The world had already ended once, but for Rosie, it was ending all over again. Because Daryl didn't come back, and he said he would, which meant that something went wrong. But no one else seemed to be very worried.
It'd been almost an hour since Daryl and Carol left- and hour since Daryl was supposed to be right back- and they were still missing. And, to make the issue even more pressing, Bob had gone missing now, too. Rosie was on the ground now, laying on her stomach next to Glenn as she drew on the back of a piece of paper with a burning tree on the other side. It was supposed to be a distraction. It was supposed to keep her preoccupied from the fact that Daryl, Carol, and now Bob were all missing. It wasn't working very well.
"How 'bout tic-tac-toe?" Glenn suggested, leaning back on his hands.
"We should look for 'em," Rosie said instead of answering his question. She jabbed her crayon down onto the paper, leaving a small dot.
"He said he'd be back, didn't he?" Glenn reminded her. He took a crayon from the box Gabriel had provided them with and drew a lattice of lines, leaving nine boxes in order to play tic-tac-toe.
"He said he'd be right back. Right back passed already," Rosie said, raising her eyebrows as she twisted to look at Glenn again.
"Daryl's a tracker. Best way to find him is for him to find us. So we stay put for at least a little longer. Until Rick says we should go looking," Glenn said. He nudged her arm with his hand. "You can go first."
With a huff, Rosie drew an O in the center box. "Where is Rick?" she asked, looking around the room again.
"He and Tyreese went out to get Sasha," Glenn said. He put an X in the top right box.
"Wait, so, Sasha gets to go out lookin' for 'em, and I don't?" Rosie asked accusingly. Her eyebrows furrowed, annoyed, but she put an O in the top left box, anyway.
"Sasha's a grown woman. You're ten," Glenn told her. He put an X in the bottom right box.
"I'm almost eleven, I think," Rosie replied. She wrote an O in the middle right box.
"That doesn't make any difference," Glenn said. He put an X in the middle left box. Rosie huffed and put an O in the bottom middle. Glenn put an X in the top middle box. Rosie put her last O in the bottom left. Neither of them got three in a row. "You're too smart for this game. No one will ever win," Glenn said, laughing a little. He was about to suggest another game, maybe hangman, but before he could, the doors to the church opened again. Rosie's head short towards the door, but it wasn't Daryl, Carol, or Bob. It was only Rick, Tyreese, and Sasha.
Sasha marched towards Gabriel, who was standing at the front of the room and doing something by one of the pews. "Stop," Sasha said quietly, but harshly. Rosie watched carefully, wondering what was going on. Did she find something? "What are you doing?" Sasha asked. Gabriel looked confused and gave no answer. "What are you doing? This is all connected. You show up, we're being watched, and now three of us are gone."
Daryl was right? Rosie thought. Her stomach started to hurt again. We're being watched?
"I... I don't... I don't have anything to do with this," Gabriel eventually stuttered out. He seemed at a loss for words.
Suddenly, Sasha pulled her knife from its sheath and the sound of it echoed around the room. Everyone jumped forward, shouting stop! and don't! at her, but Tyreese was the only one to get her to hesitate. She kept getting closer to Gabriel, though, and he backed away with his hands raised. "Who's out there?" she asked. Gabriel tried to stutter out another answer, but Sasha interrupted him. "Where are our people?" she growled out. Gabriel tried saying that he didn't know again. Sasha wouldn't let him. "Where are our people?!" she screamed in his face, her voice echoing around the church. Rosie stayed back, slightly behind Glenn. All the yelling only made her anxiety worse.
"Please, I don't have anything to do with this," Gabriel said again.
Finally, Sasha backed away, still glaring at Gabriel. It was Rick's turn to be intimidating. He stared at Gabriel for a moment. "Why'd you bring us here?" he asked.
"Please. I- I- I-"
"You working with someone?" Rick interrupted him before he could say I don't have anything to do with this again.
"I'm alone. I'm alone. I was always alone," Gabriel insisted.
"What about the woman in the food bank, Gabriel?" Rick asked, stepping closer in order to be more threatening. Rosie picked Daryl's knife up off of one of the pews, where she left it. She was feeling nervous, and if something went wrong, she didn't want to be left weaponless. After all, something always went wrong. "What did you do to her? 'You'll burn for this'? That was for you. Why? What are you gonna burn for, Gabriel?"
