(Flashback)

Anya's POV

Anya was so excited to be on another super cool spy mission that she couldn't stop shaking. She tried to compose herself the best she could but couldn't help it. She made sure she didn't look like a squirrel or anything like that, but it was pretty noticeable, and she must have been right because Becky gave her a "what are you doing" look. She just shrugged, stars in her eyes, still excited. Only Becky noticed. Damien and his lackeys were just focused on the scientist, who was her papa. She decided to read his mind to see if she could get any more details on what this mission entailed.

"Okay, Twilight, let's repeat all the steps of this mission just to make sure I've memorized it all. Operation Bulge, like Operation Strix, this operation was needed for world peace to exist."

"The reason why this operation exists is because one of WISE's informants messaged that a new biological weapon is being developed. It's called the Wildfire virus. The only thing we know about it is that it could bring back someone from the dead, and with a bite, it could affect another person, turning them into the same undead creature. Luckily, it hasn't outbreaked yet. They kept it under lock and key. But one of their informants found out that the people who are making this virus were going to release it into the world and let the world fall into chaos. They don't quite know why they want to do this. That's what he was here for. Two things: one, destroy this biological weapon before it can ever be used; secondly, find out why they want to release this into the world, as well as find out about any other technological doomsday devices that may be around the lab. He wasn't alone in this operation; there are some WISE agents, 20 pieces from the area, getting ready for Twilight's signal. He's supposed to get up to the roof, shoot a flare gun that he has in his back pocket, alongside his real gun, and then they'll storm the place, making sure they destroy everything inside. It's a shame, though. Anya will have to witness some stuff before this is all over. Or is it? It really pains him, but he just thinks it's necessary." Twilight shook his head, focusing on the steps of the plan.

"The first step of the plan is to tour Anya and his group of companions around for a while, then switch with Frankie halfway through the tour, and then go up towards the roof, fire the flare gun, and then, throughout the chaos, find the biological weapon, destroy it, and then question the head of the operation. I'm sure you haven't really told us your name and you're just standing there," Damian said, awkwardly.

"That's... um... Doctor Oppenheimer," Twilight said, scratching his head in embarrassment. Well, that's a close one. I was too caught up in my head. Forgive my mis-manners. You guys will call me Doctor Oppenheimer," Twilight said, smiling. This one, oddly enough, was a genuine smile.

Anya, after hearing her father's mind, was ecstatic. She didn't quite understand most of what he said, but she got the gist, which made her even more excited. She quickly calmed down and tried her best to act normal.

"Alright, kids, let me tell you how this tour is going to shake down," he said kindly. Anya made sure to give her father all of her attention. "This facility is split into three halls: Hall A, Hall B, and Hall C. There is also a secret lab down in the basement, but you don't need to know that. That's for me to know. Secret Hall D, Hall E, and the most secret Hall X. If my sources are right, they can only be opened by the leader alone. So, another objective I need to do is get his fingerprints so I can get into Hall F and go and destroy the bio-weapon." Boy, Anya felt energy coursing through her body. She felt this rush, and she loved every second of it. She made sure she stayed cool, though. "Does everybody understand?" Twilight finished. Anya already gave a nod of understanding. Twilight, now known as Doctor Oppenheimer, turned around. "Let's go, guys."

Twilight led the group towards the hall where all of their medical science was housed. He was interested in the medical aspect of this facility; he was technically a doctor himself, with the degree to prove it. "You're so weird, Anya," Becky said nonchalantly, used to her friend's antics at this point.

"Come on, you slow pokes!" Damien called out. They were already halfway to the entrance, which shocked Becky and Anya, prompting them to catch up quickly. Anya could tell this would be an enjoyable day, and she couldn't wait to see what happened next.

Yor POV

Yor scanned the area, uneasy about taking an assassination mission in broad daylight, especially not in a place where Anya was having a field trip. She was nervous about the espionage aspect of her mission, needing to be on her A-game. The mission was to guard against an assassination from an unknown source, targeting the head scientist of the research facility. Yor was more worried about Anya discovering she was an assassin than the mission itself. "What if Anya hates me if she sees me in this revealing getup?" Yor thought, biting her nail inhabit. "Calm down, Yor. Get a grip. You're on a job, and you'll be able to do this quick and fast," she said to herself, trying to steady her nerves.

Spotting a truck below her, Yor got an idea. Without warning, she jumped off the roof, executing a 360-barrel roll. On the fourth roll, one of the guards was in her sights. She threw a stiletto needle into the back of one of the guys, making no sound. Before the other guard could react, Yor quickly got behind him and snapped his neck. "Well, that's done," she said to herself.

Yor dressed herself in the delivery uniforms, making sure to grab the keycard for the keypad-locked side door. She could have easily broken down the door, but that would create too much attention. She needed to play this smart. Slipping the keycard into the door, the light turned green, and Yor smiled, opening the door and slipping inside, her expression turning serious as she entered assassin mode.

Yuri's POV

Yuri gripped the steering wheel until his hands turned white, seething in anger at the orders he'd received. The reason for his anger was the inhumanity of the orders. Were his superiors expecting him to be ready to cover up a biological test ground? Yuri thought to himself, furious. Wasn't he supposed to protect this nation, not drag it into a war? He wondered why he even became a Secret Service officer in the first place. Was it just to protect his sister, or was it something else entirely? Yuri didn't know anymore, and to be honest, he didn't want to know, at least not at the moment.

"Get a grip, man," his friend and superior officer, First Lieutenant William, said. "Did you hear what the director ordered us to do? It's absolutely sick, using biological warfare. I don't quite know what that means, but I know it's worse than whatever weapons we have ever created before."

Yuri said, irrational. This was the only person he could ever go to other than his family, someone who could be this emotional. He's usually cool-headed, but not this time. He's going to speak his mind. His friend listened, "Lieutenant, you know as much as I do. We don't ask questions, we just follow orders. That is it," First Lieutenant William said.

Yuri took some deep breaths and relaxed, but he still didn't like what they were doing. "We're supposed to protect the people in this country. How is this exactly dragging us into a war? The last one got millions of Outstandians killed, as well as the other West Standians," he muttered. His friend didn't even flinch. Yuri should have expected that. His friend was probably used to his antics at this point.

"Again, we don't ask questions. I do agree, I'm not sure what the director is thinking, but it's not our place to question. It is our place to serve and minimize all casualties if possible," First Lieutenant William said, rational as always. Yuri didn't like what his friend was saying, but he knew he was right.

"Okay, fine," Yuri said, with a rough whisper. "You remember the briefing we were given, right? By the director?" First Lieutenant William asked. How could he forget? It's still in his mind, the fate that West Dania would be in for. Of course, he did hate West Dania, but even he didn't want that fate for those people. It was horrifying, and his country would cause it. Yuri couldn't stop shaking. He remembered it all right. He could remember every single detail.

(Yuri's flashback)

Yuri was tired and confused. A few hours ago, he was just sleeping on his day off, and now he had to go to work. Yuri was pretty furious because of that, and it showed on his face. "I don't know why I'm supposed to be here on my day off," Yuri grumbled.

