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Everyone starts filing out of the church after Sasha. "C'mon," Carl says. He pulls me along with him, my hand still in his grasp. Before we can get outside, her cries are audible and I'm afraid of what I will see when we get out there.
"Bob! Bob!" she screams frantically. The voice is so shrill as she says his name that I'm positive her vocals will be in my nightmares at some point.
We only make it to the top step when Glenn starts shouting orders. "Get Bob inside! We'll take care of him!" I see his body lying in the grass, the moonlight being the only thing helping me make out his missing leg.
"Oh my god," I mutter, stumbling backwards. Carl catches me. I think I could puke. The scent of death funnels through the air and is accompanied by the sound of moaning walkers. Rick, Maggie, and Michonne worry about killing them while Sasha and Glenn pick up what's left of Bob.
"Get inside!" Rick screams as he fires off several shots randomly into the woods. I don't object and begin inside as soon as I gather my bearings. Glenn and Sasha fly inside before us and Rick, Maggie, Tara, and Michonne come in behind. Rosita and Abraham come in last. Eugene and Gabriel hadn't left at all. I wasn't expecting anything less of the two.
Orders are shouted out as blankets and a pillow are arranged on the floor for Bob. Without Carol here, there's very little we can do, medically speaking. That's not even considering the lack of supplies we have at the moment. He's covered in sweat and his shirt is stained with patches of blood. Sasha sets his head into her lap, but I can tell even that small act can't bring him any sort of comfort because, after all, his leg is missing.
"I was in the graveyard," he begins. "Somebody knocked me out, and I woke up outside this place. It looked like a school." He lifts his head slightly and lands his eyes on Sasha. "It was that guy. It was Gareth and five other ones."
I suck in a breath. Gareth is alive and he's close. He's the one that's been watching us. I look up to Rick, who has his eyes trained intently on an unknown point in the distance. "They were eating my leg right in front of me - just like it was nothing." Bob's breathing quickens as he recounts the memory. I can't imagine having to watch that. My hand is sweating. Maybe it's Carl's sweat. I can't tell. "They were all proud like they had it all figured out."
Rick leans forward. "Did they have Daryl and Carol?" I suck in a breath as I wait for the response I'm not sure I'm ready to hear the truth. If the others have them, they could be going through the same thing Bob went through right this second. If they don't, the two could be in much worse trouble.
Bob looks at the ground with a confused expression. "Gareth said they drove off." We all exchange glances. They drove off? What does that even mean? How did we not see or hear them leave? Bob starts grimacing very loudly and I know he's hurting. He just lost his entire leg.
"He's in pain," Sasha gasps as she reaches her hand over to comfort him. "Do we have anything?" She looks around at us expectantly.
"I think there were pill packets in the first aid kit. I can get them," Rosita says.
"Save them!" cries Bob before she can move.
"No!" argues Sasha.
"Really!" Bob yells back. It surprises everyone. He grunts as he sits up slowly. Every movement seems to be sending a new wave of pain throughout his body. He reaches a shaking hand up to his shoulder before carefully pulling away his shirt, just enough to reveal a fresh bite wound.
He's been bitten. I lean into Carl a little more as I watch the horrible situation play out. I can feel my mouth drop open just the way Sasha's does as the sparkle of tears form in her eyes. "It happened at the food bank," Bob begins to explain. I can tell she's saddened, but somehow, she manages to push those feelings down long enough to shake her head and help him back onto the floor so he can rest.
"There's a sofa in my office," Gabriel comments from behind us. "I know it's not much, but . . ."
"Thank you," Sasha says graciously as Tyreese offers to carry him to a better resting spot. I had never gotten a true chance to get close with Bob, but he's a part of our group either way. I never disliked him, I just wish I knew him more.
I bury my nose in Carl's sleeve, but am disrupted by Judith's crying. She had been deposited in her basket before Rick ran outside. I finally release Carl's hand and walk over to her, picking her up so her whining stops. It does immediately, too. I hush her a few times before she is able to calmly rest her head on my shoulder. "I can hold her," Carl offers. I shake my head.
"If it's all the same, could I?" He nods, and I tighten my grip on her small frame, conscious not to drop her. I need a distraction right now and she is the perfect thing.
"Time for a reality check. We all need to leave for D.C., right now," Abraham announces over the quiet murmurs taking place.
"Daryl and Carol are gonna be back. We're not going anywhere without them," Rick says.
