The water had begun to pool in under the door.

Conner stared blankly at it.

"You okay?" The boy asked.

"Shhh..."

A minute passed.

"Got it. Run through the water, nothing to do about the sound but get it over with. The generator is in a room right next door to the main office where Janie is..."

"Janie? So you do know her."

"Not the point. She won't have rigged that door because that kind of blast would take her out too. But she wouldn't leave it completely unprotected so I'm thinking either some kind of trip-wire-machine-gun, or the more likely candidate, there's something keeping a hell of a lot of deadheads in that area."

"Patience isn't going to bust your way through that."

She glared at him. "I'm aware. Also, there's... a complication that I may have left out earlier."

Carl rolled his eyes.

" I had a revolver taped under the secretary's desk in the case that I couldn't make it here. That desk is where the video feed and the intercom system are managed."

"So she's armed as well?"

"I'd be very surprised if she hasn't found it by now is all I'm saying."

"And you're still going with the don't hurt her approach."

"Look, Carl just trust me okay. I have my reasons."

"That's just the thing, Conner. I don't trust you. How the hell could I? I mean yeah you've kept us alive this long, but those were plans that actually made sense. What your talking about is practically suicide. That girl obviously wants you dead, and to do that, she's willing to take me down as well. You really think you stand a chance of surviving this without having to hurt her?"

"No."

"You know what? I don't think you have the guts to kill someone. That's why you couldn't kill me and your aren't gonna kill her. I don't know what life was like for you before all this, but times have changed. You're gonna have to get your hands dirty to earn the right to live."

She doesn't flinch.

"I never said that you had to come with me." She takes two of the knives and leaves.

She counted twenty. They were on chains, like dogs. Collars with little spikes. One had a name tag.

Their leashes were too short to reach her. So she sat and studied them while they clawed the air in front of her. To her left she notice the one with the name tag straining so hard it was causing his neck to bleed.

Maybe if she sat here long enough, they would just pop their own heads off.

Unfortunately something else snapped first. The collar.

It was sent sprawling forward and fell to the floor before picking itself up and lunging at her.

But Conner was partially expecting this and easily took it down.

She was exactly prepared for five other collars to break as well.

Run.

They were slow but stuck together

One finally began to pull in front of the other four.

She rounded a corner and froze.

Fifteen of them, at least, stood idley.

Then they saw her.

You're dead.

Not yet. She ran as fast as she could. She didn't know where, but she kept going. Her feet knew where to take her.

Somehow she ended up back in the science room. She shut and locked the door, but also knew very well that it wouldn't keep them out long.

Something. There has to be something.

Too many to take on one by one. What's big enough to take them all out?

C-4.

Okay, yes, but how do we trigger it and from a safe distance?

A fuse of sorts, maybe.

She ripped open every drawer. The sounds of the deadheads growing louder with the clashing of objects being thrown aside. Something. There has to be something.

Finally. At the bottom of all the useless crap were a few coils of magnesium ribbon. Rudimentary, but effective.

And now, how the hell do you get out of this room without becoming zombie chow.

For the first time in her life she was stuck.

There is no way out Conner. You're going to die.

She slumped down the nearest lab station.

Does this count as even? Not really, but under the circumstances it will do.

Nothing to do now but listen to them scratching at the door.

Nothing to do now but wait, little C.

That's all it's ever come down to, really. Waiting. What we do with the time we have is unique, but we all meet the same end. Besides,some don't even make it past infancy. She got at least sixteen years. 10 good ones. 5 decent. And then there was whatever the hell this past one was.

Nothing to do. Nothing to do.

Somewhere beyond the sea

A tear forced it's way out.

Somewhere waiting for me

Why couldn't she kill him? It was so simple. Just pull the trigger.

My lover stands on golden sands

And watches the ships that go sailing.

It was his fault that she was here. She never would have been so stupid as to walk into that trap if he hadn't distracted her.

Somewhere beyond the sea

He stands watching for me

He would die here with her, no doubt. So it's not like she did him any favors. Maybe gave him an extra day or two.

She heard the wood of the door splintering.

If I could fly like birds on high

then straight to his arms

I'd go sailing

Sailing. One of the many things Conner never got the chance to experience.

She wrapped the ribbon around her fingers.

Just like Connor would tape his knuckles before a fight so they didn't get all cut up.

You dumbass! Why didn't you think of it earlier?

All you need is something to cover you. Something they can't get through.

Duct tape, there was duct tape somewhere. She saw it earlier, when searching for a fuse. Where had it gone?

She glanced at the door. There was a faint pulse. It was starting to give.

No time to look for it. What else is there?

Lab jackets hung in the back. She put one as an extra layer of protection. But she needed something more.

The light above her flickered. Of course.

She climbed up the nearest lab table and hit the plastic covering on the light until it popped out. Would it be enough? She didn't know.

The door cracked. Fingers appeared.

A silver shine caught her attention. The duct tape.

No time to tape everything. All she could do was create a makeshift handle on the light covering in order to form a sort of shield. Would it be enough? She didn't know.

The crack grew larger, forearms now reaching around as if trying to find her.

She climbed another lab station and beat another covering out of it's place. With two she could form a sort of plow and run through them. Would it be enough? She didn't know.

She sure as hell hoped so.


"The tracks stop here." Daryl told their leader solemnly.

"What do you mean they stop?"

"I mean, there ain't no more goddamn tracks, Rick!"

Rick took a look around the small clearing. Why the hell was Carl in this deep? He was only supposed to be hunting around the edge. He thought he'd made that very clear.

"Well he sure as hell ain't here."

"There's two other sets leading to right here, but nothin' else. They could 'a' grabbed 'im and doubled back."

"Fine. Let's split up and follow the other paths. Carol, come with me, you're better at this than I am. Michonne, you stick with Daryl."

Michonne put a hand on Rick's tense shoulder. "Rick, he's gonna be okay. He's a smart kid."

She was right. He'd been in a lot of tough situations before and managed. But still, he didn't like the feel of this one.

He sighed "Yeah. Let's get moving."


This chapter was over 3,000 words so I decided to split it in two, sorry for the wait :P