Just Keep Walking

Thirteen

"Hey," Rosita called as Rick came back from the run, "your girl's in here."
"Is she okay?" Rick panicked.
"She's not great." Rosita replied gently.
"We found some antibiotics." Rick nodded to himself, going in and stroking Mary's forehead, then picking her up and holding her close, kissing the top of her head. "She'll be fine."
Rosita didn't reply to his comment. "Carl is outside."
"Okay. Thanks." Rick nodded, walking out with Mary close to his chest, then jogging back in to get the bunny, knowing Mary would want it when she woke up.
"Hey," Rick called softly to his son, "Rosita said you were out back. Come on in. We found food. A lot of it."
"Good." Carl nodded. 
Rick walked a little closer. "What is it?"
"These scratches," Carl explained, pointing to marks on the wall, "they're deep. Like knives or something. Someone was trying to get in. I found something else," He said, walking over to another part of the wall, to writing which read, you'll burn for this, "I don't know what happened but whatever it is, we can handle it. Doesn't mean Gabriel is a bad guy for sure, but it means something."
"Yeah." Rick nodded slowly.
"Did you find some antibiotics?"
"A few. Hopefully enough." Rick nodded. "Come on. The sun's beginning to set. Let's go get some food."
Carl nodded back at him, and Rick put his hand on Carl's shoulder, the other holding Mary, walking into the church together. Rick managed to get Mary to take one of the tablets, then she went back to sleep. The food was cooked, and, after enough people asking, Gabriel let them drink the communion wine.
After sleeping all day, Mary woke up with some energy to the food, and although she claimed she didn't want any, she sat on Glenn's lap, and ate some beans and powdered mashed potato. She was awake, but slightly groggy, nestled into Glenn as she ate. "I missed you." She mumbled into the man's shirt.
"I've missed you too," Glenn smiled softly over the chatter filling the room, "why don't you have a drink?"
"Can I try the wine?" She asked, a cheeky smile on her exhausted face.
Glenn chuckled, looking over at Rick.
"What?" Rick laughed.
"She wants wine." Glenn shouted back, laughing.
"Ah, let her. We don't know what tomorrow will bring." Rick smiled softly. Mary smiled, and drank some of the wine as Glenn held the glass up to her lips.
"Glenn!" Maggie laughed in shock, watching them.
"I love my Glenn." Mary smiled, and Glenn laughed again.
"I love you too." Glenn whispered into her hair.
"I'd like to propose a toast!" Abraham announced suddenly, as Mary closed her eyes, resting on Glenn's chest, "I look around this room and I see survivors. Each and everyone one of you had earned that title. To the survivors!"
Everyone cheered and clapped, but Mary opened her eyes and looked up at Glenn. "I killed a man. He tried to hurt me. I'm a survivor."
Before Glenn could reply, Abraham spoke up again. "Is that all you want to be? Wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat? 'Cause you can do that. I mean, you got the strength. You got the skill. Thing is, for you people, for what you can do, that's just surrender. Now, we get Eugene to Washington, and he will make the dead die, and the living will have this world again, and that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip. Eugene, what's in DC?"
"Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude. That means food, fuel, refuge. Restart." Eugene explained to everyone.
"However this plays our, however long it takes for the rest button to kick in, you can be safe there. Safer than you've been done this whole thing started. Come with us. Save the world for those two little ones. Save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there who don't got nothing left to do except survive."
Judith gurgled, and Rick chuckled. "What was that?" He asked jokingly, "I think she knows what I'm about to say. She's in. If she's in, I'm in. We're in."
"In for what?" Mary asked quietly.
"To go to DC. You're gonna get better, Mary," Glenn explained gently, "and we'll go to DC, where there's so much food and so many things to do. They'll be a safe place to live. A comfy bed, and toys, and school."
"I just want to feel better." Mary whispered. Glenn hugged her tightly, and kissed the top of her head.
"You will."
"Baby, are you okay?" Rick asked gently, stroking her hair.
