AN: I'd first like to apologize for this doozy of a chapter. I'd also like to apologize because I meant to upload this earlier today but I just got back from Walker Stalker Con NJ. If any of y'all ever go, Cooper Andrews and Ross Marquand are the dudes to meet. If you have been to a WSC, leave a review telling me about it!

Chapter 9: We'll Meet Tomorrow

~Carl~

I didn't want Clary this close. I didn't want her to feel the fever that'll kill me. But she's beside me now, her face in my neck, with my dad and Michonne in front of me.

Dad starts, "I-I don't…"

"Dad," I say.

"How…"

"Dad, it's alright. It's gotta be. I wasn't sure if you'd make it back before… but… just in case, you know?" I reach beside me, taking the stack of letters I had written to everyone. "I wanted to make sure I was able to say goodbye." I quickly flip through them, pulling Clary's out from the pile. I give the rest of the stack to Michonne, pressing Clary's into her hand. I tell her, "Don't read that until after, okay?"

Clary nods quickly, taking the letter and tucking it in her jacket pocket. "No," my dad says, shaking his head. "It's them. It's them. They… they don't… it wasn't…"

Michonne's still crying, still shaking her head in the disbelief that she's going to lose yet another child. "Carl," she whispers.

"No," Dad repeats. "No."

"I got bit," I say. It's the first time I've really said the words out loud. It feels strange on my tongue. I know I was bitten and I know I've only got a limited amount of time left, but it still doesn't feel real. "I was bringing someone back. His name's Siddiq. We saw him at that gas station before. It wasn't the Saviors. It just happened. I got bit."

I let out a soft groan, leaning against Clary for support. "Carl?" she questions. "What's the matter, baby?"

"Everything hurts," I say softly, squeezing my eye shut. I know I'm getting worse, that we're running out of time.

"Rick," Clary says, "we need to lay him down."

Dad nods, not really processing her words. Together, he, Michonne, and Clary get me up, laying me back on the cot I had set up earlier for Siddiq, assuming that he would be living down here until I talked my dad into letting him join the community. Clary sits on the edge of the cot, taking my hand, while Michonne smooths my hair down. "Is that better?" Michonne inquires.

"Yeah, thanks," I say.

"I, um, I got these," Siddiq offers, and I glance around them to see him offering a bag filled with pill bottles. "They're over the counter, non-steroidal, anti-inflammatories. They'll, um, they'll help a little with the fever." Siddiq looks down, stumbling over his words. "Th-they did for my mom and dad." His voice breaks as he tries, "Please, take them. Your son, he should have them."

Clary gets to her feet, starting towards Siddiq. She's unpredictable on a good day, and when she's pissed, there's nothing she won't do. I grab her arm, whispering, "You promised."

"I'm not going to," she replies, looking down at me.

"You're a doctor?" my dad questions as I release Clary's wrist.

Clary takes the pills from Siddiq, and he stares up at her for a long minute before he finally answers my dad. He clears his throat, answering, "I was a resident… before. Yeah."

"You're name's Siddiq?"

"Yes."

My dad turns back to me as Clary returns to my side, questioning, "Did you know he was a doctor? Is that why you brought him back?"

"He wasn't gonna make it alone," I reply. "He needed us. That's why."

"He was the one at the gas station."

An explosion goes off nearly right above us, and Clary lurches forward, covering me with her body as the ceiling cracks. My dad covers her, the debris landing on him. The dust causes me to start coughing, and Michonne rushes, "Water, give him water."

Clary stays above me in case more debris falls, gently holding my head up while Dad presses a bottle to my lips. "Easy," my dad says. "Slowly, slowly."

Dad lowers the bottle as Michonne gets to her feet, and I watch as she marches towards Dwight, ordering, "Make it stop! Make it stop." Michonne grabs the front of his shirt, slamming him back against the sewer walls. "Make them stop."

Dwight bows his head, admitting, "I can't."

"You can," Michonne insists. "You're one of them. They'll listen to you." Michonne's voice breaks as she begs, "Please. Please."

Dwight bows his head, not meeting her eyes. Rosita gets to her feet, resting her hand on Michonne's shoulder as she takes a step back from Dwight. Rosita turns to the Savior, asking, "You said that Hilltop's safe, right?"

