SEASON FIVE, EPISODE TWO
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"HELP, ANYBODY! Help!" Someone in the distance was screaming.
The group was on the move again. They had stopped for the night, but the sun was now shining. In the night, Daryl had a feeling someone was watching them, but he didn't find a sign of anything.
"Dad, come on," Carl said. "Come on! Come on."
The screaming continued. The group ran to find the person in need. Vienna pulled her knife out of her sheath.
"Help! Help! Help! Anybody, help! Help! Help!"
The group ran quickly to find a man on a huge rock,walkers surrounding him. Walkers was what Rick's group had called them. She liked that much better than uglies. The group hurried and killed all of them.
"We're clear. Keep watch," Rick stated. "Come on down. You okay?"
The man held his finger up as a sign as one second. He then threw up all over the place. Vienna turned around and covered her ears. Somehow she could stand the smell and look of dead people, but when it came to vomit, no way.
When the man was done Vienna turned back around.
"Sorry," The man apologized. "Yes. Thank you. I'm Gabriel."
"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick questioned.
Vienna noticed that Rick seemed to be the leader. She was fine with it. He seemed to make pretty good calls, and was good at getting them out of bad situations.
Gabriel chuckled. "Do I look like I would have any weapons?"
"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like," Abraham said.
Vienna sometimes couldn't understand what Abraham was talking about. It was different than with Eugene. Eugene just used really big, complicated words. Abraham just stuck words that normally wouldn't go together to make a sentence.
"I have no weapons of any kind," Gabriel answered. "The word of God is the only protection I need."
Vienna didn't really believe in God. I mean if he did exist, why did he let the world turn out like this. Why did he let innocent people die.
"Sure didn't look like it." Daryl commented.
"I called for help. Help came," Gabriel looked around at the group. "Do you have- have any food? Whatever I- I had left, it just hit the ground."
"We've got some pecans," Carl handed the man some.
"Thank you," Gabriel said, taking the pecans.
Judith cooed in Tyreese's arms.
"That's a beautiful child," Gabriel admired the child.
Rick just stared at the man.
"Do you have a camp?" Gabriel questioned.
"No. Do you?"
"I have a church."
"Hold your hands above your head," Rick instructed. Rick then patted the man down. "How many walkers have you killed?"
"Not any, actually."
"Turn around."
Gabriel did as he was told.
Rick continued patting the man down. "How many people have you killed?"
"None," the man answered.
"Why?"
"Because the Lord abhors violence."
"What have you done?" Rick questioned. "We've all done something."
"I'm a sinner. I sin almost everyday. But those sins, I confess them to God, not strangers." The man replied.
"You said you had a church?" Michonne asked.
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"HEY, EARLIER, WERE YOU WATCHING US?" Rick asked Gabriel.
Gabriel was leading the group to his church.
"I keep to myself. Nowadays, people are just as dangerous as the dead, don't you think?" Gabriel responded.
"No, people are worse," Daryl said.
"Well, I wasn't watching you. I haven't been beyond the stream near my church more than a few times since it all started. That was the furthest I've gone before today," Gabriel explained. "Or maybe I'm lying. Maybe I'm lying about everything and there's no church ahead at all. Maybe I'm leading you into a trap so I can steal all your squirrels," Gabriel chuckled but nobody else did. "Members of my flock had often told me that my sense of humor leaves much to be desired."
"Yeah it does," Daryl confirmed.
They continued to follow Gabriel until they came across the church.
"Hold up. Can we take a look around first? We just want to hold onto our squirrels," Rick asked the man.
Gabriel have Rick they key and Rick walked inside, weapon at the ready. Glenn, Daryl, and Michonne followed. They checked out each room to make sure there was nothing that was a possible threat.
"I spent months here without stepping out the front door. If you found someone inside, well, it would have been surprising," Gabriel said.
"Thanks for this," Carl thanked Gabriel.
"We found a short bus out back. It don't run, but I bet we could fix that in less than a day or two. Father here says he doesn't want it. Looks like we found ourselves some transport." Abraham told Rick. "You understand what's at stake here, right?"
"Yes I do." Rick was running his fingers through baby Judith's hair.
"Now that we can take a breath-," Michonne started.
Abraham cut her off. "We take a breath, we slow down, shit inevitably goes down."
"We need supplies no matter what we do next," Michonne argued.
"That's right. Water, food, ammunition," Rick agreed.
