None of us got any sleep that night.
We were safe, in a church, with food and water and yet...we got no sleep. It all started when Sasha noticed Bob was gone.
"Guys!" She yelled over the laughter and talking. Everyone silenced and looked over at Sasha's worried face. "Bob...he-he's gone."
There was silence for a minute, but then Rick stood up and walked over to her. "What do you mean he's gone?"
She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes but they didn't fall. "I-I went to give him a drink but I couldn't find him. I looked everywhere."
"Maybe he just left for a little while-"
"No." Sasha interrupted Tyreese. "He wouldn't just leave. Even if he did, he'd come back soon."
"Well what do you think?" Rick asked her.
"I think he might've been taken." She guessed. "Or ran away from something...or someone."
"You think it was whoever watched us?" Glenn asked. "Like what Daryl and Carol said last night?"
"I-I don't know," Sasha stammered, panting. "We just need to find him."
Rick nodded. "Okay, Sasha, Tyreese and I will go. You stay here in case he comes back."
Glenn nodded, along with everyone else. Sasha and Tyreese ran out the church, Rick behind them. Before he left the church, though, Maggie called him back.
"Daryl and Carol are missing, too." She said.
About an hour later, the door opened revealing a distressed and angry Sasha. I guessed the didn't find Bob, or Daryl or Carol for that matter. The room was quiet, so we heard the footsteps Sasha took towards Gabriel. She looked like she was about to kill someone.
"Stop." She told him. "What are you doing?"
Gabriel looked confused, glancing at the people around him. Sasha took a step closer to him. "What are you doing?" She repeated, slowly. "This is all connected. You show up, we're being watched, and now three of us are gone."
Gabriel was taken back. "I-I don't...I don't have anything to do with this."
Sasha pulled her knife out of its holster and that's when I sprung to action. "Stop!" I yelled, walking to stop her but Carl grabbed my arm, pulling me back.
"Sasha, put it away." Tyreese told her.
"Who's out there?" Sasha questioned the former priest, ignoring what we were all telling her to do.
"I-I don't have anything to do with this-"
"Where are our people?" Sasha cut him off, getting closer to him.
"I don't have anything to do-"
"Where are our people?!" Sasha shouted at him, and I yanked my arm out of Carl's grasp and rushed forward, pushing Sasha back.
"Don't touch me," She snapped, smacking my hand away.
"Hey, don't talk to her like that." Carl told her, but she ignored him, continuing to glare daggers at Gabriel.
"Please," he pleaded, "I don't have anything to do with this."
Sasha slowly backed away, this time Rick walking forward. "Why'd you bring us here?"
Gabriel had his hands up, his lip quivering with fear. "Please, I-"
"You working with someone?" Rick asked.
"I'm alone." He said. "I'm alone. I was always alone."
"What about the woman in the food bank, Gabriel?" Rick questioned. "What did you do to her? 'You'll burn for this.' That was for you. Why? What are you going to burn for, Gabriel?" And then Rick suddenly grabbed him by the collar. "What? What did you do? What did you do?!"
I shook my head, looking away. I couldn't stop Rick from doing what he was going to do. We all knew Gabriel had a secret he was hiding from us, but I found myself hoping it had nothing to do with the absence of Bob, Daryl and Carol. Gabriel reminded me of the priest at my old church.
"I lock the doors at night."
My head turned back. Rick was off of Gabriel, letting him speak.
"I always lock the doors at night." He said, looking about ready to break down. "I always lock the doors at night. I always-"
Gabriel took in a deep breath, his eyes swelling with tears. "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. You see...it was my choice. They 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...children. Entire families calling my name as they were torn apart, begging me for mercy. Begging me for mercy."
Gabriel started to sob as he recalled the memory. "Damning me to hell. I buried their bones. I buried it all. The Lord sent you here to finally punish me." He slid down to the floor, still crying. "I'm damned. I was damned before. I always lock the doors. I always lock the doors."
That was it for him. He was on the floor, crying his eyes out. This was his secret. He probably thought of himself as a murderer, letting all those families die right outside his church.
"There's something-" Glenn's voiced in the front of the church. We all looked back to see him looking out of the window. "There's someone outside lying in the grass."
Sasha immediately left the church, and Rick followed her out. Carl and I stayed behind; it's what Rick would want. I stood up, looking outside in the dark as best I can. I heard Sasha scream 'Bob' and yelling. Then I heard a gunshot, followed by more gunshots. Carl and I exchanged a glance.
