Hello my friends! I know, I have been away for a very long time and heartlessly neglected you. I'm very sorry! I hope you enjoy the update and are looking forward to the return of TWD this weekend! I still have mixed feeling about what happened, but am looking forward to seeing how the story is going to play out. As always I am so incredibly grateful to all of you and your support. You are the best readers anyone could ask for!

Happy Reading!

<><><><><>

This was not the plan.

When Rick opened fire on Negan and the factory everyone around me followed suit. I grimaced, completely unprepared for the overwhelming noise of fifty assault rifles. Beside me Maggie was firing shot after shot, her face pinched and determined. Most of the people were aiming their guns upward toward the large windows that covered nearly the whole side of the factory facing us.

Glass and bullets rained down on Negan and his lieutenants sending them scurrying. I fired a few shots in Dwight's direction, not caring if I hit him. Yes, he had helped us, but there was no way I was going to let him live after all he had done to Daryl. Fortunately for Dwight we were a little too far away and I wasn't a great shot. I had always felt like aiming with knives should translate better into using a gun than it seemed to.

All five of his men made it through the factory door out of harms way, but Negan himself had been further away. He had been standing just at the edge of the loading platform. Rick fired straight at him and he didn't have a choice. He had to throw himself over the rail and down into the courtyard to avoid being hit by the curtain of falling glass and flying bullets. He made a move towards one of the other external doors and I lifted my rifle and fired off a couple shots at him. The gun jumped in my hands and I tightened my grip. I really did hate guns.

Negan dropped and rolled behind a concrete barrier but not before he caught my eye. I made a kissy face at him. Rage clouded his eyes and a smirk pulled at my lips. Rick tracked Negan's movements and adjusted his position, moving further along the barrier to try and get a better shot at the leader of The Savior's. Rick let off a spray of bullets and Negan dropped down behind the barrier, hidden from sight.

I lowered my gun slowly, keeping a sharp eye out for anything out of place. The knot of worry that had lived in my chest since we devised this plan slowly started to loosen. We were almost done. I heard a distant explosion and I turned to look down the road. Daryl was coming.

"NOW!" Maggie screamed beside me. I flinched and glanced back at her. She was waving at everyone, encouraging them all to retreat to their cars as per the plan. I turned back to the factory and let off a spray a bullets as I backed towards Rick's truck. We needed to clear everyone before the next explosion. The cars all started to pull away, breaking up the protective shield. As soon as the first ones pulled away the people left were exposed.

"Shoot those cock suckers!" Negan screamed.

My head snapped towards him and Rick immediately started firing on him. Suddenly there were bullets zinging past us as The Savior's opened fire. I ducked halfway behind a cement barricade and fired the rifle over the top, not really caring if I hit anything. We just needed to hold them back a little longer. It was almost done.

I heard the RV as it rolled forward towards the gate. I glanced towards Rick, but he wasn't paying attention. Negan was on the ground, covering his head as Rick shot at him. I had a single moment of elation when I thought maybe Rick would be able to hit him. I tightened my jaw when I realized there was no chance. We were still too far away, and shooting through the chainlink fence and the maze of walkers was nearly impossible.

I glanced around us, my brain quickly realizing there was no way for me to get to him either. I wasn't sure what I would have done if I could. I had sworn I would stick to the plan, but the opportunity to kill Negan wasn't something I was willing to let pass me up. I wanted the bastard dead.

The RV rolled slowly toward the first chainlink. The shielding protected the engine from The Savior's gun fire. Just as it was about to break through the fence into the walker filled outer fence the back window opened and Gabriel climbed out. He staggered and nearly fell as he struggled to keep his feet. I didn't understand what had possessed Gabriel to volunteer for the dangerous job, but he had insisted it be him.

"GO!" I yelled and Gabriel leapt out of the back of the RV as it continued to roll towards the warehouse. Another explosion sounded behind us. Daryl was almost here. And with him came the herd. We had one more explosion before it would be on us.

"He's clear!" I hollered to Rick. Rick nodded to show he understood but he didn't look away from Negan. He leaned forward over his rifle as though those few inches would help him focus and improve his chances of hitting Negan.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the slim detonator Daryl had given me yesterday when he had wired up the RV. Both Rick and I had one, just in case, but Rick was busy and we were running out of time. I let out a final spray of gun fire before I rolled forward behind the huge chunk of concrete, covering my ears as I pressed the button down. The RV exploded, it tore through the inner fence and shredded the walkers within the blast radius, sending their remains flying through the air. I wrinkled my nose as the overwhelming stench of burning walker guts filled the air.

