Safe haven, Rick Grimes

043. WE CAN'T STAY HERE

Chapter forty three

"We can't stay here."

That night Daryl had returned but not with Carol but with a teenage boy named Noah, where he supposedly found him in Atlanta where there was this hospital that had kidnapped Beth but now also had Carol, as they all were destroying the church to make walker traps outside and to board up the windows, Rick and Scarlett were standing next to each other on the side of the house "he wants to go to Atlanta, but I can't have that." Rick shared "but I know that you feel like after not only sending Carol out here and her saving you all that you owe her." Scarlett told him, as Rick put his hands on her face "I don't wanna leave you." he told her "and I'll be here when you get back." Scarlett told him, kissing him.

Heading inside, Carl was standing across from Scarlett, as Rick held Judith in his arms, he kissed her on the forehead "all right." he said, handing her over to Scarlett, he turned to Carl and hugged him, as Carl hugged him back, Rick pulled away "we'll be back soon." he told him "I know." Carl told him, as Rick went to grab his bag, he looked at Scarlett, as he stepped toward's her and kissed her, almost like he would never get to kiss her again, as Scarlett kissed him back, the two then pulled away.

"The longer you stay. The longer it'll take for you to come back." Scarlett whispered to him, as Rick turned, grabbing his bag, he walked to the door and so did Scarlett, as she closed the one on the left, Rick closed the one on the right, where the two looked into each other's eyes the entire time before the doors closed, Judith started crying "shh. Shh." Scarlett told her, walking her away from the door to calm her down, Michonne and Carl grabbed the wood planks and went and put them in front of the door, where as Carl started hammering the nail in, Judith started crying, as Scarlett leaned her forehead against her's "it's okay. I'm here." she told her, as Judith started to stop crying.

Some time had passed as Judith was sleeping in Scarlett's arms, she watched as Carl stood in front of Gabriel who was scrubbing the blood off the floor, weapons were near him "pick one." Carl told him, but Gabriel kept scrubbing "you need to learn how to defend yourself. We can teach you." he shared, as Gabriel looked up at him "defend myself? They said they'd go." he shared, as Michonne looked over "they were liars and murderers." Carl shared "just like us." Gabriel said "we protected ourselves. They wanted us dead. You're lucky your church has lasted this long. You can't stay in one place anymore. Not for too long. And once you're out there, you're gonna find trouble you can't hide from. You need to know how to fight." Carl shared.

As Gabriel looked at the weapons, he grabbed the machete "good choice. But you're not holding it right. You've got to be able to drive it down cause sometimes their skulls aren't as soft and you need you to be able.." Carl shared "Carl." Scarlett told him, as Carl looked at her, Scarlett shook her head, no, as Gabriel stood up "I'm sorry. I need to lie down." he told them walking off.

The day continued on, as Michonne had gone to check on Gabriel, Judith had woken up and started crying, as Scarlett was feeding her, Carl was continuing to border up the door, where soon the three were sitting there "please, let me in! Please! Let me in! They're close! Help! Please don't leave me out here!" Gabriel could be heard from outside, so did Michonne and Scarlett, grabbing the bag, they put Judith in it, as Scarlett put it around her, Carl ran to the door "wait!" Michonne voiced, as her and Scarlett ran over, Scarlett pulled Carl back, as Michonne used to the axe to break down the piece of wood keeping the door shut.

Scarlett stepped forward, opening the door, Gabriel came in, as Scarlett then brought her gun up, shooting two of the walkers, she moved back, keeping Carl behind her, Michonne used her sword to kill two of them as she then killed another and then one more but there were too many "the rectory, come on." Gabriel told them, as they turned running into, Gabriel closed the door, as Scarlett grabbed the chair, putting it up against the door, Gabriel pointed behind them "the tunnel I got out. Crawl under in the back. Just go. Take the little one and go." Gabriel shared.

As Scarlett stepped back, taking the bag off, she handed Judith to Carl, as Scarlett then grabbed her bag, handing it to him "no, mom." Carl told her "I will be right behind you. And if I'm not, if Michonne is not. You go. Understand me?" Scarlett asked, as Carl nodded, going down into the hole, Scarlett climbed in after him, crawling under after them, where she soon climbed out and as she did, Carl held his hand out to her, helping her up, as she stood next to him and Judith, Michonne came crawling out, Scarlett helped her up.

And not long after that did Gabriel, as Michonne helped him up "i can't run anymore." Gabriel told her "we're not running." Michonne told him, as Scarlett motioned her head "come on." she told them, turning and walking around the church, Carl and Michonne followed her, where making it to the front, Carl was killing the one's stuck in the walker traps while Scarlett and Michonne headed up the stairs, the two grabbed the doors and began to close them, as Gabriel walked up behind putting the piece of wood up, Scarlett held it shut whole Michonne tied her belt around the handles, Carl hammered a nail into the pieces of wood to keep all the walkers locked inside.

Moving away from the church, Carl, Scarlett and Michonne kept their eyes on it, as Scarlett turned looking at Judith, she put her hand on her head, as Michonne stepped toward's Gabriel "where did you go?" she asked "the school. I had to see. I had to know." Gabriel shared, as the walkers began breaking through the door, Scarlett moved Carl and Judith behind her "we can't stay here." she told them "but you told dad.." Carl told her "I know what I said." Scarlett told him, as a vehicle could be heard approaching, the four of them looked to the right seeing a fire truck barreling in, knocking out the steps and blocking the doors.

The door opened, as Abraham, Maggie and Glenn got out, Tara and Rosita came out from the back, Maggie and Scarlett hugged each other, Carl and Tara hugged "are you guys, okay?" Scarlett asked "are you?" Maggie asked "thanks to you guys." Scarlett told them, as her and Maggie pulled away, Glenn stepped toward's Scarlett "what happened? Why are you guys back?" Scarlett asked "you were right. Eugene was lying. He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end. Where is everybody?" Glenn asked.

"Well the night after you guys left Daryl returned. And these people who run a hospital in Atlanta had taken Beth and Carol. So Rick, Tyreese and Sasha went with him to get them back." Scarlett shared "do we know which one?" Maggie asked "Grady memorial. But Maggie I wouldn't get your hopes up these people.." Scarlett shared "oh my gosh." Maggie said, as she turned to Glenn, laughing as she hugged him "let's blow this joint, go save your sister." Tara told them, as she laughed, as they all began piling into the fire truck and began heading off toward's Atlanta.

Making it to Grady memorial, they parked the firetruck in front, Abraham, Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, Scarlett, Michonne, Tara and Gabriel got out, as they all were walking toward's the hospital, there was a walker to their right as Glenn killed it with his knife, they continued on as one came from the left, Scarlett stabbed it in the head with her knife, they all then saw people walking out, where Rick was first and as he looked upset, Scarlett picked up her pace, making it to him, Rick put his arms around her, Scarlett saw Sasha walked out, Tyreese and Carol but then behind them, Daryl was carrying a dead Beth "no!" Maggie screamed, sobbing, Scarlett looked to Rick, putting her hands on his face, Rick nodded, as he pulled her close to him, leaning his head on top of her's.