Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead)

Four Walls and a Roof:

There was a point in the night when Suzy could no longer take her eyes off that front door. She couldn't ignore the feeling in her gut something was very wrong. Daryl wasn't back yet. Why? There had to be a reason. What if he was hurt or captured by someone and she didn't do a thing about it? She didn't think she could stop watching the door until he returned in one piece. What's the point? Her inner self-thought, not like he wants you to care.

"Hey," Rosita approached from the side and gently grabbed her arm to pull her along, "It's getting late. We should try getting some rest before we leave tomorrow."

Suzy didn't reply. She stood firmly in the middle of the aisle as she stared intensely at the front doors of the church. If Rosita didn't know any better, she would've thought Suzy was waiting for something else to come in, something really bad.

"Suzy, come on-" Rosita insisted, "Suzy-"

"No-" Suzy raised her voice in reply, "Not while he's still out there."

"You think something happened to him?" Rosita asked, "Suzy, he'll be back."

"We don't know that," Suzy said. Just then, Sasha approached the two of them. She seemed worried as well now. Suzy oddly found it comforting since it helped her feel less crazy. She couldn't be the only one paranoid.

"Any of you seen Bob?" Sasha asked.

"No," Rosita replied.

"Tyreese said he thought he saw him wander out there," Sasha said, "He hasn't come back. I'm gonna go out to look around for him."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rosita asked. Sasha didn't wait for her to even finish the question before rushing out the door. Suzy debated going with her even though she knew Rosita would object. She was out there already anyway and didn't see anything. Well, she thought she did for a split second until it disappeared. She heard it too. Maybe it was Bob. Maybe it wasn't...

"I'm telling Rick," Suzy said before turning to walk down the center aisle of the pews and go straight to Rick who was still busy sitting next to Father Gabriel, both of them drinking the Communion wine.

"Rick?" said Suzy, "Daryl and Carol are gone."

Rick looked up at her confused as did Gabriel. Rick immediately stood and got close to her face so they could speak more quietly to each other since Gabriel was still sitting there in earshot.

"Are you sure?" Rick asked.

"Positive," Suzy replied, "I was following Daryl out, but he told me not to follow him. I don't know where they went and now Sasha can't find Bob."

"Where is Sasha now?"

"Out there looking for Bob," Suzy shrugged, "I don't know how smart that is though. It's too dark out and I swear to god I thought I heard something else out there."

"Heard something?" Rick asked, "Like what?"

"Like someone was lurking through the trees not that far out. Close enough to watch us at least."

Rick patted her shoulder before telling her to stay there to watch Gabriel. He readied his gun and alerted everyone of the situation. He had everyone gather up and take a seat so he could double-check who was there and who wasn't. He chose Tyreese to be the one to come out with him to make sure Sasha was safe. Gabriel stood and put both his hands to his chest to try to ease his anxiety.

"I'm sure they're fine if that's what you're worried about," Suzy heard Gabriel say. Suzy slowly turned around and gave him a judgmental glare. Did he really think false hope was going to be comforting right now? She didn't have to use her words to warn him to keep his mouth shut. He should know better than to keep running his mouth at a time like this because if it meant keeping everyone else safe, he was going to be the first to go. For all they knew, he was responsible for the situation at hand right now. Was this his plan all along? Pick off their group one by one until there were none of them left? As she looked at that blank clueless face he had, she knew that was stupid. There was no way he was that competent to make a plan that complex. What good would it do for him? It was like she already thought, he would be the first to go and he should know that more than anyone else in that church. What could he possibly gain from this? At the same time, she remembered what she and Carl found out and around the building earlier that day. "You'll burn for this", the knife marks on the windows. He could pretend all he wanted, she knew he was hiding something. She just hoped it wasn't something that would cost anyone here their lives.

Once Sasha, Rick, and Tyreese came back into the church, Suzy knew they were thinking the same thing she was. Sasha wasted no time confronting Gabriel as if he were already given a guilty verdict. Her words of "Stop" and "What are you doing?" left her mouth several times, making Gabriel take a couple of steps back in fear.

