Chapter Fifty-one: Hope and Fear
When the sun had set, I made sure Maggie was tucked in bed. I sat with her until she was asleep, not wanting to leave her. The second she told us that she was pregnant, I felt an overwhelming need to make sure that nothing happened to her. She needed Glenn and I would do anything to get him back to her. Her baby needed its father. With the dead lining the walls, everything seemed heightened. The fear. The hope. The happiness. The sadness. Only happiness wasn't as much a part of our days right now. Just the constant sound of growling and nails hitting metal.
"Hey." Rick said softly as I started to get undressed, pulling on a tank top before I crawled into bed with him. "You okay?"
"No." I replied, swiftly moving against his side, nestling against him.
"What's wrong?" He asked as he gently played with my hair.
"Maggie is pregnant." I replied.
"What?" He said and shifted away from me. Sitting up, he looked down at me. "Is she sure?"
I sighed and nodded, "Yeah, she's sure."
He smiled, "That's not a bad thing."
"It is when her husband is missing." I frowned up at him. "I mean, I'm so fricking happy for her, but still…"
"We've done it before. We'll do it again." He nodded.
Smiling, I put my hand against his face, "If this had all went down a few days ago I would never disagree with that. But today? Today we're fighting for our lives. Walkers are surrounding us. Wolves attacked us. Glenn is missing. People are dead. How the hell can we bring another life into this world when we can't seem to take care of the ones that are already here?"
He put his hand against my face, gently rubbing my cheek with his thumb. He didn't say anything at first. Just looked down at me. Then he leaned down and kissed me deeply and passionately. "I love you." He said softly. "This is a good thing. Maggie and Glenn deserve this. He will come back."
Nodding, I kissed him again, "I believe you."
"Good." He said and was kissing me again.
Come morning, I showered with Rick, helping him get ready for the day before we both made sure Carl and Judith got breakfast. When Olivia arrived, we kissed the kids goodbye before we left. Rick had plenty to do and I wanted to go check on Maggie. We needed to make a run. She needed prenatal vitamins. She needed three balanced meals a day. She had cravings that would need to be filled. She needed a lot of things and with walkers surrounding us we had no way of replenishing our supplies and giving her what she needed. I felt determined to make sure she got all that and more.
"Hey." I said as I handed her a plate of scrambled eggs with cheese, two blueberry muffins, and bacon. "I'm going to assume you haven't eaten yet."
"Haven't really felt too hungry." She replied.
"Too bad." I said holding it out further to her. "Eat."
She sighed, "Linny."
"You are growing a baby. A miracle and the hope for humanity. You need to eat."
She looked at me with annoyance, "With that kind of pressure how can you expect me to eat?"
"Sorry." I said but still held it out to her.
She sighed again and took the food, walking to the table and sat down. "Are you really never going to leave me alone?"
"Nope."
"Caroline." She said with annoyance again. "I'm not broken. I'm fine. Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean that I can't keep doing everything I ever have."
"Actually it does." I frowned at her. "You can't be reckless. You need to think about Glenn and your baby. He will come back and when he does he's going to want to know that you were kept safe. He'd be pissed if he found out I let you do something stupid."
She smiled, "Yeah, he would."
"So, no, I am not leaving you alone. I know you can handle yourself but I am still going to stay with you."
"Rick will get jealous." She smirked.
I just smiled back at her, "Let him."
Making sure she ate every last bit of food, I followed her to the watch post, knowing that she would dedicate her days to waiting for Glenn to show her that he was alive. I didn't think she'd stop waiting until he either showed himself or she found his body. She wouldn't be able to find a body until the walkers were gone. The unknown was more traumatic than anything else right now. The unknown was terrifying as shit.
"Anything?" I asked her after a while.
"Nope." She replied. We were facing different directions, just in case. "You?"
"Nope." I stated. "Hungry?" I asked looking at her.
She met my eyes, "No."
"You sure? I can go get you something to eat if you want. You gotta pee?"
She laughed lightly, "I'm fine, Linny."
"Okay." I nodded. "Just making sure."
"Thank you." She told me. "It helps."
"What does?"
"Having you here."
