Chapter 91: Haunted
RPOV
~A Little Over Two Years Ago~
Sat with Shane around the fire, I'd been feeling uneasy, at the thought of the way life was out there. With how things came after you, how people were no longer just dead and that they were willing to rip people apart for a taste of blood.
The image in my head, it was terrifying as I had to relive it every day now for the rest of my life. And there was only one person I could talk to that could help me through my sleepless nights while my family slept in the tents.
"You know, Shane, I sometimes worry," I said as I gazed into the fire, but the images in my mind, it burned more than the warmth of the heat that escaped to the night sky. "I worry that this world, that it's going to destroy my family," I told him my worries.
I could feel Shane's eyes on me. "I mean, how are they going to survive this?" I asked him, turning my attention to him as I felt the fear of the unknown future shake me to my core. This world, its vicious and I don't know how long we had left on this world.
Shane was chewing on the inside of his cheek for a few seconds. "Now Rick, the answer to that one's simple," Shane said with a slight nervousness as he gazed at the fire. "They fight and they fight, and they fight, and they fight until they can't fight no more," Shane told me the only way my family were going to make it through this.
Carl is just a kid and Lori, she's always worried about fighting, about protecting our kids. "But until then, I'll help you protect them," Shane reassured me he'd help me before it came to that.
Feeling a little relieved to have him by my side, I let out a slow sigh. "Thank you," I thanked him as I nodded and felt his hand reach out to rest on my shoulder.
"You don't need to," Shane reassured me there was no reason to thank him. "You know...those kids, after everything they're gonna see. All the death, the destruction and the time passing them by, they're only going to get stronger," Shane told me, which was one thing I feared.
Anything like that, it was scarring to anyone that had a warm heart. And Kat and Carl's, they were the warmest hearts I hoped to help keep them beating. "They will," Shane reassured me again that my family would only grow stronger with time.
Gazing into the fire, I nodded and shut my eyes tightly. The worries of a father, they always ran deep. "And Kat...she was already strong, before all of this," Shane revealed to me, which made me glance over to him, wondering just how he knew this.
"It's just you and Lori never noticed it before," Shane spoke with a fondness over my daughter, that I was certain he meant it. Maybe he's right. Kat didn't crumble and she's doing all she can to protect our family.
"They're going to make it, you'll see," Shane reassured me that we'd keep living. That my family, would keep growing and becoming stronger. That there was no need to fear the future because the future, was for us. For the living.
PRESENT DAY...RPOV
"Guns down...now," Morales ordered of me as I slowly crouched down and began removing my guns from my person. My assault rifle and my colt python both placed on the ground in front of him.
Morales let out a soft scoff as I slowly rose back to my feet. "So, you're the Rick from Alexandria," it was like Morales couldn't believe it was me. "This whole time, it was you," Morales seemed stunned to have found me here, after all this time, so far from Atlanta.
Keeping my eyes down, I knew if the old me knew the new me, he would probably hate what I became. "You called your men in for nothing. The fight's out there," I told him the truth. "It's just me in here," I lied about this.
If there was one thing the old and new me had in common, was that we'd do anything to protect the ones we had loved. And with Kat being in the same building, I had hope to convince Morales to turn his men around and leave us be.
But my words, didn't convince Morales, or so I believed. "Did you hear what I just said?" Morales questioned me. "I know who you are. I saw it in the mirror through the open door," Morales told me. "And it wasn't any kind of blast from the past," Morales said in a tone that made me question what he meant.
"As soon as I saw you...I knew you'd made the same trip as me. From there to here," Morales explained what he'd meant by that. A scoff left him as my eyes met his. They were amused, angry and lost.
This wasn't the same Morales I had met back in Atlanta. "Shit, well...well, I guess we aren't the same guys we used to be, huh?" Morales tried to hint we were both the same. "'Cause you're a monster," Morales painted me as the villain.
"I called them back because you're a prize, Rick. We've been told. We don't kill you, the Wife, the Widow, or the King...not if we don't have to," Morales explained with a shake to his head at the end, as to why he'd called back his men.
My heart was pounding, at the thought of Kat being in here and someone trying to take her from us. From Daryl. Just when we finally got her back, Negan is willing to drag her back to the Sanctuary.
"So why are you here, Rick?" Morales asked again. "I know you...just like before. You're always the guy willing to rush in," Morales made accurate assumptions about me. "But why? What is it you're looking for?" Morales questioned me.
His eyes would squint down at me from the barrel of the gun. "Nothing to say, huh?" Morales pushed me to speak but I couldn't. Instead, I kept quiet because I knew my plans would only convince Morales to kill me.
He's too far gone. "It doesn't matter. Not anymore. Not for you or anyone else you brought in here," Morales hinted that Kat and Daryl, were going to suffer the same fate I would should his people get to us in time.
"'Cause what's left of my people, they're coming. And we'll get you to Negan," Morales sounded sure about this as I stared at him. "Or we won't," it was as though Morales was hoping I'd take a step closer to the line of fire.
