'and don't go there cause you'll never return.' - the strokes

days have passed since carl and i arrived home. time has been passing quicker, i'm not sure if it's the anticipation of the fight or the fear of what comes after it that is invading my mind. rick and a few others had dropped off the guns carl and i found to jadis and the rest of the garbage people, locking them in for this deal. tara had spoken up about a group she encountered before coming home to us after her run a few weeks ago. they call themselves, oceanside. apparently, they are a group that was terrorized by the saviors prior to our arrival. simon had ordered every boy over 10 to be executed on the spot, with no exceptions. 

tara had told us that with the right kind of sweat talk, we could convince oceanside to stand beside us in the fight with the saviors and god knows we need the help. the RV runs roughly down the road as michonne drives with rick giving directions. the sound of daryl's motorcycle riding alongside us rumbles through the woods lining the street. "okay, we do this smart. we don't shoot to kill unless we have to. we just want their guns, not their lives." rick explains as we all get out of the RV. i grab a couple of of things before following the rest of the group through the woods. this part of the trees are really rough leaving fallen branches everywhere. carl holds my hand as we trail through the leaves. "do you ever think about who you've killed?" i ask carl as we keep back from the rest of the group.

"yeah." he answers helping me over a giant tree laying in our way. "thanks." i say jumping down. "are you ready if this goes south?" rick asks tara from up ahead. "it won't." she answers not looking back at him. "if it does, you don't need to feel bad." rick adds. "i do feel bad. i will." she adds walking a little quicker to distance herself from the group we are walking in. we reach a clearing in the trees and rick looks around for a minute. "here." he says pointing to a tree. "isa, once your up, watch for the signal." rick says. he needed a sniper off in the trees so carl and enid both volunteered me, assholes. carl and rick help me up into the high tree and rick hands me the big sniper gun. "got it. don't worry." i answer. rick gives me a nod before leading the rest of the group up the path watching out for people who may be lurking in the woods. "you good?" carl asks. "i'm good enough." i answer pulling myself up into the tree a little more.

enid hangs behind a bit, stopping next to my tree. "make sure he is okay." i say referring to carl. "i've got it. you hang there, don't fall out while i'm not here i'd like to watch that." she says with a smile and i shake my head. "yeah, okay." i answer and she walks off joining the rest of the group. i check that the sniper is loaded then i cock it, flinging a shell out. i line it up with my eye and find rick through the trees. i watch through the scope as they pull out some leftover dynamite and lay it in the leaves. tara gives rick a nod before he sends her back into the community to try to win them over peacefully. if she doesn't come out after 10 minutes we start lighting up the dynamite, not to kill anyone. just scare them into submission..it was daryl's idea.

minutes pass and we reach the 10-minute mark. i watch rick through the scope and they all lift up their guns shooting at the dynamite hidden in the leaves. leaves fly everywhere as it blows up throwing flames into the sky. smoke trickles through the woods and distant shouting catches my attention. i see two women running towards the arsenal so i shoot at their feet hoping to at least hit one. they jump around as they run for the door. daryl, aaron, and jesus come out from behind a bush ordering the two women to get on the ground. daryl looks up at me and waves his bandana signalling me to switch to the other side of the tree and find rick and the rest of the group. 

a crowd of women and children come running from the community. the group cuts them off in the forest ordering them down to the ground. i can hear distant speaking coming from different members of our group explaining to the women we only want their guns and if they are willing to fight. off to the side, i see an older woman holding a gun to tara's head. a younger girl stands next to her, possibly a few years older than carl and i. "isa, don't!" tara shouts as she looks at me through the branches lining my gun up with the old lady. the woman pulls tara around aggressively as she shouts at rick and at her people. 

