I Need You

Captive

Beth

It's been over two hours since the attack, late in the afternoon, and no one has made it back from the mission yet. They should be getting back anytime now. That's when we were expecting them anyway. I am helping Rosita and Spencer clear the street when I hear the gate open. Immediately I look in the direction of the noise and see Michonne, Tobin, and Mary come in. The gate closes behind them and I know what that means. We all do. They were the only ones that survived. The volunteers for the mission were divided into teams, so more people could be coming. We just need to give them some more time.

Michonne locks eyes with me and heads my way. Her voice is low and grave. "Hey."

"Hey." I reply.

"What happened here?" She asks.

I gesture to the pile of bodies by the gate. "Wolves. They attacked while you were gone. We were able to fight them off."

"I saw the truck. The horn is what made the herd start to break off. We lost about half." She states.

The thought of half that herd on their way here now sends a chill down my spine. "How long do we have?"

She shrugs. "I'm not sure. Rick left to go find a car. He was hoping to round them all back up and send them in the right direction." She looks around as if searching for something. "Has Glenn and Nicholas made it back yet?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "No. You're the first ones back."

"Glenn and Nicholas stayed behind. They were trying to create a distraction for the walkers to help keep them in one spot until Rick could get them. They were supposed to be right behind us. We got held up with Mary's injury. I thought they might beat us here." She explains.

Her words send my mind in a million directions. Glenn has to be okay. Maggie and the baby need him. I take a deep breath. Have a little faith. He's okay. He'll be back. "They probably just got held up too."

Michonne nods with a worried look on her face. Michonne never really shows when she's scared. The emotion on her face is unnerving. She always seems so fearless. It feels weird to be the one offering her some hope and comfort when normally she's the one doing that for us. I reach out and touch her arm. Her brown eyes meet mine. I give her a hopeful smile which she returns gratefully. She pulls me into a hug.

When we pull away, I nudge her in the direction of the house. "Go on, and get some rest." She doesn't argue and walks away, leaving me alone.

The amount of dead bodies within the walls is insane. We killed all the Wolves, or at least I think we did, but they killed a lot of us first. Some of the dead Alexandrians, I recognize and some I don't. In a way, I am thankful we haven't been here long enough to learn who everyone is and become friends with them. It makes this job, cleaning up their dead bodies, easier.

Once the streets are all clear, we decide to go check each and every house to be safe. That's where we find the Miller's, slaughtered on their porch, each with their throats slit. That's where we find Mrs. Jane as a walker locked inside her house. We see her through the window first. Her once frail body that needed a walker to move around is now hobbling along faster than it did when she was alive. My heart breaks seeing her like this. I wipe my eyes, pushing away the involuntary tears and pull my knife, bracing myself to put her down.

I feel a hand stop me gently. The hand belongs to Jessie. She shakes her head at me. "Let me." I'm about to argue with her and tell her I can do it when she says, "Please." Something about the look on her face and the tone of her voice, I know she needs to do this so I relent.