Daughter of a Dixon ✔️

100: Legacy

{A/N: Warning: long, painful chapter ahead! Go to the bathroom, get your blankets and tissues now!}

"I-... I don't...h-how?"

I listened as Rick stammered out phrases, obviously out of pure shock. I had forced myself to stop crying by that point, knowing that it wasn't right for me to be sobbing my eyes out when Rick was just finding out about Carl. I didn't want him to see me cry; it wouldn't have been fair to him.

"Dad, it-it's gonna be okay," Carl stumbled, his voice a low whisper. It sounded so weak, and I could tell, he was in so much pain. "I wasn't sure if you'd make it back, before... but, just in case, I wanted to make sure I was able to say goodbye..."

The last word caused a sob to rise in my throat, but I immediately pushed it back down, knowing I couldn't cry anymore. I watched with tearful eyes as Carl slid out a handful of letters from his back pocket, and my breathing hitched audibly.

"Carl..." Michonne rasped, disbelief in her voice, and I looked away so I wouldn't have to see her heartbreaking expression.

All Rick could say was, "no," progressively getting more determined, but eventually, Carl had to stop him.

"Dad, I got bit," he said, biting his lip. "I was bringing Siddiq back... we saw him at that gas station, before... It wasn't the Saviors, Dad... I got bit."

I hated hearing those words. They were like a curse, forever ringing in my ears. It was like every time I looked at Carl, every time I pictured him in my memory, all I could hear were those three, god-awful words. I got bit.

After a moment of shock wears thin, Michonne and Rick help Carl onto a cot, where he'd hopefully be more comfortable. I kept my distance, sitting against the wall with my head bowed next to Dad, who was holding a silent Judith in his lap. As much as I wanted to run up to Carl, to bawl my eyes out and hug his neck and kiss him one last time, I knew I couldn't; he was Rick's son, and our leader deserved all the time he could get with him before the inevitable happened.

The man Carl brought back, Siddiq, gave him some medicine, hopefully to help with the fever. As it turns out, he was a doctor, a surgical resident, before the world fell.

Suddenly, a raucous explosion struck from above, and rocks began to collapse down into the tunnel. I leaned in closer to Dad, screwing my eyes shut in hopes to avoid the array of dust that had accumulated in the air. Another booming sound followed, and I slammed my hand down to the floor in anger.

Without thinking, I rushed up from the ground, pacing towards Dwight with fury in my eyes. "Make them stop," I commanded in a voice that was completely unlike me. I had never heard myself sound so angry.

"I can't," Dwight said, shaking his head, and I mimicked his action.

"Yes, you can. You're one of them, they'll listen to you, just..." I stopped myself, absentmindedly choking on a cry. "Please... it is the least you could do."

If I wasn't mistaken, a flash of sympathy passed through the man's eyes. A second later, I felt a timid hand on my shoulder, and I allowed Rosita to step forward in my place. "You said Hilltop's safe... we could go there, we could get Carl there."

"And they all think you went out in the woods. They're out there, looking," Dwight elaborated.

"They saw us go west, so we don't go west," Rosita concluded.