VIVIAN SAT IN THE COMMON ROOM, WHERE EVERYONE HAD GATHERED TO DISCUSS THE BREACH.

Rick wasn't around. Vivian had seen him go outside in the early hours of the morning. Not that she was comfortable seeing him anyway, not after his outburst.

Glenn had borrowed some chalk from Liam's bag of toys, and drew a basic outline of the prison on the concrete floor, "Now you said you found Tyreese's group here?" He asked Carl, pointing at the other side of the prison,

The younger Grimes nodded, "Yeah."

"We secured this." Glenn stated,

"He thought he came through here." Carl pointed to another section,

Glenn sighed, "Means there's another breach." He ran his hand through his hair, "Okay. The whole front of the prison is unsecure. If walkers just strolled in, then it's gonna be cake for a group of armed men."

"Why are we even so sure he's going to attack?" Beth questioned him, "Maybe you scared him off."

"He had fish tank full of heads." Michonne spoke from the other side of the room, "Walkers and humans. Trophies. He's coming."

"We should hit him now." Glenn suggested,

"What?"

"He won't be expecting it." He explained, "We'll sneak back in and put a bullet in his head, get Marcie while we're there."

"We're not assassins." Carol contested,

Vivian had to agree. There's no way of knowing if they could sneak back in, the people of Woodbury are on high alert, just like them.

Glenn ignored her and approached Michonne, "You know where his apartment is. You and I could end this tonight."

Michonne let out a large sigh, letting him know she wasn't sure about his plan,

"I'll do it myself." She stared at him for a moment before nodding, "Okay."

"He didn't know you were coming last time and look what happened." Hershel commented, "You were almost killed. Daryl was captured. And you, Vivian, and Maggie were almost executed."

Glenn approached the older man, "You can't stop me."

"Rick would never allow this."

"You really think he's in any position to make that choice?" Glenn shot back,

Glenn was right on that one. Rick wasn't mentally capable of making a choice on whether or not to go back to Woodbury and end the war that was started.

"Think this through clearly. T-Dog lost his life here. Lori, too. The men that were here. It isn't worth any more killing." Hershel told him, "What are we waiting for? If he's really on his way, we should be out of here by now."

"And go where?" Glenn asked aggressively, 

"We lived on the road all winter." 

"Back when you had two legs and we didn't have a baby crying for walkers every four hours." Glenn reasoned,

"We can't stay here." Hershel stated,

"We can't run." 

Maggie left the room and Glenn looked around at all of them, "All right. We'll stay put. We're gonna defend this place. We're making a stand." He crouched down by the chalk drawing of the prison, "Carl, you and I will go down to the tombs. We need to figure out where the breach is."

It made Vivian nervous letting Carl go into the dark prison and letting him run around with possibly lots of walkers around, but she needed to let him go. He wanted to help out, especially with his dad incapacitated. She needed to trust Glenn to keep him safe.

Carl nodded, "You got it."

"You'll need some help." Michonne stated,

"No, in case anything happens, I need you out here." Glenn stood, looking around at everyone, "Who's on watch?"

Vivian glanced around, everyone was accounted for except for Rick,

"Damn it." Glenn sighed,

The brunette woman stood, holding onto her side, "I'm on it." 

"You need to take it easy." Hershel commented, 

"It's just watch. I'm not planning on somersaulting around the tower." Vivian replied before turning to Beth, "Can you keep an eye on Liam for me?"

When the blonde nodded, Vivian left the prison. She made her way to the guard tower closest to the courtyard and grabbed her binoculars.

She didn't see Rick in the prison field. She had no idea where he was, and it got her worried.

Vivian spotted Carl walking along the fences and she let out a sharp whistle, "Hey, kid, you seen your dad?"

The young Grimes boy shook his head, "Not since this morning."

She sighed and looked around, "Alright. Why don't you take over up here?"

He took over for her. Vivian went down the stairs and was greeted by Glenn in the silver truck. He came to a stop next to her and rolled down the window, "I'm going to patrol the area."

"I'll join." Glenn unlocked the passenger door and she hopped in, hoping to see Rick while they were out there.

He pulled out of the prison gate and Vivian gazed out the window, trying to catch a glimpse of their leader.

"How are you and Maggie holding up?" She asked,

Glenn sighed gently as he drove onto a side road, "She doesn't want to talk to me. She thinks I overreacted."

"To what?"

"To everything." He answered,

"You care. You just have to support her right now. And listen. If she wants space, give her space." Vivian gave him a comforting smile, "Just give her time."

"And what about you?" Glenn asked, making eye contact with her, "What do you need?"

Tears filled her eyes and she turned her gaze back out the window, "I don't know yet." 

It was true. She didn't know if she needed space, or comfort. Maybe all she needed to do was let her rage out.

What she did know for sure is that she needed the Governor dead.

"I'll talk to Maggie."

Glenn squeezed her forearm, "Thank you."

She opened her mouth to speak when she heard the gun fire. Her and Glenn shared a look of trepidation before he quickly spun the truck around.

"Hurry, Glenn!"

As they drove towards the prison, Vivian spotted a large truck turning around in front of the gates. The brunette grabbed her pistol and rolled down the window, ignoring the pain in her side as she lifted her upper body out of the window and rested her butt onto the ledge.

With one hand clutching onto the handle inside the truck, she used the other to raise the hand gun and aim towards the truck.

She could see him. His bandaged eye. His cold eyes.

Vivian aimed for the white bandage that laid over his face and pulled the trigger. The window shattered, but with the unsteady driving, she missed.

She fucking missed.

"Fuck!" Vivian kept pulling the trigger, aiming at the truck as it drove away, hoping for a bullet to at least hit the target.

