"This town isn't in bad shape," Maggie said. "This store wasn't even touched. We could make a good base here. We could spend one last day doing a sweep for supplies.
I stayed out of the room until this point so I could spend as little time as possible with Abraham. It seemed that he was already trying to control the group, how early we left, and where we went because Maggie was using her nice voice to suggest that maybe as a group with no belongings, we try to scavenge new things.
"We'll sweep as we go," Rosita said for him, even though I heard her trying to talk him out of it. "We've done it since Houston. We're not stopping now."
Abraham nodded silently for a moment before turning to Maggie. "You heard the lady, we're taking it north."
"Broad River is five miles west," Tara said. "At the very least, we stock up there before we find wheels.
Abraham stood up and walked to the window across the room. We got a vehicle. And it just so happens . . . it's got 500 gallons of water on it."
No way.
Abraham walked us as a group out to the fire engine, which had already partly made my day. Fire engines were awesome, which is why I was upset that my past few days had been ruined the way that they had, almost dampening this experience for me.
"About time things started going our way!" Abraham yelled happily.
He got in the truck and started it up. Abraham and Glenn were so happy, exchanging a look as they laughed and Eugene climbed in the seat beside him. He started pulling the truck forward when the truck stopped, and my day was ruined. The smile also fell from Abraham's face.
There was no way I would be allowed to fix it. No way at all. I could tell by the way Isaac was looking at me, that he knew it too. He placed a hand on my shoulder, muttering a quiet 'I'm sorry' which I shrugged off with a 'Whatever'.
"Come on," he hit the steering wheel. "Just once. One damn time."
"We'll find another ride."
"If there was a ride worth a shit in this town, we'd have seen it," Abraham said. "This thing's done some crowd clearing, right up into the intake. Which means we've got an air filter filled with damn human remains."
"I could—"
"Don't," Abraham cut me off, raising a hand as he leaned down to grab a plastic bag off the ground.
I clenched my teeth and turned away when Glenn stopped me from leaving, grabbing my shoulder. "Just let him take this one, okay?"
"Fuck it, I quit," I muttered,
"What?"
"Let him do it from now on," I said aloud so the others could hear, and then quieter. "I quit."
Abraham seemed happy with this, the plastic bag rustling as he placed it around his hand. "There is no damned corner on this damned Earth that has not been dicked hard beyond all damned recognition.
"Intake is on the roof," I told him, without looking back.
I knew already he was trying to clear guts from the radiator on the side because he was huffing and puffing far too close to the rest of us. Fixing the radiator would've probably been a concern if he didn't want this ride so desperately, so wasn't a necessary fix.
When I turned, Abraham was glaring at me. "What happened to quittin'?"
"She's right, though," Rosita said, agreeing with me. "We'll be here all day if you carry on like that."
It both surprised me and didn't when he believed her within a second. I scoffed, turning around to take a few steps away from the group. There were footsteps behind me that I knew was the imminent annoying conversation that I didn't want to have at this point.
"Just stop, for a second," Glenn said. I stopped but didn't turn around. "Ace, I'm not saying quit, okay? Just . . . he hasn't known you for as long as we have. He just needs time to trust you after the bus."
"I shouldn't have to earn his trust, I shouldn't need to be trying to earn yours," I muttered and then said quieter. "I'm sick of this."
Glenn came around in front of me, a confused and concerned look written on his face like he had the night before. He looked back at the others that were waiting for Abraham to "What do you mean?"
"You think he's the first person to speak to me like that?" I questioned, raising a brow. "People used to do that in my dad's garage when they thought I fixed customers' cars. We lost business over it."
It wasn't something Glenn could fully understand, because people relied on him. People relied on me, but there were far fewer questions sent his or Rick's way when they made a point. With me, everything was questioned: are you sure? Is there anyone else that can do it? I'd just prefer a second opinion.
Abraham listened to Rosita and not me because he trusted her, he had to know what she was capable of before accepting her opinion, and if they had first met today then there was probably the chance that he may not have even believed her. Rosita said she struggled with this and went through the same experiences as me, which was why it hurt when she confronted me about leaving it to Abraham yesterday.
