Safe haven, Rick Grimes

109. A CELEBRATION OF THE COMMUNITY

Chapter one hundred and nine

"A celebration of the community."

We've come so far. Lost so much. It's hard to trust when anyone

can go at any time.

But the people who die and the people who go..aren't lost forever.

We believe that. We have to.

And remembering their voices is how we keep them alive.

Judith was writing, as the four of them had spent the night hiding, where it was morning now, as footsteps could be heard, she quickly closed it and put it in her bag, as the four of them stood up, Daryl held his knife up, ready to stab whoever was coming, older Daryl then came into their view and when he did, he saw the blood all over Daryl and thought of Rick "we're going home." he told them "it's still broken. And what about everybody else here? Shouldn't we stay and help em? Isn't that what you, mom and dad did at Alexandria and Hilltop?" Judith asked.

"That was different." Older Daryl told her "it wasn't. The only difference now is that you'd rather run away than stay and fight." Judith shared "god damn it. Stop. Stop. Just stop." older Daryl told her, pulling a rag out of his pocket, he walked up to Daryl "you can't see what you look like." he told him, as Daryl began cleaning the blood off his face and hands.

Having headed back to the apartment, they all had changed their clothes and gotten their weapons back, as Caroline put her bow an arrow back around her, Daryl was looking at Carl's gun as he put it back in his holster with his axe, the two then walked up to Daryl who had his vest on "come on." he told them, putting his arms around them, they walked to the double doors and slid them open, only to find Judith gone and Rick sitting there alone, Daryl's eyes went wide as he turned running to the door, Rick got up and ran after him along with Caroline, as older Daryl followed them out.

They had split up, as Daryl, Caroline and Rick were walking together through the founders celebration "Daryl, we're gonna find her." Caroline informed him "how? Hmm? With that woman who was looking for us yesterdays gun against her head?" he asked, as Mei walked up to them "hey guys!" she voiced, as Daryl reached for his gun, Caroline moved Rick behind her "whoa, the rioting stopped. Todays a celebration of our community." Mei shared "hey, guys!" Judith voiced, running up to them, Daryl saw older Daryl and Carol behind her.

The five of them began walking through the fair together and as they did, Judith stepped up to Daryl "you were worried about me." she told him "I killed someone yesterday, Jude. Someone who wanted to kidnap us. And I doubt Pamela's deal is gonna stop her or whoever she's working under from coming after us." Daryl shared, as Judith hugged him, Daryl hugged her back "ladies and gentleman..please take your seats as the main event is about to begin!" a man voiced, as Mei turned to them "come on!" she voiced, as she began leading the four of them toward's the stage.

People were cheering as Pamela and Sebastian were brought up, a bell then rang, as the man in the ring began speaking "people of the commonwealth, are you ready to witness a battle for the ages?" he asked, as the crowd cheered.

Three men then came into the ring wearing nothing but tight shorts, as the one in orange spun the one in cheetah print around on his shoulders before throwing him down on the ring, people cheered, as the one in leopard print ran at him, as the one in orange grabbed him and threw him down on the mat, Daryl turned to older Daryl who was standing behind them "people who don't actually fight to survive really enjoying watching someone else fight don't they?" he asked "yeah. In a place like this run by a guy who called himself the governor he put me and my brother in a ring like this but he wanted us to fight to the death." older Daryl shared.

"Yeah, mom had told me about him, how she had thought he had killed dad and was gonna go down there herself and kill him but you pulled her back. She told me that's why I'm named after you because you've always been there for them when they needed you." Daryl shared, as older Daryl nodded "yeah and you four haven't exactly made it easy on me." older Daryl shared, playfully shoving him, Daryl chuckled, shoving him back.

The crowd began cheering "commonwealth! Commonwealth!" a man chanted, as Daryl turned around seeing the one in orange won "commonwealth! Commonwealth!" the crowd chanted, as the fighters got out of the ring, the announcer came in with bingo balls, as Pamela and Sebastian joined him along with two soldiers and Mercer, Pamela was given the mic "let's extend a hearty thank you to our combatants!" she voiced, as the crowd cheered "and now to continue with this wonderful day, my son, Sebastian, has prepared a few words." Pamela shared, as the crowd didn't cheer as loudly.

Pamela handed him the mic "um..thank you. It is, uh..it is an honor and a privilege, to be here with you today to celebrate the, uh..to.." Sebastian was saying "I'm younger then you and I can at least finish a sentence!" Rick called out, and when he did, Caroline quickly put her hand over his mouth, as the crowd started laughing, Sebastian turned and looked at them, Pamela walked up to Mercer and pointed at them, soldiers began coming their way "come on, let's go." older Daryl told them, moving them all away from the ring.

"I know that a lot of you don't think very well of me. I know that I probably deserve that. Now, it is gonna take a long, long road for me to earn your trust, and live up to my legacy. I don't have the words to describe what this place means to me. But my grandfather did. So, humbly, if you would join me in listening to the wise words of president Milton, founder of the commonwealth." Sebastian shared, as the crowd cheered "Daryl.." Judith told him "nah. The four of you ain't getting arrested." older Daryl shared "please. The commonwealth is built on buying into bullshit." Sebastian's voice began coming through.

As older Daryl stopped, the five of them turned back "the desperate need to believe that the old american dream is still real. You know, anything's possible! We could rise above our station! It's a friggin joke. The reality is the poor stay poor so that the rich can do whatever the hell we want. The game is rigged. There are no bootstraps to pull up. Christ, my mom hand picks the lottery winners. And none of it matters..and nothing will ever change." Sebastian's recording was saying, as the crowd began to get rowdy, throwing stuff as Pamela and fighting against the guards "please, everyone remain calm!" Pamela voiced, as something was thrown at her, and at a guard, he aimed his gun as Mercer brought it down.

And as the riot started back up again, people started screaming and running as walkers had gotten in, where they began feeding on people, people started screaming and running causing the five of them to get separated, as older Daryl looked around "Rick! Caroline! Judith! Daryl!" he called out, but got no reply, as he spun around, not seeing any of them, in the crowd through the screams and people, Caroline saw Judith's hat "Judith!" she called out, making her way toward's her, Judith turned around, seeing her, she began making her way toward's her, but as they moved against the crowd, the two got knocked down, falling to the ground, people began trampling them.

Rick was moving through the large group of people, but as he was, a walker grabbed onto him, as his eyes went wide, it was shot in the head, as he fell down to the ground with it, footsteps could be heard, as he was pulled off the floor "I got you." Daryl told him, moving him ahead of him, the two started running.

Having gotten up off the floor, Judith and Caroline had their arms around each other as they walked, seeing the two "Daryl! Rick!" they called out, as Daryl and Rick turned to them, they ran toward's them and as they did, the four of them hugged each other "give me the gun." Judith told him, as Daryl took the gun out and handed it to her, he pulled out his knife handing it to Rick, he then pulled out his axe, as Caroline took off her bow "we stick together. Stay in formation." Daryl told them, as the four of them turned around, standing back to back, they began moving taking down any walkers in their path.

"Help! Help me!" Sebastian could be heard screaming, as the four of them ran in that direction, screaming could be heard, and as they arrived, there was a group of people standing there doing nothing as the walker continued to bite him in the neck, Judith aimed the gun and shot it in the head, and as she did, older Daryl ran up behind them, as they watched Sebastian choke on his own blood and fall over, dead.