Chapter Forty-nine: To Execute the Plan
When I woke, I found myself spooning Michonne, feeling someone else against my back. I recognized the arm that was around me and the beard the was against my neck. Smiling, I put my hand against his arm, gently running my thumb back and forth across his skin. Pressing my face closer against Michonne, I was perfectly happy in my little warm and comfy sandwich.
"Morning, baby." Rick whispered as he pressed a kiss against my shoulder.
Rolling onto my other side, I put my hand against his face, "Morning."
He smiled and then kissed me soft and sweet. "Sorry I didn't come to bed with you."
"You're here now." I replied. "That's all that matters."
"And that's my cue to leave." Michonne said softly and rolled out of bed.
Reaching my hand behind me, she briefly gripped it before she left the room. Wrapping my arm around Rick, I pressed my forehead to his. He brought his hand to my face, kissing me slowly, deepening it as he pulled me flush against him. Smiling, loving him, I knew that we both wanted the same thing. Only before we could do anything more, there was knocking on the door, making us both stop.
"Mom?" Carl said through the door.
Sighing, I ran my hand down Rick's face, "Be right out."
"Stay with me." Rick said softly.
Smiling, I kissed him passionately, "I guess we'll have to wait until later."
"Reward for a successful dry run." He smiled back.
"I love you." I told him.
His smile grew and he kissed me again, "I love you."
Rolling out of bed, I changed quickly before opening the door, seeing Carl standing in the doorway of his. "Hey." I smiled. He looked worried. I sighed, crossing my arms as I stepped up to him. "You're not going to change my mind. Or your dad's." He nodded. "Honey, we need someone here to keep an eye on things. We need you to help with your sister."
"Why is it always me? I can help." He replied with an annoyed tone.
"I know you can, Carl." I nodded. "I trust you and love you, but I will not risk you."
"That's not fair." He frowned. "You and Dad risk yourself all the time."
"When we have to, yes. But never when we don't." I replied.
"Still." He said shaking his head.
"Still nothing." I frowned. "Whether you like it or not, you will be staying here to keep Judith safe."
"Carol will be here."
"Doesn't matter." I replied, feeling my annoyance spiking. "This isn't up for discussion."
The door opened behind me and I felt Rick press against my back, "Stop arguing with your mother. She's not wrong."
"Dad." Carl complained.
"No." Rick replied shaking his head. "We need you here. Not just her. Me. We both need you here to keep everyone safe. Especially your sister."
Carl let out a heavy sigh, "Fine."
Taking his head in my hands, he wouldn't meet my eyes. "Carl." I said shifting so I could catch his eye. "I need you to do this. We both do. Otherwise we can't do what we have to do."
He nodded, "Okay."
"Thank you." I smiled and pressed a kiss against his cheek.
He wrapped his arm around me, "Can I least get bacon and eggs before you go?"
Laughing, I wrapped my arm around him as well, "I'll even throw in some blueberry muffins."
He squeezed my side before letting me go. Going to the kitchen we all talked, enjoying each other's company as we cooked and laughed as if nothing was going on today. In all reality, nothing was going on today. All we were doing was going on a dry run. We weren't actually doing anything. We just wanted to make sure it all worked. Walk the line and work out any kinks that might come up. But there was always the chance that something went wrong. Something always seemed to go wrong.
"Gonna go check on the infirmary before we go?" Rick asked.
I nodded, "Yeah."
He smirked and kissed me, "Better go."
"Okay." I smiled and kissed him again.
Leaving, I went down the road to still see Spencer lying on one of the beds. Denise was still in a corner reading medical books. Going to Spencer, I checked him, the scent of alcohol still coming off of him in waves.
"Have you given him any fluids?" I asked her.
"He doesn't want any." She replied.
Sighing, I coaxed him onto his back, "Hey, Spencer."
"What time is it?" He frowned.
"Early." I replied, smiling down at him.
He groaned, taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly, "Okay."
