HEART OF GLASS¹ ━━ the walking dead ✓

[ 045 ] half the problem gone

"Andrea used to say that too. Always works out better that way," Theo riposted, sadness teeming in his voice. He ducked behind the wall and nocked an orange-fletched arrow in his compound bow, "I'll stick to you like glue."

She gave him a firm nod and then ━ in unprecedented unison ━ they peered around their respective corners of the crumbling wall and started firing into the swarm of Woodbury fighters. Arrows soared across the courtyard, over the mesh fencing encircling the prison, and disappeared in the brambles by the Governor.

One arrow embedded itself in the grassy plains around Helen's feet, taking her by surprise. She jerked out of the way, and her eyes flashed in recognition at the orange-fletched arrow. She reloaded her rifle and aimed directly at the brick wall. Bullets slammed into the structure, and Theo had to scurry back to avoid being hit.

Marley hissed between her teeth. She was struggling with her gun. Her hands were sweaty, slipping around the hilt, and the magazine was slowly emptying. She clenched her teeth and looked back around the wall, squeezing the trigger. A bullet met the shoulder of a Woodbury fighter. He yelped in pain like a wounded animal and rushed to hide behind Helen's truck.

Her throat suddenly felt dry. If he bled out, he'd die. And if he died, it'd be entirely Marley's fault. She'd be responsible for someone's death. She would be a killer.

But better them than her and her family, right?

Instinctively, her eyes flitted to the courtyard. She saw Carol using Axel's body ━ his dead body ━ as a shield against the bullets, and Carl and Beth hiding behind an upturned metal bench. In the field, Michonne fired at the Woodbury soldiers from behind the abandoned school bus. Hershel was face-down in the grass, alive, completely shrouded from view by the shrubbery.

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remember where everybody else was. Judith, inside with Sage. Rick was beyond the fences somewhere, hopefully safe. Glenn had driven off to an undisclosed place. Maggie was inside with Sage and Judith.

Suddenly, the gunfire stopped. Stillness washed over them.

Theo was gasping for breath beside Marley, all pale and looking extremely discombobulated. She reached over and pressed her hand against his arm to steady him ━ his entire body was trembling. Sweat dribbled down the side of his face, and his dark brows were pinched together, creasing the soft-honey skin around them, as if he were in a great deal of pain.

"You good?" she whispered.

He managed to nod, swallowing thickly, "Yeah."

"I think they might be done━"

"━Beth!"

Marley whipped her head around. In the courtyard, a panic-stricken Maggie had tore out of the prison with guns in hand. She ran toward Beth and dumped a rifle in the blonde girl's arms. Bullets poured down at them from the guard tower ━ one of the Woodbury soldiers had somehow managed to get inside of it ━ and slammed into the concrete around their feet. Maggie instantaneously grabbed Beth and Carl and pulled them behind a metal box.

The fighting resumed briefly.

Marley aimed at the Governor. He was wearing a patch of gauze over one eye, a bandage around the leg she shot in Woodbury, and a sadistic smirk on his lips. She distinctly remembered his face as he held the knife to Sage's throat, the way he manipulated her in the questioning room, how he left her alone after knocking her out cold ━ and then she pulled the trigger.