Chapter 62 - Home

"Abraham was an incredible man, he was strong and wise. He was someone I always turned to when I needed advice, someone to guide me when a decision needed to be made. But not only that, he was also a dear friend. Family." Rick says, choking up a bit.

He glances down at the filled in grave, tears glistening in his eyes before he sniffs and straightens up, "Not only will he be missed by his close friends, but this entire community. So we honour him, by continuing on and making this place into the best it can be. For Abraham."

He glances down at Abraham's grave for a moment before he walks forward and takes his place beside Michonne. The grave side is silent as Gabriel steps forward, dressed in his clergy mans outfit, "If we could all have a moments silence in Abraham's honour and then I will say the final prayer."

Everyone is silent as they bow their heads and I close my eyes, unable to stop the images that have been running through my head since that night. We arrived back early this morning, spending a few days at the hilltop to rest. When we arrived back, we were horrified to find that the place had been attacked by around thirty saviours. However they put in a half hearted attempt and Alexandria defended itself. Later on this afternoon Rick has called a meeting in order to inform the Alexandrian's of the new order and I know it's going to be a tough and long afternoon.

I feel a hand squeeze my own and I hold his hand back tightly, drawing on his for support. Gabriel clears his throat and everyone looks back up towards him as he pulls out his bible, reading a passage, "Revelation 21:4, 'He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' May God hold us all in his hands and help us through our time of grief."

He finishes and people begin to murmur amongst themselves, tears and sobs being heard from all around us. Sasha sits off to the side by herself, tears streaming down her face as she looks towards the grave. I notice Rosita sitting with Eugene and Spencer, tears falling down her face along with most other people in the crowd. Jesus sits towards the back of the crowd, his arms folded over his chest with a solemn look on his face. He insisted he come back with us, help us throughout this time.

Daryl lets out a groan from beside me and I turn my head to look at him, "You okay?" I ask.

He winces as he cranes his neck, "I'm fine, just sore."

"I better get you home, it's time for you to have another round of painkillers. To rest up before the meeting this afternoon." I say.

"I don't-" He begins but I cut him off, "Please Dare, I... I just can't be here right now."

He looks at me for a long moment before giving me a nod. I let out a sigh and get to my feet, helping to ease him up and out of the chair. We make our way away from the crowd towards our home, our hands intertwined. I let out a sniffle and wipe at my eyes with a handkerchief, it already quite used. We soon reach our front steps and I open the door, allowing him to go in first.

We make our way up to our bedroom and I grab the bag of medicine Doctor Carson gave me. We walk up the stairs and I walk in front of him, opening up the door and looking around at the mess in the room.

Daryl steps in from behind me and looks around confused, "What the hell happened here?"

I shake my head and step into the room, "I uh... I forgot to clean this up what with Maggie and..." I trail off.

"What'd you do?" He asks and I sigh, running my fingers through my hair, "A lot was happening that day and I got overwhelmed... I let it all out in here. Don't worry, I'll clean it up." I say, kneeling down and beginning to grab at the clothes strewn over the floor.

I feel a sudden wave of overwhelming sadness come over me and I begin to cry as I pick up the clothes, trying my best to remain quiet. However it becomes too much and I let out a sob, dropping the clothes to the floor. I lean against the wall and sink down, placing my head in my hands. I hear him walk over and kneel down in front of me, placing a hand on my knee.

"It's all my fault." I whisper with a sniff.

"What is?" He asks, softness in his voice.

"Abraham... I should have done something." I state.

"Bree, there was nothing that could be done." He argues and I shake my head, "I could have done something, anything to save him-"

"And risk your life? Taken the hit yourself? There was no way that was going to happen. Not on mine or that sadistic pricks watch. He chose Abraham and that was who he was going to kill. You and I both know it from the moment Abraham straightened up in front of him." He says.

"It was awful Dare, I felt so helpless. He cornered us, herded us until we got there. And then for that to happen right beside me, his blood covering me and all I could do was watch on in horror as my friend was murdered before my eyes. I couldn't do a damned thing to save him, not a damned thing!" I cry out.

He reaches forward and pulls my hands from my eyes, tilting my chin up to look at him. As I look into his captivating blues, I can see the pain and loss he is experiencing. He cared for Abraham deeply, respected him so much.

"I know how you're feeling, all of us feel the same way. We were all trapped and there was no way out of it without blood being shed. But you can't blame yourself for this, none of us can. That bastard would have found us at some point and would have killed one of us then. This is the shit we've been dealt and we can't change it." He says, cupping my cheek in his palm.

"Now, now we have to find a way to protect this community from these pricks. That's how we honour him. We fight." He states.

I look at him for a long moment, leering his words sink in. I nod my head, "Yeah, we fight."

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I lean back into one of the church pews, my legs folded over and my fingers twisting together. The whole church is pretty full now, everyone turning up to hear what Rick has to say. I know everyone is going to be angry, furious... But we don't have a choice in the matter. There are so many more saviours than we could have imagined. And to try and fight them off, we'll definitely be losing a lot more people.

