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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE;
[ DROWN OUT THE NOISE ]
[CONSTELLATION || GLENN RHEE]
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Athena's axe was like her baby, but at the moment, her child was currently being used to slaughter walkers by their slightly delusional leader. Luckily Athena still carried her throwing knives and gun. It wasn't much, but it was enough to defend herself as she searched for Rick in the tombs. At least, she hoped it would be.
She weld two of the ten knives in her hands. Her fingers were looped in the hole at the top of the weapons, hands squeezing the metal as she descended deeper into the dark always.
"Shit, Rick, you really know how to out do yourself," she muttered when she came across a hall littered in walker corpses. If Athena counted correctly, there was seventeen lying on the ground with decapitated heads or blows to the head. The large open wounds signified that Rick did still have her axe. If he ever lost that thing, Athena wouldn't probably murder him herself.
The sound of groaning soon diverted Athena's attention from her thoughts to the walker appearing from the hallways corner turn.
Athena swung the knife properly into her hand before aiming and throwing the weapon towards the walkers head.
She smiled as the item entered its brain, killing the dead human once again. But just as fast as he was knocked down, four more appeared, and Athena was forced to fish another knife out of her boot.
She quickly threw the two in her hands at the approaching walkers before grabbing another and using it to stab the walker directly threw the eye. Athena felt nauseous and out of breath seeing as though she hadn't eaten for a day or two, but that wasn't important. Athena needed find Rick and take him back to the group.
As she walked the corridors and went in and out of room, Athena realized that not only had Rick left a trail of walker blood, but had entered the room where Lori gave birth and died.
For hours had Athena searched for Rick, but not once did she think that the man would be in the only area worth risking him life for.
Entering the room sent chills down Athena's back. From a distance she could see a large trail of blood on the floor from where Lori had once laid. At the sight of this, Athena covered her mouth with her hand as her stomach churned.
"Rick?" She called out, a hand on her stomach to try and keep herself from vomiting. "Are you here?"
Descending down the stairs, Athena kept two throwing knives in her right hand. She side stepped the large stain of blood before making her way down another hallway, gaze meeting a very bloated walker with multiple stab wounds that was positioned against the wall. At this, Athena let out everything in her stomach, knowing damn well what had happened to the woman's body. It was sick—Athena couldn't help but cry as she wiped her mouth and witnessed flashes of the once pregnant woman before her eyes.
"Athena?"
The brunette turned her head, noticing the man she was looking for sat on the floor, hands intertwined and face emotionless.
"Oh my god," Athena breathed out, falling to her knees beside him. She placed her hands on his face, making Rick look at her, "Are you alright? You look like shit."
Rick didn't respond, merely let out a small scoff before pulling away from her grasp, "The group needs you," he merely responded, "you should get back."
Athena placed her hand on his forehead to check for a fever, "The group needs you. You're our leader, Rick. I-I know that you're grieving, all of us are, you the most of course, but we're here for you. And as much as you want space, Carl, the baby, they need to have you there with them. You can't just abandon them. You can't just abandon us."
Rick didn't answer, so Athena placed her hand on his cheek and moved his face so he'd meet her gaze once again. "Rick—hey—you need to come back to us. At least go see the group so they know you're not dead. Please, Rick." For a couple of seconds, the air was silent. He didn't say anything. She didn't say anything. They were quiet, both of them bathing in their own thoughts. Athena was set on him declining the offer, but when the man rose from the ground, a steady grip on her arm, Athena knew that he was going to agree.
"Let's go," he told her shortly, and Athena smiled before embracing him swiftly and then pulling back.
"Let's go."
•
•
Athena opened the cell door to Cell Block C, the rusty metal making a loud screeching noise echo throughout the air. She watched as all of the group member's heads snapped towards them.
"Everybody okay?" Rick asked, an obvious look of discomfort, sadness, and stress stretched across his face.
"Yes, we are," Maggie answered as the two walked in. Athena was slightly behind Rick, her eyes meeting Glenn's temporarily. To say the least, she was still conflicted and slightly embarrassed from their last encounter, so she looked away.
"What about you?" Hershel asked, the two of them walking forward.
"Cleared out the boiler block," Rick responded, gaze set on the floor as he spoke the short sentence. Athena gulped, afraid he'd go off at any minute.
"How many were there?"
"I don't know," he said back, "a dozen, two dozen. I have to get back, just wanted to check on Carl."
Athena's head snapped, "Rick, please—we can handle taking out the bodies. You need to rest." She pleaded, "You don't have to—"
"No, I do," he cut her off, and Athena held her breath as he looked at Daryl and her, "Everyone have a gun and a knife?"
"Yeah," the two answered simultaneously, "running low on ammo though." Daryl told him, and Glenn cleared his throat, standing up.
"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon. Found a phone book. We thought we could hit up some places for formula and bullets."
