Tomorrow Will Come

Twenty three

The next morning Mary woke up late, having snoozed half the day away, and was groggy when she finally swung her legs out of bed and wondered downstairs. She grabbed some fruit, and ate it quickly so she could take her antibiotics and pain medication, then changed her bandage.
After taking a well needed shower, she wrote a simply note on the blackboard, and headed out, getting out of the walls mostly undetected.
"What the hell, Maria?" A voice sighed, making Mary spin around.
"Rosita. What you doin'?"
"The hell are you doin'? Been stabbed, have an infection, and you're walking along the river?" Rosita scoffed, and Mary glared back in a stubborn retort.
"You're pregnant. And it's a slight infection. I'm as sick as you."
"I'm not sick! I'm pregnant."
"And I'm not sick, I'm recovering!" Mary snapped, and Rosita sighed.
"Well, can't stop you, but you can't stop me from joining you."
"I'm busy."
"Busy with what?"
"You know." Mary shrugged, and Rosita sighed.
"No. No, I don't know. Or I wouldn't have asked."
"I'm looking for dad!"
"Mary." Rosita whispered sadly, and the younger girl exhaled sharply.
"I know. I know I won't find him. Probably won't. I know everyone thinks he's dead, but lately, I just can't accept that anymore. I can't say he's dead when I didn't see his body. Uncle Daryl once said that he'd look forever. He'd look for my dad forever. I wanna do the same. Even if I just find him as a Walker one day. I can't live without knowing anymore. I can't."
"Okay," Rosita nodded, "okay. I can accept that. But let me look with you, yeah? 'Cos if it ever happened to me, if I was gone? I know you'd help my kid look for me. So we'll search. Once a week, yeah? I promise. We'll search until we find something, or until we die."

"What's going on?" Mary called as her mother and Aaron gathered towards the guard post later that day, her face full of confusion and also exhaustion from her earlier trek with Rosita.
"Your Uncle's here." Michonne said with a sigh.
"Which one?"
"Daryl. With Connie, Henry, and some other girl." Laura replied to Mary, making the girl even more confused, then everything fell into place - Henry had gone looking for Lydia, and Connie and Daryl had chased after him.
"I trust Daryl," Michonne said suddenly to Aaron, then she called out to the guards to open the gate. As soon as the gate was open, Mary and Daryl were hugging, the man kissing the top of her head.
"You feelin' better?"
"So much." Mary nodded, and Daryl pulled away, taking off her hat and ruffling her hair.
"Hi," Mary said quietly, walking to the girl, "I'm..."
"Mary. I know. You was the one who fought to make sure I didn't have to go back. Thank you."
"I'm glad I did. And I'd do it again." Mary assured her.
"Alright, you gonna stitch me up, doc?" Henry teased, and Mary scoffed when she looked at his leg.
"The hell you done that for?"
"It was worth it." Henry shrugged, giving Lydia a knowing smile, and she rolled her eyes, sensing how in love they were.

"So, where to now? Straight to the Kingdom?" Michonne asked Daryl with a sigh, as Siddiq stitched Henry up.
"Well, probably not straight, but yeah. Carol should know."
Mary smiled as she and Michonne read a note Connie held up, reading; This wasn't the plan but I'd do it all again. With different shoes.
"You're okay?" Mary pressed gently to the woman, and Connie nodded, putting a gentle hand on Mary's shoulder.
"Thank you." She signed to Mary and Michonne, and Michonne nodded, drifting into the infirmary.
"Keep an eye on the girl." Michonne barked to Laura, and she nodded.
"I'm on it."
"Come on. Let's go talk to Aaron." Michonne said gently to Mary, and the girl nodded, following her mother.
"Doesn't look like they were followed," Aaron explained, "Daryl covered his tracks. If those skin jobs are looking... They'll find us soon enough."
"And them." Michonne nodded, as Mary began to chew at her lip.
"It's a very really possibility. That they're coming, so we need to get ready."
"No," Mary breathed, "no. They can't."
"Mary..."
"No!" She screamed suddenly, beginning to hyperventilate, "No! They can't come. They aren't! They aren't!"
"Hey. Hey, kid. It's okay," Aaron soothed, as Michonne put a hand on her shoulder, "it's gonna be okay. We've been through worse."
"You don't know! You don't know what they're like. No! No!" Mary shouted, sinking to the floor in a panic, Michonne crouching down next to her.
"Hey. Baby, hey. Look at me. Breathe, and look at me. It's okay. It's okay." The mother soothed, holding Mary's hands.
"They're gonna get them," Mary sobbed, her mind filled with paranoia, "they're gonna get them. Judy and RJ and Gracie. Jennie. Toby. They're all gonna be dead. And all the adults will follow. You'll follow. Uncle Aaron. Daryl and Rosita and Sid and..."
"Okay. Stop. Stop." Michonne said slowly, Mary's breathing slowly getting to follow her mothers.
"I can't. I can't let them get them." Mary whimpered, and Michonne nodded slowly.
"I know. I know." Michonne breathed, letting Mary sink into her arms.
"I can't let them get here. They can't hurt them, mom."
"It's won't let them. Okay? Do you remember when we were at war with Negan? And we were so scared. Scared for you. Because after... After Carl died, all you wanted was to fight with us. Fight to make it safe for yourself, for Judith. But we kept you safe then, and we will do again, okay? I'll keep you safe."