Chapter 58: Bomb


KPOV

~A few days ago~

Crowding ourselves in the little livingroom we decided to share together for a small meeting, we knew that there was only a few things we could do. Given the situation we had all seen outside by the gates between Glenn, Aiden and the others. We decided now was the best time to talk about it. A single day after it. "What are we going to do about these guys?" Tara asked, she was worried about hers and the others safety if it came down to the hands of Aiden and Nicholas.

It didn't surprise me, after what I had been told, it only seemed logical. Someone else needed to be with them, who, they all needed to decide between ourselves and I could only see one way about this. "I'd say Daryl should go with them, he can stand up for our people if he had to," dad said, having confidence in that Daryl knew what he was doing, only if he kept a level head and didn't kill one of them in the process of protecting our own.

Carol stayed silent for the most of the discussion, but something in how she grimaced and looked around made me realise that Daryl wasn't up for this job and that Carol didn't agree with it. He's too headed when people mess with those who are ours. "Yes, but he's also capable of putting himself in danger in the process," Carol spoke up, knowing that Daryl put others before himself a lot of the time.

Shutting my eyes tightly, I crossed my arms tightly and held in a deep breath. "I'll go with them," I told them, knowing we needed to keep them safe and the only way we could do it, is if I was there. Maggie gave me a surprised look, like I had two heads. "Come on, I've already said to Deanna I need to spend time away from the work we're doing. To spend time with Judith, to go out there sometimes...this can be one of those reasons for me to go out there. Keep our people safe," I spoke out to Maggie first, then to everyone around me.

Dad took a few steps closer towards me, his body turned to the side as he stared into my eyes from the corners of his. His hand gesturing for everyone to wait a minute, I knew he was going to talk to me like I was still a child, but I was always seen as a member of this group by him. "You sure?" he asked me, wanting me to be certain before agreeing to something like this.

"I'm the only one," I stated. "Maggie is closest to Deanna, so she can keep her busy and gain more trust. You and Michonne need to keep appearances. Daryl can't go out there because of the fact he's good at protecting us, but he tends to get hot headed too quickly. Carol needs to get the whispers that go on around here, while I go out there and take care of Glenn, Tara and Noah," I spoke up, giving my view on everything that's been happening and how we could keep everything under control. "It's the only logical thing left for me to do," I shrugged.

In all truth, I knew that this was the only way it would work. Everyone had their roles and I just floated around a little. Being a member of the council, a mother to Judith and I knew I could balance a scavenger in the mix. "Anyone disagrees?" dad asked as he looked around the room, to see if anyone would disagree. No one spoke up. "Then it's settled," he nods and everyone made their way back to their usual business. "Just...be smart and stay safe. I don't trust these people," dad said to me while he got closer and looked me dead in the eye. He wanted me safe, no matter what.


Present day...DPOV

The morning after the party, I felt strange. Like the kiss was all a dream, but the moment I saw Kat walk out her house, dressed and ready for her scavenging trip, I knew it was real. We had kissed. Her smile was shy, but it was wide too. Slowly, she stalked closer to me, her hands in her back pockets, awkward and cute. "Hey," she greeted me whilst I got my motorcycle ready for my own trip with Aaron.

Her bright blues were soft, her hair down and swaying softly with the wind that would slither its way into her curls. "Hey," I greeted back while I glanced up at her, squinting because the sun was hidden behind her head partially. "You going on that trip to get some supplies?" I asked her curiously, since the day she decided to go with the group after what happened, I couldn't deny her what she wanted. What she believed was right, was reasonable enough reason for her to go with them.

Staring at her, I couldn't believe she had kissed me. Something I only thought would only ever happen in my dreams. But there she was, waiting for me and staring at me with the care in her eyes I always hoped she'd give me. "Yeah, with Glenn, Tara, Eugene, Noah, Nicholas and Aiden," he told me with a small smile, nodding her head and glancing at the motorcycle I had been working on all night and evening to make. It was fairly easy. "Look, please...be careful out there," she pleaded softly.

Her voice sickeningly sweet and full of worry and caution for me. She didn't want me to be hurt. She wanted me to be safe. Little did she know, I wanted her more safe than myself. Without her, I didn't know what I'd do, as I was lost the moment I believed her to be dead by the hands of the Governor. "You should follow your own advice," I suggested after a small grunt, glance away from her and nod. When no one was looking, she stepped closer and wrapped her arms around my neck, holding me tightly before I slowly laced my arms around her waist.


KPOV

After saying goodbye to Judith, dad and Carl, I went to see Daryl and said my goodbye to him. We then began to prepare the things into the van, so we could make our way to the warehouse. Conversations happening as we busied around, putting things away and as I briefly listened into the said conversations going around. "Heard you talking to Holly last night. What's her story?" Tara was teasing Noah as we were putting bags in the back.

Noah had proven to be a good member of our group. Helping the others get their way to Beth, being saved by Beth and becoming a part of our family. He was here to stay and we wanted him to stay. "Why do you ask?" Noah asked Tara back playfully serious, but I couldn't help the growing smile that appeared to the sound of their banter.

The answer Tara gave was "No reason," and it didn't convince myself or Noah. Humming in agreement, it was obvious that Noah saw through Tara's lie, just as I had. "It's an innocent question," Tara corrected Noah's suspicion. "Don't make me hurt you," she growled, grabbing onto his shoulders and shaking him while we made our way back to the garage and collected some more stuff for our trip.

Brushing past Glenn when everything was now in the van, we only had to put the remaning few things in the back. "That's everything?" Glenn asked me, standing far too close to Maggie as they stood there and watched us work away. Nodding quietly, I didn't want to say anything as I strained with the heaviest thing to the van, acting like it weighed nothing. "All right," he nods before turning to Maggie and saying his goodbyes to her.

Glenn had then talked to Deanna, Reg and I could see how they all spoke politely to one another. Glenn always gave people respect, even if he didn't know them well enough by first impressions. "Daylight's burning. Let's go," Aiden called after Glenn as I climbed up into the back.

After being told off Deanna walked closer to Glenn and thanked him. Something told me she knew we were only trying to protect and save everyone. Keeping everyone safe, because so far, what we had gathered, was they'd already lost so much from just not being careful enough. They didn't live in this world like we had, so they had no idea what we had gone through to get to this very point. "So, seriously, though, what's her story?" Tara was still trying to dig out information from Noah.

The sudden sound of loud dance music playing echoed in the walls of the van. Along with allowing it to echo along the streets, Noah was getting his silencer on and shrugged at Tara, as though the music was going to be able to cover up his voice completely. "Great, another mix," he complained playfully. Yeah, blame it on the music for not being able to talk. I giggled at the thought.

Glenn climbed into the back and closed the door behind him. I admired Glenn, he'd become more confident at killing walkers, he'd won the heart of a beautiful girl and he kept going. He became smarter than what he was before, he was still quick and more resorceful than before. He was a good guy and valuable memeber of the group. "Helps draw them away," Glenn said after a long sigh, I could sense this was going to be a long trip. Please, let us get out of this all in one piece, together.


RPOV

Wandering the neighbourhood, I came across where Jessie lived and saw her tidying up her garage. The owl she had been making with the kids was broken to pieces. Sighing as she cleared up, I could tell she wasn't happy with the outcome. "Hey," I greeted her as I walked closer. Doing my patrol around the area, I felt a pull to come visit her and felt lucky to see her out of her home.

"Hey," she replied tiredly, as though she'd probably been cleaning this up all morning.

Looking around, it was a shambles in there. The parts and pieces of the owl were scattered around the room and clustered together on the ground. "What happened?" I asked, curious to know what could of happened that lead to the destruction of her project with the kids.

Jessie chucked something across the room, to let it sit on the table in her garage. I wondered what or who could of done this. Does Jessie have any enemies I don't know about? "I don't know," she answered swiftly. "Maybe somebody doesn't like owls," she suggested a plausible reason for her to have someone destroy her sculpture.

Making my way into the garage, I was being cautious as I entered to inspect the crime scene. "Someone came in here and did this?" I asked her. The gates, were never closed, so the scene was available to anyone who walked by. There would have been damage to the doors if anyone broke in to do this.

Picking up the pieces, I ducked down and looked around and noticed how the pieces just scattered around mostly perfectly under it. What it looked like, was someone was beating on it, or breaking it apart. For now, it was both. "Stuff like this never happens here," Jessie told me.