Smiling, I nudged her, "Good. Since you're never getting rid of me." Hearing someone on the ladder, I looked over the edge to see Rick. "Hey, baby." I smiled when he'd reached the top.
"Hey." He said and kissed me.
"You okay?" I asked him.
"Yeah." He replied before putting his hand on Maggie's shoulder. "You don't have to be up here so much."
"I won't be." She told him. "This is the direction he'd come in. If he sends up a signal, it'll be from out there."
"Yeah." He nodded.
"Or it – it won't be."
"It will, Mags. He will show himself. He'll be back." I told her firmly.
"When we go out there, it's never easy, it's never simple. It's always a fight. But we've come back from harder things. From further away." Rick told her. "Glenn, Abraham, Sasha, Daryl, they will, too. Maybe we don't wait for them to be back. We should start figuring out how to draw the walkers away. We have some food and water to last us a while and the walls are holding. We can take our time. Really think this through. Do it right. Clear it so they can – they can walk right in."
Gently rubbing his chest, I smiled at him, "We all want that."
"I saw Judith in the house the other day." Maggie said, changing the subject. "She's starting to – she's starting to look like Lori."
"Yeah." Rick replied as he wrapped his arm around me.
"Made me happy."
"Me, too."
"I wish I could have met her." I added.
Maggie smiled at me as Rick pressed his forehead against me. "I do, too. But things have worked out."
Smiling, I met his eyes, "Yes, they have."
He kissed me sweetly, "I'll see you later."
"Okay." I said and kissed him again.
"Yeah." He said rubbing my face with his hands before he kissed me once more, finally going back down the ladder.
I stared at him until he was out of sight, longing for more than a few brief moments with him. More than just sleeping next to him. We could do more but then we'd never get any sleep and we needed sleep more than we needed sex. But sex sounded so good right now. Especially with our current predicament. Tomorrow was never guaranteed.
"You should be with him." Maggie told me.
"I know." I replied. "And Glenn should be with you."
"Linny." She said sadly.
"There will be time after we figure all this out." I went on. "We don't have time for that right now."
"You need to make time." She replied. "We don't know what's gonna happen. One or all of us could die today or tomorrow or next week. Don't make excuses."
I didn't have a reply for her. She was right. I shouldn't make excuses and I should find the time. Only it wasn't just me. Rick needed to make the time, too, and he was far too busy to devote even an hour to satisfy our needs. He had too much on his mind. All he could think and talk about was what was happening. I loved that he wanted to talk to me about it. That he trusted my opinion. He listened to me and he had always let me be my own person. Something I appreciated. However I would have loved to just sit on the couch and cuddle for a while.
"Linny." Rick called up to me.
I turned and looked over the edge, smiling down at him, "Baby. I was just thinking about you."
"There's a meeting. I want you with me." He told me with seriousness.
Sighing, I looked at Maggie, "Work, work, work."
She just smiled at me, "Make time."
"You don't have to tell me." I smiled back at her.
She hugged me, "I'll see you after."
"Yes, you will." I told her and started down the ladder. Getting to the bottom, I fell in step next to Rick. "What's going on?"
"It's time for that talk with Morgan." He replied.
Sighing, I didn't want to be a part of this anymore. "About how he let Wolves go and they're the ones that attacked us?"
"Yeah." He said and took my hand.
Gripping his hand tightly, he called out to Morgan before we went home, going to the table. Michonne and Carol were already there, smiling as we came in. Hugging both of them, I hooked my arm through Michonne's, resting my chin on her shoulder as I watched Rick watch Morgan, motioning for him to sit down. The rest of us did the same, the silence heavy while we waited for Rick to say something. But at the moment he was just looking at him. I didn't know what he was waiting for. If it was to make the man uncomfortable, he was succeeding.
"What's going on?" Morgan finally asked.
"When Linny and I were coming back…we tried to cut off the herd with the RV. Lead the walkers away." Rick told him. "But five of those people with the Ws in their foreheads, they stopped us. They tried to kill us, shot up the RV. Now, Carol said she saw you. That you wouldn't kill those people."
"Did you let any of them go?" Carol asked him.
"Yes, I did." Morgan replied. "I didn't want to kill five people I didn't have to kill."
