Chapter 43 : Forever Broken

" See ?! I knew you and I could work together... our people can work together on a better foundation for this new world." Vincent said, passing his arm over Calvin's shoulder.

 "Sorry but I'm done here, sorry to ruin your idealistic dreams. You are right, people can work together but they must understand the real priorities in relation to the future challenges of the human race...I wish you good luck..." Cal said removing Vincent's arm and shaking his hand before to leave.

 "I'm sure we'll see each other again Mr. Calvin and together we'll create a new era , I'm sure..." Vince said to Calvin who waved at him without looking back as he left.

Cal arrived where Rebecca was after telling the others that they had nothing more to fear. He looked at the girl in tears in her pain and said nothing, he knew that with her bites on the back as well as the shoulders it was ruined for her so after a sigh, he took out his gun to point it on the head of Rebecca who flinched by this decisive gesture from Calvin.

 "I'm sorry...I...(crying) I'm hurt...I don't wanna die, (crying) I'm sorry...I was wrong..." she begged Calvin who looked at her without the slightest pity.

 "You don't deserve to live and it's a good thing for Walen that you die, I'm going to take care of her from today and you're gonna die here. Your little sister didn't stop looking for you and exposing herself to danger for a single sign from you but you didn't care and for reasons as stupid as they were hateful.

Do you remember what you asked me to tell her ? 

 I'll at least give her the consolation of burying her stupid big sister..." He said before pulling the trigger and shooting her in the head under everyone's shocked gazes while Calvin's face was still emotionless even after that.

 He then put her in his sheets before loading her into a vehicle and he collected his weapons to leave but people came to talk to him and it was Nathan and those who had fought at the front alongside Calvin. 

 "Are you leaving?" The black woman asked and Calvin told her that he had finished his business here and he had already wasted a lot of time.

The woman introduced herself as Cynthia and the tall black man with the burns stuttered while introducing himself as Ben.

Cynthia asked him if he could take them with him and Calvin sighed looking at them, he asked Cynthia what her skills were and she told him she was a heavy truck driver.

 He asked the same thing to Ben who told him with a little difficulty that he was a Karate teacher for children with leisure difficulties but he was also a professor in the pharmaceutical field and Calvin's ears grew hot listening to this. He told them they could come with him before turning to Nathan…

 "Do you have room for my guys and me on your team ? We'll be useful, man I don't really know who you are but there's action with you and I want to be part of that." He said to Calvin who looked him in the eye before looking at the Confederate flag patch on Nathan's vest who himself noticed Calvin's stare and knew he had to once again explain the meaning of the Confederate flag according to the noble values ​​he was taught. 

 Nathan: (sighs) Look, I know what you think about this flag, but you need to know that not all white people give it the same meaning and-(interrupted)

 "You are part of the team but your flag, find a bigger one and take actions that will highlight the noble things we taught you about your southern values.

As a person of color, I have my apprehensions about this flag but if a son of the South can prove to me that I am wrong and that he has values ​​other than hatred by saving lives for example then fly your flag held high.

You want the south to rise again ? So that it rises as a land of hope and traditional values that will make men strong in this dark new world and not an ideological land of hatred. "Calvin told him and Nathan with wet eyes shook his hand as if someone had finally understood him.

 Nathan and his friends took a second vehicle to follow them and Calvin remembered something so he contacted Vincent's frequency to warn him of the potential runners still present in town.

After talking with Vincent, he tried to contact Paul but in vain and the bad feeling he already had became so strong that he felt a slight pain in his lower abdomen. He tried several times and Paul finally responded.

 [Can you tell me what's going on there and why it took you so long to répond ?] Cal asked with annoyance and concern.

 [Boss...I...you have to come back...as you expected, we were attacked by a horde and things went very badly ...] Paul told him in a very serious tone and Calvin felt his hands trembling as a cold invaded the inside of his chest.

 [Are the children okay? I'm driving and almost there...] Calvin asked him and Paul told him that they were doing relatively well but when he asked about Christina, Paul remained silent before telling him that Tina had been bitten on the shoulder blade by a runner while protecting children.

[ Background music (very important): Lord Huron - The Night we met ] 

Listening to this, Calvin stopped the vehicle feeling his body being invaded by a strange sensation, a painful trembling and the feeling that hands were tightly gripping his neck to prevent him from breathing properly with his eyes becoming watery.

 He said nothing else to Paul and cut off transmission before taking a breath. Nothing of everything he had just listened to seemed real to him, he was looking for an error or a clue in Paul's tone that could have betrayed a bad joke .

Cynthia told him she could drive but Calvin told her it would be fine and he could handle it so they continued on their way.

