I don't own Total Drama and The Walking Dead.

Sorry if you find any grammar mistakes. I'm still learning English because it's not my first language.

Darth krayt1: You'll have to wait and see what will happen in this chapter. :)

Dr Changer: I'm glad you liked it and I'll do my best! :)

Brendan: You'll have to wait and see if Sanders will join Rick's group. No. I haven't seen Arcane. :)

ThEndymam: Glad to see you still reading! You'll have to wait and see if Sanders will join Rick's group. :)


Lamson ran as fast as his legs could carry him, trying to make his way back to the hospital as fast as he could. After a few moments of running, he stopped next to an abandoned car somewhere in the area of the warehouse and began trying to free his hands from the zip tie holding them together by using something in the back of it. He never got to finish what he was doing, though, because he forced himself back into run when he saw a police car driving towards him with Rick as it's driver.

He began running forward himself, trying to get away from the man who was chasing him, passing by a few walkers as he did so as Rick proceeded to get closer and closer to him. He looked over his shoulder after a moment, wanting to know how close Rick was to him and saw Rick just meters away from him. It made him increase his speed as much as he could right now, ignoring Rick telling him to stop

It was no use, though. It was only a matter of seconds before Rick catched up to him. The leader of the group crashed into Lamson without hesitation or second thoughts, a loud crack sounding across the area once the vehicle collided with Lamson's back. Rick stopped the vehicle right after hitting Lamson in the back as Lamson went flying forward, landing on the ground a meter or two away from Rick with a loud thud a second later.

"Son of a bitch..." Lamson cursed in pain as Rick got out of the vehicle and began making his way to him, "You crazy... You crazy son of a bitch." He looked up at Rick as Rick stopped in front of him, "I think you... I think you broke my back."

Rick looked down at him, "Didn't have to be like this. You just had to stop."

"I couldn't." Lamson let out one deep painful breath after another, "I don't know you. But I think... I think I'm getting the idea."

Rick crouched down to get a better look at him, his hand on his holstered Python, "You just had to stop."

"Take me me back to the hospital." Lamson said as Rick stood up from his crouching position, "I did it for your friend."

"Not after this, no." Rick shook his head as he looked at the approaching walkers he had passed earlier before shifting his gaze back to Lamson, "Can't go back, Bob."

"I was gonna iron it over." Lamson said, "She's under it." Rick pulled out his Python and aimed it at him, "And you've been out here too long. You'll die. You'll all..."

Rick cut Lamson off by firing his Python at him. The bullet hit Lamson in the head, killing him before could finishing what he was saying to Rick. Rick holstered his Python, looking down coldly at the body of someone he had just killed in cold blood, "Shut up."


It had been a while since Gabriel left the church, with Bridgette, Leshawna, Michonne and Carl being totally unaware of his departure from the building. He had finally reached his destination, the reason why he decided to leave his church without anyone else knowing about it in the first place. He had just reached the place where Gareth and Scott's group used to camp before Rick's group slaughtered them.

He made his way to the small camp set up by Gareth and Scott's group and crouched down to take a better look at the stuff on the ground which was left here by the said group, hearing how the walkers locked in the building not too far from camp were smashing themselves against the door. He looked around it a few seconds later, eventually setting his eyes on an abandoned backpack.

He picked it up and reached into it, pulling out a Bible with a white cover a few seconds later. He opened it and saw the name of the person who must have owned it at some point written on the inside cover. This name was Mary. It wasn't telling him anything, because he had no idea who this Mary. He didn't know if she was someone from Gareth and Scott's group or if she was someone else.

He skipped through the pages of the book, before closing it. It was when he set his eyes on the burned rotten leg in the barbecue pit in front of him. He knelt down to take a better look at the rotten leg and stared at it for a few seconds before angrily tossing it to the side, breaking into tears. He remained on his knees, sobbing, thinking how far the world must have fallen if the people were willing to commit such atrocities to survive.

After a few moments of doing nothing but crying and despairing over the fact of what the world had become, he was forced to look up at the building not too far from the ground because the sound of glass breaking rang through his ears. He saw that the walkers trapped inside the building had broke through the glass door and began making his way towards him.

He quickly got himself back on his feet and began making his way towards the nearest safe place he could find., trying to be as fast as he could with his wounded feet. His church. The group of the undead which was getting bigger with each passing second as more of them were leaving the building followed him, seeing him as the only meal around them.

He reached his church after a while. As soon as his reached the safe place, he began banging his fists against the door, hoping or rather praying, that the people inside will open them, "Please!" He shouted in pure panic, "Let me in! Please! Let me in! They're close! Help! They're coming! Please don't leave me out here! Please! Don't leave me out here! Carl! Michonne! Bridgette! Leshawna! I had to see it! I know now! Let me live with it!"

