❛ Now shut your dirty mouth. If I could burn this town I wouldn't hesitate. To smile while you suffocate and die. ❜
SEASON 4, EPISODE 16
A
━━━━━━ October 21, 2011
BIANCA, RICK, CARL, AND Michonne made camp in the forest a few miles from Terminus. They still needed to rest and eat before they collapsed from exhaustion. Bianca could only hope Cal and their friends had made it there before them. She knew the change of being in a new community would be hard on her. For one, none of her people would be in charge, which already set alight a nervousness in her stomach. Change was always complicated, but maybe if they weren't the ones worrying all the time, they could live their lives better. They'd make new friends, Glenn and Maggie would have a baby, and she could marry the love of her life.
⠀⠀⠀That was her most basic dream. Maybe she couldn't be a great inventor or master engineer, but she could be someone to people. She could be a friend, sister, wife to those close to her. There would be times when it would get hard again. Someone would try to destroy everything they worked so hard for, but they would be ready this time. They would learn from their mistakes.
⠀⠀⠀But for now, she could only stare into the fire with a smile.
⠀⠀⠀"Why are you smiling?" Carl asked, bumping his shoulder against hers.
⠀⠀⠀"We're close. I can feel it," Bianca whispered. Her hands curled into fists where they rested on her lap.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah, a few miles off," Carl agreed.
⠀⠀⠀"No, no, our friends, Judith... they're close. I can feel it, and don't ever question my gut," Bianca told him with a narrow of her eyes and a pointed finger in his face.
⠀⠀⠀Carl chuckled and rolled his eyes.
⠀⠀⠀"Hey, don't be sassy with her," Michonne chastised him with a fond smile. "She's right. From what I heard, you had a feeling about Cal."
⠀⠀⠀After their conversation in the house, Bianca appreciated that Michonne was open to trusting her feelings. At first, it sounded like she just admired her for holding out on hope. A pitying thing when you have nothing to base it on. But Bianca could feel it. She could feel that Cal was still alive, and Michonne agreeing made her feel less crazy.
⠀⠀⠀"Still do," Bianca said.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, I have a feeling we're all hungry, huh?" Rick asked with a smile as well. They could all feel it. How close they were to finding everyone. Their spirits were high, and smiles ran through all of them. "How hungry are you on a scale of one to ten?" he asked Carl.
⠀⠀⠀"Fifteen," Carl sighed.
⠀⠀⠀"Twenty-eight," Michonne upped him.
⠀⠀⠀They laughed.
⠀⠀⠀"Well, it's been a while. I'm gonna go check the snares," Rick said.
⠀⠀⠀"Can I go with you?" Carl asked, scrambling to his feet.
⠀⠀⠀Rick grinned. "Well, how else are you gonna learn?" He looked at Michonne and Bianca, then pointed at them. "Hey, you, too."
⠀⠀⠀Carl stomped out the fire as they gathered their weapons and headed toward the snares.
⠀⠀⠀"We'll stay another day or two. Get some more rest," Rick explained along their walk.
⠀⠀⠀"Finish healing up?" Michonne asked.
⠀⠀⠀"I'm almost there," he said. "How you feelin', Bianca?"
⠀⠀⠀"Still sore, but it'll only get better from here," she sighed.
⠀⠀⠀"We're close now, right?" Carl asked.
⠀⠀⠀"To Terminus?" Rick asked.
⠀⠀⠀"Yeah."
⠀⠀⠀"We are."
⠀⠀⠀"When we get there, are we gonna tell them?"
⠀⠀⠀"Tell them what?" Michonne asked, her brows knit together.
⠀⠀⠀"Everything that's happened to us. All the stuff we've done," Carl explained. He stared at his dad before he continued. "Are we gonna tell them the truth?"
⠀⠀⠀"Is it considered lying if we omit?" Bianca asked, raising her brows curiously.
⠀⠀⠀"Under the law it is," Rick chuckled.
⠀⠀⠀"Who's law? Ours?" Bianca retorted.
⠀⠀⠀Rick shrugged. "Yeah, I get it," he told her, then looked at Carl. "But, to answer your question, we're gonna tell them who we are."
⠀⠀⠀"But how do you say that? I mean... who are we?" Carl asked.
⠀⠀⠀There was a moment of silence as they deliberated silently how to answer. Then, a snarl interrupted their thoughts as a walker appeared through the trees. They pulled out their weapons: two guns, a sledgehammer, and a katana. Michonne walked up to the walker and sliced the top of its head off. No other walkers approached, so they kept walking toward the traps.
⠀⠀⠀"There you go!" Rick cheered as they arrived. A dead rabbit was waiting for them in the trap. "It's a small one. It'll do."
⠀⠀⠀Rick shoved the rabbit into his bag and then squatted back down to explain how the trap worked.
