Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter 122.

Honour

"You okay?" Michonne asks, looking down at the boy "I don't want you to be sad after this." Carl says "Carl..." "Or angry. You're gonna have to be strong. For my dad. For Judith. For yourself." Carl explains "I will." Michonne promises "Don't carry this. Not this part. You're my best friend, Michonne." Carl cries "You're mine, too. You're mine." Michonne says.

Iris looks up as the light goes out, "I need your help." Rick says "With what?" Michonne asks "Getting him out of here." Rick answers, together they lift the boy up, Iris goes ahead of them and opens the manhole cover, she climbs out and turns back to the hole, grabbing onto carls arms she pulls him up onto the road.

Rick and Michonne climb up and they lift Carl again and Iris starts leading them to the house, "We need to stop." Michonne whispers "The house up ahead." Rick argues "We can make it." Iris adds, looking back at them "It's okay. Just put me down here. It's okay." Carl whispers "No. We'll make it." Iris says.

"Please." Iris looks back as the boy pleads, "There." she says, pointing to the church only a few feet away, the slowly lower carl on the floor of the church "Thanks... for... For getting me here." Carl says "I'm... I'm sorry. I-I just... I didn't... I didn't want you out there." Rick says

"No. No... for getting me here. For... For making it so I could be who... Who I wound up. Back at the prison... when we got attacked... there was a kid, a little older than me. He had a gun. He was... He was starting to put it down, and I-I s... I shot him. He was... He was giving it up, and I... I just... I shot him. I think about him. What I did to him and how... How easy it was to just... kill him."

"Carl, no. No. What happened... what you'd lost... All those things you had to... All those thing you had to do... You... You... You... You were just... You were just a boy." Rick cries softly, "And you saw it. What it did. How... How easy it got." Carl says.

"That's why you changed... why you brought those people from Woodbury in... You brought them in, and we all lived together. We were enemies. You put away your gun. You did it so I could change, so I could be who I am now. What you did then... How you... How you stopped fighting.. it was right. It still is. It can be like that again. You can still be like that again."

"I can't be who I was. It's different now." Rick whispers, "You can't kill all of 'em, Dad. There's gotta be something after. For you... and for them. There's gotta be something after." Carl argues.

"I know... you can't see it yet... how it could be. But I have... You have a beard. It's... It's bigger... and grayer... Michonne's happy... Judith is older, and she's listening to the songs that I used to before... Iris lives next door with Juniper and Daryl and they have a dog... Alexandria's bigger. There's... There's new houses... crops... and people working. Everybody living... helping everybody else live. If you can still be who you were... that's how it could be. It could." Iris smiles as the boy explains his dreams.

"Carl. It was all for you. Right from the start. Back in Atlanta, the farm... Everything I did, it was for you. Then, at the prison, it was for you and Judith. It still is. It's gonna be. And nothing... Nothing is gonna change that." Rick promises.

"I want this for you, Dad." "I'm gonna make it real, Carl. I promise. I'm gonna make it real." Rick says, "Carl... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. A father's job is to protect his son." Rick cries, "Love. It's just to love." Carl says, Iris watches the life slowly drain from his body, "No. No." Rick says watching the boy pull his gun from his leg.

"Carl... It... It... It... It should be..." Michonne tries, but her emotions are too strong, "I know. I know. Somebody you love. When you can't do it yourself. But I still can. I grew up. I have to do this. Me." quiet sobs escape Iris as she watches the boy "I love you." he says to Michonne "I love you, too." the woman cries "I love you, Dad." the boy says, turning his attention to his dad "I love you, Carl. I love you so much." Rick cries, leaning down and kissing the boy on his head.

"I'll make it real. I will. I will." Rick whispers, Rick and Michonne stand but Iris stays on the floor next to the boy, "i love you mom" Carl whispers, "i love you so much Carl" Iris cries, gently wiping the boys tears from his face, Carl reaches into his pocket and pulls out a shiny metal lighter, "here" he says, handing it to Iris, "i gave it to you" she whispers, "i want you to have it back" Carl whispers, Iris takes the lighter and puts it into her back pocket.

"Im stayin" she says, "no-" Carl tries to argue but Iris stops him "im stayin with you" she whispers, Iris looks up at Rick and Michonne and nods her head slightly, the pair leave and Iris looks back down at Carl.

"Are you ready?" she questions, gripping onto his free hand, he slowly lift the gun to his head, "you deserve a happy ending. Let yourself love. Promise me you will do it or at least try" Carl mumbles "i promise i will try" Iris says, she leans down and kisses him on the head one last time before sitting up.

Carl closes his eyes and Iris does the same, the gunshot plagues her mind, she slowly opens her eyes and looks down at his body, a loud pain filled scream rips through her body as she holds onto his lifeless body, leaning down she holds him close to her as her screams echoes through the building. After a few minutes Rick and Michonne walk back into the building, Iris's cries stop and she covers the boys body in a white sheet and they carry him out to the graveyard.

Iris picks up a shovel and they start digging a hole, the pain in Iris's body is now clouded by her emotions, once the holes big enough they slowly lower Carl down before covering him up with the dirt, Iris stares at the cross they placed at the head of his grave.

The red head pulls out her knife and starts walking away, leaving Rick and Michonne behind, she starts driving her knife into the walkers heads, her body drops to the floor, exhausted and hurting, she sits in the middle on the road and watches the herd of walkers making their way towards her.

Rick grabs onto her and lifts her up, he helps her walk to the van and sits her in the middle seat before turning and going to Michonne. Iris sits and stares out the window fighting off the sleep as it tries to take over her body.