His prayers were answered a few seconds later as Michonne opened the door, allowing him to enter the church. Gabriel wasted no time and ran into the building, the walkers from the outside following him into the building. Leshawna and Carl had their guns in ready as Bridgette tightened her grip around Judith, readying himself to escape with the baby in her arms.

"Get back!" Michonne shouted as she unsheathed her katana. She began swinging it around, cutting through every walker that got close to her, taking a step backwards after killing each walker but her efforts seemed to be in vain because the walkers just continued to enter the church.

"We need to get outta here!" Leshawna shouted, backing away from the undead with her group as she fired her AK47 a couple of time, killing a few that just entered the church.

"The rectory, come on!" Gabriel screamed, turning towards the said room.

He didn't had to repeat himself twice. Everyone immediately ran into the rectory, Michonne closing the door after being the last one from her group to enter it. It didn't seem like the door was going to hold for long, though because Gabriel had to press himself against it to prevent the walkers from entering the rectory. Leshawna grabbed the nearby chair and handed it to Michonne who attempted to block the door with it.

Bridgette shifted her gaze between the members of her group, "What do we do now?"

"That's how I got out." Gabriel pointed at the hole in the floor, "Crawl under to the back. Just go. Take the little one and go."

Bridgette nodded her head at him and quickly went to the hole that Gabriel was pointing at. She climbed through it and began crawling her way outside, followed by Carl, Leshawna, Michonne and Gabriel. The last thing that Gabriel saw before climbing through the hole was one of the walker cutting it's head into two after falling into the sharp part of the machete he had left in this room room before leaving it.

He joined the others outside shorty after. Everyone ran to the front entrance to the church. Leshawna and Carl took care of the undead that were pinned onto the organ pipes as Michonne went to the entrance to the church and closed it, earning the attention of the walkers inside the building. Gabriel quickly walked over to her with a board in his hands and placed it against the door as Leshawna and Carl quickly nailed the board onto the entrance with their guns, trapping the walkers inside.

Leshawna let out a sigh of relief as she moved her AK47 away from the now boarded door, stepping away from it, "That was close..."


The group was in the warehouse, waiting for Rick to return with Lamson. Sasha had regained her consciousness at this point and was waiting with the others for Rick to return with the police officer who knocked her down a few moments earlier. Sanders, Sheperd and Licari were with them, tied up to the chairs. They all glanced to the entrance to the building and saw Rick walking through it. Lamson was nowbere to be seen, though.

"Where is he?" Alejandro asked right after noticing lack of Lamson's by Rick's side. He and most of the group approached Rick to have a talk with him about Lamson, leaving Sasha, Dylan, Tyreese and Geoff to guard Shepherd, Licari and Sanders.

"He wouldn't stop." Rick gave his reason for killing Lamson as soon as his group approached him.

Alejandro nodded in understanding, "I see."

"This change things?" Daryl asked.

"It has to." Rick replied.

"Maybe not." Harold said, "We still have Sanders with us."

"We might have her but we don't have anyone else." Rick stated, gesturing towards Shepherd, "She said the plan won't work. The only guy beside Sanders who did is dead. Maybe we gotta rethink this."

"They also said the cop in charge didn't have any love for him." Heather pointed out, "Maybe you did her a favor."

Rick gestured towards Sanders, Shepherd and Licari, "I don't know if they'll play ball."

Harold looked at the three police officers, "Let's find out."

"He was a good man." Shepherd spoke up as Rick and the rest of his group made their way to her and the rest, "He was attacked by rotters. Saw it go down. Sanders tried to save him but it was too late to do anything and she almost died when trying to save him from the rotters."

Rich nodded his head at her, "Huh."

"I have to admit." Heather said, looking to be quite impressed by something, "You're a good liar and that's something coming from me."

"We're hanging by a thread here. Especially Sanders." Shepherd explained as Sanders nodded in confirmation, "He was attacked by rotters. That's the story."

"You said the trade was a bad idea." Chris questioned, "What changed?"

"Lamson was our shot." Shepherd replied, "So it's this or you go in gun blazing, right? You don't want that."

Daryl pointed at her, "If this is some bullshit you're spinning and things go south..."

"I know." Shepherd cut him off, "I know the good ones from the bad. Let us help you."

"My mind about helping you hasn't changed. I'm still willing to help you out." Sanders added as she looked at Rick, "Even after what your leader did to Lamson." She shifted her gaze from him to Harold, "There is still one thing I have in mind, though." Harold titled his head to the side in a curious manner as Rick gave her a look, making her explain herself to him, "Don't worry. It has nothing do with our trade. It is something related to that time after the trade."

