S4E2P5

Ava and Maggie reached the walkway first, Ava yanking her spear from the ground and following Maggie. Her heart jumped when she saw the fence bulging inwards. If it sloped too far…

Well, she didn't want to think about that.

"The noise drew them out and now this part's starting to give!" Maggie yelled back to the others.

Ava stabbed her spear into the dead over and over again, blood and gunk flying, the smell filling the air. Rancid, bitter, dead. She pursed her lips and resisted the urge to gag.

Tyreese, Sasha, Glenn and Daryl ran up behind them, ready to dive in with crowbars and knives. Ava only saw Rick when he took out a walker near her. She turned to him, the two sharing a brief look before they jumped back in to the slaying.

There were so many of them. Ava couldn't see this working, not unless they killed them all. The living – well, sort of – ones would press the dead bodies into the fence. She made an effort to take out the ones further back in the crowd, their bodies toppling out of the sight and lessening the force on the fence. It wasn't enough, though. There were too many of them.

She kept fighting. Kept killing. Maybe with the seven of them, they would be able to even the odds.

Maggie pulled her crowbar free and cried out, flailing as she fell backwards. Ava stopped herself from moving, remembering, but Glenn went to her side.

"Don't." She said, standing on her own. "We're supposed to stay away from each other."

Glenn pursed his lips looking away. Ava gave him a small smile and glanced at Rick, thankful that she at least had him still at her side.

"Are you seeing this?" Ava glanced over, seeing Sasha glancing at a pile of red. Ava and the others turned to see what she was looking at and she grimaced at the rat bodies littering the ground. "Is someone feeding these things?"

Ava glared.

"No wonder they're all crowding up here!" she seethed.

The sound of twisting metal set her heart pounding faster.

"Heads up!" Maggie yelled, the fence near her bowing even further inwards. "This part of the fence, now!"

Ava jabbed and jabbed at the dead, but a walker was already halfway up the fence, pushing it down even further. Everyone backed up, the sound of groaning metal mixing terribly with the growls of the dead. Rick took Ava's hand, his gaze on the fence.

"It's gonna give!" He yelled and the two of them raced forwards, pushing at the fence. Ava watched her fingers desperately, moving her hands away from the mouths of the dead. Everyone was pushing against it, but the sheer force of the walkers was too much. One forced its own head through the chain-link fence, its eyes popping out near Ava's face. She retched, but refused to move.

Since killing the walkers was doing no good, she stabbed her spear into the ground and forced the blunt end into a chink in the metal poles. It offered a little support and she moved to press back beside it.

"Everybody back!" Daryl yelled. "Come on, back, now."

Everyone moved to line the opposite fence. Ava swallowed, looking at the quivering, growling wall of rotting flesh. She grimaced again. Luckily, she noticed, her spear was doing as much as she had been to keep the fence up.

"We need more supports like that," she said, pointing to her spear. "If we had that, the walkers wouldn't be able to push in."

"Too late for that now," Tyreese said. "The fence will give way before we have the supports."

Ava shrugged.

"Yeah, well, hindsight is twenty-twenty."

Rick took her hand again.

"The fence keeps bending in like that, those walkers are coming over it." Sasha said.

Rick's grip on Ava's hand loosened. She turned to him and saw him staring at the pig pen, breathing deeply. He rubbed his face and Ava understood. She squeezed his hand, drawing his pained gaze to hers. She nodded and smiled. He nodded back.

"Daryl," he said. "Get the truck. I know what to do."

Ava stayed with Sasha and Glenn at the fence, now using her dagger to kill those pressing against the wall. There wasn't as much reach, but the tri-bladed design meant it didn't get stuck in the skulls.

The truck hared out into the grass behind the walkers and Ava winced as the sound of a squealing pig cut through the growls. Almost immediately the cluster began to shrink, those remaining already pressing less forcefully. Ava dropped her dagger and turned to grab a wooden post, luckily compiled thanks to a planned new pen. That wouldn't be needed anymore, anyway.

Ava replaced her spear with a post, Glenn and Sasha adding more along the weak section. She looked up and saw Rick between the walkers, cutting one of the piglets before dropping it for the dead. Her heart broke for him, knowing how difficult this must be. He'd cared so much about them, not just out of simple fondness, but out of pride for what this place had become, for being able to make it happen. It was what kept him going.

Ava watched Rick on the back of the truck and knew this had broken him.

Ava gave him some space. As soon as the deed was done, Rick went to the pig pen and immediately began dismantling it. She thought about returning to the prison, but without the possibility of going to see her babies, she couldn't bear to be there. So she sat in the grass and waited, picking daisies and twirling them between her fingers.

Her heart hurt whenever she thought of Aidan and Amy. It was despair she'd never felt before, the closest coming from when she had been separated from Rick.

"Not this time."

Ava looked up when Rick spoke and saw Carl and come down without her noticing.

"Think the pigs made them sick?" he said.

"Or we made the pigs sick." Rick sighed, chucking a wooden pallet into the pile he was accumulating. "I think we should stay away from Amy and Aidan a while. Just in case."

"Okay." Carl said after a moment, looking down.

"I don't like it, but…"

"We have to protect them."

Rick looked at Carl, smiling a little.

"Yes, we do."

"Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Carol's been teaching the kids how to use weapons. How to kill. Their parents don't know and she doesn't want you to know." Carl paused for a moment, pursing his lips. "I think you should let her. I know you're gonna say it's not up to you. But it can be."

Rick didn't say anything, looking down for a moment before violently shaking gasoline over the pallets. Carl backed away. Ava sighed and stood.

"Dad?"

"Thank you for telling me." He said as he walked past Carl, his pace slowed when he saw Ava and she smiled weakly, making her way towards them.

"I won't stop her. I won't say anything." Rick said, taking a match and dropping it into the pile. The two stood back and watched the fire burn. As Ava reached them, Rick pulled her to his side and she leaned her head against his shoulder, watching the flames.

He rubbed her side and pulled away, heading over to his tool-box. Ava smiled at Carl, who seemed to hesitate before throwing his arms around her. She choked off an admonishment and hugged him back, careful to make sure she didn't breathe on him.

"Andrea told me to say Jeff and Beth have promised to look after Aidan and Amy as long as needed. They'll be fine."

Ava nodded, fighting back tears.

"Carl?" Rick called. The boy smiled up at Ava before going to his father. Rick stood and unwrapped a gun – Carls' gun – and handed it over to him. For the first time all day, Ava genuinely smiled. Her smile grew as Rick took his own gun from the toolbox, checked it for ammo, and holstered it at his side.

He patted Carl on the shoulder before returning to her side, the boy running back off to the prison. Rick noticed Avas' expression and fought back a smile.

"What's that look for?"

She shrugged.

"It's just nice to see. Nice to have something good come out of today," she sighed.

They stared into the fire a moment longer, Rick unbuttoning and removing his shirt. It was covered in the pigs' blood. He looked at it a moment before adding it to the bonfire. Ava looked up at him, his tortured expression hurting her heart.

"We'll get through this," she promised, taking his hand and leaning against his side. "The sickness will pass and we'll be back in C with Carl, Aidan and Amy again soon."

He heaved a sigh, turning so she was pressed to his bare chest. His arms wrapped around her and he dropped his head into the crook of her neck.

"I know," he said, pressing a delicate kiss just beneath her ear. "I know."