Too Far Gone // D. Dixon

chapter twenty-nine

Returning to Alexandria was supposed to be the start of a new chapter. One that would lead Maren to finding her father, though it seemed that at every turn she was but one step further from that goal.

Shortly after returning, Rick had made the horrifying discovery of a rather large quarry, not too far from Alexandria. It had held thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of walkers. The group was shocked and terrified of the fact that there were that many walkers that close to them. They'd been there the entire time. That quarry was precisely the reason that Alexandria was still standing. 

So, they'd called a meeting.

"My team...we saw it early on, back when we were on one of those first scouts, finding out
what was around here. There was a camp at the bottom. The people, they must have blocked
the exits with one of those trucks back when everything started to go bad..." One of them said, "They didn't make it, they were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of them."

Michonne then questioned, "No one's been back since?"

The man sighs, "DC, every town worth scavenging are all in the other direction. And I never really felt like having a picnic next to the camp that ate itself."

"So all the while the walkers have been drawn by the sound and they're making more sound
and they're drawing more in." Michonne spoke, coming to the conclusion that this situation is only getting worse by the day.

"And here we are..." Rick said, looking up and addressing everyone now, "Now what I'm proposing, I know it sounds risky, but walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now. Maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends them east...all of them, right at us. This isn't about if it gives, it's when. It's gonna happen. That's why we have to do this soon."

The group is quite, but Carol speaks up, "This is...I don't even have another word for it. This is terrifying. All of it. But it doesn't sound like there's any other way."

Carter is quick to retort, "Maybe there is. I mean, couldn't we just build up the weak spots? I could draw up plans. I worked on the wall with Reg. Construction crew...we can try and make it safe."

"Even if we could, the sound of those walkers is drawing more and more every day. Building up the exits won't change that." Rick continues, and Tobin attempts to argue but Deanna puts a stop to it.

"We're gonna do what Rick says, the plan he's laid out." Deanna speaks, facing away from everyone. Maren couldn't see her face, but she knew that she hadn't been the same since Reg had died. In a way, she could understand that loss.

"I told you all, we're gonna have Daryl and Maren leading them away-" Rick starts his plan, but people start volunteering.

Sasha speaks up, "Me, too. I'll take a car, ride next to him...Can't just be the two of them. I'll keep 'em coming, Daryl and Maren keep 'em from getting sloppy."

"I'll go with her," Abraham says, "It's a long way to white-knuckle it solo."

Rick nods, "We'll have two teams. One on each side of the forest helping manage this thing. We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on; Rosita, Spencer, and Holly. So they're out. So who's in?"

"I'm in." Glenn declares, holding Maggie close. Maren watched them, seeing them whispering to each other. She could only speculate as to what it was that had them so serious-looking.

Gabriel volunteers, "I'd like to help as well."

But Rick is quick to shut that down, still not sure if he completely trusts the man, "No. Who else? We need more."

Carter is still unsure of all of it, "There's got to be another play. We can't just control that many..."

"I said it before, walkers herd up. They'll follow a path if something's drawing them. That's how we can get 'em all at once." Rick explains, beginning to get sick of Tobin's scrutiny.

Carter sighs, "So, what? We're supposed to just take your word for it? We're all supposed to just fall in line behind you after..."

"After what?"

"After you wave a gun around screaming, pointing it at people. After you shoot a man in the face. After you-" Carter pauses, still unnerved and upset by the past few weeks. But Deanna had enough of it all.

"Enough!" Deanna finally steps in, her voice echoing off the walls, "Now who else?"

Looking around, more Alexandrian people start to volunteer. Most notably and argueably the least likely candidate being Nicholas. Maren was still searing mad any time she looked at him. He was the constant breathing reminder that Noah was dead, dead because of him.

"We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe, keep our families safe. We will." Rick says to everyone. They believe him, they trust him. Maren knew one thing for certain, if Rick had a plan then it would work. It usually did.

