Chapter 68: Close
CPOV
~Many months ago~
Sat beside Kat, she had gone back to Woodbury, without us talking it over with her and returned bruised, cut and weakened. Had she stayed any longer, I felt she could of possibly died. Keeping watch, I didn't want to leave her side, not with how she was. "Hey..." I heard her voice call after a few grumbles were made as she woke up.
I had been sharpening my knife, my hat no longer would fall down and cover my eyes but it still felt a little big on my head. "Hey," I greeted her back, she'd sat up but grunted with a soft fall back onto the bed. "How are you feeling?" I asked her.
Her hand rose to rub at her forehead. "Like a bunch of bricks got stacked on top of me, then on-top of the bricks, a fat guy is wiggling on them," she explained the pain she was in. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to make me laugh but it wasn't working. "How are you?" she asked me with concern to my silence.
I worried about her, I hated the fact she came back, only to leave us again. "You promised me," I started through gritted teeth. "You said you weren't going to leave again, but you did," I told her, reminding her of the promise she gave me the moment we'd finally sat down and talked about everything.
Her eyes were sad as she stared at the bunk bed above her head. A lump rolled down her throat from the hard swallow she took. "I know I did," she agreed with me, remembering what words of promises she'd given me.
A promise she didn't keep. "You almost died," my voice vocalised just how upset I was about all of this, how she came back to the prison, carried in, it worried me more than she knew. I thought this time, she was gone for good.
Feeling lucky, she was still here but next time, might not be so lucky. "I know...I'm sorry Carl," she sighed and looked over to me, getting up from my seat, I put my knife away and knelt beside her bed.
She offered me her hand, taking it, I held it tightly but not too tightly. I didn't know what hurt, all I did know, was she was in pain. "Don't do it again, okay?" I asked of her, pleaded with her. "Please...I can't risk losing you again."
Truthfully, I feared losing her more than I could physically admit to her. "Okay," her whisper was soft as she licked her lips, nodding her head. Her free hand rose to stroke my face, to wipe away a tear I didn't feel fall from my eyes.
Footsteps made us turn to the sound. Leaning against the door frame, dad was watching us. "Hey," he greeted us both, breaking the moment we shared slightly. "We're going out, to get Andrea back, thought I'd let you know," dad informed Kat more than he was telling me what the plan was.
Forcing herself to sit up, she didn't care for the pain she felt, even if we could see she was struggling to get up. "I'm going with you," she grunted and told dad what she planned to do.
Hearing her, I was shocked and angry. She had just told me that she wasn't going to do this again. She can hardly sit up! Where the heck does she think she's going? "Kat, you just promised me-" I went to argue with her, feeling my heart pounding within my chest.
Her hand gripped over mine and squeezed it a little. "I know," she cut me off. "But I have to, Carl," her eyes were soft, sad and I had heard how Andrea had saved her. Those two grew close to one another and it was only natural Kat wanted to go save her. "I have to," even if I couldn't accept it, I understood. Kat's eyes were sad but firm, she was determined to go find her friend and come back to us.
I didn't want to let her go but I had to. "Whatever," I grumbled before I pulled my hand out of her hold and rushed out the door. Leaving her and dad in the room alone. I didn't want to see her, to hear or know that she was struggling or going to leave me again. She lies. All the time. I lost faith that she could keep promises anymore.
PRESENT DAY...DPOV
After hearing the whimper for help, I did my best to floor it back. We needed to get back and save our home, to find out what had happened back home and do what we could to help them. Coming across a group of bikes waiting for us on the road, I was confused. "Daryl," Sasha warned me.
She noticed how I hadn't been slowing down yet. Part of me wanted to just run them over and not care for them. Another part of me knew that maybe, if I did that, I wouldn't get the chance to get back home, to save Kat and the others. "Yeah, I see," I assured Sasha I wasn't blind.
The more Abraham watched them, the slower I slowed down. "What in the holy shit?" Abraham wasn't sure what to make of the biker gang either.
Coming to a halt not a few meters away from them, I sat there, hand resting on the seat and the other lazily over the wheel. "Why don't you come on out, join us in the road? You know, if you want to resist, t' try something? It's choice I guess," the main guy in the front called out to us.
The way he spoke was like a fake kind of friendly. Like he had intentions to ruin our day. It reminded me of the guys myself, Sherry, Tina and Dwight bumped into. "But we will end your asses. Split you right in two. Straight through to the sinuses," he warned us. "So come on," he gestured we get out with the palm of his hand opening and closing.
We all gave each other a look and eventually, I turned off the engine of the truck and climbed out. There wasn't a choice. Not until we found one. "That's great. It's going well right out of the gate," the man seemed happy about it. "Now, step two, hand over your weapons," he ordered.
"Why should we?" I asked him, glaring at him.
I already lost my bow. I wasn't going to lose my gun too. "Well, they're not yours," the man answered us like this was the right answer.
Perplexed, none of us could understand why they had said this. "What?" Abraham both challenged and asked in a tone of confusion. They just said it. Our weapons. Not theirs.
Glaring at them, my eyes were mostly darting to the guy who was leading the conversation. "See, your weapons, your truck, the fuel in your truck, if you got mints in your glove compartment, if you got porn underneath the seat, change in the seats," he was listing everything he thought we had in here.
He seemed so proud, so cocky, that it was really starting to irritate me. "Hell, the seats themselves, the floor mats, your maps, those stash for emergency napkins you got there in the console. None of those things are yours anymore," he informed us of everything that wouldn't belong to us.
"Whose are they?" Sasha asked the question we were all wondering he was referring to having it be theirs.
Taking a few steps towards us, he looked directly as Sasha as he answered her question. "Your property now belongs to Negan," he told us who owned our belongings. Glaring at him, I didn't like that answer at all.
