KEZZ 1: As always, you are most welcome!

RaphaeltheCowboy: Yeah, it was absolute bullshit what happened to Abe and Sasha and I am definitely fixing that. Rosita has always just rubbed me wrong. I have no intention of 'fixing' the rift between her and Ani, more of a 'we tolerate each other because we need to' kind of thing, and Ani just doesn't want Rosita taking her attitude towards Sasha. I just don't see the two of them getting along at all. Rosita is too self-centered in my opinion and Ani is too understanding. So they just don't mix as friends. But it all works out in the end for what I'm planning...so don't worry...^_^

Sorry for the sporadic posting. During the last couple chapters, I was watching ahead to plan ahead and kinda got a little side-tracked in watching season 7, since a lot of what I had planned originally is now changing due to the shape my story has taken thus far. When the big reveal of what I've already been hiding Easter eggs about comes up, well, it'll be totally worth it...Hope y'all enjoy the coming weeks and chapters of the story! Love y'all!

"I didn' mean ta," Ani repeated as Daryl brought her outside.

"I know, Ania. I know."

"Put me down," Ani said, suddenly starting to struggle in Daryl's arms.

As soon as her feet were on the ground, she was running to the grass and heaving. Every time she had killed, it had been with the intent to kill, or at least maim to get away. Even that first time at twelve didn't feel like this. It had been an accident, a stupid, complete, idiotic accident. Ani knew she'd released any control of her strength to bring the door down; she'd had no way to know if it was locked in her focused state, only wanting to get the thing open and not logically checking the knob first. If she had known that this was going to be the outcome, that she would accidentally kill someone, she would have never gone over to Jessie's house.

Daryl rubbed her back as she puked, "It's alright, Ania. It's gonna be alright."

"I killed 'im! I didn' mean ta! I've...I've neva...not without meanin' ta. Not without intent. I didn' mean ta," Ani cried when she was done, turning towards him as other citizens of Alexandria came over to see what was happening. "I wasn' tryin' ta!"

Daryl tightened his arms around her as he told her, "I know. I know, baby girl. I know. You don't gotta explain nothin' to me. Let's go home."

The walk to the house was quiet aside from the rushing in her ears. She couldn't even rightly make out the path they were taking, leaning heavily against Daryl as tears fell from her eyes. Before they got to the house, though, she'd shaken her head and been looking around as if she was arguing with someone. Daryl had seen her do this a couple times before when she was having an exceptionally hard time coming to terms with conflicting sides of her brain. The logical side of her was fighting with the emotional side as she replayed what had happened in her mind. Sighing, he just lead her past Aaron's house, the man standing on the porch and asking if everything was okay. Just shaking his head, he brought Ani into their new house and took her to the couch, sitting her down before leaving the room.

"Tell me what's goin' on in your head, Ania," he said as he dropped Catty down into her lap, Bobby sitting between them and grooming himself.

"I said I didn' know what I'd do. Told 'er I didn' know," she said as she stared at her feet, slightly rocking. "He was an abusa. He deserved what 'e got. Didn' mean ta do it how I done it, but it was gonna be done anyway. He was an abusa and 'e hurt 'is kids and 'is wife and 'e got what 'e deserved. I did what I had ta ta protect me own and 'e got what 'e deserved."

"Ani?" Deanna's voice sounded out from the entryway; she and Rick had followed shortly after and she had seen the girl puke. "Ani, I'm sorry, but I do need to ask what exactly happened."

"I was jus' walkin'. That's all. Tryin' ta get used ta walkin' alone again. Heard yellin', glass breakin'. Went ova ta see if I could help but all I could hear was yellin'. Looked through the curtain and 'e had Ron's arm all twisted. I knew it was gonna dislocate. And I had ta do somethin'! I kicked in the door and they jus', he jus' froze. I froze. I didn' know what ta do, I jus' wanted ta stop 'im from hurtin' 'is son! Rushed me, sayin' I didn' belong in 'is house, and 'e was right, but 'e was rushin' me. And I didn' think, I jus' acted. I...I...I kicked 'im. I roundhouse kicked 'im in the face. He fell towards the banista. Cracked 'is head on it. Weren' movin'. Checked ta see if 'e was breathin' and 'e wasn'. He jus' wasn'. I swear, Deanna, I did not mean ta do that. I jus' wanted ta stop 'im."

"That's what Jessie said. That you were tryin' to help," Rick told her.

