- WHEN DARYL SHOWED HIS face again in the church, without Carol by his side like she always was, everyone instantly thought of the worst possible thing, that the woman could be gone, but when they heard the whole story, it was much worse. They knew where Beth could be, in Atlanta, where it all began, but Carol had been taken by the same people that had taken Beth, and they practically had to gear up and get them back. Every time they defeated people that were after them, more came from around the corner, and it seemed like this was happening all over again, another threat arising just after getting rid of their last one. From what Nate had described to Zoe, Beth helped him out a lot during their time together after everyone was split up, and Zoe didn't want to let Beth suffer - she liked the girl, they had always got on well, and she was family, they needed to get her back no mater the cost, and Zoe and Nate didn't waste any time volunteering to go with the small group that were getting ready to leave.
The second that Rick heard Zoe volunteer to come along with him and a few of the others to Atlanta along with Nate, he was instantly unsure about the whole thing, not wanting his daughter to leave the safety of Michonne, since he couldn't be looking out for her whilst they were out because he would be concentrated on getting Carol on Beth back, but if he knew anything about his daughter, is that she was as stubborn as he was, if not, even more because she had a lot of Lori inside of her. After his daughter announced that she wanted to go along to Atlanta, Rick didn't waste any time pulling her aside as Nate spoke with Daryl in a hushed tone about what had gone down before Carol was taken by these people. "Are you sure you don't want to hang back with Carl and Judith? Make sure they're safe?" He asked his daughter, not wanting to sound condescending, but also wanting the girl to stay behind where she would be safe, and where he would be convinced that Carl and Judith would be safe and he didn't have to worry about them both.
"Dad, this is Carol and Beth we're talking about. I want to go and help." Zoe told Rick, not knowing why he wouldn't want the extra hand out in the city. None of them had been to Atlanta since the beginning of this whole outbreak, and they didn't know how dangerous the whole place could be, they needed more people to go with them in case anything went south. "You guys need all the help you can get." She added, watching as he began to consider the idea of her coming along in his head. Zoe could read her dad like a book, but right now, she couldn't actually tell what he was thinking of, and she couldn't tell why he didn't want her to come along. When in reality, it was just because Rick couldn't bare the mere thought that his daughter could get her again, not when she had been through so much.
When her father never wanted her to help out, or to let her come on hunts with them, it made her believe that she wasn't good enough, and she hated it, she hated that he didn't trust her, that he didn't want her out there watching his back. In reality, that's not at all what his mind was going through, he trusted his daughter with his life - even if he had Judith now, he still had Zoe, and he still loved her with all of his heart. His two daughters, and his son, were the highlight of his life, he would be nowhere without the three of them, he wouldn't want to live without all of them alive, he knew that Zoe was the best person to watch his back, he trusted her with his life, he just.. He didn't want to loose her. "I know, and I know. I just.. I don't want you getting hurt. I can't live with that." Rick admitted - it had been a while since he had let himself feel much other than keeping everyone safe, and pure anger, but right now, he knew that letting his daughter know his true feelings would be the best thing to do, since she was the kind of girl that would overthink everything until she knows the truth..
Zoe sighed quietly, before pulling her father in for a hug, "Dad, I promise, I'm going to be fine. I've been surviving this long, haven't I?" She asked him, as she felt the older man stroke the back of her head in that fatherly fashion that she loved so much. Rick was someone that could always make her feel better no matter what happens, the man had that affect on her, and all of those around her, even Nate, who had even begun to see Rick like his own father, and Nate was beginning to feel like his son - unknown to Zoe, he would be, soon.. But either way, Rick was just someone that everyone wanted around because of his leadership skills, but also because of his people skills, Zoe guessed that it was because of him being a cop before the outbreak, that he was like this, and she was glad.
Rick felt like he was hugging his wife whenever he hugged his daughter, the two were so alike, at first, he hated it, he felt like he couldn't even look at his son or daughter without seeing the woman he loved that had died, but now, he found it soothing, the fact that he had made these two kids, that they were his. And no matter what happened, Judith was his, too. "Okay, let's go and get Beth and Carol then, yeah?" Rick asked, as the father and daughter duo finally pulled away, and the man pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, lingering for a few seconds before finally letting go of her, sending her a small smile. Carl was waiting by the side to say goodbye to his sister and father, and he hugged his father first, before hugging his sister, the girl pressing a kiss to the side of his head, that this time, he didn't brush off or act disgusted at, causing Zoe to smile at the boy, loving how he was getting over his stupid 'I'm too good for kisses' stage.
As the church doors shut behind them all, Zoe took a deep breath in, before following after Nate, who was already waiting at the truck with Daryl, waiting for the girl to follow after them; the boy, Noah, that Daryl had brought back from Atlanta was with them, looking around uneasily at the amount of people he didn't know surrounding him, it was bater than Atlanta, but it still made him uneasy. The boy looked at Zoe and sighed in relief that someone was around the same age as him and Beth, it meant that it was someone else that he could partly relate too, not like back at the hospital, where he didn't exactly get along with everyone, he mostly stuck to himself, and it had been lonely, but he was hoping that when they get Beth back, he could stay with this group, as they looked like the best kind of people to survive with, they looked like family. It is something he had been wanting for a while, he was lonely, and he was hoping that after this, his loneliness would fade.
