SIXTY FOUR. the final shove

SIX DAYS LATER

The sounds of branches creaking and birds chirping filled the silent and cold air of the forest, morning fog settling against the evergreen floor. Adeline kept the silence at bay, the rough bark of a tree pressed into her back with her eyes open, scouring the open forest around her. A rifle found its way nestled between the calloused palms of her hands, cocked back and ready to fire at any passing animals for dinner. The group hadn't had an actual meal in weeks considering the amount of time they spent on the open road.

They were relying on Wesley and Noah's community to still be standing. It was their only hope or chance at everyone getting a good nights sleep and enough food in their stomach. Adeline felt almost hopeless when it came to the idea. She highly doubted that the community would still be in working condition. After all, nothing good lasts long in the new world they lived in ━━ the abrupt fall of the prison proved that to be true for the woman.

Hope was something that quickly became scarce after the end of the world, and Adeline never expected for herself to be completely drained of it. She was never supposed to be the person she had become. But, she learned that things never went the way that they were supposed to go. You could make plans, you could have some sort of expectation towards the world ━━ but it was almost never guaranteed that you would get what you truly want. Addy learned that along the way, too. But in order to survive, you had to learn.

The losses made her stronger. She knew that.

Although, there were nights she would spend pondering on the what if's of their sick and twisted universe. What if she had never been separated from Shane, What if the Governor never came back, What if she could finally stop screwing up? In her mind, Adeline was to blame for everything that had happened to her family. Although a very small part of her knew that it was ridiculous to even start living that way, but the majority was already there. Blaming herself for each day that went wrong.

It was the only way for her to survive. If she kept feeling that unbelievably strong guilt, then she knew she was alive. And that had to have some kind of meaning ━━ some kind of reason. But all that Adeline Grimes could focus on, were the words that Daryl Dixon last spoke to her. There ain't nothing you can do that ain't already been done. There was nothing that she could do to fix what had been broken. And she had never so desperately wanted to fix something ━━ to be able to hold a conversation with him.

"Addy."

The voice of Tyresse pulled her out of her thoughts, twigs and dead leaves crunching underneath his weight as he approached the woman who sat crouched by a tree. Adeline lowered the heavy material of her rifle, tearing her eyes away from the scope and over to his figure. "Time to go?" She questioned, standing from her spot while simultaneously slinging the leather strap of her weapon over her shoulder. "Just waiting for you." He informed.

"Thank you." The widow spoke, moving to his side ━━ carefully laying her hand against his forearm to squeeze softly. He even caught the hint of a small smile that laced around her chapped lips, but before he couldn't fully register it she had already wiped it away and began to cut through the forest. "You know, I've been meaning to give this shirt back to you but I can't find any other clothes." She opted on not staying in the silence, looking back at her close friend while pulling at the purple fabric of the sleeves.

Tyresse was quick to shake his head, "Don't worry about it. Looks better on you, anyways." He assured ━━ causing the soft and barely noticeable sound of a chuckle to slip from the barrens of her throat. "Right." Adeline smiled, glancing back at him with slightly furrowed brows. "So, what do you think? Think it's still standing?" She questioned, slowing her footfall to walk alongside the man she had inevitably grown closer to over their last days.

"It'll go the way it has to." He answered, keeping a hopeful perspective for the possible dark situation. Adeline let a hmph leave her mouth, tracing her fingers around the wooden stock of her rifle as she shook her head. Tyresse looked over at the sound, a curious look resting against his features ━━ "What, you don't believe me?" He inquired, turning his head back to the ground. It didn't take much for him to notice that each time the girl tried to smile at him, the gesture never once reached her caramel eyes.

Adeline shrugged her shoulders, "I don't think it's that. I just... I don't know. I wish I could have that kind of perspective for it, you know? When I picture this place, it's never anything good. It's just destroyed homes and bodies on the streets." She spoke honestly, which was something she hadn't done in a while ━━ and when she did, she realized it was only when Tyresse was around. She kept it bottled up half of the time, and an overwhelming amount of relief came over her whenever she actually spoke the whole truth.