"I'm done," I finished.
As I finished my sentence, there was a thump from a stack of tyres in the open doorway of the fire station. My head flicked over when I saw a walker exit the building, taking everyone off guard. Abraham started walking to the group, taking down the first walker that came out of the building.
"Tara!" Glenn called, rushing to help them. "Maggie!"
"One damn time! One damn time!" Abraham said, taking his gun and swinging it at the walkers. Glenn got the second one before he moved to continue hitting the next. The others had no choice but to step in.
"Abraham, just wait!" Rosita yelled.
Maggie moved past me. I didn't want to try anything on my leg, so I just stepped away from them, being blocked from the walkers by Isaac who was ahead of me a few paces.
"There's more from the back!" Glenn yelled. "Ace, Isaac, watch it!"
Turning, I swung the axe around, going around the front of the fire engine when something blared out. The water shot out of the top of the fire engine, covering Isaac who tried getting out of the way of the water before it suddenly slowed to a stop over him.
I could see him glare up to the top of the fire engine, where Eugene was looking very proud of himself for using the hose to take out the group of walkers. I questioned if it was the best idea with our limited water supply. I was just really happy to be one of the only people on the ground left dry, because of my proximity to the wall of the fire engine being a shelter.
"I've been to eight county fairs and one goat rodeo," Abraham said after a moment of silence. "I never seen anything like that."
"There was a Goodwill over there by the bookstore. It's pretty blown up, but there might be some supplies, some dry clothes, maybe?"
"Not necessary," he grabbed another bag that he could take onto the fire engine to fix the truck. "I can clear that intake in two shakes. Then the engine will get some wind and so will we. You'll air-dry. We roll on."
Then he started laughing out of nowhere, his hands on his hips as he stared down at the ground ahead of us. I followed his line of sight when I saw a sign on the ground that said SICK INSIDE, LET THEM DIE.
"What?" Abraham asked, looking at everyone's faces. "This shit is screwed up!"
"Fuck this," I muttered to myself, rolling my eyes as I went to collect my yellow bag from the ground.
Isaac turned to me when I walked to the front of the truck. "Well, I'm not air-drying with stagnant water on me. Wanna take a look at that goodwill?"
I looked around at the group, wondering if anyone had even noticed the offer despite what Abraham had said. No one noticed that we were planning on looting nearby buildings, or they didn't care. I didn't want to stick around to find out, already annoyed with everything that had happened.
Nodding, I followed Isaac who also took a glance at the group before leading me away. We went past the bookstore and around the corner to find the Goodwill door facing a different way.
"What even is a Goodwill?" I questioned as we made it outside the Goodwill. "I've never really worked out what they sell."
"Anything really," Isaac asked. "Like a thrift store."
"Is that like a charity shop?" I raised a brow.
"I don't know what that is," he said.
"Never mind."
As we walked through the doors, I kept my knife in my hand. The building seemed too big to just knock and wait, and we had to be quick to get back to the others either way, so one of us had to be vigilant.
"Towel," Isaac grabbed one from the shelf as we entered the building. "Don't mind if I do."
Used towel? Maybe not. Isaac didn't seem bothered about it, and I'm sure that a used towel would be something to set off his obsessions as he used it. Maybe he was just choosing not to think about it.
"We should check out the clothes," he said. "I should probably have more anyway."
Isaac moved us over to a section that seemed suited to male clothing. He scanned through the hangers, as I did, looking for something for him to change into so he could finish the process of drying off.
When he found a dark navy blue t-shirt, he placed it over the railing to keep track of it and turned behind him to look through the trousers. When he found something he liked, he placed it on the rack between us.
Then Isaac pulled off his jumper and plaid button-up at the same time, leaving himself standing shirtless in front of me, which was around the same time he remembered I was there. "Oh, uh—?"