Zoe knew that it was going to be an awkward drive, since Bob had just died, and Sasha was coming along with them all, she didn't know how it was going to be, but with Tyreese tagging along with them all, she had a feeling that it wouldn't be too bad. The journey was silent throughout the whole time to the city, and to both Nate and Zoe, it felt longer than it should have been, the girl leaning her head against her boys shoulder and nearly falling asleep during the drive - she hadn't been sleeping well, especially not after the other night; she was still haunted by the lives she took, no matter how much Nate, Rick and Michonne had tried to convince her that she did what she had to do, and if she didn't, they would have just attacked another innocent girl, and they may not have been as lucky as her. Zoe felt like a part of her had been torn apart and thrown away, like her innocence was gone - when the whole world ended, she had thought that she could survive with minimal killing walker, but as time went on, she realised that she couldn't even avoid that with living people.. When she sat in complete silence, she had all of these thoughts rush back to her, and she hated it, counting down the minutes until they all finally reached Atlanta, and they could get started with getting Carol and Beth back.
Nate could tell that something was wrong with Zoe as she laid on his shoulder, feeling the girl fiddling with his fingers the whole time had given him an idea that she didn't like the silence, that something was bothering her, and he just knew that the girl was thinking about what had happened during their time apart again. He wished that she believed him when he told her that she had to take their lives, that there was no other choice.. The whole journey, the girl fiddled with his fingers, and the whole journey, he wanted to talk to her about what he knew she was thinking, what he knew was killing her inside - but he couldn't, not when they had a few other members of the group in the back of the truck with them, where everyone could listen, and they also didn't know Noah, and he didn't want to have a heart to heart with his girlfriend in front of someone they didn't even know. The drive went fast for him, unlike Zoe, who felt like it took days to get to Atlanta, but eventually, they had made it to the city, somewhere they hadn't been near since the beginning, where they had been living at the farm, or the camp just outside of the city, and it felt strange to be back, like thy were all them clueless survivors from the beginning.
When they all climbed out the back of the truck and made their way quietly towards a building on the side of the road, taking out a few walkers on their way as Noah stayed at the back of the group, letting them do the work due to the pain he had from his injury. Watching them take them out, though, was something else, and he couldn't believe how confident they all were when taking out the dead, how much they believed in themselves and how casual they all did it, like thy had been through the worst of the worst whilst surviving and nothing bothered them anymore, they were the kind of people he wanted to be with, and the kind of people he wanted to watch his back.
He felt comfortable being besides them all as he listened to Rick plan out wha they were going to do and how their attack was going to go down. "At sundown we fire a shot into the air. Get two of them out on patrol. Then once its dark enough that the rooftop spotter won't see us, we go." Rick explained to the group, having thought hard about what they were going to do after Daryl and Noah had described what this group do and how they do it - they had inside knowledge, and because of this, they had the upper hand. "We cut the loss on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out." He carried on, meaning that Daryl had to kill him; it was the only way to get things done.
"How?" Tyreese asked, interrupting Ricks small speech as he didn't like the idea of killing someone they didn't even know, someone that could have family, that couldn't have done anything wrong, just trying to survive. Nate couldn't help but roll his eyes at the man, unable to hold it back, knowing that he had been like this since before Terminus - they have all had to do things whilst out on the road without the rest of the group, including him, but he hadn't changed the way he survived, and neither should have Tyreese.
Rick didn't even hesitate when he answered, "He slits his throat." He said, barely even giving Tyreese a look, "This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us.. From there, we fan out, knives and silenced weapons. We need to be fast.." He said, before using his small stick to mark some more x's on the ground, on the small map he had managed to draw out for them all. "Tyreese, Sasha, take them. Daryl, Nate and Zoe, you take care of whoever is in the kitchen. I got Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of them will give up. Then it'll be six on three. Seven on three once we get a weapon to Beth." He carried on, as a few of them nodded at his words, agreeing with his plan.
"Twelve on three. The wards will help." Noah spoke up, as Rick looked up at him with a grateful look, happy that he was here to let them all know about this stuff, so that he could make this plan for them all.
But then Tyreese spoke up again, "That's best case. What's the worst case? All it takes is one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time. Then it's not quiet. All hands on deck. We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around." He said, clearly not liking the plan that Rick had made up, annoying Nate to no end.
"If that's what it takes." Sasha said, as Zoe nodded at her words - she was hoping that she wouldn't have to take anyone out herself but if it came down to it, she would do what was necessary for Beth and Carol to come back home.
