in the group."

"Jessie what do you think?" Mrs. Neudemeyer asked. "You're the real victim here. You lost your husband, your boys lost their father."

All eyes turned on Jessie, her neck still purple and her face bearing the marks of someone who had promised to love and protect her.

"Pete was a gifted doctor. He did some wonderful things in his life for the communities he was devoted to and that included Alexandria." She started robotically, like she was reading from a script. She glanced nervously around the group before her eyes locked on Kate's, a look, barely perceptible, flickered across her face and then Jessie came alive. "You all knew the version of Pete he wanted you to know. When he was in a good mood, or when he was around other people, he seemed wonderful. But he had a violent temper and he took it out on his family. We had problems even before all the world changed, and then it was better, for a while. It's been getting increasingly worse lately and it was probably a matter of time before something like this happened. Before he took it out on someone besides us."

She looked straight at Kate, "I am so sorry that he hurt you Kate, you saved me that day. I'm sorry that his actions have led to this. For what it's worth, I do wish Pete were still alive, he was my husband, the father of my children and despite it all, we did love him. But I don't think anyone should have to leave Alexandria because of his death."

Jessie sat quickly. Kate could tell it cost her something to talk about the most shameful parts of her marriage out loud. She hoped she would be allowed to stay in Alexandria, she wasn't ready to lose her friendship.

"Seriously Jessie?!" Nicholas exploded. "I can't believe you! I can't believe anyone would want that son-of-a-bitch to say, much less the wife of the man he murdered! We don't need men like that in our community!"

"Men like Daryl are exactly what you need." Rick said, his voice calm, but firm and commanding. "You still don't get it? There are things outside of this wall - dead and alive - that will always try to get in because you are in here. They will hunt you, find you, they'll try to use this place and kill everyone. You wish things weren't what they are, you pretend they aren't. But things don't get better because you want them to. You don't know what to do, you pretend that you know, but you don't know. But people like Daryl, like those in our group, we know. We know how to protect this place, inside and out, and we can teach you how. You can't send him away, you can't send us away. You need us. You need Daryl."

Silence followed. Deanna cleared her throat.

"I would like to share something in the spirit of transparency." Deanna began. "Father Gabriel came to see me privately shortly after the Grimes group arrived. He said they couldn't be trusted, that they were dangerous, that they would put themselves before this community. I guess it is up for us to decide whether that is true or not."

Father Gabriel's traitorous words felt like a punch in the gut. It felt inappropriate that Deanna would choose this moment to reveal his opinions to the whole community. It made it clear where she stood.

Kate stepped forward, losing the comforting warmth of Maggie's embrace, but she wanted everyone to see her, to see her face and the marks Pete had left on her.

"Our group found Father Gabriel perched on a boulder about to be eaten by walkers." Kate started, aware that she sounded defensive and angry, not at all how she wanted to come off. "He was alone and out of food. We took him in and have kept him safe, shared our food and water. We have brought him no harm. He could have stayed where we found him, at his church, but he chose to come with us."

The Alexandrians watched her quietly. They largely remained expressionless, and aside from Aaron and Jessie there didn't seem to be a friendly face in the crowd. She wanted to remind them of the times she'd bandaged them or how much meat Daryl had brought in since he'd been there.

"Rick is right, the world outside of these walls is brutal," She continued, trying to temper her anger. "And the walkers aren't even the worst of it. We might seem dangerous to Father Gabriel and to your community, we might seem different than you - but you have no idea what it's like out there. There are people, a lot of them actually, that survive solely on preying on others. Rapists, murderers, cannibals, and thieves. You name it, we've seen it. We aren't your enemy. Daryl isn't your enemy. We want to be part of this community. We want to help protect it, to watch it grow. We think what you have here is wonderful and we are grateful you've allowed us in. We want to stay here. I know how Daryl can come off at first, believe me, I wasn't sure about him either, thought it would be better if he just moved on - but I married him. That's how wrong my first impression of him was. Daryl did fight with Pete, but he came home to find me hurt. Daryl will fight for those he loves more than anyone I have ever met. And he will fight for this community. You just need to give him a chance."

She looked around the group noticing that some Alexandrians wouldn't meet her eyes and some stared back blankly. There were a couple sad smiles and a few angry glares, but nothing that made her feel confident that they were going to be allowed to stay.

A voice, shrill and full of judgment, rose up from the back of the group.

"Your husband, or whatever he is, stole a gun from our armory."

It was Erin, the friendly facade gone, her face pinched and her hands crossed tightly across her chest.

"No, he didn't…it was…" Carol started.

"No, he didn't." Kate interrupted, shooting Carol a look she hoped she'd understand. "Pete did."

The lie came easily, although she didn't plan it ahead of time.

Olivia shook her head. "It didn't go missing until after your group arrived."

"It's true, Pete took it." Jessie countered. "He was concerned that someone would pass away and turn while in the infirmary and he wouldn't have anything to defend himself with."