YOU'LL BURN FOR THIS. It was engraved into the side of the building. Carved into the wood with a knife. Carl had found it, along with some other scratch marks. Rosie had seen it, too. Carl had shown her. It made her nervous. Rick said it was nothing to worry about just yet, but to keep her guard up.
Rick suddenly lurched forward, grabbing onto the collar of Gabriel's shirt and pulling him close. "What? What did you do?" he asked. Gabriel didn't answer. "What did you do?!" Rick shouted. It wasn't often that Rosie heard Rick shout out of anger, but it always made her breath catch in her throat for a moment.
Gabriel pulled away from Rick and avoided eye contact, tears pricking at his eyes as he took quick, shaky breaths. "I lock the doors at night," he finally said. What? "I always lock the doors at night. I always lock the doors," he breathed out, his face contorting with deep emotion. He took a breath, trying to regain his composure. "They started coming, my congregation. Atlanta was bombed the night before and they were scared. They were- they were looking for a safe place, a place where they felt safe. And it was so early. It was so early. And the doors were still locked."
That's it? He locked the doors? Rosie thought, her face tense as she stared at Gabriel. I killed someone, and you're crying because you locked the doors?
"You see... it was my choice," Gabriel went on. Everyone stared at him, frozen. "There were so many of them and they were trying to pry the shutters and banging on the sidings, screaming at me. And so the dead came for them. Women..." Gabriel said. His eyes moved to Carl, then to Rosie. "Children.... Entire families calling my name as they were torn apart, begging me for mercy. Begging me for mercy. Damning me to hell," he started crying again.
It would always be a weird sight, seeing a grown man cry. Rosie's daddy never cried. Never. He hated crying. Crying meant weakness, and Banks's were not weak. He didn't even cry when Fraser died. He was just angry. And he drank and smoked and put needles into his arms. But he never cried.
"I buried their bones. I buried it all," he went on, clasping his hands together under his chin. Rick stared at him, underwhelmed. "The Lord sent you here to finally punish me," he said. He fell to the ground, his voice breaking apart. "I'm damned. I was damned before. I always lock the doors. I always lock the doors," he continued on, sobbing like that.
There was a small noise outside. Rosie looked up at Glenn. Did he hear it, too? Glenn's head was turned back towards the window. He heard it, too. He stepped closer to the window, peaking out. "There's something," he said. His eyes squinted, trying to see better in the dark. "There's someone outside lying in the grass!"
They all ran outside, Sasha shouting Bob's name. Maggie grabbed hold of Rosie's arm, keeping her behind her. Rosie peaked out from behind Maggie's waist, though, and she could see Bob laying in the grass. His left leg was gone, and the stump was wrapped in a bloodied cloth. Walkers started stumbling out of the woods, growling.
"Get Bob inside, we'll take care of them," Glenn ordered. Maggie let go of Rosie's arm in order to help carry Bob inside, and Rosie ran towards one of the walkers. She kicked the back of its knees and it fell to the ground, allowing her to stab in it the back of the head.
Someone grabbed onto the back of Rosie's shirt. She knew it wasn't a walker, because the person was pulling hard enough to pull her to her feet. Looking up, she could see that it was Rick. He pushed her towards the church as he held his gun up with his other hand. "Get inside!" he demanded before firing off a few shots into walkers' brains.
Although reluctant, Rosie obeyed and ran into the church. It was frustrating. She knew how to help and she was good at it, but ever since they left the prison- ever since the Claimers- no one wanted to let her do anything. It made her feel useless. She was capable, and they knew she was. But they still wouldn't let her do anything. They still pushed her back, trying to protect her like she couldn't do it herself. She understood that they cared, but she cared about them, too. She didn't want them to do dangerous things in order to save her. Rosie could save herself. She wanted to yell at them, saying, "I'm still strong! I'm still tough! They didn't take that away!" But yelling was disrespectful, and Rosie had respect, so she kept her mouth shut.
•
Bob was now on the floor of the church. Almost everyone was gathered around him on the floor. Rosie was on the closest church pew, instead, with her head tucked into her knees. If she had just lost her leg, she wouldn't want everyone crowding around her, so she thought Bob might feel the same way.
"I was in the graveyard. Somebody knocked me out. I woke up outside this place. It looked like a school. It was that guy, Gareth. And five other ones. They were eating my leg right in front of me," Bob explained through his pain. "Like it was nothing."