Morales was darker than before, darker than Morgan. Morgan had just lost his mind but Morales, he lost his soul. "Either way, we're gonna settle your shit, Peaches," Morales said with sweat dripping down both of our faces. His look dark as he kept staring me down the barrel of his gun.
DPOV
Finding a body on the floor, I saw Kat crouch down beside it to have a look at the body, to inspect it. Having a look around, I noticed that the shelf broke during what looked to be a tough fight. Things were knocked onto the floor, as our eyes began examining the place.
Both of us were looking for clues and making sure this guy didn't come back from the dead. "Seems like I should have been here to help him..." Kat commented as she got to her feet and straightened up beside me.
"Nah," I disagreed with her. "You're lucky you weren't here," I said, thinking she was lucky she was with me instead of her father during this fight. "Could'a been you impaled by the angle bracket," I pointed to what was left of the shelf.
Kat rest her hands on her hips as she rolled her eyes a little at me. "Have a little faith in me, please?" Kat pleaded of me to not doubt her skills so much. "Do you think my dad was injured?" Kat wondered as she asked me this question.
"Roughed up a bit, yeah," I couldn't see any blood stains but I could see small blood spatters, probably from a few punches thrown, but nothing Rick couldn't handle. And the shelf, it was broken but there was no blood on it to say Rick was hurt.
Maybe he'd have back-pain, but he wasn't bleeding or impaled. "Hurt? Not much," I reassured Kat that her father was out there, still breathing and walking. Possibly in a bit of pain but he wasn't bleeding out.
"We should go find him," Kat suggested as she went to take her bow and an arrow from her quiver. Alert, as she always was.
Moving to shuffle myself in front of her protectively, I looked around and figured that with one path way blocked, there was only one way he'd go after. "Yeah," I agreed with Kat on this one. "He must've gone this way-" I went to point in the direction, but the sound of a baby crying stopped us both.
As our eyes met, the sound of the baby crying was close and I knew for a fact, that this baby wasn't ours. Kat looked startled, like she was also relieved she was here if that cry was real. Taking the lead, we approached the noise and kept ourselves armed, in case it was a decoy.
KPOV
Finding a room, that looked more like a nursery, we found a baby in a crib. Our weapons were lowered as I put my things away and approached her. "Hi Gracie..." I spoke to the child as I picked her up slowly.
Bouncing her gently, I tried to find out what she wanted, but as soon as I had her in my arms, she began to get quieter and quieter. Looking over to the body, I had remembered seeing a tattoo on the man's chest, saying Grace.
"Who the hell would leave a baby up here?" Daryl asked as he stood beside me and began looking around the room, for anything of use.
Seeing him look so lost in this room, was like he was already imagining our child being born. "A father...trying to protect his child from the war going on outside," I said as I looked to the father, blocking Gracie from seeing her dad on the ground, dead.
Dad did this...and he must have found her. When Daryl heard me say this, his eyes looked to the line of vision I was looking at. When he too noticed the corpse laying there, was the father of this girl's, Daryl's head bowed.
When Daryl's eyes finally met mine, they were sad and he began chewing the inside of his cheek nervously, all whilst his head was nodding repetitively. It was as though he understood what happened instantly.
"We can't leave her here," I knew that after the fight, the baby here on her own, wasn't something we could live with. She needs a home now. She needs a family.
As Daryl's eyes glanced to the baby, he gestured for me to hand her over. Passing her to him, he bounced her gently, shushing her kindly as he bounced her, following the same example I'd given him. It's like he's trying to learn from watching me and doing the same thing as me.
Lowering Gracie back in the crib, I gently brush past Daryl to give him the space he needed to put her back into her bed. My hand on his back, supporting him as we gazed at the orphaned child.
Daryl slowly turned back to me once he'd covered Gracie up in her blanket. "We better go look for your dad," Daryl suggested as he looked back at me and slowly faced me. "Then we'll get Gracie back to Alexandria," Daryl suggested this be the best thing we could do.
At the very least, Daryl wasn't heartless to let the girl die here. He's going to be a good father, because he's already a good man. And I'm lucky to have him.
Smiling, I nod to him, placing my hand to his shoulder as I lowered my gaze to our feet. "Yeah, let's go," I agreed. At least, the Saviors won't kill Gracie while we're away. Let's hope walkers don't find a way inside.
RPOV
Stood face to face with him, I knew there was one topic I could bring up that I could only hope would bring him back. That would bring him to the light and to lower his gun that he had pointed at me. "Is your family here?" I asked him.
Slowly, he began lowering his gun as he possibly thought back to them. "We never made it to Birmingham," Morales told me. "They didn't," Morales made it clear that his family didn't survive what was out there.
Inside my head, I knew there was no point in asking him how they died. Because no one liked remembering that part. They're dead. That's worse enough. "Well, I'm sorry," I sympathised with him, because I too, had lost plenty of people along the way.
"Really, Rick?" Morales asked me with spite in his tone.
He probably thinks I'm not genuine about it. "I am. I lost people, too," I answered him. "Lori. Shane. Sophia. Dale. T-Dog. Andrea. Glenn..." I listed all the people but the very last one, it was the one that pushed me to do what I was doing now as I said it through gritted teeth.
