WARRIORS OF THE WALKING DEAD: SAVIORS OF MANKIND
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Rick and Daryl entered the Major's office the next morning. Everyone in his office knew what it was about so when they showed up, it went completely quiet. James, who had been standing inside, saw them enter and knew it couldn't be good. He'd already heard about what the Corporal had done the night before and couldn't believe he would be so stupid. The girl was gone. There was no reason to even give it one more minute worth of thought, but obviously, the Corporal couldn't let it go.
He was lucky they didn't kill him.
"Come on in." the Major called out, waving them into his office.
"Mornin'." Rick said as he and Daryl walked in.
"Good morning." Jackson responded grimly. He'd been thinking about this all night and couldn't figure out what to do with him.
Rick sat in the chair Jackson directed him to while Daryl opted to stand, leaning against the wall. He looked incredibly pissed and Jackson didn't blame him.
"So what do we do with him?" Rick asked, getting straight to the point.
"I say we execute his ass." Daryl piped in.
The Major sighed. He knew how Daryl felt so it wasn't a surprise.
"He hasn't actually done anything that would warrant that." Major Reese stated.
"He snuck out of his base to stalk my girlfriend!" Daryl exploded furiously.
"Daryl, hold up a minute." Rick said, trying to calm him down.
"I know and he'll be dealt with for breaking curfew. He's been issued an order to stay away from Katelyn. He is not allowed to leave the base at all so you don't have to worry about that." Jackson stated.
"He wasn't allowed to leave before and he still showed up to harass her!" Daryl shouted, thinking this whole thing was ridiculous. "I'm telling you that if that son of a bitch comes anywhere near us again, I'll fucking kill him myself."
Jackson sighed. He didn't think he'd feel any differently if he was in Daryl's shoes, but he couldn't justify anything more than what he'd given him as punishment. He didn't actually do anything.
"I understand how you feel. I do, but the fact is he hasn't actually done anything." Jackson cringed, knowing that Daryl was going to fly off the handle at that one.
"He's stalking her!" Daryl shouted.
"One incident doesn't make a stalker, Daryl. I'm sorry. I wish there was more I could do." Jackson said, sighing.
"This is bullshit! He's dangerous and you know it! What…is it gonna take a dead body to convince you!? Well, fuck that! He so much as blinks her way and he's dead!" Daryl roared, slamming out of the office and heading for the truck.
Rick looked at Jackson.
"Keep him away from her or be prepared to bury him." Rick warned. He'd come way too far and been through far too much to think this could go down any other way. Just like the situation at the prison…it was his family or them, and he'd be damned if he was going to let anything happen to his family.
Rick stood and followed Daryl out the door leaving Jackson with a pit in his stomach.
"Shit." Jackson said quietly.
This wasn't going to be good.
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Rick and Daryl drove silently down the road, heading back to Deer Creek. Rick was about to say something when both of them spotted a man fighting 3 walkers in a field. Stomping on the brakes, the tires squealed as they came to a halt. Rick and Daryl jumped out of the car, racing toward the field where the man was fighting.
About 20 feet from the man, Daryl stopped, lifted his crossbow and pulled the trigger, nailing one of the walkers in the head while Rick raced up and swung his axe straight at the walker's head. The walker dropped instantly and Rick pulled his axe, ready to swing again, but the man had already felled the last one.
Daryl came trotting up.
"You aight?" Daryl asked, coming up to stand next to them.
"Yeah. Thanks." The mysterious man said.
Daryl looked him up and down. He wore a pair of khakis and a hunting shirt with a coat. Hanging from his belt was a gun and he held a metal pole that had been sharpened into a spear.
"Rick Grimes." He said, holding out his hand.
"Michael Eaton." The man answered, gratefully shaking Rick's hand.
"This is Daryl." Rick said, nodding at Daryl who stood with his crossbow slung over his shoulder.
Daryl nodded back.
"You need some help?" Rick asked.
"Well," He said, pausing to look around, "I could sure use some food if you've got it."
"I think we can help with that." Rick said but Daryl frowned.
He didn't trust this guy.
"Come on." Rick said, motioning for him to follow.
He hopped in the back of the truck while Daryl and Rick got in the cab.
"You think this is a good idea?" Daryl asked, looking at Rick.
"We don't know the 78 people we're gonna be living with any better than this guy so I'm not seeing that much difference." Rick shrugged.
Daryl nodded. That made sense, but he still didn't like the guy.
Rick turned into the development and the men on gate duty allowed him to pass. Driving straight to "The bunks" as they were called, he parked and hopped out. Tyreese came out of one of the bunks to see who'd pulled up and smiled when he saw Rick.
Michael climbed down, looking around at what they'd done. He was impressed. They'd created quite a little community here.
"Tyreese, this is Michael Eaton." Rick introduced them, the two shaking hands.
"Nice to meet you." Michael said, reslinging his heavy pack on his back.
"Well, come on, lets go get you situated." Tyreese said hospitably.
Daryl and Rick watched him walk inside.
"We're gonna have problems." Daryl said ominously.
"From him?" Rick asked.
"From anyone. We're gonna need to decide on how far we're gonna go to protect everyone here." Daryl stated, seeing how out of control this could get.
"Things here are different." Rick said.
"Are they?" Daryl asked.
"Can we afford to think the same way we did back at the prison?" Rick asked, trying to figure out where his boundaries lay.
"Can we afford to not think that way?" Daryl asked before putting his hands on his hips and looking down at the dirt while he gathered his thoughts. "I don't know, Rick. It's one thing to keep a group of 10 or so alive. It's a whole other ballgame now."
Daryl looked up into Rick's eyes intensely and Rick sighed.
He knew exactly what Daryl was getting at.
"I gotta go hook up those lines today. We'll talk later." Daryl said, patting Rick on the shoulder as he headed to his house to get his tools.
Rick watched him go, a feeling of dread settling in his bones.