Fear the Dead, Fight the Living
Flashback,
"Are you okay?" Daryl asked me walking over to our bed as I sat on it sitting next to me
"Yeah...I think so"
"What happened?" He asked
"Rick attacked Pete because he was abusive to Jessie and the kids, Pete also um...hit on me." I told him and he clenched his fists standing up, "I asked my mom for my gun," I added and he looked at me
"Why?"
"Because of the vibe I got from him, I wanted to be safe then sorry. After Rick and him ended up in the street Rick pulled out the gun my mom gave him and started going off threatening, well not really threatening but basically saying things had to change so I pulled mine on him. So to make a long story short Deanna gathered everyone to talk about whether or not to send Rick outside the walls then Pete came with Michonne's sword, when Reg tried to calm him down Pete pushed him and ended up killing him. You know the rest after that" I finished he sighed then walked over squatting down in front of me and grabbed my hand
"I'm sorry, I left and you had this happen."
"Don't be sorry, you were doing something to make yourself not feel trapped. I can't ask you to stay here when you don't feel comfortable just to protect me." I said and he kissed me
"Is everything else ok though?"
I sighed and gave him a sad smile
Now...
"Be safe?" I asked Daryl as they got ready to head to the landfill that Rick and Morgan found a huge herd of walkers at
"I will, you too" He says and I kiss him, I didn't want to let him go but he refused to have me go with.
"I love you"
"I love you too" I tell him and he got on his bike then they all head out
Flashback...
"My team...we saw it early on, back when we were on one of those first scouts, finding out what was around here. There was a camp at the bottom. The people, they must have blocked the exits with one of those trucks back when everything started to go bad. They didn't make it. They were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of them." Heath told us as we gathered around in Deanna's house
"No one's been back since?" Maggie asked him
"DC, every town worth scavenging are all in the other direction. And I never really felt like having a picnic next to the camp that ate itself."
"So all the while the walkers have been drawn by the sound and they're making more sound and they're drawing more in." Michonne pointed out
"And here we are. Now what I'm proposing, I know it sounds risky, but walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now. Maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends them east. All of them. Right at us. This isn't about if it gives, it's when. It's gonna happen. That's why we have to do this soon." Rick says
"This is- I don't even have another word for it. This is terrifying. All of it. But it doesn't sound like there's any other way." My mom pointed out
"Maybe there is. I mean, couldn't we just build up the weak spots?" Carter asked Rick, "I could draw up plans. I worked on the wall with Reg. Construction crew- we can try and make it safe."
"Even if we could, the sound of those walkers is drawing more and more every day. Building up the exits won't change that."
"We're gonna do what Rick says, the plan he's laid out." Deanna says to us looking out the window
"I told you all, we're gonna have Daryl leading them away." Rick tells us and I grabbed Daryl's hand
"Me, too. I'll take a car, ride next to him. Can't just be him. I'll keep 'em coming, Daryl keeps 'em from getting sloppy." Sasha brought up
"I'll go with her. It's a long way to white-knuckle it solo." Abraham adds
"I want you to stay here" Daryl whispered to me and I looked at him
"Daryl..."
"No, I need you safe. Can't risk it" He says and I sighed then nodded my head
"We'll have two teams. One on each side of the forest helping manage this thing. We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Spencer, and Holly. So they're out. So who's in?" Rick asked everyone
"I'll keep watch too." I said to him and looked at Daryl, "I have to do something" I tell him and he nodded
"Me." Michonne added
"I'm in." Glenn tells him
"I'd like to help as well." Gabriel says
"No. Who else?" Rick asked and I looked at him then Gabriel, "We need more."
"There's got to be another play. We can't just control that many." Carter says
"I said it before, walkers herd up. They'll follow a path if something's drawing them. That's how we can get 'em all at once."
"So, what? We're supposed to just take your word for it? We're all supposed to just fall in line behind you after..." Carter says but Rick cut him off
"After what?"
