Build
The next morning, the Alexandrians gathered by the gate.
Katie and Rick stood before them.
"The world is different than most of you remember. Many of you haven't been outside since the beginning. I promise you that you will not like what you see. The dead are out there. And they will not stop until they kill you. I will do my best to protect you, but you all need to watch out for yourselves and for each other. Stay alert. We are out there to get the job done quickly and get the job done well," Katie said to the group gathered there.
They all looked at her.
Some of them looked with admiration.
Some with fascination.
Others with fear.
They looked at her for direction, for inspiration.
"We can do this. We can only do it together. All of us," Katie said, looking at Glenn.
That quote had always stuck with her.
"Let's roll out," Rick said.
Carl opened the gate for them.
Katie and Rick walked over to him.
"Take care of each other," Carl said.
"You got it," Katie responded playfully.
"Take care of your sister and the others," Rick said.
"You're in charge," Katie whispered with a wink as Rick walked towards the car.
"Hell no you're not," Rick called as he got behind the steering wheel.
Katie smiled and winked at Carl so Rick couldn't see.
"Yes you are," Katie mouthed silently.
Carl laughed and held the gate open for everyone else who still needed to exit.
"Shotgun!" Glenn shouted, running towards the car.
"Not so fast, Pizza King," Katie said with a smirk.
"Just because you have sex with him, does not mean you automatically get first priority seating in his car," Glenn said with a slight pout.
Katie leaned her head into the open door.
"I don't know, sheriff, does it?" Katie asked, smirking.
"It definitely means you get first priority," Rick said with a laugh.
"Come on! So unfair! I can't do the things she can," Glenn whined.
"Hell no you cannot," Rick said, laughing.
"I can't help that I have the nicest ass in the entirety of the post apocalyptic world. Honestly Glenn, these things aren't my fault," Katie shrugged.
"Legs, too. Don't forget about the legs," Maggie teased as she walked up to kiss Glenn goodbye.
"Lucky for me, I used my first alimony payment to get laser hair removal before the world ended. Rough life, but smooth legs," Katie said.
Rick and Katie and the others laughed hysterically.
"I love you," Maggie said quietly to Glenn.
"I love you, too. I'll be back soon," Glenn said.
"Be careful out there," Maggie said.
"Oh please. I'm always careful. I always come back," Glenn said with a chuckle.
Maggie kissed him quickly before backing away from the car.
"Come on guys, I get claustrophobic in the back," Glenn complained as Rick started the car.
Katie laughed and handed him a brown paper bag that was in the glove box.
"Don't vomit on the carpet," Katie said with a smile.
Most of the group piled into the RV.
Glenn, Rick, and Katie rode in the small car, leading the way.
"Think we can do this?" Glenn asked from the backseat.
"I hope so," Katie said.
"We can. We don't have a choice," Rick sighed.
They finally arrived at the spot where the wall was going to start.
Rick pulled over to the side of the road.
The RV stopped a couple yards behind him.
The Alexandrians came out of the RV all at once.
"I thought that I brought along an RV, not a clown car," Katie whispered to Glenn and Rick.
After they had all worked for hours to get the panels up, they moved farther down the street.
Every other hour, they had to move down the street to extend the wall.
They were all working well.
"Building a wall isn't going to teach them how to fight walkers, Rick," Katie said to Rick quietly as they took a step back from the construction to take a quick drink of water.
"I know. I think that we have to-- oh my God," Rick said, looking off into the woods at a herd of walkers coming their way.
"That'll teach them," Rick said.
The sounds of the walkers' snarls caught the attention of some of the townspeople who were building at the edge of the wall.
They started to panic.
Katie whipped the knife out of her holster and started walking towards the herd.
Rick grabbed her arm gently and pulled her back, lowering her knife.
"Let them," Rick said.
"Rick, they don't know how," Katie said, confused.
"Let them try," Rick said.
The men tried pushing the walkers over to no avail.
"Rick," Katie urged.
"Not yet," Rick said gruffly.
Finally Michonne came out from behind Rick, drawing her sword, ready to take down the walkers.
Katie followed after her.
Glenn and Rick followed closely after the women.
They closed ranks at the edge of the woods, every person covering the other's back.
Katie put her knife into the forehead of the first walker.
It dropped to the floor immediately.
Michonne cut off the head of one of the other walkers.
Glenn stuck his knife into the temple of another walker.
Rick pulled out his machete and started hacking at walkers.
His blade got stuck in the skull of one the walkers.
Katie saw this out of the corner of her eye.
She quickly grabbed her other knife out of her holster.
"Rick," she called.
She made a flawless toss to Rick.
He caught the knife in one hand and stuck it into the temple of the walker.
He ripped his machete out of the walker's skull and tossed Katie back the knife.
She caught it in one hand and placed it back into her holster.
The group of Alexandrians looked at them in shock, fear, admiration, confusion.
"That's what every single one of you needs to know how to do. We won't always be around to save you," Katie said fiercely.
She was covered in walker blood.
"Let's get back to work!" Katie ordered.
The group hesitated for a moment and then continued building the wall.
