Trigger Happy

"Not to state the obvious here, but we're in a shit hole right now. How is putting up some panels going to help us?" Mark said as he and Linc helped me prop up skids along the fence line for cover. Once the situation cooled down between Glenn and Herschel we got to work as best we could. There wasn't much of a plan put together yet, but we started with building some areas of cover around the prison.

"Believe it or not we've been through worse and have always made it out the other side, this is a start," I responded, dropping another skid and sliding it against the one next to it.

"I'm not trying to be rude. I just can't see how you made it this far with Rick. Has he always been in charge?" Mark questioned further. I could tell he wasn't coming from a place where he was attempting to undermine Rick, he just didn't know him as I did.

"He got us all out of Woodbury, didn't he? Others had tried to lead us, but yeah, Rick has always been the one to step up for us," I explained. "At one point or another he's probably saved each of our lives, same goes for Daryl…" I trailed off, thinking about all the instances that I probably wouldn't still be here if it weren't for him. Back at the CDC when I nearly stayed behind, at the farm when Randall just about killed me, and in Woodbury where he covered all of our asses to get out. "If you stick around long enough, he'd do the same for you too."

"It's hard to imagine anyone doing that these days," Lincoln said as he carried over another skid.

"Well, you two have had each other's backs for this long, no?" I stated. "It's few and far between, but when you find your people, you'd do anything for them."

"When the hell did you become so grown up," Lincoln chuckled.

I smirked, "In this world, you're kind of forced to be," I said light-heartedly. I was then caught off guard by Glenn walking across the courtyard dressed in the guard uniform gear, approaching one of our cars. "Just give me a second," I said before jogging down the steps of the gated walkway and down to the lower level to catch up to him. "Glenn! Glenn!" I called after him. He didn't turn around until he could hear it in my voice that I was irritated with him. He rolled his eyes and walked back to me. "You're not going back to Woodbury are you?" I asked, concerned that he was still acting out of rage.

"No. I'm just going out there," he responded, not fully making eye contact with me.

"I'll go with you then," I instantly offered. I did not want him going out there alone like this.

"I got it," he snapped, turning away from me.

"By yourself? Glenn, how could you possibly think that's a good idea?"

"I can't just sit on my hands."

"We went on a simple formula run, we got the crap beat out of us and Maggie was attacked," I said, trying to remind him of what happened the last time we left these walls.

"You're saying this is my fault? I did what I could!" He shouted.

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

"How can you be so calm about this? Scar, you were there. Don't you want some sort of revenge on the guy that did that to you for no reason at all!" He got in my face, pointing to my scar. "You act like everything is fine like nothing that happens gets to you, I don't know how you do it? How-- how you could be so… fine." He now lowered his voice, coming down from his outburst, like he envied me and the way I handled things.

Although I was good at not projecting my feelings, he had no idea the thoughts I kept bottled up in my head. I was beginning to grow tired of his outburst on everyone, this wasn't like Glenn in the slightest. He was always the one to be calm and collected, it was like all of the feelings were bubbling up at once.

"You don't think I want to see that man dead? Like I could care less if he waltzed through our gates for round two right now?" I asked, I was the one getting everything out in the open now. "I'm just smart enough to know that all this rage is gonna get you killed. Daryl, Lincoln, and you are what I cherish most in this life now. I already lost Daryl, I refuse to lose you too," I confessed, he finally looked at me.

"Yeah, well, with Daryl gone and Rick wandering crazy town. I'm the next in charge," he said. I watched as he walked away from me, getting in the car and driving off. Carl opened the gate for him and he was gone.

I sighed giving up, retreating to Linc and Mark. Everyone was outside now, enjoyed the day as best they could. I walked up to Carol and Axel, mid-conversation as Heschel hobbled past us.

"Where are you going?" Carol asked him as he continued on his mission.

"Going to talk to Rick," he called back, exiting out into the field. All-day Rick had been wandering just outside of the prison fences, no one was quite sure what he had been doing.

"Stress getting your man Rick?" Axel asked, his heavy Georgian accent making it hard to understand him.

"Can you blame him?" Carol responded.

"Not at all. In here I've seen plenty of dudes crack," Axel stated as we all stared beyond the fences at Rick. He was walking along one of the bridges over the small stream like he was looking for something. "Not me though, I got on better on the inside."

"How's that?" I asked, looking over at him. My eyes fixated on the small tattoo of a pair of dice on his neck, just below his patchy blond beard.

"Things made more sense on the inside, you know? There were rules. Life was more simple," he explained.

"Didn't you miss your brother?" Carol asked. It was news to me to find out that he had one.

"My brother?" He laughed. "Hell, no. He had a real money problem."

"What kind of problem?" Carol questioned.

"He didn't lend me any," Axel said, bursting out laughing. I snickered, watching as he nudged Carol's arm to get a laugh out of her.

As I watched him, within a blink of an eye a bullet pierced through the left side of his temple. The roaring sound of a rifle going off as it whizzed right over my head and into his. I dropped to the ground as Carol caught his falling body, the blood splatter covering her face as she stood on the other side.

I crawled across the pavement to hide behind a skid leant against one of the prison walls. "Carol!" I screamed over the chorus of gunfire being shot at us. The Governor was here. She rolled Axel's body up against hers, using it for a shield as multiple bullet wounds entered his back, his shirt exploding open and the blood splattering out from the force of each bullet.

The wood off of the skid I hid behind began to fly off in pieces, as a man up in one of our guard towers now aimed for me. I pulled the machine gun from behind my back, holding it against my chest as I tried to keep myself from panicking. As soon as the gunfire ceased from him reloading, I peered my head out the side and fired back at him. I was in shock, holding down the trigger and rapid firing in his direction. He ducked for cover, I didn't hit him.

The gunfire stopped for a moment, I could see from afar the Governor standing outside the fences by a jeep shooting into the air for fun. Like he was trying to show up just how much ammo he had against us.

"Scar, here!" Maggie shouted as she ran out from the prison holding all of our extra guns. I made a run for it towards her, the man in the tower shooting at my feet as I dived behind one of the walls.

I took another gun from her, "We have to cover Carol," I said, panting from the sprint.

Maggie leaned around the wall, "Carol go!" She screamed as she shot at the man up in the tower. Carol ran for cover with Beth and Carl who were just up ahead behind another wall.

The gunfire didn't cease from the Governor's men until we heard the engine of a car roll up to our gates. I peered around the corner, watching as a hefty delivery truck drove straight through the two front gates, ripping the fence square out of the ground. It came to a stop in the middle of our field, slamming on the breaks. Herschel was in that field, laying in the tall grass for shelter.

It sat there for about a minute before the tailgate of the van slammed down on the ground. I studied it unsure of what was about to happen. My heart skipped when I saw the first walker stumble down the tailgate followed by an entire herd being released into our field. Their gurgles and groans carried over the field, the number of them unleashed filling the domain. They were headed straight for where Herschel had been hidden.

The men then picked up their fire again, ensuring that we stayed put as the walkers roamed and they left the premises. All that rage that Glenn was projecting was beginning to overwhelm me now as well. I stepped out from behind the wall, focusing my aim on the man that began to retreat from the tower. With one bullet I shot him down. One of them was not going to leave here alive.