Liv
"Liv!"Rick ran towards Liv and threw his arms around her,"I can't believe it! You're here! You're alive! Thank God you're alive!"
"What are you doing here?" Liv looked confused. She held tightly to her uncle and sobbed,"Where have you been?"
"We've been with a big group but we got separated. We've been lots of places...but we're here now," Rick closed his eyes and continued to hold his niece,"I can't believe we found you here."
"Carl!" Liv grabbed her cousin and hugged him excitedly,"I can't believe it! Look at you! You're a man! Last time I saw you, you were a kid."
"I'm so happy to see you!" Carl said as he hugged her back exuberantly.
Liv reached out to shake Michonne's hand,"I'm Liv. I'm really glad to meet you!" Liv held Michonne's hand with a huge grin on her face and Michonne switched the handshake to a hug,"I'm Michonne. I'm glad to meet you too!"
"What happened to everyone? Where's yr' mom?" Rick asked impatiently.
The smile from Liv's face quickly faded,"She's gone. She died right in the beginning. It was Dad, Mikey and me for a long time. Then we found Holly. She was all by herself. Her entire family died and she was alone. We took her in. We stayed at our house for a long time. We kept it secure and were doing real good for a while. We had a system and we we were doing good.
"Seven months ago, Dad, Mikey and Holly went out on a run. Usually all of us would go but I had a migraine that day and stayed back," Liv began to cry,"A few hours later, they came back. Dad and Mikey were both bitten. Dad just had a bite on his arm but..." she burst into tears,"Mikey was torn apart. He was already dead when Dad brought him back. Dad told me to hang on as long as I could. He told us we should leave Waycross and try to find some other people. He said that he loved me and he was sorry. He closed himself and Mikey in the bedroom and that was the last time we saw them."
"I'm so sorry Liv," Rick held Liv and tried his best to console her,"You made it though. You made it and you'll be with us now."
"I'm just so happy to see you. I would have been happy to see anyone but I'm so happy that I still have family," Liv continued to cry going back and forth between tears of grief and tears of joy.
"Where have you been staying?" Michonne asked.
"We've been at the library,"she answered,"We couldn't leave...I wanted to try but Holly was too scared. She's only thirteen. Ever since that happened to Dad and Mikey, she doesn't want to go outside at all. The library's been good to us though. It's pretty secure and I've read 142 books in the last seven months," she halfheartedly chuckled.
"I can't believe you've been doing alright by yourselves for this long," Carl told her with admiration.
"I credit that to high school track and field. Before the end of the world I ran track. I took second in the state," she beamed,"Who knew how valuable a skill running would be. Also, Dad did a good job with us. He taught us to fish and hunt before all this even happened.
"I was out today checking our snares when I saw the bikes parked in front of my house. I snuck into the neighbor's house and backyard and saw through their fence that it was you," she began to cry the tears of joy again,"I've seen other people pass through town but I haven't known if I could trust them or not. I'm so happy to see you..." Rick and Carl hugged her again. The intensity of the emotional reunion was staggering. Once again Rick was on the verge of losing hope and then he found his niece. Liv had long ago given up hope of ever seeing family again but it happened. It was a miracle.
…..
Rick and Michonne sat on the Adirondack chairs on the back porch giving Liv some space as she said her final goodbyes to her dad and little brother. Liv sat down beside their grave and placed flowers around the cross.
Michonne leaned over and put her head on Rick's shoulder,"She's an amazing girl. Smart. Strong. I can see why she made it. Your brother did a good job."
"Yeah, he did," he said,"I wish I had made my way here sooner. Maybe I could have done something. I don't know, maybe Jeff and Mikey would still be here."
"Rick, you know better than to do that. We can't play that 'what if' game...you'll lose your mind. If you had come sooner, than who knows how that would have affected the rest of the group. All these decisions we make have ripple effects that are good and bad and you never know which one it's gonna be until you've already made the choice."
"I know, I know. You're right," Rick kissed her on the forehead,"If I had come sooner, I probably would have never met you."
"You're here now - we're here now - and that's all that matters."
…..
Liv grabbed her old bike out of the garage and the family of four and Winnie made their way to the Waycross Public Library. As they rode their bikes through Waycross, Michonne noticed that there were very few bodies around,"I haven't seen any walkers since we've been here. Why do you think that is?"
"When it first happened," Liv explained,"they told everyone to evacuate to Atlanta. My dad didn't want to though. He thought we'd fair better if we stayed in Waycross. There were a few people that stayed here but almost everyone else left. People leaving early on meant there was a lot of food left in the houses. Anyhow, it was a ghost town and I guess it's kinda stayed that way. There have been a lot of walkers that have come through town though. Seems like there's either big groups or just one or two together. I haven't seen very many at all over the last few months though. No big groups at all."
"Maybe this would be a good place to stay," Michonne said to Rick.
"You might be right," he said looking at Michonne,"I know there is a gated community on the North side of town. Maybe we can check that out tomorrow and see if it could work."
They approached the steps to the library,"Tie Winnie up here and we'll come back around to get her in just a minute," Liv told Carl. He did as she instructed and they followed Liv around to the side of the library. She pulled a ladder out from behind the bushes. She propped it against the building and climbed up to the roof. The others climbed up behind her.
"We can leave through the front doors of the library but unless we want to leave them unlocked while we're out, this is how we get in and out," Liv said.
As soon as everyone was up, she pulled the ladder to the roof. She opened a hatch on the roof and climbed down the ladder into a maintenance closet. Rick drew his Colt Python and followed behind her with the others,"Will you please lock the roof hatch," she asked Carl. Liv readied her baseball bat and opened the door leading into the library hallway.
They trailed behind Liv as she navigated a dark hallway in the library. She walked up to an office and knocked on the door,"Holly it's Liv, open the door," they could hear the door unlock and then open. Holly peered out of the crack,"Don't be afraid Holly. I have people with me... good people," Holly reluctantly opened the door all the way.
"Hi," Holly said in a meek and frightened voice.
"This is my family," Rick, Michonne and Carl introduced themselves to Holly. Holly's skin was pail and her build was lanky and frail. She had her thin hair in a beanie and wore glasses with a small crack in them. She was dressed in sweats, an oversized t-shirt and Converse with holes in them. Holly was a pretty girl but overall didn't look well. She looked perpetually terrified and the three felt bad for her. They all wondered to themselves just how she had made it this long. There was no doubt that Liv and her family had saved her and that now Liv was the only one keeping her alive.
Rick looked at his niece and felt such love and pride, as if she were his own daughter.
…..
…..
Daryl walked up to the stop sign and pulled the note off that was tied to it. He opened it and read it,"Hey y'all get over here!" he shouted to Glenn, Maggie, Bob, Carol, Sasha and Noah. The six walked swiftly over to Daryl awaiting his next words,"It's a note from Rick!" He read it aloud:
To my friends from the prison, Rick here. I have Carl and
Michonne with me. We are heading to my brother's hometown.
I hope you remember the name. If you are finding this, I'm happy
you made it and hope to see you again soon. Rick
"Does anyone remember the name of the town where Rick's brother lived?" Daryl asked.
"Waycross," Carol and Maggie replied in unison.
"Well then that's where we're headed," Glenn said as Judith squirmed in the baby backpack on his shoulders and pulled at his hair playfully,"C'mon let's move!"