𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐏
if karma doesn't hit you, i fucking will

THE GROUP GATHERS outside the building they know the crazy men had taken Glenn inside.

"You sure you're up for this?" Rick asks as he glances back at everyone.

"I'm ready to get Glenn back," Nadia says with determination.

She and Glenn had gotten along well during their little car ride from Atlanta to the mountaintop where the rest of their group was. He's nice and doesn't deserve whatever it is they're doing to him inside the building.

Daryl looks to the boy they took with a glare. "One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass, just so you know."

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours," the boy replies as T-Dog starts walking away from them. "Just so you know."

"And he will end up with a broken arm and more if he hurts any of us," Nadia declares as she reaches forward and grips the boy's arm. He winces and she smirks. "That wasn't even a quarter of my strength, boy, so watch yourself."

"Who's G?" Rick asks as he gives Nadia a warning look.

"Guillermo. He the man here."

"Okay then." Rick cocks his gun. "Let's go see Guillermo."

Nadia grips the gun—the one she took from the kid before she left—in her hand and ducks through the opening in the gate, everyone else following closely behind. Nadia may not like using guns (for many reasons), but she'll bring them out if necessary.

Daryl pushes the kid ahead of them towards the wooden double doors as they begin to open, revealing a Hispanic man—presumably Guillermo.

The man looks at their hostage with raised eyebrows. "You okay, little man?"

"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal!" The boy cries.

Guillermo glances over at Rick. "Cops do that?"

"Not him," the kid says, shaking his head before he glances back at Daryl. "This redneck puto here. He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me."

"Shut up," Daryl snaps, looking ready to lunge at the boy.

The kid then turns to Nadia who's clenching her hand around her gun, knuckles turning white. "And this crazy puta threatened to cut into me! She even threw her knife at my head."

Nadia simply smirks at him. "If I wanted to cut you, you wouldn't be here right now."

"Hey, that's that vato right there, homes," says another man coming out of the building, a gun in his hands as he glares at Daryl. "He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?" His eyes then land on Nadia, wildly aiming his gun at her, who raises hers in return. "And this psicópata popped my shoulder out of place! And busted my nose!"

"Chill, ese, chill." Guillermo holds up a hand, pressing the other man's gun down. "Chill." He looks at the three people behind the kid; a cop, a redneck, and a teenage girl. "This true? Does he want Miguelito's feet? That's pretty sick, man." His eyes slide over to Nadia who holds his gaze. "And you..." He breathes out in disbelief. "You're the one who kicked his shoulder out of place and busted his nose?"

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion," Rick says, glancing at Nadia, knowing she's just itching to spit out something sarcastic that will make the situation worse.

"That hillbilly jumps Felipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet, Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and a hurt shoulder, and you want a calm discussion?" Guillermo shakes his head. "You fascinate me."

"Heat of the moment. Mistakes were made on both sides."

Guillermo glances at Daryl. "Who's that dude to you anyway? You don't look related." His eyes move to Nadia who narrows her eyes at him. "Is he your little boyfriend?"

Nadia snarls and goes to take a step forward, but Rick holds his arm out to her, stopping her in her tracks.

"He's one of our group, more or less," Rick states, narrowing his eyes at Guillermo. "I'm sure you have a few like him."

"You got my brother in there?" Daryl calls loudly, his eyes full of hope.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys," Guillermo quips with a smirk. "But I've got Asian. You interested?"

Nadia inhales deeply at what they could be doing to Glenn right now. "We got one of yours, you got one of ours. That sounds like an even trade," she says with an eye roll. "Not that I see why you need this wimp. He can't even look me in the eyes."

Guillermo glances at her, pursing his lips. "Don't sound even to me."

The kid stares at the man with wide eyes. "G! Come on, man."

"My people got attacked," Guillermo says, ignoring the kid. "Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"

"They got attacked?" Nadia asks rhetorically. "You mean, they attacked us. I have a busted lip and a bruised stomach because of that dickwad!" She points at Felipe who glares at her.

"Guns?" Rick asks, confused.

"The bag Miguel saw in the street." Guillermo rubs his nose. "The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."

Rick gives him a solid glare. "You're mistaken."

"I don't think so."

"About it being yours. It's my bag of guns."

Guillermo shrugs. "The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word? What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?"

