The Wish Factory

Chapter 20

**TRIGER WARNING**

Chapter contains violence, death of bad guys, and attempted sexual assault. Please read with caution.

Ryleigh was walking behind Carl and Michonne as they attempted to balance on opposite sides of the tracks, trying to outdo each other. It was cute, the relationship they'd developed. They needed each other and it was nice to see Carl behave like a kid for once. Rick had his head bent down as he walked ahead of the group. It was awkward between him and Carl at the moment, and none of them knew how to alleviate it. Rick was completely oblivious to Michonne and Carl's antics as he spoke up from his position. "I think we've got about a day's worth of water left." He said with a sigh. "We're lucky it's cooled off a little, but..." His voice trailed off as he stopped his stride and turned around. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he saw what Michonne and Carl were doing. "What are you doing?" he asked. Carl chuckled slightly as he answered his father. "Winning a bet." Michonne scoffed as she kept her eyes on her feet. "In your dreams!" she exclaimed. Ryleigh made eye contact with Rick and both of them grinned at each other. Carl's voice wavered as he responded.

"I'm still on." He said and waved an arm at Michonne, trying to distract her. It only caused her to laugh because Carl almost lost his balance. "Spoke too soon, wise guy." She laughed. Rick started walking towards them, not wanting to interrupt their game, but knowing they needed to pick up the pace. "This might go on awhile," he said. "Maybe we can speed this up?" Michonne just kept her gaze on her feet with her arms out to her sides for balance as she replied. "Yeah, you're right," she replied. "Shouldn't be fooling around. We should probably, Carl!" she yelled, trying to distract the young boy, but only ended up losing her balance and falling off. Ryleigh couldn't help the soft peal of laughter that shook her body at the older woman's defeated look. Carl smiled hugely as he stayed on the tracks and faced her. "I win, pay up." He held out his hand expectantly to her. Michonne pouted as she glanced at him and dug through her bag. Rick joined Ryleigh in her laughter as he too watched on in amusement. She held out two candy bars to the boy, keeping the Big Kat bar towards her, hoping Carl would take the Cruncho bar. Carl looked at her hand, licking his lips in anticipation. "Is that really the last Big Kat?" He asked. When he reached for it, Michonne's pout got worse as she complained. "Oh come on!" Carl couldn't stop laughing.

"Hey, but you said, winner's choice." Michonne sighed as she glanced back at Ryleigh, causing her to shrug and continue to laugh silently at the situation. Michonne pouted more as she shoved the Cruncho back in her bag. "Go ahead, take it." She said defeatedly. "It's yours, you won it fair and square." Ryleigh watched as Carl broke open the bar and pulled a third of the bar off and handed it to Michonne. When she hesitated, he just held it out further. "Come on, we always share." Michonne grinned at the boy and took the chocolate. "Fork it over." She said softly. Ryleigh started to walk forward again when Carl looked back and held out another third of chocolate to her. Carl scoffed as he shook his hand at her. "Come on Rye, it's tradition that the three of us share the sweets." Rick chuckled at the girl's reluctance to take his son's prize, but Ryleigh took it with a big smile and used her free arm to wrap around his shoulders. Carl didn't shrug out of her embrace, just kept grinning which warmed her heart. Rick nodded at the sight in front of him before walking again.

They continued to walk for a few more hours, but then moved off the tracks so they could put up snares and setup their camp. While Rick set the snares, Ryleigh and Michonne created a perimeter of cans and pieces of aluminum they'd found so they would hear if walkers or something else stumbled upon their camp. Ryleigh was extremely hungry and desperately needed a shower. She'd even be happy with a small creek so she could wash some of the grime off her body. Most of all, she wanted to see Daryl again. She hoped he was okay. She had no doubt he was, but living it versus watching it was a very different thing. She knew in the back of her head what was taking place with the rest of the characters, but here she was with Rick's group. She knew what was going to happen and she was terrified of it. Rick walked back to camp and slipped under the ropes and smiled at her. He and Carl carried wood and built a fire. He set a can of beans on top of the makeshift grill he made and glanced at his son. "How hungry are you, scale of one to ten?" he asked. Carl looked up at them with a grin on his face as he deadpanned "15." He turned his head to Ryleigh who sighed, "22." She spoke. Michonne also kept her stoic expression when Rick's gaze landed on her. "28." Ryleigh watched as the man bent his head and chuckled at the three of them. "Yeah." He sighed as he shook the can of beans and divided it up between them. It wasn't a lot and went quickly. Afterward, he stood up and looked at all three of them.