"It's not." Tyreese stated, "If we get a couple of her cops, alive out there, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours, everybody goes home." He said.
Zoe sighed, "How do you know they would even go for that?" She asked Tyreese, not knowing why he was being so trustworthy towards these people when he didn't know a single thing about them other than what Noah had told them,
Rick held his hand up to get Zoe to stop talking, as the girl rolled her eyes and shut her mouth, watching as he stood up and walked towards Tyreese, "Yeah I get it, and it might work. But this will work." He said, agreeing with his daughter and not liking how Tyreese was trying to undermine him and his plan.
"Nah, that'll work, too. You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right" Daryl spoke up, trying to put some more input into this plan and make sure that no one got hurt in the process.. Their people, that is. "You take two of her cops away, what choices does she have? Everybody goes home. Like he says." He finished, just trying to keep the peace instead of stand by as an argument broke out because of how people wanted to get this done. Zoe would just follow with whatever her father said, as would Nate, as the two of them listened in and awaited instructions on what to do, but hearing Daryl's plan.. It made a lot of sense, too.
Both Nate and Zoe looked back at Rick after hearing what Daryl had to say, waiting for the man to agree or disagree, but they knew for a fact that they would go with whatever Rick made up. But when he nodded, most of the group felt a weight lift off of their shoulders, as now, they didn't have to worry about taking unsuspecting lives, and it may be easier to get Beth and Carol back..
Zoe hated sending Noah out there alone to bring the two cops out in the open where they could take them both hostage in order to do the exchange - he had been through so much already by the sound of it, and she hated the fact that they were sending him into the people that had taken him in the first place, the people that had taken him away from his family. But it's ultimately what they had to do in order to start their plan and follow it all through. The girl stood close to Nate's side like she always did, as they all waited for the cops to loose their guard and allow them to get the upper hand, both of them not liking the way they handcuffed Noah like he was some kind of criminal, like he had done something so wrong they had to lock him up again like they had done in the first place.
Luckily, they didn't waste any time in walking forwards with all of their guns raised up at them in a sign of warning, causing them to spin around with their own pistols raised the second the two of them heard Rick whistle to gain their attention. "Hands." Rick announced, as the two cops seemed as confused as ever at why they were suddenly held at gunpoint.
When the woman cop asked what was going on, the male one spoke up next, "Whatever this is, we can help." He said, knowing that they were nothing up against six people with guns pointed at them both.
"You do what we say, we don't hurt you." Rick told them, as Zoe didn't feel any sympathy for the two cops due to what they had done to their people, she didn't know exactly which one of these people had run over Carol, and probably Beth, too, but these people were behind it all, too, and Zoe wanted to see them fall. It didn't take them long to surrender, holding their hand up to show that they weren't going to shoot their guns, "Good. Now turn around. Put your guns on the floor and kneel." Rick instructed, as the group walked forwards with their guns still raised, Nate and Zoe watching as the two cops knelt down on the ground and held their hands up. Zoe didn't waste any time in cutting off Noah's wrist ties, allowing the boy to move his hands around instead of being tied down, "We need to talk. There's water if you need some and food." Rick carried on, as Zoe picked up one of the cops guns and handed it to Noah, the boy nodding his head in appreciation.
"Can I ask you a question?" The male cop asked, looking at Rick as he stood back up, being cautious due to the amount of people that had guns aimed at him. "The way you talk.. The way you carry yourself.. Were you a cop?" He asked, as if he and Rick would have some sort of relation due to their previous jobs. But Rick didn't kidnap poor and innocent people and force them to live with them all. "Believe it or not, I was, too." He added, giving the man a smile which Rick didn't return.
"That's Lamson." Noah told Rick, still sticking close to Zoe as she kept a lookout on the streets, making sure that no one would be able to get the jump on them due to their different timing. "He'll be down for this. He's one of the good ones." He explained, as Zoe appreciated again, how helpful he was being.
It wasn't until they all heard tires squealing against the road, did the group all spin to see a car speeding towards them, multiple people in the car as they sped down the road to them. Nate didn't waste any time in spinning around and aiming his gun at the car and stepping besides Zoe, standing incredibly close to her as they both began shooting once Rick did; they didn't exactly see much inside of the car due to the dusty and blacked out windows, but they couldn't exactly stop the two cops from jumping into the car, but luckily, Sasha had shot a bullet at the back of the car, causing it to burst as it sped away.
They all ran onwards with their guns still raised, stopping once Rick held his hand up to stop them all, it seemed to be some kind of meet up point, and Zoe and Nate didn't like the look of it, not one bit. Walkers without bottom halves laid across the ground, on every single point that if you were to walk through it, you would be bound to get bit, no one knew what had happened here, but it wasn't good, and it looked like the kind of place you wanted to avoid.
Slowly walking onwards, there kept their guns all raised, that is, until they saw the two cops running off ahead to try and get away, and in no time, Zoe and Nate were off, away from the rest of the group, on a lookout for the cops that ran away..