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Daryl

"Tyreese," Rick called, "You down here?"

Maggie had directed us towards the tombs when we asked if she had seen Tyreese. I was surprised he wasn't in A block looking after Sasha. Made me wonder what in the hell he was doing down here.

"Rick, that you?" his voice echoed back to us from down the dark hallway.

I held onto the strap of my crossbow though I kept it slung across my body. Jo and me had cleared this part of the tombs months ago and I wasn't worried about running into any Walkers.

"You guys gotta see this," Tyreese exclaimed coming out of the dark.

Rick nodded but he was focused on why we were down there and not really paying attention to Tyreese. "Can we take a beat? There's something we need to talk about."

Tyreese shook his head. "It can wait," he snapped. "Come on," he walked off without bothering to see if we would follow.

We pulled out our flashlights and followed Tyreese on a twisting path through the tombs into one of the darkest back corners. Most of this part was all old storage and none of the group had any reason to be back here. When Jo and I cleared it, it seemed that was the case before the outbreak as well.

When Tyreese stopped and pointed to the ground in front of him I stepped forward. I lifted my flashlight as my brain tried to justify what I thought I was seeing.

"The hell?" I muttered stepping closer and crouching so I could get a better look.

"I was just looking for answers," Tyreese explained, his voice was breathy as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. "And I found this."

I remembered finding something like this when I was a kid. One of the other boys in the neighborhood had done it, but he liked to kill cats. This one was a rabbit that was nailed to the board and cut open like someone was disecting it. Trying to figure out how it worked. That same boy liked to kill dogs too. He was one of the few who would hang out with me, cuz he wasn't afraid of my pops. Merle came back from a stint in juvie and lost it when he found out. Said the kid was a full blown psycho and I needed to stay away from him.

"Same person who killed Karen and David did this." Tyreese spoke with absolute certainty. "Remember the rats at the fence? They showed up the same day she was killed. We got a psychopath living with us." Tyreese was getting himself worked up again and his words started to tumble over each other. Though I couldn't say I thought he was wrong.

"Tyreese," Rick said in a soothing voice, trying to get the big man to listen.

"We got to find him, Rick, and I'm not gonna sleep until we do." He snapped.

Rick took a deep breath and glanced at me. He knew what I did. Carol may have killed Karen and David but there was no way she was down here in the dark dissecting animals. "Whoever did this, I don't think that's who killed Karen."

I flinched as an explosion rocked the building. Chunks of plaster and drywall rained down from the ceiling. We all froze, waiting to see if there was more. When none came I snapped into motion.

"Come on!" I yelled running for the exit.

Rick passed me as we flew through C block and came out into the court yard, I could hear Tyreese puffing behind me, but he kept up. I pulled my crossbow around into my hands as we ran. There was already a group gathered at the fence.

"Get back!" Rick yelled to the others as we jumped down the stairs and ran towards the fence.

Maggie, Carl, Sasha and Beth were already out there, crouched behind one of the guard towers. I went cold as we rounded the corner and I got a look at what was waiting for us outside the gates.

Six cars were lined up in formation around a tank. I could count at least fifteen people, all with guns trained on us. I glanced up and saw they had blown away the top of tower two. I swallowed and something constricted in my chest. Hershel had said Jo wanted to go back to her tower, tower three.

"Rick!" A voice I would know anywhere called loudly. "Come down here, we need to talk." He was standing on top of the tank. Rage burned through me and my hands shook with the desire to kill him for what he did. I clenched my hands into fists, knowing I had to keep my head to help the group.

Trying to stay focused I lifted a hand to block the sun so I could get a better head count. But even as I watched two more people popped up out of the vehicles and lifted automatic rifles.

"It's not up to me!" Rick yelled back. "There's a council now. They run this place."

The Governor chuckled once and I tightened my grip on my crossbow. They were out of range. I needed to get my hands on a gun, something with a scope.

"Hershel on the council?" The Governor asked jovially, a woman with a gun pulled Hershel out of a van. "What about Michonne? She on the council too?" He asked, and Michonne was brought out as well. Both had their hands tied behind their backs, but they looked uninjured. Michonne just looked pissed.

I glanced at Rick, he was shifting his weight, getting antsy as he tried to figure out how to handle this. "I don't make decisions anymore!" he hollered back, more insistent this time.

"You're making the decisions today Rick. Come down here. Let's- Let's have that talk."

Rick looked over at me, horror etched on his face. I knew what he was thinking and I immediately nodded to him. I trusted him to make the decisions to get us out of this.

It seemed that was what he needed because he put his gun away and turned to Carl. He cupped his sons cheek. "We can do this. All right?" he said reassuringly.

Carl nodded, no hint of fear on his face.

I helped Rick open the gate and he walked down to greet The Governor.

I walked back towards Sasha. "We can't take em all on," I muttered. "We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more."