"I respect that, but there's a clear threat here to Eugene. I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier, so if y'all won't come, good luck to you. We'll go our separate ways." I look to Carl, who hasn't strayed far and I know there's fear in my eyes. He's leaving? Just like that, they're leaving us behind? If they do, there's no chance we'll be able to certainly meet up again. The ones being left here might never have a chance at D.C.
Abraham, Rosita, and Eugene turn to leave as if they hadn't even known us. "Are you leaving on foot?" Rick asks before they can get far.
"We fixed that damn bus ourselves," Abraham barks back, turning slowly as he speaks. Rick, infuriated, starts towards him.
"There's a lot more of us."
"You want to keep it that way? You should come."
"Carol saved your life. We saved your life!" Rick sneers.
"I know! That's why now, I'm trying to save yours! I'm trying to save everyone's!"
"We're not going anywhere without our people."
"Look, your people took off."
"They're coming back!"
"To what; picked over bones?"
"You're not taking off!" The noise in the church escalates and the two begin yelling at each other so loudly that I press my free hand over Judith's ear so she won't have to hear any of it.
"Abraham!" Rosita shouts, trying to step in. He's relentless and keeps yelling at Rick. It takes Glenn running in between the two to stop anything from happening.
"Stop! Now!" He takes a few breaths before turning to Abraham. "Do you really think that you're going to be any safer leaving right now, in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah," Abraham replies without even taking a second to mull over the question. "Yeah."
"What about tomorrow? We need each other for this. We need each other to get to D.C.! We can get though all of it together!" Abraham is irate at this point, but finally starting to question Glenn's idea.
"I have an idea," Tara's quiet voice speaks up. "If you stay just one more day and help, I'll go with you to D.C. Okay?" She turns to look at Maggie.
"Glenn and Maggie, too," Abraham's gruff voice says.
"No," Rick replies before the two can answer for themselves.
Abraham scoffs. "Good luck then. I'm not interested in breaking up what you have here. Rosita, grab your gear."
"Abraham-" she begins in a delicate voice.
"Now!" His bellow makes me jump and causes Judith to let out a cry. I start rocking her to calm her the best I can. "Eugene, let's go. Eugene, move it!"
I look over to Eugene who's sitting on the edge of a pew and staring at the wall. "I-I don't want to," he responds nervously.
"Now," Abraham grumbles.
"Okay," Eugene says so quietly that I can barely hear. So this is what he's going to do? He's going to force Eugene to go along even though he doesn't feel safe? Eugene gets up from his seat and walks to the door. Abraham turns and follows him
"You're not taking the bus," Rick says. Abraham stops short again and turns back around.
"Try to stop me." Nobody does. Well, not until Rick starts walking as fast as he can towards Abraham, raising his fist in the direction of his face.
Glenn comes to the rescue again. He throws his hands in between the two. "Woah! Woah! Woah! Hey! You, stay. You stay and help us and we will go with you."
"No," Rick says as soon as Glenn finishes.
Glenn looks over his shoulder at Rick. "It's not your call. You stay, help us, and then we'll go." Abraham looks at his boots, jaw clenched. He's mad he's being stopped, but at least there's a deal to go along with it.
"Half a day," he agrees, "but I'm not waiting for the other damn shoe to drop."
"We will leave with you," Maggie adds.
Abraham nods. "Twelve hours, then we go." He paces off towards the back of the church and I can feel my shoulders settle a little. I glance at Glenn, who is finally realizing what he just agreed to. I nod to him as way to thank him. He nods back.
"We have a chance," Carl whispers to me.
"Let's just hope that's enough," I sigh. Sometimes, a chance is a hell of a lot more than you would expect. Other times, it's a blind shot in the dark. I lower myself onto the nearest pew, trying to relax a little. I was hoping for some rest, but I guess it was either a full stomach or a few hours of sleep. I think it's selfish of me to have expected both.
"We're in here and they could be anywhere," Rick huffs. I can hear the metallic clicking signaling his gun is being held tightly in his hands. "We know exactly where they are."
"The plan has got stones. I'll give you that," Abraham says. I'm glad to hear that his voice has finally calmed.
"We should make our move before they do," Glenn comments.
"That's right. They're not counting on us thinking straight," Rick agrees.
"Are we?" Rosita questions. "I'm just making sure. It's a big play." She's right. We can't make any stupid moves right now. With a few members of our group missing, we're already weaker than we should be. Rick takes a step forward.
"Remember what these people are capable of. Tyreese?"
"Yeah?" Everyone turns their heads towards Tyreese, who's sitting on the floor in the corner, his eyes focused on the floor.
