Daughter of the Fallen

The King, the Widow, and Rick

Running on barely three hours of sleep, I was taking weapon inventory while watching Judith when I heard Carl call my name.

I turned to see him jogging up to me.

"What is it?" I asked, immediately alert.

"Everyone's back," he reported a wary, but still obvious smile on his face.

The same smile slowly crept onto my lips and I followed him to the gate. Everyone besides Rick and Daryl had come back.

Tara walked over to us.

"You okay, Tara?" I asked in concern.

She nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She handed us three letters. "I'll go get on gate watch."

I shook my head. "No. All of you go get some rest first. We'll figure out a plan at dinner."

She nodded and walked off. I opened the first letter. It was from Rick Carl and Michonne read it over my shoulder.

Bree, Carl, and Michonne,
The plan is working. We're doing this. We're winning. We had a hard fight. We lost people, brave people who gave their lives to make sure we won. By the time it was over, there weren't any Saviors left standing. All of it, it's scarier than I thought it'd be, but we're doing it. We have to. Sasha was first, and now, there's been more. The sacrifices are real. We need to make it right for them. The rest of the plan's still a go. We're moving onto the next step. I'm headed there now. The Sanctuary's still surrounded. They're trapped, cut off from their supplies. Every hour that goes by, we're making them weaker. The lookouts are all around the compound. They open a door, we fire. But if they open a door, it seems like they'd have bigger problems. We meet at the Sanctuary in two days to end this, to win it all. It's not like we haven't fought before. We fought every step of the way to this place, to this moment. The path has led us here, to who we are, to each other, to now. And we're so close. This can be our last fight.

The three of us exchanged a concerned glance. We opened the next one. It was from Maggie.

We beat them, but things got complicated. Jesus took prisoners and brought them back home. We're holding them outside our gates for now until we decide what to do. Until I decide.

I pressed my lips together and opened the third one, which was from Carol.

We took the outpost bit by bit. We thought we'd won. We were gathered out in the open when they ambushed us. It was over in seconds. Ezekiel, Jerry, and me, we're the only ones who made it back.

I looked up from the letter and took a deep breath. I turned to Carl.

"Send out two letters. One to Hilltop and one to the Kingdom. Let them know how we are."

I walked towards the gate as he called after me.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I'm gonna find Rick and help him," I responded.

"No!" he called. He ran over and stopped in front of me. "You can't go."

"He needs me," I protested.

"We need you more," he stated, causing me to exhale deeply. "Look, if I know anything about my dad, it's that he knows how to survive. But if we get attacked and you're not here, we're dead. And if both of you die out there, there will be no one to lead us."

He sensed my hesitation and reached out to hold my face. "Trust me. You are needed immensely here. You're our leader."

I waited a moment before taking a deep breath. "Fine. I'll stay. But I still want those letters done. You write to Carol, I'll write to Maggie."

He smiled softly and nodded.

"Okay, let's go."

•••

As I washed my face in the bathroom before bed, I couldn't stop thinking about how much I wish Rick would come back.

I glanced at the mirror and saw the reflection of Carl getting into bed.

I could feel that a war was coming soon.