"Get over it. It's not about your slumber time. Innocent outstandings could be at risk," his friend said. Yuri wanted to sling insult at his friend, but he knew he was right, like always. "Fine, can you at least tell me why we are even here?" Yuri asked, keeping himself under control.

"I'm as in the dark as you are," his friend said. Before he could say anything else, they arrived at their destination. There were two brown doors; this was where the director's office was. He was the head of the entire SSS branch. Yuri had never even seen the director in all of his time serving as an SSS officer. It made Yuri pretty nervous. He was actually what this thing his CDO in a way. The only thing he knew about the director was he was an old war hero who formed the SSS branch after the recent war. Yuri was then snapped out of his thoughts when the speaker above the door crackled to life.

"You guys can come in. The director's ready to see you," his secretary said, or that's what Yuri assumed, after all. "Let's just get this over with," Yuri said, grumbling. He twisted the doorknob, and they both entered. Yuri saw a man talking to a woman; she was probably his secretary. He'd only seen the director in paintings, but to see him in the flesh was a sight to behold. He held himself like a man in his status should, but not too strong. The girl quickly left both him and his friend with the director alone.

"You two, tell me your name and rank now," the director said, abruptly. "Before unnecessarily I'm Yuri Briar. I am a second lieutenant. It's nice to meet you, sir," Yuri said, giving him the most convincing grin he could muster, as well as saluting and bowing. His friend did the same. The director smiled.

"You guys can rise," he simply said. "We have much to discuss. Sit down, stay awhile," he said, sitting down himself. Yuri and his friend immediately sat down. There was just something about this man that warmed up to just obey his vibes.

"Do you know why I brought you guys here?" the director asked. Yuri thought about the question. He wondered if there were some underlying undertones or code words they needed to decipher, but now there was nothing that he could figure out. If there was, he was so good at hiding it, denying him and his friend to even figure it out, because even his friend was having a hard time with that question. But he hid it exceptionally well. "No, I do not know why I was called here," Yuri was about to say it was his day off, but he held his tongue. The director got up. "Good. It's good that you guys don't know yet, because if somebody did tell you what was going on, I would immediately know, and I would have you both executed swiftly," he simply said, with no emotion in his voice. That made Yuri shiver and shocked. If he knew one ounce of information, who would have been executed? He goes.

Nervously, Yuri walked towards the left side of the room, which had a map of the entire world, except it notably excluded both the nations of Outstandia and West Allis. "Do you know why the last war even started, Lieutenant Breyer?" the director asked, but Yuri quickly remembered what his history teacher said in his history class a few years ago about the war. His teacher told him that the reason was unknown and nobody entirely knew how that war started. But his teacher urged them to never have a war like that again, and Yuri would agree with his teacher's sentiments. "No, sir. I don't think anybody knows how the war even started. I don't see how this has any correlation with what we're supposed to be here for," Yuri spoke out.

The director smiled. "You're right on the money. Nobody knows how it quite started, that is true. I'm even baffled at how it started. But we're not here talking about the past; we're actually here to talk about the future because if the sources, as well as the mole in this operation, told me, it could lead to war between east and west. And I can assure you, too, we do not want that. It could lead to catastrophic destruction," the director said gravely. Yuri and his friend tensed up.

"Sir, I'm sorry if I'm speaking out of turn, but why come to us, in such low ranks?" As deceptive as always, Lieutenant Redacted," his friend said.

"I have a suspicion that some of my higher-ranking subordinates, one of them may be a mole, and they may be wiretapping this very room as we speak," the director spoke in a more hushed whisper. Yuri immediately started looking if anything was wiretapped. He also had a weird feeling as they were in the room that something was tapped.

"So, what do you want us to do? What exactly is the information you brought us here for?" his friend said.

"An informant told me one of my high-ranking subordinates has been backing a scientific research operation, specifically bio-research. They want to create a weapon that can resurrect the dead and make them into soldiers so they can finally destroy West Allis, which we don't quite know if West Allis has the same tech as well. But you both know that could lead to chaos and war, and I bet one of you had bad experiences during that time. I seriously doubt you two would want to repeat that bad time,"

Especially with your family on the line here," Yuri then saw the director walk over towards his desk, going to what looked like a forest, and grabbed two videotapes. He then placed them on the table and grabbed something else from the drawer, a lighter as well as some cigarettes. "You guys want to smoke?" the director said, offering. Yuri already knew the message; she was able to read body language pretty easily. He needed to get those tapes, but he needed to act fully composed because it's true, he thought it was tapped, as well as under surveillance. There must be some higher-ups not wanting this information to get out. It made him sick, but he stayed cool. He needed to be if he was going to stop this war, and he must be as composed as possible.

"Yeah, I'll go for a smoke here," he said, cheerful. He quickly surveyed the tapes and how big they were so he could figure out a way to conceal them. They're not so big that they wouldn't fit in his sleeves, but could he be able to fit two tapes in his sleeves? He could. He took a cigarette from the director and he laid his back towards the table, hopefully blocking the view of whoever's surveillance system they were using. He quickly slipped the first tape into his sleeve. He then looked for an ashtray, and when he found one, he took out the cigarette to douse it in the ashtray. Then he placed the tape under the ashtray. "Oops, I accidentally flipped the guys, sorry, clumsy me," Yuri said, trying to be way more careful.

"Not my boy, you're okay," clearly getting the furious message. He was also using Morse code; it seemed like spy tactics, but Yuri had been studying how spies operate. If he was going to capture spies, he needed to think like them. He needed to think like Twilight; that name always evoked a foul feeling. It was just bad for him, but it was a necessary evil. And in a swift motion, he put the second tape in his other sleeve. When the director saw that, he merely got the message.

"All right, I think this meeting is over. You guys should take a break for a while, get a day off," the director said, smiling at them. "We'll make sure we get most of our rest, director, and we will make sure our missions are made with utmost care," his friend said, as cool as usual. Yuri saluted. "If my name isn't Second Lieutenant Yuri Breyer, then I probably wouldn't do as much work. But since I am, then I'll do as much work as possible. And if that work means having a day off, then so be it," he and his friend left the room.

Yuri couldn't help but feel angry at this point, not at the director, but at the higher-ups of the government."Why this information? Who knows what they would do with it? They could destroy it, but they could also use it for something even worse. I don't quite know what these tapes are used for, but I'm going to find out."

Bond POV

(Bonds vision)

The entire lab was in flames, absolute destruction everywhere. Yor was in the middle of it, her clothes ripped, wounds throughout her body, panting like she had run a marathon. She looked like she was in pain. Behind her, Anya was completely fine, but tears were streaming down her face. Anti Fiona lay dead, her neck twisted as if by a screwdriver. Nearby, one of the SS lieutenants, redacted, had his head completely caved in, like it had been smashed into mush. He was dead.

Yor clenched her fist, no, she balled up her entire arm, getting ready for whatever would emerge from the smoke in front of her. Something did emerge, not smoke, but a figure like a demon. He was as big as a semi-truck, with white hair except for a bald spot in the middle. His mustache curved from his face, making him look old but not too old. His muscles were incredibly defined, and he carried two things in each hand. This sight made Yor furious, shocked, sad, and even more terrified, her emotions building in the scene.

