"No, Marcus! No!" Elaina called out as he dragged her back up the hill, away from the men who were now carrying Elizabeth away.
"We can't leave her!" She protested, breaking out of his grip that was now loosened on her, since they were out of sight.
"Elaina.." His voice was soft as he sighed her name.
"We don't have a choice baby.." His voice trailed off.
She looked at him with a hint of disgust that he would even think of leaving Elizabeth behind.
She began to blink away her tears, her voice cracking, "She's my best friend" she looked up to him, searching for any sign that he would take her hand and go running after Elizabeth.
But Marcus didn't budge.
He took Elaina's hand, tugging at her.
"Please Elaina, we need to get out of here" his voice stayed too calm.
It was almost sickening.
Elaina jerked her hand away from him, pushing past him as they started their trek back to their camp.
They would have to walk, having ditched the car.
It was just too risky to go back to it.

"Rose!" The boy who was guarding the gate called out, "They are home!" He said excitedly as he pulled the gates open.
He started down the ladder of his post, and hopped off towards the bottom.
The brown haired woman, Rose, stepped up beside him.
But they both stopped when they looked over Marcus and Elaina.
"Where is she?" The boy asked.
Elaina looked over to Marcus, tilting her head.
He sighed, feeling her eyes on him.
"We got attacked by those men. They took her" Marcus spoke quietly, not really wanting to have this conversation in front of Joseph.
"They took her?" Joseph repeated, looking up to Rose as his eyes started to fill with tears.
Rose shook her head, looking between Marcus and Elaina.
"What do you mean they took her?" Rose asked, stepping closer to them.
"The men we have been seeing around, they took her away with them." He repeated, shifting around.
"She sent us away, she was trying to save us.." Elaina spoke up, softening the tension on Marcus. She knew that he was trying to protect her.
Rose let out a long sigh and turned to Joseph, placing her hands on his cheeks.
He looked up to her, still crying.
The boy was only about fifteen. He came to the camp shortly after Elizabeth and Marcus. He had gotten close to Elizabeth, they were joined at the hip.
"Listen, I need you to go back to your post." She spoke softly.
Joseph shook his head, "No. I wanna go looking for her" he protested.
Rose tilted her head, giving him a look. "It's dark. It's too dangerous. We will go at first light and you can go with us. If you listen to me" Rose looked him over, judging his reaction.
He hesitated, but nodded slowly.
He stepped forward and hugged Elaina tightly before turning and returning to his post.

Rose walked with Marcus and Elaina into the building they had taken over. It was some sort of shipping facility long before the world ended, they managed to build a life here.
"Did you see where they were headed?" Rose asked as she sat down with them.
"No, we just got out of there. We, couldn't risk getting caught.." Marcus looked to Elaina.
Rose looked between them both, tilting her head.
"Elaina is pregnant" Marcus blurted out.
Rose smiled brightly, but only for a moment.
"We don't have a doctor here.." She looked to Elaina who nodded slowly.
"We will figure it out. I'm just worried about Elizabeth" she insisted.
Rose looked to Marcus who nodded in agreement.
"Okay fine, we will take a team and go out at first light and see what we can find.

They searched for days with no real luck. Any lead they had just came up empty or too messy to try and explore. The search itself became too dangerous and that's how they lost Patrick.

"Stop looking at me like you're giving up!" Elaina snapped at Marcus as he tried to get her to calm down.
They had been searching for days with no luck.
They had no idea how close she really was to them.
"The only place we haven't looked is to the east. She could be there!" Elaina snapped again.
Marcus let out a sigh, "Elaina, we have to be smart about this.." as Marcus spoke, the door flew open and Joseph came in, carrying his pack.
"We ready to go?" The boy asked
"Yes. We are" Elaina said as she shot Marcus a look
He shook his head and stood, grabbing his pack.
He followed them out to one of their cars, not really able to get a word in.
This was dangerous, they were rushing.
But at least Marcus would be there to protect them if anything happened.

They weren't on the road long before they came to a block in the highway.
A few rows of cars were lined up, blocking the road entirely.
Marcus pulled close and stopped, letting out a sigh.
"This isn't right.." he said quietly.
"Someone placed these cars here recently." he added.
But still, Elaina climbed out of the car and Joseph followed.
Marcus let out a groan and followed them out of the car.
They searched the rows of cars for a while, looking for any easy supplies to pick up.
But they were all completely empty.
"We should go... we can find another way around" Marcus insisted
But they heard the rumble of a motorcycle just as it began over the hill towards them.
Marcus stepped in front of Elaina and Joseph, pushing them back a little.
The man on the motorcycle was Dwight
He pulled up close and stopped, stepping off the motorcycle
He looked them up for a moment
Marcus was ready to speak but Dwight interupted him
"You're Elizabeth's friends, right?" Dwight asked
Marcus looked at him shocked,
"What did you say?" Elaina asked, pushing past Marcus
"I know where she is. She's safe.." Dwight looked down for a moment, thinking about Elizabeth being around Negan and how safe that really was, considering all he's done.
"I want to see her" Joseph added.
Dwight shook his head "I can't take you to where she is, I can't tell you where she is. It's too dangerous.."
Elaina stepped closer to him but Marcus grabbed her hand
"I know you want to see your friend, that's why I want to arrange a meeting. I can bring her to meet you somewhere" Dwight offered, trying his best to give them a smile
But that was something he wasn't used to
Things had been hard for him and Elizabeth was the first calm thing he had in a long time
"When?" Joseph asked
"I can bring her tomorrow. We can meet here?" Dwight asked
Elaina quickly agreed, though Marcus was more hesitant about it
"Why can't you tell us where she is? Is she hurt?" Marcus asked
"She's fine. I'm sure she will explain everything tomorrow." Dwight said as he turned to get back on his motorcycle
He looked over them one more time before leaving

"I don't know, I just don't trust it. Something doesn't feel right" Marcus said as they began their drive back home
"But it's the best lead we have" Elaina argued
"How else would he have known us anyway?" Joseph asked
"She could have told those people about us, she could be dead.." he blurted out, causing a heavy silence to fill the car
"I'm sorry.." he sighed, "Can we just be careful about it?" He asked
Elaina reached over to take his hand, "We are always careful" she spoke softly
"I love you" Marcus smiled over to her
"I love you too" she replied
Joseph made a fake gagging noise, making them all laugh
"Let's get our friend back?" Elaina asked
"We will" Marcus agreed
They finished their ride home, eager to see Elizabeth again

~~
I am so glad to be done with this chapter and moving on with this story. I have so much planned for this and I am super excited for it all. I hope you all are still enjoying!