Future Ghosts • TWD

55. A Day of Reckoning.

TW: Attempted SA.
(summary at end of chapter if
you need/want to skip)

Carl and Rosie were in the car together, trying to get some sleep while Michonne and Rick sat outside, a small fire burning in front of them as they kept watch.

They walked along a set of railroad tracks for a long time. On their way, they'd found a sign for a place called Terminus. Rick decided that that was where they'd be going. Rosie wasn't so sure about it, but anything was better than being with the Claimers.

Rick had tried asking her what had happened- how she ended up with those men, what it was like staying with them- but Rosie wouldn't answer. She told him that they were bad and that was that. She wouldn't go into detail. She knew she was supposed to. She knew she was supposed to tell someone she trusted, like Daryl said, but she just couldn't.

Carl had taken the time to tell her all about what happened. How he ended up with his dad, how he found an 112 ounce can of pudding and ate it all, how they found Michonne. Rosie couldn't help but notice that Judith wasn't with them, which made her heart hurt, but she didn't ask about it because she knew that it probably made their hearts hurt, too.

But now they were in this car. They'd stumbled upon it as they were walking, and because the sun was starting to go down, Rick made the decision that they would take a break and rest there. So Rosie and Carl were sent to sleep in the car while Rick and Michonne lit a small fire and kept watch.

But Rosie couldn't sleep. She wouldn't dare. Not after the time she spent with those men. So she just laid back in the passenger seat, staring up at the roof of the car. She worried about Terminus. She couldn't fathom the idea of an actual safe place anymore. Something would go wrong. Something always went wrong.

A chill shot down Rosie's spine when she heard a man's voice rang out into the night, interrupting the quiet, rhythmic chirping of the crickets.

Joe's voice.

Rosie sat up quickly and looked out the windshield to see Rick and Michonne with guns pressed to the sides their heads. The Claimers were there, more coming from the woods like predators going after their prey.

Something always goes wrong.

"Oh, dearie me. You screwed up, asshole," Joe said, his gun at Rick's temple. Rosie shook Carl awake as more of the men started emerging from the trees around them. "You hear me? You screwed up."

Carl shot up just as quickly as Rosie did. The two of them shared a panicked what do we do? glance, but neither of them had any ideas. They watched from the car, hoping and praying that Rick and Michonne would do something- anything. Rosie wished that Daryl was there- he'd know what to do. He always knew what to do.

"Today is a day of reckoning, sir. Restitution. A balancing of the whole damn universe," Joe said with that same smile he always had. Rosie could see him glance at her through the windshield, and it made her insides churn with anxiety. But anxiety completely overwhelmed her entire body when a man with a knife banged on the car window, right next to where Rosie sat. Carl's and Rosie's heads shot in his direction and he smiled at them. A terrifying, disgusting smile.

Dan's smile.

"Shit, and I was thinking of turning in for the night on New Year's Eve. Now who's gonna count down the ball dropper with me, huh? Ten Mississippi," Joe began to count, "Nine Mississippi. Eight Mississippi..."

"Joe!" a familiar voice suddenly shouted. Rosie looked away from Dan, who was staring at her through the window, and saw Daryl emerging from exactly where the men came from. But it didn't make sense. They were bad.