Just Keep Walking

Forty nine

"Mary! Get that dog down! And you get down!" Rick scolded when he saw Mary dancing with Bertie on the dining room table.
"It's play time!" Mary insisted.
"No, it's five am. So if it's anything, it's breakfast time." Rick sighed, picking up Bertie and placing him on the floor by his full dog bowl; dog food seemed to be in surplus nowadays. "Okay, if you get down from the table then you can have breakfast while you watch Peter Pan."
Mary jumped down from the table, but fell into a heap in the floor, letting out a small scream. Bertie and Rick were by her side in a second, Rick pulling her up by her wrists.
"It's my bad hip." Mary whispered shakily, holding back tears.
"Okay. It's okay. You're okay." Rick soothed, his voice gentle yet firm.
"I'm okay." Mary nodded, blinking away her tears.
"I know. I know. Come on. Let's go put your film on. D'you want pop tarts?"
"Yeah." Mary grinned.
"Always pop tarts." Rick chuckled, kissing the side of her head, filled with love for the girl.

"I'm just saying, I think that Peter Pan could be a bad guy. He tried to make people leave their mommies and daddies." Rick pointed out as they walked around the fence, checking the perimeter.
"But he's fun!"
"But wouldn't that make all the mommies and daddies sad? Not getting to see their kids anymore?"
"I guess." Mary sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Morgan." Rick nodded to his friend as he walked past him.
"Morning."
"We haven't talked. We should. Later, okay?" Rick asked, not even stopping.
"Okay." Morgan nodded, but Rick had gone, walking along the fence, tracing his fingers in fresh blood.
"Daddy?" Mary asked in confusion, but Rick shook her question off.
"Let's go see your Maggie." Rick said softly, walking over to the lookout where Maggie was stood. He let Mary climb the ladder first, following her closely.
"Hey Angel." Maggie smiled softly, sadness clouding her eyes.
"Is Glenny home yet?"
"Not just yet." She whispered, and Mary let out a little whimper.
"You don't have to be up here so much." Rick said softly to Maggie.
"I won't be. This is the direction he'll come in. If he sends up a signal, it'll be from out there."
"Yeah." Rick nodded, picking up Mary while she cried softly.
"Or it- it won't be." Maggie stuttered, looking into the distance.
"When we go out there, it's never easy, it's never simple. It's always a fight. But we've come back from harder things. From further away. Glenn, Daryl, Abraham, and Sasha, they will too. Maybe we don't wait for them to be back. We should start figuring out how to draw the Walkers away. We have some food and water to last us a while and the walls are holding. We can take our time, really think this through, do it right. Clear it, so they can they can walk right in."
Maggie went quiet then, and spoke up quietly. "I saw Judith in the house the other day. She's starting to... She's starting to look like Lori."
"Yeah." Rick nodded slowly, kissing the top of Mary's head.
"Made me happy."
"Me too." Rick breathed, his voice shaky.
"I though I looked like mommy." Mary whined suddenly, her eyes still tearful.
"You do, princess. But Judy looks more like mommy. You're a good mix of both of us."
"What about Carl?"
"Hmm, he's a mix too. He has my eyes and mommy's dark hair, and you have mommy's eyes and my wavy thick hair." Rick smiled softly, kissing the top of her head yet again.
"You look like Carl. But you look more like your daddy than your mommy. You're a daddy's girl." Maggie smiled softly, her voice slightly teasing. Mary just smiled softly, and nestled into Rick's chest.
"Okay, baby girl, let's go find your Carl. He wants to help us teach Ron how to shoot."
"Can I help?"
"Sure."
"Bye bye. Love you." Mary whispered to Maggie, who walked over and kissed her temple.
"See you soon. And don't you worry about our Glenn. Okay? You listen to your daddy. He's gonna be home soon."
"I know. He said he'd play soccer with me. He won't miss it."
Rick had gone before Maggie started crying, knowing she didn't want to do so in front of Mary.
"Miss Mary! Where have you been?" A shrill yet kind voice asked from their porch as Rick and Mary walked home. "You've not come to see me in a few days."
"Hey Natalie." Rick chuckled softly. "Do you wanna go see Natalie? And I'll come back in a few minutes with the boys?"
"Yeah." Mary nodded, skipping over to the porch, her fist clinging to her bunny.
"Okay. See you soon." Rick smiled, his words falling on deaf ears.
"Where's Bob?" Mary asked happily, and Natalie's face crumpled.
"Well, you see... Oh sweetheart. My Bob... He's gone... He's just gone to see the neighbours." Natalie whispered, her eyes tearfully.
"Oh. Okay." Mary shrugged with a smile, "Did you know I got a dog? He's called Egbert."
"I did. Let me go to the house. I've got something for you." Natalie smiled shakily. She went into the house, and came back out with red eyes and something knitted.
"Look, I knitted you this. Keep you nice and warm. It's cold, and it'll get colder. And it should fit right."
"Thank you." Mary grinned, taking it off Natalie with a hug, then pulling it on, the chunky, knitted cardigan warm and soft and comfortable; everything a child should have. It was light pink, one of the many colours that Mary liked, and had large pearly buttons on it.
"I'll knit you a blue one next. And a hat and scarf. Some mittens too. You need them. Never know with this place. One day it's hot, one day it's freezing. And you never know, maybe one day we'll go further up north. Then you'll definitely need them. No, that's stupid. You don't need hats and scarfs and gloves. I'll knit you a jumper. That'll be good. And a blanket. You and Judith. You know, I knitted all my grandbabies blankets."
"Naty, I love it. Thank you." Mary smiled widely, giving her another hug, cutting off her rambling. "Naty, why are you crying?"
"Nothing. Nothing, I just miss my grandkids." Natalie nodded firmly.
"Okay." Mary nodded seriously. Then she took a deep breath in. "Sometimes I miss mommy. Do I have a grandma and granddad?"
"Yeah. Of course you do. They're just not around anymore."
"Can you be my grandma?"
"Yeah. I'll be your fill in grandma." Natalie smiled, stroking the back of Mary's head.
"You ready Mary?" Rick called, walking up onto the porch, Carl and Ron on the pathway.
"I guess." Mary nodded, giving Natalie yet another hug.
Rick took one look at Natalie, stood without Bob, at hear teary eyes, and he knew. "Moo, go stand with Carl. I wanna talk to Mrs Miller."
"Okay." Mary smiled with a nod, walking to Carl, jumping into his arms.
"Mrs Miller? What is it? Where's Bob?"
"I didn't tell her," Natalie cried softly, "I didn't tell her. Rick, he... He saw that woman grab her. He went out. He took a knife. He... He... And... A-and... They got him."
"He died trying to save her?" Rick breathed, his voice shaking. Natalie nodded, and Rick hugged her tightly. It was another person who died for his little girl. It still wasn't easier.

