rag doll | TWD

[82] adaption

i need you --- lynyrd skynyrd

♮♮♮
[JJ]

The whispering continued, "You die now."

Michonne turned to Daryl and Aaron. "Go. I'll cover you."

They nodded, carefully lifting Jesus' body from the ground to take back to Hilltop.

"Watch their hands," I warned.

Michonne and I hurried behind as the others went through the gate, slicing through walkers that stumbled too close. My eyes darted between the herd, searching for the ones that weren't like the others.

♮♮♮

We escaped and hit the road back to Hilltop. 

"Who the hell would do this? Even think about doing this?" Yumiko marched ahead with Magna.

"I suspect some vessel filled with a chunky salsa of abnormal impulses and metastasized range." Eugene stated, his arms swung around Michonne and my shoulders to support his injured leg.  

I huffed, "it's full-on batshit."

Magna glanced back, "took the words right out of my mouth."

"You think there's more?" Aaron heavily breathed, burdened by the dead body weight he and Daryl carried through the woods. 

"Yeah." Daryl simply answered as we came to a stop. 

Magna and Yumiko looked around; their weapons readied. "So, what do we do?" Yumiko asked.

Michonne decided, "Right now...keep moving."

We'd made it back to the horses that had been abandoned earlier. Jesus was draped over one as Aaron led it by the halter. Magna and Yumiko shared another horse, while Eugene sat alone, clutching the reins tightly.

I walked ahead with Dog, keeping my distance, but remaining close enough to catch snippets of the conversation behind me. 

"Judith found them," Michonne said to Daryl, her voice low but steady. "Vouched for 'em. So do I."

"All right," Daryl replied simply.

There was a pause, "It's gonna mean a lot to them," Michonne added quietly. "Bringing him back. Burying him."

Another silence passed. Then Daryl spoke, his voice soft, "Sorry I couldn't do that for you. Either of you."

The words hit like a wave, and I forced myself to take a deep breath, focusing on the ground ahead.

Michonne's voice remained low and heavy, "I'm sorry I couldn't do it for both of us... for all of us. Thank you for trying to find him." She paused, her voice targeted towards me, "Both of you."

I stopped in my tracks, my chest tightening. I knew I needed to turn around, to meet her eyes, but it felt impossible.

"I tried," I said finally. I swallowed hard, forcing out the rest. "But I held out hope for too long." I shook my head, turning on my heel to meet their faces, "I feel so damn stupid for it now. For holding on to something that wasn't real."

"We all did." Michonne told me. 

The rest of the group came to a stop as Dog barked loudly. 

"We got some trails." Magna alerted. 

There was a small group of walkers walking parallel to us in the woods. 

Eugene looked over, posing the question everyone wanted to know, "The living kind or the original recipe?"