My cheeks turned red, and I turned so that my back was to him, giving him a chance to get dressed. My hands came up to cover my face as I cleared my throat, hoping to lose some of the red colour by the time he was done.
Isaac shuffled around for only a few seconds before he indicated that he was done and that I could turn back around. "Okay."
He didn't look the same. Isaac had always been in his jumpers or flannels, things that would cover the majority of his arms, probably to keep himself as clean as possible. He was more used to the temperature, he could handle it. But now he just had a plain t-shirt on, a pair of jeans.
It was like he transitioned to living in the apocalypse in a matter of seconds—not that it mattered, he looked good either way. Oh, God. Why did I think that? I clenched my teeth, hoping that I wasn't blushing in front of him again.
"Something wrong with it?" He asked after a moment, probably catching me staring.
I shook my head. "No, it's good."
"Good," he gave a nod, and then something caught his eyes. "Oh."
He walked down the line of rails and pulled off another hanger with a dark grey denim jacket and a lighter grey hoodie.
"I don't know how the hell you can wear a coat in this weather," I told him.
"It just makes me feel better, I guess," Isaac said. "Just another layer to stay clean. I don't have one either way, and it gets a little cold at night."
It made sense, the answer agreed with my assumptions, that he wore the longer layers to keep the dirt off himself so he didn't feel the need to clean compulsively. It made sense, but I would have assumed that maybe he'd sweat more with the coat and jumpers on. Maybe he didn't, everyone else wore the longer t-shirts and layers, and I was the only one that seemed to have an issue with the temperature.
"Wanna see what else we can find around here?" Isaac said. "I think I saw some backpacks over there, we could do with some more stuff like that since it all went up in Terminus."
I frowned, glancing at him. "What about the others?"
"They're not going to leave without us," Isaac said. "And there's like four buildings in this town, so it isn't gonna take long to work out where we are. Besides, I want to make Abraham more pissy than he's already been."
I smiled, shaking my head. "Okay, I guess we can look around then."
After following him over to where he said he saw the backpacks, Isaac grabbed the first brown canvas pack he saw, opening it to check inside before swinging the strap over his back.
"This should be okay. I'll get my stuff back when we're on the road," he told me. "It's a good thing the fire engine didn't get your bag, or my book would be ruined."
"Yeah," I agreed quietly, trying to pay attention to the surroundings.
My eyes remained fixated on the side door as Isaac wandered off, but I tried listening for any other noises. We took precautions at the Big Spot, and this building was only a little smaller than the Big Spot was.
Then I heard him yell out for me. "Woah, look at this!"
"What?" I called back to him.
He was too excited for it to be anything bad.
As I rounded the corner, Isaac threw something at the ground that bounced straight up at me. I struggled to catch it as it landed between my arms, shocked, but managing to get a grip when I realised it was a blue and yellow coloured bouncy ball.
"I haven't seen one of them since I was like, four," he said when I worked out what it was. "Apparently mom got one for me when I was little and it had a picture of a fish and I was worried about it being trapped inside . . ."
I tried to hold in a laugh, but it didn't work. It burst out of me, and I leaned over, covering my face in a weak attempt to make sure he didn't notice. When I saw him raise his eyebrows, I laughed more and balanced with a hand on my good leg.
"Or, you know, a story that isn't so embarrassing," he changed his mind. I went through a mixture of trying to joke about it but not being able to say anything because I had been laughing so much. "Yes, yes, get it out."
"I'm surprised you held a bouncy ball with a fish in it," I said with a grin.
"He was in the glass," Isaac said. "Duh."
"Of course," I realised sarcastically. "It was in the tank!"
Isaac nodded. "Yeah, I wouldn't touch a fish."
"That would be completely unreasonable," I agreed.
I followed Isaac who wandered off to an area of hanging clothes that looked like Halloween costumes. Isaac grabbed a Spiderman mask and held it up to show me. "Think that'll suit me?" He asked, and then cringed. "Pun not intended."
I watched as Isaac considered wearing the mask, but just looked inside for a second and placed it down on the counter. "A spider would have to bite you for that to happen," I reminded him. "Which means the spider would have to be on you."
