Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

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Gabriel led us through the woods at a fast pace. We're lucky we aren't exhausted yet, or we'd have difficulty keeping up. If my calculations are correct, we should be about sixty miles from Terminus, which should put us somewhere near Athens—but that's just a rough guess. I held my hunting knife tightly in one hand and gripped the shoulder strap of my backpack with the other. We hadn't seen any other walkers since we left the big rock, and there were no sounds of wildlife. I don't know which unsettled me more.

"Hey, earlier," I turned towards Rick and scrunched my eyebrows, feeling the stress v appear between them, "Were you watching us?" That's an excellent question! Was he our little peeper?

"I keep to myself," Gabriel answered as he continued leading the way, "Nowadays, people are just as dangerous as the dead, don't you think?" I gripped my knife tighter and shook my head, my voice coming out oddly low,

"No, people are worse,"

"Well, I wasn't watching you." Gabriel assured us, "I haven't been beyond the stream near my church more than a few times since it all started. That was the furthest I've gone before today." I stayed silent and looked at the ground around us, looking for any signs of tracks. We're not alone; we can't ever forget that.

"Or maybe I'm lying." I looked back up and eyed Gabriel, my lips turning downwards. "Maybe I'm lying about everything, and there's no church ahead at all. Maybe I'm leading you into a trap, so I can steal all your squirrels." I stopped and placed a hand on my pistol, not in the mood for jokes. We both know this man isn't capable of shit like that. Hell, even Selena can take him. I guess the look on both Rick's and my faces was enough to tell the man of God that these weren't laughing matters because he immediately started stuttering, "M-m-members of my flock had often told me that my s-s-sense of humor leaves much to be desired."

"Yeah, it does," Jacob answered with sarcasm dripping from every syllable. Michonne lightly hit him in the stomach and smiled at him, her lips stretching wide enough to show her teeth. If I know Jacob, and I feel like I do, this alone was enough to make him happy, but I also know Michonne and that she isn't interested.

Gabriel continued to lead us and stopped briefly as the trees started to open, giving us a view of a white chapel with a wooden fence surrounding it. We stayed behind Gabriel until we approached the front doors, our eyes darting around the neighboring woods.

"Hold up," Rick called out before Gabriel could unlock the doors to his church, "Can we take a look around first?" Rick ran up the stairs and joined Gabriel by the door, "We just want to hold on to our squirrels."

Gabriel handed Rick the key with hesitation and wiped his sweaty brow. It was apparent that we made him nervous and scared, but he wasn't going to do anything. If he really is a man of God like he says he is, then the right thing is to help us and trust that we won't do anything to hurt him. I grabbed my gun from its holster and cocked it, getting in position behind Rick and aiming as he slowly opened the door. Michonne stood next to me with her assault weapon pointed. Jacob and Daryl stood behind us.

The door creaked open, and we piled in, scoping the area. The church was kept clean—there wasn't a single dust particle. The walls matched the church's exterior, white, and the dark brown wooden pews looked worn with age. Ahead, where the pastor or priest, or whatever it is Gabriel was, there was stained glass with religious symbols. I've never been a religious girl. My only memory of being in church was when I was an angry pre-teen, and my dad forced us to go when we were visiting family in Texas. It's strange to be here after all this time – in one that is clean and seemingly still being used for worship, that is.

I crept towards the back with Daryl and pushed open the first door on the right, scanning it over and noticing that it must be Gabriel's office. The couch was a nice brown color and leather with a blanket and pillow thrown on it. The wall was decorated with a picture of The Last Supper on one wall, and the other bore a large wooden cross. Daryl and I turned toward one another and nodded, not finding anything significant to tell us that he was a dangerous man posing as a father/priest.