.・゜-: ✧☾　☽✧ :-゜・.

Levi and Glenn groaned in frustration, turning back up the road with the rest of the group trailing behind them. Everyone except for Abraham. He remained rooted in place, staring out over the massive horde, mumbling under his breath as the others called for him. He ignored them.

"Hold up," he said suddenly.

"Dad, we've got to go," Melissa said, her voice laced with urgency.

"No," he replied curtly. "They can't hear us, and they can't see us. Not from here. We're fine."

"Yeah, this is the definition of fine," Tara muttered sarcastically.

Glenn exhaled sharply. "We need the map. There's gotta be a detour."

"Not doing it," Abraham said firmly, his tone unwavering. "We've detoured and detoured from Houston to Georgia. Not playing that game anymore."

"What, you wanna go through that?!" Stella scoffed, appalled by his recklessness. The idea that he would risk his own daughter's life for this was beyond infuriating. "Not happening."

"You've got a shitstorm behind door A and a storm of shit behind door B," Abraham snapped back. "If you're lucky, it's just walkers or a shot-up truck. But sooner or later, you get concerned. You wind up staying, or you wind up killing. We don't go back. We can't go back!"

A tall figure appeared in front of the girl, his eyes narrowed at Abraham. "Hey, calm down," Levi said, his chest heaving at the tone he had just used toward Stella.

"I'm not talking about going back," the girl rounded Levi, "Just south a few miles," She reasoned, but she was cut off just as abruptly.

"No!" Abraham shot back.

"We already hit a full stop because of an air filter compromised by innards. That will happen again," Eugene pointed out.

"Then we'll hit it with the hose," Abraham countered, turning his gaze back toward the mass of undead.

"The tank is empty, Abraham," Rosita reminded him, exasperation evident in her tone.

"If we floor it—"

"We'll still hit them. They'll slow us down, and then we'll stop," Stella interjected, her voice rising with frustration.

"I'm not risking my family's life—" Glenn spoke.

"I'm not saying we just go straight!" Abraham bellowed.

"Abraham..." Rosita sighed, her patience thinning along with everyone else's.

"We can get through!" His voice was raw with conviction as he turned sharply to face them, his face flushed with anger. "I know it! That means we are not going south, not going around, and not going back!"

"No, they're right..." Rosita exhaled.

For the first time, Abraham hesitated. The weight of the situation seemed to settle over him like a heavy burden. His grip tightened around his weapon, knuckles turning white as he cast one last glance over the horde. Then, without another word, he turned on his heel and stormed toward the group.

He roughly grabbed Eugene by the arm, yanking him forward with such force that Eugene stumbled. The rest of the group reacted instantly.

"Abraham! What are you doing?" Rosita surged forward, desperation flaring in her eyes as she tried to stop him. "I'm not gonna let you do this!"

"Yes, you are," he said coolly.

Melissa moved to intervene, grabbing his arm, her pleading eyes searching his face. But Abraham shoved her off, the push rougher than intended. She staggered backward into Levi, who caught her, steadying her.

The violent motion sent a ripple of outrage through the group.

Glenn, Rosita, and Stella all shouted at once, quickening their pace.

Clearly enraged, Glenn reached for Abraham, trying to hold him back. "You're done! You're done!"

Abraham shoved him off with a burst of strength. "Do not! I told you, you do not touch me!"

With a forceful push, he sent Glenn stumbling backward—straight into Rosita. The impact knocked her to the ground, but Abraham was too furious, too locked in his rage, to notice.

"Abraham!" Stella shouted, rushing to pull him off, Glenn.

Shouting and yelling filled the air, mixing with the sound of their struggle as they fought to restrain Abraham. Stella pushed against him with all her strength, but it seemed to be impossible to hold back the man.

"I'm not a scientist! I'm not a scientist!" Eugene's words pierced through the air like shards of glass and brought everything to an abrupt halt. The fighting came to a stop and everyone stared at the man before them, barely breathing as they tried to take in the words that had just spilled from his mouth.  Several agonizing seconds passed in silence.

"I lied," Eugene was the first one to speak up again. His eyes flickered around anxiously, too afraid to meet the group's stares. "I'm not a scientist. I don't know how to stop it. I'm not a scientist."

His confession lingered, hanging heavy in the air. Stella stood with her lips parted, staring at the man who looked like he was on the verge of tears.

Rosita heaved herself from the ground and stepped forward. "You are a scientist. I've seen the things you can do."

Eugene's chest rose and sank rapidly. "I- I just know things."

"You just... know things?" Glenn repeated in disbelief. Stella let out a slow breath, anger and disbelief boiling inside her. She had left everything behind for this mission, left her father and her siblings. She had put her faith in him. Levi had been injured because of it. And it was all for nothing.

"I know I'm smarter than most people, I know I'm a good liar and I know I needed to get to DC."

"Why?" Stella breathed, taking a step forward.

"Because I do believe that locale holds the strongest possibility for survival and I wanted to survive," Eugene explained making the blonde tighten her fists at his selfishness. "If I could cheat some people into taking me there, well, I just reasoned that I'd be doing them a solid, too, considering perilous state of the city of Huston, the state of everything."