"That is very true," he agreed, flinging the mask off the table.
"If it's any consolation, I think you'd make a good Spiderman after the bite thing is said and done," I told him. "You know, web swinging and stuff."
"Yeah but then I'd like . . . make the webs . . . in me," he frowned, shaking his head.
"Sometimes Spiderman makes his webs." I gasped, "Can I make the webs?"
"Are you spiderman?"
"Can you make webs?" I countered.
"Can you?"
"I feel like I'd have a better shot," I nodded.
Isaac smiled and nodded. "I do too."
There was a noise behind us that was more frightening than being in a building with potential unfound walkers. I looked back to see Martinez behind us, staring at us as he blew out a sigh, shaking his head.
"I found them," he called back towards the front door, before looking at us again. "Come on, we're leaving."
The fire engine stopped in the middle of the road when the intake decided to give up on us. It was probably still filled with body parts no matter how well Abraham believed that he cleared it out. Part of me wanted to give him shit that he wasn't able to fix, but in all honesty, I doubted that anyone would be able to reach in and get every scrap of flesh out of the intake. It would give up at some point, and we just had to be ready for that moment.
Isaac sat on the ground in front of me, bouncing the ball into my lap for me to do the same. He blew out a fake impressive whistle when it landed in the gap between his legs, so bored that even this was entertaining enough to keep us occupied. There were no rules to this imaginary game we were playing, which meant that we were always winning.
"Oh, cool!" Tara said. "Can I see it?"
"Sure."
Isaac bounced it her way, but as it landed in Tara's hand, she dropped it and the ball rolled into the grass on the side of the road. Isaac watched where it went for a second before his eyes turned to Tara, who was stumbling over her words.
"Uh, well . . . I guess that's why I don't deserve nice things. I'm sorry guys, I'll find it!" she suggested, moving to squat in the grass. She ran her hand along the top of the grass for a few seconds before Isaac stopped her.
"Don't worry about it," he told her.
"I am—oh, wait! Never mind, I'm not sorry!" She raised her hand with the ball. "Ta-dah!"
After eyeing up the ball with blades of grass and small pieces of dirt visible from where we were sitting, Tara realised the next mistake. She wiped at it with her hand but the small pieces just stuck to the rubber material.
"I'll clean it," she promised.
Glenn walked around with the gun in his hands, keeping watch while Abraham worked. I looked up as he stopped beside me, a frown on his face. Eventually, he frowned and let out a groan. "Whoa, what the hell is that?"
I took a second before I understood what he was talking about, and I almost gagged. I thought maybe the fire engine was finally smelling from all the innards and blood that caked the surface, but this smell was much worse than the vehicle.
"What?" Maggie asked, coming around from the back of the truck.
"Wind's picking up. You're about to smell it," Glenn said.
"What is that?" Maggie exclaimed when it finally reached her nose.
"I don't know what this smell means for my OCD, but I don't think it's good," Isaac said and shook his head as he held back a gag.
Abraham grabbed his gun and stepped out of the truck. "Whatever's making that stench, it ain't nothin' nice. We're not stoppin'."
"Uh, we're stopped," Tara said sarcastically.
We, unfortunately, had to follow the smell down the road to see what the hell was going on down there. I had a guess, but I didn't want to be right about it. When we came over the horizon of the road, I saw it.
"Jesus," Martinez blew out a whistle beside me.
There were thousands of walkers all clustered across two massive fields with a farm in the middle about half a mile away. I couldn't even really make out the exact number, all just forming into blurry blobs from being that far away. My mouth hung open as I stared at them, and I shook my head.
"Fuck," I breathed, waiting for the others to take it in.
Everyone was silent, not sure what to do. Well, it was obvious. We had to go back, either to another road (which is what the others would decide) or back to the church. I doubted anyone would want to go back that far, but I needed to throw the option out so I could know what was happening to the others.