"Answer," Suzy said in the same whispery tone Sasha did. With Sasha in front of him and Suzy now directly behind him, he truly had nowhere to run.

"This is all connected. You show up," Sasha pointed at him. Suzy maneuvered around Gabriel so she was standing beside him. She wanted to see how he reacted. She wanted to slap that confused look off of his face. He looked around at them like he had no idea what Sasha was talking about as she continued, "We're being watched, and now three of us are gone."

"I-" Gabriel looked to his right at Suzy who had her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyes in the low candlelight were too intimidating to look at so he turned back to Sasha who he was almost equally scared to make eye contact with.

"I don't have anything to do with this," Gabriel replied. His voice sounded so timid and scared, like a helpless child. Suzy knew no one would act this pathetic as an act, but she had no other options.

Sasha pulled out the knife she had on her belt, triggering everyone in the room. Everyone stood, some called for her to put it away, Rosita straight ran to go stop her which had Abraham holding her back. Rick and Suzy of course made no objections to Sasha's method.

"Who's out there?" Sasha asked, backing Gabriel into a corner. No matter how much she yelled and pressed him for answers, he kept giving the same response, stuttering out he had nothing to do with it.

"Why'd you bring us here?" Rick asked as Gabriel continued to stutter and back up, "You working with someone?"

"Tell us now," Suzy demanded, making Gabriel glance over at her again and then back to Rick.

"Please, I-I'm alone," Gabriel said repeatedly, "I was always alone."

She knew he was done the second Rick brought up what happened on their run earlier that day.

"You'll burn for this," Rick quoted the same thing Suzy saw carved into the wood of the building outside, "That was for you."

"Why?" Suzy asked, "What did you do? What are you gonna burn for, Gabriel?"

Rick didn't even give him enough time to come up with an answer before grabbing him by his collar with both hands.

"What did you do!" Rick shouted over and over until Suzy came closer to put her hand on Rick's to make him let go of Gabriel's collar. They couldn't stand here threatening him all night without actually giving him a chance to answer their questions.

"What did you do, Gabriel?" Suzy asked in almost a whisper. It sounded calming at first, but there was a hint of threat underneath it; like if he didn't answer soon he was going to regret it. They were done playing games. Gabriel glanced at her again, his eyes beginning to flood with tears.

"I lock the doors at night, I always lock the doors at night-" He repeated over and over again until he was completely consumed by his tears. He took a deep breath to pull himself together so he could tell the story, the story of when his congregation came when everything was first falling apart. They were scared...They were looking for a safe place...They came early before he could unlock the doors...The dead came for them when they heard all of their screams. He made his choice.

"Entire families calling my name as they were torn apart...Begging me for mercy...Begging me for mercy...Damning me to hell," Gabriel cried, "I buried their bones. I buried it all..."

Rick was the only one to look unphased as everyone looked at Gabriel in shock. Gabriel finally looked up at Rick and then glanced at Suzy again. When he looked into her gray eyes staring at him, judging him, he realized he couldn't simply look away from the truth anymore.

"The Lord sent you here to finally punish me," He said before dropping to his knees. He looked so pathetic when he looked up at Rick, commenting how he was damned, and continued to cry like a helpless baby. Suzy didn't know how to feel as she watched this man bawling his eyes out on his knees. She knew one thing, he sure was telling the truth. He didn't have anything to do with what was happening out there. He was nothing but a pathetic coward. There was nothing she hated more than pathetic cowards.

"There's someone outside lying in the grass!" Glenn called out. He was keeping watch at the window. His call alerted almost everyone to run outside after Sasha.

"Stay with him!" Rick ordered Suzy.

She was forced to stand where she was with Gabriel while the others ran out to help. With the doors open, she could hear all the walkers outside and Sasha crying out Bob's name. Rick fired his gun and called for everyone to get inside. All the commotion was enough to finally make Gabriel stop crying over himself and stand up. Suzy warned him to stay back as she went over to help Sasha and Tara carry Bob inside and rest him on the floor. He was unconscious and missing most of his left leg. They had no choice but to wait for him to wake up so he could tell them what happened. When he did, he looked around all confused and tried to sit himself up. He groaned in pain as he did so.