⠀⠀⠀"So, this is just a simple slipknot. Tie one on both ends, then you tighten one side to a branch. Now, you see how the ground here is sort of like a funnel shape?"
⠀⠀⠀"It's a trail?" Carl asked.
⠀⠀⠀"That's right," Rick said with an approving smile.
⠀⠀⠀"That's where you want to set the noose. So you hide it with leaves. Then you put sticks all around it, so any animals going by have to run this way right into the trap."
⠀⠀⠀"HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"
⠀⠀⠀Carl was up in seconds, running toward the voice. Bianca followed without a moment's hesitation. Rick shouted for Carl to stop behind them with Michonne at his side. They stopped at a tree line. Carl's gun was raised as they saw a man encircled by a group of walkers. Rick came up behind them seconds later. His arm went around Carl and dragged him back. Michonne wrapped her hand around Bianca's arm and pulled her back.
⠀⠀⠀"We can't help him," Rick whispered.
⠀⠀⠀The man's face was torn apart by a stubborn set of teeth. He screamed as more descended upon him. One walker toward the back noticed them standing there and turned its attention to them. More followed, drawing them closer to the tree line.
⠀⠀⠀"We've got to go," Michonne whispered.
⠀⠀⠀They sprinted for the train tracks and found another small clump of walkers over a body. Behind them were the ones chasing them, but they could only look forward. Rick used the butt of his gun to kill a walker from the clump. Bianca swung her sledgehammer into another. Michonne sliced through a pair.
⠀⠀⠀"Let's go," Rick called, and they ran again.
⠀⠀⠀They made it a reasonable distance from the walker that they felt safe enough to walk. That and they were too tired and hungry to keep at that pace.
⠀⠀⠀"Thought maybe there'd be some houses down this way. Maybe even a store. There's gotta be some food around here somewhere," Michonne said.
⠀⠀⠀"Hey, look." Carl pointed down the road.
⠀⠀⠀An abandoned blue station wagon was halfway parked on the road. The front window was cracked, the back tire was flat, and the trunk was wide open. Walkers growled a few feet from the site but were easily disposed of by Michonne. There, they could make camp for the night.
BIANCA WAS ASLEEP IN the car next to Carl, absolutely exhausted, when a voice she didn't recognize startled her awake. Four men surrounded Rick and Michonne beside the campfire. Another man, stocky with long hair and a malicious grin, stood beside her window. Her sledgehammer rested beside her leg, but it wouldn't do any good this up close and personal. Plus, the knife he slammed against the glass that held her and Carl frozen. However, her hand did slip into his, squeezing it tight.
⠀⠀⠀"You screwed up. Today is a day of reckoning, sir," a man with graying hair said. His voice was fuzzy through the glass, but she could just hear them between her deaf ear and the shattered window.
⠀⠀⠀Her eyes picked through the rest of them, and she stopped on a man with a bandana. Her breath caught in her throat as she recognized him. He'd been the one in the house, choked to unconsciousness by one of his own, staring at her and Rick as he did. Now, there was a smug smile on his lips as if he had been looking for them.
⠀⠀⠀"Restitution," the gray-haired man said. "A balancing of the whole damn universe. Shit and I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve," he laughed. "Now, who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh? Ten Mississippi. Nine Mississippi. Eight Mississippi..."
⠀⠀⠀Daryl appeared on the left side of the car. She missed it if he'd said something, but she could see him walking past with a determined gate. Bianca's heart sank as that golden-haired and blue-eyed boy she loved arrived behind him. He looked pale with panic, the dark obscuring his face, and he hadn't noticed her in the car yet.
⠀⠀⠀"Cal?!" she demanded, ignoring the threat of the knife-wielding man over her shock.
⠀⠀⠀Cal looked over, the light of the moon filling the worry in his eyes. His jaw twitched, but he didn't move. Afraid. Bianca's heart beat faster, wondering what the hell he'd gotten himself into.
⠀⠀⠀"You're stopping me on eight, Daryl," Joe said. His voice only held a twinge of annoyance at the sudden inconvenience.
⠀⠀⠀"Just hold up."
⠀⠀⠀"This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about," one of the men snapped.
⠀⠀⠀"The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time," the gray-haired man said calmly. "Say your piece, Daryl."
⠀⠀⠀"These people, you're gonna let 'em go. These are good people," Daryl said. His hands out, pleading, desperate, like a caged animal unwilling to run.
⠀⠀⠀"Now, I think Lou would disagree with you on that," Joe said. "I'll, of course, have to speak for him and all 'cause your friends here strangled him in a bathroom."
⠀⠀⠀Tears started to stream down Bianca's face. She felt trapped. There was nowhere to run. Daryl couldn't help them, Cal was frozen, and they were going to die.
⠀⠀⠀"You want blood, I get it," Daryl continued. He slowly put his crossbow down and held his arms at his side. "Take it from me, man. Come on."