I didn't care who Negan was, or who he was, if he was Negan, then he was as good as dead. "And if you can get your hands on a tanker, you're people our person wants to know. So let's get those sidearms, shall we?" he was practically telling us how useful we were to him.
Walking up to me first, he gestured for me to hurry up. "Right now," he ordered. Taking my gun out from behind my back, I handed it over to him. To myself and Sasha, he thanked us for giving him our weapons.
Abraham though, wasn't going to give him the gun. He was stubborn, more so than Rick, I believed. "If you have to eat shit, best not to nibble. Bite, chew, swallow, repeat," the guy was giving Abraham an example of what was going on right now. "It goes quicker," he advised how Abraham should be dealing this this.
Once Abraham gave the prick the gun, the guy mouthed him a 'Thank you,' all before he turned back around and walked back to his bike.
While Abraham was taking out his gun, I had a feeling it was taking everything inside of him to not shoot these guys for being a bunch of dicks. "Who are you people?" Sasha asked them, confused as to what the group of bikes called themselves.
For me, I didn't care for what they were called, by the end of the day, they were going to be dead if I had the first chance to make it happen. "I get the curiosity, but we have questions ourselves," he wasn't going to be answering Sasha anytime soon.
Handing one of the guns over to the guy with long hair, they were all aiming either their guns up or they had their guns in their hands. "And we'll be the ones asking them while we drive you back to wherever it is you call home. Take a gander at where you hang your hats," they had the nerve to take our things and then want to walk through our gates?
No way. No fucking way. I'd rather die before I let them come back home with us. "First, though, your shit. What have you got for us?" he asked us, still wanting to take more from us.
He already had the truck, he had our weapons. Did he want us to give him our clothes? Our bodies? There is no more for him left to take. "Yeah, you just took it," I lied.
What I knew, was between us. Abraham had taken RPG's along with a couple assault rifles, he'd stored them all in the back of the truck. "Come on. I mean, can we not, okay?" the guy pleaded with me. "There's more. There is always more," he stated and sighed. "T...take my man to the back of the truck, start inside the back bumper, work your way to the front. Go," the man gave me orders on how to take the big guy with me to the back.
"Bite, chew, swallow, repeat," was the last thing I could hear the guy say as I lead the guy to the back.
Getting all the way to the back, I had my back to him as he pointed the gun to my back. It was lazy but I knew he could easily shoot me if I made one wrong move. But I wasn't going to make one. I was waiting for a good chance. "Hey, show me what else you got," the guy warned me.
Not turning around, I only looked ahead, at the back of the truck and felt my whole body tense. I'm not going to kneel. I'm not going to let these guys take what else we have left. I am done with trusting people and especially guys who are bad guys. "I said, show me what else you got," the guy shoved me.
Turning around, I went for his gun and fought against him, I thought I was going to get the gun off of him easily. Instead, he grabbed hold of the gun too, knocking him with it, he eventually let it go. The force had shoved me onto the ground, tumbling with the gun to the floor. Trying to get to my feet, the guy scrambled onto his hands and knees.
Feeling a sharp cut near my shoulder blade, I grunted and grasped onto the gun to get to my feet. Climbing up onto me, I grabbed my shoulders and when he was close enough, I elbowed him in the face. Which had knocked him back. Climbing over him, I wrapped my hands around his neck and choked him to death, he was struggling but I wasn't stopping.
His face eventually turned pink, then red and finally a purple-ish blue. When I let him go, I used the same weapon he used on me to the back of his skull, leaving it there. Getting up, I took out the only thing that would take out all of these pricks. I took out one of the RPG's Abraham had found.
Using it, I had enough listening to the guy taunting my friends. Shooting it straight at them, it left nothing in our path as they became a pit of fire, ashes, guts and pieces of motorbikes laid out on the road.
Rounding my way over to Sasha and Abraham, they had fallen on the ground, getting to their feet as they coughed from them inhaling smoke. "Son of a bitch was tougher than he looked," I commented on the guy I had fought against as he laid there.
When I turned around, Sasha had noticed something that I had felt almost instantly the second it happened. "Did he cut you?" she asked me, noticing my cut on my back.
Trying to catch my breath, I looked back to the prick, panting still from the adrenaline rush we had felt. "A little," I replied to her. "What a bunch of assholes," I grumbled, hating the fact these guys thought they could take whatever they wanted and get away with it.
Sasha had applied a rag against my back, trying to stop the bleeding. "Let's get you fixed up at home," she was both happy we lived another day and that we could finally go back.
"Yes, ma'am," I was eager to go back home. To get back to Kat and the others.
After closing the back, I went to climb up into the truck and heard Abraham spit. "Nibble on that," he grumbled to the asshole who was making us do stuff. Who had been forcing us to hand everything we had over. Who had wanted to take us back home and come with us.
I hadn't felt luckier being alive and away from those guys than I had now. All I wanted now, was to get home, get back to Kat and hopefully, never leave her side again.
RPOV
The stroll through the walkers, had been a little unnerving. Sam had finally been silenced and we were watching the herd begin to thin out. Possibly because they were slipping into the houses and had been moving to spread out all over Alexandria.
Stopping to one side, everyone joined in to regroup and talk about our new plan. So far, the walkers didn't notice or care for us but we needed to keep the volume down if we were going to survive another day. "Alright, new plan. Flares from a few guns aren't enough. Too many walkers, too spread out," I was listing where our plan failed.
Everyone was looking at me expectantly, waiting for what I'd say next. "We're not going to the armoury. We need our vehicles back at the quarry. All of us drive. We'll need to round 'em up. We leave, we come back," this was our new plan, one I believed we could execute if we worked together and did this together.