"Oh my god, Bob-" Sasha cried, "What happened to you? Why did you did you go out there all by yourself? Where did you go?"

"How about one question at a time?" He replied, breathing through the pain, "I was out at the graveyard. Somebody knocked me out, I woke up outside this place, it looked like a school."

Bob saying that triggered something inside Suzy. She immediately went into her bag to look at the map she had as Bob continued telling his story.

"It was that guy, Gareth, and five other ones," Bob said. Suzy used her finger to pinpoint where the church was and then trailed down to where she had a feeling the school was...Just as she thought, it couldn't be more than ten minutes from here. Bob continued, "They were eating my leg right in front of me. Like it was nothing, all proud like they had it all figured out."

"Did they have Daryl and Carol?" Rick asked.

"Gareth said they drove off," Bob's response made Suzy look up from the map. Drove off? She thought. Daryl left? With Carol? Why would he do that? She was so distracted from her inner thoughts she almost didn't notice Bob was saying he was bitten. She didn't know how to react to anything at the moment. Was Daryl coming back? She had just found him. Bob not only got his leg eaten, but was only alive here with them because he was bitten. What were they supposed to do? They couldn't go outside without the possibility of one of those fuckers trying to capture them for the same purpose. Not to mention it was the middle of the night. Daryl was right all along. Someone was watching them all this time. Gareth and his friends were out there waiting to get the jump on them. The only good news she had was she knew exactly where that school was Bob described; because it was the same school the Governor had brought her to when he killed all of those people living there, where he forced her to use one of her knives to put that poor man out of his misery...It really was a small world, huh, she thought.

"How far is it Gabriel?" Rick asked.

"Just a ten-minute walk due south of the graveyard," Gabriel replied.

"Time for a reality check," Abraham said, gun in hand, "We all need to leave for D.C. right now."

"Daryl and Carol are gonna be back. We're not going anywhere without them," Rick replied. How could you be so sure of that, Suzy thought.

"I respect that," said Abraham, "But there's a clear threat here to Eugene. I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier. So if y'all won't come, good luck to you, we'll go our separate ways. Suzy, let's go."

"You leaving on foot?" Rick called out. Suzy didn't move from her place next to Maggie. What was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to leave at a time like this?

"We fixed that damn bus ourselves," Abraham turned back around with Rosita by his side.

"There's a lot more of us," Rick said, approaching him in the main aisle and going towards the door.

"You wanna keep it that way?" Abraham said, "You should come."

Suzy didn't know what else to do besides watching them argue back and forth. At least it gave her enough time to think of a decision. Leave with them right now in the middle of the night while Gareth and his buddies are still out there watching them? Or stay here with the others and hope Daryl was coming back? Who did she belong with?

"Carol saved your life! We saved your life!"

"And now I'm trying to save yours! Save everyone's-"

"We're not going anywhere without our people."

"Your people took off!"

"They're coming back."

"To what! Picked-over bones?!"

"Abraham!" Suzy shouted once the two started laying hands on each other. She and Glenn rushed over to get in between them so they would stop.

"Abraham!" Rosita said, her voice demanding he calm down. Once Suzy and Glenn got in the middle, Rick backed up and the two quieted down.

"Do you really think that you're gonna be any safer leaving right now?" Glenn said, "In the middle of the night?"

"Yeah," Abraham replied a couple of times with all the confidence in the world.

"What about tomorrow?" Glenn asked, "We need each other for this. We need each other to get to D.C. We can get through all of it together!"

"Suzy," Abraham ignored everything Glenn just said and looked at her with that angry stare he wouldn't wipe off, "I said let's go."

Suzy's mouth was agape, not sure how she was supposed to respond. She looked back at Rick and the others then back to him and Rosita who was behind him. Even if Daryl wasn't coming back, she knew what she had to do.