Sighing, I realised it might not happen regularly, but it did happen today. And it happened to her. It made me wonder if her husband saw me kiss her cheek last night, made him angry and break the owl. "Well, you got any enemies?" I asked her as I glanced up at her. "You know anybody who hates owls?" she giggled at both questions, shaking her head at both. "Too bad there isn't somebody who could look into this kind of thing," I teased her, of course there was someone and it was myself and Michonne. "I'll ask around," I assured her I'd find out who it was.

"No, you don't have to," Jessie was quick to disagree with me trying to find out who had tried to break her owl.

As I had first spoke to her, I slowly got back to my feet and smiled at her. She smiled back, it was sweet and cute. She was very attractive and I had hope that I'd get the chance to be with her. "Yeah, I know," I offered her a polite smile, knowing that this was something a little dumb to do, but it gave me something else to do throughout the day.

She stayed very silent for a good, long while. "Okay, so you find the person who did this and then what?" she asked me, pointing to the owl that was battered and broken on the floor. Her arms crossing and uncrossing to point to the own by her side.

Shrugging, I looked to one side as I thought quickly of the simplest answer I could give her. It was damage of someone's property, there was always a law against bad things that happen to people and their property. "Some kind of consequences," I told her. "You ever heard about the broken window theory?" I asked her, curious to know if she had, to which she shook her head no. "Boils down to this: you keep the windows intact, you keep society intact," I informed her of the basics of the theory.

As long as everyone was in line, as long as everyone was following the rules and acting happy, then society would continue to pretend to be happy. Everyone would stay in line. If one person fractured the glass, it would all come crumbling down. "This was an owl, Rick," she pulled me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah. Yeah," I nod and mumbled in agreement. What she said was true, but if I didn't put some kind of consequence to the person who did this, then I was letting that shattered window stay broken. I needed to repair it and restore the balance. "I got to do something today," I shrugged, knowing I needed to get out there and do some type of cop job.


KPOV

Parking up, we all climbed out of the van and collected our weapons, I chose to use a handgun and an AK 47, just in case if things got too out of hand that I could no longer use my bow and arrow. Letting the strap swing onto my shoulder as I looked around and had my bow and arrow in hand. "That's it there?" Tara asked while she loaded her gun, I could see Eugene was looking around, scared and timid. Sometimes, he made me wonder just how much of a coward he was. Cowards don't tend to last very long in a world like this, I'm surprised he made it this far.

Aiden was looking at the building, but he then glanced at me and the others, especially Glenn and Tara. "That's the warehouse," he confirmed it while glancing at Tara, then Glenn and finally myself. "Looks like that door is our fastest way in and out," he commented what he thought would be the best plan of action. What an idiot. We'd never make it out of there if he was the one in charge. We're doing this as a team, following Glenn's orders, because I'll say so.

I knew Glenn, we all did and we knew that he was the best guy at finding an exit and entrance that could save us if we needed to find another way out. In case if everything went wrong. "We should know all the exits first. So there's a plan if things go south," he stated what to do and why we had to. He could be a good leader, if he wanted to be. I know dad would want us all to listen to him, he's smart and quick. He's a very valuable member to the group and a good friend of ours.

Nicholas was trying to be funny, which, he was, just not in the way he believed he was. "Already got one," Nicholas quipped. "It's called going out the front," he spoke sarcastically, but I just stood there and laughed. A smile on my face while I shook my head and looked to the distance. The way Glenn looked at me, made me wonder what was going on in his head. It was like he was looking at my dad. Am I really resembling him that much?

"You think you're clever, it's funny..." I laughed at him. "Listen to what Glenn is saying, or you will be putting all our lives at risk," I was warning both Nicholas and Aiden, hoping he'd listen to us and do the smart thing. Knowing that Noah had to practice a little more than what myself and the others needed to, or at least, wanted to. Eugene didn't want or supposedly need a gun. He didn't know how to even use one. Looking up, I noticed a walker making it's way towards us, nudging Noah, he too looked up. "Noah, heads up," I ordered, sounding a little too much like my dad when I spoke.

The walker was snarling as it got closer, his jaw clattering and body swaying in the still wind. His eyes bloodshot and yellow, any color in its eyes were faded to a ghostly glaze. It was terrifying to look at walkers sometimes. "Got it," Noah assured me, raising his gun and shooting at it. The sound was silenced and the body flopped onto the ground, dead.

We all knew what we were doing, we were strong enough for this and smart enough for it. I was capable of putting these guys back in their place if they annoyed me too much. I wasn't going to lose more people because of stupid mistakes. "Look at you with the aim," Aiden said, smiling at Noah proudly and handed him a gun. Looking between both myself and Glenn, he thought about something for a while whilst his head bowed to stare down at his feet. "Glenn's right, we should do a perimeter check. Know our exits just in case," Aiden spoke up, giving the orders to Nicholas and that was when we all went our separate ways. I stayed with Aiden and Nicholas, while Tara and Eugene went one way, and Glenn and Noah went the other.


DPOV

Wandering around in the woods, we had parked my bike and his car a few miles away as we went hunting, looking for rabbits and anything else we could eat. Ducking, pushing back branches and not stepping on twigs, I looked around for any tracks of rabbits first. "So..." Aaron began as he trailed behind me. "Did you and Kat finally get together last night?" he asked me, but I stayed silent. "You know, you can talk to me about her," he informed me that I could lean on him. "I don't know much about straight couples, but I know plenty about love," he kept his rambling.

Does this guy ever shut up sometimes? Oh, that's right...when he has a secret to tell me. "And I can see it in the way you look at her, how you try and make her laugh or smile," he spoke of love like he knew me, like he knew Kat. What he said though, was true. I always tried to make her smile, even if it was through my own stupid way to make her smile. Like last night, I slurped my food like an animal and she laughed. "I used to be like that all the time with Eric. I still am," I could hear the small smile in Aaron's voice as he talked behind me.

Grumbling, I didn't like how he kept talking. I'd only stay silent or grunt, or make some sort of noise to show my disinterest in what he was saying. He was a good guy, but I never realized how much he loved to gossip. "Why do you care?" I growled, looking for a trail and I found one. A rabbit seemed close, crouching down to study it, I knew it had to be close enough to us, now all we needed to do, was find out where it went.

Aaron stayed close to me at all times. "Because Daryl, believe it or not, you're my friend...but you're also my partner," he used words that made me pause and look at a spot blankly. "Not love partner, but-. You know what I mean," he fumbled for the right words. "I just want you to be comfortable enough to talk to me about anything and everything," he spoke of his hope for us to get along more than what we already were. "I want to be there for you, for both of you," he added the last part quickly to his sentence.

"I don't speak for Kat," I grumbled before standing up and looking for the direction the rabbit went.

Humming a response, I could sense the smile on his face as he began to speak. "But you speak for yourself," what he said, was something that was true and I couldn't argue with that. "How long have you loved her?" he asked me again, but I didn't say a word or make a sound. "Too long, right?" he kept trying to get answers out of me, but nothing was going to come out. "I'm just glad the pair of you finally decided to be together last night."

Everytime he said we were together, it only annoyed me. I wasn't with her. We hadn't agreed to it and even if we were, it was none of his business. At that moment, I was confused. She kissed me and she told me she cared for me like I cared for her. But I didn't want to claim that I loved her, both out of fear and because it was my business, not Aarons. "We're not together," I grumbled out another response. "Let's just get you some stupid rabbits," I growled, getting irritated with the questions, assumptions and stating facts about my affection towards Kat.

A small scoff escaped him, which I knew was just his way of holding back a laugh and insulting me this way. Rolling my eyes, I kept walking and followed the directions of where the rabbit went. "Sure," he agreed, part of me knew he was disagreeing to my claims and was agreeing to my angry suggestion. Me and Kat were my business, but I wasn't convinced we were together. She was just too good for me and I didn't deserve her time or affection. I couldn't believe she was with me, because it didn't happen. Not with a girl like her and a guy like me. She deserved better, she deserved more than what I could offer her.


KPOV

Walking alongside Aiden and Nicholas, I could see Aiden was watching me while I looked for other ways in and out. Ways that were easy and available to use, ones that were safe. Nicholas just boredly walked, but did look out for anything, what exactly, I wasn't sure. "I'm young, you're young," Aiden said after calling for my attention with a 'hey'. "You're hot, I'm attractive by what the girls used to tell me," he said while giving me a once over. "I say we should give it a shot, what do you say?" he asked me.

