Tara breathed a sigh of relief. She needed Amber to be on board. She needed to save her from the war that none of these people knew was coming. Now she just had to figure out how to get out of this place. Carol came to sit by her side.

"She said they'll come with us," Tara imparted under her breath. "How are we going to get out?"

"Well they're certainly not going to let us walk out the front door with two of their people," Carol whispered. Tara wore a guilty expression. As much as she knew she had to get Amber out of here, this had clearly complicated their exit.

"It's okay," Carol consoled her. "I'm not sure we were ever going to be able to talk our way out of here anyway. It was probably always going to have to be an escape. It will definitely have to be at night. It would help if we could get one of their vehicles. If we can't then we'll have to walk until we find another car on the road. It took us an hour and a half to drive here. There's no way we can walk the whole way back before they notice we're gone. We'll need a decent head start because if they catch up to us before we reach Alexandria we're in trouble."

Tara felt better listening to Carol formulate a strategy. Carol was smart. She was a survivor. She would find a way out of this. Tara thought you could almost see the wheels in her head turning. She asked Carol, "Do you think he'll come for us right away?"

Carol shook her head. "I doubt it. He's a demented lunatic, but he's careful and calculating. Once he realizes what we've done he's going to take his time and figure out how to hit us where it hurts. Still, we need to get back as soon as possible. We need to give Rick enough time to plan our defense."

"Rick." Tara closed her eyes, imaging their return to Alexandria. "Rick is going to be pissed."

"Probably. But Rick's been pissed at me before and I've never gotten an iron to the face." The two women exchanged a solemn look, both appreciating how lucky they had been to fall in with the group they now called family.

It was almost nightfall before Amber and Sherry returned. Amber's eyes were red and puffy, but there was resolve on her face. She was gathering her strength for what came next. She offered to show Carol and Tara to their sleeping quarters.

Sherry tried to intervene. "I can take them. Why don't you rest?"

"I'll be okay," Amber reassured her. "It's better for me to stay busy anyway. Keep my mind off things."

Sherry was relieved to see her friend recovering from the grievous events of the day. She gave her a quick hug and Amber ushered Carol and Tara out the door. After winding their way through the halls they entered a small room with two bunks and a small lamp on an end table.

"This is where you're meant to sleep," Amber said as she shut the door behind them. She pressed her ear to the door to make sure she didn't hear anyone approaching then she sat on one of the beds, gesturing for the other two women to sit close by. "Mark is in too. He thinks we need to leave tonight."

"I agree," Carol stated. "The longer we stay here the harder it will be to get out. Is he okay to move?" She was concerned about his very fresh wound.

Amber nodded. "He doesn't have much choice. Plus one of his buddies was able to get him some pain medication. He'll be alright until it starts to wear off."

"We were thinking we could take one of the trucks." Tara was eager to get a firm plan together.

Amber shook her head. "It's better if we don't draw any more attention to the fact that we're gone. Mark was part of a crew that set up a roadblock to head off some roamers not long ago. They parked a bunch of cars about four miles out. The keys should still be in the glove box."

"What about guards?" Carol wanted to know. "What's the best way to get outside the fence line?"

"We'll be able to just walk right out the front gates." Tara and Carol looked at her in disbelief. "Negan's cocky," Amber assured them. "He feels his reputation precedes him. He doesn't imagine anyone would walk in here and attack him. He keeps one guard out front all night just in case there's some kind of threat. All we need to do is wait for him to need a bathroom break and we can walk right out of here."

Carol and Tara looked to one another. Amber made it sound too easy. Both were apprehensive. Both were cautious of trusting the information provided by this woman whom they had just met this morning. But their options were limited and their time was short. Tara questioned Carol with her eyes. Could this work? Could this be their ticket out of here? Carol shrugged, unsure but resigned. It was as good a plan as any.

A couple hours before daybreak Carol, Tara, and Amber crept through the halls of Salvation toward Mark's room. Just as Amber had predicted, there was no guard. Carol still had a firmly held belief that Negan was a tyrannical psychopath, but he did give his people some measure of freedom. Perhaps it was his ego at work. He didn't believe anyone would dare to cross him. Or maybe he hoped they would. He clearly enjoyed dishing out punishment.