"It all jus' happened so fast. I swear, I didn' mean ta," Ani repeated.

"Ania, look at me," Daryl said, moving to kneel in front of the girl as she hung her head in her hands. "You did what you had to. You protected those kids like you always have. Ain't nothin' wrong with what you did."

"I know," she told him. "I know it in 'ere," she said pointing to her head before pointing to her heart, "It's 'ere that's havin' problems believin' it."

"Ani, I know I said that we don't kill in the walls. But I also was the one who told you to see what you could see. I all but told you to take care of the problem yourself. And you did. You proved that you would stand by your word and protect those who needed it. Aaron was supposed to leave the day after tomorrow to go looking for people. I've asked him to leave tomorrow instead. The two of you are going with him, correct?"

"Yeah, alright," Daryl answered for them as Ani just nodded her head in agreement.

~x~

Eugene was rubbing the leather on his wrist as he watched Ani leave the community riding behind Daryl. She'd said it would give him strength, that he just needed an external focal point to overcome his fear, but he felt like she was just telling him a load of bull. As he knew all too well, you couldn't bullshit a bullshitter, but the problem was, Ani wasn't bullshit, she was the bull. If she told him this bracelet would give him strength, he'd rub away at it until she needed to make him another one. Even if he thought it was a bunch of cockamamie beliefs, she didn't, and her beliefs seemed pretty soundly seated.

The entire day he wondered around rubbing the bracelet, feeling the intricate designs of the knots until they were practically engraved into his mind. Their meanings from Ani took on a life of their own and he found himself feeling a little less scared of what tomorrow could bring. Ani wanted him to face his fears head on, but he was not ready to do that. He didn't think he'd ever be ready no matter how hard she pushed him into the deep end. If this were a river, he was surely about to drown.

"Oh, no thank you," Eugene told Noah the next day as the younger man held a silenced gun out to him.

"Just take it," Nicholas said as he walked by.

"Come on, you gotta protect yourself," Noah told him.

"Not if I don't go."

"Ani said you're going, so you're going," Tara told him as she walked out of the pantry.

"We're not driving all that way so we can just drive back with the wrong shit," Aiden agreed. "Even if Ani said you weren't going, you'd be going. And why does her word matter anyway? Thought you guys listened to Rick."

"We listen to Rick, Rick listens to Ani. It was Ani who started the runs. She's the reason I'm so good at planning them," Glenn told him. "She planned the very first run I ever went on, and the better part of the runs I've been on since and taught helped me learn everything I know. Hell, even half of this run she came up with. Your mom was impressed."

"Its a dozen of these," Eugene said, holding up the part they needed and hoping he could convince them to let him stay. "They are consistent in appearance across manufacturers. The shit will be right. I will install said shit. Then that grid will be fully operational again."

The three in front of him simply gave him unamused looks, Noah thudding the gun, extra ammo, and holster into Eugene's arms before walking away. Glenn stood there looking at him before saying, "Come on, man. You know we can't let you out of this. Ani's only a moment away from going Sergeant Dixon on us all over again. While you don't know what that means, I still remember running for over an hour just because I was a smart ass. Don't make me deal with that again."

"Heard you talking to Holly last night. What's her story?" Tara asked Noah as Glenn moved away from Eugene, the man looking about ready to cry.

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

"Mm-hmm," Noah said with a smirk.

"It was an innocent question," Tara defended. "Don't make me hurt you," she said grabbing him by the shoulders and shaking him a bit as they both chuckled.

Aiden was saying goodbye to his parents as Maggie walked up and said hers to Glenn, followed by the rest of the group. Eugene was standing around watching everything and rubbing the bracelet on his wrist consistently. Ani told him he needed to do this, Glenn said they would be the ones to suffer if he didn't, and he still felt like it was a completely useless and futile effort to attempt to make something of him that he just wasn't. As Reg explained how the power grid had only been a prototype to begin with, Eugene finally resigned himself to his fate and went over to the van.

"Daylight's burning, let's go!" Aiden told Glenn as he was thanked once again by Deanna.

They all climbed into the back of the van and began cleaning their guns, minus Eugene who sat and watched, as Tara hounded Noah, "So, seriously, though, what's her story?"

He just gave her an annoyed but amused look as music began blasting over the speakers, causing him to roll his eyes, "Great. Another remix."

"Now you're going to die" came from the speakers, causing Tara, Glenn, and Noah to chuckle.

