Someone woke me up. Michonne told me that Rick planned on taking the both of us and Carl on a run.
"I'm not going." I told her.
"You have to." she said.
"No, I don't."
"It's the only way they'll trust us."
"I don't want their trust." I snapped at her, and by the look on her face, I immediately regretted it.
"You're coming." And with that, Michonne walked away.
I let out a deep sigh. Why can't Rick let me stay here? It's not like I'm going to try anything.
* * *
"We're leaving."
I turned my head around and saw Rick standing there, looking down on me. I saw his hand hovering over his gun.
"Good luck." I said and turned back around.
I heard him scoff a little. "You're coming with us."
"No, I'm not." I said, still not looking at him.
"You have no choice."
"I do." I told him.
He didn't say anything. Next thing you know, I'm being turned around with a hard gripped hand on my shoulder. My eyes widened as I looked at Rick, who was staring at me like he wanted to kill me, which was probably true.
"Look, I know you just lost your mother, and I'm sorry about that. I really am." He said, but didn't look like he is. "But you're coming with us. No exceptions."
My eyes flared with anger. "You're not sorry."
And I walked past him, and out of the prison, leaving him alone with the my words echoing throughout the room.
* * *
It was quiet in the car. Michonne was driving with Rick in the front seat, and Carl and I in the back. Nobody said anything, except when Rick told Michonne where to go.
I looked through the front window and saw a figure. At first, I thought it was just a biter, but once we got closer, the figure waved it's arms at us. It was a man with a large orange backpack.
I couldn't hear well, but I could just make out what he was saying. "Hey!" He shouted. "Hey! Slow down! Slow down! I'm begging you! Please!"
But Michonne drove right past him. Carl and I looked back and saw that he kept on running towards us, begging us to slow down.
We looked away. I didn't know if I should agree or disagree with Michonne's decision to ignore him and keeping on driving.
A few minutes later, we found ourselves at a blocked highway. Michonne turned to the left and drove the car on the grass next to the highway.
There was a biter stuck under a car, trying to get to us. There was also dead corpses sitting still in the parked and broken down cars, flies on their faces, eating the only flesh left.
We suddenly stopped. Michonne glanced at Rick and pressed her foot on the gas pedal, but we stayed still. We were stuck.
We were just about to get out and try to fix whatever the problem was when suddenly, biters jumped up around the car, their teeth snapping and heads banging on the windows.
I looked at the biter at my window. It was a boy in his teens. Half his head was mushed, covered in brains, but he still came at me. It occurred to me that this boy once had a life. Pranking teachers, annoyed at his parents, a girlfriend . . . and now
He's gone. Now just a walking corpse. That boy was gone and replaced with a monster. And that's what's going to happen to all of us.
"Cover you ears." Rick told us as he took out his gun.
We did as he said, and Rick lowered his window just enough to fit his gun through. It took a while, but he eventually put a bullet through every biter around.
When he was done, we got out of the car to look for something to get the tire out of the small hole.
I went to one of the cars that didn't look too broken. I opened the front door. In the front seat, there was a biter, but it wasn't moving.
I looked through one of the pockets and found nothing but a card. It read: Happy Birthday, Mom! I love you with all my heart!
My heart sank down. I put it back and was going to close the door when the biter I thought was dead reached out and grabbed me.
I screamed and plunged my machete through its brain, just as the biter's teeth was about to bite my arm.
I stumbled back, breathing heavily.
Carl rushed over. "You okay?"
I couldn't do anything but nod at the moment. Rick and Michonne came to us.
"Are you bit?" Rick immediately asked me.
My eyes narrowed at him. "No." I spat at him. "But I'm fine, thanks for asking."
I stomped away from him.
Minutes later, Rick found a blanket. "Yeah, this'll work."
"Tell me when." said Michonne as she walked back into the car.
I followed her and say in my seat.
"Why'd you let her come?" I heard Carl ask.
We were in the car, the doors shut, but the windows open. I knew he was talking about Michonne.
"She took you to Woodbury and you said she just split on you." Carl continued. "And Oscar died and you guys-"
"It wasn't that simple." Rick said. "I asked her to come today. I didn't want to leave her at the prison if I wasn't there, not with Merle.
"That and we got common interests. For right now, we have the same problems. So maybe we can work on them together."
"Just for right now?" asked Carl.
"Yeah, just for right now."
