AN: OK, I hope this chapter makes sense/reads well. I tried to edit it to make sure but no one and nothing in my household has wanted to make that easy for me. The entire time I've had people watching television at the loudest possible level, dogs barking for no apparent reason, and other people walking around singing badly at the top of their lungs. Let's just say it's been a battle in concentration.
I hope you enjoy it, even if it isn't perfect.
As always, there's more to come. Please review if you feel so inclined. :-)
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"So if everything we've been told is true, we know what kind of people we're dealing with," Rick said. "We can't just sit around and wait for them to attack us."
He was addressing the group, all of which were gathered together in headquarters.
"What do ya think we outta do?" Daryl asked. "We don't know where they are an' even if we did, what would we do, just show up an' attack them?"
"The way I see it, it's either we attack them or they attack us. At least if we attack them we're prepared, they don't catch us by surprise. We also know we've left the ones who can't fight safely in the community. If they come here we may not be able to protect everyone," Rick said.
"I don't like the idea of just attacking a camp," Tyreese said, "but Rick does have a good point. If they come here we risk losing more than if we go after them."
"There's one flaw, guys," Glenn said. "We don't know where they are. We don't even know who they are. Mark said their group is mixed in with the other group, if we did find them, how would we know who belonged to which group?"
"That's easy enough," Rick responded. "If they fight against us, they've turned sides and we have to treat them like they belong to the other group."
"No," Sadie said suddenly. Michonne had been scribbling notes from the conversation in a notebook that Sadie was reading over her shoulder. She'd decided it was the only way to give the woman a fair chance at participating in a group discussion.
"Excuse me?" Rick asked.
Sadie took a moment to read what Michonne wrote.
"Bad plan," she said. "They'll fight no matter what."
"Why would they fight us?" Daryl asked. "We don't want to do nothin' to no one that's willin' to behave themselves."
Sadie responded after a minute. "They don't know you, they don't know you don't want to hurt them. They've been through a lot. They'll fight because you might be worse than what they've got."
Daryl thought about it a minute. He had heard the horror stories that Mark had told them about all that their group had been through. Truthfully it made him feel as if his own group had actually been lucky so far. They hadn't seen that many people and they'd had the good fortune of only encountering a handful of people worthy of immediate death, the Governor being the greatest of their threats. It sounded, however, as though the other group had not been so lucky.
"I reckon that makes sense," Daryl said. "They gon' fight 'cause they don't know what's gonna be worse for 'em, us or the group that's got 'em now."
"I suppose you've got a better plan?" Rick asked. Michonne tapped Sadie and let her know that she was supposed to respond.
Sadie nodded after a minute.
"We find them. I will go in, alone, look for our people, tell them we're coming. They can pretend they're going to fight, until we get there, then they'll turn sides and join us," Sadie said.
"Sort of like a spy operation," Maggie said, smiling.
"Cool!" Carl responded suddenly. "Sadie's gonna be a spy!"
"I don't think ya outta go in there alone," Daryl said. "What if they catch you? You won't have no way to let us know that you been got."
"I could go in with her," Beau offered, "be her backup."
"You?" Mark asked.
"Yeah," Beau answered. "I don't get seen less'n I want someone to see me. I could stay back far enough ta watch what she was doin' an' make sure don't no one get her. If'n they did, and I couldn't kill 'em without gettin' out, I'd come get y'all an' we'd go after her."
"Wait," Daryl said, "so we've already decided, unanimously, that the way to go about this is to attack this group that we haven't even found?"
Everyone just sort of looked at each other. It was evident on everyone's face that they didn't like this idea, but it was about the most solid plan they had at this moment. Tyreese studied everyone and finally spoke.
"We don't like it, but it looks like that's what's got to be done," he said.
"How are we supposed to find them," Glenn said, raising his point again from before that they had no idea where this other group was located.
"Daryl and me can go scoutin'," Beau offered. "We start down by the creek, follow it lookin' for heavy foot traffic. Don't matter how big an' bad this group is, they gon' need water an' the more people they got, the more water they gon' need."
"Boy's got a point," Daryl said. "We could find 'em if we put our minds to it."
"Mark, how many people were in your group when they took them?" Rick asked.
Mark thought for a moment.
"I don't know for sure, Rick, we've picked up and lost so many along the way. There were two babies, two young kids, and there were probably about ten women left after last attack before they took them, so I guess there were about nine women they took, since they left Sadie behind," Mark responded.
"That's a hell of a lot of people," Rick said. He looked at Daryl.
Daryl could read his look. Taking in 13 people, especially when they were just women and children, and possibly wouldn't be the greatest additions to their numbers, did seem like a lot, but he didn't think he could very well tell Mark and Sadie that what was left of their old group would just have to make do elsewhere. He would have to think about this, think about what to do with such a large addition, but as it stood he could see no way around it, assuming that all of them had even survived to this point.
