WARRIORS OF THE WALKING DEAD: SAVIORS OF MANKIND
CHAPTER TWELVE
Rick entered the Science room to come face to face with boxes stacked from floor to ceiling. Only a small path wound its way through the boxes to the back of the room where Katelyn, Rachel, Carol and 10 volunteers were putting together Deer Creek resident boxes. The boxes were for each family that had signed up to live there, consisting of supplies that they would all need. Glenn was downstairs in the storage garage with Daryl and other volunteers who were organizing the weapons, gardening tools and equipment that was larger than the boxes allowed for.
"How's it going?" Rick asked, as he watched them dividing up the packets of seeds and bedding.
Rachel looked up and smiled.
"Hi stranger." She said flirtatiously.
"Hi Rick!" Katelyn said as she directed the volunteers to their next supply assignment.
"It's going…slowly but surely." Rachel said, stuffing the box with dish soap and silverware.
"How's it going at the site?" Katelyn asked, interested to know how much they were progressing. She'd spent the first few weeks out at the site helping, but as they came nearer to being able to actually move out there, they needed someone to organize the operational part of living there, and she was nominated.
Rachel had been organizing the clinic with supplies, thanks to Glenn who was in charge of a large number of soldiers who were scouting out and retrieving the larger items like mattresses and farming equipment they'd need in the spring. They ended up having to locate a group of abandoned semi -trucks on the interstate and getting them here to use for moving. That's when he'd come up with the idea of railroad cars for walls.
The railroad car idea had been an instant hit. Not only did they make excellent walls, but they also could be lived in. A crew of 50 had gone to the train yard and found a whole bunch of rail cars. Getting them to the site was the challenge, but they'd figured out how to get them on the back of a flatbed.
"It's going pretty well. Lots of stuff to do before spring but I figured that if we could get all of the preliminary stuff done, then people could start moving in about a month." Rick stated.
"There's that meeting tonight to discuss the creation of a council to act as a government for Deer Creek." Rachel said, hinting. "They're going to nominate people for mayor."
"Rick, you'd be a great mayor!" Katelyn said enthusiastically.
"I think I'll stick to law enforcement." Rick said.
"They're kind of one and the same these days. Besides, the people already look to you for leadership." Rachel offered, hoping he'd be inspired to agree.
Rachel already knew that the residents of Deer Creek had decided to nominate him, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to spook him, but she knew he'd make a great mayor. She also believed that he felt too much responsibility to the success of Deer Creek to just hand it over to someone else. Especially if he didn't know them.
"How long do you think getting everything set up will take?" He asked them.
"It'll take a while. We have this going in stages at the moment where the basic needs come first, followed by more luxurious needs…like beds, then preparation for spring." Katelyn explained.
"Good thinking." Rick complimented, smiling at her.
Katelyn smiled back at Rick but suddenly her face fell into a frown as she looked over Rick's shoulder.
James and the soldier she punched were walking up.
Rick turned his head quickly to look at what Katelyn was frowning at and saw the two soldiers approaching. He didn't know who they were, but the look on Katelyn's face was enough to alarm him.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" Rick turned, stepping protectively in front of Katelyn.
"Yes sir. We'd like to speak with Katelyn if she'd agree." James said respectfully.
Rick's brows pulled together in a frown as he wondered if these were some of the men involved in the scuffle that'd happened a few weeks ago.
Rachel glanced sideways at Katelyn whose jaw was clenched as she slammed items into boxes.
"You okay?" Rachel whispered.
Katelyn nodded but it was obvious that she wasn't.
"Are those the guys?" Rachel asked.
Katelyn nodded.
"Oh." Rachel said, before adding, "Well, you have backup if you need it."
Katelyn smiled a little and said; "Thank you".
Katelyn took a deep breath and turned around to look at the two soldiers who were waiting awkwardly.
"You wanna talk to them, Kate?" Rick asked, looking them up and down.
Katelyn didn't answer, she just looked at them for a second.