I had to make Morales see this. "Negan killed him," I revealed to Morales. "Forced him to his knees. Bashed his head in right in front of me. In front of his pregnant wife," I painted the full picture for Morales but spared him the more gruesome details. Growling out my words, I made sure Morales could hear the anger in what had happened.
This news seemed to stun Morales a little. "He had a wife?" Morales was shocked to hear this.
"Not before," I made it clear that it wasn't before the outbreak, but after. "He met her," I clarified how he came to knew Maggie.
The more Morales was finding out, the more he appeared stunned to find this all out now. "In this?" Morales questioned how it was possible for Glenn to have found love through the disastrous world we lived in.
I wonder what he'd think about my daughter and Daryl. Or me and Michonne. There is still love out there. A love that can be pure and overlook all the awful shit of this world. "Yeah," I answered Morales. "In this," I repeated the same words he'd used.
"She's the Widow," I stated who she meant to him. "And Kat, my daughter, she's 'the Wife'," I informed Morales of who else he was looking out for. Another 'prize' for Negan.
Morales was more shocked to hear about Kat than he was about Glenn. "Kat offered to be one of Negan's wives, to keep me and Carl safe," I explained how it had lead to that.
"My daughter, my very own daughter, got raped every day by your so called 'leader'...because that was what was expected of her," I snarled every word, because the thought alone, was what drove me every day to wake up and fight him.
Scrunching my face up from my anger, I glared at his hands that grasped onto the gun. "So tell me...are you Negan, too?" I asked him, hoping he'd change his mind and lower his gun.
The example his leader was being revealed to him, should have been enough to stop what Morales was doing. But instead of lowering his gun, he rose it back up to aim it directly at me again.
"I lost my family. I lost my mind," Morales's words shook as he spoke them. "I was in some...tow trailer, sleeping myself to death. Waiting to become nothing," Morales explained what he'd done after his loss.
Instantly, I realised he must have felt some kind of gratitude and loyalty to them. "And the Saviors, they found me. They thought I was worth a damn. Worth bringing back with 'em," Morales told me how he had been 'saved' by the Saviors.
All of this, it pained me to hear him say it. "So, yeah. Yeah, I'm Negan," Morales finally answered my question. "To make it this far, this long, I had to be. I had to be something," Morales gave himself excuses for all the bad stuff he must have done.
"Just like you," Morales pulled me into this, trying to make me think we were the same.
Glaring at him, I shook my head. "We're not the same," I stated coldly. I wouldn't kill just to kill or follow some asshole leader that took from everyone, leaving the rest of us hungry, uncomfortable and some of us, without lives, just to prove a point.
Scoffing, Morales didn't even try to keep a straight face. "How's that?" the way Morales asked me this, was almost menacing.
Gesturing between us, I felt my blood boil at him trying to make me look like the villain. "Well, look at you," I encouraged him to see which side he was truly on. He's on the side of a mad man while I'm here, fighting for our freedom.
"Look at me?" Morales questioned me mockingly. "Look at us, Rick. Look at us," Morales growled back. "We're two assholes who'll do whatever we have to just to keep going," Morales snarled at me.
His eyes were dark as they looked at me. "And the only difference is I'm the one holding the gun," Morales told me. "That doesn't make me any worse than you, Rick. That just makes me luckier," Morales tried to play it out that we were identical in this mess.
But I didn't see it that way, at all. "'Cause let's face it, if it wasn't me, if it was you holding the gun, I'd be brains out on the floor right now," Morales said and had I not known it was him, maybe. But I knew Morales.
Neither of us knew what would of happened if I was the one holding the gun. "You don't know that," I argued as I tried to cut him off.
"And you do? Huh?" Morales argued back, his voice louder than mine was as we glared at each other.
My heart was pounding, because truthfully, I didn't want to kill him but he was only proving he was far too gone the more he spoke of me or the Saviors. "I know I wouldn't want to," I told him how me and him were different.
The way he's acting, its like he wants me to make a move. To give him a reason to shoot me. "Come on. Is that the best you can do?" Morales encouraged me to dig deeper into how we were different.
"I'd-I'd at least try to find another way," I stuttered as I tried convincing him to lower his gun. There has to be another way...
DPOV
As we left Gracie alone, I had personally shut her door and went to find Rick. Kat trailing behind me, as we kept our guard up. Both of us had a strange feeling that, there was someone here with us. And as I approached a room, with an open door, voices heard from the room close by, I could recognise the voice.
It was a voice I hadn't heard in a long time. Listening for a few moments, myself and Kat were slowly edging closer and closer to the open room where Rick and someone else were. Gesturing for Kat to be quiet, pressing a finger to my lips, sneaking as close as I could, I looked around the corner and instantly realised who it was Rick was talking to.
Morales. Looking to Kat, I gestured for her to stay behind me, as I prepared myself to do something I never expected myself to do to someone from right at the very start. It's either him, or Rick and I ain't gonna let it be Rick.
