All they could do was stare. In a world where trust had become a foreign concept to almost everyone, this complete stranger was coming to their rescue. It was as if God was speaking to them from the heavens. They couldn't believe it, this was really happening. But all Millie could think was, how in the hell was he going to get them out of there? But another thought hit her, what if he wasn't there to help them at all? What if he just wanted to tease them, or torture them? Treat them like the trapped mice that they felt like. A sudden hatred mixed with her deafening fear and she held tighter to Isabella, who squeezed her hand tighter without hesitation.

"Hey, are you alive in there?" the voice came again. Rick and the girls looked to each other and scrambled towards the radio, Rick getting to it before Isabella did.

"Hello? Hello?" he said frantically.

The man on the outside let out a relieved breath into the mic, "There you are. You had me wondering."

"Where are you? Outside? Can you see us right now?" Rick seemed to be in a panic, but the girls didn't blame him one bit. Considering the situation they were in, he seemed rather calm by comparison. They listened intently, their hands holding onto each other so tight they were white with worry.

"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."

"There's good news?"

There was a slight pause, "No."

Rick rolled his eyes and the girls fell away from him, quick to give up. They didn't have a whole hell of a lot of options laid out in front of them. Rick watched the two of them, his thoughts moving a million miles a minute. These girls had been out in this world a lot longer than he had, they'd seen so much more, and they were obviously taking this time to accept their fate. But to Rick, it seemed as if this wasn't the first time that they'd had to do this. How many times had they been trapped with no way out? How many times were they absolutely sure they were going to die? How many times had they escaped this fate by sheer luck? This stranger on the other end of the walkie was trying to help them, but as far as he knew he did not have a clue as to how he was going to do it. The hope they had just a few moments ago was starting to vanish, that was clear. He could feel the tense fear thick in the air and Rick took a deep breath. This wasn't the end for them, not here and not on his watch. He reached out to Millie and gripped her knee, speaking into the talkie, "Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you we're a little concerned in here."

"Oh man. You should see it from over here. You'd be having a major freak-out."

"Got any advice?"

"Yeah, I'd say make a run for it."

"What?" Isabella squeaked, he could not possibly be serious, "Is he crazy?"

"Make a run for it?" said Rick.

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horses went down. With me so far?"

"So far."

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. You got ammo?"

"In that duffle bag out there, and guns. Can I get to it?"

"Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option. What do you have on you?"

"Hang on." He dropped the talkie and grabbed for the gun, checking how many more bullets he had left.

"Look for anything we can use." He told the girls. They started looking around and Isabella crawled over to the dead walker Rick had shot when they got into the tank. She padded him down but couldn't find anything of use. She sighed and began to look elsewhere when something caught her eye. She turned back around and stared at it a minute, determining if she should even pick it up. In the end, she grabbed hold of it and stuffed it in her pocket.

"Did you find anything?" Rick called.

Millie announced her lack of findings and Isabella hesitated a moment before she answered, "No."

"I got a Beretta with one clip, fifteen rounds." Rick said into the talkie.

"Make 'em count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe fifty yards. Be there." Radio Man instructed.

"Hey, what's your name?"

"Have you been listening? You're running out of time."

Rick dropped the talkie and turned to his companions. They looked absolutely terrified, but in a way that suggested that they were so used to this way of life that their fear was actually the only thing keeping them moving. He looked down at Millie's ankle but she just shook her head.

"Don't you dare worry about me. I'll push through." She growled. He took a deep breath and nodded, ready to be out of this tank and ready to be out of this situation. They all were. He grabbed an axe that was lying on the floor nearby and handed it to Millie. At least this way she had some way to protect herself. He pulled the two of them in close, "The only way this is going to work is if you both do exactly as I do, you hear me?"

Millie didn't respond, but he felt that she agreed with him. Isabella wasn't nearly as happy, but she grunted her understanding as he stood straight, his hands on the door of the tank above them.

"Okay, now, follow me and if they get too close, whack 'em in the head with the axe." He gestured to the weapon in Millie's tiny hands and they nodded again, jaws clenched. Rick readied his gun, taking a deep breath. He took one more moment before opening the latch, quick to take out the walker that Radio Man had told them was still lingering just outside the latch. He turned and helped lift Millie out of the tank, taking in their surroundings once Isabella was out.

"Go! We'll be right behind you!" Isabella said, she and Millie making their way towards the pavement below. Rick jumped down and hit the ground, hard. He stood quickly and immediately started shooting as many walkers as possible, keeping the area as clear as he could while Isabella helped Millie hobble towards alley. She'd taken the axe, Millie using every bit of her concentration on moving fast with the least amount of pain. They made their way through the street, keeping a relatively fast pace, Rick killing any walker on sight that even remotely looked at them.

