A War On Her World | TWD: D. Dixon

Ch. 44

The combined group travelled together after the fall of Terminus.

There was no group meeting about what would happen next, no vote, nothing. They all just followed each other as they continued their journey, wherever it was taking them. They stopped of a night and rotated lookout, but then they were off again.

Daryl carried Benjamin when the boy wasn't trying to walk on his own, which was often. The kid never wanted to let go ever again after what had happened. He finally had his Daryl back and he wasn't going to risk losing him again. Even when the man would go off to hunt for breakfast or dinner, no matter how early or late, Benjamin was following him. He was quiet, too. He was a good boy so he wouldn't be left behind again. He didn't want to be alone again.

It was around midday the next day that the group were pulled from their objective by the desperate cries of a man for help.

"Help! Help!" he cried with absolute terror in his voice.

Rick didn't want to respond to the man's pleas. He had lost all of his faith after his home was stolen, ransacked and his people massacred. How was he meant to bounce back from that? No one and nowhere was safe anymore, not for them. People were cold and he had to be colder to keep his group safe.

There was a look of disbelief on everyone's faces as they realised the person they saw as their leader was turning his back on someone who was in need. Abraham's group didn't know the kind Rick, so they didn't have much of an opinion as long as Eugene was safe, but Glenn was appalled.

Thankfully, Carl was a little more open-minded and convinced his father they had to at least check out the man's situation. They couldn't just leave him.

Daryl pulled Benjamin into his arms and took off after the rest of the group. The boy just clung on at the sudden movements and waited for them to end. He didn't feel safe anymore, but when he was in Daryl's arms, he did not fear for his life.

When they entered the scene, it was a man stranded on top of a cube-ish shaped stone while half-a-dozen walkers clawed desperately to have a taste of his flesh. He thrashed around, kicking frantically at their dead hands reaching for him, but his haste made each erratic action weak with little effect.

Carl quickly shot one of the walkers in the head as Rick rushed in and smashed another's head against the boulder, congealed blood spattering as its head caved in. The final three were taken on by Carol and Michonne, allowing the area to fall quiet as the chaos had been quelled.

"C'mon down," Rick said, somewhere between an order and a reassurance that the situation was over with.

With everything quiet, the group was able to take in the man's appearance. He was dressed rather cleanly in a typical priest's outfit, the white collar and everything. However, his expression showed his weak stomach, as though he had never been face to face with a walker in the two years following the pandemic. It looked like he was going to be sick.

And he was. The moment the man was out of danger, he threw up the contents in his stomach, and like the naive person he presented as, he apologised for it before thanking them for their help.

"I'm Gabriel," he said nervously.

Rick couldn't care less what Gabriel had to say for himself and cut him off with the usual questions, 'how many walkers have you killed?', 'how many people have you killed?', 'why?'. It was already suspicious that the man was out dressed the way he was, but once he answered the questions, it just made him all the more untrustworthy. At least, in the eyes of Rick.

While the stranger didn't have a camp, he did have a church, and the group could have used any type of shelter they had a chance at managing themselves. It was a pessimistic view on life, but the first thing Rick thought when he decided to follow Gabriel was that they could easily overpower him if he tried anything.