"After you wave a gun around screaming, pointing it at people. After you shoot a man in the face. After you-" Carter says
"Enough!" Deanna yells at him
"I'll do it." Heath says
"Me, too." Francine agreed
"Whatever you need, I'm in." Tobin adds
"Now who else?" Deanna asked
"I'll go." Nicholas says and I see the pissed off look on Glenn's face, "We have to do this. I need to help."
"You sure you can handle it?" Rick asked him
"You need people."
"We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe. Keep our families safe. We will." Rick says to us
"The plan. Go through it again." Carter tells him
"Man, he just said it." Daryl says
"Every part again. The exact plan."
"He got Noah killed?" Tara asked me and Maggie as we walked over to her while everyone else made sand bags and prepared a wall
"He did. He did more than that. He lured Glenn into the woods and tried to kill him." Maggie told her
"What the hell?" Tara asked her
"Yeah. Glenn told me I could tell everyone if that's what I wanted to do. Could get Nicholas exiled. He'd die out there. Could have done that. You could do that now."
"He got Noah killed and he tried to kill Glenn?"
"Glenn saves people. Even people like that." I said
"I couldn't accept it either. But then I thought about you. How we were on different sides of that fence on the worst day of my life. And now you're one of the most important people in the world to us. Things can get better. We can make them better. You tell me what you want to do." Maggie added
"I'm just gonna follow your lead, okay?" Tara says and we smile then I hug her
"I'm glad you're ok"
"Carter, don't. You can't." We hear Olivia say outside the door of the armory and Rick opens the door
"What the hell is going on? What are you doing?" Rick asked as we see Carter standing there holding a gun at Eugene
"I'm taking this place back from you."
"That's what you were talking about in here?" Rick asked
"That's what he was talking about." Tobin told him
"See, I would have- I would have set up some lookouts. That would have been the smart thing. You know, if I happened to-" Rick says then moves to Carter taking the gun then knocked him to the ground pointing the gun at Carter, "You really think you're gonna take this community from us? From Glenn? From Michonne? From Daryl? From Phoebe? From me? Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"
"It was just me." Carter tells him
"What?"
"It was- it was just me. Just- just kill me." Carter says to him
"Rick." I said and he looked at me
"I'm good. I'm good." He tells me then uncocked the gun then handed it to me, "You can try to work with us. You can try to survive. Would you do that?" Rick asked Carter
Now...
Carol POV...
"Celery soup. It's been here since the start. You're very brave." Olivia told me
I chuckled at her, "Well, I'm hoping the paprika will mask the soup's celeryness."
"Then you'd be stuck with something that tastes like paprika. No, thank you." Shelly says
"Well, I just figured since we're running low on staples, I'd try to use a few things nobody seems to want. I used to make Ed these spring cleaning casseroles just to empty the pantry. I made some miracles happen with water chestnuts. Besides I'm making it for Phoebe, she's come down with a bug." I tell them
"That's your daughter right? The one married to Daryl?" Olivia asked me and I nodded my head smiling at her, "She's a nice girl, you did right with her. I hope she feels better." She told me and I gave her a fake smile then continued looking on the shelf
"Talk about miracles, that recipe for cola canned ham. Mmm. Ms. Peletier, you are an honest to goodness hero." Erin told me and I chuckled
"Ugh." Shelly groaned from behind me
"Something wrong, Shelly?" Erin asked her
"It's just those old noodles. I mean, I tell you, if someone would just find me one of those machines, I swear we would all be eating like we were on a tour of Tuscany."
"You know, Shel, I could teach you how to make pasta with your own two hands. But you'd have to promise not to smoke in the house. It's just a disgusting habit. And it kills you. If you ask me, there are too many things trying to do that already, right?" I asked them
"Right." Erin says and I smile then leave
After I put the soup in the oven to keep it warm until Phoebe was done watching the children I looked out my window and saw Shelly standing on her lawn smoking. Just then I saw a man run up to her and kill her, "Phoebe" I whispered and ran out of the house.
Phoebe POV...
As I sat there watching the 4 children I had play with toys together in my living room I hear screaming outside, I went over to the window and saw people running around getting killed by outsiders, "Shit" I whispered
"Mrs. Dixon, what is it?" the oldest boy Kayden asked me
"Umm...it's nothing, but come here, all of you" I told them and they followed me. I brought them down into the basement we had and checked around, "Okay, I need you all to stay down here and stay quiet."
