"Help, I need some help!" Glenn yelled at the top of his lungs.
On the drive back, he couldn't help thinking that he was making a mistake. Should he have just left Nicolas behind? He reflected on what happened at the warehouse. He had made so many mistakes today. The very first one was agreeing to go on a run with these people in the first place. He should have known better. Trying to work with Aiden and Nicolas never had gone well. They were too cocky, too empty-headed. He should have never gone out there, never taken Tara and Noah. Now, there is possibility that he could lose them both today.
"Help!" Eugene echoed cradling Tara in his arms.
Curious people started coming out of their houses. Glenn really didn't see any of them jumping up to help. What is wrong with these people? Finally he saw Rick and Carol running toward them.
"What happened?" Rick yelled, and at that moment Nicholas bolted from the van, no doubt heading to Deanna's house to tell some nonsense story that would make him look good. But that didn't matter now.
"She's hurt. I don't know if she'll make it." Glenn looked over to Eugene then back to Rick, "And Noah and Aiden are dead."
"Take her to Pete's house!" Rick yelled, as he took in the gravity of Glenn's statement. Carol followed Eugene hoping to God that Pete was a better doctor than he was husband and father.
"GLENN!" Maggie's voiced pierced the silence surrounding them. She ran into Glenn's arms. She didn't care as her crisp clean clothes touching his dirty, bloody body. "Are you hurt? Are you ok?" She started looking for bites or any injuries.
"I'm ok, but Noah… I couldn't save him." Glenn embraced Maggie. "I'm so sorry." They sobbed in each other's arms.
"It's ok. I know you did all you could." Maggie tried to take it all in. She couldn't believe that loss could touch them even in this safe place. All of the showers, chocolate chip cookies and dinner parties and still there's death and destruction. She should have realized that there was no escape from it. Not even here. At least Glenn was safe. At least there was that much.
"Rick, it was Nicholas and Aiden but Deanna won't believe that," Glenn knew that Rick already figured as much. It was no secret that Nicholas and Aiden weren't the smartest when it came to going outside the wall. But Aiden was Deanna's son. That would pose a big problem for the group. How could she trust them over her son's friend, especially now that her son is dead? Could she see past Nicholas's lies to the truth?
"Let's get inside. Don't worry about that now."
And with that they headed over to Pete's house. People had already gone back to their own houses, no doubt not wanting to get involved.
After what seemed like the longest day of his life, Glenn sat on the floor of their living room. He had showered and had gotten all the grime and blood off, but he still felt like he was back there, hitting that stupid door, trying to break it. If that jackass, Nicolas, hadn't pushed the revolving door to get out, before Glenn could break the glass, Noah might be still alive. He kept repeating that scene in his mind. What could I have done?
As for Aiden, he might have been able to save him, if Nicolas had stuck around to help him! How could Nicolas have betrayed his friend that way? Glenn started thinking that maybe the safety of the wall wasn't worth all of this. If Deanna didn't believe him, what would they do? Don't they know, that they don't know what they're doing? Then he thought about the farm, the prison, Woodbury and finally terminus. Each place worse than the one before. This one isn't worse, it can be good. It can be home. Maggie picked that moment to walk in.
"What are you thinking about?" She sat down next to Glenn. The look in her eyes mirroring the way Glenn looked at Maggie when Beth died. Why did tragedy have to be such a big part of their life now?
"Everything. I keep going back to it in my head. I don't know how I could have saved him."
"I know. I'm sure Noah knew that you did all you could." Maggie said carefully.
Glenn was silent for a long time. Maggie put her head on his shoulder and they just stayed there, not talking. Glenn kept thinking. Maggie was there for him in case he wanted to start talking again.
Finally Glenn started. "Don't let go of me. That's what Noah said when the walkers were pulling him. I couldn't keep hold of him. And then, Nicolas. I could have broken the glass, Maggie, if he had given me enough time. He panicked. And Noah died for it. Don't let go of me. I keep hearing his voice over and over. He was so young. He should be in school and having a normal life, not getting torn apart and dead. This world is so messed up now. These people don't know. They don't know anything." Glenn paused and closed his eyes.
Maggie looked up at him. "You're right. They don't. I don't know if we'll be able to convince them." She looked away, she shouldn't be bring this up now. Not when Glenn just opened up to her. But Glenn saw that she was hiding something.
"What's wrong Maggie? Did something happen here while I was gone?" Glenn looked concerned.
"No…well…" She knew she didn't have another way now. It was better to tell him. Maybe they could figure out what to do together. "I overhead something while I was at Deanna's house. No one saw me, but Father Gabriel came and talked to Deanna."
Glenn looked up that that moment. Where was this going? What was Father Gabriel doing talking to Deanna alone?
Maggie continued. "He raved about how we were all bad people and we were Satan. He completely turned on us. I think he's gone crazy. I'm not sure if Deanna believed him. I couldn't see her face from where I was. I hope not, but now I'm not sure." She paused. "I haven't told Rick yet. I don't know what to do."
Glenn thought about what Maggie was saying. Once Deanna found out about her son and the lies that Nicolas told about what happened out there, things definitely would not look good for their group. Especially now that Gabriel went crazy and betrayed them. Is it even worth it? Can this place truly be better? Can they be happy here?
After another long pause, finally Glenn said, "Don't let go of me, he said." He looked at Maggie. "Noah really believed in this place. Did you know that he was going to study architecture here? He was really excited about it. I saw his new journal. The only thing he got the chance to write was, this is the beginning. He wanted to be here, Maggie. He saw good in this place and he wanted it to be a beginning for us. Maybe he was saying, don't let go of that. Don't let go of his dream of this place." He put his hands on Maggie's shoulders, "I think we should try to make it here. I think we should try to make it work. Let's not tell Rick yet. I can see him overreacting. Let's see how it plays out with Deanna. Maybe she will be on our side. If he really sounded crazy, maybe it won't even be an issue. And if it becomes one, we will know why. And we'll take it to Rick then."
"I don't know, Glenn. Maybe the group will question why we didn't tell them right away."
"Look around, Maggie. Too much is going on right now. Everything's already so messed up. Let's just wait. Just a couple days. Let's give Deanna a chance to believe in us. Maybe things will work out. We should try to make things work out…for Noah."
Maggie took that in. She knew Glenn was hurting. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like, watching Noah die in front of him, not being able to do anything. If he wanted to take over Noah's dream, she would too. They would do it together.
Maggie took Glenn's hand. "Glenn, everything will be ok. We're together and we'll get through this. I love you."
Glenn then embraced Maggie and held her as tight as was comfortable. "I love you too."