"Let's go," Glenn said, turning to walk past me. I followed him, limping as I stepped onto my bad leg but trying to ignore the pain until we got back to the fire engine.
"Abraham," Rosita called.
Glenn stopped ahead of me, and I did the same, looking back over my shoulder. "Fuck this."
"Abraham, let's get out of here," she asked again.
There was a pause before he looked back over his shoulder, and said, "Hold up."
"We gotta go," Maggie told him.
"No. No, we don't." His voice was the quietest I'd ever heard him. "They can't hear us and they can't see us. Not from here. We're fine."
"Yeah, this is the definition of fine," Tara sarcastically muttered, getting a chuckle from Martinez.
"We need the map," Glenn said. "There's gotta be a detour."
"What about the others?" I asked, worried that they may not know about the herd. "They'll be coming this way."
"It'll be okay," Maggie promised me. "They won't make it down there without seeing them, and they'll probably wind up taking the same detour."
"I'm not doing it," Abraham stopped him. "We detoured and detoured and detoured from Houston to Georgia. I'm not playing that game anymore."
"We are not going through this, okay?" Glenn said. "It isn't gonna happen."
"You got a shitstorm behind door A and a storm of shit behind door B," Abraham said. "If you're lucky, it's walkers or a shot-up truck, or some kid messin' everything up—"
I snapped, "Go fuck yourself—"
"But sooner or later you get cornered," Abraham continued over the top of me. "You wind up stayin' and you wind up killin'. We don't go back. We can't go back."
Glenn stepped over to him, "I'm not talking about going back. Just south a few miles—"
"No," Abraham interrupted him.
"We already hit a full stop 'cause of an air filter compromised by innards," Eugene started, looking at Abraham. "That will happen again."
"Then we'll hit 'em with the hose," he said.
"The tank is empty, Abraham," Rosita sounded exasperated.
Abraham didn't listen. "If we floor it—"
"We still hit them, they still slow us down, and then they stop us," Glenn said.
I'm glad he brought it up because Abraham would not listen to me if I said there was no way the fire engine would be getting through that many walkers. Even if they didn't clog the intake like the engine was already suffering, the broken bones could burst the wheel as it had done with me and Rick in Winter.
"I'm not saying we just go straight," Abraham said.
"That's the way the road goes," Maggie argued.
"Yeah, I don't mean to sound like Ace's broken record," Martinez said. "But fuck this. I'm not risking my life going through there so that you can maybe get Eugene to the other side."
"I'm not going that way," Isaac shook his head. "It's not happening."
Abraham stared back at him. "You want a cure?"
"I don't want to be catatonic," Isaac shot back.
"We do want a cure," Tara promised, trying to stop a fight from breaking out. "But I, personally, want to stay alive long enough to see it happen."
"We can get through!" He yelled. "I know it! And that means we are not going south, going around, or going back!"
Rosita shook her head, quietly stopping him. "No," Abraham snapped to look at her, but she shrugged. "They're right."
He nodded, looking out at the distance and when he turned back to the fire engine, I assumed that maybe he was ready to take a detour, that maybe Rosita had convinced him, because if anyone could it was her.
But she couldn't, because as Abraham passed the others he grabbed Eugene by his shoulder, turning him around and then grabbing his arm to walk him back to the fire engine, despite the calls from Glenn or Rosita.
"Hey, Abraham," she called.
"Hey!" Glenn tried to stop him. "Hey!"
"What are you doing? Stop!" Rosita cut across so she was behind him.
"Let go of him!" Glenn said.
We followed him back down the road to where we left the fire engine, as Rosita said, "I'm not gonna let you do this."
"Yes, you are," he said.
"Hey, hey, stop." Tara ran in front of him to place her hand on his chest, but he pushed her away.
Glenn ran over to grab him. "Hey, stop! Hey, you are done! You're done!"
"Do not! Do not!" Abraham pushed his gun sideways against Glenn's chest to push him away.
"Stop!" Rosita yelled.
"I told you, you do not touch me! You do not touch me!"