After finding out about Bob Miller's death, Rick carried Mary, holding her a little closer. He knew she needed to know, but he couldn't tell her yet. He knew she loved the couple, and he knew it would break her heart.
"Okay. Here's fine." Rick nodded, sitting Mary down on the outdoor table they reached. "Handguns will be a little better for your first go. Magazine release. Slide release. Thumb safety."
"That stuff's easy, right dad?" Carl almost smirked, and Ron glared at him, the pair making a taunting, teasing eye contact.
"Yeah. Empty magazine," Rick nodded, sliding an empty magazine into an handgun, showing it to Ron, "Empty chamber. See it?"
"Yeah." Ron nodded.
"Someone's in front of you, they have a gun..."
"You're gonna be scared. You will be." Carl said firmly, making Ron glare at him again.
"Everyone would be scared," Mary added, "everyone except for me. Because I'm a dumbass badass. Maybe daddy wouldn't be scared. Uncle Daryl wouldn't. Maybe Glenny. Maybe Carl. But only me definitely. You'd be super scared because you're not a badass."
"Your body's gonna tense, you won't have time to think. You're just gonna want to pull the trigger when you get it in front of you. But you'll miss and you'll be dead. You have to get it up to your eye." Rick explained, demonstrating.
"You've got to be strong enough to wait for your moment." Carl added again.
"Can I, uh..." Ron asked awkwardly, and Rick passed him a gun. Ron walked over and pointed it at the fence, aiming the gun powerfully.
"Hey," Rick ordered, moving Ron's finger off the trigger, "your finger doesn't touch the trigger until you're ready to shoot. Keep that one with you. Get a feel of what it's like to carry one around."
Ron nodded, and slid the gun into his pocket. "Can I shoot it? Maybe like down at the Walkers?"
"No, with things how they are... The walls are strong, but we're lucky the Walkers are spread out. We don't want to pull them all to one spot."
"Well, what about, like, target practice, in the centre of town? 'Cause then the sound will spread out in each direction. Or maybe we could use like silencers or something like that." Ron rambled, making Rick, Carl, and Mary stare at him in amusement. "But, uh, I mean we probably don't want to waste bullets right now, huh? Just want to learn more."
"You will." Carl nodded.
"Yeah. You will."
"You might not. Because you are a dumbass and not the good code type. Which means you're not a dumbass, you're an idiot. I don't like you that much." Mary said seriously.
"Mary, don't call him an idiot." Rick sighed.
"He is. You're an idiot."
"Mary Grimes, stop being so rude to Ron." Rick hissed.
"He's an idiot! Just like his daddy. I don't like them."
"Mary! That is enough! That is rude and unkind!" Rick scolded. "Apologise. Now."
"I'm sorry." Mary sighed.
"Ron, I'm so sorry," Rick said sincerely, "I cannot believe she said that. I'm so sorry."
"Yeah." Ron nodded quietly.
"Okay. I'm going to take this one home." Rick sighed, walking away with Mary. As soon as they were gone, Carl had Ron pinned up against the walls by his neck.
"What the hell, man?!" Ron shouted angrily.
"Yes, she was out of line! But she's five! Five years old! And she watched your dad fight ours! In her mind, anyone who hurts her dad is evil! She's FIVE!"
"What the hell! I didn't do anything!"
"I saw your hand holding the gun when she said those words. You was thinking about shooting my baby sister! You're fucking crazy!" Carl yelled, his screaming face in front of Ron's scared one, his arm getting even closer to his trachea, dangerously close to cutting off his oxygen.
"Get off me!"
"You ever even touch that gun near her again.... You ever think about even touching her... I'll kill you," Carl hissed, "I will put a knife through the base of your skull. I won't even waste the bullet. But I'd do it quick, because I'm a nice person like that. But don't doubt it. I'll kill you."