With no luck.

Glenn spotted Michonne running through the field, towards the old Greene man who was hobbling on his crutches.

Vivian gazed out around the fences and saw Rick fighting off walkers, two men with him.

It was Daryl. And his lovely brother.

Vivian jumped out of the truck, grunting in pain for a moment before rushing over to Hershel's side. Her and Michonne helped the old man into the passenger seat. Michonne got into the seat behind him and Vivian gazed out towards the guard tower, where she left Carl,

Where bullets had shattered the glass. Where a body laid on the balcony.

"Carl..." She whispered,

Rick would never forgive her. First his wife, now his son.

"Viv, come on!" Glenn yelled, 

With one last glance towards the tower, Vivian jumped into the truck and slammed the door shut before the dead could get to them.

Glenn sped into the courtyard, and Vivian let out a sigh of relief as she spotted the boy in the sheriff hat closing the gate behind them. Vivian was quick to jump out and ran towards Carl, 

"You're okay!" She wrapped her arms around him, knocking the hat off his head, "I thought you were in the tower," She mumbled into the top of his head,

"I came down when I spotted my dad. I was gonna tell him you were looking for him." He mumbled into her shoulder,

Vivian pulled away and cupped his face, "I'm so glad you didn't listen to me."

Carl gave her a grin before hugging her around the waist again.

The others turned towards the yard, watching all the walkers stumble around. The gate was open, they had no way to keep them out even if they took all the corpses out.

Vivian turned to Beth, "Where's Liam and the baby?"

"Judith." Carl corrected her, "Her name is Judith."

She gave him a small smile, "That's a beautiful name, Carl."

"I put them in your cell when I heard the shots." The blonde answered.

Vivian nodded, squeezing Carl's shoulder before rushing inside, "Liam!" She called out, running towards her cell. "Liam!"

She came to a stop in the doorway, looking around. The box with 'Lil Asskicker' written on the side laid on her bed, and Vivian glanced inside to see Judith sleeping peacefully,

"Mommy?"

Vivian got down on her hands and knees, glancing under the bed, "Hey, buddy." She grinned, "What are you doing down there?"

"It was scary." Liam crawled out and grabbed onto Vivian's leg, "I was hiding from the monsters." He whispered,

Ignoring Hershel's advice, Vivian lifted him into her arms, "They're gone, buddy." She rocked him gently, "They can't hurt you."

That night, Liam stayed with Beth while Vivian kept watch in the tower. She gripped the railing tightly, her knuckles turning white.

She was so close to ending it.

In a spurt of anger, Vivian turned and punched the wall. Pain vibrated up her arm, but she ignored it.

How could she be so weak? So stupid?

She wasted an opportunity. She could have saved them all.

A sob left her lips as she rested her forehead against the cement wall. She landed another punch, the skin of her knuckles splitting.

"Viv?"

She paused at the sound of Rick's voice. Blood ran down her forearm and she lowered her arm, causing the blood to drip onto the floor,

His hand touched her shoulder and she flinched away, "Don't."

She moved back over to the balcony, her bloody fingers holding onto the railing once more. Vivian kept her gaze on the dark abyss of the prison landscape, searching for anything that could resemble the Governor or his group.

"What's wrong?" Rick asked gently, standing next to her,

Vivian scoffed, feeling his eyes on her, "What isn't wrong? I could've... I could've killed him. I took the chance, and I fucking missed." She began to get worked up, her breaths shortening as tears filled her eyes, "I missed."

"And the man who fucking beat the shit out of Glenn and I is in there, sleeping peacefully, while I can't even pick up my kid because he fucking cracked my ribs and Marcie is alive, but stuck behind some walls with a rapist prick and she doesn't even know how dangerous he is." Vivian began to rant, her voice getting higher in pitch as her face scrunched up in grief, "And as if that wasn't enough of a problem, you're going off the deep end, Rick." She finally turned to him and was met with his guilty expression, "We need you here. We need you here and sane. You can't go running off into the woods chasing after ghosts. You can't disappear in the prison, killing as many walkers as you can find. Your kids need you here. Your group needs you here." The tears finally began to run down her cheeks, "I need you here."

Rick wrapped his arms around her, avoiding squeezing her too tight due to her injuries. She sobbed into his chest, letting all her pent up emotions out.

He let her cry. Rick knew she needed it. She was trying to stay strong for Liam, for Carl, for all of them. There was too much going on for her to drown in her sorrows.

And the same goes for him. They both needed to grieve, but they couldn't. They needed to take care of the Governor problem first.

Rick led her into the tower and towards the mattress that was laid on the floor. He held her and she continued to sob into his shirt.

He ran his fingers gently up and down her bicep, before they traveled down her her injured hand. He noticed the light bruises that wrapped around her wrists, and instantly felt guilty.

They were from him. From his episode the day before. It made him sick to his stomach knowing he caused her physical and emotional harm.

Rick rocked her in a soothing manner, not knowing what words could comfort her in that moment.

She began to calm down, hiccuping every once in a while. Rick gently played with the ends of her hair, trying to get her to sleep.

Her eyes were drooping, her cheek smooshed into his chest. Vivian listened to his heart beat, letting it soothe her,

She was tired. Physically and mentally. So much had gone on the past few days, she hadn't had anytime to process it.

"She made me promise to take care of you. All three of you." Vivian whispered, Rick barely catching it over the sound of crickets outside, "And when I was there... I thought I wasn't gonna make it back." Her voice cracked and Rick pulled her further into him, "I thought I let them down. All of them."

The poor woman had too much on her shoulders. 

Just like him.