Safe haven, Rick Grimes

023. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TAKE CARE OF THEM

Chapter twenty three

"How am I supposed to take care of them." 

Where when it came time for everyone to got to bed, Beth had come walking holding the baby girl in her arms, Scarlett folded up the letter and took her from her, as Beth turned walking out, not long after that Scarlett heard footsteps as she looked up from the baby girl, she saw Carl standing in the doorway, Scarlett motioned her head to the spot next to her, Carl came walking in, climbing on the bed, he laid down on the inside, where he had put his arms around her and wouldn't close his eyes at first, but soon fell asleep.

Where Scarlett didn't close her eyes, not even for a second, especially when Carl kept waking up in a startle "shh. You're okay." she'd whisper to him and run her hand through his hair to calm him down, where he'd then move closer to her, afraid to be away from her, because every time he closed his eyes he saw his mother dying, and since his dad hadn't been really around, the thought of him opening his eyes and Scarlett not being there anymore scared him because he didn't wanna be alone.

Morning came soon enough, where Scarlett walked into the room with Carl and the baby, the others who were sitting there and eating looked at them all "we made you two some." Glenn shared, the two of them went over and sat with them, but Scarlett didn't eat first, making sure Carl and the baby did first "what about Rick?" she asked "he was fine when I saw him." Glenn shared "he's fine?" Maggie asked "he wasn't hurt or anything." Glenn shared "we need to get him out of there." Maggie shared "my dad'll be back." Carl told them.

"He's been in there through the night. We just wanna make sure everything's alright." Hershel shared "yeah, ain't nothing right. Rick though, he'll come through." Daryl shared "we can help him do that." Hershel told him "yeah. You think so?" Daryl asked "well, maybe not us. But she can." Hershel shared, turning and looking at Scarlett, who was looking at the baby girl, Carl watched her.

"Everybody okay?" Rick asked, as everyone except Scarlett turned and looked at him, as Rick walked in "yeah we are." Maggie told him "what about you?" Hershel asked "I cleared out the boiler block." Rick shared "how many were there?" Daryl asked "I don't know a dozen, two dozen." Rick told them, looking at Carl, he then looked at Scarlett, seeing she wouldn't even look at him "I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl." he shared, patting Carl on the back, he turned to walk off.

Glenn stood up "Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies, okay? You don't have to." he shared "no, I do." Rick told him, walking around them all and over to Daryl "everyone have a gun and. a knife?" he asked "yeah. We're running low on ammo, though." Daryl told him "Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon." Glenn shared, as Rick looked to him "found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula." Glenn shared "we cleared out the generator room." Daryl said, as Rick looked back at him "Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well." Daryl shared.

As Rick nodded "good. Good." he said, turning and walking off, he looked at Scarlett who had looked up at him when he walked past, but there eyes met, the two quickly looked away from each other "Rick." Hershel said, as Rick walked out into the tunnels, shutting the door behind him, Carl then leaned into Scarlett, Scarlett brought her arm up and put it around him.

Where Maggie and Glenn had gone out on their run, as Daryl and Oscar had gone to sweep the lower levels, Carl had gone with them, as Scarlett held the baby girl in her arms, she was pacing, worried about him even though she knew Daryl wouldn't let anything happen to him, Hershel came walking up to her "Scarlett?" he asked her "when..when did she give you that?" Scarlett asked him "she wrote it at the farm. Do you wanna talk about it?" Hershel asked her, as Scarlett shook her head, feeling tears in her eyes, because even thinking about that letter made her want to cry.

Hershel let out a breath, nodding "but we need to talk about Rick. He thinks he heard some kind of phone call. From a group, saying it's safe there." he shared, and as he did, Scarlett remembered how when the two got trapped in that tank Rick tried to put the gun to his head and she stopped him "he just lost his wife." she told him "yes. Which is why he needs you, now more then ever." Hershel shared, as Scarlett turned and looked at him "what..what am I supposed to do? Nothing I can say to him is gonna make this better! Not even me being around him is gonna make it better! Because all I am is a walking reminder on how his wife died! Just like I always knew I'd be from the moment in the kitchen when I found out the same time as you did that she was pregnant." she shared.

Crying, as she looked down at the baby girl "and now I..a women who watched her own mother die in front of her because of her father, who then hurt me where I then married a man who did the same thing to me, is supposed to take care of this baby girl and Carl..who.." she said, her voice coming out shaky "who is waking up in the middle of the night remembering how his mother died and how his father is not around where I am the only person he wants to be near." she shared, looking up at him "I can't do this." she told him.

"Yes you can. I saw it in you that day the boy was brought onto my farm. When push came to shove, you didn't waste a second to sacrifice your life to save that boy. And Lori knew that. That's how she knew that if things ended the way they did, that you'd be capable to look after her son and this baby girl. That you'd keep them safe and loved. That you would fight for them till your last breath." Hershel shared, as Scarlett looked down at the baby girl and as she did, the baby girl brought her hand up to her face.

Later, Beth was making dinner, Carl was sitting next to Scarlett as she held the baby in her arms, Hershel was sitting by them and watching, as Rick walked up to the door, Beth, Carl and Hershel looked to him, as he opened the door and walked over to Scarlett, Scarlett looked up at him and stood up, as Rick held his arms out, Scarlett handed him the baby "hey. Hey." Rick said, holding her up and looking into her eyes, he then held her close to his chest, kissing her on the forehead.

They all then walked outside "she looks like you." Rick told her Carl, as Carl chuckled, Scarlett was looking out to the fence as she furrowed her brows, seeing what looked to be a woman carrying a basket, Rick looked at her, furrowing his brows, he turned to see what she was looking at and when he did, he turned to her and handed her the baby, he then turned and began walking down there.