When Rick could see that Daryl wasn't going to respond to him, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"OK, so Beau and Daryl are going to find the camp. Are we really going to try to send Sadie in there alone? I mean that just doesn't seem like a very well thought out idea," Rick said.
"Well, she's the only one that they'd know," Tyreese offered, "or Mark."
"Sadie's really the better option," Mark said. "She's quick on her feet, and she's better than me at sensing trouble."
"Yeah she seemed real good at sensing trouble the other day," Daryl said.
"She wasn't on guard, and that was my fault. I thought she could let her guard down. We hadn't seen anybody at all for a while. I didn't expect you two to be wandering around in the woods," Mark responded.
"So once we find the camp and Sadie slips in to warn her people, what happens next?" Glenn asked. If they attacked at dawn or at dusk, they'd run the risk of losing people in the battle as well as losing people to Walkers. Neither were great hours to be roaming around outside the protection of the community.
Daryl shrugged, "I reckon we pick us a day an' we attack. Once we know where they are an' what kinda protection they got we can better figure out exactly how we wanna go at 'em."
"Glenn and I could do a sweep for ammo and guns over the next few towns. I think we got most of it, but we can make sure we didn't leave any behind," Maggie offered.
"I can start doing some target work with anyone who needs a refresher course," Rick said. "We need to be prepared to shoot as well as to fight hand to hand, and that means any of you who feel like you need to brush up a little on your handheld weapons are welcome to go out and find yourselves a few Walkers to practice on."
Rick surveyed the group. He sighed a little and wrinkled his brow.
"What's wrong, Rick?" Tyreese asked after a minute.
"I was just thinking that we don't know how everyone is going to fare in combat. A lot of us have never fought together before," He responded. "Don't take this wrong, Michonne, but I sincerely wish you weren't pregnant right now."
Michonne would have offered to fight, maybe holding back a little until she saw how the conflict was shaping up, but she knew perfectly well that Daryl and Carol wouldn't hear of it and she didn't feel like arguing with both of them right now. Besides, she didn't know how long it would take for them to find the group, get Sadie to infiltrate it, and then to plan their attack. She might not feel as able to handle combat then as she did right now.
"That takes out one of our strongest members," Rick said. "On top of that we'll need to leave Carol behind, and probably Beth."
"Why me?" Beth asked. "I can fight too, even Michonne said I did a good job against Walkers."
"That's true, Rick. When she's pushed she steps up," Michonne said.
"Maybe so, but if we come back with injured people Carol is going to need help," Rick responded. "I know that Sadie and you will be here, but she might need another set of hands. We don't know what will happen when we decide to open attack on this group."
"I'm fighting," Sadie said, reading over Michonne's shoulder. "Michonne can't fight, I will fight for her."
Rick snorted. "Now we're supposed to take Nell here into a battle?"
Michonne rewrote the comment, leaving out Rick's insult. There was no need for Sadie to be insulted simply because Rick was stressed about the new group and behaving badly because of his stress.
"Why can't I fight?" Sadie asked.
"Do you really think that's a good idea, Sadie? We wouldn't be able to protect you," Rick said, annoyed. Michonne was glad that his annoyance wasn't apparent in her scribbles in the notebook.
"Who said I needed you to protect me?" Sadie asked.
"Sadie's actually a good fighter," Mark said. "She really took care of me out there more than I took care of her. I'd be a better choice for staying here with Carol to get things ready. I was a volunteer EMT before all this happened, I could help with the people you bring in."
"You were a volunteer EMT?" Carol asked.
"Well, yeah," Mark said. "I had a business too, I ran a furniture store, but in my free time I volunteered."
"I thought you said he wasn't a doctor!" Carol said to Sadie. Michonne wrote it and tapped Sadie on the knee.
Sadie shrugged. "He isn't a doctor."
"No, don't get me wrong, I'm not a doctor," Mark said, "but I do have practice with how to respond to medical situations. My job was more along the lines of keeping people alive until someone who could fix their problem was available. I'm not much of a fighter, though, so I'd be better at helping Carol than I'd really be at keeping anyone from getting killed in a tight situation."
"I need him," Carol confirmed. "Any help that I can get from him is more help than I had before. Rick, if you all come back injured, I can't promise that I can handle everything. I really don't know what I'm doing if anything is serious. Any insight he might have to offer could be the difference between losing someone and not losing them. It's better to keep him safe here than to risk losing him in battle."
