-  HEADING INTO THE HOSPITAL felt strange for Zoe, like she was back in time where the world hadn't gone to shit and there wasn't walkers trying to kill you left right and centre. The girl had only been to a hospital a handful of times, for small things like appointments, but never for something large, not like a few of her friends that had had broken legs at times due to playing football at her school.. It felt surreal, to be in such a clean place like this hospital, the people that ran the place clearly liked to keep it this way, and it was strange to Zoe that they had this much time on their hands to be able to do so; every single place they've had to stay at, there has never been enough time to be able to keep it all clean like this, it made her believe that maybe they could eventually find somewhere that was safe, and live like normal people once again.

Walking through the hallways behind Nate felt strange, the fact that they would be able to see Beth in a few seconds, and Carol, whom they all wanted to get back. The girl kept close to her boyfriend as they followed the rest of the group with the cops in front, guns trailed on their backs as they kept their eyes forward, Rick looking through the door in front of them. When they were told to holster their weapons, Nate didn't feel great about it, not knowing what would happen if they didn't have their guns out, anything could go down that involved one of them getting hurt, and he didn't like it one bit.. Rick watched as the man edged in front of his daughter as he put his gun away, and he nodded his head at him, grateful for Nate yet again for always putting his daughter first, and keeping her safe no matter what.

Opening the double doors, Nate and Zoe followed behind the group as they all walked in - the two cops walking forwards as Rick took the place at the front of the group, "They haven't been harmed." He told the other group, as the leader stood besides Beth, Zoe unable to look anywhere else but the girl, having thought that she would never see her again..

"Where's Lamson?" The lead cop asked, as Zoe stiffened besides the group, waiting for one of the cops they have hostage to admit they had killed two of their own. She also felt Nate stiffen besides her, knowing that he had killed one of them himself whilst Rick had killed one of them, too.

"Rotters got him." Shepherd lied, "We saw it go down." He said, showing no emotion whatsoever.

Zoe watched the other leader of the group and how the woman reacted to the news that one of her own was dead - she didn't act that upset at the fact, and because of that, Zoe was not sure that this was the kind of person they should be dealing with. Nate just wanted to get the exchange over and done with, so they could go back to the church and figure out their next plan of action and where they were going to move to next and how they were going to do it all. Since the prisons the group had been through so much, and they just needed a break for once. "One of yours for one of mine." The other leader announced, just like they had planned to do so.

"Alright." Rick agreed, nodding his head towards Daryl whom had the other cop, the one that Nate didn't like at all. Daryl pushed the man forwards, holding his hand out for Carol to come forwards in her wheelchair, something that Zoe couldn't believe. How could anyone run someone over, and force them to stay in the hospital where they didn't want to be and they couldn't just leave on their own - it was no way to run a sanctuary, and no way to even live. Zoe felt awful that Carol had to go through something like that, that she had been hit by a car and forced to stay here much like Beth had, and it felt like a prison in there like you couldn't leave even if you wanted to.

As Carol was wheeled over to them, Zoe sighed in relief when she passed her father over to them, the man then immediately grabbing the other hostage and pushing her onwards to the other group - Carol reached her hand out and grabbed Zoe's hand, the girl holding her hand and allowing a small smile to reach her face, which Nate matched, giving Carol a smile and nodding his head at her gratefully.

With Carol now standing, Tyreese was helping her stand, due to the fact that she had trouble standing on her own, it wasn't until Beth walked towards Rick, did Nate finally feel like things were going accordingly, like things were finally going right for them. "Glad we could work things out." Dawn said, as Nate sent the woman a glare, pulling Beth into them as Zoe was quick to pull the girl in for a hug, Beth squeezing tight as the two girls embraced, happy to see one another once again, after such a long time apart. It wasn't until the woman spoke up again, causing everyone to freeze and glare over at her, "Now, I just need Noah." She said, something no one was expecting her to say. "And then you can leave." She added, as Zoe saw the anger in her fathers eyes.

Rick turned around and began to walk towards Dawn, Noah looked over at Nate and Zoe with a feared look on his face, afraid that Dawn going to force him to stay and he would be trapped all over again. "That wasn't part of the deal." Rick stated, Zoe telling from the back of his head that this wasn't going to go down well.

"Noah was part of my ward. Beth took his place and I'm loosing her, so I need him back." Dawn informed Rick, as Zoe couldn't believe what she was hearing - this woman was insane. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him." She said, as Zoe couldn't hold her scoff back at her words.

