Ch. 25
The fight at the college had been short but bloody.
The Governor himself had joined his men in action, forcing their way into the building and shooting the place up.
Michonne and David had taken some of the men out, bringing the group from seven down to four.
Beth had taken Elena and had hid. As far as David, Michonne and Hershel were concerned, this was a good thing.
The battle raged on. Michonne decapitated Martinez, snickering as his head rolled towards the Governor, stopping right before it hit his feet.
Enraged, the Governor lunged at her. Sword ready, Michonne moved to stab him, but… missed.
There was a good reason for this, though. The Governor was dead, face down on the ground. A bullet had flown through his back and hit his heart.
Michonne looked up to see Jake standing nearby, gun in hand.
"Thanks."
"He was a scumbag," Jake replied. "And besides, I did it for the old man, not for you."
00
The last two men were easily taken out by David. The battle could have been considered a huge success, had it not been for one thing: Hershel was dead.
Beth had been the one to find him, stabbed through the heart, lying in a pool of blood.
To David's surprise, the girl didn't cry. She just stood there, staring.
"I'm sorry," David told her, coming closer. He wrapped an arm around her, physically trying to show his support.
"Eric did it."
Jake was talking. David and Beth turned to him.
"I saw him. That's why I shot the Governor. That old man… He was decent to me. Cleaned me up. He didn't deserve that."
Beth nodded in understanding.
The group stood there for several minutes in silence, before Michonne suggested that they find a burial spot. She sent David and Jake out on that mission, and asked Beth to tend to Elena.
After everyone had left, Michonne said a quick prayer and pierced Hershel's skull with her katana. There would be no 'coming back' for him.
00
Daryl, Rick and Carl had been walking for miles. It was a brutally hot day, and everyone was sweating, especially Daryl.
The events of the past months had taken their toll and Daryl was tired. He forced himself along, telling himself that he had no choice but to keep moving.
It took nearly three hours before they found an overlook. Thankfully, it had a shady rest area and was high enough to where they'd be able to see any walkers coming.
The group pushed themselves up hill to get to it. As soon as they arrived, Daryl laid Carol out on one of the shaded picnic tables and took a seat. Carl handed him a bottle of water, which he proceeded to chug down.
"Hey, don't drink that so fast," Rick warned.
Daryl glared at him, but continued to drink as he pleased, finishing the entire liter off.
Seconds later, he regretted this decision. His stomach lurched and he bent over, vomiting up most of the water.
Rick sighed loudly, his way of saying 'I told you so'.
"Ugh," Daryl groaned, after the last of it was out.
Carl came closer and looked him over.
"Daryl, you need to rest. You go lie in the shade and we'll take a look at Carol."
Daryl's first instinct was to protest, but he knew the boy was right. He felt terrible. He would not be of any use to anyone the way he was.
Carl pulled a small fleece blanket out of his bag and rolled it up, then handed it over.
"Use that as a pillow." Then he handed Daryl another bottle of water, and a roll. Glenn had baked several before they'd left.
"Eat and drink. Slowly," Carl reminded him.
Daryl simply nodded, mumbled a thanks, and walked off to a shadier area.
Carl and Rick, meanwhile, turned their attention to Carol.
00
"Carol," Rick said, gently tapping her on the cheek. "Carol, can you hear me?"
No response.
Rick again checked for a pulse. It was there, and she was breathing evenly.
"Maybe if we cool her down it'll help some?" Carl suggested.
"It might." The heat had been intense, maybe cooling her down wouldn't be such a bad idea.
"There's a stream downhill," Carl noted. "We could wet some blankets, cover her up. Might help."
Rick didn't like the idea of his son going off by himself, but he didn't want to leave Daryl, Carol and Judith alone, either.
"You got your gun?"
"Of course."
"Alright. Go as fast as you can, and keep quiet."
"Okay."
Rick watched as his oldest child ran off. For the time being, all was quiet. Judith was sleeping. Daryl seemed to be sleeping as well. The sheriff sat down on the bench of the table Carol was on.
"I'm tryin', Lori. I really am."
She was sitting next to him, looking at him sadly.
"At least Judith and Carl are alright. Ya shouldn't have jumped out in the road like that though! Almost killed us!"
There was no response. Lori just continued to look sad, until she disappeared.
Just in time, too. Carl had returned.
"I found a bucket down near the stream. Filled it up. We can keep the blanket cool if we keep dipping it in. We ought to get her clothes off."
Rick nodded in agreement and the two disrobed her, trying their best to be as considerate as possible. They left her wearing only a pair of underwear and a bra.