Rick nodded his head at her and pointed at Licari, "What about you? You wanna live? How much?"

"Dawn's afraid she'll look weak in front of us." Licari answered, looking straight into Rick's eyes, "Thinks it'll tip things against her. Hell, it will. She was aware of Sanders' dislike of her for a long time. She'll see this trade as a rip-off if she thinks you took out one of our guys. So it's a good thing Lamson got aced by rotters."


Michonne, Bridgette, Leshawna, Carl, Gabriel and Judith were standing outside the church. All of them tried to catch a breath after fighting off and barely escaping a massive group of the undead just a few moments ago, hearing how the walkers trapped were banging their fists and smashing themselves against the front door of the church in an attempt to get the boarded door open.

Michonne looked at Gabriel, "Where did you go?"

"The school." Gabriel answered, "I had to see. I had to know."

It was when all of them shifted their attention back to the church when they heard the sound of the wood breaking, which meant only one thing. The walkers were starting get through the boarded up doors.

"What do we do now?" Leshawna asked, hearing how more wood began to crack as she backed away from the church, ready to use her gun at any second.

"We need to find a shelter." Bridgette replied as she and the rest of the group started backing away from the church as well, "Somewhere close. Somewhere where our group will find us once they will return from Atlanta."

Before the walkers could break the door apart and leave the church, a fire truck drove into their view out of nowhere and stopped between them and the entrance of the church, blocking the walkers and keeping them inside the church. It was when Abraham got out from the fire truck, followed by Glenn, Maggie, Izzy, Noah, Gwen, Trent, Chef, Tara and Rosita. Eugene, who was still healing from his wounds remained in the vehicle.

"Hey, girl." Leshawna smiled at Gwen as she and her friend shared a hug, the others greeting each other in their own ways.

"Hey." Gwen smiled back as she released Leshawna from the hug.

Michonne smiled as she reached her hand out to Glenn, "You're back."

"Eugene lied." Glenn revealed their reason for coming back before anyone could ask them this question, causing everyone's smiles to faded away from their faces, "He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end."

"It turned out that Noah was right not to believe him all this time." Izzy added.

Noah shrugged his shoulders, "It was quite obvious to me."

Chef looked around himself, noticing absence of many people from his group, "Where's the rest?"

Bridgette looked at Maggie, her smile returning to her face, "Beth's alive." Everyone shifted their attention to her, looking at her if as she had just grown a second head. Maggie's eyes widened in shock upon hearing the news of her sister being alive, "She's in a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her, but the others went to get her back."

"Do we know which one?" Maggie wanted to know where her sister was kept.

"Grady Memorial." Bridgette couldn't stop smilling.

Maggie placed her hands on her head, laughing happily, "Oh, my God."

"You're kidding." Gwen smiled, pleasantly suprised by this revelation, "Nice to hear some good news after all this time."

"No way." Trent smiled as well as Noah exchanged glances with Izzy and Glenn, offering his two friends a rare smile. Izzy smiled back at the bookworm, the first genuine smile she's had on her face since Ezekiel died.

"Let's blow this joint." Tara smiled as Maggie looked at her, "Let's save your sister."

Chef smiled, gladdened by this news as much as everyone else from his group as he looked at Abraham, "You heard them Abraham! It's time to head to Atlanta."


"No, Percy, tell me. Should I use smaller words? Is the directive fix the hole in my sleeve too complicated for you?!"

The sound of this scream ringing through her ears made Beth stop dead in her tracks as she was currently walking down the hallway of the hospital. She looked to the source of the scream and saw one of the police officers whose she did not know the name of at yelling at an old man.

"I'm sorry." Percy apologized nervously, "I forgot."

"Well, here's an idea." The officer roughly pushed Percy as the eldery man fell down to the floor, landing on his butt, "Don't forget." He shifted his gaze from him at Beth, "What about you? You any good with needle and thread?"

Dawn walked through the door behind the officer and spoke up, trying to get Beth out of the situation, "I need her. Sorry, we have a lot of work to do." She walked past the officer and turned the corner, "Come on, Beth."

Beth stared at Dawn for a few seconds before following her, the officer watching them walk away with a glare forming on his face.


Sometime later, Beth had split up from Dawn and went to do her own thing. She was sitting down by the elevator shaft at the moment, glancing downwards, her feet dangling above the massive gulf. She shifted her attention towards something else once she heard someone approach her from behind, already knowing who it was. Her suspicions were quickly confirmed when she looked over her shoulder. It was Dawn.

Dawn stopped behind Beth and leaned against the wall, looking at the blond haired girl in front of her, "Percy's going to be okay."

"Nothing's okay." Beth once again looked downards at the massive gulf below her.

"Are you going to jump?" Dawn asked.