Jessie was the one hanging onto every word. Carl would back me up regardless, as would Michonne. It was Gabriel and Ron I feared were going to possibly go against me. "Okay. But Judith...to the quarry and back, I-" Jessie trailed off, accepting my new plan but fearing for my youngest daughter.
Silence wasn't achievable with all the walkers that roamed around us. "I'll take her," Gabriel had broke the silence that fell between us. "Keep her safe in my church until you all lead the walkers away," he was offering to keep Judith safe with him, somewhere sturdy.
For him to walk past more walkers without detection, without fearing them attacking him, I could only hope he had the strength, the courage, to keep my daughter safe. "Can you do this?" Michonne asked him for me, her voice stern, serious, as she too feared for Judith's life under his protection.
"I'm supposed to. I have to," he first said to Michonne as we all looked to her. "I will," gradually he was accepting his duty as a member of our group. Accepting responsibility and trying to be brave, even if he feared to be brave.
Michonne had been keeping watch, making sure no walkers would catch sight of us but when Gabriel offered to protect us, she turned a little to look at him. "Alright," I allowed him to take Judith.
Trying to shush her, Gabriel slowly took Judith out of Carl's arms. "Take Sam," Jessie told Gabriel to take her son with him. Sam argued back, telling his mother 'no'. The more they bickered, her trying to convince him he'd be safer with Gabriel and Judith indoors, he would argue back with her.
Sam didn't want to leave his mother, he kept assuring her that he could keep going. The more the two argued, the more I feared walkers were going to catch sight of us and make a move to attack us. "I can keep going. Please. Please. Let's just go," Sam begged of his mother.
"Okay," she finally accepted once she saw no doubt in his eyes that he could do this.
This was the signal that Gabriel could leave, that Sam was staying. Ron didn't say anything and Carl was just waiting for what would happen next. "I'm going to keep her safe," Gabriel assured me he had what it took to look after Judith.
How he stared me directly in the eyes, it was like he said this to gain confidence from both me and for himself. He had a job and that, was to protect my daughter. "Thank you," I whispered, watching as he walked off with Judith in his arms.
On the way to the church, I had seen him walk stiffly past walkers, shushing Judith over the snarls of the walkers. My heart was pounding. I had trusted him with her and felt a sense of worry wash over me. I hope he keeps his promise this time. "Hey. He's gonna make it. Okay?" Jessie tried to get my attention. "I know it."
How confident she was, how I looked at her I had to have faith that Judith would be in fact, safe with him. Her hand in mine was gently squeezing me. Letting her go, I looked to Sam. "Sam," I called to him softly, offering my hand, he gently took it. I had hope he would trust me to keep him safe as we walked on.
KPOV
Rushing to get into the church, myself, Enid and Glenn locked the doors up tight, in case walkers would try and get in. Beginning to search the isles, we made sure nothing was hidden. "Maybe when they searched this place, they missed something," I spoke clearly, trying not to let fear get the best of me.
"That depends if it was Aiden or Heath's group who went through it," Glenn agreed with me as we both checked under all the seats and in any cupboards we found in the church.
Enid had stood by the door, confused as to what exactly we were doing. Possibly wondering what we were looking for. "Look in the Bibles, too. Could've hollowed out the pages," I told her, as I did the same thing with her, two would work quicker than one.
Enid slowly stepped closer to the other isle as Glenn began looking beside the alter. "Are you serious?" Enid was shocked to hear me tell her to look inside the Bibles, that what I mentioned could of been done.
Hollowing out Bibles, was something that happened long before the dead walked the earth. It was an old trick. One she needed to learn if she planned on surviving in a place like this. "We have two bullets. People holed up in here-people hide guns, ammo," Glenn was the one to explain the logic in my suggestion.
As we frantically looked for anything, I was flipping through pages of endless text. "Maybe we can use something to start a fire?" I suggested another plan. Burning Bibles, sounded like a good plan to me, if it got the job done.
Glancing over to me, mine and Glenn's eyes met. "Yeah," he accepted this option in case we had none left. "It's getting dark out soon. Maybe we can distract them. We need sheets, ropes, towels-anything Maggie can use to climb down the other side," Glenn suggested another plan as we began checking everything.
Looking under a pew, thinking I had seen a gun or something underneath, but it had been a piece of a broken Bible cover that was ripped to shreds. "Enid?" I called to the girl who stared at the door, frozen on the spot. "Are you okay?" I began to slowly approach her.
Just as my hand went to touch her shoulder, she spun around and looked to both me and Glenn. "When I wanted to run...you said, 'That's how you lose people, even after they're gone,'" she was referring to what Glenn had said outside. "What the hell does that mean?" she asked him what was meant by those words.
Glancing to each other, I understood what it meant and I truly believed in the words he said. "People you love...they made you who you are," he explained as we stood side by side. "They're still part of you. If you stop being you, that last bit of them that's still around inside, who you are...it's gone," his speech was perfect and beautiful.
All the memories of who we lost flooded into my mind, made me think of the people I missed, who were still imprinted in my soul. They had made me who I was today. "Who are those people to you?" Enid asked Glenn first as she looked directly at him.
Glancing up at what she had been reading, I saw the message painted above the roof. Faith without works is dead. These were words I could understand, as I lived by them without even knowing them.
Glenn swallowed hard before glancing over to me and then back to Enid. "My parents. A man named Dale. Maggie's father, Hershel. A woman named Andrea. A man named Tyreese," Glenn had listed all the people we lost that meant something to him. "Who are they to you?" he asked her in turn.
Turning her back to us slightly, she looked over to the words written above the door. "My parents," she said softly after a few seconds of silence. "Who were they to you Kat?" Enid was curious to know who I carried around with me every day.