"Cleared out the generator room," Daryl added, "Axel's down there trying to fix it. In case of emergency. Wanna sweep the lower levels as well."
Rick nodded, "Good, good." He stepped back, and Athena grabbed his hand.
"Rick wait—" but he merely pulled away before descending back into the darkness of the prison halls. "I've tried everything, but I guess he just needs more time alone." Athena sighed, burying her face in her hands. Everything was becoming more and more of a mess.
"You did your best," Hershel told her, and she looked up, "More than most of us probably could have. I'll try to talk to him though, see if I can get him to come back again."
"I can come with—" Athena began, but Hershel shook his head.
"You need rest, just like he does. You've done more than enough." He told her, a slight smile on his face. "Daryl, you and Carl go make sure the halls as cleared. Glenn, Maggie, try to find any formula and diapers you can, god knows we'll never not need them."
Glenn nodded, grabbing his gun from the table before tucking it into his jeans. "We'll be back by the time the sun sets," he told them. Athena, once again, made eye contact with him. He gave her a slight nod before saluting her with two fingers.
Sure, she was still off from what had happened earlier that day, but she wasn't going to not acknowledge Glenn before going on a run. Anything can happen out there, and she wouldn't want their last words and feelings to each other be silence and anger.
"Be safe," she said back lightly, the tiredness in her voice evident. She saluted him back the same way before he and Maggie made their way out of the cell. "You sure you don't need me?" Athena asked Daryl, shifting her gaze towards him. The man let out a noise, one that sounded like, "are you kidding me?"
"Listen to Hershel, you need rest. You haven't slept in days."
Athena sighed. They were right. She hadn't been eating lately, sleep was practically impossible, and the concept of getting those two things seemed almost ridiculous. With what happened to Lori, Rick going off his rocker, a new baby to aid to, and the new weight of supplying food and weapons for all of them took a huge toll on her. "Do you know where Lea is?" She asked them, and Hershel pointed toward the cells. Athena gave him a small smile before turning on her heels and making her way into the cell block. She could hear someone humming from above, so quietly, Athena made her way up the stairs to find Lea reading a book.
"What happened to you?" Athena chuckled when she spotted the cast on the girl's arm. Lea looked up, rolling her eyes immediately.
"Walker ran into me," she groaned, "I fell and landed on my elbow. Hershel says I broke my arm apparently."
Athena quirked her brows before taking a seat next to her. "How long till it heals?"
Lea pursed her lips, "Maybe a few months? I already forgot what he told me."
Athena laughed. "Well that sucks ass."
"I already feel like a burden enough, and now I can't even pull my own weight." She groaned, "Honestly the world hates me."
"You can still go on runs, just need to learn to shoot with your left hand," Athena suggested, but Lea only responded with another groan. "Well, I'm gonna nap. Wake me up in a few hours?"
"Whatever you want, ma'am." Lea said sarcastically before shoving Athena with her free hand. She grinned before standing up and making her way over to their cell. In all honestly, she didn't mind the weird mattresses. Athena had had worse. In her opinion, they were actually comfortable. She made her way to the top one, plopping herself down and scooting closer to the wall before taking off her shoes and flannel. If it hadn't been for the fact that Athena was practically dead on the inside, she wouldn't have fallen asleep so quickly.
But she also wouldn't have missed out on the most horrifying news she could possibly hear.
•
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"Athena, wake up!"
The three words were laced with what she could detect was pure panic. Even in the state of grogginess and annoyance from being awoken, she knew it was urgent. The way her heart clenched said it all; something was terribly wrong.
She opened her eyes, right hand going up to swipe away the evidence of sleep just as her gaze met a very frantic and concerned Lea.
"What's wrong?" The sentence left her lips bitterly. If only once, in her entire life, did she wish she wouldn't have to ever say those words again, she would. So much could go wrong nowadays that anything Lea was about to say could be mortifyingly possible.
And then she thought of Glenn and Maggie.
She didn't even have to say anything to know whatever had happened involved the two. Lea's face said it all, and within an instant, Athena was flying out of the cell, her red flannel cascaded over her black sports bra. She was even barefoot, but she didn't care, something was wrong. Something had happened to Glenn as Maggie.
"What's going on?" She shouted as she appeared in the small common room. Immediately, all eyes fell on her, and the looks she received made her stomach clench. What if Glenn was dead? What if Maggie was?
She didn't even know what to say.
"Woman says Glenn and Maggie have been taken by some asshole," Daryl grumbled, his crossbow lowered as his gaze flickered towards her.
"Taken?" Athena repeated. Her stomach churned, "What do you mean by taken?"
"Apparently the guy runs a town, calls himself the governor," Rick explained, scratching his scruff, "Glenn, he dropped the baby formula, she brought it here."