"Even if it is," He started ━━ placing his hand on the sheltered skin of her shoulder as he spoke. "You don't gotta worry. We'll still be alive, we'll still be standing. It'll go the way it has to go." He assured, softly squeezing with a comforting smile curled around his lips. Adeline returned the gesture, hastily moving in front of his figure to carefully wrap her arms around him ━━ "Thank you." She breathed, feeling that same relief grasp her.

Tyresse curled his arms against her frame, feeling her head lay gently against his chest ━━ searching for the sound of his heartbeat. And when she heard it, she expected the warm feeling that came with the embraces she had received from Daryl Dixon, but she only remained cold. The realization called for her to pull away, an assuring smile wrapped around her lips as she moved from the man and continued on their shared journey to the van.

There were two rows of seats, excluding the drivers and passengers ━━ which was exactly where Tyresse and Noah resided during the entirety of the trip. In the first row sat the quiet figures of Rick, Michonne, and Wesley; though the third almost chose not to come due to the fact that he wanted to keep his memory of his home safe. Instead, his brother convinced him to go, much like Rick had done to Addy two hours before they left.

And, it was only because Daryl was supposed to go. But in order for the sister to, which he knew Rick wanted, he chose to stay.

Theo shifted from where she sat in the remaining row, stuffed between the figures of Glenn and now Adeline. The eleven year had managed to convince her mother figure to allow her to go, seeing as she was pulled from the last mission. She was quiet, headphones clasped over her ears in attempts to drown out the whole ride. She hated driving, especially since that was how she nearly lost her life when she was just nine. It was nothing but a memory she tried to keep down, but sometimes it just wouldn't.

Fastening the seatbelt around her frame, Adeline hastily slammed the door shut and gave a quick thumbs up to Tyresse who somehow managed to beat her to his seat. "What took you so long?" Theo shattered the silence with her voice, sliding one ear of the plastic headphones away from her as she turned her head to look at the woman. Adeline simply shrugged, tucking the brunette strands of hair behind her ears ━━ "I got sidetracked thinking I heard a deer." She informed, placing her rifle in between her legs.

A conversation that Adeline chose to ignore took place in the front seats between Tyresse and Noah, her eyes focused on the blood that crusted underneath her uncut fingernails. No matter how hard she tried to make it go away, it stayed still in its place ━━ and it didn't help that now, she couldn't waste the water it would take to remove it. Remove them. The blood belonged to two familiar souls that were carved into her brain; Lizzie and Beth. Adeline knew they weren't going to leave anytime soon, she didn't want them to.

Their memory was something she planned on keeping safe.

"Two more miles." Noah informed, finishing the conversation as his attention was grasped by a sign on the side of the road. The information caught the ears of Rick, who nodded in confirmation and scooted forward to tap Tyresse's shoulder. "Let's pull into the woods. We'll go on foot." He instructed, keeping the radio that Eugene managed to fix in his grasp as he spoke. Carol had the other back at camp in order to keep tabs on the traveling group.

Wesley glanced over at Rick, "They'll know us."

"Not all of us." Adeline was quick to interrupt, causing the boy to go quiet in agreement. She watched as Tyresse began to pull off into the dense forest that built powerful walls on each side of the backroad ━━ her eyes falling to Theo Grace who pulled the plastic headphones off once again to put a stop to the music. "Goodbye, Beyoncé. I will hear you later." The eleven year old assured, her hands sliding the Walkman into her messenger bag.

The widow turned her head back to the window, taking notice of several wrecked cars that sat in a small clearing within the green forest. "Park there, Ty. Blend in with that pileup." Adeline spoke, unfastening her seatbelt before curling her hands back around the barrel of the rifle between her legs. "Smart thinking. Through the trees it'll look just the same." Rick complimented, nodding back to his sister just as the vehicle rolled to a soft stop in the wreck.

Silently returning the gesture, it didn't take long for the eight figures to make their way out of the car ━━ the group being led by the two Miller brothers. Adeline ignored the snarling that came from within the wrecked vehicles, opting on keeping a close eye on Theo who walked alongside her and Tyresse. Glenn trailed behind them all, remaining quiet and keeping his distraught eyes glued to the densely packed forest that swallowed them whole.

