.:Raelyn | Age 27 *Present*:.

After Glenn dug around in his backpack for a minute and finally pulled out a black sharpie marker, it didn't take him long to clear a spot on the floor. I raised an eyebrow while I watched him quickly sketch a grid like pattern across the grimey tiles.

We were all gathered around in a circle, crouchin' on the floor inside an old copy room where we could safely discuss Glenn's "plan".

"Okay," he finally spoke up in a soft voice, takin' in all of our uncertain expressions, "This is a basic map of the streets in Atlanta. In order to get the guns, I'm gonna have to go back out there and-"

Before Glenn could go any further, Rick started shakin' his head and cut him off, "No way, you're not doin' this alone."

"Yea," I quickly agreed while there was still room in the air for me to get a word in, "I'm not sure that's the best idea... And I'm usually a risk taker."

From across the circle, Daryl scoffed and for once agreed with the group, "I don't think its a good idea and I don't even like you much."

I tried my hardest not to give him a look or roll my eyes at his bluntness. Instead, I just focused on tryin' to talk Glenn out of this suicide mission.

"You know damn well what's waitin' out there-"

"Whoa, whoa!" This time it was Glenn cuttin' me off, holdin' his hands up to silence me and also grab everyone else's undivided attention, "Guys, It's a good idea, okay? If you just... Hear me out."

The room fell quiet as I made eye contact with Glenn, then slowly moved my eyes to Rick's, who reluctantly nodded. No one else had any objections, so we let Glenn continue his explanation.

He took a deep breath, exhaled, then pointed down at his grid drawing.

"If we go out there in a group, we're slow. Drawing attention." Glenn whispered to us, "But if I go out there alone, I can move fast. Look."

Each pair of eyes followed him as he stood up and crossed the room, makin' a B-line for a messy desk in the corner. He snatched up an eraser and a crumpled up piece of paper, then hurried back to our little huddle.

"This," Glenn held up the eraser to show us before placin' it down in the grid, "Is the tank you were trapped in, Rick... And this is the bag of guns."

He held up the paper ball, then dropped it next to the eraser.

So far, so good... We all seemed to be on board. I couldn't help but peer over at Rick, who was starin' down at Glenn's model of the city. Trapped inside a tank? That musta been complete hell... Such a tight space. Just the thought of it sent shudders up my spine...

"Okay.." T-Dog muttered, "And where exactly are we at in all this mess? Where's this building, I mean?"

"We're right here," Glenn replied while markin' a big X at the top left corner of the grid, "Five blocks away."

T-Dog leaned in closer and studied the space between the X and the paper ball. It seemed like he was judgin' if it was a reasonable, easy distance to travel... And after a few seconds, he gave a slightly hesitant nod of approval.

Before he went on, Glenn took a quick glance around the group to make sure we were all still followin'... At least somewhat.

Then, he just went on talkin', "Here's the alley way I dragged you into when we first met, Rick. The one that's fenced off from any walkers. That's where Daryl, Rae and I will go."

As he named us off, Glenn pointed at Daryl and I with the end of his marker. My stomach involuntarily fluttered at the sound of my name synced with Daryl's, knowin' we were gonna be in close quarters... Somethin' I never thought I'd dread, not in a million years.

I swallowed hard, tryin' not to let the anxiety show on my face, which is way harder than it sounds. Keepin' a straight poker face was never really my strong suit.

When I heard Daryl's quiet, husky voice speak up from across the circle, though, I swear my heart crashed straight to the floor.

"Why me..?" He asked Glenn.

"Your crossbow's a lot quieter than Rick's gun." He answered Daryl's question without missin' a beat, then glanced over at me when he noticed me studyin' my silver pistol in my hand, my eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "I just thought you'd like to be where Daryl is, Rae."

Instantly, my freckled cheeks flushed and my eyes snapped up to Glenn's, who just gave me an innocent shrug.

I really didn't quite know what to say, except mutterin' "Oh, uh... Yea." As I shifted my eyes toward Daryl.

He looked just about as caught off guard as I was, his face actually showin' some surprise, or even a little bit of worry. He felt just the same about the situation as I did... And I didn't know if that made me feel better or worse.

I was so busy worryin' about Daryl, I hardly noticed that Glenn had been givin' more instructions, "... And while Rae and DT-Dog wait here in the alley, I'll run up the street and grab the bag."

To give a visual of his path, Glenn used his marker to draw lines from the different points. Sorta reminded me of a football coach drawin' out plays for his meathead team.

The thought of Glenn, someone I considered at least somewhat of a friend at this point, runnin' around out in the open streets by himself made my stomach turn. There were just so many damn geeks out there, around every corner... You just never knew what could happen.

"But you have us somewhere else?" Rick spoke up, pullin' me outta my whirlwind of paniced thoughts.

Glenn nodded and pointed to a different part of the map, "Right. You and T-Dog will be waiting in this alley right here."

"Two blocks away?" The sheriff questioned, lookin' at Glenn and scrunchin' up his eyebrows, "Why?"

"I may not be able to come back the same way," Glenn answered, which made my heart sink a little, "Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Rae and Daryl. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Which ever way I go, I got you in both places to cover me... After wards, we'll all meet back here."

And that was it. Glenn sat back, watchin' all of us study the map, then glance around at each other with unsure expressions.