They made it to the alley and turned, Rick with his gun at the ready, prepared to shoot anything that moved, but he stopped when they ran straight into a young Asian man, the man they assumed helped them get out of that tank.

"Whoa! Not dead!" he confirmed, "Follow me!"

Rick let the girls pass in front of him and they took off down the alley as fast as they could after their savior, but Rick was still just as trigger happy, blasting the walkers behind them that were following in tow. Radio Man led them to a ladder and he started up it, but Isabella and Millie looked up after him. A bad feeling settled into Isabella's stomach. She was strong, but there was no way she was going to be able to get Millie up that ladder.

"Bella, go." Millie suddenly said. Isabella looked at her as if she'd grown another head, slowly shaking her head with tears in her eyes. But the redhead slipped out from under her arm, pushing her towards the rungs. She was fighting her, but Millie was adamant. She would not let them both die.

"What are you doing?!" the boy called down, "Come on!"

Isabella had tears streaming down her face, calling out to her friend who was standing back to let Rick go up the latter once he'd run out of bullets. One look and he knew was she was thinking, but he wasn't about to let that happen.

"Hang on." He picked her up, ignoring her protests and he started up the rungs after Isabella, who was quick to climb once she realized what Rick was doing. He made it up the ladder out of reach just in time with Millie clinging to his neck. Radio Man helped Isabella onto the platform when she got there, Rick and Millie right behind her. He set her down once they were safe and Isabella immediately dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around her neck. Millie didn't hesitate to grip her friend's waist, listening to her terrified threats to never do something like that ever again. All she could do was nod as silent tears streamed down her cheeks. The boys were clinging to the rail for dear life above them, all were trying to fill their lungs with much needed air.

Radio Man looked at Rick, "Nice moves there Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?"

"It wasn't my intention." He breathed in reply. Isabella took a seat next to Millie, eyeing this newcomer with questioning eyes.

"Yeah, whatever. Yeehaw. You're still a dumbass." He said.

Millie chuckled with a smile, eyes closed and still trying to catch her breath.

"Rick." He held out his hand, "Thanks."

"Glenn. You're welcome." He shook it.

"And this is Millie and Isabella." Rick gestured to the girls figures still on the floor of the platform. Glenn looked at them and Isabella gave him a weak wave, obviously unsure about another new person. Millie finally opened her eyes at her introduction and she smiled at him. He found that he couldn't help but smile back at her. But a familiar noise brought his attention back to the situation at hand.

"Oh, no." he peered over the rail down at the walkers who were beginning to figure out how to climb the ladder. He took a few steps and stood looking up at the rungs that led all the way up to the roof while Rick helped Millie and Isabella to their feet. That's when he noticed her bum ankle. How on Earth was she still living? She looked up towards the roof then back down towards the walkers, trying to decide which was worse. She looked back at Isabella and they seemed to share the same thought as Glenn put his hands and foot onto the ladder, looking up.

"The bright side:" he said, "it'll be the fall that kills us."

"Lovely." Said Millie, staring down at the fast approaching walkers.

"I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy."

Millie smiled at him, but Isabella rolled her eyes as she followed close behind. Millie stared up the ladder with her hands on the rungs, using the structure to take weight off of her ankle, taking in a moment of bliss in the small relief of pain.

"Don't worry, I'll be right behind you." Rick reassured her. She smiled up at him, feeling that he truly meant that. She and Isabella hadn't been able to trust anyone other than each other for so long, she hoped that there was at least one other decent human out there. She started up the ladder, taking it painstakingly slow with trying to keep her from falling to her death among the walkers down below. Isabella was waiting for her at the top, ready to pull her up the rest of the way when she got close enough to the top. Rick hoisted himself up once she was safely on the roof. There was a sense of peace up that high. They were away from the walkers on the street and any other humans that could harm them, as far as they knew. Isabella helped Millie to her feet, letting her put her weight on her so that she stayed off her bad ankle as much as possible. Up on the roof they were able to walk at their own pace for a change. It was silent among them, the girls taking in everything that had happened that day. It would've taken them days to get this far and, with Rick's help, they'd managed to make it all the way into downtown Atlanta in just one day. As much as Isabella didn't want to admit it, they owed the man their lives. She tried not to think about it and concentrated on helping Millie hobble as fast as she could behind Glenn.

Rick followed behind the three of them, still trying to absorb everything he'd learned since he woke up from his coma. This world was so harsh, that was apparent by Isabella and Millie's appearance, as well as their attitude towards strangers. He fell back a bit, stopping to look down at the alleyway on the crossway between buildings.

"Are you the one who barricaded the alley?" He asked.

"Somebody did—I guess when the city got overrun." Glenn replied, quickening his steps so as to make it easier on Millie. "Whoever did it was thinking not many geeks would get through."