Sooner than later, they came across a hefty amount of cable. wire that found it's way tangled between dozens of tall trees. It created a zigzag between the thickets, and the only way through was through. "Your people do this?" Michonne questioned, eyeing the wire as she looked back at the two brothers. "Wanted to." Wesley answered, staying close to his brother that limped alongside him.

"They must have." Noah added, moving to navigate his way through the wires. Adeline remained still, stopping in her tracks as the group followed the boy ━━ a heavy sigh leaving her lips at the sight. Theo looked up at her, "It's kinda like those laser traps except it won't kill us." She attempted to comfort the woman, a part of her convinced that Addy was scared to tackle the wire.

The widow chuckled softly, shaking her head at the girls words. "Thanks, Thee." Addy whispered, ruffling Theo's hair with her free hand as the other stayed curled around the leather strap of her rifle. Without another word, they managed to slip their way through the very thick pieces of wire before making it out the other end seemingly unscathed ━━ not counting the scratch that Noah received from a sharp end that stuck out of one of the wires.

Continuing their walk until the brothers told them they were close, Adeline found herself falling behind alongside Glenn ━━ her eyes glued on a smiling Theo who was talking to Tyresse. "I went back to the farm." The widow blurted out, keeping her voice reasonably low as she spoke, directing her words to her best friend that began to look at her with pure bewilderedness in his features.

"You what?" Glenn inquired, furrowing his eyebrows.

Adeline pulled her eyes away from Theo, turning her head to look at him while nodding in confirmation. "The day Judith was born. I made Daryl take me back. It's how we got all that formula." The sound of her voice reaching Glenn, "It was the one thing that I knew I could do for that baby. One good deed. But, I could've done more. I should've." She informed. "I just wanted you to know that you're not alone. Stuck on the things we should've done. But we can't. We have to deal with that weight, now."

A silence filtered between them, and Glenn knew exactly what she was getting at. Of course she would know that he was blaming himself for Beth's death, she knew exactly how it felt. The signs. "You just..." She stopped in her steps, allowing her hand to find its way wrapped around his forearm. "You let me carry all that weight, okay? You have to take care of Maggie. That's your job. And we all have jobs to do." Adeline pleaded, her eyes softened.

Glenn's attention fell down to the presence of her hand, a conflicting look covering his features ━━ until it was all gone. He didn't waste a second in pulling the broken woman into his hold, hastily wrapping his arms around her body. Adeline felt herself falter, a shaky breath slipping out of her mouth as her arms slowly raised to curl around him. She tightened her hands together in the center of his back, her chin resting on his shoulder as she felt his hands rub against the violet long sleeved shirt she wore.

"We take care of each other." He assured quietly.

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Close to twenty minutes later and with no lookouts in sight, they finally reached the chained gates of the community. Adeline held her rifle in her grasp, the barrel pointed towards the concrete as she watched Noah attempt push the gates open. Although, she was completely convinced that no one was there to answer. No watch post, no snipers, nothing but dust. The metal sheets that made the gate clanged together, the sound of a chain rattling against the other side of the rough surface. No one was home.

Several distant thumps were heard from within the community, the younger brother turning around with surprised eyes. "You hear that?" He questioned, watching as Adeline moved towards the wall ━━ eyeing the bars against the metal sheets. Pulling the leather strap of her rifle over her head, she situated the gun around her back before holding onto the bars and heaving herself up to see the inside of the community that she hoped was thriving.

Instead, the sight she was greeted with was the complete opposite. She felt her features fall at the sight, defeat swarming her whole. The once Suburban neighborhood was left in ruins, the majority of the buildings that she could see remaining burnt and abandoned. There were bodies that littered the grass patches, their skin burned to a crisp while trash and other random objects were sprawled out across the sidewalks and roads. "It's gone." Adeline reluctantly spoke, pulling her attention back to the group below her body.

"What?" Wesley questioned, a look of disbelief coating his face. Theo stood next to him, a solemn and defeated look taking over her ━━ almost matching identically to the one Michonne wore.

In the blink of an eye, the older brother moved towards the opposite wall panel to Adeline ━━ hoisting himself up and over to reach his home. "Wesley!" The widow shouted, keeping her voice as low as she could as she ignored the sound of her brother telling her to stop. Before Rick could do anything, his sister was already climbing over the wall and undoubtedly taking off after the boy ━━ his body moving in unison to copy her actions.

