Just Keep Walking

Eight

Rick was broken, shocked of what he had done, but he was holding it back. Carl and Mary were both heartbroken. He covered the car windows with clothes, so they could have some privacy. After Mary killed the man who hurt her, she passed out, her body in so much pain, and was laid in Daryl's arms while Rick talked to Carl.
"Son. I'm... I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry you w-went though that." Rick whispered, looking at Carl, as Carl looked at the floor. The light in Carl's eyes had gone out, the light that had only just came back. "I'm so sorry."
"It not your fault." Carl whispered.
"Can... C-can I give you a hug?" Rick asked, wanting to comfort his son, but not wanting to violate his space after he had had such a terrible experience. Carl shrugged and nodded, and Rick held Carl tightly, never wanting to let him go.
"I'm so sorry." Rick cried softly, letting a tear fall onto Carl's hat.
"I-I think I'm gonna go to sleep." Carl mumbled, pulling away. Rick saw Michonne in the background, and she nodded to him. They both went into the car, and when Rick looked in, he saw Michonne sat in the car, Carl laid across the seats, his head on her lap. His right cheek was scuffed and bloody, his blue eyes crying softly, Michonne stroking his forehead gently.
"Rick." Daryl called, and Rick ran over, seeing Mary hyperventilating. He took her, and she woke up.
"Daddy." She sobbed, grabbing into his shirt.
"It's okay, baby girl. It's okay. I've got you safe. I've got you." Rick soothed, rocking her and holding her gently but tightly, not wanting to hurt his daughter more.
"Daddy. He hurt." Mary wailed, her face screwed up in pain, both emotional and physical.
"I'm so sorry." Rick cried softly, "I'm so sorry."
"Not you. The man. I killed him." Mary cried.
"I know. I know. And I'm not angry."
"I'm not." Mary mumbled through her tears.
"Okay. That's okay." Rick nodded, hiding his shock. "Why don't you go to sleep?"
"Cold."
"Okay. Here." Rick said softly, putting Mary down and taking off his jacket, then wrapping Mary into it.  Mary touched the blood on Rick's neck, then snuggled back into his chest. "Okay. You go have a sleep with Mishy and Carl."
"With you." Mary replied, but she fell asleep in minutes, and then he went over to the car, and Michonne took Mary, positioning the children carefully.
"She'll be okay." Michonne whispered.
"No," Rick replied shakily, "they won't."

Mary woke up sweaty and breathing heavily, and immediately Michonne began to soothe her, stroking her hair.
"It's okay. It's okay." She whispered, but couldn't calm her down. "Daddy's just outside."
Mary got up and stumbled out of the car, heavily limping to Rick, as Carl began to move fretfully. He looked so young, so vulnerable in his sleep. Michonne gently stroked the top of his head, and he stilled.
When Mary got to Rick, he was washing his face with a cloth, and she went straight into his arms, crying. He just held her, held her for minutes until she stopped crying and her eyes closed, his heart breaking.
"I didn't know what they were." Daryl said suddenly.
Rick nodded slowly. "How'd you wind up with 'em?"
"I was with Beth. We got out together. I was with her for a while." He explained.
"Is she dead?"
"She's just gone. After that, that's when they found me. I mean, I knew they were bad, but they had a code. It was simple, stupid, but it was something. It was enough." Daryl explained, looking at Mary in pain.
"And you were alone."
"They said they were looking for some guy. Last night, they said they spotted him. I was hanging back. I was gonna leave, but I stayed. That's when I saw it was you four. Right when you saw me. I didn't know what they could do."
"It's not on you, Daryl," Rick said gently yet firm, "hey. It's not on you. You being back with us here now that's everything. You're my brother."
The two men sat in silence, both of them watching Mary's skeletal back rise and fall with each of her shaky breaths.
"Hey, what you did last night, anybody would have done that."
"No, not that." Rick denied, looking down, as if he was ashamed.
"Something happened. That ain't you."
