After a trip that, although was relatively short, was longer to Clary as Eugene rambled about certain, almost useless facts, they had arrived to their destination: a large warehouse. Piling out of the van, they all gathered their weapons, Clary unsheathing her sword and picking at the blade to make sure it was sharp. As they gathered, Aiden looked around the outside of the warehouse they had parked by. "Looks like that door is our fastest way in and out." As they looked towards the door, Glenn shook his head. "We should know all of the exits first. So there's a plan if things go south." Clary looked away from her blade, spinning it in hand as she heard Nicholas speak up for the first time. "Already got one. It's called going out the front."
Seemingly proud with his little comeback, a small smile etched its way onto his face. Clary couldn't stop herself before she scoffed, his eyes averting towards her. "That is probably the dumbest idea anyone's said today, and it's not even noon—" Clary's voice was cut off as she saw Aiden's head cock up. "Heads up." Both Noah and Clary turned, the girl disrupted from her glaring at Nicholas, to see two Infected making their way towards the group. She looked to Noah, who motioned towards the one on the left, giving her the one on the right. Acknowledging the plan, she walked towards the Infected as Noah raised his gun. She knew it was easier to pick up a gun and shoot, but to her, that was just a waste of ammo. Twirling the blade in hand, she winded back before slicing into the Infected's head. With the sharpness of the blade, it cut easily and killed the Infected once and for all.
Cleaning the blade of blood on the Infected's clothing, she turned back around to see Noah talking to Aidan and walked towards the group. "Nice job Samurai," Aiden said, giving a quick nod of approval to the girl before looking back to the group. "Glenn's right, we should do a perimeter check. Know our exits just in case." Nicholas' eyes met the young girls and Clary raised an eyebrow, basking in the light that his suggestion of using the front door as an escape was so stupid his own friend didn't trust it. He clenched his jaw, looking away from the girl before they headed out, Clary joining Noah and Glenn.
They walked in silence for a while, Clary walking behind the two males as her eyes remained watchful for any signs of Infected, or walkers as Glenn and his group liked to call them. "Hey, that's a cool sword you got. They teach you how to fight with it where you're from?" Clary was surprised to see Noah looking back at her, his eyes curious as she nodded softly. "Yeah, we trained with melee weapons instead of guns just to preserve what little ammo we did have." Noah nodded, obviously impressed. "That's smart. I'm sure you could teach all of us a thing or two on how to be badass with a sword." Before she could respond to the boy, the snarling of Infected was heard and all three of the group rounded the corner. She let out a scoff as their eyes landed on the front entrance, dozens of Infected milling around by the door. "Well, we're not getting out the front," Glenn declared, Clary nodding in agreement. The three assessed how many Infected there were before heading back towards the door they agreed to go in through.
As everyone met up, Tara being tailed by Eugene and Nicholas and Aiden coming up together, they shared their findings. Glenn had not so obviously rubbed it into Nicholas' face that the front was a bad idea with the amount of Infected around it. They quickly gathered their bearings before the group of seven made their way towards the door of the warehouse. Aiden opened it, Glenn standing in the front as Clary brought up the rear, holding her blade firmly in hand as she kept a lookout for Infected. Her attention was taken away when she heard bangs on the door, looking towards the sound to see Glenn's hand fall from the door where he had made the loud noise. "Give it another second. It's a big place. There could be some inside." Aiden clenched his jaw before giving a slight nod. "So let's say they are. Let's move. Let's be safe." Glenn thought for a moment before nodding, looking at the group before signaling them to go inside. Clary followed the line, her eyes looking amongst the shadows to look for any distinguishable figures to see none. Clary walked in Glenn's footsteps, pulling out a flashlight and shining the area in front of her as her other hand held tightly onto her sword.
Their movements were silent until Clary noticed the rattling of some type of metal, leading her to believe it was fenced holding them back. She looked to Glenn, his words soft. "They're caught behind something—" Glenn declared, to which Clary nodded. "Some kind of metal wiring, probably fencing. The sound isn't solid like it would be for a full on wall." Glenn nodded in agreement to her addition to what he said, Aiden moving forward before he voiced his questions. "How do you know?" Clary only shrugged. "We don't, but they're not here, so they're stuck somewhere else. Let's go. Eyes up."
With silent nods, the group continued to follow Glenn as they rounded the corner of the aisle. Their silence was broken as Infected continued to bang against the metal fencing, both Clary and Glenn correct in their assumption of the walkers being held back. As the two shined their flashlights on the groaning Infected, Aiden came closer. "You guys know your stuff." Before Clary could respond, she heard Tara's voice. "We've been out there a long time." As Clary turned towards the woman, she nodded in agreement. They continued on, walking for a few more moments before Glenn halted them. "There could be more," Glenn said softly as Aiden clenched his jaw. "Then let's get to work." The group dispersed, Tara and Eugene going through one aisle while Glenn led Noah and Clary through the opposite side. The two teens were watchful, Noah with his gun up while Clary positioned her hand firmly around the handle of her blade. "Did you go on a lot of runs for Solaris?" Clary was surprised at Noah's words, looking towards him with a raised eyebrow at his curiosity. When she saw he was sincere, she shrugged. "Somewhat. We had our people go into different jobs depending on their strengths, so our fastest usually did runs. But those in the Guard usually joined to protect the runners. As a normal soldier, I did, not so much when I became Commander." Noah nodded his head. "That's—" Noah went silent as a new voice sounded. "All right, Eugene." Both Clary and Noah turned their flashlights towards Glenn, his eyes looking through the shelves of the aisles where Eugene and Tara must've been. Clary was relieved that they had found what they needed, ready to get the hell out of the warehouse before it blew up in their face.