The rest of the group followed, Noah being the fourth to hop over in search of his family while Theo was surprisingly the fifth to hoist her own self over. Everyone else was quick on their heels, keeping a close eye out for any lingering walkers and hopefully survivors. Adeline felt her chest tighten, rifle slamming against her spine with every step that she took after Wesley ━━ her heart hammering inside of her chest as they finally reached a center point of the Suburban neighborhood. Only to find more bodies.

Slowing her footfall, she watched as Wesley's chest heaved up and down ━━ his body hastily and anxiously turning around towards every direction in search of his family. Adeline felt sorrow run deep, hearing the heavy sobs that left the boy as he stumbled around. "Wesley," She breathed while stepping forward to carefully curl her hand around his wrist. "I'm so sorry." She found herself apologizing for his misfortune, his eyes meeting her own as the rest of the group finally caught up to the two of them.

Noah felt his legs falter beneath him, his body crumbling to the floor while his frame wracked with broken sobs. This was their home. Wesley pulled his eyes away from the woman before him, feeling a sense of gratitude towards her comfort as his attention was turned to his crying brother. He always had the answer, but he found himself falling short. This time, it wasn't just Noah that had lost something ━━ it was the both of them. "I don't know what to say." Wesley admitted, turning back to the widow.

"Just be there. That's all that counts." Adeline assured, squeezing his skin softly before releasing and taking a step back. Her eyes met her brothers, finding the same sympathy and defeat that lingered within her own to be in his. And she didn't say anything, she only shook her head and turned away ━━ catching sight of a walker that stumbled closer to the group. "I got it." She informed, her voice wavering as she brought her hand down to her thigh.

Unsheathing one of her throwing knives from their place, Adeline stepped forward and allowed a shaky sigh to fall from her lips. She didn't have any hope for the community, but it still felt like they had lost something huge. Another home. She raised her arm, slinging the knife with ease as it landed into the mushy and rotted brain of the walker ━━ its body falling limp against the concrete.

"We should see if there's anything we can use and head back." Rick instructed the group, standing up from where he crouched down alongside Noah, Wesley taking his place. Michonne looked to the man, "Then what?" She questioned ━━ the loss of the community taking a toll on each of them. Adeline rubbed the sweaty palms of her hands down the side of her jeans, "There's two more," She informed ━━ gesturing towards the walkers.

Michonne pulled her eyes from Rick, turning to the man's sister with a look of confirmation. Gratitude warmed Addy at the small gesture, her hand falling to the red hilt of her machete as the two of them made their way over to the remaining stalkers. It didn't take but a second for them to be dealt with, the sharp blade of Michonne's katana slicing one's head off while the other fell to ground by Adelines boot. Her machete was quick to finish the job, dark blood splattering across her jeans as she killed the walker.

"We can make a quick sweep." Glenn confirmed, glancing over to Adeline who wiped the crimson against her jeans before making her way back to the group. "I'll stay with them." Tyresse spoke up, gesturing towards the two brothers ━━ Wesley kneeled in front of Noah, his arms curled around his little brothers figure.

"Theo," Adeline called, gesturing the girl to come to her side. The doctor turned to her brother, "We're gonna go over this way. Just holler if you need us, okay?" She informed ━━ Rick sparing a glance around the ruined community before reluctantly nodding in agreement to her words. "Be careful out there." He reminded.

She wore a tight lipped smile that failed terribly to reach her dark eyes, "Always." Adeline assured ━━ looking down to Theo to motion for the girl to follow her just as the majority of the group dispersed. "Hey," Tyresse's voice stopped her in her tracks, hastily slowing her footfall as she turned to look at the man that had his eyes on her, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Shoes untied."

The breath of a chuckle slipped past her lips, the emotion reaching her eyes just enough for the hopeful shine to return ━━ but, it faded quicker than it came as she nodded in confirmation. "See you in a minute." Addy spoke, taking a step forward to rub her palm against his shoulder before continuing into the neighborhood with Theo by her side. "Keep an eye out for walkers, okay?"

