Broken

The Border to the North

Ozzy

Greg

DJ

Frankie

Alya

Addy

Siddiq

Enid

Tara

Henry

The box of coins falls from my hands as the cold air engulfs us. I don't think I can breathe. 

Mika screams when she sees Alya. The girl tries to run to her. Tears stain my cheeks, "No, Mika," I whisper as I grab her. 

I tuck her against my chest. She wails as she grips onto my shirt. "Shh, shh," I whisper to her, I stroke her hair as she cries, "I'm here," I whisper. 

Daryl shields Carol from seeing her dead son, but they're not really dead. They've turned and they are growling from their spots on the posts. 

I sob as I hold my sister. Yumiko turns away, I grab her arm and pull her toward us, "Come here," I say, Mika sinks to the ground. 

I follow her, Yumiko shakes her head. "I've got you," I whisper as I hug her to me as well. 

"It should've been me," Carl says, "Should've been me!" he yells. Michonne rocks her son back and forth.

Snow falls on the border to the north.

Home is a distant thought, the fair is a toy left in the corner. The box of Hilltop coins abandoned, our family is gone.

"Can you-," I question Yumiko, the woman nods as I stand. 

Yumiko holds Mika as I go over to Carl he has a head wound and his nose is most likely broken. "Let me go," he whispers to his mom, "I'll never do that baby," she says as she presses a kiss to his dark hair. 

I look at Michonne, she knows that we have to go home, that we have to tell them what happened. 

When we get back everyone is still having fun. Until they see Carl. Mika crying in Daryl's arms, Carol sits on the ground as soon as we enter the place. 

I kneel beside her, "Carol," I whisper, "You have to stand," I say as I grab her arms. 

"I lost my baby," she says. "You still have us," I tell her. We both look up at Mika and Daryl. "You still have a chance," I say. 

"I've lost all my babies," she whispers, "You haven't," I say as I grab her arms.

The King rushes this way, "My Queen, are you alright?" he asks. Carol shakes her head, "Where is Henry, the others?" he looks at Carl, then back at the Queen. 

Carol shakes her head. The King crumbles right there on the spot, he falls to his knees with a noise that I can only describe as pure despair, this is the second son he's lost. 

He hugs his wife, and cries against her. I spot Lydia in the crowd, "Let's get you to bed, Girly," Daryl says to Mika. 

The streets are filled with panic and sorrow, people who lost family members are wailing. I'm trying to find my way through to get Carl to the infirmary. 

"Where is she?" Alden asks as he grabs my shoulders, I look up at him, his face is red. He's been crying. "Alden, she's gone," I say. The man shakes his head, "No, she's not. You're lying," he says. 

"Alden, she-," I whisper. I barely catch him before he falls to the ground. "Come on," Carl whispers as he grabs the man's jacket. 

"I lost her, man," Alden whispers as the two embrace. I spot Rosita in the corner of my vision. She looks like she's about to pass out. 

"Tara was- she-," she questions, "She was," I say. I wrap my arms around her to stabilize her from falling, "She wa-," Rosita yells out. 

I rock her back and forth, "Siddiq too?" she asks, "I'm sorry," I whisper. Her and Siddiq had gotten close since Tara and Ro split. 

She sobs into my shirt, "What am I going to tell the boys?" she asks, "They're gonna- oh," I close my eyes. 

"I don't know," I say as I pull away, "Elaine, I don't think I can do this," she says. 

"Let's get you sat down," I say to her, I help the woman to a chair, "Stay here," I say as I tuck her hair behind her ears. 

I tap on Gabriel's shoulder, he's talking with Jerry, "Can you sit with her?" I ask as I point to Ro. 

The man nods, "I'm sorry," Gabriel says, "Thank you," I say. I can't talk about it, if I do the dam that I've put up is going to break. 

I need to be strong for Carl and Mika. Someone took her to one of the apartments to rest. 

Carl hasn't talked since we got back over two hours ago. Once I get all the blood off of his face I move across the Kingdom's infirmary to get bandages. 

I dig around in the cupboard for a moment before I hear Carl sniffle from behind me. 

"She made me watch," Carl says. "What?" I ask as I turn back to him. 

Don't break. Don't break.

"She made me watch, Alpha did," he says quietly. I walk across the room with the bandages. I kneel in front of him so I can look at him. "You're home," I say, "But I don't deserve to be," he says.

"Enid or Alya, Tara, Henry, Addy. They should be home, I- they had. They deserved it more than me," Carl stands. 

"We need to get them home," he says. I shake my head, "We will once we get you fixed up," I say as I grab his arms. I push him back into the chair. 

"Just let me fix you," I say. Carl swallows hard, "I don't think you can," he says, "Not this time." 

I put my hand on his face, "I'll always try, I'll keep trying," I whisper. Carl nods as I bandage his head. 

The wind whips at us as we come to the border. Daryl, Michonne, and I get out of the wagon that we brought. I stand there, looking at the pikes. I can't hold it in anymore.

We buried the people inside the walls of the Kingdom, Carl offered to do a funeral service. Michonne holds my hand as he gets up on the stage that he, Alden, and Luke were supposed to sing on. 

Mika refused to come, I squeeze Michonne's hand. Julia cuddles into my side. Rosita is on the other side of Julia with her boys. Magna is holding Yumiko as the service starts. 

"I was taken with the rest of them when I went to look for Enid. I was there in the barn with them. I saw-," Carl pauses and takes a deep breath. 

I hold Julia close to me, she watches her father as he stands there. 

"I should've died with them. But Alpha said, "Tell them," and I suppose she wanted me to tell you about what evil things happened there but that's not the part I think should be told. That story that is meant to scare you and drive us apart again, because we just got each other back. Before they could hurt us Ozzy, Greg, and DJ found us. They gave us the opening that we needed to fight, we fought like hell. They fought like hell. What they did was more than brave. They defended each other and they sacrificed for each other. Some of them didn't even know each other but they fought for a chance to survive. Like they were family until the end.

The Highwaymen lost their leader.

A wife lost a husband.

Alexandria lost a good fighter.

We lost a mother.

Rosie lost her child.

We lost a girl.

A doctor.

A woman.

Hilltop's leader.

And a boy.

They died as heroes."