"And they in turn tried to kill us." I said sadly as I leaned toward him. "What the hell, Morgan?"
"They burned people alive." Carol added.
"Yeah." Morgan nodded. "Why didn't you kill me, Rick, back in King County? Pulled a knife on you. I stabbed you. So, why didn't you kill me? Was it 'cause I saved you after the hospital?"
"'Cause I knew who you were." Rick replied.
"He should have killed you." I shot at him. Rick just took my hand, gripping it tightly.
"Back there I would have killed you as soon as look at you. And I tried. But you, you let me live and then I was there to help Aaron and Daryl." Morgan went on. "See, if I – if I wasn't there…if they died…maybe those wolves wouldn't have been able to come back here." He said and paused. "I don't know what's right anymore. 'Cause I did want to kill those men. I seen what they did, what they would've kept doing. I knew I could end it. But I also know that people can change." He paused and I couldn't help the emotion that was filling me. The thought of what could have happened. "'Cause everyone sitting here has." He went on. "All life is precious. And that idea – that idea changed me. It brought me back and it keeps me living."
"That's not the way it is anymore." I told him sadly.
"I just don't think it can be that easy." Michonne added.
"It's not easy." Morgan told her.
"I wasn't saying –" Michonne started.
"I – I know." Morgan interrupted her. "And I've thought about letting that idea go. But I don't want to."
"You don't have a choice." I stated.
"Things aren't as simple as four words. I don't think they ever were." Michonne added.
"Do you think I don't belong here?"
"Making it now, do you really think you can do that without getting blood on your hands?" Rick asked him.
"I don't know."
As soon as the meeting was over, I walked Morgan out. He lived here but we needed to have a few minutes to think and talk things over. He was in the wrong. None of them deserved to live. If you couldn't make the hard calls then you were never going to survive. In Morgan's case, he was probably going to survive at the cost of other's lives.
"Linny." Rick said wrapping his arms around me from behind.
"Rick." I smiled, leaning into him, pressing my lips against his cheek.
"Hey." Michonne smiled.
Taking her hand, I smiled at her, "Hey."
"He didn't mean for anything to happen." She told me.
"I know." I replied, taking my hand back as I put my arms over Ricks. "What now? We need to get the walkers away from the wall. If they keep putting pressure on it it's only a matter of time before they start to cave."
Rick sighed in my ear, "I know."
"We need to get out of here. Get to the cars and make as much noise as we can. Glenn told me how you wired a car horn to draw them away so others could escape. We could try that again."
He nodded, pressing a kiss against my neck. "That would work, but first we need to get outside the walls."
"We'll set up more watch points. Coordinate the shooting of guns and flares so we could pull them out in even directions." Michonne offered.
"We'd need to get all our people on it. Carl, Tara, Rosita, Carol." Rick replied.
"What about everybody else?" She asked.
He paused a moment, "Well, let's just keep this to our own for now."
"Really?" Michonne frowned.
"Rick, they are all our own. Everyone is our people. They'll want to help." I told him, meeting his eyes over my shoulder.
He let me go, moving between Michonne and I. "Look, if we have the time to bring the people along, sure. But we haven't have a chance to catch our breath."
Taking a deep breath, I let it out slowly. I couldn't argue with him there. I didn't feel like we had time either.
"Really? We're in here together. We're catching our breath right now. Anything else is just excuses." Michonne told him.
Apparently Maggie wasn't the only one thinking we were making excuses. This was different but it still felt the same. Before we could say anything else, Deanna was rushing toward us with a smile on her face. It'd been a while since I'd seen her smile like that. It was genuine.
"Deanna." Rick told her.
"Rick."
"What's that?" He asked as he looked at the rolled up letter in her hands.
"Plans for the expansion." She told him excitedly.
"We got a few other things on our plate right now." Rick told her.
"I know." She replied.
"I want to see." I smiled and took them from her. Looking at Michonne, she helped me open them up. "These are for what Alexandria can be after this. Because one way or another, there's gonna be an after this."
Looking them over, I smiled, "These are amazing."
"Thank you." Deanna smiled. "We can make this work."
"We will." I nodded.