"Yeah," Dwight answers with a nod.

"We need to get everybody there." Rosita turns to Michonne. "We can get Carl there."

I know I won't make the trip.

"And they think all of you got away in the woods," Dwight interrupts. "They're out there, looking."

"They saw us go west," Tara chimes in. "So we won't go west."

"Your best chance is to stay here until they're gone."

"No," Daryl argues, keeping Judith pressed against his chest as he stands. "They find us here, we're dead."

"They're almost done. They gotta be. It wasn't about destroying the place. They don't have the ammo for that. After they let up, after they're gone… that's when we go." For a while, no one says anything. Dwight looks around the others to Clary. He pleads, "Please, Clary. You know I'm right."

They all turn to look at Clary. She bites her lip, closing her eyes. I rest my hand on her hip, telling her, "This is your choice. You have a voice, a powerful one. What you say means a lot."

Clary opens her eyes, nodding as she takes in what I said. She looks up at the others, saying, "I trust Dwight. Listen to what he has to say."

"Okay," Rosita says. "We wait."

"You're sure going to Hilltop's the best plan?" Dwight questions.

"You got a better one?"

"All of you, in one place, together—"

"All of us, in one place, together," Daryl interrupts. "We'll be their worst damn nightmare."

~Morgan~

The Saviors came to the Kingdom.

Carol and Ezekiel got everyone out, but the Saviors took Ezekiel. I peer into the shadows, searching for Henry, who snuck back in, wanting revenge for his brother. I spin upon hearing a sound behind me, raising my staff, but stop when I see Carol. "Hey," she hisses.

"Shit," I mutter, lowering my weapon.

Carol takes a few steps closer, whispering, "They don't have enough people to guard all the walls."

"No, but they do have people," I reply.

"And they have Ezekiel."

"I saw him. They got him on the other side of this place." I glance over my shoulder, checking that there's no Saviors creeping up on us in the night before turning my attention back to Carol. "We can take 'em. One by one."

"No," Carol argues with a shake of her head. "If we hit one of them, that could call them all. It's better just to avoid them until we can't."

"Henry. He's here, too."

"Where?" Carol demands. "Did you see him? Do they have him?"

"Yeah, I saw him run this way and then he was gone. But he'll hide. He won't take them on face-to-face."

"We have to do this now," Carol decides, her plan of action changed now that there's a possibility of Henry being in danger. "So if we have to take them, we take them."

Carol takes off into the shadows of the Hilltop, and I follow. We round a building, watching as two Saviors attempt to extinguish a fire started by Ezekiel before he was captured. Two more Saviors exit another building carrying more fire extinguishers. They put them down by the two battle the blaze before disappearing back inside.

"If we don't go through 'em," I whisper to Carol, "we gotta go through the courtyard. We'll be exposed. This is it."

I look to Carol, and she nods once. We get ready, sneaking up behind the Saviors. I tap one on the shoulder with the end of my bo staff, stabbing him through the chest when he turns. Carol hits the other one over the head with her rifle. I put the sharpened end of my weapon through each of their heads, ensuring that they won't reanimate.

Carol and I hide on either side of the stairs, waiting for the other two Saviors to exit the building once more. "You want me to just do it?" Carol questions.

"No," I reply. We hit them the same way as before, I stab as Carol knocks them unconscious. "No, no." Carol picks up a gun from one of the Saviors. "Got all of 'em. They could've found Henry."

"I know," Carol replies. "I'm not worried about them."

We continue on, starting to enter one building when I hear more Saviors around the corner. "Leave it," Carol hisses.

I ignore her, starting towards them.

"Leave it."

I ignore her, walking down the steps and taking down two of the three Saviors. Carol fires before the third one can, and he drops to the ground, a silenced bullet in his head. We retrieve more guns from the fallen Saviors, Carol deciding, "Let's go find Ezekiel."

"Give up, or he's dead," Gavin threatens from inside the auditorium. They think we're at the back of the auditorium. They quickly realize we aren't when we kick over a backdrop on stage, opening fire on the Saviors, Ezekiel diving for cover.

I move down into the seating area, pushing towards the back of the auditorium until a Savior tackles me from the right. We roll, my gun flying out of my hands. He comes out on top, throwing punches. I get one hand around his neck, pushing back against him, and I notice a large bullet wound in his stomach.

