Red River Blue
Chapter 58
…The only thing I've ever known is the fight. There's so much we've done. So much more to do. I want to believe there's hope. That together there's hope. Isn't there? The world is dark. And broken. But we're not. Not yet. We stare into the face of death everyday. Until one day that face is our own. How do you come back from that? My mom says we don't. But my dad wants mercy to prevail over wrath. If we lose that, we lose everything…
It was the first week that the weather outside actually felt like spring might be on its way. The air wasn't more tepid than warm. But it was still a welcome change after the long harsh winter they had. At times, Judith felt like the frigid cold might never end. Snow blew in flurries, piling up against the side of their houses and blanketing Alexandria in giant white drifts. Long icicles collected on the edges of their roof. A coat and boots were a necessity, even just to run from house to house.
Many households lost members during the previous summer's fair. But Judith's had grown. Harley officially moved in, bringing her daughter Monroe along and filling up their house with what seemed to be an endless supply of musical equipment and hair brushes. The instruments mostly sat in the corners collecting dust. But the brushes saw much more use. Judith's hair didn't mat and tangle the way Monroe's did. But Harley still sat her down next to her own daughter every night after dinner to brush and braid their hair before bed. It was Judith's favorite part of the day.
Negan was also living at their house. The arrangement was supposed to be temporary. Her father said someone needed to keep an eye on the man. And that they were taking him back to Hilltop soon. But that trip kept getting put off for one reason or another. Negan moved from their living room couch into a bedroom. And Judith passed much of the long winter sitting at the kitchen table with him and Monroe, pouring over math workbooks and practicing her handwriting.
With Carol gone and Daryl still drowning in grief, Judth knew her father had unofficially taken over leadership of Alexandria. When he had to make a tough decision, her dad always asked Harley for her input. But over the winter, Judith noticed that he started asking Negan for his as well. Not too long after that began, the two of them started drinking their morning coffee together, running through whatever issues the community had that needed to be dealt with. Judith suspected that her dad was just secretly grateful to have someone around to talk to that wasn't his kid or young enough to be. What was happening today was the culmination of an idea the two men came up with during one of their morning coffees.
Judith gripped the pointed stick in her hands. Harley was a few paces in front of her. And Judith adjusted her stance, copying the way the woman was positioning her body. The large ghost ship loomed tall and ominous further down the beach. It was so tall, almost the entire ship was visible even from her limited vantage point. She didn't even have to raise up onto her tiptoes to see it over the tops of the large metal shields that the first line of fighters were armed with.
Judith's eyes widened as she thought that it was a good thing that Michonne stayed behind in the Kingdom to care for her son. Because she would not be impressed with what her husband was currently doing. Jerry was slowly lowering Ezekiel down over the side of the ship on a rope like a worm on a hook. Until he reached the large service door. It took him a moment of fiddling with the crowbar in his hands. But the door eventually gave way. Ezekiel pushed himself out of the way as Jerry began to pull up on the rope he was dangling from.
They didn't appear instantly. But the dead came. A lot of them. The door was only so wide, creating a bottleneck effect as they pressed against each other from inside the ship. Only a few of them could get through at a time. But slowly they began to pour and spill out onto the sandy beach below. Judith heard her dad speak up first.
"Hold your positions!"
Harley echoed Rick's sentiment, looking around to make sure everyone was where they needed to be.
"Remember yer trainin'!," Harley hollered.
The dead kept pouring out the small opening, a seemingly never ending stream of them. Unconcerned with the damage to their unfeeling bodies, they tumbled from the boat. Some of them smashed so hard on the ground below that it left them unable to get up, their arms and legs twisted at unnatural angles as they hissed and groaned in the damp sand. As the still mobile walkers began to slowly assemble on the beach, Harley fell back in line with the other archers. There was a large metal barrel, a fire already burning inside it. The flames burned bright and colorful, painted by the salty driftwood used to feed the fire. Nearby there was a bucket of arrows that had been carefully prepared, the section below the arrow point wrapped in cheesecloth and secured with wire. Harley pulled an arrow from the bucket, dipping it into the fire to light it. The other archers followed her example, dipping their arrows into the metal barrel before they fell back in line with their now flaming ammunition.
"Archers ready!," Harley called out, stringing her own arrow back before she shouted, "PULL!"
Judith watched the flaming arrows sail by high over her head. And peeking between the metal shields, she saw a walker fall. A few of the arrows extinguished when they found their targets. But some of them stayed lit, catching the bodies of the walkers they hit on fire. This was intentional. When the flaming walkers fell, the light and sound of the fire attracted the rest of the dead, causing them to cluster around the body. Harley signaled for the second round of arrows to be released. And the walkers gathered around the flaming bodies fell, picked off like fish in a barrel.