Sasha and the others came back inside, carrying a lifeless Bob in their arms. My eyes widened when I saw that he had no leg.
They gently put him on the floor, shaking him and talking to him to get him to wake up. Ten minutes later he woke up with a start, gasping for air and panting. Sasha let out a cry, caressing his face in her hands.
"Bob," she whispered, "it's me. You're okay, Bob, I'm here."
He relaxed in the next few minutes. When he was able to talk, Rick asked him the question we all wanted to hear the answer to. "What happened, Bob?"
Bob took a breath and Sasha gripped his hand. "I was in the graveyard. Somebody knocked me out." As he spoke, I was worried he was going to pass out any minute. "I woke up outside this place. It looked like a-a school. It was that guy, Gareth. And five other ones."
I didn't know who this Gareth was. My guess is he was from Terminus, but I wasn't sure. I decided to ask Carl about it later.
"They were eating my leg right in front of me. Like it was nothing." Bob said, looking about ready to cry. My heart dropped. That must've been traumatizing for him. "All proud like they had it all figured out."
"Did they have Daryl and Carol?" Rick asked.
"Gareth said they drove off."
What? I thought. How could they just leave? Leave without telling us?
Bob groaned. Sasha looked up at Rosita. "He's in pain. Do we have anything?"
"I think there are pill packets in the first aid kit." She answered. Sasha nodded and Rosita turned to get them.
"Save 'em." Bob suddenly said.
"No." Sasha told him.
"Really." Bob exclaimed, turning to her. He slowly sat up, wincing in pain. Then he pulled down his shirt from his shoulder, revealing a bite mark.
Nobody gasps, or moves. But everyone is shocked. It's written on all of our faces, except Sasha. Sasha stares at the bite, then at Bob. Her face is emotionless. I can tell she is shocked, worried, angry, and sad at the same time, but she didn't show it.
"Bob," she whispers.
"It happened at the food bank." he tells her.
And then her eyes well up, but she doesn't let them fall once again. Bob winces as he moves and she helps him lay back down.
"It's okay," she says, but I didn't know if it was meant for her or for Bob.
Bob then drops to the ground, and I flinch. But then I see he's still awake, just barely. Gabriel steps forward.
"There's a sofa in my office." he says. "I know it's not much, but..."
Sasha looks at him. "Thank you."
"I got him." Tyreese says and gets up to pick Bob up in his arms. Everyone got up and moved back as Tyreese carries Bob to Gabriel's office.
I see Rick go over to talk to Gabriel, but they talk in hushed voices so I couldn't hear him. I sat down next to Carl, my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. I couldn't believe Bob was bit. He helped get the medication for me and everyone else that was sick back at the prison. He saved my life just by going on that trip. And it kills me that I can't return the favor.
Judith started to cry and Carl grabbed the basket she was in and walked her to the spare room next to where Bob was lying down in. I walked with him as she shushed Judith for her to stop crying.
He put the basket down on a table and I grabbed her hand in mine. With my free hand, I smoothed her thin hair back and shushed her, which seemed to calm her down a bit. I looked over to see Rick talking to Glenn and Maggie.
Then Abraham spoke loudly enough so I could hear him. "Time for a reality check," he said and I noticed a rifle in his hands. "We all need to leave to DC right now."
I left Judith in the room since she was almost asleep. I stood behind Rick, crossing my arms. Carl soon came out of the room, too, and came over next to me.
"Daryl and Carol are gonna be back." Rick told Abraham, and I could tell he was trying so hard not to argue with him. "We're not going anywhere without them."
"I respect that, but there's a clear threat here to Eugene. I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier. So if y'all won't come, good luck to you. We'll go our separate ways." said Abraham in a rushed voice, turning his back to all of us.
"You leaving on foot?" Rick questioned, but I knew it really wasn't a question. He wasn't going to let them take the RV.
Abraham stopped short, then turned around. "We fixed that damn bus ourselves."
"There are a lot more of us." Rick said, moving towards Abraham.
"You want to keep it that way? You should come." Abraham said, testing Rick.
"Carol and Brenda saved your life. We saved your life." Rick told him.
"Well, I am trying to save yours." Abraham yelled. "Save everyone's."
"We're not going anywhere without our people." Rick said in a low voice.
"You people took off."
"They're coming back."
"To what, picked-over bones?!" Abraham continued to shout.
