Hello everyone, I am Emi and this is the first fan fiction I have written in years. Basically my mom and myself have some theories to the walking dead and this happens to be mine.

This one-shot takes place following right after the Season 5 Midseason Finale, so yes, there will be spoilers.
What happens if everything goes downhill from that point on? All hope is lost and the group is down to 4 people. Where did everyone go? Will they survive?
WARNING: Major character deaths. WARNING: If you are sensitive to topics such as suicide, death, shootings or being eaten by walkers this may not be the story for you. WARNING: Spoilers.
As of now this is just a one-shot deal. But I have in mind a direction I can follow this story up, but it will be if ya'll want it or not.

Enjoy.

-Emi.

We always thought there was hope, even when the hits never seemed to end. The reason we held onto that hope was because with out it, we would lose ourselves, we would give up the will to fight on another day. But even the strongest willed know when they can't lie to themselves anymore, as much as they want to believe, as much as I wanted to believe for myself, my family, my friends.

There is no hope.

There is no cure.

We were going to die.

There are only four of us left now. Even I don't know how we managed to make it this far. When we lost Beth, we lost Maggie. She said her chest had a hole that was so cold and empty nothing would fix it and as hard as he tried Glenn couldn't fill it. Her note was short:

I'm sorry. My body looks whole but my soul is shattered into pieces so tiny and so sharp that it hurts to move. Nothing will ever piece me back together. I've lost it all and I don't want to bring you all down with me. Glenn, I love you with everything I have left, remember me as I was when we first met. Rick, I don't know how you do it but keep these people safe, without you we would have gotten nowhere. Daryl, thank you for not giving up on her.

-Maggie Greene

She used nightfall to slip away. Even if we saw her I don't think it would have changed anything, she still would have done what she did. You could tell by her eyes she was gone, when she was out of tears after seeing Beth, her eyes were dull and vacant. No smile passed her lips. The fire that burned within her to keep her going had all but turned into a few smoldering embers.

And with that shot which rang out in the night, the fire was out.

Glenn dug her grave in silence, he wanted to be alone. Though, every once in a while a loud, heart wrenching sob, which sounded almost inhuman, would make his shoulder shake and make us go numb. The sky was gray and everything seemed dark as we laid her down to rest next to her sisters plot. We all said a few words, that is all we could do.

I had wrapped my arm around Carl's shoulder and pulled him to me and held Judith securely in my other. Carl put up a brave front, but he was still just a child, shaken up on the inside. I curse whatever started this, it took away the childhood from my boy and forced him to grow up and see the world as it really is, complete shit. Firmly squeezing his shoulder and giving Judith to him, the rest of us went off to figure out the shit we were now in.

"I'm leaving for DC," those were the last words spoken out of Glenn's mouth. His eyes were red and swollen but void of emotions. We tried to stop him, talk him out of it, but like Maggie, it wouldn't have changed anything. When Glenn left, Abraham and his group followed.

We didn't stop them. They knew Glenn, not us.

Ten felt like such a small number. Compared to other groups our numbers were good but we were not like other groups. We tried doing what was right, but where had that gotten us? There had to be hope… if not here then somewhere down the road…

When we became nine my faith in hope was holding on by a thread.

When I squeezed Beth's shoulders and kissed the top of her head, everything felt like it was going right for once. We had her back and I felt like we were going to return strong. All we had to do was make our way, following the route Abraham had drawn out and meet up with them. We would find another place. Rebuild what we had lost… but they returned. They returned for hope but hope was gone.

"Let's go back to the church, we need to think things over, come up with a plan." Tyreese spoke up attempting to break through the wall of silence we had built.

I saw Michonne's scowl and her brows furrow as her glance shifted Gabriel. "We don't have that place anymore," her words were tight and her hands clenched into fists.

"The hell you mean we don't have that place anymore," Daryl growled as his face contorted into a mixture of anger and confusion. Grabbing Gabriel's collar he pulled him forcefully. "What the fuck did you do?"

"He left and got into trouble," Carl sneered as he walked over with Judith. "Walked into too many walkers and when he knew he couldn't do anything on his own he came running back for us. You want to know what we did though?" I've never seen so much hatred in that boy's eyes. "We let him in. We didn't turn him away like he did to the people who looked for safety." Daryl released his grip as Carl walked over to Gabriel. "Take this," he shoved a knife to Gabriel's chest, "and leave. Either way you'll end up dead." Staggering backwards due to Carl's shove Gabriel looked around at each of us with pleading eyes. Carl simply turned the other way with a snarl and walked away holding Judith tightly.

One-by-one everyone turned their back on Gabriel and walked off. We locked eyes once more and a strong gust of wind blew, it threatened to snap my thread. "It looks like you have to go," I told him.

"Forgive me father, for I have sinned," Gabriel wailed as I turned my back on him and gathered my belongings. There is no God.

And so we left. Gabriel pleaded with us as we walked off, but he knew we wouldn't come back so he didn't attempt to follow. Hordes seemed to be getting larger and larger and places to spend a few nights were dwindling in numbers. Food was getting harder to find, Daryl did all the hunting he could but only managed a few squirrels at a time and not having a place to camp for the night made us walk further and further. We were basically like the walking dead, our bodies screamed for sleep due to our extreme exhaustion and our stomachs ached with hunger. When a horde encircled us at night, we had no fight left in us.

