❪ 𝗚𝗢𝗢𝗗 𝗘𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛 ❫

𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋 𝖿𝗈𝗎𝗋𝗍𝖾𝖾𝗇 ━━━━━━━━━━━━━
the weight. ╱ episode nine.

THE MORNING DEW clung in the cold air as it seeped into Toby's bones. The boy stood leaning against the group's car, his eye glued to the morning clouds that hung in the sky in an attempt to forget about the searing pain in his shoulder. While the boy was hurting, he refused to truly show the agony his shoulder was giving him. He hid his grimaces and borderline tears back, not wanting to be viewed as weak or in too much pain to help out. But for some reason, Rick was able to see through his bullshit and forced the boy to stay back at the car with Glenn, Michonne, and Sabrina.

Since they returned to the car, the eldest Emerson child has never left his side. The woman would often just stare at him in amazement, as if she still couldn't get over the fact that her little brother was sitting next to her. Since his parents died, Toby had struggled with the feeling of being unable to breathe. As if the second he did, he would lose the people around him. He held so much weight on his shoulders with being Thomas' only guardian, being the last one in the family. He felt on some days he couldn't do it, but he pushed through his doubt for his brother. But now with his sister right by his side, there was a part of him that was finally able to breathe, knowing he wasn't in it alone anymore.

No one has said much since they all arrived at the car and Rick quickly retreated to Woodbury to find Daryl with Maggie. Since they had left, the darkness that enveloped them was now transitioning into a cloudy morning sky. There have been times when Toby was seconds away from being unconscious, but he'd always straighten up and focus on the pain he was feeling to remain grounded.

He was just praying Rick and the rest of them would emerge from the woods so they could back to the prison and Toby could finally get patched up. There was a lingering thought in the back of his mind that flashed occasionally. There was a fear that he might actually bleed out on the pavement below him, that he'd lose too much blood and die. But that quickly faded to the background when his sister got his attention and made sure he was alright.

The boy was becoming impatient when daylight began to seep into the darkness and Rick still wasn't back yet. They had been there for what seemed like hours, and he didn't know if he could take the waiting anymore. The others seemed to have the same impatient look in their eyes as well, as they sat a few feet away, near the back of the car. Toby sat towards the front, watching the road ahead. This place is both for keeping a lookout, but also he needed space from the others. But he didn't mind when his sister came and plopped down next to him.

Toby looked towards her, noticing the adoring smile twisting onto her lips. The boy just sent her an odd look, but Sabrina just shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just can't believe you're here in front of me."

The boy understood her, that's exactly how he felt whenever he looked over at her. All the fear of her death that riddled him was gone, and a weight had lifted from his shoulders. He didn't have to mourn his sister any longer because here she was. "I understand...I never thought I would see you again."

"It's crazy to think it's been like almost two years since I've seen you." The woman stated as she examined his features, trying to memorize the more mature features the boy carried compared to the baby face he used to have. "I can't believe how much older you look,"

Toby softly smiled at the woman, his words teasing, much softer than they usually are. "Well, time will do that to you."

The brunette rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Glad to see your sarcasm never faded."

The boy sent her a look that made her smile, a small snort coming from him. "Like I'd ever let that happen."

There was a silence that fell over the two as Sabrina's thoughts made her quiet. As she stared down at her hands, the woman began talking. "What happened to them?"

Toby's smile faded at who she was talking about. Flashing images of that night shot through his brain like a bullet. The boy sighed, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought back to that night. "Towards the beginning, we were at a relief camp. That's where I met Michonne."

The two glanced toward the woman who stood leaning against the back of the car with Glenn sitting right in front of her. Sabrina examined her for a minute before she turned back to the boy. "Did the camp get overrun?"

Toby huffed, his head dropping back against the hood of the car, mind darting back to the memories of that night. "Yeah, but I don't know how. I wasn't there when it started. Me and Michonne were off on a run and we came back to the place being gone. There were so many of them, that I barely had time to find Thomas. When I found him, he told me he saw Mom and Dad get mobbed. When we were leaving, he almost got bit, right in front of me, Sab. But Michonne saved him."

