the weight of living; c.g.

[2.2]: gone

After the church was boarded up, Michonne and Carl came back inside. I pretended not to notice, focusing all my attention on helping Grace with her drawing. It was stupid to hold a grudge but I couldn't help it, it was just a part of my nature.

Putting down the marker, I decided to go check on Gabriel. It had been a few hours since he went in there, more or less. Ignoring Carl's stare, I opened the door to the small room, expecting to see Gabriel on the sofa. The space was empty except for a hole in the center of the room, floorboards pried open.

"He's gone." I turned in the doorway to inform Michonne and Carl. They got up immediately, coming up behind me in the doorframe. I stepped inside, to inspect the hole. It went through the bottom of the church, leading to the grass below. He must have left through there.

"We'll find him. He can't be far." Michonne spoke up, hand touching the katana on her back. We nodded, grabbing our own weapons.

"Stay with Grace and Judith. We'll be back." Michonne turned to me. Although I didn't like being told to do things, I respected Michonne's wishes and slid my machete back onto my belt.
They were all ready to lower themselves down when a banging at the front door to the church made itself apparent.

Immediately, I thought of Grace and Judith and bolted back into the big room. Grace had taken hold of Judith, eyes wide as she looked at the door. Through the wood, we could hear the faint pleas of help, definitely not from a biter.

"It's Gabriel." I breathed. Michonne and Carl worked at opening the door that they so carefully boarded up. Taking action, I told Grace to take Judith into the small room and shut the door. When they left, I pulled out my machete, ready for whatever came through the door.

As the door burst open, Gabriel came stumbling in, followed by a dozen biters. Carl took a shot at a few then hung back with Gabriel as Michonne took care of a few. I stabbed a few as they came past her, but they began to overwhelm us.

"The rectory, come on!" Gabriel came to his senses, gesturing to the small room. We followed him in, joining Grace and Judith inside. The door slammed on biter's hands, not quite closing. Michonne shoved a chair under the door, but the biters persisted.

"That's how I got out. Crawl under to the back. Take the little ones and go." Gabriel pushed against the door, desperation in his face. Carl started grabbing Judith's things, putting them all into the bag. I helped him, gathering her toys.

"Hey, hey. You two wait for me." Michonne put her hand on Carl's shoulder as he lowered himself and Judith down. He nodded and continued, finally getting through the hole. I helped Grace get down next, leaving myself for last. After she was down, I let myself fall through, crawling out the back to where Carl, Judith and Grace waited.

"You ok?" Carl asked me as I stood up, panting heavily. I nodded as I brushed the dirt off of me. Moments later, Michonne crawled out and I helped her to her feet. Then we waited for Gabriel, a few seconds of agonizing silence.

A bloody machete appeared, soon followed by a shaking Gabriel. As Michonne helped him up, he was breathing hard.

"I can't run anymore." He managed to say.

"We aren't running." Michonne reassured him, determination set in her face. She started telling us her plan, giving us jobs to do. We were going to board up the church from the outside, trapping the biters in.

We went around to the front of the church, facing the biters that were stuck on the spikes we had set up earlier. Carl and I took care of them as Michonne pushed into the circle, facing the door. She grabbed the doors and forced them shut, Gabriel placing a piece of wood over it. Carl shoved through and hammered it shut, finally keeping the biters inside.

"Where do we go?" Carl asked as we stood watching the biters push against the door, the wood already starting to crack.

The sound of a vehicle caught our attention, heads turning to see a fire truck roll in, crashing right in front of the church, blocking the biters from escaping.

"It's them." I breathed as we spotted the man behind the wheel, Abraham. They began spilling out of the truck, stepping around the dead biters to us.

"You're back." Michonne said to Glenn as I hugged Maggie, a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Eugene lied. He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end." Glenn delivered the news, a tired expression on his face.

"Where is everybody?" He asked, scanning the area for the rest of the group. Michonne walked over to Maggie.

"Beth's alive. She's in a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her and the others went to get her back." Michonne told Maggie, knowing she'd want to hear it first.

"Do we know which one?" Maggie had a fresh wave of excitement, her eyes lighting up.

"Grady Memorial." Michonne nodded. Maggie laughed and turned to hug Glenn. We all watched her rejoice in the knowledge that her sister was alive.

"Let's blow this joint, go save your sister." Tara smiled. We all agreed, a new hope surging in our chests.