When we finally left, I went to be with Maggie, walking with Rick as he went to where the wall was being reinforced. Moving toward the ladder, Rick was alone as he started to cut the beams to brace the wall with. Looking up, Maggie smiled down at me. Nodding, I went to Rick, helping cut and hold so he could attach them. Talking, even laughing a little, it was bonding time. We didn't have time for it and yet it was so very much needed. We weren't alone long, Tobin coming to help as well. It went twice as fast with two men, leaving me to cut the pieces and them just to pick up and place.
"Thank you." Rick said shaking Tobin's hand when we were done.
"Of course." He smiled.
"I helped, too." I teased.
Rick smiled and stepped closer, leaning in with a smiled. I smiled back, about to say something when he kissed me. Soft and slow at first, only then he snaked his arm around me, yanking me flush against him as he deepened it, taking my breath away.
"Thank you." He told me softly.
"Any time, baby." I told him a little breathlessly. " If nothing else dire happens today, I want to spend tonight alone with you. Awake and making a mess of things."
He smirked at me, "I'll move Judith to Carl's room."
"Perfect." I grinned at him.
He moved in to kiss me again when the sound of scraping metal met our ears. Looking toward the sound, we saw someone attempting to shimmy across a wire from the wall to the tower. Squinting, I felt my stomach drop as my pulse started to race as I recognized who it was.
"Oh my God." I said and was running. "Spencer!"
Rick was right behind me, quickly moving up the scaffolding that he had left from. "Spencer. Hey, Spencer, get back here!"
Hearing others, I briefly acknowledged Eugene and Tara on the scaffolding down the way. But then my eyes were back on Spencer. "Stop, Spencer. Just turn around."
"Spencer, get back here now." Rick told him.
He slipped, nearly falling, gripping the rope with only his hands.
"Spencer!" I yelled. "Make your way back. Come on."
"Go! Keep moving! Hurry!"
My stomach turned as he fell from the rope, slamming into the wall. The dead were pulling on his legs as he attempted to scale the wall. Shots started and I looked to see Tara hanging over the edge of the wall, covering him to give him time to get up. Keeping my eyes on her, Rick, Tobin, and Morgan pulled Spencer up and onto the scaffolding. Looking down at him, I let out the breath I'd been holding, squatting down next to him.
"You okay?" I asked him. He nodded but wouldn't reach my eyes. "Good. What the hell Spencer?"
"Tara! You almost died once for these people." Rick shot at her.
Tara was taken aback, "What?"
"What the hell were you doing?" He yelled back.
"Rick." I said standing, putting my hand against his chest as I saw her flicking him off. "Baby, that's not helping." I added softly.
"Lost a damn shoe. Crap." Spencer said nonchalantly.
"What was that?" Rick shot at him.
"I was trying to help." He replied. "I wanted to get to a car, draw them away."
"You ever make a climb like that before?" Rick asked but it was clear that he hadn't. "You want to help? Don't make us come running to save you. You got an idea, you come to me."
"Would you have listened to me?" Spencer asked.
Rick didn't say anything. I crossed my arms as I looked down at the man. "It's not just that, Spencer. You and your mother just lost your brother and your father. Do you want her to lose you, too? Do you think she could survive that?"
He got to his feet and looked at me, not saying a word before he went to the ladder and headed down. Looking at Rick, I sighed, watching everyone else go down as well. He shifted his feet and nodded at me. Frowning at him, I looked at Tara who was already down from the scaffolding.
"You owe her an apology." I told him.
"For what?" He frowned as he started down.
"For telling her not to save Spencer." I frowned as I followed him. "He is one of us. They all are. You need to see that."
"I'm not there yet." He stated.
Frowning, I followed him as we moved back to the wall that was being enforced. "Well you need to get there, Rick. You need to get there or you're going to push the wrong people away."
"Like you?" He said turning toward me with a glare.
"Maybe." I frowned back at him. "Not long ago they tried to think you unfit to lead these people. Don't make me start to think that they were right."
"What?" He frowned. "Do you want to?"
"No." I replied quickly. "But I will if I have to." He just smirked, shaking his head as he walked away from me. "Rick!" I called after him.
"What, Caroline?" He said angrily as he turned back to me. "I don't have time to fight with you right now. We have a wall that needs to be reinforced. We have people that need to know that nothing is going to happen to them. They need to feel like they're safe."