"You in on this?" He has no chance to argue before the echo of footsteps comes from the back room.
"I'm coming with you," Sasha claims.
"You should stay with Bob," Tyreese counters.
"No. I want to be out there. I want to be a part of this." She doesn't give another opportunity for complaints before turning on her heel and waking back into the office to sit with Bob. He could be gone in a few hours. He already seems to be experiencing a fever. Her brother stands and walks off to be with her.
"We need to leave. We can't wait around," Rick says. He rubs his thumb on his forehead between his eyebrows. "The more we wait, the more dangerous they become." He looks around at our group. "Rosita, Eugene, Gabriel, Tara, Emmie, and Carl, you stay here. You'll need to keep an eye on Bob and keep Judith and Eugene safe in case anything happens." I nod my head.
"What if Daryl and Carol come back?" I ask. "I mean, if they aren't with Gareth and the others like Bob said, they aren't going to know what's going on. They could be in danger." I have a point.
"If they try to get inside, let them, but otherwise, don't risk anything. They're smart. They can fend for themselves long enough." I hope Rick is right about that. He signals with his hand for everyone to round up their things. The members of the group who were unarmed grab a gun before walking out of the church.
I nervously watch them leave. It all happened so fast. When the doors snap shut, I feel like they've been swallowed by an abyss. "We should move to my office," Gabriel mutters. The rest of us follow him inside of the dark room, extinguishing the candles in the sanctuary before we do, and join Bob. He's tired. His eyelids flutter when our shuffling shoes enter the room, but that's about the only reaction we get from him.
I sit down on the floor between Rosita and Carl, my back pressed against the cold wall. It sends a chill down my spine, but grounds me at the same time. I hold Judith. She's half asleep. That's good. We'll need to try to be a little quieter. If it's not Gareth trying to hunt us down, I'm sure a pack of blood thirsty walkers wouldn't think twice about following the sound of voices to find a meal. We were being far too loud earlier. With Rick and Abraham fighting, it all but announced our position. Of course, they had known where we were before then since they had left Bob for us in the front yard, but we could've left between then and now.
Gabriel seals the door to the office. I feel like that small layer of protection is so thin, yet suffocating. Carl stands up, restless, and walks over to Gabriel's desk. I watch as he runs his finger over a stack of papers before moving it towards his hip where he taps his gun. It makes such a loud noise in the silent room that each tap causes me to shake worse.
I try to calm myself, but it does nothing. I wonder what my father would have done if he were here. When I think of that, it does nothing, however, because I know that he would've been first in line to walk out those doors and fight if given the chance. He would've grabbed my hands, given me a kiss on the forehead while I begged him to stay, and left like it was nothing. He would've kept his voice steady as he spoke, so he didn't worry me. That was the kind of person my father was. I wish I could've been more like that. I know even if I asked that I wouldn't have been allowed to go out with Rick's group, but I wish that I wasn't shaking so badly as I cowered in Gabriel's office.
Bob's labored breathing becomes prominent. Once I hear it, I can't ignore it. Is it actually loud, or is it just my brain having the inability to shut itself off for one moment? I hope it's the latter.
A crashing sound comes from the front of the church. The first person I look to is Carl, who's already pulling his gun up and pointing it at the door. He's so focused that he's doesn't even look in my direction. Moving my hand slowly to make sure I don't wake Judith, I wrap my hand around my knife handle. It's not going to do much, but it's a lot better than nothing.
There's another sound. This time, it's more of a cracking. They've broken the lock on the front door and they're coming inside. The others can't have been gone for more than five minutes. This has to be a trap. Gareth knew that if they startled us enough, we'd need to go deal with the situation. It'd give the strong ones a chance to leave while they snuck up on us and pounced. It's smart, really. I just can't help but regret that we hadn't thought about it first.
Gabriel is up against the wall beside the sofa Bob is laying on. He's shaking as his hands weakly grip a string of beads. The moonbeams coming through the slats over the windows shine light over the metallic crucifix on the end. Of course, he's praying.
The tapping of footsteps come from the other side of the wall. The noises are quiet compared to the door caving in, but they're just as haunting. I take a deep breath, urging my heart to stop racing. It's going to be okay. We're going to figure this out.
"I guess you know we're here," Gareth's voice rings throughout the church. "And, we know you're here. We're armed, so there's really no point in hiding anymore." I look over to Rosita, whose eyes are fixed intently on the door. "We've been watching you," Gareth says. "We know who's where."