When I looked back up Negan was limping towards the remains of the metal casing from the RV for cover. I laid down a half hearted spray of fire, but I didn't actually expect to hit anything. More than anything Gabriel needed cover as he ran towards his car.

The next and final explosion sounded. We were late.

"Rick! We have to go!" I screamed but he was still staring intently at Negan, firing away. I had seen the look before. I recognized that intensity. I got it, and I had seen it just hours before with Morgan. Rick had target fixation.

"Rick come on!" I yelled, to be heard over the gunfire. There were more shooters aiming at us from the warehouse and our window was closing rapidly. Even above the cacophony I heard Daryl's bike as he gunned the engine and turned aside heading down the road away from us. I looked just in time to see a glimpse of him as he sped away. He was safe.

"Rick!" I glanced back at the truck to see the first walkers coming towards it. Right now I had a clear path to the truck, but I wasn't going to leave Rick behind. Gritting my teeth I ran towards Rick, laying down cover fire for him.

"Rick! He's not going anywhere!" I screamed but he still didn't hear me.

I crouched and dodged and darted from cover point to cover point until I was close enough to touch him. I reached out and grabbed his arm and tried to drag him back but he shook me off. I clenched my teeth. "This isn't about you Rick!" I yelled and this time when I grabbed his arm I dug my fingers into his bicep hard enough to hurt. "We have to go!"

He turned to look at me and it took him a second before he was actually able to see me.

"We need to get out of here," I said firmly. "They are depending on us."

He nodded slowly and then it was like his brain caught up. "One minute! Hold them back for one more minute!" he insisted and he ran for his truck. I gritted my teeth and continued to fire from my spot of cover. I didn't like this, I was too exposed. More people with guns were coming to the windows and opening fire as the walkers closed in from behind. 

"Rick!" I yelled in exasperation but there was an edge to my voice. It might have been fear, or the knowledge that I was going to be stuck. I could hear the growls of the walkers as they closed in. It was time to leave.

"Hold on!" he called and he ran around the other side of his truck away from me where the shooters couldn't see him, he lifted a camera of all things and jogged back towards the truck a victorious smile on his face. "Okay!" he called and he looked to me for the first time. His smile fell and his eyes widened. 

It was too late. 

Rick had pushed it too far and the walkers closed in between us. I stood, my hand dropping to my knives but gunfire zinged off the ground near me and I threw myself back behind my cover. 

"Jo!" Rick yelled as a walker shambled too close. He lifted his gun and shot it and the next two coming in the head. I could fight my way to him if I didn't have to worry about getting shot. The Savior's noticed Rick just then and started shooting at him. 

I glanced over my shoulder, Gabriel was just climbing into his car. It would be a dangerous run across open ground to get to him, but there were no walkers between us yet. 

"Go!" I waved Rick off. "I'll get out with Gabriel!" 

Rick didn't hesitate, he took me at my word and ran for his truck. His tires squealed as he pulled away without looking back.

<><><><><>

Daryl

They were late. 

Every single one of those other assholes had made it to the rendezvous point. Their armored cars and trucks were all parked in the field behind me, waiting for my order about what we were doing next. But Jo and Rick were supposed to be here. It should have taken less than three minutes for Gabriel to get clear and for Jo to detonate the RV. 

It had been ten since the last of our group showed up. A hell of a lot could go wrong in ten minutes. I paced another angry line. I shouldn't have let her go. It made sense at the time. We needed one of us to be there to show that bastard we hadn't run away, but now it just felt stupid and reckless. I scrubbed a hand over my face and glanced down at the watch on my wrist. 

Twelve minutes.

I had been right there. I could have swung in. I could have made sure she got out. Could have made sure she hadn't done something stupid and heroic. Sometimes she acted like she was the only damn on of us who could fight. Like just because she was the best she had to be the one throwing herself onto the front line. I knew that. And I had still let her go. 

I heard a truck on the road and spun towards it. Rick's pickup sped around the corner but as it got closer a bad feeling went through me. Only Rick was sitting in the cab. My hands tightened into fists as he parked next to my bike and climbed out. I strided across the clearing towards him, barely able to control my rage. 

"How are we-" he started to say. 

"Where the hell is she? I interrupted. 

Rick swallowed and his eyes glanced towards the road. "We ah-" he started to say and he wouldn't meet my eyes. "We got separated." 

