Broken Road »» Rick Grimes (TWD)

Chapter 133

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I walked into White Oak beside Maggie and watched as Mariah ran and jumped Rick before pressing her lips onto his. I immediately looked away as the sight caused me too much heartache.

"Mommy!" Judith squealed as she found me along with Magnolia hobbling over to me.

"Hi, babies!" I greeted as I knelt down to hug them both. Judith threw her arms around my neck while Magnolia clung onto Judith.

"I'm glad you're okay. Mariah said you was fighting bad people is why you didn't come get me last night!" She exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Yes. I'm sorry I wasn't able to get you, but tonight you can sleep over!" I promised while holding her small hands.

"Yeah!" She replied with a bright smile as I stood up and held her hand.

"I'm gonna take the girls on to my house." I told Rick and Mariah once they separated from each other.

"I'm glad you're okay, too." Mariah told me while hugging me and taking me by surprise.

"Thanks." I replied while I awkwardly placed a hand on her back before she pulled away and gave me a genuine smile.

"What happened to your eye?" Rick asked Carl. I turned my head, finding Carl approaching us all with a large bruise forming around his left eye.

"Did you get in a fight?" I asked while stepping forward to get a better look at his face.

"Yeah." He answered.

"Does he look worse than you?" I asked while finding a cut above his lip as I grabbed his chin to tilt his head to the side.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Who?" Rick asked.

"Dalton." He answered while looking to me.

"When did this happen?" I inquired.

"Last night." He replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mariah asked while furrowing her eyebrows.

"Who started it?" Rick questioned.

"He did. He was talking shit about Mallory." Carl answered while clenching his jaw.

"You hit him first?" I interrogated while looking to his eyes.

"Yeah. And I'd do it again." He replied while looking to his dad.

I looked to Rick, watching as he tried to gather his thoughts.

"Rick! I need to speak to you immediately." I turned, finding an angry woman probably in her mid-forties headed our way.

"That's Dalton's mom, Dawn." Mariah informed us.

"Your son attacked my son." The woman, Dawn, spat while pointing at Carl. "He must be held accountable for his actions." She snapped.

"He deserved what he got." Carl stated.

"Hush." I ordered Carl while giving him a stern look.

"We can talk privately. Meet me in my office in thirty minutes." Rick ordered her.

"No. Here is a good place as any. You're embarrassed and don't want everyone to know that your son is a bully." She replied while glaring at Carl.

"Hey, hold on." I snapped while stepping forward.

"Bully?" Carl asked while laughing.

"We can speak in my office or not at all." Rick replied sternly.