FALLEN ANGELS.

chapter twenty-three, an end with no return.
[ season four, episode five ]

IN ANOTHER WORLD RICK Grimes never returned to the prison without Carol Peletier.

When Theo came out to greet then he stopped abruptly.

Rick got out of the vehicle by himself. No Carol. Theo stared at him for a moment. His heart plummeted to his stomach, immediately thinking the worst.

"Is she dead?" Theo had asked.

Rick looked at the young boy that helped him and his children picked vegetables. "No. I sent her away."

"Why?" Theo asked, tears threatening to well in his blue eyes.

"She killed Karen and David," Rick answered bluntly. Theo's jaw dropped. He was completely stunned by Rick's answer. It hadn't been what he was expecting. "She thought it would stop the illness from spreading."

He didn't expect the killer to be Carol. He thought of the possibilities. He thought of both Daryl and Michonne as potential killers. And then he thought of Odessa.

He thought of Odessa as a suspect because he knew she had killed people to save her own. Especially her brother and sister.

So Theo told Beth.

And when she finally put Judith down for nap Beth found herself outside of cell block A. She wasn't supposed to be there but it'd been over twenty-four hours since she'd heard about Odessa getting sick.

The lovers hadn't gone a day without being in each other's presence in over a year and neither liked it. Especially when they both knew their was a high chance Odessa would come out of isolation with a sheet thrown over her body.

Beth stood on the other side of the glass of Odessa. She wanted so badly to hold Odessa. She wanted to brush her hair behind her ear, run her finger across Odessa's cheekbone that was sticking out more than usual. She just wanted to hold her girlfriend.

"I miss you," Beth said first.

Odessa, who had been staring at her pale hands, looked up at Beth. "I miss you too, Bethy."

The two stared at each other for a moment before Odessa rested her forehead against the glass. Beth followed. Another silence lapsed over the couple.

Again, Beth was the one to break it. "You've come this far, Dessy. Don't let this overtake someone as strong and stubborn as you." She encouraged.

Odessa bit down on the inside of her cheek. The metallic tang hadn't left her mouth since she started coughing up blood.

"I'm sorry, Beth." She said in a broken whisper. "You shouldn't have to be worried about me and your dad in here. You shouldn't have to be taking care of Judy or all those other kids."

"We all have jobs to do, Odessa." Beth told her. "Mine is out here. Yours is in there, helpin' Daddy."

"It's hard." Odessa said, a harsh shiver taking over her body. She wrapped her jacket, that wasn't really her jacket, it was Beth's, tighter around her body. "Everyone's dyin' in here."

"I'm sorry." Beth shook her head. "You shouldn't have to see that."

Odessa shrugged. "It's nothing I haven't seen before. But—"

"It's different this time because they're your people. People you saved from the road." Beth nodded, understanding completely.

"Yeah," Odessa said quietly. "That's a good way to put it."

Beth was tempted to tell Odessa about Carol's exile but she ultimately decided it wasn't her place. Rick needed to tell his oldest about him sending Carol away.

"I love you," Odessa said.

"I love you," Beth repeated.

The two teens sat in a comfortable silence for a few more minutes until Odessa heard Sasha and Glenn both shouting for her.

Odessa's heart picked up and panic set in. "Go," Beth nodded to the cell block. "Just tell Daddy if you need me."

Odessa nodded and rushed off. She hopped up the steps two at a time. She collapsed on her knees in exhaustion as she reached the cell where Hershel, Glenn, and Sasha were all on the ground beside Henry.

"Henry, I need you to calm down," Hershel said as Odessa wedged herself between him and Glenn to help hold the struggling man down. "We're trying to help."

Hershel slowly placed the breathing tub down Henry's throat and began to pump air back into his lungs.

Odessa wheezed on the ground, her hands clutching her knees. A deep cough came from her chest, blood landing on her hands. Glenn and Sasha both coughed harshly as well.

