- ZOE DIDN'T WASTE ANY time in running besides Nate to try and get the man cop that had ran off, but she didn't exactly feel good about splitting up with the others when these people couldn't be trusted, when these people had taken Beth, and kept Noah prisoner for god knows how long.. The city, in general, also wasn't a place that Zoe wanted to be, it was too large, and you never know who's going to jump out around the corner and attack you - she didn't like the city when all of this first happened, and she still wouldn't choose to live here. She didn't know how many of these people there were, that they were chasing, she didn't know how many had split up to try and get away, and she didn't like it one bit, not when her family were out here and they could be injured at any time by these people. None of this was okay, Zoe hated how they had to look out for people even more than walkers, and she had that it had now become a reality to do so..

With their guns raised, Nate and Zoe went in separate directions, making sure that they had each others backs at the same time as looking for one of the cops that ran off - Nate was staying close to his girl just in case anything happened, but at the same time, looking out for the man that they needed to trade Beth and Carol back with. Nate just wanted to end them all; he knew that he shouldn't be thinking like that, because everyone deserved a chance to live no matter what they have done, but he had gotten past the point where he gave people chances, or even second chances, they had been messed over so many times, that at this point, he didn't want to put his trust in anyone else because he knew that at the end of the day, they would all regret it, like they had done many times after putting their trust in people. He knew that Zoe would be thinking differently, that she would want to give people chances still, even with everything she had been through, and it broke his heart that she still had that light inside of her, because it got everyone nowhere.

Zoe looked back at Nate for an inch of a second to check which direction he was going in, when she heard a shuffle behind her, the girl spinning around to check that direction and aiming her gun over there, already sensing Nate's eyes on her, and hearing him begin to make his way over to her. Once he made it over, the man raised a brow at his girlfriend, who nodded in the direction the noise came from, causing Nate to head over there first, his own gun raised as he began to check the area before Zoe. Nate hated the fact that there was a load of walkers on the ground, lots without body parts, without legs, arms, or even just their heads - he had no idea what had happened here, but it wasn't good, and he just wanted to get Carol and Beth and get the hell out of the city where they were exposed. Being in the city made him feel uncomfortable, and the sooner they all got away from here, the better.

Where the noise came from, a medium sized RV sat, indicating that the man may be hiding from them in there; letting out a low whistle, Zoe followed suit, aiming her gun at the door of the RV as Nate got in position with his hand out ready to open the door, looking back at Zoe, he raised his hand, beginning to count down slowly to indicate when he was going to open up the door to check in there, the girl nodded again, holding her gun up as she kept her eyes securely on the RV. She held her breath as her boyfriend counted down silently as she waited for him to open the door, and when he finally did, she sighed in relief that no one jumped out at that exact second. Holding his hand back up and pointing inside of the RV, Zoe nodded, knowing that he was about to head inside, and she waited for him to do so, before slowly turning back around to watch their surroundings whilst the man was inside of the vehicle.

However, the second that Zoe turned around, she felt someone push into her with their full force, the girl gasping in surprise as she suddenly dropped her gun, the object popping to the floor and Zoe was shoved down next to the weapon, the back of her head hitting the concrete harshly, her vision going blurry for the time being as she felt hands grip her neck with a strength that cut off her oxygen almost immediately following. The girl could barely make to the man that was on top of her, but she knew it was one of the 'cops', by the badge on his shoulder, the blurry symbols that used to be on her dads uniform standing out to her. Coughing, the girl tried to use all of her strength, to pry his fingers off of her neck, m when she heard Nate bursting out of the RV.

When Nate heard commotion outside, he didn't waste any time dropping his search in the RV and checking that Zoe was okay, he had just thought she had been frightened by something and gasped, but when he burst out of the RV, he only saw red for what was happening in front of him. When he saw a man on top of the woman he loved, his hands wrapped around her neck to pry the life away from her, he couldn't even control what he was doing as he dove into the man, knocking him off of Zoe and allowing her to roll to the side to gain her breath back, coughing and choking by the side of them - Nate was on top of the man in a second, using a strength he didn't even realise he had, his hands wrapping around the mans throat like he had done with Zoe and using a harsher force than before, a force that immediately caused his eyes to turn red and blood shot.

Nate couldn't exactly control what he was doing, the second he saw red, he didn't have a choice in the matter anymore, since the thought of Zoe's life being taken by this man had just completely taken over, and he couldn't even stop himself. He could only see red. His rage completely taking over.

When Zoe finally came to her senses, her eyesight focusing back on her surroundings, she looked to the side and saw Nate on top of the man that had just attempted to kill her, and the man looked like he was a few seconds away from death, Nate near enough killing the man. "Nate." Zoe spoke up, her voice hoarse due to the pressure she had just had on her throat, but when her boyfriend didn't even react to her voice, she walked a little closer to him, "Babe, we need him, stop." She said, her hand on her throat as she coughed slightly again, the sound making Nate even more angry, a reminder that this man underneath him had just tried to kill the one thing that was currently keeping him alive and breathing in this world.

