Three Empty Words

Chapter Thirteen Part One

"For a while we pretended. That we never had to end it. But we knew we'd have to say goodbye." ~ 5 Seconds of Summer (Wherever You Are)

***

Thea's PoV

Almost a week later, Rick and Michonne returned home to Alexandria. We were all skeptical, taking their absence as they didn't find anything, but we were all surprised with their findings. There were more guns and food in the back of that van that I hadn't seen since the beginning.

"Ready to take a trip to the Junkyard, Thea? Seal the deal?" Rick asked with a smile on his face.

"Definitely," I nodded eagerly. Every single one of my wounds had healed up by this point. I hadn't felt this good in a long time. I was ready to get back out there and fight.

"Go get ready. We leave in five," he told me, turning to shut the large doors of the van. I didn't waste any time rushing back up to my room and packing a bag. Carl was soon to join me once again after speaking a few words with his father.

"What's the bag for?" he asked curiously. My arm slowed mid stuffing a shirt into the pack, thinking of the right words to tell him what I'm going to do.

"I think...I want to go to the Kingdom afterwards," I spoke calmly. I heard Carl sigh behind me.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." he trailed off uncertainly. I finished cramming most of my essentials into the bag and stood up to face him, swinging the pack around to hang on my shoulders.

"It's the tiger, isn't it?" I questioned with a smile, although I'm pretty sure I had a small idea on why he didn't really want me to go... and it had nothing to do with the tiger.

"Not exactly..." he muttered sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. I rolled my eyes and stepped closer to him, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"I'll be just fine. Nothing is going to happen," I told him sternly, a knowing look in my eyes. I knew exactly what he was worried about, and it made me want to laugh out loud that he would still be jealous of someone. "If you miss me that much, you know where to find me." I kissed him swiftly on the lips, before walking out of the room with all my supplies in tow.

Everyone who went to the Junkyard the last time was present, excluding Aaron, which bummed me out just a tiny bit. Rick and Michonne took up the two seats in the van once again, then Rosita pulled around another car to take the rest of us. Gabriel sat up front with her. I took up the backseat behind Rosita with Tara. I waved out the window to the few people that gathered to watch us go.

***

"Operational? All?" Jadis asked, inspecting the guns in the back.

"To the best of my knowledge, yeah. May need some cleaning. We found supplies," Rick informed her.

"Expect us?"

"We cleaned some. We oiled some," I tried with a small smile on my face.

"You can do the rest. We do this together," Rick finished my statement.

"Yes, yes, but operational?" she asked again. I sighed a bit.

"Well, you can fire a few. Try them out, if you like," Rick offered.