"She did?" Sabrina asked for clarification as her eyes watched the woman for a second.

"Yeah, she's done a lot for us. She's saved my ass countless times. Without her, we wouldn't be here." Toby went on, his words drenched in admiration for the woman Sabrina was staring at. There was a sense of skepticism swirling in her eyes, and Toby quickly shut that down. "She may look scary, but she's just guarded. Michonne is selfless. She'd die for us and I'd do the same."

His final words made her gaze snap at him. Sabrina's tough resolve melted as she stared at her younger brother. "I'll take your word for it."

The boy smiled with a nod, his mouth opened to speak, but a hushed urgent yell of Glenn's name caught the boy's attention. Eyes jumping to the woods, Toby scrambled up from his seat on the ground. Both Sabrina and Toby, rushed into the trees, eyes searching for the source of the voice. The boy had to pause for a second, his head spun lightly from jumping up and rushing toward the woods so quickly. But he ignored the spinning he felt, just trying to focus on the familiar sight of Rick.  

The small relief he felt immediately disappeared the moment his eyes landed on the familiar face of Merle. Rick instantly lifted his hand to have them stop in their tracks. "Now we got a problem here, I need you all to back up."

Toby's face lit up with anger. He didn't hesitate to whip his gun from his belt, aiming it right at Merle. "What the fuck is he doing here?"

Michonne, Glenn, and Sabrina followed suit as anger broke out into the air as they began protesting the man's entrance. Rick and Daryl quickly began hissing at them to stop. Commotion kept rising as the man got closer, Toby refused to lower his weapon. Even when Rick aimed his gun at him, with ferocity swirling in his eyes, Toby refused.

"He tried to kill me!" Michonne seethed, her sword pointing toward Rick and his gun.

"Drop the sword," Rick ordered, but the woman didn't give in. The man snapped his gaze to Toby, squinting his eyes in an act of intimidation, but Toby didn't falter. "Put the gun down now."

"He tried to kill Michonne. Absolutely not, Asshole." Toby's words made the man grind his teeth in anger, but he didn't reply to the boy's remarks.

"Look at what he did, if it wasn't for him—" Glenn started, his anger directed towards Daryl.

"He helped us get out of there," Daryl grunted, his gun aimed at Glenn.

Rick scoffed, turning his head to look at the man behind him. "Yeah right, after he beat the shit outta you."

The older man behind them put his hands up lightly. "Hey, we both took our licks, man."

Toby rolled his eyes at the man's excuses, and Daryl had the same idea as he looked back at the man. "Jackass."

Merle stared at his brother in offense. "Hey, shut up."

"Enough," Rick exclaimed, eyes jumping towards Merle and Daryl. But that only caused another commotion to break out as people refused to lower their weapons.

Daryl whipped his arm toward Glenn's gun, his face red with anger. "Hey, get that thing out of my face."

Merle laughed at his brother's actions. "Man, look like you've gone native brother."

The man twirled around, giving his brother a glare, "No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there."

"Oh, yeah man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that." Merle stated hauntingly, his eyes jumping to Michonne and Toby. "Been putting the wood to your sweet Andrea. Big time, baby."

Toby grimaced, sending the man a look of disgust. "You're kidding?"

Merle shrugged, looking down at his feet as he kicked around the sticks at his feet. "Wish I was Mouthy."

There was a silence that followed the mention of Andrea as everyone snapped their eyes to Toby and Michonne. Glenn furrowed his eyebrows, "Andrea's in Woodbury?"

Daryl nodded, "Right next to the Governor."

Michonne couldn't help but charge toward Daryl at his words, but she was quickly stopped by a pistol getting aimed at her. "I told you to drop that!"

Rick stared at her for a second, before looking at both her and Toby. "You know Andrea?"

The two in front of him didn't say anything before Merle took their chance to speak. "Yep, they do. They and Blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Miss Girl here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains."

"Don't talk about shit you don't understand." Toby seethed, pushing through Rick to get to Merle. But the leader, just gripped his arm tightly, shoving him back.

"When I tell you to get the hell back, I mean it." Rick hissed, his words venomous but Toby just let them roll off his shoulder.