"The plan. Go through it again." Carter spoke, his voice certain.

Daryl looks at him, "Man, he just said it."

Carter persists, "Every part again. The exact plan."

- TOO FAR GONE -

Rick knew they'd have to do something about it, so he had carefully crafted a plan with the group in order to successfully lead the walkers away.

The plan had gone smoothly, until it didn't.

The group was at the quarry, standing just feet away from the blockade of walkers. The sheer size of the quarry had made the walkers' snarls as loud as ever. Rick had to nearly break his voice to speak over it.

"I know this sounds insane, but this is an insane world. We have to come for them before they come for us. It's that simple. This is where it all starts tomorrow..." Rick speaks as loud as he can, "Tobin gets in the truck, opens the exit and we're off. He hops out, catches up with his team at red staying on the west side of the road. Daryl gets on his bike with Maren-"

Rick is suddenly interrupted by a loud rumbling, making everyone turn their gaze at the quarry. One of the semi-trucks parked at the opposite side had been sent tumbling down into the quarry. With the loss of the truck to block the top road, the walkers had a way out.

"You've got to be fucking kidding...." Maren spoke under her breath. This was not good.

"It's open! We got to do this now! We're doing this now!" Rick yells and everyone is frantically moving, "Tobin's group, get moving, go!"

Carter yells, his face full of terror, "No, Rick, we're not ready-"

Rick ignores that, ordering people to start moving. They sure as shit didn't have any time to waste now, not with a horde this size headed towards Alexandria. "Sasha! Abraham! You meet Daryl and Maren at red."

Abraham was quick to nod, "Damn straight, we'll do it live." Sasha follows Abraham and gets into their shared car. 

Rick adds, "Let them take them through the gauntlet. Go!" 

Sasha then speaks to Rick too, "Yeah, we meet at red." She hurriedly gets herself prepared for what's next.

Glenn gets a small group together, hoping to get to the tractor place in order to help distract the horde. If they were successful, they'd be able to lead most of the walkers away entirely. It was a solid plan.

Carter, still not convinced this is all happening as quickly as it is, "Rick, this was supposed to be a dry run."

Rick looks at Daryl and Maren, "Daryl, Maren...get ready." With that, Maren raises her gun, ready for the stray walkers to start coming towards them. With a full magazine and whole backpack of bullets, she'd do some damage.

"They're comin' now!" Daryl shouts, holding his crossbow at the ready. 

"Rick, we haven't even gone through the whole plan-" Carter is stressed, making Rick get agitated. Now was not time for logistics, this was happening whether they were ready or not.

"You want to go back, go back. We're finishing this," Rick nearly spat, but Carter only nodded, "Tobin, you hit it on my signal. They're heading for home. We don't have a choice. Get ready to hit the flares!" Rick yells, watching as the horde moves quickly up that open side.

Rick waits, watching for the perfect moment and then... "NOW!"

With that, the flares went up and into the air. It was now or never.

- TOO FAR GONE -

Daryl and Maren were on his bike. Just like Rick had told them to be.

Rick was talking on the radio, "You all have your assignments. You know where to rendezvous. Daryl and Maren lead them out. Sasha and Abraham join them at the bottom of the hill. Glenn, you hit us when you take care of the walkers at the tractor place. That's the one thing we gotta get ahead of. Everybody keep your heads. Just keep up."

Maren listens as she holds tightly onto Daryl, occasionally looking back to see the progress behind them. So far, so good. She hoped it would continue like this, that way they'd still have a home to go back to.

"We're at red at the bottom of the hill." Sasha speaks into the radio. Maren and Daryl look at each other on the motorcycle for a moment. 

Maren holds the radio for Daryl as he speaks, "All right, here comes the parade."

With that, they carried on with the plan. With hundreds of thousands of walkers on their trail, they had to lead them away...far away from Alexandria and far away from their home.