RPOV
Seeing figures getting closer, their shadows were indication that they were sneaking up on us. Kat? Daryl? "Yeah? Why? 'Cause we knew each other for a few days back at the start?" Morales questioned me.
"Look, I know-I-I wouldn't-I wouldn't just-" I was finding it difficult to say the words I needed to say. The right words to make him drop his weapon before something I'd regret later would happen.
Morales quickly cut me off. "You want to know what I think?" Morales asked of me. "I think you can talk all you want. You can say all the words," Morales snarled at me.
"Lori, Shane, Sophia, Dale, T-Dog, Andrea, Glenn..." Morales was now the one to list all the names of the people we knew that died. People, I thought had mattered to him, just as they did to me.
"They're all dead, and somewhere along the way, Officer Friendly died right along with 'em," in a sense, the words Morales said, wasn't wrong. With losing people we lost, a part of us left and was replaced by the hole they'd left behind. Everyone who suffered loss, knew this as a fact.
"Just like I did with them. That's what I know, Rick," Morales was confident, even if he'd spat every name out that we'd had in common, I couldn't help but look at him, my lips parting by just how broken he truly was since losing his family.
Seeing Daryl's little head poke out before he rose his crossbow and aimed it at Morales. My eyes widened, my hand raising but everything happened so fast. "Wait, no!" I yelled as Morales turned around and was shot in the head by Daryl.
KPOV
Before I knew it, a grunt and thud had followed. When I turned around the corner, I saw a body, laying on the ground, dead. Looking at the face, the voice finally had a name. Oh my God...Morales. "You good?" Daryl asked my dad, like who he'd just killed meant nothing to any of us.
Wide eyed, my dad gazed between Morales's corpse and then back to Daryl. My expression was blank, as my jaw would open and close at the sight of an old friend who became an enemy in such a short amount of time. "That...-t...-that was-" my dad was struggling for words as he was still in shock by what had just happened.
Trying to calm down, I had seen that Morales had a gun in his hand, while my dad had none. Morales was one of them. And he was willing to kill my dad. In my head, I knew Daryl did what he had to do. Or, at least, that's what I'd force myself to believe.
Morales sounded far too gone. "I know who it was. It don't matter," Daryl answered my dad, cutting him off quickly. "Not one little bit," Daryl said quickly as he stepped on Morales to pull his bolt out with a soft grunt leaving him.
"You find them guns?" Daryl asked the question I was too scared to even ask. How did everything get so upside down?
The way my dad was glaring at Daryl, made me realise that maybe, there was a little more tension than I would of liked there to be between two of the most important men in my lives. Moving to place my bow over me, I placed my arrow back in my quiver first.
Getting between them, they eventually broke their heated gazes from one another. That's right. We're on the same team, boys. Never did I suspect Morales would be here, with the Saviors no doubt. I hoped he had left to Birmingham. "They aren't here," dad answered Daryl before he crouched down and began retrieving his guns.
"What?" I asked my dad, stunned to hear that what we'd been looking for, wasn't here to begin with.
Daryl stood a little closer to me, watching as my dad took back all that was his. "He called the Saviors back from the courtyard," dad told us.
"We gotta get out before-" dad went to say something but the sound of doors thudding open in distance was the perfect alert to tell us that if we weren't alone before, we definitely weren't alone now.
Dad stood up to his feet, his eyes staring at the door and what was bound to come after us in the distance. Daryl had sneaked over to the wall, to press his back against it, Daryl's hand guided me to walk back with him. All before I took a few steps to the side, to hide beside him.
I knew, if I took the step ahead of him, he'd only pull me back. "They're here," dad made is just as clear that we had company. Let the fight begin.
DPOV
Leading Kat and Rick behind me, I kept my gun up, while Kat had swapped her bow with her assault rifle and had followed up behind me. Rick was the last one in line, while Kat was the one tucked behind me. Both of us protecting her, in case she was in the line of fire.
As I would push past fallen and turned over furniture, we went to escape out the elevator, from where we came but shots were being fired at us from there. Pushing Kat back, Rick already hid behind the wall and guided Kat to stay beside him.
RPOV
"Damn it!" I yelled when we had to hide from the shots being fired at us from below. There was no way we could get out, without Morales's guys coming after us.
Sneaking around the corner, me and Daryl did our best to keep Kat sandwiched between our protective bodies. "It's them!" we heard one of the Saviors yell.
More shouts could be heard as they went to find us. "There! Go!" I ordered as I pointed in the direction we could run to. But gunfire stopped us as they sparked all around us. Looking to Kat and Daryl, I had seen they had hidden in opposite rooms.
KPOV
Daryl had rushed off to one room, hiding behind the door, while I went to another, pressing my back to the door as I tried to catch my breath. As my dad stayed behind, by the pillar of the door frame, I did my best to cover our backs.
When dad would fire, I'd join him, when Daryl would fire, I'd join him in the fight. Hiding every so often, I'd try to regain my breath and watch as the sparks flew by me, indicating they were trying to shoot at me too.