Daryl nodded his understanding, whether or not Rick wanted to hear what Carol said. He didn't think that Mark looked like there was much to him, and if he could be of any use to Carol in regard to whatever medical emergency they may have, he was more than willing to let him remain behind. He wasn't entirely sure what he thought about taking Sadie out to fight, but she seemed determined to go, and Daryl knew by now how difficult determined women could be about things.
"Mark will stay behind. Sadie, you can fight, but it's your own ass if somethin' happens," Daryl said.
Sadie giggled at him after reading his message.
"It's my ass," she said. "I understand."
"We need to make a hospital run," Carol said. "Mark, you need to help me figure out what we might need. We've got to anticipate the possible injuries that we could see. I've got some bandages and stuff here, but they're more for dealing with flesh wounds and minor injuries, nothing substantial."
"I hope we don't have to deal with anything too serious," Mark said, "I'm not going to be a huge help if there's something serious."
"You're better than nothing, Mark," Carol responded. "Everything I do is pretty much out of blind instinct. We'll get ready, though, a hospital run can give us an edge for whatever we've got to take care of. At least we'll have more equipment."
"A hospital run is really risky, though," Glenn said. They purposefully avoided ever raiding hospitals. They'd tried to raid one and discovered that they were overwhelming hotbeds for Walkers. They'd barely made it out alive, less likely with anything worth scavenging.
"If you don't want to do it," Carol said, "I'll go, but I am going to need tools and equipment. I don't even think I have the necessary equipment to remove a bullet."
Carol had Hershel's bag, in which he had only packed the bare essentials, assuming they would find a place for a hospital run when they got settled, and she had quite a few first aid kits. She knew she wouldn't be prepared for anything serious, and the idea of her family going out and starting an attack on a group made her stomach churn. The comfort of knowing that Mark might be of any help at all made it a little better, but she was still afraid of what could happen. They had no idea, at least until they scoped it out, what size group they would be dealing with. She had no idea how many people they could lose, or how many would return injured, and then the blood would be on her hands if they lost anymore.
Glenn looked worried. "You can't go on a hospital run alone, Carol. You'd be killed before you even knew what happened. We'll go, and we'll take a small group," he said. He didn't make any effort to hide his concern.
"Fine," Daryl said. "That's enough for tonight. It's getting late and everyone needs some rest. Carol, you and Mark figure out what you need. Maggie and Glenn, first thing tomorrow morning you're to start a weapons sweep for ammunition, guns, and anything else you think might be useful. Beau and I will head out first thing to start looking for this camp. Until we find it, everyone can start practicing and brushing up, and later you can make a run for whatever supplies you can get from the hospital."
Everyone started to shuffle around, acknowledging their roles, some chatting among themselves. Michonne hung back, waiting for the room to clear a little, her eyes locked on Daryl. He looked worried, and she didn't have to ask why.
Mark had gone to sit beside Carol, the two probably already beginning to chat about what they might have to deal with when and if the group went to war against the other group. Rick was shuffling around, waiting to speak to Daryl.
"Thank you," Sadie said. Michonne felt her squeeze the back of her arm.
"No problem," Michonne said, handing Sadie the pencil and notebook. "Are you really OK with going in there alone?"
"No sweat," Sadie said, flashing Michonne a big smile. "I hope I can fill your shoes fighting."
Michonne smiled at the woman. She hadn't known her for very long, but Sadie had a way of making you feel like you'd known her forever.
"I'm sure you will," Michonne said.
Sadie made another face. "I'm tired, I am going to get some sleep," she said. "You should do the same. You look tired and babies can take a lot out of you. Believe me, I know."
"I'm just waiting on Daryl and then I'm going to bed," Michonne said.
"OK, well goodnight," Sadie said. She reached out and squeezed Michonne's arm again, throwing her another bright smile and heading out of headquarters.
Michonne watched as everyone slowly made their way out the door and toward their respective homes. Carol and Mark split company as well, and Michonne watched as Tyreese, carrying Judith with one arm, slipped the other around Carol and led her out of the house.
Daryl was finishing up a discussion with Rick that was taking place in a low voice. Michonne wasn't entirely sure if they were talking quietly because they didn't want to be overheard, or if Daryl had requested that they do so because Hope was sleeping against him. He'd taken responsibility for her during the meeting so that Michonne could be free to write the interactions for Sadie.
When the two of them broke apart, Rick left without a word to Michonne. Daryl turned to her, looking both worried and tired.
"You ready?" He asked.
"I was just waiting on you," she responded.
"Let's go," he said with a sigh. "I'm beat, 'Chonne."
"I bet you are, Daryl," Michonne said, starting out the door with Daryl just behind her.
"Looks like we goin' back to war, 'Chonne," Daryl said.
"That's what it looks like," Michonne responded, making her way toward their home.