"I'm going to put an IV in your arm so we can give you some fluids." I told him kindly.
Grabbing the IV pole nearby, there was already a bag of saline hanging from it. Sighing again, Denise clearly had thought of giving him fluids, but I was sure she stopped as soon as he disagreed with her. She was too mousy for this job. Just one more reason that I was annoyed with this whole situation. Also, one more reason to try and play nice. I'd bide my time until she did something too stupid for me to ignore.
He slightly shook his head, "No. I'm fine."
"Too bad." I smiled down at him. "Hold still." He didn't flinch as I put the needle into his arm, taping it into place. "There."
"Thank you." He told me groggily.
Smiling, I gently put my hand against his face, "Get a few more hours of sleep. Then you have work to do."
He nodded, "Okay."
"Good boy." I smiled and pressed a quick kiss against his forehead. He swiftly fell asleep and I turned to Denise with a frown on my face. "It's your job to do what's best for your patient. Just because he told you 'no' doesn't mean that you don't do what he needs. He needs fluids."
"And electrolytes." She told me. "And protein. I know what he needs, Caroline. But I'm not going to force it on him."
"If you wanted to help him you would. Otherwise you should have just sent him home." I shot back at her.
"I'm not like you." She stated.
"Clearly." I smirked. She scoffed and stood, facing me. She looked like she wanted to say something but didn't. Stepping toward her, I entered her personal space, "Is there something you want to say to me?" I frowned at her.
She bowed her head, "No."
"Didn't think so." I added. "I get that you're in charge here. I really do. But I will do what's best for these people and I'm not afraid to tell you that I don't think you're it. I would love to talk Deanna into giving me the infirmary but I have other problems right now. Do I really have to put you at the top of them?"
"No." She repeated.
Knowing that I was being a bitch and intimidating the shit out of her, I took a step back and crossed my arms. "Look. I don't think you've got what it takes to run this place. But I'd really, really love to be shocked and proven wrong." She nodded. "I'm sorry."
"You always are." She said with a small voice.
Sighing, I nodded, "I told Tara that I'd play nice. I really want to. So, try not to take this too personally."
She laughed, "Are you serious?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "I have a thick exterior but once you get past that I'm kind of a big marshmallow."
She nodded, "I'll believe it when I see it."
Smiling, I nodded again, "We'll be leaving soon to make a dry run of Rick's plan. You good here?"
"Yeah." She replied without looking at me.
"Okay then." I said and moved to the door.
Letting myself out, I didn't feel guilty about not playing as nice as I should have been. I just couldn't bring myself to care. Maybe being with Rick really had made me feel a little superior. Not only that but I did have more experience than she did. I didn't want to run the clinic and be responsible for everyone in Alexandria. I honestly didn't. At the same time I didn't want to give it to her either.
"Hey." Rick smiled when I walked inside.
"Hey." I smiled.
"Everything okay?"
I nodded at him, "Spencer is still there sleeping it off. His leg looks good though. It sucks though. He's struggling."
He nodded, "He did just lose his brother and father."
"I feel sorry for him." I replied before adding, "And Denise wants me to submit and I'm having trouble with that."
He smiled and nodded again, "I know. You are stubborn. Not only that but you're right. You do have more experience than Denise does. But you don't want to be in charge of the clinic."
"I don't." I replied. "Still…"
He pressed a kiss against my cheek, "You'll get used to it."
Groaning, I took Judith from his arms, "Probably."
"You ready?" Carol said coming in with Olivia.
Sighing, I handed my daughter to Olivia, "Yeah."
"We'll be back as soon as we can." Rick told her.
She nodded, "I'll keep her safe."
"I know." Rick smiled at her.
Carl stepped up to him, smiling as they hugged. Then he was standing in front of me. "Be careful."
Smiling, I nodded at him, "Love you."
"Love you, too." He smiled back.