Zoe had never seen Nate so angry before, there had been the time with The Governor, where the girl had never seen Nate so angry before, but right now, he had a look on his face that feared her,  the fact that he might not stop and take this mans life. It wasn't what they did, they didn't like to take lives, even after they had wronged them, but right now, it didn't seem like that mattered to Nate, he wanted the man dead, and she could see it in his eyes, that nothing else mattered to him. "Nate!" The girl eventually shouted, grabbing his arm and giving it a tug, which finally caused Nate to let go, the man underneath him laying limp, dead.

Zoe felt like she couldn't exactly move from her position of standing next to Nate and looking down at the lifeless eyes of the man he had just killed, unsure of what to think or do. It hadn't even clicked in Nate's mind that he had just killed someone for putting their hands on Zoe, he didn't even know what to do about it, so he simply reached his hand out for his girl to take, which she did in an instant, her eyes still locked onto the dead man on the floor with a look of disbelief. When the attack from the group of men happened before Terminus, what they did was for survival, and they knew that at the time, but what Nate just did, wasn't for survival. It was vengeance because of what happened to her.

Nate had seen the look on Zoe's face, and that look on her face alone, broke his heart, that he had caused her to panic like that, like she was afraid of him, even though she wasn't, he couldn't help but think that she was because of what he had just done. "I'm sorry." He whispered, as he dug his face into her hair, not wanting to open his eyes at the scene of what he had just done. He had never had that happen before, where he felt so angry that he just couldn't function properly, and he couldn't even see right without red blocking his vision, without having this rage inside of him that he just had to get out of him somehow, and strangling the man that had just tried to kill the only woman he had ever loved, seemed like the right way to go. He didn't experience anger like that often, but he just knew that he had to get it out of him somehow, and he didn't want Zoe to get hurt.

Zoe was simply shocked about what she had seen, the last thing she expected acted to see was her boyfriend strangle the life out of someone, she was confused more than anything, but she would never judge him for what he had just done, no matter how bad it was. "It's okay." Shed said, beginning to stroke the hair out of his face as she could tell he was trying not to let his tears out, no matter how much they were threatening to fall. She didn't know what they were going to do about the dead man on the floor, not since they needed him to trade with Beth and Carol, they now had one less person to use, and that was ultimately going to ruin Rick's plan.

Zoe was trying to think of ways she could back up her boyfriend when she heard footsteps approaching, the girl looking up to see Daryl approaching, looking banged up himself like he had been in a fight, too, with dark marks already forming on his neck much like Zoe's own. Daryl looked at the couple embracing before looking down at the ground, the dead man lying there with his lifeless eyes staring up at the sky. He didn't know what to think at first, seeing his brothers face when he finally looked up at his older brother, not a single mark on him except for the scratch marks on his cheek from the dead man that had been trying to claw himself free of Nate's grasp - he had just tried to stop Rick from killing another cop, and now he has to witness an actual dead one on the ground. Daryl could instantly recognise the look on Nate's face, it looked like Merle when he would get angry, and that look alone, had all sorts of panic going through him.

"Let's go." Daryl said, motioning his head to the side as he just wanted to get away from this place, away from the dead body, and back to the others since they had a few of the other cops all lined up. Before the couple could say anything  to Daryl or even explain themselves, the older man grabbed his knife and shoved it through the dead mans skull, killing him permanently without another word, before giving them both a look as to tell them to hurry up.

They didn't exactly have much choice in the matter, Zoe grabbing Nate's hand and dragging him along, not letting the man see his murder scene any longer as they headed back to where the others were, no one talking about the dark marks on the girls neck, and the scratches on the mans face, the others didn't question it, they knew that something had gone down, and they didn't want to bring up what may be a hard conversation to have. So they all stuck with the plan, and took their prisoners to the empty warehouse where they had originally planned to meet and go over their next plan of action.

—

As they were walking back into the warehouse, Zoe avoided all of the cops eyes, as well as Nate, since they had just killed their friend, although, they hadn't said anything about it, and the girl prayed that they thought their friend got away.. "Your friend, what's his name?" The female cop asked Daryl, as he was leading the group towards Rick and Noah, who was showing Rick the layout of the hospital. "I need to talk to him, your plan is going to get me and my friends killed." She said, talking about Rick and his plan, the woman scared that it wouldn't work, because she knew her leader, and she knew this wouldn't work out at the end of the day, someone was going to suffer because of it.

"We're gonna make it work." Sasha said, confident in Rick and his plan; that, and now that Bob wad gone, she didn't care what she had to do to get their people back.

"It would work if you had different cops to trade. Dawn's running Grady into the ground. A bunch of us want her out and she knows it. Pretty sure she knows we want Lamson to replace her, too." The female cop explained, already trying to get out of the situation she was stuck in.

"Dawn doesn't know that." The male cop besides her said, Nate already taking a disliking to him due to his cockiness. Nate could also tell that the man was looking around for his friend when they all first entered the warehouse building, and he just had the feeling that he was going to be trouble. "Where's Toby?" He asked, proving Nate's thoughts about him, that he was right about him.