"Short bus ain't going nowhere. Bring you back some baked beans." Daryl said.
"One way or another, we're doing what Rick does. We're not splitting up again," Glenn told Abraham.
"What he said," Tara walked into the church.
"We want to roll with you but... what she said." Sasha and Bob walked into the church.
"Come on. Just for a little while. These people could really help," Vienna then walked pass Abraham and into the church.
Vienna went and sat on a pew.
"How'd you survive here for so long?" Rick questioned. "Where did your supplies come from?"
"Luck," Father Gabriel replied. "Our annual canned food drive. Things fell apart right after we finished it. It was just me."
Carl took Judith from Rick. "Hey," Carl sat down next to Vienna.
"Hi."
"So uh, are the orange haired dude and the lady with the hat your parents?" He asked.
"No. I mean kinda. They're like found family, not blood," Vienna explained.
"Oh that's cool. They seem to really care about you."
"Yeah. Rick's your blood though right? And Judith?" Vienna looked at Judith and played with the little baby's fingers.
"Yeah. Do you have any siblings?"
"I did. A little sister."
"What happened? You don't have to answer, sorry if the questions are getting too personal."
"No it's fine," Vienna sighed. "At the start of everything, my mom, my sister, and I were staying with my great grandparents in Texas. They lived in the country. We thought we would be safe there. But uhm," Tears formed in her eyes. "Things went badly. There was a hoard. We ran. Me and my mom, we killed as many as we could. One still got a hold of Bonnie, my sister. We found an empty place for Bonnie to rest. My mom urged me to run and find somebody and someplace. So I did. I said goodbye to Bonnie, then my mother and I ran. I ran until my feet couldn't carry me. I had almost got ran over by an army truck. Rosita took me in immediately and has done everything she can to protect me."
"I'm so sorry. Do you think there's still a chance that your mom is still out there alive?"
"Not sure. If so I doubt I'll see her. What about your mom?"
"She's dead. She died while giving birth to Judith. I had to shoot her so she wouldn't come back."
Vienna placed a hand on Carl's shoulder. "I'm sorry. You're so brave."
"What about your dad?" Carl continued with the questions.
"We left him. We left him a year before the world died. He and my mom fought all the time. He'd hit her."
"Did he ever hit you?"
"Sometimes yeah."
"You're brave too." Carl then did his best to hug Vienna with a baby in his hands.
They two turned back to the adults's conversation.
"That'll be okay?" Rick asked Tyreese.
"Sure. You ever need me to watch her, need anything for her, I'm right here."
Carl hugged and kissed Judith's head.
"I'm grateful for it," Rick thanked. "And everything else."
"I'll draw you a map," Gabriel said.
"You don't need to. You're coming with us," Rick told Gabriel.
"I'm not gonna be of any help. You saw me. I'm no good around those things."
"You're coming with us," the oldest Grimes repeated.
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"I'D LIKE TO PROPOSE A TOAST. I look around this room... and I see survivors. Each and every one of you has earned that title. To the survivors." Abraham raised his glass.
The people on the run had found food. They were having dinner now. Vienna smiled to herself. She felt that this whole group was family. Even though she didn't know them all well she felt safe, happy, and all the things you should feel with a family. She never knew what it felt like before the world died. She was the happiest she had ever been. Sure that's crazy to say since there were literally dead people walking around trying to eat her, but she believed she could beat the world. She believes they all could. I mean pretty soon they'd get Eugene to DC. He'd fix it.
"Is that all you want to be? Wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat? Abraham questioned. "Cause you can do that. I mean you got the strength. You got the skill. This is, for you people, for what you can do, that's just surrender. Now, we get Eugene to Washington and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again. And that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip. Eugene, what's in DC?"
"Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude. That means food, fuel, refuge. Restart."
Abraham smiled to himself. "However this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there. Safer than you've been since this whole thing started. Come with us. Save the world for that little one. Save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there... who don't got nothing left to do except survive."
Judith made some noise.
"What was that?" Rick asked her. "I think she knows what I'm about to say. She's in. If she's in I'm in. We're in."
The whole group laughed.
If only this happiness would last
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AUTHORS NOTE: I'm still trying to decide if I like this chapter, I mean I like that Carl and Vienna talked more, but the whole conversation was depressing. So I might not update as much because I have a lot of homework to catch up on since I was sick all week and when I go back to school my schedule is pretty much full. I'll do my best though. Thank you so much for reading I Love You So