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THE HERD SWARMED around them like bees to honey - the dead and those who wore their faces. A glint of silver was illuminated by a strike of lightning every so often, revealing the knives gripped between calloused fingers. It was a daunting experience - not knowing if their biggest threat was the point of a sharpened knife or rotten teeth.
Leo couldn't tear his eyes away from Jesus' unmoving body. He still hadn't moved.
Only ten minutes ago, Jesus had been dominating the herd, never missing a beat and now he was just another name on a seemingly endless list of those gone too soon.
It hadn't hit him yet, not really - everything happened so fast, it was still happening, and his friends were surrounded with no way out.
Trudi's heart was pounding much too fast for her to steady her breathing. She held her hatchet tightly despite her trembling hands and silently prayed to the god her mother had believed in. Don't let us die like this.
Michonne was in front of her, shielding her from harm. There weren't many assurances a person could have in a world like theirs, but Trudi had a certified one - Michonne would die before she let any harm come to her.
That didn't do much to ease her fear, though. She'd lost her parents a long time ago, and then Negan and Rick after them. She refused to have Michonne added to that list; if she was going to die today, Trudi would die by her side.
Dog barked fiercely but his stance was apprehensive, he was trying to protect them despite his own immobilising fear - god, humanity didn't deserve animals.
"You die now."
Trudi's knuckles turned white around the hilt of her hatchet. Dread set on the nape of her neck and slowly trickled down her spine like a single droplet of boiling water, singing her skin more and more with each passing second.
Even though she knew it was humans concealed by the dead's skin, it was still beyond unsettling to be encircled by a whispering herd.
An armed herd. Some with teeth and gnarled hands, others with blades like the one that had been plunged into Jesus' back.
Trudi barely knew Jesus, she couldn't recall a time she'd spoken to him one-on-one but Chase had quite literally worshipped the ground the man walked upon - beneath his facade of immature antics - he would be truly crushed when he learned of the leader's demise.
"Go." If it wasn't for the distinct sharpness of her commanding voice, Trudi never would've realised Michonne had spoken by how still she remained. "Now!"
Yumiko seized the skin mask from the ground and stuffed it into her pocket. She made a run for the gate and Magna followed her out.
Aaron dropped down beside Jesus and slipped a knife in just above his ear. Nobody missed the sobs that wracked his body when he pulled the knife out and wiped the blood on his jeans.