Feeling Rick's hand against my back, I turned and looked at him. Smiling, I hugged Carl tightly before following his father from the house. Meeting up with everyone else, we started out, getting ourselves to the finish line and from there we were going to track our way back to where it would all start.
"You doin' alright?" Daryl asked as we walked.
I nodded, "Yeah."
"You sure?" Abraham asked from my other side.
Smiling at the men, I didn't say anything, picking up my pace until I was next to Rick. He was talking with Michonne and I didn't want to interrupt, staying silent as I watched everything around us. Looking at Rick, he smiled before frowning as I was yanked backward, slamming into a hard chest.
"Daryl." I complained. He buried his face in my neck, making me laugh, gripping his hair as he successfully pinned me against him. "Why do you do this?" I asked him.
"Because I hate that serious look on your face." He replied.
"This is serious business." I smiled, still being held against him.
He pressed his face into my hair before letting me go. Taking his hand, I held it tightly, hugging his arm to me as we kept walking. Rick kept glancing over his shoulder and I couldn't help but just smile at him.
He finally stopped, falling instep next to me before leaning closer to me, "A man could get jealous."
"Maybe that's what I want." I smirked at him. He smiled and shook his head. Letting Daryl go, I swiftly wrapped my arm around my boyfriend, pressing a kiss against his cheek. "Don't worry, baby, you know I love you."
"I do know that." He said as he looked down at me.
Smiling wider, I kissed him properly before we were focused on the task at hand. Walking until we reached the 20 mile marker. Rick stopped and waited for everyone to gather round so everyone could hear what he had to say.
"All right, this is the finish line." He told everyone. "When we make it to green, we fall back. The ditches and ridges will keep them on the road. We head home, but Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham take them the rest of the way, 20 miles more." He explained and then was walking again. "All right, let's go."
Starting to walk again, we traced the lines we had made on the map, passing the balloons that had been placed and stopped at Rendon's. It was a tractor place that had several dead pounding against the glass. It was loud and distracting. We couldn't have them luring the others off the track we'd made for them.
"We're gonna take 'em right past here. All that noise could distract them. We'll clear it on our way back tonight. We don't want any surprises tomorrow." Rick told us as we passed it by.
Moving on, we followed the path the walkers would come from, making it to the quarry. I hadn't seen it yet and the sounds that were drifting up from it was anything but comforting. The sound kept getting louder and louder. The number of walkers needed to make that sound…I didn't want to imagine it. Only when we were there I looked over the edge, seeing them all.
"Jesus…" I said softly.
Feeling a hand on my shoulder, I looked up at Rick. He nodded at me and I had to tear myself away from the edge, moving to his side. Everyone was crowding around us. All of them eager to hear what he had to say. Listening to him talk, he became more and more passionate as he spoke, knowing that the people had to believe him and follow him. He needed to motivate them. They needed to feel the power of his words. He knew how to deliver a speech. He didn't disappoint today.
"I know this sounds, insane, but this is an insane world." He told them. "We have to come for them before they come for us. It's that simple. This is where it all starts tomorrow. Tobin gets in the truck, opens the exit and then we're off. He hops out, catches up with his team at red staying on the west side of the road. Daryl gets on his bike."
Hearing rumbling, I looked over my shoulder, my stomach turning.
"You see that?" Sasha asked.
Everyone was looking now, the rumbling being caused by a semi that was slipping from the edge. My breath caught as I watched it fall. It had been one of the trucks that was blocking the walkers from getting out.
They were free.
"Rick." I said softly.
Then he was acting. "It's open! We gotta do this now! We're doing this now! Tobin's group, get moving, go!"
"No, Rick, we're not ready." Carter stated.
"Sasha! Abraham!" Rick called.
"Damn straight, we'll do it live." Abraham smiled.
"You meet Daryl at red." Rick told him. "Let him take them through the gauntlet."
"Yeah, we meet at red." Sasha nodded.
"Go!" Rick called at them.