"I wanted to be alone." Beth explained, "You left your elevator key where it was."

"Well, I know you're not going anywhere." Dawn stated.

"Neither are you." Beth pointed out as she turned around to look at Dawn, "You... you keep telling yourself you have to do whatever it takes just until this is all over. But it isn't over. This is it. This is who you are and what this place is until the end."

"This place saved you." Dawn pointed out in return, "I saved you. Twice." She began making her way towards Beth, "The others don't know what you did. They think Joan was trying to get back at me and that Gorman and Jeffries were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Beth looked up at her, "That's what happened."

"Bullshit." Dawn responded, "I saw the smashed jar. I closed up my office and I fixed it before it could be a problem. You're a cop killer."

"I would never kill somebody." Beth said in her defense.

"But you did." Dawn retorted, "What do you think would happen if the others found out? I protected you. And we helped that patient. I didn't have to, I wanted to. But there's a way things have to happen here. Don't you get that?"

Before the two of them could continue their conversation, they heard someone close a door. They turned towards the source of the noise and saw the officer from earlier standing in front of them. The view of him standing at the end of the hallway made Beth go back on her feet, knowing that he heard her and Dawn talking.

"...What are you gonna do?" Dawn asked him after a moment of silence, seeing no point in lying to him about the conversation she was having with Beth a few seconds earlier.

"No, Dawn, what are you gonna do?" The officer replied with a question of his own, "Starting with her."

"She's my ward." Dawn answered, "It's my call."

"Fine." The officer nodded as he stepped forward, starting to make his way towards them, "But your people deserve to know who they're working for. So, you gonna tell them or am I?"

Dawn shook her head and took a step towards him, "You don't get to threaten me."

"That's not a threat." The officer responded, taking one step towards Dawn and Beth after another, "But these are the facts. You look like shit. The guys are talking. They think you're cracking. This is Hanson all over again. It's time to make a change. This is Hanson all over again." He turned away from Dawn and started making his way back to the door, "It's time to make a change."

"O'Donnell." Dawn said, pulling out her handgun as she began making her way towards him. O'Donnell stopped in his tracks as he was about to open the door, "You're wrong." She aimed her handgun at him as O'Donnell looked over his shoulder to look at her, "I'm nothing like Hanson. I was the one who kill him, remember that? I was the only one who could go through with it."

O'Donnell turned around to look at Dawn, glaring at her, "Lower your weapon, Dawn. All I have to do is shout."

"All I have to do is say you came at me." Dawn stated as she kept aiming her handgun at him, "Beth, get out of the way."

"You're not gonna do this." O'Donnell stated as Beth stepped to the side, out of the firing range.

"You're not giving me a choice." Dawn pointed out, her handgun still aimed at him.

O'Donnell stepped towards Dawn, his eyes staring right at her, "We were rookies together. You knew my wife. You were here in this hospital having cigars with me in the parking lot when my kid was born."

"Don't." Dawn told him to shush as O'Donnell continued to glare at her, "That guy is gone. We're supposed to protect people. To help them. But look at you. You're beating the old man." Dawn's voice was becoming more shakier with each word that left her mouth, "You're laughing with your buddies about that poor girl getting raped. You laugh at Sanders whenever she has to turn blind eye to this and taunt her about her best friends death. That's who you are now."

"So who the hell are you?" O'Donnell asked coldly as he leaned his head towards Dawn.

"Somebody who's not gonna let it happen anymore." Dawn replied, shaking her head.

"That's not what this is about." O'Donnell stated, "It's about holding on to what you have."

A single tear fell down Dawn's left cheek as she asked him, "What the hell do I have?"

"This isn't you." O'Donnell stated, "After Hanson, you changed."

It was when he shoved himself towards Dawn, taking her by suprise. He knocked her handgun out of her grasp and pressed her against the wall, making Dawn let out a painful gasp as soon as he back collided with the wall. The handgun slid down the floor and fell down right into the elevator shaft as Dawn hit O-Donnell in the shoulder, freeing herself from his grasp. Beth watched how Dawn and O'Donnell continued their fight, exchanging one blow after another, the fight made them get close to the elevator shaft.

O'Donnell lifted Dawn up by her throat and glared at her, "You think you're better than us?!" It was when Beth came in Dawn's aid but was not able to do anything as O'Donnell easily pushed her away from him and Dawn. He looked over his shoulder at Beth and glared at her as the blond haired girl landed on the floor, "Stay in your lane, bitch!"

Using this situation to her advantage, Dawn punched O'Donnel in the Adam's Apple, causing him to lose his grip on her. He stepped away from her and pressed his hands against his throat, gasping for air. She kicked him in the chest, pushing him towards the elevator shaft, "Beth!"