"Okay." The eleven year old was quick to agree, moving her hand to rest on the hilt of her hunting knife.

Fairly quickly, they found a home suitable enough to rummage through ━━ Adeline being the first to enter, but not before hammering her first against the screen door to check for dead. "Always wait at least a minute before going in." She informed, turning her back to look at Theo who stood alongside her with her hunting knife in hand. "Sometimes they take a while. They're dead, we're not. We try to keep it that way." She added, pulling her infamous machete out of its sheath as she spoke.

Theo nodded, "I know. It's okay, Addy. You don't have to worry about me." She attempted to assure ━━ but the only thing she received was the shake of the widows head before her voice slithered from her throat. "It's my job to worry." She informed.

"You've got a lot of jobs, don't you?" Theo questioned, a curious look to her eyes ━━ the inquiry causing Adeline to look to her.

"What?" The widow furrowed her brows, her attention settled fully on the girl beside her. Theo shrugged, readjusting her grip on her knife before speaking, "Between you carrying all of the weight and all." She informed, "Maybe you should take a break."

Adeline sighed, "It's not that simple, Theo." she informed, her words cut short by the harsh smack of a walker slamming up against the screen door before them. She took an immediate step back, her hand placed in front of Theo to gently push her away. "Stay back." She instructed, tightening her grip on her machete.

Tugging the door open, Adeline was quick to shove it back the second the walker poked its head out of the gap ━━ the white wood becoming marked with its infectious blood as she hastily jerked the sharp blade of her machete into its jaw. With one final push, the blade appeared through its skull as it fell limp between the door and the frame. Adeline pulled the door open again, the rotting body of the stalker falling to the ground below her body.

Entering, she heard the footsteps of Theo follow after her as she peered around the corner and into the living room to give it a quick sweep with her eyes. Clear. "Okay." The widow breathed, straightening her back while turning to face the eleven year old behind her. "You check the kitchen. I'll get the bedrooms, deal?"

"Deal." Theo assured, giving a thumbs up to her mother figure before walking into the kitchen that took up the right corner of the home. Adeline waited until she made it there safely, a sense of security warming the home as she moved towards the bedrooms in search of anything useful for the group. Food, water, batteries.

Things they needed.

Peeking into the cracked door of what looked like a bathroom, Adeline used her machete to push it open ━━ the hinges and frame creaking throughout the home. Flinching at the sound, the widow finished opening the door and stepped into the small space. Her eyes settled upon the dimly lit room, eyes adjusting to the darkness as she slid the sharp blade of her machete into its sheath.

A feeling of frustration tore through her, catching sight of the already opened and vacated drawers. Empty. Adeline cursed underneath her breath, her attention falling down to the two rolls of toilet paper that were placed next to the sink. "Better than nothing." She whispered, obtaining the rolls and holding them in her grasp before walking out of the small room.

"Find any bags?" She questioned, her voice reaching the small body of Theo who was standing on the counter, looking through the cabinets that were way too tall for her. "Some garbage bags," The eleven year old informed ━━ holding a can of peaches in between her chin and chest while pointing to the plastic bags that sat against the wooden surface of the distant kitchen table.

The floorboards creaked underneath the weight of an approaching figure, the hinges of the screen door squealing open. Adeline was quick to turn around, placing the rolls on the table beside the bags just as her eyes landed upon the figure of Wesley that entered the home. "Jesus, scared the shit out of me." The widow breathed, feeling her raising heartbeat calm as the boy apologized softly.

"Sorry. I had to take a breather, Noah ran off towards our old house and I just..." He spoke, his voice shaking slightly before he hastily pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded his head. "Can I help with anything?" Wesley was quick to change the subject, his arms crossing over his chest as he moved further into the home.

Adeline felt sympathy run it's course through her frame, "I was about to search that bedroom back there. You can take it," She assured, motioning towards the room. Wesley smiled thankfully, "Thank you." he expressed his gratitude, turning around on his feet to make his way towards the last remaining room.

Attempting to fasten things, Adeline moved to help Theo clear out the kitchen ━━ coming up with the grand total of three cans of peaches, a screwdriver (that Theo wanted), a pack of batteries, saline spray, and melatonin gummies which the doctor would put to use on all of the three children in the group. They managed to fit that and the toilet paper into Adelines empty bag, to which they somehow folded up the garbage bags and forced in there as well.

