HEART OF GLASS
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE !

[ season three, episode ten & eleven ]

Her knees collided with the ground before she had a chance to understand what was happening.

Bullets whizzed over the crumbled wall, hitting the brick structure with such force that small chunks were blown off and thrown into the air, raining down on Marley and Theo's heads.

Arm shielding her face from the debris, Marley scrambled to press her back against the wall, using trembling hands to pull her handgun close to her chest. More gunshots clanged in the distance, accompanied by the sound of a car engine roaring to life. She managed to peer around the wall ━ the sight her eyes fell upon was expected: the Governor, standing in the midst of the verdant fields beyond the prison fences, with his rifle aimed into the courtyard. It was only a matter of time before he made his move to attack.

Behind him, a truck was rushing to join.

The person who jumped out of the vehicle was a woman with dark-blonde hair ━ undoubtedly his sister ━ with a rifle in her arms and donning a matching smirk. A group of armed fighters scurried out of the truck behind her.

A muscle in Theo's jaw bulged, hand fidgeting around his compound bow, "Helen. I knew she'd be in on it."

"That's his sister?" Marley questioned, amplifying her voice so Theo could hear it over the deafening clamour of gunshots.

He nodded, "She's just as bad as him."

"Then it's a good thing I had target practice before this," Marley said, peering around the wall again and scowling at the Woodbury siblings, "If we can shoot at least one of 'em, that's half the problem gone."

Theo swallowed thickly, reluctance gleaming in his downcast eyes, "Yeah. You're right."

She immediately noticed the nervous look on his face, "Have you ever killed a person before?"

"Me? Uh ━ once," he admitted, gulping, "But I wish I never had to."

Marley placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed softly, "I haven't. But, hey, we gotta do what we gotta do, right?"

"Right," Theo agreed, albeit unconvincingly.

"We do," Marley pressed, unhitching the safety on her handgun, "Stick with me. We're stronger together ━ that's what Glenn says."

"Andrea used to say that too. Always works out better that way," Theo riposted, sadness teeming in his voice. He ducked behind the wall and nocked an orange-fletched arrow in his compound bow, "I'll stick to you like glue."

She gave him a firm nod and then ━ in unprecedented unison ━ they peered around their respective corners of the crumbling wall and started firing into the swarm of Woodbury fighters. Arrows soared across the courtyard, over the mesh fencing encircling the prison, and disappeared in the brambles by the Governor.

One arrow embedded itself in the grassy plains around Helen's feet, taking her by surprise. She jerked out of the way, and her eyes flashed in recognition at the orange-fletched arrow. She reloaded her rifle and aimed directly at the brick wall. Bullets slammed into the structure, and Theo had to scurry back to avoid being hit.

Marley hissed between her teeth. She was struggling with her gun. Her hands were sweaty, slipping around the hilt, and the magazine was slowly emptying. She clenched her teeth and looked back around the wall, squeezing the trigger. A bullet met the shoulder of a Woodbury fighter. He yelped in pain like a wounded animal and rushed to hide behind Helen's truck.

Her throat suddenly felt dry. If he bled out, he'd die. And if he died, it'd be entirely Marley's fault. She'd be responsible for someone's death. She would be a killer.

But better them than her and her family, right?

Instinctively, her eyes flitted to the courtyard. She saw Carol using Axel's body ━ his dead body ━ as a shield against the bullets, and Carl and Beth hiding behind an upturned metal bench. In the field, Michonne fired at the Woodbury soldiers from behind the abandoned school bus. Hershel was face-down in the grass, alive, completely shrouded from view by the shrubbery.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember where everybody else was. Judith, inside with Sage. Rick was beyond the fences somewhere, hopefully safe. Glenn had driven off to an undisclosed place. Maggie was inside with Sage and Judith.

Suddenly, the gunfire stopped. Stillness washed over them.

