The High Cost of Living
Carol's head rested on Daryl's chest. It had been a very long time since Carol prayed. She wasn't sure if she stopped praying because she was angry with God or if she thought there was no one there to be angry with. Either way, she found herself calling out to God again for the first time in over a year. She prayed for a miracle. She prayed that Daryl would get up from the table and be fine. She prayed that all this might be a nightmare. Not just the last hour, but the last few years. She prayed, pleaded, bargained and hoped that maybe God would spare this man that she loved. She knew there would never be a happily ever after, but she thought maybe if Daryl somehow survived, there would be a reckoning to all this.
Morgan walked back over to her and gave her a glass of water. He had a wet rag in his hands and gently cleaned the blood off her face. "I'm sorry, Carol," he said with tenderness in his voice. She appreciated the simplicity and kindness of Morgan's words.
Carol took several gulps of the water and set the glass down on the floor next to her. "Thank you Morgan," she replied.
"I know how close you are to him. I know how much you love him," Morgan said looking at Daryl. Carol looked up shamefully into Morgan's face, feeling a betrayal towards him. "Carol, you don't have to deny it or pretend that you don't love him for my sake. I don't want you to do that. I care about you too much for you to do that. I've always known how you've felt about him. I got in the way of it and maybe I shouldn't have."
"We're the same," Carol replied. "Daryl and me, we're the same. It was easier for me to love him than to love myself. Loving him made me love myself again. Not again, actually. Loving him made me love myself for the first time." Carol buried her face in her hands. "I'm not making any sense...I don't even know what I'm saying. It doesn't even matter now. He's going to die."
Morgan put his arm around her and held her tightly while they waited. Carol had Daryl's hand in hers when she felt him stir. She immediately stood up, looked down into Daryl's face and lovingly moved his hair across his forehead. His eyes opened and closed then opened again. Morgan stood close by with his knife in his hands, ready to protect Carol from Daryl if he had turned.
"Carol?" Daryl said breathlessly.
"I'm here Daryl! I'm here!" she said holding his face in her hands. "I'm not going to leave. I'm here with you."
"Carol...I'm gonna die, ain't I?"
Carol's head dropped to her chest. Stinging tears came back once again falling onto Daryl's cheeks as she stood above him. "I don't want to say goodbye to you Daryl. I don't want you to leave me...please, just don't leave me!"
"I wanna stay but we know that ain't gonna happen." Daryl's eyes became heavy and closed again, "I'm glad I met you Carol. I never been in love my whole life until I met you. It was nice..."
…..
Rick was disoriented. His head hurt and he felt like maybe he had broken a rib or two. When Rick landed, his head slammed against John's. He fell the two stories from the roof of the library but fortunately had his fall broken by landing on top of John. He was thankful that the large beast had broken his fall but was in too much of a daze to get up right away. Rick moved slowly, pulling himself off of John. Hearing groans, he suddenly remembered how close the walkers were to him. He jumped up in pain, realizing their was something wrong with his kneecap too. As he began to hobble away, he felt a hand wrap around his ankle and pull him back down to the ground.
"Where do you think you're going, Rick Grimes?" John said laughing hysterically.
Rick spun around. He couldn't believe his eyes. After being shot in the shoulder, face and chest, then falling the two stories down the side of the building, the hateful animal was still alive. Rick looked back at John and kicked him squarely in the face, landing the heel of his boot right on the gaping wound on John's cheek. John screamed out in pain but didn't release his grip on Rick. Rick kicked again and again, furiously before John finally let go.
John's loud cries and laughter were drawing attention from the herd. Rick lay on the ground exhausted and in pain as the mob of corpses approached. He watched as they swarmed John and fell on top of him. John continued to laugh and scream as he was being devoured.
Rick tried to stand up to run but at least a dozen walkers surrounded him. With his gun in his hand, he fired into the skulls of several of the undead between him and the safety of the library. When his ammunition ran out, he began slamming the butt of his gun into their heads, pushing, kicking and doing anything to push through the horde. It was no use and Rick fell to the ground. The walkers gathered around him. He felt teeth baring down on him. He screamed out in pain as he watched the flesh being torn off of his hand.
…..
Rosita had tried to pull Rick back over the ledge but her petite 110 pound frame was no match for the force of John's downward pull. She watched in horror as Rick fell down the side of the building to the mob of walkers below. For half of a second she panicked and froze as she stared at the two bodies on the ground. She felt Carl's hand tugging at her waist then looked over and saw him pulling the walkie talkie from her belt.
"It's Carl! Does anyone copy?" he yelled into the walkie.
"I'm here Carl," Morgan answered.
"Listen, my dad just fell over the ledge of the roof. Someone needs to go out there and help him right now!"
"Okay, were' going out right now," Morgan replied. "What about John?"
"He fell too. He pulled my dad over. I'm coming back down there!" Carl shouted through the walkie.
"No! You stay on the roof! You'll be safer up there!" Morgan yelled back.
"What about Judith?"
"She's locked in a room with Maggie, Sasha and the rest of the kids. We won't let anything happen to her...I promise. Just stay there."
Michonne pulled her sword out of it's sheath and ran to the door and shouted to Morgan. "Ask Carl to tell you exactly where Rick is!"
"Carl tell me exactly where your dad is!"
"He's on the east side of the building, about 25 feet south of the main door," they heard Carl clearly through the walkie.
"Who's coming with me?" Michonne asked anxiously. Morgan, Glenn and Abraham all ran to Michonne's side.
"Ya'll ain't goin' nowhere," John's man Devin shouted out. "We stay here and wait for that herd to pass."
