(TW!! Mentions of drug addictions!!)
"We have to go!" I yell, trying to run to Alexandria but Glenn grabs my wrist and pulls me back.
"We can't! It's too dangerous!"
"They're distracted! My sister is in there!"
"Maggie is in there! We'll get there but we can't just run inside the walls when half the herd is in there!" Glenn's voice is filled with worry but I know he's thinking rationally.
If we were thinking rationally, we wouldn't be alive right now.
"I'm going!" I yell. I rip my wrist out of Glenn's grasp and grab my pistol, loading it with the ammo I raided off of Annie.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it!" I yell in anger and fear, my hands beginning to shake with adrenaline as the Walkers begin to disappear behind the walls.
"Adrian, we have to have a plan!" Glenn yells, standing in front of me.
"Since when have our plans ever worked?!"
"We can make a plan to get in there." His words are desperate like he's begging me to stay alive.
Glenn watches the walls for a moment before saying, "The Walkers are flooding into the east wall. That means that the west wall will be the first to clear up. That's-that's how we get in."
Him and I begin to walk but when Enid doesn't move, we stop. "Just because the tower's down doesn't mean that-" Glenn huffs and stands in front of Enid, who refuses to look at him. "Listen, people are still alive in there."
"This is how it happens." She croaks. "And it always happens, Glenn."
"We're still here. Our friends are in there, people who care about you. My pregnant wife."
My eyes widen and I quickly look at Glenn. "Holy shit." I whisper.
"You just wanna run away, be afraid, forget about this? Just go. But that's how you lose people. Even after they're gone." Without waiting for a response, Glenn jogs away.
I quickly follow after him, not waiting for Enid.
My heart feels like it's in my throat, my hands sweat nervously, and my fingers tingle. I chew on my bottom lip nervously as I follow quickly after Glenn, the sounds of the Walkers feel like they're in a megaphone.
I can hear Enid's footsteps catch up to us though neither of us looks back.
We follow the walls from about twenty feet away and wait for an opening.
"There." Enid points to an easily climbable tree that's close enough to the walls.
Fuck, I don't know if I can climb trees with my "foot".
Glenn sees my reaction and he turns to me, "Foot or no foot, Alyssa is in there. You need to stop worrying about that amputation because it doesn't matter. What matters is that you get in there and you go save your sister. Now climb."
I clench my jaw but without another word, I grab the first tree branch and heave myself up, my fake foot almost coming off. "Damn it." I whisper, stomping to re-adjust the metal foot.
Once I'm up there, Glenn climbs up after me and Enid follows him.
Once I'm high enough that all three of us can see inside, we see Maggie on top of the post, Walkers fully surrounding her. But no Alyssa.
I let out a shaky breath, I can't tell if not seeing Alyssa is a good or bad thing.
Glenn frantically looks around for something, anything, to help us get inside.
He looks back at Alexandria. "There's a church. Search it. For anything." Glenn says, motioning for Enid to climb down.
Enid nods and begins to descend down, Glenn and I follow.
Our breaths are fast and ragged as we race to the church, slamming into it and swiftly closing the door.
"Maybe when they searched this place they missed something." Glenn pants, fast walking down the aisle in between the rows of pews.
"Depends if it was Aiden or Heath's group who went through it." He continues. In between every few words, Glenn breathes heavily, causing his words to be breathless.
"Look through the bibles too, could've hollowed out the pages." Glenn says, crouching in front of a shelving unit on the back wall to the right.
"I'll take the office." I say, quickly walking into the office and scanning it for any danger before searching.
I can hear Glenn talking to Enid but it's faint and I can only hear Maggie's name.
I throw drawers onto the ground and slam chairs into walls, just to try and search for something. Anything.
"FUCK!" I scream in anger after finding nothing of importance. "Damn it!" I yell, sitting on the ground and burying my face in my hands.
I look up and see an old first aid kit on a shelf. I slowly stand up and approach it. I don't know what I want to be inside of it or what I'm expecting to see, but I'm looking just in case.
When I open the first aid kit I see three bottles of pills. Over-the-counter anti-biotics but anti-biotics I recognize from the shelves at the gang's place.
My heart stops and I stare down at the box, looking at the pills.
My heart begins pounding and I get a hollow feeling in my stomach, a feeling I know exactly how to fill.
I grip the first aid kit and clench my jaw.
You know what it feels like. You know how good it feels.
"Fuck this." I whisper. I close the kit quickly and walk out of the office.
"I found drugs-like-I mean anti-biotics-whatever! Same thing! I found them. I don't know if we need them but they could be useful to Maggie or some shit. I dunno I've never been pregnant before. Do we have meds at Alexandria? Whatever!" I offer it to Glenn.