Daryl had ended up swapping guns for one that was louder, sharper and possibly a lot heavier than his regular pistol. So far I was beginning to run low on ammo for my assault rifle but kept calm as I focused on trying to get head-shots, or body shots to slow them down.
When my dad was out, he swapped to another pistol. Glancing to each other from time to time, it was like Daryl was checking up on me or my dad was checking up on us. As the fight continued, I only hoped it would be over soon enough.
RPOV
All of us kept firing, Kat was getting plenty of body shots that were slowing the Saviors down, but I was doing my best to end the ones on my side. Daryl was doing the same on his side as Kat helped us.
But soon enough, we were all running out of bullets as the Saviors began zig zagging around the halls. "Hey! Hey!" Daryl called to us, but mostly, to me. "I'm out!" Daryl informed me that he had no more bullets left.
Shit. "Take mine!" Kat went to toss him her pistol, but Daryl was quick to answer her.
"Nah, keep it," Daryl said responsibly, as he rejected her offer. "You need them more than I do," and we both knew she was the sharper shooter out of the two of them when it came to guns.
Even if we had Kat on our side, we still needed to find a way to beat these guys while conserving our ammo. Catching a glimpse of a fire extinguisher, I knew that this was our best bet. A cloudy escape, for a perfect trap.
"Hey!" I yelled to Daryl and Kat. Raising three fingers, it was to indicate in three seconds, something was going to happen. Daryl nodded, as did Kat as she kept her back to the door after a few shots she fired.
Taking a shot at the fire extinguisher, the air hissed out of it as the cloud of smoke began to hide us from their line of sight. "Come on!" I yelled, encouraging Kat and Daryl to 'escape' with me.
When Kat and Daryl rushed over to join us, one guy came running, I grabbed hold of his gun arm, kneed his stomach and tossed him down the elevator gap we'd climbed. Daryl too did the same thing, as Kat fired her last few shots at anyone chasing our way.
Hearing grunts after the screams of the men being tossed down the elevator, we heard bodies fall to their final destinations. Fall straight onto collective floors. Holding our guns up, Daryl was trying to catch his breath as the mist slowly settled.
Kat took a few steps back, panting as she was soon held to stand in front of Daryl, so she wouldn't fall down the elevator gap. "Teams of four, sweep the offices!" I thought I heard Aaron yell as I stayed alert for anyone else coming our way.
"Aaron!" I called out to the voice we'd heard.
"Rick!" Aaron responded to me.
For a second, I then realised it wasn't just us that was in this building either, that Aaron had helped Kat take down the rest that came our way. "We're by the elevator!" I yelled to Aaron as Kat leaned against Daryl and Daryl tried to regain his breath. It's been a crazy day.
DPOV
As undead Saviors began to rise from the dead, we took them out and killed the ones who didn't have a head wound. Rick took shots, while I fired a few bolts. Kat let go of a few arrows too. Retrieving my bolts every time I stumbled across a walker that I killed, I made sure the ones on the ground too, wouldn't wake up any time soon.
Scott and the others, helped us to make sure no one came back. Especially our people, as they were wrapped up in blankets that Kat had found and taken back to the back of the trucks.
Sending those who were injured away, I saw Kat going to her father, asking him for the keys. At first, Rick was hesitant but he gave them to her as she went to go back inside. "Want me to come with ya?" I asked her, hoping she'd let me go, to keep her safe.
"No," Kat rejected me lightly as she turned to look at me with a sad smile on her face. "This is something I need to do alone," Kat told me before she went inside. Something inside of me, told me she was going back inside, to get the baby safely out of there.
And eventually, she had found the baby and brought her out to meet the rest of us. Poor orphan.
RPOV
Once the fight was over, it wasn't finished, as we cleared out the walkers and made sure everyone else that had died, was dead for good. As I shot one walker, Kat shot an arrow into another and Daryl let his bolt fly into another, they all eventually fell.
Those who were dinner, were made sure were dead too, as every body needed to be counted as completely dead for us to all be safe from them coming back. We've got enough walkers in the world.
While the others were making sure our enemies stayed dead, or our injured went back home to be treated, or our dead were to be taken back to Alexandria. Kat had been the one to go look for blankets and sheets to use it to cover our dead.
As I took pictures, to later show the Scavengers of what is happening to their ally, I heard Kat approaching before she even stopped beside me. "Dad..." I heard Kat call to me as she stopped beside me.
"Can I have the keys, please?" Kat asked me, her palm opened for me to drop them in there. Why do I get the feeling she's going in there to bring that child down? Either way, I knew it had to be done. We're fighters. We're not heartless.
Digging into my pocket, I glanced over to her with my camera in one hand. "Why?" I asked her, needing to know if she was planning on going somewhere alone. She should take Daryl with her. Just to make sure she's safe.
"There's something I need to do, please," Kat told me with a stern tone but a small plea at the end. With how she'd been lately, her face was stone cold but her heart, was still a heart of pure gold.
"All right," I agreed to it as I finally fished out my keys from my pocket. "Here," I said, handing them over to her before she left to go inside. While Daryl tried to stop her to talk to her, I continued taking pictures.