"Hand to hand!," Rick yelled, pressing forward when the large metal shields were turned to the side to allow passage. He ran out with the group assigned to take care of the few walkers that managed to escape the flurry of arrows Harley's archers sent. The row of shields closed quickly behind them. The armed group ran through the already thinned herd, taking out the dead towards the back first and retrieving the arrows as they moved back towards the rest of their comrades. A few walkers were allowed to continue on their way towards the line of metal shields. Like setting the walkers on fire, this was also intentional. To keep the dead moving forward towards the protected formation of fighters. Judith gripped her stick tighter, knowing that her part in the plan was coming soon. As the smattering of walkers approached the line of metal shields, Carl waited until the dead were almost on top of them before he yelled.
"SPLIT!," he ordered.
Like they had when they flipped to allow the fighters through, the shields were turned to the side. But this time the kids darted forward, using the long pointed sticks in their hands to stab the dead through their rotted heads. Axel stabbed his with a loud excited flurry of obscenities that the adults around him tried not to laugh at. Monroe remained stoic and serious as she stabbed her stick through the creature's head, much like her mother when she made a kill. But Judith was too excited to keep quiet.
"I got one!," she exclaimed.
"Good job," Harley told her, gesturing for Judith to keep her focus where it ought to be. On the walkers that were still coming at them.
The organized killing continued until all the port doors were open and the nearly endless supply of walkers finally stopped emerging from inside the ship. There had to be at least two hundred dead walkers on the beach by the time they were done. Maybe more. As they worked, Negan moved throughout the ranks, ordering people to spread out or tighten in where needed. His involvement was controversial at first. But people were slowly getting used to his presence. Whether people despised him or not, Rick and Harley were trying to organize and train an army. And Negan was the only person that had actual experience doing just that. They needed his help. Because this wasn't just about clearing the ghost cruiseliner. Though they did want the supplies the ship inevitably contained. This was about preparing people to fight Alpha's hoard.
Judith heard her dad's sharp intake of breath. Once the ship was cleared, Jerry tossed a long knotted rope down from the deck. And Harley was quickly monkey climbing her way up it, preparing to swing her body into one of the open port doors. Magna was shimmying up the rope behind her. Harley swung herself in first, pulling Magna in behind her before they both disappeared into the giant cruise ship.
Waiting for them to re-emerge seemed to take an eternity. But finally, Magna poked her head out the lowest and largest door, pushing the long metal walkway out so it could be used as a ramp to enter the ship. Judith felt a surge of concern when Harley didn't pop out immediately behind the other woman. But then a loud whistle sounded from the deck of the ship. Harley climbed onto the uneven railing and cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting down the lyrics of a song to everyone that was waiting on the beach.
…Can you imagine if we ever struck it,
I'd go shoot tequila, take a lime and suck it!
And we'd tell our bosses they can do the same,
We'll find a big cruise ship and buy the whole dang thing!
"Get down," Rick hollered back, not impressed with the way Harley was perched on top of the uneven railing or the way everyone else was laughing at the way she was carelessly disregarding her own safety. She blew him a kiss before she hopped down, disappearing from view. Judith giggled. Harley was never happier than when she got to kill things with her bow. Walkers. Deer. Raiders. She wasn't picky.
Rick warned Judith and Monroe to stay on the beach until they knew the ship was completely safe. Then he turned and rushed up the narrow ramp into the ship. In theory, he knew Harley could take care of herself. But his chest still tightened with anxiety at the thought of her wandering through the interior of the large ghost ship by herself. Since she was coming down from the deck, Rick headed upwards, stopping on each floor to whistle their hunting call. He got to the third floor before he heard an answering whistle.
The ship's emergency power had long since been depleted. It was almost pitch black inside the narrow hallway, the only light coming from the few open doorways and the small flashlight in his hands. Rick headed further down the hall, looking for Harley. Many of the cabin doors were closed. Rick passed by an open one, noticing a bit of sunlight shining in through the porthole. He continued on his way. But he only made it another step before he was grabbed roughly from behind. A slim arm circled his neck.
"Take yer pants off or yer dead," Harley whispered into his ear, reaching around him and rubbing him through his jeans with her other hand. Despite the slight scare she'd given him, Rick laughed as he let her drag him backwards towards the bed.
"They've got some expensive sheets on these beds," Harley said, nipping at the cords of his neck. "But I reckon we better try 'em out before we take 'em home."