Tyreese was bit saving Sasha and Sasha was bit as she fought the walker off of Tyreese. How could this have happened?

As hard as he fought Noah was out numbered. Did he shout out thank you? I lead you to your death, I'm so sorry… I'm sorry for everything

"Go!" A shout above all the moans. "You guys get out of here! You gave me everything, you did so much for me! Go survive… I want to see Sophia," she fired her gun repeatedly, attracting the walkers to herself.

"NO! NO CAROL STOP!" Daryl shouted into the darkness. Michonne grabbed his arm as he tried to run to Carol's aid. "But Carol…" He choked a sob as tears started to fall. Michonne pulled him along as we started to run, anywhere but here.

It was still night when we seemed like we were in the clear. Panting and heavy breathing filled the air. Daryl cupped his hands to his face, another sob escaped followed by a very loud thud. "God damnit," he seethed as he pulled his hand away from the tree his fist collided with. His knuckles were bloody and he bit his lip holding back a shout of anguish. Then everything went silent.

Michonne held Judith while I went over to Daryl, putting a hand on his back to comfort him. Jesus everything went to hell so fast.

Then my thread broke.

A loud shrill came from Judith as she landed on the ground. "Go die!" Michonne screamed as her katana split the walkers head in half. Her scream turned into a sob.

No… Our heads shot up into Michonne's direction. She was clutching her shoulder and staring at us with a pained expression. Daryl was the first to walk towards Michonne, he looked defeated as he lightly held her other hand before scooping up Judith and holding her closely. No… no, no, no…

"No please… Michonne," Carl's voice was but a whisper as he ran up to her, he wrapped his arms around her sobbing heavily into her chest. Resting her head atop of his she returned the hug, ignoring the pain that throbbed throughout her body. Picking up her head our eyes locked.

"I'm so sorry Rick," she breathed. My eyes burned with tears as I made my way to Michonne. The lump in my throat and my trembling lip made it difficult to speak. I just nodded my head, not being able to let the words I wanted to scream out escape my mouth. She smiled sadly and put her warm hand to my cheek. "It'll be alright." She kissed Carl's head, then went to hug everyone else before placing a kiss on our cheeks. "Now go," she handed Carl her katana and smiled proudly at him, "and take as many of them down as you can." She feigned hope for us, hope that isn't even there.

There are only four of us left now. How did we even make it this far?

Daryl grunted as he put all of his strength into pushing his weight into the door. There was pounding and scratching from the other side. The moans were loud and the stench strong.

There is no hope.

There is no cure.

We are going to die.

We both knew it, Daryl and I. We couldn't get out, there were too many walkers to even attempt escape. This storage locker was the only thing we would run into. It was small, it was mostly dark with the exception of the filtered light coming through the frosted window, they wouldn't see it coming. I looked at both Carl and Judith then eyes landed on Daryl. He nodded. This needed to be done. My mind screamed no but my heart told me to go through with it, this was the best option, far less painful, quick even. They would be okay, they would be with her.

I crawled my way over to my children. I gathered them into my arms, taking in their sent, feeling their chests rise and fall as they breathed. "You are so strong. I love you both so much. Hey would you look at that," I laughed lightly. Carl looked into the corner, straining to see in the darkness, there was nothing there.

3…2…1…

I pulled the triggers and the sound was deafening. Their bodies fell limp in my arms as I placed them on the floor of the room. My breath hitched in my throat as my body shook violently. I heard Daryl pull away from the door, his boots shuffling towards me in the cramped space. He placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "My whole family… gone…" I whispered into the darkness.

"No, not yet," Daryl said with a smile, which was fighting against a sob that was ready to escape his lips, his eyes damp with tears. "Rick, you're my brother." I let out a laugh, my face fighting its way into a smile.

"You're damn sure we are brother," my voice was wavering but it was true. He offered his hand and I took it. We will get to see them again, everyone. We did bad things, but we were not bad people. The smile on my face felt foreign it was even stranger seeing the exact same smile on Daryl.

"You ready for this?" He laughed, throwing an arm around my shoulder.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Well then, let's do this," he reached for the doorknob. Isn't it funny, we spent all of this time, trying desperately to keep ourselves alive yet, here we are now laughing off death like it is nothing. I guess when we realized there is no hope…we were freed. He pulled the door open and the white light from outside was bright and blinding. I'll see you all soon.

You know what they say about dreams, you wake up just as you are about to die.

The white light was bright and blinding and the rhythmic beeping was getting on my last nerve. A groan escaped my lips while my throat begged for water.

"Someone get the doctor!" a voice shouted. That voice… sounds so familiar. "Rick… Wake up!Rick can you hear me?"

"Dad!" that is a different voice…

Come on eyes, I know you can work. That voice, I know who it belongs to. For what seemed like hours I struggled against my heavy eye lids until they finally opened, Lori.

I swallow hard against the tubes in my throat.

"Dad the doctor is coming!" Carl…