— ZOE SAID THAT SHE WOULD EXPLAIN everything to Nate once they got back to the prison and everything had calmed down, after all, the boy had literally left his own brother to be with her and the others back at the prison, and he was her other half. As much as she didn't want to revisit what had happened to her in there, Nate deserved to know what the Governor had done to her, and she wanted to explain what had happened so he wouldn't get the wrong idea. The only reason why Zoe hadn't told him now, was because her dad was in the car with them, and there was no way she wanted him knowing what had happened with the man; she hated to imagine what Rick would do once he found out what the man had done to his daughter, he was already still dealing with Lori's death, and the birth of his child, he didn't need this added onto everything else happening right now. So that's why she didn't tell him; she would wait until they get back to the prison, she will sit Nate down and tell him everything, no matter how much she didn't want to relive the moment, she just couldn't keep it from the man she loved.

The group sat in complete silence as they drove down the road and away from Woodbury - no one exactly knew what to say to one another. They had lost one of their own, another had left them, and one was severely beaten to the point where he could barely walk, what could be said? Even Rick, the leader of the group, didn't know what to say, and so he, too, stayed completely silent. Even when they had to get out of the car so they could clear the road to get the car moving again, not another word was spoken, Zoe moved by Maggie's side as they headed towards the empty beaten down truck, just as a walker fell out of the passenger side, straight onto Glenn. Everyone pulled their guns out in preparation to shoot the walker, only to see that he had shoved the walker onto the ground and started slamming his foot down on their head, Glenn grunting in pain as he did so. Zoe had never seen Glenn like this before, it was like he was seriously pissed odd about what had happened back in that town - how couldn't he be? He felt so guilty that he didn't stop the Governor from touching his best friend; all of that, and when they went back in, the man lived, after everything he did. "You didn't kill him." Glenn told Rick, as the man approached him to find out if he was doing okay.

Rick looked taken aback at what Glenn had said - considering that the boy had been so against killing people since he had first met him, to think that the Governor had changed him this much, scared the man. "That's not why we went back." Rick told him, after a few seconds of silence.

Zoe watched anxiously as Glenn clenched his jaw in anger, and she was keeping her fingers crossed that he wouldn't say anything about what the Governor had done. Nate stayed close to her, unsure as to why Glenn was acting like this, the same as Rick, the boy wasn't acting like himself. "No. That's right. You went back for Daryl. And now he's gone again, and the Governor is still alive." Glenn snapped at Rick, annoyed at his choices in running this group, he believed that they should have gone back in their to kill the Governor, and nothing else.

"Daryl was the priority." Rick explained calmly, knowing that Glenn was just hurt right now at the fact the man was still walking around without a care in the world. Rick had no clue as to what was going on, only Glenn, Maggie and Nate knew what had happened to Zoe back in that town, and Zoe wanted to keep it that way, but she had a feeling that Glenn would let it slip sometime soon, he just wasn't in the right head space right now.

"I should have been there with you." Glenn said, the guilt eating him alive.

"You were in no condition." Rick reasoned, unsure as to why this was upsetting Glenn so much.

"But Zoe was?" Glenn finally snapped, annoyed that everyone was so concerned about Daryl, that they had forgotten what the poor girl had gone through.

Zoe cringed at his words, knowing that he was bound to let something slip, and this was that time, "Glenn, stop. This isn't about me." She finally spoke up, standing next to Maggie at the end of the truck, the two girls waiting to push it away from the road so they could drive past it. Nate had walked forwards slightly towards Glenn, to ensure that he wouldn't say anything else, he was ready to jump in at any moment now, as he knew that Zoe didn't want her father knowing what the Governor had done to her.

"You didn't come back with us because you could barely walk." Rick explained, growing frustrated at the boys words and his judging.

"What about her?" Glenn finally shouted, Zoe closing her eyes as she let out a breathe, trying to keep her breathing in check again. "Do you know what he did to her? Do you know?" He yelled, pointing his finger harshly at Rick, who's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at what the boy was trying to say.

Nate was quick to but in, pushing the boy back gently, "That's enough, Glenn." He warned, giving him a warning look. He didn't like that the boy was trying to tell Rick what happened to his girlfriend, after she specifically told him that she didn't want the man knowing, at least not now, not until his head was in the right place. Rick was still grieving, and he didn't need this piece of information to top off his grief.