"Why?" Kayden asked me
"Some bad people got in and I need to help, but don't worry I'll make sure no one finds you" I tell them and started to walk away
"No, no don't leave us" One little kid cried and I stopped in my tracks
"No, no, no don't leave me" I remembered Sophia saying to me and I turned to look at them, "I promise I will be right back," I tell them and reached into my pocket pulling out my badge, I don't why I still have this stupid thing, "Kayden I want you to take this," I hand it to him and he looks at me, "It's gonna make you brave, brave enough to protect everyone ok?" I asked him and he nodded his head, "Now I'm gonna make sure no one can open that door, but I need you guys to be as quiet as you can and wait until I come back. Promise?" I asked them and they all nodded their heads. I went back up the stairs and shut the door behind me then hit it a few times with a book end jamming it so no one could turn it. Just then I hear glass shatter in the distance, "1..2...3...Eric" I said to myself grabbing a butchers knife then headed out of the house.
I ducked behind another house when I saw someone coming, as they got closer I tripped them and the outsider looked at me, I quickly bent down and stabbed him in the throat then the skull and continued moving, I see another guy kill someone and I snuck up behind him jumping on him then stabbed him in the head as I got closer to Eric's house.
"Where are you pretty boy?" I hear someone call inside his house and I listened to their footsteps then made my way to the backdoor and opened it quietly. When I got inside I saw the person go upstairs then as I started to follow him I hear a noise come from a hallway closet.
"Eric?" I whispered and he lightly knocked on the door so I opened it, "Come on" I said and just as he walked out the door got hit and the outsider swung his knife down at me but I ducked moving out of the way
"Phoebe!" Eric yelled as I kicked the person in the gut but they caught my foot and punched me across the face knocking me to the ground
"Get upstairs, go!" I yelled at him, as he went to run past us the man tried to stop him but I got up and jumped on his shoulders putting my hand on his neck and he pushed my back into the wall, I fell down off his shoulders then saw my knife on the floor, I kicked him in the knee then grabbed the knife and stabbed him in the head. I sat against the wall for a moment then headed upstairs, "Eric?" I asked and he opened the bedroom door
"Are you ok?" He asked and I nodded my head
"I'm okay"
"The kids?" He asked
"I put them in the basement of my house and jammed the door knob, now I need to get you safe. Where's Aaron?"
"I-I don't know but you can't go out there, you have to..." He started to say but I cut him off
"I'm gonna protect you first now come on" I said grabbing his hand and brought him downstairs, "Now stay quiet" I told him as I saw someone run by the window so I moved us back
"Phoebe.."
"Eric please" I begged and he nodded his head, when the coast was clear we headed to the door then headed out of the house. As I shut the door someone swung an axe down hitting the wall neck to my head, I quickly whipped my elbow back and hit the person in the nose.
"Phoebe!" Eric yelled
"Bitch!" the person yelled then grabbed my hair slamming my head against the door then threw me onto the porch, I started to crawl away but they grabbed my foot pulling me back then the next thing I knew a gunshot went off and they fall down
I looked up and saw someone standing there with a blue hood over their head and a cloth covering their mouth just then my mom pulls it down, "Mom? What the..."
"There's no time, here" She hands me my gun as I stand up, "You need to get some place safe right now"
"No I need to help."