 They arrived at the big house and Paul himself came to stand before him as if waiting for Calvin's wrath but he still wished that was the case rather than what Calvin told him.

 "Were you fighting when it happened ? » Calvin asked him and Paul told him that he was stopping the dead from entering from the back door when it happened, they had been completely taken by surprise and he hadn't even had time to make sure that Tina as well as the children were secured in King because it happened shortly after her return there.

 "It wasn't your fault, you can't do everything..." Calvin said as he passed him, there was no anger or frustration in his voice but only pain, pain that he was suppressing in his trembling voice.

Nathan and the others couldn't even introduce themselves properly given the situation so they just followed Calvin. 

 Inside, they saw people crying, corpses of zombies and devoured humans everywhere in a climate of total desolation.

While several men helped clear everything out, Ben, Nathan and the others immediately set to work and help the others who greatly appreciated their gesture.

Calvin was guided to the upper floors where he was led to the room where Christina was, his eyes became watery before he even opened the door and it was with a trembling hand that he pushed the doorknob .

 In the room he saw the bed where Christina was lying with Rashid next to her holding her hand while crying, Riley was in the corner with Walen also in tears.

There were also a few women taking care of Christina and Calvin stomped over to her before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

 "Can I see ?" he asked with a slightly trembling voice to keep his emotions in check and she showed him the bite mark on his shoulder blade.

Cal asked the children and the audience in the room to give them some time alone and once that was done...

 "It's me...it's me who did this to you...it's me who stopped to deal with problems that didn't concern us...it's me... ME..." He said in tears, kneeling down and Christina told him that it wasn't his fault, that she was the one who insisted on following him despite his attempts to convince her to stay in Lincoln.

 She told him repeatedly that she loved him and wanted the world to see him like she saw him when he saved her in that tank when they first met.

Calvin lay down next to her and he hugged her , he noticed her fever was really high because the virus transmitted by a runner killed more quickly than that transmitted by a normal walker.

 They talked, they cried, they kissed, they cried again and again in front of a camcorder placed there by Calvin to immortalize their last moments.

Christina recorded messages to Clementine and the others near Calvin who had a dead look inside but they stopped when he saw blood starting to flow from Christina's nose.

The children were called back to spend time with her as Calvin stood there in thought wondering over and over if this was all real, his notion of reality itself deteriorating despite his calm state.

 They spent some time there and she told them that she was a little tired, Calvin sent the children into King with Paul who said goodbye to Christina because he knew what was coming next, Calvin asked that no one enters that room until he comes out and the two stayed there with her in his arms.

They talked again, whispered about how much they loved each other, what she wanted him to do next and what kind of man she would have liked to see him become in this new world.

He started talking to her about how he envisioned their future, their little farm when he retired from all that after building a completely safe community.

 She listened to him again and again, feeling her strength abandon her more and more while feeling the tremors of Calvin who himself felt her leaving.

When the fatigue reached its peak, she told him that she'll love him in the afterlife where she will wait for him with their child and this made Calvin cry, He told her that he will only love her until the end.

Finally Christina fell asleep in his arms and Calvin knew it was the end, he hugged her tightly for the next few hours without fear and in the early morning they all heard Calvin's heartbreaking cries in the room after he finished off Christina, who had become a raging zombie.

 That day, a part of Calvin had died forever and his soul had been completely and irreversibly torn apart, it was broken forever. Cal wanted to die, he wanted to leave this world and abandon everything but had to respect Christina's last wishes.

He held the body of his beloved close to him until the afternoon when he came out with Christina's body in sheets.

He tasked Paul with bringing her back to Lincoln and ensuring she had a proper burial.

 Paul painfully accepted this mission before making his preparations to leave with his son and Walen to whom Calvin had also announced the death of her sister.

They buried Rebecca and Walen cried as he held Calvin's hand who realized that she had become attached to him so he told Paul to leave without her and that he was going to take care of her protection.

Christina's death had broken Calvin forever and she was the one who allowed him to show humanity at certain times. Now that she was gone, he would become more murderous and cruel than ever with those who dared to stand in his way.

[ Entities]

Death : Sometimes I hate my job...

Reality : It's sad but mourning and the loss of loved ones is part of this verse.

Death: I know, I chose it myself...

Eternity : She'll be fine, i already took care of everything.

Death : Thanks...

- End of the second book-

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Hi everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Killing Christina was a very difficult decision to make, but I had to stay in the spirit of The Walking Dead.

The pain of the characters we appreciate and their ways of dealing with their grief are some of the things that have made this show so good.

I'm going to start writing the sequel and I'll publish the first part of my story on berserk to give you something to read. When I have enough chapters ahead of the walking dead, the updates will resume.

Thank you for reading, love y'all 👊🏽😁