Sasha's mouth pinched into an angry line. I understood, I didn't like the idea of running away either. But I liked the thought of us getting dead a whole lot less.

"When's the last time someone checked the stash on the bus?" I asked, my mind focusing on the logistics of getting all of these people out of here alive and then having to feed them on the road.

"Day before we hit the Big Spot. We were running low on rations then, we're even lower now."

"Yeah," I said. "we'll manage. Things go south everyone heads for that bus. Let everybody know." I growled out the orders and started making my way towards the weapons cache.

"What if everybody doesn't know when things go bad?" Tyreese asked. "How long do we wait?"

"As long as we can," I growled. There was no way for me to cover Rick from this distance, and even less I could do for Michonne and Hershel. While they talked I eased over to the laundry carts. I was pretty far away and I stayed behind everyone else so chances were they wouldn't notice much movement from down there. I wheeled the cart casually over to the group and began handing out weapons.

I handed Bob an automatic rifle. "You good?" I asked.

He knew what I meant because his eyes widened for a second before he nodded. "Yeah." I held his gaze a second longer, then gave up the gun.

I took another and moved casually towards Maggie. I bumped it against the back of her hip. She turned in surprise. Her eyes were full of fear. But she looked me in the eye and took the gun from me, nodding. She was strong.

I handed the next one to Beth. "Beth," I said in a quietly intense voice. "You saw her today, where's Jo?"

Beth looked confused for a moment her eyes locked on the gun in her hand then she looked back up at me. "Tower three."

I nodded, a ball of stress forming in my chest. I looked over to tower three but it was set back away from the others. My hunting rifle was up there but there wasn't much ammo and Jo wasn't much for guns. But she was still sick so chances were good she was still out of it. Every instinct in me wanted to run over there to make sure she was safe. But I couldn't. I had to do what was best for the group.

I took a rifle for me and a shot gun for Carl. The two of us stood shoulder to shoulder at the fence together.

"We gotta do something," he muttered, staring down the barrel of the gun.

"Your dads got it," I replied, adjusting my grip on the gun.

"They're talking," I could hear the disgust and disapproval in his voice. "We could kill the Governor right now."

I snorted. "From fifty yards?"

He paused. "I'm a good shot," he replied but his voice was less sure. "I could end this right now."

I glanced down at his shot gun and arched a brow. "Yeah, or ya could start something else. Ya gotta trust him."

Carl's shoulders tightened at my words, but he nodded subtly and tightened his grip on his gun.

Something Rick said set the Governor off and he marched over to a truck. Through my scope I saw him pull Michonne's katana out of the back seat. He marched over to Hershel and held the blade against his neck.

Maggie and Beth sagged forward against the fence whimpering. I thought about Carl's words. His shot gun couldn't end it, but I could with the rifle. Rick was speaking emphatically, motioning to the others around The Governor. My finger itched to pull the trigger. I could end all this with a single bullet to one man's brain. I closed my eyes for a moment, getting a hold of myself. I needed to trust Rick.
The Governor seemed to pause, he looked down at his sword. Then his features hardened and I saw him mouth a single word. "Liar."

He swung the katana and sliced through Hershel's neck. Blood sprayed everywhere and Hershel's body fell. I could hear screams behind me from Maggie and Beth.

Rick screamed at the top of his lungs. "NO!!!!" and started firing.

I growled in anger and opened fire. Shooting everything that moved. Rick ran for the overturned bus and I lay down cover fire. He took a shot to the leg but collapsed behind the bus.

The tank started to roll forward as we continued to fire. Gun shots echoed all around me as the tank rolled through the first fence and then the second. The people fell in line behind the tank.

I patted Carl on the shoulder. We needed to move out position to get us more cover. I couldn't help Rick from here but he would kill me if something happened to Carl. I laid down cover fire as we moved back towards the pallets. When we got there Carl crouched down and fire until he was out of shells.

"I'm out!" He yelled. He moved to pull his handgun but I stopped him.

"Go get Lil Ass Kicker and get to the bus!" I yelled over my own gunfire.

"But-"

I reached out and grabbed the teenager by the shoulder and little roughly. "This is it Carl, I can keep them busy for a bit but we gotta go. Get your sister and get on that bus."

He turned helplessly back the field where his dad fought.

"Go on!" I yelled and this time he listened.

Beth and Maggie both took off running in the direction of the bus.

The tank continued to fire, blowing holes in the prison. The sounds of explosions and gun fire was overhelming as it surrounded me. I crouched behind a pile of filing cabinets and laid down fire to provide cover to those evacuating on the bus. They just needed time, and I could give them that.

A walker was suddenly on top of me. I staggered sideways to avoid it's mouth and jammed the barrel of my gun up through its mouth. I used it as cover as I walked towards the men firing at me. When I was close I pulled a grenade from my pocket and pulled the pin with my teeth.