The others made sure our enemies were dead and those that needed specific shipping back to Alexandria were dealt with. Hopefully all of these pictures will convince the Scavengers to join us in this war.
KPOV
The clean up, was a mess. Of bodies laying everywhere, of walkers gnawing on their dead comrades. Taking care of each walker that got in our path, Daryl would use his crossbow, while my dad used his gun and I used my bow and arrow.
Each person who didn't have a head wound, we'd have to dig our knives into their skulls. All before they could reanimate and try gnawing on our faces too. The injured had rode off in the back of a truck, while our dead lay on the ground.
Finding blankets and sheets to help the others cover our fallen, I was doing my best to help without having to focus on killing others myself. There was a heavy weight on my shoulders, as I went up to my father. Tired of seeing all the death around me, I wanted to help save a life.
"Dad..." I called to my father as I approached him, who had been taking pictures of the scene to take later to the Scavengers. "Can I have the keys, please?" I asked him as I opened my palm up for him to give them to me.
Digging into his pocket, dad squinted at me. "Why?" my dad asked me a question that had an obvious answer to it.
"There's something I need to do, please," I begged him, because leaving that child up there, alone, with probably walkers trying to get inside as it cried, was a vision that would weigh on my conscience forever.
"All right," dad said as he finally fished out the keys. "Here," dad said as he handed them to me.
Walking past Daryl, as he watched me head inside, I could feel his eyes gazing at me as I was ready to go in and face any walkers in my way as I went to get the innocent child, left alone in her room.
"Want me to come with ya?" I heard Daryl's voice call after me, slowly turning to face him, I felt blessed to have two men concerned for me and everything I did but this, it was something I needed to do alone for once.
"No," I answered Daryl softly as a sad smile appeared on my lips. He wants to help. He wants to be there for me. But I can handle a couple of walkers on my own. "This is something I need to do alone," I told him before he nodded slowly at me, before I went back inside and made my way to the stairwell.
Luckily, the stairwell was clear and every step I took all the way to the top, was my way of avoiding the walkers that I might face in the bottom, all the way to the top. There had been a few walkers I had to kill to get to the child.
But when I got to Gracie, all of it was worth it as I wrapped her up in the blanket she had around her. As we escaped, I did my best to not let her see the body of her dead father or any walkers that were approaching us.
Doing my best to get her out of there safely, it had barely any hiccups until I got out the door. Waiting for my return, was my father, as Daryl was helping the others to load our fallen fighters into the back of the trucks to take back to Alexandria.
RPOV
Writing my letter to the Kingdom, to the Hilltop, to Alexandria, I needed to make sure the others got their notes, as there was information we needed to share with each other of what happened today.
As I wrote down the words, I was already feeling myself prepare for what was to come next. Of what I had to do next.
The plan is working. We're doing this. We're winning. We had a hard fight. We lost people, brave people who gave their lives to make sure we won. By the time it was over, there weren't any Saviors left standing. All of it, it's scarier than I thought it'd be, but we're doing it. We have to. Sasha was first, and now there's been more. The sacrifices are real. We need to make it right for them. The rest of the plan's still a go. We're moving on to the next step. I'm headed there now. The Sanctuary's still surrounded. They're trapped, cut off from their supplies. Every hour that goes by, we're makin' 'em weaker. The lookouts are all around the compound. They open a door, we fire. But if they open a door, seems like they'd have bigger problems. We meet at Sanctuary in two days to end this, to win it all. It's not like we haven't fought before. We fought every step of the way to this place, to this moment. The path has led us here, to who we are, to each other, to now. And we're so close. This can be our last fight.
This was what I had written for both Maggie and Carol, as it was something they both needed to read to gain their confidence that this was going to work. We had to have faith in it. If there is no faith, there is no victory. And with Kat at my side, I was ready to take them all down.
KPOV
As I took baby Gracie outside, it was more soothing than it was terrifying. The bodies around us, was nothing while I held onto her. Holding the little bundle in my arms, cradling her while I walked over to my father.
"She all right?" dad asked me and I nodded. Gazing down at her, she was wriggling around a little, turning her head left to right as she looked between me and my father as he spoke.
Dad's hand gently rose to caress her crown, possibly feeling the guilt weighing down on him for killing her father. "She's fine," I answered him. "There were a few walkers in the halls, the ones we killed but we're fine now," I made sure my father knew everything he needed to know about the walkers I came across on my journey to save little Gracie.
Shifting her in my arms, it had been a long walk from her crib, down the stairs and out the doors to get to here. She was beginning to weigh on me a little. "But-" I strained a little as I tried to shift the cramp in my arms. "She's a little heavy," I commented.
The baby weighed nothing, but the long journey hadn't helped my arms either. "Here, let me take her," dad said as he gently went to pick her up and out of my arms. "You shouldn't be carrying anything too heavy," dad was being over protective, as always.
"Tell that to the baby that will be getting bigger inside of me in a few months," I joked, making my dad chuckle. But we both knew the idea of me getting bigger because of the little life I had inside of me, was something we all pictured with warm smiles on our faces.
