Safe haven, Rick Grimes

096. THE BOOGEYMAN

Chapter ninety six

"The boogeyman."

Having made it back to alexandria, it was different being there and knowing their mom wouldn't come through the door for a while, as the four of them lied in her bed together, not really wanting to be without each other.

Where by morning, there was supposedly a whisperer at the gate, as the four of them had their weapons in hand they walked up with Gabriel Rosita and the others to the front gate, as it opened, revealing six of their people aiming spikes toward's a woman whisperer, as she then brought her hands up and took off her mask, throwing it to the ground, she sighed "I'm the one who knows Aaron." she told them "we know who you are." Gabriel told her "the people you sent out, they're in trouble, trapped in a cave where alpha has placed her horde. Now, they could still be in there or they might've gotten out. I don't know." the woman shared.

"You said the horde was in a field." Gabriel said "it was." the woman told him "now it's in a cave." Gabriel shared "she moved it." the woman told him "the whole thing. Right before they got there." Gabriel shared, as the woman sighed "I'm just telling you what happened." she told them "I'm not sure you are." Gabriel told her "I'm trying to help." the woman told them "why?" Rosita asked, as the woman sighed "the baby that they left at hilltop. He's my nephew. And I would do anything to see him again." she shared "where's the baby's mother?" Gabriel asked.

As silence over fell them "dead." the woman told them, as Gabriel and Rosita looked at each other then back to her "if I give you a map, can you show us where the cave is?" Gabriel asked "yes." the woman said, as Gabriel nodded, they all put down their spears, as the woman walked toward's them and stopped in front of Rosita, Rosita punched her in the face as she hit the ground "your a liar. The cell." Rosita told them all, as Daryl turned looking at Judith, Caroline and Rick, the four of them walked off.

The four of them made it look like they had gone home but instead were standing on the steps of outside the cell listening to Rosita and Gabriel "that's from the last one. The last whisperer we had in here." Rosita shared "you killed him?" the woman asked, as they watched Gabriel walk out of the shadows "no. I did." he said "it was the one your people sent to spy on us. He killed my baby's father two days ago." Rosita shared, as the woman sighed "I don't know anything about that." she shared "right. Never heard of him." Rosita said "I haven't." the woman said "mm." Rosita said "I don't..uh.." the woman said.

"It's amazing how much you say you don't know. Let me lay it out for you. You're gonna work very hard in this room. You're gonna have to convince us that you're different from the one's who lie and walk with the dead and eat worms." Gabriel shared "and what if I can't?" the woman asked "then you die. No torture. No games. No second chances." Rosita shared "you'd be the third one, by the way." Gabriel shared "all's I've done is tell you the truth." the woman shared "you haven't. This is not for show. I am a servant of god. I've taken many confessions, and I can tell when people are holding things back." Gabriel shared.

"Holding things back is the same as lying." Rosita shared "outside at the gate, the story you had about being the aunt of the baby.." Gabriel shared, as Daryl turned looking at his brother and sisters "it's not a story." the woman said "it does tug at all the right heartstrings, but you're hiding something, which makes the whole thing a lie." Gabriel shared "ask god if I'm lying." the woman told him "I've spoken to god. He told me to hang you." Gabriel shared, as silence over fell them once more, Daryl looked back at the window and as he did, Rosita noticed them all up there but didn't say anything.

"I, uh..I killed my sister." the woman shared, her voice breaking "I killed my sister. I killed..I killed her for alpha. She didn't even have to ask. I just did it." she shared, as silence over fell them again, Rick grabbed Caroline's hand and when he did, Caroline grabbed Judith's hand while Judith grabbed Daryl's "you believe me now, father?" the woman asked, and Gabriel nodded "then you should get me a map." the woman shared, as Daryl turned walking off with his siblings.

Having gone back home, the four had gotten the football and dog and headed out to the field, as they were throwing the football around, dog kept running around trying to catch it, as Rick caught it, he furrowed his brows "why would she kill her sister? I would never do that to one of you." he shared, tossing it to Judith, Judith caught it "she didn't want to, she just..thought that's what her leader wanted." she shared, tossing it to Caroline, Caroline caught it "and because we grew up with mom none of us have to worry about ever feeling like that." she shared, tossing it to Daryl "but mom's gone.." Rick said.

As Daryl caught the ball "and mom's gonna come back. But it doesn't matter how long that takes. What matters right now, is the four of us. We're all we got. And we're gonna look out for each other and keep each other safe. Just like mom would want us to do." he shared, as Judith smiled "yeah." she told him, as the four of them all walked to the middle, hugging each other, dog barked and came running up, pushing through to the middle of the circle, they all laughed "yes, your one of us to dog." Daryl shared, as dog barked.

The four of them knowing the others would be planning on heading out to wherever the woman showed them on the map, they went back to her cell and looked at her from the window "what's your name?" Judith asked her, as the woman looked at them all, she noticed they were all related "nobody's asked me since I got here. It's Mary." Mary shared "did you like your sister before the whisperers?" Caroline asked, as Mary stood up, walking toward's the window "we were from santa monica. That was in california. Our parents names were John and Alice. We went to school..." she shared, but stopped talking "I don't remember." she said.

"What do you mean?" Rick asked "alpha has a way of, um..making you forget." Mary shared "you really don't remember anything?" Daryl asked "there are echoes left, feelings. I was ordinary that much I know. And when it all went down, my sister and I kept making bad decisions. We needed someone to make them for us, and then we met alpha." Mary shared "you met the wrong person first. If you'd met our mom and our dad you wouldn't be in that cell." Judith shared "you're not a monster." Rick said, as footsteps approached "kids." Rosita said, as they all turned looking at her "we're about to go on lockdown. You should get inside." she shared, as Judith, Daryl, Caroline and Rick looked back at Mary "bye." they told her "bye." Mary told them, as Rick, Caroline, Daryl and Judith walked off, Rosita followed behind them. 

That night, the four of them were all waiting by the front door together, Daryl had his crossbow around him and a gun in his hand, Judith had her gun as Caroline had her bow around her, her gun was raised, as dog was behind her in front of Rick "help!" Mary voiced, and as she did, Judith stepped toward's the door and opened it a crack "in here." she whispered, as Mary turned running up the stairs and into their house, Judith closed the door, they all began moving upstairs and into Carl's bedroom which was left untouched.

As they all waited by the door, it wasn't long till they heard the sound of the door downstairs slam open and then it was silent before it closed, but then it was silent and they could hear someone quietly walking up the stairs and down the hallway, they heard one of the doors open, but nobody moved not even dog, as they heard footsteps coming toward's the room they were in, someone's hand then touched the door knob and as it, Judith, Daryl and Caroline shot off their guns shot whoever it was through the door, and as they heard them fall over, Mary opened the door and they saw the seven foot tall man in a walker mask lying on the ground "okay, go, go. Fast, fast." Mary told them, as Judith, Caroline, Rick and dog headed out, Daryl followed behind them, as they headed down the hallway and downstairs, out the front door.

The next morning, they all were heading to hilltop, as Judith and Rick were in front, Daryl and Caroline were in the back with Rosita petting dog, who finally laid down in their laps, Gracie, Aaron and Mary walked toward's them "room for three more!" Judith voiced, as Aaron picked Gracie up and put her next to Judith and Rick, he then got in the passenger seat, while Mary got into the back with the three of them "I'm Rosita." Rosita said, holding her hand out "Mary." Mary told her, as the two shook hands "saved us from the boogeyman." Daryl shared, as Rosita and Mary chuckled, as the wagon began heading off.