"Damn it Phoebe just do what I say" She says and shoots her gun, I turn around to see someone fall to the groung, "Go! Now!" She says and took off
"Like hell" I whispered to myself, "Come on" I said to Eric and we got off the porch then moved behind the houses seeing another person get killed so I shot my gun killing them then continued moving until I bumped into someone, I looked up and saw Aaron
"Aaron!" Eric yelled and moved over to him
"Come on" Aaron told us handing Eric a rifle
"You guys go I need to get back to the kids" I told them and Aaron shook his head, "I'm just gonna get them and meet up with you." They both looked at me, "Don't argue just go" I told them and they rushed away as I headed back to my house then went inside breaking the door knob and I went down the stairs, "Kids?" I asked and they came out from behind a shelf, "Thank god. Come on you're coming with me"
"Where?" Kayden asked me
"The infirmary, come on" I told them and they rushed over to me and we walked up the stairs, "Okay, hold the hand of the person in front of you and follow me. Stay low and stay quiet" I tell them and they nodded holding hands. We walked out of the house and I looked around, no one was around so I brought them down the steps to the back of the houses, I saw the infirmary only a few places down from us, "Okay remember, low and quiet" I whispered to them and we moved through the grass getting closer to the infirmary when I saw Aaron, Eric and Rosita rush inside carrying someone then we made our way over, I knocked and saw Eric peak out then opened the door, "Okay inside quick" I told the kids then we hear a loud horn go off, "The hell is that?" I asked but Eric pulled me inside. Denise was working on someone with Aaron, Eric and Rosita.
"What about the air horn? What's happening?" Denise asked and I moved the kids to the back room then came back out
"I need to help. I need to try." Aaron says to Eric and he looked at me
"I got him" I reassured Aaron
"Denise, I'm gonna have to go, too." Rosita told her and I took over what she was doing as she grabbed her gun
"So do I." Tara adds
"You got dizzy swinging a hammer. Somebody's got to guard this place." Denise told her
"You can handle it."
"I can't!" Denise tells her
"I also believe my services would be best rendered right very here." Eugene says
"What?" Aaron asked him
"I also believe my services-"
"Shut up! You're safe here. Come on." Rosita says then her and Aaron leave.
"What's happening with her?" Tara asked Denise as I stood by the door to the back room I had the children in looking over at Holly laying on the table
"She's bleeding internally. Probably severed her femoral artery. She's dying."
"Okay, so the artery's severed. Can it be fixed?" Tara asked
"Maybe by a surgeon."
"You were gonna be a surgeon." Tara pointed out
"But I'm not. She was protecting this place. She was guarding us. That's why we're here, for each other." Tara defended, "You're afraid? I don't care. Help her. Try! Help her!" Tara begged
"You don't want to be a coward. I know." Eugene told Denise
"I need an abdominal binder. We're gonna pull the knife." She says and they get to work
After awhile everything was over, the parents of the kids came to the infirmary thanking me for keeping their kids safe, and I smiled at them, Kayden went to hand me my badge back, "No you keep it, you were very brave today. I pass it on to you" I told him and he smiled then left and I walked out shortly after seeing Maggie and Deanna walking through the roads, "Maggie!" I yelled running over to her and pulled her into a hug, "Are you okay?" I asked her and she nodded her head, "Deanna?"
"I'm fine, thank you"
"Phoebe!" I hear my mom yell and I ran over to her then she pulled me into a hug, "I told you hide"
"I know but I couldn't...I just couldn't" I tell her and she put her hand on my face.
An hour ago...
Daryl POV...
"Rick!" I called over my radio
"I'm here."
"What's going on back there?" I asked him
"Half of them broke off. They're going toward Alexandria."
Phoebe
"Towards you?" Abraham asked him
"We ran ahead. There's a horn or something. Loud, coming from the east. It's not stopping."
"I'm gonna gas it up, turn back." I told him, I needed to get to her
"We have it. You keep going."
"They're gonna need our help." I pointed out
"Gotta keep the herd moving."
"Not if it's going down, we don't." I said
"The rest of that herd turns around, the bad back there gets worse." He told me and I fought with myself, I need to get to Phoebe, I have to keep her safe, "Daryl?" He asked and I sighed
"Yeah, I heard you." I tell him, "Rick?"
"Yeah?"
"You keep her safe" I told him
"I will"
"Hey, we gone five miles out yet?" I asked Sasha and Abraham
"Give or take some yardage. You got a reason for asking?" Abraham asked me
"Next intersection we're gonna spin around and go back."
"The plan is to go 15 more." Sasha says
"Yeah, I'm gonna change that. Five's gonna have to work."