Kate nodded emphatically. If this vote went in their favor, she would find a way to pay Jessie back for lying for her.

"Let's ask Holly." Deanna said simply. "She was there."

Kate's blood went cold. She had forgotten about Holly and now she was going to give a play-by-play on Pete being defenseless and Daryl and Carol killing him.

Holly had the group's attention now, standing near the flickering flames, a cast that Dr. Anderson himself had placed on her broken arm moments before his death, strung up in a sling.

"I…I…don't know." She stammered, clearly uncomfortable with the sudden question. "Pete had given me something for the pain before he set my arm, everything I remember is kind of foggy. There was a fight. I remember there was a gunshot, but I can't remember who had the gun. I think Sam was there and someone else too. I don't know, I'm sorry, it's all so weird in my mind."

"Sam wasn't there. He was with me." Jessie said insistently.

"I thought for sure." Holly shook her head. "I don't know. It was hard to even keep my eyes open. I'm sorry."

Deanna nodded. "That's ok Holly. Thank you for trying. Does anyone else have anything to add?"

The group remained silent. Deanna sighed and turned towards Rick. "Ok, thank you, I think your group can return to the houses now. I'll be by to let you know what we decide."

ALEXANDRIA

The first of the intruders threw ropes over the walls and silently repelled into Alexandria unnoticed. There was no one on the wall, no one in the tower. Deanna's special exception had left them vulnerable at exactly the wrong time.

Since there was no one at the gate, the rest entered easily enough. It was simply unlocked from the inside and left wide open.

The town meeting had just ended, and some of the residents had already begun to walk back to their homes, unarmed and unaware of the danger awaiting.

The first to fall was Mrs. Neudemeyer. She died alone on the front lawn of her home, finishing her cigarette before heading in for the night. She saw her attacker just briefly before his machete was brought down onto her head. She was dead before he removed her arms and legs.

A single scream went up from somewhere near the gate that caused those who heard it to pause, but it wasn't enough of a warning to save Tommy and his wife who were both hacked to death - him on the front porch and her just inside the door as she ran for safety. Their home was ransacked. Food and supplies were taken and extensive damage for the sake of it was exacted.

Deanna Monroe was standing near the flickering fire pit, discussing the decision the Alexandrians had just made with Aaron and Eric when she watched a disheveled and animal-like man emerge from the trees and send his blade across Reg's neck. He fell to the ground without a sound as the man gave her a black-toothed grin and moved towards her. Deanna didn't move, didn't have time to consider what to do - but Aaron's quick thinking was enough and he sent his knife through the man's gut before he could hurt her. As the intruder fell, and Aaron inflicted the final blow to still him forever, Deanna screamed her husband's name. She fell to her knees beside his bleeding and still body and clutched at him desperately.

Spencer Monroe had been heading towards the tower for his evening shift when he saw a walker moving slowly down the road. For a flickering second he didn't believe his own eyes, after all, how could a walker have gotten into the safe zone - but then he saw the gate gaping wide and panic seized him. He had the presence of mind to send his blade through the walker's skull, quickly shutting the gate. It never occurred to him that more than one had managed to get in, or that any other threat was moving through the town. He climbed up the closest stand, something that had only just been constructed at Rick's insistence, in an attempt to see who had just left the gate without shutting it behind them. He intended to let them have it when they returned. Instead he saw a truck turn up the road and barrel towards the gate with no sign of slowing. He raised his rifle, looked down the scope at a driver he didn't know and shot him. The truck veered off the road and crashed into a wall, leaving it listing heavily. The driver, dead, slumped over the horn causing it to blare. Spencer could see the dead emerge from the woods, moving towards the noise in growling unison.

Inside the walls, molotov cocktails were tossed randomly through windows and black smoke began to curl up into the sky. A body lay burning and unrecognizable in the middle of the street. Body parts were strewn about. The screams got louder.

It was the noise that drew Rick and the others out of the houses. They had their knives, Michonne had her katana, and Kate had thrown the strap of Daryl's crossbow over her back. They ran from the house without hesitation to defend a town that probably didn't even want them there.

Daryl was awoken by screams. His hands were still tied behind his back and his two feet were joined by rope. He immediately went to work, wresting his hands and feet free of their bounds just as Kate sent the butt of his crossbow through the window at the front of the house. He crawled through easily and took the weapon from his wife.

"Alexandria is under attack. They're killing everyone." She explained as they ran towards the chaos.

The air smelled like burning flesh and the screaming hadn't ceased. Instead it was just drowned out by the incessant sound of a horn blaring from somewhere just outside the walls.

Alexandrians scattered like ants, some running towards their homes, some running away from unknown men who chased them with weapons raised and hacked them down in the street.

Daryl sent a bolt through the brain of one, but it was too late for the woman who lay dead and bleeding at his feet.

He grabbed at the dead man's filthy clothes and rolled him over. A bloody "W" stood out on his forehead.