"Suzy," His voice sounded so angry now, "Let's go. Now."

"No," She couldn't believe she actually spit it out, "I can't."

"Don't dick around right now, little one, let's go and get in the damn bus. We're going!"

"Not if you're gonna be a giant prick about it!" Suzy shouted back at him, "Glenn is right! Leaving right now is stupid!"

"I did not save you just so you could die right here!" Abraham shouted at the top of his lungs. He sounded so scary it made her knees shake. Of course, she didn't want to leave Rosita, but Glenn was right. If they were going to have a chance of making it through the night, they had to stay together. Abraham even went as far as grabbing Suzy by the arm to pull her to his side of the room, making everyone go up in arms again and yelling over each other. Rosita yelled for Abraham to let her go, Glenn telling him to calm down and try separating them, all the while Eugene stayed sitting in the pew not making eye contact with any of them in complete silence.

"Wait-" Tara stepped in once Glenn got Abraham to let go of Suzy. Tara stepped in between them and faced Abraham, "I have an idea. If you stay just one more day and help, I'll go with you to D.C. no matter what."

Tara turned back to Suzy and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Okay?" She asked, "Even trade. You can stay and I'll go with them. Okay?"

Suzy had no idea how to respond to that. Tara was really willing to step in for her? She looked at Tara in complete disbelief. Tara's bargain seemed to calm Abraham down at least while he thought about it.

"Glenn and Maggie too," He said with a much calmer tone.

"No," Rick said.

"Good luck, then." said Abraham, "I'm not interested in breaking up what you have here. Suzy, if you wanna stay then this is goodbye, and good luck to you. Rosita, grab your gear."

Suzy noticed the sad look on Rosita's face. She said his name so timidly, Suzy didn't think she could sound like that.

"Now," He demanded, "Eugene, let's go."

When he noticed Eugene made no move to stand up or even look over at them, Abraham got all worked up again.

"Eugene," He said, "Move it!"

"I-" Eugene said, "I don't want to."

"Now..." Abraham said with that intimidating tone to which Eugene said "Okay" and got up to go towards the door.

"You're not taking the bus," Rick said.

"Try to stop me," Abraham replied. Once Abraham said that, the room fell into a deep tense silence. Suzy and Glenn kept glancing back and forth at Abraham and Rick to see who was going to move or say something first. They both knew all too well what was bound to happen between two men who loved to fight.

"Hey hey hey!" Glenn and Suzy got in between them again once Rick started marching towards Abraham who was handing his gun to Rosita so he could have both of his hands free.

"You stay-" Glenn said before gesturing over to Maggie, "You stay and help us and we will go with you."

Rick immediately retorted, "No-"

"It's not your call," Glenn replied before turning back to Abraham, "Stay and help us."

"Just for tonight. One day," said Suzy, "At least wait until it's daylight. Please."

"Half a day," Abraham replied, "Come high noon, we're taillights. I'm not waiting for the other damn shoe to drop."

"And we will leave with you," said Maggie.

Abraham nodded, "Twelve hours."

He walked off further into the church so he could sit in the front row pew, bumping his shoulder at Suzy as he did so. She didn't pay any mind to it until she looked back at Rosita and saw that heartbroken look on her face. Did she have the strength to say goodbye to her? She couldn't believe Tara stepped in for her like that. She looked the other way at Tara and ducked her head in shame. She didn't have the strength to tell Tara of all people "Thank you".

"We should set up a plan then," Rosita said. She cleared her throat to break the silence and everyone nodded in agreement. They gathered up where Abraham had taken his seat. Rosita sat next to him while Suzy decided to stay standing near Rick so she could pace around. Moving around as they discussed helped her think about what she should do. Rick brought up his idea to trick Gareth and his Terminus buddies into thinking they were heading over to the elementary school. They all knew those freaks were still out there in the trees waiting for them, watching their every move. They were counting on them to act erratically and make hasty decisions. The only thing to decide now was going to be who was staying here and who was going out there to take care of it?

