Surviving The New World (Book Six in the Surviving The Walking Dead Series)

Laid to Rest

"You die now," the walkers whispered as they lumbered towards us. Rain began to pour down onto us, reducing our visibility. Was this it for us? Was this how we died? Trapped in a cemetery? Killed by walkers? Humans? I thought about Harper. I just wanted to see her. I wanted to hold her close and never let go. Morgan's words echoed in my head: all life is precious. Jesus' life was precious. If it wasn't for him, Alexandria wouldn't have survived. Without him, the Kingdom would've never fought against Negan and everyone would still be under his thumb...maybe I would still be his wife, completely blinded by hatred.

"Go," Michonne softly spoke. "I'll cover you." Everyone slowly made their way towards the gate, carefully picking Jesus up and dragging him through to the other side. "Go, Michaela."

"Not without you," I insisted.

"I'll be fine, now go."

"Think of Judith, Michonne, think of RJ."

"I am, but right now, I'm thinking about you and the others. Get out, I'll be right behind you." I let out a sigh and made for the gate, ignoring the sounds of Michonne swinging her katana at nearby walkers. As soon as she had an opening, Michonne ran for the gate and Yumiko covered her with her bow. I quickly slammed the gate shut and locked it behind us.

"It won't hold 'em long," I insisted. "We need to leave, now." Daryl and Magna lifted Jesus once more and we all continued through the woods as fast as we could, making our way back to Hilltop in solemn silence. Michonne and the others stashed a couple of horses about a mile out, so we stopped there to get them back, making it easier for us to transport Jesus and to give Eugene a rest from his still-recovering knee injury; everyone else walked. People tried to take the blame for Jesus' death, some talked about how good of a man he was...I stayed silent. I still couldn't process it. Jesus was dead. My heart instantly shattered at the thought of having to tell MJ.

"How ya holdin' up?" Daryl softly spoke from beside me, but I didn't respond. "I'm sorry about Makeda...she was a cool cat. I'm sorry about Jesus, too."

"He was a good man," I mumbled. "We all knew the risks."

"I know."

"I begged 'em to not go, Daryl...and now he's dead."

"It ain't your fault. He's the leader of Hilltop, he orchestrated the trip out, he wanted to go."

"But now he's dead and now I gotta tell MJ."

"I'll tell 'em."

"No...it's gotta be me."

"It don't always gotta be you, Michaela."

"I know, but he hates your guts, remember?" I quietly sighed. "I gotta tell Harper, too. She's gonna be so heartbroken."

"Maybe we can tell 'er together?" The space between us fell silent. Daryl was trying to push the issue of him being involved with Harper without coming off as insensitive. I understood, but it wasn't the right time.

"No," I gently shook my head. "If you wanna meet 'er, that's fine, but it's gonna be on her terms, not ours. I don't want 'er to meet ya and associate ya with bad news. Just give 'er some time to get past this and I'll bring it up, okay?" Daryl gently nodded. Faint growling filled our ears and Dog began to bark.

"What's going on?" Yumiko asked.

"We got some tails," Magna informed.

"The living kind or original recipe?" Eugene asked nervously.

"Let's find out." Daryl reached into his pocket and tossed Dog a small piece of dried meat. "Good dog." We all made our way towards a small covered bridge and patiently waited for the small group of walkers to make their way towards us. "Stay with Michaela, Dog." Daryl ordered and walked up to the barn, his crossbow at the ready. As they walked closer, Daryl fired off an arrow into a walker's leg, earning no reaction. He quickly reset his crossbow, and aimed at another walker. He fired the arrow and the walker instantly collapsed, screaming in agonizing pain. All but two walkers instantly pounced on the screaming man and tore into him.