"Kidnap him more like." She mumbled, as Dawn shifted her glare towards the blonde girl, Nate edging himself in front of her to shield her from the evil woman, the fact that she had a gun on her holster, made her feel uneasy, and he didn't like it one bit.

"One of them died." Dawn continued, moving her glare away from Zoe as she tried to pretend the girl never said a word. But Daryl also wasn't happy about what Dawn was trying to do.

Daryl stormed forwards and put his hand on Noah's chest to stop him from going forwards, angrily looking at Dawn with an annoyed look on his face, "Nah, he ain't staying." He said, shaking his head and taking a stand next to Rick and covering Dawn's view on Noah.

"He's one of mine, you have no claim on him." Dawn snapped, making Nate want to shoot her in the head. Even Zoe couldn't believe the words coming out of that woman's mouth, she was completely psychotic.

"The boy wants to go home, so you have no claim on him." Rick said, also unable to believe that Dawn was acting this way. They had met a few psychotic people during the outbreak, but this was a new kind, where she completely agreed that even if Noah didn't want to be here, Dawn believed he should stay.

"Well, then there's no deal." Dawn stated, shaking her head at Rick.

"The deal is done." Rick snapped, only for Noah to interrupt him.

"No, no, no. It's fine, I got to do it." Noah said, the man unable to stand back and watch as Rick put himself and his family at risk for him - he couldn't continue standing by as Dawn tried to negotiate even more about who is going with who. Zoe began to walk forwards to stop Noah from giving himself up, unable to just stand by and watch Dawn tried to take Noah back, but Nate was even quicker to grab her arm and stop her from getting involved, knowing that it would just get her hurt.

Zoe sighed, "What are you doing? He can't go back with them." She whispered, unable to understand why Nate wouldn't want to butt in and stop Noah from doing so. The fact that Noah was putting himself at risk for them all, to be able to get Beth and Carol back, said a lot about his character, and she couldn't stand back and watch him do this.

"Let your dad deal with it." Nate practically pleaded, knowing that it would go a very wrong way if any of them butted in, he knew how Zoe could be when it came to protecting their family. He didn't want her to get hurt, no matter what was going on at the moment. The girl began to struggle against his hold, but eventually stopped, knowing that he was right, deep down, and she couldn't get involved no matter how much she wanted to. She hated that she had to stand by and watch as it all went down, but she also had to trust her dad that he would get everything done and keep everyone safe in the process.

Noah started walking towards Dawn, agreeing to her rules as he didn't want anyone else to get hurt, but Beth was quick to get out of Nate's hold also and rushed onwards, "Wait!" She shouted, rushing forwards and pulling Noah in for a tight hug, unable to imagine him leaving. It's only when Dawn spoke up again, did Beth finally pull away from Noah and look at Dawn to give him a glare, before slowly walking towards the woman and stopping closely in front go her, keeping the glare on her face the whole time. "I get it now." Beth said, as Zoe felt her anxiety rise at the sight, not liking Beth so close to Dawn, having the feeling that something bad was happening. 

It felt like everything was going in slow motion when a large wound suddenly opened up in the back of Beth's head, blood splattering on the walls around her and on Rick's face as the man flinched away, unable to believe what had just occurred. Zoe felt Nate's grip loosen on her slightly, the girl swaying on her feet as she watched her friend fall to the ground, her body slowly being lowered to the ground by Dawn. Mouth wide open, Nate couldn't believe that Beth was gone, just like that, without any warning whatsoever - he couldn't even understand Dawn's pleads with their group that she didn't mean to do it, that it was just reaction due to Beth stabbing her, but Daryl didn't care in the slightest, Nate could see the anger completely take over him as he pulled his pistol out of his holster, he didn't even have any time to say anything, or get his brother to stop, before Daryl shot a bullet through Dawn's head, causing the woman to drop dead immediately and fall to the ground, her group reacting instantly as they all raised their own guns at Daryl, Rick and everyone behind them.