In the left hand, Yor's brother Yuri was held, his head lifeless. On the other hand, Yor's husband, Lloyd, also known as Twilight, was held, also lifeless. Yor was so furious, rage evident in her eyes. She was like an animal at this point. However, she was still protecting Anya, who was on the ground, crying in absolute tragedy.

The man gave a hearty laugh. "Is this really what you wanted, assassin?" he taunted. Yor didn't say anything. She charged right at him, giving a primal scream, cocking her arm back for a powerful strike. When her punch connected with his face, it did absolutely nothing; only her fingers broke from the force of her punch, making her yell in pain. She then tried a roundhouse kick, but he grabbed her leg and broke it in half. He then kneed her in the chest, breaking four of her ribs, as well as her back when she hit the ground. He continued to punch her face over and over again until it was just mush. Now, if nobody intervened, it was just Yor.

He looked towards the little girl and walked over to her. Anya didn't know what to think; she was just sad and bawling her eyes out. "Papa, Mama, Uncle Frankie, Uncle Yuri, Auntie Fiona, and that nice lieutenant soldier guy... they're all gone, aren't they?" Anya said in absolute despair. She looked up, not even caring anymore.

"Poor girl, having to see your entire family die before you. I guess I shall finish the job," the man said, cocking his fist. When he brought it down...

(End of Bond's vision)

Bon woke up, the poor boy shaken and sweating despite the daylight. It must have been one of his visions. He knew he had to warn them; he loved his family and didn't want them to meet that fate. Bond quickly left his room and tried to open the locked door. Failing to find another way out, he had no choice but to break it down. He started ramming his head against the door until it finally gave way, and with all four of his paws, he ran out of their apartment.

Once outside the apartment complex, he had no idea how to get to the facility. He tried to remember Anya talking about it, mentioning a facility and a friendship scheme. She did say the address, and Bond had a good memory. He quickly recalled it and knew where to go. Bond was determined to save his family from that fate by any means necessary.

(End of flashback)

Damian's POV

Damien woke up to the sound of Rick talking on a radio device. He shook his head, still feeling tired, but quickly remembered where he was and what had happened. Springing up to attention, he saw Rick holding the device, speaking urgently. "Listen, whoever you are, I'm pretty concerned right now. What's happening out there? Okay, I got two children I'm trying to protect over here," Rick said, his voice shaking with every breath.

Damien looked over at Anya, who was still sleeping. He smiled but knew he had to wake her up. He started shaking her. "Why do I always have to do this with you?" Damien thought to himself. He had to do this two times already, the first time when they were in that trash alley, and now in a tank, which was now safer. He smiled when Anya opened her eyes. "Is that you, Wolverine boy?" Damien smiled when he heard his nickname coming from her voice. "Finally, you're awake, Forger. What happened?" Anya asked, looking around her surroundings.

"We're in a tank, and we're being chased by the Dead, so we're not out of the woods yet," Damien said, shaking himself. Anya was taking the news very well; he was surprised. She was getting a little woozy, but she didn't try to show it.

Rick finished talking on the radio and looked at Damien and Anya. "Okay, you two, are you guys good at running?" Rick said, holding up his Ruger pistol, making sure it was loaded. Damien gulped when he saw that. "Are you sure it's safe for us to go up there?" Damien asked, not quite sure if this was a good idea or not.

"Trust me, Damien. I wish there was another option, but there isn't. Would you be a kind boy and grab that shovel over there?" Rick said, smiling. Damien, without giving it a second thought, went over to the emergency shovel and quickly gave it to Rick. He looked over at the hatch that would lead them to chaos. "I'm going to run out?" Anya asked, not quite sure what they were going to do.

"Yeah, that's exactly what we're going to do. You two are okay to run, right?" Rick wanted to check. Both Anya and Damien nodded. "Okay, let's do this. Keep close to me. I'll try to protect you guys the best I can, but I need you guys to stay close," Rick urged, the plan understood by both Anya and himself, who nodded. Before they left, Damien noticed Rick had a grenade on his belt.

Rick POV

Rick quickly lifted the hatch, making sure Anya and Damien were behind him. He started looking around, seeing many of those undead things around them. One of them climbed up the tank and tried to slash him, but Rick was faster. He grabbed his small makeshift shovel and sliced the walker's lip, then kicked it off. He quickly helped Damien and Anya onto the tank. Rick knew he had to be on his A-game for their sake. He grabbed Damien's hand, which in turn, Damien grabbed Anya's hand, and they quickly went down the tank. With his left arm holding the Ruger, he made sure to shoot as many walkers as came their way.

As they were going down the street, Rick heard a gate door open and immediately pointed his gun at whatever it was. He was about to pull the trigger, but he saw it was a live human boy of Asian descent, wearing a baseball cap and baseball gear. Afraid, he said, "I'm not dead! Come on, come on," urging them to move. Rick made sure there was no other threat behind them, but of course, there were. He made sure Anya and Damien were in front of him so they wouldn't get attacked from behind.

They went through a side alley and came to a ladder. Rick shot at the walkers to slow them down. They were closing in, and Rick had to make sure they all got onto the ladder. Damien was the last one to get onto the ladder before himself. He quickly grabbed the ladder and started climbing. He was then grabbed, and he thought he was going to get pulled down, but he was able to pull his leg free. They were now all on the roof of one of the buildings, panting.

"Nice moves, Clint Eastwood," the stranger said, panting. "Does the sheriff plan to clean the town?" he added. "That wasn't really my intention," Rick said, defending himself. "Whatever he ha... You're still a dumbass," the stranger said, dismissing Rick's defenses. "I'm Rick," he held out his hand for the strange man. "Glenn, you're welcome. And these two kids, Damien and Anya," Rick added.

"I can't believe we actually did that, holy s***, and with these kids as well. I surely thought we would die there," Glenn said, happy that everyone made it out alright. "Oh guys, I think they're starting to climb up the ladder," Damien said, unnerved, making Anya tremble in fear. "Well then, let's go then," Rick urged.

Anya's POV

Anya was overwhelmed by her mind-reading powers. She thought they were a blessing, but in high crowds, it was a curse. She kept hearing the voices of suffering and help. That's why she was shaking, feeling the absolute pain from all the groups of undead people. They were suffering inside. She wanted to cry, but she knew she had to stay strong. She was also nervous about walking on the side of this building, but she pushed it down for now.

"Are you the one hunkering out?" Rick asked. Glenn shook his head. "Somebody did, I guess, when the city was getting overrun. Someone was thinking these geeks probably wouldn't get through," Glenn said. Anya was trying to keep up, but it was pretty hard. That's when she saw a sort of trapdoor thing. She wasn't sure if they should go in there, but she guessed she didn't have a choice at this point. She looked over towards Damien and was surprised by how cool he had been since she woke up. She couldn't quite remember how they knew each other or what they had done together, but she remembered that she had a nickname for him. She also remembered that she was adopted by a WestAllis spy. Other than that, she wasn't quite sure how she got here or what was going on.

"Why did you stick your neck out for us?" Rick asked, grateful to the kid. "A foolish, naive hope. If I'm ever in deep s***, I would want somebody to do that for me, right?" Glenn said, looking up at Rick Anya, and Damien, giving both of them a smile. "I guess that makes me a bigger dumbass," he then added.