"Drink some of that. All three of you," Hershel ordered the trio to drink the tea he'd been making for the sick people.

Glenn handed Odessa a mug of the tea and she quickly drank it as Hershel said, "some council meeting, huh?"

"We're three members short." Sasha said and then nodded towards Odessa, "and we have a new member."

"I think we should make some new rules before they get back. I hereby declare we have Spaghetti Tuesday's every Wednesday." Hershel said

Sasha gave the old man a look and Hershel added, "first we have to find some spaghetti."

Odessa let out a breathy laugh and leaned her head against Hershel's arm. The old man placed a kiss on her sweaty hair then looked to Sasha. "You okay to take over?"

She nodded and moved to take the pump. "Every five to six seconds, squeeze. You start feeling lightheaded, let Odessa take over. We'll take it in shifts." Hershel then looked at Glenn.

"Sure," Glenn responded. The two men stood and Glenn looked back at Henry and asked, "how long will that keep him alive?"

"Just as long as we're willing to do it," Hershel replied. "As long as it takes."

Odessa and Sasha sit in a silence, both staring at Henry. "This is gonna kill all of us," Odessa said quietly.

"Daryl and the others are gonna get back with the medicine." Sasha tried to offer some assurance to the younger girl but she failed.

"It's taken them too long already." Odessa shook her head. "Hershel thinks we're all gonna make it. But he won't let me see the people who're already dead. He thinks I've seen enough death. That's why he has you or Glenn help with his rounds."

Sasha stared at the girl for a moment before her eyes moved back to Henry. "You have. You're only seventeen and you've killed nine men, Dessa."

"To protect my family and myself," Odessa said in return, instantly on guard. "I haven't killed a single person because I've lost myself. I killed those people because it was kill or be killed every damn time."

"I know," Sasha said. "I wasn't judging you."

"I know," Odessa sighed. She laid her head against the concrete wall.

"Dessa!" A voice called. "Your dad's here for you."

Odessa was standing on the other side of the glass a few minutes later. Rick's tough guy facade crumpled the moment he saw how sick his daughter really was.

A ghostly white, deep purple bags under her eyes, sweat beaded on her forehead, blood crusted in the corners of her lips. "Des," he stepped closer to the glass.

"Hey, Dad," she said back. "How was the run?"

"We met some people," he responded.

"Did you bring them back?" She questioned.

Rick only shook his head and Odessa understood. "Are Daryl and the others back yet?"

"Not yet. But they should be back any minute," Rick told her. "I have something I need to tell you, Odessa."

The way he said her name made her stomach churn and anxiety settle. "What is it? Did something happen? Is it Carl or Judith?"

"No," He shook his head. "It's Carol."

"Is she okay?" Odessa scanned her father's face frantically.

"I sent her away." He answered. The worried expression on Odessa's face dropped into one of confusion.

"Why?" She asked in the most heartbroken, pathetic whisper Rick had ever heard.

"She did it. She killed Karen and David. She thought it would stop it from spreading." Rick explained to his daughter. "I couldn't have her here. Not with your and your siblings."

"She did what she thought was right, Dad. She was doing it to protect us," Odessa tried, her brows furrowed.

Rick's own brows dipped. "You wouldn't have done that? Would you?"

Rick knew his answer when Odessa's blue eyes shot downwards. He should've known the answer to the question before he asked it. Because he had been the one to see what she did to Shane that night on the farm to protect Lori, the baby, Carl, Rick, and herself. How she ran her blade across the throat of her own godfather.

What would it be to her to kill two people she knew for only a few months compared to the man who basically helped raised her?

"I'm sorry, Des." Rick said.

"For what?" She asked.

"Not being able to protect you," he stated.

"Dad, no," she firmly spoke. "You've protected me and Carl and Judy and this entire group since Atlanta. Don't apologize for not being able to protect us when you've been doing it since the beginning."

Rick sighed. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Dad." Odessa said. "Now go. We all have jobs to do."