Theo was gasping for breath beside Marley, all pale and looking extremely discombobulated. She reached over and pressed her hand against his arm to steady him ━ his entire body was trembling. Sweat dribbled down the side of his face, and his dark brows were pinched together, creasing the soft-honey skin around them, as if he were in a great deal of pain.

"You good?" she whispered.

He managed to nod, swallowing thickly, "Yeah."

"I think they might be done━"

"━Beth!"

Marley whipped her head around. In the courtyard, a panic-stricken Maggie had tore out of the prison with guns in hand. She ran toward Beth and dumped a rifle in the blonde girl's arms. Bullets poured down at them from the guard tower ━ one of the Woodbury soldiers had somehow managed to get inside of it ━ and slammed into the concrete around their feet. Maggie instantaneously grabbed Beth and Carl and pulled them behind a metal box.

The fighting resumed briefly.

Marley aimed at the Governor. He was wearing a patch of gauze over one eye, a bandage around the leg she shot in Woodbury, and a sadistic smirk on his lips. She distinctly remembered his face as he held the knife to Sage's throat, the way he manipulated her in the questioning room, how he left her alone after knocking her out cold ━ and then she pulled the trigger.

Anger managed to get the better of her. She was a hypocrite.

The Governor easily dodged the bullet, limping to the side. It clanged off the side of the truck, forgotten, rendered useless against their advances.

His gaze zoned in on her, so quickly it was borderline inhumane. A bullet tore from the muzzle of his gun, zipped across the courtyard, and skimmed the top of Marley's head. She gasped and collapsed to the ground, crawling back to her spot behind the wall. She didn't feel any pain; that was the first thing she noticed. Just to be sure, she ran a hand through her hair, double-checking for wounds. No blood. Her hand came back clean ━ thank God.

The gunshots halted once again.

In the far distance, an engine grumbled. Marley's brows furrowed, but she was far too hesitant to look around the wall to discern the source of noise. The Governor knew where she was hiding now. He'd probably try to shoot her dead if he caught a glimpse of her face again ━ an act of revenge for her shooting him in the thigh during the Woodbury fight.

CRASH.

What was that? She had no choice but to look.

The front gate had been shoved open, and an orange van was rolling into their territory. It stopped in the midst of the recreation field. Nothing happened for a while. Everything was so still; it felt like the world had drawn in a breath.

Shakily, Theo aimed his bow at the van.

The back doors suddenly crashed open, and a ramp collided with the ground. A few seconds passed. It became apparent what the purpose of this orange van was very quickly.

Walkers flooded out of the back, trampling onto the recreation field. There were dozens of them. More had been drawn from the woods by the gunfire, and they managed to work their way into the prison through the open gate where the van had pummelled through. There had to be at least forty undead. Maybe fifty, at a push.

Marley froze.

Realisation sunk to the pit of stomach: Hershel was in the field. 

She snapped her head around to Theo, "Hershel's down there. We need to get to him. He can't fight walkers on his own ━ not with his leg."

"Shit," Theo hissed, wiping sweat from his brow, "I'll be your shield. Come on."

After a brief scan of the perimeter, he made a fleeting gesture with his hand that it was safe to go. However, before they made it more than a metre from the crumbling wall, a bullet ripped through the air toward them. It grazed Theo's arm, shredding through his jacket, and he cried out in pain; the sound was gut-wrenching.

He looked up. Helen was the culprit, hanging out of the window of the truck, her smoking rifle aimed at him. They were making a move, and she was leaving her mark.

Theo's eyes clouded with rage. He nocked an arrow, drew it back, and released.

It breached the distance between the two opposing sides and sunk into the flesh beneath Helen's collarbone. She slumped over, screaming in agony. She clutched a hand around the arrow protruding from her skin. It was bleeding profusely; it'd be fatal if they were lucky.

The truck squealed and quickly pulled away, disappearing into the surrounding foliage in a cloud of dust.

Marley grabbed Theo's good arm, turning him to the side to inspect the wound, "Just grazed you, I think. Are you good to keep pushing?"