Beth immediately knew what to do. She got herself back on her feet and pushed O'Donnell into the elevator shaft. O'Donnell screamed as he fell down the elevator edge to his dead, dying the moment his body collided with the ground.

Dawn approached Beth from behind, looking down the elevator shaft as the undead below them began feasting on O'Donnell's corpse, "Thank you."


Carol was laying on her bed in her hospital room, still as unconscious as she was when she was taken to the hospital. Beth was in the room with her. The blond haired girl was sitting on the floor as she watched her unconscious friend from her spot, leaning against the wall. She titled her head towards the entrance to the room where she heard someone open it. She looked up and saw Dawn entering the room, with a glass and a flask with some unknown liquor in her hands.

"It's okay to cry." Dawn said a few seconds after she entered the room, her back facing Beth as she noticed the way Beth looking was her over her shoulder.

"I don't cry anymore." Beth responded as Dawn opened her flask.

"I do." Dawn admitted, turning around to look at Beth as she poured the unknown liquor into the glass, stopping when the glass was half full, "I just don't let them see it." She held the flask out to Beth, offering it to her as Beth glanced to the side, refusing to take it. Dawn shrugged her shoulders, placing the glass on the sink next to Beth, "It's from my own stash. There's no strings."

Beth watched how Dawn walked away from her and sat down on Carol's bed, before taking a sip from her flask. She spoke up to her again after a few seconds of staying silent, "I know now why you covered for me. You weren't protecting me. You were protecting yourself."

"Is that so?" Dawn looked down at Beth from Carol's bed.

"Gorman, Jeffries, O'Donnell..." Beth she named the dead police officers from the hospital, "They were problems for you. And now they're not. And you didn't have to do the dirty work. That's how things get done here. Everyone uses people to get what they want. You're not the ones who have to remember."

Dawn narrowed her eyes at the younger girl, "Is that what happened with Edwards and Trevitt? He used you?"

"...I'm gonna get out." Beth said after another moment of staying silent, staring blankly ahead of her, "Just like Dylan."

"He'll be back." Dawn said, making Beth look up at her, "He's going home. They always come back. They don't ever get far because they can't." She shook her head, "But really... they don't want to."

"He's going home." Beth pointed out.

Dawn smiled bitterly, "I was like you when I was younger. Nobody could tell me anything. I'm not stupid." She gestured towards Carol, "You know her. And somehow you both wound up here. Maybe that means something. Beth, you can be a part of this thing. Both of you. This is important. Maybe the most important thing you do in your life. And what you did back there..." She paused and looked up at the ceiling, before looking down at Beth again, "Gorman and O'Donnell hurt people. The world didn't lose anything when they died. And you're wrong about what happened. I didn't use you. And I will remember."


The group was doing final preparations for their plan of the exchanging Licari, Sanders and Shepherd for Beth and Carol. Sasha, Daryl, Tyreese, Chris and Heather were watching the parking lot above them from the roof of the building, providing the people below them support just in case if something will go wrong, Harold, Geoff and Dylan were guarding the three police officers and Duncan, Alejandro and Rick were on the parking lot next to the building.

"You're beat yourself up." Tyreese said, noticing the grim look on his sisters face as she stared through the scope of her rifle at the parking lot below her.

"Don't." Sasha didn't want to talk about it, her eye not leaving the parking lot, "I was stupid."

"At the church, that guy you kill, his name was Martin." Tyreese revealed the name of the man what Sasha killed back in the church. This sudden revelation made Sasha shift her attention from the parking lot to him, "We had him. Me, Carol, Bridgette and Heather. Back by Terminus. Then Heather and Carol went in after you all and it was just me, Bridgette and him. I said I kill him. I could have done it, maybe I should have done it, but... I didn't. I and Bridgette just let him live. I keep thinking about it, even though i and Bridgette promised each other that we will never speak of it again after what happened to Bob and Zeke." Sasha turned away from him and looked through the scope of her rifle again, "I remember when we were kids and you used to follow me around, copying every little thing I did. What happened to both of us, maybe it's because we're still the same. Just like we were back then. And maybe that's good."

"You're still the same." Sasha looked at her brother again as she pointed out, "And that is good. I don't think I can be. Not anymore." She shook her head before looked through the scope of her rifle again, "Not anymore."

"Hey." Chris called out for everyone on the roof, earning their attention, "I see something."

"I see it too." Heather nodded her head, noticing a police car driving through the streets below them.

"Remember to keep your guard up." Chris reminded his group, "We don't know how the people from the car will react after Rick will fill them in about the deal we want to do with them."

"You don't need to repeat it to us." Heather replied, nodding her head as she looked over her shoulder at Harold, Geoff and Dylan and snapped her fingers to give them a signal.