"Addy," Theo spoke up, causing the woman to turn around just as Wesley exited the bedroom and ventured back into the house.

As the widow went to question what the eleven year old wanted, a loud scream of help tore through the neighborhood. It was Noah. Adeline felt her heart began to hammer in her chest, her hand falling down to her machete ━━ "You two stay close to me." She pleaded, keeping her hand on the hilt before she took off out of the home, the screen door slamming up onto the wooden structure.

The sound of his screams echoed across the community, the boots the doctor wore skimming against the concrete roads. The dark brown strands of hair stayed glued to her face from sweat, her eyes catching the running figures of Rick, Glenn, Michonne, and an out of breath Noah. "Where's Ty?!" Adeline yelled, not caring enough to keep her voice low as they caught up to them, Theo and Wesley lagging behind, the latter carrying the widows heavy bag.

"He's been bit!" Rick bellowed, his sister reaching his side with panicked eyes.

Adeline felt an overwhelming fear creep up on her, her heart beating erratically inside of her chest. The sun sinisterly kissed their skin as they ran through the neighborhood, Noah's voice leading them into the direction of Tyresse. A cold feeling of pure adrenaline doused the body of Adeline Grimes, her fist tightening around the red handle of her machete. It's just a bite. It's just a bite. The words ran miles inside of her mind, tainting each memory with the fear of losing someone so close to her again.

Not again. Not again. It's just a bite.

The moment the blue house was pointed out by Wesley, Adeline was the first to reach the porch ━━ her body slamming into the screen door, the structure splintering against the wall, resembling the built up anger and loss that cornered her lost soul. Everything was a complete and utter blur to her, until the second her body reached the bedroom that kept Tyresse Williams captive.

No words left her lips at the sight before her, an unhealthy amount of blood decorating the carpeted floor. Tyresse sat against the wall, incoherent mumbles leaving the barrens of his throat as crimson dropped from his arm ━━ right on top of a picture of a home within a emerald grove. Adeline pressed her knees to the floor, grabbing his bleeding arm, her eyes meeting the two bites that carved their way into his skin as her jeans became soaked with the scarlett that became embedded into the carpet below.

Rick reached the room, spotting his sister who reluctantly pulled her eyes off of Tyresse. "We have to cut it off, now." Adeline spoke, her voice steady as Glenn, Michonne, and Noah filed into the room. "Now!" She snapped, moving to hold his body in place as her brother took over holding the hand. Glenn ushered down onto the floor, helping Adeline hold Tyresse still as Michonne readied her katana over the outstretched and bleeding arm.

"One hit, clean!" Rick shouted, tightening his grip on Tyresse's palm ━━ the Samurai beside him nodding in confirmation.

"Go!"

Crimson red splatted the side of Adelines face, Tyresse's arm falling out of Ricks grasp and onto the carpeted floor decorated with his blood. Reacting quickly, the doctor hastily stood from her spot and rushed over to the twin bed ━━ rolling the rotten body that laid over it alongside the cover. She hurriedly ripped the sheet from the mattress as Rick and Glenn hoisted Tyresse to his feet, the man remaining quiet and unresponsive while Adeline tied and quickly tightened the thin sheet over the stump of his arm.

They made their escape from the neighborhood, a blood covered Adeline whizzing past a worried Theo and Wesley ━━ the two of them waiting outside of the home just as the rest of the group stumbled from the front door. Glenn and Rick kept Tyresse on his feet, Michonne and Adeline taking point to safely lead the group back to their vehicle hidden amongst the woods. You just gotta make it to the car, that's all you have to do. He'll be fine. The promise stained her tainted mind, head whipping back to check on the slumped and bleeding figure of her close friend. He'll be fine.

"We've got to break the chain!" Rick ordered, his eyes focused on the closed gate that approached their frantic figures.

Then they heard the walkers behind the wooden structure.

"You can use the bat," Glenn informed, his blood stained hands holding a tight grip on the wooden bat he had found earlier.