"Please, ma'am. We'd like to apologize." James said, nudging the other one.
It was obvious that the one she'd hit didn't want to be there. He wasn't the least bit sorry.
Katelyn came out from behind the table they were working at to stand next to Rick.
"I'm really sorry, Katelyn. I truly am." James said sincerely. He really liked Katelyn. She was a sweetheart and she was wonderful with his son who lost his mother to the walker plague.
James turned and looked at Nate who stood silently beside him.
"I'm sorry ma'am." Nate said though he voice was clipped and cold.
Katelyn studied him for moment and shook her head.
"No you're not. The part that upsets me the most is that you don't even know Daryl. You judge him based on his appearance but you know nothing about him. That man…the one you were making fun of…spent months looking for a little girl who got separated from the group. No one else did. Just him. That man made sure we were fed every day. He saved our lives more times than I can count and there's not a member of our group who would say differently. He has fought tooth and nail to keep us all safe and would do the same for you. You might be the soldier, but he's the hero." Katelyn said passionately, tears coming to her eyes.
"How you feel about and treat women…that's between you and whatever woman is stupid enough to date you, but don't you dare talk badly about any of my family. They're way outta your league." She finished, her tone more fierce now.
Nate's eyes had narrowed to slits as he glared at her. There wasn't much of an audience, but there were enough listening and he felt his face turning red with humiliation.
She made him sound like a petty, immature asshole when all he was doing was blowing off steam. This bitch couldn't take a joke. Hell, he had been complimenting her. He couldn't help it if she got insulted. That wasn't his problem. That was hers. Now, she'd humiliated him and he was damn sure going to find a way to make her pay.
Fucking bitch.
James saw that Nate was getting mad and tensely thanked her before walking out the door with him.
Rick had a bad feeling about him.
"You all right?" Rick asked Katelyn who was shaking a little. She really didn't like conflict.
"I'll be fine. I'll just put all this energy into working and have a beer when I get back to the tent." She joked, smiling at Rick to set him at ease.
Rick patted her shoulder, squeezing it assuringly.
"Thanks for the backup." She told Rick and Rachel who looked like armed guards flanking her.
They both smiled and Rick turned to leave.
He needed to go find Daryl.
Heading outside, he found him with a group of 30 soldiers, teaching them how to kill the walkers and use the tactics they'd developed at the prison to ensure group safety. He waited until he was done speaking for a minute and walked over.
"What's up?" Daryl asked, looking over at Rick's concerned face.
"I need to talk to you." Rick said seriously.
Daryl stopped, turning the group over to Michonne and headed toward the a quiet area so they could talk.
"I just ran into the guy Kate decked. He came upstairs with James to apologize although it was obvious that he was being dragged. He wasn't sorry in the slightest. Katelyn called him on it and he got that look in his eyes…I have a bad feeling about this." Rick said.
Daryl felt the cold finger of rage creep into him. It was the kind that turned your blood to ice and steeled you against pity. He flexed his hands, feeling the tension that made him want to march inside and rip this guy apart.
"Did he do something we can report him for?" Daryl asked, trying to think past his anger.
"No. He apologized. She knew he didn't mean it and laid into him. When she was through, he looked like the pettiest asshole ever to walk the planet. It was the look in his eyes afterward. He's planning something." Rick said.
"What the hell did she say to him?" Daryl asked, wondering what Katelyn could have said that enfuriated him that badly.
"It wasn't mean. It was a passionate defense of you that made him look utterly ridiculous and he knew it. He knew how petty and immature it made him look and he was humiliated." Rick explained.
"Shit." Daryl swore, trying to run through his options. "How far do you think he'd take this?"
"I don't know but being here makes things complicated." Rick shrugged.
"Yeah. If we were back at the prison, we'd just kill his ass." Daryl spat, getting angrier by the minute.
"We watch and we wait…for now." Rick said, heading back inside with Daryl to find Merle and the others.
They needed to make a plan.