He notices my hand shaking, my fingers eagerly tapping the box, and my continuous talking.
"Take it before I stop offering it to you...please." I whisper desperately.
He nods and grabs the first aid kit. He nods to me as if saying, "Good job." I give him a half-smile and nod back.
When he turns around I exhale and let my shoulders slump. I haven't denied or resisted drugs in years. Years. That's the first time I've ever resisted the urge to take any type of drug.
I smile to myself and look up. Enid is carrying table covers to, I assume, help Maggie down, and Glenn is holding a gun in a box.
"Let's go get Maggie." Enid says, walking away.
"Can't you just stay here?" Glenn asks.
"Nope." Enid replies, not looking back.
"We spend like an hour trying to bring her back and chasing her and shit and you want her to stay here?" I tilt my head at Glenn then turn and follow behind Enid.
The sun has gone down and we made it into the Walker-infested walls. Enid and Glenn begin running towards Maggie but I stand still. "Glenn!" I whisper-yell.
He somehow hears me and quickly turns to look at me. "I have to-"
"Go!" He says. Knowing I need to find my sister.
I nod and grab my whip. I almost crack it out of habit but I know I'll attract way more Walkers than I barganed for if I do that.
The smell of dead, rotting bodies is overwhelming, my breaths don't feel like they're giving enough air to my lungs, and my whole body tenses in anticipation.
Alyssa.
Damien.
Inejra.
I don't even know where to look, I just know she's probably inside a house.
I begin running through the streets, Walkers from all around surround me and my whip isn't helping so I drop it and grab my dagger, quickly stabbing a few Walkers.
The sound of Walkers covers any sound around me, if I yell for Alyssa, chances are she won't hear me.
I continue running, every so often being stopped by Walkers. My body is tiring out quicker than normal, the lack of food, water, and rest is taking a toll on me.
I groan and grunt to try and get more strength out to kill more Walkers but by the looks of it, I'm not gonna get anywhere.
Without me noticing, I get surrounded. Completely. There are Walkers on every side of me and then some. There's no opening for me to get out, I just have to try and fight my way through.
Instead of being afraid, I become determined. A bunch of dead pricks killing me? After everything I've been through? Hell no. I still don't know if Nick is alive and if he is, I have to be alive to shoot that son-of-a-bitch.
"Come on assholes!" I scream, stabbing Walkers in the head as they grab onto me. I kick, shove, punch, stab, tear, slice with everything I have left in me.
My whole body, legs, arms, hands, everything begins to shake from exhaustion.
"Shit!" I yell as a Walker knocks my dagger out of my hand. "Fuck!" I shove Walkers back, my whip and dagger are gone and I don't have enough time to grab my gun.
My breaths are ragged and it feels like I'm breathing through a straw. My mouth goes dry and sweat drips off of my forehead.
Just as Walkers get so close to me I can't move, an explosion shakes the Earth. The Walkers on the edge of the circle let off and there's less pressure. Enough for me to be able to shove Walkers off of me.
I can feel their fingernails clawing at my shirt and I can hear their teeth clamping next to my ear.
I didn't come all this way for Alyssa just to die before I get to see her.
I scream out in pain as I get shoved to the ground and my dagger slices down my arm.
Well fuck.
I groan as I shove one Walker with all of my might. The Walker puts its arms out and pushes other Walkers away, leaving me an opening to stand back up.
I straighten up and feel hot liquid seeping down my arm. I shove a Walker back and accidentally rip it's arm off. I stare it it in disbelief for a split second before snapping it over my thigh and stabbing a Walker in the head with the sharp, broken part of the arm.
"Come on assholes! Fucking come on!" I scream, stabbing Walkers, kicking them, shoving them.
My arms begin to tense from the lack of energy, my head goes light, and my eyes get heavy but I don't falter.
My body's burning with adrenaline by the time the Walkers are finally gone from my sides and lying on the ground, dead.
I stumble backward and quickly turn around, ready to search for Alyssa again.
"Alyssa!" I scream. There aren't many Walkers left, most of them followed whatever the hell the explosion was.
I continue to scream for Alyssa, my voice begins going hoarse and it's incredibly difficult for me to walk.
"Adrian?!" I hear from a small distance.
"Alyssa?!" I scream.
"Adrian!" I hear again.
"Alyssa!" I muster up all the energy I have left and run to where I hear the calls, seemingly near the walls.
Excitement and anxiety creeps over me as I run as fast as my body will allow me to, Walkers dropping dead next to me.
I round a corner and see everyone in a group at the walls. "Alyssa!" I yell, stumbling forward. Relief floods so fast into my system that my eyes tear up.