"The magic number's 20. That's the mission. That's making sure they're off munching on infirm raccoons the rest of their undead lives instead of any of us." Abraham said to me
"You want to go help Phoebe, we can't stop you. But without you, they could stop us." Sasha added
I saw a sign for Alexandria and I thought about Phoebe being there without me and half a herd coming towards her and the rest of them, "Nah, I got faith in you." I told them and sped up
"Daryl!" Sasha yelled but I kept going
"Daryl?" Rick called over the radio
"I'm here."
"Won't be long now. They're almost here. I'll get them going your way again." He told me
"How 'bout that, Daryl? He's gonna be coming our way." Sasha says
"There's gunfire coming from back home. We gotta sit with it and hope they can handle it. I think they can. They have to. We keep going forward for them. Can't turn back 'cause we're afraid."
"We ain't afraid." Abraham says
"This is for them. Going back now before it's done, that'd be for us. The herd has to be almost here" Rick mentioned and I felt a horrible pain in my gut, I knew he was right but I can't leave Phoebe there, not now. Just then I hear gunshots over the radio, "Rick? Rick?" I asked but didn't get an answer so I sped up then eventually stopped, "Rick?" nothing, "Rick?" Still no answer so I took off again
Now...
Phoebe POV...
"The town was overrun. He split off with Nicholas. He had this idea that...if he lit a fire, it would stop the walkers from coming here. I tried to go instead. I wanted to. The fire never got lit. We had to keep going. I'm sorry." Michonne informed Maggie about Glenn and Maggie put her hand over her mouth, I put my hand on her shoulder, "He said if he got stuck, he would find a way to send us a signal."
"A signal?" Maggie asked her
"Open the gate!" We suddenly hear Rick yell from outside the wall, "Open the gate! "Open the gate now!" He continued to yell as me, Michonne and Maggie rushed over opening it, we see him fall to the ground then get back up and run inside then we shut just as a herd pushed against it and we shut the other gate
"You can hear it. Some of you saw it." Rick told all of us walking over as the others propped up tall wooden poles to hold the wall, "They got back here, half of them. Still enough to surround us 20 deep. Look, I know you're scared. You haven't seen anything like this. You haven't been through anything like this. But we're safe for now. The panel the truck hit seems intact. We reinforced it just in case. Either way, the wall's gonna hold together. Can you?" Rick asked them, "The others, they're gonna be back. Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, they have vehicles. They're gonna lead 'em away, just like the others." Rick says and put his hand on my shoulder, I nodded my head trying to hold myself together, "And Glenn and Nicholas are gonna walk back through the front gate after." He adds walking away and I wrapped my arm around Maggie's shoulder, "They know what they're doing, and we know what we need to do. We keep noise to a minimum. Pull our blinds at night. Even better, keep the lights out. We'll try to make this place as quiet as a graveyard, see if they move on."
"This place is a graveyard" Francine told him
"The quarry broke open and those walkers were heading this way." Aaron spoke up, "All of them. The plan that Rick put into place stopped that from happening. He got half of them away. I was out there recruiting with Daryl. I wanted to try to get into a cannery and scavenge, and Daryl wanted to keep looking for people. We did what I wanted... and we wound up in a trap set by those people. And I lost my pack. They must've followed our tracks. Those people who attacked us... they found their way back here because of me."
"There'll be more to talk about." Rick adds and I see Deanna walk away
"Deanna? Deanna?" Tobin called but she kept walking
Maggie POV...
"You're going out?" Aaron asked me walking into the armory as I loaded a clip, "The flashlights, the rebar, the rope. You lower them off the wall a good distance apart, maybe spin them. That way, the walkers are drawn to each one and you open up a path. Now you're gearing up. Just waiting for dark, right? What happens when you twist an ankle jumping down? Hmm?" He asked and I looked at him putting the bag over my shoulder, "Or you just get slowed down by one of them and then you have to deal with all of them? I can't let you do this."
"You can't stop me." I told him starting to walk away
"I'm going to help you. And I know a safer way out."