"There we go," Carl said, folding the clothes. He pushed them off to the side while Rick proceeded to cover her body with the cool, wet blanket.
"We got anything else to use as a pillow?"
Carl thought for a second.
"I got an extra set of scrubs. Can put 'em under her head."
"Yeah, give me those."
Carl dug through the backpack and pulled out the garments.
The two placed them under her head.
Rick took a step back and did a once over. If she wasn't awake in the next hour, they'd have to try to hydrate her manually.
"Let's hope this works," he said, sitting back down.
00
David quickly dug a grave for Hershel while Michonne dealt with the Governor's group's bodies.
Most of them got a knife to the head, but the Governor…. She didn't want to give him that dignity.
After some digging around, she found some chains. She tied the body to a heavy radiator, making sure to put a leash around his neck as well as around his wrists.
She would let him turn. Let him turn to a walker, chained to a fence, to 'live' until his body decayed enough to where there was nothing left to function. He deserved it, she reasoned.
00
Once Beth had said her final goodbyes, the group packed up.
Their last act was to leave a note on the entrance for Glenn and Maggie.
'Left state. Meet at first overlook in SC.'
They signed it "David, Michonne & the rest".
00
As the sky grew dark, Rick knew that they had to find shelter.
There was a small shed located near the overlook, probably where maintenance tools were kept. If they could clear it out, it would provide adequate protection for the evening.
Carol was still out. She had opened her eyes once or twice, but she had yet to fully wake up. This left Daryl in a panic. Both Rick and Carl could tell that he was trying not to show it, but Daryl was obviously afraid. He sat near Carol, holding her hand, kissing it occasionally.
Rick and Carl decided to leave Daryl there while they cleared the shed out. It only took a few minutes and when they were done, they began setting up makeshift beds.
The backpacks were used as pillows, and each person got a blanket. Carl pulled out the bottles of water that they had and lined them up against the wall, along with the food he had managed to grab.
When everything was ready, they walked back over. Rick quietly carried Carol to the shed while Daryl slowly trudged behind. Carl took Judith.
Rick secured the door from the inside, ensuring that if anything tried to get in, it'd have a hard time. Carl took the time to build a small fire in the metal bucket that he had found. Since there were no windows, the fire could be safely lit and would provide light.
Their next task was to make some food.
"We got bread, oatmeal, peanut butter and a few bags of rice," Carl said, poking through the food.
"Not hungry," Daryl replied.
"You need to eat," Rick countered. He wasn't going to let Daryl continue to put himself and the baby in danger. "You only ate a roll today. You and the baby need more than that."
"We'll be fine," Daryl answered. He looked back down at Carol. He was too worried to eat. How could he, knowing that she might die?
Carl tried a different tactic.
"You know, when she wakes up, she might need some help gettin' around, and she'd probably want you to do it. Would be a shame if you couldn't because you were too weak."
That idea made sense to Daryl.
"You've got a point, kid."
"Yeah, I know. So you'd best eat something."
The fact that Carl had confidence that Carol would make it made Daryl feel slightly better. And the kid was right, she probably would need help, at least for a couple days or so.
"Alright, give me some more bread."
Carl smiled and handed over two rolls along with the jar of peanut butter. Daryl readily accepted them, dipped a piece of bread into the jar and started to chow down.
He was on his second roll when he groaned.
Rick, who was feeding Judith oatmeal, looked up.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah…She just. She kicked again. Ooh," he groaned, as the baby hit him once again.
"She's probably pissed off at all that walkin' you did earlier," Rick joked.
"Oh. Ow, she seems like it!" He rubbed his stomach, "Calm down now! We're safe."
Rick smiled. He remembered Lori talking to Carl when he was in her belly.
"Can I feel?" Carl asked.
"Yeah, sure."
The kid made his way over and sat down next to him. Daryl guided his hand to a specific part of his belly. As soon as Carl's palm made contact, the baby kicked again.
"Wow! That's cool!"
Daryl grinned.
"She's gonna be a real little ass kicker!"
"She?" Rick asked.
"Oh...I think it's a girl."
"A little girl, eh? Judith can have a playmate!"
Daryl smiled again.
"Yeah, she could."
The rest of the evening was spent talking and checking on Carol every hour or so.
Rick and Carl fell asleep close to midnight. After that, Daryl once again fell into a depression. He let out the tears that he had been fighting on and off since the accident. Carol had to be okay. Had to. He needed her. The baby needed her. The thought of her dying - of having to bury her, never see her again, tore him up inside. Eventually he cried himself to sleep.