C H A P T E R  2 5

❛ mad man❜

MILO

     HE TURNED TO WALK AWAY FROM QUINN'S CELL, burying the thousands of questions he still had for her. He couldn't do much else than put them away in the back of his mind and ask them when they managed to get a moment of peace. Right now she had to rest.

Walking towards Axel he reached out to put his hand on the man's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. Losing Oscar had been hard on him. The entire way back from Woodbury he'd dreaded bringing him the news and eventually it'd been even worse than for all the scenarios he'd prepared for.

Axel had known Oscar far longer than he had. He'd protected Axel in prison, taking him under his wing and taught him how to survive. And then the two of them had done the same when Milo was put on kitchen duty with them. But now the friendly inmate was gone, leaving a hole that could never be filled. Just when Milo started to believe they might actually be able to live in this new world, it took another life to prove him wrong. He was starting to wonder how many more lives it would take before he'd finally learned his lessons. The thought alone made him sick.

Carol walked towards the two men, startling Milo out of his thoughts. She gave the both of them a small smile, a wordless way of saying she was sorry for their loss.

'Whenever Tomas went off,' Axel started, 'Oscar always stood up for me, you know? He was my friend.'

Milo turned to look at Rick who approached the three of them. 'He went out fighting,' the cop said, as if that would make his death more meaningful somehow.

'So, what now?' Beth asked, holding Judith in her arms as she walked up to them. 'Do you think the Governor will retaliate?'

'Yes,' Maggie her voice echoed through the cell block.

'Let 'em try,' Glenn said, his voice numb.

'Sounds like he's got a whole town,' Carol added, looking at Rick, 'we're outnumbered and outgunned.'

'We could use some reinforcements,' Hershel spoke up, looking at Rick as well.

Milo knew he was talking about the strangers in the room next to them. They had been here when the group had gotten back. Carl said he saved them from walkers in the tombs. Rick had ignored them so far but now he really wouldn't be able to anymore.

Rick knew that as he slowly nodded, looking back at Hershel before walking to the gate and opening it.

They all walked in after him, watching from the sidelines as Rick walked up to the group of four, standing face to face with one of them. A tall, brown man wearing a blue beanie, his face covered with a beard.

'I'm Tyreese,' he said, holding out his hand.

Rick, however, completely ignored the gesture, making the man drop it again.

'Sasha,' Hershel said, introducing them instead, as he pointed at the people when saying their names. 'Allen, Ben.'

Sasha was brown as well, her hair curly and her shirt barely hanging around her skinny arms.
Allen was a white man, a beard covering his chin and his blue eyes narrowing at them supiciously. Ben was just a kid, standing a bit behind the others with a cautious but scared look on his face.

'How'd you get in?' Rick asked, moving around restlessly.

'Fire damage took down a wall at the back of the prison,' Tyreese explained.

'That side is completely overrun with walkers,' Rick said, 'how'd you get this far?'

'We didn't,' Tyreese replied, 'lost our friend Donna.'

'They were lost in the tombs,' Carl added, his voice sounding small in comparison to the heavy voices of the men.

'And you brought them here?' Rick asked, raising his voice as he turned to look at his son.

'He had no choice,' Hershel defended the kid's decision.

Rick nodded, slowly turning back to look at Tyreese. 'I'm sorry about your friend. We know what that's like.'

'Hershel said you could use some extra hands,' Tyreese spoke up again. 'We're no stranger to hard work. We'll go out and get our own food, stay outta your hair. You got a problem with another group we'll help with that too. Anything to contribute.'

Silence filled the cell block as Rick seemed to consider the man his words. Milo had no idea what was going on inside the man's head. He was always surprised by the choices Rick made and he figured it would take him a while before understanding the complicated mind of the cop.

'No,' Rick's voice broke the silence.

'Please,' Sasha begged, 'it's like Ten Little Indians out there. It's just us now.'

'No,' Rick said again.

'Let's talk about this,' Hershel tried to reason with Rick, 'we can't just-' 'We've been through this,' Rick interrupted the man. 'With Tomas, Andrew, look what happened.'