When sure Tara and Eugene has grabbed what they needed, Clary's group began to look through the shelves. With the sound of suppressed gunshots, Clary looked through the shelving to see Aiden shooting at an Infected. Glenn came up to her side, seeing what she saw. "It's got armor. Let it come closer," Glenn advised the man, which led him to only shake his head. "I got it." Aiden continued shooting before he aimed his gun towards the leg of the Infected, shooting and causing it to fall upon its back. Both Clary and Glenn crouched to look at the walker through the aisle, flashlights shining on its body. However, upon looking over his clothing, her eyes grew wide as she saw the grenade. As she heard Glenn's voice, she turned to Noah. "Get back—" she began. "Aiden, stop!" Glenn yelled, Clary looking back to see Aiden had no intention of doing so. With that in mind, Clary made a move to get Glenn away from the danger. Before she could, she was encased in an orange and white blast, the sound being all she heard.
•
Coughing, Clary's eyes opened to be face to face with packing peanuts. She let out a deep breath before pushing herself off of the ground, resting on her knees as she looked around. At first, she saw her blade wedged between the floor and the bottom of a shelf, leading her to grab it before sheathing it. As she continued looking, she saw Glenn closest to her, unmoving. She was quick to crawl over to him, tugging at his shirt. "Glenn," she had began to say before his eyes opened, his body turning as he coughed. When he was able to catch his breath, he looked up at Clary before his hand found her arm to hold onto. "Are you okay?" Glenn questioned her, causing the girl to nod. "Yeah, but I don't know—" Clary stopped upon hearing a soft voice. "Oh god." Clary was able to distinguish Nicholas' voice, her and Glenn looking momentarily at each other before she helped him up. As they aimed their flashlights from where they had been strewn, they all met at the same spot. Clary's eyes widened as she saw their light fall upon Aiden's body hanging from the wall, impaled with two steel rebars. "Oh, he's dead." Nicholas whispered, Clary unable to listen to what else he said as she heard Infected coming up behind them. Both Clary and Glenn turned, seeing them through the aisles. As Clary's eyes stayed on them, she heard Glenn call out. "Noah? Tara? Eugene?" Clary heard soft footsteps close to the two, unsheathing her sword she raised it until she saw Noah. Glenn aimed his flashlight at him, to which he raised his hand before looking at the two of them. "You guys good?" Noah asked, to which Clary and Glenn nodded as the noise of walkers disturbing them. "Yeah. Cage is open, they're getting out. We need to find—" Glenn fell silent.
"Here!" Clary looked towards where she had heard Eugene's voice come from, the three looking quickly to each other before making their way towards the voice. As they walked, the shined their lights through the boxes to see Eugene's worried face. Glenn moved a few steps to the side before shining his light to see Tara unconscious with blood pooling at her head. "Is she breathing?" Glenn asked, watching as Eugene started to mix his words. "Eugene!" Glenn yelled, Eugene looking up at the man with wide eyes. "I- I can't tell from right here— walker!" Eugene shouted, chasing Glenn to redirect his light to see Infected making their way closer to where Eugene and Tara were. "They're getting close!" Panic seemed to ensue as the walkers started piling out of the cage they had been in, causing Glenn to think quick. They shined their lights back to Eugene to see the walker he had seen, their gaze falling on the man. "Eugene, it's yours. Take it out." Clary didn't know what happened as she heard the cock of Eugene's gun at the shuffling of the walkers feet as it got closer. It wasn't until he screamed that Clary slipped through the boxes in a small hole, grateful for her small figure. The walker turned towards her, snarling before she jammed the blade into its eye. As it fell, she saw Noah and Glenn helping out Eugene. "Get to that office, I'll get Tara." Glenn demanded, looking to the others. "Go!" Eugene and Noah didn't wait for a second before turning away, Glenn jumping over the box and going towards Tara. As Glenn lifted the body of his friend, his eyes rested on Clary. "Go get Nicholas." Clary clenched her jaw, knowing not to fight with Glenn, especially in a moment where time was so precious. She gave him a firm nod before pushing through the boxes of the aisle and ending up on the other side.
As Clary weaved her way through fallen boxes, her eyes scanned for the man she had been tasked to find. "Nicholas!" Clary called out, waiting for any indication that the idiot hadn't gotten himself killed in the few minutes they hadn't seen him. "I'm here!" Nicholas called out, to which she looked down another aisle to see Nicholas fighting off two walkers. She was quick to jump in, slashing one in the leg to bring it down before stabbing it in its head. She looked up and saw Nicholas shoot the other before looking to her. "Tha—" Clary shook her head. "Don't thank me yet, let's go!" She ran towards the office, looking back when she didn't hear footsteps behind her. She saw Nicholas staring at where Aiden's body hung, lifeless. "He— he's—" Clary moved towards his, grabbing his arm. "Dead, now come on!" As she tried to pull him away, Nicholas didn't budge. "What if he isn't? What if he—" Clary rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated breath. "Then check, goddamnit! I'll cover you." He looked to her quickly before running towards Aiden, Clary readying her weapon for any Infected to approach. Only one walker came close, being quickly taken down by her sword as Nicholas came back. "He's gone." Clary's eyes softened for a moment before she set her jaw. "I'm sorry for your loss, but we gotta go." She made sure he was close to her before the two began running towards the office, unsure of what fate was held for them and their group.