"How much you wanna bet Ani told him to put that there?" Tara asked.

"Helps draw them away," Glenn sighed. "And it is right up her alley as far as jokes go."

~x~

"That's it there?" Tara asked as they all clamored out of the van they'd driven in and checked and stowed their gear.

"That's the warehouse," Aiden informed her, pointedly looking at the door closest to where they were standing. "Looks like that door is the fastest way in or out."

"We should know all the exits first," Glenn told him. "So there's a plan if things go south."

"Already got one," Nicholas cockily replied. "It's called going out the front."

"Noah, head's up," Tara said, knowing the man had needed training with Rosita to be able to get good aim.

"Got it," he said, taking the shot and killing the walker with one bullet.

"Look at you with the aim," Aiden said, handing Noah a rifle to go along with his handgun. As Glenn watched, Aiden's face grew somber and his eyes flitted towards him before he looked back at Nicholas, "Glenn's right. We should do a perimeter check. Know our exists just in case."

Tara grabbed Eugene and started walking towards the loading docks. There weren't very many walkers, so Tara didn't mind taking care of them for now. She and Ani had had a laugh the first time Tara had compared the man to a teddy bear, Ani saying that there'd never been a better haired bear in the world before recalling a hunting trip with Daryl regarding a bear. Eugene was just following her around, rubbing the bracelet he was wearing on his wrist. Tara thought it was interesting, the symbols on it pretty cool, though she hadn't had a chance to look at them close up.

"Cool bracelet," she said as she took down another walker. "Where'd you get it?"

"Miss Ani made it for me," he stated, rubbing the symbols and engraving them to his memory. "So you're aware, I'm on record as stating that I should not be here. You well know that I am not combat ready or even for that matter combat inclined. Miss Ani never should have sent me out here."

"You never are 'til you are," she told him. "And Ani wouldn't have sent you out here if she didn't think you were ready. She made that for you, didn't she? I mean, that's gotta mean something, right? You gotta start pulling your weight. You know I did." When Eugene just stared at her as if she'd grown a horn, she asked him confusedly, "What?"

"All things being equal, I do believe my weight's been pulled," Eugene told her. "I got you all to DC, which, in this man's opinion, is damn near nirvana by current standards."

"Except you didn't get us here. We got you here," Tara countered. "And we would have never continued to DC if Ani hadn't agreed that there were resources to be gained from going there."

"But if it were not for me and my mention of this city's potential for home and hearth, not a one of you would have had the vision to come here, let alone the cojones to travail such a fraught and punishing pilgrimage. And that, sister, is a fact. That's as cold and hard as they come."

"God, you're really that much of a coward?" Tara sighed.

"Yes, I am," Eugene told her dumbfounded. "I told you I was."

Tara couldn't believe what he was saying. With a scoff and a disgusted look towards Eugene, she shook her head and walked on. She'd tried to get him to believe in himself, so had Ani, but the man was so scared he refused to even try. What could they do if he wouldn't give himself a chance and instead made excuses? Ani had told her that he would, that he'd do everything he could to get out of having to step up, but at some point there would be a wall behind him and a horde closing in. He'd either have to step up or go down and at that point, Ani had said, at that point he would finally become a man rather than a 'scared little boy looking for his momma.' Tara couldn't help but raise her eyebrows and shake her head again as she realized exactly what Ani had meant by that, a soft chuckle escaping as she cautiously looked back to see if Eugene had heard. He was still standing where she'd left him, looking around and under the semi and trailer a little before he quickly stepped up closer to her.

~x~

"It was good aim back there," Glenn told Noah, who had had a little bit of difficulty with guns when he first came to them.

"Target practice helped," Noah said seriously, Glenn nodding in agreement. "Actually, last week, I was pretty close to practicing on Aiden."

Glenn chuckled at that, "Yeah, me too, man. Especially after he tried to throw that punch towards Ani."

"Dude, that was messed up. And then just escorting them out of the gate like they hadn't just beaten her like that? I still don't like it."

"Me either. Didn't seem to mind so much when it was Pete, though. Think it might have opened their eyes a little."

"Yeah, though that was an accident. I mean, I know Ani. She would have wanted him dead anyway. Might've done it outside of the walls, but she doesn't seem the type to let abusers get away with it."

