Safe haven | Rick Grimes

038. A MOTHER'S RAGE

Chapter thirty eight

"A mother's rage."

The group stopped along the railroad tracks for the night. Tyreese and Mika were already fast asleep, leaving Carol and Lizzie to keep watch. However, their attention was mostly fixed on Scarlett and Judith.

The baby was sleeping peacefully in Scarlett's arms, but Scarlett herself couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she envisioned Rick dying over and over again, and she couldn't even bring herself to think about how Carl might have perished.

"You can sleep, Lizzie. We're okay," Carol whispered, breaking the silence.

"She's not okay," Lizzie replied, nodding toward Scarlett. "She doesn't talk. She doesn't sleep. She barely eats, and she holds Judith all the time."

"Scarlett's been through a lot," Carol said softly. "She's not exactly going to let the last thing she cares about out of her sight."

Lizzie stared down the tracks. "Do you think there will be kids there? At Terminus?"

"If their parents kept them safe. Like Scarlett kept all of you safe," Carol replied.

"I saved Tyreese," Lizzie stated flatly. "There were people shooting at him. I shot them. First a man, then a woman. I didn't mean to shoot her in the head."

Carol looked at her. "You had to. You saved Tyreese."

"Then we found Scarlett," Lizzie continued. "She was bleeding a lot. I don't know why, because she wasn't shot or bitten. She was just sitting there, screaming and crying while she held Judith in her arms."

Carol turned to look back at Scarlett. Scarlett was pacing in the shadows, her arms wrapped tightly around the baby.

Deep down, Scarlett knew in her bones that they couldn't trust Terminus. They had no idea who those people were, and judging by the ruthless scavengers she had crossed paths with before, she knew trusting anyone in this new world was a deadly mistake.

And that skepticism included the very people she was traveling with right now.

Tyreese was physically strong, but he was far too idealistic, always trying to help strangers even when it could get him killed. Mika was just a fragile little girl who needed constant protection, jumping at the mere snap of a branch. Lizzie was strange—she always had been—but now that they were trapped together, she asked too many unsettling questions and stared incessantly. Girl or not, Scarlett was ready to take Lizzie down if she ever became a threat.

Then there was Carol. A woman she had known for a long time, Carol hadn't been at the prison when the attack happened. Now she was spinning some story about how she and Rick had split up so he could bring supplies back first. Scarlett didn't buy it. Rick would have never left Carol behind in the wilderness unless it was absolutely necessary.

As the wind howled through the trees, Scarlett tightened her grip on Judith. In the end, none of them could be trusted.

The next morning, Scarlett was ready to start moving immediately. Carol, however, insisted on staying put just long enough to clean and dress the wound on Tyreese's arm.

Forced to wait, Scarlett stood at the front of the camp, keeping her arms wrapped securely around Judith. Her eyes swept the tree line, scanning for any hidden threats. Mika stayed glued to her side, seeking comfort in her presence, while Lizzie paced restlessly in front of them, her dark eyes darting back to look at the three of them every few seconds.

They soon resumed their trek along the tracks, Scarlett pulling far ahead of the rest.

"Did Tom Sawyer have a happy ending? We never got to finish it," Mika asked, her small voice breaking the rhythmic crunch of gravel.