The Savior screams in pain as I plunge my hand into the wound, blood running out of his mouth. I force my hand into his stomach, grabbing ahold of his intestines and ripping them out.

It goes silent, Carol and Ezekiel staring at me in horror.

"Jesus," Gavin says, and I realize he's the only Savior left alive.

He gets to his feet, turning and getting out of the auditorium as fast as he can with after being shot in the leg. I grab my gun, firing at him but missing. I grab my bo staff from the stage, starting up the aisle. "Morgan, we should take out leave," Ezekiel says.

"We don't need to go," I reply. "All of them are dead."

~Clary~

"You left," Carl says, looking up at Michonne as she strokes his hair. "You were supposed to be resting."

"I'm not tired," Michonne tells him.

"Yeah, you look great."

"Gosh, Carl, you never say anything about how I look," I tease, remembering a similar conversation in that house after the fall of the prison.

"Well, that's 'cause you always look great," Carl returns. Michonne chuckles softly, remembering that moment as well. Carl turns serious as he says, "It's gotta stop. It's not supposed to be like this. I know it can be better."

I look up to the sky when I realize I haven't heard any explosions for a while. "Sounds like they're lettin' up," I say.

"Looks like you were right," Rosita tells Dwight. "They're leaving."

"Maybe," Daryl says. Rick stands as my brother approaches, passing Judith over to her father. "Want me to go take a look?"

Rick gives a small nods, and I suddenly stand, blurting, "Daryl."

"Yeah?" he questions, turning back to me.

"Be careful," I request.

Daryl nods. "Anything for you."

My brother leaves, and Carl turns to me as I reclaim my seat next to him. He murmurs, "You should go with them. Get to the Hilltop."

"I can't," I whisper, taking his hand. "I won't leave you."

It isn't long before Daryl returns, and Michonne steps away to meet with him. She returns, reporting, "The Saviors are gone. We can get everyone to Hilltop. We can get Carl there."

"Carl? No," Rick objects.

"Daryl can get one of the cars," Michonne proposes.

"Carl won't make… He can't leave here." I bow my head, squeezing Carl's hand. I remember Jim, how the ride to the CDC alone had nearly killed him. "I have to stay with him."

"Rick."

"He can't. I have to stay."

Michonne nods. "We'll both stay."

"All three of us will," I add.

Rick glances back at me before turning back to his girlfriend. "Will you… will you take Judith?" he requests. "She needs to be there. If she…" Rick cuts himself off, his voice breaking. "If… something happens—"

"I'll take her," Daryl volunteers. "I'll get her there. I'll keep her safe. I got this."

"Let me say goodbye," Carl requests. "Clary."

"On it," I respond, gently helping him sit up. I sit right beside him, ready to support him if the need arises.

Rick kneels with Judith in front of Carl, and I can tell in her big brown eyes that she doesn't understand. She doesn't understand that this is the last time she'll ever see her brother. She doesn't understand why he's not coming with her. She doesn't understand why he's saying goodbye.

"You be good, okay?" Carl tells her. "For Michonne. For Dad. You gotta honor him. Listen when he tells you stuff. You don't have to always. Sometimes, kids gotta show their parents the way."

Carl takes the sheriff's hat off his head, sighing softly as he looks down at it in his hands.

"This was Dad's before it was mine."

He reaches forward, placing the hat on Judith's head. I let out a soft chuckle as it falls off, too big for her. I remember watching Rick place the hat on Carl's head for the first time, watching it fall off because it was just a little too big. Carl gives me a grin, remembering it, too.

"Now it's yours." Carl sniffles. "I don't know… just having it and… It always kept Dad with me. It made me feel as strong as him. It helped me. Maybe it'll help you, too. Before Mom died… she told me that I was gonna beat this world."

Oh, God, Lori.

I remain silent, tears now streaming down my cheeks at the memory of Lori Grimes. I promised her I'd look out for her kids, keep them safe. I couldn't even do that.

"I didn't. But you will. I know you will."

There's something about kids, I think. About how they can read emotions. She doesn't understand, but Judith knows that something's wrong. Or maybe it's that she just doesn't want to leave her brother. Maybe that's why she starts crying when Rick pulls her away from Carl to pass her to Daryl. Daryl takes Judith and the hat, gently bouncing her as he murmurs, "I got ya, Lil Ass-Kicker."

