Broken Road »» Rick Grimes (TWD)

Chapter 85

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"What's wrong with her? Pneumonia?" I questioned Maggie as she drew up the injection for the cow.

"Pneumonia." She confirmed. I placed my hand on the cow's head as I knelt down beside her.

"It's okay, girl." I mumbled as I rubbed her head. I furrowed my eyebrows, noticing her rapid breathing and the struggle to keep her head up.

"She's really sick." Maggie sighed after giving the cow the medicine.

"How soon will that work?" I asked, continuing to pet her.

"It depends. It may not." She answered as she poured the cow fresh water.

"You're gonna be okay." I mumbled as I looked into the cow's weak eyes. I frowned, feeling an immense amount of sadness for her.

"I hope she pulls through. Her calf needs her." Maggie stated as we peered over at the baby cow asleep beside her mom.

"Is it bad I have more sympathy for this animal than some people left in this world?" I asked Maggie as I stood up from the ground.

"Not at all. These animals have more heart than many humans I've encountered." She answered.

"You can say that again." I mumbled as we approached the freshly tilled garden.

"Mommy!" Judith screamed as she leaped off the porch.

My heart dropped to my toes as she ran to me with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"What baby? What's wrong?" I asked, quickly dropping to my knees in front of her.

She threw her arms around my neck and began sobbing into my neck as I tightened my arms around her small body.

"Baby, tell me what's wrong." I ordered, rubbing her back as she cried.

"It's daddy." She cried as she pulled away to look at me.

I frowned, feeling upset that she was missing him so bad.

"He'll be back, baby. He's taking care of some important stuff and then he'll be back." I stated, attempting to wipe her tears.

"No! He's in Heaven! He told me." She explained, her eyes meeting mine.

I blinked, wondering how she had came to this conclusion as Carl stepped off of the porch as pale as a ghost.

"He was in my dream. He said he was sorry for leaving us. He said he's with us every day in our hearts. He told me he loved us. He told me to help watch over sissy." She cried, her tears slowing as she described her dream to me.

I felt extremely nauseous as she spoke, wondering if her dream was really just a dream.

"That was just a dream, baby. You know why you dreamt that?" I asked, trying to assure both of us.

"Why?" She asked, sniffling.

"Because you're scared of him dying. Sometimes we dream what we're scared about." I answered, holding her hands in mine.

"But the dream wasn't scary. He was happy and everything was so colorful. Heaven was beautiful! He was smiling." She replied, tilting her head to the side.

I glanced back to Maggie who's eyes was full of tears before looking to Carl who was looking to me for support.

"Your daddy isn't dead. He left for a little bit but he'll be back." I told her, hoping I wasn't lying.

"And— and he said that a nice man and woman would be coming to help us. He said we could trust them and they'd be our friends." She stated, furrowing her eyebrows.