Scoffing, I didn't smile or laugh. Instead, I was ready to destroy whatever dream this guy had of a chance with me. "I'd say, nice try," I spoke in a serious tone while squinting at the distance, clutching my bow and an arrow in my hands. "But that I bet the guy who pinned his ass to the ground wouldn't mind beating you to a pulp for just saying that," I gestured to Nicholas as I spoke of Daryl. "That is, only if I don't get to you first, especially if you try anything," I warned him of what type of girl he was trying to mess with.

I was a force to be wreckened with if he wasn't careful. "Or my dad...or my brother," I listed the people who would rip this asshole in two if he dared anything. "Let's just say, I'm not the type of girl you want to mess with," I stated what he didn't already know. "And I'm a taken one," I kept throwing the facts in his face. Stopping on the spot, I turned to Nicholas and stared at him. "And you," I stopped him from taking any other step forward. "You need to get over whatever you think you know," I glared at him.

Glancing between the pair of them, they needed to hear what I was trying to say. "Neither of you dimbwits have spent a full day out here, never mind a week or months," I spoke to them, making them know the facts and what there was. "We have," I informed them of just what we'd done. "We know what its like out here in the real world, where the dead walk and there's not many escapes," I stated just how difficult it was out here. "We know what we're doing and you should listen to Glenn more, he's our top guy at getting in and out of places quickly and safely," I told them what they had to do and that may of been difficult, but it was their only option. "Otherwise, the next walker you'll be chaining to a tree will be one of the pair of you," I warned them and kept walking forward, leaving them behind to ponder on what I had said, letting it sink in.


MPOV

Sat in the livingroom, I was cuddling Judith while she sat on my lap. Hearing Rick come in through the door, Carl was doing his homework while I babysat Judith for the time being. Saying out hello's, Rick kissed Judith's cheek and took her from me. "Hey, so what do you guys think about Kat and Daryl?" I asked, turning my body so I could look at both Rick and Carl.

Rick was cuddling and cooing at Judith, playing with her in his arms, he'd bounce her and cradle her to him. He was a good dad, to Carl, Kat and Judith. "Nothing much to think," he said, Carl spun on his chair and looked at me confused. "He makes her happy, she makes him happy. They keep each other safe and sane..." Rick shrugged whilst he spoke. "There's nothing else to say about it," he informed me that he didn't have anything else to say about the subject.

Carl looked at me confused, unsure what was going on and it occured to me that he'd not heard or seen Kat and Daryl were now together. "What's going on?" Carl asked loudly, his voice got more masculine by the day. "Why are we talking about them?" he asked us. "Did something happen?" he threw all these questions at us, which only proved he wanted to find out what had happened.

I wasn't going to be the one to tell him, instead I looked to Rick and waited for him to say something. I had seen it. I wondered if he had. "Yeah, they kissed," Rick said after a long pause of silence. Judith was the only one making a noise, which was the gentle cooing of a baby with it's father. Hearing this, I smiled and knew he had seen it too. Or perhaps Kat told him after the party, but she never told me, and we slept in the same bed that night.

The moment I saw it, I was outside, enjoying a drink to myself in the dark, away from the crowd until Abraham finally spotted me. I was happy for them, but I wondered if they had made it official and if they even entered the party once I had left to go back home. "When?" Carl asked, you could see how shocked he was to hear this had happened.

Waiting for Rick to say something, I knew I needed to keep out of it and just let the pair of them speak between them. I loved Kat, but she wasn't related to me by blood, unlike the pair of them who were. "Last night," Rick told Carl. "At the party," he added more information. "Outside Deanna's house," he gave the exact setting of where it was.

"You saw it?" I asked him.

Glancing at me, he arched an eyebrow up at me. Bouncing Judith in his arms while he looked at me with a questioning glance. "Did you?" he asked me in return. Humming my agreement, he too nodded and looked around. Since we'd got here, something wasn't quite right about him and I couldn't figure out what.

Hearing him ask me the question, I looked down and then glanced between Carl and Rick. They were all looking at each other, between me, Carl and Rick, we were all waiting for one of us to speak. "You're right, if they're happy and good for each other, then we're happy too...right?" I asked them, especially Rick, who would have to accept the man she'd be willing to be with in the first place.

If Daryl wasn't good enough for Kat, I wasn't sure who would be good enough for her. He seemed to make her smile, make her happy, sane and safe. He treated her like a queen, keeping her above himself always. But Daryl looked out for everyone other than himself. "She deserves happiness, after everything she's been through," Rick said while staring at Judith and then looked to me.

What he was saying was true, but something in what he said didn't seem 100% right. He was singling her out and all of us deserved to be safe and happy. "We've all been through so much, we deserve this," I told Rick. "Alexandria," I spoke of the place that was keeping us safe at this very moment. "And we all deserve to be happy," I added, knowing we all deserved to be happy, safe and loved. "All of us," I repeated, hoping he got the point and he just nods, glancing around and then his gaze ended with being fixated on Judith.


KPOV

Entering through the door we initially were going to go in, we'd discussed the possible ways in and out. The sound of creaking made my body tense, Glenn then banged against the door, reminding me of that time Daryl banged against the window and the store had collapsed on us. How Daryl grasped my hand and pulled me out before the roof could cave in on us. "Give it another second," Glenn sugested, saying the same type of words Daryl used that day. "It's a big place. There could be some inside," he warned, which just continued to give me flashbacks of that day.

Glancing inside, Aiden was skeptical of Glenn's techniques and I stayed all the way in the back, making sure nothing was following and stayed close to the others. Vigilant that there were no threats from the outside. "So let's say they are," Aiden suggested. "Let's move. Let's be safe," he ordered and Glenn looked back.

"All right," Glenn decided to agree with Aiden. Stepping inside, I secured the door was shut and saw how Noah fell back, whilst Eugene and Tara stayed close. "Okay, let's move," Glenn ordered as we wandered deeper into the warehouse, which was dark and far too quiet for my liking. Silence is usually a terrible sign, or a good one and right now...it's far too eerie to be good. "Tara," Glenn called out to her while she followed closely behind Aiden, Nicholas and Glenn.

"Yeah?" I could hear her whisper whilst I brushed past her and saw her go to the first aisle by the entrance we walked through. Glenn took the second one, while I brushed past Tara and Eugene to the final one at the end.

"You got it?" Glenn asked her, his voice hopeful that she was ok and keeping everything under control.

It was too dark, too eerie and it made my skin tingle. "I got this aisle," Tara called back to Glenn quietly.

Gesturing for Noah to follow closely, we had our guns and flashlights up, watching for any walkers and for anything else that could be seen as a threat. "I got the one ahead with Noah," I assured them, while myself and Noah kept walking ahead, watching out for anything, from walkers, to people and traps.

Each step down the aisle we took we found ourselves hearing the progressively loud clanking of metal. "Shh," I could hear Glenn call to us, warning us to be quiet, in case anything was too close to us. We could hear metal cage rattling, walkers snarling and there was only one guess to it. "They're stuck behind something," Glenn spoke up, voicing my thoughts.

None of us were moving, all of us still while we looked around, I could hear feet shuffle closer to Glenn as myself and Noah froze. Both of us armed, ready and staying very quiet. Neither of us willing to make a sound or to move from our spot. "How do you know?" I could hear Aiden ask.

That was the only thing that we couldn't answer. We knew so much, but we didn't know if every place was the same. "I don't," Glenn answered. "But they aren't here," he spoke in hushed tones. "All right. Hey, let's go. Eyes up," he'd ordered whilst we all kept moving forward. The snarling continued and when we all rounded a corner, we came across a fence. The walkers grabbed onto the fence and kept showing us their clenching and rotting teeth. "Clear," Glenn called out to us first.

Tara then met in the middle, as we rounded the corner too and saw the walkers trying to get to us. "Clear," Tara informed Glenn that where we were, it was all clear and no sign of walkers or any threats were close.

Turning his eyes to look at me, I saw Noah staring at me and looking to see who would speak. Nodding, I'd allow him to report back to Glenn what we'd found in the isle we were on. "Clear," he told Glenn with a strong voice.

Aiden shone his light on a walker, the way he looked at the walker was as though he was afraid of them. Which, he had every right to be, but only proved that he knew nothing of this new world like we did. "You know your stuff," he commented about Glenn and how he was right about the walkers being trapped.

"We were out there a long time," Tara only repeated the same words I had said a while ago, only proving that we had been through plenty to know what was going on, to know how to survive out here.