"They're not safe, Rick." I shot at him. "We're not safe right now and you need to see that there are others that matter here. Our immediate little family cannot be the only ones who do and you know that."
"I do know that." He nodded. "Doesn't change the fact that I only trust our family."
My anger was spiking but I didn't know what else to tell him that would make him feel differently. "One day you're going to have to trust someone else. Otherwise this is never going to work."
He just nodded and walked away from me. Deciding to let him, I watched him go, wanting to yell after him. He needed to realize that we were a part of Alexandria. There was no us and them. We were all here together and we needed to be in everything together or this was never going to work. We needed it to work. Deanna was unstable and that meant that Rick was in charge of things. I couldn't blame others for not trusting him when he clearly didn't trust them. Spencer had been right. Rick wouldn't have listened to him. Moving back toward Maggie, my head jerked up as I saw her running toward me.
"That's Glenn." She yelled pointing to the sky. "That's Glenn."
Looking up, I shielded my eyes to the sun, seeing green balloons floating over the community. Smiling, I looked at Maggie, grinning just as she was. About to say something, there was an audible crack that split the air, my eyes moving to the tower, seeing it tipping toward the wall. The cracking continued and then we all watched as it detached, falling down onto the wall, taking it to the ground.
Diving backward, dust and debris washed over me, making me immediately cough. It had barely begun to clear when the sound of the dead was heard. Looking behind me, they were moving through the hole that had been created. Seeing Maggie not far from me, I got to me feet and rushed toward her, gripping her waist before moving her forward.
"Go, go, go!" I said as we reached the scaffolding. "Hurry!"
She started to go up, the dead drawing near. Quickly following her, the dead gripped the ladder, the weight of them making it crack and start to break free as we climbed. She was nearly to the top when he broke off, three-quarters of the ladder falling down to the dead below. She was struggling to get up, making it further before sliding back.
"Use my shoulders!" I yelled up to her.
"No!" She called back. "You'll fall!"
I met her eyes with as much seriousness as I could, climbing another two rungs so I was as close to her as I could get. "You're pregnant, Maggie. Glenn is coming and I will not be the reason something happens to you. Not get the fuck onto that landing."
She nodded and I swiftly wrapped my arms around the remaining rungs, bracing myself to take her weight. Feeling her feet against my shoulders, she bent her knees, springing away from me and onto the landing. At the same moment, one rung broke, my grip failing, and for a moment I was free falling. Managing to grip the last rung, I couldn't help the terror was that moving through me. Attempting to climb up, my left shoulder burned with pain, walkers pulling on me as I attempted to kick them off. Managing to get my foot into one of the Ys of the legs, I managed to hoist myself upward. Then Maggie was screaming at me and I looked up to see her hand within reach. Gripping it, she helped me up, both of us falling backward, panting up at the sky.
"You okay?" She asked me as she gripped my hand.
I nodded at her, "Yeah. You?"
"Yeah."
"Good." I said and got up, needing to grip the wall as the scaffolding shook as the dead swarmed below us. "We're safe for now."
"This thing won't hold forever." She added as she moved to my side.
"It just has to last long enough." I replied. "Everyone's gone."
"They made it home."
Sighing, I nodded, running my fingers through my hair. "Yeah."
"You sound like Rick." She smiled at me. I shot her a look. "Uh-oh. Wanna talk about it?"
"I'm pretty sure now is not the time to talk, Maggie." I frowned at her.
"What else are we gonna do?" She asked.
Opening my mouth, I quickly shut it, "Fine."
"So tell me."
Sighing again, I kept my eyes on the dead below, taking note of every feeling moving through the wood. If this thing went down we had to have a plan B. She nudged me and I offered her a small smile.
"Do you consider these people our people?" I asked her.
"Of course." She replied quickly. "How can you not? They took us in. We're alive because of them."
"I know." I nodded. "It's not me that feels differently about it."
"Rick." She nodded.
"He wants to keep everything just us and our immediate group. He doesn't trust the Alexandrians. No matter what any of us say, he won't trust them. But he should, he needs to. They've done more for us than anyone else. They have earned our trust and yet –" I cut myself off as the scaffolding shook. As soon as it seemed to stabilize I looked at her. "He just…doesn't get it, Maggie."