Adeline slowed her steps, holding her hand out for the bat ━━ her heart slamming against her chest. Glenn was quick to hand it over, keeping his grip on Tyresse as the widow curled her palms around the bloodied handle. She took a quick step back, wasting no time in harshly slinging it down against the rusted chain. It didn't break. "Come on!" She pleaded, a scream leaving her lips as she roared the bat back once more before slamming it down.

The metal clattered to the concrete, the bodies of the walkers rushing forward ━━ their arms outstretched for the blood covered figures before them. Michonne was quick to aid the woman, her katana slicing the head off of the first walker as Adeline cracked the bat against the next. The wood cracked underneath the pressure, splinters breaking from the weapon. Wood mixed with brains fell to the ground, Adeline taking an abrupt step back to hand Glenn his bat back while he and Rick carefully passed Tyresse off to an awaiting Wesley and Noah.

Theo pulled on Adelines sleeve, hastily grabbing the familiar gun out of the back of her jeans to slid into the widows hand. "Here!" The eleven year old shouted, careful to keep out of the way of danger ━━ stepping back and onto the sidewalk as the widow glanced down at the pistol within her grasp. It was Shanes. "Okay. Okay." She breathed, hastily flicking the safety off before cocking the weapon back, wasting no time in firing shots into the walkers.

A bullet whizzed through the air, skimming the surface of Glenn's bat as he swung it back, landing into a stalker that approached him from the right. Adeline felt the adrenaline pulse through her, her hands tightened around the gritted hilt of her husbands pistol and taking down as many walkers as she could until the bullets ran out and five more remained. The weapon clattered out of her grasp and onto the concrete, hurriedly exchanging it for her machete, eyes catching sight of a walker that stumbled towards Rick.

She was quick to react, the sharp blade hammering down into the stalkers skull ━━ crimson splattering across her brothers back as she turned around to check on Tyresse; only to find him alone on the ground, the figures of Wesley and Noah having left to help deal with the walkers. The remaining one stumbled towards his swaying and half armless figure, fear taking a tight hold onto Adeline as she rushed over and covered his body with her own.

Rick hastily fired a shot to protect both his sister and Tyresse, but the bullet skimmed the walkers shoulder ━━ continuing it on its path to eat them until he shot once more, right into its rotten skull. "I got him, I got him." Adeline breathed, feeling the wet blood coat the purple shirt she wore as she moved to take Glenn's place in carrying Ty ━━ Rick rushing over to help her with the other half of his body. "Come on, let's go!" He shouted, the two siblings heaving Tyresse back into place and over the dead walker bodies.

Feeling her body crack down with emotions, Adeline forced herself to be okay ━━ keeping a tight grip on Tyresse's waist, Ricks arm overlapping her own, helping to keep her steady. The infected air swarmed their souls, pinning them down and ridding them of any kind of hope that Tyresse was going to make this out alive. A rampant rush of, He's going to fine, he has to be fine, he will be fine burned marks into Adelines mind, constantly trying to give herself hope for the survival of her friend. He has to make it.

Fiery passion pasted against her skin, warming her entire body with forced hope and the need to save Tyresse. The boots she wore skimmed across the concrete of the road, crossing over it and back into the forest ━━ her hands securely tightened around Ty's waist, constantly using her other to curl around the stump of his arm in attempts to slow the bleeding down in any way possible. But, her mind couldn't stop flashing back to the way his arm looked. She was almost sure the bite reached an artery.

And the only thought that accompanied that was the fact that he would've lost too much blood by now. And the only thing she had was melatonin gummies and saline spray.

Reaching the wire trap within the forest, Adeline felt Tyresse's head drop against her shoulder ━━ her stomach twisting in static fear of what was to come, removing her hand from his stump to lay against the side of his face. He was on fire. "Ty, keep your eyes open. You gotta look at me, okay? Keep your eyes open." She begged, allowing her hand to fall to the wires, attempting to brace them open but the attempts only proved to be futile.

Glenn and Michonne rushed in front of the Grimes siblings, hastily moving to hold the wires open for them to fit Tyresse through, only for his foot to get caught behind them. A cry of pain left Adelines lips at the feeling of the sharp wire slicing against the side of her left arm. Crimson dripped from the wound, splattering against the yellow flowers that engulfed the forest floor, the adrenaline slowing down as the fear started to return.