'Axel, Oscar and Milo weren't like them,' Carol carefully added.

'And where's Oscar now, huh,' Rick raised his voice, making an uneasy silence fill the cell block.

Milo shared a glare with Axel, clearly seeing the hurt on his friends face, but Rick did have a point. No matter how much Milo disagreed with him, he had a point. They needed the muscle for when the Governor would show up, they needed people to stay alive but trusting people was hard these days, almost impossible. And with the things that had happened to this group, it wasn't strange that Rick reacted this way.

'I can't be responsible,' Rick said.

'You turn us out, you are responsible,' Tyreese softly said, trying to reach the man.

The two stared at each other, trying to read each other, discover flaws and things worth not trusting. But Milo knew just as well as the rest of the group that these people were trustworthy.

'Rick,' Hershel broke the silence and gestured for the man to come over. 'You've done so much for us,' he mumbled, but still loud enough for them all to hear. 'I appreciate that. We all do. We owe you our lives. We've done everything you asked without question and I'm telling you, you're wrong on this.'

He let a silence fall, looking at their leader with that wisdom he held in his eyes. 'You've got to start giving people a chance.'

Rick let out a shaky breath as his eyes scanned the faces of the people in the room. Milo knew he was thinking about Hershel his words, that he was looking at them to find strength to make the right decision. And it was a tough decision because if these people turned out to be trouble, they had a problem. But if these people turned out to be good people, and he would send them away, he would've killed them.

Being a leader meant making the hard decisions and staying true to them, even when they turned out to be the wrong decision. Only it was dangerous to think like that with what the world had become. A wrong choice could mean they died and there was no going back from that.

Rick let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose before smiling and putting his hand on Hershel his shoulder.

The old man his speech had worked, he had convinced their hard headed leader.

Milo, however, felt himself frowning when he noticed Rick's eyes trailing to the balcony above their heads, the smile fading from his features as he did. The former inmate found himself looking up as well, only to see the balcony was completely empty. He eyes trailed back to Rick who had put his head in his hands as he kept on mumbling.

'No, no, no, no, no.'

Somehow the situation reminded him of his reaction when Lori had died. When Rick had fallen on his knees, his eyes unfocused while he mumbled words Milo couldn't make out. But he didn't understand what could cause the man to behave like that again.

'Why are you here?' Rick suddenly asked, walking towards the balcony and staring up at it before shaking his head and looking away again. 'What do you want from me?'

'Dad?' Carl questioned.

'Why are you - no,' Rick kept on shaking his head, moving around while not seeming able to look at the balcony.

Milo uncrossed his arms from his chest, his heart beating like crazy as he watched the man unravel before him. Whatever was going on with their leader, he was clearly losing it.

'I can't help you! Get out!' Rick suddenly screamed, turning around and storming towards Tyreese before turning around swiftly and looking back at the empty balcony. 'Get out!' He screamed again.

'Woah, woah,' Glenn said while stepping forwards to try and calm his friend but nothing seemed to reach Rick as he kept on mumbling and moving around.

'Hey easy, Rick, there's no need-' Maggie started but jumped backwards, startled, when Rick suddenly screamed. 'You don't belong here! Get out!'

The whole room seemed to explode at once when Rick pulled his gun and pointed it at the balcony. 'Get out!' He kept on screaming.

'We're leaving man,' Tyreese said, holding up his hands while the rest of his group started packing their stuff in a hurry. 'There's no need for anyone to get shot.'

'Why are you here! Get out!' Rick screamed once again, walking around, his finger on the trigger his eyes never staying in one place as he walked up and down the room.

'Just go, alright, go,' Glenn said, gesturing for the group to leave.

They packed the small amount of stuff they had before hurrying towards the door. Milo felt his frustration of Rick's decision tugging at his heart as he watched the group make their way outside. Glenn quickly closed the door behind them.

Silence lingered in the cell block after they left. Rick had finally stopped walking around but seemed close to crying.

Milo took a deep breath, wondering if the man had lost his sanity completely.