He winced, teeth clamped shut, "I think so."

"You don't have to," Marley assured breathlessly, "You don't need to prove anything. We trust you now. You and Michonne."

"No," Theo managed to say between pants of both exertion and pain, "We have to stick together like glue, remember?"

She recalled their earlier conversation. A disbelieving laugh left her lips, "Fine. Like glue."

With an encouraging nod, Marley led the way through the courtyard ━ iridescent sun beaming down on their exposed backs ferociously.

In the wake of the ceasefire, everyone had congregated on the recreation field, working together to put the amalgamation of walkers down. This was their home, and they had every intention to protect it.

Marley shoved her handgun into the waistband of her jeans and unsheathed her baseball bat ━ it was small enough to hook through her belt and hang loosely by her thigh.

She drew it back and smashed it into the side of a walker's decaying skull. It burst like a watermelon. Did the trick, but it wasn't pretty.

Theo used his little black knife, sinking it into the centre of a walker's fleshy scalp. It gave a monstrous grow and then fell limp. He stepped back and swiftly moved to the next one. Blood trickled down the side of his blue jacket, seeping from the bullet-graze wound inflicted upon his upper arm.

But he kept going despite it. Despite the pain, the discomfort, the fear of infection and blood loss. He kept going to protect those around him. That gave Marley every reason to trust him.

"Marley!"

Hands clamped around her shoulders, and suddenly she was drawn to the ground, back slamming against the earth hard. The wind was knocked harshly from her lungs, leaving her coughing and gasping for breath. A pressure against her gut prompted her to look up, only to see a walker snapping its rotting jaws in her face. A scream flew from Marley's mouth unbidden, and she slammed her hands against the walker's collarbone, pushing it far, far away from her face.

One of its eyes was hanging from the socket, attached to pink strings of flesh. It looked like the flesh on the right hand side of its face had melted away, all charred and black. She felt sick.

"Shit━hold on!" Theo exclaimed.

Over the walker's shoulder, she saw him fighting against a swarm of undead. Three were after him. He managed to put down one, but the other two pursued him. He had no choice but to scuttle back, further away, putting a distance between the walkers and a vulnerable Marley.

She grunted, her fingers digging into the walker's flesh. It easily sloughed away beneath her touch, revealing a patch of straining muscle and a glimpse of bone. Now she really felt sick. A gag worked it's way up her throat, and her hold against it slackened.

One of her arms slipped, thudding against the grass by her hip. Nausea evaporated, fast replaced by fear.

The walker tipped to the side, it's hipbone digging into Marley's stomach. Another scream ripped through her throat.

The walker's mouth was inches from her face. It's yellowing teeth were snapping so closely to her cheek that she could feel it's rancid breath ghosting her skin. Shit. She was going to die. This was it. She was going to die, bitten and chewed and eaten. Her promise to her mother as she lay dying was going to be unfulfilled ━ she could not protect Sage if she was dead.

BANG.

The walker's head exploded. Brain matter and blood poured down, splattering Marley's face like acid rain. She immediately shoved the corpse off her body and searched for her saviour.

It was Glenn.

He lowered his gun, "Are you bit?"

She shook her head fervently, "No ━ no, I don't think so."

Glenn held out his hand for her, and Marley took it. He helped her to her feet, which she was inordinately thankful for. Every limb was shaking so hard she found it hard to even stand. A brush with death had that effect, she supposed.

They ran to the gate at the top of the field and, once everyone else was safely inside, they slammed it shut. Walkers had infiltrated their home, hobbling across the recreation field lethargically, and there were too many to take down in a single day. Just when the group thought things were looking up, it all crashed and burned and fell down again.

At least she was still alive.

"Thank you," Marley said, swallowing down a sandpaper throat, "for saving me."

"I thought you . . ." Glenn shook his head, as if ridding himself of a thought, and continued, "I heard you screaming. I've never ran so fast in my life," he admitted, gazing behind the fencing at the field dominated by dead.