I didn't wait, didn't bother to let him explain. I spun back towards my bike. I was going after her. It was too late to get around the herd, they would already have The Savior's pinned down, but she and I had been back and forth from The Sanctuary half a dozen times in the last few days. She knew the terrain around it and could get herself out. Chances were if she got out on foot she would head towards where we had parked the bike when we had gone in. She would be fine in the woods, I just needed to get her. 

"Wait!" Rick called and he jumped forward and grabbed my arm. I went very still beneath his hand. I turned a dangerous look at him and he dropped his hand and took a step back, raising his hands to show he wasn't a threat. "Brother-" he started to say.  

I stalked back towards him, slamming my chest into his. "Where. Is. Jo?" I demanded, I was shaking with barely contained rage as anxiety choked me, making it hard to breathe. There were so many things that could have gone wrong. She could have been captured, or shot, hell I had just dumped a thousand head herd right on top of her. I could have killed her. 

Rick's eyes widened and it was like he noticed for the first damn time that maybe he should be a little careful about what he said. "We got separated," he repeated and I was ready to punch him. "But she got out with Gabriel!" he said hurriedly. 

I pulled back and eyed him, not sure if I should believe him or not. 

"Daryl they were right behind me," he promised me. "There is no reason they couldn't have gotten out just fine." 

<><><><><>

Jo

I ran towards Gabriel's car. Shots zinged off the ground near me but so far I had been lucky. Gabriel looked up in surprise as I ran towards him. 

"Shot gun!" I called and I flashed him a smile I didn't feel. We had seconds to get out of here before the herd closed the gap.

Gabriel nodded, his eyes a little wide. 

I jumped into the passenger side of the car and exhaled. We were going to make it. I tossed the rifle into the back seat away from me in disgust. It was too bulky for my fighting style and the next part of the plan would put Rick, Daryl and I in close quarter hand to hand. I still had the handgun in my shoulder holster, but no one was going to make me carry the rifle. Not when I could use my knives. I pulled out the two I had fought with and wiped them off on my pants. I had sheathed them bloody, and if I didn't get some of the walker blood off of them they would gum up inside the sheaths and I wouldn't be able to draw them as fast as I might need to. 

Gabriel wrenched his door open. He was halfway inside when he froze. 

"Gabriel what-?" I started to ask but he was jumped away from the car and started to run. 

I leaned forward in my seat to peer out of the windshield. Gabriel was running and shooting, waving his hand frantically at someone on the ground. From this distance I couldn't make out who it was, just that it was a man who was about to be caught in the flood of walkers.

Gabriel was so intent on getting to the man and providing cover for him he didn't see the walkers closing in on him from the side. It wasn't just a few walkers either, it was the bulk of the herd. They were here. If I stayed where I was they would quickly block Gabriel and whoever he was trying to save from getting back to the car. But if I could hold them off for a few seconds, they would be able to get back. 

"Shit!" I growled and I climbed out of the car and ran after him, my knives in my hands and the rifle left behind me.

I slashed and fought, killing the walkers who came too close. I kicked and twisted and spun letting my blades slice through any walker that got too close. It took too long to fight my way towards Gabriel. I was keenly aware of time and what it meant for our chances of getting away, but I wasn't going to leave him behind. I couldn't. He was risking his life to save someone else. 

"I'm gonna get your out of here," Gabriel was saying. 

"Gabriel let's move!" I hollered. I grunted as I killed another one, fighting to keep the path back to the car clear. The gap was closing and my presence only seemed to bring the walkers closer. They growled excitedly and turned, stumbling over one another in their eagerness to get to me. I did a spin kick, clearing space for me to fight. It bought me a second to look at who Gabriel was crouched next to behind the chunk of cement. 

Gregory. 

We were risking out lives for Gregory. Shots echoed around us, but I was so focused on fighting the herd I wasn't paying attention. 

"We just have to wait for our moment!" Gabriel called back. 

"The moment is now!" I screamed as I smashed my fist straight through a skull. Gore coated my hand and wrist but I didn't stop. I couldn't. If I stopped for one second we wouldn't make it back to the car. 

"Thank you father," Gregory exclaimed loud enough for me to hear him.

"Thank god," Gabriel advised in that maddeningly calm voice he used when he was so sure of his faith. When he was so sure it was god keeping him safe and not me standing there with my knives coated in gore. 

"Sure, whatever," Gregory agreed, but he wasn't really paying attention. He was crouched behind Gabriel, using him as a barrier and watching me fight like the coward he was. 

