BLACK OUT DAYS | THE WALKING DEAD

Still

trigger warnings: self harm mentions

The others brought back medicine before the night ended. Nate got woken up by Maggie holding a syringe and the sight of it made him roll his eyes and groan loudly. He hated needles. Nevertheless, Nate got the treatment and it started to kick in within a few hours. He was finally allowed to leave cellblock D, however once he got outside, he gasped at the sight that was beyond the fence. The governor had finally crawled out of whatever hole he was hiding in and was standing with multiple people outside their home and were waiting for Rick to make an appearance.

"Get back!" Rick called out to him, but the boy didn't and simply glanced back at the other, and soon enough everyone was gathered around Nate and they took in what they were seeing. The governor was standing on top of an actual tank, one that had already blown through one of their guard towers right before Nate had walked outside.

"Rick, come down here." The man ordered. "We need to talk."

"It's not up to me!" Rick yelled back. "There's a council now, they run this place."

"Is Hershel on the council?" Nate widened his eyes and threw a concerned look back at Maggie and Beth as his people pulled their father from a truck. "What about Michonne?" She was pulled out too and they were both placed on their knees.

"I don't make decisions anymore!"

"You're making decisions today, Rick. Come down here, let's have that talk." Nate's heart started racing, he didn't think that he hated anyone as much as he hated the Governor. Rick looked back at Daryl once and the other man gave him a soft nod. He moved over to Carl and placed a comforting hand on the boy's neck.

"We can do this, all right?" He told him and then his gaze landed on Nate. "Remember back before, what I asked you to do?" Nate blinked once and then he nodded as he recalled Rick telling him to get Carl and Judith out of the prison. Rick hesitated, as if he wanted to tell him more but then he placed his hand on Nate's arm and squeezed it only once. Nate glanced over at Carl in concern but the boy paid no attention to him as they watched Rick walk out into the open field and Daryl closed the gate behind him. He started to hand out guns, making sure he wasn't too obvious as he did so, and Nate looked down at the gun hovering next to his waist. He grabbed it from Daryl, briefly checking to see how many bullets were in it before locking it back up. They got into positions, settling their guns through the holes in the fence and Nate was stuck with Maggie and Beth on his left side and Carl and Daryl on his right. The both of them were in distress as they helplessly watched the Governor threaten their father.

"We gotta do something." Carl muttered and Nate side-eyed him.

"Yeah, like what?" He hissed, hoping desperately that Carl wasn't going to jump the gun before Rick could even attempt to talk the governor down.

"They're just talking, we could kill him right now." the boy replied, tightening his grip on his gun.

"Don't be stupid." Nate murmured, sniffling a bit. He had forgotten that he was still sick in all the comotion.

"I could end this right now."

"Yeah, or you could start something else." Daryl said.

"You gotta trust him." They continued to watch as Rick and the governor talked and then Nate uncomfortably tilted his head as the man jumped down from the tank and was given Michonne's sword. Maggie and Beth started to sob as he held it closely to Hershel's neck and after Rick gave another one of his infamous speeches, Nate wasn't sure what he was saying to make the governor did what he did but they all watched in absolute horror as the man swung back Michonne's sword and sliced it through Hershel's neck.