Remembering all their faces, from their smiles, to the last thing I saw of them, it hurt like an opened wound being ripped open. "My mom, Lori, my friend called Andrea, a man named Shane, Dale, Hershel, Tyreese, Merle, Beth...Noah," this was my list.
My mom, who showed me love that was unconditional. Andrea, my saviour. Shane, who was like an uncle to me since I was a child. Dale, for his never-ending hope for humanity. Hershel, for his wisdom, his teachings. Tyreese, for saving Judith. Merle for saving Michonne and for trying to save all of us from the Governor. Beth, for looking after Judith when I couldn't. Noah, for still believing we were good people, even after what we showed him what we were capable of.
They were people I still had living inside of me through how I worked, through how I showed others what good things, for what hope, could give us. "And they're still here...'cause we're still here," Glenn soon said when my head lowered in silence at all the memories.
After a few seconds of silence, he pat her shoulder and never left his eyes off her. "I want you to stay put, Enid," he told her.
The decision itself shocked Enid but didn't shock me. "What?" she was questioning his senses as he left her alone and wandered back to the front of the church.
Standing where I was, I was a little confused as to why but I didn't question Glenn's decision. End of the day, he did what he had to in order to protect others. "I wanted you to come back. But me and Kat can do this alone," Glenn informed her of how this plan would work.
Soon, the bickering began. "I can handle myself. You guys said you wanted help-" Enid did her best to argue with us all but was slowly failing due to how Glenn was given more authority than I had.
I trusted Glenn, I knew he knew what he was doing and I had faith in him. "No," he cut her off as she followed him, stopping in his tracks and turning to her. "I didn't want you to give up on this place, on these people, to be afraid," he listed all the things that made him not want have her with us.
"You were right. So I'm here now," she spoke slowly but she was standing her ground. "And I'm going out there and I'm helping you," she told Glenn her plan, regardless of what we agreed on.
Her head whipped over to look at me. "Both of you," she was stating she'd help me too. All I wanted, was to help Maggie and then find my family. "We have to get her off that platform. She's hurt. She needs help getting over the wall. I can climb up the gate. You two can distract them," this was Enid's plan.
How her voice raised and her tone never shook, I knew she meant it. I knew she was up to help us. "We do this together, as a team," she was giving us a speech, giving us a chance to hear what she wanted to do for once.
Glenn chuckled softly and I felt a small smile forming on the corners of my lips. "I'm just gonna follow you, anyway," she told us that we had no choice in this matter. "You two keep looking for the Bible Glock...I'll make her something to climb down," she offered to help her own way.
Raising his eyes to mine, it was like he was waiting for my opinion on this. He wanted to know what I made out of this. She's got courage. We need that. Nodding, I smiled at him and knew we could trust her. We made it this far, didn't we? "Okay," he agreed with it as we continued our search for anything we could use.
RPOV
During our walk through, we tried to get to where we needed to be and as it got dark, Sam had become louder behind me. Night fell, walkers were more alert at night than they were during the day. Sam began to cry, stopping in his tracks, as he began to panic. We had all stopped, trying to make him relax, as both Jessie and Ron tried to get him to look at her, to keep him moving.
Soon, walkers were surrounding Sam and devoured him in front of Jessie. She cried bloody murder, as she watched her son get eaten in front of her. Soon enough, walkers latched onto him too. I was sobbing, hating the fact she was dead now. There was no way back. No way out of this as she was dinner for walkers with her son.
Carl had been tugging, begging me to help him as Jessie held onto Carl tightly, possibly from the pain. Needing to act fast, I saw walkers slowly turn their attention to us, I couldn't let Carl be next. Even as flashes of Jessie's face came to my mind as I cried, I took my hatchet and chopped off her hand, getting her to let go of my son.
I wasn't going to let her take my son with her and Sam. I wasn't going to lose him too. As Carl fell, I hadn't heard a gun drop to the ground. All I heard, was nothing, as a ringing in my ears echoed again. I lost Jessie, someone I had potential love for and I almost lost my son with her.
The sound of a gun clicking, had us all look to the sound. Ron. He had pulled his gun up and pointed it at me. "You," he spoke numbly towards me. "You," he growled.
He wants to kill me. He blames me for Jessie and Sam's deaths, doesn't he? He blamed me since Pete too. I should have known...All of us were breathing hard. None of us knew what to say to relax him after the traumatic moment we all shared.
Seeing the tip of a sword slice right through him, he surrendered to it, his arms widely opening to either side of him, until the sound of a soft gunshot echoed. He missed me, as it shot off to the side. Nodding a thanks to Michonne, I saw walkers approach and begin to devour a dying Ron on the ground.
I was shocked at what I saw next. His head slowly rose, his eyes looking at me from under his hat but what shocked me, was he had no eye. He only had blood pouring down from his face. "Dad?" I heard Carl's voice call to me a little wearily.
That was it, that was me, thinking Carl was now dead. The bullet that was meant for me, got Carl. He fell to the ground with a hard thud, lifeless on the ground. "Carl," I whimpered as tears welled in my eyes. My mind went blank, at the thought that I might have just lost my son. "No," I cried.
Picking him up I ran towards the infirmary, hoping that someone could save him, he was still breathing but he was unconscious in my arms. Running to save him, Michonne was clearing a path as walkers got close to us. Don't die. Please...don't die Carl.
KPOV
Searching for cloths, I'd toss them over to Enid, or put them on a pile and eventually, me and Glenn were looking everywhere for anything. Ammo, guns, anything. We were coming up with nothing but a stale candy bar. "Hey. You guys were right," Enid caught our attention.
In her hands, was a box, inside the box, was two guns. "Let's get Maggie," she ordered of us.
