Fire With Fire // D. Dixon

chapter thirteen

The group had decided to stay at the church.

With the abandoned bus out back, very few supplies, and nowhere else to go, staying there was the best option the group had. It was also, arguably, the only option they had. Abraham had set out and made it his mission to get the bus up and running within the next few days. In the meantime, the remainder of the group was planning on staking out where to hunt for supplies.

"I can go with you-" Chloe suggested, but her father stopped her.

"No," Rick told his daughter, "you're staying here. I need you to look after Judith. Tyreese will stay with you."

"But I can help-" Chloe urged, but didn't persist much further. She didn't want to go with the group for the sake of going, she truthfully only wanted to go with the group so she didn't have to leave her father and Daryl. The two people who made her feel the safest. She knew that being left without them was going to be hard for her, she just didn't want to think about it.

"Yeah, you can help by keeping your little brother and sister alive." Rick spoke, handing her a cooing Judith. Chloe took her little sister in her arms, and looked back at her father.

"Fine..." Chloe sighed, "but be safe out there. The world's gonna need Rick Grimes." Rick laughed, leaning down to the two girls before him and placing loving kisses on their foreheads.

Rick looked at Tyreese as Tyreese spoke, "You ever need me to watch her, need anything for her, I'm right here. The same goes for Chloe here." Tyreese had been the one to watch over Judith after the fall of the prison and it meant the world to the Grimes' family that he had protected the girl so diligently. They'd forever be in debt to him for that.

"I'm grateful for it," Rick told the man, "and everything else."

The group had dispersed and started gathering up their things in preparation to leave. Rick, Carl and Chloe were given some time to talk amongst themselves.

"Listen..." Rick started, looking at his three children intently, "I don't trust this guy-"

"Why?" Carl cut him off, taking Rick aback. Chloe was shocked at Carl's sudden trust in people. Hadn't he learned his lesson?

"Why do you trust him?" Rick asked his son, waiting patiently for his answer.

Carl glanced between Chloe and Rick, "Everybody can't be bad." Rick and Chloe exchange glances.

"Well..." Rick sighed, "I don't trust this guy. And that's why I'm bringing him with me. But he could have friends. So, I need you two to stay alert and help Tyreese protect Judith, okay?"

Carl and Chloe nodded, as Judith babbled in Chloe's arms.

"Now, I need you all to hear what I'm about to say," Chloe shifted nervously, sensing his seriousness, "You are not safe. No matter how many people are around or how clear the area looks, no matter what anyone says, no matter what you think, you are not safe. It only takes one second...one second and it's over. Never let your guard down, ever."

Chloe looked at the floor, trying to stop herself from shaking too much. What her father had said scared her, but she knew that he was preparing them for the worst. He had to, it was the way the world was now.

Rick hugged his kids, before waving goodbye. Chloe smiled sadly, as she watched the group leave the church, leaving their little group of four behind.

-X-

Everyone sat on the floors of the church, surrounded by the warming glow of the candles.

Gabriel was right. The place had been overrun, but not so overrun that the group couldn't take them out. The pile of supplies was a lot more hefty than they had imagined. It was substantial. They could rest easy for a few days, maybe even longer if they were really careful.

The sounds of light laughter and chatter filled the church as people began to fill up their plates. It had been so long since they'd eaten a hot meal, this almost didn't seem real.

"I'd like to propose a toast," Abraham started, gathering everyone's attention, "I look around this room and I see survivors. Each and every one of you has earned that title. To the survivors." Abraham raises his glass, as does everyone in the room. Some people cheer, others clap.

Chloe smiles, looking down at her cup as the red liquid remained untouched. She could only glance at the cup in her hands, but she couldn't bring herself to drink any of it.

"Is that all you want to be?" Abraham continues, "Wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat? 'Cause you can do that...I mean, you got the strength. You got the skill. Thing is, for you people, for what you can do, that's just surrender. Now, we get Eugene to Washington and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again. And that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip." He then urges for Eugene to continue.

"There's infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics, even of this fubar magnitude. That means food, fuel, refuge. Restart." Eugene explains, but everyone remains silent.

"However this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. Safer than you've been since this whole thing started," Abraham urges the group to join him, "Come with us. Save the world for that little one. Save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there who don't got nothing left to do except survive."

There was a moment of silence, as Judith babbles. Rick smiles at the toddler, who sat in his lap, then begins looking around the room at the people watching him. They were waiting for him. Waiting for him to say something, make the decision. Are they staying or are they going?

"I think she knows what I'm about to say," Rick laughs, "She's in. If she's in, I'm in. We're in." The room erupts into sounds of cheer and laughter. Once again, the group was getting ready to send themselves down another difficult journey. Potentially more difficult than anything they'd faced so far. That alone, scared Chloe.

She'd been through so much already, she wasn't sure how much more she could possibly take. She was barely making it day by day, what if something worse happened on the road? She was no longer the naive girl she used to be, she knew how people were, how deranged they could be when they needed something. 

Sighing, Chloe swallowed every last drop of the contents of her red cup.

Just as she had stated earlier, the living are far worse than the dead.