Just Keep Walking

Twenty three

"Glenny?" Mary asked quietly, "Glenny, what's that?"
"Is that water?" Carl half laughed, as everyone ran forwards. Sure enough, there was several bottles of water, alongside a few milk cartons full of water. Rick snatched up a note and read it, his nose scrunching up in confusion as he did so.
"What does it say?" Rosita questioned, as she tried to read it over his shoulder.
"From a friend." Rick sighed.
"Which friend?" Mary asked excitedly, "Some more from the prison?"
"We don't know." Rick whispered, taking Mary off Glenn and holding her on his hip.
"What if it's, like, poison?" Tara panicked suddenly, and Rick nodded.
"That's my thought. No one touches it. No one drinks it."
"What else are we gonna do?" Tara sighed.
"Not this. We don't know who left it."
"If that's a trap, we already happen to be in it. But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend." Eugene said quietly.
"What if it isn't? They put something in it?" Carol insisted, as Eugene went to grab a bottle.
"Eugene!" Rosita shouted.
"What are you doing, dude?" Tara snapped.
"Quality assurance." The man shrugged, going to drink some, but Abraham slapped the bottle out of his hand, then, without saying another word, went back to his place, leaving Eugene covered in water.
"We can't." Rick hissed, and as of on queue, it began to thunder and rain. 
"Daddy!" Mary giggled, wriggling out of his arms, as everyone's heads tilted up to the sky. She stood with her mouth open and arms outstretched, laughing as the water fell down on her. Tara and Rosita were laid down on the floor, Glenn crouched down, but Maggie, Sasha, and Daryl simply stood there motionless, not caring.
"I'm sorry, my Lord." Gabriel sobbed, as Glenn hugged Mary, the little girl limping over and sitting on his leg while he crouched down.
"Everybody get the bags. Anything you can find. Come on!" Rick ordered, getting bags.
"Glenny, it's magic." Mary giggled, but as the thunder got louder, she shrank a little closer into his chest. Carl covered Judith's head with his hat, and Glenn stood up, Mary's skinny arms looped around his neck.
"Let's keep moving!" Rick shouted.
"There's a barn!" Daryl replied suddenly.
"Where?" Rick asked, and Daryl lead the way, the group running to the barn, thunder and rain beating down on them. As some of the others went inside to check the barn was empty, Glenn held Mary tightly to his chest, the child soaking wet and jumping at the thunder.
"It's okay. It's just clouds playing tag." Glenn said quickly.
"Really?" Mary asked with wide eyes.
"Really."
"Oh. That's not scary." She laughed, loosening her grip on Glenn. The man laughed and went inside, seeing that it was safe to do so. Daryl began to make a fire, and Glenn deposited Mary into Rick's arms. After trying to get Maggie to sit with them for ten minutes, Glenn gave up, and went and sat with Rick, Mary, Michonne, Daryl, and Carol, Maggie wanting to be alone.
"Are you gonna go to sleep with Carl and Judy?" Rick asked softly, his breath tickling Mary's neck, and the little girl shook her head firmly. "You wanna stay here?"
"With you."
"Okay. At least try to sleep." Rick sighed, as Mary buried her head into Rick's chest.
"Is Carl asleep?" Mary mumbled into Rick's shirt.
"Nearly. Don't keep him up, let him sleep. Most people are tired, Moo." Rick half laughed.
"I'm tired." Mary protested, sitting up straight and putting two hands on Rick's sheets. "Don't be silly."
"Okay, Mary Moo, if you're tired then go to sleep."
"Nah." She giggled, tugging at his beard.
"It's late."
"The clouds are playing tag. I wanna play."
"What?" Rick half scoffed.
"The thunder. It's clouds playing tag." Glenn explained knowingly, giving Rick a wink.
"Ah. Yes." Rick laughed. "Now, come on. At least lie still."
Mary sighed and nodded, then laid into Rick's chest, her eyes shut but still awake.
"I'll try." Glenn offered, watching Daryl attempt to make their tiny fire a little bigger.
"Nah, too wet." Daryl shrugged.
Carol looked over at Rick, seeing him watching Carl with worry. "He's gonna be okay. He bounces back more than any of us do."
"I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now. In this. But I think I got it wrong. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them. Mary's better adapted to the world than me."
"This isn't the world. This isn't it." Michonne whispered firmly.
"It might be. It might." Glenn replied with a sigh, and Mary's forehead creased at his comment, So uncharacteristic.
"That's giving up."
"It's reality." The man shrugged bluntly.
"Until we see otherwise this is what we have to live with." Rick nodded slowly, then he spoke up again, "When I was a kid, I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in the war. He wouldn't answer. He said that was grown up stuff, so I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him. But he got real quiet. He said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Everyday he woke up, and told himself rest in peace, now get up and go to war. And then after a few years of pretending he was dead, he made it out alive. That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do and then we get to live. But no matter what we find in DC, I know we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves that we are the walking dead."
Everyone went quiet, and Mary snuggled even further into Rick's chest.
"We ain't them." Daryl snapped, going to get up.
"We're not them. Hey. We're not." Rick half soothed, his hand going out to Daryl's shoulder, but he got up and walked away to the other side of the barn.
"We ain't them."
Before Mary could speak, Rick kissed her forehead and whispered "It's just a figure of speech. We're not really Walkers."
"Do Walkers know they're Walkers?" Mary asked quietly, sitting up again.
"No. They don't think. Come on, bedtime."
"Can you sing?" Mary whispered.
Rick sighed but got up, and as he walked around the barn, Mary in his arms, he sang, "You are my sunshine, 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."

Mary woke up to everyone straining at the door, Walkers trying to fight their way in. She limped over, and tried to help push it shut, stumbling as she did so, then she fell to the floor, trapped in between Rick's legs and the door in a tiny ball. She stayed there until the Walkers left, and a little after, until Rick came over, a hand on her fragile shoulder.
"Baby girl. It's okay. Come on now." Rick half croaked, scooping her up, Judith in one arm, Mary in the other. "Let's go to sleep."
"Shall I take her?" Glenn asked softly, walking over and holding Mary's limp hand.
"Daddy." Mary mumbled groggily, her hand clutching onto a fistful of his curls.
"It's okay." Rick nodded gratefully, and Glenn nodded, stroking the back of Mary's head before leaving. "Bed time, my sunshine."
"With you." Mary whispered.
"With me." Rick sighed, laying down with both of his daughters to his chest, Carl near him.
"Daddy." Mary whined, sitting up in panic.
"What?"
"Carl Bunny has gone." She cried softly.
"Fuck's sake." Rick hissed, getting up and walking around the barn, trying to find the toy. Sasha saw what he was doing, and helped him look, but eventually it was Abraham who tossed Mary the tatty toy, the girl looking up at him with a mixture of fear and thanks.
"Alright. Bed. Now." Rick said firmly, laying beside her.
"No." Mary whined, hiding her face into both the bunny and Rick's shirt.
"Yes."
"I don't like sleepy time."
"Mary, come on." Rick sighed, tired himself.
"Daddy."
"Mary, come talk to me. Let your daddy sleep, yeah? He's not had much sleep, sweetie." Michonne said softly. Mary began to cry softly, but limped over to Michonne, her tears getting heavier with pain. "Come on. You'll sleep by me, we did before we found daddy, yeah?"
"Yeah." Mary mumbled, her body trembling with tears.
"Alright. What shall we talk about?" Michonne asked quietly, Mary curling up on her chest.
"Mermaids. You tell me about them." Mary whispered. And Michonne told the five year old all about mermaids until she fell asleep.