"Is this seat taken?"

I look up and am met with the soft blue eyes of Jesus, him gesturing to the seat beside me. I glance at it and nod my head and he turns and takes a seat, surveying the whole area.

"Your community, it's quite incredible." He murmurs out loud.

I turn and look at him and he twists his head to the side to look at me, "I mean, not only is the layout very good, the houses but also the people. From my understanding everyone here knows how to fight, to defend themselves. That's something the people at the hilltop lack, they're too afraid to fight, to learn how too." He says, looking around at everyone.

"You tried to fight and you put up one hell of one. I'm not sure what's install for us all next but one thing is for certain, this isn't the end. In fact, I believe that's it's only just the beginning." He says, turning and looking me in the eye.

We look at each other for a long moment when I hear someone clear their throat and I turn to see Daryl standing there. I get to my feet and grab ahold of his good arm, "Let's get you seated." I say, helping him down into the pew.

"Daryl, how're you feeling?" Jesus asks.

Daryl doesn't say anything, him eyeing Jesus with a strange look. I wonder what he is thinking when the doors at the back open, a gust of freezing wind blowing in from outside. I pull my jacket tighter around me and turn to see Rick walking in, Michonne following closely behind him as the whispers and murmurs continue. All eyes are locked on him as he takes the stage, Michonne taking a seat by Carl in the front row.

Rick turns and looks at the crowd, taking in all the people before he lets out a sigh, looking towards the ground, "The past few days have been some of the toughest for our community. We've come face to face with an enemy that is a lot stronger than we had first thought. They have strength and numbers beyond a lot of what I have seen. We lost someone brave, someone who believed in this community at the hand of these people."

"Yeah and they gotta pay!" I hear one of the people shout out and calls of agreement echo around the room.

"These saviours came in and attacked us, we lost people!" Francine says, looking towards Rick.

"They've attacked our community, killed Abraham, we can't just let that slide!" Eric says, leaning forward in his seat.

"What are we going to do about?" Tobin asks.

People begin to get louder, talking over one another as their anger becomes more pronounced. I see Rick getting more and more frustrated until he yells out, "Alright that's enough!"

Everyone quiets down and looks towards him as he looks over the people, "I understand that we've lost a lot of people, good people and that you all want revenge... But that's not an option."

My eyes widen as I look at him and Spencer rises to his feet, "Are you seriously? We're just gonna lay back and let these people walk all over us? After what they did to us?mis h I at honestly what you're suggesting right now?"

"Spencer sit down." Rick says and he goes to speak again when Rick speaks up, "Sit. Down."

Spencer looks at him before slowly sinking back down into his spot, his eyes never leading Rick. Rick looks around at everyone before he speaks, "Most of you weren't on the road, you didn't see. We were surrounded by them. You didn't have to watch helplessly as they... You just weren't there."

He shifts his weight onto his other foot and gestures outside, "Negan decided to send a message to us. He has us held at bay, threatened our lives. He said we had to be punished... Chose one of us at random, just pointed at us... Until he picked Abraham. I watched as he took a baseball bat and caved in Abraham's skull... Smashed his head to bits." He says and flashes from that night come rushing back.

I turn my head away and Daryl grasps my thigh as Rick continues, "When he was done, he acted as if he had done nothing more than play a game. The life he took meant nothing to him. He could have done that to any of us, he could come here and do that to all of us... And that terrifies me..."

He lets out a shaky breath before straightening back up, "We are up against something unlike anything we've faced thus far. A group large enough to attack two separate places at one time. A group strong enough to intimidate multiple other communities into sharing supplies... One of which is at least three times our size." He says and glance at Jesus, who looks at Rick with a hard face.

"So there will be no conflict. We will give the saviours what they want. We will not fight back in any way. And we will live in peace. Understood?" He asks, looking around at us all.

The overall feel in the room is anger, confusion and sadness and I'm wondering the same thing. Why the hell would Rick do this? He said so himself that he was going to kill Negan and now he's going to just kneel down to him. Somethings not right and I'm not sure what it is, but something in my gut tells me that there is more to the story than Rick is telling us.

I get to my feet and help Daryl, noticing Jesus walk off and follow after Rick. I help him to his feet and see him looking after the two men, a glint of anger in his eye. I lead him out of the church and we begin to walk towards our house when I hear the front gate sliding open. I look over and see two people walk in, bringing the first smile to my face in the last few days.

We walk over there and see Rick, Jesus and Michonne walking over too, "Carol, Morgan." Rick says, pulling her into a hug.

I notice that her arm and leg are bandaged up and I wonder what the hell went on out there, "What happened?" I ask as we reach closer.

"What happened here?" She asks immediately, taking in Daryl's condition.

We all exchange a look and Rick turns to her, "We've got a lot to talk about."