Harold pulled out a walkie-talkie and held it close to his mouth, "They're headed towards the vantage point."

"Copy that." Rick voiced his understanding before putting his walkie-talkie down on the slot on his belt as Alejandro and Duncan nodded in understanding, the two of them ready to take action just in case if this thing didn't went according to their plan.

The group of three turned around and saw a police car coming their way. They began making their way towards the approaching vehicle as Rick raised his hands in the air as a way of telling the police officers in the car that he and his group were not intending to hurt them. The vehicle stopped about two meters in front of them as the two police officers got out of it. The two police officers aimed their handguns at the group of three as Duncan and Alejandro responded by aiming their guns at them.

"Officer Franco. Officer McGinley." Rick said, his hands still raised in the air as Franco and McGinley exchanged glances, confused by him knowing their name, "I'm Rick Grimes." He looked over his shoulder at Duncan and Alejandro and introduced them to the two police officers, "The two men behind me are Duncan Nelson and Alejandro Burromuerto." He turned back to the police officers and continued, "I was a deputy in the King County Sheriff's Department. I'm here to make a proposal."

"Lay your weapons on the ground." Franco said, aiming his handgun at the group of three in front of him."

"All right." Rick nodded as he put his Python on the ground. He looked over his shoulder at Duncan and Alejandro and nodded at them. Duncan and Alejandro nodded in understanding and put their guns on the ground as well. The three of them turned away from Franco and McGinley to show them that they had no other weapons with them.

McGinley nodded his head to himself after making sure that the three people in front of him had their weapons on the ground, "What's your proposal?"

"You have two of my people, I have three of yours. We want to make an exchange. Then we'll be on our way. No one gets hurt." Rick revealed his proposal to them.

"Who?" McGinley asked after exchanging a look with Franco.

"Officers Shepherd and Licari and Cadet Sanders for Beth and Carol." Rick replied, "You picked up a woman yesterday after your people hit her with a car."

"Dylan, he's with you?" McGinley wanted to know, "That's how you know?"

Rick nodded in confirmation, "Yes, he is."

"What about Officer Lamson?" McGinley wanted to know.

"He was attacked by the dead before we got to him." Rick answered.

"Where are your people?" Franco asked as a single walker came out from the corner behind them, beginning to make it's way towards the five people in front of it. As soon as those words left his mouth, the walker dropped dead on the ground with a hole in his forehead.

"They're close." Rick responded as Franco and McGinley turned around to look at the now dead walker, allerted by the noise it made when it's body landed on the ground, "Radio your lieutenant. I'll wait."


Beth was putting her normal clothes on herself as she was informed a few moments ago that she and Carol will be leaving hospital, because her group had come for her and Carol. After putting her shoes on her feet, she got up from her bed and reached underneath mattress, pulling out a pair of scissors. She looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was going to catch her with this in her hand before hiding the scissors underneath her wrist wrap.

She left her room shorty after and made her way into Carol's room where she saw Dr. Edwards putting Carol on wheelchair. Carol had awoke from her rather long slumber shorty after she and Dawn had their conversation in her room. She put her hands on the back of the wheelchair and wheeled her out of her room. She began wheeling her through the hallways of the hospital towards the place where they will see their group again as Dr. Edwards followed them to the place of the exchange.

They stopped a few moments later in the middle of the hallway. Dawn stood in front of them with a few other police officers whose names she did not know. All of them were staring at the double doors in front of them at the end of the hallway, waiting for Rick's group to arrive at the place. Beth narrowed her eyes slightly once she saw a familiar person standing on the other side of the doors. This person turned out to be Rick himself.

The doors opened a moment later and her group, accompanied by Sanders, Licari, Shepherd, Franco and McGinley, the former three officers having had their hands tied together, walked into her view. The large group began walking through the hallway, making their way towards the group in front of them. Dawn looked over her shoulder at Beth and Carol and nodded her head at the blond haired girl.

Beth stepped forward from Dawn's group with Carol to show themselves to their group as Rick's group stopped a few meters ahead of Dawn's group, staring at the people in front of them. Franco and McGinley stepped forward from the rest and joined Dawn's side, the two groups facing each other in the hallway in silence.

"They haven't been harmed." Rick broke the silence in the hallway.

"Where's Lamson?" Dawn asked as it didn't took her long to notice him missing.

"The rotters got him." Shepherd lied about Lamson's fate as Rick put his hand on her back, "They almost got Sanders too."

"We saw it go down." Licari added as Daryl had his hand on his back.

"I wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for Shepherd and Licari." Sanders added as Chris had his hand on her back.

Dawn nodded in understanding, "I'm sorry to hear that. He was one of the good guys."