"They think they're in control," Rick said, "We're in here and they could be anywhere, but we know exactly where they are."

"Plan's got stones, I'll give you that," said Abraham.

"Make our move before they do," said Glenn.

"That's right," Rick replied," They're not counting on us thinking straight."

"Are we?" When Rosita asked that question, Suzy's pacing stopped. Suzy's first thought was Rosita was right to question it. Were they thinking clearly?

"I'm just making sure," Rosita said, "It's a big play. And I don't think Suzy-"

"I'm fine," Suzy replied with all the confidence she could.

"Remember what these people are capable of." That was all Rick had to say to solidify Suzy's decision as well as Abraham's. This was no time to cower away and hide, pretending like those monsters weren't out there. She couldn't stand by and let those sick pricks risk harming anyone else. They were all standing here because they got lucky. They shouldn't have been able to escape like they did. If they hadn't, they would've been killed and butchered like the bodies Suzy saw when she ran through that place. When everyone agreed on who was going to stay here and who was going out there, they made their preparations. The ones staying began moving into Gabriel's office to hide while the ones heading out readied their weapons.

"Hey," Rosita approached Suzy from behind as Suzy loaded her pistol, "You don't have to do this. You can stay here with me. Abe can handle it."

"No," Suzy replied, not turning to look at her. She finished loading the bullets and locked on the silencer, "I need to."

"Are you sure?" Rosita asked. Suzy turned around and looked Rosita in the eye.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." She replied. She thought Rosita would understand more than anyone. She had so much pain, so much anger to unleash after all this time. She was ready to prove she was willing to do what needed to be done. She feared nothing anymore.

"Okay," Rosita nodded in acceptance. She pulled Suzy into a tight hug and Suzy reciprocated, "Be safe."

"You too," Suzy replied. She then watched Rosita disappear into Gabriel's office with Eugene, Gabriel, and Tyreese. Once Eugene went inside, Rosita shut the door and locked it. The group gathered up in the center of the church.

"Remember," Suzy said to the group, "Don't waste the bullets."

"I don't plan to," Abraham replied, nodding to her with respect.

"We know what we need to do then," Rick said, "Let's go."

Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Tara, Suzy, and Abraham left the building in that order with their guns on hand and in the direction of the elementary school. They made sure to go far enough into the trees so they wouldn't be seen. Just as they thought, Gareth and his few friends wasted no time coming out of hiding to make their way towards the church. They were also locked and loaded with enough ammunition to take out every single one of them with no problem. They walked up to the church doors with all the confidence in the world, like they had already won. Rick and the others waited for them to walk into the church for them to sneak their way over. As silently as they could, they followed Gareth's group back into the church and hid in their positions completely hidden by the darkness. Glenn and Tara stayed to the left with Abraham up further ahead. Maggie and Michonne stayed to the right while Rick, Suzy, and Sasha remained center.

"It's your last chance right now to tell us you're coming out," They heard Gareth say. Jesus, this guy loves to hear himself talk, Suzy thought. Since no one responded, one of Gareth's guys tried to confirm they were done and were going to bust through the doors.

"We'll hit the hinges," said Gareth. Before they could move another muscle, Suzy and Sasha both shot the two standing side by side at the door Carl and Judith were hiding behind. They were both shot in the head instantly and fell to the ground.

"Put your guns on the floor," Rick said still hiding in the shadows with the others. Gareth started making threats again with that annoying voice of his and Suzy couldn't stand it anymore. If Rick wasn't the one to shoot his fingers off she knew she was about to be the one to do it or worse. Gareth fell to the floor and screamed in pain, allowing for Rick to come out of the shadows, and allowing for the others to come forward. Suzy moved so she was on Abraham's side right behind him.

"Put your guns on the floor," Rick repeated, "And kneel."

"Do what he says!" Gareth cried, still too focused on the pain of having two of his fingers shot off. "Martin, there's no choice here!"

"Yeah, there is," Martin said, refusing to kneel. That was when Abraham came forward and pointed his gun at him with Suzy right behind him.