They then went down the ladder. Rick urged her and Damien to go down first. Damien went down first, then she followed. Glenn and Damien led them through an abandoned office building. Anya just needed to follow. She hoped that Rick was behind her. Glenn held out the door for her and Damien, as well as Rick. They start running downstairs, and Anya sees Glenn holding a radio. "I'm back. I got multiple guests with me, plus 4 geeks in the alley," Glenn said into the radio. Only Anya wasn't sure why they abruptly stopped when she looked over them when they got down the stairs. She knew why.

Damien's POV

Damien was nervous when he saw two of those things, and this dude Glenn was also afraid but looked like he was standing his ground, so Damien did the same. He needed to find something like a weapon. Then two heavily armored guys, carrying wooden 2x4s, ran over towards the two walkers and started slamming the pieces of wood onto their heads, destroying them. "Let's go," Glenn said, running towards the open door as the two armored guys beat down the two geeks.

Without any warning, when Rick came through the door, a woman with blonde hair grabbed him and pointed a gun at his face. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" Damien said, clearly shocked. Anya was also concerned. "Andrea, calm the f*** down," a man with curly hair, one of the armored guys, said, also not liking this. "Or pull the trigger, I don't care," the man said, getting into her face, which made her lower the gun. "We're dead, we're all dead," she said, giving up at this point, making Damian as well as Anya, Rick, and Glenn.

"Because of you, Andrea," said looking at Rick with pure hatred. "I don't understand," Rick said in disbelief. Damian also couldn't understand. "What in the f*** is the problem here?" Damian said, clearly frustrated at this point.

That's when everyone noticed both Anya and Damien, which made Damian pretty uncomfortable, but he made sure to protect Anya. He still didn't know why he did it, but he did it. "And you drag these four kids," Andrea said, even more mad at Rick.

"What are you talking about, lady? He wasn't involved in this. He was helping us," Damian defended Rick. "Enough," he pushed Rick forward out of the back room of this clothing store. "Look, we go into the city to go and scavenge for supplies. We can't have you going and shooting around, attracting all of these guys," the curly-haired man said, pointing at the glass door where a bunch of those things were pounding on them. "One of them's even using a rock."

"S***," Rick muttered to himself. Damian understood it now. "You're more attracting more of them, but you're putting people at risk," Anya clung to Damian more than before.

"Why in the hell were you even out there in the first place?" Andrea asked, calming down. "I found these kids like 20 minutes ago, and then I saw a helicopter, and I tried to follow it. Then a big herd of those things came out, and now I'm here with these guys," he gestured towards Anya and himself.

"Are you f****** serious? There is no f****** helicopter. Are you crazy or something? And you also dragged those two kids along," an African American man said, not liking Rick at all.

"This might sound bad, I know, but you have to believe me. There wasn't a helicopter," Rick pleaded his case. "Maybe it was just a hallucination," an African American woman said.

"I know what I saw and heard," Rick simply said. "Yeah, it's true," Anya said cutely. "Hey, T-Dog, can you check the CB so we can contact the others?" the curly-haired man said. T-Dog checked the radio, got nothing, and simply said, "A refugee center?" Rick asked, hope in his voice.

"Yeah, there are many of us," the African American girl said. It also gave Damian hope as well. If they could just get there, maybe they'd be okay.

"You okay, Sy-on boy?" Anya asked, concerned. "I'll... I'll be fine," Damien just said before Anya could say anything else. They heard a gunshot ringing outside. "S***, is that Dixon?" the girl said in disbelief. Rick turned towards Damien and Anya. He pointed at them. "You two stay here. I'll be back in a second," Rick ordered. Damien decided to abide by his wishes. He watched all of the adults leave. They'll probably do if this Dixon guy...

Rick's POV

Rick dashed out of a stairwell, a sensation he hadn't experienced in a long time. The last instance was, well, he couldn't quite pinpoint. It could have been a week, maybe years since he lay in that hospital bed. Once this situation was resolved, he'd likely inquire about the duration. At least it would provide a timeframe in case his family was still out there.

Reaching the roof, Rick spotted a white man grappling with a rifle, seemingly fighting off a dog biting at his pant leg. "Get off me, you stupid mutt!" the man exclaimed, trying to shake the dog loose. "Dixon, are you crazy?" a curly-haired man nearby scolded as he approached. "You should show more respect when speaking to a man with a gun."

Dixon, still grappling with the dog, playfully aimed his rifle, causing everyone else to tense up. "I should point firearms like that; someone could get killed," the curly-haired man warned. "You need to stop this now."

The curly-haired man then jumped down from the light post where she was perched. "That's more like it, don't you think?" Dixon chuckled. "You're wasting precious bullets that we don't even have," T-Dog pointed out, gesturing toward the man with the rifle.

"Let's go confront this man too," Rick suggested, but as he did, the dog approached him, sniffing him curiously. "Not right now, boy," Rick tried to dismiss the dog, but it began pouncing on him, licking his face.

"This is not the time to play, man," Glenn remarked. "That's not what I had in mind," Rick said, feeling a sense of déjà vu. "You're sending this dog right towards us; you're even worse than this guy," T-Dog teased, pointing at Rick, though it didn't seem great to the rest of the group, as it appeared he was playing with a dog.

"On second thought, maybe not," T-Dog added after seeing the situation. "It's bad enough that I've got this taco bender on my ass every day," Dixon complained, trying to defend himself. "Now I'm going to take orders from you?" he said, getting into T-Dog's face.

Rick managed to get the dog off him. "Stay here, boy. I'm going to deal with this. Is your snout okay?" The dog nodded in understanding. "Good boy," Rick praised, before getting closer to the Dixon and T-Dog conflict.

"I don't think so; that'll be the day," Dixon said, his tone carrying underlying hostility. Rick did not like that, not at all, and neither did anyone else. It was clear they did not appreciate this man.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" T-Dog asked, confused but also sensing the underlying meaning. "T-Dog, wait. Just leave it, man," the curly-haired man tried to diffuse the situation.

"No, what does this man mean? I want to know what he means by that," T-Dog demanded, already sensing the answer but wanting Dixon to say it out loud.

"Merle, just relax," the curly-haired man said, trying to calm Dixon, now known as Merle, but even that didn't work. "We've got enough trouble as it is," he continued before being cut off.

"I'll tell you what, today is the day when I take orders from a n*****," Merle spat, dodging a punch from T-Dog and hitting him with the butt of his gun. Everyone tried to restrain the two, but it was difficult. Rick attempted to grab Merle, but he was punched in the face, causing him to trip over some pipes.

The dog, seeing Merle's aggression, started biting Merle's arm, causing him to yell in pain. "Get this crazy dog off me!" Merle shouted, trying to shake off the dog. He kicked the dog away and began beating it. "This is what you get, you mutt!" Merle yelled as he continued to beat the poor dog.

Rick, momentarily dazed from the punch, could swear he saw a flash of pink in his peripheral vision. "No, don't hurt him," he heard Anya say. That's when everything came back into focus.