"One of yours for one of mine." Rick reminded the terms of the deal to Dawn.

"All right." Dawn nodded as she looked at Beth, "Move."

Beth let go of Carol's wheelchair as Daryl stepped forward from the crowd with Licari. The two of them stopped in the middle of the distance between the two groups as McGinley put his hands on the back of Carol's wheelchair and began wheeling her towards them. He stopped in front of Daryl, letting go of the wheelchair, allowing Daryl to grab it. Daryl grabbed the wheelchair and began taking Carol to their group as Licari and McGinley made their way to their own group.

Dawn nodded her head as she grabbed Beth by her arm and began taking her to her group as Rick and Chris stepped forward from their group with Shepherd and Sanders. The two groups met in the middle of the distance between each other and exchanged their people. Beth walked over to Rick as Rick placed his hand on her shoulder before giving her a quick hug.

"Glad we could work things out." Dawn said as Beth began walking towards her group.

"Yeah." Rick nodded as he turned away from Dawn, he and his group beginning to make their way towards the exit.

"Now I just need Dylan." Dawn's words made them stop dead in their tracks, "And then you can leave."

Rick slowly turned around to look at her, his group following his example, "That wasn't part of the deal."

"Dylan was my ward." Dawn said, "Beth took his place and I'm losing her, so I need him back."

"You got three of your people back." Duncan said. He might have not known Dylan for long, but Dylan was one of the people who made this entire thing possible. He deserved to go with them for this, "You can count the third one as an exchange for him."

"It doesn't matter." Dawn pointed out, shaking her head at him, "My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died. No, he ain't staying. He's one of mine."

Daryl stepped forward, glaring at Dawn, "He's staying."

Dawn looked at him, "He's one of mine. You have no claim on him."

"The boy wants to go home, so you have no claim on him." Rick pointed out.

"He's not yours to claim." Chris added as he stepped forward from the group as well, he and Daryl joining Rick's side, "He's a human being, just like you if you haven't noticed, yet and is allowed to choose for himself."

Dawn looked at the three of them, shaking her head, "Well, then we don't have a deal."

"The deal is done." Rick glared at her.

Dylan stepped forward from the group, limping towards Rick, Daryl and Chris, "It's okay."

"No." Rick held his hand in front of Dylan to stop him from returning to Dawn's side, "No."

Dylan stopped in front of him, stuttering out, "It's okay." He pulled out his pistol and handed it to Rick, "I gotta do it."

Beth stepped forward from her group, her eyes set on Dylan as she whispered to herself, "It's not okay."

"It's settled." Dawn said.

Dylan moved towards Dawn, but before he could get to her, Beth cried out, "Wait!"

Dylan stopped dead in his tracks and turned to the source of the voice, seeing Beth moving towards him. She stopped in front of him and wrapped her arms around him, giving him a hug.

"It's okay." He smiled bitterly, hugging her back, "It's okay."

Dawn looked at Beth and Dylan, staring at them like a smug champion, "I knew you'd be back."

Beth released Dylan from the hug and took a few steps towards Dawn, stopping right in front of her. She looked straight into her eyes, offering her a slight nod of her head, "I get it now."

Dawn titled her head to the side, not saying anything in response to Beth's words. It was when, completely out of the sudden, Beth stabbed her in the shoulder with a pair of scissors she had kept hidden in her wrist wrap. Dawn gasped in pain as a shot went off and Beth's head snapped back with a hole in the back of it, a spray of blood flying into the air.

Time seemed to slow down as Beth's lifeless body fell to the ground, revealing Dawn pointing her handgun upwards towards where Beth used to stand a second earlier. It took everyone a second to process what just happened. Even Dawn was unaware of what she had just done until she let her brain process it. After realizing what just happened, everyone, from both sides of the exchange, watched the scene in front of them in shock, too stunned to do or say anything.

Dawn looked away from what she had just done and looked at Rick's group, shaking her head, "No! I didn't mean to!..."

Having no intention of listening to what she said ot say, Daryl stepped forward from his group with murderous intentions in his eyes and pulled out his pistol. He aimed it at Dawn and pulled the trigger. It was when another shot went off. The bullet hit Dawn right in the head, killing her instantly. Dawn's lifeless body collapsed on the ground with a massive bullet hole in her forehead, her body landing next to Beth's.

Everyone's reaction to Dawn's lifeless body landing on the floor after after Daryl ended her life was instant. The two groups aimed their guns at each other. It looked like the two groups were seconds away from starting a gunfight between each other.

"No! Hold you fire!" Shepherd shouted before the situation could escalate into a gunfight between the two groups, "It's over. It was just about her. Stand down."

