Surviving. (Book Two.)

Chapter Forty Eight.

Sarah;

Rick had somehow made it back alive. 

We, as in Michonne, Deanna, Maggie and myself heard him yelling from where we were standing neat the gate, which we quickly opened to let him in. 

Now, I was extremely glad that he had made it back in one piece but he had brought back hundreds, if not thousands of walkers with him. 

Everyone gathered around after that, listening as Rick tried to calm them all down, which wasn't really happening. 

"I know that this looks bad!" he said loudly, hands on his hips as he paced around the middle of the small circle, "But we'll get through it like we always do. We keep noise and light to a minimum and when Sasha and the others get back, they'll lead 'em away." 

"What if they don't come back?" Tobin asked.

"They'll come back." I snapped, watching in satisfaction when he raised his hands in surrender and took a step back. 

"Sarah's right. They'll come back. Glenn and Nicholas will be back too."

Glenn and Nicholas weren't back? This was news to me. I caught Maggie's eye from across the circle and she shrugged. 

"It was because of me," Aaron said said, "They found this place because of me. One of them had my backpack. It had pictures, maps, everything." 

I put my hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze since I knew what both him and Daryl went through on their outing, "Don't blame yourself. It must have gotten dropped in the confusion, that's all." 

But at his revelation, you could see that what may have been left of the town's spirits, had now completely gone. 

**

That evening, I limped back home, leaning back against the door once I had closed it and with my leg throbbing in pain, I decided to head straight to bed. 

The sooner morning came, the sooner Daryl may be back and I'd start to feel safe in this place again. That's all that really mattered to me. 

I changed slowly, deciding to wear one of Daryl's shirts just to make it feel as if he was here before falling onto the soft bed, a smile making its way onto my lips when Zeus leapt up beside me. 

He gave my cheek a lick in greeting, laying his head on my stomach seconds later. 

My hands started to run through his fur and just as I was starting to drift off, I heard someone knock at the door. 

Groaning, I got up, following more slowly after an eager Zeus, frowning when I saw the silhouette of Carl's hat on the other side. 

"What are you doing here?" I murmured softly when I opened the door, "Does your dad know you're over here?" 

"Yes," he sighed, moving past me to sit on the sofa, "I came over to talk to you about Enid. I'm worried about her." 

"How come?" I asked.

"She went over the fences. When we got attacked," he explained, "I couldn't stop her."

I sighed quietly, rubbing my forehead. Of course she did, "Have you mentioned this to your dad?" 

"Not yet. I was going to mention it to him before but he went to look for Deanna. But even if I mentioned it, he's not gonna let me do anything, is he?" 

He had a point. We were surrounded by walkers and there was no getting in or out. 

"Carl, I get that you're worried," I said, moving to sit beside him, "But you were the one who told me that she goes over them all the time, right? Maybe she got clear of this area before the herd followed your dad in." 

He fiddled with his hands, "I hope so. If something happened to her, I would blame myself. How's your leg by the way? I came by earlier but you weren't in." 

I let out a small laugh over the fact that he had changed coversation topics so quick, "I know. Sorry. I was with Maggie standing watch looking for Glenn." 

"You're a good friend." he suddenly mumbled. 

Nudging his shoulder, I gave him a smile, "I try." 

"Do you think they'll be able to move all the walkers?" he questioned, "I dunno if you've seen them, but there's a lot." 

"I saw," I laughed, "But even if there's a few left behind, we can take care of them ourselves." 

We descend into another comfortable silence and then he speaks again, "I was scared. Earlier I mean. I was scared they were gonna come into our house and that I wouldn't be able to protect Judith."

"But they didn't, did they?" I whispered, placing my hand on his, "You're safe. Judith's safe and that's all that matters." 

He smiled before pushing himself up off the couch, "You're right. There's no point in thinking about that again. It's in the past and things can only get better, right?" 

"Right." 

He stayed for a couple more minutes, silently petting Zeus before he left, bidding me good night and a thank you for listening to him. I told him to tell Rick about Enid and see what he said. 

Checking the time, I realised that it was after eight and that I could have another dosage of my painkillers and since my leg was bothering me, I swallowed two pills without water, instantly regretting it when they left a bitter taste in my mouth. 

"Come on boy." I mumbled, looking down at the dog, "Let's go to bed for real this time, huh?" 

He barked in reply, trotting ahead of me to the bedroom while I turned the lights out, moving to the bathroom to brush my teeth. 

With heavy eyes, I finally crawled into bed for what would be the final time that night, tucking one hand under the pillow to try and get comfortable, falling asleep a couple minutes later to the sound of Zeus snoring. 

*********

First up, I have to apologise for my lack of updates recently. Not only have I been working a lot right now, I have also been struggling to come up with what I could write for this. I'm hopefully going to be able to finish it but my updates are going to be random and stuff. 

I hope you all had a good christmas and new year and hope you liked this chapter, no matter how boring and short it is.