Daughter of the Fallen

Rock in the Road Part 2

While everyone got ready to go meet Ezekiel, I sat by my dad's and Glenn's graves.

Seeing the two mounds of dirt, knowing that two of the people I cared the most about were under them, made tears spring to my eyes.

I turned as my mom walked over.

"Can I sit with you?" she asked somberly.

I nodded and she sat next to me. She put her arm around me and I leaned into her.

"I missed you," I whispered.

She rubbed my arm. "I missed you, too, baby."

"I'm sorry I didn't come with you. I just felt like Rick needed me."

She nodded. "He did. We all need you. But I think there was someone else you went back to Alexandria for, as well."

I blushed, knowing she meant Carl. "That's ridiculous."

She chuckled. "Yeah, ridiculously correct."

I rolled my eyes playfully. "Whatever."

Carl walked over. "It's time to go."

I nodded. "Okay." He helped me up and the three of us walked to the car.

•••

Jesus pulled the car to a stop near the community's borders.

"It's called the Kingdom?" Rick asked in confusion as we all got out.

"Yeah," Jesus answered. "I didn't name it."

I looked around. "How much farther?"

"Technically, we're already here. I mean, we're always here, but here we are."

I stared at him dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"At the Kingdom," he explained. "Well, it's outer edge."

I nodded slowly.

Daryl poked his head out from the car. "Hey, what the h*ll are we waiting on?"

Jesus pointed. "Waiting on them."

Rick and I turned to see two men riding over on horses. They were covered in armor.

"Who dares to trespass on the sovereign land of the-," one of the men started to call before cutting himself off when he saw Jesus.

"Holy sh*t," the other man exclaimed. "Jesus, is that you?"

Jesus put his hand up in greeting.

They pulled their horses to a stop. "Who are all these people, Paul?"

"Hi, Richard," Jesus greeted, stepping forward. "Nice to see you."

"It's good to see you, too," Richard responded. "Your friends, who are they?"

He gestured to Rick. "This is Rick Grimes. He's the leader of a like-minded community." He then gestured to the rest of us. "These are some of his people. We would like to request an audience with King Ezekiel."

Richard got off his horse and walked over. He looked inside the car. "Get out of the car," he ordered to the rest of the people still inside. He turned to Jesus. "You say they're a like-minded community. Like-minded how?"

"We live," Jesus explained. "We trade, and we fight the dead. Sometimes others."

Richard nodded. "Line up."

All of us obeyed except for Daryl.

"Okay, this is a waste of time," he protested. "Come on, let's go."

"Maybe you're right," Richard agreed. "The King is a busy man. And it's a dangerous world. We don't usually let a pack of strangers waltz through our door."

"We wanna make the world less dangerous," I explained to him. "And we're all here to show...the King how serious we are about that."

Richard gave me a considering look before nodding. "The car stays outside. You gotta hand over your guns."

"We only have three," Rick promised. He looked at me and Carl and the three of us handed them over.

Richard took them. "Okay. Follow me."

As we walked behind him towards the community, I looked at Carl.

"You nervous?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No. You?"

I took a deep breath. "Incredibly."

•••

I looked around in awe at the Kingdom. It was a beautiful place with older buildings, plenty of crops, and people genuinely enjoying themselves.

"They have the numbers," Michonne commented, impressed.

"But can they fight?" Rosita asked.

"Oh, they can fight," Jesus assured.

"Maybe," Daryl countered.

I looked around for a moment before hearing Tara's voice. "Morgan?"

We all turned to see Morgan walking up to us. None of us had seen him since he went looking for Carol.

"Hey," Morgan greeted before hugging Tara, then my mom, then me.

"How do you know each other?" Richard asked.

"We go back to the start," Rick explained.

Richard nodded. "The King is ready to see you."

I gave my mom and nervous look and she grabbed my hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

I took a deep breath and we all walked in.