Something To Fear | Glenn Rhee

[열아홉] On the Edge

"There is no right; there's just the wrong that doesn't pull you down."

~Morgan Jones

"I hope I'm not bothering you with this," Rick said as he led Morgan into Alexandria, his breath visible in the cold air.

"No, no, Rick. It's fine. I have a lot of spare time on my hands  now...after the war..." Morgan trailed off, his mind focusing in on the not-so-distant memory.

"You mean to tell me Ezekiel isn't having you walk Shiva?" Rick attempted to lighten the mood, cracking a smile at his friend. Morgan broke out of his trance, smiling back.

"Oh, he does keep me busy with her alright. Picking up her shit," Morgan chuckled. Rick joined in his laughter, already imagining Morgan doing this.

"I really wished you would have stayed here, Morgan. We need someone like you."

"Not after everything that's happened... I'm just not-"

"You're just not happy here? But you are over there. I understand," Rick interjected glumly.

"It's not that, Rick. It's that the life I made here is over," Morgan finished, leaving his answer vague purposefully. He didn't want to explain the full reason for him not wanting to return; the reason that threatened to overwhelm him as he came upon where Rick had been leading him to.

The cemetery.

The place marked as Rick and Morgan's greatest mistakes.

"Why did you bring me here, Rick?" Morgan's voice shook with grief and rage.

"I-I wanted to know if you would help me," He took a sigh in-between words. "Help make a memorial or statue or some sort of reminder for here. They all deserve better than a pile of dirt and a plank of wood."

Morgan remained silent, mulling this over in his mind. He considered Rick to be his closest friend, and he knew how much this would mean to him. He looked at the looming cemetery to the side of him, imagining how instead of wooden boards marking the land it could be something more meaningful.

Rick lingered by Morgan's side in front of the church, trying to keep his composure. He didn't want to enter the graveyard because each time he did, there were more arrivals.

The sense of someone nearby alerted Rick, a feeling he had developed from his time as a sheriff's deputy and one that had grown in the past three years.

Across the churchyard was Glenn, who looked at him with a startled expression. Rick was about to gesture towards him, but Glenn had quickly taken off, leaving both Rick and Morgan confused.

Rick cleared his throat, ignoring what just took place and waiting for Morgan to respond.

"I'll see what I can do. I'm not that much of an expert at welding or designing," Morgan finally answered.

"I'll do whatever I can to help. I would like for this to be a surprise for the rest of the community. But that's probably unlikely," Rick moved towards the cemetery with Morgan hesitantly following behind.

"What does The Kingdom have?" Rick stood in front of the grave marked 'Maggie Rhee.'

"Just some simple white crosses," Morgan went towards the grave dedicated to 'Carol Peletier.' "There didn't use to be as many crosses as there are now."

The pair remained still, letting the winter air blow by them until Morgan broke the silence.

"After the war, I had planned to teach a boy Aikido... or finish teaching him. That was how I planned to spend my time; why I wanted to stay at The Kingdom."