"He will." She smiled.
"No. You don't get it." I replied. "He just thinks his job is to lead the people. He doesn't…live like he should." She gave me a look. "I'm not making excuses." I told her, knowing what she was thinking. "I planned on giving him a night to remember tonight and then the thing with Spencer happened. We fought and he won't listen to me. Not about this."
"He trusts you more than anyone." She stated.
"Most of the time I'd agree with that." I nodded. "But when it comes to trusting people who aren't our own, he's more stubborn than I am."
She laughed lightly, "And that's saying something."
Nodding, I looked out over our home, hoping that everyone was really okay. We were visible standing, finally settling for sitting on our heels, we pressed as close to the wall as we could. Facing each other, our hands were locked together, our foreheads touching as we waiting for something to happen. We remained quiet, hoping the walkers might lose interest in the scaffolding and move on, but so far that hadn't happened yet. So far we were as surrounded as we ever were. Death surrounding us.
"I'm scared." Maggie told me.
"Me, too." I replied.
She leaned away and looked at me, "What are we gonna do?"
I smiled, "I don't know. But we'll be okay. I'll make sure of it."
The sun was setting and we were still sitting on top of the watchtower, waiting for something to happen. It had been quiet, only the sound of the walkers filling the air. Only then there was screaming. Someone had been caught. Moving to get up, the scaffolding shook violently, my stomach dropping as I looked at Maggie. Then a shot rang before there was only the sound of walkers.
"What's happening?" I asked as I attempted to get to my feet again.
"Linny." Maggie said keeping me down.
"Why only one shot?" I asked next. "Someone was screaming."
"It sounded like a woman."
I felt a little better about that, thinking of Rick and my kids. Only then I thought of Michonne and Rosita and Tara. But I knew that they wouldn't be stupid enough to get themselves killed. It wasn't them. It wasn't our family. I could handle it if it was anyone else. I was as bad as Rick. I believed that we were all the same and yet now that we were in a crisis, I would sacrifice everyone if it meant my family was safe.
"We need to get down from here." I said trying to get up again.
"Linny!" Maggie cried as I made it halfway up before being jerked to the side, hitting the railing. There was an audible crack and she jerked me back to the floor next to her. "Stay down."
"This isn't going to last much longer." I told her. "We need to get down."
She put her hand against the side of my head, "Just breathe, Linny. We're gonna get out of this."
Laughing lightly, I couldn't help the fear that coated my words, "How?"
"I don't know. But we will." She told me with determination. "Aren't you supposed to be the one who sees the silver lining around everything?"
"I try." I smiled. Then there was yelling. Looking in the direction it was coming from, I knew who it was. "Rick."
"Maybe not." Maggie said but I knew that she didn't believe it.
"Something happened." I said softly. "Maggie. Maggie, something happened."
"It's gonna be okay." She told me.
The scaffolding jerked again and for a second my heart was in my throat. "Damn it."
Then there was shooting from right below us, both of us moving forward to see what was happening. Relief filled both of us as we saw Glenn down below, shooting the walkers, leading them away from us. Then there was movement and Enid appeared, having climbed up.
"Enid." I said with shock as I yanked her to me.
Maggie started to scream, making me look, seeing Glenn being bombarded by the dead. There were too many of them. Screaming his name, both of us were screaming, watching as the dead moved closer and closer to him. Tears were streaming down both our faces, only before anything else could happen, there was gunfire, all the dead around Glenn being killed. Looking to the gate, Sasha and Abraham were standing on a truck, automatics in their hands as they took out as many dead as they could. Moving to the edge of the scaffolding, I couldn't have been happier to see them. Jumping from the edge of it, Abraham caught me, his embrace tight as I gripped him.
"I'm so happy to see you." I told him. He smirked at me, nodding. "Stop."
"Come on, we got you." Sasha said as she helped Maggie onto the truck.
We watched Glenn get into the cab of the truck, then we were moving again. Sasha and Abraham kept shooting as Daryl drove toward the pond. As soon as we had stopped, I helped Maggie down, nearly getting flattened by her husband. It was a nice moment. One that was long overdue. Going to Daryl, he was emptying the gas into the water.
