Adira should've known better. In this world, happiness was only so short. It was Tara who first realized Bob was missing. They checked the perimeter but Bob was no where. The only person who knew how to accurately track was Adira, but it was too dark. Daryl and Carol hadn't come back and that put them even more on edge.
When Sasha and Rick came back, the tension rose. They confirmed that someone had been watching them. Sasha was the only one with a nightscope and had seen someone run away from her.
After it was revealed that Gabriel had locked out his congregation, Bob had been found outside. He was immediately taken in.
Adira instantly knew who had taken him. The signs were all there. Bobs leg had been cut off from the middle of his thigh. When Bob woke up he confirmed it. "It was that guy, Gareth. And five others." Sasha held his hand and tried comforting him. "They we're eating my leg right infront of me." And then he lifted the neckline of his shirt to show the infected bite on his shoulder.
Seeing the bite made her remember her own. It was covered by a piece of red cloth. No one suspected anything. It had been over a week and she still had showed no signs. It made her stomach churn with guilt.
"Did they have Daryl or Carol?" Adira ignored the guilt and focused on the important. Maybe it wasn't the moment, but she needed to know. If they had them, they would be used as leverage. Maybe they were already dead. Eaten by humans instead of walkers.
Bob took a few quickly breaths, "Gareth said they drove off." Daryl wouldn't leave her, right? Carol wouldn't leave Mitch either.
"Time for a reality check." Abrahams voice boomed thriugh the church. "We all need to leave for D.C. right now."
In the candle light everyone slowly rose to stand and stare at him. How could he say something like that right now. They weren't runners, they were fighters, survivors. Gareth's life would end by one of their hands today, tomorrow, or someday. She knew that.
"Daryl and Carol are gonna be back." Rick firmly stated. "We're not going anywhere without them."
"I respect that, but there's a clear threat here to Eugene. I need to extract his ass before things get any uglier." Abraham replied whilst Rosita grabbed her rifle and moved to stand beside him. "So if y'all won't come, goodluck to you. We'll go our separate ways." He turned to walk outside.
"You leaving on foot?" Ricks voice stopped them halfway, although Eugene was still sitting on one of the first pews.
"We fixed that damn bus ourselves." Abraham shot back. And he was right, they had fixed the bus themselves.
"There are a lot more of us." Rick replied.
"You want to keep it that way? You should come." Abraham said, wanting to get away from Gareth as fast as he could.
"Carol saved your life. We saved your life." Rick stated. It was true, Carol had saved them all, including Adira who tried her best to help.
"Well, I'm trying to save yours! Save everyone's!" Abraham shouted.
"We're not going anywhere without our people." Adira admired Rick for that. Even when times got tough, he never betrayed his own.
"Youre people took off."
"They're coming back."
Rick and Abraham's continued arguing and shouting. Abraham exploded first and then Rick. Rosita shouted something at both of them but they ignored her.
"Will you just stop it!" Adira quickly got between them and pushed them away.
The room became quiet and echoed her shout. "Gareth could be outside waiting for you to come out. We're all in danger right now. And you guys fighting and yelling your ass off in the middle of the night isn't helping. Who knows how many walkers you guys brought to us now." She whispered harshly and looked between the two.
"What about you leave tomorrow?" Glenn suggested and walked beside Adira. "We need each other for this. We need each other to get to DC. We can't get through all of it together."
Tara let out an anxious sigh and stepped between Rick and Abraham with Glenn and Adira. "I have an idea." Her breaths were uneven and loud with anxiety. "If you stay just one more day and help, Ill go to DC with you no matter what."
"Glenn and Adi too." Abraham grunted. The red-headed man was smart. But Rick was too. They knew that if Glenn went, Maggie would too. If Adira went, Minho would too. And there was a very high chance Mitch would follow. Abraham had requested two people, but six would go.
Rick stepped forward, "no."
"Goodluck then." Abraham muttered. "I'm not interested in breaking up what you have here. Rosita grab your gear."
Rosita met Adiras eyes and moved them back to Abraham's, "Ab—"
"Now." The man turned his head harshly. "Eugene let's go." Eugene didn't move a muscle. "Eugene. Move it."
"I don't want to." Eugene didn't meet his eye.
"Now." His voice was deeper.
"Okay." Euegene stood up and grabbed his bag.
The three began walking closer to the door, but once again, Ricks voice held them to a stop. "You're not taking the bus."
"Try and stop me."
It was completely silent. So silent that Adira could hear the crickets outside. Rick began walking forward and Abraham handed his rifle to Euegene.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Glenn said as he and Adira both ran to each man to hold them back. Adira was only a little scared of Abraham. He had military training, which wasn't like her training. He was tall, but not too tall. The top of Adiras head probably reached the bottom of his ear. Abraham wasn't pushing her back, neither was Rick pushing back Glenn.
"Abraham, stay. Please, stay and help us. If you help us, Glenn and I go with you." Adira looked to Glenn who sent an assuring nod. They needed Abraham and Rosita. The two had military experience, they needed all the help they could get.
"No." Rick growled once again. He couldn't lose two valuable members of his group.
"It's not your call, Rick." Adira shook her head. "Not this time." Her eyes met Mitch's who were slightly glossy. Would he miss her? She hoped so.
