AN: Here we go, another little chapter!
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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"You can't kill him!" Alice screamed out in the confusion at the cop that had drawn a gun not entirely unlike the empty one that Merle had shucked off to the side, useless to him now.
She couldn't tell if the cop had the balls to pull the trigger or not. He seemed to her to be the kind of man who would do a lot of shit on principle. He seemed to be the kind of man that needed to prove he had balls, whether simply to himself or to everyone else too.
Carol was clinging to her to the point that Alice almost felt choked. She was torn between trying to offer support to the woman who was trying to suck it out, along with the very oxygen she needed to live, of Alice's body and getting to the men that had become the only support system she had left in this sorry ass world.
She wrenched herself away from the woman as best she could, finally dragging her along with her to some degree, and went toward the man with the gun.
Merle was on the ground, on his knees, his hands cuffed behind his back and he was smiling. He was laughing at this. The asshole was laughing at the fact that if he leaned forward an inch and a half he'd have Barney Fife's gun touching his forehead.
"You gonna do it, go the fuck ahead," Merle growled. "Least I had the decency not ta let the sorry asshole know it was comin'…not just stand there waivin' it in his damn face."
Alice finally peeled out of the woman's grasp as the woman gave way to her knees and went down not far from Merle, clearly overwhelmed with the situation. Alice went straight to him and ignored the officer's words about getting out of the way.
She knelt down next to Merle and shook her head at the officer.
"You want to kill someone? I was the one that started it," she said. "So go ahead…"
He looked at her and she almost flinched at the fact that the man didn't look entirely stable. There was something in his eyes that made her uneasy. He raked his hand across his forehead and chuckled to himself.
"You want me to shoot you?" He asked incredulously.
Alice held her hands up toward him to demonstrate that her hands were free. She wasn't bound, she wasn't cuffed. She could have clawed and punched and fought if she wanted to.
But the truth was that she didn't want to. She was tired of the fighting and if she was going to be left behind anyway, she might as well lead the way into wherever the hell they ended up going from here…especially since she had a good inclination that they were all headed the same place for one reason or another.
She swallowed and put her hands behind her back.
"You want to kill who did it?" She asked. "Then don't be gutless about it. I'm not moving. I'll stay right here…I started it. Merle just finished what I couldn't because he had the gun."
"Al!" Daryl barked at her from where he was basically being held down by the full weight of the black man. "Al…get'cha fuckin' ass up…get the hell outta here they lettin' ya go."
"Why?" Alice called back. "Why let me go and not you two? Fuck that. Vagina laws don't apply here. Pull the fucking trigger you asshole!"
She crawled forward with her last words, anger rising up in place of the cold fear that she'd felt a few moments earlier.
And the shakiest gun in Georgia suddenly looked like he didn't have a damn clue what to do about any of it. Maybe it was Alice's declaration of going, if not alone, right alongside of Daryl and Merle, or maybe it was the crying of the woman crumpled on her knees, or maybe it was the protests of the others who were shocked and wanted no more death that did it. Whatever it was, though, he dropped the gun and then a moment later returned it to his holster.
Alice didn't move. She stayed on her knees watching him, panting to herself because the body has a way of reacting strangely when confronted with the end of its existence, until she saw him walk around and release the cuffs on Merle. Merle rubbed at his wrists, still chuckling, and then surprised Alice by wrapping an arm around her and pulling her into the first thing that even resembled a genuine hug that she'd ever received from Merle.
"Fuck you…you damn cunt," Merle grumbled just as he pulled away.
Daryl scrambled to his feet once he was released, but stayed in the same spot that he was, probably afraid to move in case this was some kind of trick that would be revealed by the execution of them all.
"Fuck," the policeman spat. "What do we do now?"
He turned around, making it clear that his words were directed at the people huddled behind him, all of them resembling barn owls more than people.
"I'll get a shovel," Glenn offered. "We should…bury Ed."
And just like that, it seemed that the sheep were content to follow the kid as he went for a shovel to bury the asshole.
Daryl came over and caught Alice under the elbow, heaving her roughly to her feet and then playfully closing a hand around her throat.
"I could kill ya ass for bein' a fuckin' idiot," he growled in her ear before he let go of her throat. She rubbed at it, knowing that he hadn't meant his grasp on her to be as strong as it was. Beyond the exterior he was putting on, she'd felt the quick tremors running through his hands…tremors he'd try to hide because he'd have never wanted to admit that he was just as close to pissing himself as she'd been.
"I guess we should pack up," Alice said. "I think we've worn out our welcome here."
"Ain't never had no fuckin' welcome here," Daryl muttered. "Let's get the hell outta here."
Alice walked over to where Carol was on the ground, sobbing into her hands, and reached down to pull her up. Carol came willingly enough, her knees faltering slightly as she gained her feet, and she sunk into Alice, wrapping her arms around her.
"What do I do?" Carol asked, her voice coming out soft.
Alice rubbed her back.
"You want to bury him?" She asked. "I mean…do you want to say anything or…be there? I'm not good at this…what do you want to do about him?"
