"Do you know what he did to her?"

~Glenn Rhee

After seeing the fantasyland "The Kingdom," Carol Peletier rode back to the walls of Alexandria alone. King Ezekiel had been kind enough to let her borrow a horse, saying "She needed it more than he did." But it was clear it still belonged to him if he were to somehow need it again.

Carol tried not to feel surprised that Morgan had decided to stay behind; she had expected it, after all. Morgan had no connection to The Kingdom. Sure, he was training that kid, but it wasn't like how it was at Alexandria.

Alexandria.

The place everyone else had welcomed with open arms she had vehemently pushed away. She had tried to assimilate into this way of life, but the two identities within her wouldn't let her. Not completely at least.

The fearless and merciless Carol couldn't drop her guard low enough to allow this, thus bringing out the timid and complacent Carol.

The two self-constructed personas pulled her in opposite directions, and Carol's anxieties grew as she wondered which one would surface once she reached Alexandria's walls.

Then why the hell did she want to go back?

Her friends and family were back there, waiting for her. Searching for her even. She knew how they worked and the guilt she felt from that was suffocating. Whatever she had felt from her murders and countless killings held no measure to the weight placed on her from running away like a coward.

Damn Alexandria for making her soft. For making her weak.

For making her like the abused housewife known as Carol Peletier.

The metal walls came into her view and the uncertainty of what was waiting for her overwhelmed her. She wasn't sure how or why she felt this foreboding sensation, but it made her more anxious than what she already was.

She searched the top of the walls for the figures of Abraham or Sasha, but they were nowhere to be found. That was very odd. They were usually on patrol at this hour.

As she noticed their absence, a line of slow-moving people approached the walls. Her heart leapt as she recognized who they were. Her nerves and heart controlled her emotional state instead of her brain at that moment; she was oblivious to the somber and sorrowful mood the group was in. She wanted to let them know she was alive and okay, that they shouldn't worry. They could stop searching for her.

She commanded the horse to gallop towards the group; the latter too entranced to hear the horse's trots come up alongside them.

"Rick," was all Carol managed to say before her smile faded.

Rick's bloodshot eyes met her own weary ones. He along with Michonne were carrying something- no, someone. The mangled nature of the bundle prevented her from identifying the body.

Carol's stomach lurched inside her. Who was it?

She looked around the members and saw their tear-stained and pale faces watched her gravely.

She glanced at the other member who was carrying someone.

Glenn. He stared back at her darkly, something she would have never imagined him capable of.

"C-Carol," Rick addressed her. "He... They..." Rick babbled on before stopping.

Carol slid off the horse to get a closer look at the bodies. The one Glenn carried had a wedding ring on its finger...

She gasped loudly, finally aware of who it belonged to. The guilt spilled over into grief and she had to latch onto the horse to steady herself.

"N-No. No, How?! HOW?!" Carol wailed.

"She... collapsed and.." Michonne started to say before Carol interrupted.

"That doesn't explain it!! That doesn't explain why her head is... Oh God!"

The composure the group had attained fell apart when they heard her yell this.

"Daryl- Where's Daryl?" Carol asked, afraid of the answer.

Rick and Michonne only turned their backs to Carol, as if to hide their answer.

The edge of sanity she had been teetering over had finally claimed her into its abyss. The last remaining connection to her logic, her hope, her will to live had been severed and it was all her fault.

As if she had been the one to be hit with the bat, she fell to her knees and howled like a dying animal.

All the commotion outside brought the citizens to the gate in concern and wonder.

"Rick! Where in the hell have you-" Abraham shouted but stopped once he saw the display in front of him.

Seeing your friends holding the deceased bodies of their loved ones would cause any human to grow silent.

Glenn, who had enough of all of these blockades keeping him from reaching the church, passed Abraham without so much as a second glance. Abraham could only sadly turn his head and let his eyes follow his friend.

Sasha went to Abraham and took him by his hand. They looked into each other's eyes and share an intimate moment despite all of this. They peered into each's other souls without any words being exchanged between them. But that was okay; that was enough for them.

Rosita and Eugene came up behind Sasha, disrupting the moment. Sasha knew they needed comfort as well, so she walked off towards her house.

The rest eventually headed into Alexandria, ignoring the shocked and saddened citizens who wanted answers.

Rick, Michonne, and Carl went in the direction of Glenn. Despite what Glenn said, they were all going to grieve as a family. Even though they were exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep, they all secretly knew they could rest later. When the burials were completed.

Carol remained sobbing outside of the refuge; her suffering too great to do anything else but cry.

No one was going to come to her. No one was going to console her from this.

The one person who could have was dead because of her selfishness.

Whoever had done this was not the only one with blood on their hands. Carol's palms were stained with the blood of a pregnant woman and her best friend.

And even if they wanted to admit it or not, the ones who had experienced the horror that night believed the same.