"Grenade!" they yelled and it exploded.

Things seemed to slow down as my ear drums throbbed from the grenade going off so close. I watched helpless as the tank fired again and this time it was tower three that exploded.

Jo's tower.

Where Jo had gone just this morning to rest. It was a flaming ruin.

Something inside of me constricted and withered. It was like I couldn't breathe anymore, like my body forgot how to make my heart beat and my lungs fill. The whole top of the tower was just gone, leaving nothing but flames and rubble behind.

She was gone.

I screamed as I fired my gun, taking out as many as possible, not caring if it was Walkers or people as I fought to get to the tank. When the bullets ran out I killed the walkers with the gun itself. Swinging it like a bat.

When I was close enough I pulled the pin on my last genenade, waited to the count of two and shoved it down the barrel of the tank. I could hear it rattle as it rolled down into the belly of the tank. 

There was a shout of recognition. "Grenade!" And then man inside the tank threw open the hatch and leapt clear just as it exploded. He staggered to his feet, looking back at the tank as though he couldn't believe what just happened.

The smoke and gunfire swirled around us as I waited for him to turn and face me. I wanted him to see it coming. I wanted him to know it was me. My crossbow felt like an old friend in my hands. The only friend I had left, everyone else was gone.

He turned slowly, as though he could feel my eyes on him. He held up his hands in surrender but when he saw the look on my face despair crossed his.

I took the shot, landing the arrow in his heart instead of his head. It seemed more fitting that way. Because that's what it felt like inside my own chest. I stood over him, wanting him to change right now, so I could kill him again. I reloaded my crossbow, shifting my weight from foot to foot. Running footsteps came up behind me. I turned, lifting my crossbow up to take the shot.

But this time it wasn't an enemy. It was Beth. Her blond hair was flying around here and fear shown in her eyes.

"I was trying to find the kids, to get them on the bus," Beth gasped, latching onto my arm. "I can't find anyone else!"

I shook my head grimly. Everyone was dead. I turned around, staring at the flames burning on tower three. She followed my gaze and covered her mouth with her hands, wailing softly.

I just shook my head, there was nothing left. "We gotta go Beth, we gotta go."

And I took off running away from our home, leading Beth to safety.

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Jo

There was something digging into my back. I groaned and rolled over, trying to alleviate some of the pain. I reached my hand down and touched my knife in its spine sheath. Why would I go to sleep wearing that? I froze, because I didn't go to sleep. That son of a bitch drugged me. I jumped to my feet and swayed slightly. I was feeling better than earlier though now I was groggy. I stood there stupidly for a minute trying to figure out what I was hearing. It sounded like...gun fire.

Suddenly there was an explosion and the wall between A block and the outside exploded inward. There were shrieks and people started running around frantically as Walkers started piling through the opening.

I stood transfixed for a moment, standing safely behind my cell door as I watched chaos erupt around me I could only think one thing:

What. The. Hell.

I slow blinked once more when my ears seemed to clear and I could hear automatic weapons firing outside and people yelling. I whirled around and snatched up my leather jacket, shrugging it on. I jerked open the cell and ran for the stairs. There were already dozens of Walkers filling the cell block. What few survivors in here were running for the exit, leading the Walkers with them. I took a step forward to help them but a spray of gun fire filled the room hitting both Walker and human alike. I jumped back and flattened myself against the wall, dropping to the ground.

"Anybody left in there?" I heard an unfamiliar male voice call out. I wondered at his stupidity that he thought anyone would respond to him.

"Naw," a second voice responded. "If there is, they're Biter bait now." He laughed.

Okay, so not so dumb. There were two of them. My heart pounded in my ears as my brain tripped over what to do. We had an evacuation plan with a bus but I didn't know where anybody else was. I tried not to think about where Daryl might be. He was no doubt in the middle of everything unless...

Stop, reset. I couldn't think like that. Daryl was a survivor and we would find each other.

"Let's clear the next building, most of them took off on that bus."

I snorted at their words. Sounded like I was on my own. They walked off, talking together, shooting occasionally. I could only hope it was at walkers and not members of our group.

If everyone else was gone I only had to get myself out of here. I glanced over the edge of the cat walk to see there were only ten or so walkers down below now. Gun fire still sounded from outside and I heard a massive explosion. I needed to focus  on getting myself out, then I could help other people if there were any left.

There was an entrance to the tombs below the cat walk on the far end from the stairs. I moved slowly to the end of the catwalk and glanced down. Most of the walkers weren't looking my way and if I stayed quiet I might be able to get into the tombs without having to take out the whole herd.

I slipped over the side and lowered myself down as low as I could before I jumped. I landed as planned on the balls of my feet but the noise of my feet hitting the concrete had every Walker in the place shambling towards me.

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Thanks for reading!!!! Sorry for the cliffhanger...I lied, I'm not sorry at all ;) but it's not normally my style.
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