Just Keep Walking

Five

That night they slept by the trees, Michonne and Rick taking it in turns to be on watch. The whole time, Mary was asleep in Rick's arms, in and out of consciousness. They were all hungry, and they decided that in the morning the would find food, but when the early morning came, instead of waking Rick and the two children up, Michonne let them sleep. Rick was laid there, slight propped up by a tree, slightly tilted to the side, Mary curled up into his chest, clinging onto his shirt, and Carl, unusually innocent and cuddly, laid on the floor, on his side, next to Mary, his head resting on Rick's chest, one of his arms over Mary.
When Rick woke up he turned and looked at Michonne. "Hmm? You said... You didn't wake me up." He mumbled groggily.
"No. I figured you needed it. Anyway, the kids looked like they were pretty heavily sleeping." Michonne smiled softly.
"She wakes up every few hours, she's due to soon." Rick joked, not truly meaning it. "And Carl'll sleep forever if you let him."
"They look so sweet like that." Michonne laughed softly, and Rick smiled at her, then down at his two kids.
"I don't know how I got so lucky. I gotta think... At least I still have these two, you know? That's what I gotta think." Rick whispered shakily, nodding slowly, then he gently shook Carl's shoulder. "Hey, Carl, come on. Wake up." He said gently.
Carl's eyes shot open, groggy yet alert, and he looked at Rick. "Walkers?" He panicked.
"No, just time to get up." Rick smiled softly. Carl nodded slowly, and sat up, then looked at Mary's face.
"Is she okay?"
"She woke up a few times in the night. She's in a lotta pain." The man nodded sadly, getting up while holding Mary. He put her on his back, tying her on, and sighing. "You okay?" He asked Carl, running a hand through his own hair.
"Hungry. Thirsty." Carl half shrugged, half nodded. Rick nodded back, knocking Carl's hat off and ruffling his hair. Carl raised his eyebrows, and then  picked it up.
"Shall we get going?" Rick asked softly, and Michonne nodded, as did Carl.
"Sooner we find food and water, the better." Michonne nodded softly, looking at Mary pitifully.
When they reached a shop, almost an hour later, the little girl still hadn't woken up.
"Okay, Carl, water, Michonne, bandages, I'll get food." Rick ordered, and they spilt off. He walked down the food isle, getting the few bits of food left; a few chocolate bars, a bag of boiled sweets, a box of cereal bars, a can of beans, and a can of sweetcorn. When he walked back over to the entrance, Michonne was there with a backpack, and Rick got Mary down, and took off her dungarees, then unwound the bandana.
"You got anything to keep away infection?" Rick asked, and Michonne passed him two iodine patches, one for the front, one for the back, then two cotton pads, and a large bandage. He put them onto the wounds, then put her dungarees back on.
"Daddy?" Mary mumbled, and Rick smiled.
"Hey, baby. How you feeling?"
"It hurts. But 'm awake now." Mary nodded groggily, slowly sitting up and wincing.
"Good kid. You want some food?" Rick asked, and she nodded, rubbing her eyes and batting some loose hair away from her face, it still in her cornrow braids. Rick sat next to her, and opened the can of sweetcorn, letting her take mouthfuls of the sweet vegetable straight from the can. Once she had eaten her fill, then gave Michonne some, and ate a little himself. When Carl came back, he immediately was at Mary's side, holding her, and giving her a bottle of water, several of them in his hands. He ate the rest of the corn, relishing in the sweet tase, then left some juice in the bottom of the can for Mary to drink.
"Okay. Now we've eaten, let's get back on track, yeah?" Rick said, and the others nodded. Carl got up, and Mary help up her hands, but not for Carl to carry her, but for him to help her up. She shakily stood up, her face screwed up in pain, and with Carl's help, she limped over to Rick.
"That really hurts." Mary mumbled tearfully, as Rick picked her up while grinning.
"You're such a cool kid. Oh, Moo, you're gonna be just fine." Rick half laughed, kissing her head repeatedly. "I love you."
"I love you."
"And you, I love you, you amazing brother." Rick smiled at Carl.
"Why you being all weird?" Carl scoffed.
"'Cos I'm thankful." Rick sighed, the moment broken. "Okay, let's go."

