The Rest of your Life

Chapter 56

"The town was overrun." Michonne explained quietly. "He split off with Nicholas. He had this idea that... if he lit a fire, it would stop the walkers from coming here. I tried to go instead. I wanted to. The fire never got lit. We had to keep going. I'm sorry. He said if he got stuck, he would find a way to send us a signal."

"A signal?" Maggie parroted, holding Rory close. Michonne was explaining everything to them, how the trucks in the quarry had fell, how they had to go through with the plan there and then. Glenn hadn't come back, neither had Rick or the others. Rory was confused as to why Maggie was comforting her, when in Rory's eyes it should have been the other way round. It was Maggies husband after all.

"Open the gate!"

Rory's head snapped up, shimmying out of Maggies grip. Everybody's heads turned as the sound of the dead approached.

"Open the gate!" The voice was closer. She knew that voice.

The girl walked closer to the gate, Michonne warning her from behind. Rory briefly looked to Deanna, the woman looking frozen on the lookout.

"Open the gate, now!"

That's all Rory needed to race forward, Michonne and Maggie following as they wheeled across the divider before tugging the gate open enough so Rick could run in. Rory's heart thudded in her chest at the sight infront of her. Hundreds of dead were coming their way, Rick sprinting infront of them all. As soon as the man was in the gates, and it was shut, Rory latched onto him.

"Thank god you're okay." Rick gasped, holding Rory just as tight. "Judith and Carl?"

Rory nodded into the man's chest, squeezing her eyes tight. "They're okay." Rory confirmed. "We're okay."

•••

They were fortifying the walls. Making them more supported because of the weight of the dead on the other side. Everybody had crowded round by now.

"You can hear it." Rick begun. "Some of you saw it. They got back here, half of them. Still enough to surround us." Rick looked around at the crowd. Eyes glancing over his children standing close together next to Carol. "Look, I know you're scared. You haven't seen anything like this. You haven't been through anything like this. But we're safe for now. The panel the truck hit seems intact. We reinforced it just in case. Either way, the walls gonna hold together. Can you? The others, they're gonna be back."

"They're gonna be back." Rosita parroted, hoping to bring some clarity.

"Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, they have vehicles." Rick informed. "They're gonna lead 'em away, just like the others. And Glenn and Nicholas are gonna walk back through the front gate after. They know what they're doing, and we know what we need to do. We keep noise to a minimum. Pull our blinds at night. Even better, keep the lights out. We'll try to make this place as quiet as a graveyard, see if they move on."

"This place is a graveyard." Francine bit. Rory furrowed her brows, at least they had a secure place. It reminded her of what their mom said back on the highway. She shifted uncomfortably. Rick nodded before Aaron stood forward, speaking to everyone, much like Rick had.

"The quarry broke open. And those walkers were heading this way. All of them." Aaron announced. "The plan that Rick put into place stopped that from happening. He got half of them away... I was out there recruiting with Daryl."

Rory's head popped up at the mention of one of her favourite people, Carl snickered. Rory elbowed him.

"I wanted to try to get into a cannery and scavenge, and Daryl wanted to keep looking for people. We did what I wanted... and we wound up in a trap set by those people. And I lost my pack. They must have followed our tracks. Those people who attacked us...they found their way back here because of me..."