At his words, Daryl turned around and glared at the cop, "Your friend ran off." He snapped, as Zoe gripped Nate's hand tighter, feeling him tense from under her hold. It made him feel better that his brother had his back, but at the same time, he felt awful that he had ruined their plan by having one less person to bargain with; he knew that Rick knew, as he had that knowing look on his face, and Daryl told that man everything, no matter what it was, and Nate was even more grateful that the two of them had his back, but all that mattered, was that Zoe wasn't scared of him at all, and she still loved him with all of her heart.

"Look, there's a good chance you can't make this deal work and that'll leave us all dead." The woman carried on, as Zoe just couldn't believe a word she was saying, having the feeling that she was lying, to get out of the situation she was in. "But if you let us go.. We'll take care of Dawn ourselves and we'll let your friends go and this is over." She all but begged, but her cop friend had other ideas.

"We're not gonna do that." He told her, as Zoe raised a brow at him, not knowing what is problem was. When his friend asked him if he wanted to die, he sighed, "No, I just need you to shut up right now." He said, as the woman looked down at the ground, backing down and letting her friend take charge, "It can work, but you've got to be able to talk to her." He said, ignoring everything his friend had just said.

"Noah told us all about her." Sasha said, with a hint to her voice - they all knew what kind of person this woman was, and they all knew how hard this was going to be to get her attention and to do this swap peacefully.

"I've known her for eight years, ma'am. I know this woman, and my only interest is peaceful resolution, not dying, and sleeping in my bed tonight. So, please. Let me help you." He said, looking at everyone in the eyes, including Nate, who didn't back down under his watch. Everyone knew that he was talking to the wrong person, however, as they all followed Rick's word, and his word only.

"Hey, dad. You're gonna wanna come over here and hear this." Zoe called to her father, without taking her eyes off of the man who had said he would do whatever they wanted of him to make this deal peaceful. She knew that once he heard this, their plan would be set in action and everything would be ready to go.

As she heard Rick walking over, the girl tugged at Nate's hand, beginning to pull him away to the side so that she could talk to him without prying ears - she could sense that he needed to talk some things through, and she needed to let him let it out. She sent Daryl a small nod as he looked over at them, before fully turning around and leading him out of the warehouse's main room, feeling the male cops eyes on them, whom had asked where his friend was. Zoe didn't like that the man kept looking at Nate, like he knew something, and he wasn't going to let it go, not when it was his friend that had disappeared.

"Are you mad?" Nate asked Zoe in a low tone as soon as they stood outside of the warehouse. His biggest fear right now was the girl being afraid of him because of what she had seen him do - he didn't know what he would do with himself if that was the case, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if she was..

Zoe scoffed at his words, shaking her head at the mere thought that she could be mad at him, "How could I be mad? You saved me." She said, watching as he deflated in relief that his girl wasn't mad, "But I want to know what the hell happened out there.." She trailed off, wanting an explanation for what he had done. She saw the anger in his eyes when he was taking the cops life, and she couldn't even get him to stop, normally when he's in a state like that, she can get him out of it, but this time.. It was different.

Nate sighed, looking up at the ceiling as he knew he will have to tell Zoe that he didn't want to stop strangling that man, he wanted him to pay for what he tried to do to Zoe. "I just saw red. The second I saw his hands on you, I just couldn't stop myself, it was like I was possessed, and I didn't want to stop. I wanted to see him dead, and that was all that mattered to me." He explained, completely letting out his feelings to Zoe, since he knew that she would understand him, that she wouldn't judge him in the slightest, that she loved him no matter what.. Zoe didn't even know what to say to him at his words, she knew that something had switched in his mind when he saw Toby on top of her, but she hadn't even imagined that he could possibly kill him because of it, and she honestly didn't know what to do. Nate raised his hand and gently touched the side of Zoe's face, relieved when she didn't move away or flinch at his touch after hearing what he was thinking, "Do you think I'm a monster?" He asked, not truly wanting to know the answer.

Zoe answered in an instant, however, "We've all been through things that no one could have expected, that people wouldn't dream of surviving. You're not a monster." She said, placing her hand over his on her face and wrapping her fingers around his, "You're a survivor." The girl told him, taking his hand and wrapping both of hers around it, "I will always love you, no matter what happens. Don't think for a second that I think any differently of you because of what you do in response to trauma. I love you so much. I will never stop." She said, as Nate sighed in relief at her words. He knew that he was going to have to sort out his anger, and figure out how to control it, but for now, as long as he had Zoe by his side, everything was okay, and nothing else mattered.

"I love you so much. Words cannot describe how much you mean to me, Zo." Nate whispered, leaning down and resting his forehead on hers, "I don't know what I'd do without you." He admitted, as Zoe closed her eyes and reached to the back of his head to stroke through his long strands of hair, causing the man to relax in her hold.

Zoe knew that they had to do something about this, and get her fathers help, but for now, they had a job to do, and they had to get Beth and Carol back..