Chapter 24
Warning: Multiple character deaths.
"Oh God," Carol murmured, her entire body trembling as Daryl shined the light back and forth over the camp. Daryl's hand shot out to her arm, and she turned to him, their eyes meeting.
"Get her in the truck," he offered quietly, his voice shaking, his hand trembling against her arm. Her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head.
"Take her."
"What?"
"Take her!" she shouted. She passed Jenna over into Daryl's arms. "Get her in the truck. I have to…"
"Wait!" Daryl hollered, but Carol was already sprinting toward Dale's RV, where Sophia began to scream at the top of her lungs. Carol's heart pounded in her chest, her lungs burning as she fought back tears, gripping her gun tightly in her hand as she fired a bullet into a stray walker's skull before reaching the RV. The door was swinging on its hinges as sounds of a struggle came from inside.
"Sophia!" Carol screamed.
"Mom!" Sophia cried out, her face appearing at one of the windows, eyes wide with a terror like Carol had never seen before. She pulled herself through the door, seeing Dale sprawled out on the floor, eyes wide as blood spurted from his neck. The walker that was currently devouring him paid Carol no mind and didn't even notice when she put a gun to the back of its head and pulled the trigger. Sophia jumped and hid her face as pieces of skull and brain matter went flying, coating everything nearby.
Wiping the walker muck off her hands, Carol reached for her daughter.
"Come on," she urged, as Sophia balled herself up on the booth seat at the table.
"He's dead," Sophia sniffled.
"We're not," Carol urged. "Come on, Soph. We have to go. Now!" At that moment, Daryl came tearing into the trailer.
"Come on," he urged, pulling himself over Dale's body and picking Sophia up into his arms. She was surprisingly light for such a tall girl, and she was shaking like a scared rabbit. "I got ya, Soph. I got ya." Carol pointed her gun at Dale's forehead, as Daryl carried Sophia out of the RV, and the shot echoed painfully through the camper.
"I'm so sorry," she murmured as a silence settled over them. "I'm so sorry." And then she was off, keeping close to Daryl as he rushed Sophia to the truck. Sophia was crying, and Carol just wanted to hug her and comfort her, but the gunshots ringing out over the camp insisted another time for it.
"In the truck. C'mon!" Daryl urged, as Jenna's frightened face appeared from the passenger's side of the window. It was then that a cry pierced the air, and Carol knew that cry. Judith.
"Get in. I'll be right back!"
"No! Mom!" Sophia cried out, struggling out of Daryl's arms and to her feet. "Come back!" But Carol was already rushing to Rick's tent. The moment she was inside, she found baby Judith screaming and kicking her legs furiously. Her little face was red, and her face was wet with tears. Rick was on the ground, lying on his side, unmoving except for his arms, which reached for Judith in her little bed.
Carol knelt next to Rick on the floor, and she flooded the tent with the glow from her flashlight, seeing the stain of red spreading across his back.
"Oh God," she murmured, sniffling. "You're bit."
"N…no," he gasped, blood spattering from his lips as he struggled to speak. Carol gently put her and on his shoulder, lifting his shirt just enough to see it was a gunshot wound. It was a close shot, she could tell, like somebody had stuck a gun in his back, as if they knew the precise angle to shoot him to make it a slow death, a painful one.
"Who did this to you?" she asked, voice shaking, eyes flooding with tears.
"T…tell Carl to take care of his sister. T…tell him I'm sorry."
"I will. I promise," Carol cried out, as screams echoed through the camp. "Please. Please, get up." She knew he couldn't, but she needed to hear herself tell him. She needed to give him that encouragement, that comfort, because she knew he was dying, and he wasn't going to be able to just get up and go.
"Can't…move. Please." His eyes were wide as he reached for Carol. "Please do it." He motioned toward her gun, and she shook her head, tears spilling forth. Rick coughed again, blood spilling from his lips. Daryl came running into the tent, chest heaving with every breath he took.
"God damn it," Daryl spat, kneeling down next to Rick. "It was Shane?" Rick's eyes locked on Daryl's without giving him an affirmative, but Daryl knew. "God damn it!" Daryl punched the ground hard.
"Take care of them," Rick grunted. "Promise me. Make sure…make sure Carl looks after his sister." Rick closed his eyes, his breathing becoming shallow, and Carol shook her head.
"We gotta go, Carol," Daryl murmured quietly. She nodded, sniffling and taking her gun in her hand again. "Don't."
"He asked me to," she whispered.
