Just Keep Walking

Eleven

Mary woke up to someone banging on the door, trying to open it.
"Carl. You take Mary." Michonne ordered, and Carl nodded, putting her on his back and tying her there.
"It's okay. It's okay." Carl soothed, his voice filled with fear.
"Come on! Fight to the fence!" A man yelled over the gunfire, opening the door. Rick.
"Daddy!" Mary shouted weakly, as they began to leave.
"Do not leave his side! Go, go, go!" Abraham ordered.
"Carl! Mary!" Rick called, as Carl reached him. He put one gentle hand on Carl's shoulder, the other on Mary's cheek, then nodded. "Let's go!"
They began to run, half the group keeping one eye on Mary and Carl, desperately wanting them to be safe. Michonne didn't leave Carl's side, killing anything close to them. When they got to the fence, Abraham helped him over the fence, staying to be the last person over, to ensure everyone's safety.
Carl kept rubbing until they were deep into the woods, then they stopped, and Rick hugged Carl tightly, then kissed Mary's cheek.
"We need to get back to the bag." Rick said to Daryl, and he nodded, already going to lead the way. When they got to where Rick had buried the bag, Daryl passed Rick a small spade.
"The hell are we still around here for?" Abraham asked impatiently.
"Guns, some supplies. Go along the fences, use the rifles. Take out the rest of 'em." Rick explained nonchalantly.
"What?" Bob asked in shock, his eyebrows raised.
"They don't get to live."
"Rick, we go out. It's over." Glenn sighed.
"It's not over 'till they're all dead." Rick retorted.
"The hell it isn't. That place is on fire! Full of Walkers!" Rosita argued angrily. "And your kid needs antibiotics! There's no time to waste."
"I'm not dicking around with this crap. We just made it out." Abraham added.
"The fences are down. They'll run or die." Michonne insisted.
"And Rosita is right. Rick. Mary is in a bad way." Maggie explained gently, looking at the child on Carl's back.
Suddenly, Daryl rushed over to a figure close by, and everyone stared. Carol. Daryl hugged her tightly, never wanting to let go of her, lifting her slightly off the ground. Rick, Maggie, and Carl walked over, grins on their faces, and Daryl slowly let go, then let out a tear as he rested his head on Carols shoulder.
Eventually Daryl moved away, and Rick approached the woman. "Did you do that?" Rick asked, and Carol nodded, hugging Rick and laughing softly. "Thank you."
"You have to come with me." Carol insisted, and Rick nodded, the group beginning to walk.
"Rick," Rosita said slowly, approaching the man, "she needs antibiotics. Without them, she'll only last a few days."
"She'll be fine. I'll find some. But she'll be fine." Rick insisted, speeding up a little.
"We'll get her some. Thank you." Glenn nodded to Rosita. "He just doesn't want to admit it."
"Well he needs to. If he doesn't, she'll die."
"I won't let that happen." Glenn nodded reassuringly, and Rosita nodded, walking away in silence. They carried on walking, Carl still holding Mary, until they saw a tiny wooden cabin. There was a man holding a baby outside.
Rick, Carl, and Sasha ran over straight away, Rick grabbing Judith and crying, holding her tightly, Carl stood by him, grinning, and stroking the back of Judith's head, as Sasha and Tyreese hugged firmly.
"Judy, you're okay." Carl half laughed, kissing her forehead, as Rick sobbed.
"Mary," Carl smiled tearfully, trying to wake her up, "Judith is here!"
But Mary couldn't wake up.
Tyreese walked over, and Rick put a half on Tyreese's shoulder, thanking him.
Then Tyreese turned to Carl, and saw Mary. He looked at her with wide eyes, then decided to have the conversation later. Rick carried on holding Judith carefully, kissing her head, overjoyed. He had all his children back. He had the final piece of Lori back. He was whole.
Michonne walked over, smiling at the reunited family, and stroked Judith's chubby arm. Rick walked around and looked at Mary, seeing she was sweating heavily and paler than ever. As he did so, Judith slowly began to cry, and Rick soothed her instantly, then Carl held out his arms to Judith, taking her into his arms.
Rick took Mary, needing to get her water, and walked a few steps away after kissing Judith's head again. "I don't know if the fire is still burning." Rick wondered out loud.
"It is." Carol nodded.
"Yeah. We need to go."
"Yeah, but where?" Daryl asked, looking over at the man.
"Somewhere far away from there." Rick sighed. He went to Maggie, and took some water from her, waking Mary up and giving it to her, the midday sun beating down on them.
"I can't believe it's still the same day." Rick sighed as Mary drank a few drops of water.