My dad would glance between me and little Gracie in his arms. "Maybe Tobin or Scott can take her back to Alexandria," dad suggested as we looked around for them but couldn't find them.
Gracie needs a home. She needs to be somewhere safe. "Let's go find them then," I encouraged of my father as we began walking out into the courtyard, in search of our people who were parked a little further down the driveway.
RPOV
While Kat was inside, I had told the others about the guns not being there. That we needed to leave as soon as possible. Because there was a herd and we couldn't risk them getting pulled away from where they were supposed to be headed. To the Sanctuary.
When Kat got out, without a scratch and with a baby in her arms, it made me feel a little strange. It was like I was staring at my future. My baby, carrying her own baby. Even if the sight were strange, the view was a nice one to cherish into my memory.
Our discussion was brief and playful towards the end, simply because of the thought of her getting bigger with time because of the baby that would weigh on her body. She's going to be a great mother.
Taking Gracie from her, because she weighed a little much in Kat's arms, we had tried looking for Tobin and the rest but they were nowhere in sight. Instead, we both began making our way towards the exit, where we presumed Tobin, Scott, Aaron and the others would be.
Gracie took this moment to start crying in my arms. "She was inside?" Tobin asked me as I approached him. Nodding along the way, this was my silent answer as the sights slowly made Gracie fall quiet.
"She was," I answered Tobin, Gracie was distracted by the trees around her. Daryl had been approaching us, as Kat went to join him, to stand beside him. "I have a-I have a stop to make, and Daryl's got his bike, he'll be taking Kat back home," I told Tobin of the plans.
Having Kat carry her all the way back to Alexandria, wasn't the plan for any of us. "Maybe she can go back with you or Scott..." I suggested one of these two to take her back to Alexandria with them.
But Aaron, he was the one who spoke up. Tobin's fingers gently caressed Gracie's soft crown. "She can go with me," Aaron offered to take her instead.
Every step Aaron took towards us, was like his soul was weighing him down. "I can, uh, t-take her to the Hilltop. She'll be safe there," Aaron reassured us he'd take her somewhere that would look after her and keep her safe. His voice shook from the sadness deep inside of him.
Alexandria was safe too, for now, but with what happened and if the Saviors got out, I knew Alexandria would be the first place Negan would hit. But I also knew Aaron had just lost Eric, which was tough as it was.
Having just lost the one he loved, only to take up looking after a child, was difficult. I would know. I had to with Judith after Lori died. "Aaron," I spoke softly to Aaron as he approached us, his voice had wobbled from the sadness that still was fresh in his heart.
Approaching him, I stopped right in front of him. "You sure?" I asked him, wanting him to be certain he could do this. I don't know if he's capable of looking after a child after just losing someone he loved.
Eric had been shot during the fight. When Aaron went to look for Eric, where he'd last left him, Eric wasn't there anymore. Eric had gone to join the herd, as one of them. "Eric and I were gonna go up..." Aaron started to say but his cries began to take over.
"We were gonna go there after and update Maggie," Aaron told me what his plan was supposed to be. "So...that's what I'm gonna do," Aaron tried to be confident in his words. Kat had rest her head on Daryl's shoulder, as her arm came up to hold his back.
Daryl's hand gently rest over her waist, as both of them watched on. Witnessing the pain Aaron was suffering at the loss of Eric, while having to watch Gracie's fate be decided by me. "Please," Aaron begged me as his voice broke a little.
"I have to," Aaron almost whispered as his breath shook from his tears. Gently, I shifted Gracie out of my arms to give her to Aaron.
Looking to Gracie, as I gently placed my hands under her to rest her in Aaron's arms. Gracie looked up at me. "Yeah," I whispered softly. "Her name's Gracie," I told Aaron, who had looked down at the baby with both a calmness in his eyes but a sadness buried deep in them too.
I wish you and Aaron the best, Gracie. And I really hope we win this thing. We've done too much. Gone too far. It can't all be for nothing.
KPOV
Once Tobin and the others left, it was only me, Daryl and my dad left. I was getting ready to ride back home with Daryl, who was going to drop me off there and we'd both be getting ready for what was to come in two days time, had the Saviors not figured a way out of there.
On the walk there, we'd discussed what the plans were next. "See you back home," dad said as we parted ways to get to our respective transports. Daryl was leading the way first.
"Y'sure you wanna talk to them assholes alone?" Daryl had asked the same question I was thinking. They were the same assholes who double crossed my dad. Grazed his side with a bullet. They could easily kidnap him and toss him straight to Negan.
Stopping on the spot, I turned to look at my dad, who had tossed the pictures on the seat and began placing his weapons in the back. "I can go with you," I offered to go with him, as this would possibly work better with two people.
"Go home," dad told me. "Goin' alone, that's how it gets done," dad said, with his back to me.
If this is how he's going to teach me how to become a leader for the future, then it's not much practice, is it? Then again, I knew my father and knew he was just trying to protect me. "Alright," I agreed to it. "If you're gone too long, I'm going to go looking for you," I warned him.
Dad though, I could tell a smirk was growing on his face while I approached Daryl once more, who was now closer to his bike. "That's the plan," dad accepted my terms and conditions.
