HARLOW SAT NEXT TO DARYL, HER GAZE SWITCHING BETWEEN LIPS, HIS HANDS, AND NORA'S SIGNING,

He explained the whole situation, following the car to Atlanta, finding Noah, who had met Beth in the hospital she was taken to, and Carol being hit by a car and taken by the same group.

Carol and Beth were together in Grady Memorial, with a manipulative group made up of doctors and sleazy cops.

Rick and Daryl came up with a plan. They would fortify the church, in case of walkers or people tried to get in. They would leave the kids and the priest behind, along with Michonne to watch over them. Everyone else would head to Atlanta to get Beth and Carol back.

Noah knew the group at the hospital, the weapons they had. They were gonna need everyone if they wanted a chance.

Once the church was fortified, the group sat in the back of a large truck that Daryl took from the city. Nora stayed back to say goodbye to Judith and Carl before sitting in the back next to Harley.

Daryl wanted her to stay behind, but Harley refused. She wanted to be there. For the group, for Daryl, for Beth.

It didn't take long to get to the city, only a couple of hours. The streets were mostly clear from any traffic snarls or hordes.

They found a warehouse only a couple blocks away, and huddled in to come up with the plan to break in and get the upper hand. Noah drew a diagram in the dirt, outlining the hospital and all the patrol point,

"At sundown we fire a shot into the air." Rick stated, "Get two of them out on patrol. Then once it's dark enough that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go. We cut the locks on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out."

"How?" Tyreese asked,

"He slits his throat." Rick answered, as if it was an easy thing to do, taking someone's life, "This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us. From there, we fan out. Knives and silenced weapons." He began to mark up the diagram that Noah made, "We need to be fast. Tyreese, Sasha, and Nora take them. Daryl and Harley, you take care of whoever is in the kitchen. I got Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of them will give up. Then it'll be seven on three. Eight on three once we get a weapon to Beth."

"Fourteen on three." Noah added, "The wards will help."

"That's best case. What's worst case?" Tyreese shook his head, "All it takes is one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time. Then it's not quiet. All hands on deck." He look around at everyone, trying to see if they had the same concerns as him, "We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around."

Sasha shrugged, "If that's what it takes."

"It's not." He stated, "If we get a couple of her cops alive out here, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours. Everybody goes home."

Nora understood where he was coming from. Not everything has to end with violence in this new world. 

If they go with his plan, no blood is shed. 

Everyone lives.

Rick stood, "Yeah, I get it. And it might work. This will work." He insisted,

Daryl shook his head and Harley turned to look at him, "Nah, that'll work, too." He supported Tyreese, "You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right?" He asked Noah, 

"Trying and doing are two different things." Noah stated,

"You take two of her cops away, what choices does she have? Everybody goes home. Like he says."

Their leader stared at Daryl, and Nora knew he was going through the two different scenarios, deciding which was the best option.

The brunette sighed, "I think... we've shed a lot of blood lately." Rick turned his gaze to her, "If nobody has to die, we should take that chance. Not everything has to end in blood."

After a moment, Rick nodded, "Yeah... yeah, okay."

They all found their own little corner to hide in within the confines of the warehouses. Noah went to draw the officers in by shoot bullets into the air.

It wasn't long before they hear the sound of screeching tires.

Noah ran as fast as he could, leading the officers to where they needed them to trap them. The car blocked off his escape route.

The group watched as the officers, one male and one female, aimed their guns at the young man. Noah placed his gun on the ground and surrendered,

It was good. It meant Noah trusted them to keep him safe.

"I thought you were smart, Noah. You think we wouldn't hear you?" The female officer asked, keeping her gun aimed at him while the other officer handcuffed the boy,

Rick signalled for them to move forward,

"Where are those rotters you were shooting at?" The male asked,

Their leader whistled, getting the officers' attention as they all stepped forward, their own guns raised.

The officers turned and aimed their guns at them, but they knew they were outnumbered.

"Hands." Rick demanded,

"What do you want?" The woman asked,

"Whatever this is, we can help." The other officer added, 

"You do what we say, we don't hurt you." Rick stated.

The male officer hesitated before removing his hand from the gun, holding it up, "Okay." His partner glanced at him before doing the same,

"Good." Rick stepped forward, "Now turn around. Put your guns on the floor and kneel."

The officers did as Rick said, Daryl moving over to grab one of the guns while Sasha did the same to the woman. Nora grabbed her knife and cut the zip tie from Noah's wrists while Harley moved in front of the officers, keeping her guns on them while the others searched them for weapons,

"We need to talk."

Sasha and Daryl restrained the officers before lifting them to their feet, "There's water if you need some and food."

"Mind if I ask you something?" The man asked, and Daryl turned him to face Rick, "The way you talk... the way you carry yourself... were you a cop?" Rick stayed silent, but the man knew the answer, "Believe it or not, I was, too."

Noah limped over to their leader, "That's Lamson. He'll be down for this. He's one of the good ones."

Nora turned in time to see a car approaching quickly. She jumped forward, pulling Harley out of the way since her back was turned.

Daryl and Rick shot at the car while the others scurried behind cover. Harley raised her gun and fired at the tires, while Tyreese and Nora fired at the windows.

The officers got into the back of the car, and it pulled out of the area, despite the flat tire.

It didn't get far. 

The group ran through the alleyway, stopping to see the car parked with the doors open.

But that's not what caught Harley's eyes.

There were burned down FEMA trailers scattered around, and the ground was covered in ash and coals. But what stood out were the pink bodies littered amongst the debris.

Some of the corpses were still moving, and Harley had to fight to keep from keeling over and throwing up whatever was in her stomach.

As they moved through the graveyard, they spotted two of the officers running past the trailers. Rick took off and the others followed after him. Harley had just ran around the corner when she noticed Daryl wasn't with them.

She turned back and spotted Daryl back in the clearing, with the other officer on top of him, his hands wrapped around Daryl's neck.

Daryl smashed the man over the head with a walker skull, and Harley aimed her gun and shot at another corpse that was snapping at them.

The officer paused and looked up at Harley, his hands raised in surrender,

Nora watched Harley run back towards the car and the brunette quickly grabbed Rick's attention, letting the others go after the two restrained officers while the duo went after Harley.

Rick came up behind the redhead, his own gun aimed at the third cop, "You win, asshole." The man growled.

Harley went over to Daryl and helped him stand, quickly signing to ask if he was okay and he nodded.

Their leader stepped closer as the cop stood, his pistol in the man's face. Nora knew what was about to happen, but she had a better idea,

"Rick." She stepped up next to him, "Three is better than two." She told him quietly,

He glanced down at her for a moment before lowering his gun, nodding quickly. Daryl went up behind the cop and restrained his wrists, 

"This..." Nora motioned to the third cop while the others appeared with the other two, "this is going to work."