VIVIAN GAVE LIAM A KISS ON THE HEAD BEFORE WATCHING HIM RUN UP TO THE HOUSE TO START HIS SECOND WEEK OF SCHOOL.

Everyday, he would come home, telling her about his day, what he learned. And she loved listening to him.

He had come out of his shell he was forced into by this world.

Finn came up to her, "Ready?"

She nodded, waiting till Liam was in the garage before following her brother towards Olivia's house, where the group was ready to go on a run. The power had gone out, and they needed some part for the panels.

Noah handed her and Finn a gun before holding one out to Eugene, "Oh, no, thank you.'

"Just take it." Noah insisted, "Come on, you got to protect yourself."

"Not if I don't go." He argued,

"We're not driving all that way so we can just drive back with the wrong shit." Aiden stated,

"It's a dozen of these." Eugene held up the router looking device in his hand, "They are consistent in appearance across manufacturers. The shit will be right. I will install said shit. Then the grid will be fully operational again."

"We will install said shit." Finn corrected him, pressing the gun against the man's chest, "And if I'm risking my ass out there, so are you."

Vivian smirked, tossing Noah an empty bag before they went to put it in the back of the van. Aiden went to go say his goodbyes to his parents while the other's got inside the vehicle, having to squeeze in due to the extra hands.

The car started and loud music filled their ears, "Great, another mix." Noah joked.

"Helps draw them away." Glenn sighed as the words 'now you're going to die' played over the speakers.

It took nearly an hour to get to the warehouse, which was just outside the capitol city. The area seemed empty, they didn't spot any walkers right away. Vivian just hoped that inside was the same.

"Looks like that door is our fastest way in and out." Aiden commented, nodding towards the door that was closest to the van,

"We should know all the exits first." Glenn stated, "So there's a plan if things go south."

"Already got one. It's called going out the front." Nicholas joked,

Vivian raised an eyebrow, "And if the front gets blocked by a bunch of geeks? What are you going to do then? Run around until you get cornered and ripped apart?"

"Noah, heads up." Tara called out and they all turned to see a walker approaching. Noah quickly raised his gun and took it out,

"Look at you with the aim." Aiden smirked, handing the younger man a rifle, "Glenn and Vivian right,"

"What else is new?" Finn mumbled lowly with a smile and Vivian elbowed him gently,

"We should do a perimeter check. Know our exits just in case." Aiden finished,

They all separated, fanning out in different directions to check the area. Vivian and Finn went with Noah and Glenn, since she couldn't stand being near Nicholas. At least Aiden was coming around after their little tiff the week before.

"It was good aim back there." Glenn commented once they got out of earshot of the other boys,

"Target practice helped." Noah commented, "Actually, last week, I was pretty close to practicing on Aiden."

The four of them laughed, "Me, too, man." Glenn added,

They got to a corner and spotted a fenced in area. Behind those fences were at least a hundred walkers wandering around,

"Should we tell Nicholas that going out the front isn't a good idea?" Finn sighed,

Once they came up with a plan, the eight of them went to the nearest door. It was pitch black inside as Glenn and Vivian stepped in. Glenn smacked the door loudly, wanting to catch the attention of any walkers that could be inside.

Aiden went to move inside, his gun raised, but Glenn stopped him, "Give it another second. It's a big place. There could be some inside."

"So let's say they are." Aiden stated, "Let's move. Let's be safe."

Vivian turned on her flashlight, raising her gun with it. Glenn went first and she followed, along with the rest of the group.

All she saw at first were the shelves filled with boxes. The place was a little too quiet for her, it made her feel uneasy.

Once again they separated into two groups, going down different aisles to check for walkers and searching for the router. They didn't want to take any chances on getting snuck up on.

Vivian could hear some sort of clinking noise and shushed the others to hear it better. She and Glenn shared a look, "They're stuck behind something." He stated,

"How do you know?" Aiden asked,

"Because they aren't here." Vivian answered,

"All right. Hey, let's go. Eyes up." Glenn ordered as they continued to walk down the aisle.

They reached the end, the two groups meeting up again, and walkers snarled to their left. Vivian turned to see dozens of rotters behind a fence, trying to reach for them. The metal didn't seem to budge much, which gave Vivian some comfort.

"You know your stuff." Aiden commented,

"We were out there a long time." Tara reasoned.

"There could be more." Glenn stated, "Let's get to work."

Tara turned to Eugene and Finn, "You're up, boys."

