THE ROMANTICIST | C. GRIMES

05 | CHAPTER THREE

Mollie held her breath, hearing a pair of boots clunking as quietly as possible against the floor. After a moment, she moved and peaked around the corner. Sure enough, a Savior had been hiding in the garage, most likely waiting for Rick or Michonne, or even Carl. She pulled her knife out, unable to get a good vantage point from where she was sitting. With an internal sigh, she got onto her feet while still ducked behind the counter. She moved as quietly as she could, but she could feel the brace Siddiq had made her was beginning to crack.

The Savior hadn't noticed her, too busy with attention aimed at the stairs. She straightened up, gripping her knife a little harder as she raised her arm. She as she was about to plunge the knife into the Savior's back, she heard a floorboard creak to her right. She turned just in time to see the second Savior coming out of the garage. She threw the knife to the right, landing squarely between the Saviors eyes. With a hard thud the body hit the ground, and the Savior standing not a foot in front of her turned around. They both stood their for a moment before the much larger Savior lurched forward, throwing his rifle out and hitting her in the jaw with the but end.

She fell back against the floor, her hand coming up to her jaw. She made a grab for her pistol, but the Savior's heavy body trapped her arms between him and her chest. His hands were calloused and rough, overlapping as they came down hard on her neck. With both hands trapped she was unable to try and get his hands away. She tried to call for Daryl, but any noise that left her throat was nothing more than a pained choke. And then, she realized her legs were free.

She quickly began moving them, trying to knee the Savior in the back. Luckily, she managed to land a harsh one on his spine, breaking his concentration. She pushed hard, managing to roll him off of her. "Daryl!" She yelled out, trying to hurry to the other corpse to get her knife. She'd just barely been able to grab a hold of the dead Savior's shoes when she felt hands on her legs. She tried kicking but the grip was too strong as she was pulled back across the floor. She swung her arms out, just barely touching the fallen rifle when she heard Daryl's crossbow fire. The grip on her legs slacked and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"You good?" He asked as she didn't move.

"Yeah." She finally rolled over onto her back, moving her legs from beneath the Savior. She breathed a few deep sighs, feeling the skin of her neck beginning to burn. "Two were waiting in the garage."

"Ain't nothing upstairs." Daryl said, moving past her and clearing the garage with a single look around. "Looks like these were the only two." Daryl walked back over, reaching his hand down. She took it, letting him pull her to her feet.

"Probably waiting to grab Rick or something." She said, taking a second to steady on her feet before turning around and pulling the knife out of the Savior's back. "Thanks."

"Let's go." Daryl stepped over one of the bodies. "Still gotta clear the rest of the street."

——

"How'd it go out there?" Rick asked as soon as everyone had made it back down into the sewers. Everyone seemed a lot more antsy now than they had before.

"Couple waiting around, two at your place." Daryl said. "Got 'em all, didn't find any radios."

"That means others are coming back." Rick nodded. "You gotta get our people to the hilltop."

"Me?"

"I gotta talk to Jadis, Michonne is with me." Rick said. Mollie more or less tuned their conversation out as she hobbled back where Carl was. He wasn't asleep anymore, and more color and returned to his face. He looked better, but not fully normal yet.

"How was it?" He asked as she sat down next to him.

"Not much left." She sighed. "The um...the plant..." She felt slightly choked up. "It's gone." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"What?" Carl's voice was enough to draw Michonne's attention.

"Daryl said your dad and Negan had some kinda fight in your place." She explained, not noticing Michonne's shift towards them. "Rick apparently went through a window." Carl chuckled. "But um...the plant it was...totally smashed. Thrown against the wall, left to die on the floor. Had to have been dead for hours by the time I got to it."

"So that's it?" Michonne spoke up, drawing both of their attention. "There's no cure?"

"There never was." Mollie shook her head. "But until I find another Praesidium somewhere I can't help anyone else."

"Alright, let's move out." Daryl called out. People were glad to get up and move, most quickly shuffling out after Tara and Rosita had gone to open the hatch outside and stand guard. Everyone left until it was just Daryl, Michonne, Rick, Carl and Mollie.

"Your dad says you've got a plan." Daryl looked at Carl. "You sure?"

"Yeah." Carl nodded. "I can't make it to Hilltop like this. We'll meet you there." Daryl looked to Rick and then Michonne before nodding and starting for the exit.

"So we'll head to Jadis, then the Hilltop." Rick spoke. "Tell me your plan again."

"Mollie knows a place that the Saviors could never and will never find." Carl said. "We'll go there, until I can travel and when I can we'll meet you all at the Hilltop."

"Don't take too long, hmm?" Michonne said. "A week, tops."

"We'll try." Carl nodded. Carl and Rick shared a look before Rick and Michonne moved back towards the Alexandria grate.

"What are we doing?" Mollie asked as she heard the grate slide shut. "Why aren't we with Daryl and the others?"

"No way I can make it all the way like this." He said. "I'm too weak for all that travel, Siddiq agreed. So...I thought we could go see your mom. For a few days. Least until I don't feel like I'm gonna barf all the time. Then we join everyone else. Saviors can't find us there."