"You done enough for one night. Let me take care of it. Don't do this to yourself. Take the baby and run to the truck. Go!" He grabbed her gun, and she took Judith, rushing outside as the gunshot rang out. She froze the moment she saw Shane and Andrea scrambling into a car. Her eyes locked on his, and even in the darkness, she saw the blood dripping from his hands, and all she could think was how this man had murdered his best friend and orphaned two children.
"Come on!" Andrea screamed at Shane, tugging on his arm, snapping him out of his trance. He ducked into the car with her, and they sped off, following another set of headlights somewhere up ahead. Carol felt Daryl's hand on her arm again, and they were practically pulling each other to the truck now, where Beth and Carl had managed to find themselves.
"Get in!" Carol screamed.
"My dad! Did you find my dad?!" Carl yelled.
"You weren't there? You…you didn't see." Carol asked, as she handed Judith to Sophia inside the truck.
"I had to go," he sniffled, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "I was just gone a few minutes, and…"
"Get in the truck," Carol urged. "Get in the truck, Carl. Beth. Just get in. We have to go." A walker stumbled out of nowhere and grabbed onto Beth's arm, squeezing hard. She screamed in surprise, and Carol reached for her gun, realizing Daryl still had it, and she took her knife out, getting the walker in the head. It loosened its grip on Beth as it fell over, and Beth began to hyperventilate.
"We ain't got all day!" Daryl yelled out, revving the engine. "Get in the god damned truck!" Everybody scrambled, Carol scooting into the cab while Beth and Carl hopped into the back. As they sped away, Carol held a crying Jenna in her lap and rubbed a soothing hand over Sophia's back, wondering if this nightmare would ever end.
It had been impossible to get through the thick horde of walkers, and they'd had to take a different road, leading them off away from everybody else.
"They'd go back to the highway, right?" Carol asked, her eyes searching the road ahead of them frantically. Daryl's hands clenched the steering wheel.
"Didn't see who got out. You?"
"Just Andrea and Shane. There was another car, but…I didn't see."
"Mommy's hurt," Jenna sniffled, lifting her head up from Carol's shoulder. "Daddy had blood all over him. The monsters were there."
"It's ok, sweetheart. I've got you," Carol soothed her. "You just close your eyes."
"Will the monsters go away?"
"As long as I'm here, the monsters won't hurt you, Jenna," Carol promised. "Just close your eyes." Jenna sniffled and put her head back down, and Carol bit her lower lip to keep from crying. "It was chaos," Carol whispered. "Wherever they are, whoever made it out…they could be anywhere." A flash of lightning startled them both, and no sooner had the flash come and gone, a heavy sheet of rain poured down, decreasing their visibility tenfold.
"God damn it," Daryl grunted, slamming his fist on the steering wheel.
"We should stop," Sophia offered, wiping her eyes, glancing into the back of the truck where Carl and Beth were huddling under the tarp. "We have to stop!" Daryl said nothing and turned the moment he caught sight of an overpass, and he came to a halt beneath it, getting them out of the rain and at least giving them a bit of a roof over their heads.
"We aren't stopping here?" Carol asked, her eyes wide as she looked around worriedly.
"Nah. Just waitin'. Maybe they'll come. We gotta wait."
"Daryl they took a different road. They could be miles away."
"We gotta go back!" Beth cried, sliding the small window behind the seat open.
"We go back there, and we're dead!" Daryl hissed out. "They're gone, Beth!" Beth recoiled like she'd been struck, and Daryl took a deep breath. "You daddy and Maggie, they…I didn't see 'em. Maybe they got out. But they ain't back there, and we ain't goin' back neither." Daryl got out of the truck, slamming the door shut and kicking the tire. "Fuck!"
Carol looked down at Jenna, who was shivering in her arms."
"I'll watch her," Sophia offered. "Go on. He needs you." Carol stared at her daughter for a moment, seeing a glimpse of a young woman in her eyes, and she nodded to her, placing the little girl on the seat next to her daughter.
"Stay in the truck," Carol said quickly, getting a nod from her daughter. She slipped out of the truck and went around to the front where Daryl was bent over the hood, hands pressed firmly against it as he tried to steady his breathing. She placed a hand on his back, and his shoulders slumped.
"Where's my Dad?" Carl Grimes came around the truck, his eyes narrow but filled with fear. "He got out. Where'd he go?"
"Carl," Carol murmured softly, her hand reaching out to touch his shoulder. The boy recoiled.
