Beauty and Her Beast (Daryl Dixon Fanfic)

64

The next day, I didn't wake up until afternoon. The stress from finding out Noah died, and the incident with Rick had tired me out. Not physically, but mentally. When I walked downstairs and saw Carl and Luke playing with Faith and Judith, I smiled. "Hey, you two, how's it going?"

Both boys looked up at me and smiled. Faith lit up when she saw me. "How'd you sleep?" Carl asked. "You slept right through Faiths crying."

I chuckled nervously. "Yeah, yesterday was...stressful."

Both boys nodded. "Yeah, we stayed in today. The people here have been looking at all of us strange." Luke told me as he stood up with Faith in his arms. "There's a meeting tonight." He handed her to me as she leaned towards me with her hands grabbing for me. "All the adults are going. You should, too."

I nodded, kissing his forehead. "Thanks for the heads up."

~*~

We all sat around the fire, anxiously awaiting Rick. Deanna looked impatient and Maggie was pacing. "We're going to start." Deanna announced.

"Can we wait?" Maggie asked. "There's still people coming. Glenn, Rick."

"We're going to start." Deanna continued. "It's already dark. We're going to talk about what happened. Not the fight. Not what precipitated it. We're dealing with that. We're going to talk about one of our constables, Rick Grimes. We're going to talk about how he had a pistol he stole from the armory, about how he pointed it at people. And we're going to talk about what he said. I was hoping he'd be here."

"She said he's coming." Michonne nodded beside me.

"He knows this is too important for him to miss. Rick is a good man. He has saved my life more times than I can count. Give him a chance to defend himself." I argued.

"I'm sure he'll be here." Carol spoke. "And I'm sure we can work this all out." She smiled.

"After being out there, and then not being how you were out there, it can drive you crazy. Rick just wants his family to live. He wants all of you to live. Who he is...is who you're gonna be..." Michonne looked at Deanna. "If you're lucky."

Carol stood, tugging her jacket tight around her body to keep warm. "Rick Grimes saved my life over and over. There's terrifying people out there and he rescued me from them. People like me, people like us need people like him." Carol looked at Deanna. "I know what happened last night was scary. And I'm sure he's sorry for that. But maybe we should listen to what he was saying." She smiled around at all of us, sitting back down.

"Simply put..." Abraham nodded around at the group. "There is a vast ocean of shit that you people don't know shit about. Rick knows every fine grain of said shit...and then some."

"My father respected Rick Grimes." Maggie spoke. "Rick is a father, too. He's a man with a good heart who feels the things he does, the thing he has to do. And all of us who were together before this place, no matter when we found each other, we're family now. Rick started that. And you won't stop it. You can't." Maggie shook her head at Deanna. "And you don't want to. This community, you people...that family...you want to be a part of it, too."

When Maggie finished, Deanna stepped forward. "Before we hear from anyone else, I...I would like to share something in the spirit of transparency. Father Gabriel came to see me the day before yesterday and he said our new arrivals can't be trusted, that they were dangerous, that they would put themselves before this community. And not one day later, Rick seemed to demonstrate all the things Father Gabriel said." I sighed and shook my head. After everything we did for him? Getting him out of that church, keeping him alive, getting him here. Deanna shrugged. "I had hoped Gabriel would be here tonight."

"I don't see him here, Deanna." Jessie spoke. "So you're just saying what someone said. Did you tape him?"

"He's not here." Maggie looked at Deanna.

"Neither is Rick." She countered.

"Excuse me." Maggie turned, leaving.

Tobin stood up. "I just want to keep my family safe. You know? And I don't even know what that means anymore, but if it means that we've got to get rid of-of..."

Our attention was all brought to the sound of footsteps. It was Rick, he was covered in blood and carrying a body over his shoulder. He grunted, throwing the body on the ground. It was a walker. People gasped, backing away. He was breathing heavily, looking around at all of us. "There wasn't a guard on the gate. It was open." He started angrily.

"I asked Gabriel to close it." Spencer told Deanna, who was looking at him in shock.

"Go."

Spencer rushed out. "I didn't bring it in. It got inside on its own. They always will-the dead and the living, because we're in here. And the ones out there...they'll hunt us. They'll find us. They'll try to use us. They'll try to kill us. But we'll kill them. We'll survive. I'll show you how. You know, I was thinking-I was thinking how many of you do I have to kill to save your lives? But I'm not gonna do that. You're gonna change." He turned to Deanna. "I'm not sorry for what I said last night. I'm sorry for not saying it sooner. You're not ready, but you have to be. Right now, you have to be. Luck runs out."

"You're not one of us." I looked up, my mouth falling open at the sight of Pete, wielding Michonnes sword. "You're not one of us!"

"Pete, you don't want to do this." Reggie stood in front of him with his hand held out.

"Get the hell away from me, Reg."

"Pete, just stop."

"Get away from me."

"Reg. Reg."

Reggie was trying to hold Pete back. "Get away!" Pete shoved Reggie, slitting his throat with the sword. It looked like a rage filled accident.

I put a hand over my mouth. Rick and Michonne tackled Pete to the ground. Deanna was screaming, holding her husband as he fell to the ground, choking on his own blood. "No, no! Oh, no, no!" I'd never heard someone cry like that before.

Abraham was holding Pete on the ground, pulling his arms so he couldn't get up. "This is him!"

"Shut up!"

"This is him!"

I had seen people bleed to death before, but this hurt to watch. I felt tears prick my eyes and my throat tighten. "Oh, my love! My love, my love." Deanna was sobbing, Reggie's choking finally ending after what seemed like forever. "No, my love."

Pete was still struggling against Abraham's strong grasp. "It's him. This is him!"

Deanna looked up at Rick with tear filled eyes, her whole body shaking. "Rick...do it."

Without hesitation, Rick turned to Pete, shooting him in the head. Bastard got what was coming to him if you ask me. "Rick?" We looked up from Pete's body to see Daryl and Aaron standing there with someone new, and from the look on his face, he knew Rick.