"When we gonna be there?" Mary asked quietly, her small fingers twisting in Rick's curly hair while he walked, her on his back.
"Soon. Soon." Rick nodded.
"I think my Glenny and Maggie and Uncle Daryl are there."
"Maybe." Rick sighed, not really paying attention.
"Only maybe?" Mary whimpered suddenly, and Rick sighed again.
"Sorry, Sorry. Yeah, I bet they are." He nodded.
"Hey, Mary, have a Big Cat." Michonne smiled softly, passing her the chocolate bar.
"Thank you." The tired girl nodded, leaning over and kissing Michonne's cheek. She unwrapped it, and groggily ate some, then poked the rest in Rick's face.
"Thank you baby girl." Rick smiled softly, taking a bite. Once they had eaten the chocolate, Mary buried her head into Rick's neck.
"Daddy? Will you sing the sunshine song?" Mary whispered.
"Ah, I gotta hear the famous sunshine song." Michonne laughed softly.
Carl looked over, and he could swear his father had gone slightly red.
"You are my sunshine," Rick sang quietly, "my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey. You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take, my sunshine, away."
"You're not to bad." Michonne teased, her eyebrows slightly raised.
"I sing for my kids. That's it. Period." Rick replied firmly, definitely going red.
"I love your singing." Mary smiled, leaning over and kissing Rick's cheek, then pulling a face. "You have a lot of beard."
"Well, I'm not really worrying about shaving at the moment." Rick chuckled, reaching up and holding her hand. "How do you feel?"
"It hurts. But okay." Mary mumbled, and Rick knew she was lying.
"Good. You're so brave."
"I'm brave like my Glenn." Mary grinned, and she saw Carl close his eyes shakily. "Carl, Glenn's okay."
"Yeah." He nodded, rolling his eyes slightly.
"He is!" Mary shouted suddenly. "He's fine! He's alive!"
"Mary, it's okay. Okay. Okay." Rick whispered urgently, needing her to be quiet.
"Hey, it's alright. It's okay. I know you're upset. It's okay." Michonne soothed, stroking Mary's cheek with her thumb.
"Glenn is fine! He's fine. He's okay." Mary sobbed. "Him and Maggie are okay! And we're gonna find them."
"Mary, I need you to calm down, okay?" Rick soothed, as Michonne held her hand.
"They're okay. They're okay! T-th-they're not dead. They're n-n-not W-Walkers! They're not! They're with Judith! With my Judy and Tommy!"
"Dad. Walkers." Carl hissed.
"Mary, I need you to calm down." Rick said gently.
"Dad." Carl half shouted, running over.
"They're okay!"
"Take Mary. Take Mary!" Rick hissed, untying the child and passing her over to Carl. Carl held Mary tightly, as Rick and Michonne killed the half dozen Walkers.
"They're okay," Mary sobbed into Carl's shirt, "they're okay!"
"I know. I know," Carl soothed, holding her tightly, but not touching her hip, "but you're okay. You're okay."
"They're alive!"
"Yeah, everything's okay." Carl lied gently, kissing the top of her head.
"Rick, I think we should stop for the night." Michonne said gently, looking at Mary, "She's so tired. And she's getting worse. I don't know what's wrong with her, but something is. I don't know."
"She's just upset. She doesn't want them to be gone," Rick whispered, "she doesn't understand properly. She's lost everything and almost everyone. And she's five."
"I know. I think she just needs to rest for a bit."
"Yeah. Yeah. Let's set up camp here." Rick nodded, walking over to Mary and Carl.
"She's okay." Carl whispered, holding the child close as she cried. "She wants Maggie and Glenn."
"I know. I know. Listen, we're gonna stay here for the night. It's late now anyway. Nearly sunset."
Carl nodded, and passed Mary over to Rick. "Hey, where's your bunny?"
"Carl bunny is here." Mary mumbled tearfully, showing Rick the bunny in her hand, slightly grubby.
"Good. Why don't you have a sleep, yeah? I think you're very tired." Rick suggested and Mary nodded, closing her eyes.
"I'm just sad." She whispered.
"I know. I know, me too. But listen, you can't shout. Not here. It'll make Walkers come." Rick soothed.
"Okay. I feel a bit sick." Mary mumbled.
"Okay. Okay, why don't you go to sleep, and you'll feel better when you wake up. Okay?"
"Okay." Mary nodded, but Rick held a hand up to her forehead anyway.
"I don't think you have a fever."
"Not my head. My hip hurts. It's hot. My cuts are hot." She whined.
"Alright. Lemmie have a look." Rick sighed, fearful of an infection. He put Mary down, and took off her dungarees, leaving her in her leggings and shirt, then rolled down her leggings, so he could take off the bandage.
"Michonne! It's really hot and red and swollen. Is it infected?" Rick panicked.
"It could be." Michonne nodded, walking over. "Just... Change the bandage. That's all we can do."
"Yeah." Rick nodded, putting a fresh iodine patch on the wound, then a cotton pad, and bandage, using up most of the medical supplies. "Okay. You're gonna be fine."
Mary nodded slowly, her eyes closed, holding the bunny to her mouth. "Okay. Go to sleep now. Carl! You too. Don't argue. Just because the sun's not fully set yet doesn't mean you can't go to sleep."
Carl sighed, rolling his eyes, then he walked over to Mary, and laid down next to her. Immediately, Mary wriggled over to his side, and nestled into his shirt. The brother closed his eyes, and put his hat over his face, almost comically. Rick sat by then until they fell asleep, then got up to talk to Michonne, who'd started a small fire a few feet away.
"She okay?" Michonne asked softly.
"Yeah. Just really really tired. She's missing everyone. And she's upset about Judith."
"I know. It's hard for kids. She doesn't understand."
"All she knows," Rick whispered, "is how to fight and run and survive. It's not a life for her. The prison was a life. But this isn't. And what if... What if we don't find anything again? What type of person will she become if this is all she knows? She doesn't remember life before. Carl does. She doesn't, at all. She sometimes struggles to remember people who were in our group, in the early days."
"She's a kid. She forgets. Don't worry about it."
"I just want them to be happy."
"They will be." Michonne nodded gently, putting a hand on her shoulder, "They will be."