"We need to get them—" Athena bursted out, walking forward. By now she was violently shaking, hands grasping at her flannel as she buttoned it upwards. "Where's the town?"
"Wow, wow, wow," Rick stopped her, blocking her from exiting, "We need to formulate a plan, get to know the surroundings first."
Athena paused before letting out a bitter, "Fine," and then continuing, "I need to go," she finished, grabbing her axe from Rick's hands, "I'll be back."
Hershel snapped his gaze towards her, "Athena, you're going to get yourself killed."
"You don't know if he has more men out there," Beth added, Rick's baby girl being slowly swayed in her arms, "It's not safe—"
"Nothing's safe anymore," Athena snapped back, pocketing her gun before pushing hair out of her face. "I'll be back before you all leave, I'm just going to the same connivence store."
"Athena—"
She simply drowned out their words as she walked over to Daryl, "Can I borrow your keys?" The man looked at her as if she had just asked the dumbest question in the world, but she didn't care. "I know how to drive one, trust me, I won't wreck your precious baby."
Daryl monetarily hesitated, but within seconds the keys were dangling from her fingers and she was dashing out the prison, her name being called multiple times behind her. She'd open the gate and close it herself, Athena didn't care, she just needed to get to where Maggie and Glenn were last seen.
Biting her lip as she swung her right leg over the motorbike, Athena crinkled her nose and started the engine before taking off just as she heard Rick call her name once more. Her mind was spinning, hands sweating, and body shaking. The governor, or whoever the hell this man was, seemed cruel and ruthless. If he laid his hands on either of them, Athena was sure she'd lose it.
Quickly opening the gate and pushing the motorcycle through, she kicked two nearby walkers to the ground before plunging her axe into the base of their head, blood splattering across her face in the process. "Gross," she mumbled after wiping her lips of the excess, then walking backwards to close the gate. Her eyes scanned the prison, gaze catching Rick's from a distance. He was standing at the edge of the pathway, face emitting an expression that Athena couldn't recognize.
She saluted at him, a small gesture she had grown accustom to giving, before returning to the bike and hoping back on. The roar of the small vehicle rang in her ears before she took off, dodging any nearby walkers in the process until she was finally driving on the main road.
Minutes passed of Athena just driving, nothing floating in her mind but the current destination, but with every moment that passed, the thought of Glenn being dead filled her mind. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle it if he ever did die, and to her, that was completely ridiculous. To think that he would never die in the cruel world they were surviving in was fucking stupid. The amount of time each of them had until they stopped breathing was impossible to know; and that made it so much worse to bear. One of them could be dead in days, weeks, months, years. The thought of dying never scared Athena, not now more than ever, but the idea of the people she knew dying was another story. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle that—the people in her group being killed—not Glenn most of all.
She felt her eyes water as the thought of Carol, T-Dog, and Lori entered her mind. Athena still couldn't process that they were actually gone; it was far too painful to even think about. Lori was like a mother to her, Carol like a supportive relative and T-Dog like the hilarious cousin she had always wanted. They made her happy, they all did, but now they were gone.
She didn't want Glenn and Maggie to be gone too.
Speeding up the pace, Athena tried her best to race down the deserted road. She knew where the store was at, she remembers Glenn repeating the address, it whirled in her head for the rest of the ride. And when Athena finally arrived at the designated destination, she couldn't bring herself to enter the store.
Her eyes landed upon the shattered car windows and windshields, her hand flying to her mouth when she spotted a large stain of blood on the parking lot ground. Who knows what could have happened.
Stepping off, Athena breathed in deeply. She didn't even know why she came here, or what she was going to do in the first place. All she knew was that by the time she got back, Rick would have probably already formulated a plan to get the couple out of the governor's town alive. A probably way too risky one, but a plan none the less. Knowing how important the situation was, they'd be following through with it by the next day. Who knows what the governor could have already done to them in the small amount of time they had been imprisoned there, which meant getting them out as fast as possible was a priority.
In a brief stroke of clarity, Athena entered the small and very worn out store. Crinkling her nose at the smell of dust and rotten flesh, she began making her way deeper into the aisles, eyes scanning for anything useful she could possibly bring back to the prison besides her own misery.
Minutes passed of finding absolutely nothing except six dead bodies, bullet wounds engraved into the foreheads of each one. Athena let out a strangled noise of annoyance, kicking a box of condoms with her foot before sitting down on the floor of the store and lying her head back against the paint-chipped wall.
She felt dizzy, insanely dizzy. It was a familiar feeling she had been experiencing for weeks, but hadn't told anyone. Every once in awhile, she'd momentarily lose focus, her vision going blurry and mind spinning. Coughing up fluids had become the regular basis now, even waking up with cold sweats. She had been assuming for days now that it was maybe just a passing sickness, but she wasn't so sure anymore.