Glenn looked at the walkers then to us, something in his eyes made me question what he was thinking. In my stomach, something churned a little, stiring inside me at the possibilities that something could go wrong. "There could be more," Glenn warned, which was a huge possibility in a big place like this.

"Let's get to work," Aiden tried to encourage, but his voice was weak and filled with worry and panic. Something's not right. I don't trust these three quite so much. Aiden, Nicholas and Eugene. They all seem too afraid.

Pulling out my knife, I was going to kill each of them against the fences, I had a feeling to kill them, just in case anything went south. But Glenn's hand reached out and lowered my knife hand down. Better safe than sorry Glenn. "No, there's no need for that. And there could be more than we expect," he tried to encourage me to think this through. "Don't do it, they're behind that fence and the quicker we find the stuff, the quicker we can leave this place," he further encouraged me. "There's no need," he repeated himself.

Nodding, I decided it best to follow Glenn's suggestion of letting it go and getting us out of here asap. Tara shined her torch on Eugene, his expression showed exactly what I feared. He was too far gone in his mind to gain courage, especially after seeing the faces of the walkers ahead of him. "You're up," Tara stated, leading him to walk to the isles we'd gone through, looking at the boxes, we were unsure what they'd have to say. After a few minutes of searching for the boxes with what Eugene said they would say, we were mostly lost in the bullshit of jumbled words that made no sense to us. "We found 'em," Tara exclaimed happily in slightly raised, but hushed tones.

Between the boxes, we could see that Eugene and Tara were getting the things we needed to take with us. Hopeful to get things set up, I worried that we wouldn't be able to find what we needed, as we didn't know exactly what it looked like. "All right, Eugene," Glenn cheered quietly, all of us smiled at one another, pleased we'd found what we had been looking for. The sound of a walker approaching made us all search for the source. Walking past Glenn and Noah, they peeked through the spaces between the boxes and we all saw Aiden shooting at the walker we were questioning that was getting closer. "It's got armor. Let it come closer," Glenn tried to warn him, to redirect the attack, so he wasn't fighting a losing battle and wasting the ammo we were meant to be saving.

Not listening to Glenn's word of advice, he kept shooting at the walker and shot at it's leg. The walker fell, all while I witnessed it and got closer to the scene, but hid behind the shelves. A little worried about the walkers that were grasping at the fences beside us. "I got it," he assured us, but the loud gunshots and how he kept missing, told me otherwise.

Keeping crouched, I slowly sneaked a little closer to him, seeing as he kept shooting at the chest and failed. Does he not see the armor on this walker? Is he that blind? "Aiden, stop!" I could hear both Glenn and Noah shout to Aiden and that was when I spotted it. "Stop!" we all said together, but it was too late. A bullet flew, hit the walker on it's grenade and next thing I knew, I was flying in the air. Hitting a shelf, I groaned and collapsed against the ground, seeing darkness and fading into it.


RPOV

Coming back home from work, I had gone up to speak to Carl and Michonne, they'd said that they were sure Kat would come home soon. I was just spending some time with Judith, staring at her and remembering everything that had happened so far. But just as I was going to pick her up, a knock was heard at the door. Checking the halls, I could sense no one was getting up to go greet whoever it was knocking and that was the moment I decided to go down the stairs and open the door.

Who the door revealed to be behind it, wasn't someone I was expecting nor wanting to see. "Hey, Rick, just having a beer," Pete spoke, walking in and taking a sip of his own and carrying an unopened one too. "Thought I'd bring you one for helping my wife today," he said, trying to seem like the good guy, but the fact he enjoyed a drink a little more than me, considering how he already was beginning to stink of beer, made me worried as to how much he'd already drank before he had the courage to give me this one.

Listening to him, I opened the door a little wider, but he stepped in anyway and was already making himself at home. Who the hell does this guy think he is? "Um, I'm good, but thanks," I rejected his offer as kindly as I could. I don't like this asshole, not one bit.

Laughing dryly, he smiled at me and swung his drink around as he'd look, point and speak to me. "Come on, don't tell me you're still on duty," he joked, worried that I possibly took to much time and effort into my work.

Somehow, despite how much I changed, I was always alert and ready. Always listening, watching and ready for any action that had to take place. It was built in me, more so now that this world had made these qualities of mine evolve. "Kind of always am, you know?" I tried to reason, but he didn't really care.

Instead, he just took another few steps deeper into my house and leaned against a pillar in the room. He was trying to act cool, but I could see through him. Did he see me at Deanna's party with Jessie? "Not at Deanna's party," he spoke up what I thought. "I saw you," he said, which made me want to question what he'd seen. "You had some, right?" he asked. Is he trying to make me say that I was drunk, using that as a reason as to why I kissed his wife's cheek?

Not falling for anything he might of been using as a trap, he hadn't clarified what he saw or confronted me about his wife. But the way he smelt and acted, could suggest that Jessie told him, or someone saw and told him. Anything could of happened. "You know, I wish I could have helped out more today. I asked around, but nobody saw or heard anything," I told him, apologizing for my work efforts in finding out who broke the owl.

Pete didn't seem impressed by my answer. "Well, it was just an owl. Grand scheme of things, I think we'll live," he was being sarcastic about it all. Nodding, I scoffed and replied with a quiet 'Yeah' before looking directly at him again. "I'm sorry. Heard you lost your wife," he brought out of nowhere. "You know...I'm sure it looks like we haven't lost much, but we have. We've lost things. Other things we're just fighting like hell to hold on to. Everything you people have been through, I don't know if you see that," he gave me this big speech, looking all sad and sipping on his beer mopingly. Does he really think we're blind? That no one here has suffered loss? We all have, but we've experienced the life out there and what it holds. We have experience, they don't.

"We do," I disagreed with him, pointing out that we did in fact, see and know that we all went through bad shit. Some more than others, but we all went through it somehow.

We were quiet for a little while. The mention of Lori, made me think of far too many things. Of how we met, our wedding day, the arguments, Kat and Carl's birth, Judith's birth, the whole, Shane, me and Lori bullshit. So many memories flooded me. "Bring your kids in for a checkup. I know I offered you one, but they really should come in," he encouraged me to get my kids to get a check to see if they were healthy. "They were out there a while, right?" he asked me, curious to know if this was true.

Nodding, I didn't know what else to say to this guy to shut him up and get him out of my house in the most respectful manners. The only way I could think of, was by just answering with boring and short sentences. "Yeah. Thanks, Pete," I mumbled dully, acting like I actually cared what he thought.

Taking a few steps closer to me, he was right in front of my face and staring me down. He's tall, but so was the Governor. And look where he is now too. "Let's be friends, man," he spoke in a tone that I didn't like, but I faked kindness all the same as I held his stare. "We kind of have to be, right?" he questioned me.

My tongue flicked along the inside of my cheek, my eyes glued to Pete as he stared at me. Something about how he spoke to me wasn't something I liked. Is he trying to intimidate me? It's not working if he thinks it is. "Yeah, we do," I said after giving him a fake smile and nodded my head.

His smile was equally fake, but the way he shuffled on his feet and offered me his hand, showed me he wasn't in his right state of mind. This was all too fake. "So we will," he agreed as I offered my hand for him to shake. "I'll see you, Rick," he mumbled drunkenly, patting my back whilst he walked past me and headed out the front door. Watching him leave, he left me with many questions floating around in my head still. Did he see me kiss Jessie's cheek? Or did she tell him? Or did someone else tell him?

Once he left out the door, I felt my hands quiver. My hand reaching out for the other, gently my fingers grazed over the band around my ring finger. Lori. I thought of her, of how I lost her, the day I lost her. Each thing that happened to us, our kids, our wedding, the day we met, the day I proposed, our hopes, our dreams, our plans, the future we wanted together, for us and the kids. I wished it all happened, but this was my new reality. A life without her in it. But I was grateful, I had my kids and I had a family. But I lost my wife and my friends along the way.


KPOV

A high pitched sound echoed in my ears, the sounds of my groans and the groans or coughs of others made me slowly come back to reality. All of us were coughing and groaning due to the building dust from the grenade and the pains we suffered from the collision. "Oh, God. Oh, God," I heard someone cry. "He's dead," a voice mumbled, but I wasn't sure who it was. Who died?

Shuffling back, I grasped at my head, the ringing would come and go, but I was beginning to get apprehensively more clearer, both sight and sound. "Noah? Kat? Tara? Eugene?" I heard Glenn's voice calling to all of us. A sharp pain began to linger and made me hiss, looking at the source of my pain, I was surprised to see that a piece of glass was in my leg.