Rick sprang back into action, running towards Merle and delivering a powerful kick to his face. Merle staggered, but before he could react, Rick punched him in the groin, followed by a series of punches to the face. Quickly, Rick retrieved handcuffs from his belt and secured Merle to a nearby pipe, delivering another kick to his stomach.

"Who in the hell are you, man?" Merle groaned.

"I'm Officer Friendly," Rick simply replied, grabbing his Ruger, which now had one bullet left (or there used to be two, but he made sure to get rid of the used one). "Listen, Merle, I'm not a fan of animal cruelty, and the world's different now. I don't need to abide by any laws like we used to. I could just kill you right here and not face any consequences. Is that what you want?" Rick threatened.

Monroe could understand what Rick was saying. "There are no more n***** anymore. There is no purebred white trash anymore. There's just dark meat and white meat, that's it," Rick said, pointing his gun at Merle's head.

"Screw you, man, Merle spat, not wanting to hear what Rick was saying.

"It's us and the dead. We need to stick together, not apart," Rick said, trying to reason with him.

"Is that what you think? Mister, I abuse my power?" Merle retorted, showing no trust in Rick. "I guess you don't get the point. I guess that's fine. You don't have to. We could just leave you on this roof. I don't care if you're a racist bastard, or I could just kill you right here, and none of us on this roof would say a single word," Rick stated, looking over at everyone, signaling that whatever happened there would stay on the roof. Everyone understood.

"So, Merle, are you going to help us get out of here, or are you going to die up here? Because I feel like I have a little bit of a trigger finger," Rick warned, placing his finger on the trigger for emphasis.

"You're crazy, man," Merle said, conceding. "It turns out a crazy person helps people survive more than a sane person, don't you think?" Rick said, waiting for Merle's answer.

"Fine, I'll help, and I won't be a problem," Merle grumbled, realizing it was the best decision.

"That's a good decision," Rick said, pulling out the keys and uncuffing Merle. Merle immediately got up. "The only reason I'm doing this is because I have a brother back at that camp. If he wasn't there, we'd all be dead, you hear me?" Merle yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, sure you will," Rick dismissed Merle's threat for now.

Rick then noticed Anya hugging the dog, Bond, as if they knew each other. Now that he thought about it, the dog's name was Bond. Maybe she did know the dog, or maybe it was just a stroke of luck. He didn't know.

"I'm so happy to see you, Bond," Anya said, and the dog gave her a lick. "It was so scary. Horses are everywhere," she whispered in the last part. Bond immediately understood what she was saying and gave her a few comforting licks, nuzzling her with his nose. She then lifted herself onto his back and drifted to sleep. It was the cutest thing Rick had ever seen, and the rest of the group seemed to agree, except for Merle. If he did, he didn't show it.

Rick then walked towards the other side of the roof, followed by the curly-haired man. Rick's left hand couldn't stop shaking. It took so much willpower for him to not feel fear. He always did this when he was going towards a raid or dealing with a robbery; he always shoved down all of his fear, every emotion that would get in the way. It was a useful skill here, he found out, but the after-effects were his arm, specifically his left arm, shaking. The curly-haired man noticed this and gave a questioning look.

"You're not Atlanta PD," the curly-haired man observed.

"I was ten miles up the road from some little town you probably never heard of," Rick simply replied.

"Well, Rick, welcome to the big city," the curly-haired man said, introducing himself. "Also, my name is Morales. It's nice to meet you, Morales. I'm Rick Grimes," Rick introduced himself. They both shook hands, but Rick couldn't help but look down the building and see the horde of walkers. Rick knew it was going to be difficult to get everyone out of there, but he thought he was up to the task. He always was.

Damian's POV

Damien finally reached the roof and saw a curious sight: Anya snuggling with a dog. The dog looked familiar, and then it dawned on him—it was his dog named Bond. She always kept going on about him. Damien had a sad memory of his dog, Max. Where was he in all of this? He guessed he'd never know. He went over to Anya, upset but glad she was okay.

"At the end of the day, you shouldn't rush like that. Who knows what could happen to you?" Damien said, concerned.

"Sorry, Damien. I thought I could help. I just can't sit around and do nothing," Anya said honestly.

Damien decided to listen to what the adults were planning to do to escape the city. He wanted to get out of the city as fast as possible, so he listened intently, not wanting to get any details wrong.

"My God, it's like Town Square down there," Andrea said in disbelief.

Damien went over to the ledge and saw there were thousands of walkers. The only reason they were alive was that they were up there and not down there. Damien was now really worried. He didn't know how they would even get out of this. There were too many. It looked like a death sentence.

Morales and Rick returned to where the rest of the group was gathered. "Got any hopes on that signal?" Morales asked.

"Morales asked. 'The tension between them is like Dixon's brain," T-Dog remarked, the strain evident in his voice.

Damien was confused as to why those two in particular were angry with each other. There was something that he was missing. "I'll tell you what happened later," Anya whispered. "Tomorrow," she added, flipping off T-Dog without saying a word. Morales just gave a sidelong glance, as if to say, "Keep trying," before adding, "Why? There's nothing they can do," the African American woman said, being more realistic, which Damien had to agree with.

Whoever this other group was, it sounded like there weren't many of them, and he seriously doubted they had as many people as were down there. So, the most logical option was that they were on their own. Damien started to have a small panic attack; he couldn't breathe, and the stress was getting to him.

Anya noticed this and tried to find out what was wrong. "Damien, what's wrong?" she asked, not realizing the severity of the situation.

"I can't breathe," he managed to muster before dropping to his knees. Anya tried to rub Damien's back, but it seemed to not work. "Rick, something's happening with Damien," Anya called out.

Rick ran towards the two. "What's wrong?" he asked, seeing Damien on the ground.

Damien tried to look up; he could only see blurs, and the voices were muffled. "Damien, I need you to calm down. Take deep breaths in and out," Rick urged. "Yes, do what Rick says," the African American woman said. "Breathe in and out, in and out."

Damien did as he was told, and his hearing started coming back, as well as his vision. Just breathing was under control, but he was sweating. "What happened to me?" Damien gasped.

"You had a panic attack, boy. Come here," the African American woman said, hugging Damien. He had never felt anything like this. It had been such a long time since he had been hugged by anyone. It felt good.

"Is everything better?" she asked, trying to assess Damien's status.

"I think I'm good. I just need time to sit down and think," Damien said, trying to get up, but his legs felt like jelly. "Can you help Damien go and sit down over there?" Rick pointed to a couple of pipes where Merle was once cuffed. Anya nodded. "Come on, let's go," she said.

Damien was about to retort, but he decided not to. He felt way too tired to even try to fight with Anya or anyone.

Bonds POV

Bond also joined Damien and Anya, sensing Damien's distress. He knew who Damien was; Anya talked about him a lot. Bond couldn't help but overhear the humans' plan. His hearing was way more enhanced, so he was able to hear from where they were and transmit their plan to Anya. That's what Bond believed, at least.

"How could we forget about those two kids? Who knows how they're coping with this? If one of them collapses, they won't be able to handle any more stress. We need to get out of here quickly," Rick urged, and everyone else agreed.