Even during their moment of shock, Zoe and Nate raised their guns at the group opposite them as quickly as they did themselves, not taking any chances. Zoe could hardly see through her blurred vision as she tried to block out Beth's dead body on the floor across from them all, the blood already staining her cast from her broken wrist - the sight made her sick to her stomach, the fact that she would never be able to see her friend ever again. "No, hold your fire!" The cop that they had taken hostage shouted, the woman that neither Nate nor Zoe could remember the name of, due to what had just happened. Nate looked at the back of his brothers body, seeing how stiff Daryl was, and knowing that the man was trying to hold it all together for the sake of everyone else, he couldn't believe that the girl he had been trying to protect for so long, was gone, it broke his heart, and he just didn't want to believe it. Nate wanted nothing but to comfort his brother, but he couldn't do anything in the moment, due to the stand off that was going down. "It's over. It was just about her. Stand down." She told her team besides her, all pointing their guns at the other group.

Zoe sucked in a breath as she tried to hold the tears back, but they were just streaming down her face at the fact that Beth was gone, another one of their own. When the other group lowered their weapons, Carol walked over to Daryl, who just couldn't lower his weapon, Nate still unable to comprehend what had just happened. Zoe lowered her gun eventually, feeling too weak to keep it held up as she finally let out a sob, hearing Daryl's pained breaths as he looked down at Beth's body. Nate finally lowered his weapon as he glanced down at the love of his life that was using the wall for support to keep herself up, her breaths quick and ragged as she tried to keep herself upright. Beth was too good for this world, she always saw the good side to things no matter how bad things got, and everyone in the group adored her - the fact that she was now gone, broke everyones heart.

The girl felt arms wrap around her torso, Nate trying to comfort the girl but feeling himself slip in the process - too many deaths had been occurring and he just didn't know how to deal with it. Zoe leaned back against his chest and looked up at the ceiling, feeling Nate's tears soak the side of her neck where he was leaning on her for support, trying to take deep breaths in, but having trouble doing so because of the pain that was occurring in her chest. Neither of them paid attention to what the other group was saying until Rick spoke up, breaking the quiet lingering in the hallway between everyone, except for the sniffles and the harsh breathing. "No. And I'm taking anyone back there who wants to leave." Rick announced, his own voice breaking at what had just happened.

Zoe pushed away from the wall and leaned back into Nate, who sighed and pulled away, knowing that not only had Beth just been killed, but now they had to tell Maggie, and Carl, whom had always adored Beth since the moment they had first met. Nobody from the other group accepted Rick's offer, knowing that it was just Dawn that was the problem, and now that she was gone, they could go back to normal again. Zoe was quite glad that they didn't take him up on the offer, as they just couldn't afford to keep taking people in, they had their own to take care of, and now Judith, they couldn't risk letting anyone else into the group, especially ones that they don't know and didn't exactly trust.

Walking down the stairs in the hospital felt like a fever dream, Daryl carrying Beth's body behind as he silently cried the whole way, Carol clinging onto Tyreese as she cried, the man helping her walk without hurting herself, Zoe and Nate trailing behind them, walking in complete silence and not even touching one another, instead, keeping their grips on their guns as they took each step down. As they got further down the stairs and towards the opening to the hospital, Zoe felt her chest tighten, knowing that once they leave this building, it will all become real, and that Beth wasn't coming back no matter what - leaving and getting back to their normal lives wasn't something that any of them wanted to do, but in order to survive, they had to. When the sunlight finally hit, Zoe squinted her eyes and finally reached her hand out and gripped Nate's, the man matching her movement and squeezing her hand tightly, holstering his weapon and keeping silent as they headed outside of the building, back into the open world, and away from the memory of Beth's death.

It wasn't until Zoe looked up at the space in font of them, did her heart completely drop, not wanting to see or hear what was about to go down, Maggie climbing out of a firetruck, a huge smile on her face as she held her gun close, excited to see her sister once again, but she didn't know that her sisters body was currently being carried by Daryl, and that broke Zoe's heart. The girl avoided Maggie's eyeline as she saw the woman, looking to the ground yet again as she felt Nate's hand tighten around her own, his fingers gently brushing against the back of her hand as she did the same for him, both of them trying to comfort one another.

Maggie fell to the ground in an instant when she saw her sisters dead body in Daryl's arms, letting out a scream of heartbreak at the fact that she would never get to see Beth again; after all this time looking for one another, Beth had died.. Nate and Zoe stood besides Noah as they watched Daryl walk towards Maggie with Beth's body, the man sobbing as he did so - Zoe looked besides her at Noah, the boy crying, too, and she couldn't help but reach her hand out and grab his, giving him a look that said they were in this together now, and that he was a part of their group, which he gently nodded his head at, knowing what she was trying to tell him. If Beth trusted him with her life, then so would her family, and that is the way it was going to be from now on.