From the corner of her eye, Stella saw Abraham slowly lower himself to the ground, crouching as the heavy weight of Eugene's words pressed down on him. His face was unreadable, but his body language spoke volumes.

"People died getting you here." The Grimes woman said quietly. Her voice was tight with restrained fury. "Levi got injured. We all almost died in the bus back there."

"I'm aware of that," Eugene spoke, his voice almost breaking. "You see, I lost my nerve as we got closer... for I am a coward...." Stella almost nodded as she agreed to his statement but stopped herself. "..and for the reality of getting to our destination and disclosing the truth of the matter became some truly frightening shit. I took it upon myself to slow our roll. Find time to finesse things so then when we got there... But at this moment, I fully realize there are no longer any agreeable options. I was screwed either way."

A beat of silence passed, and the group stood dumbfounded with their eyes locked on Eugene.

"I also lied about T. Brooks Ellis liking my hair." The man continued. "I do not know T. Brooks Ellis. But I did read one of his books, and he seemed like the type of guy that wouldn't blink twice at a Tennessee Top Hat." Once again the group before him remained quiet and he quickly averted his gaze down to the ground. "Again... I am smarter than you. Now you may want to leave me--"

Before he could finish, Abraham surged to his feet and swung his fist, landing a harsh punch to Eugene's face. The force sent Eugene stumbling backward. Before anyone could react, Abraham struck again, his knuckles connecting with bone. Eugene reeled, tripping against the firetruck. Levi and Glenn lunged forward, grabbing Abraham's arms in an attempt to restrain him, but he fought against them furiously.

He broke free and threw one final punch, his fist colliding with Eugene's cheek. The impact was brutal. Eugene's body went limp, and he collapsed face-first onto the pavement, unconscious. Levi shot forward and finally managed to lock Abraham's arms down before he could do any more damage to the man.

"Oh my god." Tara gasped and along with Maggie kneeled to the ground.

Abraham tore himself out of Levi's grip and took a step toward Eugene's motionless form, his chest heaving, his rage still burning. But before he could go any further, Melissa stepped in front of him, raising her gun to block his path. Her eyes pleaded at him and her hands shook slightly in front of her as if everything inside her was screaming at her to lower the weapon. "Dad, don't."

Abraham froze instantly, the sight of the gun making him back away. He rounded the fire truck and disappeared out of sight.

Abraham had collapsed to his knees and hadn't moved since. He remained completely still with his gaze locked on the road in front of him. Melissa had attempted to speak to him once but had gained no response and no one else at tried since.

Eugene was still unconscious and was being looked over by Maggie. Stella stood by the side of the fire truck with Levi wrapping his arms around her from behind. Tara stood in front of them, attempting to fill their water bottles with every last drop of water that they had, which wasn't much.

They weren't going to last long out there in the heat. If Stella could decide, she would have started walking back the moment Eugene made his confession. It didn't matter that they didn't have a vehicle. All that mattered to her now was getting back to her family to make sure they were all safe.

"Bad news for GREATSMM, we just scraped the bottom of the water barrel," Tara announced with a deep exhale.

Stella's eyebrows knitted together. "For.. what now?"

"GREATSMM." Tara smiled and showed off the lined-up water bottles with each letter of each person in the group name on the lid. "Us. Group name. Solidarity."

Stella hummed approvingly, admiring the sight with a playful smile.

"Wait a minute," Levi spoke up. "I'm not on there."

Tara rolled her eyes and pulled out Levi's water bottle, before throwing it his way. "Your letter sucks. Doesn't fit anywhere."

"Hey! Where is the solidarity in that?" The boy caught the bottle with one hand. 

The two girls chuckled. "Might have to tattoo GREATSMM on my knuckles," Tara said.

The light and happy atmosphere shifted as Maggie approached them, her expression carrying bad news. 

"Anything?" Stella asked, wanting nothing more than to leave as soon as possible. Maggie shook her head. "Can we get him to the church?"

"Moving him could make him worse." The woman said.

"What will make him better?" Tara asked.

"Waking up. If he doesn't..." Maggie sighed deeply.

The group was left in a heavy silence. They were soon running out of options.

Stella gave Levi's arm a quick squeeze before slipping out of his grasp. "I'm gonna check on Mel," she murmured, earning a hast smile before she rounded the tire truck.

Melissa sat in the back of the truck with the Hunger Games book in hand. However, her eyes were distant, occasionally gazing up at her father who sat almost motionless in front of her. Stella slowly approached her, announcing her presence with a soft "hi."

"Hey," Melissa muttered, not looking up at her.

"Can I sit?" Stella asked and the younger girl nodded. She took a seat next to her, leaning her arms over her knees and tilting her head to look at the girl. "How are you holding up?"

