Chapter 21.
Within.
Rick.
It was getting dark in Georgia.
Rick Grimes stood in the light of the sunset, standing so close to the edge of the quarry that he could have been flying. His eyes were closed, but not tightly. He appeared relaxed, tranquil, but there was a rigidity in his posture.
It had been a long day. Not physically grueling, but emotionally taxing. Going into this he thought the worst thing he would face was losing people. Watching them go hungry. Watching the walkers pull them under. He never thought about struggles within the group. Dynamics. Friendships. Prejudices. Abuse. Walkers seemed like reason enough to put all that aside. But as the days passed – exactly twenty-three of them now, he had counted – human nature peeked out again. Selfishness. Unrest. Pride. Insecurity.
When the light seemed to fade, Rick opened his eyes. The quarry was beautiful, bathed in twilight. It looked like another world. Rocky walls, alternating shadows. Nothing stirring. He wondered how long they could stay here, if they could make this home permanent.
Arms wrapped around him from behind.
Lori.
She was warm and welcome. She rested her face on his back, sighing softly. "We'll figure it out," she promised. It seemed her fire from earlier had somewhat faded. Or, it was still there, but she'd realized that yelling at him about it wouldn't solve anything. He was grateful.
Rick put his hands over hers, saying nothing.
When they broke apart, their eyes met, and then they joined the others next to the RV. Dale was setting up the fire, teasing snippets of his stories to the kids. Carl, Sophia, Eliza, and Louis – who was feeling better every day – were hounding him for details. Rick and Lori sat with their backs facing the quarry, giving Rick a good view of the woods. He was surprised to see Audrey take a seat near the RV. It felt like years ago, but it had only been yesterday that she arrived in their camp. Her companions were dead, her supplies burnt to a crisp. All she had left was the clothes on her back and her snappy attitude. Rick had been so preoccupied with his other duties today that he'd forgotten about her.
It seemed like everything was happening so fast.
"I'm gonna go check on Carol," Rick said, but before he had even gotten up, the door to her tent opened and Carol stumbled out. She straightened herself, rubbed her eyes, and joined the circle.
Nobody said anything about her disappearance, only smiled at her arrival. Rick knew they were trying to be sensitive. It alerted him to the fact that everyone was aware of the situation – or too unobservant to see what was happening. The pressure for him to act mounted.
Lori slid her hand into his, casually easing his tension. She murmured, "We can figure things out in the morning."
Carol sat beside her, smiling halfheartedly, "Did he start yet?"
"No, just getting the fire started," Lori said.
Ed arrived and sat silently beside his wife, drinking a beer. Rick felt himself tense, and then forced it away. Tomorrow. He would find his miracle solution tomorrow. Right now he wanted just one night of peace. Just one night to forget.
He smiled reassuringly at Audrey across the fire, but she looked away. Shane gave her a sidelong glance as he passed. He dropped down beside Rick. Since Rick and Shane's disagreement about the clearing group and their supplies – and the subsequent deaths of everyone but Audrey – they hadn't spoken much. But Shane sitting beside him was a start, at least.
Sophia crawled over to her mother, smiling happily, and scooting between her knees. Carol had life in her eyes again.
Dale started his first story. Carl retreated to Lori, getting comfortable up by her legs. Lori ran her hands absently through his hair, leaning hard on Rick. He almost felt like things were back to normal, like they were all just camping out for the night. Families sitting together, their faces kissed by the glow of a low flame, kids smiling and laughing. Weird old uncle Dale spinning tales of dragons and dictionaries. Glenn broke out a bag of marshmallows and his popularity skyrocketed.
Sophia dragged her mother out of the circle to go to the bathroom just as Dale got to a scary part of the story. Maybe an intentional break. Carl scooted over to Rick, tipping his head up, the fire casting a long shadow across his nose.
"Hey, dad, we should make a movie theater."
"Oh, yeah?" Rick asked.
"Yeah." His eyes sparkled. "We could make popcorn and sell tickets – but you buy tickets with, like, cans of food or something. And then we split up all the food and eat it during the movie."
"What kind of movies would you play, Bug?" Lori asked.
"I dunno, like cartoons, I guess. So the littler kids liked it. If it was scary stuff, Sophia would never come." He glanced over, as if confirming she was missing, and added, "She told me she got scared in the middle of that movie about the dalmatians!"
"Puppies are serious business," Rick said. "Lots of licking. Puddles on the carpet."
Carl grinned.
Minutes ticked by and Dale finished his story with a rousing, "And everyone – except the dragon – lived happily ever after."
Carl seemed to be strongly resisting the urge to clap.
Rick glanced around again, heartened by the joy he saw.
He had only just noticed that Carol and Sophia were not back from their bathroom break when he heard a small shriek near the RV.
He was on his feet in an instant, gun in hand, Shane by his side.
But they were too late.
Roy was standing there, Sophia in his arms, a serrated combat knife pressed to her throat. A bead of blood ran down her pale skin. He had her lifted, her legs dangling. She was deadly still, her eyes flickering around in terror, but the rest of her frozen like a stunned rabbit.
"Let her go," Rick said, the first to speak.
He was bewildered, stricken, but there was no time for confusion. The threat was clear. The purpose was hazy.
"Everybody just relax and stay put. Nothing happens to her if nobody moves."
Rick dared a look around, finding shock and confusion echoed throughout the group. Ed was on his feet, one hand half-extended, befuddled. And then his expression shifted to anger. He clenched his jaw, but did not risk a step.
A stray thought. Oh, no. Where is Carol?
And then Rick only had time for the girl. Just the girl.
"What do you want?" Rick asked.
"We're takin' off," Roy explained. A few clunks sounded behind him. A truck started up and headlights illuminated the woods.
Merle appeared from around the RV, a rifle on his shoulder. He looked at Roy first – was there surprise in his eyes? – and then he grinned at Rick.
"Sheriff, I'm gonna need that firearm. That goes for everybody. Put 'em down, safety on, and kick 'em over here."
Rick was trembling with rage. He pulled his pistol very slowly, carefully, and ticked the safety on. While he was leaning to put it on the ground, Lori was sliding Carl behind her, equal rage on her face. If she could have, he knew she would've killed Roy for this.
He might kill Roy for this.
"Okay, okay, everybody take a deep breath. Calming thoughts." Merle gathered the guns, tucking them into a duffel bag. "Ain't nothin' happenin' to the kid 'less you do somethin' stupid."
"You better get your hands off her," Lori growled.
"Or what? Huh? You got big balls, lady," Merle spun his rifle into a firing position, pointing it dead at Lori. "Go on. Tell me what you're gonna do."
"Lori," Rick warned lowly.
She bit her lip.
"What are you doing?" Ed said, taking a risky step forward.
Merle snapped his rifle toward him, eyebrows up, "Oh, you didn't get the memo, huh? You got voted off the island. Just the three of us. Better that way." He smiled.
Ed was in on it – at least originally. But he didn't know this was happening. It was clear from the shock and anger on his face. Rick wondered if it was because they were threatening his daughter or leaving him behind. Three of us. Merle, Roy, and Daryl, then. Where was Daryl?
"Now, here's how it's gonna go," Merle announced, glancing back at Roy again. "We're takin' her with us. If all goes well, we'll drop her at the end of the road and be on our merry way. Nobody gets hurt. If anybody follows us… well, somebody gets hurt."
Rick was forced to stand there, helpless, as Merle held them at gunpoint, and Roy got into the truck with Sophia in his lap. He kept that knife again her neck. The terror on her face was agonizing.
Taillights disappeared down the road.