It always happens to me. Hearing feet shuffle closer to one another, one away from me and another closer to me. I was certain it was Noah and Glenn, as they were both in the same type of area. "You good?" Noah asked who I believed to be Glenn. Where are they?

"Yeah," I heard Glenn's voice answer him, reaching awkwardly for my flashlight and gun, I placed my handgun back into my holster and hissed while I tried again to grab my flashlight. "Cage is open," Glenn informed us that now, the walkers were roaming free. Shit, now I really do need to be on my guard. "Where's Kat, Tara and Eugene?" Glenn's voice asked for the rest of us.

Picking up my flashlight, I switched it on and pointed it in the direction of the voices. "I'm here," I called back to them with a heavy voice, my back propped against the shelves, I could feel they were thrown down from my body's impact against it. Rushing towards me, they pushed back objects that got in their way and Glenn crouched down beside me. "I'll be fine. Give me a few minutes," I told them to be patient, handing Glenn my flashlight, nodding to him before I looked down at my wound and pulled out the glass in my leg. "Ah!" I reacted the only way I could, feeling the piece escape my cut skin and spill out some blood in the process.

Without a second thought, Glenn ripped a piece of his shirt sleeve for me. Handing it to me, as I stared up at him a little amazed. He's still looking out for me, when we need to find the others. "Here," he offered me the cloth while I tied it around securely over my wound, to stop it from bleeding or catching any infections. "They're getting out. We need to find-" he went on to say, but a voice interupted him from finishing his sentence.

Eugene was calling out to us. "Here," he spoke, from what I could gather, he was crouching down on the ground. Glenn and Noah went to help me up, instead, I shook my head and told them to go towards Eugene's voice. "Over here," Eugene called out while Glenn and Noah followed his voice. Staying there, laid down on the ground, I tried to re-gather myself.

Walking past me, I saw a walker completely ignore me and head directly in the direction of Tara and Eugene's isle. A few moments had passed until I heard Glenn's voice once more. "Is she breathing?" Glenn asked Eugene. I could only guess something had happened to Tara. "Eugene!" he encouraged Eugene to speak, worried about Tara and I tried to get up.

Eugene was hesitatant to speak in the first place and once he opened his mouth, he stuttered. "I-I can't tell from right here," he was beginning to panic. A walker then began to approach me, following after the first one and snarled as it went to grab me. Before it got too close, I grabbed my knife and crawled away from it. Falling to its hands and knees, the walker began to crawl over to me. "They're getting close," I could hear Eugene's trembling voice. "Walker! Walker!" he repeated in fear.

The walker above me snarled, gnawed and tried to get a bite out of me. His fingers grasping my shirt, trying to break my skin open like it had with Dale. Before it could bite me, I got my arm out from under it and drove my knife into it's skull. "Eugene, it's yours. Take it out," Glenn encouraged. The snarling went past me, so I threw the walker over and rolled onto my hands and knees. Hissing at the pressure on my leg, I slid between the gap of boxes and climbed over to Eugene's side.

Eugene had his gun aimed at the walker, but a sudden one jumped up at him and took him down. Sneaking up behind the walker, I used my knife to drive it into the base of it's skull. Lowering the body away from Tara, while Eugene was wrestling on the ground and Glenn had climbed over with Noah grabbing a weapon to bash it's head in. Glenn raised his gun, but lowered it once he saw me drop the corpse away from Tara. "Get to that office," I ordered Eugene and Noah. "We'll get Tara," I said as I saw Glenn climb over the boxes blocking his way to me and Tara. "Go!" I shouted at those who could hear me, like Nicholas, Eugene and Noah. "Let me have a look," I said briefly before I crouched down beside Tara and checked her pulse.

She was still with us, nodding to Glenn, he helped me get her up and we dragged her to the office everyone crammed themselves into. I was worried, she'd been losing a lot of blood and her head had an injury to it. One, I wasn't sure she'd make it out of. "How's she doing?" Glenn asked, as they shut the door behind us and I began to examine the damage done to her a little more closely.

Her head split, blood spilled from it and if I made a wrong move, we could lose her forever. We needed an expert and we needed one fast. "Shit, she's got serious head trauma and is losing a lot of blood rapidly," I informed them of my quick analysis. "We need to get her out of here, back to Alexandria. Pete can treat her, because I don't have the equipment to help her right now," I informed them, a little worried and concerned for our companion.

Nicholas was looking out for us, making sure no walkers came in while Noah, Eugene and Glenn watched me, wondering what else I would tell them. "Med kit was in Aiden's pack," Nicholas informed us. "It got blown to hell," he stated what had in fact happened to Aiden, he'd died, pinned up to a wall, spikes pierced him at every angle.

Glenn glanced back and then back to me. "There's another one in the van," he spoke up, already giving me an alternative plan for our journey back to Alexandria to use on Tara. Yet, there was only one thing wrong with that plan...

We needed to find a way to get her out and into that van. And quickly. "We're losing her," I stated as I tried my best, taking off my small button up shirt, I wrapped it into a ball and pressed it against Tara's head. "We need to get her to the van and quickly," I spoke clearly, trying to make everyone understand that the quicker we got out and got Tara to Alexandria, to Pete, the better it would be for us.

Glenn was looking between myself and Tara, there was a look of worry in his eyes. I knew Tara was a good friend to him, but she was also a part of our messed up family. "All right, we'll get her there," he told me, reassuring me that we'd get Tara in the van and back to Alexandria as soon as possible.

The sudden cry for help from Aiden made us all look at the scene in front of us. He was pinned against all the rubble and spiked to multiple sharp things. Walkers were finding their way either to him, or to us. All of us were surprised, especially Glenn and Nicholas. "He's alive?" Glenn asked, completely shocked and surprised to see that Aiden was still breathing after it all.

Never removing my hand from holding the cloth to Tara's head, I could briefly see how Nicholas, Noah and Glenn stared at the skewered friend. "I checked him. I-I thought-" Nicholas fumbled for words. Clearly, you thought wrong and hadn't checked him properly. This could of all been prevented if he had checked if Aiden was breathing.

"We've got to get him," Noah whispered, but my ears picked it up and in that second, I knew he was trying to tell Glenn this and not Nicholas. Something just doesn't seem right about Nicholas. What it is, I get the feeling it has something to do with Aiden too.

Glenn then glanced between himself, Nicholas, Noah and then back at Eugene. "It's gonna take at least four of us," Glenn stated what it would take. But Eugene then began to shake his head, mumbling no quietly and repeatedly.

Noah then spun on his feet to look at me, his eyes staring at me with both worry and concern. He needed to know the information I would give him, whatever it was, I knew it had something to do with Tara and Aiden. "We got that kind of time?" he asked, refering to Tara losing blood and the time it would take for her to give up and for them to get Aiden off what he was stuck to.

"If it's done quickly and effectively, yes," I answered after much thought, nodding and keeping the pressure I had to place against her head and stared at them. I knew that if Eugene were to help, he'd more than likely get too scared to save Aiden. Especially with all those walkers and the pressure we'd be under.

Turning along with Noah, all three men were now staring at me wondering what to do next. Whilst Eugene, kept his eyes fixated on Tara. "We pull Aiden off there, we could kill him," Nicholas spoke up, hinting that we'd have to leave Aiden behind, take Tara and simply leave.

Noah turned to face Nicholas, a surprised and angered look on the young boy's face. Nicholas was actually considering leaving one of his own behind? That is something none of us would ever do. "So you're saying we leave him?" Noah asked Nicholas questioningly, questioning Nicholas' loyalty and courage to save his friends, before saving himself.

Eugene got closer to me and closer to Tara. "Go, save him!" Eugene spoke up. "She'd do it. I know she would," Eugene spoke of Tara as he edged even closer to me and Tara. "I'll stay with her," he said smartly, but I was worried of Tara's safety in his hands. "I'll keep her safe, I assure you. I will," he assured me, his hands gesturing to take over what I was doing and he stared into my eyes. Something told me he would look out for her, and if not, I could end it all quickly enough to get Tara and save her too. I have to at least try.

Noah encouraged us to go get him, nodding, I let Eugene take my place and grabbed hold of my weapons. "All right, we'll knock 'em back," Glenn began to make plans. "You still have that flare?" Glenn asked Nicholas, who responded with a quick 'Yeah' and we all began to make our way to the door. "You fire the flare over the shelves. That'll draw some of them over," he gave orders to Nicholas and what he was to do with the flare.