"Where is he?" he demanded. Carol looked at Daryl, lost for a way to break it to the boy. Daryl sighed heavily and moved away from the truck and looked down at the boy who looked up at him expectantly.
"You dad…he wanted you to know he's sorry. He wanted you to look after your baby sister." He saw the boy back up and shake his head. "I'm sorry, Carl. Your dad…he's dead."
"No!" Carl screamed out, lunging toward Daryl, his hands balled into fists.
"Carl, stop!" Beth urged, as Carl beat his fists into Daryl's chest. Daryl stumbled backward only slightly, letting the boy get his anger out, and Carol moved to wrap her arms around Carl from behind, pulling him back as he cried.
"Liar! He's not dead!"
"It's ok," Carol whispered softly. "It's ok."
"No! He can't be dead! It's not fair." He broke away from Carol's grasp and ran out into the rain.
"Stop!" Carol cried out. Daryl went after the boy and pulled him back under the overpass.
"You ain't doin' this. You ain't runnin'. You get to be mad. You get to cry. But you don't get to run, 'cause your dad wants you to fight. He wants you to live."
"Shut up!" Carl screamed. "He's not dead!"
"He's dead," Daryl said firmly, putting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "I can't show you a body. I can't take you back there. But he's dead." Carl blinked the tears back and sobbed.
"You get to mourn," Carol said softly, "but you have to let us take care of you. You have to let us help." Carl turned away, and Carol looked at Daryl helplessly. He reached out and took her hand.
"Give him a minute," he said softly, leading her around to the back of the truck. Beth was pulling her jacket tighter around herself.
"You ok?" Carol asked gently
"You really think they made it out?" Beth asked gently. "My dad? My sister?"
"I hope so, honey," Carol murmured. "I don't know. What I do know is that if they made it out, they're trying to survive, just like us. So we're going to do the same thing. We'll look for them tomorrow, ok?" Beth sniffled, her eyes red-brimmed and welling with tears. But she nodded, and Carol pulled an arm around her. "We'll be ok. We just have to stick together."
The children stayed on the porch with Beth while Carol and Daryl walked through the old farmhouse, checking for walkers in every room and also looking to see if there were enough provisions for a few days. When they were satisfied that it was safe enough, they headed back out onto the porch.
"We'll hole up here for a few days," Daryl explained. "Me and Carol'll go out tomorrow, look for the rest of the group."
"Can I go?" Beth asked hopefully.
"I need you to stay and help take care'a the kids. We'll work faster on our own." Daryl glanced at Carol and gave her a little nod.
They headed into the house, and Daryl used the deadbolt to make sure the door was secure. Carol and Sophia hurried about, pulling all of the curtains closed, while Carl clutched Judith close, and Beth held Jenna's hand. Carol couldn't help but think, looking at their group, that she and Daryl had somehow become responsible for the lost children. Who knew where Glenn and Sarah were, if they were even alive. Carl and Judith had no one, and Beth was still this scared little thing who wasn't even close to being fully prepared for the world outside.
"We'll keep the baby with us tonight," Carol offered, but Carl shook his head.
"She's my sister. I'll keep her with me." His voice was cold, but when he kissed the top of Sophia's head, he was her protector, he was the only thing she had in the world. Carol gave him a solemn little nod.
"I'm so sorry, Carl," she whispered.
"Don't be sorry. It's the way the world is. We're all gonna die. It's just a matter of when." He turned and walked into the living room, flopping down on the couch with his sister in his arms and holding her close. Carol looked at Daryl, lost for words, and he reached out and took her hand.
"S'gonna be alright. We'll make it through this."
Beth chose the attic. It was fully furnished and decorated with posters of boy bands, which reminded her of her own room on an old farm somewhere, someplace in the distant past. Sophia decided to bunk with her, and little Jenna, terrified, refused to sleep with them, instead, choosing to cling to Carol and not let her out of her sight.
"Sweetheart, you're safe here," Carol assured her, stroking her long, black hair. The girl sniffled and buried her face against Carol's leg, hugging her arms around it. Carol sighed and glanced up at Daryl.
"S'alright. She can stay." He knelt down and gently pried the little girl away from Carol's leg. "You can stay."
"Can…can you check?"
"Check for what, sweetheart?"
"The monsters." She looked up at him, her eyes wide and round with fear, and she wiped a little tear away. Carol picked the girl up and held her close, and she gave Daryl a little nod.