"You're not taking-"
"Do not lay hands!" Abraham smacked Rick's hand away when he went forward.
"Abraham." Rosita snapped.
"Hey, hey, stop! Now!" Glenn stepped forward once he saw things were getting out of hand, pushing the two men away to stop from killing each other.
Glenn took a moment before he looked over at the redhead and said, "Do you really think that you're gonna be any safer leaving right now in the middle of the night?"
"Yeah." he took no hesitation to answer. "Yeah."
"What about tomorrow?" Glenn asked. "We need each other for this. We need each other to get to DC. We can get through all of it together."
He narrowed his eyes furiously, like he was about ready to break down the church doors with his bare hands.
"I have an idea." Tara spoke up. She glanced between Abraham, Glenn, and Rick and then let out a breath. "If you stay just one more day and help, I'll go with you to DC no matter what."
Abraham gave her a slight nod. She turned around, looking at Maggie in particular. "Okay?"
Nobody answered. Abraham spoke, now in a lower tone. "Glenn and Maggie, too."
"No." Rick immediately said.
"Good luck, then." he farewelled. "I'm not interested in breaking up what you have here. Rosita, grab your gear."
But Rosita didn't move. "Abraham-"
"Now." Abraham snapped. "Eugene, let's go."
Like Rosita, Eugene didn't move from where he was sitting.
"Eugene. Move it."
"I don't want to." Eugene stuttered quietly.
"Now." Abraham growled.
"Okay."
Abraham trailed behind them when Rick spoke once again. "You're not taking the bus."
Abraham stopped, and I was afraid he was going to shoot Rick right then and there. "Try to stop me."
It was so quiet you could feel the tension. Rick didn't move, and neither did Abraham. Everyone was waiting to see what either one of them would do. Then Rick strolled towards the redhead.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Glenn pushed them back once more when Abraham was ready to fight Rick. "Hey, hey, hey!"
"You stay..." Glenn spoke to Abraham, "you stay and help us, and we will go with you."
"No." Rick said once again.
"It's not your call." Glenn told him. Then he turned back to Abraham. "You stay, help us."
The man looked down, thinking it over. "Half a day." He finally 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 said to him.
He nodded. "12 hours. Then we go." He walked away, past Rick who gave him a look. Then Glenn left behind him, over to Maggie.
I walked back into the room where Judith was now sleeping soundly. I sat on the table where her basket was, looking at her. She looked so comfortable, like the world was like it was before. She had no idea the horrors that now ran the world. She would never be able to go to the park with her parents and brother. She would never be able to go to school and meet her best friend. She would never be able to grow up in a house with her family. Instead she has to grow up in this shitty world, where you have to learn how to kill and defend yourself against the walking dead.
Carl soon came inside and smiled at me. I half smiled back.
He sat down in the chair that was next to the table I was sitting on.
"Who's Gareth?" I asked and looked over at him.
He sighed and glanced down at his hands. "He was the leader of Terminus. He managed the whole thing. Set up how they were going to kill us and then cook us...for dinner."
I gulped. "Did he...do anything to you?"
Carl shook his head. "No, I mean, not yet anyway. He was going to kill all of us at some point. But then you and Carol saved us."
I nodded, and silence washed over us. There was still one thing on my mind that I wanted to ask him. What were we? It came across me when I spoke to Gabriel last night. But now wasn't the time to ask. I would have to ask later, maybe when we're at DC and we get the cure. Maybe after everything is fixed, I'll ask him.
"They're planning now, let's go." Carl said, pointing outside the room where everyone was currently gathered. We walked over to them. They were all loading ammo and gathering their weapons.
"So what's the plan?" Tara asked Rick.
"They're at the school Bob told us about," Rick said, "if we go now, we'll kill them all. They know now we know who they are, where they are, but they don't know when we're going to strike. Probably think we'll go in the morning or sometime tomorrow. We have to be two steps ahead of them."
He told us who's going and who's staying. Everyone except for me, Carl, Gabriel, Rosita, Eugene, Bob, Sasha, and Judith are staying here.
"You'll stay together in that room," Rick pointed to where Bob was. "You'll keep quiet, have your weapons ready. We never know what's going to happen. Better to be safe than sorry."
We all nodded. Tara handed me a pack of ammo, which I started loading into my gun. Carl did the same.
"They think they're in control." Rick said. "We're in here and they could be anywhere. But we know exactly where they are."