There's a pause as the creaking floorboards grow closer. "There's Bob, unless you put him out of his misery already." I look over to Bob on the sofa, his softened face showing that he's barely conscious. "There's Eugene and Rosita. Don't forget my good friend, Tyreese!" Rosita begins to lift her gun. "There's Carl and Emmie." When I hear my name I have to squeeze my eyes closed tightly. I don't want him to say it. It feels wrong. "I couldn't forget Judith." I look down to the small baby in my arms to see that her eyes have snapped open. When she heard the noises outside while they broke the door down, it must have woken her.
"Rick and the rest walked out with a lot of your guns." So, they were watching us. "Listen, we don't know where you all are, but this isn't a big place, so let's just stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be." The clicking of assault rifles follow his words. The door knob to the office begins to shake. Rosita raises her shotgun up. Tara, her back to the wall with the door, nods to ready herself.
"Look, you're behind one of these two doors, and we have more than enough firepower to take down both. I can't imagine that's what y'all want." Someone pumps their shotgun from behind the door. The clicking sound echos. "How about the priest? Father, if you help us wrap this up, we'll let you walk away from this."
My eyes dart to Gabriel, who's still clutching his beads. Sweat droplets are forming on his bald forehead. He's going to sell us out. He's such a coward, that he's going to sell us out for some asshole who is definitely not keeping his word. When his eyes meet mine, I shoot him a glare to let him know that if he does, we'll kill him first. He looks away immediately.
"Just open the door and we'll let you go. You can take the baby with you." The sentence keeps getting more and more tempting the more Gareth adds to it. "What do you say?" I'm waiting for Gabriel to answer and tell Gareth that he's more than welcome to take him up on the offer. However, that doesn't happen because Judith lets out the loudest scream that I've ever heard.
I start rocking her. That's all I can think to do. I start rocking her and doing my best to hush her. She just won't be quiet. I hear Gareth mutter one more thing while Carl rushes over and tries to help me. "I don't know what to do," I whisper, my eyes filling with tears.
"That's your last chance to let us know you're coming out." Judith silences herself, finally, but my hands are shaking so badly I don't know what to do. I stand up, forcing Carl to do the same, and urge him to grab his gun. There's conversation occurring in the sanctuary, but they stop short. There are two shots, both of them with a silencer.
It must me Sasha.
"Put your guns on the floor," Rick growls. I let out a small sigh of relief. He's back, and he's going to help us. We're going to be safe.
"Rick, we'll fire right into that office until you lower your gun." Gareth barely makes out his sentence before letting out a cry there's a thud as he presumably falls to the floor. There's blood. I can't see it, but I know there is. There's always blood in times like this. Gareth grunts in pain.
"Put your guns on the floor and kneel."
"Do what he says," Gareth grumbles in between moans. "Martin, there's no choice here."
"Yeah, there is."
"Wanna bet?" Abraham challenges. I don't know whether or not I want to see what's on the other side of the door. I want to understand what exactly is happening, but I also don't need to see all the gore that is surely going to follow. Rick is going to kill these people. They won't be spared. "There's no point in begging, right?" Gareth's meek voice sighs.
"No."
"Still, you could've just killed us when you came in. There had to be a reason for that."
"We didn't want to waste the bullets," Rick explains simply.
"We used to help people. We saved people. Things changed. They came in and . . ." Gareth trails off. "After that, I know that you've been out there, but I can see it. You don't know what it is to be hungry." I do know, actually. "You don't have to do this. We can walk away, and we will never cross paths again. I promise you."
"You'll cross someone's path," Rick remarks almost lightly as if this were a casual conversation between two old friends who saw one another in the grocery store. A safety clicks off. "You'd do this to anyone. Right? Besides, I already made you a promise."
"No!" Gareth screams. I can't see what's happening, but I can heard the labored grunts and cries. When Tyreese opens the door, I know that what I was hearing is true. There really was skin being slashed with knives and blood being spilt on the floor of a church. I don't want to stand up or move. All I can do is continue to stroke Judith's baby hairs behind her ear.
"It's okay," Carl says. He lowers his gun and moves to me, helping me up. "We're alive."
"I know," is all I can get out. Rick comes in to check on Judith. I hand her over and allow him to give me a hug. His face and beard are sprinkled with drops of crimson.
"Are you okay?" he asks me.
"I am." Feeling both light and heavy at the same time, I throw myself back onto the floor and close my eyes.
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A/N: RIP Bob...