The sound of a gun being fired towards us, made me pull out my hand gun and aim it right at the direction of the sound. Crouching slowly as I approached Daryl, I hid behind his bike. While Daryl hid behind a small pillar by his bike.
It's too far away. If I move, I'm as good as dead. Looking back at dad, who hid behind his car, he told us to wait and gestured that it was only one guy. It has to be one guy. "Hey! Hey!" dad called to the shooter. "You're alone. You got to be," dad stated the obvious.
Daryl had his gun up, aiming as I kept my head down and out of sight. If they miss, then I'll shoot. "There's not enough room for two of you behind that tree," dad explained how he knew it wasn't more than one person shooting at us.
"And there's a herd coming. I'm just sayin'," dad warned the guy. Dad shifted back in my line of sight, as our eyes met, I held onto my gun tightly and kept my back towards the bike. "Hey, I tell you what..." dad was beginning to negotiate as I kept my head down.
Listening to his voice, was enough to keep my level headed. "We'll make you a deal. You drop your gun and come on out, you tell us what we need to know," dad told the guy what he'd have to do in order to be spared.
They shot at us. Maybe not to kill us but...can we trust them? "You do that, you can take a car. You go. You live," dad made the deal clear to them. "How about it?" dad asked them how this deal sounded to them.
"Why should I trust you?" a male voice broke behind me in the distance. It was close but not too close either.
Dad didn't even hesitate to answer him. "'Cause I'm giving you my word," dad announced. "There's not a lot that's worth much these days, but a man's word...that's got to mean something, right?" dad said, as I looked at him, it seemed like he was genuine in the words he spoke.
The way dad talked, it was almost inspiring, like he'd had a change of heart. But I knew these people. I knew how they could easily turn against you in order to appease Negan. In order to save their own skins. "O-O-Okay," the voice stuttered.
Dad slowly went to walk around the car, while Daryl stood up and approached the guy. As I slowly crouched around the corner of the bike, I slowly rose to my feet. The guy began walking out from behind around the tree, with his hands raised at either sides of his head.
"W-What do you wanna know?" the guy asked.
Dad, Daryl and I had different angle on the guy. Dad had lowered his gun but I kept mine up, as did Daryl. I don't trust anyone. Not anymore. "You ever have any M2 Browning's, 50 caliber guns here?" dad asked the guy.
The guy looked terrified, like he didn't want to be here. Me and Daryl, we know it can all be an act. These people, they can act like they're on your side but quickly turn if it means saving themselves. "We did. For a while," the guy said.
"What happened to 'em?" Daryl asked the guy angrily.
The guy quivered in his boots, as he kept his hands raised. "They got sent to another outpost yesterday," the guy informed us that they'd been moved. Dwight wouldn't have known...would he?
For a moment, even I wondered if Dwight had switched sides or not. Daryl and my dad exchanged a look while I focused my eyes on the guy. "Which one?" I asked, needing to know which outpost had the guns now. My memory was good enough to know who was there and where it was.
"It was Gavin's, it's west of here," the guy answered me. "Can I, uh-Can...Can I go?" the guy asked us if he could leave now. Daryl raised his gun again and shot the guy right between the eyes.
My mouth parted, because the guy fell to the ground, dead, as quick as a blink of an eye. Even if I hated all the death I'd witnessed today, I knew that, this guy could likely try to go to the outpost or back to Negan.
It was a risk Daryl wasn't willing to take. Dad looked at Daryl with concern as he went to get on his bike. "Which team's at Gavin's?" Daryl asked as he was determined to get those guns back. The team won't know those guns are there.
Remembering which were assigned where, I knew instantly who it was. "The Kingdom is. Carol, Ezekiel, Jerry, a few others..." I answered Daryl, remembering which team we'd placed there. Gavin was their representative of the Saviors. That was rightfully their take down.
"You think they got the guns?" dad asked me.
Shaking my head, my eyes fell to the ground as I tried to think it over. "They couldn't know..." I answered. They are there to take down the outpost, not retrieve any guns we might need. Guns that would help the Saviors end this.
"Come on, lets go!" Daryl yelled, not wasting any time as he got on his bike. He looked to me, waiting to see if I'd hop on in the back.
Truthfully, I didn't know where to go, as dad began shifting the photographs into the glove compartment. "Kat, you're riding with me," my dad ordered as he sat down and started the engine.
The rumble of Daryl's engine was louder in comparison to the vehicle my dad had. "Maybe we can catch up with them," dad said as I climbed up and didn't wish to argue with my father as Daryl saw me choose my father, making him ride off quickly.
My heart was pounding, as my dad began driving us off, to get to Gavin's compound. "Maybe," I tried to stay hopeful but something in my gut told me, that something wasn't right...
A/N: And another one, done. Can you believe it? Three chapters in and tensions are already rising. And this is only the start of it. Kat, Daryl and Rick are going to be dealing with a little bit of a triangle in the next chapter. A triangle of 'who can protect Kat better than who' which...is only going to piss Kat off.
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