Safe haven | Rick Grimes

075. CARL'S DEAD

Chapter seventy five

"Carl's dead."

Having cried, Scarlett soon stopped. She picked him up and carried him out of there, her legs shaking. Rick stood up and looked at her. Together, they walked off to find a place for the burial.

They dug a grave, laid his body down inside, and covered it with dirt. After placing a cross at the head of the grave, they stayed there for a while. Rick held Carl's gun, but Scarlett refused to touch it. Rick stood up, walked over to the cross, and hung the weapon from it. They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Finally, Rick took the gun back. Scarlett turned, grabbed the hat, and placed it on her head. The two stood up and walked off in different directions.

As Scarlett walked away, she spotted three walkers heading toward the grave. She pulled out her machete and drove it through the mouth of the first walker, kicking the body away. She brought the blade down hard into the head of the second, then swung out to decapitate the third. Stepping over the corpses, she kept moving.

Further along, she noticed a gaping breach in the wall. More of the creatures that killed her son were about to pour inside. She walked right through the opening and immediately brought her machete down onto the head of the closest walker. Pulling the blade free, she swung again, dropping another that lunged from her right. She kept swinging, cutting down every walker in the immediate area until their bodies piled around her.

Breathing heavily, she turned back toward the perimeter. She grabbed the broken section of the wall and slammed it shut, securing it the best she could, before walking away into the ruins.

Arriving at the house, Scarlett looked to her right and noticed the blue painted handprints on the porch. She knew they belonged to Judith and Carl. The sudden sound of growling broke the silence. Looking up, she saw more walkers approaching. She gripped her machete tight, wanting nothing more than to kill them all, but she knew now wasn't the time. Turning away, she walked into the house, passed the kitchen, and headed upstairs. She stepped into Carl's bedroom and just stood there, frozen.

Later, she and Rick packed everything they could carry into two bags. Heading downstairs and out the front door, they walked up to the van and threw their bags inside. Scarlett's eyes caught a structure on fire—the exact spot where Carl used to sit when he was away from home.

"Hey," Rick said, grabbing her arm. Scarlett didn't say anything. "We have to go."

Instead of listening, Scarlett grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran toward the flames. Rick grabbed a second one and rushed after her. Together, they began spraying the fire, trying to put it out. Suddenly, a walker crept up behind Rick. Scarlett threw her extinguisher down and drew her machete. With a sharp shout, she swung the blade down into the walker's head and kicked the corpse away. She looked at Rick, her voice completely hollow. "Forget it."

They turned and ran back to the van. Scarlett cut down two more walkers blocking their path before they dove inside. Rick cranked the engine and drove out of the compound, passing crowds of walkers as they sped through the torn-down gate.

"What do you think he meant?" Rick asked, breaking the silence. "Did he want us to stop fighting the Saviors? Just... surrender to Negan?"

Scarlett stared at the bundle of letters in her lap. She couldn't bring herself to read hers yet, and she knew Rick couldn't face his either. She just wanted to see who they were addressed to.

"No. He saw what he did—he wouldn't want us to surrender. He..." She trailed off as she flipped to the next envelope, her eyes widening. "He wrote him a letter." Unable to comprehend why, she shoved the papers back into her pocket.