movement catches my eye so i move the scope over to see a walker waddling through the woods. "rick! walkers!" i shout and the younger girl punches the older lady across the face as everyone pulls out their guns. more and more walkers emerge from the trees. rick orders everyone up as the group cuts the two women from the arsenal loose. "dead only!" i hear someone yell. i shoot some walkers down as they get too close to the group keeping carl at the bottom of my scope so i can still see him. the walkers groan and growl as barnacles and seaweed hanging from them. 

i shoot one through the head and water splashes out of its head. gunfire rings throughout the woods and after a few minutes, the walkers stop coming. bodies surround the group. they lay at their feet and cover the leafy ground. after taking a second to breathe, rick turns around and shakes hands with one of the women that daryl caught running to the guns. the older woman shakes her head and says something as she turns away. "no, we're not fighting them with you. so take your damn guns and go." she shouts as she walks away leaving her people out here with us.

the group ends up taking the women back into the camp and right as i jump down out of the tree carl walks up. "we got their guns but they won't fight with us." he says disappointed. "i figured by how tara explained that leader." i answer walking up to him. "natania, yeah she's a piece of work. her own grandaughter struck her across the face, cyndie. i hoped you saw." he says chuckling. "oh yeah, i wouldn't want to be her. natania didn't even look at her after." i add. "yeah. my dad has us loading up guns so i figured that was a calm thing for you to do." he says. "i'm not gonna break, carl. i can still do everything i did before this." i snap, referring to the kid. 

"yeah, sorry." he replies. "you know what we should do when we get back?" i ask feeling bad for being so bitchy. "hmm?" he interjects. "steal one of the movies from inventory and some popcorn." i answer. "i think we have some popcorn left from last movie night, but i'm not watching american psycho for the 8th time, isa." he says and i laugh. "that's the only good one unless you wanna watch shrek." i reply. "don't hate on shrek." he jokes. we walk up the stone path to the main part of the community. sand coats the ground and the smell of fish lingers through the air. women sit glaring at us from every angle. 

i pick one end of a box as carl picks up the other. "you asked earlier if i think about the people i've killed. it's not just the ones i killed, it's the ones i didn't kill too." he says as he sits his end on the box in the back of one of our trucks. i lift mine up into it and sigh sharply. "sometimes i feel this feeling of just awful guilt when i think about it too hard. like, how many fathers and mothers i've killed, or sisters and brothers, or someone's kid. it hurts to think about." i explain. "i get it but you've killed because you had too not because you wanted too. those people made a decision and it got them killed, they knew what they signed up for." he answers and i nod. 

"i guess." i reply. "carl, isa!" daryl shouts waving us over to the RV. the last of the guns get put in the trucks and cars and michonne starts up the RV. as we drive off i see the women of oceanside's faces. they look sad. i'd be sad too if someone came and killed half of my family. 

⋇⋆✦⋆⋇

we pull into the gates and the dark sky around us sparkles with stars. "so it's either american psycho, gladiator, or shrek." i say trying to remember the movies off the top of my head. "we haven't seen gladitor yet, have we?" he asks. "not sure. i don't think so. we have seen mean girls though.." i say joking with him. "judith wanted to watch it." he says shyly. i chuckle and get up following him out of the RV. i lock eyes with rosita who stands there at the gate with a heavy look on her face. "somethings wrong." i say recalling she and sasha had snuck out to go find negan themselves. of course, i couldn't have stopped her i did the same thing.

i run out and rush up to her. "are you okay? where's sasha?" i ask. "there's someone here." she answers very monotone and my heart starts to race. did their plan go wrong? is sasha dead? is negan here? all those things jump through my brain and rosita leads us to the cells. she swings open the door and a familiar man sits on the ground. dwight stands up and daryl tries to run up to him but rick and scott hold him back. "he says he wants to help us." rosita explains. daryl stares daggers into dwight's eyes and i'm just glad that negan hasn't killed anyone else.

"is that true? you want to help?" rick asks dwight as he holds daryl still. "i do." he answers. rick tilts his head and looks him up and down. "okay.. get on your knees." rick says pulling his gun out and pointing it up at dwight's head. 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.