BLACK OUT DAYS | THE WALKING DEAD

Crossed

Nate had only gotten about an hour of sleep before he was being shaken awake by Sasha and he jumped up. It took him a minute to wake himself back up but he glanced around and saw that Daryl had returned. He hadn't registered that Carol wasn't with him just yet but he let himself grin at the sight of the other and crossed the room to give him a hug.

"You're an asshole." He told him. Daryl didn't look happy, didn't smile or hug him back and Nate frowned. He noticed the new guy and then he realized that something was wrong. "Where's Carol? Who's that?" He asked. Daryl scratched at the side of his face and glanced around the church.

"Where's Rick?" Was the only response he got and then Nate reluctantly tilted his head back towards Gabriel's office where Rick was sleeping with Judith.

"Why, what's going on?" He asked him. Daryl hesitated and shifted on his feet.

"It's Beth." He quietly said and Nate blinked. He shook his head in quick denial and threw another glance towards the new guy.

"Beth.." He slowly repeated, the name felt foreign on his tongue, with everything going on lately, Nate couldn't remember the last time they had even talked about finding Beth and his eyes flickered across Daryl's face. "What..happened?" His chest slowly rose with anger as the seconds went by, he was growing more and more pissed as his thoughts started to run wild with scenarios. Especially when all Daryl had come back with was some random guy and no Beth or Carol.

The door to Gabriel's office opened and Rick had come out with Carl right behind him and Daryl started to explain everything once everyone was awake and as the information sunk in, Nate attempted to lunge for him. Gareth had been right. They took off in a car and left them to fend for themselves.

"You went after the people who took Beth and you left me here?!" He shouted as Tyreese grabbed for him. Nate tried to fight against him, shoving at the other man's arms a few times and he even lifted his feet off the ground but it had been no use. Tyreese was too strong.

"Nate, Nate! Calm down." Rick snapped, quickly turning back towards him. He had put himself between Daryl and Nate, holding a hand out like he normally did when he was trying to diffuse a fight. Later, Nate would be grateful Tyreese had caught him in time, he wasn't sure what he would have done if he had managed to get his hands on Daryl. Nate turned towards the window, where they could hear walkers moaning outside and he forced himself to stay still. Nate threw another glare towards Daryl.

"Get off of me." He demanded, trying to pull out of Tyreese's hold again and with one nod from Rick, The large man's arms fell to his sides as Nate began to pace.

They made a plan. None of them had slept and the next morning they started to tear the church apart. They took the metal pipes out of the organ and used them as stakes out front. Sasha had ripped a bench out of the floor and had taken her axe to it. She was still pissed about Bob. Nate didn't blame her. He wished he had the time to take his anger out on something, he thought as he carried pieces of wood outside.

Michonne, Rick, and Carl were boarding up windows to make it safe for Judith. They were saying their goodbyes and Rick and Carl had just finished hugging. Rick put a hand to Nate's shoulder and Nate let out a slow breath of air along with a short laugh. His hands were shaking.

"Rick, I swear to god if you tell me to sit this one out-"

"No, no. I was going to ask you if you're up for this." Rick said and then he tilted his head down, trying to make eye contact with him and Nate slowly looked up at him. "Because for this stuff, you have to keep a clear head. You know that right? You can't let your emotions get in the way." Nate eventually nodded and Rick only stared at him for a few more seconds before he removed his hand from Nate's shoulder and then gestured towards the door and Nate almost took a step before turning back on his heel to kiss Judith on the top of her head and pushed the sheriff's hat down in front of Carl's eyes. Carl groaned and pushed it back above his forehead. He froze in front of Alice, unsure what he should do after their conversation from last night and he didn't say anything to her and he got into the van.