"There's more to it than just that," Glenn said, sitting on the chair backwards, his arms crossed over the back as he looked from Nichole, who sat cross legged on her bed, fully dressed in her black yoga pants and a black tank top, and Daryl, leaning against the desk with his bare arms crossed over his plaid covered chest. "They said there's been an increase in Walker activity recently-"

Nichole shook her head, knowing already what he was going to say. "No, there hasn't," she interrupted. "This is what they say every time. Whenever a group that has useful members come through, they do this same crap to try to keep them here. Most don't fall for it and leave anyway. They sneak out."

"Tell you what, I ain't much for sneaking about," Daryl commented, his expression murderous. Compared to the gentle person she had seen last night, Nichole saw a huge difference in him. "Either they let us leave with the help that was promised or we make them."

"They have military weaponry," Glenn said quickly. "How do you expect to beat that?"

Daryl pushed away from the desk so he was standing fully upright. "Yeah, and they have women, children, old people. You really think they're going to put them in danger for a handful of expendables?"

"Rick won't fight."

"He'll have to!" Daryl's voice rose slightly as he glared at the Asian. "Either that or he might as well admit he is no longer the leader of this little group."

That quieted everyone for a moment. Nichole tugged a little on the bottom of her pant leg, staring at her socks. One was zebra print while the other was plaid. They had received a question from Glenn earlier, but Nichole had brushed it off. Right now they had bigger problems.

"What if we stole a few of the guns?" she suggested quietly. "Get the girls and that boy in a car and ready to go, and supply everyone else with a nice semi automatic rifle?"

When she looked up again, both Daryl and Glenn were staring at her. Glenn started smiling. "That might actually work. If we made a show of force, some sort of stand. They can't keep us here. They can deny us supplies, but we've survived on less."

"They can't deny me supplies," Nichole said as she slowly stood up from the bed. She returned Glenn's smile and glanced over at Daryl. "They owe me more than they ever want to admit. Between hunting, doctoring, and everything else I do, I haven't gotten half of the stuff I should have."

"Then it's settled." Daryl's arms uncrossed and he nodded at Glenn. "You need to find Rick and tell him the little plan we cooked up."

Nick waited until the younger man left to open the single closet in the room. She pulled out a bigger duffel bag and tossed it on the bed. "Bottom drawer," she said to Daryl. "Start loading everything."

Daryl opened the drawer and Nichole could have laughed at his reaction. "How many rounds are here?" he asked incredulously. Boxes upon boxes were lined in the drawer, one hundred forty four to be precise, all full of ammunition for her guns. She rubbed the back of her forearm almost self consciously.

"Enough." Her single word answer made him shrug as he started filling the bag with the ammo. "To be honest, I've never actually shot any of those guns. I've cleaned them, prepared them to be used, but never used one."

"You were hording ammo like this and never actually fired a gun?"

Although his tone was one of amusement, Nichole winced slightly as she went over to retrieve her weapons. "I hunt with a bow. Guns are noisy and attract a lot of unwanted attention." She set the guns carefully on the bed while strapping her hunting knife to her thigh and putting the quiver on her back. "I'm sure they have their place and time, but I don't need one yet."

He grunted, not really giving her a response, and Nick let out a breath and went to grab her backpack, opening the dresser where she kept her clothes. Everything was carefully rolled up to take up as little space as possible until she had as much shoved into the bag as possible. The front pocket got the small laptop she kept shoved in along with the power cord. Along with that came some personal things, such as her college degrees (folded up and well creased), her wallet with her ID, and her phone/music player.

Once her room was stripped of everything useful, Nick put the backpack on, clipping it in the front. Daryl picked up the duffel and led the way out the door and down the stairs. She was not surprised that he paused to check for people before making a straight beeline towards the cars parked near the wall. The duffel got thrown into the back of a truck, her backpack strapped onto his bike. Nick shifted from one foot to the other, watching the main buildings.

"I have to go find Alex," she whispered to Daryl, taking a step towards the mall. Nichole knew what an important aspect her brother would be to the success of this plan. He knew where the guns were stored, as well as how to get into the room. She felt Daryl hesitate behind her before he started following, moving quickly so he was alongside her.

"This is gonna get messy," he said in a low voice to her as they crossed the expanse of parking lot. "You sure you want to help?"

Nick looked over at him, feet still moving towards where she figured her brother would be. "This isn't just getting you out. This is my life. The life of my brother. I'm not backing out now."

Daryl nodded and walked next to her, his eyes traveling from her to the two guards standing post just inside the doors. Although Nichole ignored them as she usually did, a part of her could not help but feel as if they were watching her every move. Which was stupid. No one but herself, Daryl, and Glenn knew of the plan they had made, and even if they did, they would not have enough time to make a counter plan.

After taking the stairs to the second floor where Alex tended to be, Nichole glanced down to the open atrium below. The Asian from earlier was talking quickly to Rick, who kept nodding. That was a good sign. At least he seemed to be agreeing with his part in all this. They kept moving, out of sight of the atrium and towards the sporting goods store.

As she expected, her brother was there sorting through back stock. Even with everyone pitching in, they still had a plethora of boxes that remained unopened. Alex was holding what looked to be a hooked ax in one hand, using the back hook side to slice through boxes. He pulled out a bagged tent and smiled, setting it aside.

"Alex," Nick said, hurrying over. "Go pack your stuff. We're leaving."

Her brother looked up at her and frowned. "Wait, what? I thought Robert said there was too much activity to leave."

Shaking her head, Nichole held up both hands. "He's lying. He always does. Be quiet and quick about it, but go get what you need. Put your stuff with their vehicles and meet us back here."

Without question, which for once Nichole was grateful for, her brother took off, sliding in between shelves and out to the main hall. Nick turned back to Daryl, who was picking up the tent and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Lost my old one," he explained. "And I'll be needing one once we leave."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but just barely. "We're trying to escape with our lives and you think 'ooo, tent'?"

"Yeah, and you'll thank me later."

His cocksure attitude did make her smile as she headed back towards the front door. When he stopped to grab arrows for his crossbow, she was less surprised. Standing there watching him, Nichole did not see the guards coming in. Daryl's crossbow came up suddenly, pointing in her direction, and she froze as she felt the barrel of a rifle press at her back.

"Boss needs to see you," the male voice said as another guard moved around her, rifle trained on Daryl as he reached out and grabbed at the crossbow. Nichole winced as Daryl pulled the trigger, sending the arrow into the man's stomach. Gunfire went off next to her and she opened her eyes to see Daryl on the ground.

"No!" Nichole screamed even as arms wrapped around her stomach to pull her along. She fought, screaming the entire way, clawing at the arm to let her go. The sudden slam of a rifle butt to the back of her head silenced the screaming and blackened her world.