A smile grew as she took charge. She reminded me of Carl, only a female version of him. Determined, smart and great at finding things we couldn't. "Can't you just stay here?" Glenn suggested she just stay inside, where she could be safer.
"Nope," she wasn't going to let us do this alone.
Handing the box to Glenn, I walked over to him and inspected the guns. One with a silencer, the other without. Removing the silencer, I had a feeling we were going to need to make a lot of noise. "Three is better than two," I told Glenn when looked to Enid a little unsettled but amused at the same time.
She had already began making her way over to the door and unlocked it. "We save Maggie, then we find my family," I put my hand on Glenn's back, patting it before I followed after Enid and put the gun in my pants, behind my back.
RPOV
As we kept running, eventually, we got to the infirmary, the door opening instantly as we approached it. Denise pointing to the gurney as I placed Carl onto it, Aaron had been holding onto it and moved it to the middle of the room. "This is a gunshot?" Denise asked us.
"Handgun. Close range," Michonne luckily had answered it for us.
Gazing down at my baby boy, I felt my heart clench and break at the same time. He was helpless like this, he was dying and I had no way to save him. "Please save him. Please," I begged numbly as I let them do their work. Michonne had helped remove our bed sheets and I could hardly concentrate.
I couldn't think, I couldn't see, I couldn't look away from my boy dying on a gurney and I was helpless to save him too. Spencer had said something but words were getting more and more unrecognisable as my head spun with despair.
Denise mumbled more words that I had no clue about. The more she talked, the further I was stepping away from my son, mumbling for her to save him. I needed her to save him. Kat is out there...somewhere. Or maybe she's dead. Carl...he's dying. Jessie is dead...I...My thoughts were running wild. Looking out the window, walkers were surrounding the streets still and I was stuck inside.
I was losing my mind. I needed to kill. I needed to let my anger out. I needed to put my pain, into what I did best. Killing. I needed to kill. Going to the door, the words spoken to me, were garbled as my mind went numb.
Gathering my anger, putting it into my hand, I took out my hatchet and went for the door. "What-what are you doing? Rick! Rick!" I could somehow make Michonne's screams over the ringing in my ear. Opening the door, I didn't look back as I closed it behind me and began killing walkers, left right and centre.
Every swing, everything I did was on instinct. As I shoved walkers back, slammed my hatchet into each walker, I had no fear. I didn't think. I just killed. The more I sliced, diced and slaughtered, the more I was forgetting everything. Lori is dead. Jessie is dead. Kat is dead. Carl is dead. These walkers...are dead. Or they are taking me down with them.
MPOV
Seeing Rick leave, I had done my best to be with Denise, to help her fix Carl up. Holding onto whatever she needed me to do, I had watched Rick go outside. He wore nothing, the bed-sheet that protected him before, was removed. "Rick's out there," I panicked for him.
For a moment, I believed he had a death wish. "Hold on," Denise tried to stop me from moving or doing anything as she tried to save Carl.
When he got like this, when he was on the edge of losing someone he loved, he would lose it. I knew it. I'd seen it. "He needs my help," I was convinced Rick was going to die out there.
"Just one more suture," Denise pleaded of me.
Rick was out there, in danger and I needed to help him. "But he's out there!" I cried, feeling my heart beating a million times a minute.
Somehow, Denise knew how to bring me back to the moment. To what was important. "This is his son. Give me a second," she informed me that saving Carl, was the best thing we could do for Rick at this moment. This, was what mattered most.
Aaron had looked outside the window and reported back to us what was going on outside. "He's taking them all on. We have to go get him," I heard Aaron say as I gazed to Denise and then back to Carl.
Luckily, he was still breathing but he wasn't awake. He couldn't be, not with the trauma he just endured with the shot to his head, straight into his eye. "What?" Spencer was stunned to think we had to go save Rick.
The man thought he was losing his son, he believes he has nothing else left. He's hurt. He's angry. We needed to save him before he could surrender before knowing the truth. Carl could make it. Kat could still be out there. He needs to have faith. "We have to. This is it," Heath agreed with Aaron.
Denise was finally finished. "Okay, got it," she assured me I could now leave and help the others in saving Rick. Taking Carl's face in my hands, I kissed his forehead and prayed he would make it. Running outside, we all gathered around Rick to protect him, cutting our way through walkers like butter to get to him.
RPOV
Just when I thought that was it, Michonne had come to my rescue. Fighting off the walkers together, I had glanced around me to see everyone getting into a circled stance, fighting off the walkers as we worked together.
In the circle, it was me, Michonne, Spencer, Heath and Aaron. "Knock 'em away. Drive 'em down," I ordered as we tried to work together. It was a risk but we were taking it. Seeing Eric and Olivia join in, they too began fighting against the walkers too. Eventually, as they all saw us fighting, everyone joined in and fought to take back our home.
Seeing people gain confidence, taking a stand, I knew that if we stayed smart and kept fighting, we could take back our home. "We can beat 'em. We can beat 'em!" I was confident as I screamed over the growls of the walkers.
More people joined as we sliced our way out. I kept giving words of encouragement, trying to keep them confident in what they were doing. Gradually, Carol, Rosita, Tara, Eugene and Morgan made their way over to us. All of us were fighting together. "Drive 'em back. That's it. We can do this together!" I encouraged as we all kept moving together.
KPOV
Moving past walkers, into the shadows, we were trying our best to not get spotted as Glenn lead the way. Enid behind and me covering the back, so walkers didn't attack us if they spotted us. "No," Glenn gasped when he saw that Maggie was trapped.
Her stand was breaking, as the force of the walkers on the support beams were beginning to snap. Maggie was shaking on top of it and we were running out of time. "Go get her! Go get her!" Glenn ordered of Enid as he was thinking up of a plan in his head.