A silence fell over them after that and Millie couldn't help but wonder where Glenn was taking them. She felt an odd sense of trust for him deep down in her gut; he saved their lives and they owed him everything, but that did not mean it didn't make her nervous. She tried to take in her surroundings, but there really wasn't much to take in – it looked like a roof. That's when she questioned if Glenn knew where he was going; it looked like any other roof, so how did he know which roof they were on? She told herself she was being silly and that he'd obviously done this more than once, climbing all over buildings and such and it was probably tremendously easy. Her nerves were taking a toll on her, and she did not like it. Not one bit. If something happened to anybody because of her lack of nerves, she would never forgive herself. She let those nerves and feelings of anxiety take over her life before the change, but if she was to survive in this world she was going to have to work hard to keep those feelings at bay. She looked up at her blonde-headed friend. Isabella had always been strong, so much stronger than her. She had her issues, but who didn't. She was always herself and she never let the opinions of others bother her. Millie always admired her, of all the shitty things that had happened to them, she would always be grateful to at least have one person with her during this shitshow.

Glenn stopped a few feet ahead of them and opened a trap door that led inside the building they were currently standing on. He started stripping off his backpack, nervous energy was pouring off him and he was obviously in a hurry.

"Back at the tank," Rick said, "why'd you stick your neck out for us?"

"Call it foolish, naïve hope that if I'm ever that far up Shit Creek, somebody might do the same for me." He threw his pack down the shaft and climbed in after it, "Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you."

Rick and the girls looked at each other as he started down the ladder and the three of them were quick to follow, Rick and Isabella helping Millie make her way down the rungs before Rick started down himself. He took one last look around before clambering in the hole, closing the latch and enclosing them in darkness. When they reached the bottom they were in an almost empty room, completely white, and it was pretty much trashed. There was an exit that led them to another stair well on the other side of the building and Glenn pulled a walkie talkie from his back pocket.

"I'm back. Got three guests plus four geeks in the alley. We've got an injury, but no bites." He said. They stopped at the end of the stairs where a few walkers were wandering aimlessly about the place, their moans echoing off the walls of the confined area. Isabella and Millie tensed up, obviously ready for a fight, but Rick put his arm out in front of them. They reluctantly lowered their defenses and waited quietly. Two persons slammed open a door on the other side of the alley and took a couple of bats to the walkers' heads. Glenn called for them to follow as he made a break for the same door that his friends had come out of. Rick just about picked Millie up of the ground on his way across the alley and the three of them scrambled inside past Glenn as he held the door open for the three of them. Glenn's friends ran in after them, slamming the door closed when everyone was inside. Millie and Isabella took a moment to collect themselves, soaking up the fact that they'd made it into the city and were among people – people who were alive. But as soon as they were out of danger, it seemed as though they were thrown right back in it. A blonde woman slammed Rick up against a table, gun pointed right at his face.

"Rick!" Millie took a step toward them, stumbling when pain shot up the side of her leg. She thought her knees might buckle under her, but someone wrapped their arm around her neck, a large black man in a white shirt, Brooklyn written across the front. Her hands flew to his forearm, trying to pull it away from her throat with no use. He had Isabella in his other arm. She was struggling, but her face was stone cold.

"Son of a bitch." The blonde woman snarled, "We ought to kill you."

Several of the people around them we trying to convince her to calm down.

"The hell is your problem?" Isabella snarled. The woman looked at her but didn't remove the gun or her hand.

"You're kidding, right?" she said, "We're dead because of this stupid asshole."

"Andrea," one of the men, Morales, stood beside her, "I said back the hell off."

She stood there a moment, gun pointed straight at his forehead, unwavering.

"Or pull the trigger." Morales warned, and she finally stood down. The man let Mille and Isabella go and the two of them eyed him with dark eyes. He tried to look apologetic, but it was obvious neither of them took it seriously.

"We're dead—all of us—because of you." Andrea accused.

"I don't understand." Rick said honestly.

"Look," Morales drug him away; leaving the girls to catch up. Isabella went to help Millie, but Glenn took a couple of strides to walk beside her, letting her lean on him for support. Isabella stuck close by, but she let it happen. They followed the group down a few halls till they came out in the main shopping area of what was clearly a department store.

"We came into the city to scavenge supplies." Morales was telling Rick, "You know what the key to scavenging is? Survival! You know what the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral."

When they finally made it to the front of the store Isabella looked up and breathed in sharply through her nose, looking right at the two sets of glass doors that were holding the what was no doubt a hundred or so walkers out in the street. They were banging on the doors, trying their hardest to get inside, and at the rate the door was cracking, it would not take them long to get in.

"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds."

Andrea just stared at the sight before her, "You just rang the dinner bell."