Just Keep Walking

Ninety four

When Rick had finally caught his breath, he kissed the top of Mary's head, then turned to Carl. "You're fine? You're good?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Dad, that was so badass." Carl laughed softly, and Rick nodded slowly.
"Yes. Yes, it was."
"His idea." Michonne added with a smile.
Mary smiled at Rick, glad that he was safe. She spat on his arm, and rubbed off a chunk of blood, making him look at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What are you doin'?" He laughed.
"Gettin' the blood off yer." Mary replied.
"Yer. Yer? No. It's you. Stop copying Uncle Daryl." Rick chuckled, and Mary rolled her eyes. "Hey. Are you okay? You're not hurt?" He asked gently.
"I'm fine," Mary nodded, "it was nice to do stuff like that. It was like how it used to be."
"Yeah." Rick nodded slowly. Mary sighed, then nestled into Rick's chest, leaning against the car door, and inhaled her bunny therapeutically.
"No bites or scratches?" Rick asked Michonne softly, looking into her eyes and tucking a stray dreadlock behind her ear.
"No. You?"
"No." Rick answered, and he kissed her softly.
"Can we have some music!?" Mary requested, leaning forwards and poking Rosita's cheeks.
"Mary, don't do that while I'm driving. Tara?" Rosita sighed, and Tara nodded. She searched in the front of the van, and pulled out a rock CD. She slid it into the radio, and Mary nestled even further into Rick's chest.
"You okay?" Rick pressed, and Mary nodded. "Go to sleep." Rick nodded, and Mary slowly dozed off to sleep, only waking when the van stopped.
"We home?" Mary mumbled.
"Nearly. Just a little walk. We don't want the Saviours to take the explosives in our van." Rick explained, getting out of the car with Mary on his back, Carl straight behind him, carrying Carl Bunny, and Michonne sightly ahead with Rosita and Tara. After a few minutes they reached Alexandria, and Tobin opened the gate.
"Lose the car?" Tobin asked with a sigh.
"Uh, it's somewhere safe." Rick nodded.
"You didn't find anything?" Tobin asked, confusing Mary, but she was distracted by seeing Aaron and Eric walking over.
"No. Listen we need to get everyone ready. The..." Rick began, but was cut off by a motorbike and several lorries driving into Alexandria, and dozens of men climbing out of them.
"Go to Carl. It's okay. Go to Carl." Rick soothed to Mary as she began to tremble, and Mary got down from Rick's back and went to Carl.
"It's okay. They're not taking you back," Carl soothed, "it's okay."
"Rick. Hello," Simon called, walking closer, and then he nodded to Carl and Mary, "and hello again."
"We thought it'd be longer." Rick said simply.
"Do you think we're here for a tribute? Do you?" Simon scoffed.
"Is there another reason?"
"There is. We're here for Daryl." Simon nodded.
"Negan took Daryl." Rick answered in mock confusion.
"Oh, but then your son showed up, Daryl went missing, might those two things be connected?" Simon pressed.
"They're not. We didn't know he was gone till right now."
"Don't." Carl breathed to Mary, and she nodded.
"Then this should be easy! Now, everyone find a buddy! Gonna have to follow us around. If he's here, we really need you all to see him die." Simon grinned, walking up to Carl and Mary. He flicked Carl's hat, and ruffled Mary's hair, the pair of them looking up at him with matching glares.
Mary clung to Carl as Saviours went into houses, smashing furniture and tossing things around.
"I want them to go." Mary whined.
"I know. I do too." Carl nodded, kissing the top of her head.
"I want Glenn back."
"Me too."
"We're going to the pantry." Rick said softly, a hand on Carl's shoulders. "Moo, I think you should go see Jo and Izzy, yeah?" Rick suggested, but Mary shook her head.
"No. I wanna stay." She whined, climbing into Rick's arms.
"Okay." Rick sighed, carrying her to the pantry, followed by Simon, Michonne, Tara, Aaron, Eric, and Rosita, alongside a few other Saviours.
"Where's the food?" Mary whispered in c infusion, looking at the bare shelves, but Rick was clueless as Mary.
Simon whistled, then chuckled, "These are some bare shelving units. You guys have a barbecue or something and not invite us? Seriously, this is sad. Hope you're not trying to hide stuff from us, 'cos that generally doesn't go over very well."