"Wanna bet?" When Abraham said that, the guy Martin finally followed, getting all of them on their knees. Maggie stayed back while Michonne stood above the one girl in the group. Sasha put down the rifle and pulled out a smaller handgun to point at Martin. Abraham had the guy next to Martin, and Suzy pointed her gun at the youngest member of Gareth's group. He looked like an innocent teenager with light hair and freckles. He couldn't be older than eighteen, maybe less. The boy was in absolute tears with his hands up by his ears. If she didn't know any better, she would think this kid could do no wrong. But she did know better. He may be just a teenager, but he was still old enough to know not to hunt and eat people of all things. She looked into his eyes with her intense stare and felt nothing for him.

"No point in begging, right?" Gareth asked.

"No," Rick replied.

"Still, you could've killed us when you came in," Jesus, he's still fucking talking, "There had to be a reason for that."

Rick shrugged nonchalantly and remembered what Suzy had said before they left the church, "We didn't wanna waste the bullets."

Rick's comment made Suzy smirk like he said something funny. It was true. She finally understood the rule. Save those bullets for when you need them. Who used to tell her that? She couldn't remember at the moment. As Gareth pathetically pleaded for his life, Suzy noticed something about the kid below her on his knees. She bent down more to his level and pulled something off of his belt. It was one of her knives. This kid was the one who decided to keep her father's throwing knives when she was forced to drop them before going into that train car. She glanced at the knife in her hand and watched at the moonlight made the red color of the Chinese dragon on the blade shimmer. She showed the boy the knife in her hand and waved it around a little before pointing it at him. The moonlight also illuminated her gray eyes, making them bright, silver even, and visible in the darkness of the church. The boy looked up at her and whimpered like a baby, trembling where he knelt. Her staring at him like she was looking forward to killing him would've made him piss himself if he had anything in his bladder. He could see she was itching to get it over with, but it was like Gareth said; there was no point in begging for their lives.

"I know that you've been out there, but I can see it," Gareth said, "You don't know what it is to be hungry."

Suzy's expression changed from almost excited to angry very quickly upon that comment. Was that their excuse? She wanted to scream at each one of them. She was out there. She knew better than them what it was like to be starving to death. No matter how desperate she was for food, not once did she consider eating other people as her best option.

"You don't have to do this," Gareth pleaded anyway, "We can walk away. And we will never cross paths again, I promise you."

"But you'll cross someone's path," Rick replied, "You'd do this to anyone, right?"

Suzy watched as Rick positioned himself and put away his gun. She could see the handle of his machete glistening in the moonlight.

"Besides," Rick said, "I already made you a promise."

The next few moments were nothing but a blur. Suzy could hear the screams of pain and terror in the distance...But they weren't in the distance. It was happening all around her. Michonne and Abraham were using the back of their rifles to bash the brains in of who was in front of them while Sasha put her handgun to the side to stab Martin in the throat. Rick silenced Gareth by slaughtering him with his red machete. She hadn't even realized what she had done along with them. It was like she closed her eyes, opened them, and it was over. She awoke covered in blood. It was all over her face, her entire front, her hands, her knife, and even her hair. She looked down at the body in front of her. She killed that kid. She slaughtered him. If she thought about it hard enough, she could recall the way he screamed in terror, shouting the word "please" right before she killed him. She groaned and screamed as she stabbed him with her knife he had stolen from her. She wasn't sure how many times she stabbed him, but it was enough to make parts of him unrecognizable to whoever knew him. He was stabbed in the neck, the face, the head (to ensure he wouldn't come back), the chest, and the stomach with his guts spilled out everywhere. She had to take a moment to catch her breath and recover from what she just did.

"It could've been us," Rick said with words of comfort. Abraham looked over and saw Suzy staring at the boy she murdered. What other word was there for it? Sure, she killed people before, usually out of mercy. They were here loved ones. Frederick was the first time she killed someone out of vengeance, or rather, contributed to his death out of vengeance. This was different. She never did anything like this before...

"Good job," The Governor smiled, hands on his hips, "That's something you gotta know, Susan. Never waste a bullet. Save 'em for when you need 'em."