"She won't feel safe unless you check for the monsters." Daryl nodded in understanding and made his way around the room, first opening the closet door to show her there were no monsters in there. He shined a flashlight under the bed to show her that the only thing under there were dust bunnies that seemed to have grown their own dust bunnies. Finally, she was satisfied, and she climbed into the center of the bed and was out within five minutes.
Daryl sat on the edge of the bed, and Carol ran her fingers through her short curls, shaking her head.
"What are we gonna do?" she murmured. He reached out and took her hand, pulling her to sit next to him on the bed.
"We'll survive. Just like we have been. It's what we do."
Glenn Rhee sat with his head in his hands on the rail of an old bridge. He was covered in blood—Sarah's—and the last thing he remembered was hearing Jenna's screams and then she was gone, and he couldn't find her.
"I'm so sorry," Maggie sniffled, gently rubbing his back. "I'm so sorry."
"She can't be gone. Six years. We've been married six years. We were just…stupid kids. We were stupid kids when we got married, and we were going to…." He shook his head. "Shit. This isn't real."
"I won't say it'll get easier," Hershel offered, handing the young man a damp cloth he'd soaked in the river to clean up with. "The pain will get easier, but the memory won't. You'll carry it with you." Glenn's eyes darted around in the darkness, and his gaze fixed on the figure of Shane pacing nearby.
"You saw Jenna?"
"I'm sorry, man," Shane said quietly with a shake of his head. "I…I saw enough to know…she's gone." Glenn broke down.
"So much blood," he choked out, as Maggie held his arm as he sunk to his knees on the ground. He threw up, and she continued rubbing his back, letting him know somebody was there. Shane turned to go back around to the car, and Andrea followed quickly.
"Hey," she murmured, gently reaching out and brushing her hand over his arm. "That poor little girl? She died?" He turned, eyes on hers, a spark of something that she didn't quite recognize. "You saw her die?"
"I don't know what the hell I saw," he admitted. "Didn't see her there. Heard her cryin' from somewhere, but I didn't see. Saw Dixon and his whore, but I didn't…I didn't see Jenna."
"You don't know that she's dead?"
"She's dead. She's gone. That's all he needs to know, 'cause we ain't goin' back."
"Shane," Andrea murmured breathlessly, taking a step back.
"Hey, you wanna survive, or not? We go back lookin' for some little girl who's probably dead, we're next." Andrea closed her eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of her nose, trying to process what he'd just told her. "Best thing we can do is get as far as possible from this place. We keep movin'."
"What about the rest of the group? What about Carl and Judith?"
"They ain't my problem," he said bitterly.
"Rick was your best friend!" Andrea hissed, gripping his arm. "You're saying you don't even care?"
"I loved them kids like they was my own, but they're with Dixon, and he's gonna get 'em killed. I can't risk you. I ain't riskin' the rest of the group. They got each other and a couple kids? We got grown, able-bodied folks. We can survive. I ain't riskin' one of us for a rescue mission."
"This isn't you," Andrea murmured.
"Oh it ain't?" he asked. "Like you know me. A couple good fucks, and you think you know my heart and soul? Sorry sweetheart, but you don't like the way Shane leads, then you can get the hell out. It gets awful cold in them woods at night." Andrea shook her head.
"I'm not going anywhere," she murmured, head dipped low before she looked into his eyes again.
"I'm worried about you."
"I'm worried 'bout all of us. We got out alive, and we ain't goin' back."
"Glenn, stop!" Maggie yelled, as Hershel rushed after the younger man, grabbing him just in time.
"I gotta find her!" Glenn yelled out.
"What the hell?" Shane asked. "What happened?" He rushed over to Maggie, and she shook her head.
"He says he has to go back for Jenna. He has to see for himself." Shane sighed heavily and walked over to Glenn who was struggling against Hershel. He put his hands firmly on Glenn's shoulders and looked him square in the eye.
"She's gone, man. You ain't never gonna see her again."
"She can't be dead. She can't be dead. You gotta say it. You can't say she's gone. You have to say she's dead." Shane looked over his shoulder at the disapproving headshake of Andrea's, before he turned his attention back to Glenn.
"She's dead. It was quick, man. I saw enough to know that. But she's dead. I'm sorry." Glenn shook his head and went to his knees again, a broken man. "You gotta keep pushin' on. Sarah'd want that. Jenna'd want that. We gotta keep movin'."
"We should find the rest of them," Maggie insisted. "We should stick together."
"They're gone," Shane said quietly. "We ain't goin' back. They're either dead or they will be. But we're still here, and we gotta fight for our own lives. We ain't chasin' ghosts."