Red ~ TWD (Daryl Dixon)

Old Habits Die Hard

Everyone was crammed in the church listening to the Rick explain the deal we'd struck with Hilltop.  He did his best to put a positive spin on it, but when you were staring down the barrel of a war, one we might not win, fresh vegetables and eggs hardly seemed worth it. 

His position was that confrontation was inevitable because eventually The Saviors would be knocking on our door .  He wasn't lying, but them knocking on our door was a far cry from taking the fight to them.  Merle shifted beside me, taking Francine's hand.  She was scared, and rightfully so. 

"This needs to be a group decision.  If anyone objects...now's your chance to say your peace," Rick said, opening up the floor. 

Everyone looked around, the same skeptical expressions on their faces, but no one was brave enough to voice opposition.  That was, until Mr. Miyagi stood, which didn't surprise me.  He wasn't scared to be the lone dissenting opinion, and he wasn't scared of Rick.  Not many people could say the same.

"You're sure we can do it?  We can beat them?"

"What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become, all of us...yes, I'm sure."

I fought to keep my face expressionless.  It wasn't that I necessarily disagreed with Rick, but assuring victory, especially against a largely unknown enemy, was unwise.  The risks of this decision couldn't be understated.  He was making it sound like our victory was a forgone conclusion, and that confidence made me squirm.  There was confident and then there was cocky.  We were leaning towards the latter.   

"Then all we have to do is just tell them that," he countered.

Rick shifted his feet.  "Well, they don't compromise."

"This isn't a compromise.  It's a choice you give them.  It's a way out, for them, and for us."

Daryl glanced at me out of the corner of my eye, and I bit my lip.  I respected his point of view, but it would never work.  Not this time.  Not with men like this.  Sometimes if you wanted peace you had to go to war. 

"We try and talk to The Saviors, we give up our advantage, our safety."  Rick shook his head, dismissing the idea.  "No, we have to come for them before they come for us.  We can't leave them alive."

"Where there's life, there's possibility."

I tried, I really did, but I couldn't stop my eyes from rolling so hard I pulled a muscle.

"Of them hitting us," Rick countered, the two friends locked in a standoff.

"Hey, we're not trapped in this."  Mr. Miyagi turned his attention away from Rick, looking for an ally in the church.  "None of you are trapped in this."

"Morgan...they always come back."

"They come back when they're dead too." 

Put one on the scoreboard for Mr. Miyagi.

"Yeah, we'll stop them.  We have before."

Daryl's squeezed my hand, uncomfortable with the mounting tension.  I rubbed my thumb on the back of his hand, trying to soothe him, but his eyes stayed locked on the pew in front of us as he bit his thumbnail.

"I'm not talking about the walkers," Mr. Miyagi said in a firm voice.

"Morgan wants to talk to them first.  I think that would be a mistake, but it's not up to me.  I'll talk to the people still at home.  I'll discuss it with the people on guard now too, but who else wants to approach The Saviors, talk to them first?"

Aaron stood, addressing the group.  "What happened here, we won't let that happen again.  I won't."

One thwarted attack under his belt and suddenly he was G.I. Joe.  It was worth bearing in mind the majority of the fighters in this town came from our original group.  It wouldn't be Eric and Goggles attacking The Saviors.  It would be me, Daryl, Merle, Rick, Deadpool, and the list went on.