"We set off as soon as the sun rose." Daryl shrugged. Rick nodded, knowing they did so at around four or five in the morning. The man stood Mary up, but she fell limp even as he supported her, feeling weak, dizzy, and in pain, so Rick sat her down, and took her shirt off, leaving her in just her dungarees so she'd be cooler.
"Hey," Rick smiled softly, "guess who I have?"
"Who?" She whispered groggily.
"Carl Bunny." Rick grinned, going into his deep pockets and pulling out the compressed toy.
"Bunny." Mary smiled, taking it off him and hugging it, her face nuzzled into the soft fabric.
"I hid it for you." Rick explained gently.
"Thank you." She whispered. Rick nodded, hugging her softly, then he kissed the top of her head and put her onto his back.
"Let's go!" Rick shouted. They began to walk, Rick at the back, Carl slightly ahead with Judith.
"You're gonna get better, Mary. I promise you will. Don't worry. Don't you worry, okay? Let me worry," Rick rambled to Mary as she slept, the bunny his her dungarees pocket, "and you just rest. Just rest."
"Rick? Here alright?" Abraham asked as they got to a small clearing in the woods. Rick nodded, holding Mary's had as she slept. Everyone began to put their few things; jackets they had taken off in the heat, the few bottles of water, scavenged berries. Daryl left, and came back with three rabbits which he gutted and began to cook immediately, knowing everyone was hungry and tired.
"Hey," Tyreese said softly, "hey, man, I gotta talk to you."
"Yeah? What is it?" Rick asked, slightly concerned.
"When everything went down... Lizzie and Mika, they ran to find Judith. I followed them, and I saw her. I saw her and her hat and her little bunny, and there was so much blood. Rick, there was so much blood. I couldn't see her breathing. And there was so much blood, Rick. So much. I though she was dead. I was sure if it. I moved her away from the Walkers, by some wild flowers. She was next to one of her little drawings. And I was just about to put her down when some Walkers lunged at us. So we ran."
"Thank you." Rick smiled, nodding happily.
"Thank you? I could have killed her."
"If she'd been left there the Walkers would've got her. You saved her. Thank you," Rick nodded gratefully, "you saved both of my girls." Tyreese nodded at him, then walked over to Carl.
"Are you okay?" Rick asked Carl gently, and he nodded, filling Judith's baby bottle with water.
"What about Mary? How is she?"
"Worse," Rick whispered shakily, "a lot worse. She's in and out of it. But she'll be okay. She always gets better."
"Yeah. She does." Carl smiled sadly. Rick smiled back, then got up and walked over to Tara, Mary now in his arms instead of his back.
"You didn't want to be there. That's why I tried to talk to you. Glenn told me you saved his life." Rick said firmly, straight to the point.
"He saved mine." Tara smiled softly.
"That's how it works with us, right?"
"Right," Tara nodded, holding out her fist as Rick went to leave, "hey." Ruck chuckled at the young woman, and held out one fist, joining it to Tara's.
"Gets something to eat. We'll start back at sunrise." Rick smiled. Tara nodded and left, and Rick held Mary even closer.
"Hey," Michonne said gently, walking over to Rick, "have a break, and let me take her. Okay?"
"I don't..."
"If she wakes up, if she cries, if anything, I will get you. Okay?"
"Okay." Rick nodded, letting Michonne take her. As Michonne held her, she realised how skinny Mary was, dangerously so, and she was so very hot.
"Hang in there. You'll be okay." Michonne whispered, sitting down with Mary. "You're going to be okay."
Carl looked over at them, then walked to Rosita, almost intimidated by her beauty and how new she was and simply her bold attitude.
"What are you? T-the first aid person? Like a doctor?" Carl asked quietly, a little awkward.
"You could say that." Abraham half laughed, looking the teenager up and down. "Carl?"
"Yeah."
"You're lucky to have such a big family. Two sisters. It's rare to even have one."
"That's what I want to talk about," Carl said quickly, cutting him off, and turning to Rosita, "Mary, is she going to die?"
"What?"
"Have we found my little sister, for her to just die of a gunshot?"
"She's got a very serious infection." Rosita nodded.
"What does that mean?" Carl hissed, finding his courage.
"It means she has an infection. And it's serious. It could be deadly. I don't know. I know that she needs antibiotics."
"What if she doesn't get any?" Carl asked again, his eyes stony and angry and scared.
"I think you know." Abraham replied, firm yet gentle at the same time.
"She can't die." Carl whispered, then he left.
"Poor kid." Rosita mumbled, and Abraham looked at her with raised eyebrows. "His mom obviously died. Everyone else he knows has died. And his little sisters gonna die."
"It's the same as everyone else." Abraham muttered. Rosita rolled her eyes and let out a laugh. She didn't laugh when she saw Carl break out in tears and hysterically punch a tree.