The walkers were moving, watching as the whole horde started to move up the path. Rick was still yelling commands behind me as I took in what could possibly be the death of our people. Turning, I saw a walker squeeze through the two trucks that were parked corner to corner, taking half its skin off in the process. Rushing toward it, I stabbed it through its head, looking at Rick when he turned to me.
"Rick, I'll hit the tractor place." Glenn said rushing up to him.
"Okay, who else?" Rick asked.
Glenn looked to Heath, "We gotta take them out or they'll distract the horde."
"I'm here, let me help." Nicholas said stepping next to Glenn.
Glenn was quick to reply, "No."
"I'm here! I will."
Glenn paused, closing the distance between them, "Do everything I say."
"Rick, this was supposed to be a dry run." Carter stated still looking shocked.
Rick didn't acknowledge him, "Daryl, get ready."
"They're comin'!" Daryl yelled, making us all turn to see more breaking free.
"We need to move." I stated as we started to kill the dead.
Abraham and Sasha rushed to their car, swiftly taking off. We needed to get out of here. Turning to Rick, Carter was once again confronting him.
"Rick, we haven't even gone through the whole plan."
"You want to go back, go back. We're finishing this." He turned away from him. "Tobin, you hit it on my signal. They're headed for home. We don't have a choice. Get ready to hit the flares. Now!"
Pulling the flare gun from the back of my pants, several were shot into the sky, luring the dead in the direction we needed them to go. Any direction that wasn't home.
"Tobin, hit the truck." Rick commanded.
The truck moved, opening a gap for the dead to escape by. Daryl got into his bike, revving it to get their attention. He slowly moved forward, continuing to rev until they were all focused on him. For this first part it was all on him. It was time for the rest of us to move. Running past him, I ran my hand down his arm, briefly gripping his hand as I met his eyes. He smirked and nodded at me. He knew what I wanted to say. It was still hard to just leave him behind. But looking at the number of dead that were behind him, I knew that we needed to get the job done. Turning, Rick was waiting for me as the others started to run ahead. Taking a deep breath, I rushed to him, momentarily gripping each other before we were rushing after the others.
"You all have your assignments." Rick spoke into the radio. "You know where to rendezvous. Daryl leads them out. Sasha and Abraham join him at the bottom of the hill."
Knowing that others were doing exactly what we were now, we continued to send flares into the sky, keeping the dead interested. We passed the lines of cars we'd set up, funneling the dead away from home. So far it appeared to be working. We could do this. We had to.
"Glenn, you hit us when you take care of the walkers at the tractor place." Rick radioed. "That's the one thing we gotta get ahead of. Everybody keep your heads. Just keep up."
Still running, Sasha came over the radio, letting us know that they had made it to red at the bottom of the hill. Daryl responded and we knew that he was just about to come over it. At least he wouldn't be alone.
Running as fast as possible, Rick, Michonne, Morgan, and I came out onto the road. Rick put the radio to his mouth, "Glenn, you there yet?"
"Almost." Glenn replied over the radio. "We'll have it handled before they get here. And we'll meet you at yellow."
"Copy that." Rick replied.
We'd made it to the corner of Marshall and Redding. The wall of metal sheets was in front of us, cars and the RV were there to reinforce it. Looking up, I could see the yellow balloons attached to the top of the RV, watching as they swayed in the wind. My stomach was still turning. This was only supposed to be a dry run. We had told everyone it was a dry run. I'd promised Carl that we would be back and that everything was going to be fine.
"This wasn't supposed to happen." I said softly.
Rick nodded, "It'll hold."
"Well, that's good." Michonne replied. "You know, considering where we're standing."
"That's helping." I smirked at her.
"Michonne." Morgan said looking at her.
"Yeah?"
"Back when you were in that place…where I lived…did you take one of my protein bars?"
Grinning, I bowed my head, knowing that she had. "No." She told him.
"See, I could have sworn there was one more peanut butter left." Morgan smiled at her.