"I'm going to take the car and put up the zone balloons. I'll organize it by color and draw out a map for you guys while I'm out there," Katie said.
"I'll come with you," Rick offered.
"No. They need you here. I'll take Rosita," Katie said.
Rick nodded.
At the sound of her name, Rosita came over to Katie.
"What's up?" Rosita asked.
"I need your help with the balloons," Katie said.
Rosita nodded.
"Vámonos!" Rosita called, walking out towards the car.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," Katie said quickly, chuckling.
"Hey! Be careful, okay. If you're not back in a half hour I'm coming after you," Rick said.
"Okay. Hey! Hey! I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," Katie reassured him.
"Too late," Rick said.
"Besides, I have Rosita to protect me. I'll definitely be fine," Katie said with a laugh.
Rick pulled her close to himself and kissed her softly.
"Be careful. I love you," He said.
"I love you," Katie said with a smile.
She jogged to the driver's side of the car and hopped in.
"This is definitely not as nice as my old ride," Katie sighed, starting up the car.
"What did you use to drive?" Rosita asked.
"A big, white Mercedes G-Class. I lost it when our group lost the prison," Katie said, remembering her beloved car.
"Damn. That's an expensive ride," Rosita said, surprised.
"Well, it didn't seem as expensive after I bought a 2.6 million dollar house," Katie shrugged.
"What the hell did you do before all this?" Rosita asked.
"I was a defense attorney. I was also married to a neurosurgeon. We had a pretty large combined income," Katie chuckled.
"You were married?" Rosita asked.
"Yup. Had a kid, too," Katie answered.
"I'm sorry," Rosita said.
"Don't be. It's complicated. My kid died before the world ended and I killed my ex-husband and his entire camp after I lost my home at the prison," Katie said nonchalantly.
Rosita looked at her in shock.
The pair stopped at all of the destinations and hung the different colored balloons.
"I had no idea that being a birthday party clown was this difficult," Katie sighed.
Rosita laughed as they walked back to the car.
They pulled back up in front of the RV.
Before the sun had even set, the job was done.
"I think that we're done for the day, everyone. Let's load up and go home," Rick said.
The group started to load up into the RV silently.
Rick, Katie, and Glenn stood by the car.
"Come here," Rick said to Katie gently.
He wiped the walker blood off of her face with his sleeve.
The three of them loaded up into the little car and started driving back home.
"When are we going to do this thing?" Glenn asked.
"Tomorrow," Rick said.
Katie and Glenn nodded.
The group pulled back up to the gates.
Carl opened up the gates quickly, letting them all in.
He closed the gate behind the cars and ran towards the little car.
"Dad! Mom! How did it go? Are we ready?" Carl asked as they all got out of the cars.
"We will be ready soon," Rick said.
"Where's your sister?" Katie asked.
Before Carl could answer the question, Father Gabriel walked up, holding Judith.
Katie was happy to see Judith, but annoyed to see Father Gabriel.
She took the baby out of his arms quickly, scowling at him.
"I was just watching her for a moment while Carl opened the gate," Gabriel said.
"Well, don't I feel so much better. Beg the Lord to not let your bad habits of betrayal rub off on her," Katie said, annoyed.
Glenn let out a small chuckle before going off to find Maggie.
Rick was silent, standing in a position that would make it easier to stop Katie from punching Father Gabriel.
Father Gabriel started to feel awkward, so he left the family alone, walking back to his church.
"Let's go home," Carl suggested.
Rick put one of his arms around Carl's shoulders and the other around Katie's waist.
They walked down the street towards their house.
Once inside, they all sat down at the table. Carl had surprised them by making dinner for the entire family.
"Carl! This is amazing!" Katie said with a big smile.
"I've had a good teacher," Carl said with a shrug.
Katie's heart overfilled with joy.
He had been watching her cook for the family lately.
She guessed that he had picked up a few valuable skills.
"This is delicious, son. Thank you," Rick said.
After dinner, Katie stayed in the kitchen to clean the dishes.
Rick, Carl, and Judith sat in the living room together.
Their laughter rang throughout the house.
Katie dried her hands on the nearest dish towel and walked into the living room.
She smiled at them. Rick was laying on the floor watching Judith roll over and crawl.
Carl sat on the couch.
Katie stood at the edge of the carpet.
Judith started to crawl towards her.
Suddenly, she stopped.
She started to push herself up into her little legs and she took a step in Katie's direction.
Katie gasped.
A big smile broke out into her face.
Katie squatted down to the floor and held out her arms.
Rick quickly got behind Judith with his arms behind her, ready to catch her in case she fell.
Carl grinned wildly as he watched his baby sister take her first steps.
Judith took about three steps before falling into Rick's ready arms.
They all laughed and cheered for her.
Rick spun the baby around in the air, making Judith giggle.
Katie was laughing hysterically.
The whole family sat in the living room floor for a long time, reveling in the moment.
This was one of the moments that showed them that there was still good in the world.
This was one of the moments that showed them that they still had something to fight for.
This was one of the moments that would propel them through their fight, even when the situation looked bleak.
This moment gave the Grimes family a new hope for Alexandria.
It was their home now.
They had to protect it.
• • •