The Inevitable

A Short Goodbye

I walked onto the farm and stared at the charred farm house. It was almost completely gone. The group stood beside me holding their bloodied weapons. The place we once took refuge was now a shelter for the dead.
"I'm going to go sit down."
Maggie and Glenn walked towards the fence and sat down. Tyreese and Daryl took care of digging the grave.
"You were right. We never should've went back at Atlanta."
"We went back to save our people, Rick. I'd go back to Woodbury if it meant saving more of them."
"Where do we go from here?"
"We take Noah home. It's what Beth was trying to do."
Rick rested a hand on my shoulder and  looked out at the farm. He stared at the spot the porch used to be and I knew he saw her standing there. We all knew he saw Lori, but we didn't bother to change it. Weirder things have happened.
Out of nowhere Rick pulled me against his chest and wrapped his arms around me.
"I'm tired of losing people, Allison."
"We all are, Rick. Even the ones we lost are tired of seeing familiar faces."
I looked at the spot where the RV used to always be parked and I broke down. I hung my hands on Rick's shoulders and cried against his chest. Nowadays death seemed to be following us. Everywhere we went, everything we did, it ended with someone dying.
Rick and I let go of each other before heading to the graves. Abraham and Rosita built a wall around all the graves. Something about keeping the dead off them. I walked back to the truck where Carol was sitting.
"Want to say goodbye?"
"I would."
I helped her out of the truck and walked over to Beth's grave. Daryl rolled an old stump over for her to sit on. Gabriel stepped forward and watched as Beth was lowered into the ground.
"Today we gather to mourn a terrible loss. Beth Greene was a part of your group far before I knew any of you, but the way you all stand here today mourning her loss I think I can understand who she was to all of you. A fellow soldier, a friend, and most importantly a sister. Her death was a loss to this world and to what it could become. We must remember that in these hard times that Beth had hope. She looked at God in times of hardship and she shared her love with everyone she met. She will be remembered as who she was while living. May she rest in peace and find her way to God's arms."
Maggie walked back to the truck not long after Gabriel finished talking. Rick looked around and sighed.
"Beth wanted Noah to get to Virginia. It's our decision whether or not we go."
We all looked around and nodded.
"We're in."