84. judge, jury, executioner

MILO

     HE FOLLOWED GLENN INSIDE THE BASEMENT of one of the empty houses. Deanna had ordered it to be used as a makeshit prison after Rick had lost his mind and completely scared the shit out of everybody. Carol and Abraham were right behind him as they entered the room. Michonne was already there, seated on a chair next to the mattress that lay on the ground with Rick seated on it. Rosita had tried her best to patch him up. There were so many band-aids on his face that it was almost comical, almost...

'Where'd you get the gun?' Michonne questioned, her gaze focused on Rick.

Before he got a chance to answer though, Carol spoke up: 'You took it, right? From the armory? That was stupid. Why did you do it?'

He frowned slightly at the quick response of the woman, but wasn't given time to think about it because Rick sighed and nodded.

'Just in case,' the former cop said.

'Deanna's planning on having a meeting tonight,' Milo said, not entirely able to keep his concern about the idea out of his voice.

'To kick Rick out?' Abraham questioned.

'To try,' Carol scoffed at the same time Milo said: 'We don't know that.' And even though his words were true, he couldn't completely shake the lingering fear in the pit of his stomach. If she would truly try to kick him out, Milo wasn't sure what would happen. All he knew was that it would get ugly.

'Maggie's with Deanna right now,' Glenn added, 'she's gonna try and find out what it is.'

'At the meeting you say you were worried about someone being abused and no one was doing anything about it,' Carol said, her gaze focused on Rick. 'You say you took a gun just to be sure that Jessie was safe from a man who wound up attacking you. You say you'll do whatever you want them to. Just tell them a story that they want to hear. It's what I've been doing since I got here.'

He turned to look at her while he crossed his arms over his chest, confusion waving through him. It hadn't go unnoticed by him that Carol dressed in the most ridiculous clothes or that she was being friendly with the people of Alexandria but he hadn't thought any of that to be just a story she wanted to sell.

'Why?' Michonne asked, not seeming able to grasp it either.

'Because these people are children,' Carol replied. 'And children like stories.'

'What happens after all the nice words and they still wanna kick him out?' Abraham questioned.

'They're guarding the armory now,' Glenn weighed in.

'We still have knives,' Carol replied, 'that's all we'll need against these people.'

Her words were true but didn't make Milo feel any better. All he had tried to do since he got here was make peace with these people. He tried to bring their two groups together because if they wanted to survive, they had to work together, as a community. And now it just felt like it was all slipping through his fingers.

Rick sighed deeply and then spoke up. 'Well, tonight at the meeting, if it looks like it's going bad, I whistle. Carol grabs Deanna, I take Spencer.' He pointed at Michonne. 'You grab Reg, Glenn, Abraham and Milo cover us, watch the crowd.'

'We can talk to them,' Michonne protested, her voice stern while her usual deadly scowl was painted on her face.

'Yeah, we will,' Rick countered, clearly not intimidated by her. 'If we can't get through, we take the three of them and say we'll slit their throats.'

Milo felt himself tensing up at those words, flashes of his blood stained hands and bodies covering the church floor bounched through his head. The words he spoke next barely made it out of his throat: 'Like at Terminus?'

Rick turned his eyes towards him and his gaze softened a little bit. 'No, we'll just tell 'em. They give us the armory and it's over.'

Silence filled the room as everyone played out the scene in their heads, knowing that it wouldn't be as easy as Rick was describing it to them now.

'Did you want this?' Glenn finally questioned softly, his eyes looking infinitely sad for his friend, so hardened by the world.

'No,' Rick spoke firmly but it was getting harder for Milo to believe him with each passing hour. 'I hit my limit,' the man continued, 'I screwed up. And here we are.' He looked around and then shifted on the matress, laying down on his side. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm just gonna sleep some more.'

He shared a small glare with Glenn before following the rest of the group out the door. It was hard to find words but even harder to say nothing at all. He wanted this place to work, with every bone in his body he wished for it but finding it, after having to live without it for so long, turned out to be a lot harder than he could ever had imagined.

'I'm gonna find Maggie,' Glenn said to him, 'see how things went with Deanna.'

Nodding he walked after him. 'I'll go with you,' he replied. He couldn't sit around and do nothing for the next few hours.

As they walked down the street, both drowning in their own thoughts, he could feel the weight pressing down on his friend's heart. And so he came to a stop, raising his eyebrows at Glenn.

A small sigh left his lips. 'I just wish it didn't always have to be like this.'

He reached out and placed his hand on Glenn his shoulder, giving him a comforting squeeze. 'Me too.'

'What are you two talking about?' A familiar voice asked from their right, making both men turn to see Maggie standing next to them with a small smile on her face, though it wasn't enough to hide the worried gleam in her eyes.