I couldn't see Michonne's face. I could get where they're coming from. If I just met someone, and they bailed on me, I'd get upset too and wouldn't trust them. But I know Michonne. She's a good person. If she was leaving, so was I.
"And Brenda?" Carl said.
My ears perked up at my name.
"The same goes for her." said Rick.
"Why didn't you let her stay?"
Rick paused. "You never know what might happen."
"She just lost her mother and you think she'll try something?" Carl questioned.
"I don't know." Rick said. "I don't want to take any chances."
"Hey!"
I turned around. Through the back window of the car, I could just make out the man with the backpack running towards us.
"Help me!" He yelled. "I'm begging you! Don't leave please! Please! Hey!"
Rick tapped on the car and Michonne pressed in the gas pedal. The car drove straight over the folded blanket that covered the hole.
Rick and Carl came inside, and Michonne stepped on it. The man dropped to his knees, tired and desperate for someone to take him in.
* * *
About half an hour later, Rick told Michonne to stop the car once we came across a town. It was deserted, of course.
We walked on the sidewalk, following Rick. It looked like he knew where he was going.
I looked around and saw spray painted arrows on the walls. The others noticed it too, but didn't say anything.
We followed Rick into an empty police station. We searched the entire place, but didn't find any guns or ammo. Rick let out a frustrated sigh.
"Damn it." Rick kicked the wall.
Michonne picked up one bullet from the ground. "You got any other police stations in town?"
"I was the police here." Rick told her. "Me and a few others."
This is where he lived, I guessed.
"Ain't a big town." He paused. "There's other places to check. May not have as many guns as were in here, but-"
"We need as many guns as were in here." Michonne interrupted. "Ammo, too."
"Yeah, we do." said Rick. "But right now, I only got a line on a couple. There's a few other places out on the main street; bars, a liquor store. Owners had a gun or two behind the counter that people didn't know about. I did. I signed the permits. They might still be there."
Michonne stayed quiet.
"Do you have a problem with that approach?" Rick questioned her.
She looked at him. "No, Rick. I don't have a problem."
She handed him the bullet and walked away. I followed her, with Carl and Rick behind me.
Once we got out of the police station, we continued to walk alone the sidewalk.
On the wall of one of the buildings, it read away with you in spray paint. Who was writing these messages? Is someone living here? Are they still here?
We looked behind the wall and stopped walking. There was burnt corpses in a pile. We were all thinking the same thing. There was definitely someone living here.
Rick continued and we followed. We looked down on the sidewalk and saw even more spray painted arrows.
We finally made it to main street. We stopped dead in our tracks at what we saw in front of us.
Blocking the way of main street was some kind of . . . biter booby trap. There was a bunch of sharpened sticks of wood. They formed circles and in the middle were some rats and birds in cages.
"What is it?" Michonne asked.
"I don't know." said Rick.
There were even more signs, some saying just listen or turn around and live. We continued to walk through the town.
"It looks like someones already made this theirs." Michonne said.
"Doesn't mean they found what we're looking for." Rick said and ducked under a rope. "Couple of places are just up ahead. Let's get in and get the hell out of here."
"There." Rick pointed up ahead. "Tyrell's. A shotgun and two handguns. License issued to Tyrell Debbs."
Carl tapped on Rick's arm. We turned around and saw a biter staggering towards us. Michonne put her hand on her katana and walked forwards, but Rick stopped her.
"Wait." He said. "She'll get stuck."
And he was right. The biter got stuck behind a rope. She reached her arms out, trying to get to us, but couldn't get through.
There was a gunshot and the biter tumbled down.
We turned our heads to where the gunshot came from and saw someone in some body armor on the roof of a building, with a rifle in their hands. They aimed it at us.
"Hands!" They shouted, and I realized the voice was a male's.
We put our hands up immediately.
"Now you drop what you got and you go." The man told us. "Your guns, your shoes, that sword, and that machete. All of it. Ten seconds."
"Run for the car now." Rick said.
"Ten . . ." He started counting down.
"Dad." Carl said.
"We need that rifle." Michonne said.
"Nine . . . eight . . ."
"I think I can get up there." Michonne whispered.
"Seven . . . six . . ."
"Carl, Brenda, go." Rick said and started to shoot at the man with his gun.
Carl and I ran to the car while bullets were flying at us like crazy.
We made it to the car, and we hid behind it. Not even a few seconds later, Carl got up and ran away, leaving me alone.
"Carl, what the hell are you doing?" I half whispered to him, and got up to follow him. A bullet flew right past my face.