"All right, we're gonna hit the rest hand to hand," Glenn then looked between me and Noah. Grabbing my knife and machete, I was ready for anything. "You ready?" he asked us all, to which we all either nodded or said 'Yeah' and I was more than ready. "One, two, three," he counted down before he opened the door and we waited for Nicholas to shoot the flare gun. Once some of the walkers noticed it and made their way towards it, we got ready, creating a tight formation as we exited the room and I shut the door behidn us. "Come on!" Glenn called to all of us as we began to fight our way to Aiden.


DPOV

Heading back, the sun was only beginning to set when we had decided to make our way back to Alexandria. Once we passed the gates, I walked up the steps to the house Kat and some of the others lived under. When I saw Carl, Michonne, Rick, Judith and Maggie sat outside, I knew they were waiting for the others to come back. "The others ain't back from the trip yet?" I asked them, Aaron stood beside me and looked around a little confused and worried.

Carl held Judith, bouncing her on his leg and staring up at me. Rick was leaning against the porch fence, his eyes staring out to the distance, like he was waiting for Kat to return. Maggie's arms were crossed and eyes were glued to me. Carl was watching me, as were the rest of them. But Michonne seemed more concerned at me, like she too could feel what I did. "No," Michonne spoke up for the others, answering my question.

"You think they could be in trouble?" Carl spoke up, asking me with slight concern in his voice. Of course, Carl was more concerned for Kat than possibly the others. Or so, I gathered, considering he'd lost her plenty of times, just like I had.

Looking up at Carl, I jumped back onto my bike and started to recheck my bike and equipment. I needed to make sure I was prepared for anything, especially to bring back the others. To bring Kat and Glenn back to us. "Where were they headed?" I asked them, a stern tone added to my already rough voice.

I was serious, ready for business and ready to kill anything that got in my way. I've lost her before, I ain't losing her again. "The warehouse just five miles south," Rick answered me, but he started to walk down the steps, to reach me and stand in front of me. "Why?" he asked me, his eyes trying to meet mine.

Grabbing a satchel, with any medical stuff, food and water, I was going to go look for her. Even if it meant I would be out there for days, I wouldn't stop until I found her. Looking into Rick's eyes only briefly, something told me he'd seen mine and Kat's interactions the other night, but I wasn't sure if he had. "I got a bad feeling," I told Rick, staring directly in his eyes but then glanced away. There were times Rick could intimidate me, but I wasn't afraid of him, only of his daughter. She scared me in ways I didn't know I could feel.

Rick shuffled on his feet in that familiar way he always did. He was nervous and he was putting up his leader voice. "Kat and Glenn can look after themselves, they've proved it time and time again," he told me, but I just stopped and listened to him, not looking in his eyes. "We need to stop doubting their capabilities to survive," he continued his speech. "And its getting dark out there," he was speaking a little more softly.

We all knew what he meant by that. When darkness covered the earth, that meant it was more dangerous and I knew what it meant. I didn't care what it meant. It meant safety to me being behind the walls, but it meant Kat and the others were exposed and in more danger the longer they were out there during the night. "More reason for me to go look for them," I grumbled and continued to pack my things again, except, reparing for another trip.

Maggie took a step closer, but her voice raised above the rest of us. "Glenn's got this, he always has," she spoke with faith in Glenn's return. I had faith he'd come back too, same with Kat, but I couldn't shake the feeling. Ever since I found her the night of Joe's attack, I didn't want to ever leave her side again. Even the day I was forced to leave with Noah and not Kat. I couldn't bare the thought of her gone for another night again. "Have faith in him," Maggie encouraged me to be hopeful.

Knowing Maggie had faith in Glenn, I did too, but I knew one thing about Kat too. She'd fight her last breath and put herself at risk for others. I couldn't risk losing her, just like Rick didn't take chances anymore, I couldn't risk losing Kat again. "I do," I told Maggie honestly. Glenn was a good guy, a good survivor, smart. But Kat was sometimes too wreckless for her own good. "But we've lost too many people already," I reminded her sadly, which made her shut her mouth and gulp sadly. She's probably thinking of Beth and Hershel. "Lost her too many times, I ain't losing her again," I said with my head bowed, I couldn't look at the others, but this was confession enough that I cared about Kat more than they may of realized.

Slinging my backpack onto one shoulder, I saw Maggie start to storm down the steps. "I'm coming with you," she declared, but Rick stepped out of her way and watched her. He wasn't going to stop her, neither would have I, but I knew she was better off staying there. If it was just me, there was less a risk.

Not needing to look at her, I just spoke my few, simple words. "Nah, you ain't," I already made the decision for her and denied her the chance to go with me. She didn't need to be there, and if she were smart, she'd just tell them I'd be back soon. "If they get back before I do, just tell them I'll be back later," I told them to tell the others for me.

Climbing onto my bike, I saw how everyone just watched me and stayed silent. Maggie looked upset, but I set it firm and when I was firm, I meant it. Instead, Aaron walked over to me and nodded randomly. "I'll go with you," he said, before he stared into my eyes, looking to see if I'd agree to this or not.

Glancing up at him, I was a little stunned that he'd actually want to go out there with me, risking his life and helping me to retrieve the people I loved. To go find Kat, Glenn, Eugene, Tara and Noah. "Partners, right?" I mumbled roughly, to which he nods and replied with a quick 'right' before climbing into his car and following after me. Riding off, I rushed out of the streets and to the gates, letting it open again and I rushed out, telling them we were going to go look for the others.


KPOV

Reaching Aiden, he was trapped, skewered by spikes and pinned to what looked like to be a blown up shelf, or something. Looking at Noah, he gave me a nod, gulping, I nod back and kept my aim steady on any walkers that got too close to us. Watching out for anything that moved, other than us. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get you out of here. All right? Everything's gonna be okay," Glenn kept repeating himself, trying to make sure that Aiden was hearing his calmed, but slightly scared words. "I need you to stay quiet, okay? Can you do that?" he asked, to what I can only imagine was Aiden nodding back to Glenn and Nicholas. "Okay. One, two, three," Glenn said, hearing a tug behind me before someone screamed.

Guessing that it was Aiden, I could only imagine the pain of feeling the poles digging so deep into your skin, bones and guts, that being pulled from them was agonizing. I worried for Aiden, it wouldn't have been a nice way to go from bloodloss. But we needed to try and save him. "The flare. It's burning out," Noah warned us.

"We're not gonna make this," I could hear Nicholas' panicked voice speak over the low snarling of the walkers and the scared whimpers that escaped Aiden.

Going in a small line, the walkers made their way towards me, glancing at Noah, I aimed my arrow up, shooting them between the eyes and heading closer to the walkers as I pulled out arrow after arrow. "Hey, yes, we are. But I need your help. You can do this," Glenn was encouraging Nicholas whilst I was fending off the walkers.

Ducking down as I got closer, I sliced the walkers that got too close using my machete and kicked other walkers away, using my good leg. Retrieving my arrows, I grasped my things and placed them back into my quiver. But one walker got a little too close, almost grabbing me, but a silent gunshot sounded. Looking back as I returned to my spot beside Noah, he'd shot down the walker, I thanked him as I returned. "Nick. Nick, don't-don't leave me," I could hear Aiden plead his friend as I returned to Noah's side.

My area was now cleared, instead, it was Noah's side that kept finding more walkers, to which I wandered over to them and began slicing and dicing them. Glenn and Nicholas struggled to pull Aiden off the skewers, but they were trying their damned hardest. Or at least, that's what I knew Glenn was doing. I heard repeating appologies before we saw Nicholas run off towards the exit I'd cleared. "They're coming," Noah warned Glenn. "Kat! Go after him!" Noah ordered, to which I decided to listen and ran after Nicholas, following his every move, dodging walkers and killing any that got too close or in my way. "They're here!" I could hear Noah shout over the snarling, but I was chasing down Nicholas. Screaming could be heard as I left, chasing after Nicholas, I could only imagine the one screaming, was in fact, Aiden.


CPOV

Sat around in mine and dad's room, I was calmly reading my comic book and got bored. Just as I got bored, dad walked in and lightly knocked on the door. "Hey, you know...I bet they'll be just fine," he said as he slowly entered the room, shutting the door behind him. This type of conversation just threw me back to a time when I was younger, more innocent and afraid of this new world we live in.