─────────

Not long later, Odessa was laid in her bed between Glenn and Henry's cells. She stared at Dale's old watch on her wrist. It felt heavier than usual.

"Glenn?" She called out.

A low 'hmm?' came from the cell to her right, where Glenn was with Henry.

"Do you ever think about Dale?" She started.

"All the time," Glenn responded immediately.

"Me, too." Odessa honestly answered. She laughed quietly to herself as she remembered one of Dale's stories. "Do you remember when he told us about friend getting stuck on a zip line in Brazil while completing his 'kick the bucket list'?"

"Yeah," Glenn said back, a tiny hint of humor in his voice. "And then his bungee cord almost snapped a day later."

"Shit luck," Odessa sighed. "Hey, Glenn? Do you think someone people are just cursed?"

In the next cell, Glenn's brows furrowed. "Do you think the group is cursed?"

"Sometimes." Odessa replied. "We get a five month long break after months and months of fighting only for our people to get picked off a pig and bird illness."

Glenn didn't respond. "Glenn?" She called.

Then she heard him coughing. "Glenn?" She was rolling out of her bed. When she saw Glenn on the ground in a pool of his own blood she almost collapsed right there. She rushed to his side.

"Glenn!" She fell beside him. She checked his pulse and it was weak. "Hershel!" She screamed. Then Henry started to stir.

Lizzie had come to stand behind Odessa and said, "I'll lead him away." And she did. She quickly led the walker away from herself and Glenn.

Then she fell and so did Henry. Before Odessa could get up to help Hershel was there.

She sent Henry's reanimated corpse tumbled onto the chain link below. Odessa turned Glenn onto his side to keep him from choking on his own blood.

"Hershel, what do we do?" She panicked, her eyes wide with fear.

"Stay here with him. Keep him on his side." Hershel instructed. "I have an idea."

Odessa pulled out her gun from its holster to protect herself and Glenn.

Today was not the day Glenn Rhee was going to die.

A few seconds later, she heard three blasting shouts and Hershel returned to her side.

"What'd you do?" She looked at him.

"Shotgun," he replied. "Hold on, Glenn."

Then Hershel's eyes brightened with realization. "We have something. We still have it."

Odessa looked at him and then realization dawned on her as well. "Henry."

Hershel nodded and shot up. A gunshot hit her ears a moment later.

"Odessa?" A voice asked and she looked up to see a horrified Maggie.

"He's turnin' blue, Maggie," Odessa cried and Maggie collapsed beside the two.

"Daddy!" Maggie shouted desperately for her father.

"I'm on the way!" Hershel clamored out of the chain link and rushed to the others as quickly as he could. When Hershel kneeled beside the three he calmly said, "roll him on his back.

The two women obeyed and rolled a gasping Glenn on his back. "Hold his arms down."

Together, Maggie and Odessa both kneeled on Glenn's arms. They wouldn't lose Glenn. Not today.

"Come on, son. You know how this works." Hershel grit out as he shoved the tube down Glenn's throat.

His gasping breaths came to a stop as his breathing regulated.

Odessa let out a sigh of relief.

Then her body slumped against the wall.

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word count: 2,108

okay yikes 😬. rick sent carol away and odessa doesn't really agree with it because she would've done the exact same thing.

beth sneaking out to see odessa >>>. gosh they're so cute and so in love. i love them both so much. like just marry each other already smh.

also we got a sasha and odessa scene. future bestiessssss perhaps?? only time will tell. but cole and sasha do become besties.

odessa and glenn are precious. them talking about dale :(((. it makes me so sad. i miss him sm. but ik odessa misses him more than anyone ever could.

but odessa pretty much saved glenn's life by keeping him on his side while hershel did all of that badass shit he did. anyway, stan hershel greene because he's a baddie.

GUYS!! i just finished this book. i finished the final chapter this morning and i'm so so excited for y'all to get to finish it.