One I knew he was going to do, I could tell by the look he had in his eyes. He is going to draw the walkers to him. "If you're doing this, we're doing this together!" I stopped him, getting him by his shoulder before he could take a step further into the herd of walkers. "Don't try and argue, I'm not letting you do this alone," I yelled when he went to say something. "So let's do this!"
Leading the way for him, he followed me after and we both began screaming. Shooting our guns to the walkers, we could hear Maggie shouting for Glenn, for me. Mostly for Glenn but she feared what was going to happen. We both feared what was going to happen. Using both my gun and my machete, I was trying to take down as many walkers as I could before I ran out of bullets.
Screaming, shouting, we were drawing them closer to us. We were drawing them farther away from Maggie. As they began surrounding, we slowly began using up all our bullets. Maggie began helping us as she shot from above her watch point. Glenn was telling the girls to go but Maggie wasn't listening to Enid as she called for her.
When I heard his gun clicking with no ammo left, then mine did the same after two shots more, we began using the butts of our guns to knock walkers back. Maggie was screaming for Glenn, crying as they began gaining up on us. Yelling at Glenn to take my knife, I ordered him to use it instead of the gun if they got too close.
"They're surrounding us!" I yelled at him, trying to slice as many as I could, it was becoming too many and we were getting cornered. Suddenly, I heard shots being fired at a rapid rate. "Duck!" I screamed as we crouched down side by side and slowly, the walkers began to clear and drop in front of us.
When we looked up, I was panting, as was Glenn as we were saved. Glancing to each other, we were disoriented by what just happened. We were so close to death, we didn't know how to process it. When we searched for where the shots were being fired, it appeared to have been two people we knew, two people we trusted with our lives now. And he wore a huge smile on his face.
Those that had shot down at the walkers, were Abraham and Sasha who were above on what appeared to be a truck. "Can you get the gate? Appreciate it, pal," Abraham jested to us as me and Glenn laughed at each other.
Helping each other up, all of us were laughing, Maggie had tears in her eyes and she was happy to see we survived. Clearing a path for us, Abraham was laughing as he shot more walkers down. Opening the gates, Sasha and Abraham helped Enid and Maggie down from the wall.
Climbing into the truck first, Glenn had talked to Maggie for a few minutes while he gave me a chance to talk to Daryl, who was the one driving the truck. Catching my breath, I took my seat beside him and fought back a smile. "What the hell happened?" Daryl asked me.
Shaking my head, I could hardly process anything. "We don't know," I told him truthfully. "We just got back," I informed him that we were just as clueless as he was. His very small smile falling when he heard that I had been out there all along, same as he has. "Listen...we can-we can lead some of them away, but they're scattered," I was trying to come up with something. Anything.
Our home was overrun and I had no idea what to do. Daryl on the other hand, seemed so calm and calculated. "No, we get 'em all together. Won't have to lead 'em away," Daryl was already coming up with a plan without me even saying anything to him.
Staring at him, I felt a sudden relief wash over me. Not only did he come back to me, he saved my ass again. Even if it wasn't him, he had the people who could save me. Looking into one another's eyes for only a few seconds, I placed my hand over his that was gripping the steering wheel.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see your face," I told him, laughing at how crazy this all was and still finding joy in seeing him again. Squeezing his fingers, he only looked at me and stayed silent.
He wasn't the kind to talk about emotions but he did show it by his actions. By saving me, by the way he looked at me. I could see he was happy to see me too just by the way his eyes held mine. "I got a plan," he told me.
Nodding, I let go of his hand and gripped the seat. "Then lets do it, together," I was ready. Hearing the door open, Glenn climbed in to join us, forcing me to scoot over and get closer to Daryl. Once we were comfortable, Daryl used the hand that I had squeezed to bang on the roof with his fist, signalling to those above us that were were going to be moving. Let's save our home.
RPOV
Everyone that had been fighting, had been keeping it in a clean oval, making sure no walkers approached. As some began filling in behind us, myself and Michonne were working on it and focusing on ending any that got too close or could catch someone by surprise behind them.
Turning around, it looked clearer but people were beginning to grow tired. They were starting to spread out and not be as tight as they should have been. "Move it! Back up!" I ordered as we all began backing up, as we kept as tightly knit up like we needed to if we were going to survive together.
DPOV
Parking up, by the stream, I climbed out and heard the others climb out too. The plan was Abraham, Sasha, Enid, Glenn and Kat would keep walkers away from getting to me. All while I would pour the tank's fuel into the water, letting it make a thick layer over it so I could set it on fire with one of the pretty RPG's we had collected. Climbing up, Kat took the wheel and would be instructed by me when to stop moving forward.
When I was ready, I began hitting underneath me, "Alright, that's it!" I yelled to Kat, signalling she drove enough distance so I could aim without hurting any of us in the process. I climbed up and aimed the RPG into the water. As it fired, the flames lit up the sky. Walkers drawn to the beacon of light, this made it easier for us to fight against them.
RPOV
Seeing flames spark into the distance, walkers were instantly drawn to the sound and to the flames. Everyone stopped fighting but the walkers that were around us, didn't stop coming. We can't stop now. They're still coming and now, they're distracted. We can get more of them. "Don't let up!" I yelled as we continued to fight.
It was true. All that Deanna, Carl and Kat said. It was all true. We can do this. Together. I had finally found peace in that. I found faith that things would get better. As we kept fighting, eventually, everyone was confident. Glenn was back. Kat was back. Daryl. Abraham. Sasha. Enid. All of them, they were safe and fighting with us.