"I couldn't give two shits about what you say." The boy remarked, his voice shaking with frustration and anger. But that faded when a sharp pain shot through his head and his stomach began to swirl in a way that made the boy anxious.

As Toby quieted down, Merle began again with a smirk. "We snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying."

Maggie sent the man a concerned glance. "Is that why she's with him?"

"Yeah...snug as two little bugs."

The boy snarled at him, a frustration washing off of him that none of them had seen yet. It hurt the boy to hear about Andrea and her mistakes and how Merle yearned for their reactions. "Can you just stop being a fucking dick for one goddamn second?"

"Oh yeah? And what if I don't?" Merle taunted, eyes amused as he watched the boy in front of him get more and more furious.

"You don't want to know," Toby said cryptically, but all of them knew what he meant.

"Mouthy, I wouldn't start something when one blow to the shoulder would take you out."

The people around them began to speak up, telling the two to calm down. But they were ignored as Toby ground his jaw, staring at the man. "I'm fine."

The boy wasn't fine, no matter what he said and people were starting to notice that. His face began to have a sheen of sweat along his features with a paleness to his skin that wasn't there before.

"Toby, you don't look so good." Sabrina chimed in, slicing through the tension and letting it completely dissolve into the air. As her hand grazed his good shoulder, the boy twisted away from her.

He tried to ignore the thumping in his head, trying to put on a brave face so the people around him would stop examining him. Their eyes have been glued to him since Sabrina mentioned how bad he looked. He hated it. Toby wanted to scream at them, to tell them to stop fucking staring. "I'm fi—"But just as he started to utter a word, the world began to spin at a fast pace. Toby stumbled back, oblivious to the fact that he rammed into someone.

Only focused on the panic he felt as he saw his vision blur. And just as he heard someone yell to get the first-aid kit, he crumpled to the ground, falling out of consciousness. The world began to get black and the only thing he saw before the blackness was the familiar shadows of Michonne and Sabrina standing over him.

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THERE WAS AN unfamiliar coldness that seeped into Toby's bones the moment he became aware of his surroundings. With his eyes still closed, he could feel the familiar softness of a bed below him. There was pain emanating from his shoulder, but it wasn't as bad as before. Opening his eyes, he was met with the darkened chill of cement brick walls around him. Toby's eyes scanned his surroundings, immediately connecting the familiar walls and dreary light to the prison. Looking down, he noticed his shoulder bandaged delicately under his shirt.

The daylight washed into the prison cell, shining from windows that sat near the ceiling of the cell block just outside his reach. He let out a painful grunt as his stiff body rose from the bed, his Converse cladded feet slapping against the cement floor below.

Footsteps were hurriedly heard heading towards his cell at the sound of his noises waking up. Toby looked up from the ground with a squint as his eyes still were adjusting to the light. An unfamiliar blonde girl stood in front of the cell entrance, a look of surprise on her face as she gazed at the boy. "Stay right there, I'll go tell everyone you're awake."

The girl was gone as soon as she finished speaking, her retreating footsteps made Toby let out a sigh as he cracked his neck trying to get the kinks out. His eyes glanced around to the emptiness of the cell, but his gaze immediately caught the familiar glint of his bat sitting in the corner of the cell, near the entrance. The boy stared at it for a minute, thinking of the weight of why the bat was sitting there, unattended. Many thoughts crossed his brain as to why they just left it there, they could be testing him or they could just be plain stupid. But there was a smaller part of him that thought that they just might trust him not to cause violence.

He didn't bother to listen to the girl's words and stood up, quickly walking out into the cell block. His eyes scanned the place, only being able to focus on the dreariness of the cement wall around him. He had only been standing out there by himself for a minute before he noticed people entering the block in the corner of his eyes.

Relief flooded Toby's features when he saw Thomas staring at him with an excited smile. The younger boy didn't bother to say anything before he practically ran toward his brother. Despite the pain throbbing in his shoulder, Toby accepted the boy's arms wrapping around him. Toby held him close, gripping him tight, glad that his little brother was okay. Looking up from the boy, he was met with his sister, Michonne, Rick, and the man who patched up Michonne yesterday.

