Rick and Carl stood in silence for a while; still taking in the news that Judith was, indeed, alive.
"She's alive…" Carl broke the silence.
"She's alive…" Rick repeated.
"After all this time, when we thought she was…" He wasn't even going to say it.
"…It's a miracle." Rick was starting to get teary eyed.
"A miracle." Carl repeated softly.
"We gotta go find her!" Carl said, taking up a louder and more serious tone.
"How?" Rick took up the same tone. "All we know is that she's with Tyreese, and maybe Carol too. But,"
"Dad." Carl interrupted. "What the hell was she talking about back there? She said Tyreese shot Carol?"
Rick took a soft deep breath. It was always difficult telling anyone about what had happened with Carol – much more his own son. But he had to do what he had to do.
"You know how when the flu started spreading, everyone was being quarantined?" Rick asked rhetorically. "Karen and David were quarantined, and Tyreese later found them dead. They were killed, and their bodies were dragged out back and burned."
"What?" Needless to say, Carl was shocked at what he heard.
"Tyreese wanted me to find out who did it, who killed them. And I did…it was Carol."
Carl was beginning to descend into the same stunned silence that all the other people Rick told descended into when he told them. Rick continued on.
"I knew that Tyreese was prepared to kill whoever it was who killed Karen and David, and I knew that Carol was too dangerous to keep around after what she did. So I sent her away. Gave her a car, gas, supplies…"
"Dad?" Carl knocked Rick out of his train of thought. "Is she with Judith?"
"I don't even know if Carol's alive after what I heard just now… But I'm going to find out." Risk resolved.
Carl nodded and smiled. "But dad?" He suddenly remembered, "How will we even know where to look?"
Rick had been asking himself that question ever since he found out Judith was alive. "I'm a cop. I'll find a way." He said simply as he looked at the floor.
"And what about Carol?" Carl asked after a silence. "What if she's alive?"
"…If she's alive, then that means Tyreese found it in himself to not kill her. If that's the case, then maybe we can start all over. Build a new life."
"Are you sure about that? Dad…I don't trust her."
"I don't think anyone does. But if she's alive and if we bring her back, she'll have to learn to live with that. And I'm sure she'll know that if she tries anything…"
Rick didn't need to finish his sentence for Carl to understand what he meant. But he could tell that Carl was still uneasy.
"Carl, remember. No one can make it alone now."
"…No one ever could." Carl added. Rick nodded contently. That may have actually been just as much a reminder to himself as it was to Carl. The part of him that felt he was wrong to banish Carol repeatedly imparted those words on him.
"We'll leave in 3. When we're out there, I'll check the surroundings for any…"
"Dad." Carl interrupted and lightly pointed at the bedroom door. "She's scared."
After a few moments of deliberating, Rick made his decision.
"Stay with her then… She might not make it through the night alone after what she went through. She'll need the company… I'll be fine." He reassured him.
Though Rick had his qualms about letting Carl stay with Lizzie, given that two heads are better than one, and granted, as Carl's father, he had his own personal reservations on the matter, he knew it was the right thing to do. He then began to make his way to the stairs, limp free for the moment, ready to bring his daughter home.
"Dad, bring as many painkillers as you can. I don't know…"
"No need to tell me twice, Carl." He cut in resolutely before continuing walking.
"Dad…" Carl called, and Rick turned to face him. "…She's waiting for you."
And with that, Rick made his way down the stairs, into the living room and started gathering his supplies and his weapons, now more determined than ever.
Carl entered the bedroom where Lizzie was lying on her side. He gave her a small smile and sat down on the bed's edge.
"You can have the bed for the night. If you need anything, I'm just downstairs, okay?" Lizzie looked up at him with what he saw as a very innocent and, made him feel weird inside to admit it, sweet look in her eyes. Carl couldn't help but smile at her. "Get some rest. You've had a rough day." He said sweetly. He then got up to leave.
"Carl?" Lizzie whispered as she clutched his hand. Carl turned to look at her.
"…Can you stay?" She asked. Carl could hear the meekness in her voice, and he also saw the pleading look in her eyes and couldn't help but feel absolute sympathy for her. She looked so vulnerable, so delicate, so scared. He smiled compassionately at her again, and gently removed his hand from hers. He took off his hat and placed it on the side desk beside the bed.
"Of course." He gently assured her, and Lizzie smiled a small, meek smile.
She then rolled over further into the bed, and Carl took off his shoes and lay down beside her and wrapped his arm around her as tightly as he could. Lizzie felt safer, but the memory of what happened still resonated in her mind so clearly that she once again started to cry. She placed her hands on his arm and started breathing slowly.
"You're safe now okay?" Carl told her. "No one's gonna hurt you. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere okay?" In that moment, Carl's main priority, the thing he was absolutely focused on doing, was making Lizzie feel safe, making her feel protected. "No one's gonna hurt you." He repeated. And he held her closer. Indeed, in Carl's mind, nothing was going to make her feel scared, and absolutely no one was going to hurt her. As far as he was concerned, anyone or anything that wanted to would have to go through him first. Making her not just feel, but know that she was safe and protected was his absolute, foremost priority now.
With all that Carl and Lizzie had been through as of late, the way they were now, close together in each other's arms, that was the best they could ask for then and there. Carl still had nightmares about how his dad almost didn't wake up that day. He still had nightmares about what it would have been like to lose his father to this world just as he had lost his mother, to be the only remaining person in his family, to be completely and entirely on his own… The thought still scared him and the memory of how that almost came to be still haunted him. But for tonight, if the thought still scared him and the memory still haunted him, he could just hold Lizzie tighter. It would make him feel better. Lizzie was still scared and still shaken from her ordeal. She could still remember everything from the gunshot to the snarls of the walkers. She was scared that she would dream of something horrible like Carol beating Tyreese to death with the gun, or Tyreese shooting Carol and then cornering and shooting her in a blind fury, or the walkers overwhelming her and ripping her apart. But for tonight, if she did have one of those dreams, or all of them, she could lean closer into Carl's protective embrace. It would make her feel safer.
They slept soundly that night, with their fears and haunting memories kept at bay. And indeed, within the night, they inched closer, more intimately to each other. Perhaps one of them had his dreaded nightmare. Or maybe one of them became haunted by her painful and terrifying memories. Or they both had their nightmares or they both were haunted. Or maybe it was a different reason entirely…