"Good luck with that. How do you guys think we're going to be able to get out of the city? If you guys haven't seen, those roads are filled with those dead things, and I don't think we can all fight them off," T-Dog said, pulling out the downsides of their situation.

"As much as I would like to discredit this man, he is unfortunately right. We'll need to figure out a smarter way to get out of here. There must be some tactic or solution that we're just not thinking of," Rick said, drawing blanks on what to do at this point.

"What about the sewers, like the underground roads?" Glenn suggested. Everyone was just speechless; that was the solution they were looking for. It could be their only best bet.

"At this point, Glenn, can you go into the alleys and see if there are any manhole covers?" Morales ordered. Glenn, hearing his orders, immediately started running towards the other end of the building. He looked over and then came back, saying, "No, it must be in the main streets where the Geeks are," with disappointment in his voice.

"Maybe not. These old buildings, built in the twenties, often had drainage sewers built in, just in case of flooding. Down in the sub-basins," she explained.

"How do you know all that?" Glenn said, surprised.

"It was my job, or it used to be. Cities underground office," the African American woman said, giving everyone hope.

Bond wasn't sure if any of this information was useful, but he hoped it would help them make a good decision. It's all he could do other than bite things, which, according to this situation, isn't a good thing.

Anya POV

Anya felt like she could do more to help. Everyone else was figuring out a way for them to get out of the city, and she was just staying around. But she knew she had to care for Damien; it was the least she could do. She was still quite unsure why she was so attached to Damien or why she had a fixation with him, but having Bond here at least gave her some comfort. Then maybe everything would be okay, which she didn't quite know why she knew, but she couldn't remember. She wasn't even sure what she was trying to remember, but she felt like something was missing like more pieces were going to be uncomfortable shortly.

"Hey, I'm Damien," Anya asked, getting the boy's attention. He was just curled up into a ball, as lost as she was, probably.

"Yeah, Anya, what is it?" Damien said, looking up at the pink-haired girl.

"Are you okay?" she asked, trying to say something else, but that just came out first.

Damien thought about his answer for a moment. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Just worry about yourself for now," Damien dismissed Anya's worries, which made her even more concerned. She decided to drop it for now and put more attention on Merle and T-Dog, who were just sitting around. Merle was annoyed, looking below at the city and the sea of corpses.

"What do you want me to say, man?" T-Dog said, giving Merle a disappointed look. Merle just chuckled to himself, and they stayed silent.

Anya tried to read their minds and see what they truly thought, which was confusing to her. She could easily control it now; she could only remember that it would just wander to hear everyone's thoughts, but now she was able to single out people that she wanted thoughts from. It was like second nature to her now.

"Stupid n*****. If I wasn't so winded, I would go and throw myself off this roof," Merle thought to himself, chuckling. She was disgusted with Merle's mind, so she switched to T-Dog's mind.

"All this, me and Merle can agree on one thing: why do I get babysitting duty? I want to help, not be sitting here," T-Dog thought. Maybe on second thought, she shouldn't read their minds. She decided to occupy herself by grabbing Bond's fur and starting to make it come apart and then put it back together, hoping everything goes okay and they're able to figure it out because, at this rate, she doesn't know how much stuff she can take, and she's also getting hungry too.

Damian's POV

Damien saw the rest of the group come back looking disappointed as well as more hectic than before. All of them started using binoculars to look over the ledge. Damien decided he needed to help this time; he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. If there was anything he could do, he would do it.

"At the construction site, we could use those trucks. They keep the keys on hand, so we won't have any problems trying to hotwire it or find the keys. It's probably in the ignition," Rick explained.

"We'll never make it past the walkers," Morales said, being realistic.

"You got me out of that," Rick said to Glenn. "They were feeding, and they were distracted." Glenn tried to argue, and then Rick said, "We'll distract them again. It's that simple."

"You know what, Officer Friendly, you actually have a good idea for once. I'm with you," Merle said, smiling at the officer.

Damien didn't know what to think, but he hoped this guy would be useful for them in getting out of there. And if they even thought about it, why couldn't they just distract them? They just needed to figure out how to distract them. It's not like they could throw someone down and have the walkers eat them. Damien shook his dark thoughts away. It's not right, Damian, you're dumb, he chastised himself.

"They are driven by sound, right?" Rick verified before he explained his idea.

"Yeah, they are, but what are you getting at here, Rick?" Glenn asked, not sure where Rick was going with this.

"They can hear, also smell you, and then they catch you and then eat you," Morales said.

"Yeah, smell. Wait, that's it. We'll need to smell like them," Rick said, his idea foolproof. Everyone just gave Rick a weird look. Damien thought this dude was crazy. Anya looked interested in that idea.

"So, we just need to smell like them. That seems pretty simple. Plus, I don't see any of you guys having any ideas," Anya said, speaking the truth. Everyone gradually had to agree with that. It kind of made Damien smirk a little bit. Anya had to always be the smartass.

"Damn, kid, how old are you?" Merle asked. Everyone was looking at him weirdly. "What, that was all on our minds, isn't it?"

Anya was nervous when that question was brought up. "I'm five years old," she said timidly.

Damien was shocked. He thought Anya was his age, six years old, but immediately kept that to himself. "And plus, it doesn't matter at this point," he thought.

"Damn, for a 5-year-old, you're a pretty intelligent kid," Morales said, pulling out his fist for a fist bump. Anya just gave a confused look.

"I don't want to pull your finger, man. That's just gross," Anya said. "That wasn't really what I had in mind, kid. I was giving you a fist bump," Morales clarified.

"Oh, that's just the case. Okay," Anya said, giving him a fist bump. Merle didn't register it. "What the f*** just happened?" he muttered to himself.

Damien couldn't help but chuckle. He looked at Rick, who had this interesting expression on his face like he had a great idea or a severely worse idea.

Bonds POV

Bond always liked it when Anya sat on his back; it made him feel special in a way. He wasn't quite sure why the humans were grabbing gloves, some heavy coats, and other covering things that said something about gutting guts. When Bond thought about it, he got a strange idea that it would be him, but he merely shook that thought. Anya would not let that happen.

Bond was also really unnerved by those corpses banging on the glass. "If bad ideas were awarded with gold medals, this one would get the shiniest one," Glenn said.

"Until this belief of what they're going to do, Rick grabbed some gloves. He then ran over towards another clothing rack. It would look like he was fighting like a large sort of raincoat, as well as some rain pants. 'Come on, man, think this through. You don't know if this will entirely work. If you go out there, it'll be a death sentence for all of us,' Morales said."

Bond could feel Anya grabbing his hair tightly. When she did that, it's when she got nervous, and bonding like when Anya was nervous made him nervous, and nothing comes good when you're nervous.

"Well, Morales, we have no choice. If we're going to get out of here, then this is our only option. Unless you want to go and try to kill all those things, which I will tell you will not succeed. Plus, you're not the one who's going to do it; it's going to be me and Glenn that does it," Rick said, not even slowing down as he was speaking to Morales.

"Wait a minute, I didn't agree to this," Glenn said, disbelief evident. "You know the city better than me; you're going to be my guy. End of story," Rick said. Glenn just slumped, and he groaned. Rick gave him a pair of clothes. "Why do I think I made a big mistake coming into Atlanta," Glenn whispered under his breath.