Never waste a bullet...Seven. Was it seven people now?

"Hey," Abraham put his hand on her shoulder. He saw that dissociated look in her eyes. He told her to look at him and asked the mundane question, "You okay?"

His question pulled her back to the current moment. She looked up at Abraham and blinked a few times before straightening up her posture and wiping any sort of doubt off of her face.

Suzy replied, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Abraham nodded his head and patted her shoulder. She took her knives back from that kid's body and together, they walked past Gabriel to go sit in his office. Rosita was still there when they entered. When she saw the blood all over Suzy, she stood and quickly pulled her in for a hug.

"You did what you had to," Rosita whispered into her ear. Suzy sighed. How was she going to wash all of this blood off now? When she replied, she felt tired, like she needed to end her day and go to bed. She couldn't deal with anything more tonight. What happened here was more than enough.

"I know."

The next morning, Tyreese took the liberty of getting rid of the bodies so they weren't all around the floor of the church. There was a creek nearby where everyone could take turns going to wash up so they could start the day fresh. Suzy was the last to go down to the creek while everyone else said their final goodbyes to Bob who was knocking on death's door. She scooped up some water into her hands and splashed her face with it. She had to do that a few times all over to rinse the dry blood off. She scrubbed her face with her fingertips to make sure she got it all. Watching the stream turn red made her feel so many things at once and she wasn't sure what any of those feelings were. Did she regret what she did? She felt that familiar twitch under her eye along with the unbearable need to scratch that itch on her skin. She scratched it off her face, her arms, then the back of her neck. Did she need to cry? No, she felt no desire to cry over it. She wiped her nose in thought. If she didn't regret killing that kid, and if she didn't need to cry about it, then what was the problem? What was bothering her? She scratched her shoulder profusely thinking about it. She made herself stop so she could rinse the dry blood out of her hair. There was no use dwelling on it. It was over. She had nothing else to worry about now.

Suzy made her way back to the church. She was happy to have her knives back safe and sound. She didn't want to lose them ever again to anyone. She had her small backpack around her shoulders and her wet hair pulled back into a ponytail. Once she made it back, everyone looked like they were ready to head out, those that were leaving at least.

"This is our route to D.C." Abraham handed Rick a map, "We'll stick to it as long as we're able. If not, well- you got our destination. Once Eugene gets to the big brains left up there, things are gonna bounce back. This group should be there for it. You should be there for it."

"They will be," said Maggie.

"We will," Michonne added and Rick agreed.

"Let's go," Abraham called out to everyone who was getting on the bus, "Suzy. Come here."

Hearing Abraham call her name brought her a sense of comfort. He didn't seem angry anymore, so that was probably why. She came over to where he was at the entrance of the bus.

"I wanted to say I'm sorry for what happened last night," He said calmly, "It wasn't right of me and I don't blame you for deciding to stay. So if you really wanna stay here, I respect it. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

Suzy couldn't help but let out a short laugh. She couldn't believe he was apologizing for that. She didn't know what came over her when she hugged him and he didn't either. He laughed in amusement. How could he not? They've never hugged before. He patted her back with one hand as he chuckled. He waited for her to be done and when she was, she playfully hit him on his large bicep.

"I can't let you guys leave without me, now can I?" She smiled and he smiled back with a mutual understanding between them.

"Okay," He nodded and she got into the bus. Rosita was already there in the front seat. The joy that appeared on Rosita's face was one Suzy never saw before and she didn't hate it.

"About time," Rosita said. She patted the spot next to her so Suzy would come sit. Soon after, Eugene, Tara, Glenn, and Maggie all entered the bus. Abraham was the last and started up the bus in the driver's seat. Before they took off, some of them looked through the windows of the bus as a final goodbye.

Suzy comforted herself by telling herself this wasn't really goodbye. She would see them again. Daryl was going to come back and wouldn't be far behind her. Everything was going to be okay. Everything was going to work out. Everything was finally falling into place.

She just knew it...