⠀⠀⠀"No!" Bianca shouted, gaining the attention of the men.
⠀⠀⠀The gray-haired one grinned. The ends of his lips curled, and his brow raised in amusement.
⠀⠀⠀"This man and that girl..." he said, ignoring her shout but holding onto it all the same. "...killed our friend. You say he's good people. See, now that right there is-is-is a lie. It's a lie!"
⠀⠀⠀The men fell on Daryl and Cal like vultures. They kicked Daryl and Cal until they crumpled to the ground. Their feet at their sides, and vulgar shouts of enjoyment and terror filled the night.
⠀⠀⠀Despite her tears, Bianca was quick to think. Her hand rested on the door and slammed it open before the stocky man thought to get in. His head knocked into the window, cracking it, and he fell to the ground. She attempted to close it and drag Carl out of the back when Daryl was slammed against the hood, shocking her. The man pried the door open and dragged her by the arm. On the other side, Carl had been taken as well. He was just a kid, so all his kicking and screaming was easier to get past.
⠀⠀⠀On the other hand, Bianca dragged her feet into the ground and attempted to pull out of the man's grip. His hands would leave bruises with how he handled her. His nails embedded into her skin. She tried to throw off his balance by giving into his tugs, and they both fell to the ground. Her teeth went for his neck, but he punched her in the face, making her head spin. Bianca pushed forward to knock her head into his and made contact. The man seemed prepared for her move and used her rocky balance to flip her on her stomach.
⠀⠀⠀Her arms were pinned under her, her neck clenched in his vice-like grip as his hips pressed hers down. He leaned forward and whispered into her left ear things she was thankful she couldn't hear. He smelled like he hadn't bathed in weeks, and his thumb rubbed jagged circles along her neck.
⠀⠀⠀Bianca could feel him move behind her. Her eyes were pinned away from everything. She could barely hear anything with her good ear buried in the dirt. She had no idea what was happening except for the light jingle of a belt that made its way into her ear. It came from behind her, and she knew it was the man on top of her.
⠀⠀⠀Bianca bucked her hips, but he pushed her down at the curve of her spine. She could hear his giddy, boyish chuckles as fingers caressed her butt and played with the hem of her worn jeans. Her whole body grew hot as she felt him reach lower to tease and play with her. Her tears sobered as she grew numb to the feeling. She knew this could only end one way—
⠀⠀⠀CRACK!
⠀⠀⠀The man fell off her and laid at her side with a bludgeoned wound on the side of his head. Static rose in her ears as her sledgehammer found its way into his head again. She couldn't move as blood splattered on her face, and the weapon returned over and over again until the man was a puddle of nothing. The sledgehammer was dropped to the side finally. Her hands shook as she smeared the blood away. A hand rested on her shoulder, and she darted away.
⠀⠀⠀Cal stood behind her. His face was covered in fresh blood, his curls drenched in sweat, and his eyes had something in them that scared her. He tried to touch her again, but she flinched again. She didn't mean it, didn't even think about doing it. It was innate. Something inside her wanted to stay away.
⠀⠀⠀Cal sighed. His face morphed from murderous to her sweet boyfriend in seconds. It was like he had shifted right in front of her eyes. A shiver ran up her spine, but she knew it was him. Even if she had to keep reminding herself.
⠀⠀⠀Cal stayed close but far enough that she didn't feel caged in. Bianca was thankful for it and yet felt undeserving because of her reaction. She just didn't want to be left alone.
⠀⠀⠀Bianca looked around at their broken group. Michonne had Carl in her arms, Daryl stood with a scowl, and Rick dropped one of the men beaten to a pulp.
⠀⠀⠀Bianca stood to her feet as Daryl approached. She swayed as she became lightheaded. Daryl whispered something to Cal that she couldn't hear. Cal looked at her before walking over to the others.
⠀⠀⠀Daryl approached Bianca. He didn't say a word. Bianca looked into his eyes and saw the draw of his brows and the slight frown. Daryl looked shaken, and she felt it, too. There were tears in his eyes, and they brought the reality racing forward. Tears started to fall, and Daryl's arms opened wide. She drew in a deep, stuttering breath before sobbing into his chest.
AUTHOR'S NOTE —
:) I promise I love Bianca and Cal. They are my babies and that's why I torture them so much.
In the upcoming chapter, I would just like to say that I try my best to make the narration in whoever's POV it is. So, things they might say as fact (such as, "Bianca thinks this about me" in a Cal POV) is typically their own opinion. I would take things with a grain of salt, especially after such a traumatizing event as this chapters!
SONG: Choke by I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment if you'd like. However, this is an all kind of reader safe space. So even if you ghost read or comment every chapter, I hope you know it means the world to me that you've come into this fic ♡ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until the next one.