'Nothing important,' Milo tried to reassure her. 'So, you met with her?'

Maggie nodded. 'Yeah.'

'So, what is it?' Glenn questioned.

'It's what we thought,' she sighed. 'I'm gonna talk to people. I'll talk to everyone I can right up until. I'm gonna try to solve this.'

'I'll help you,' Milo spoke firmly.

'Goodluck,' Glenn told them before turning around and making his way to the house.

Maggie and Milo started making their way down the street, both with a heavy heart and a head filled with worries. 'She's really going to make her decision based on the opinion of a frightened group of people who don't even have the whole story,' Maggie sighed, shaking her head. 'That's not leadership.'

He felt a small smile appear on his face. 'No, it's not and the fact that you know it, means you're on the way to do it right.'

She stopped in her tracks, frowning at him. 'What do you mean?'

Milo simply shrugged. 'Do you remember, back at the prison when Rick told us he send Carol away and you said you'd never be able to make a decision like that?'

She nodded, not seeming able to understand what he was getting at.

'I told you, you'd be able to do it,' he continued. 'I've followed you through the woods in search of your husband and I'm following your lead now by trying to help these people. You're becoming someone worth following.'

For a second she didn't reply, just looked at him and then finally she smiled. 'I'm not the only one.' Then she turned on her heels and headed towards one of the houses to speak with the people.

He stood frozen in the middle of the street, trying to gather his thoughts but then, suddenly, it landed. She was talking about him. She actually meant he was becoming someone worth following too. Slowly the words Quinn once spoke to him came floating back up from the depths of his mind. How he was bound to become a voice of reason for people. He never actually thought about it until now. Rick was their leader and Milo would never question his leadership skills but now that he seemed to have lost his way, maybe stepping up to help wasn't the worst thing.

Taking a deep breath he started his path down the street again. He had no idea if he was fit to lead, or if he would ever get a chance to find out. All he knew was that he was needed right now to make things right and so he'd make damn well sure he would. He would talk to everyone he could find, right up until.

And so he did.

Time passed by as he spoke to Tobin and Olivia. They were scared, that much was clear but they were also willing to listen. He spoke to Francine and Spencer and though they were a little harder to read, they too were willing to listen. And as the hours flew by Milo realised that maybe these people weren't as dumb as they believed them to be, they were just scared and looking for protection. All they had to do was explain the situation calmly and perhaps they could still bring this all to a good end.

But by the time the meeting came around, that thought was knocked out of his head when Rick didn't show up. Even after darkness had completely settled over the community and they lit a fire in the middle of the courtyard where they were gathered, there was no sign of Rick. But he wasn't the only one missing...

'We're going to start,' Deanna announced.

'Can we wait?' Maggie spoke almost immediately. 'There's still people coming. Glenn, Rick.'

'We're going to start,' the woman repeated. 'It's already dark. We're gonna 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 spoke up, not completely able to keep the annoyance out of her tone.

'I'm sure he'll be here,' Carol said and it took everything he had not to roll his eyes at her little innocent act. It was painfully obvious. 'And I'm sure we can work this all out.'

Deanna nodded at Michonne. 'Why don't you start?'

The woman took a deep breath and Milo could see her annoyance at the whole situation growing. 'After being out there,' she started, 'and then not being how you we 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, if you're lucky.'

Deanna's face was emotionless as she asked for the next person to stand and say their piece.

It was Carol who stood up first. '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. 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.' And with a ridiculiously sweet smile plastered on her face, she sat down again.

Before anyone else could speak up, it was Abraham who opened his mouth. 'Simply put, there is a vast ocean of shit that you people don't know shit about.' Milo barely managed to cover up his smile with a cough. 'Rick knows every fine grain of said shit,' the soldier continued, completely ignoring Milo. 'And then some.'

Deanna just stared at the soldier, as if he was talking chineses, which maybe to these people he was. But Milo understood him just fine and agreed with him wholeheartedly.

'My father respected Rick Grimes,' Maggie spoke up and at the mention of Hershel his heart ached painfully. 'Rick is a father, too. He's a man with a good heart who feels the things he does, the things 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.' She looked around the circle to get her point across. 'Rick started that. And you won't stop it. You can't. And you don't want to. This community, you people, that family, you want to be a part of it, too.'

Deanna took a deep breath and stepped forwards. 'Before we hear from anyone else, I, uh would like to share something in the spirit of transparency.'

His gaze went to Maggie, who returned his glare with the same worried frown. If she was going to share Gabriel's words now, that would be the most stupid and pointless thing to do, ever. She would only be creating more panic, only because she felt like she wasn't able to make this decision alone. But it was too late to try and stop her now...