Once again they separated to find the parts they needed. It didn't take long with the two of the boys knowing what they needed, and Eugene eventually found it. He and Finn began to open boxes, stuffing the inverter into their bags.

Vivian and the others heard a gun going off despite the silencer and peeked through the boxes to see Aiden shooting at an armoured walker, one that reminded her of the guards at the prison.

"It's got armor. Let it come closer." Glenn guided him,

"Gonna need your knife with that one. Through the chin." Vivian told Aiden,

"I got it." He insisted,

He shot the walker in the leg, causing it to fell. Glenn shined his flashlight on the rotter, the light catching on a round metal object on the walker's vest.

A grenade.

"Aiden, stop!"

Vivian turned to look for her brother, but it was too late. An explosion rocked the building, sending them flying. Vivian hit the boxes, landing beside Glenn.

Her ears were ringing. The air was filled with smoke. She went to call out for Finn, but the smoke in her lungs caused her to cough.

Glenn moved over to her, helping Vivian to her feet, "You good?"

"I think so." She groaned, grabbing her gun and flashlight, "Finn? Finn!" Vivian followed behind Glenn, nearly running into him as he stopped in horror,

"Oh, God. He's dead."

Vivian moved to stand next to Glenn, staring at Aiden's body that was pierced on multiple metal spikes.

What were they going to tell Deanna and Reg?

The sound of walkers caught their attention. They turned to see the fences were broken, and all the walkers were coming towards them, "Noah? Tara? Eugene? Finn?" Glenn called out,

"Finn?!" Vivian began to panic. She just found her brother, she couldn't lose him this soon.

Noah appeared behind them, "You good?" He asked them,

Glenn nodded, "Yeah. Cage is open. They're getting out. We need to find-"

"Here. We're over here!" Finn answered in the darkness.

The trio followed the sound of their voices and found Finn, Eugene, and Tara stuck behind a bunch of shelves. Eugene was standing there, a look of terror on his face while Finn was kneeled over Tara, who was bleeding heavily from her head,

"Is she breathing?" Glenn asked,

Eugene!

"Yeah, yeah." Finn nodded, "But there's a lot of blood, guy, we need to get out of here fast."

"They're getting close." Nicholas yelled out from the distance,

A walker began to approach Tara and Finn was quick to stand and shoot it. Another walker came up behind Eugene and tackled him to the ground. Glenn jumped through a gap in the boxes and took the walker out for the man.

"Noah, take him and get to that office. We'll get Tara. Go!" Glenn ordered.

Finn and Glenn lifted her up gently while Vivian kept the aisles clear from walkers. Once they all got to the office, including Nicholas, Finn began to check on Tara. Vivian stood by the door, pacing back in forth trying to figure out how they were going to get out of there, while walker banged on the window,

"How's she doing?"

"She has serious head trauma." He stated, "She's losing blood fast."

"How do we stop it?" Noah asked,

"Med kit was in Aiden's pack. It got blown to hell." Nicholas commented,

"There's another one in the van." Glenn added,

"She's on her way out. We need to get her there now." Finn ordered,

Glenn nodded, "All right, we'll get her there."

"Help! Somebody!" Vivian paused at the sound of Aiden's voice resonating through the warehouse.

She peeked through the blinds and, sure enough, Aiden began to move.

He was still alive.

"He's alive?" Glenn asked as he came up next to her,

"I checked him." Nicholas stuttered, "I- I thought-"

"We've got to get him." Vivian told Glenn.

"It's gonna take at least three of us." He replied,

Noah turned to Finn, "We got that kind of time?"

"We pull Aiden off there, we could kill him." Nicholas commented,

"So you're saying we leave him?" Noah asked him,

"Go, save him." Eugene stepped up next to Finn and Tara, "She'd do it. I know she would. We'll stay with her. We'll keep her safe, I assure you."

Noah, Glenn, and Vivian shared a look. Eugene wasn't a fighter, he couldn't protect himself from a falling tree if given the chance.

"I will." He tried to convince them.

Glenn sighed, "All right, we'll knock 'em back. You still have that flare?" He asked Nicholas,

"Yeah."

"You fire the flare over the shelves. That'll draw some of them over." They gathered by the door, "All right, we're gonna hit the rest hand to hand. You ready?" He asked them and they nodded,

"Viv." Finn called out and she turned to her brother, "Be careful."

She gave him and nod before reaching for her knife,

"One, two, three."