Two weeks; that was how much time had passed; since Beth, since Caleb. That was how long it took them to get to Richmond; they thought they'd have a place to stay. Shirewilt seemed like it would be a home for them, giving the details that Noah had given them.
"It's a long trip," Rick had said. "But if it works out, it's the last long trip we have to make.
"What if it's not around anymore?" Glenn asked.
"Then we keep going." Rick replied.
"And we find a new place." Michonne added.
Chloe had heard that conversation before Rick and Noah headed out to Shirewilt with Glenn, Michonne and Tyreese; she opted to stay behind, feeling that she needed a break from things for a while. Rick understood, after all she had gone through the past couple of weeks. He gave Carol a walkie talkie so that they could stay in touch at all times before leaving with his small group in a minivan.
There was one thing Chloe wasn't ready for; another death. She had never been ready for the deaths that had happened since it all began; there were too many to name. Chloe knew that someday, someone would be dead; but for the living, the surviving and fighting would continue.
Maybe Shirewilt would become their home; maybe they wouldn't have to be out here trying to survive, trying to make it. Maybe, just maybe they'd have a place to raise Judith, to raise Chloe's future sibling.
"Carol, are you there?" Rick's voice said over the walkie talkie.
"I'm here." Carol replied.
"We found it, it's gone." Rick implied.
Or maybe not.
"What are you going to do?" Carol asked.
"We're going to search for food and supplies then we'll head back." Rick answered. "Then we'll have to keep going."
Carol turned to Chloe, who had heard every word of the conversation.
"So, that's it then, we're still going to keep surviving?" Chloe asked.
"For as long as we have to," Carol replied.
"You do realize the longer we're out here, the less of a chance some of us have to survive." Chloe noted. "And by that, I'm talking about Judith."
"We've made it this far with a baby," Carol implied.
"But what about two babies?" Chloe asked. "Has anyone given that a thought? Has anyone thought about where we'll be when it's time for Andrea to have the baby? I know that's several months away, but I will not have my sibling being delivered in a field full of corpses."
"Chloe, that is not going to happen," Carol assured her. "We can still find a place to live."
"What if something goes wrong?" Chloe asked.
"Is that all you care about?" Carol asked.
"I'm not going to go through that grief again," Chloe stated. "I used to not believe in second chances, but now I do. I was given a second chance at having a mother, and now I'm going to get another chance at being a sister."
Chloe didn't say anything else; she was thinking about everything that had happened, and what would happen. She was about to ask Carol something when Rick's voice came over the walkie talkie.
"Carol, Tyreese was bit; I amputated his arm, but we need to have Bob and Salvador ready."
"I'll tell them to get the supplies ready." Carol implied.
"We're almost to the car," Rick said. "We'll need to cauterize the arm and wrap it. Get Carl away; he doesn't need to see this."
Carol had informed the group of what happened; Bob and Salvador got their medical equipment prepared like Rick had requested. However, a few minutes later, Rick's voice came back on the walkie talkie.
"It's too late, he's gone."
It was another several minutes before they returned. Once the car had stopped near a tree, Chloe ran towards them, only to be stopped by her father.
"Chloe, don't." he said. "You don't want to."
She was going to see him anyway so why stop her?
She didn't even listen to the bible verse Gabriel had read as they were placing dirt into the grave. Heck, she never really listened to Gabriel at all.
Three deaths in two weeks; Chloe hadn't been ready for any of them, even if she knew they would have eventually happened.