"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese. It ain't all of it but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why Carl and Mary are. I want to keep them safe. That's all that matters. They're all that matter."
"She'll be okay. Carl too. But she'll be okay. I know."
"Emotionally, I don't think she can take it. She's gonna have issues, you know? Psychology. She already doesn't trust people. Now this." Rick whispered, crying softly.
"She's a strong kid."
"Maybe, but she's lost almost everyone she loves, been shot, nearly been raped, and is half starving." Rick replied. His voice kept catching, stumbling over his words. "How can someone do that? To a fourteen and five year old?"
"They're sick, sick men."
Rick went quiet, then looked at Mary. "She missed you. Been denying that anyone's dead, that they're all waiting for her at Terminus."
"I heard her calling for me, when we lost the prison. I shouted out to her, but she never replied. I couldn't find her."
"I didn't find her. Me and Carl's aw a Walker that looked like her, and found loads of blood, and Carl's hat and her bunny. We thought she was dead. A few days later Michonne turned up, having tracked us. Mary'd been shot, and moved. Michonne saved her."
Daryl nodded, looking at the child. "Didn't I tell you?"
"What?"
A slight smile played on Daryl's lips. "Nothing is gonna kill that kid. Nothing."
"Yeah. You did." Rick nodded, kissing the top Mary's head.
"Her and Carl, they're ass kickers." Daryl joked, then he stopped, and Rick lowered his head. "I'm sorry."
Rick nodded again, a tear falling onto Mary's head.
"Thinking I had lost both of them killed me. And it's still killing me. It's killing me that she's gone, Daryl." Rick cried softly. "And Mary and Carl have lost so much. Their mother, their sister, their friends, our family. They've been through so much. But what... What I think, is... She isn't in pain anymore. She's at peace."
Daryl nodded slowly, putting a hand on Rick's shoulder. "It's gonna be okay."
Rick nodded, then smiled softly, as Mary's eyes opened.
"Daddy they're gonna get me!" Mary screamed suddenly, making the two men jump. She'd gone from peaceful to screaming. She was broken.
"It's okay. It's okay, I've got you. I've got you, and it's gonna be okay now. It's okay now." Rick soothed, holding her gently. Mary nodded, then she looked over to her side.
"Uncle Daryl." She cried softly, looking at him with open eyes.
"Hey kid." Daryl smiled gently, holding her tiny hand.
"You're alive. You're alive." She grinned, forgetting about her pain for a second.
"I'm alive. No chance I'm leavin' my little huntin' partner."
"Carl thought you was dead. He thought everyone was dead."
"That's okay." Daryl nodded.
"I'm glad you're not." Mary replied, smiling at him. Daryl smiled at her, then got up.
"We should get going. Get there as soon as possible. Carl's awake." Daryl mumbled, looking through the car window. Rick nodded, and got up, holding Mary close to his chest.
"We're gonna be there soon," Rick whispered into her ear, "and they'll be some food and medicine, okay?"
"Daddy," Mary cried softly, "daddy, I'm really really hungry."
"I know. We'll find something on the way."
"Okay." She mumbled, hiding her face tearfully. Rick opened the car door, and Carl sat up straight, so his father could sit down.
"Hey. It's okay. Are you okay?" Rick asked gently, and Carl nodded slowly, but Mary saw a flicker of fear and disapproval in his eyes. "Okay. Alright."
"Is Mary okay?" Carl asked, Mary not looking at any of them, her face hidden again. Rick was going to nod, but he had to be honest; he wanted Carl to be honest to him. So he slowly shook his head.
The boy understood.
"Shall we get going? So we can get there today. Mary needs some good food. You too. But I'm pretty sure her bullet wound is infected. So we need to get there. She needs some antibiotics. They could have some."
"Okay." Michonne nodded, reaching over and gently stroking the back of Mary's head. "Let's go. Get her some meds."
Rick nodded back, getting out of the car. He put Mary on his back, and tied her there with some cloth, then reached up and held her hand, the little girl very  clingy after the previous night's events.
"It's all gonna be better soon." Rick promised, squeezing her hand.