Groaning from the throbbing pain in her forehead, her eyes scanned the room before they landed on the cash register only a few feet away. The money in the register was most likely gone and all the items on the desk were currently sprawled out across the floor, but for a split second, Athena swore she saw a sudden glare of light appear from inside one of the cabinets.
Maybe it'd be a type of knife, or weapon of some sort, maybe even a pistol if God really loved her.
Unfortunately, but fortunately at the same time, it wasn't.
It was a bottle of whiskey instead.
A large grin spread across the brunettes face almost instantly. She hadn't drinken in a long time, and by a long time, she meant a very very long time. The sight of the full and spotless bottle almost seemed to mock her dirty appearance, the alcohol practically teasing her as she grabbed it from its holding place with grimy hands.
"Come to mama," she chuckled lamely as she popped it open. Her mouth was practically watering, and just from the first swig, Athena knew there was no way she wasn't going to finish the entire bottle.
With each large gulp of the liquid came a laugh, Athena's mind swirling with thoughts of how ridiculous of a situation she was getting herself into. Her close friend and his girlfriend were being held prisoners, most likely going to be killed very soon, and here she was, in a run down store drinking alcohol on the floor with a dead body lying only a few feet away from her.
She deserved this though, a break. At least Athena thought so. Her entire family was practically dead, her new one was slowly falling apart, and with each passing day Athena felt like ending it was the best way to go. She couldn't even understand what the hell she felt for Glenn, much less Lea at the same time. Everything was so jumbled up together that she couldn't take it anymore.
So she kept drinking.
By the time the entire bottle was finished, merely an hour passed and Athena was more than a mess. Her hair was frizzy and matted to her forehead, sweat coated almost every inch of her body, a large pile of puke was lurking in a bucket next to her, and all in all, Athena was just a drunken mess. The flannel that once covered her sports bra was wrapped across her waist and being used as a napkin, fingers bleeding from punching the register desk more than five times as well.
"Isn't life great," Athena slurred to herself, a small hiccup leaving her lips as she stood up from the ground and stretched her arms out. "Christ, what day is it?"
A laugh escaped her mouth as she stumbled out from behind the counter, the empty bottle swinging in her hand. Glenn was probably dead by now, the boy she had feelings for was probably nothing more than another corpse to burn and throw out. If he wasn't dead already, by the looks of it, he'd be gone soon.
He'd be dead, and Athena still will have never told him how she felt.
But then again, she didn't even know what she felt for the Korean boy. He had a girlfriend, a really pretty and amazing one. Maggie was more than anyone could ever ask for in a partner; she was so sweet and supportive. And what was Athena? A mess. A very miserable and disgusting mess.
In a flash of pure rage, Athena screamed and threw the whiskey bottle at the wall, watching as it shattered with a loud bang and fell to the ground in a matter of pieces.
She really really liked Glenn, she did. But he'd never look at her in that way, Athena was sure of it.
"Fuck," she cursed lowly, wiping her eyes as she fell to her knees and landed on a piece of glass. It embedded itself into her pale skin, pain surfacing as Athena violently ripped it out and threw it across the room. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."
Blood poured down her jeans, the thick consistency coating her leg and the floor. It isn't that bad, she thought, I can still get home.
Standing up, Athena hissed in anger from her built up emotions and cursed in pain from the new wound. Her vision was focusing ever so slightly, the deep cut probably slowly snapping her back into sobriety. Whether or not it was though, Athena was going to get to the prison on that bike one way or another.
She needed to get home, she needed to help find Glenn and Maggie.
She needed to save them.
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word count: 4520
sHITTTTT GLENN AND MAGGIE HAVE BEEN TAKEN I've litErally been waiting to write these chapters for so long because I have so much in store for you all
ALSO: I HAVE BEGUN TWO NEW GLENN FICS!
The first one I have in fact uploaded on this account, and it is called Faded;
Here is the summary:
—"I owned every second that this world could give, I saw so many places, the things that I did, with every broken bone, I swear I lived."
When Arden was almost killed in a violent car accident at the age of nineteen, many thought that was the end for her.
Life support only did so much for the young teenage girl; head first through a wind shield should've caused instant death like it did to many others, but it didn't. It seemed as if nothing could end her: as her mother always said, she was a fighter. Arden simply refused to die, even when the apocalypse began.
And after three years in a medically induced coma, she finally awoke.
Waking up to a world full of chaos and death lurking around each corner caused more than enough damage to Arden. She didn't know how long she was unconscious for, what had happened during that time, and most importantly, where her family was.
With a newfound dedication to find her loved ones, Arden is forced to learn about the new world and travel hundreds of miles, even with a faded memory and no idea where to start, to find her family. But stumbling upon a new group may change her plans, especially when one person finally makes living seem so beautiful.
—
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alright everyone, until chapter twenty four, thank you for reading and goodbye!
~ Celeste xx