Marley grabbed her bat from the ground, "You came back at the right time."

"What happened?"

"The Governor," Marley spat, "He launched his attack, as predicated."

Glenn eyed her warily, "Are you hurt?"

Despite her lightheadedness, she quickly shook her head again, "I'm not."

"Good," he said, nodding stiffly.

She swayed awkwardly, "Listen, Glenn━"

"━No, I should be the one explaining myself," he immediately cut her off, looking ashamed, "I was angry earlier, you were right. Too angry. I took it out on you. I didn't listen to you. I was blunt, I was cold, and I'm sorry. Really sorry. I care about you too, Marley. More than anyone."

Her throat burned with tears. She blinked them back and smiled at him, "More than anyone?"

He mirrored her smile, "Yeah. More than anyone."

She immediately threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

Fighting with him ━ well, having a disagreement ━ was something she despised, she'd come to discover. Glenn was the closest thing she had to family, other than Sage. He was like a brother, a father-figure, a shoulder to lean on. She couldn't cope with him being mad at her, or she being mad at him. She just wanted to love him with what limited time they had.

Months, years, days. However long the world planned to keep them for, Marley wanted to spend every waking moment loving the people she cared about.

✧.｡. *.

Daryl was back.

He swooped in just in time to save the day ━ to save Rick's life, namely ━ with Merle clinging to his side like a pesky leech. People weren't happy about that; he was responsible for more than half the current problems they were facing. But without Merle, there would be no Daryl. He said so himself. And, admittedly, the group needed him. If it weren't for Daryl, they would have been forced to bury Rick's gnawed-up body beside Axel's. Fortunately, their victims of the Governor counted up to just one. One was more than they wanted, but less than they expected. Axel was a decent man. He didn't deserve to die like that.

They gathered in the cell block the next morning, all still reeling from the events of yesterday. Theo's arm was heavily bandaged ━ Hershel said it was important the wound was dressed to prevent immediate infection. They were lucky to have someone so knowledgeable when it came to medical care. It'd been stitched, cleaned; all the preventives to avoid the worst case scenario. He'd be right as rain in a week.

Shame the same couldn't be said for everyone.

Rick, temporarily back from his trip to Crazytown, paced down the dingy hallway of the prison cell block, "We're not leaving."

"We can't stay here," Hershel argued.

Beside him, Maggie's brows were cinched in concern, "What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds."

"We can't even go outside," Beth said.

"Not in the daylight," Carol countered. Her grey eyes still carried the trauma of witnessing such a brutal attack yesterday ━ seeing a bullet rip through Axel's skull, forced to use his body as human shield. She'd been through the mill.

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running," Glenn said firmly.

"No," came Merle's unwanted drawl. He was standing behind the locked gate of the opposing cell block, his metallic arm hanging through the iron bars, "Better to live like rats."

Marley's jaw clenched. She turned on him, "When we want your input, we'll ask you."

"Hey, no," Rick waved her off gently, levelling Merle with a furious glare, "Let's ask him. You got a better idea?"

A smirk bloomed on Merle's lips at that, "Yeah. We should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now."

Daryl paced the upper-level of the cell block, scowling as usual, "We ain't scared of that prick,"

"Y'all should be," Merle warned, "That truck through the fence thing? That's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. If he takes the high ground around this place ━ shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to."

"We wouldn't be in this situation if it wasn't for you," Theo snapped, running a hand down his compound bow like an intimidation tactic.

"Oh, come on, Robin Hood," Merle sneered. He pressed his face closer to the iron bars, and the sun shining through the window threw his scar-spotted face into total clarity, "How's 'bout a little forgiveness for your good pal, Merle? Huh?"

Theo rolled his eyes, knuckles blanching around his bow, "Pal? You tried to kill me. Hell, you've tried to kill half the people in this room."

"We all make mistakes," Merle said simply, his shoulders lifting in a feeble shrug.