"Yeah." Mary nodded weakly, letting her head loll forwards onto Rick's shoulder. The man turned his head and kissed Mary's forehead, then looked at Michonne, Carl, and Daryl.
"You ready?" He asked, and they all nodded, then set off, Rick slightly at the front with Michonne, Mary on his back.
"You okay?" Rick asked Michonne gently, both him and Mary looking at the woman.
"Yeah." She nodded softly.
There was a little silence, then Rick said firmly, "I'm okay"
"I know."
"How?"
"'Cause I'm okay too." Michonne smiled. They went quiet, Mary staring straight in front of herself, her left hand around Rick's collarbone's, clinging onto the material covering her right shoulder, the other hand holding onto his hair.
"Can I go to sleep?" Mary breathed into his neck, shoulder, her eyes closed, her skin pale and sweaty.
"No, baby, try and stay awake." He replied gently, knowing it wasn't good for her to sleep that much. He walked over to a fallen sign, and kicked some leaves off them, looking at the Terminus map it held.
"We're getting close," Daryl nodded, "be there before sundown."
"Now we head through the woods. We don't know who they are."
"Alright." Daryl agreed, walking into the woods, Carl following closely. They walked for another hour, Mary nodding in and out of sleep the whole time. When they stopped, Daryl went to look for food, and Rick laid Mary on the floor, letting her sleep on the ground.
"Hey, how are you doing?" Rick asked softly, looking at Carl.
"Fine." Carl insisted, not looking Rick in the eyes.
"Carl, it's okay to be honest. It's okay to be not okay."
"I'm fine," Carl snapped harshly, "nothing happened. Okay? Just leave it."
"It can help to talk though. But if that's not what you want to do, then that's fine too. Whatever you want. But you've been through something traumatic, and..."
"Dad," Carl cut off, "my whole life is fucking traumatic."
"Watch you language." Rick sighed, and Carl went quiet, looking down, then went over to Michonne. Rick sighed again, then went and sat by Mary, stroking her hair away from her face. Half an hour later, Daryl returned with some berries, giving Mary most of them, then Carl.
"Hey. Mary, wake up." Rick said gently, sitting her up as he did so.
"Why?" She whimpered, grabbing hold of Rick tightly.
"Look. Look what your Uncle Daryl got for you to eat. Some yummy berries." Rick smiled softly, holding the bandana full of berries out to her. Mary picked one up and slowly ate it, then a few more.
"Rick? We should get going if we wanna be there before sunset." Michonne reminded, and Rick nodded.
"Eat the rest while we walk, yeah?"
"Yeah." Mary whispered, as Rick put her back onto his back. While they walked some more, Mary rested the bandana on top of Rick's head, slowly eating them one by one.
After a few more hours, they finally reached a line of long fencing, and Mary grinned to herself. It was Terminus. Rick walked up to the fence and looked through it, Carl doing the same next to him.
"We all spread out. Watch for a while, see what we see and get ready. We all stay close." Rick ordered. Daryl left, and then Rick turned to Carl. "You want to stick with me?"
"It's alright." Carl nodded, before walking away with Michonne.
Rick sighed shakily, holding a hand up to his head.
"Why are you sad?" Mary asked quietly.
"I'm sad because you and Carl are sad." Rick sighed, and Mary nodded in understanding. "I'm gonna put you down a second, okay?"
"Okay." Mary nodded. Rick put her down, and she sat picking prices of grass while he dug a small hole. "Why are you doin' that?"
"To hide our guns. Just in case. Yeah?"
"That's a good idea. Well done daddy." Mary smiled, but she was getting weaker by the second. When he heard footsteps, Rick span around, filled with paranoia, but saw it was just Daryl. He nodded at him, then zipped the bag up.
"Just in case." He nodded, as Daryl, yet again, nodded back. While the two men covered the bag with dirt, Mary stumbled to the fence, and looked over with a smile. Terminus. She knew her family was there, she knew in her tiny heart. She felt like Terminus could be home.