The men around Guillermo, three in all, pull out their guns and point one at each of them.

Nadia simply rolls her eyes, knowing she can easily take out these men before they can even process it. Instead, she raises her gun and aims it at the man closest to her. That's when more men pile out of the doorway.

"You could do that." Rick looks up at the roof of the building across the way where T-Dog is on top with his gun aimed at Guillermo's head. "Or not."

"Oye!"

Nadia looks up to another rooftop, finding two men holding another person with a bag over their head between them.

Her eyes squint, heart beating loudly as they pull the bag off to reveal Glenn. He's teetering on the edge of the roof, the men threatening to push him to his death.

The Slayer clenches her jaw so hard that a vein can be seen in her neck. She's more than ready to knock everyone out and parkour her way towards Glenn.

"I see two options," Guillermo begins. "You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, and everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." He glances over to where T-Dog is stationed with an amused look.

Nadia locks eyes with Glenn before the bag covers his face from view once again. She tilts her head side to side angrily, cracking her neck, before turning to Guillermo, her eyes so full of anger that it leaves the older man surprised.

Now Guillermo walks back into the building, giving the group time to leave.

As the factory building's doors shut, Rick steps in front of the kid, Miguel, who's still their hostage for the time being it seems, looking up as the two men pull Glenn back from the roof's edge and out of sight.

"Come on," Rick urges, nudging Miguel forward and walking off the property with the others following.

THEY'RE BACK AT the lab to regroup and think about how they're going to rescue Glenn. Nadia tells them she can go in there by herself and free him, but they all collectively disagree which leaves her annoyed.

She understands their reasoning, of course, but she's been up against monsters they couldn't even begin to believe existed.

Rick opens the bag of guns on the table, shifting through them as the others gather around.

"Them guns are worth more than gold," Daryl mutters, pacing in front of the desk. "Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You're gonna give that up for that kid?"

Nadia slams her hand on the table. "So you're willing to risk everything to get your brother back, but you don't even want to try and get Glenn back?" She scoffs at him. "You're just like your scum of a brother."

"You don't have any family, so you don't get it!" Daryl shouts back at her, making Nadia pause, her throat burning just thinking about her little brother.

She scoffs again and turns her back to everyone so they can't see the tears shining in her hazel-green eyes.

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree," T-Dog comments, tilting his head and gesturing in the direction of the factory building. "But you think that Vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?"

"You calling G a liar?" Miguel asks, his face screwing up with his eyebrows high.

Dary's on top of him in a second. "Are you a part of this? You want to hold onto your teeth?"

Nadia pushes back the tears and decides to get back to business. There's no time for feelings right now. She needs to get her head in the game. "If we give them the guns, can we trust that guy to turn him over? The bigger question is, can we trust his word?"

"No, question is, what are you willing to bet on it?" Daryl corrects, glancing between them. "Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Nadia exclaims angrily, glaring at the older man. "This isn't up for debate!" Her chest heaves up and down. "Glenn didn't know who I was, who Rick was. We were just two idiots stuck in a tank surrounded by the walking dead. He could've just left us there, but he didn't. And neither will I!"

"I'm with Nadia on this," Rick states, gesturing to the girl who calms down slightly at his words. At least she has him on her side.

"So you're gonna hand the guns over?" Daryl asks.

"I didn't say that." Rick shakes his head and glances between Daryl, T-Dog, and Nadia. "There's nothing keeping you three here. You should get out, head back to camp."

Nadia instantly narrows her eyes, shaking her head. "You know me, Ricky-boy. I'm not going to abandon him."

"And tell your family what?" T-Dog asks, the hand previously on his bald head lowering to his side.

Rick stops, glancing at him for a minute before looking to Daryl who gives a short nod.

Daryl moves over to the desk, digging through the bag and picking out a gun. Rick passes a gun to T-Dog, and one to Nadia who takes it with a deep breath.

Miguel stands up in surprise. "Come on, this is nuts." Daryl quickly pushes him back into the chair, the boy leaning back against the back of it, his hands going to his hair as he looks at them pleadingly. "Just do like G says."

Nadia simply smirks as she adjusts her belt buckle, slipping her handgun into one sheathe and leaving her large knife in the other one. She adjusts the rifle in her hand—the one Rick passed to her.