"Thank me!" I yelled, kicking back another walker. I lost a knife as I buried it too deep in the skull of the latest strike. I was down to nine knives now. I kicked the body back away from me again, working to create a barrier that caused the walkers who came too close to trip and stumbled as they tried to get to us. It wouldn't last, but it would buy us seconds. And we were down to seconds being the difference between life and death. 

Shots started raining down from the warehouse, coming within inches of me. I clenched my teeth together. I couldn't stay out in the open. I was going to get shot. I had one moment to decide which way I was going. Either I could dash for the car and leave them to find their way across the courtyard, or I could move towards Gabriel and get them both out of here. I knew exactly what Daryl would say, and I could almost imagine the look of fury on his face as I threw myself towards Gabriel. I rolled across the ground and came up with a knife in either hand.

But as the gunfire followed me, Gregory made his move. He ran straight for the car abandoning us. He was not going to leave us here. I wasn't going to die because of that asshole. I whirled and pulled my arm back aiming for his skull without a hint of remorse. 

Just as I was about to let the knife fly Gabriel grabbed my arm, jerking it back. "No!" he yelled. 

I snapped my head to glare at him and ripped my arm out of his grasp. By the time I looked back Gregory was in the car.

"No!" I yelled as the tires squealed as he pulled away leaving us behind. 

I reached down and grabbed Gabriel by the arm, jerking him to his feet. We had to get out of here. Gunshots rained down again and we both dropped behind the large slab of cement. We were trapped and the herd was closing in on us from behind.

<><><><><>

Daryl

I was pacing again, never taking my eyes off the road. I was making the people behind me nervous, but I didn't give a shit. They should be nervous. If something happened to Jo I was going to tear the whole goddamn world apart. They left her behind. 

Another ten minutes went by. A stick snapped behind me and I recognized the sound of Rick's footsteps. I didn't turn around. I was too angry. 

"We can't wait anymore Daryl," he said firmly. "We have to stick to the plan." 

I glanced down at my watch. "We can give it another five minutes," I argued crossing my arms over my chest. It would press our time table but we could do it. 

"We can't," Rick replied almost coldly.

I stared out down the road willing a car to come into view. Anything. Some sign that she was still alive. She had defied the odds so many times. I just needed her to do it one more time. I wanted to be able to scream at her for not sticking to the plan. Then she would smirk up at me and chastised me for worrying about her. 

Rick cleared his throat. "I'm sorry," he said. "But we can't keep waiting. She went with Gabriel and they may have gone to his rendezvous," he said encouragingly. 

We both knew he was lying. Yes, Gabriel had a different rendezvous spot but out of the two of them Jo was the more important fighter. She had the more important role to play in the next stage of the plan. Unless she was hurt or unconscious she would have insisted Gabriel bring her here. Since it was going to be just me, Rick and Jo we had fewer men with us. We needed her. 

Rick shifted his weight and he looked down. "She stopped to get me." Rick confessed and I could hear the shame in his voice.

I was barely able to hold back the rage that was making my hands shake. He had left her there. "How's that?" I snarled, turning on him.

But Rick looked away, refused to meet my eyes. "Negan," he explained. "He was on the ground. I was trying to kill him, but Jo stopped me. She was clear, already at the truck, but I wouldn't leave. She came back. Pulled me back. Some of the herd came, got between us," his voice broke with emotion, but I wasn't giving an inch. He might feel bad about what happened, but it didn't change anything. She still wasn't here. 

I pressed my lips together. She had been safe and then she went back for Rick. Typical Jo. Sure, she said she would get out with Gabriel but a lot could have gone wrong. The plan was for her to stick close to Rick, that Rick would keep an eye on her. 

And he had left her behind. 

"We gotta get moving." Rick said after another couple of minutes. This time he sounded apologetic. 

I turned and looked at him.

"This isn't about us," he said quickly. "There are a lot of people depending on us to take that outpost. Jo knows that. She'll get it. She's fine. She's tough. She can take care of herself," he was talking almost too quick, like he was trying to convince himself as much as me. 

He was right, we needed to go. The time table for today was too delicate to wait any longer, but that didn't stop me from leveling a murderous glare at him. "Just cause she can take care of herself doesn't mean she should get left behind to do it," I growled at him and I slammed my shoulder into his as I stalked past him towards my bike. Jo kept talking about how Rick wouldn't always be the leader. How someday soon someone else would be in charge. I hadn't ever understood or seen the need, now however...Rick was getting careless. 

"Let's go!" he called from behind me and he whistled. Signaling the others it was time to go. 