"Mistakes?" Marley echoed. She crossed her arms and hurled a disbelieving scoff at him, "I think us keeping you alive is a mistake."

"No," Daryl cut in tempestuously, of course, "He's got a point about the Governor."

"That's about it," Marley mumbled bitterly.

"This is all you!" Maggie yelled, viciously jabbing a finger in Merle's direction, "You started this!"

Clearly distressed, Beth descended the stairs at a run, passing Sage as she went ━ who was sitting on the top step with a sleeping Judith cradled in her arms, "What's the difference who's fault it is? What do we do?"

"I said we should leave," Hershel insisted, "Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here."

As usual, the group shifted their eyes to Rick. He always had the answers they wanted, the answers they needed. He was their leader. They depended on him; they were alive because of him.

But instead of saying anything, Rick turned to leave. Marley's heart deflated. If he couldn't think of a solution ━ if he didn't even want to ━ then how were the group meant to?

Hershel immediately leapt to a stand, slamming his crutches on the ground, "GET BACK HERE!"

Everyone in the room froze. Hershel had never raised his voice like that ━ at Rick of all people. It wasn't like him. But tensions were running high, the overwhelming threat of death was lingering; it was costing them their psyche.

"You're slipping, Rick," Hershel stated bluntly, "We've all seen it, we understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something."

For the first time ever, Rick looked close to tears. It was hard not to sympathise with him. He didn't ask for all this pressure ━ they put it on him. When they looked for a leader, someone to overrule and make decisions, they looked to Rick Grimes. He stepped up, he claimed it, and he bore the metaphorical crown. But did he want that? Truly want it? The title was weighing him down. Grief was weighing him down.

He managed a stiff nod in return, and then he really did leave, but this time Hershel let him. He'd been heard. That was all that mattered.

"He needs time," Marley told Hershel, once the group had somewhat dispersed, "We can't ask a grieving man to lead us, it's not right."

"We don't have time," Hershel said sternly, "If we don't think of something soon, we won't survive the next attack."

With that, he clamped a wrinkled hand around Marley's shoulder, squeezed it reassuringly, and left the cell block.

She couldn't deny the fact he had a point. Another attack was imminent ━ the Woodbury soldiers were bound to be paving a path to revenge. Helen's injury wasn't one to be taken lightly, especially by the Governor; her own brother. With any luck, maybe she'd died from the blood loss. But maybe she hadn't. Either way, she had been irreversibly hurt. They weren't going to live that down.

Marley sighed through her nose and approached the stairs, where Beth was sitting with Judith in her arms and Sage sulking next to them.

The second Sage saw Marley, she stood up and scurried away. The patterned curtain to their shared cell on the lower floor flapped open, and she disappeared behind it ━ nothing out of the ordinary. They hadn't spoke since Woodbury. Hershel said she needed time, but how much time was that? If he wanted Rick to push aside his grief and act a leader again, why couldn't he say the same thing for Sage? Why couldn't she act like a sister again? Why couldn't she at least communicate with Marley?

Beth noticed the interaction ━ or the lack thereof ━ and her expression was suddenly sympathetic, "You okay?"

Marley slumped down in the spot beside her, where Sage had been moments ago, "Why won't she talk to me? I know I messed up in Woodbury, but━"

"You didn't mess up," a voice interjected, seemingly out of the blue. Marley's head shot up and she saw Theo leaning against the bannister, his uninjured arm slung over the metal bars.

"What?"

He shrugged indifferently, "You were locked in a room, you were disorientated, injured ━ your guard was down. How were you meant to notice your sister going missing between all that?"

"I should've," Marley insisted, "She's my responsibility. Mine. I wasn't watching her properly. It's my fault the Governor cut her."

"No, it's not," Beth insisted, rocking Judith in her arms gently, "Stop findin' a way to blame yourself. These things are out of our control. It happened. Now there's nothin' we can do about it."

"Yeah, I know that . . ." Marley murmured. She ran a hand over her forehead, smoothing her hair back, "I just wish she'd talk to me."