Melissa didn't look at her. Instead, she just let a quick shrug roll off her shoulder. Stella hummed in understanding, rocking back slightly on her heels. A soft silence hung between them. The older girl let her gaze wander over to Abraham who sat almost completely still in his spot. She felt like she could relate to the situation that Melissa was in. She remembered her father slipping into that same trance after her mother died—the way grief gnawed at him until he barely resembled the man she knew. It was terrifying. For a moment Stella could see Rick's sanity almost slip and she couldn't do anything but watch.

The girl watched Melissa anxiously pick on the book frame, her fingers tapping on the cover.

"I see you started reading it," Stella said in an attempt to get the Ford girl's attention away from her father's situation. "What do you think?"

Melissa gazed over at Stella briefly. "Fine."

The Grimes girl cocked her head to the side. "Fine?"

A quiet sigh left Melissa's lips and she finally met Stella's gaze. "It's good."

The blonde grinned. "See, I knew there was more than one word- sentences in you." She scooted closer. "Come on. Give me more."

"It's no Spider-Man, but it'll do." She replied, the ghost of what looked like a smirk touched her lips.

"I told you." Stella nudged her side gently. "And it only gets better. Trust me."

Melissa didn't say anything, instead, her gaze drifted off to her dad's back, glaring holes into his neck. "How's Eugene?"

"Unconscious, still," Stella replied. "I'm sure he'll be fine though. He's got that unkillable nerd energy. He'll wake up soon and then well go back to the church- where there's some water. I'm dying of thirst out here."

Mellissa nodded along slowly, her fingers still fiddling with the brim of the pages. She looked like she was stalling or hesitating, like the words were filling her mouth but she was too afraid to let them spill. Then, with a deep exhale, the words tumbled out.

"I'm sorry about him." She said, referring to her father. "He wasn't always like this."

Stella shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

Melissa swallowed, her eyes still locked on the man. "It's just that.. saving the world, became his whole world. If that makes sense?"

Stella hummed, leaving the two in a short silence. The blonde could tell that there was more that Melissa wanted to say, so she remained quiet, watching her.

"It wasn't always just the two of us," Melissa spoke, the words heavy in her throat. "It used to be me, my two siblings, and mom and dad. Then one day, these men attacked us, and Dad... snapped. He killed them right in front of us. Mom freaked out and dipped with me and my little brother and sister. But after just half a day we...uhm.."

The girl lowered her head at the feeling of tears stinging behind her eyes. She had never told anyone about what happened or how it happened and uttering the words made it feel so real, like opening an old wound.

"We were attacked by the dead. I watched....I watched them die." Melissa's voice shook slightly. "I managed to kill the dead and hide but by then the dead had already got my siblings and my mom. Later, Dad showed up and he lost it completely. From my hiding, I watched him put h-his gun.. in his mouth... He was gonna do it but then Eugene showed up. He told him about everything. All that 'save the world' crap and suddenly Dad has a purpose, I guess. And when I got out of my hiding spot, he seemed almost more excited about what Eugene had told him than that I was alive."

Stella watched the girl closely as she spoke. Melissas hands were gripping onto the edges of the book by now, almost as if clinging onto it was the only thing keeping her from shattering.

"I know he loves me," She said quietly. "I know he cares. But sometimes... it's like he forgets about me. He was so focused on protecting Eugene, he forgot to protect me, too." She scoffed lightly, but there was no humor in it. "And then there's Rosita. It's like she's his replacement for Mom."

Stella didn't say anything right away, instead, she let the silence fall upon them for a moment as she reached out, gently placing her hand over Melissas that gripped the book. The grasp tensed a little before slowly relaxing.

"I know it might not mean much, but your dad does care. I see it. Losing people messes with your head, and Abraham copes in his own way. That might not be fair to you, and that's why I think you should talk to him." Stella glanced at Abraham. "Maybe not now, but when things settle down, you should tell him all of this."

Melissa swallowed hard before smiling up at Stella briefly. She nodded, thankful to have someone that listened to her for once. "T-Thank you, Stella. Really."

The blonde smiled and gave her hand a quick squeeze, one enough to bring back the stinging sensation of tears to Melissa's eyes. "We're getting way too mushy here. I don't do that." Melissa chuckled.

"Right, we don't wanna ruin your mysterious reputation because God forbid you show any emotion." Stella giggled quickly and stood up. "Alright, I'll leave. Let you go back to mysterious loner, moping alone, or whatever you emo kids do."

Melissa scoffed. "Shut up. I'm not emo."

"Mhm. That's exactly what an emo would say." Stella winked before taking a step back, her expression softening. "You can talk to me whenever, you know."

Melissa rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah stop. Dont."

Stella lifted her arms in a fake surrender as she walked off, leaving Melissa to stare at her father, her heart clenching a little at the sight of him in that state. But for the first time, she finally felt seen.

_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____
𝟐𝟗𝟒𝟒 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
_____ ˚₊‧꒰ა ☆ ໒꒱ ‧₊˚ _____

𝐀/𝐍
genuinely so so sorry for the wait guys!
It's been very stressful in school but I've missed my babies so so much so I'm back I hope I'm not loosing a HUGEEE amount of readers because of this micro break

also love Melissa y'all are gonna adore her