"That's how it is, isn't it?" She replied sadly. "You think there's one more peanut butter left."
We could hear walkers growling. The most comforting sound in the world.
"I could totally go for a beer right now." I said aloud. "And a big cheesy pizza."
"Mm-mm." Michonne smiled at me. "And anchovies."
Starting to laugh, I shoved her, laughing together as we stared at the wall in front of us.
"Now's not really the time for that." Rick stated.
"Rather we dwell on the thousands of walkers that are going to be traipsing past us any minute?" I smirked at him.
He smirked and nodded, "Yeah."
"You're tense." I stated. "Maybe you should kiss me so you can relax a little."
He smirked, wrapping his arm around me, "Maybe I should."
"Guys." Michonne said interrupting us. We looked at her. "Listen."
The herd were getting louder. Looking behind us, there were a few walkers coming our way. Sighing, I stepped away from my family, killing them with ease. Smiling, I thought of how I could put Professional Walker Killer under skills on my resume. Turning back to the others, Rick put the radio to his mouth.
"Glenn, you have to hurry. The noise could distract the herd right off the road." He spoke, only getting silence in return. "Talk to me."
"We're here." Glenn finally replied.
I pulled Rick's hand to me, using him to hit the button, "Everyone okay?"
"We're fine." Glenn replied.
Pulling the flare gun out again, we got ready to light the way. We were waiting for Daryl's signal. He had to be getting close. He was fine. Nothing happened to him. My stomach was turning so badly it was making me lightheaded.
"Please, Daryl." I whispered to myself. Then we heard it. "Thank God." I said and pointed the flare into the sky, shooting it off. We reloaded and went again.
His bike got louder and then the first of the dead hit the wall as they made the corner. The sheets started to shake with the force of the dead, making me take an instinctive step back. Rick stepped back as well, pressing against my arm. Looking at him, he nodded, stepping closer to the wall and let off a flare straight into the air to try and distract them. It seemed to work as the sound of them hitting the wall grew softer.
As soon as they made it around the corner we moved into the woods, staying out of sight but were close enough to deal with any strays. Keeping my eyes along the road of walkers, I felt an arm around me as Rick moved me out of the path of a tree.
"How did you survive so long on your own?" He smirked at me.
Smiling, I wrapped my arm around him, "No idea." He leaned in for a kiss only to stop, whistling. Following his line of sight, I rushed forward, "Glenn." Throwing my arms around his neck, I hugged him tightly before taking his head in my hands, "Are you okay?"
He smiled, "Yeah, I'm good." Hugging him again, he embraced me tightly. "Are you okay?"
Letting him go, I smiled, "Of course. Nothing but funness around here."
He smirked at me, putting his hand against my face, "Good."
"It's working." Carter said stepping up to us. "You were right." He told Rick.
Rick nodded and shook his hand. "Everyone, we need to finish this." He told the group. "We have to keep moving and fan out down that thing front and back. Like we said, cops at a parade. Glenn, you take the back. You got the other walkie."
"Got it." Glenn nodded.
"If it gets sloppy, we fire our weapons, pull them back on track."
Carter nodded, "I'll hit the front."
"Okay, one after the other." Rick replied.
Moving forward, Rick stopped me, taking my face in his hands, "You good?"
I nodded, gripping his wrists, "Just as worried as ever."
He smiled and pulled me into him, kissing me deeply, "I love you."
"I love you." I told him.
"Let's go." He said taking my hand.
Moving after the others, we watched the walkers, all of them following the one in front of them. They were keeping to the road. Even the woods were quiet. Though part of me hoped it would draw others in, joining the rest so we could get rid of them as well. Everyone was quiet as we watched. My worry and unease was starting to ebb away. So far the plan was working. The walkers were doing exactly what we wanted them to.
"It's working." I smiled at Rick.
He nodded, "Sometimes I have a good idea or two."
Laughing lightly, I looked at him with all the love I had for him. He did a double-take, smiling back at me. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you're blushing."