If I had any strength I would have tried stopping him, because seeing him push Glenn was making my blood boil and I wanted to shoot him there and then. Rosita tried to pull his arm from Glenn, but Abraham pushed them both back, stumbling Glenn into her and making her fall onto the ground.
"Abraham!" she yelled.
My hand was on my gun, but Martinez placed his hand on my shoulder as he passed me, grabbing the front of his shirt while Abraham still had his hold on Eugene. With Glenn, Martinez was able to knock him back a few paces when Eugene started yelling.
"I'm not a scientist! I'm not a scientist!" Eugene yelled over the top of the screaming.
The group fell into silence, all the shouting stopped and Abraham released Eugene with the outburst startling him. Glenn and Martinez both released Abraham and startled him as he looked back with fear in his eyes, his voice quieter now.
"I lied," he said, his lip trembling. "I'm not a scientist. I don't know how to stop it. I'm not a scientist."
The group was stunned, really just unsure of what to say. They hoped that maybe this was the lie, the way of getting Abraham to stop for a second, but it wasn't. There was my broken record, the cure was fake.
"You are a scientist," Rosita said after pushing herself to her feet. "I've seen the things that you can do."
Eugene shook his head. "I just know things."
"You just . . . know things?" Glenn asked, still uncertain.
"I know I'm smarter than most people," Eugene said. "I know I'm a very good liar, and I know I needed to get to DC."
Oh, well then. That just makes everything better, doesn't it? He knew he needed to get to DC so he manipulated dozens of people to keep him alive rather than just learning to kill walkers like the rest of us.
"Why?" Maggie asked, her voice shaking.
Eugene looked over at her. "Because I do believe that locale holds the strongest possibility for survival, and I wanted to survive. If I could cheat some people into taking me there, well, I just reasoned that I'd be doin' them a solid, too, considering the perilous state of the city of Houston, the state of everything."
"Fuck this!" I muttered, turning around and kicking the ground.
I couldn't be happy or sad, because on one hand: fuck, yeah, I was right. On the other hand: I was right. There would be no cure, all the walkers would still exist in our futures because Eugene lied because I was right.
And I hated it.
"People died trying to get you here," Rosita said.
"I'm aware of that: Stephanie, Warren, Pam, Rex, Roger, Josiah, Dirk, and Josephine. And Bob."
I clenched my teeth, my breath stammering in my chest as I tried to keep myself calm. I didn't know the extent to which Abraham had to help them, but I knew there were more before us. And Bob, who didn't necessarily die for Eugene, but he died believing that this could end one day. He died to the very things Eugene said he could get rid of.
"And I broke the bus," Eugene said, which stopped my heart in my chest. "I poured glass in the fuel tank and manipulated all of you to believe that she'd done something wrong. I didn't think it would explode like it did, but when he started yelling at you, I had to go with it."
I wanted to kill him. It was the only thought that crossed my mind as I remembered how I felt when I thought I did break the bus, how I got yelled at and gaslighted for something I didn't do. How none of my people believed me when I said I didn't do anything wrong, people who should have believed me.
Not him.
Me.
"It also helped because you were the first person who didn't believe the story," he continued. "Your people trust your word, so I had to make sure that the others didn't listen to you, giving them a reason to believe that you were the one wrong. If you were wrong about the bus you were most likely wrong about me."
That's it. My hand was on the handle of my knife, and I stepped forward, pulling it from my holster. I'll kill him myself. Eugene stepped away, and I could see the utter fear in his eyes. Nothing new, but this time he had something to be scared of.
"Ace!"
"Woah, hey!" Tara said, but didn't take a step forward.
Glenn grabbed the top of my bad arm and pulled me back towards him. "Ace, don't."
I just as I yanked myself free, not listening to him. Before I could take another step, Martinez brought his arms down over my own and locked them to my sides. He yanked me away from the group as I kicked my feet around to get free, but Martinez kept walking me further away from the group.
"Alright, this way," he muttered.
I tried to shove my elbow back, but there was no room between us. "Put me down!"