"Plan's got stones, I'll give you that." Abraham said.
"Make our move before they do." Glenn summarized.
"That's right." Rick said. "They're not counting on us thinking straight."
"Are we?" Rosita asked. "I'm just making sure. It's a big play."
"Remember what these people are capable of?" He asked and nobody dared to answer. We all knew. We didn't want to be reminded.
"Tyreese." Rick said, looking over to the man who was sitting next to me.
"Yeah?"
"You up for this?"
But Sasha came in before he had the chance to answer. "I'm going with you."
"You should stay with Bob." Tyreese suggested.
"No, I want to be out there. I want to be a part of this." And then she went back to Bob. Tyreese followed her.
Just a few minutes later, it turned out Tyreese was going to stay and Sasha was going. Once we were ready, half of the group went into the two rooms where Rick told us we should stay. The others put away the rest of the ammo and weapons with us.
Rick came into the room. He bent down and kissed Judith on the forehead then turned to Carl. He went down on his knee to be with level with Carl.
"Stay strong, okay? Protect your sister. Remember, never let your guard down." Rick told him and he nodded, giving his father a tight hug.
Carl went to Judith while Rick walked over to me. "Keep an eye out for him," he said, glancing at his son.
I nodded. "Of course."
"Be strong, careful and safe. Just remember that no matter what, you'll always be apart of this group, this family." Rick told me, looking at me straight in the eye.
I couldn't help but smile and I threw my arms around him, engulfing him in a hug. He hugged back, and this time it wasn't awkward. "I love you, Rick." I muttered, scared of his reaction. I've always wanted to tell him that, but never had the courage to. He was like the father I never had.
"I love you, too." he whispered and gave me one last squeeze before letting go.
He smiled and then left the room, locking the door behind him.
To say I was scared out of my mind would be an understatement.
We had no idea when the others would be back, or if they're safe.
Carl had his hand hovering over his gun, standing next to me a few feet away from the locked door. He kept tapping his index finger on his holster, and I was pretty sure everyone in the room heard it because of the dead silence.
I had my gun in my hand, but my finger off the trigger. My fingers were shaking, a habit that happens when I'm nervous and scared. But I didn't let it show on my face. Rick told me I had to be strong, and that's exactly what I plan to do.
Judith was wide awake, but she made no noises thankfully.
It had been about five or ten minutes when we heard a slight banging sound. Everyone looked at each other
in alert. Then we heard a door swing open. Carl and I immediately held out our guns.
"Well, I guess you know we're here." said a voice.
I glanced at Carl, who nodded slightly, telling me that that was the leader, Gareth.
"And we know you're here." Gareth said. "And we're armed. So there's really no point in hiding anymore. We've been watching you. We know who's here."
My fingers shook more, but I kept a steady hand. I couldn't let fear get in the way of protecting my family.
"There's Bob, unless you've put him out of his misery already." Gareth said. "And Eugene. Rosita. Martin's good friend Tyreese. Oh, and Martin also mentioned a Brenda. Said she's a feisty one."
I gulped, and took in a quiet, but shaky breath.
"Carl. Judith." He finished. "Rick and the rest walked out with a lot of your guns. Listen, we don't know where you all are, but this isn't a big place. So let's just stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be."
The doorknobs rattled from the outside, and I saw Rosita aim her rifle there.
"Look, you're behind one of these two doors and we have more than enough firepower to take down both." the leader said. "Can't imagine that's what you all want."
There was a gun cock, which I assumed was to tell us that they weren't lying about their weapons and that we were running out of time.
"How about the priest?" Gareth said. "Father, you help us wrap this up, we'll let you walk away from this. Just open the door and you can go. You can take the baby with you. What do you say?"
His voice sounded closer, but across the room. He was probably at the other door.
Then Judith cried.
My heart skipped a beat, and I almost dropped my gun. Not now, Judith, please, I thought. Carl quietly went over to her, and I stood firm, gripping my hand around my gun.
"I don't know. Maybe we'll keep the kid." he said. "I'm starting to like this girl."
Carl finally made Judith stop and calm her down, and I was surprised the people from Terminus hadn't already knocked down the door. They knew where we were. They had the power to kill all of us, like they said.
They were teasing us, is what they were doing.
They're not gonna let us walk out on this. We're not weak, even if the others aren't here with us.
"It's your last chance right now to tell us you're coming out." Gareth said.
"Are we done?" a familiar voice asked, and I recognized it as Martin.