"In time, she will," Beth reassured, patting Marley's knee with her free hand, "Trust me on this. Sage loves you more than anythin.' She won't ignore you forever. She just needs time."

A deep exhale rattled in Marley's chest, "How much time?"

"As much as she needs," Beth reaffirmed.

All of a sudden, Judith started to cry. Her tiny hands balled into fists and she smushed them against her face ━ her face that already resembled Lori. Coffee-coloured eyes. Round cheeks, high cheekbones. Despite what everybody else thought, Judith didn't carry much resemblance to Shane at all. She was a Grimes through and through.

Beth shushed her, rocking her a little firmer.

"Is she okay?" Theo asked apprehensively.

"Hungry, I think," Beth assumed, grabbing the baby's half-empty bottle from the step. She lifted her head and fixed Theo with a pensive look, "You wanna hold her?"

Theo paled, "Uh━"

"━She won't bite," Beth said lightheartedly, prompting Theo to smile.

He shrugged, the tension slowly melting from his bunched-up shoulders, "Alright, sure. Why not?"

Marley moved to the step below, creating room for Theo to sit. He hesitantly lowered himself down beside Beth, and she handed Judith to him, making sure her fragile head was supported by his arm.It was like witnessing a miracle ━ Judith stopped crying almost instantaneously.

Theo cracked a genuine grin, "I think she likes me."

"Seems like it," Beth said.

Marley pressed her thumb inside Judith's palm, and the baby Grimes coiled her fingers around it, squeezing as hard as someone that size could; which wasn't very hard. She gurgled, eyes fluttering closed. A smile formed on Marley's lips.

When Sage was first born, she would cling onto Marley's thumb as if it were a lifeline. After she came home from hospital ━ she was there for weeks while the doctors conducted tests to figure out what had caused her to be born with hearing loss ━ Marley refused to leave her side. She set up pillows and blankets beside Sage's wooden crib, and she'd sleep there all night, just to make sure she was okay. There wasn't a moment where she wasn't next to her, or near Sage. Her chest would feel constricted if she wasn't. Marley just loved her so much that it was hard to breathe.

She wondered if Carl was the same, with Judith. Other than memories, she was all they had left to remember Lori by. Did he cling to her like Marley clung to Sage? Was he Judith's lifeline?

The entire group was Judith's lifeline. When she was older, she would depend on them like family. And they'd love her like she was their own.

"She must find your arms comfortin,'" Beth said, smoothing her hand over Judith's head of fair hair, "I think babies sense goodness in people. She must'a sensed it in you."

Theo's cheeks were tinged with pink, "Me?"

"Well, who else is holding her?" Marley remarked, prompting Theo to roll his eyes.

"You hold her like you've done it before," Beth pointed out, a quizzical expression on her face. He had her head supported just right, and his other arm formed a cocoon of sorts underneath her tiny frail body.

"I have," Theo mumbled. He looked down at Judith's pink face mournfully, "My neighbour ━ she had a baby. Rosa, she was called. I used to go around their house sometimes to play with her . . . She actually looked a little like Judith, now that I'm thinking about it."

"Most babies look the same," Marley said.

"No, I don't think so," Beth retorted, pressing her chin against the palm of her hand, "Judith looks like Lori. Not all babies look like Lori."

"It's the eyes," Marley murmured dolefully, "She has Lori's eyes."

Theo rocked Judith back and forth in his arms, lulling her into a deep sleep, "I wish I'd got to meet her ━ Lori, I mean. From what I've heard, she was a good woman."

"She was," Marley stated. Her throat squeezed, burning with unshed tears, "She was a good mother; the best. She gave her life for Judith's."

Beth nodded in agreement, "Judith will remember her. I'll make sure she does."

The poor Grimes family. It was almost like they were destined for tragedy.

━━━━━━━━━━

AUTHORS NOTE !

the trio ive been waiting to
write: marley, beth and theo.
they have my entire heart.