Carl smirks, just as he always does at Daryl's nickname for Judith.

Daryl looks away from the youngest Grimes sibling to the oldest, biting his lip before saying, "These people, you saved them all. That's all you, brother. You're a hero, kid. Everything that you've done for my sister, I won't ever forget it. Thank you."

Carl dips his head in a nod of acknowledgement. Tara looks after Daryl as he turns and leaves, pausing to fist bump Carl one last time before turning to follow my brother. "Tara," I say, causing her to look back at me. "I know you want revenge, I get it. But you do not touch Dwight. Do you understand me? You leave him alone."

Tara nods once after a moment of hesitation, pivoting on her heel and following my brother. Siddiq steps forward, kneeling in front of Carl.

"You were helping me honor my mom," he says. "Not just yours."

"Mine, too," Carl tells him.

"You brought me here. You gave me a chance. I know I can never repay you, but I can honor you by showing your people, your friends, your… your family that what you did wasn't for nothing. That it mattered. That it meant something. Because it did."

"You better be worth a hell of a lot," I growl.

"I'll show you that I am. I'm gonna honor you, Carl."

"Congratulations," Carl deadpans, shaking Siddiq's hand. "You're stuck with us."

I glance upward, able to smell the smoke from the Saviors burning down our home. I echo a dead friend as I say, "For however long that'll be."

I don't stray more than a few feet from Carl's side, spending most of my time sitting on the edge of the cot, holding his hands. I bring Carl's hand to my lips, kissing his knuckles. I let our hands drop back to his stomach, and he reaches up, brushing a tear from my cheek. "Don't carry this," he says softly. "Not this death. Not this part."

"I wasn't here," I reply. "I'm so sorry, Carl."

"This isn't on you," he tries.

"I know, but I'm so sorry. Everything that I've done, I'm so sorry, Cowboy."

"You don't need to be. It's okay. We're together. All of us." Carl glances towards Michonne. "I don't want you to carry this, either. I need you to keep going and stay strong. For my dad, for Judith, for yourself." Carl looks upwards, then towards me. "What's that thing you say? Something about night and day?"

"No matter if it's night or day, just look up, and it'll be okay," I tell him. "Jesus told me that. You just wait for the sunrise or the sunset, wait for the day to pass so whatever hardship you face will be over."

Carl whispers, "Is it morning yet? I want to see the sunrise one more time."

I look up, the moon still visible. The light in the sewer disappears as the last of the oil is used up. I turn to Rick, pleading, "We have to move him, Rick. He shouldn't die down here. He shouldn't die in the dark."

Rick doesn't respond, doesn't even acknowledge that I spoke. A few minutes later, he turns to Michonne, saying, "I need your help."

"With what?" Michonne inquires.

"Getting him out of here," he replies. "Clary's right. We need to move."

Carefully, so as not to cause Carl any more pain, Rick and Michonne get us out of the sewers. They all but carry him as we cross through Alexandria, too many homes on fire for this place to be saved. We make it to the church, and Carl can't go any further.

We lay Carl on the floor, and he closes his eye, swallowing his pain, before opening it again. "Thanks," he says, "for getting me here."

"I'm sorry," Rick says. "I just… I didn't want you out there."

"No, for getting me here. For… for making it so I could be who… who I wound up." Carl swallows, sighing softly. "Back at the prison… when we got attacked… there was a kid. He was a little older than Clary and I. He had a gun. He was… he was starting to put it down."

"No, he was drawing on me," I say, remembering that day.

"No, he wasn't. We just said that he was to justify the fact that I shot him. He was… he was giving up, and then I just… I shot him. I think about him. What I did to him and how easy it was to just kill him."

"Carl, no, no," Rick protests. "What happened, what you'd lost… All those things you had to do, you-you-you were just a boy."

"And you saw it. What it did. How easy it got. That's why you changed. Why you brought those people from Woodbury in. You brought them in, and we all lived together. We were enemies. You put away your gun. You did it so I could change, so I could be who I am now. What you did then, how you stopped fighting… it was right. It still is. It can be like that again. You can still be like that again."

