Safe haven | Rick Grimes

084. WE'RE NOT TAKING ANY CHANCES

Chapter eighty five

"We're not taking any chances."

Scarlett sat in the quiet brush overlooking the remains of the bridge.

She came here every single day. She had come every day for six years, ever since he... she still couldn't bring herself to say the word. She wasn't even sure what he was now, only that he wasn't beside her. To keep him close, she wore his clothes like a second skin. Today, his heavy brown coat with the white fur trim shielded her against the wind.

Beside her sat the sheriff's hat. Judith was old enough to wear it now, but Scarlett knew her daughter wasn't ready for what it truly meant. More than that, Scarlett still needed it. She needed the strength Carl had promised came with it. When Carl first placed it in her hands, she hadn't felt that strength. Even now, after all these years, she still felt hollow inside.

The katana was gone, too. She hadn't lost it. She had simply laid it down the day Rick disappeared. The woman who wielded that blade died on the bridge, and she didn't know who she was without it.

"I'm here," Scarlett whispered to the empty air, her eyes tracking the flowing river below. "And I know you're here. Or... or somewhere. Because after all these years, I can't... I just can't accept that you're gone. Just like I'll never accept that Carl is gone. I'll never leave him alone, and I'll never leave you alone."

Her voice broke, the crushing weight of the past six years pressing down on her chest.

"And our kids..." She swallowed hard, the sharp memory of everything they had lost flashing behind her eyes. "Even with everyone around me trying to help... they don't understand. I'm raising four kids on my own. And I am holding on as tight as I can because I can't let them go. If I let go, even for a second... bad things happen. But you know that."

She wiped a rogue tear from her cheek, her jaw tightening with a sudden, fierce resolve.

"And you also know what needs to happen. What needs to keep happening to keep them all alive. I'm gonna do that. For me. For you. For both of us."

Standing up, Scarlett picked up the worn Stetson and placed it firmly on her head. She checked the heavy Colt Python resting in her holster, ensuring it was secure.

Turning away from the river, she walked back to her horse. Rick's wrapped baseball bat was secured to the scabbard on the saddle. She gripped the leather reins, hoisted herself up into the seat, and urged the horse into a fast gallop, kicking up dust as she rode hard down the open road.

Meanwhile, in another part of the woods, a search party combed through the brush.

"Judith!" Rosita called out, her eyes scanning the dense trees.

"Caroline!" Laura shouted right beside her. To their left, Eugene stood clutching a freshly hunted deer.

"Daryl!" Aaron called out, checking a blind spot.

"We're here!" Judith's voice broke through the quiet as she came jogging into the clearing. Behind her, Caroline and the younger Daryl kept their weapons drawn, aiming down the path they had just walked.

Aaron rushed forward, scanning Judith for injuries. "Are you okay?"

Rosita and Laura quickly moved past them, pushing the twins protectively behind their shoulders. "Daryl, Caroline, what's up?" Rosita asked, her hand resting on her holster.

"People," young Daryl replied, his eyes still locked on the tree line. "Told 'em to stay there until we got you guys, but they didn't listen."

"It's true," Caroline chimed in, adjusting her grip on her gun. "He told them to put their weapons down and hands up or we wouldn't shoot. Didn't last."