Bond didn't even flinch when Rick and Morales quickly went out the batter, and one wasn't planning on moving. "Come on, Bond, let's follow them," Anya urged. Bond had to move; he knew what to do. He witnessed Rick and Morales quickly run out into the nearby parking lot, and they quickly saw the two bodies of walkers. They dragged them into the building, bringing the walkers to the middle of the floor.

Rick quickly ran towards a fire ax case and with a crowbar, he slammed the glass, shattering it, and grabbing the ax. Bond couldn't understand what he was going to use that ax for, but he assumed it would be used for that body or something. Everyone now in the sort of lab coat got up, which gave Bond bad memories, but he ignored them. The humans were acting weird, the main human, the one with the ax, tried to access it, but he decided not to. He then went down and went into his pocket pouches and grabbed a strange bar of chocolate, or it looked brown, could be its feces, but then opened which baffled Bond. "Wayne Dublap, Georgia. License born in 1979," the human named Rick said, looking somber, which confused Bond to no end. He then gave it to his friend with a cap; he just took it, timely not sure what to do with it. Bond was just like humans are weird. He had $28 in his pocket before he died, Rick said, feeling bad at what he was going to do to it. "This man used to be a man, but he's no longer a man anymore." Anya's hand also like scrunched up; it was more in sadness. Bond didn't want Anya to feel sad, but he didn't know what to do. This isn't the situation to do something funny; that's way too serious. Bond was baffled at this point.

"He also had a picture of a pretty girl," Rick finally said after a massive pause of respect. "Okay, drama queens, it's good that we're mourning our fellow man, but can we get this over with? I have a brother that I have to get to, and I don't want to dilly-dally and wait until those things figure out how to break down that final door and flood this place. So, can we move on here?" Merle said, getting frustrated.

"Give us a second," Rick said in a hushed yell. "He used to be just like us, worrying about bills, rent, the Super Bowl. If I ever find my family, I'll tell them about this so he'll be remembered like he should have been," Rick finally said. Bond could feel his head getting wet; he could tell Anya was crying. He couldn't help but cry either; this human died for no reason, and Bond doesn't hate humans; they're pretty funny things too. Give him good buddy rubs, give him treats, and kind words; some of them can be jerks, but those are few between them. He hopes.

"One more thing, he's an organ donor," Glenn spit it out. "Okay, is that even necessary, man?" Damien said, sounding like he was staying silent this entire time. "But that one just sounded all over the place. Sorry, Glenn," just said apologetically.

Rick finally put the ax down and sliced its upper abdomen and went towards its groin, and it stopped. The odor was like Bond had to run away; he couldn't take it. The odor was just too bad. "Bond, where are you going?" Anya yelled. He then fell on you; and got off, but you didn't stop. He went towards the other side of the room; he'll lie down next year near the counter because, to be honest, she just wanted to get some sleep, and before you knew it, he went to sleep.

Anya's POV

Anya knew why Bond ran away; it was because of the smell. She couldn't entirely know for sure, but knowing how sensitive dog noses are, he could probably smell that miles away. Anya couldn't help but be disgusted as well as horrified as Rick was hacking through this walker and half, and the smell didn't help either. She held herself together; the person who wasn't holding themselves together was Damien, as he threw up on the ground and then ran out. But then he immediately stopped and turned back, and Anya watched him, void of any emotion. It was kind of scary to her, and nobody else seemed to notice.

Rick handed a large plastic mask to Morales. "Make sure you don't get any of that stuff on your skin or any orifice on your face. We don't know what it could do; maybe that's all that's needed to turn into one of them. We just don't know, so be cautious," Rick warned. Anya felt bile coming up through her mouth, but she pushed it down; she didn't want to throw up. She wanted to look strong, and if Damien can't be strong, then she'll have to be.

All the adults were grabbing the guts, and they started rubbing it on Glenn and Rick's clothes. Anya knew that she didn't need to do this; she just watched it. Even just watching made her feel sick, but she made it look like it didn't affect her at all, or she was trying to. The smell was terrible. Glenn whined, almost done, covered head to toe with it. "Try to think of something else, puppies and kittens," Rick suggested.

"Dead puppies and kittens," T-Dog said, not meaning to say that out loud. The thing that T-Dog said made Glenn throw up on the ground, which disgusted Anya. Seeing the throw-up, she took a few steps back; instinctively, she didn't think they had this much meat in them. Is that what's inside of them? Anya thought, touching her stomach in horror.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Andrea?" yelled, upset about T-Dog's choice of words. "Next time, let the cracker be his ass," the African-American woman said. "I wouldn't say no to that one," Merle said, looking amused at everyone's gross expressions. "What's up with you? It's like you have seen this before," T-Dog said, disliking the man even more.

"Me and my brother were hunters; we disemboweled animals all the time to get their meat, their fur, sell it on the market. That sort of just the only difference between this situation and all the other situations I have hunted in is that there are more people, there's still the blind guts," Merle said, smiling in amusement.

There was an awkward pause for a moment, but as that pause began to quickly end like Merle never said anything, they just ignored him. "Sorry, it just came out," T-Dog apologized. "Oh man, this is so gross. Hopefully, this doesn't get on my good clothes, 'cause I'm not even sure how I'm going to get this out if it does get on my clothes," Glenn said, shaky breaths as he was speaking. They were finally done, covering both Rick and Glenn.

"Do we smell like them?" Rick asked. Everyone just nodded in response. Anya heard each other's thoughts, and they were visibly just words of worry and praying that Rick and Glenn would be safe. Morales was thinking about something else, skinning the rabbit, which made Anya disgusted but also interested at the same time. "So that's where food comes from, that's interesting," Anya thought to herself. Onya snapped out of her thoughts when Andrea gave Glen her gun, just in case he needed it.

Rick picked up the ax again. "You know what we need? Guts," Rick slammed down the ax again. Anya wanted to look into Rick's mind and see what his thought process was, and also it helped her not think about the smell or how gross this was. It has to work; if it doesn't, Glenn will be dead, and it's only a matter of time before those walkers break down the glass door, and that would mean everyone would die in here. So this has to work; it just has to. Rick thought.

Anya felt inspired; she felt like he could do it. She didn't know why she felt that way, but she just felt that way. She was confident; that Rick could pull it off. She hoped her memories would come back soon because she wanted to know who that man was, as well as why she felt so fixated on Damien. She knows Bond's name, too. Just some random dog, but it just felt so natural, and for some reason, it made Anya smile.

Damien's POV

reaction to the gruesome scene unfolding before him. He breathed mechanically, devoid of any emotion, as he watched the corpse being sliced apart, its organs spilled out, and the others rubbing themselves with the guts. It was a surreal and horrifying sight, but Damien remained stoic, showing no fear, happiness, or any other emotion. He was like a machine, simply observing without any Damien couldn't muster the energy to try to discredit what they were doing; to be honest, it was probably their best shot at this point. He wondered why it always seemed to fall on him to deal with difficult situations. He always craved his parents' attention, especially his father's, but now he didn't even know where his father was. Alone and uncertain if he would ever survive this ordeal, Damien was lost in his thoughts.

