Just Keep Walking

Sixteen

Mary sobbed herself to sleep, and once she was sleeping Rick laid her down on the floor, in a nest of spare clothes and jackets. When she woke up she was screaming from a nightmare, and Carl and Michonne ran straight over to her.
"Hey. It's okay. It's okay." Carl soothed, sitting down and holding her.
"Daddy! Where's daddy?!" Mary sobbed, and Michonne nodded, then got up and went outside, uninhabited back in with Rick.
"Hey, baby, it's okay." Rick said gently, picking her up. "Did you have a nightmare?"
"Yeah. It hurts!" She wailed.
"I know, baby." Rick soothed, rocking her softly.
"Daddy." Mary cried, clinging onto Rick's shirt.
"It's okay. I've got you." Rick whispered. Eventually, Mary stopped crying, and looked over at Sasha.
"Daddy? Can I go see Sasha?" Mary mumbled, and Rick nodded, walking over to Sasha with Mary in his arms. Mary held out her arms to Sasha, but Rick didn't pass her over until the woman gave him a nod.
"Hey." Sasha whispered to Mary, holding her gently.
"I'm sorry Bob died." Mary mumbled, one of her hands playing with Sasha's curls.
"I'm sorry about Maggie and Glenn." Sasha replied sadly, a tear falling onto Mary's head.
"I miss them." Mary cried.
"Me too." Sasha whispered, holding the child even tighter.
"Here." Carl smiled softly, bringing them both some beans. "I'll take her, if you want."
Sasha nodded softly, and Carl sat with Mary on his lap, nestled into his side while she ate a few spoonfuls of beans.
"Is Daryl and Carol dead?" Mary asked quietly, looking up at him with wide eyes.
"I don't know." Carl whispered shakily, holding her even tighter.
"Done." Mary mumbled, closing her eyes.
"Try a little more."
"I feel too sick." Mary cried softly, and Carl sighed.
"Okay." He whispered, stroking the side of her head with his thumb.
"Mary, try some more." Rick said gently, walking over with Judith in his arms.
"She feels sick." Carl replied. "She can't eat anymore."
Rick sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay. Just drink some water, yeah?" Mary nodded, and Rick left, coming back with half a cup of water. Mary drank a few sips, then closed her eyes. "Why don't you do a bit of colouring?" Rick asked Mary, but she shook her head.
"Where's Mishy?"
"Outside. Shall we go see her?" Carl asked, and Mary nodded. Carl got up and went outside, his jaw dropping. Michonne was walking towards them with Daryl, and a boy a few years older than Carl.
"Uncle Daryl?" Mary whispered with a smile, and Daryl smiled back.
"Hey, darlin'." He smiled back, taking her off Carl and holding her loosely, but still with care. "How is she?"
"Worse." Carl mumbled, looking down, then he looked at the boy. "Who are you?"
"Noah." The boy replied with a slight smile.
"He's... He's a friend of Beth's."
"Beth's alive?" Carl asked quickly, hope returning to his eyes.
"Yeah," Noah nodded, "she's alive."
"Where?" Carl questioned.
"Atlanta." Daryl replied, and Carl's heart sank. He knew Atlanta was filled with Walkers.
"And she's okay?"
"Last we saw." Noah smiled softly.
Carl smiled, and reached over to Mary, stroking her cheek. "Hear that? Beth's okay."
"Bethie." Mary mumbled happily.
"What's wrong with her?" Noah asked Carl quietly as they walked into the church.
"Infection with a high fever."
"She your little sister?"
"Yeah. She's only five." Carl whispered.
"I got two little brothers back home. Twins."
"Back home?" Carl asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah. It's safe. Gates and everything. Hopefully they're still there." Noah explained, and Carl nodded. They got inside, and immediately everyone rushed over to see Daryl. Rick took Mary back, and they sat down, Daryl starting to talk.
"We saw it," he began slowly, "the car that took Beth away. I recognised it. Me and Carol followed it, and ended up in Atlanta. This hospital... They take you, heal you, then don't let you leave. Noah and Beth tried to escape, but Beth couldn't get away. Then they got Carol. They're both still there, in Atlanta. Grady Memorial."
"So we go get her." Rick nodded straight away.
"It'll be hard. There's police officers. They're strong. Have guns." Noah pointed out.
"We're strong. We have guns." Rick replied.
"Daddy is a sheriff." Mary mumbled into his shirt, and Rick kissed the top of her head.
"We can do this." Sasha said firmly, holding her gun closer.