Toby greeted Michonne and Sabrina quietly, accepting their affection with earnestness.

There was a surprise that rested on many faces in the background when he tightly hugged Michonne, his eyes closed in relief that everything was actually okay, she was safe. Until now, many of the people around them had no clue that either of them was able of that type of affection toward each other. As Toby let go of Michonne, the boy sent her and the people in front of him a confused glance. "How long was I out?"

The old man smiled kindly at him, "Only a few hours. You're lucky, the bullet went right through, so it was just an easy stitch up."

Toby nodded in understanding, his fingertips lightly grazing his bandaged shoulder. "Thank you."

"Of course," Hershel said with a sincerity that Toby hadn't heard in a long time.

"How're you feeling?" Sabrina questioned, resting her hand softly on his shoulder, stealing his attention away from the old man.

The boy sighed with a shrug, meeting her concerned eyes, trying to tone down his pain, not wanting her to worry. "Eh, I've been better."

"You should be lying down." Michonne chimed in from behind his sister.

Toby shook his head at her words, finding himself too antsy to sleep. "I should, but I can't."

Sabrina shook her head in protest, thinking he should get some rest. "You've been through a lot in the last 24 hours, you should go rest."

"I'm fine, I just want to go out for some air." Toby ignored her request, walking past her and towards the exit of the cell block.

His arm was quickly grabbed the moment he passed Rick. Toby ground his jaw at the action from the older man. Rick ignored the boy's glare and gruffly looked at him. "We need to talk."

The boy freed himself instantly, sending the man a defying look before he walked away. "Later."

"Not later. Right now." Rick hissed as he stared down at the boy, it irked him how much the boy didn't listen to him.

Toby paused in his step, whipping around to meet the man's gaze. "I'm not doing this right now, Man, just give me a fucking break."

"Toby..." Sabrina said warningly as her eyes danced between Rick and her brother like she was scared to see the man's reaction.

The boy didn't listen, only ignoring his sister's warning, continuing as he stared directly at Rick. "No, I'm sick of this. In the past 24 hours, the same person has tried to kill me twice, I've been shot at, and I've been surrounded by biters multiple times. I just want a goddamn break and let me take everything in. I don't want to lie down and I sure as hell don't want to talk to some asshole lead-"

The boy's words were cut off roughly as Toby was grabbed and shoved into a wall. The teenage boy let out a surprised grunt as his body made a harsh impact on the cement wall. Toby stared at the man with surprise and shock in his eyes as Rick's forearm was pressed tightly into his neck.

The people around them broke out into a commotion, begging Rick to let the boy go. But Rick couldn't hear them, his eyes were glued to the young boy as he gave him a deadly stare. Toby's hands fought, clawing at Rick's arm but the man refused to move. His shoulder ached at the movement, but his fight or flight was kicked in and he couldn't help but use both arms to fight back, trying to shove the man away, but nothing was working.

"I am sick of you fighting everything I say, you are not in control here. You are here because I'm letting you be here. You notice how you weren't locked up, we even left your goddamn bat in the cell. We are gracing you with freedoms that we shouldn't let you have. We trust your sister, and she thinks you aren't a threat. But the way you're acting makes me think otherwise. I can easily change my mind about you." Rick seethed, his voice like pure venom. The tenacity of his tone made the boy's heart thump roughly in his chest in fear. "If you're gonna stay here, I need you to start listening. You hear me?"

Toby nodded instantly, and the pressure on the boy's neck was instantly gone. Immediately, the boy coughed profusely as he gulped in larger amounts of air, all the while his eyes were glued to Rick in a rough glare. Just as Toby opened his mouth to speak, Rick walked away taking a deep breath as he went into the entrance of the cell block.

The boy immediately stared at his sister with a look of surprise, still shocked at the violent nature Rick just displayed. "What the fuck?"

Hershel sighed as he glanced between a shared look with Sabrina and the boy who was staring at all of them looking for answers. "Look son, he's not himself. He just lost his wife a few days ago, he hasn't had a chance to grieve yet."