Rosie stared at Rick, waiting carefully for a reaction. He was going to be angry, that much she knew. Angry that they didn't go back to take out the rest. Angry that they still weren't safe. But for now, he was gone. In his eyes, he was gone. He was staring straight forward, blank. He'd be back in a moment. He always was.
"All proud, like they had it all figured out," Bob went on. Rosie looked away from Rick, her eyes wandering to where Bob's leg used to be. She didn't know Bob well. He was newer to the prison than the others. But she didn't want him to die. He was always smiling. She wanted him to keep smiling, and keep making Sasha and other people smile. Hershel survived losing his leg. Bob could, too, right?
What if Daryl and Carol are bein' eaten right now?
"Were Daryl an' Carol there?" Rosie asked, her voice higher than she meant for it to be.
Bob shook his head. Rosie's sighed a little in relief, but her eyebrows stayed pinched together. Where could they be? "Gareth said they drove off," Bob said.
What? He said he'd be right back. He said he'd tell me if he was goin' somewhere. Where did he go? Why did he leave again?
A lump formed in Rosie's throat, and she bit down on her bottom lip to prevent the lump from dissolving into tears. Stop bein' a baby, she told herself, it ain't the end of the world. He'll come back. They both will... but what if they don't?
Groaning in pain, Bob tried to sit himself up. "He's in pain. Do we have anything?" Sasha asked, her face full of worry and concern for Bob.
"I think there are pill packets in the first aid kit," Rosita answered. She was about to go and get them, but Bob's voice stopped her.
"Save 'em," Bob grunted out, his face twisted up with pain. Sasha tried to argue, but Bob wasn't having it. "Really," he insisted. His face melted into a more sad than pained expression, and he really started to cry. Two grown men crying in one day. Bob reached up to the collar of his shirt and pulled it down over his right shoulder, revealing a nasty wound. A chunk of his flesh was missing, and the red was all swollen up.
A bite.
They all stared at the bite for a moment, then at Bob.
"It happened at the food bank," he admitted. Sasha's eyes started to flood with tears, but she put on a smile for Bob anyway. Rosie stared down at him. She couldn't help the horrified look on her face- her eyes wide and her mouth slightly open. Bob was going to die. Were they going to tie him to a tree, give him a gun, and drive off like they did with Jim? Just another name added to list of dead people?
How many was it now?
Amy, Jim, Jacqui, Sophia, Dale, Shane, T-Dog, Lori, Merle, Zach, Patrick, Karen, David, Hershel, Lizzie, Mika, everyone on the bus, probably almost everyone from the prison, and now Bob.
Am I missing any?
Daddy. Does he count?
Do the bad people count? The man in the guard tower? The Governor? Joe? Dan? I don't want to count them. I won't.
How long until I'm on the list?
Don't think about that.
It'll happen to all of us. Ain't nothin' to be scared of.
"Bob," Sasha cried out as Bob laid back down onto the ground. She held onto his hand, squeezing tight.
"There's a sofa in my office," Gabriel said, nodding towards a door in the back left corner of the church. "I know it's not much, but..."
Sasha's face softened a little, and she nodded firmly. "Thank you," she said.
Rick started talking to Gabriel, but it was too quiet for Rosie to hear. Judith started crying, and more people started talking quietly to each other. Rosie got off of her church pew and went towards the entrance to the church. She wasn't stupid- she wasn't going to go outside- but she stood by the window, looking out. She couldn't see anyone, but she knew someone was probably out there, watching, listening, waiting. That person would be dead soon, too. Rick was going to kill them, more than likely. Maybe Sasha would, if Rick didn't get to them first.
More dead people. But I won't count them.
"Time for a reality check," Abraham's loud voice broke through all the quiet whispering, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "We all need to leave for DC right now." Everyone was quiet for a moment.
"What about Daryl an' Carol?" Rosie spoke up, stepping away from the window and closer to the others.
"They're gonna be back. We're not going anywhere with out them," Rick added, his voice harsh and his mind set.
"I respect that, but there's a clear threat here to Eugene. I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier," Abraham replied. Rosie looked over to Eugene. He had a weird look on his face, but he usually had a weird look on his face, anyway. She didn't want him to leave. "So if y'all won't come, good luck to you. We'll go our separate ways."
With that, Abraham turned and began marching towards the door. Rosie backed up out of the way, looking up at his determined face. She didn't want him to leave, either. She didn't want anyone to leave. The more people there were, the stronger they were. Every person made Rosie feel just a little bit safer. Either way, Rosie wasn't about to get in Abraham's way. She wasn't brave enough for that.