My ear buzzed and I couldn't hear anything for a few seconds. I stumbled back behind the car. I felt a stinging feeling and touched my ear. I immediately recoiled back, feeling blood. I realized that the bullet just barely grazed my ear.
"Damn it." I cursed.
The gunfire stopped for a moment. I poked my head out and saw that the man was not on the roof anymore, but Michonne was.
Suddenly the gunfire resumed. I pulled back. A minute later, I heard a grunt and no more bullets.
I slowly stood up and saw the man in the ground, Carl standing over him, with his gun pointed at him.
It dawned on me that Carl was the one who shot him.
I walked over to him. Rick and Michonne walked over as well.
"You okay?" Rick asked Carl, kind of in shock.
"Yeah." He said.
"I told you to run for the car." said Rick. "I didn't want you to have to do that."
"I had to." Carl said to him.
Rick looked at me and saw that my ear was bleeding. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." I said, not looking at him, but at the man on the ground.
Rick bent down and hammered a fist on the man'a chest. There was a quiet thump.
"He's wearing body armor." said Rick. He ripped open his shirt and pulled off the bullet vest. Just like my ear, the bullet only grazed him, except he wasn't bleeding. "He's alive."
"Do we care?" Michonne said.
Rick pulled off the man's helmet to reveal a black man.
He stayed quiet before he said, "Yeah."
* * *
Rick told Carl and I to watch the man, who he claimed he knew and that his name was Morgan.
I stood over Morgan, gripping my machete while Carl stood at his feet, gun aimed at him.
Rick and Michonne examined the town.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Carl suddenly asked me.
I glanced at him. "I'm pretty sure."
"It looks bad."
I looked down at the ground and saw a puddle of blood that was dripping from my ear. I didn't tell him this, but it actually stung.
"I'm fine, Carl." I said to him.
Thankfully, Rick and Michonne came over before Carl could question me again.
"Let's get him inside." said Rick, and he and Michonne picked up Morgan.
Carl and I followed them into the building where Morgan stood, shooting at us.
"Watch the wire." Rick said to us as Carl and I we were walking up the stairs.
Carl and I walked through a curtain that said no shitting you and stood face to face with an axe.
"This guy's no joke." I said and we entered the room.
My mouth opened in awe when I saw that the room was filled with different types of guns, ammo, and even a box full of grenades.
"I showed him that weapons locker last year." Rick told us.
"And it had all of this in it?" Michonne asked.
"No, not even half." Rick said. "He's been busy."
"The cot." He said and they laid Morgan on a cot in the corner of the room.
Michonne, Carl, and I immediately started to pack bags with guns and ammo.
"No."
We stopped and turned to Rick.
"We're gonna wait for him to wake up." He said. "Make sure he's okay."
"He tried to kill us." said Michonne.
"He told us to go. He didn't know who we were."
"He tried to kill us and we didn't leave him for the walkers. He's had a good day. He doesn't need half of these guns. We do."
"We're waiting for him to wake up." He said, completely ignoring what Michonne said. "That's it."
Michonne sighed. "Have you taken a look around this place?" She said. "The axe, the spikes, the walls."
"You think he's crazy?"
"No." She said. "I think he's dangerous."
"I know him." Rick said.
"He wasn't like this then."
"We're gonna wait for him to wake up."
This time, Michonne didn't argue. Rick tied Morgan's hands together and I sat down on the ground. Carl walked into the next room, but I could see what he was looking at. It was a map.
"What do you see?" Rick asked him.
"It's our neighborhood." said Carl and paused. "It's gone."
"Is that why you wanted to come?" Rick asked. "To see the house."
Carl didn't answer.
"Carl."
He hesitated. "I just wanted to come."
Michonne took a bag of chips and started to eat it.
"We're eating his food now?" Rick asked her.
"The mat said 'welcome'." Michonne shrugged.
She offered me, and I gladly took it. Carl same back into the room.
"I'm going on a run." he announced.
"Where?" Rick asked.
"I thought maybe the one thing people didn't loot was cribs and there's that baby place that Mom's friend Sara ran." He explained. "It's just around the corner."
"Carl."
"Dad, it's just around the corner." Carl argued. "And there's all those walker traps."
"You're gonna need some help carrying the box." said Michonne.
"What?"
"If you're gonna get a crib, you have to get a box. It's big and heavy." She said. "You're gonna need help carrying the box."
