Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter Fifty-seven.

 Are you ready?

As the woman watches out the window, her mind going back, flashing the images of Bear looking at her as he takes his last breath, his yelps ring through her ears. Her eyes grow heavy, her body and mind tired, and slowly she drifts off into a plagued sleep.

Her eyes snap open, looking around she catches the eyes of Carol, concerned covering her face. Iris looks away, looking down to her dog, trying to escape the eyes of her friend. She looks up through the window noticing the vehicle slowing to a stop, she looks around seeing large metal fences with a gate.

Abraham climbs out of the driver's seat and walks towards Iris, "you ready?" he asks looking down at the woman, she looks up at him, thinking for a moment before letting go of her dog, allowing the man to pick him up. Iris follows him closely, looking to her side to find Daryl staying close to her.

She looks up from Bear to the large gate as it creaks open, everyone stops, unsure of what to trust. Suddenly a crash comes from next to Iris, everyone quickly turns, pointing their weapons in the direction, Iris watches as Daryl shoots the possum with his bow, stepping forward and picking it up before moving back to Iris, "we brought dinner" he says, looking at the new man.

The stranger looks at them for a moment before Aaron speaks up "It's okay. Come on in, guys." slowly everyone follows him, Iris sticking close to the man carrying Bear, and Daryl staying with her. When they step through the gate it slams behind them, everyone stops and looks at it, "Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons. Stay, you hand them over." the new man says, getting everyone's attention.

"We don't know if we want to stay." Rick says, "It's fine, Nicholas." Aaron says, trying to keep everyone calm, "If we were gonna use them, we would have started already." Rick states "Let them talk to Deanna first." Aaron says "Who's Deanna?" Abraham asks, "She knows everything you'd want to know about this place... Rick, why don't you start?" he asks. Rick looks back at the gate, watching as a walker makes its way to them, "Sasha." he says, and the woman turns and shoots the walker. "It's a good thing we're here."

Iris watches as Rick follows Aaron away before looking around, it looked like it had been frozen in time, protected from the new world. After some time Aaron makes his way back over to the group, Iris looks away from Bear's body when she notices the man standing in front of her, "i'll take you to the spot now" he says gently, before leading them to a quiet grassy area. "This is where we bury family not animals" the strange man says to Aaron, Iris's eyes shoot up and she glares at the man, "what?" she questions , stepping towards the man, Aaron quickly moves in front of him "Carl told me what Bear was to you... how he protected everyone" Aaron says gently.

"He has every right to be buried here" he adds, turning to the other man "Deanna said so herself" he says, watching the man turn and storm away, he turns back to Iris, Daryl grabs hold of her hand, gently pulling her closer to him, calming her down.

Abraham lays the dog on the floor before picking up a shovel with Daryl and they start digging, Iris sits on the floor next to Bear's body, removing her cap, Carl joining her with Judith. She carefully removes the sheet from Bear's body, and she delicately unclips the harness removing it from his body, kissing him on the head and taking in all his features one last time. She watches the boy next to her, saying his goodbyes, Carl loved Bear, they would run around together like headless chickens.

"Are you ready?" Daryl asks, leaning down next to the woman and placing a comforting hand on her back, Iris leans down, kissing Bear on the head one last time, she pulls away slightly, blinking away the salty tears as they pool in her eyes, she gently strokes her thumb over his cheek. Looking down at him one last time, engraving every single detail of him into her mind once more.

She slowly stands up looking down at Bear, Carl kisses the dog for the last time, standing next to Iris, wrapping his free arm around her, hugging her body tightly. Daryl slowly covers the dog in the sheet again, picking him up with Abraham, together they lower Bear's body into the hole, listening to the soft cries from Iris and Carl as they watch the dirt cover Bear's body, saying goodbye for the last time. Aaron places a stone at the head of the grave for the woman, she picks up his harness and lays it on top of the stone, laying her hand on the ground, feeling the dirt under her fingertips.

.......

"Iris... Its time" Aaron says, quietly, looking down at the woman sitting on the floor with her hand lay on the grave, the same spot she has been in since they had finished filling in the hole. She looks back at the man, tear stained cheeks and tired eyes, she slowly stands and follows the man to a house, Daryl stays back as he follows them, waiting outside the house for her to be done.

Aaron opens a door and Iris steps into a room, a woman she is guessing is Deanna, sits on a chair with a camera set up behind her, "Iris... have a seat" the woman says, pointing to the chair in front of her, Iris looks down at the chair but decides to stand "or you could stand if you want" deanna says, standing up, Iris moves her hand to her knife at the womans sudden movements, but the woman doesn't mind Iris's action.