Fight For Life ⤜ Carl Grimes

⤜nine

DISCLAIMER: this chapter is going to be fairly short since it's the season finale 

Maggie continued driving with her eyes red and watery. It was now day time, and Rose sat in the back seat of the car, fast asleep. She had been crying too much, and her body was telling her to just shut down. 

"Alright, lets just- lets just circle back to the highway," Glenn instructed. 

"Did you see my dad? Did he make it?" Maggie asked, looking at Glenn before turning back to look at the road. "Did you see?"

"I didn't see anything," Glenn responded. He wished he could tell Maggie the answer she wanted to hear, but he couldn't. 

"And Beth- I lost Beth. We've gotta go back there."

"We can't go back, okay? There's nothing to go back to."

"But Beth-"

"I-I think she was with Lori."

"Did they make it?"

"I don't  know."

"Patricia? Jimmy? What if they didn't make it? What if nobody made it?"

"They made it, okay? They had to. Alright, let's just circle around to the highway where we left supplies for Sophia."

Maggie shook her head crying, "no. The herd came from that direction."

Glenn looked over at Maggie. "Just stop the car." Maggie sniffled,  slowing down the car. "Let me drive," Glenn said, getting out of the car. 

Maggie climbed over the seats, sitting down in the passengers seat as Glenn sat in the drivers seat. Maggie began sobbing furiously, Glenn placed a hand on her shoulder, "hey, hey, Maggie. Look at me. We're alive, okay? We made it out. I'm sure they did too. I love you, Maggie, I love you. I should have said it a long time ago, and it's been true for a long time. We're gonna be alright, okay? We'll be alright."

Maggie nodded through the tears. "Okay."

Glenn took off in the car, beginning to make his back to the highway. During that time, Daryl's motorcycle and T-Dog's truck had found it's way behind their car. As the cars came to stop on the highway, everyone had reunited. 

Lori ran to Rick and Carl, Maggie and Beth ran to Hershel. 

Rose rushed out of the car, along with Maggie. Rose stood behind as Maggie, Beth and Hershel collided into a hug, not wanting to ruin a family moment. When the hug was let go, Hershel pulled Rose in, giving her a tight embrace. Rose smiled into the hug, she had felt at home- the Greene's were none the less her family. Beth was the second one to hug Rose, which she hugged back instantly. 

Everyone was covered in blood, and dirt. Rose looked down, seeing the pistol Maggie had given her tucked into her waistband. 

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asked, standing by Lori and Carl. 

"Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road- figured he had to be Asian driving like that," Daryl said. 

Glenn chuckled, "good one."

Daryl looked to Rick, "where's the rest of us?"

"We're the only ones who made it so far," Rick responded. 

"Shane?" Lori asked, standing up from her hug with Carl. Rick shook his head no, and although Lori knew it was for the best, something in her eyeshade her wish he was there with her. 

"Andrea?" Glenn asked. 

"She saved me, then I lost her," Carol told him. 

"We saw her go down," T-Dog added. 

"Patricia?" Hershel questioned. 

Beth shook her head, the tears beginning to bundle up in her eyes,"they got her too, took her right from me. I was- I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just- what about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?"

Rick nodded. "He was in the RV. It got overrun."

"Did you definitely see Andrea?" Carol questioned. 

"There were walkers everywhere," Lori responded. 

"Did you see her?"

Daryl started to walk towards his motorcycle, "I'm gonna go back."

"No," Rick said. 

"We can't just leave her."

"She isn't there. She isn't. She's either somewhere else, or she's dead. There's no way to find her."

They all sat around a camp fire, warming up in the small set of walls outdoor they had found next to a small waterfall.  T-Dog stood watching on one of the walls, his rifle in hand as he looked out into the forest. Rose sat in between Hershel, who was holding Beth, and Maggie. After Rick had told the group that Jenner discovered they were all infected, they weren't exactly sure if they could trust him. 

Rose looked up at Maggie, leaning against her arm, "Maggie, are we safe here?"

Maggie shook her head, "I don't know, Rose, I don't know."

"We're not safe with him," Carol whispered to Daryl, but it was just loud enough for Rose and the others to hear. "Keeping something like that from us," she looked around, making her voice even lower so that only Daryl could hear, "why do you need him? He's only gonna pull you down."

"No. Rick's done alright by me," Daryl responded, nodding his head. 

"You're his henchman," Carol argued. "And I'm a burden. You deserve better."

Daryl stared at her for a moment, "what do you want?"

"A man of honor."

"Rick has honor."

Maggie looked at Rose, then around at the group, "I think we should take our chances."

"Don't be foolish," Hershel replied. "There's no food, no fuel, no ammo."

The leaves rustled in the distance, causing Rose to perk her head up. "What was that?" She asked, a hint of fear hidden in her tone. 

"Could be anything," Daryl responded, standing up, along with the rest of the group. "Could be a raccoon, a possum."

"Walker," Glenn added. 

"We need to leave, I mean what are we waiting for?" Carol asked, looking towards Rick as he entered. 

"Which way?" Glenn asked, his gun in his hands. 

"That way," Maggie lifted her finger up, pointing in the direction of the noise. "Came from back the way we came."

"The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark," Rick told them. "We don't have the vehicles. No ones traveling on foot."

"I'm not sitting here waiting for another herd to blow through," Maggie argued. "We need to move now."

"No one is going anywhere," Rick responded, his face eyebrows furrowed and his tone of voice more harsh. 

"Do something!" Carol cried. 

"I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this! I killed my best friend for you people for Christ's sake!" Everyone stared at him in shock, and Carl began crying into Lori's arms. 

"You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, let me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me. My hands are clean. Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say that maybe there's a place for us  but maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe- Maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard. Go on, there's a door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get."

No one moved, and no one spoke. "No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight- you're staying, this isn't a democracy anymore."

Everyone looked around at each other as Rick walked out. He was right, Rose thought. We couldn't do better without him.