Papá's Girl

My Little Girl

©JRF2016

I turned around to see Shane putting Isabella on the bus. At least my little girl was going to be safe, she would get out of here. I heard Rick yelling and I start to turn around when I feel something around my neck. My hand goes up to pull it away and I hear his voice. "Well, this is a sweet bonus. I can finally get rid of you." I can't breathe as I struggle to get that rope from around my neck. It feels like time has slowed down to a crawl and then I see Isabella as a little girl running up to me. I see flashes throughout her life, always happy to see me, and I still haven't figured out why she loves me so much. I haven't been around her much, I haven't been much of a father at all, but she loves me anyway. The Governor pulls on the rope tighter until I fell it finally loosen. I fall to my knees on the ground coughing and trying to get my wind back. A hand reaches out to help me up and I see that it belongs to Michonne. "You helped me? Why would you help me?"

"You're part of our group now," she said showing no emotion at all, "Whether I like you or not, you're part of this group. Anyway, I did it for Daryl and Isabella. For some reason they love you and it would crush them if I stood by and let that bastard kill you."

"Fair enough, thanks." I give her a nod as I look toward that bus taking off to the planned rendezvous point. At least Isabella was on her way to safety. I run through the field next to Michonne taking out the walkers and the living invaders. I make it down to what is left of the gate stabbing another walker in the brain. I fell to the ground with the damn thing trying to pull my blade hand back out of its skull. When I finally got it loose I stand up and look around. I see nothing but devastation, and none of our people are around. Walkers have taken this place back. I have to go, I have to get out of here and find my little girl.

I make my way down the dirt road where the bus was supposed to take our people if anything like what happened back there happened. I break into a run as I see the bus sitting in the middle of the road. As I near the bus I can see that it isn't running and there are dead bodies lying on the ground. Bodies that used to be living, breathing people. Bodies of people Rick had rescued. Bodies that had turned into walking corpses before someone had the decency to put them out of their misery. I walk through the bodies looking at each of their faces to see if any of them were Isabella's. I breathed a sigh of relief when none of them were as I slide down the side of the bus and sit on the ground. She wasn't here, so she is out there, alive, somewhere. I have to get up, I have to get moving, I have to find her but it's getting dark. I throw the last body out onto the ground with the rest of them and close myself up in that smelly bus. At least I could rest up tonight, nothing could get to me in here. Of course, I couldn't sleep though. The smell of dead, rotten flesh lingered strong in the putrid air inside this tin can. I lay in one of the seats and stare up at the roof of the bus thinking about Isabella and everything I've done wrong.

I decided to get back on the road before the sun came up. I couldn't sleep anyway and the smell on the bus was the most awful stench I've ever smelled. I come up on a little campsite and look around. Whoever was here had not been gone long. I see some tracks leading away and heading northeast. Two sets of footprints, one set bigger than the other. If one of those belong to Isabella then she's not alone. I follow the trail hoping to catch up with them. Just a few feet up the road three walkers stumble out of the woods and immediately start lumbering toward me. I manage to fight them off pretty easily when I hear someone clapping behind me. "That was a damn good show man. You fight pretty good one handed," I turn around and see the man smiling, "We've got a special mission we're trying to complete and we could use someone with your skills. We're trying to get Eugene here to Washington."

"Why would I help you?"

"Eugene is a scientist and he knows how to stop this thing. You could help save the world."