Since she'd loosened her grip on his neck, Rick was able to spin and lift her up into his arms. She was always heavier and more solid in his grasp than he expected. But he could still carry her without much effort, especially since she wrapped her long legs around his waist to support her own weight. As Rick walked them towards the bed, he noticed the cabin was larger than he expected. Some sort of luxury suite with a giant bed and plush comfortable chairs.
"Forget the sheets," he said, lowering Harley down onto the bed and leaning over her. "We should take this entire bed home."
Harley hummed her approval against his lips as she untucked his shirt from his pants. Her lips parted and she sucked at the tip of his tongue when he slipped it into her mouth. Reaching under his shirt, she skimmed her hands over his muscular chest. Rick pulled back slightly, looking down at the woman beneath him. Her hair was slicked back into a long tight braid. But a few tiny curls around her face had escaped. Her blue eyes were dark with desire and the adrenaline rush from the fight.
"I love you," he told her, his thumb gently stroking across the round of her cheek. He told her he loved her often. But Harley almost never said it back. And on this occasion, her only response to his declaration of love was a mischievous grin. She ran her hands back down over his chest and began to massage the growing bulge in his pants.
Rick pressed his mouth back against hers. He was parting her lips with his tongue when they were suddenly interrupted by high pitched giggling from the doorway. Rick rose up, strengthening his back and reaching to adjust his pants. Harley was already leaning around him, giving Judith and Monroe the business.
"Didn't yer dad tell ya ta wait on the beach?," she hollered.
"It's okay," Carl said, nervously peeking his head around the doorframe. "I've got 'em."
Harley snorted and huffed as she straightened her clothes out. She leaned against the door frame, shaking her head as Carl tapped on one of the cabin doors, checking to see if there was anything undead inside before he opened it so the girls could explore inside. This was by far the largest ghost ship they'd ever hauled in. It was going to take weeks to unload everything. And after all the food and clothing and everything else useful was off the ship, they would bring Eugene in and start taking the engine apart. By the time they were done, they would have the ship torn down to the studs. Nothing would go to waste. The ship itself might even be repurposed. The thick metal walls could be used to reinforce fences or even build new housing.
"Check it out," Rick said, poking through the contents of a large pink suitcase, "...maybe the girls would like this?"
Harley turned, moving forward to examine the snowglobe in Rick's hands. Instead of fake snow, when he shook it, silver glitter swirled around inside the glass ball. And in the middle of the sparkly tornado were small figurines of Cinderella and her prince. Harley reached for the decorative globe, shaking it again and watching the glitter swirl.
"Cinderella," she said, her voice soft and sad. Nothing like Harley's usual confident tone. "She was Beth's favorite Disney princess."
Rick watched as Harley stared down into the globe as if the swirling glitter was mesmerizing her. Then, just as quickly as she took it from him, Harley turned and hurled the globe against the wall. The glass shattered, sending glitter and whatever liquid snow globes were filled with flying and splashing across the room. Knowing that Harley was most likely about to start some other form of destruction, Rick moved quickly. He grabbed Harley, crushing her against his chest.
"She's gone," Rick soothed. "Hurting yourself won't bring her back."
"Hurting those freaks would make me feel better!," she lamented.
Rick sighed, loosening his grip on Harley but not letting go of her completely. He thought about reminding her of the fact that to the best of their knowledge, the whisperers were gone. There'd been no sign of them since the attack last summer. But Rick knew that would only lead back to the argument they'd had at least ten times already. Harley wanted to hunt them down. Hunt Alpha down. She asked for permission from the council at every meeting. But they, including Rick, kept voting against it. He suspected Harley was harboring a little resentment against him over it. But thankfully, she didn't seem upset enough about it to let it interfere with their relationship.
"Have you thought any more about what I asked you?," Rick inquired, trying not to laugh at the way Harley immediately began to squirm out of his arms.
Harley had been expertly dodging his question for months. Ever since he proposed to her on New Year's Eve. The ring he gave her was carefully tucked away in her underwear drawer. She accepted it, but wouldn't wear it. Since Harley was usually such a decisive person, Rick found her flustered refusal to make a decision sort of endearing. She was already sleeping in his bed. Everyone knew they were together. So there was really no rush to make things official with a ceremony. Watching everything her mother went through with her father, it was a given that marriage in general was a source of conflicting emotions for Harley. But despite that, Rick knew she still wanted to marry him. The way her eyes lit up when he asked her was proof of that. She just wasn't going to do it until she was good and ready.
"We better go check on the girls," Harley said, heading out of the room and away from Rick's proposal as quickly as she could.
** The song in this chapter is River Bank by Brad Paisley.**