"Should we go outside and look for him?" I asked.
Michonne paced back and forth. "Rick told us to stay here in case Daryl and Carol come back, so we all can't leave. But I can't leave you here alone."
"What if he doesn't want to be found? Maybe he just left." Carl said.
I shook my head. "He wouldn't do that. He doesn't know how to fight walkers, let alone survive out there alone."
Michonne nodded. "She's right."
"So what do we do?"
She opened her mouth to answer, but that's when we heard a faint voice, Please! Let me in! We all glanced at each other. Was it Gabriel or someone else? But then the voice got closer.
"They're close! Help! They're coming!"
"It's Gabriel." I said and got up, running to the door.
"Don't leave me out here! Brenda! Carl! Michonne!" He kept screaming, and that's when I heard the walkers. "I had to see it! I know it now! Let me live with it!"
Carl and I came to the door first, while Michonne was handling Judith. "Wait!" she said, but we didn't listen.
Carl and I - me with just one arm - tried pulling the piece of wood off of the door, but it wouldn't budge. Gabriel kept screaming from right outside the door, and my heart was beating. Hopefully the barricades we set up will hold them off enough for us to let him inside.
"Get back." Michonne said, and we stepped back. She took a deep breath, and swung the axe down on the wood.
With a few more swings, she finally cut the wood down, so Carl opened the door and I grabbed Gabriel's arm and yanked him inside. A walker grabbed my hair, pulling me back and my eyes went wide as I shrieked. But Carl shot the walker with his gun and I scrambled to get back inside.
Carl pulled me up and pushed me behind him. Michonne stood in front of us and took out her katana. She killed a few walkers but she soon realized it wasn't going to be enough to kill all of them.
"The rectory, come on!" Gabriel yelled and we all turned and followed him.
Once we were all in the rectory, Gabriel shut the door before the walkers could get inside with us. Michonne and him held the door shut while Carl and I held out our guns just in case. Gabriel pointed to the floor and we looked down; it was a hole through the wood floor, revealing the dirt from under the building.
"That's how I got out. Crawl under to the back." he told us. "Just go. Take the little one and go."
Michonne took Judith off her back and gave her to Carl, which started her crying. I pushed him in front of me and he jumped down onto the dirt.
"Hey, hey." Michonne said and we looked up at her. "Wait for me."
We nodded and then Carl crawled under the church, me behind him. He went fast, and I wish I could have been as fast but with my shoulder just getting new stitches, it was hard. I heard Michonne behind me and I knew I had to go.
"Screw it." I muttered and put my arm down, moving both arms in front of me as I crawled as fast as I could possibly go. I winced every time I used my wounded shoulder but I sucked it up until I finally was out of under the church.
Carl helped me up and that's when I spit out a storm of curses, my hand going up to my shoulder. Michonne and Gabriel soon came up after me.
"I can't run anymore." Gabriel said.
"We're not running." Michonne told him and then she turned to us and told us what to do.
While Gabriel held Judith and stood back, Carl and I rushed to the front of the church and killed the walkers that were stuck in our traps as Michonne went further than us, up the steps to close the doors, locking the walkers inside.
Gabriel handed me Judith and I held her with my good arm. He went up and hammered a piece of wood to the doors so the walkers couldn't get out.
***
After we did everything to block the door, we stood at the small white fence that surrounded the church. Judith was awake, but thankfully not crying, on Carl's back. I sat on the fence while Michonne checked my shoulder once again.
"On a scale to one to ten, how much is the pain?" She asked me.
"Four," I answered, and when she and Carl gave me a look I rolled my eyes and said, "Fine. An eight."
"You were lucky. The stitches were so close to opening up again but it didn't." she said. "I'll check again when we get supplies."
"If we get supplies." I murmured, to which she either decided to ignore or didn't hear.
"We'll get some." Michonne said sternly. She turned to Gabriel, who was in his own world as he leaned against the fence and looked at the ground. "Where did you go?"
"The school." He answered. "I had to see. I had to know."
The church door suddenly cracked, the walkers hands trying to pry their way through - and it was working. The wood was cracking and we all knew we didn't have much time.
"Where do we go?" Carl asked.
And then a fire truck came out from the road and ran right over the wooden stairs, blocking the front doors. Abraham, Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, and Tara came out from the vehicle, surprising all of us. Carl and I gave each other a confused glance.
Glenn came over and gave me a tight hug. I hugged him back, then let go. "Are you okay?"
He gave me a small smile, and nodded. "We're good."
Tara and Maggie came over and I gave them each hugs. After everyone said their hello's and are you okay's, Michonne said, "You're back."
Glenn gave her a slight nod. "Eugene lied. He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end."
Nobody said anything. Carl looked down. I grabbed his hand and squeezed it. I knew he believed there was a cure. He squeezed back.
"Where is everybody?" Glenn asked.
Michonne smiled and went over to Maggie. "Beth's alive. She's in a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her, but the others went to get her back."
Maggie let out a breath of relief as she took in the sudden news. "Do we know which one?"
Michonne nodded. "Grady Memorial."
Maggie let out a laugh and hugged her husband. "Oh my God."
I smiled. I was happy for her. She lost her father and she thought she lost her sister. I couldn't wait for her to be reunited with her.
"Let's blow this joint, go save your sister." Tara said.
Maggie laughed and smiled.
"Let's go then." Abraham said, and went back inside the truck. We all followed him, everyone happy for in what seemed like a long time.
***
Carl and I stayed inside with Judith. She was sleeping in Carl's arms. My head was on Carl's shoulder as I held the baby's hand. It was these moments that made everything that had caused us pain worth it.
Even though everything we'd been through, there is still something to lose. And sure, that scared me like hell. But, it also kept me alive all this time because I knew there was something to get back to.. My family.
"I find it hard to believe we all found each other." I said.
"I knew we were going to." he said. "I didn't at first, but then I did. I knew I was going to find you."
I smiled, and lifted my head off his shoulder. My heart beating, I decided this was the time I could tell him what I've been wanting to tell him since we found each other. What a better time than now?
"Carl, I have to tell you something." I said.
"Hmm?" He murmured as he looked at his baby sister.
"I, uh-" I stuttered and he glanced up at me. I took a deep breath, "I-"
We heard a wail, a cry. I looked out the window of the truck and saw Maggie on the floor, Glenn holding her. I didn't know what was going on until Daryl came out of the building...with Beth in his arms.
My eyes widened as everything I've been feeling these past hours - happiness, confidence - slipped away. Silent tears slipped down my cheeks. I turned to my best friend and put my face in the crook of his neck, his arms immediately wrapping around me. I cried as I remembered Beth's - my friend's - voice as she sang during the time my mother died. I cried for Maggie, because I can't imagine what she must be going through right now.
~~~~
Hey again, guys. Sorry for the long wait. Hope you'd like this chapter (at least the part where Beth dies; RIP Beth Greene).
Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Seasons Greetings, Happy Hanukkah, Happy whatever you celebrate or if you don't, happy Saturday-Sunday! Don't forget to comment, vote and share! Thanks everyone! :)
~Marvel890