But Rick was. "You leaving on foot?" he asked, staring Abraham down.
Abraham stopped, Rosita by his side. He turned back to Rick, looking very annoyed. "We fixed that damn bus ourselves," he said. Rosie had helped a little bit, too, actually. Only by occasionally passing tools from Rosita to Abraham while she listened to whatever Eugene had to say about dinosaurs, though.
"There are a lot more of us," Rick said. He started taking fast, intimidating steps towards Abraham, but Abraham didn't seem very intimidated.
"You want to keep it that way? You should come," Abraham said, tilting his head to the side a little bit.
"Carol saved your life," Rick hissed, getting up in Abraham's face. "We saved your life."
"Well, I am trying to save yours!" Abraham shouted. "Save everyone's!"
Rick wouldn't budge. "We're not going anywhere without our people."
"Your people took off," Abraham argued.
"They're comin' back!" Rosie interjected, her eyebrows furrowed. She was reassuring herself more than anyone else, though.
"To what, picked-over bones?!" Abraham practically screamed. Rosie flinched back, cowering a little bit.
"Don't you yell at-" Rick started, hitting his hand against Abraham's chest to try and shove him backwards.
"Do not lay hands!" Abraham shouted, angrily hitting Rick's arm away.
"Abraham!" Rosita scolded.
Glenn took fast steps towards them, planting himself in between them and holding his hands out to his sides. "Hey, hey, stop! Now!" he shouted louder than Rosie had ever heard him before. Rick and Abraham both backed off, but they wouldn't stop staring each other down. Glenn turned to stand in front of Abraham. "Do you really think that you're gonna be any safer leaving right now, in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah. Yeah," Abraham breathed out, nodding his head with wide, angry eyes.
"What about tomorrow?" Glenn asked him. Abraham didn't say anything. "We need each other for this. We need each other to get to DC. We can get through all of it together."
Still, Abraham didn't say anything. Tara stepped forward, although hesitantly. "I have an idea," she said. She looked between Rick, Glenn, and Abraham nervously for a moment before continuing. "If you stay just one more day and help, I'll go with you to DC no matter what. Ok?"
Abraham still didn't say anything for a moment, thinking it over in his head. "Glenn and Maggie, too," he eventually said.
What? They can't leave. "No," Rosie said, looking at Maggie. If her dad were there, he'd probably be squeezing hard on her arm, silently telling her shut up and mind her own business. Her dad wasn't there, though.
"No," Rick agreed with Rosie.
"Good luck, then," Abraham said, not taking the deal without Glenn and Maggie. "I'm not interested in breaking up what you have here. Rosita grab your gear."
"Abraham-" Rosita said quietly.
"Now," Abraham snapped. Rosie liked him better when he was fixing buses, apparently. "Eugene, let's go," he ordered. Eugene didn't move. "Eugene. Move it."
"I don't want to," Eugene said nervously.
"Now," Abraham growled out.
"Ok," Eugene gave in quickly, standing up to join Abraham and Rosita by the door. Rosie frowned, giving him a small wave goodbye. He nodded in return.
"You're not taking the bus," Rick stopped them again.
"Try to stop me," Abraham replied, not bothering to turn and look at Rick when he said it.
The room went dead quiet. Rosie could hear the crickets chirping outside. After a few moments of the deadly silence, Rick started marching towards Abraham, and Abraham set down his gun, ready to fight Rick. Anxiety bubbled in Rosie's stomach and she took a few steps backwards.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! Hey, hey, hey!" Glenn stopped them again, keeping them apart with his arms. He nodded to Rick, trying to calm him down, before turning to Abraham. "You stay- you stay and help us, and we will go with you," Glenn said. He gestured between himself and Maggie.
"No," Rosie was going to say, but Rick beat her to it.
"It's not your call," Glenn said to Rick, his eyebrows slightly raised. He turned to Abraham again. "You stay, help us."
Abraham waited a moment before nodding. "Half a day," he said. "Come high noon, we're taillights. I'm not waiting for the other damn shoe to drop."
"And we will leave with you," Maggie assured him. Rosie didn't like her in that moment, she decided.
"12 hours," Abraham nodded again. "Then we go."
Daryl was gone, Carol was gone, and now Glenn and Maggie were gonna be gone, too. It felt like the end of the world all over again.
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I made a tiktok for this book ! The user is dieasthedevilwp if you wanna check it out 🫡 it's just edits for this fic