"FUCK." Daryl swore. "These are the ones that destroyed that neighborhood Aaron and I found."

Kate

The fight felt like it lasted forever, but in actuality it was probably only fifteen minutes. It was amazing how much destruction could be done in such a short amount of time.

When the last Wolf had been killed, those who had survived the attack huddled together near the front gate. They were bloodied and battered, but lucky to be alive. So many were dead, so much damage had been done to their community, but it could've been so much worse. Kate knew if their group hadn't been there, the Alexandrians would've ended up all dead, just like the neighborhood Daryl had told her about.

They could hear the walkers at the walls, drawn in by the screams, the blaring horn, and eventually the guns. The piece of wall that had been hit by the truck leaned precariously towards the town as the weight of the walkers pushed against it.

Deanna stood, slightly apart from the rest of them, dazed and staring off into the distance. There was blood splattered across her clothes and Kate wondered if it belonged to Reg. They had found him on the ground, near the firepit where Kate had last seen him. Her heart broke for Deanna, even if she still resented the way she handled the situation with Daryl. Spencer stood protectively near his mother, a gun still clasped in his hands.

"Deanna?" Kate realized Aaron had been repeating her name, but was getting no response. "Deanna?"

They needed direction, needed to know what Deanna wanted them to do next, but she just kept staring off to some unknown point in the distance. Her jaw slack, her eyes dead.

Aaron looked at Rick helplessly and Rick didn't hesitate.

"Look, I know that was the first time many of you had to go through something like that." He began. "And I know that right now, most of you probably just want to go back inside and hide. I get that, but that can't be what happens right now."

Kate looked around at the Alexandrians who had survived. They all stared at Rick silently.

"We have work to do." He continued. "We don't know if there are more of them out there waiting to attack. We have bodies all over our community. Our wall is damaged. We have to work together to protect this place."

The Alexandrians looked at one another, mummering under their breaths. A few of them nodded, none of them walked away.

"Good." Rick said, he looked around, accessing the survivors. "Abe, Tobin…get together a group to reinforce the wall until it can be repaired properly. We can't let it fall."

The two men nodded. She noticed Tobin looking nervously over his shoulder as the wall quivered under the movement of the walkers.

"Daryl and Aaron, you take Kate, Eric, and Carol and go building-by-building, room-by-room and make sure there isn't anyone here that shouldn't be. Look under beds, in closets, everywhere."

"Hey, you can't just go searching our houses!" Nicholas cried. Kate wondered if he'd have such a problem with it if Daryl wasn't the one assigned to do the job.

A look of contempt was the only reaction Rick offered Nicholas. "Drag the bodies out to the porches, we'll have someone collect them."

"Deanna, this is bullshit." Nicholas continued, undeterred. "Tell him they can't just go in our houses."

Deanna looked at Nicholas as if she'd never seen him in her life and walked away towards the townhouses. Spencer followed. Nicholas called after them, but there was no response. Rick continued.

"Glenn, Maggie, Beth…gather a group to go around the grounds and put down anyone that hasn't been yet. We need to bury our own and get the rest of the bodies out of here. Anyone who is finished up with their assigned job can head down to the graveyard and start digging."

The Alexandrians exchanged fearful looks. Their cemetery was fairly small for how long they'd been here, it was about to double in size.

"And listen, I want everybody armed, with a gun." He gave a firm nod as if to confirm his own decision. "We don't know who or what is still lurking within these walls. Don't let your guard down."

He looked around the grounds again, pointing to his son and Rosita.

"You two, work with Olivia, make sure everyone has a gun, ammo, that they know what to do with their weapons. We will do some official training soon, but for the time being we can't be vulnerable."

"Jessie," He continued. "You know the people here. We need a census. We need to figure out who we've lost and who is missing."

She gathered her son Sam closer to her chest.

"Ok."

People started to gather in their assigned groups, giving them a purpose seemed to help, but Nicholas couldn't let it go.

"So we're just going to let them take over?" He shouted at the remaining Alexandrians. "We're just going to let them have Alexandria?"

"There wouldn't be an Alexandria if it wasn't for them." Aaron reminded him.

"Bullshit!" Nicholas yelled. "We were fine until they got here."

"No one is saying we are taking over." Rick assured him. He was using his cop voice, Kate recognized it from other times he'd tried to defuse situations. "We just have to get to work if we are going to save this place."

"Deanna is in charge." Nicholas insisted. "She gives the orders."

"I don't see Deanna here, do you?" Rick countered. "We've got to act fast."

"So you just put yourself in charge? Half an hour ago we were deciding whether you could even stay, and now you're our boss?"

"We decided they could stay, Nicholas." Aaron said, a firmness to his voice that didn't allow for question. "We decided that they could ALL stay."

Nicholas glanced around the group, desperate for someone to be on his side, but they all remained quiet.

"Ok, let's get to work." Rick commanded and the Alexandrians did as he said.