"I can't be who I was. It's different now."

"You can't kill all of 'em, Dad," Carl returns. "There's gotta be something after. For you… and for them. It's why you trust Dwight, isn't it, Clary? So there can be something after? I know you can't see it yet. How it could be."

"Tell me," I whisper.

Carl's eye flicks to Rick. "You have a beard. It's bigger and greyer. Michonne's happy. Judith is older, and she's listening to the songs I listened to before." Carl chuckles. "And no matter how hard you try, Clary, you just can't get her to listen to Led Zeppelin."

I let out a small laugh before promising, "I'll try even harder."

Carl smiles softly. "Alexandria's bigger. There's new houses, crops, and people working. Everybody living, helping everybody else live." Carl looks up at me. "And you and I? We're happy. There's a picture in our room of you, in a white dress. Aaron took it, after he managed to stop crying at giving his daughter away." Carl closes his eye for a second, swallowing before continuing. "If you both could be who you were, that's how it could be. It could."

"Carl," Rick says softly. "It was all for you. Right from the start. Back in Atlanta, the farm… everything I did was for you. Then, at the prison, for you and Judith. It still is. It's gonna be. And nothing—nothing—is gonna change that."

"I want this for you, Dad."

"I'm gonna make it real, Carl," Rick swears. "I promise. I'm gonna make it real."

"And Clary?"

"Yeah?" I ask, leaning forward.

"I want you to be there to see it. No, I need you to be there. I need you there to see it for the both of us, for the others that are gone, and for the ones that are still here. And hey, look out for Judith for me?"

"I already am," I tell him. "Your mom made me promise the same thing before she died. She made me promise to protect her kids. I failed you, baby, but I won't fail Judith."

"You didn't fail," Carl tries to tell me.

"Carl, I'm sorry," Rick apologizes. "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you. A father's job is to protect his son."

"Love," Carl corrects. "It's just to love."

Carl reaches down, mouthing an apology to me as he draws his gun.

"No, no," Rick objects as Michonne says, "Carl, it should be—"

"I know," Carl interrupts. "I know. Somebody you love. When you can't do it yourself. But I still can. I grew up. I have to do this. Me." Carl looks to Michonne. "I love you. You've always been my best friend."

"I love you, too, Carl," Michonne sobs. "And you were mine."

Carl's crying as he looks up at Rick, managing, "I love you, Dad."

Rick can barely get his words out. "I love you, Carl. I love you so much." He leans down, pressing a kiss to Carl's forehead. "I'll make it real. I will. I'll do it for you. I'll make it real for you, Carl."

Carl looks up at me last, telling me, "Cheyenne, I loved you yesterday and I love you still. I love you today and I'll love you tomorrow."

"We won't be together tomorrow," I reply in between sobs.

"So we'll meet tomorrow."

Rick and Michonne tried to drag me away. I fought so hard they gave up. I'm not leaving Carl for anything. And I'm not leaving him alone as he ends it, just like Michonne couldn't leave Andrea by herself.

"You should've gone," Carl says, pushing himself up.

"I'm not leaving you," I reply. "We've been over this."

"I don't want you to see it."

"My father is a walker," I tell him. "I wasn't there. I have to be here. I can't put down the people that I love. I don't want you to do it, but we're out of time. So I'll stay with you until the very end. I'm not leaving you, Carl Grimes. I'm not leaving you for the world. I'm staying for these last moments, no matter how short they are. So just let this one brief moment make eternal ties."

Carl looks down at the gun in his hands before back up at me. He leans forward, and I meet him for one last kiss. I wrap my arms around him, this final embrace replacing forever. He whispers, "Stand back. And close your eyes."

I take a step back, but I don't close my eyes. I watch Carl take the safety off the gun, and he meets my eyes. He says, "Hey, you're gonna be okay."

"The world's gone to shit," I say, echoing the first words I ever said to him. "Ain't nobody okay."

Carl dips his head, a small grin gracing his lips as he remembers it just as clearly as I do. He lifts his head, telling me, "I love you, Dixon."

"I love you, too, Grimes," I reply. I pause, taking a shaky breath before adding, "Tomorrow."

Carl smiles softly, echoing, "Tomorrow."

The silenced gunshot is louder than anything I've ever heard.