"We have a lot of people," Aaron spoke up suddenly, "it's getting harder to find stuff, and our focus lately has been on finding things that Negan might want. We're still adjusting to the new system."
"We were gonna scavenge more today. If you just wait, we'll bring something back. We'll find more." Rick rambled. It worried Mary; he genuinely seemed worried.
"Awe. Relax! I'm not here for a pickup. Good thing. But that day is coming, so you best do whatever you need to. Dig deep. Go the extra mile! Take some risks!" Simon shouted, banging on the cabinet harshly.
"We will." Michonne assured, as Rick looked at the floor.
"Well, we will appreciate that." Simon scoffed, before walking out of the pantry.
"Rick?" Michonne asked in concern, walking up to him.
"I'm fine." The man nodded slowly, and she put a hand on his cheek.
"Okay. Okay. Mary, come here. Give daddy a break." Michonne soothed, and Mary swung onto her hip. Rick went ahead to talk with Simon, as Mary sat on Michonne's hip.
"They're goin' now. It's all going to be okay." Michonne said softly, and Mary nodded. They walked up to the lorries with the Saviours, Rick, Tara, Rosita, Aaron, Eric, and Tobin, Mary clinging to Michonne.
"Thank you for the cooperation Rick. My apologies for leaving the place a bit of a mess, but we got a litany of other shit to attend to. So, do you, I guess, tick tick, chop chop." Simon laughed, jumping into his lorry. "Oh, and Rick? Daryl does turn up here two days from now, two months from now... Hell, two years from now, just know there's no statue of limitations on this. Keep that hatchet handy! You're gonna need it if he turns up with you people. And it won't turn out the way it did for your kids."
With that, Simon drove off, and everyone could finally breathe, Tobin slamming the gate shut, getting rid of the Saviours.
Rick took a few steps forwards, then turned to face the rest of the group. "What happened to the pantry?"
"We don't know. And we need to talk about Gabriel." Aaron sighed.
"Where is he?"
"He was on watch the night you all went to scavenge. I was supposed to take over for him in the morning. He wasn't at his post." Tobin explained.
"Pantry was cleared out and a car was gone."
"No one's seen him since." Eric added.
"He took our food?" Mary whispered, and Michonne stroked the back of her head.
"That son of a bitch. He stole our shit and ran." Rosita scoffed.
"That's what it looks like."
"Well, I don't want to believe it." Michonne spoke up, and Mary smiled softly.
"I don't believe it. That's not Gabriel. He wouldn't do that to us." Rick nodded.
"I thought he changed too, but it can't be anything else."
"Yes it can." Rick assured, before walking away, back to the centre of Alexandria. They ended up in Olivia's old house, connected to the pantry, and Rick, Tara, and Michonne looked in the main room, while Aaron, Eric, and Rosita searched the rest of the house, looking for clues as to where Gabriel could have gone.
Mary practiced doing handstands against the wall as Rick knelt on the floor, staring at Gabriel's bible.
"I can't believe he would just take our stuff and go," Tara sighed, "I mean, that's, that's not who he is."
"Well, he saw Olivia and Spencer die right in front of him." Michonne pointed out.
"I know, I just... He found his courage, you know? I want to believe he held onto it." Tara sighed.
Rick stood up suddenly, clinging to the bible. "Why wouldn't he have taken this with him? Why would he leave it on the floor?"
"Maybe he dropped it." Mary suggested, as Aaron, Eric, and Rosita came over.
"There weren't tracks out there before. We didn't find anything. Maybe Daryl could've picked something up." Aaron sighed.
Rick put the bible down, and wondered over to the shelves, picking up a notepad. He flicked though it, as Rosita scoffed.
"He left. He didn't leave a note. He obviously doesn't want to be found." Rosita snapped, as Rick got to the last page.
"Yes, he does." Rick smiled slowly, reaching the last page.
"What does it say?" Mary asked, jumping up to try and see. Aaron laughed softly, and lifted her up so she could read it alongside him. Mary made out the block capitals, reading "boat".
"How would he know we were out there?" Aaron asked, as Mary twisted his hair around her fingers.
"I don't know." Rick shrugged.
"Where? Where's the boat?" Mary pressed.
"Boat?" Michonne echoed in confusion.
"The boat we got all our supplies from, all those cans. The cans that are all taken." Rick explained.
"How long's it take to get there?" Rosita asked.