Nadia spies a piece of cloth on the table, so she grabs it before walking over to the kid. "Shut up, idiota."She wraps it around his mouth, tying it at the back of his head. "There," she says cheerily, slapping him on the forehead. "Better."

THEY APPROACH THE factory, Miguel still with the cloth over his mouth and his hands clasped behind his back.

Nadia keeps her face blank as she walks behind Daryl into the open space.

Miguel stops before G, with Rick and Daryl on either side of him, and Nadia and T-Dog standing behind them.

The Slayer glances around at the men that surround them, eyes narrowed as she sweeps the area for one particular person who doesn't seem to be around. Her eyes then shift to Guillermo as he stops before them, the kid as the barrier between both groups.

Guillermo looks at the bag resting on Rick's shoulders, and the guns they hold in their hands. "I see my guns, but they're not all in the bag."

"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that." Rick tilts his head, not moving the gun aimed at the man.

Felipe leans forward, a glare on his face. "Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese. All right? Unload on their asses, ese."

Guillermo waves Felipe off, his eyes stone cold as he looks over them. "I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation."

"No, I'm pretty clear," Rick drawls, lowering his gun. He pulls out a knife, cutting the tape around Miguel's wrists and shoving him towards his people. "You have your man. I want mine."

"I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs," Guillermo threatens, staring Rick down. "They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale. I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"

Nadia scoffs, bringing all attention to her. "That sounds like a made-up story. Hell, you probably got chihuahua's in there."

Guillermo makes a face, then glares at Nadia, but she stands her ground.

"No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded," Rick says as Daryl cocks his gun, followed by the others, and they all aim at Guillermo. "Okay then, we're here."

"Felipe! Felipe!" An older woman with a thick accent calls amidst the standoff.

Nadia looks over at the mass of men gathered, an older woman standing amongst them with an odd look on her face as she looks around for the man who's now lowering his gun hesitantly.

"Abuela, go back with the others now," the man says, backing up as the woman moves to stand by his side, oblivious to what's truly happening before her.

"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl yells, waving his gun at Felipe.

"Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay?" Guillermo turns his head, talking to the woman now staring at the strangers with confusion. "This is not the place for you right now."

"Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He needs his asthma stuff. Carlitos didn't find it. He needs his medicine," the woman says, frantic, her accent thick, making Rick and Nadia lower their guns.

Guillermo looks at Rick before glancing back at Felipe. "Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you," he orders, shaking his head at how easily the situation changed.

The older woman looks at the four people in between the men that she's grown to love and know all this time. "Who are those people?"

"Por favor, ven conmigo!" Felipe tells his abuela.

The older woman walks up to Rick with narrowed eyes. "Don't you take him."

Nadia tilts her head as she watches the exchange, then glances at Guillermo, seeing him lower his eyes to the ground.

"Ma'am?" Rick prompts, tilting his head to the side.

"Felipe's a good boy. He has his trouble but he pulls himself together. We need him here," the woman says.

Rick throws a look at those gathered around him before leaning toward the woman. She's only a few feet lower than him. "Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson."

"Then what do you want him for?"

"He's—" Rick looks away, watching his words carefully as he knows he's on thin ice here. "Helping us find a missing person. Fella named Glenn."

"The Asian boy?" The older woman smiles, and Nadia steps forward eagerly, the older woman noticing this. "He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come, I show you." She turns around, waving at them to follow her as she passes Guillermo. "He needs his medicine."

Guillermo lowers his gaze once more as the four move to follow. He nods. "Let 'em pass."

The older woman holds Rick's hand, leading them outside to a courtyard. They walk up some stairs, heading in the direction of another building next to the factory, one Nadia notices is a nursing home.

The door to the building is already open, and the woman ushers them all in.

A few doors go by, and Nadia can't help but grin at the glimpses she gets of those inside. Guillermo and the others act so tough, but they really aren't.

Soon enough, they find themselves in another room, a gym of sorts with tables set up in the space. The woman leads them to the other side of the room where a group surrounds a man who's struggling to breathe.

Felipe's there with his hands on the man's chest, instructing him to breathe, relax, and take it nice and easy. A few other older folks are next to the man, also holding him to help calm him down.

Rick pauses in front of them and casts his eyes over the group, his eyes landing on a familiar Asian boy; Glenn.

