COLLAPSED ᵀᵂᴰ¹ ✔

90. he knows

She felt ridiculious for acting this way. Like a child so dependent on their mother that it couldn't stop crying until it was reunited with her again. But her soul was crying out to him, a desperate scream into a void that refused to answer. And she knew her body wouldn't be able to rest until an answer was given.

As she marched down the streets, she searched for a quiet spot away from prying eyes and burning questions, wanting only peace and quiet. She clenched her trembling hands, trying her hardest to trap her restlessness inside and crush it.

Even though it was late in the day, most of the community seemed to be asleep. With the lingering danger outside the walls, she figured most people were probably hiding away in their homes, too scared for the noises, too repulsed by the smell. They had been safe for so long, sheltered from the horrors of the outside world. It must be a strange feeling to have that security ripped away all of a sudden. Still, Quinn couldn't bring herself to care much about the suffering of others at the moment.

'Afternoon,' a voice greeted her with a teasing tone.

Frowning she looked up at the watchers post on the wall above her. Spencer was standing there, looking down at her with a rifle over his shoulders. She simply nodded back at him, not finding the strength within her to reply, annoyed by his act, like he knew anything about the emotions swirling within her. She picked up her pace, walking around the streets without a real purpose. When Milo told her that Spencer had been the one to shoot the truck driver, she had trouble believing him. His brother had almost gotten Glenn and Tara killed with his stupidity, his father was dead because his mother refused to deal with a dangerous man, how could he know any better? She still wasn't convinced but maybe she had to allow herself to believe in the possibility that Rick's words were finally being listened to.

She arrived by the small lake at the center of the community and she took a seat on one of the benches surrounding the water. She wanted to do something. To go out there and search for her friends instead of sitting around on her ass waiting for the situation to go either completely wrong or very right. But walkers surrounded the wall at every turn and according to Milo the sewers didn't go out far enough to escape the herd either. Her only choice was to sit here wait for help to come, unless Rick was able to come up with a brilliant plan but she doubted even he could think of something to do. Her only option was to hope. Hope that Glenn, Abraham, Sasha and Daryl were alive and well, on their way home to lead the herd away.

Footsteps came from her right. Quinn didn't need to look up to know who those quiet steps belonged to. Michonne reached her and sat down next to her on the wooden bench.

'Goodmorning,' Michonne said, that same teasing tone in her voice, smiling knowingly at her friend. Her friend could see right through her, right into her restless soul. Quinn hadn't expected anything less and simply pretended she didn't notice her penetrating stare.

'Rick, Carol and I just talked with Morgan,' Michonne said, focusing her gaze on the lake in front of them.

'Why?' Quinn frowned.

Michonne sighed deeply. 'Carol said he let some of the "W" people go.' She turned to look at Quinn. 'He confirmed he did and then Rick figured out they were the same people who attacked you two on the road.'

Biting her tongue, Quinn nodded slowly, trying to figure out what to do with that information. Morgan had changed completely since the first time she met him all the way back in King County. When he saved her, Aaron's and Daryl's lives she had seen it in his eyes. They were now clear of insanity, stable even. She had never wondered though what had made him change.

Her friend seemed to read her thoughts. 'He said all life is precious. That it was that idea that brought him back and kept him going.' She frowned. 'I just don't think it can be that simple.'