Solitude -> The Walking Dead

46

The stench of the walkers made me nauseous. I had to fight off the urge to gag as I stabbed them through the fence.

"They'll be back soon, right?" Maggie asked.

I glanced at her. She was doing the same dirty job as me. Trying to stop the walkers from overwhelming the fences.

She looked at me. "I'm not overthinking it, am I?"

A sigh escaped my lips as I continued my work. Maggie was an anxious trainwreck since Glenn got sick. That's the hundredth time she's subtly asked if we should worry.

"If I'm not worrying about Dakota, you shouldn't either." I reassured her.

My sister has proven that she'll always come back to her family. Even if takes a bit longer than we'd like. They'll be back with the medication.

A car could be heard in the distance. Maggie and I shared a look before sprinting to the gate. We opened it and the car came in. It was Rick.

"Carl, Judith, are they okay?" he asked.

As far as I knew, they were great. Abby and Carl worked in shifts patrolling the halls of the administration building. Abby didn't like being away from me and Ryan but she knew it was for the best.

Maggie nodded. "Yeah, where's Carol?"

It was then that I also noticed that she wasn't in the car. My eyes narrowed as Rick shifted uncomfortably. Something wasn't right.

"Glenn, Hershel, Sasha?" He added.

"Yeah, it's bad but they're fighting it. Daryl's not back yet." Maggie replied.

Rick nodded and was about to head for the prison. Oh no, he does not get to do that.

This is exactly what they did when they left Merle behind back at camp. Ignore the question of his whereabouts.

"Rick, where's Carol?" I demanded to know.

He stopped in his tracks at the sound of my voice. When he turned around to face us, he did so with a newfound determination.

"It was her. She killed Karen and David. She was trying to stop it from spreading. Tyreese is gonna be back here soon, so I didn't think she should be here." Rick explained.

I stared at him in disbelief. Did he seriously kick her out of the prison? Out of this group? This is Carol we're talking about.

"And I couldn't have her here. She has a car, supplies, she'll figure it out." Rick said.

"You had no right to do that!" I argued.

Maggie and Rick turned to look at me. I can't believe he'd kick out the one person who made the biggest sacrifice here. She was trying to save us.

I jabbed my finger in his face. "You gave up the right to make decisions like those the moment you said you didn't want to be in charge anymore. And it was Carol who was in the council, and it was her making the tough calls. Not you."

Rick clenched his jaw but refused to comment. He glanced at Maggie who didn't want to be involved in this fight. I just said what we've all been thinking.

"What's done is done," he turned to Maggie, "I'll tell your dad. Don't tell anyone else yet."

He turned to leave but stopped when he heard me scoff. I crossed my arms over my chest as he looked at me.

"Would you have brought her back?" he asked.

I looked at him as if though he had asked me the stupidest question in the world. Carol was the closest thing I had to a best friend.