He's just standing there, watching the old man take in deep breaths. The exact opposite of what they were worried about. Glenn isn't hurt, and he isn't being eaten by dogs.

Nadia looks at Glenn with raised brows. "What the hell is this?"

"An asthma attack." Glenn glances up at them, his focus mostly on the older man. "Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden."

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man," T-Dog says with a small chuckle.

Glenn looks behind him at three chihuahuas that start barking furiously before looking back at Nadia who bursts out laughing.

"I knew it!" Nadia exclaims and her face lights up, making her look like an actual teenager rather than the soldier everyone is familiar with.

Moving his stare away from the dogs, Rick turns to Guillermo. "Could I have a word with you?" He steps off to the side, pulling Guillermo away from the rest of the group. "You're the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met. We walked in there ready to kill every last one of you."

"Well, I'm glad it didn't go down that way," Guillermo replies.

"If it had, that blood would be on my hands."

"Mine too." Guillermo nods. "We'd have fought back. Wouldn't be the first time we've had to. Protect the food, the medicine what's left of it. These people, the old ones the staff took off, just left 'em here to die. Me and Felipe were the only ones who stayed."

"What are you, doctors?" Rick asks, curious.

"Felipe's a nurse—a special care provider. Me, I'm the custodian."

Nadia stands next to Glenn and slugs him in the shoulder. "You're an idiot, you know that?" She shakes her head and walks away from him, following after Rick and the others.

Glenn smiles a little before following behind her.

Nadia follows the others into another room, Guillermo sitting on a desk with Rick in front of him. Her eyes shift to T-Dog and Daryl, seeing them over to the side. She pauses closest to the door, letting Glenn slide into the room.

Rick sets the bag of guns down, looking at the man in charge. "What about the rest of your crew?"

"The Vatos trickle in to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind—plunderers, the kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are," Rick defends.

"How was I to know?" Guillermo shrugs and glances outside the door and then back to Rick. "My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage...
appearances."

T-Dog looks away from the man. "Guess the world changed."

"No. It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken," Guillermo starts, his eyes still on Rick. Nadia gulps at the words, thinking about her little brother. "So, we do what we can here. The Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The Vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here, they all look to me now. I don't even know why."

"Because they can." Rick stares at him for a moment before he goes over to the bag of guns, pulling out two and passing them over to Guillermo. A few guns for self-defence is the least he can do.

THEY ARE OUT of the Vatos' hideout quicker than ever. Before leaving, Nadia places the rifle that she is carrying back into the bag of guns now over Rick's shoulder.

Glenn walks beside Rick, a smirk on his face. "Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat."

The man in question simply smiles. "Don't tell anybody."

"You've given away half our guns and ammo," Daryl mutters from the other side of Rick.

"Not nearly half," Rick says.

Nadia's absently flipping her knife around in her hand, whistling a song Xander used to sing around the mansion.

"For what?" Daryl grinds out, glancing at Rick. "Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?"

"How long do any of us?" Rick throws back.

After moving around a fallen bus, the group sets their sights on the fence they entered earlier, finding nothing on the other side.

Nadia pauses and her eyes widen. Their getaway truck is gone. "Where the hell is it?!"

"Oh, my God," Glenn says, his eyes straining over Rick's shoulder. "We left it right there. Who would take it?"

"Merle." Rick's revelation gets them to realise he's right.

Even though the man had cut off his own hand, it still makes sense. He's the only one that would do something drastic like this.

Daryl lowers his gaze from the truck and turns to Rick. "He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp."

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Nadia mutters as she moves through the opening in the fence and begins jogging down the tracks.

The five of them start their long run back to camp, hoping they make it in time.

THE RUN BACK to camp is exhausting, and even though Nadia has more than enough experience with running, she's sore all over. However, that can also be because of the small beating she took.

It takes hours to finally make it to the camp, their surroundings pitch black, with the only light being from the fires within the camp that lead them home.

As soon as the small group breathe out relieved sighs, screams erupt from camp. Loud gunshots follow soon after.

"Oh, my God," Rick mutters to himself, then yells, "Go! Go!"

The five of them take off like bullets in the night.

Nadia's pushing her feet to go faster and faster, ignoring the burning in her calves and the tightening of her chest.

Once they reach the opening of the camp, all they see is chaos. Everyone is running and hiding—Shane and a few others have guns, shooting walkers in the head. Morales is hitting walkers with a bat, as well as Jim.