Carl stayed quiet.
"You are getting a crib, right?"
"That's what I said." Carl nodded, even though he didn't look like he was telling the truth.
"Then I'll go with him." Michonne told Rick.
He didn't look so sure, but he stood up. "Right there, that's the deal."
"I'll tag along." I stood up.
"No." Rick said. "We have to tend to that ear of yours."
"I told you, I'm fine." I said, annoyed.
"Yeah, and that's why you keep wincing every ten seconds, right?"
I didn't say anything. I didn't think he'd notice. I grunted and sat back down.
Michonne patted my head. "I'll be right back, kid."
"You get into trouble, you holler, okay?" Rick told Carl. "I'll hear it from here."
"Okay."
And with that, they left.
Rick gathered some medical supplies and sat in front of me. He placed a wet tissue on my ear, and I winced.
"Sorry." He apologized.
He stopped the bleeding and then cleaned it. He did it in silence. I didn't look at him, instead I found the floor interesting.
A few minutes passed and he stood up. "Done."
I touched my ear. Rick had patched it up. It still stung, but not as much.
"Thank you." I told him.
He nodded and walked over to Morgan.
Silence washed over is once again. There was a voice in my head nagging me to ask him, and somehow, it won.
"Why do you hate me?" I blurted out.
I cursed. Rick looked at me.
"I don't hate you." He said. "I don't even know you. I just don't tr-"
"Trust me." I finished for him and nodded. "I get it. That's what the world has come to. The second you see someone living, a gun is automatically pointed at their head. We can't even give anyone a chance because you never know what might happen. You can't risk it."
He didn't say anything. So I continued.
"That's exactly the mistake I gave the Governor." Rick's eyes narrowed, finally interested in what I have to say.
"The minute he showed up, I didn't trust him." I explained. "But my mother did. So, I decided to give him a chance and let him take us to Woodbury. That was the biggest mistake I've ever done.
"If we didn't go with him, if he never showed up, if I would have said no, my mother would still be here. But she's not. She's gone." I could barely say that last word without tearing up.
I couldn't continue. I put my head in my hands, weeping silently.
"Hey."
I looked up from my hands. Rick was crouched down in front of me.
"I don't know you, but I do know that your mother's death wasn't your fault." He said. "It's the Governor's. You can't blame yourself. It'll eat you up inside and tear you apart. Trust me, I know the feeling.
"My wife died. I blamed it on myself. I started to see things. I still see things." He said. "Looking at you right now, it's reminding me of myself. Don't blame yourself. It's not worth it."
I stopped crying.
"It is not your fault, Brenda." He repeated and I finally nodded.
I don't know what got me to do it, but I did it anyway. I hugged Rick, and he didn't push me away like I thought he would. He patted my back awkwardly, just like what Carl did when I hugged him.
"Thank you, Rick." I told him and let go. "I'm sorry about your wife."
He forced a smile. "I'm sorry about your mother. And I mean it."
He looked at Morgan, then at me. "You mind guarding the building? I need a minute alone with him."
* * *
I was standing outside the building, both guarding and looking for Michonne and Carl.
It occurred to me that Rick wasn't all that bad. He just had a lot on his mind. We all did.
Just then, I heard a thump. I looked behind me. Another thump. And yelling.
Morgan.
I ran inside and up the stairs, dodging the booby traps. I ran into the room to see Morgan on top of Rick, a knife in his hand.
"You don't clear!" Morgan yelled and drove the knife into Rick's shoulder. He screamed in agony.
"No!" I ran to help.
I jumped on Morgan. Compared to him, I was a rag doll. He easily pushed me away. I hit the wall hard and fell on the floor, dizzy.
I could just make out Rick head butting Morgan.
"You know me. You crazy son of a bitch!" Rick yelled and pointed his gun at Morgan's head.
"Please." said Morgan, and he grabbed Rick's hand and pushed the gun forward until it was an inch away from him. "Please kill me."
Rick pulled away from him, both confused and shocked. Morgan started to weep.
Rick looked over to me. "You all right?"
I nodded and stood up. "What about you?"
Rick continued to eye Morgan. "I'll be fine."
About half an hour later, Rick was bandaged up and Morgan didn't attack again.
"Just kill me." He said.
Rick glanced at me and nodded his head in the direction of the door. He wanted me to leave.
I have him a look saying are you sure? He nodded. I hesitated for a moment, and then left the room.
