𝙂abriel had somehow managed to get out of the church without any of them realizing. They didn't even know anything had happened until they heard him shouting outside.
"Please! Let me in! Please! Let me in! They're close! Help! They're coming! Please don't leave me out here! Please!"
Adalyn was shaking as she, Carl, and Michonne ran to see what was happening. "Don't leave me out here!" Gabriel begged. "Carl! Michonne! Adalyn!"
He was pounding at the door, his voice strained with his screams. "I had to see it! I know now! Let me live with it! Oh, God, please!"
"Wait," Michonne tried to urge Carl, but the boy was already running toward the door, trying to pry away the wood.
Adalyn joined him, pulling as hard as she could. But the nails were pushed in too deep. It wasn't budging. "Carl! Michonne! Adalyn!" Gabriel was screaming.
Michonne retrieved the ax from the floor. "Get back," she told Adalyn and Carl, who did as told.
Adalyn jumped as Michonne swung the ax down, cleaving through part of the wood. She kept swinging. "Let me in! Let me in!" Gabriel begged.
Carl and Adalyn braced themselves, knowing that with Gabriel would be biters. They held up their guns, prepared. Michonne got away the last of the wood, opening the door. "Come on!" Carl urged, and Gabriel burst inside, running toward the front of the room.
Carl and Adalyn started firing at the biters that were coming through, but there were just too many of them. "Get back," Michonne urged.
She drew her katana, taking the heads off of the two closest biters. Carl and Adalyn hurried toward Gabriel's side. Michonne took down a third biter. A fourth.
Too many. Way too many.
"The rectory, come on," Gabriel said, and they followed him without question.
He slammed the door shut behind them, though a few of the biters managed to get their hands through. Michonne grabbed a chair, shoving it up under the doorknob. Gabriel pointed at a hole in the floor. "That's how I got out," he said. "Crawl under to the back." Carl froze, looking between the tunnel and Michonne. "Just go," Gabriel urged. "Take the little one and go."
Michonne stood, letting Carl get Judith off her back as Gabriel held the door shut. The baby started to cry.
Adalyn dropped down first, looking up at Carl, waiting. He took a bag and started to join her when Michonne took him by the shoulder. "You wait for me," she told him.
"We will," Adalyn said as Carl nodded his agreement.
She wrapped her arm around Carl, moving quickly through the tunnel.
They came up first. Michonne came next. And then Gabriel, machete tight in his grip.
Michonne helped him to his feet. "Come on, "she said softly.
He shook his head. "I can't run anymore," he said.
"We're not running," Michonne answered.
They moved quickly. Any biters impaled on the pipe organ barricade were killed. Michonne and Adalyn closed the doors, trapping the remaining biters inside. They used another piece of a bench to keep the door shut from the outside. Michonne used her belt to tie together doorknobs. The biters shoved their hands through the gaps in the doors, reaching.
Adalyn swallowed hard, wrapping an arm around Carl protectively. Michonne looked at Gabriel, who was staring at the ground, looking stunned. "Where did you go?" she asked him.
"The school," he answered, his voice weak. "I had to see. I had to know."
From the church, the biters continued to bang at the doors. Adalyn watched a piece of wood fall away, allowing one to wedge its face between the gap of the doors.
It was Carl who asked the question. "Where do we go?"
Adalyn shook her head as the second piece of wood was dropped to the ground.
And then the sound of an engine. A vehicle approaching.
Adalyn damn near burst out laughing as she processed what it was. Abraham, driving a fire truck. He drove through the stairs of the church, leaving the biters no easy exit.
Abraham climbed from the fire truck, Maggie and Glenn following, then Rosita. Maggie pulled Michonne into a hug. "You okay?" she asked.
"Yeah," Michonne said.
Adalyn hesitated a moment before she threw her arms around Rosita, who raised her arms. "Hey, Addy," she said, letting out a laugh. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Adalyn answered. "I'm good."
Michonne looked at Glenn, smiling. "You're back," she said.
Glenn nodded slowly. "Eugene lied," he said.
Adalyn let go of Rosita, eyebrows furrowing. "What do you mean? What do you mean he lied?" she asked.
Glenn's words were soft. "He can't stop it. Washington isn't the end." Adalyn froze.
Glenn looked around the empty churchyard, eyes landing on Michonne. "Where is everybody?"
Michonne managed a smile, taking a step toward Maggie. "Beth's alive," she said. "She's in a hospital in Atlanta. Some people have her, but the others went to get her back."
"Do we know which one?" Maggie asked.
"Grady Memorial," Michonne said.
Adalyn tuned out that conversation, turning to Abraham. She bit hard at her lip, feeling tears in her eyes. "He lied?" she asked, voice strangely weak.
Abraham nodded stiffly. Tears were running free then. "So it was all for nothing? All those people we lost... died for nothing?"
Maggie was grinning, hugging Glenn. But Adalyn felt as if her world was crashing down around her. Rosita wrapped an arm around Adalyn's shoulders, pulling her close.
Tara was the one who spoke up, looking at Maggie, trying to smile though she could see Adalyn wiping away tears. "Let's blow this joint, go save your sister," she said to Maggie.
Adalyn managed a weak attempt at a smile. "Yeah," she said. "Let's go."
