Nothing Left to Cling To

The sun rose quickly on a new day, although, after last night's events it didn't feel like a good one. We all had to say our goodbyes to Bob. After what we believed to be around 5 am when the birds started to chirp before sunrise, he faded quickly. By the time the sun started peeking over the trees we were digging his grave. You could see it in everyone's face that they were beginning to shut down. From losing hope in a cure, to losing Beth, and now Bob, it felt like we had little left to cling to.

We weren't sure where we were headed next, we needed to find something safer for us than just this small church. We had one thing decided on for sure though, we wouldn't be going anywhere until we had Lincoln and Carol back with us.

I walked over to Bob's grave, picking up a shovel to help Glenn dig. For the time being, he was giving Maggie her much-needed space to grieve. I hopped down into the hole with him, slamming the shovel into the dirt, stomping my foot on the back of it and heaving out a heavy pile onto the grass.

"I never asked what it was like for you getting to Terminus," he said, grunting as he threw another pile up and over.

I thought about it for a second, thinking about all the obstacles I had to go through just to get there. Daryl and I ran for days, burning down the shack, being taken by another group, cutting off Juliet's arm, being held at gunpoint by Joe's group. It was a lot to go through.

"It changed me," I answered truthfully, "it made me stronger though." I stopped digging for a moment, catching my breath. "What about you?"

He stopped as well, propping his arm up on the handle of his shovel as he pushed his hair out of his face. He looked at me, "It made me realize that I can't survive without you guys-- I mean I can, but the only reason I want to survive is with all of us together." He explained. "And now I don't even know if that's enough for some people."

That comment made me drop my head, turning my attention back to shovelling dirt. He was referring to Maggie and Sasha. I knew he was more concerned for Maggie though. The state she was in right now was concerning to all of us. She went from thinking Beth was still out there, lost, to finding out she didn't make it, all in one day. I could sympathize with her though, I went through that exact same thing all those months back on their farm. It just takes time. The pain will always be there, but time passing makes it a little more bearable.

Both of our heads shot up at the sound of rustling coming from the bushes. We immediately pulled ourselves out of the hole as we watched Michonne run down from the church steps, hearing it too. I placed my hand on the holster attached to my jeans, weary of what lay beyond the trees as we approached. Michonne held out her hand, stopping people from coming any closer as she retrieved her sword from its sheath.

We waited for a moment, my eyes narrowed as I tried to identify the walker that was about to emerge from the thick bush. Michonne only stood a few feet away. Maggie appeared beside Glenn, finally emerging from the church.

A breathy sigh of relief exhaled from my lungs and a smile slipped onto my face. Carol, followed by Lincoln ducked out from behind the bush. "Where the hell have you been?" I asked my question more so directed at Lincoln. Part of me wanted to be insanely mad at him, but he looked okay and he was back and had Carol with him.

Lincoln then peered over his shoulder, looking at the bush behind him, "Come on out," he called out. My brows furrowed as we could hear someone walk forward. A tall, lanky boy, limped out into the light. He stood there awkwardly behind Lincoln like a lost puppy.

"Who the hell is this?" Rick boomed, stepping forward, his eyes narrowed at Lincoln.

"His name is Noah," Carol spoke softly, "he's not a threat."

"Is this who ya ran off after?" Daryl asked, a shocked laugh escaping him.

"He was with Mark, Beth, and I," Lincoln explained, "he said he had a community, that's where we were headed before--" Lincoln paused, not wanting to restate the events, "Beth wanted to get him there, that was our plan."

There was a silence among us, no one knew what to say. We didn't know this kid or what his people entailed. For all, we knew he could be another Randall. I could see the wheels turning in Rick's head. Lincoln pops up out of nowhere with a stranger claiming we should follow him to his people. But I trusted my brother's judgment, and Noah really was just a kid.

"If Beth wanted to go, then I'm going," Maggie said, her tone adamant.

Rick turned his head slightly to look at her, studying her as he thought about it. Maggie was staring him down, standing her ground on what she wanted to do.

"We'll go," Rick finally said, "for Beth."

--------

We were headed to Richmond, Virginia. Most of our people sat comfortably in the small bus Abraham had fixed up. The rest were shoved into a small van. Noah claimed that his town was secure before he had been separated from them. It had a wall to keep walkers out, homes, and around twenty people. It's a long trip, but if it works out then it's the last long trip we'd have to make.

We were about five miles out by now. We left those on the bus at a certain point along the trip. Only those of us in the van were to scope out the place first, reporting back to the rest of them through a walkie-talkie on whether it was safe for everyone to come. Tyreese drove the van with Noah in the passenger seat directing him. Rick and I sat right behind them with Michonne and Glenn in the back.

Tyreese held a conversation with Noah, talking about how his father would always make Sasha and him stay up to date with the news. He called it "paying the high cost of living."

"What if this place isn't around anymore?" I asked Rick quietly, not wanting Noah to overhear me. The question was valid though, what would we do if this was just another dead-end?

Rick brought his attention away from the window, looking over at me. He could see that I was doubtful of it, even anxious about it. "Then we keep going," he simply said.