"She's not," Glenn told him. "Back when we were at the prison. Some of the first people we brought in, a woman and her two nephews. Ani beat the shit out of the woman and then took her to the woods and killed her. Abusers, rapists, molesters, she won't let any of them get away with it. It's just not in her."

"Damn, that's...that's harsh."

"The older nephew, he wanted his aunt to know what it felt like to be beat. Ani just obliged. Believe it or not, she was actually rather fair about the whole process and it kind of just reinforced the idea that we're one, big, dysfunctional but happy family."

Sharing a chuckle, they sombered up quickly at the sound of walkers. Picking up their pace, they rounded a corner to see a chain link fence. Behind said fence, over three dozen walkers filled the parking lot, just roaming around with no particular direction.

"Well, there's no way we're getting out the front," Glenn said dejectedly.

Returning to the group, they all shared what they found, Glenn letting the others know that the front was no good while Tara explained they had found a door by the loading docks that seemed clear. If it was inside, she didn't know, but at least from the outside it was. Aiden and Glenn agreed that if it was clear inside, that was the door they'd make an exit from if shit hit the fan. Walking up to the entry point, Aiden stayed behind Glenn as he unlocked the door and banged on it several times before waiting to see if any walkers showed up.

"Give it another second," Glenn told Aiden as the man went to step inside. "It's a big place. There could be some inside."

"So let's say there are," Aiden said. "Let's move. Let's be safe."

"Alright," Glenn told him, pulling out his pistol. Turning on his flashlight, he lead the team into the warehouse as Nicholas closed the door, whispering to them all, "Okay, let's move."

They moved as quietly as they could through the warehouse, the only real evidence of their existence being from their flashlights. Glenn stopped at every aisle, using his flashlight to see if there was any immediate threat and keeping his pistol trained at eye height. Tara followed behind Aiden, who held his rifle steady, double checking the aisles for Glenn as they made their way deeper into the dark building. It was almost eerie how silent it was in the warehouse, a silence Glenn had never gotten quite used to and had Eugene trembling in fear.

"Tara?" Glenn whispered, motioning down an aisle. "You got it?"

"I got this aisle," she whispered back.

She pulled Eugene with her as the other four continued down the aisle next to theirs. They all stopped moving in their tracks at the distant metallic thud that rang through the deafening quiet. Eugene looked like he was about ready to piss himself while Tara held her gun up at the ready, even if it did look like she was about to cry. Glenn held everyone steady and simply listened to the noise, trying to tell if it was staying where it was or getting closer. After five breaths, he knew that whatever was making the sound was stagnant and they had nothing to worry about.

"They're stuck behind something," he informed the others.

"How do you know?" Aiden said.

"I don't, not really. But they aren't here."

"Alright, hey, let's go," Aiden said.

"Lights up," Glenn told everyone.

Rounding a corner, he was surprised by a walker coming up and banging against a chain link gate chained shut, several more coming to join it. Aiden came up next to him after the all clear and told him, "You know your stuff."

"We were out there a long time," Tara said, having rejoined them from the other aisle.

"There could be more," Glenn informed them. "Let's get to work."

Tara turned and shined her flashlight right in Eugene's face and said, "That's you."

They walked together down the aisles as he searched for the box that was labeled with the correct parts. Tara walked beside him looking as well, though she wasn't as sure as he was that she would find the correct parts. He knew exactly what he was looking for while she was just looking what he told her too. But then again, that was why he was needed on this run. Even if Ani had ordered it to make him face his fears, Tara was happy he was here for the same reason Aiden was. They wouldn't have to come back because they got the wrong stuff.

"This one here," he said suddenly. Tara pulled out her knife and cut the box open, digging in and pulling out a micro converter causing Eugene to say, "Yeah."

"We found them!" Tara whisper yelled to Glenn.

"Alright Eugene," Glenn said as they continued digging into the boxes to gather the parts. The sound of silenced shots caused Glenn to go to see what was happening, watching as Aiden shot at a soldier in riot gear. "It's got armor," he told the man. "Let it come closer!"

"I got it," Aiden said, shooting the walker in the leg.

Glenn looked on in horror as Aiden continued shooting, grenades attached to the walker's vest, "Aiden, stop!"

Boxes were blown open, Glenn was thrown back, and smoke filled the air as a bullet collided with the grenades. Glenn sat up with a groan, coughing as he moved to stand. Slightly disoriented, he picked up his flashlight and rifle, looking around and seeing Nicholas standing in a similar state of distress. He couldn't see Noah, Tara, or Eugene, though, and wasn't sure how bad the blast had affected the gate. Aiden had been thrown into a wall, pieces of metal sticking out of his shoulder and gut.

