The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed. I had fallen asleep beside Carl last night. I stood up, my body aching in protest. I left Carl's room, heading downstairs. It was bright outside, almost blinding. "Rori."
"Hey, Carl," I said, sitting down on the steps. "Where's Henry?"
"I think he's with Carol," Carl explained, moving to sit beside me. I nodded. "How are you holding up?"
"I'm exhausted. It's hard fighting, surviving, out there than coming back here. Letting everyone take care of me. I almost wished I had stayed out there," I sighed, pulling my knees to my chest.
"You'd rather be out there than in here with me? Your mom?" Carl asked, his eyebrows furrowing.
"That's not what I said, Carl. Out there, I struggled to find food and water. I hardly slept," I paused, moving to grab Carl's hand. "I wanted to die."
Carl let out a dark laugh, ripping his hand from mine. "Wow."
"What is your problem?" I asked as he stood up laughing.
"You want to die? Seriously?" He asked, but I could tell it wasn't worry. More like he was mocking me.
"Yes, Carl, I do. I've been through a lot," I sniffled, glaring at the man.
"Oh, you've been through a lot? Well, so have I," Carl snapped. I shook my head, standing up.
"Stop being ridiculous. I know you have," I said, reaching out to grab him but he moved his arm away from me. "My dad's dead, Carl. I've lost a lot of people I've considered family and now I'm stuck raising a fucking toddler! Do you know how hard that is?" Tears leaked from my eyes and I silently begged them to stop. I was sick of crying.
"It wasn't just you who lost people. I killed my mom and you're fucking crying. I got shot more than once. You want me to keep going? Before you cry about your trauma, think about others. Don't be selfish, Aurora. You're not the only one who's lost people," Carl huffed, staring at me for a moment. I sucked in a breath, trying hard not to cry.
"You don't want me?" A voice behind me accused. I turned to see Theo standing there, tears pouring down his face.
"No, Theo, that's not what I said," I sighed, stepping closer to him but he stepped away from me.
"Basically is. Maybe you should've died out there. You could've been with Will and Matt and then you wouldn't be stuck raising me," Theo said, turning and running away.
"Theo," I called after him.
"Way to go," Carl scoffed, pushing past me to go after the kid.
"Fuck!" I screamed, pulling out a knife and throwing it at a tree. I angrily kicked the ground before collapsing on one of the steps.
"Everything okay?" I looked up at the sound of Daryl's voice. I closed my eyes, bathing in the sun.
"No."
"What happened?" Daryl asked, and I felt him come and sit beside me. I shifted, leaning against him and gently resting my head on his shoulder. He tensed slightly but eventually eased into it.
"Doesn't matter. What's going on here? Why does everyone look like they're going to war?" I asked, opening my eyes to look around. Daryl seemed hesitant to tell me.
"Negan wants to meet."
"What?" I asked, sitting up straight to look at him. "Why wasn't I informed?"
"Rick didn't want ya' to worry," Daryl told me.
"Fuck that. I'm going whether he likes it or not," I said, standing up. Rick was standing by the gates with Morgan and I intended to talk to him.
"Rori," Daryl called after me as I walked towards Rick. "Hey!"
"Let me go," I snapped as Daryl's hand wrapped around my wrist.
"You need to calm down," Daryl told me. I shook my head, pulling my wrist from him.
"Don't tell me what to do. You two kept this from me," I snapped, turning on my heel. "Rick fucking Grimes."
Rick looked over at me, clearly confused by my anger. "What?"
"You fucking asshole," I scoffed, crossing my arms.
"Hey, watch your mouth," Rick told me, his parental instincts kicking in. "What's going on, Daryl?"
"She knows and she wants to go," Daryl said and realization appeared across Rick's face.e
"Oh."
"Yeah, and I'm coming whether you like it or not," I told him firmly.
"Rori-"
"I'm coming."
Rick sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine but you're staying by Carl's side."
"What? No," I argued.
"You want to come or not?" Rick asked. I stared at him, breathing heavily.
"She can stay close to me," Daryl offered, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder.
"Did something happen between you and Carl?" Rick asked, his eyes locking onto mine.
"No," I shook my head. "I'll stay by Carl." I turned, walking away before either man could say anything else.
-----------------
"I'm not happy about this but I've been ordered to stay by you," I explained to Carl as everyone gathered to leave.
"Great," Carl said.
"Wasn't my choice," I shrugged, putting the strap of my gun around my neck. Slowly, the gates opened and everyone began walking. We had to slowly creep through the forest, killing walkers and looking out for any trap Negan may have set.
I didn't trust that stupid bastard. Who knows what he could've done/
"Watch where you're going," Carl whispered, pulling me away from a hole in the road. I pulled my arm out of his grip, ignoring him. However, I did become more aware of the road. There were walkers surrounding cars on the road but we quickly took care of them with little effort. There was a large, empty truck.
"Good people, found something on our quarry," Ezekiel said.
"What is it?" Michonne asked. I moved closer to Rick so I could get a better view.
"A list and another map," Ezekiel answered, unfolding the two items. "And what appear to be other facts."
"They're lining up Saviors on the Old Mill Road. That's where Negan will be," Rick informed us, taking hold of the paper.
"We have to get to Negan before they figure out what happened here," Carol said.
"Maggie," Rick said through the walkie-talkie.
"I'm here," Mom said.
"It's time. It was a trap. So we're changing the plan," Rick informed her.