"I thought you said we weren't going over." I told him as we walked towards the wall but he stopped
"We're not. We're going under." He said and bent down to a drain, "This leads to a sewer that was part of the old neighborhood that was here before they built this up. It'll take us under the wall...and hopefully past the walkers."
"Thanks...but I'm going on my own from here." I say to him as he stands up
"Maggie..."
"No."
"Please." He begged, "I can't-I can't watch more names go up on that wall." He mentioned and we got in
"If he's alive-"
"If?" He asked me
"He told Michonne he would've found some way to signal us if he got out. If he's alive or he's hurt or trapped, maybe taken. If he's alive, he needs my help. That's why I'm doing this. And if he's dead, I don't want to be waiting on him. None of this is your fault. You don't need to do this." I tell him
"People are dead. I was a part of that. And I have to live with that. I haven't been down here since the beginning. This ladder must've fallen a long time ago.
"Let's try and get it out of here." I said and grabbed the ladder then he did, "On three, ready? One, two, three." We lift but nothing, "One, two, three." We try again and it jerked causing Aaron to fall back, "Aaron!"
"Ah. I'm okay. The ladder caught me." He said then we here growling, I grabbed my knife and just as I was about to kill it another one appeared and I stumbled backwards as it reached for me pinning me to the sewer wall, I tried to grab it but the skin peeled away then Aaron gets up and kills it
"You okay?" He asked me
"Yeah. Thank you." I tell him and look at his head, "Aaron... your head. Come here." I say to him grabbing some gauze out of my bag putting it to his head as he winced, "This could need stitches. Aaron, just go back."
"No."
"Yes." I insisted
"I was just there for you."
"I could have done it." I said
"Just lead the way. Please?" He asked and I sighed then we continued
We come up on a gate in the sewer and walked over to it, I hear walkers growling, "We're still too close." I point out
"We just have to get through a few of them, then we're gone." He says trying the gate but i stopped him
"No."
"You ready?" He asked me
"No, we can't."
"You can stay. I'll go." He told me
"No." but he kept trying, "No!"
"Maggie."
"It's over!" I yelled and walkers appeared on the other side, "I burned his last picture of him because I said I wasn't gonna need it anymore. Because I was never gonna be away from him again." I tell him fighting tears, "I'm pregnant. He didn't want me to go out there and I said yes. And if I would've gone...if I was with him, maybe I could've helped him. I don't know if he's alive. He would've shown me by now. That's what Michonne said. I just want to see his face. I can't. I don't get to know what will happen. I won't get to know why it happened, what I did right or wrong. Not now. I have to live with that. You do, too." I cried and he hugged me, we stayed like that for a few moments
"So, you're pregnant too huh?" He asked and I looked at him confused
"Who else is pregnant?" I asked him
We stood both stood watch that night in silence when I finally spoke up, "How did you find out?" I asked him
"Oh um...she told Eric" He says and I continued looking forward then set my gun down
"I'll be right back" I tell him climbing down and walked over to the wall that had the names on it pouring water on Glenn's then started wiping as Aaron walked over and helped by doing the same to Nicholas's name
"When he gets back, it's worth mentioning that Aaron, Erin, works for a boy or a girl, depending on the spelling." He says and I give a small smile looking at Glenn's name, "Just saying"
Phoebe POV...
I sat on the couch on the living room staring off into space when my mom walked over sitting in front of me, "You ok? What did Denise say?" She asked and I sniffled shaking my head and she grabbed my hand
"She said everything's fine, nothings wrong." I told her and sighed, "I'm scared mom, not just because of the walkers outside but because...what if he doesn't come back?"
"You can't think like that sweetie. He'll be back, look how many times he came back to you." She says and I give a sad smile
"I hope you're right. I don't want to have to raise this baby without him, not after we worked so hard for it" I said and she pulled me into a hug.
"You won't, he'll be back, and that baby is going to be loved and protected." She says and I cried into her shoulder
"I love you mom"
"I love you too sweetie" She replied and then we just sat there in silence in the dark. He told me once before he always feels me and that's how he knew I was still alive after the prison. I can feel him too, I put my hand on my stomach, he will be back. I have to stay strong.