"Then we find a new place," Michonne chimed in, overhearing us from behind. I nodded my head, agreeing, taking in the thought of it. Although, at this point, I don't know how much longer we could keep going. Every bone in my body wanted this place to work out, somewhere safe we could call home again. Along this trip, we were also able to get a feel for Noah, and if his people were anything like him, then I wanted to be there with them.

"I lost my dad in Atlanta," Noah told Tyreese, bringing my attention back to their conversation. "I think he would have liked yours." Tyreese smiled at his comment. "I still got a mom and a couple of twin brothers-- I hope."

"I hope so, too," Tyreese looked over at him.

"Two more miles," Noah then said, looking back around at Rick.

Rick nodded, "Alright, let's pull into the woods. We'll go on foot from there," he tapped Tyreese on the shoulder.

"We don't need to," Noah objected. He didn't understand our cautiousness. How could he? He wasn't there for Woodbury or Terminus. He didn't yet understand the true nature of people. We believed him when he said that his community was good, but that still didn't stop our need to figure that out for ourselves first.

Tyreese pulled the car to a stop where two cars had crashed in the woods. If anyone had eyes on the area they'd think our vehicle was just another car in the wreck. Upon stepping out of the door a trapped walker slammed against the inside window of one of the cars, causing me to jump. The woman had died when driving her car into the others.

"It's this way," Noah said, pointing us in the opposite direction, pulling our attention away from the woman.

We walked for a good five minutes through the woods, following along behind Noah as he limped over the uneven ground. An injury he had sustained earlier on that never healed correctly.

"Your people do this?" Michonne asked as we approached three layers of a makeshift barbed wire fence.

"We wanted to. They must have," he responded. We ducked through them, the thick, sharp metal tied from tree to tree. It wasn't much, but it'd stop its fair share of walkers from ploughing through.

We could see the walls from a distance, each of us now pulling out our machetes and knives for safety.

"They have spotters? Snippers?" Rick asked Noah, stopping him before we went any further.

"We built a perch on a truck," Noah shrugged, "Sometimes it's out front."

Glenn peeked around the low-hanging tree branches for us, looking around, "Not today," he confirmed.

Rick nodded his head, pushing us forward. We made our way back out onto the road, headed up towards the front entrance. This was it. My heart raced inside of my chest, eager to find out what lay behind those walls.

Noah walked quickly, picking up the pace to get back to his family. He walked straight up to the front gate, pushing them open before they bounced back towards him. They had been chained up from the inside, the sound of the metal rattling back against the tin panel they had propped up against it. He pressed his ear next to the door, listening for the sound of voices, anything.

"You hear that?" Noah's eyes went wide, like he was questioning if he was just hearing things or we heard it too.

But we did hear it, the faint sound of a walker groaning in the distance.

"Just wait," Glenn exhaled. He looked up at the gate's side pillar, climbing it to the top to look up and over. I studied the side of Glenn's face, I could hear Noah uneasily huffing beside me, choking on his breaths. Glenn's face fell as he examined the inside of the wall, slamming his hand down on the pillar in frustration. He looked down at us, shaking his head to tell us that this place had fallen.

Noah cried out, running at the other pillar to climb it. He didn't believe it until he saw it for himself. I slid my knife back into its sheath, exhaling harshly. We followed Noah over the wall, covering him. Tyreese propped my leg up, hoisting me up to the top of the pillar before I jumped down on the other side.

My eyes raised, looking at what was left. This place had been raided-- attacked. Almost every house had been set on fire, much of their belongings littering the street. Although, the majority of the wall remained intact from what we could see. The odd walker staggered along here and there. This left me to believe that this wasn't a herd of walkers, doing at all. People did this.

Noah cried as he ran ahead as best he could on a bum leg. His head whipped back and forth as he took in the surroundings of his home.

"Noah, wait up," Rick called after him, "Noah!"

We took off in a sprint after him, running down the street as we passed corpses burnt on their front lawn, and bodies sprawled out in the middle of the street. The only walkers that limped towards us were people that lived here, killed by a slash in their throat before turning.

Noah finally stopped in the middle of the courtyard, grabbing onto the back of his head as he sobbed. We stood around him, not being able to do much for him at this moment. My heart sank as I watched him. As much as I yearned for this town to still be standing, I knew he felt it all the more. This was his home, his people, the only family he had left. He finally dropped down to the ground, cradling his knees as he cried.

Tyreese walked up to him, placing his hands down on Noah's shoulders, "Come on, it's alright. Hey, you're gonna be with us now."

Rick then knelt down beside the boy, "I'm sorry Noah. I truly am."

"They see us," Michonne called out, sighing, referring to the stray walkers that began to make their way down the street.

"We should see if there's anything we can use and head back," Rick ordered. Noah still sat on the ground crying, every time we apologized he only sobbed harder.

"Then what?" Michonne snapped, before walking off to deal with the walkers. Even though she was hopeful on the car ride here, you could hear it in her tone that she was pissed off now. She was the one to claim that if this didn't work we would just have to keep going, but now that we were actually in that position too, her faith in any safe place was lost.

"We can make a quick sweep," I said, "but we shouldn't stay here much longer than that."

"I'll stay with him," Tyreese offered to watch over Noah.

Rick nodded before pulling out his radio, "Carol, you copy?"

"We're here," Carol's anxious voice immediately responded.

"We made it," Rick paused, not wanting to break the news to them, "It's gone."