Mary nodded, then held up her arms. "Can I be with you got a bit?" She asked softly, but she mostly was looking at Glenn
"Yeah." Rick smiled, taking her into his arms. "Thank you." He smiled to Glenn, and he nodded gently. "Let's go say thank you to Gabriel." He murmured to Mary as he held her close, Mary's eyes closing.
"Thanks for the hospitality," Rick smiled, sitting down next to Gabriel on the floor, "I'm surprised you let us drink your communion wine."
"There isn't anyone left to take communion. The wines just wine until it's blessed." Gabriel muttered, taking a drink of wine, straight from the bottle.
"You're hiding something. And it's pretty obvious it's something you can't hide from. That's your business. But these people, these people are my family. And if what you're hiding somehow hurts them in any way, I'll kill you." Rick warned, holding Mary even closer and drinking some more of his wine.
"Why would I hurt your little girls? Your son?"
"You wouldn't be the first to hurt her." Rick replied shortly, and Mary clung to his shirt, thinking of the night with the Claimers.
"Daddy?" She whispered softly, and Rick nodded. "What was the man doing?"
"What man?"
"The man that I killed." Mary replied nonchalantly, and Gabriel's head snapped to her direction.
"He was... He was trying to..." Rick began, unable to find the words. He didn't know how to explain attempted rape to his five year old. "He was trying to hurt you. In a way no one ever should. Because some people... Some people are evil. Some people are evil. He tried to hurt you in a way no one should. And it's wrong and evil. He - he was evil. And you was right. You was right to kill him, Mary. Don't feel bad. He would have hurt someone else if you hadn't."
"I don't feel bad." Mary whispered back. "I don't."
"Good." Rick nodded, but the comment shook him. "Let's go see Mishy, yeah?"
"Yeah." Mary nodded weakly, as Rick got up. Rick walked over to the rest of the group, and as soon as he sat down, Maggie was talking to Mary, holding her hand.
"Hey. Hey, you're feeling better, aren't you?" Maggie soothed, but Mary shook her head, and held out her arms. Maggie took her, and kissed her forehead tightly. "Do you want some more food?"
"I'm not good at eating. I just feel sick."
"Okay. Just talk to me then."
"About what?"
"Hmm... Tell me a funny story about your daddy." Maggie teased.
"Once he said a swear word," Mary giggled weakly, "then said another swear word when he said sorry he shouldn't swear. He said fuck. Then shit, sorry, I shouldn't swear."
"Mary!" Rick laughed, as Carl chuckled beside him.
"And before, we pretended he couldn't see Maggie-Rick, but he could." Mary added. "And he called me smelly instead of Mary. And when he didn't have a car seat for me and Michonne told him off."
Rick, Michonne, and Maggie all laughed then, Michonne looking a little embarrassed. "To be fair," Rick laughed, "car seats are the least of my worries."
Maggie laid down on the pew, Mary on her chest, and laughed softly. "I wish it could always be this."
"I remember when you smashed the egg on Glenny's head." Mary giggled, and Maggie laughed loudly. "And I remember... I remember riding my horsey. And I remember mommy reading a book to me. I remember Shane and he gave me a cool hat! Remember, daddy? He was scary. But he gave me a cool hat so I had no sunburn."
"I remember." Rick whispered shakily, the laughter gone.
"I liked when me and Carl played checkers." Mary smiled, and Carl grinned back at her.
"Me too." Carl smiled, looking over at her. Mary smiled back at him, then closed her eyes, her head on Maggie's shoulder.
"Maggie?" She whispered quietly.
"Yeah?" Maggie breathed back, barely bearable over the noise of chatter and laughter.
"How sad is it? When someone you really love dies? A little person. I know what it's like for a mommy to die, but what is it like for a sister to die?"
"Why?" Maggie mumbled, her blood freezing.
"I want to know if it's worse. Than a mommy."
"W-w-what do you mean?"
"Carl was okay after mommy," Mary cried softly, "I'm scared if he's not okay when I die."
"If." Maggie corrected shakily.
"No," Mary whispered, "it's when."