"Dad!" Kat had yelled as she ran to be beside me, as we all fought, we eventually gained our strength. I saw the power. I saw what we were capable of. Having Kat back, beside me, it made me have even more strength to keep fighting. She was safe. She's back. Carl was right. About everything.
KPOV
"Dad..." I whispered once the walkers had gone, all of them dead and no longer roaming our streets. We had taken back what was ours and everyone was stronger for it. It was a great sight to see as we all caught our breaths.
Walking over to my father, I held onto him and he held me tightly. I could feel him resting his head over mine, his gauzed hand resting against the back of my head, stroking my hair as he held me tightly to him. "You're alright..." he breathed, happy to see me just as happy as I was to see him.
As soon as I let him go, I looked around and saw no Judith, no Carl. "Where's Judith?" was the first question I asked, she was the least likely to look after herself in a situation like this and I had hope she was safely tucked away somewhere.
"She's at the Church, she's safe," Gabriel assured me.
Nodding, I then looked over to dad again, who could hardly look me in the eyes. It was like he could tell what I was about to ask him and hated the thought of it. "Where's Carl?" I asked, I could already feel my heart breaking because I knew Carl. I knew he could fight. I knew he would fight.
"He's..." dad tried to say but he couldn't. All he did, was whimper and take a few steps back. Shivering on the spot, like a wounded dog.
Feeling my bottom lip quiver, Michonne walked up to me, placing her hands on my shoulders as she told me what happened to him. How he got shot. Close to falling, Michonne held me up, Daryl had ran to my side and lifted me up, supporting me as I felt my heart breaking.
Tears didn't stop pouring from my eyes as my heart was beating the slowest it ever felt. No. Not Carl. Please. I was begging for someone to save him. Glenn had been there with me, his eyes were sad for me, as he took over for Daryl, trying to give me the strength that I needed. Daryl needed to fix his cut and I needed to get to my brother.
The journey to the infirmary felt like forever to get there. As I approached, I gently let go of Glenn and felt my face harden. I needed to prepare myself for the worst. I needed to hold it in. Dad gently took my back in his hand, his palm flat against it as he tried to guide me inside.
As I felt his hand falling, like he was losing his grip on everything. I wasn't going to let him slip again. Everyone would wait outside for any news on Carl. Taking his hand, we walked in, side by side and went to the room where Denise was keeping her patients. Seeing Carl, I felt my heart break, he was laid out on the bed, more than just asleep. His mouth hung wide, a huge patch wrapped around his head.
My tears had dried, my hand left dad's to clutch Carl's. Two seats were placed at either side of his bed. One for me, one for my father as we each took one of Carl's hands. For the longest time, I had cried there and stared at him. Flashbacks to the time he was first shot, came to my mind, as I had spent countless days, hours, with my baby brother.
My tears would still roll down my cheeks, my hand held his, the other was brushing his hair, touching his face. My sweet baby brother...come back to me. Please.
RPOV
In the other room, Denise had been stitching up Daryl, Glenn had been feeding Maggie, Abraham was checking up on the others and Michonne was stood by the door, with Judith in her arms as she watched over us.
Kat hardly blinked as she stared at her brother. I couldn't stop staring at Carl either. He was so silent, so still. We had no idea if he'd survive this or not. "I was wrong. I thought after living behind these walls for so long that...maybe they couldn't learn," I began speaking, to both Carl and to Kat.
Michonne would listen in but she wouldn't say anything. She didn't say a word to me after she found out what happened to Carl. Her little sniffles could be heard as we sat there in silence. How she touched Carl, it reminded me of how Lori had sat with Carl the first time he was shot.
The more I looked at Kat, the more I saw Lori in her. But then, I also saw a lot of myself. A lot of her brother too. "But today...I saw what they could do, what we could do, if we work together. We'll rebuild the walls. We'll expand the walls. There will be more. There's gotta be more," I had hope for us, for all of us. These people proved to be strong and capable.
They were willing to fight, to protect and save what was theirs. The more I spoke, the less Kat cried and the more silent she got. "Everything Deanna was talking about...is possible. It's all possible. I see that now," I admitted to Kat, to Carl.
Mostly, I was talking to Carl, Denise had told us he could hear us. Maybe, it could bring him out of this state if we talked to him. "When I was out there...with them...when it was over, when I knew we had this place again..." I just kept talking.
I needed to tell him all of this. "I had this feeling. It took me a while to remember what it was...because I haven't felt it since before I woke up in that hospital bed," I cried, Kat's eyes met mine slowly. I had faith that things would get better. I finally felt safe in knowing that we were going to fight.
Meeting Kat's sad eyes, she seemed to really be listening to every word I said. "I want to show you the new world, Carl. I want to make it a reality for you. For your sisters," the last part, I had looked back up at Kat, who tilted her head sadly at me. She's keeping faith in me too. "Please, Carl...let me show you. Plea-please, son, don't die," I begged of him.
Feeling his hand twitch, his fingertips slowly wrapped around mine and made a smile come to my face. Looking to it, Kat's eyes followed where I looked and she laughed, a sad, but happy laugh. Carl...you're still here...
KPOV
Dad's speech had left me feeling hopeful again. My sniffles and silent tears had made the moment ruined but when I saw Carl's response to dad's voice, I laughed. Getting up from my seat, I kissed his forehead and brushed his hair away, tucking them behind his ear a little and smiled. He was still here.
My brother was still fighting and I had hope he'd pull through. Michonne too smiled, but my eyes were focused between my brother and my father. When mine and dad's eyes met, it was sad but we were both hopeful.
"You should go back home, get some rest," dad encouraged me to leave.
Shaking my head, I didn't want to leave my brother. I couldn't risk the chance of me leaving and him dying. I needed to know what happened to him. "I can't," I couldn't leave him and I rejected my dad's suggestion straight away.
