Cassidy Grimes

Four Walls and a Roof Pt. 1

We've been awake for several hours, ever since Sasha found out that Bob was no where to be found. Daryl and Carol have both been gone as well, but we aren't too worried about them. Judith is still sleeping though, lucky girl. I yawn, falling asleep, and lean against Carl, who also yawns. Nick, Stephanie, and John had been silent ever since I offed their dead sister. I feel terrible.

"Why do we all have to be awake?" he mumbles sleepily. I shrug as Sasha, Tyreese, and my dad come inside suddenly, the door opening so loudly that I jerk awake.  

Sasha walks down the aisle towards Gabriel, who seems to be picking stuff up? I don't know. 

"Stop," Sasha says coldly to Gabriel, who from what I can see, was doing nothing wrong. "What are you doing?"

Gabriel doesn't answer, he seems confused as well.

"What. Are you doing?" Sasha asks more insistently. She sizes him up. "This is all connected. You show up, we're being watched, and now three of us are gone." Gabriel looks around, pure confusion flashing in his eyes.

"I... I don't... I don't have anything to do with this." He puts his hands up slowly, a sign of surrender, and a sign to calm the fuck down.

Sasha isn't having this. She snatches her knife out of its sheath, and Gabriel's peaceful gesture turns into one of defense, and his eyes go from confused to panicked.

"Wait!" he cries out, just as Rosita yells "don't!" Rosita runs towards Sasha, and Abraham holds her back. I stand up, swaying sightly from lack of sleep.

"Sasha, put it away." Tyreese says calmly.

"Who's out there?" Sasha walks towards Gabriel, who is shaking. 

"I- I don't have anything to do with this."

"Where are our people?"

Gabriel starts to repeat his plea, but Sasha cuts him off by screaming her last question louder. 

"Please, I don't have anything to do with this. I.."

Sasha backs away, where my father is staring at Gabriel. I walk towards the small crowd of my people to get to my father. I open my mouth to come to Gabriel's defense, but my father speaks before I have the chance.

"Why did you bring us here?" 

Gabriel starts to shake again. "Please, I...I-"

"Are you working with someone?" My father starts closing in on Gabriel, and I decide to keep my mouth shut.

"I'm alone! I'm alone. I was always alone."

My father waves this away. "What about the woman in the food bank, Gabriel? What did you do to her? 'You'll burn for this.'" I look back at Carl as he links eyes with mine. We stare at each other as our father continues. "That was for you. Why? What are you going to burn for, Gabriel?"

My father suddenly lunges at Gabriel, pinning his against the table he had behind him. "What?! What did you do? What did you do?!" I flinch as my father's voice echoes in the church. 

Gabriel pushes my father off, visibly terrified. He looks around the room, and with a quivering voice he said, "I lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors at night... I always..." He begins to cry. 

"They started coming, my congregation. Atlanta was bombed the night before and they were scared. They were... They were looking for a safe place, a place where they felt safe. And it was so early. It was so early. And the doors where still locked. You see... it was my choice. There were so many of them and they were trying to pry the shutters and banging on the siding, screaming at me. And so, the dead came for them."

I bit my lip at this and walked towards Carl. John sat next to him with Nick and Stephanie in his lap, he was trying to cover their ears, the poor kids frightened by the violence. Carl looked at me and patted the spot next to him. And so I sat by him as Gabriel continued. 

"Women... Children..." I looked over at Nick and Stephanie, and John's gaze locked with mine as Gabriel confessed. "Entire families calling my name as they were torn apart. Begging me for mercy, begging me for mercy. Damning me to hell.

"I buried their bones. I buried it all.  The Lord sent you here to finally punish me."

Gabriel collapsed onto his knees in front of my father, his hands clasped together as he sobbed. "I'm damned. I was damned before. I always lock the doors! I always lock the doors." He sunk against the board behind him and sobbed.

Whistling. We heard whistling from outside. Glenn and Maggie rushed toward a window., Glenn started, "there's something.."

We all looked back. Allison, who had been holding a sleeping Judith, rushed towards me. Jake followed her, and John pulled his siblings closer. 

"There's someone outside lying in the grass!" Glenn declared. My heart sunk. Allison gasped as she reached for Carl's hand. He took it and squeezed it reassuringly. I shook my head as Jake tried to wrap his arm around me. Sasha rushed towards the door.

"Sasha," my father warned as he followed her. 

All the adults rushed towards the door and opened it.