He was snapped out of his reverie when everyone started running out of the clothing store, and Damien instinctively ran with them, unsure why they were running in the first place. The only things on his mind were his father and Anya. He wasn't sure why he had these feelings for her; it always baffled him. Even as he climbed the stairs, lost in deep thought, he didn't trip once. Did he have a crush? Would it just go away, or was this something that would stay with him for the rest of his life? He just didn't know. He hoped he would find out in the future. Hopefully, his future self would look back at this moment and laugh, maybe with her or maybe not, but confident that they would get through this, as well as all the trials that would come ahead.

They were now on the roof, and Damien saw the clouds starting to get dark. He remembered something his mother had told him, which was a rare occasion. When the clouds are the darkest, like smoke clouds, that means it's going to rain. And if it's going to rain, then that must mean...

Damien was shocked as the revelation came to him. He's not worried for Rick; all of his emotions come back like a tidal wave. It wasn't as bad as his panic attack; he was able to do the breathing exercises that the nice woman had taught him. But he still felt nervous for Rick, as well as Glenn, he thought his name was. He better get better with his names, because he's going to be with these people for a while; he just knows it.

Damien also noticed T-Dog on the radio, speaking with someone. Maybe it was from that camp. If that's the case, then Damien hopes their prayers have been answered. So he listened intently and got closer; this could be life or death. He wasn't sure which one it would be; they hoped it was more like living than death. But unfortunately, it was only garbled speech; the radio was too broken up.

"Damn, why can't we not get a signal?" both Damien and T-Dog said, surprising the group, as well as the two people who said the same thing twice. Anya just chuckled, "Hey, let me see those binoculars," Anya said, grabbing them out of paralysis hands. "I think I see them; they're close. They're close to the truck. I'm pretty sure that's their objective, right?" Anya asked.

Morales scratched his head and looked down to the floor in contemplation. "Yeah, it should be. And you said you were able to see them? Good eye, kid," Morales praised, which made Anya have a big, two-feet smile.

"What have I told you guys? This girl has some potential to be a good sharpshooter. I see the potential when I see it. When my brother was your age, little girl, he had the same keen sight that you did, but he was a little older than you are, maybe like six to ten. Probably you are five years old, right?" Merle praised and questioned Anya, which made the little girl blush. She always loved praise; she excitedly wanted to answer.

"Yeah, I'm five years old. And you better believe it!" Anya yelled to the sky in absolute joy. Damien was shocked as well as happy. How could Merle tell that she was five years old? He couldn't even tell if she was five years old, and he knew her moves to the semester when they were in Eden. It did baffle him.

But something that dampened the mood severely, as well as got him out of his thoughts immediately, Damien felt something wet drop on his head. It didn't happen again; it was just a single drop, but it was enough to catch Damien's attention. He looked up at the darkening sky, realizing what it meant: rain was coming. The revelation brought a mix of emotions flooding back to him. He wasn't just worried for Rick and Glenn; he was terrified. His emotions surged like a tidal wave, though not as overwhelming as his previous panic attack. Remembering the breathing exercises his mother had taught him, Damien managed to regain some composure, though nervousness still gnawed at him.

As the rain started to fall, Damian looked horrified. Anya checked the binoculars again, searching for Rick and Glenn. Damian yelled with urgency in his voice, asking where they were. Anya quickly looked through the binoculars to locate Rick and Glenn.

"Oh man, we're so screwed," Morales muttered under his breath. Everyone started to get worried and afraid.

"Don't worry, everyone, it's just a little cloudburst, nothing to worry about. It will pass quickly," Morales tried to reassure everyone.

"What's a cloudburst?" Anya asked, her eyes still trained on Rick and Glenn.

"It's where heavy rainfall happens during a small period of time," Morales explained briefly.

"So, it's just a really quick shower?" Anya asked, trying to understand.

Damian was shocked that such weather even existed. He had never encountered anything like it but found it fascinating at the same time.

"I think all of our fears are confirmed," Anya said, her voice shaky. She tried to fake it, but Damian could tell she was scared. He also looked through the binoculars, but could only see specks. Anya continued, "They're able to get to the front gate, and they were able to climb it, just narrowly though." Damian could see a white speck, which he assumed was the truck they were trying to get to.

Damian could see the truck moving, and Anya confirmed that it was indeed moving. They were able to get into the truck just in time. It looked like they were leaving them, which made Damian's stomach drop. Luckily, his worries were unwarranted because they were turning back. They were coming to get them, and Damian felt absolute hope brewing through his body. Anya cheered, "I told you they wouldn't leave us! They almost scared me for a second," Merle said, his relief evident as he wiped some sweat off his brow.

"They're also getting another vehicle, and the alarms are going off," Anya said, confused. "One of them is probably going to distract the other walkers from the city so we can have an easy escape route. We need to go, and now! Go, go, go!" Morales yelled, grabbing his bag. Everyone grabbed their stuff, and Anya got on top of Bond. Damian wasn't expecting Bond to also lift him, allowing him to get on the dog's back. He was just confused, but the speed of this dog was immense. No wonder Anya wanted to ride this beast. "Hold on, Damian!" Anya shouted, making sure he held on tight.

After they went down the stairwell, Damian couldn't help but notice the walkers that were outside, banging on the final glass door. It was almost going to break. Damian prayed that Rick or maybe Glenn would come and pick them up. They went to a large garage area. Both Andrea and Morales started pulling the chain, lifting the giant metal garage door. But it wasn't going fast enough, and Damian could have sworn he heard the glass door breaking, which prompted everyone, including Anya, Damian, and Bond, to push the chain. They were able to get it up, and they saw Rick in a truck, beckoning everyone to get in. "Come on, get in quickly!" Rick yelled.

Bond didn't think twice before jumping into the back of the truck. Then Merle, Morales, Andrea, the African American woman, and T-Dog got in. They were all in there, and Damian couldn't help himself. He had to look back, and he saw millions of undead corpses coming towards them. It was horrifying. Rick closed the back door of the truck, and everything went dark.

Anya's POV

Anya was shaking, not in fear or nervousness, but in excitement. She felt that rush, and it felt great, but she knew she had to keep it to herself. She didn't want these kinds of people to think she was weird. She also decided not to tell them about her mind reading, for the same reason. Anya looked over towards Damien and Bond. Damien was deep in thought, while Bond was panting heavily. She lay down next to Bond and softly petted him, trying not to disturb him as he drifted off to sleep. Everyone else was just relieved. Merle gave a wolf howl of victory, "F*** yeah, we did it!" he yelled, raising his right fist to the air. Everyone was in high spirits. To everyone who was concerned, this was a total success. The only person who was missing was Glenn. "Where is Glenn?" Andrea asked, worried for Glenn's safety. "Oh, he's fine. He's probably getting out of the city as we speak," Rick said, smiling. Anya, now content and safe, decided to get some sleep. She knew she would need it, even if it was just for a couple of seconds. She just wanted to close her eyes for a little bit.

author's note

this must be my biggest chapter yet forgive the downward quality if there is any but to me, I feel like I can do way better this is the chapter I'm going to post I hope you guys like this chapter and I'll see you next time. PS read and review. :)