'Father Gabriel came to see me the day before yesterday,' she started and he felt himself tensing up, earning a worried look from Abraham who was standing next to him. '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 hoped Gabriel would be here tonight.'

'I don't see him here, Deanna,' Milo spoke up, his tone sharp. 'You're just telling us now what someone supposedly said. He's not here.'

'Neither is Rick,' the woman replied and that was when his annoyance at the situation boiled over.

'So, then let's take a look at what Rick demonstrated yesterday, shall we?' He said, feeling all eyes turning to him. 'According to Father Gabriel we would put this community before ourselves. And what does Rick do the very next day? He risks his life to protect some he has only known a couple of days.' He could see Jesse look down to the ground but that did not take away the harsh tone in his voice. He wanted to work together with these people, he wanted to build a community but he refused to do so based on accusations against the man who saved their asses over and over. Rick was one of the few good people left in this world. 'Father Gabriel told you we were dangerous, you said? Well, he's right. We are. We have to be after everything we went through out there. Rick could've hurt a lot more people than Pete yesterday. He could've shot you all down in the blink of an eye. But the point is, he didn't.' Milo turned to look every one in th eye, to make sure he'd get his point across. 'He didn't because he wants to protect you. That is the kind of man Rick Grimes is. He protects people. And you want to throw him out because of that?'

He fell silent, let the words he just spoke sink in so that they'd finally understand but the silence was broken by approaching footsteps. Everyone turned to look at the gate where Rick appeared, his face, hands and shirt covered in blood and a walker slung over his shoulder.

Milo immediately reached for the axe on his belt, only to realise it wasn't there and he cursed softly under his breath. He noticed Abraham getting ready next to him as well, ready to jump into action if more walkers were to appear but none did.

Rick walked forwards and threw the walker down in the ground. The people of Alexandria jumped out of their chairs and stumbled backwards, some gasping in fear, others just completely silent.

'There wasn't a guard on the gate,' Rick spoke while trying to catch his breath. 'It was open.'

'I-I asked Gabriel to close it,' Spencer stammered.

'Go!' Deanna ordered her son, nodding into the direction of the entrance and with a nod of his head he ran away.

'I didn't bring it in,' Rick explained. '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.' He looked around the circle, his eyes landing on Deanna. '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. 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!' A voice at the gate of the little courtyard screamed. 'You're not one of us!'

Milo turned to see Pete standing there, holding Michonne's sword in his hand. He watched as Reg walked up to the man, telling him to stop and think about this but Pete pushed him away, rage twisting his face into that of a wild animal. Milo knew what was gonna happen before it did, was already walking forwards, a warning shout stuck in his throat but it was too late. Pete lashed out, the razer sharp metal of the blade slashing Reg his throat open. Red crimson blood poured out of the wound. A high pitched scream filled the air as Reg fell down on the ground, his sobbing wife holding him as his life slowly slipped away from him.

Milo and Abraham stormed forwards at the same time, forcing Pete down on the ground and taking the weapon away from him. Abraham placed his boot on the man his face while Milo held his hands firmly together. And all the while Pete screamed like a mad man and Deanna cried like a woman lost in pain, calling out Reg his name like that somehow would safe him.

'It's him!' Pete shouted again. 'This is him!'

His voice seemed to awaken something deep within Deanna as she turned to look at Rick, tears crawling down her cheeks. 'Do it,' she commanded ever so softly, but it was enough.

Rick pulled out a gun from behind his belt, turned around, pointed it at Pete and didn't hesitate to pull the trigger. The gunshot rang out through the community, shocking most of its residents to their very core. Milo let go of the now lifeless arms he had been holding and took a step back, his eyes focused on the two dead bodies on the ground while his brain tried to process what the hell just happened.

'Rick?' An unfamiliar voice spoke softly, breaking the shocked silence.

Milo turned to look at the gate, his breath hitching in his throat at the sight of his sister. She seemed unharmed but was taking in the scene before her with wide eyes. Daryl was standing next to her together with Aaron and a man he didn't know but who clearly knew them, for he was the one who had just spoken. Slowly Milo turned his eyes back to Rick, who looked like he'd just seen a ghost from past.

Which, judging by how the man was looking back at Rick, he might just have.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

So here it is, the final chapter of season 5! I can't believe how fast this book is going. It honestly feels like I've only been writing Collapsed for a few months when in truth it's been over a year now. I'm so very proud of how far I've come and I'm so proud of this story. I'm completely in love with Milo and Quinn and I have so much planned for the both of them.

Let me tell you that season 6 is going to be a very special season. Big things are going to happen! So, yeah, I'm excited! Be sure to keep your eyes open for the update next week and please leave some comments. They give me so much more motivation than just a few votes!

Love you guys,

xXx

UYM