"He's dead," Nicholas cried.

Hearing walkers, Glenn checked the gate to find it was open, turning and calling out, "Noah? Tara? Eugene?"

Turning again, he was surprised by Noah walking up behind him, flinching at the light. "You good?" he asked Glenn.

"Yeah. Cage is open. They're getting out. We need to find-"

"Here!" Eugen called out. "Over here."

Following the sound of his voice, they found him relatively unscathed but cut off by upturned shelving units and boxes. He was shining his light down on the floor, causing Glenn to follow his gaze. Laying unconscious on the floor, Tara had a severely bloodied head injury and was surrounded by debri.

"Is she breathing?" he asked the man closest to her. "Eugene?!"

"I-I-I can't tell from right here," he stuttered his reply.

"They're getting close!" Nicholas called out.

"Walker!" Eugene called frightened, one wrist clasping around the bracelet while he held his gun part way up. "Walker!"

"Eugene! It's yours! Take it out," Glenn told him.

Taking a deep breath and clutching the gun in his hand, Eugene brought it up to aim. One drop. One drop, he repeated in his head as he tried to steady it. Just when he was positive he would get the shot right, he was grabbed from behind, causing any and all bravado he had to disappear. Falling down with the walker on top of him, he couldn't help but struggle as he closed his eyes to stop from seeing the grotesque features. Glenn managed to climb through the boxes and pulled the walker off of him as Noah climbed through, who then used the butt of his rifle to bash the walker's brains in.

Glenn shot the first walker and turned to Noah and Eugene as the former helped the latter stand, "Go to that office. I'll get Tara. Go!"

Noah pulled Eugene to the office as Glenn had Nicholas come over had help him. Together, they supported Tara and managed to get her into the office and up on a table, closing the door before the dead got too close. None of them were doctors and Tara had been the one that had been given the basic field dressing course from Ani, though Glenn knew it well enough. He was happy that she'd forced every pack to have a satchel of herbs that could be chewed to create a poultice as well as some bandages. While it wasn't a proper first aide kit, it went a hell of a lot further than nothing.

"How's she doing?" he asked as he got the stuff out of his bag, Noah following suite.

"She has serious head trauma," Eugene told him. "She's losing blood fast."

"How do we stop it?" Noah asked.

"Med kit was in Aiden's pack," Nicholas informed them. "It got blown to hell."

"Don't need it right now, anyway. Put pressure on the wound while I get this ready. God, this is gonna suck," Glenn said as he shoved the herbs in his mouth and started chewing, making a nasty face as he did it. "Ani makes this look so easy," he said as he spat them out onto a piece of cloth. "Let me cover the wound with this and then you're going to wrap her head and keep pressure applied, Eugene. This should be enough to help her until we can get to the other med kit in the van."

"She's on her way out," Eugene said, honestly worried for the other woman who had been trying to get him to step up. "We need to get here there."

"Alright, we'll get her there," Glenn told him before Aiden's cries for help broke out over the walkers' growls.

"Oh, Jesus," Nicholas remarked as he, Noah, and Glenn moved over to the office window and peered out towards the impaled man.

"He's alive?" Glenn asked.

"I-I I checked him. I thought...I thought," Nicholas began stammering, not having honestly checked but rather assumed.

"We've got to get him," Noah said as Nicholas swore again.

"It's gonna take at least three of us," Glenn said.

"We got that kind of time?" Noah turned and asked Eugene.

"We pull Aiden off there, we could kill him," Nicholas reasoned.

"So you're saying we leave him?" Noah asked incredulously.

"Go, save him," Eugene told them. "She would do it. I know she would. I'll stay with her. I'll keep her safe, I assure you." Even though he looked scared to death, his eyes were clear as he assured them, "I will."

"Alright, we'll knock them back," he told Noah before turning to Nicholas. "You still have that flare?"

"Yeah."

"You fire the flare over the shelves. That'll draw some of them over. We're gonna hit the rest hand to hand. You ready?" he asked Noah and Nicholas.

"Yeah."

"One. Two. Three," he counted down before banging the door open as Nicholas fired the flare.