Maggie gave Zoe's hand a squeeze of comfort when the girl looked like she was about to cry - when the teenager looked up at her, she smiled gratefully, giving her hand a squeeze back. At least Zoe still had her family and friends, that's all that mattered to her right now.. "After all that effort, all the risk we took, Daryl just took off with Merle." Glenn finished, knowing that he shouldn't say anything else about Zoe - he had said enough already.

"He had his reasons." Rick said, knowing that Nate wouldn't appreciate Glenn talking down about his brother in front of him. But when he looked over at Nate, he was already headed back to stand next to Zoe, the two kids inseparable since they had first met; Rick loved to see his daughter so happy, and he was glad that he could trust Nate with her, but he just wished that she would confide in him more. What had Glenn meant about the Governor and Zoe? The question was plaguing his mind, stressing him out in case something terrible had happened to his little girl - but he wasn't going to ask her. No.. He was going to wait until she was ready.

Glenn scoffed, "Yeah. You keep telling yourself that, Rick." He snapped, still annoyed at the man for his calls and his orders. He would have killed the Governor in a heartbeat if he had the choice.. "It doesn't change the fact that we're up to out necks in shit." He complained.

"You want me to turn the car around, beg him to come back? Throw down the welcome mat for Merle? This is the hand we've been dealt." Rick shouted back, finally loosing his temper at Glenn and his complaining. He was doing everything he could for this group, he was putting his heart and soul into leading everyone, and he may not be perfect, but he was trying.

"Guys, let's just push this truck outta the way and get back home, okay?" Zoe called out, wanting her dad to calm down and stop yelling at Glenn - it wasn't the boys fault, he has had a rough two days, just like she had. Everybody just wanted to get back home to relax, and get some well needed sleep, god knows she needed it.

"Yeah. We'll get some rest, then we can talk about it there." Maggie agreed, placing both of her hands on the back of the truck, along with Zoe, as they waited for the men to come over and help them.

"No. You guys do all the talking you want." Glenn said, now calmer than before as he had drained every ounce of energy he had left. "I'm done." He told them all. He was just tired.

Rick kept his eyes on Glenn as he headed back towards the wheel to steer the truck away from the road, before he joined the two girls and Nate at the back of the truck, ready to push. And with that, they were finally on their way back home.
 
 
 
 
 
The second Rick pulled up to the prison and told Maggie to drive up, Zoe sprung out of the car and pulled her little brother in for a hug, Carl hugging back just as tightly, having missed his sister a lot. Rick watched his two kids with a sad smile on his face as Zoe mumbled into Carl's ear about how much she had missed him. She didn't want to let him go - this boy was one of the things that was keeping her going, and she honestly didn't know what she would do without him in her life. Nate wanted to stay with Zoe, but he knew that she would want to spend some time with Carl before heading up, so he stayed in the car, with everyone's things, and headed up to the building. It felt strange to come back without his brother - like none of this was real, he wished Daryl could have come back with him, but if he knew his brother at all, he knew that Daryl couldn't leave Merle alone in the woods to survive, especially since he has one hand. Nate just couldn't bring himself to leave - he wasn't the same man he used to be, the one that Merle knew before he had been separated from them all, he was different, he had opened up to the group, and was actually allowed to call them his family, now. As much as he hated to admit it, but Merle just wasn't his family anymore. In this world, blood doesn't mean anything, especially when your brother is friends with a man like the Governor.

Zoe watched the car go as Rick was next to hug his son, glad to be back with him, and then he turned to Carol when she had asked where Daryl was. "He's alright. He's alive." He assured her, as Zoe kept her arm draped around Carl's shoulders, keeping him close as they faced Carol, Zoe with a look of sympathy on her face. "He ran into his brother, they went off." He informed her, as Carl pulled on Zoe's shirt to get her attention.

"Nate stayed? Even when Daryl and Merle went off?" Carl asked his older sister, confused at why Nate wouldn't go with his two brothers. If that was him, he wouldn't want to be away from his sister, he just couldn't understand why Nate wouldn't want to go with his family.

Zoe sighed, nodding. "He stayed." She told Carl, Rick watching her from the corner of his eye, "He wanted to go with them, but he couldn't leave us all. I wouldn't worry about him, he'll be okay." Zoe said, smiling sadly as Carl just looked plain confused and concerned for Nate. He liked the older boy, he had been friendly with him back on the farm, and he actually liked him, he just hoped that Nate was okay. Carol hadn't taken the news any better, upset that Daryl had left her, too, and as they walked up the hill, she was silently crying, upset she would never get to see her friend again.

