Leah Grimes

Chapter 72

"What do you think he meant? Did he want us to stop fighting the saviours? Just surrender to Negan." Michonne nodded, "we could pull over and read what he wrote." I shook my head and Dad did the same. "Rick.. Carl wrote a letter to Negan."

I grabbed the letter from her hand staring at the front of it. The word Negan was written across and I scoffed throwing it back to her. "I want to go back to the dump talk to those people. They have guns and the numbers we can't just give them up," Dad said.

I stayed in the truck as they pulled over into the dump. "Leah, I need you there by my side." Dad whispered. "Please come in." I hesitantly stepped out staring at the piles of garbage. As soon as Dad pushed open one of the cans to open the door piles of garbage fell blocking our exit. I turned to see at least fifty walkers coming towards us. "Dammit." Dad whispered. I began crawling up a pile of garbage only to keep being pulled down as my feet slipped.

I held my gun up and began taking as many down as I could. I followed Dad around until we found a pathway made through the garbage. I followed them up turning as I heard a voice from behind us, "Rick." A woman wearing a white dress sat sadly on top of a pile of metal. Michonne stepped forward, "what happened here, how do we get out?" The woman smiled, "get out.. how you got in. These weren't heaps before it was just trash lay out. I used to come here to find things to paint on. And then after everything changed I realized this whole place was a canvas. That we were the paint. This was our world, apart from everyone else." Dad shook his head, "you did this, this is because of you."

Dad started grabbing scrap metal, and the girl grabbed a chair, "let me come with you, just until they're gone." Dad sighed, "nah, I'm done with her games. She can't help us anyway." I jumped down from the pile using an old car door as a shield. I shot any walkers that got in my way and made a run for a different door.

I was the last one out and I turned as the girl yelled, "please, just let me get out." I was about to jump down but I felt dad grab my arm pulling me back and firing warning shots at her.

"What are you doing?" I whispered. "That woman there, she shot me. She betrayed us while you were hiding at the kingdom." I scoffed, "hiding? I had no choice. Wasn't the whole point of Carl's death to realize that we need to HELP people?" I pushed past him slamming the truck door as I got in.

"I shot above her ahead I just wanted her gone. She made it I saw her. Look I didn't want her dead, I just wanted her gone." I looked at my feet, "this is what Carl was talking about. You had a choice Dad." Dad steered the truck off the road, "I need.. I just need a second."

Dad opened his car door holding his letter and I curled my knees to my chest staring out the windshield. "He wanted you to read yours Leah." Michonne whispered. I nodded playing with it in my hands, "I'm not ready to. That means accepting that he's gone, and I can't do that." She placed a hand on my shoulder, "you'll get there." I turned to look out the window again and saw Dad press the walkie to his mouth.

I pushed myself out, running over to him. "Give me Negan. It's Rick." I heard the walker click and Negans voice come through, "Rick, look at you calling me up. Want to tell me where you are so we can do this face to face?" Dad sighed, "Carl's dead, he wrote letters. He wrote one to you, he asked you to stop. He asked me to stop, he asked us for peace. But it's too late for that. Even if we wanted a deal now it doesn't matter. I'm going to kill you." Negan came on again talking quieter than before, "how did it happen?" Dad sighed, "what?" Negan answered, "was it us? The grenades or the fire?" Dad scoffed, "it wasn't you. Carl went out to help someone, and he got bit."

I grabbed the walkie from Dad as Negan answered, "god damn it, I am sorry. You know I wanted him to be part of it, that kid he was the future." I closed my eyes putting it to my lips, but nothing came out, I couldn't think of anything I had to say to him. "The only future is when your dead." Dad spat. "What the hell are you doing Rick? Carl is dead because of you, because you couldn't leave shit well enough alone. I mean hell he could've died in any other way. But in this case he died because of you, because you weren't there to stop him from doing something stupid, because he went out alone to help this person. It's not only your fault, but it's Leahs too. And let me tell you Rick you lost both children today because she won't be able to remember how to live without her big brother by her side. She's probably fading away as we speak. You set this course, who's next?" Dad screamed into the walker, "YOU ARE." Negan sighed, "it's not me, but someone is. It's time, do not let any more of your shit decisions to let you lose anyone else you love. That will stick with you forever, just like Carl will. You could have just let me save all of you, you can sit there and say your going to kill me, but your not. You've failed, you've failed as a leader, and most importantly you've failed as a father. And Leah, if she's there you tell her she failed as a sister. Just give up, give up because you have already lost."

I put my hand over my mouth. "We failed Dad, he's right." Dad knelt down in front of me forcing me to look at him, "everything we do now, we do for Carl. You didn't fail him, we were all just in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Negan has always been full of shit, let's just get to Hilltop."