"Your man, John's out there too. He fell over the side of the roof. He's out there and needs help or he's dead too," Morgan replied.
"Well he's on his own 'cause I ain't goin' out there to get him."
"My husband's out there and I'm going to bring him in!" Michonne stated adamantly.
Devin shifted his gun from his holster and placed the muzzle at the back of Noah's head. "No one is goin' outside. If we open them doors, the herd will get in here and I ain't lettin' that happen."
"We're going out there to get my husband!"
Devin opened his mouth to protest again. Before a word was uttered, a bullet went through his temple and his body collapsed to the ground. Everyone looked over to Carol to see her gun still pointed. She turned, then aimed at another of John's men and fired again. The second man fell dead to the ground. John's third man threw his gun in front of him realizing he was outnumbered and at their mercy. He threw his hands up. "Please don't kill me! I have kids. There ain't nobody to take care of them if I die. Please!"
"Carol don't you shoot him," Morgan told her.
Carol lowered her gun, "Go! Go out and get Rick! Eugene, tie him up."
Michonne ran through the doors with Glenn, Morgan and Abraham close behind. They ran towards Rick where he was surrounded by several walkers. They watched Rick as he fired his weapon then began to beat them with the butt of his gun. They watched as the walkers took him to the ground. Abraham fired dozens of rounds into the heads of the walkers hunched over Rick, carefully avoiding his friend on the ground. Glenn and Morgan went out ahead of where Rick was laying to keep any other walkers from approaching. Michonne swiftly ran her sword through the bodies and heads of the dead corpses. When she had finally killed them all, she tried desperately to pull the bodies off Rick and pull him out. Abraham came to her side and threw the walkers off like ragdolls. Rick was finally uncovered.
Michonne looked down at Rick in horror. The flesh on his hand was torn off and all Michonne could focus on was the bones in his fingers staring back at her. "He's been bit," she said in a daze. "Oh God he's been bit."
Abraham pulled Rick up from the ground. He threw Rick's arm over his shoulder and halfway carried him back towards the library. Glenn ran over to them and put Rick's other arm over his shoulder. They brought him to the front steps of the library and began to walk up.
"No Glenn, let go of him. Hold his arm out...pull on it," Michonne directed as she cleaned the zombie gore off her sword. "Abraham, hold him up." The men both did as instructed.
Michonne looked into Rick's eyes. They were heavy and hurting and Michonne felt a despair and hopelessness she hadn't felt since immediately after the prison fell. She raised her sword above her head and brought it down with force, cleanly slicing through Rick's wrist. Glenn dropped the half-eaten hand onto the ground and the four of them dragged him up the steps.
As Eugene opened the doors, the herd advanced towards the library. Abraham and Glenn carried Rick's limp body inside to safety with Michonne and Morgan right behind.
Michonne was nearly at the top of the steps when she tripped on her maxi dress and fell to her knees. She felt the rotting hands grabbing at her dress and pulling on the fabric. Another hand wrapped around her ankle. She couldn't believe she had been stupid enough to wear a dress in the first place. It was more than just a wardrobe choice. It was a decision on how life was. By wearing the dress, she had become complacent. She had forgotten the dangers that could come unexpectedly at any second of the day. She had foolishly put indulgence over vigilance. The dress was an indulgence that she prayed wouldn't be the death of her.
Michonne rolled onto her back and ran her sword through the necks of the walkers grabbing at her. Morgan ran back to her and used his staff to knock the others off the steps. With one hand he smashed the heads of the corpses in and with the other, he pulled Michonne back to her feet.
Michonne and Morgan ran quickly through the doors of the library but dozens of walkers ran in behind them. Then a flood of the dead came inside. Carol, Bob, Lee, Eugene and Noah began firing on the herd.
"Untie me!" John's only remaining accomplice begged. "Untie me now or I'll die!" he screamed in terror. His screams only drew the walkers towards him and before anyone could help him, he was being torn into.
"Everybody, get up to the roof!" Michonne shouted. "Bob, get whatever tools you need to help Rick. We need to get the kids up there too!"
Everybody ran through the library in a frenzy. Glenn and Abraham carried Rick upstairs. Michonne, Lee and Eugene ran to the conference room where Maggie, Sasha and the children were. "Get the kids out of here and up to the roof! Hurry!" Lee yelled.
Almost everybody was upstairs and making their way into the maintenance closet, then to the roof.
"What about Daryl? We can't leave him!" Carol shouted. Michonne and Morgan ran to Carol as she tried to lift Daryl off the table. His body was unresponsive and heavy. Morgan slid Daryl off the table and threw Daryl's arm over his shoulder. Carol ran over to support him on the other side. They dragged him towards the stairs as Michonne sliced through walkers but the herd had moved quickly into the library and filled the space. The mob of corpses blocked the staircase and encircled the four of them.
"Let me go...let me go and get out of here," Daryl mumbled through labored breaths.
"No!" Carol yelled back. "Michonne will get us through. Just hold on!"
"You're gonna make it Carol. Just don't look back..." Daryl pulled away from Morgan and Carol with all the strength he could muster and threw himself towards the walkers to the left of the staircase. "Go!" he screamed as he was engulfed by the herd.
"No! Daryl no!" Carol sobbed hysterically as Morgan fought to pull her away and up the stairs. Michonne continued to whip her sword through the undead. The three ran upstairs and towards the safety of the maintenance closet.
As they closed the closet door, they were horrified to hear Daryl's groans while the walkers ferociously tore him apart.