It reminded me of that time that I was with mom back at the camp site, when both her and Shane were alive. Sometimes, I missed them, but the one I missed most, was always mom. Kat was my best friend, but she was also my sister and sometimes, I believed she was a half of my whole. She was the biggest influence, inspiration and role model in my life. She was always the type of person I wanted to become. "I'm not worried," I told dad bluntly. "Are you?" I asked him, curious to know his answer.

Instead of answering me straight away, he made his way closer to me and sat down beside me. Sitting at the end of the bed whilst I laid myself out on it, propped up against the wall while I stared at him and waited for his response. "No," he answered after much deliberated thought, I knew he was telling the truth when he said that and I smiled a little at it.

Finally, I could tell when my dad was lying and when he wasn't. Not only did that make me happy, but the thought that he finally had faith that Kat was more than capable of looking after herself. "Good, you shouldn't be," I agreed with him, pleased with his response and placed my comic book to one side.

Shuffling a little on my bed, his eyebrows furrowed and he gazed at me with the same blue eyes myself, Kat and he did. We all looked fairly the same, while Judith had the same color eyes mom had and the thought only made me glance at her, behind him, sleeping soundlessly in her crib. "Why?" dad asked me, curious to know my thoughts and what I meant by those words.

Smiling kindly at him, I looked down and remembered the same type of convsersation I had with mom a long time ago with mom. Over the fear she had for both dad and Kat going after Merle with Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl. "Think about it dad," I said the similar words I'd said to mom. "Everything that's happened to her so far...nothing's killed her yet," I reminded him truthfully and Kat had been through plenty. "She's smarter and stronger than ever before. She knows how to handle herself. She's a survivor," I stated all the things she evolved to become. "I know she'll be back, especially now that Daryl's gone to find her," I was sure he'd bring her back safely. From what I could sense, especially after his brave words about going after her, I knew he loved her and wasn't going to lose her again.


KPOV

Chasing down Nicholas, I had caught up with him and grabbed a hold of his shoulders. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" I screamed at him, trying to pull him back, but walkers got far too close, using both my handgun, as my AK was already out of ammo, I killed any walker that got too close to me.

Not only had he left us behind, but he had left his friend behind and that only angered and shocked me. Both of us fought as best as we could and I could hear running footsteps getting closer towards me. "Nicholas, stop!" Glenn shouted at Nicholas as he fumbled to find a way out. Shouting a quick 'Hey!' at him, I followed him out of the building and when we were both faced with all the walkers making their way towards us, I shot off a few more bullets, but I was then pushed back into the revolving door. "You'll never make it," I heard Glenn call after him.

Nicholas too had the same idea, shooting at the walkers, but one of them took hold of his gun and took it from him. He began to push me back in and before I knew it, we were all trapped in the revolving door. Myself and Nicholas in one half, Glenn and Noah in the other. "Hey, maybe-maybe we can shoot our way past them," Nicholas suggested a plan to us. "You guys still have guns," he pointed out to me, Glenn and Noah.

"And you have the ammo," Glenn spoke loudly, but the snarling of the walkers came from both sides. Walkers were staring at us from every angle. I worried for our safety, for how we were trapped in and without any plan of getting out of this, especially to get out alive.

Somehow, plans kept coming out of Nicholas' mouth and I didn't think he'd actually thought it through. "I'll give some to Kat, she can fight her way through it," he was putting far too much faith in me, especially with the close proximity the walkers would be against me.

If the door revolved too much, it would put Glenn and Noah's lives at risk. It wasn't something I wanted for myself or for Noah and Glenn. We all had to get out of this alive. All of us. "Not alone and with that amount of walkers, it would be a suicide mission for all of us!" Glenn shouted over the snarling and banging. "Especially Kat out there alone," thanfully, Glenn was still looking out for me in this vulnerable state we were all in.

Holding the door at both ends, we were trying to keep it level while the walkers pushed against us. My leg had too much weight pressured on it, but I wasn't focusing on that. Focus on getting out of here alive Kat. Get back to your family. Back to Alexandria. Back to Carl, Judith, dad, Michonne and Daryl. "We've got to do something, man. We're gonna die in here," Nicholas cried over to Glenn.

"There has to be another way. There was to be a way," Noah mumbled confidently, but something made me worry more for us. I knew that if the

Forcing against the pushing of the walkers, we all suddenly heard the blaring of music, the van wheeling past us and Eugene calling to the walkers by the door, banging on the side of the door. I couldn't be any happier than that moment, a flood of relief came over me. Myself, Glenn and Noah laughed and quietly cheered for Eugene saving us at the right time. "All right. Hey," I could tell that Glenn already had a plan we could follow. "I need you three-hey, Nicholas! I need you three to keep the door steady, all right?" he asked me and the others. "I'm gonna break the glass. We get out, you two push out. We get the rifle and we're good. All right? All right?" he was going throught the plan with us. To me, it sounded good enough and easy to follow. "Ready?" he asked us.

Nodding, I was ready, groaning and grunting as I pushed against the force of the walkers. Nicholas doing the same, as did Noah and we tried to keep it leveled. I was closest to the outside, while Nicholas was closer to the walkers. Glenn began to hit the butt of his gun against the glass, making the pressure against the sides to be unblanced and for our side to jump a little, opening itself up for the possibility of Nicholas getting grabbed. "No! No, stop! It's not safe!" he cried and screamed when he saw the door open just a smudge. What a pussy.

Glenn looked to us a little worried and surprised by Nicholas' outburst. Helping him push his side, he quickly switched sides with me. "This is the only way," Glenn tried to reason, but Nicholas was far too freaked out.

I didn't like the nervous look in his eyes. It was like he was planning to do something to put all of us in danger. If he does anything, I swear I'll kill him. "No, it's not gonna break," Nicholas wasn't confident that Glenn could get us out of this mess. We can do this. He needs to have more faith in us.

Hitting his chest, I made him look at me and kept my eyes firm. My voice was calm, leveled, much like how I imagined my dad would speak to the rest of us. "It will," I assured him. "We can hold it. We can," I was trying to give him hope as I pushed against my side, while Nicholas pushed against his side.

Glenn was staring Nicholas directly in the eye, trying to get his attention and I could only hope the stupid guy would listen to him. If this was how Nicholas was, I wasn't trusting him to go with us anywhere else again. "Trust me, okay?" Glenn tried to convince him to calm down. "Count of three. Count of three. One, two-" he went to hit the door, but before I knew it, everything went crazy in the matter of ticking seconds. "Nicholas! No!" myself, Noah and Glenn screamed.

While we were pushing against the door, Nicholas pushed his side harder, causing Noah's foot to slide out into the exposed walkers trying to grab at him. Letting to of my side, I went to push Nicholas back in, but he grumbled that I had to let him go. Forcing him in, Noah was close to getting back into safety, but a sudden elbow to my face, I felt myself fall back and a cut land to my cheek against something as I took a hold of something a little too hard, taking it with me.

I saw darkness, for a few moments, blinking rapidly, I tried to bring myself back into the moment. Screaming, crying, snarling and whimpering was all I heard. Banging of the window was what scared me most. I was still in danger. When my vision was cleared, I looked to my head, a little bit of blood poured from it, but I knew I'd be fine. What I'd witnessed was horrific. Noah was being eaten alive, right in front of us and Glenn coward in the corner. But when he saw me staring at Noah in shock, disbelief and fear, I clutched at my head and he spoke to me. "Kat, are you ok?" he asked me.

Feeling behind me, my hand outstretched to keep what it was in my gasp. Once I picked it up, I knew exactly what it was. It was a full magazine to clip onto my AK 47. Sighing, I looked at Glenn a little more than heartbroken. I can't believe we lost Noah because of Nicholas. "Yeah...I...got this," I showed him the round I hand in my hand. Just my luck, huh? "Hold the door, I'll shoot out and then you push out, ok?" I asked him, to which he nodded and got to his feet, whilst I prepared my gun, placing the next set of rounds inside it, Glenn wiped at his eyes and nose before he kept the door steady. "Ready, one, two, three," I shot the door, making a few good holes before I used the butt of my gun and slammed it against the fractured glass.

Once the glass started to crumble, I ducked and stepped over it, the glass crunching beneath my boots before Glenn pushed forward and left the building, now standing beside me. Shooting the few other walkers that spotted us, we rushed to find Nicholas, Eugene and Tara. Needing to get back to Alexandria and to make Nicholas pay for what we'd just witnessed. Nicholas was making threats at Eugene, threw him to the ground, as the pair struggled and Nicholas climbed up into the van.