He just nudged me, "Shut up."
My mind drifted to the things I wanted to do to him. I wished we were home and in our bed so I could ravage him the way he deserved. Though I was torn out of my thoughts as screaming filled the air, making my heart immediately start to race as my head jerked towards the sound.
"Carter!" I called and rushed toward him, covering his mouth with my hand as Rick took out the walker. There was a chunk of flesh ripped out of his face. "Shh, shh, shh." I said softly, attempting to quiet him.
"Tobin, they're breaking off." Rick spoke into the radio from behind me.
"What do you want us to do?" Tobin replied.
"Fire your guns and draw them back."
"Carter, you have to be quiet." I told the man as he continued to scream.
"Carter, take a breath. Carter." Rick said as he kneeled next to me.
Carter screamed, "Oh, God!"
"Be quiet. Shh." Rick told him.
"Please, Carter." I told him, bending down to meet his eyes. "I need you to be quiet."
"Oh, God." Carter repeated.
"Carter. Carter, shh. You gotta be quiet. Shh."
Looking at Rick, I simply shook my head. There was nothing we could do for him. At this point putting him out of his misery was the most humane thing we could do. We all knew it. Rick sighed before turning Carter's head, stabbing him at the base of his skull. The woods went quiet. There was distant gunfire as Tobin attempted to get the walkers back on track.
"It's working." Tobin said over the radio. "The gunfire is bringing them back to the road."
"Damn it." I said as I looked at Carter, putting my hand on his shoulder.
Looking up at Michonne, she looked shocked while Morgan seemed to have a perpetual unhappy expression on his face. I knew that they didn't like killing. But sometimes there wasn't another choice. What were we supposed to do? Take him with us? He was bitten in the face. There was no saving him. Rick had done what he should have.
"You got them, Tobin." Rick told him into the radio.
"Copy that. What was the screaming?"
Rick paused before telling him, "That was Carter. He got bit right in the face. I stopped him." He picked up Carter's gun before he stood and turned back to the others. Giving Carter's shoulder one last squeeze, I stood next to him. "We have a good hour until we have 'em to green when we hand them off to Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham. Why don't you head back, tell everyone what's happening? They should know."
"Okay, Rick, I just –" Morgan started.
"Will you do that for me?" Rick interrupted, Morgan nodding in return. "I'll take care of that one." He added as a walker moved toward us. "Michonne, you take point."
"I know it's how it is. I do." Morgan stated.
"Yeah. I do, too." Michonne added.
Leaving Carter in the woods, we started moving again. The walkers had all returned to the road, following the sounds of Daryl's bike and the occasional gunfire. We were ready for anything and yet we'd lost another of our group. I was well aware that not everyone would survive but this was supposed to be easy. Risky. But easy. And it had been going so well. Why couldn't he have paid just a little more attention to his surroundings?
"I didn't have a choice." Rick told me softly.
"I know, baby." I said running my hand down his arm. "You don't have to justify it to me. I'm just…sick of people dying."
"I know." He replied.
Smiling at him, I took his hand, "We're gonna be okay."
The words had barely left my mouth when a horn started to blare. All our heads moved in the direction it was coming from. Only then we saw the walkers starting to be pulled off the road.
"Damn it." I said, dropping Rick's hand. "Rick."
Michonne moved to us, looking off in the distance, "Whatever that is, it's far. It sounds like it's coming from –"
"Home." Rick stated, the word coated in fear.
My head jerked toward him, my blood running cold as my children flew to the front of my mind. Then I was running. Racing past the others, sprinting as fast as I could. The sound of the dead followed as the others started to run as well. If that sound was coming from home then the dead wouldn't be far behind and everything we had planned would be for not. Even if it was just a fraction of the horde, it didn't matter. Any number was too large and we needed to get back home to defend it. I needed to defend my kids. My heart was racing, glancing over my shoulder to see the back half of the horde off the road, following us and the sound.
Jesus…