Carol and Tara waited in the hall while Amber went into the tiny room and returned with Mark. His face was unbandaged and looked like a mangled, raw mess. He still smelled of singed flesh. But he was walking well under his own power and didn't appear to feel the pain too badly.

Amber led the group through the deserted hallways to a side door where they would be able to sneak around through the shadows and wait for the guard to take his leave. Just before she pushed the door open, Carol stopped her.

"Are you both sure about this? It's not too late to turn back."

Mark turned to Amber, wanting her to make the call. She nodded. "I'm positive. We need to get him to a doctor. And you're right, we can't keep living like this. This isn't living."

Carol examined the pair of them. Their hands were empty. "You're sure there's nothing you want to bring with you?"

Amber answered, "We don't have anything worth bringing. We can't get our hands on any weapons without drawing attention. Everything else doesn't seem worth the trouble." Carol respected Amber's practicality. She seemed truly committed to getting out of Negan's reach. There was nothing more to discuss. It was time to go.

The four of them pushed through the door. They slinked silently through the shadows around the edge of the factory, keeping an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. When they turned the corner to the front of the building they spotted the guard. Just as Amber had predicted, it was a lone man with a gun. He looked bored. The escapees crouched in the shadows and waited until they themselves also felt almost bored.

They had probably been huddled in the darkness, motionless for at least twenty minutes when the guard finally showed signs of restlessness. He approached the fenceline and peered out into the darkness, his rifle pointed to the ground. He scanned the surrounding area as far as he could see and, finding no threat, returned to his post near the factory door.

Also as Amber had predicted, he did indeed need a bathroom break. However, Carol realized she had assumed he would enter the building to use the facilities. In actuality he did not leave his post. He turned to face the barrel that had contained the hot coals which heated Negan's punitive iron. The guard unzipped his pants and began urinating into the barrel, possibly as a small act of defiance against Negan. Or maybe it was just convenient. Either way, Carol knew this was their only chance. They would have to be fast.

The four of them ran quickly and silently to the front gate. Amber swung it open just enough for each of them to pass through one by one then quietly shut it behind them. There were concrete highway barriers littered outside the gate. Using the barriers for cover the team crawled along until they were able to dive for the nearest shadow. Through the chainlink fence and the darkness they could just make out the image of the Savior securing his zipper and returning to his post. They waited a few minutes more, hearts pounding in their chests. Then they stealthily made their way through the shadows in the direction in which Mark had indicated they would find a vehicle to take them home.

As soon as they felt they were far enough away from the Sanctuary building they ventured out of the shadows and onto the main road. Walkers now posed a more immediate threat than the men they had just evaded. There was enough moonlight to illuminate the main road and give them a little warning if any walkers were in the area. As they moved away from the industrial setting Carol noticed a crumbling building on which someone had scrawled a spray painted message. It was so faded it was difficult to tell if the artist had written these words before or after the outbreak. The message was written in large red and black letters.

When the love of power

Exceeds the power of love

Humanity is lost

Carol filed that sentiment away in the vault of her mind and picked up a large stick. Tara managed to find a heavy rock. These would have to serve as their weapons if they ran into any unwanted company. Amber didn't burden herself with a weapon as she helped Mark make his way down the road.

They walked for over an hour before they reached the line of vehicles that Mark had promised. The sun would be up soon. The Eastern sky was starting to get lighter. Through the dim twilight the four of them spotted several roaming figures milling around the cars.

"Walkers," Tara whispered.

"What should we do?" Amber looked nervous. Carol briefly wondered if Amber and Mark had been out on their own for long before getting wrapped up with Negan. She silently kicked herself for not asking Rick's usual three interview questions. There was a reason they asked those questions before accepting someone new into the group. You had to know who was standing by your side when things got sketchy.

"You two wait here." Carol pointed to Mark and Amber. "We'll clear them out."

Tara gave Carol a quick nod of compliance and they quietly approached the walkers. There were three of them. None of the three seemed to be aware of the fresh meat nearby just yet. Carol quietly ran up on one from behind, a tall and skeletal man, and knocked it hard in the back of the head with her stick. It fell to the ground, but pushed up quickly, trying to stand and come after her. Using her stick as a spear, she jammed it through the base of its skull. The stick broke in the process, but it was enough to bring the monster to its end.