"Yeah," Daryl nodded, "we are. But we gotta wait 'till mornin'. Sleep up. Mary and Judith gotta stay here. We gotta make it safe. Can't all just go runnin' off."
"Yeah." Tyreese nodded, a hand on Sasha's shoulder.
"Where's Maggie 'nd Glenn? Bob? Abraham, Tara, Rosita, Eugene?" Daryl asked shakily, suddenly scared.
"They've gone. Said they were leaving, before the people from Terminus could kill us. Hurt Eugene. The said they'd stay and help us fight them off, if Maggie, Glenn, and Tara went with them." Michonne explained quietly.
"Terminus? They alive?" Daryl asked in shock.
"Yeah. Not anymore. They took Bob. He got bit." Rick replied shakily. Daryl nodded slowly, looking at Sasha in pity. She looked away. "Okay. Let's get some sleep."
"Daddy, let me stay." Mary mumbled. Rick laughed, and as everyone went to find a place to sleep in, he nodded, sitting down against the wall, Mary against his chest.
"Hey." Carl muttered, walking over to the pair with Judith in her basket crib.
"Hey." Rick smiled back.
"I wanna come," Carl said softly, "to find Beth."
"Carl..."
"Dad. She's my friend. My longest friend in all of this. I really want to go."
"Listen. I really, really want you to look after your sisters. I have to go. I owe Carol, I really owe Carol. And I have to go. For Hershel. If not for Beth, then for Hershel, and for Maggie. And for Jimmy. Otis. Patricia. Shawn. Zach. We have to do it for them."
"Dad..."
"Hey. I have to go. And if you're there, I'll be worrying about keeping you safe, and I'll not know if the girls are safe."
"Dad, can you just..."
"Hey. Son, let me think about it. Okay? I can promise that. Let's go to sleep, and I'll think about it."
"Okay." Carl nodded. He looked at Judith, fast asleep in her crop, then he turned to Mary. "She looks like mom. Doesn't she? When her eyes are open. She has her eyes."
"She does." Rick nodded, putting an arm around Carl's shoulder.
"Do you think she'll remember her? Mom, I mean."
"Yeah. I think so." Rick nodded. "I love you son. So much."
"Love you too." Carl mumbled groggily.
"Go to sleep." Rick chuckled, flicking Carl's hat off and kissing the top of his head. With his head resting on Rick's chest, right next to Mary's, Carl fell asleep, Rick sleeping underneath them, holding them tight.
Mary woke up screaming in the night, and both Rick and Carl woke up with her. "Come on. Come on, it's okay." Rick soothed, getting up and carrying her around the church, then outside.
"Hey. Hey," Rick whispered into her ear, sitting on the front steps, "it's okay. It's okay, baby, it's okay."
"What's the clock?" Mary sobbed.
"It's on three. Three hours sleep," Rick answered, hiding his fatigue, "shall we try again?"
"Yeah." Mary cried, clinging onto his shirt. "I feel sick."
"I know. But guess what? Your fever's lower."
"Good?"
"Very good." Rick smiled. "Come on. Let's look at the stars. Yeah?"
"Pretty." Mary mumbled, looking up at them with wide eyes.
"Yeah." Rick replied with a smiled, kissing the side of Mary's head. "Let's go inside."
"Okay."
"You want some juice? There's some left from the food bank." Rick offered, and Mary nodded. He went inside, and grabbed a fruit box. "Look, it has a princess on it. What's this one? Who is it?" Rick asked softly, showing her the picture.
"I dunno." Mary mumbled with a shy smile.
"That one? It's Jasmine." A voice replied from a corner. Rick looked around in the dark, and saw Noah. "My little brothers. They liked Disney. We watched all the films and went to Disney Land, like, three years ago." He explained with a slightly embarrassed smile.
"What's Disney?" Mary asked quietly.
"It's where all the princesses live." Noah replied knowingly.
"Can we go?"
"Maybe one day." Rick nodded.
"Did you meet Ariel?" Mary asked Noah with wide eyes.
"Yeah. And we met Tinkerbell, and Peter Pan. And Belle. And some more. Loads."
"Oh, we don't know those ones. We just know the songs, don't we?"
"Yeah." Mary nodded, rubbing her eyes.
"Can't sleep?" Rick asked Noah, as Mary nuzzled into his chest.
"Nah. Too nervous."
"Alright," Rick nodded understandingly, "just try."
Noah nodded back, and Rick went back to Carl and Judith, and sat back down. He was asleep again in seconds.