Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

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My feet hit the pavement as I sprinted towards the sounds of the frantic screaming, my heart pounding wildly. Glenn rushed out of the van with Eugene by his side, the two carrying Tara between them. I gasped as I saw the blood running down her face and drenching her entire front. As I finally caught up, Maggie and Deanna ran forward with scared looks on their faces. Deanna shouted, telling the two men to rush Tara into the infirmary. Pete crashed into me, nearly knocking me off my feet as he assessed the situation, his fierce eyes landing on the unconscious woman. A groggy Nicholas climbed out the back, his eye blackening and his cheek swelling. It seemed to take him a little bit before realizing where he was, his eyes widening as they focused on Deanna.

"Aiden?" She called out, her eyes searching the van. Nicholas approached her and shamefully shook his head, a crestfallen expression on his beat-up face. Deanna let out a shaky breath and fell to the ground, her sobs loud enough that the entire community could hear them. I scanned the area and felt my heart quiver as I realized Noah was nowhere to be seen. Glenn reappeared, his hands covered in blood, his face set in anger as he looked at Nicholas.

"Noah..." Glenn started, but his words failed him. I wrapped my arms around my midsection and fought the urge to cry. Noah's gone.

~*~

I stood on the porch with Glenn and Rick, my eyes bloodshot as Glenn recounted everything that happened when they were out there. I stood against the porch beam and watched Rick kneel before Glenn, his eyes hardening with each passing second. Glenn leaned against the house and sighed, his hand running through his hair.

"I shot the grenades," Glenn resumed, his jaw clenching, "I tried to stop him. He was going to run, but we made him stay." I balled my hand up in a fist, refraining from marching towards Nicholas' house and punching his lights out. "We couldn't get Aiden out of there without help."

"Noah?" I croaked. Glenn looked at me with glossy eyes and shook his head, his voice coming out broken.

"All Nicholas had to do was hold the door," Glenn shook, his voice trembling along with his body, "But he panicked," I felt tears prick my eyes, and I cleared my throat, trying to shove the emotion away, "Noah, I had him. I had his hand... I tried. I watched him die." I swallowed the lump in my throat and fought against the tears that stung my eyes, refusing to shed them. "I almost left him out there," Glenn spoke again, "Could've told a story. What? You think I should have?" I've known that these people are weak. I've known that they could pose a threat to us if we go outside the gates with them. This proves me right, but at what cost? I turned and looked at Rick, finally understanding why he's been cautious and watching, analyzing these people. They have no clue what they're doing. We do. I pushed off the porch beam and sucked in a deep breath, feeling all these emotions surging within me.

"They don't know what they're doing," I sneered, anger deciding to be the emotion that wins me over.

"We can show them!" Glenn countered, his eyes darting between Rick and me.

"I don't know if they can see how things really are," Rick interjected, "I don't know if they can yet. They haven't caught up." Glenn shook his head and leaned forward, his eyes connecting with Rick's.

"We have to be here," Glenn stressed, "we have to."

"Yeah," Rick nodded, fully admitting that this place is good for us, "But their rules, we don't answer to them." Glenn looked at me, almost pleading with me to talk some sense into the man in front of him. I know Rick is trying to protect us, and I'm with him on that, but we can't just overthrow these people. We can't force ourselves into power, or at least that's what I told myself. We can conquer them easily, but I don't want to be like everyone we've fought.