Finally, I let out a sigh. "I kinda hate to say it, but... Maybe this could work."

Glenn sort of grinned a little bit like he was surprised at my comment, watchin' as Rick, Daryl and T-Dog all nodded in agreement.

"Hey, kid," Daryl piped up, catchin' Glenn's attention, "What'd you do before all this?"

The young Asian man seemed a little surprised by the question. He furrowed his brow, lookin' over at me and makin' me smirk just slightly. I couldn't help but think of our conversation in the car on our way to camp, which pretty much sparked our friendship.

"I uh, delivered pizzas.." Glenn finally answered, soundin' a little unsure.

I could feel my smirk growin' into an actual smile, watchin' Daryl's raise slightly. He looked over to Rick, who shrugged his shoulders and gave an impressed nod of his head.

"All right, ya'll.." T-Dog muttered, lettin' out a sigh as he stood up. "Let's do this."

His tone sounded less than thrilled, but then again... None of us were thrilled about this.

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Back outside, the city was eerily quiet. The air was humid and sticky, with not even a hint of a breeze... The Georgia heat was almost suffocatin'.

Glenn, Daryl and I had split up from T-Dog and Rick, and taken an exit on the top floor that led out to the roof. After navigatin' a maze of rusty metal grates connectin' the different buildings and hoppin' to about five different rooftops, Glenn stopped in front of us.

"Somethin' wrong?" I asked, lookin' around to see what could be in our path.

"Over there," Glenn replied, pointin' to an old fire escape leadin' down into a completely empty alleyway. That was all thanks to a gated, chain link fence at the entrance someone had been smart enough to install. "That's where we need to be."

"So?" Daryl chimed in from behind me, "What's the problem?"

Glenn sighed, takin' his ball cap off and runnin' a hand through his dark sweaty hair. Then he replaced it, gave it a straightenin' tug, then turned his head over his shoulder to look at us.

"The problem is... Well," Glenn started to reply, turnin' around with a nervous look on his face, "I forgot there isn't a way over from this roof..."

For a second, there was nothin' but silence as Daryl and I stared at a very anxious Glenn.

"So what do we do..?" I asked, squintin' my eyes in the bright sun. "Is there another way somewhere?"

"Well there is, but..." Glenn said hesitantly, lookin' off toward the other corner of the buildin', which was hidden by a bunch of thick, rusty pipes.

"But? C'mon, spit it out, Jackie Chan." Daryl barked. I could tell he was loosin' his patience, and the name callin' didn't seem to amuse Glenn very much.

With a glare in Daryl's direction, he suddenly got real serious. "Are either of you afraid of heights?"

Daryl and I glanced at each other, but we didn't say a word. We didn't have to.. Without even speakin', we knew we didn't have any choices. It was follow Glenn or nothin', so what did we do?

You guessed it.

"Where exactly are we goin'?" Daryl asked Glenn impatiently while we trailed behind him across the scorchin' hot rooftop. "You really got a plan, or we just followin' you into some death trap?"

"You'll see." Was all he said in reply, ignorin' my best friend's taunts. He didn't sound too excited about it, either.

I had a bad feelin' in the pit of my stomach, lost in the thoughts of all the possible things that could be about to happen. My body just sorta robotically mimiced Glenn's and Daryl's as I jogged along behind them, hangin' a few feet back.

We ducked under a thick cluster of different sized pipes, then hopped down off a small ledge and rounded a sharp left corner. It was like a twisted game of follow the leader.

We ended up on a shady side of the building, and to our right was a wide view of Atlanta... It was so quiet and empty, just givin' off this sorrowful feelin' of death...

"Just up here," Glenn urged us over to a small ladder, keepin' the lead and climbin' up the rusty metal rungs. "There's an open window in that building over there, the one we need to cross to. We can get to it from up here."

Glenn stepped up onto the ledge, Daryl followin' close behind. When I finally clawed my way up to where the two of them were standin', I could see the side of the neighborin' building, which looked to be some kinda dentist office or somethin'. There were rows and rows of foggy, scratched up windows planted in the cracked stone of the building... Some of them were even smeared in dried blood from the inside, which gave me the creeps.

"The only problem is..." Glenn hesitantly went on, his shoes makin' a scuffin' sound on the rooftop as he slowly made his way over to the edge, "The only open window is a floor down, right there." He pointed downward where there was a busted out window with a decent sized stone balcony, "We're gonna have to jump down, and get back up onto that roof from the inside."

It took me a second to register what he was sayin', but once I did, I couldn't control the wide-eyed look on my face as I whirled around to stare at him.

"Are you outta yer damn mind, Glenn?" I demanded while shieldin' my eyes from the unforgivin' sun, "You realize if any of us miss that balcony, we're dead, right?"

"Can't be more than six or seven feet," Daryl observed in a quiet mumble, strollin' to the edge of the rooftop and peerin' down at the open window, then turned his eyes to me. "When did you turn into such a chicken shit?"

I still didn't understand why he was still tryin' to press my buttons, but it was definitely workin'. But I was getting' better at holdin' my tounge, so I just narrowed my green eyes at Daryl before rollin' them dramatically.

Then, I turned to Glenn, lettin' out a frustrated sigh and lettin' my hands rest on my hips.

"Well..." I said, takin' another glance over my shoulder at the edge of the roof, "Who's goin' first?"

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to be continued...