They ran towards Aiden as fast as they could, stopping only long enough to close the door. Running for Aiden right over the two walkers Glenn had knocked over opening the door, he ordered Noah to keep a lookout while he and Nicholas came to Aiden's side. Glenn looked at the state Aiden was in and listened to him groaning. Looking around to see if the walkers were coming yet, he looked back at Aiden and took a calming breath.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Glenn told the impaled man. "We're gonna get you out of here. Alright? Everything's gonna be okay. I need you to stay quiet, okay? Can you do that? Okay."

Counting down from three, Glenn and Nicholas tried to pull Aiden off the steel he was stuck on, only Noah to call out in warning, "The flare! It's burning out."

Nicholas began turning away from Aiden, only for Glenn to stop him and say, "Again. Come on."

"We're not gonna make this," Nicholas told him.

"Hey," Glenn said. "Yes, we are. But I need your help. You can do this."

"Nick," Aiden begged. "Nick, don't leave me."

"Okay," the man said, going over and helping Glenn pull on him again, only for him not to budge as Noah began taking on the walkers. Panicking, he leaned in to Aiden's ear and said, "You left them. We both did. That's who we are." Backing away and repeating, "I'm sorry," Nicholas ran.

"They're coming!" Noah warned as Glenn turned back around and tried to pull Aiden off again.

"Okay, it was—it was us," Aiden said, his hands pushing on Glenn's shoulders. "The others before. They didn't panic. We did. It was us." Glenn tried again to pull the man off, but he pushed him and said, "No."

"They're here!" Noah yelled, grabbing Glenn by his pack and running the opposite direction; Aiden's screams helping to clear a path as they ran.

They followed in the direction Nicholas ran, Glenn calling out to him as they tried to catch up, "Nick, stop! Hey! You'll never make it!"

But it was too late. The man had ran out the front door only to be surrounded by the dead. He and Noah tried to put up a fight, but in the end, they both ran out of ammo. Nicholas lost his gun and fell back into the turnabout door as Noah pulled Glenn into another part. Together, they were able to hold the door closed against the onslaught of the dead on both ends, but they were very much so trapped. Glenn didn't know if the glass was going to break or if they would be able to find a way out. All he knew was that he had to find a way to get everyone else home. They'd already lost Aiden, he didn't want to lose anyone else.

"Hey, maybe—maybe we can shoot our way past them," Nicholas suggested over the sea of growling walkers. "You guys still have guns!"

"And you have the ammo!" Glenn responded.

"We've got to do something, man! We're going to die in here!"

"There has to be another way," Noah said. "There has to be a way."

A honking horn drew Glenn's attention as the bass from the techno mix Aiden had put on reverberated the windows. "Hey! Hey! Over here! Come get me!" Eugene yelled from the van's window as he led the walkers from the front away.

"Come on, Eugene! Yeah!" Glenn cheered as the walkers cleared. Looking around, he quickly assessed the situation before turning to both Noah and Nicholas. "Alright. Hey! I need you both—Hey! Nicholas!" he yelled at the man, forcing him to give Glenn his attention. "I need you both to hold the door steady. I'm gonna break the glass! We get out, you push out!" he told Nicholas. "We get that rifle and we're good! Alright?"

"Alright," came his response from both men.

"Ready?" Glenn banged the butt of his rifle against the glass twice, trying like crazy to get the glass to break by putting his full strength into each swing.

"No! No, stop!" Nicholas called out as his door was pushed open a couple inches and Noah rushed to close the doors and keep them steady on both sides. "It's not safe!"

"This is the only way!" Glenn pleaded.

"No, it's not gonna break!" Nicholas insisted.

"It will!" Noah reassured him. "We can hold it! We can!"

"Trust me, okay?" Glenn told him. "On the count of three. One, two!"

"No!"

With his shout, Nicholas began pushing on the door, trying to force his way out even among Glenn and Noah begging and pleading for him to stop. Forcing his side of the door open, their side became the target for walker hands as Nicholas forced his way out. Noah's leg was grabbed thanks to how wide the door managed to be opened on their side, forcing Glenn to grab a hold of him, trying with all his might to keep the man they'd all come to see as a younger brother in the glass triangle with him.

"Don't let me go," Noah begged him, only for the young man to be ripped from Glenn's grasp not two seconds later.