"We'll hit the hinges."
I closed my eyes for a second, then took in a deep breath. I held my gun, my eyes trained on the door that would be broken down any second now...but it never did.
Two silenced gunshots was what I heard.
"Put your guns on the floor." the voice of Rick Grimes echoed.
"Rick, we'll fire right into that office. So you lower your gun-"
Another gunshot and Gareth let out a shriek of pain.
"Put your guns on the floor and kneel." Rick demanded.
"Do what he says." Gareth said, still groaning in pain. Guns were placed on the floor and I was sure they kneeled. "Martin, there's no choice here."
"Yeah, there is." Martin said.
"Want to bet?" Abraham's voice said.
Another gun was set on the floor as Gareth's gasping continued. I hoped they shot him where it really hurt.
"No point in begging, right?"
"No." Rick said.
"Still, you could have killed us when you came in." Gareth told him. "There had to be a reason for that."
"We didn't want to waste the bullets."
"We used to help people. We saved people." Gareth said and I almost rolled my eyes. "Things changed. They came in and-"
He cut himself off, groaning. "After that...I know that you've been out there, but I can see it. You don't know what it is to be hungry. You don't have to do this. We can walk away. And we will never cross paths again. I promise you."
"But you'll cross someone's path." Rick said, and I heard a gun click. "You'd do this to anyone, right? Besides, I already made you a promise."
And then there was screams of them yelling 'No' and screams of pain as there was slashing and smashing and the sounds of blood spill. I backed up till I hit the wall, trying to block out the noises. I was glad I was behind this door.
But Tyreese opened it and I made the mistake of looking.
My eyes widened as I saw Sasha stabbing her knife in the chest of Martin multiple times, killing him even after he was dead. I saw Abraham and Michonne smash the back of their rifles in the heads of the people who were about to kill us. And then there was Rick, who slashed his axe through Gareth's head, making it just a puddle of brains and blood.
They were done a minute later, and when Rick saw my face he said, "It could have been us."
"Yeah." Sasha whispered and walked into the room where Bob was. The others followed.
Gabriel stepped out, looking in fear and awe at the bloody bodies that were sprawled out on the floor. "This is the Lord's house."
"No." Maggie said. "It's just four walls and a roof."
***
When the church was cleaned out of the bodies in the morning, before Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Tara, Glenn and Maggie left for DC, we all gathered in the room where Bob was laid on the couch.
When it was my turn to speak, I sat down on the couch beside him and took his hand. I smiled at him and he attempted to smile back. "Thank you, Bob." I told him. "You saved my life and a lot of others when you came back with the medication. I'm grateful for it. I wish there was something I could do to repay you."
Bob shook his head. "Just look out for Tyreese. I know he's very fond of you."
I smiled again. "Of course. You did good, Bob."
I gave his hand a squeeze and then left the room, the others following. Sasha called me over a few minutes later while Rick and Judith were talking to Bob.
"Hey," she said and I nodded. "I just wanted to apologize for last night. I, uh, was just-"
"I know. I get it." I shook my head. "I'm sorry for pushing you,"
"I'm glad you did, I don't know what I would've done if you didn't." she said.
"I'm sorry, Sasha." I said softly, looking back at Bob.
She forced a smile. "Not your fault. Like what Maggie said, he'll always be with us."
I gave her a quick hug and walked over to Carl. He gave me a smile and grabbed my hand.
Later, when Bob passed, Sasha went outside to make a cross and to find a place to bury him.
The rest of us were outside, while Abraham gave Rick his route to DC. Rick let them take the bus, and told him we'll make our way there once Daryl and Carol came back.
"Let's go." Abraham announced.
Tara came over to me while everyone said their goodbyes. "When you get to DC, I'll make sure to teach you how to make a fire."
I laughed and hugged her. "You better."
I gave Glenn and Maggie hugs and said goodbye to them. Soon they were all on the bus. Rick nodded at Abraham and he closed the bus doors.
Then they drove off.
~~~~
Hey again! Hope you liked this chapter. It wasn't much, but it'll get better soon, promise! There's not much I really need to say, but can we all take a moment and appreciate how amazing the season 7 trailer was??!
I mean, did yoU SEE THAT TIGER???!!!??! I think I told you guys this, but I don't read the comics, but I know some things, like the tiger's name is Shiva and it's owner is King Ezekiel. I can't wait for the premiere!
~Marvel890