Dad didn't care what I had to say. He possibly had seen the bags under my eyes by how little sleep I had been getting and by how much I'd done in under the span of 48 hours. "Daryl," dad called out to the man I was falling for. "Michonne, get Denise," dad ordered, Michonne telling him she was on it.
When Michonne left, shortly after, Daryl appeared. "Yeah?" Daryl had replied to dad's call. He glanced between me, dad and Carl laid out on the bed. Chewing on the inside of his cheek, Daryl's eyes mostly laid on Carl than they did on me.
Dad only briefly glanced at me before looking to Daryl. "Take Kat back home," he said but I began to protest. "You, Abraham, Sasha, Glenn, all of you...you should to get cleaned up and get some rest," dad was advising us on what we needed to do.
"I-I can't leave him. I-I can't," I stuttered, already feeling my heart break. It was a good sign that his fingers moved but anything could happen. I didn't want to miss it.
Footsteps approached slowly, as Michonne appeared with Denise following shortly after. "Go, I'll find you if anything changes," Michonne assured me she had this under control while I was away. I knew she'd watch over, because she loved Carl almost as much as I did.
My lips moved to protest, to keep doing it until the others agreed to let me stay. "Try, if you can't, at least try to...please," dad begged of me. Staring at him for a few, long minutes, I slowly nod and got to my feet. Daryl slowly followed after me.
No one said anything as I left, no one asked me anything as I walked past them. I couldn't talk, even if I wanted to. I didn't know. I couldn't predict anything. Not with how everything could turn bad, so quickly.
Getting into the house, it was already morning as we got there, having the chance to wash off all the dirt, all the gunk from my skin, all the blood and sweat. Daryl eventually did the same after I was done. Preparing myself to get some sleep, I was brushing my damp hair, my back to Daryl as he wanted to stay close to me, in case of any news of Carl too.
Staring at the chest of drawers, I sighed and knew I had to say something. "He could die...we all could, one day or another. Eventually...we all do," I spoke up, not wanting to deny anything anymore. Not wanting to walk a safe line when nothing was safe anymore.
"Kat, that don't sound like you," Daryl grumbled, I could hear his feet shuffle against the floor as he went to turn to face my back.
Turning slowly, I leaned myself against the drawers and was trying to find the words. "I can't Daryl," I couldn't hold back the tears that were building in my eyes. "I can't live my life, without fearing losing the people I care about..." I revealed to him sadly.
The words were perfectly structured in my head but my heart was screaming for other words to be used instead. "I can't live my life, wondering if what..." I cried as tears began pouring from my eyes. He took a few steps closer to me, as cautious as they were, his stance showed concern towards me.
How my head fell, how I was frozen on the spot, I couldn't stop crying, I couldn't shut off the water works. "I can't live my life, wondering if what we have is real or not," I was in tears, I could hardly look at him. He kept walking closer, his eyes slightly saddened when he saw how broken I was. "I-I can't, Daryl," I was now gazing into his eyes.
His hands reached for my hips, his forehead against mine, my hands went to his shirt and held onto him by the collar for only a second. Letting him go, we were there, breathing, still and silent. His chin would shift, like he was daring himself to bring his lips closer to mine as we paced on the spot.
The more we hesitate, the thicker the tension between us became and the more I needed to feel something. His shoulders slowly tensed and my tears were silent. The next thing that happened, stunned me the most. After all the hesitating dance our faces did in order to prolong the kiss, eventually, his lips found mine by their own accord.
Every kiss, it was slow as what I needed, was clarity. I needed him. The more our lips pressed, over and over again. By his own free will, I knew my answer was proven by his body giving in to mine. This is real. What we have, is real. As our lips became more and more passionate, our fingers had worked away at each other's fabrics. Removing every item of clothing, we became bare to one another, our minds, our bodies, our souls. All of it.
Nothing was left to hide us as we made love that early morning. It was slow, passionate, we had taken our time and there was no rush. Taking turns, neither of us felt controlled by the other and we finally gave in. Once we were finished, it took Daryl a few minutes to adjust to me seeking him for comfort.
Trying to get some sleep, we did the best that we could. His one arm resting on my back, the other was twirling something between his fingers, resting it above his head, on the pillow. Our bare bodies cloaked by the sheet that kept us warm. My eyes wide open, his open too. Neither of us could sleep but at least, we now had each other.
How my mind would wander back to Carl, it gave me fear to shut my eyes, to feel at peace with knowing that me and Daryl, were together now. There were no words needed. Actions spoke louder than words.
Carl...hold on. Please. I needed my brother to survive. I had to see him live. I had to.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed chapter 7 out of 7 from the series of chapters. It was fun, I really enjoyed writing more continuously. I hope you enjoyed reading more and I guess this is a happy Halloween gift? Not to mention, we ended this series of chapters with a huge scene for those of you who were waiting a while for something like this to happen. Although it might not feel like a lot, it has been lots of chapters to binge through to get to this point.
A lot of tears were put into this chapter. The thought of Kat coming back, risking her life many times throughout it all, just to return home and find Carl had been shot. It literally was like a blow to her gut. Although...that end scene, very bittersweet.
Questions to answer in the reviews:
1) What did you think of this chapter?
2) Favourite scene in this chapter?
3) Have you ever cried to one of these chapters? If yes, what moment was it?
4) What did you think of the final scene?
5) Do you think Glenn/Maggie/Enid and Kat's relationship will grow stronger after everything they've been through now?
6) Have you been keeping up with the new season? If not, would you keep reading this if it went in that direction too? I have many ideas of how Kat can finally step up and go full dark mode on Alpha, Beta and Negan.
Much love,
HeroJustInTime90
