Madison Grimes

28

"Be careful!" I nod and close the door before pulling my knife from the walkers head and putting it up. I go to each car and tell the person awake in each one to stay put. After I tell the last car, I stay with them. It's Carl and Lori. They're in the back seat, a sleeping Carl is sprawled out with his head in Loris lap. I stay in the front seat to save room. I turn to Lori and notice her drowsing off, but trying to stay alert.

"You can go to sleep, you've only got a few hours until sunrise." She gives me a sketchy look. This is why I can't be nice to her, she always thinks I have another motive. I mean, I should, she did sleep with my husband far more times than once. "Come on Lori. You need to sleep to keep you and your baby healthy."

"Are you sure?" I give her small smile.

"It's me. You really think I'd tell you something if I didn't mean it?" She sends me a small smile back and goes to close her eyes, but I stop her. "Wait, do you have an extra walkie? I brought mine with me and ruined it in the rain."

"It's not extra, it's mine, but there's one in the glove box. You can keep it, no one lets me alone anymore with the baby on the way." I smile at her and take her walkie from the glove box. When I look back, she already has her eyes closed. I turn the walkie up and there's nothing.

I watch as several hundred walkers pass the car. None of them seem to be too interested in us as they pass without a second look. I wish the kids wouldn't have to go through this. They had their whole lives ahead of them and now what do they have? Death? Hurt? Pain? This is no place for a child to be raised. It's takes about an hour before the walkers are gone, but once they all pass, I slip out of the car. I quietly close the door and look around to make sure it's clear. I go to the hood of the car and sit to watch the sunrise.

I really want to go get Belle, but she needs rest and I need to watch Lori and Carl. Speaking of Lori, I wonder what's she's having. If it's actually Ricks or Shane's? There's no way of knowing, but I really wish there was. Rick doesn't deserve the pain this is causing him. I know he won't admit it, but it is causing him pain and a lot of it. I jump from my thoughts as I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look over to see Rick.

"You okay?" He asks as I scoot for him to sit. I nod with a sigh.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking." He nods his head and looks off into the distance. I look around to make sure no ones near us. Us Grimes don't show certain emotion unless it's to those we trust. "How are you doing?" I talk low in case anyone is near. I see him shake his head from the corner of my eye.

"It's hard. I can't keep steering the group in the right direction when most want to go left." I nod as I watch a walker approach us from the distance.

"I have an idea, you're not going to like it."

"What's that?" The walker crashes into a car as I see him limping.

"Use your police voice and set them straight." He chuckles as I put a lot of emphasis on 'police'. I let a small smile fall to my lips.

"I've thought about it, actually." As the walkers gets closer, I notice his limp is actually him dragging his leg.

"What do you think you'd say?"

"I don't know. I've tried being nice, but it always backfires in my head." I look at him and shake my head a bit.

"You can't always be so nice. You need to show dominance. That's how Ford and I would make sure everyone listened to us." I smile at the memory and sigh a little when I start thinking of them.

"I know, but-" I cut him off.

"Who's in charge?" The walkers gets to be about thirty feet and that's when I decide to grip my hunting knife.

"Madison, we're not doing this."

"Who's in charge?"

"Mad-"

"Who?" I say in a stern voice. It gets to be about five feet away as I continue to watch it.

"Me." He says in a quiet voice.

"What?" He sends me a smile.

"Me." His voice is even and steady. I send him an approving nod.

"What are you going to do?"

"Talk to them." I nod and wrap my arms around his shoulders before jumping off the hood and sink my knife into the decaying things head. I watch as it's arms fall limp, soon followed by her body.

"That's how we handle that."