"You okay?" He asked.
I nodded, "Sure."
He put his hand against my face, "Linny."
Tears filled my eyes, "I fought with Rick. There was one shot. Walkers have taken our home. How okay should I be?"
He nodded and pulled me into him, hugging me tightly. "I'm sorry."
"I'm just glad you're home." I said gripping him tightly.
He let me go, "Alright, get in."
We all got into the truck and drove off. Daryl climbed out and onto the truck, taking a rocket launcher out and shot the pond, sending flames into the sky. Then he was on the ground, opening the door and handed me a knife.
"Time to work." He told me.
Taking it, I pulled my own knife free, using both of them to kill all the dead that came our way. Sasha and Abraham were still shooting. Maggie and Glenn appeared as well, knives in hand, all of us working together to get rid of the dead that were threatening our home. The dead were attracted to the fire, making it all too easy to take out the stragglers. When we were finally done, I rushed toward home, needing to find Rick. Coming around a corner, the town was there, having killed all the dead.
"Rick!" I called.
He turned to me, his face immediately contorting as he rushed toward me. Meeting him halfway, he collided with me and for a second I couldn't breathe. Gripping him as tightly as I could, he cried into me. I wanted to cry as well but the force of his was keeping mine at bay.
"What happened?" I asked him. "Baby, what happened?"
He let me go, shaking as he brought his hands to my hair, "It's Carl."
"What about Carl?" I frowned as I too started to shake. "Where is he?"
"Infirmary." He told me.
Then I was running. I ran as fast as humanly possible, slamming through the door, seeing our wounded being tended to. Denise was in a private room, hovering over a body. Slowly stepping toward it, I saw my son lying on the bed. Still moving slowly, I stepped toward him, Denise looking up at me.
"Caroline." She said holding up her hand.
All I could see was the blood that covered her hand. "What happened?" I asked with horror. "Was he – was he bitten?"
"No." She replied. "He was shot."
Nodding, I moved to his side, seeing his head bandaged, covering his right eye. I put a shaky hand to his hair. "What – what –" I started but couldn't say any more.
"He was shot through his eye. There was nothing left to save." Denise told me. "I stopped the bleeding as best I could. It went through. There's a – a rather impressive hole. But he's stable."
Starting to sob, I took his hand, holding it against me with my other against his hair. "Thank you." I told her. "Thank you."
A tear slid down her cheek as she nodded at me, "Yeah."
I leaned down and pressed a kiss against my son's forehead, "I love you, Carl. I love you so much."
"I better check on everyone else." Denise told me and quickly left.
Then there was a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up at Rick. Starting to sob, he embraced me as we stared at our boy. He was alive. He would be different. But he would be okay. He would be okay. He had to be.
Staying with him all night, I fell asleep with my head against his side, his hand still firmly in mine. Nothing had changed overnight. He was still stable but unconscious. But he would pull through. He just needed a little time to recover. I woke to the sound of Rick's voice, talking to his son. He sounded almost defeated. I hated it, but I didn't have it in me to say anything, keeping my head down as I listened.
"I was wrong. I thought after living behind these walls for so long that…maybe they couldn't learn. But today…I saw what they could do, what we could do, if we work together." He told him. "We'll rebuild the walls. We'll expand the walls. There will be more. There's gotta be more. Everything Deanna was talking about…is possible. It's all possible. I see that now." He went on. I lifted my head and his hand was immediately stretching out to me. I took it, kissing the palm of it before holding it against my chest. "When I was out there…with them…when it was over…when I knew we have this place again…I had this feeling. It took me a while to remember what it was…because I haven't left it since before I woke up in that hospital. I want to show you the new world, Carl. I want to make it a reality for you. Please, Carl…let me show you. Plea-please, son, don't die."
Smiling at him, I stood and leaned over, kissing him as reassuringly as I could. "I love you, Rick."
"I love you." He told me.
Leaning over Carl, I kissed his forehead, "I love you, too, Carl."
He squeezed my hand. Rick's as well. We both lit up as we looked at each other, then Carl, watching his eye slowly open. He would be okay.