With a scream of his name, Glenn raced to the glass in a futile effort of wanting to save the man. It was with an shuttered cry that he fell back once again as the walkers pressed Noah to the glass. Terror, rage, despair, and hopelessness etched themselves across Glenn's face as Noah began to scream. Glenn wanted to turn away as Noah was ripped apart, but the shock of it had forced his eyes to stay focused on the scene, even as he wanted to scream and cry. All he could manage was a few whimpers and muted cries of anguish, turning his eyes for a moment only to return to staring. By the time the walkers were done, Glenn was completely numb to everything but anger.

~x~

"I take no responsibility for this," Eugene told Tara as he looked at her unconscious form. "I told you what I was. I told Ani. You should've listened. All of you, you should've listened."

Eugene rubbed the bracelet again, his finger coming to rest on the knot Ani'd called the Sailor's knot. It represented family, she'd said. They're strength and the bond they shared. Ani had told him that he didn't have to be a hero, he didn't have to be strong, and he didn't have to fight, but he couldn't turn his back, couldn't give up, and had to defend himself. It was in this moment that it clearly made sense to him. He didn't have to be like Glenn and Noah, out facing the threat head on to save someone else. He just needed to get Tara where she needed to be to help her. He could be afraid all he wanted, but he still needed to get up and get out of this room if Tara had any hope. Standing tall and looking out the window, hearing the walkers outside, he looked back to Tara and took a deep breath.

"Here goes nothin'," he said shakily, bending to pick Tara up and draping her over his shoulder.

Resigning himself to the darkness, he turned off the flashlight so he could keep one hand on her, steadying her on his shoulder, while his lesser bloodied hand could grasp the gun tightly. Cautiously opening the door, he adjusted Tara before making his way out. When the first walker popped around the corner, Eugene did not hesitate to raise the gun and shoot. However, since he didn't aim, the first round hit it in the chest while the second made purchase within the thing's skull, a third, accidental shot also hitting it's face. The second walker he came into contact with, he decided it would be easier to shoot out the knee and get the walker on the ground where he had a steady target, rather than a moving one.

Getting outside, he was thankful that they had been closer to the door than he originally thought. It wasn't a far walk to the van, and they had already cleared the lot. Now it was just a matter of getting Tara into the van and finding a way of helping the others get out. As he laid her down in the back, he made sure to keep her head cushioned before he took a heavy breath and rubbed the bracelet again. Nodding his head as he steeled his nerves, he shut the doors and climbed into the driver's seat. He didn't need to fight, he just needed to help them find a way out. So he turned the van on and began driving it.

After a few moments and some backtracking to find the proper way through, Eugene finally made it around the front of the building and rolled down the windows, blasting the music as loud as it could go. Yelling at the crowd of walkers and banging on the door, he managed to pull them all away from where Glenn, Noah, and Nicholas were trapped, giving them a chance to get out. He kept the walkers following him until he reached the road, stepping on the gas and gunning it back around towards the back of the building and out of sight of the walkers following him. Eugene could only hope that those walkers kept going straight instead of trying to find where he and Tara had gone.

Driving around the loading docks, Eugene didn't stop the van until he saw Nicholas running up to him. "Hey, hey!" the man said. "Move over! We're leaving!"

Remembering what Ani and Tara had both said, Eugene sucked a breath in, gave Nicholas a dirty look, and shut the van off, removing the keys as he stepped out, "No."

"Get back in the van!"

"Not until you tell me where they are," he countered, feeling braver than he had ever felt before, though he knew it was pretty much false bravado.

The look on Nicholas's face didn't set right with Eugene as the man scowled and looked around before telling him, "Either you come back with me, or you stay here and die with your friends. Those are your choices."

Eugene made to remove his gun from his holster only for Nicholas to, quite easily, push him down to the ground and climb into the van. It wouldn't do any good as Eugene still had the keys in his pocket, but he supposed the man had to try. As Nicholas was frantically looking around for the keys, Glenn ran up and pulled him out of the van, sucker punching him in the face not once, but twice, knocking him out cold. Eugene took in Glenn's distressed face and looked behind him, feeling as his own face began twisting into one of anguish.

"Help me get him in the back," Glenn told Eugene.

"Where's Noah?" Eugene asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Glenn's heartbroken, angered face was the only answer he got, but it was also the only one he needed. Working together, they laid Nicholas in the back beside Tara, Eugene climbing into the passenger seat. He kept his pistol trained on Nicholas after learning about what happened, reading in Noah's notebook how he had written that this was the beginning of everything. Looking back at Nicholas and taking a deep breath, he thought to himself, It most certainly is.