Don't Fear The Reaper (R. Grimes & D. Dixon)

89

Kit lifted the garage door to Eugene's house after making a stop by her own to get her jacket and gear, his Garage being the permanent home to all the science items from the kingdom when they had to move them to make room for expansions. She looked around in thought before grabbing a bag and stuffing two bottles of liquid oxygen, tin foil, thermite, magnesium shavings, and a small leftover magnesium fuse. she looked up, making sure it would out in her head one more time before stepping out and closing the door again behind her. Grabbing a shovel as she passed the garden, She looked around Alexandria, taking everything in as she walked to the gates, possibly seeing it all for the last time.

~Sanctuary~

Things were rough between Negan and Lydia when he first returned with her mother's head, the girl refusing to speak to him. The communities accepted the terms Alexandria set forth for Negan; they didn't like it, but they sucked it up for the most part, and for some of them, it was harder to let him help get everything ready for Beta's attack. And when Glenn and Maggie got news of everything, they cut their vacation with Hershel short and brought a new member named princess with them, a very spazzy personality and an attitude that made you question if she was crazy after being alone for a year.

Judith sighed, seeing Lydia sitting alone playing with a cat after Henry left to help his mom. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and walked over to the teenager, Negan keeping an eye on them from across the room as he stirred the soup he was left in charge of.  "I thought all the cats left."

"Not this one," Lydia replied, scratching behind the cat's ear

"I'm sorry about your mom."

"You don't have to be. She killed your brother." Lydia whispered; she knew ben was glad.

"You miss her?" 

Lydia shook her head firmly. "No," she said a little louder turning her head to look at Judith. "Not everyone gets to have a mom like yours." She added, she meant it in a nice way, but with Kit still gone, it made tears well in Judith's eyes.

"Except she is kinda yours now too." carl said, coming over when he saw Jude's upset face. Lydia looked at him, confused. "The only one of us that's kit's actual blood is TJ; the rest of us are her chosen kids. " Ricks, our actual dad-" Carl pointed between him and Jude. "But Jody, we found just like we did you, mixed up in a bad crowd; he was Kit and Daryl's first kid. I'm trying to say that you don't have to be blood to be family." Lydia gave him a small smile in thanks.

"And stop moping; you don't need to worry about mom. She'll come back; she always does. She once told me Dad, Rick," He elaborated for Lydia, "couldn't die because he was like a cockroach. I don't think she realized she was talking about herself." Lydia and Judith giggled at the absurdity. Negan watched, swallowing the lump in his throat for all the kids. He had a hand in orphaning one, and the other two's mother was currently unhinged the last time he saw her.

Meanwhile, Kit shoveled, starting to dig a small trench two miles away from the Sanctuary after leaving trails, going every which way to deter Beta's route to give her more time and bring them all in on the same road instead of spreading out.

~Time skip~

The sun was beginning to set when the lookouts spotted the horde. "They're coming up the road. Everyone in position!" Rick Yelled from his place up on the roof before rushing down to get to his position in the courtyard. 

"All eyes open. Focus, follow your training!" Sasha yelled, taking point up at the front.

"no room for mistakes, people!" merle added, moving to stand where the machine gun was mounted.

"Uh, Rick, we got a problem!" Yumiko called down as she was looking thru the binoculars.

Rick turned to look up at her. "It's Kit. She's Just walked out onto the road; she's just standing there?" she answered, her voice raising in question like she was confused about what she was seeing. Rick ran up to the gate to get a better look, and sure as shit, there was Kit way down the road with her back to them, facing the horde. 

"What the hell is she doing!" Merle yelled 

"Someone radio Daryl; he's out there. He can get to her quicker than we can!" He pleaded as he started to pace. As he watched her continue standing there as they slowly got closer. "Screw it," he hissed as he started undoing the gate locks to get out.

 Kit was in a zone of her own as she could catch glimpses of a red scarf towards the middle. Her head turned to the side where the walkers from the camp were standing, watching her. "Corrupt. Kill them." She whispered. she watched them obediently turn and approach the horde, incoherent whispers leaving their vocals and infecting the others who started looking around for the ones amongst them that didn't belong. Her eyes returned to the area she had seen Beta in, screams filling the air. Kit dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a lighter and the magnesium fuse, her eye's flicking down as she lit it and then tossed it into her makeshift hole that extended the whole road. A wall of fire erupted behind her, separating them and the sanctuary. But this wasn't just an ordinary fire; it had a Kitten Adams kick to it, putting out a 2,750 degree Fahrenheit; so hot it could melt metal, walkers? They would turn to ash before they could even get very far, certainly not reach the sanctuary walls. 

Kit started walking forward with strong, determined strides, eyes on that scarf, walkers opening a path for her straight to Beta as they continued on to the fire to meet their end. "Hey, shithead," Negan hissed with his mask on, trying to keep Beta from going after Kit; Beta bared his teeth before shoving Negan away and moving to meet Kit as she unsheathed two hunting knives, her cold eyes still on him and him alone. She was out for blood like a shark in the ocean going for its next meal. He pulled out his one, swinging it at her; she ducked under his arm, cutting his side deep as she went the other, cutting his Achilles tendon thru his boot on his right foot. He roared in pain as he collapsed to his knee; kit raised her knives and brought them down with lightning accuracy piercing both his eyes. Kit stumbled back, finally satisfied, as Daryl ran in, dragging her along with him as the walkers moved in to devour Beta. Kit stood off to the side between Daryl and Negan as the walkers revealed Beta's face to be that of a country music artist she had seen posters of a couple of times. "Holy shit, you know who that asshole was?" Negan asked, reeling, recognizing him too.

"yeah. Nobody," Daryl dissed as he pulled kit along to go around her fire and back to everyone else. Kit turned her head to see the divide when walkers went in unscathed and came out like charcoal crumbling away with each step; It was mesmerizing.

Once they were a safe distance away, Daryl abruptly turned and hugged her tight. Kit's body was rigid at first until it finally hit her; she had done what she needed to do. It was over. Her body started to shake even before the tears came, the extreme form of emotions her body was pushed thru left and right, all the pain, the Hallucinations. All of it was hitting her wave after wave as she clutched onto Daryl, hoping not to drown in it. She could hardly even register the second pair of arms wrapping around her, completing the other half of the cocoon, offering her shelter from the storm that raged inside her mind and body.