Spider Monkey

Chapter Thirty - Four - Church

They made it to the church. Carl and Hedley sat at one of the benches. Eugene, Rosita and Abraham doing the same near the entrance. Daryl and Merle looked through the church, inspecting every inch.

"The food lasted a long time." Gabriel informed Rick, "And then I started scavenging. I've cleaned out every place nearby. Except for one."

"What kept you from it?"

"It's overrun."

"How many?"

"A dozen or so. Maybe more."

Rick smirked, "We can handle a dozen."

"Bob and I will go with you." Said Sasha.

"We'll come too." Offered Glenn, Maggie nodded next to him.

"Tyreese, Merle, Daryl. You stay here with Carl, Headley and Judith."

"Sure." Tyreese answered. And the Dixons nodded. "You ever need me to watch her, need anything for her, I'm right here."

"I'm grateful for it."

Father Gabriel then spoke, "I'll draw you a map."

Rick grinned, "You don't need to. You're coming with us."

"I'm not gonna be of any help. You saw me. I'm no good around those things."

"You're coming with us." Rick said, voice final. He patted Gabriel on the back before going over to Carl and Hedley. He sat beside Carl. "Listen, I don't trust this guy."

"Why? Why do you trust him? Everybody can't be bad." Said Carl. But Hedley nodded in agreement with Rick, frowning at Carl's reaction.

Rick chuckled faintly, "Well I don't trust this guy. And that's why I'm bringing him with me."

"But he could have friends."

"So, I need you to stay alert and help Tyreese and Daryl protect Judith, okay? Now I need you to hear what I'm about to say. Both of you."

"Okay." Carl replied, Hedley looking at Rick in worry.

"You are not safe." He said, eyes fierce, "No matter how many people are around or how clear the area looks, no matter what anyone says, no matter what you think, you are not safe. It only takes one second. One second and it's over. Never let your guard down, ever. I want you to promise me."

"I promise."

Rick looked at Hedley - he took out his flip book and showed Rick a page, 'I understand'.

"Okay." Rick nodded then stood.

"Dad."

"Hm."

"You're right. I am strong. We all are. But we're strong enough that we can still help people. And we can handle ourselves if things go wrong. And we're strong enough that we don't have to be afraid, and we don't have to hide." Said Carl.

"Well, he's hiding something."

"I'll stay safe, Dad." Carl looked over to Hedley, "We have each other's backs."

"Good."

Carl turned to Hedley when Rick got his group ready for the run, "Do you really think we shouldn't trust Gabriel? He is a priest after all."

Hedley sighed sadly, wrote something down before ripping the paper out of his flipbook. He gave the note to Carl and walked away, towards Daryl and Merle.

Carl read the note then looked up at the big cross on the mantle, mind racing.

'Just because he's a man of God, doesn't automatically make him a good person. That thing around his neck means nothing now.'

****

When the group came back, they brought wine with them... and food.

The wine was poured out into mugs and passed all around. Merle gave Hedley a cup, much to the dismay of Daryl.

"What? It's the end of the world, a little wine won't hurt. And you never know, it might help 'im grow hair on his chest." Merle smirked.

Hedley took a careful sip, his mouth still sore. He made a weird face as he swallowed but went in for another sip, this time gulping.

Everyone saw this, chuckling.

"How can you drink that stuff?" Carl asked, disgusted, "It's nasty!"

Rick chuckled, Judith in his lap. She gurgled and wiggled, happy.

Abraham decided to make a toast, standing with his cup raised. "I look around this room and I see survivors. Each and every one of you has earned that title. Especially this kid." He nodded to Hedley, "Took down three men saving a baby. Takes bravery, kid." He raised his glass higher, "To the survivors."

"Survivors! Cheers! Cheers!" Voices all around cheered back.

Daryl ruffled Hedley's hair in pride, taking another sip of the wine.

But before they knew it, Abraham continued, "Is that all you want to be? Wake up in the morning, fight the undead pricks, forage for food, go to sleep at night with two eyes open, rinse and repeat? 'Cause you can do that. I mean, you got the strength. You got the skill. Thing is, for you people, for what you can do, that's just surrender. Now, we get Eugene to Washington and he will make the dead die and the living will have this world again. And that is not a bad takeaway for a little road trip."

"Eugene, what's in DC?" Maggie asked.

"Infrastructure constructed to withstand pandemics even of this fubar magnitude." He said.

Rosita rolled her eyes, "That means food, fuel, refuge."

"Restart." Eugene explained, "However this plays out, however long it takes for the reset button to kick in, you can be safe there."

"Safer than you've been since this whole thing started." Abraham said, "Come with us. Save the world for that little one." He gestured to Judith. "Save it for yourselves. Save it for the people out there who don't got nothing left to do except survive."

Judith cooed, mumbling her own language. "What was that?" Rick asked in a soft voice. She gurgled again in response, making people laugh. "I think she knows what I'm about to say. She's in."

"If she's in, I'm in." Said Tyreese.

"We're in." Rick announced.

The cheers came back but Hedley couldn't stop glaring at Eugene. Something was off but he couldn't tell what. Eugene noticed the boy, his eyes roamed the still scabbed scarring of the boy's face and quickly turned away as if scared.

Hedley narrowed his eyes.

Daryl saw this and nudged Hedley gently. When his kid looked at him, Daryl asked, "Everythin' okay?"

Hedley shrugged, going to another blank page of his flipbook. 'Don't trust Eugene'.

Daryl nodded, acknowledging the boy's suspicion and slapped Merle with the back of his hand so that his older brother could look at the note. Merle read it, turned to glance at Eugene and nodded at his brother and nephew. The Dixons kept a close eye on the scientist.