Toby's stomach dropped at the older man's words, trying to take the newly found information in. While there was sympathy for the man, Toby still was bothered by how he had just attacked. As he began to speak, rising voices in the cell block entrance caught his attention. "What's going on?"

Hershel huffed at the slight commotion, making his way towards where Rick retreated. "Carl found some people in the tombs and they wanted to talk to Rick."

Toby gripped his shoulder, making sure the stitches still were intact as he watched Hershel leave the cell block. The four that were left standing there began to follow the old man, as Toby leaned down to whisper to his sister. "Carl?"

Sabrina glanced at him at the question, "Rick's son."

Toby nodded, stopping at the cellblock door, and watched the interactions through the bars. He didn't feel it was a situation to enter, he just simply wanted to observe it. Toby felt a sick feeling wash through his body the moment Rick's eyes made contact with the second-story platform. Incessant whispers of no slipped past Rick's lips as he squeezed the bridge of his nose.

The boy gazed up at the platform in confusion as no one resided there. He noticed the unsure faces glancing between each other as they reacted to their leader's sudden distress.

"Why are you here? What do you want from me?" Rick questioned with a shakiness in his voice as his attention was glued to the platform as if someone was standing there.

"Dad?" A boy asked as he looked at Rick. Toby quickly connected the dots recognizing that his name was Carl. Toby felt sympathy seep into his bones watching fear and confusion rise on the young boy's face.

People were frozen in puzzlement as they watched Rick continue to stare and murmur at something on the second floor.  Everyone practically jumped as Rick let out a desperate yell. "I can't help you, get out!"

The strangers that Carl found stared at Rick in intimidation, as the bulkier man tried to calm him down. "Woah, woah, woah."

But Rick refused and only raised his voice higher and more intensely. "Get out!"

"Woah, it's all good." The man interjected but Rick acted like he wasn't there.

Maggie made her way to Rick, looking at him with careful sympathy and a kind voice. "Hey, easy, Rick. There's no need to—"

"You don't belong here! Get out! Please!" Rick begged, eyes filled with a panic that made people jump, he instantly whipped his gun out from his holster.

Maggie jumped back at his interruption, quickly pulling Carl with her the moment she saw the glint of Rick's gun. Toby tensed at the sight of the pistol and soon attempted to whip out of the cell block and into the entrance of the block to help stop the commotion. But his hand was roughly grabbed by Michonne, by the slightly desperate look in her eyes and the intense shake of her head, he knew he had to stay put.

"Relax brother, relax, we'll leave, we're going." The man stated calmly, his hands raised in front of him, trying to put some space between Rick and his gun. "Okay? Ain't nobody got to get shot here."

Rick's crazed altered between the group of strangers and the things that were supposedly standing on the second floor. As he continued to scream at them to get out, Glenn quickly ushered them to leave and followed them out. As the strangers made their exit, Rick's yelling ceased and a fearful silence followed in his wake as everyone stared at him with concern and terror in their eyes.

Toby couldn't help but be utterly confused at the switch-up the older man did as his face was now paled and lost in panicked thoughts. There was a fear that rested in his stomach not liking how Rick was beginning to leave a bad taste in his mouth. He feared that he might doubt his sister's trust knowing that she had been in a group with someone capable of being such a walking time-bomb. He made brief contact with Michonne and he could tell that she was feeling the same way too.

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✿❣︎ 𝘼𝙐𝙏𝙃𝙊𝙍'𝙎 𝙉𝙊𝙏𝙀 ❣︎✿

Guess who's updating cause they miss Toby!!

I finally pushed through and finished a chapter for the sake of my baby boy. I missed him too much. And I enjoy his beef with Rick so I wanted to write more of that.

Talk about beef when Rick rammed him into a wall. Poor guy is just kinda going off the rails but it's obvious because he's overwhelmed with the governor and Lori's death. Toby's not a big fan of Rick as of right now, for good reason. But there will be a reconciliation don't you worry.

A true Danny interaction next chapter!!! Be ready. gotta have my boys fully interact before shit hits the fan.

ALSO‼️‼️‼️‼️
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Hope you enjoyed the chapter!!!!