chapter 143
MARCIE WAS BROUGHT INTO ANOTHER ROOM AND FORCED TO SIT INTO A CHAIR,
The brunette sat across from her, "You got nice clothes, time to make babies. You're holed up somewhere good. Tell me where."
She smirked. Marcie had been in this position many times before. Tortured to the brink of death and she never let out a word.
"Don't draw this out, bitch. Just tell me where. Help yourself and your friends. The way you stay alive is you produce for us." She leaned forward, " You're not the good guys. You should know that."
"Are any of us anymore?"
They became silent and the woman looked down at her injured finger, which Marcie didn't notice before. Her pinky finger was chopped off recently, still bleeding slightly. As she was wrapping it back up, Marcie spoke,
"What happened?"
"I stole something. Got caught." She answered,
"What?"
"Gas, from this place."
"Why?" Now it seemed like Marcie was the one interrogating her,
"To get a new car. Look for my boyfriend's body."
Marcie knew in this world, there were no good guys bad guys anymore. Everyone thinks they are the good guys until they start killing moms and dads. Brothers and sisters. Children.
Marcie thought the same thing until she took her first life.
"Did you find him?" She asked her,
She shook her head, looking down at her injured hand, "He was blown up. Not much to find."
Marcie followed her gaze to the tattoo on her arm, "Frankie... was that his name?"
The woman shook her head and smiled, "Hell, no. I barely knew him. He was a dick. Frank was my dad. And that's what I was gonna name the baby."
Marcie's heart dropped at those words, "I'm sorry."
"No. You aren't."
"I am. And I know you think we're the bad guys, but this world is lacking in good guys now. We're all guilty of something, but I'm not planning to die today." Marcie explained,
"Yeah, me neither. Thing is, one of us is wrong. Just tell me where."
Marcie didn't answer and the woman sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere.
This woman in front of her wasn't much different from Maggie. She was going to do anything to find the father of her baby, and she got a finger chopped off for it.
But Marcie's group didn't kill teenagers. They didn't other communities to give them their stuff or they'd pick them off one by one. Her group are the good guys.
Or are they?
They killed those people at Hilltop and took their food in exchange for protection, isn't that the same thing the Saviors are doing?
They infiltrated Alexandria, manipulating and killing until they took control.
Maybe they weren't as good as they thought.
Meanwhile, back at the outpost, Vivian was leaning against the wall across from Primo, who was sat in a chair while everyone else questioned him.
Daryl was pacing, and Glenn seemed to be in papa bear mode. He was never the one to throw the punch first, especially not to someone who was tied up. But his pregnant wife was captured, and he'd do anything to get her back.
And it was the same for Daryl. Rick had to hold him back, keep him from killing the man so they could get answers.
"Man, he ain't gonna talk." Daryl growled, "Might as well just kill him. I'll find their damn tracks."
"Then go." Vivian spoke and the three men turned to look at her, "The rain stopped, there might be tracks. Go."
Daryl glanced over at Rick, who gave him a nod. The redneck grabbed his crossbow before heading out of the room. Vivian looked over at Primo, "Just because the scary one's gone doesn't mean you're safe."
Rick and Glenn continued questioning the man while Vivian left the room. Rosita and Gabriel were outside, guarding the building in case any other Saviors showed up.
"Daryl went out-"
"Towards the RV, I know." Vivian sighed, "He's gonna look for their tracks."
"He's not giving any answers?" Rosita asked her,
"Did we expect him to? The moment he talks, we kill him. He's buying himself time." Vivian sighed, crossing her arms over her chest.
"They're okay." Gabriel spoke up, "They will persevere."
"Is this where you give us some quote from the Bible about strength and faith?" Vivian raised an eyebrow and Rosita snickered.
The priest glanced down on his shoes, "I was, actually, yes."
"Well," Vivian patted him on the shoulder, "at least I saved you the time and effort." Before anyone could say anything else, Daryl came running towards the building, "You find anything?!" She called out to him,
"Yeah," He panted, "Tire tracks."
"Then let's go."
