The Trotting Dead

by ZombieBrony22

Chapter 21: A New Dawn

RICK'S P.O.V

We had a meeting later today with what to do with the Dazzlings.

"They could have potential. Maybe we can use them for knowledge." Dale said.

"We could put them to work, see what they can do." Lee said.

"We can't do this. They saved your daughter, Rick. Let's give them a chance." Hershel said.

"With all due respect, Hershel, you don't know these girls, I do. They'll try to get our guard down, try to get on our soft sides, then they'll stab you in the back." Dewy said.

"And how do you know them? Sonata's different." Norman said.

"And Aria? She and Adagio were the ones leading me from city to city for months."

"Well, I for one don't have a soft side anymore. If they try anythang, I will kill them." I said.

"What, like Shane?" Dewy asked me.

"How do you know that?"

"Carl told me. Like I said, we've been watching you. We found you near Terminus writing the sign. We followed, but far behind. We didn't know yet. Then we heard of Beth and we decided to look for her for you. We found her at the hospital and we watched from there. We then saw as you and your people tried to negotiate. We stopped when we saw Beth dead..."

"You've been watching us this whole time?" I asked him.

"Yes. Your group interested us, Rick. Keeping your humanity while others lose it." Dewy said.

"Yes. It took us a lot of work to survive." Hershel said.

"But also your people are experienced fighters. Rick, you were a cop, Daryl, you were a hunter, Glenn, you know who is right, Maggie, you too, Tara, you were in the police academy, Sasha, you were a firefighter and now a sniper, and Carl has potential to be a great survivor. If Aria tried anything you could surely--" Norman said.

"As much as I agree, we don't know what they could do. They're too unpredictable. Too dangerous." Gabriel said.

"And Sonata? Rick, she saved Judith's life! Who else could've?"

"Me." I said.

"No, Rick, you were inside that herd, you couldn't save her. I couldn't, Carl couldn't, he was SHOT! That only leaves them, who managed to bring Judith to the hospital. Think about that, Rick."

"We can't keep them here." Twilight said.

"I'm sorry, but why are we listening to someone who stocked up piles of Walkers and murdered people left and right?" Norman asked boldly.

"Excuse me?! At least I wasn't being treated like a slave and allowing it!"

"Alright, that's enough." I said trying to calm them down.

"No. Is there something you wanna say to me, Twilight?" Norman asked.

"Both of you, stop it! If I'm the most mature one in the room, there's a problem." Dewy said.

"How about this, Dewy? How about you try to leave when it's stuck in your head like a drug?!" Norman exclaimed.

"ENOUGH!" Sunset screamed.

The room was suddenly silenced.

"How am I seeing this while you all are clueless? She wants this. She's breaking us as we speak, using our negative power to make herself stronger."

"She's right. The more we fight like this, the more powerful she becomes. We need to work together. Now more than ever." Dewy said.

"Dewy, I'm sorry, but we can't. Not after the Battle, not after the Hunt. Not after..." I said.

"Rick, I respect your decisions, and your leadership, but this isn't us. We need to protect these people. Otherwise, who are we?" Hershel asked.

"...He's right. If we do this, we're saying that we're no worse than them. No worse that her." Dewy said.

"Well, we're split. Dale, Maggie, Norman, Dewy, Lee, Sunset, and Hershel vs Twilight, me, Gabriel, Carlos, Paul, and Sasha. Carl has the final choice." I said.

"Rick, we don't know if he's ever gonna wake up." Twilight said.

"Your doctor said he was stable, he might be up in a few days, if not by tomorrow." I said to her.

"It's settled. We wait for Carl." Twilight said.

CARL'S P.O.V

Waking up was a blur, like last time. But when I woke up, I saw my dad and Applejack with Judith.

"Hey, bud." Rick said.

"How long..." I tried to ask.

"A week. Listen, we have a debate. Half of us want to kill the Dazzlings, me included. But half wants to spare them. You have the final call." Dad said to me.

I had to think about this. I was told they were a threat, that they were 'Sirens'. But they saved Judith, and they protected the hospital.

"Dad... You're wrong. We should have them stay... They saved her..." I said fading out.

"Just rest. I'll tell the others. Come on, AJ. You too." Rick said.

"Alright, Ah'll be right there." AJ said.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothin'. Aahh just forgot mah hat. You know what that's like, right?" She asked chuckling awkwardly.

'What was that?' I thought to myself.

She walked out and I closed my eyes.

RICK'S P.O.V

"Well?" Dewy asked.

"He said we spare them, see if we can live together. I trust them..." I said to them.

"He's right." Morgan said walking in.

"Morgan?" Dewy asked.

"I'm a killer, Rick, and you are too. But we can't do this. We need to spare 'em. We can welcome 'em here. All of 'em." Morgan said.

"You're right. We need to spare them." Norman said.

"As much as I hate Aria, I think we can live together..." Dewy said in disgust.

"What Dewy says goes with us. We shall spare them." Ezekiel said.

"It's settled then." Twilight said.

She then walked out the door I came in.

"You killed us all." She whispered to my ear.

Author's Note:

NEXT TIME ON THE TROTTING DEAD: "How many more of us have to die before we do somethin'?" Rick asked to us.

"We're done hiding. If you want us to fight, so be it." Dewy said to him.

2021: Oop, some tension between Rick and Twilight that more than likely went nowhere. Man, the things I wish I did with this are insane. Also, hey, I got Carl's decision to let the villain live pretty accurately, shame that it ended so differently-- wait... why did I have Applejack having feelings for Carl? Wouldn't have Clementine and Carl made a bit more sense?