Not long after, Rick and Morgan came out of the building. They completely ignored each other as they parted ways. Morgan put the biters that were stuck in the booby traps on a stretcher.
"Everything go okay?" I asked Rick and picked up a bag of guns.
"Just fine." He said, and I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.
Carl and Michonne came from around the corner, carrying a baby crib.
"Hey." said Rick. "We were just about to look for you."
"Sorry." Carl said.
"It's all right. You're here now."
Carl looked at the blood stain on Rick's shirt from his wound.
"Oh, it's nothing." Rick lied.
He handed Michonne a gun bag. "Thank you."
We walked away from main street, passing by Morgan, who payed no mind to us.
"He's okay?" Michonne asked Rick.
"No, he's not."
We were almost out of the town when Carl stopped.
"Wait." He said and looked at Morgan. "Hey."
"Carl." Rick said warningly.
"Morgan." Carl called out to him.
Morgan turned to him.
"I had to shoot you." said Carl. "You know I had to, right?"
Morgan nodded.
"I'm sorry."
We turned around to continue walking when Morgan came up to Carl.
"Hey, son." He said and I stepped forward, just in case he tried anything.
"Don't ever be sorry." said Morgan. And with that, he walked away.
We made it to the car and started packing the bags in the trunk.
"Everything okay with her?" Rick asked Carl.
Michonne was busy with something else, and I was gathering the bags from the front of the car, but I could still hear them.
"I think she might be one of us." Carl said.
"What?"
Carl chuckled. "Everything went okay. What about Brenda?"
Rick paused, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him smile a bit. "She's all right."
I couldn't help but smile, too.
~ ~ ~ ~
Wow, that was a long chapter. Did you guys like it? I want to know what you thought :)
Next chapter is episode 13, where Rick and the Governor meet up to talk about the fight at Woodbury and at the prison and how to fix it. It doesn't focus much on what's going on in the prison, and guess what that means? More Carl/Brenda time!
Don't forget to comment, and vote! See you next chapter, byeeeeee!
P.S. [SPOILER ALERT FOR THE LATEST EPISODE OF TWD] .....
.....All I have to say is....I REFUSE TO BELIEVE GLENN IS DEAD. HE IS ALIVE AND I WILL PROVE IT TO YOU! If you think he's dead (shame on you), and don't want to hear any more of the [real] theories of how he's alive and not dead, then just skip this part.
1. When Nicholas shot himself, his blood was splattered onto Glenn's face (this will come in later).
2. When they fell off the dumpster, Nicholas fell ON TOP of Glenn. People say he didn't, but trust me (I've watched it so many times), he did fall on top of Glenn.
3. When the walkers surround Glenn and Nicholas, the angle of the camera CLEARLY doesn't show Glenn's whole body. Since Nicholas fell on top of Glenn, you can clearly tell it was Nicholas' guts the walkers were eating. It LOOKS like Glenn was being the one eaten, but the blood on Glenn's face was the blood from when Nicholas shot himself AND his blood from his guts and stuff that the walkers were eating.
4. "But, Glenn was screaming in pain! How do you explain that, huh?!" you might ask. Well, MY theory is that Glenn didn't like to have all the walkers surrounding him like that. And Glenn couldn't bare to see Nicholas being chewed up like that right in front of him. That's my theory, you guys might have another one that explains it better.
5. With all the blood on Glenn's face and body, he could easily (okay, maybe not easily) get off from the ground and walk away (or hide under the dumpster like people have been saying) from the walkers because he's camouflaged with Nicholas' guts on him. Just like he and Rick did in season 1 episode 2 "Guts."
7. In the comics (SPOILER FOR GLENN'S COMIC BOOK DEATH) Glenn is brutally beaten and killed by the leader of the Wolves, this guy named Negan. Negan kills Glenn with a baseball bat tied up in barbed wire. Now, I don't read the comics, but I've heard from my parents and some other people, so I know. Now, TWD has already casted Negan to come into the series either at the end of the season or later. So, if TWD wants Glenn's death to be just like the comics, then Glenn HAS to be alive for it to happen like that. And if Glenn IS dead (please please please don't let him be dead), then Negan is going to have to kill someone ELSE from the show.
6. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Steven Yuen renewed his contract for TWD so that kinda explains the whole thing.
Anyway, so sorry for the super long theory. But that's my theory as to why Glenn is alive. Comment your thoughts. Do you think Glenn is alive or dead?
~Marvel890