As they all stepped out onto Jessie's front porch, Rick felt overwhelmed by the sheer number of walkers in front of them. They covered the porch, milled about shoulder-to-shoulder in the front yard, and lumbered up and down the street. It would be difficult even to find room to squeeze between them to make their slow and careful getaway. Wordlessly, they all joined hands with one another, the only way they could hope to stay together in this macabre crowd. Rick took the lead, followed by Carl wearing Judith under his poncho. Michonne took the back. Rick didn't like having her so far away, but it made sense for the two strongest fighters to be in position to protect the group both fore and aft. The others silently fell in line between them: Jessie, her sons, and Father Gabriel.
Imitating the slow, halting movements of the walkers, Rick picked his way through the crowd. He kept his head down and avoided making eye contact or any other sign of life and intelligence, and he prayed the others were doing the same. He knew he could count on his own family to keep up the charade, but what about the others? The few hurried instructions he had been able to give may not have been enough. He had no choice but to hope their instincts for survival would keep them from doing anything foolish.
They were halfway across Jessie's front yard when that hope was dashed to pieces. "Mom?" Sam's timid voice sounded from behind him. "Mom?"
Jessie hissed out of the corner of her mouth, "Quiet. Now."
"Mom, I have to go to the bathroom," Sam whined, his voice getting louder.
"No. Quiet," she whispered the command again. A walker with one eye missing and part of its jaw torn away swiveled in their direction. It began sniffing each of them as they walked by. Another — a teenage girl in its past life, judging by its height and the ragged remains of its clothes — shambled directly towards them.
"I can't hold it — oh, no," Sam moaned. "I just went in my pants."
Rick inwardly cursed the boy's fear and inexperience. He was just like all of the other Alexandrians: completely helpless in the face of the threat outside his own front door. His parents had been unprepared, and they had allowed their children to remain blissfully unaware of the state of the world outside the walls. Now, Rick thought bitterly, we're all going to pay the price for it.
The sound of talking combined with the smell of fresh urine brought the surrounding walkers down on them. Rick and Carl let go their clasped hands and grabbed their weapons. Michonne's sword was already whistling through the air, cutting down a dozen of the dead around them within seconds. Father Gabriel and Ron both slashed here and there with their knives, and Carl hacked away at the walkers with his machete. Rick buried his axe into the skull of one and pulled it clean through, only to repeat the action again and again until his arms ached. Jessie and Sam dodged the attacking undead as best they could, for Sam was unarmed and Jessie only had her gun. She pulled it out of her belt, but her hands were so slick with gore and sweat that she dropped it on the grass. At that moment, a walker that had been knocked to the ground by one of its fellows grabbed hold of Sam's leg and bit deeply into his calf. He fell, wailing and grasping at the sheet around his mother's neck. She was pulled off balance and, screeching in terror, fell alongside him. Another walker that Michonne had cleaved in two grabbed hold of Jessie's sheet and snapped its jaws at her. Embracing Sam with one arm, heedless of the walker devouring her son's leg, she screamed and flailed in a frantic attempt to escape the ravenous undead. She grabbed hold of Carl's belt and pulled in a furious attempt to get to her feet. However, she was considerably heavier than the slim teenager, and she only succeeded in half yanking him to the ground along with her. As the teeth of the torso-walker sank deep into Jessie's side, Carl went down on one knee and screamed, "Dad!" Carl pried at Jessie's death grip on his belt with one hand while he still swung his machete with the other. The walkers were descending upon them with no reprieve, and he couldn't stop fighting them off long enough to free himself.
Rick turned and took in the situation all in a moment: Jessie on the ground, a walker tearing into her rib cage, one of her arms still wrapped around her now-still son, who was missing most of his right leg, the other dragging his own son down with her. Carl and Judith wouldn't make it if they fell to the ground in the midst of all these walkers. There was no time for hesitation. Rick swung his axe, severing Jessie's arm at the elbow. Jessie howled in pain and shock. A walker that had been making its way toward Rick was distracted by the falling fresh meat, and it fell to its knees, scooping up Jessie's arm and tearing the flesh from the bone. As Rick pulled Carl to his feet, another of the dead lost interest in fighting Father Gabriel and descended upon Jessie. She screamed and screamed as Rick looked on in horror. More of the walkers were turning away from the fighters to fall upon the easier prey on the ground.
"You killed my dad." Rick's head jerked up at the sound of Ron's voice. "You killed my brother. You killed my mom." In the tumult, Ron had picked Jessie's loaded gun up off the grass, and he had it ready in his hand.
"Now, I'm going to kill everyone you care about."
He turned towards Michonne, who was already swinging her katana. His shot was aimed towards her head, but he caught her squarely in her upraised right arm. Her swing went wild as the bullet splintered bone, and she narrowly missed hitting Father Gabriel with her sword. Ron pivoted instantly, and his second shot exploded Carl's face. Rick was nearly upon him with his axe as Ron raised the gun at Rick's head for a third shot. That shot never rang out, however, for Ron's own head suddenly came loose from his shoulders and tumbled to the ground, the rest of his body immediately slumping after it. Michonne, her katana slicked with Ron's blood and clutched tightly in her left hand, raced towards Carl as quickly as Rick did. All of the surrounding walkers were busy devouring the three dead bodies on the ground, and they ignored the living in their midst.
Carl had fallen onto his back. Crouching on his knees beside his son, Rick begged, "Carl? Carl, can you hear me?" His son's face was so covered in gore, it was difficult for Rick to make out the extent of his injury. But when Carl rolled open his eyes and looked at him, Rick realized only one eye was still there. The other was a gaping hole in his son's face. Rick's mind and body froze with horror, unable to fully comprehend the sight before him. Michonne's hands flew to cover her mouth, suppressing a mournful wail.
"Dad?" Carl asked faintly before lapsing into unconsciousness. Judith kicked furiously beneath Carl's poncho, but remained silent.
Rick pulled his children into his arms and ran towards the infirmary as fast as he could. Father Gabriel and Michonne raced alongside them, protecting them from the walkers on each side. Blood ran freely from Michonne's gunshot wound, but adrenaline kept her from feeling the injury. She found she couldn't make her right arm work, however, so she flanked Rick's left side and kept arcing her sword this way and that with her left hand, cutting down any walker that came too close to Rick and Carl as they ran. Rick prayed to any god would that listen, begging for Denise to be at the infirmary and ready to help.