I couldn't shake the sick feeling in my gut as I swung back on my bike alone. She was supposed to be here. I tightened my jaw. I couldn't help feeling like Rick had betrayed me. Betrayed us. 

I had trusted him with the one thing that was most important to me in this world. 

And he had left her behind. 

<><><><><>

Jo

The snarls were getting closer and closer and it was becoming harder for me to stay focused on our goal. We needed to escape, not fight. Daryl and I had been in and out of the woods surrounding the factory over the last couple days. If I could just get us out of here, we would be safe. But that meant escaping, not standing my ground and fighting. 

The burnt out husk of the RV continued to burn drawing the walkers closer and closer. There were hundreds, if not close to a thousand bearing down on us right now. Panic closed my throat. We had laid the perfect trap for The Saviors and Gabriel and I were standing right in the middle of it.

"We have to move!" I yelled and I grabbed Gabriel's arm. I glanced behind us, but there was no path to the fence, no way to fight our way out. We would have to move in closer. 

"But the guns!" he protested.

"Walkers!" I snarled back, pointing with my knife at the shambling herd. "I would rather be shot than bit!" I snarled and I dragged him towards the warehouse. There was no other choice. 

I shoved Gabriel ahead of me and fought to keep our path clear towards the door of the closest outbuilding. If we could just find someplace to lay low where The Savior's couldn't find us and the herd couldn't get us we might be able to slip away once things settled.

Gabriel tried the door. "It's locked!" he hollered back his voice high with panic. I slashed and stabbed, kicking the walkers back, but the herd pressed in, threatening to pin us against the side of the building. I pulled the hand gun and emptied the clip into the herd, clearing us just enough space to escape. 

"The trailer!" I yelled, jerking my chin towards our only other option twenty yards away. We were twenty yards from safety. I threw the empty gun away and drew another knife. 

Gabriel balked. There were walkers surging all around us. I shoved past him, leading the way towards the trailer. I kicked and fought, slashed and stabbed. I moved faster than I thought possible with the singular goal in mind. Nothing else mattered but surviving. 

Gabriel cried out behind me, reminding me I wasn't alone. I had someone I had to protect. I whirled to see him nearly trapped. I snapped off knives at the walkers closest to him. 

One.

Two. 

Three.

Four.

It was risking our lives. Those were knives I would never get back. I was down to five. 

The walkers around Gabriel dropped and he staggered towards me. His eyes were wide with two much white showing and he was gasping, as though he couldn't pull enough oxygen into his lungs. He looked like he was in the midst of a panic attack. He managed to wrench one of my knives out of a corpse as he ran towards me. 

I shoved him ahead of me towards the door. He twisted the knob and fell inside. I stabbed down through the skull of a walker that was between me and the door and the knife got stuck. I could hear and feel the herd surging towards me. 

"COME ON!!!" Gabriel shrieked from inside the dark trailer. 

I abandoned the knife. I had four left on my body but nothing in my hands. I kicked the next two walkers back down the stairs so the door was cleared enough to close. I whipped around and jerked it closed behind me. The latch clicked into place and I sagged against it. I slid down the door until my butt hit the ground. I was shaking. That had been a lot closer than I was willing to admit. If the door hadn't opened, we would have been done for.

It was too dark for me to see, but it didn't matter. My eyes were pinched shut as I fought to take control of my body. I couldn't lose it, not now. We still weren't safe yet. It wasn't done. 

I could feel Gabriel crouch in front of me. "Are you okay?" he asked as he panted. 

I nodded, not caring if he could see me. 

There was a low chuckle from the dark of the trailer and a bad feeling went through me.

"I hope you've got your shitt'in pants on," his voice drawled and I could hear the teasing laughter.

My breath caught in my throat. I tried to leap to my feet, but my foot slipped and I staggered back into the door. 

"What?" Gabriel called in disbelief whirling towards the voice, his body between me and him. 

"Your shitt'in pants," Negan clarified. "I hope you're wearing them right now..."

He stepped up out of the dark. The faint light caught his eyes and showed his teeth as he smiled aggressively down at Gabriel and I. Gabriel started shaking, and he shirked back towards me. Negan's eyes ran over me and he flashed me a suggestive smile.

"Cause you are about to shit your pants."

Behind us hundreds of hands slammed against the door and thin walls of the trailer. I flinched and whipped back around towards the door where it rattled threateningly. We were trapped. 

<><><><><>

Hello friends! I hope you enjoyed the update! Thank you for your patience. My course is going very well and I've survive the first of three weekends. I will hopefully get one more update out before the second course next month.