"Oh my god, ADRIAN!" Alyssa cries, running faster than I've ever seen her run towards me. She jumps into my arms, causing me to stumble when I catch her. I wince in pain as her arm pushes on my wound for a second but I don't even mind.
Now that Alyssa is back in my arms, I feel like I'm whole again. There was an aching pothole in my heart while I was away from her with her knowing where I was. I feel safe in her arms, whether she's a cinnamon role or not-in the most non-offensive way possible.
"Oh my god. Oh my god." I sob, squeezing her. I feel like I can't get close enough to her right now. Her hat flew off as she ran but Damien quickly picked it up as he followed her.
He joins the hug, squeezing both of us tightly.
"Damien holy shit. Oh my fucking god." I whisper, removing one of my arms from around Alyssa and hugging Damien.
Alyssa sobs in my arms, "I thought you were dead! I thought you were dead! You didn't come back!"
"You can be mad later!" I tearfully laugh.
Damien slowly lets go and Alyssa climbs off of me. With the lack of the weight holding me up, I collapse to the ground.
"Woah!" Alyssa yells, crouching down next to me and putting her hand on my back.
"I'm fine. I promise."
The group comes over and Inejra is the first to say something. "You're a fucking badass, I hope you know." She smiles, regarding the broken arm bone next to me.
I smile and look up at her, "After that. Hell fucking yeah I am."
Michonne crouches down in front of me, "What happened?" She asks.
"The feed store was already charred. Nicholas hesitated and brought us the wrong way. We got cornered and had to climb onto a dumpster. Nicholas fucking shot himself and took Glenn and I tumbling down with him. His dead body saved us from getting torn the fuck open."
Michonne nods, "You're okay?"
I breathe heavily, my arms holding up my body weight. I give her the thumbs-up. "Never fuckin' better."
She snickers and hugs me.
Rick helps me stand up and hugs me, "I don't ever wanna see your name on the wall." He whispers.
"Huh?" I ask, putting all of my body weight into him.
"You'll see." Alyssa tells me, solemnly.
Rick breaks the hug and cups my face before backing up. My legs are shaking while trying to hold up my body weight so I grab ahold of Michonne for support.
"There's Daryl." Alyssa points out.
"Where?" I ask, moving my head left and right.
"There!" She points right in front of me. Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, Glenn, Enid, and Maggie are all walking towards us.
"Fuck." I whisper, stumbling over to Daryl and hugging him tight.
He stumbles to catch me as my body gives out again but he manages, "Woah. What the fuck happened?" I hug him tighter, feeling his strong arms tense around me to hold me up.
"A dumbass with an ego." I respond.
I break the hug and cup his face, connecting my lips with his. It feels so good to see him and feel him again. I forgot how much I love this man.
"You look like shit." I hear Abraham say from next to Daryl.
I smile and break the hug with Daryl, "You know what you cocky bastard?"
Abraham laughs, "So y'all just got back?"
I look around, "Coulda sworn this place looked different."
Abraham chuckles, "Me too."
I'm inside the infirmary getting fluids pumped after getting my arm wrapped up. I'm sitting in one of the beds, allowing energy to flow back into my body. Daryl is across the room getting his words patched.
Alyssa and Damien sit by my side. "Don't ever do that again." Alyssa orders.
"What? Almost die or try to save your asses...and fail?"
"Both!" Alyssa exclaims like a mom.
I laugh and nod, "Okay. Deal."
"I did what you asked." Damien says quietly. "I thought you were dead so I wanted to...make sure to honor you."
"Ow. Holy shit that hurt." I mumble. The way Damien sounds when talking about me dying, it does not sound like him at all. He sounds dull, lifeless, it makes me happy knowing he loves me that much but scared for what would happen if I did die.
"I talked to Rosita." He says. "I like her. We talked for a while. We talked about you. She saw me looking at your name on the wall."
I smile and nod, "Who else did you talk to?"
"Well..."
I chuckle, "Well you spoke to one person." I smile and make eye contact with him. "I'm proud of you for that." I pause to read his reaction before shaking my head, "Ew. That was fucking gross."
He laughs and nods, "Yeah."
Abraham approaches my bed. "You still manage to look hotter than a bull in a fire, even after all that."
"What the fuck?" I laugh. Alyssa giggles with me.
"What? You think how I speak is funny?" Abraham smiles at Alyssa.
"Yeah." She nods.
He scoffs and looks at me, "You are one tough son-of-a-bitch, Adrian mother fuckin' Dixon."
I smile, "We're just now figuring this out? C'mon now, you should've known this."
He smiles, "Yes I should've. And I did."
"Wait!" Alyssa yells, glaring at me. "Damien said you wanted to hold me down and wash my hat?!"
I smile, "Watch your back baby-girl."