Back at the safe house, the door opened and Paula walked in, "Come on, they're almost here."
"What about her?" The woman asked, standing out of her chair,
The redhead glanced at the duct tape around her ankles and wrists, "She ain't going anywhere."
The two woman left and Marcie immediately began finding a way to get her hands freed. She began sawing away at a sharp corner on a post before the door opened again to reveal Carol and Maggie.
"Oh, my god. Are you okay?" Marcie asked them as they cut at the tape,
Maggie nodded, wrapping her arms around her friend once she was freed, "I have to be."
"They've spread out, but I think we can make it past them." Carol explained to them, "We have to try."
Maggie spoke up, "We can't leave them alive."
Marcie shook her head, her mind going to the woman and her baby, "No, no, we should just go." She just wanted to go back to her family.
Maggie turned to the older woman, "Carol, we have to finish this. We have to."
Marcie felt some panic rise up in her, "Mags, please, no more killing. Let it be over."
"If we let them live, they'll come back and kill us. All of us. We need to end it, Marcie." Maggie insisted.
"Okay." She whispered.
They made their way back to the room where they were held, knowing there was an easy target there. Marcie and Carol kept watch while Maggie approached Donnie on the floor, prepared to strangle him with her gag.
But as he laid still, a pool of blood gathered around his arm, "He was already dead." Maggie whispered, "He's turning."
"We should go." Carol stated,
Maggie stood and they walked towards the door, "Wait." The women paused, "We need a gun." Marcie stated before reaching for Donnie's belt, where his gun laid. She grabbed it before turning to the others girls,
"Why one gun when we can get two?" Maggie asked,
With that, they set up a trap. They stayed outside the room, around the corner, while waiting for the trap to trip.
Molly made her way to the door and opened it. Marcie cringed at the sound of the woman screaming before she called out Maggie's name. The pregnant woman walking in, quickly grabbing the gun on Molly's hip before bashing her head in.
Marcie stared at her while she kept hitting. It was so unlike the sweet farmer's daughter that she knew.
Maggie stood up and blew the hair from her face, "Let's go."
They walked through a maze that reminded them of the prison. They came across walkers that were stuck in place, keeping them from going further, "They're using them to keep us in, keep the others out." Carol stated,
They didn't have any other weapons other than the guns, and they couldn't waste the bullets.
"Come on. We have to find 'em." Before they could move, gunshots fired.
Marcie covered Maggie as Paula shot at them, eventually running out of bullets. Once Marcie knew she was out, she stood and used her own gun, "Just run."
"Shoot her." Maggie demanded,
"Go on, do it." Paula growled, "You've killed Donnie, you've killed Molly. Your people have destroyed my home."
Marcie hesitated, not knowing if what she was doing was right or wrong, "Get outta here." She begged her.
Don't make her do this.
"Marcie."
"You have no idea. The things I've done, what I've given up, what I had to do." Paula approached, holding a knife,
Marcie didn't want to make this choice.
"Marcie, shoot her."
"Go ahead. I've already lost everything." Paula stated before a gunshot rang out and she crumpled to the floor.
Marcie turned to see Carol holding the gun they got from Molly.
"Paula?" She turned at the sound of the last survivor. The one Marcie really didn't want to kill.
"You lying bitch!" She called out, lunging towards Maggie. The Rhee woman disarmed her but before she could reach for the gun, the woman used a knife to attack Maggie.
Marcie raised her gun, "I'm sorry." She mumbled before pulling the trigger, sending a bullet into the woman's head.
A laugh made them turn around, realising Paula was still alive. Carol raised her gun again, "I'll do it."
"You're good." Paula shuffled across the floor, trying not to aggravate her injury, "Nervous little bird. You were her. But not now, right?" She stood, "Me, too."
"You should've ran." Carol stated,
"If you could do all this, what were you so afraid of, Carol?" Paula asked, tears running down her face,
Carol approached her slowly, "I was afraid of this."
Paula turned away, ready for the final bullet. But when it didn't come, she swung at Carol. Marcie tried to get a clear aim, but she couldn't, not without risking Carol.