"Pull him on three!" Rick shouted, Wesley and Michonne carefully staying behind to pry open the wires that caught Tyresse's foot in between them while Glenn and Noah held the last set for them. The approaching snarls of a walker caught the attention of Theo, her eyes attentively latching onto the rotting body that stumbled towards the back of the group.

The eleven year old hastily moved between the wires, carefully holding onto the thick bars as she grabbed the pistol that stuck out from the back of Wesley's jeans. The group began counting down, teeth gritted and sweat lacing their skin as they readied themselves to hoist Tyresse out of the trap. "One! Two!" Theo felt her hands shake, as they latched onto the hilt of the pistol. Raising it, she steadily aimed for the walker that stumbled forward to take a bite out of Michonne.

"Three!"

A single gunshot rang out just as they heaved the heavy body of Ty out, the bullet finding itself lodged between the eyes of the walker as its frame fell limp. Adeline felt her knees slam against the ground, blood dripping from the cut on her arm ━━ "I got you." Michonne whispered, rushing forward to help the widow to her feet. "Need me to take over?" She inquired, glancing at the deep wound that oozed with crimson red. "I'm okay. I'm okay." The words of failed assurance slipped from her lips, her body and mind preventing her from letting go of the man in her grasp.

Leaves and fallen twigs snapped underneath the pressure of the groups footfall, the emerald green forest blurring together around them ━━ their survival instinct holding them hostage. Adeline kept her hand cupped around Tyresse's arm, his blood seeping underneath her fingernails and forever staining her memories. Nothing was truly clear to her until they reached the vehicle, bodies moving all around as they hurriedly entered the white van.

The words shouted into the radio by Glenn went unheard for Adeline, carefully letting go of her friend to jump into the second row of seats. Glenn and Rick were quick to heave Tyresse in after her, the former getting in the other end and slamming the door shut the moment Theo, Wesley, and Noah found their way into the last row. Michonne and Rick took claim of the driver and passenger seat, Adeline heading the echo of her brother who now had the radio in his grasp ━━ talking to Carol back at camp.

She turned down to Tyresse whose head was laying in her lap, watching as he forced his eyes to stay open. "You just keep doing that, okay? Keep looking at me." Adeline begged, moving to tighten the sheet that stayed glued to his skin. Her hand faltered to his chest, keeping it right above his heart to feel it's heavy beats. "Everything's going to be okay." She whispered, feeling the car start up ━━ Rick jerking the gear shift back and stepping on the gas, only to slam head first into the pile up they parked within.

The trunk of the vehicle before them flew open, numerous heads of walkers falling out of the space and onto the hood of their vehicle. Adeline tore her eyes away from Tyresse just as his cold hand curled around her own ━━ squeezing weakly while she caught sight of the W's that were carved into the walkers skulls.

It was just like the one at the storage unit.

"Oh my god," She breathed, feeling the adrenaline fade almost completely as the pain of the cut on her arm became nothing but evident. Rick snapped out of the shock from the sight, pulling the gear shift back once again before rushing out of the dense forest and back onto the road. "How's he doing?" He questioned, glancing back at his sister in the rear view mirror as he spoke.

Adeline pulled her eyes away from her brother, returning her stare to Tyresse who kept his on her. "Hey," She smiled softly, her hand cupping the side of his face ━━ "I need you to.. I need you to stay with me, okay? I have to get you back, remember?" She inquired, softly brushing the side of his face with her bloodstained palm. "This isn't the way it has to go." She added carefully, feeling her eyes sting, her voice trembling with every word.

The stars in his eyes began to fade, and all Adeline could feel was the grip he held on her hand loosen as the heartbeat beneath it slowed. "Karen," The name slipped from his lips, an empty feeling of utter loss clearing the widows stomach out as she sniffled. She nodded with a soft smile, the tears that welled within her eyes blurring her vision. "I'm right here." Adeline breathed, sniffling after the words left her throat. "It's okay. I'm right here."

Then, ever so slowly, his heartbeat faded from her touch.

And the cold still remained.

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WORD COUNT ... 6993

y'all i'm not even going to lie to you i'm sobbing right now