"Two hours. Gotta go now. Get him back. Whoever's taken him, they're not messing around."
"I'll go." Tara said firmly, as did Rosita.
"Eric... I've got to go get him." Aaron said softly, and Eric walked out with a sigh, Aaron following him.
"Gonna go kick some ass." Mary grinned.
"No. No, not you. It's too dangerous. You're staying with Carl."
"No. Daddy! No. I wanna come with you. Mishy! Let me come!" Mary begged.
"No, it's too dangerous. You're not coming. These people have taken Gabriel. It's dangerous. And I'm only going to be a few hours. Be back before bedtime."
"Daddy!"
"Mary. I have to do this. You're gonna stay here with Carl, have a snack, have shower, bake some of Carols special cookies, watch a movie, and I'll be back by the time it's over."
"No!"
"Yes, Mary. I'm not taking no for an answer. You're staying here."
"I don't want to!"
"Mary. You have to. Okay, baby? You need to stay and keep Judith safe, and we'll be back before bedtime." Michonne insisted, cupping Mary's face in her hands. Mary blinked slowly, her long, thick eyelashes like two fluttering butterflies, and then nodded.
"Okay." She breathed. Rick rolled his eyes at the fact that Mary always immediately listened to Michonne and not him, but then smiled softly.
"Okay. Shall I take you home to Carl?"
"No. I want Mishy." Mary denied, and she swung into Michonne's arms.
"Okay. That's fine. I'll see you soon." Rick smiled sadly, kissing the top of her head as Michonne mouthed an apology, then they left.
"Why didn't you want daddy to take you home?" Michonne asked gently.
"I wanted you. I'm annoyed at daddy. He won't let me come."
"Neither would I." Michonne shrugged firmly, and Mary sighed.
"Well, you all smell."
"You can't tell everyone they smell just because you aren't getting your own way."
"Sorry."
"That's okay. Have you seen Judy yet?"
"No."
"You've gotta give her a big cuddle then," Michonne said seriously, but with a smile, "because she'll have missed us."
"Nah." Mary laughed.
"Yeah." Michonne chuckled, walking up their porch steps. "Carl!" The woman called, and almost immediately, the boy was downstairs, Judith in his arms.
"Okay, lemmie explain to Carl. I'll see you later, yeah?"
"Yeah." Mary nodded, kissing Michonne then getting down.
"Hey, take Jude. Go play Lego or whatever." Carl called, and Mary went back to them, and took her sister, struggling to carry her into the living room.
It seemed like an eternity later when Rick and Michonne came home, and Mary flew to the door, half expecting Glenn to be behind them. When he wasn't, she crawled into Rick's arms, and stayed there for the remainder of the night, refusing to even sleep in her own bed. She became even more clingy when she saw the puncture through Rick's hand and the cut on his leg, but he assured her that he was okay. Even still, Mary slept in his and Michonne's bed that night, her tiny fleece covered body like a radiator in between the two adults.
"Mishy?" Mary mumbled when she woke up later that night, looking up at Michonne.
"Yeah? What's wrong?" Michonne whispered, instantly waking up at the sound of Mary's voice.
"What's the clock on?"
"Four. Try to go back to sleep, babe."
"Mishy?"
"Yeah?"
"You and daddy love each other, right?"
"Yeah. Right." Michonne smiled sleepily, pushing Mary's hair away from her face.
"So you're... Are you my step mom?" Mary asked quietly. Rick was awake now, listening, but not answering, letting the pair have their moment.
"Sort of, yeah."
"Are you happy?" Nary whispered, scared of the reply.
"About it? Very very very happy. In fact," Michonne half joked, catching Rick's smiling eye without Mary noticing, "I may love you even more than I love your daddy. You're definitely one of the reasons why I love him."
"Mishy?"
"Yeah?"
Mary took a deep breath in, anxious
to ask her question, the child suddenly shy. "You're not mommy. I have a mommy. I don't really remember her, but I know I have a mommy. But I think you're my mom. Can I call you mom?"
Michonne's smile grew widely, and she brought Mary close to her chest, hugging her tightly, kissing the top of her head. "If you want to, I'd love that."
"Sure?"
Michonne held Mary even tighter, holding Rick's hand, inhaling Mary's smell of strawberry shampoo and baked beans and sun cream and sweat, a few tears falling onto her hair. "Definitely sure."