What Really Happened: A Memoir from the Apocalypse

Chapter 16: Reclaim

Mom gave me the frame of her belt, and I sharpened it against the splintery floor of the train car. Rick gave Carl his, and he knelt beside me, turning it into a weapon.

"Did you see Judith?" I asked him.

Carl bowed his head. "After the battle, when I went to find her, she was gone. Blood was all over her carseat. She wasn't in it. I should've gotten to her sooner. I should've protected her. I couldn't."

"We found each other," I said. "We'll find her too."

Daryl looked through the cracks in the door.  "Got four of them pricks coming our way."

"You all know what to do. Go for their eyes first. Then their throats," Rick said.

I stood with one foot in front of the other, holding the weapon I created, and with my other hand ready to punch.

"Put your backs to the walls on either side of the car now," a man yelled from outside.

When the top of the train car opened, something dropped from the ceiling.

"Move!" Abraham yelled.

I threw myself to the floor. The smoke blinded me, and I coughed, trying to get it out of my lungs. When it cleared, Rick, Daryl, Bob, and Dad were gone.

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Abraham banged against the wall. "What the hell is going on?"

Michonne looked through the door and smiled. "Someone hit them."

"Maybe our people got free," Sasha said.

"My dad's gonna be back. They all are," Carl said.

Mom held Dad's watch and contemplated sharpening it. "They are. And we need to get ready to fight our way out with them when they do."

"We're stronger than they are. We learned how to be. We're gonna make it out," I said.

"What's the cure, Eugene?" Sasha asked.

"It's classified. Even if I told you all, even if I provided step-by-step instructions complete with illustrations and a well-composed FAQ and I went red-ring, the cure would still die with me."

"I'm not gonna let that happen," Abraham said.

"You don't owe us anything. Not yet. But we just want to hear it," Sasha said.

"I was part of a ten person team at the Human Genome Project to weaponise diseases to fight weaponized diseases. Pathogenic microorganisms with pathogenic microorganisms. Fire with fire. Interdepartmental drinks were had, relationships made, information shared. I am keenly aware of all the details behind fail-safe delivery systems to kill every living person on this planet. I believe with a little tweaking on the terminals in DC, we can flip the script. Take out every last dead one of them. Fire with fire. All things being equal, it does sound pretty badass."

I squinted and tilted my head. "What the hell does that mean?"

Rick opened the door from the other side, holding his gun in front of the smoke and walkers. "Come on! Fight to the fence!"

We ran side by side, covering each other, surrounded by the fog and smoke. I stabbed the dead and leapt over the bodies. Members from Terminus fought for their lives on the ground, while others had already turned to walkers. The destroyed building gave us a chance to escape, and the smell of fire filled my nose. Mom helped me climb over the fence.

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We stood between the trees. Rick and Daryl dug up the weapons they buried in the dirt before they got to the gate.