Her group slowly lowered their guns. A few of them looked to be hesitant about doing so because they were unaware of what Rick's group was going to do after Dawn just killed one of the members of their group. Much to the relief of the people who were having second thoughts about putting their guns down, Rick's group followed their example, all of them slowly lowering their guns.

Daryl's face was trembling as he was the only one person from his group who didn't lower their gun, tears forming in his eyes. Carol and Duncan slowly approached him. Carol was crying and Duncan had a grim depressed look on his face. The two of them knew how much bringing Beth back to their group mattered to their friend. Carol rubbed his back in a comforting manner as Daryl lowered his gun, turning around to her and Duncan. He began crying, unable to contain his tears for any longer as Duncan gave him a comforting pat on his shoulder, not knowing what else he should do to comfort him.

Chris shook his head, letting out a depressed sigh, his eyes not leaving Beth's lifeless corpse. Tyreese wasn't afraid to show his tears as he bursted into tears, Sasha rubbing his hand comfortingly even though she looked to be stopping herself from bursting into tears herself. Harold pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a depressed sigh as Alejandro and Heather stared ahead of them with depressed looks on their faces.

"No." Geoff shook his head, looking like he was about to cry witnessing how another member of his group died, "No. Not again..."

"You can stay." Shepherd offered Rick's group to stay in the hospital with them.

"We're surviving here." Dr. Edwards added, "It's better than out there."

"No." Rick shook his head at the offer, his and his group declining it, "I'm taking anyone back there who wants to leave. If you want to come with us, just step forward now."

Everyone in front of him, including the police officers and the patients simply stared at him in silence, not moving an inch from their spots. It seemed like they were all going to decline his offer and stay in the hospital. There was one person among them who was considering Rick's offer, though.

Sanders clenched her hand as she looked down at at the floor, debating with herself if she should take Rick's offer or not. It was when Harold's words from earlier flew through her mind again. She shifted her gaze between the other officers on her sides, the ones she was getting along with and the ones she didn't. She let out a sigh and stepped forward, internally apologizing to the people from the hospital she was on the friendly terms with for leaving their group.

She just couldn't stay at this place. Even if things were going to change in the hospital, now that Dawn was dead, the harm was already done. She just had too much bad memories with this place after having to turn the blind eye to every horrible thing that was happening in it. She wanted to get away from it. Perharps Harold was right. Perharps she will find a better place to life if she will give the life on the road a chance.

She stopped next to Dylan and looked at Rick, nodding her head at him to tell him that she was accepting his offer without saying any words to him. Rick nodded in return, accepting her as a new member of his group.


The rest of the group had just arrived at the hospital in the fire truck, unaware of what had just happened in the hospital. Everyone except for Eugene and Carl got out of the vehicle, leaving Eugene who was still recovering from his wounds and Carl who was watching over his little sister in the fire truck. The group started making their way towards the entrance to the hospital.

They were approached by a few walkers on their way to the hospital. The group took care of them without any problem, though. Chef hit a walker with the back of his M16, knocking it to the ground. He stepped on it's head with his boot, crushing it's head, leaving nothing but a bloody mess out of it. Glenn pulled out his knife and stabbed the walker in the chin with it, killing it as Michonne swung her katana at another walker, slicing it's head off.

It was when they saw their group coming out of the hospital. Rick and Chris were the first ones to walk out of the building. Rick shook his head as Chris had a grim look on his face. They were followed by a grim looking Sasha, Alejandro and Heather. Tyreese and Carol exited the building right after them, holding hands, the two of them looking they were about to cry again. They were followed by Duncan, Geoff and Harold who looked to be depressed about something.

A hopeful smile spread over Maggie's face once she saw her group coming out from the hospital, hoping to see her sister among them. Her smile quickly faded from her face as the hope of seeing her sister was extinguished like a match once she saw that her sister wasn't walking with them and the grim and saddened expressions on everyone's faces. Her M1 Garand fell out of her grasp as she whimpered, starting to cry.

"NO!" Maggie's legs immediately gave up as she collapsed on her knees, crying. Glenn knelt down behind her, trying to console his wife, even though he knew it would no use at the moment, "Beth!..."

It was when Daryl came out from the hospital, holding Beth's unmoving corpse in his arms, Dylan and Sanders quietly following him out of the building, being the last members of the group to walk out of the building. Bridgette gasped as she put her hand over her mouth as soon as she set her eyes on Beth's corpse in Daryl's arms. She looked at Geoff and saw her boyfriend crying. She slowly went over to him and gave him a comforting hug, bursting into tears herself.

Daryl stopped in his tracks and lowered his head, sobbing over the loss of Beth as Maggie continued to cry uncontrollably over the loss of another member of her family. Everyone else was silent, silently mourning the loss of another member of their group...


Hope it wasn't that bad. See you in another chapter.