"Not gonna happen," Martinez lowered one arm to my hand, prying the knife from my grip. When he had the weapon, he put me down a few feet away and stepped back, holding his arm out to stop me. "You don't want to do this."
"What the fuck do you know about what I want?!" I screamed, tears building in my eyes. It was the only reason I didn't pull out my gun. "You weren't manipulated, or gaslit! You didn't get injured! Don't tell me what I want!"
"Come here," Glenn was at my side, and he pulled me into a hug as the sob burst out of me. "It's alright. I'm sorry, this shouldn't have happened."
I sobbed, not returning the hug as Glenn brushed my hair back.
"You see, I lost my nerve as we grew closer, for I am a coward . . ." Eugene spoke, and my blood began boiling at the sound of his voice again, "and the reality of getting to our destination and disclosing the truth of the matter became some truly frightening shit. I took it upon myself to slow our roll. Find time to finesse things so then when we got there . . . But at this moment, I fully realise there are no longer any agreeable options."
Glenn shushed me, his head coming to rest on my own as I finally turned back out to look at Eugene, glaring at him as I clenched my teeth. I hated him, hated the sight of him, so I turned my head back to Glenn's shoulder.
"I was screwed either way," he said, and there was a pause before he continued. "I also lied about T. Brooks Ellis liking my hair. I do not know T. Brooks Ellis. But I did read one of his books, and he seemed like the type of guy that wouldn't blink twice at a Tennessee Top Hat."
This was so stupid. I was dragged away from my people by someone who made up ridiculous lies, I had paid the price for his mistakes and now I was miles away from them. They could have real problems, they could need me, and I was standing here listening to Eugene plead for us to forgive him, without actually apologising for anything he'd done. He just didn't want to get left alone, but the issue was it was all I wanted to do. He deserved to be left here alone.
"Again," he turned to Abraham. "I am smarter than you. Now, you may want to leave me here—"
That was it for Abraham. He dropped his gun as he stood up and hit him before he could finish his sentence, punching him quickly again as Eugene stumbled back against the fire engine. Glenn let me go and rushed over to help Rosita pull him away from Eugene as they yelled.
"Hey! Hey!" Rosita yelled.
"Hey, come on!" Glenn grabbed him from behind.
Rosita had her hands on his shirt. "Get off of him!"
"Fuck sake, man!" Martinez grabbed a hold of him next, able to pull him further back than Glenn or Rosita.
Abraham was able to get off another punch before the guys got him away, his fist knocking Eugene's head back against the window before he fell over unconscious, falling forward and landing straight on his face. I stared down at his body and prayed that he was dead. Fuck him.
"Oh my God," Maggie said.
Abraham walked back over from where Martinez had pulled him, ready to start again as he called after him. "No!"
Rosita stepped in the way, blocking Eugene's body as Abraham stood over her. She had her hand resting on her gun, which seemed to be the only thing that made Abraham realise that he should stop. Abraham looked down at his hand, the bandage now filling with blood, and the wound opened up again, he waved his arm as he turned to walk away, following the road back the way we came.
"Eugene?" Maggie said, trying to roll him over. "Get up. Look at me."
"Oh, my God," Tara said.
"Oh, God," Rosita whispered, kneeling beside him. "Eugene, are you there?"
"Eugene!" They yelled, trying to wake him up. "Eugene."
If he made it, there was a chance I'd finish the job myself. I turned away, walking past Martinez who was standing between the group and Abraham, now kneeling on the ground a short distance away from the group. I think he thought I was going to him because he grabbed my shoulder, but I just pushed past to walk to the fire engine, climbed inside and sat down across the back seats.
And then I cried.
I am catching up to myself on chapters, and I'm at a point where idk whether to write the stuff between the gap or just skip to the next story line like the show does. There's like a 17 day gap, then an episode then another 7ish days. Its a mess.
Anyway, I was quite a fan of this story line, and I could see that I made everyone very mad at the characters, so I am very sorry about that.
Hope you enjoyed and lmk what you thought :)