Nicholas was about to drive off, leaving us behindm but quickly enough, Glenn raced over to him and pulled him out of the driver's side. After two punches to the face, Nicholas was knocked out. Glenn got back to his feet, panting and sulking over what had just happened. I didn't want to ask him if he was ok too, because I knew he wasn't. Nicholas deserved more than what he got. Glenn was being merciful. "Help me get him in the back," Glenn told Eugene and not me.

"Where's Noah?" Eugene asked the only question that lingered without an answer. He didn't need an answer. He got it with just the look both myself and Glenn shared on our faces. I didn't get the chance to cry, I was too shocked and too determined to get us out to cry. But my heart did break for the boy.

Eugene was in the same state of shock as I was. His breathing shook and Glenn just walked past me, opening the back of the van's door, when Glenn walked back to us, he picked up Nicholas' body with Eugene and dumped him in the back. Climbing in with them Glenn shut the door behind me and climbed into the van. Glenn decided he'd drive us back to Alexandria and I didn't argue with him. I couldn't. I was still processing everything that had happened to us today. "Look, if anything happens...if he wakes up and tries anything," Glenn warned Eugene as he looked to his side and Eugene sat beside him in the passenger side.

How Glenn didn't even look at me, worried me and made me wonder why he could hardly talk to me. Does he think it's my fault Noah died? I should of done something. But he's gone. Nicholas did something so small and stupid to me and I couldn't save Noah. "I assure you, I will not hesitate," Eugene assured Glenn, taking the gun from Glenn that he'd offered at the last minute and held it tightly.

Glenn then handed me the medical box, which still had some supplies in it and I looked at him confused. "Fix yourself up," Glenn encouraged me to heal myself the best ways I could using what we had. Nodding, I stayed silent and didn't look at him as he began to drive. "Kat, get some rest, you need it," he encouraged me to get some rest, so I could fully recover. I chose to try and sleep, but Noah's image kept creeping up into my head and I felt immense guilt for losing him. I should have done more.


DPOV

Riding along the dark roads, the only lights were the moon and the light than shone from my headlights. But the moment I saw what seemed like a van, I squinted and watched out for who was in the van. Not exactly trusting it, but hoping for it to be someone I knew. Stopping in the middle of the road, I turned off the engine and climbed off it. The van too slowed down and did the same as I did, next person I saw climb out, was in fact, Glenn first, then Kat, then Nicholas, then Eugene.

Running towards me, Kat landed in my arms, as I held her tightly and rocked us a little on the spot. Lifting her feet off the ground, caressing the back of her head and held her so tightly to me. I actually worried for a second if she was breathing or not. "Kat," I whispered her name into her ear. For a second, I worried I would never see her again and that something bad happened to her.

What caught my eye behind her, was that Nicholas was being held at gunpoint by Eugene. Glenn's hands were in his pockets as he didn't look at us. Most of the people surrounding us, respected our little moment and gave us privacy. Aaron wouldn't look at us directly, but I could feel his eyes glancing at us every so often. But I could only guess he liked seeing us together. "You found us," Kat whispered, her arms wrapped around my neck, her fingers grasping the tops of my shoulders. My own arms sliding between holding her by her waist, to cluching her back and shoulder blades to bring her closer to me. My hands would either hold her, or caress the back of her head and I could notice something on her head. It was like a growing bump.

Pulling back a little bit, I looked at the van a little confused, she pulled back and glanced up at me with those hypnotic blue eyes. When she looked at me like that, I could see the beauty within her soul and the fire deep within her too. "Where's Tara, Noah and Aiden?" I asked, but that was when I noticed something on her face. "How did you get that mark on your cheek?" I asked her, but I'd also just remembered that how she ran to me, she limped slightly towards me. "And your leg, and...is that a bump on your head?" I kept finding all these new signs that she'd been through a tough time.

Glenn was listening in, his hands on the gun he was holding, but his eyes looked red, sore from previous crying. I could only guess that we had lost someone. Who, I wasn't sure. "Aiden and Noah they're...gone," Glenn told me, Kat couldn't even look me in the eyes.

They had told me the outcome of this trip, that we'd lost two people, but they hadn't said anything about Tara. That was, until Kat spoke up and made me stare back down at her. "We need to get Tara back to Alexandria quickly," she informed me directly after Glenn told me what happened to Aiden and Noah. "She's suffered an immense head trauma," Kat further informed me the critical and medical state of Tara. "I'll tell you the rest later, promise," she assured me, while I would glance at the cut on her cheek, thought about the cut on her leg and the bump on her head. What the hell happened out there?


RPOV

Staring out the window, I couldn't help but ponder over Lori, of what we wanted, of everything that happened to us. Both good, and bad. Too much had happened and she wasn't here to see any of it, and at some moments, I wasn't sure if she'd want to be here with us. The sound of the door opening, made me turn to see who had just walked in. "Pete's hitting Jessie. Maybe Sam, too," Carol suddenly revealed this to me.

This news was a shock to me, I had hopes that Pete wasn't that much of an asshole, but he was. Judging by how fear stricken Carol looked, I could only guess this was the truth. Carol had been through it too, so she could tell the signs better than anyone else could. "You know this how? Sam tell you?" I asked her, wondering if she had a sudden disclosure from Sam about his father.

I was in all truth, a little doubtful that Sam would reveal something like that, but hinting it was something that Carol could possibly instantly pick up. "He didn't have to," Carol told me softly, with a small shrug and sad look on her face. Shaking my head, I turned around and bowed my head as I walked away from Carol and towards the window. "Rick. I know how this is gonna go with Pete," she called after me, making me turn to face her once more. "There's only one way it can go. You're gonna have to kill him," she spoke each line with a little bit of fear, but the last few words, Carol was confident and believed in her words. Staring at her, I knew she was right, but what else could I do?

The sound of a van approaching, doors slamming shut and opened, I moved to the window and saw Glenn climb out of the van, with Kat, Eugene and Nicholas. "Help! I need help!" Glenn called loudly within the walls, what I saw next had stunned me and left my frozen on the spot. Tara was being pulled out, Pete had rushed out of his house and Tara had a bandage wrapped around her head. Something told me, we needed Pete to be alive for a while, until Tara was better and then, I would kill him.


First of all, Merry Christmas! And hasn't this half of the season been crazy? The Negan show, as Andy (Rick) called it. I kinda secretly, love it. Negan is such an interesting character and I can't wait to portray him here, I have plenty ideas of how I want to go about it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Anyway, I'm going to promote myself again, but if you want quicker and more creative updates, go ahead and check out my twitter account, which has my very own created gifs. (a)HeroJustIn90 is where to find me if you'd like to ask any questions, or if you want quicker, better and more frequent update alerts.

Now, there is a subject I have to bring up, as I am little jumbled up at the ideas everyone has been commonly having. And that is, everyone wanted more from the kiss scene in the last chapter. The reason this kind of bothered me, is because if it took me up to 57 chapters for them to kiss, do you really expect them to suddenly get it on in the same chapter? It will all take time. Not to mention, the characters are only starting to find a way to be together and it's not in either of their natures to just let their animalistic desires get to them, not on the street and not pulling away and saying "Hey, lets go back home and fuck!" because that's not like either of them. Kat is still shy, trying to see how close her and Daryl can be, without making him uncomfortable. I mean, the scene alone where they're walking back home, he's not holding her hand and she's not forcing him to. They're both going at their slow pace, and that kiss was a big step.

And Daryl, is still uncertain where they stand, which goes for Kat too. All they did really, was share a kiss and a few words. And not all relationships start with the kiss and directly go to having sex right after it. Be patient! Good things come for those who wait. And in honouring Norman Reedus' portrayal of the character, it doesn't fit him to suddenly have random sex with the girl he'd been crushing on for quite a long time. I warned everyone at the start, this is a slow burn and if everything goes as planned, the next few episode in the current season (season 7) it's going to get even more depressing and hard for our two love birds to make things work.

Anyhow, I would like 5 reviews for this chapter, if it is possible. And please, please! Go follow my account, before you think it's a little fishy, it's official. That way, you can get directly to me, and you can have more frequent chapter updates, rather than needing to look at your inbox for any updates to my stories. Who knows, you could probably check out my other stories if you like the show/movie/game and like the gifs I create for them? I definately have more projects in store for the future.


Until the 5 reviews and more follows on my twitter account (a)HeroJustIn90,

Much love and Merry Christmas!

HeroJustInTime90 xxx