"I loved him," Carol offered, pulling away. "I loved him…and then…I hated him."
Alice nodded at her.
"I can get that," she said. "Are you going with us, or are you staying?"
Carol looked around, the expression on her face one that Alice was more than familiar with. It was the look of someone who was in shock. It was the look of someone who had just had something happen, or something told to them, that was simply far too much for them to take in. She would over it, but she needed a few minutes. She needed time for her mind to slow down and drink it all in. Then when the shock was gone she would begin to sort through all the pieces and put her reality back together.
But for the moment she needed some guidance, just as though she were a child being led through something she couldn't have the capacity to understand.
Alice had seen it a million times and she knew that she wasn't likely to have seen the last of it. They'd always said that the world was getting worse, they'd always said it was going to hell, but now it was true. There wasn't a good chance for "better" to come along.
"Carol," Alice said softly, "are you done with him?"
Carol nodded at her.
"I am," she said, her brow furrowed. "I am…I'm…done with him."
Alice nodded in response.
"I think I'm leaving," Alice said. "Are you going with us? With me? Or are you staying here with them?"
Carol's face twisted up again like she was fighting back tears.
"My daughter," she got out.
Alice smiled.
"Hey…she's OK," Alice said. "Just fine. And if you stay or if you go, she's with you. She's good now. She's going to be fine."
Carol looked relieved and Alice wondered for a moment if in her already overloaded mind she'd thought they might actually suggest leaving her daughter behind. It didn't matter at any rate. The girl would go where they went. Somehow they'd make it work.
"Come on," Alice said. "Let's get her. Let's get packed up."
"So that's it?" The old man of the group said suddenly. "You're all just leaving?"
"Stay here an' be shot," Merle called out, already heading toward their tent for the scanty things they could call their belongings, "or get the hell out…we'll take our walkin' papers."
"Nobody has to leave! Nobody has to be shot!" the man announced.
"Dale!" the police officer barked. "The people wanna leave, let 'em leave!"
"No!" Andrea said. "I agree with Dale."
She stepped toward where Shane was still looking life he was getting his life together.
"No one else needs to die and no one else needs to leave," Andrea said. "There's strength in numbers. You can't take Carol and Sophia and go out there alone. Carol? You want to go with these people? You want to just…strike out and go…where are you even going?"
"I agree, man," the black man offered. "We can't just send them out there alone. Carol's the one that should decide if they stay or they go. Ed was a son of a bitch, but he was her husband. She should be the one to make the call."
Shane looked around as voices started to rumble in agreement with this. He stepped forward then, toward Alice and Carol, and Alice waited to see what he would do. He stopped just before them, stood there a moment, nodding along with everyone else.
"Carol," he asked, using the best police voice that Alice had ever heard. "What do you want us to do?"
Carol shook her head.
"I don't want to…" she stuttered.
But she never did say what she didn't want to do. She just covered her mouth with her hand and continued to shake her head until Alice sighed and rolled her eyes at the indecision that was floating around her like a cloud.
"Are you going to be able to get over this?" Alice asked to Shane. "Everything that happened? Is everyone going to accept us part of the group? Because that's the only way we're staying. We're not staying if we're going to be so far on the outside…and we're not staying if you're going to hang onto this forever."
Alice glanced at Daryl who was coming toward her, crossbow and bag over his shoulder. Merle was further behind him carrying the bedroll he'd made of their sleeping bags and blankets.
Shane turned and followed her line of sight and then looked back at her, giving her an expression that said he hated to answer to her at all, and nodded his head.
"We put this behind us," he said. "Our side of it and your side of it. We don't hold it against you that you took it upon yourself to execute a man…you don't do it again…and you don't hold it against us that we haven't yet figured out what the hell the law is these days."
Alice laughed to herself at the irony of the situation.
"Right," she said. "Got it. You'll get over the fact that we shot some asshole that would have killed his wife and kid…and we'll get over the fact you pointed guns at our heads. Sounds like a fair trade."
Shane chuckled back at her response and narrowed his eyes at her a moment.
"Merle! Daryl!" Alice called. "Put the shit back out…we're staying."
They both stopped and stared at her a moment, then stared at each other, but apparently decided to take it in stride for the moment. Both turned without question, at least for the time being, back to where they'd come from.
"Carol and Sophia are staying in the RV," Alice said over Shane's shoulder and toward the old man who nodded his head at her. "They need that right now. Help me move their stuff?"
"Sure…sure…of course," the old man said, nodding to himself.
Alice smiled and pushed Carol toward the RV.
"Go in…lie down," Alice said. "I'll come and check on you in a few minutes."
Carol shook her head at her and Alice nodded back with more enthusiasm than before.
"Go. Lie down," Alice said. "You don't realize it, but you need to get still. You need to give yourself a few minutes of quiet. I'll bring your stuff. Be right there."
Carol finally nodded and accepted Alice's words, going straight toward the RV and ignoring anything that was happening while the others were coming to move the body of the worthless asshole. Alice ignored his last rites too and went with the old man to move Carol and Sophia's personal belongings to the RV.