Reaching the top of the hill had been great for Zoe, she instantly smiled at the sight of all of her friends, waiting for her arrival - she hugged Beth and Hershel softly, the two of them looking at her sympathetically at the sight of her bruised arms and face. She shrugged, implying that it was no big deal, but they could see the pain through her eyes. Beth sighed, taking the girls hand in her own, and began walking into the prison, to clean her up. Zoe accepted the girls help, walking weakly besides her as she directed her inside. The girl didn't even look twice at the new people in the sitting area, instead, keeping her eyes to the ground as she walked onwards, meeting Nate at the entrance to their cell, ready with a bowl of water and cloths to clean her cuts and the dirt from her skin. Zoe thanked Beth when she gave her one last hug, and the girl sat down on hers and Nate's mattress, sighing in exhaustion as she felt like she could fall asleep right at this moment in time.
Nate gently took the wet cloth and started wiping down her arms, getting the blood off of her, before he silently asked her for permission to take her shirt off so he could clean her properly and she could get into some clean clothes. Since the curtain was drawn and it was just the two of them, Zoe nodded weakly, before Nate gently helped her take Glenn's shirt off, a shirt that she honestly never wanted to see again. He threw it to the side and began gently cleaning her torso and stomach, having to hold his breath at the amount of bruises on her stomach from where she had been punched and shoved.

He wanted to kill every single person at that town for what they had done to his girl, and he would fight till the very end until he could finally kill the son of a bitch who hurt her. "He didn't rape me." Zoe finally spoke up, her voice barely above a whisper as Nate paused, the cloth still in his hand, hovering above her skin. "I just.. I don't want to relive the moment, but I just wanted you to know." She continued, not looking up as she spoke. Zoe wanted nothing but to let Nate know what had happened the day before, but right now, she just wanted to go to sleep, and wake up to a brand new day, where she could clear her mind and carry on as usual. "I'm just really tired. I want to sleep." She admitted, yawning as she did so.

Nate nodded in understanding, glad that she had finally cleared the air slightly on what had happened with the Governor, and he understood that she just wanted some rest. Truth be told, he could use the rest, too, but he wanted to make sure Zoe was okay first. He pulled his duffel bag over, and pulled out one of his shirts, before he gently placed it over the girls head, pulling it down over her, "You rest, baby. I'm right here." He told her, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead as she leaned into his hold, before finally pulling away, knowing that she was going to pass out at any moment now from pure exhaustion.

Nate helped her out of the rest of her clothing, knowing that she wouldn't want to be in it much longer after what happened, and he then helped her into bed, lying down with her as she laid across his chest, instantly falling asleep as she did so.. It had been a few minutes since the girl had fallen asleep on him, before Glenn had stopped by quietly, wanting to see how the girl was, but when he finally got to her shared cell with Nate, he found out that she was asleep, and apologised, only for Nate to stop him before he could walk away. "Glenn." He called out quietly, causing the Korean boy to come back and peek around the corner again. "Thanks for looking out for my girl back there." Nate told Glenn, who shook his head at his words.

"I didn't do enough." Glenn admitted, looking at his friend sadly as she slept on Nate, her hands gripping onto his shirt like her life depended on it, like she was afraid he would leave her at any moment now. It saddened him to see it.

"You did everything you could, and Zoe knows that." Nate told his friend, unsure as to why he was putting himself down so much. If they should be blaming anyone, they should be blaming Merle and the Governor, the people that did it. Merle could have helped Zoe, but he didn't, he let the Governor in with her, and he stood by whilst he had his way with her. "But Glenn. If Zoe doesn't want Rick knowing about what happened back there, you best keep your mouth shut, or you'll have me to deal with, okay?" He asked the boy, not wanting to threaten him, but he needed to get his point across to him that he shouldn't be opening his mouth when he shouldn't be.

Glenn nodded in understanding, knowing why Nate said what he said, it didn't surprise him that he had said this; he had messed up back with the truck, and he knew that now. He was just angry at the time, and it had just come out, he hadn't meant to, and that's why he had come by tonight, to apologise for his behaviour. He gave Zoe one last look before leaving, heading back to his own cell so he could also get some well needed rest.

Nate watched him go, before he looked back down at Zoe, holding her tight as she slept safely in his arms. He was making a pact from this moment on, and it was that he wasn't going to let her get hurt again. Not whilst he was around. But what they didn't know - was that they had a war heading straight for them; and not everyone will make it out alive..