"Half a day." Abraham stated. "Come high noon, we're taillights. I'm not waiting for the other damn shoe to drop."
"And we will leave with you." Maggie stated from far back. Maggie would leave with them. There was no way she'd leave Glenn again.
Abraham nodded, "twelve hours. Then we go." He walked away with Ricks eyes burning holes into the back of his head.
•◦இ•◦
"Why would you do that?" Mitch had grabbed her arm and dragged her to the church pantry. His eyes were glossy and his lips were apart, pulling in uneven breaths.
"We need their help, Mitch." She didn't look him in the eyes. She couldn't. It would be too hard to leave. She already felt like she had betrayed the rest of the group.
"And we need you and Glenn." He replied with urgency. His eyes raked down every feature of her face. Her dark eyelashes, tan skin, dark eyebrows, a pink line down her eye.
She shook her head and looked at the one candle lighting the room. "No you don't. The group needs Rick, Daryl, Michonne... and you."
He grabbed her chin and forced her eyes to meet his. "Adi, you killed the Governor. You helped us escape Terminus. You don't realize how much of a difference you've made in the group. How much of a difference you made in me. We need you."
"Rick and Daryl saved me. You saved me, Mitch. And now I have the chance to help save the entire world. I know I can keep Eugene safe, I can help Rose and Abe keep him safe. There's no one like me. No one alive who fights like me. I'm their best chance."
"That's the problem. There's only one of you and two of us. Our group needs you. Abraham and Rosita are strong and old enough to protect Eugene."
"But it's not enough. They need all the help they can get. Don't fight with me on this right now, Mitch." She stepped out the door and back to the group who had planning their attack.
The group would hit before Gareth could. Essentially, Rick wanted Adira to go but soon told her to stay. He would already be taking Mitch and Minho, it would leave the kids vulnerable.
It was only Rosita, Bob, Carl, Judith, Gabriel, Tyreese, and Adira locked in the office. The church was quiet with only the constant sound of Carl tapping his gun.
The candles were blown out, they couldn't have them on. If anything went wrong, they knew exactly that Gareth would go to the church.
Suddenly, a loud crack of wood splintering from outside broke the silence. They were here. Adiras breath caught in her throat and she quietly held her gun out. She was up on her feet in an instant, right beside Carl who aimed at the door.
"Well, I guess you know we're here." A muffled voice said from the doors of the church. Before Rick left, Adira had gone to memorize the church. How many pews and how many steps to the front. "And we know you're here."
"And we're armed." Adira instantly knew it was Gareth. His voice was just so recognizable. "So there's really no point in hiding anymore."
Two steps. "We've been watching you." Two more. "We know who's here." He should be less than halfway there, around the sixth pew. "There's Bob, unless you've put him out of your misery already. And Eugene. Rosita. Martins good friend Tyreese. Adira. Carl. Judith."
He went five more steps closer. "Rick and the rest walked out with a lot of your guns." He was even closer now. He should be at the second pew. "Listen, we don't know where you all are but this isn't a big place. So let's just stop this now before things get more painful than they need to be."
She could hear the footsteps way closer now. Adira held a hand up, signaling that they were very close. Everyone's breath caught in their throat when the handle began moving. Carl, Rosita, and Adira aimed their guns at the door, ready for anything.
"Look, you're behind one of these two doors and we have more than enough fire power to take down both. Cant imagine that's what y'all want."
It was completely silent. There were no more footsteps, no movement inside the room, no one breathed. A gun was cocked from outside the room. "How about the priest? Father, you help us wrap this up, we'll let you walk away from this."
Adira switched her gaze to Gabriel who was completely silent. He was sat in the corner with a thick layer of sweat covering his face. His hands were folded with a rosary laced between his fingers.
"Just open the door and you can go. You can take the baby with you. What do you say?" The floorboards creaked from the pantry door.
But suddenly Judith began to cry in her makeshift crib. Athena's heart began to thump loudly and her eyes hugely wide. Carl immediately went over to Judith and tried to quiet her down.
"I don't know, maybe I'll keep the kid. I'm starting to like this girl."
Adira quickly gestured for Rosita to come over. The woman stood up and took quiet steps forward. The two carefully carried the metal desk and placed it a few feet from the door. Bob, Tyreese, Gabriel, and Euegene placed their backs against the same wall where the door was. Tyreese held Judith in his arms and managed to calm her down.
If shots were fired, the bullets wouldn't hit them. The three gunmen crouched behind the desk, waiting for Gareth to start firing.
"It's your last chance right now to tell us you're coming out."
Adira heard the familiar sound of a silenced shot. The door had no bullet holes and they were all live. Bodies dropped from the other side and Adira was slightly relieved.
"Put your guns on the floor." Ricks voice came from the main doors of the church.
"Rick, we'll fire right into that office. So you lower your gun—" one of the terminus men said but another silenced shot was fired and Adira heard one of them whimper.
"Put your guns on the floor and kneel." Rick repeated again but this time his voice was closer.
"Do what he says." Gareth whimpered in pain. The sound of guns being placed on the wooden floor made Adira sigh in relief.
Shouts came and echoed all around them. Not only from the survivors, but from Rick, Abraham, Mitch, and the rest. The sound that followed made Adira scrunch her eyes and shiver. The sound of broken skulls and blood splattering made her flinch. She didn't need to open the door to know what happened.