Finley -> Rick's Dog

t w e n t y - t h r e e

I laid down on my side on top of one of the pews next to my sleeping pups. The past few days here had absolutely exhausted me, and I needed to get in some real rest. I had only been up about a half hour or so, and I was already getting ready to sleep.

I groaned loudly as Sasha, and Tyreese carried on pulling the church apart. Daryl and Tyreese mumbled a quick conversation, before Daryl began his journey to the door.

I shot up, no longer feeling any pain. I jumped over the side, moving away from the two week old pups, approaching Daryl. The five were now able to fully open both their eyes and ears, and their fur began to grow. They were already so big, and it was definitely noticeable that Nala was the smallest, but she also happened to be the one whose eyes and ears opened first. She was for sure a fighter. We all were.

I sniffed at Daryl, desperately trying to get his attention. He looked down at me, and just about managed to ruffle my fur without dropping anything. "Good girl, c'mere, if ya wanna help, run an' go get some of tha' shit, an' bring it back to me, k."

I obeyed, and rushed over to grab some metal, that Tyreese eagerly placed in my mouth.

I carried it all the way over to Daryl, who took it off me, slamming it into the ground as fast as he could, so that the momentum would take it further.

I skipped back inside happily, towards Carl. I licked his face and darted round the room until everyone gathered round.

"We'll be back soon." Rick says pulling Carl into a hug, in which I ecstaticly invited myself to.

"I know." Carl replies, stepping back.

I watched as Rick and the group disappeared from sight as Michonne and Carl shut the doors. I allowed a doggish grin to fall onto my face, somehow knowing that everything would work out okay.

As Michonne and Carl began hammering wood into the door to act as a barricade, Judith began wailing, causing my pups to squeak. My grin grew, as I trotted over to my pups greeting them hello, nudging their cute little faces.

Gabriel the crackerjack priest luckily had some soft puppy food for the pups, and they'd be able to start eating that when they could walk, which would likely be within the rest of the week.

What surprised me, was that Toby began wriggling towards me, I was in shock and let out a surprised bark. Carl shot round, and saw what was going on and pointed it out to Michonne who awed. I wagged my tail, and barked again happily, only to be shushed.

I couldn't believe what was going on!

After sometime, Diesel, Toby, and Bear were all crawling round, really keeping me up on my paws to ensure their safety.

"Pick one." Carl says, putting a gun down among the other weapons strewn across the floor, all in front of Father Crackerjack.

"You need to learn how to defend yourself. We can teach you." Carl says firmly, I gave a confirmed bark, before scrambling after Nala who could apparently crawl now.

"Defend myself? They said they'd go." Cracker said.

"They were liars and murderers." Carl retorted.

"Just like us."

My head shot up, and I stared him down with a death glare, filled with daggers. If looks could kill, he'd be long gone. In fact, so would a lot of people.

"We protected ourselves. They wanted us dead. You're lucky your church has lasted this long. You can't stay in one place anymore. Not for too long. And once you're out there, you're gonna find trouble you can't hide from. You need to know how to fight." Carl says.