Unfortunately, so many are being bitten or already are—caught off guard by walkers that creep up behind them.

The small group come into camp by the sides, Rick already firing his gun.

"Hey!" Nadia shouts upon seeing Morales being approached by a walker. "Morales!"

The man in question spins around, bat in hand, and slams it into the undead's head.

Nadia slides expertly between a walker's legs in front of her, jumping to her feet behind it and slamming her knife into its skull. The sick crunching noise gives her satisfaction in knowing it's dead.

Spinning around, Nadia gives a butterfly kick to another walker, sending it reeling back. She rushes forward to plunge her knife into its skull.

Pulling out another knife, Nadia flips it skillfully before sending it flying into a walker's head, watching as it embeds itself right between the eyes.

Yanking out the one knife from the first walker, she walks over to the other one on the ground and yanks that out too.

Looking over her shoulder, Nadia notices Daryl, Glenn, T-Dog, and Rick in formation, firing off their rifles at the walkers and taking them out in the head one by one with ease.

A growl and Nadia's arm is grabbed. She throws out her arm without even looking and then drives her knife into the walker's temple.

Daryl slams the butt of his gun into a walker's head, pushing it to the ground before running to another and shooting it in the head. His eyes land on Nadia who's pulling out her knife from a walker and moving on to the next one.

There's so much panic; everyone is acting on pure instinct, shooting the walkers, protecting the living, and trying to survive themselves.

Raising her head, Nadia's gaze finds Carl. He's seemingly unaware of the walker limping up behind him, hoping to get a taste of his flesh. She races towards the boy, yanking her knife out of the undead's eye as she goes.

Reaching the boy, Nadia knocks the undead down with a single shove and lifts her foot before stomping down on its skull with all of her strength, crushing it instantly.

Removing her foot from the crushed skull, Nadia watches as Carl is grabbed by Lori. As the boy sobs into her chest, Lori keeps her eyes on Nadia in shock.

The Slayer figures the woman is surprised by how much power she holds in her tiny body to achieve something like that.

Most of the other survivors are at the RV, clutching each other as Shane shields them and shoots bullet after bullet into approaching walkers.

Nadia stumbles over a dead body, turning to see a walker stop chewing on said body's arm and move towards her.

Growling, Nadia grips her knife tight and rushes forward. When she gets close enough, she jumps into the air, kicking out one of her legs at the walker and having her foot slam into its chest.

The walker falls onto its back, and Nadia simply lowers the knife and kills it instantly with a stab between its eyes.

But seeing as she has a lot of pent-up rage, and the fact that the body it was previously chewing on is a child—Nadia keeps stabbing the walker over and over again. Blood flies everywhere, getting on her hair, face, and clothes, but she doesn't care.

After about a dozen or so stabs, the walker's face is more unrecognizable than it was before, and its forehead is caved in.

A gunshot goes off next to Nadia, and a walker drops to the ground beside her. Another shot and two more walkers fall.

Glancing up, Nadia notices that more walkers are on their way towards her. She pushes herself up, legs feeling like jelly, and her ears ringing loudly.

Stumbling a little, Nadia notes the firing of guns has stopped.

Everything has stopped. The crying hasn't, but the growls and the gunfire—all of it is at a standstill.

Glenn stands in the centre of camp, looking around with tears in his eyes and panting. He noticeably swallows thickly before making eye contact with Nadia.

Andrea is sobbing nearest to the RV, screaming for Amy, cradling her dead sister in her arms. The sight brings back a painful memory for Nadia.

After the walkers had moved on from her brother's dead body, all that was left were bones and chunks of flesh. There was nothing left that was once her baby brother.

She had jumped from the tree and gathered up whatever remained, and cried and screamed into it. She didn't care who or what could hear her, all that mattered was the last person who she loved more than herself was now dead in her arms.

"Nadia?"

She snaps her eyes up to find Glenn's teary eyes staring back at her. That's when Nadia realises her hands are shaking, and her bottom lip is trembling.

And just like that, Nadia's legs give out and she falls to her knees.

The once safe camp is now a danger to them all.

Jim walks out from the fray, his eyes wide as he stops beside Dale. His gaze casts over the bodies on the ground, both walker and human. "I remember my dream now... why I dug the holes."