Tara took a similar approach, striking a long-haired female walker from behind with her rock. The body fell to the floor and didn't move. She bludgeoned it a few more times just to be sure.

The third walker had taken notice of the commotion and was staggering toward the two women. This one was once a large brute of a man. He probably hadn't been dead long. He still looked almost human. Carol ran toward it and shoved the remainder of her stick into its eye socket, but it wasn't enough. The stick splintered away and the beast continued toward them. Tara threw her rock as hard as she could manage. It hit the walker in the neck and knocked it to the ground. Carol seized the moment and stomped its skull hard with her boot. Tara rushed to her side and also gave the corpse several good stomps until all movement ceased.

For a moment all was quiet.

Suddenly Amber let out a tiny yelp. Carol and Tara whipped around expecting to see another walker approaching her. Instead what they saw was a hand clamped over her mouth and a pistol pointed over her shoulder directly at the two of them. A Savior man, one of the men from Dwight's crew, stood behind her holding her hostage. Her eyes were wide with fear and silent tears streamed freely down her face. Mark kneeled on the ground in front of her, his hands raised in submission.

"No!" Tara yelled and took a few rushed steps toward Amber. She was stopped short as someone behind her grabbed her by the collar of her shirt. A hand reached around her face and held the cold blade of a knife against her throat.

Her captor spoke to the man holding Amber. "Get them back! Take them back now and leave these two to me." There was no mistaking that voice. The man holding her captive was Dwight.

Dwight's cohort protested a little. "But Negan's going to want to deal with them."

Dwight shot back, "I said leave them to me."

The man holding Amber ordered Mark to stand and with his gun held to Amber's head, led them both back the way they had come from. Back toward Sanctuary. Back toward Negan. Who knew what punishment awaited them this time.

Tara's guilt flooded her like a dam breaking. All she had wanted to do was help this woman and the man she loved. Now she had made everything so much worse. She watched as they were forced back to whatever fate had in store for them.

Dwight watched them go, making sure they were well down the road in order to deal with the two Alexandrians the way he felt was appropriate. He turned to wield his knife in Carol's direction, to ask her if she really thought she could get away with this. He wanted to show her how foolish she had been. He planned to tell her that everyone she loved would suffer for the mistake she had made. But he hesitated just a second too long.

As he turned to where Carol had been standing a moment ago he saw nothing but darkness. She wasn't there. As he turned further to see where she had gone he saw something reflecting gold in the moonlight. It was much too close to his own face for him to make out what it was. But he didn't have long to guess because all at once Carol's garrote was wrapped around his neck, Scully's crucifix glinting in the twilight.

Tara yelled out, "Carol!" She needed to know what to do.

"Start the car." Carol hissed, using all her strength to pull the thin wire as tightly as she could around Dwight's neck.

Tara lunged for the car at the front of the line and ripped open the driver side door. She reached into the glove box and produced a key, just as Amber had told them. As she struggled to get the key in the ignition she glanced over to Carol and Dwight. She had her knee pressed into his back for leverage. He was getting weaker, but still struggling.

As the engine turned over once but failed to start, Carol heard Daryl's voice in her head. Choke the life right out of him. The engine turned over a second time and still didn't catch. Carol saw Sherry's face, the longing in her eyes when she looked at Dwight. The engine turned over a third time and this time it roared to life. In that instant Dwight finally stopped struggling. He went limp and fell backwards on top of her.

Tara was quickly by her side and rolled Dwight off of her. She hauled Carol up and helped her over to the passenger side door. As Tara climbed in behind the wheel Carol had finally caught her breath.

"We can't go back for them. You know that, right?"

Tara felt a wrenching in her stomach that she couldn't ignore. "I know." Carol was right. There was no way they could help Amber now. All they could do was save themselves.

As she put the car in gear she looked in the rearview mirror and saw Dwight's motionless form lying prone in the street.

"Is he dead?" Tara asked.

Carol held up her small but effective weapon. The little gold cross was still attached. She held it to her chest and closed her eyes against the daylight that was breaking over the horizon. "I sure as hell hope so."