She jumped forward as the two wrestled, and pushed Paula off Carol. Paula ended up with her abdomen pierced on a pipe with one of the walkers, who quickly took a bite from her face.
Paula screamed in pain and Marcie couldn't listen.
So she wasted the bullet.
"Paula, we're approaching the perimeter. Are we a go?" The trio heard on the radio.
Carol grabbed it from Paula's body before looking at the other women, her lower lip trembling and tears in her eyes. Marcie knew she looked the same.
"Meet us on the kill floor." Carol spoke into the walkie, imitating the red head.
Maggie and Carol came up with the plan. Use the gas in the cans and lead the men into a trap.
And burn them alive.
Once the gas was poured, the trio moved into a room to hide, waiting for the rest of the Saviors. The tension was thick, and Marcie was afraid to speak.
But Carol wasn't.
"I think I might have killed 18 people. 20. I should've killed Donnie, too, in the woods. I had a clear shot. I didn't miss. None of this would've happened if I had just killed him." Carol whispered,
"Don't think about it." Marcie said, but she really wanted to say 'don't blame yourself'.
"I can't stop." Carol replied,
"We're almost done." Maggie stated coldly,
They heard footsteps and Maggie reached to close the door a little more to make sure they weren't caught,
"Careful. The floor's slick."
"You sure this is it?
"She said kill floor."
Carol lit a cigarette between her lips. Once all the men were inside, Maggie and Carol burst forward to shut the door and lock it, not before throwing the cigarette inside.
Flames ignited in the room and the men began to bang on the door. Marcie stepped back, the sounds of their screams beginning to echo in her head.
She tried to remind herself that they weren't the good guys. They've murdered and exploited so many people.
Smoke began to fill the building and they turned to leave. Maggie placed a hand on Marcie's back, trying to comfort her while leading her towards the exit.
Once they got to the walkers, Maggie let go of Marcie and went to go stab them so they could get out.
Marcie felt sick. She held in her nausea as they made it to another sliding door. They opened it to see a rifle pointed at their heads.
With their group behind them.
Glenn lunged forward to hug his wife while Daryl went to Marcie, "Hey, hey," He cupped her face, "You okay?"
The tears began to spill as she looked up into Daryl's blue eyes. She let out a sob and he quickly wrapped his arms around her.
While she cried into his chest, Daryl glanced over at Carol, "Hey, you good?"
Carol shook her head, "No. None of us are."
Gabriel, Vivian, and Rosita went further into the building, searching for any Saviors to finish the job. Rick walked in next, with Primo bound in front of him.
"They're dead. They're all dead, the ones that took us." Maggie told Glenn once they separated, "They're all dead."
"Hey, are you okay?" Glenn asked, glancing back at Marcie and Carol for a moment, noticing how upset they were,
"I just... I can't anymore."
"It's okay." Glenn whispered, embracing his wife again,
"Your friends are dead." Rick told Primo, "No one's comin' for ya. So you might as well talk."
Vivian walked back over, the smell of burning bodies preventing her from going any further into the building.
"Let him burn." Daryl commented, not releasing Marcie from his grip, her cries not quieting down.
"I'm gonna ask you one last time... how'd you get the bike?" Rick asked him,
"We found it."
"Like hell you did." Daryl growled,
"We found it." He insisted,
"Was Negan in that buildin' last night or was he here?" Rick questioned,
"Both." Primo turned to him, "I'm Negan, shithead. There's a whole world of fun that we can talk about, so let's have a chat."
Marcie's sobs quieted and she pulled back and turned to the two, wanting to hear more.
"I'm sorry it had to come to this." Rick stepped back before raising his Python.
He pressed the gun to Primo's forehead before pulling the trigger. Marcie flinched and let go of Daryl. They all watched as she walked out of the building and Daryl quickly followed, "Marcie..."
She paused by a tree and leaned over to puke the contents of her stomach.
Vivian came over and pulled her hair back, rubbing her back, "You're okay, now." She whispered, "They're dead."
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