Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Five remembered the sound. The earth-shattering screams of his siblings as they all linked their arms together, waiting for him to use his ability.

Five felt an incoming migraine as he tried his best to keep them all from straying as the sheer power of tearing through literal sheets of reality forced them to lose their hold of each other.

All he remembered was blinding pain. The burning sensation that spread from head to toe, like if somebody poured gasoline all over his body and threw a lit match at him. And then, just as suddenly, the burning sensation was replaced by cold. It was too cold.

Five wondered if he was dead at some point. It felt like forever before he saw the light at the end of the strange hot-cold void, which he assumed was a time pocket.

Wait a minute- why the hell was he even INSIDE the time pocket?

When he time travels, he never stays longer than a few seconds jumping through the time pocket. The only time he could remember being inside it was the time he jumped from the Academy to fucking Alaska.

AND EVEN THEN, it didn't take longer than half a minute to get out. Wherever it's taking him, it's someplace very, VERY far away.

That single thought fills him with immediate dread. Panic courses through him as he realized the fact that he had lost his entire family just right after he got them back. After literally 45 years, he got separated again. Five screams into the void, but predictably, no sound came out of his throat.

He stopped as almost all his energy seeped out of him. He stayed limp as the void takes him to the destination. It felt like being swept away by a river current, he was going WAY too fucking fast. This caused his migraine to worsen.

Again, Five wondered if they were okay. Five wondered if they were dead. He feels sick as he felt a little relieved at the notion of not seeing it if they were. He didn't know how well he could take it a second time.

It seemed he had reached his destination, as he felt the void try to push him out. Five braced himself, and he jumped. He felt the familiar sheets of reality tear as he forced both of his arms to wrench the metaphorical gate of time and space apart.

--- ---

Five falls on the gross texture of mud and dirt. It stuck to his kind-of-clean uniform as he sat up. He noticed this, and groaned out loud. He hates having to wear dirty clothes, ever since The Commission gave him God-given access to the laundry room.

Since he was currently sitting on mud and dirt (he didn't want to think about the possible insects that got stuck to the back of his shorts), he was probably in the middle of a forest at bum-fuck nowhere. Probably far out of civilization too. What an amazing start.

He stood up and walked off to see if he could find a river, only to get immediately stopped by the sound of unnatural wheezing. His heart rate picked up, it sounded exactly like the sounds his victims would make before dying during his job as an assassin. Except, this one is worse. It sounded, almost alive even. He could hear the faint rustling of whatever was making that noise.

'Why do weird shit keep happening to me all the time?' he thinks. For all he knows a zombie could be hiding in there. But at the same time, he thought that maybe a person was actually dying over there. Or maybe, he's losing his goddamn mind and it was actually an animal. Wasting no time, he pulled off a branch from the tree next to him, making sure to pull it downwards in order to create a sharp edge.

He holds it over his shoulder like one would a baseball bat, or an axe depending on the context. He slowly approaches the source of the wheezing, full-on alert. As he yanked down the bush hiding whatever it was from view, an honest-to-God zombie was staring back at him. His eyes widened as said corpse lunged at him, trying to bite his face off.

Five quickly blocked its mouth with the branch, and twisted to break the hinges of its jaw. It writhed on the ground, uselessly flailing its limbs to try and get at him. It was kind of pathetic, and he didn't have all day so he stabbed the sharp edge of his branch into that rotting head. He had the feeling of deja vu at having to do that, but whatever, it was self-defense, it didn't count, it really didn't.

Five pulled off the branch that was lodged into its head and swung around as he felt another one try to get at him. He smashed the branch onto the side of its head, snapping it clean off of its torso. He didn't take any chances as he immediately stabbed its head.

At the momentary peace, he took a moment to process everything that just happened in the span of one minute. First of all, zombies were real. He didn't know what time period he got himself into, but he's pretty fucking sure zombies has never existed in any timeline, or in any historical period. His job required him to jump through countless timelines, and he has never seen even a single one.

But to be fair, Klaus sees dead people all the time so this wasn't really that hard to believe.

A sudden realization struck him- the time pocket. Remember when he said the last time he got inside of it was the time he jumped to ALASKA? That must mean he did not, in fact, jump through time. Instead, he must've jumped from the concert hall into wherever this place is. He fears the utmost possibility of having jumped through a whole different universe.

It made sense! The way he was inside the time pocket for an abnormally long time, the feeling of getting dragged akin to floating on a river current. The time pocket was taking him to a whole other plane of existence, an alternate universe.

No, this can't be happening. What the fuck- he's currently stuck in an ALTERNATE universe, his siblings were practically as good as dead with the way they're literally unreachable.

He tried pushing through the sheets of reality once again, but came to a stop when he couldn't feel the pull of energy anymore. It reminds him of that time during the apocalypse, when he realized he couldn't jump through time anymore. It was as if someone made a cruel joke by giving his time-traveling ability a cooldown.

He navigated his way through the trees, trying to see if he could find a shelter for the night. It was getting dark out, and he sure as hell don't have night vision so things would definitely take a turn for the worst if he can't find a place to clear out his migraine soon.

He walked for about an hour, absent-mindedly killing off the zombies that lunged at him from out of nowhere. He was getting tired, easy as it was to kill them. The universe seemed to show a bit of sympathy for him as the faint outline of a shack came into view. It looked worse for wear, but he's had to sleep in literal sewage pipes infested with bugs and other things he didn't want to remember. He fucking hoped this place didn't have acid for rain.

Or maybe it did? This was a whole other universe, maybe it literally rains cats and dogs out here. Who the hell knows at this point. He walked up to the shack and patrolled around the area, trying to find an entrance. The windows were cracked, and the doors were barricaded. Somebody probably had lived here, and for whatever reason abandoned it.

Five took this chance to see if he still had his teleportation ability. He accumulated the molecules and electrons around himself, as he faintly felt the familiar power begin to grow. Blue sparks gathered around his hands like firework as he tried his hardest to pull through, but for some reason he couldn't find the strength to keep it in one place. The accumulated energy keeps seeping out the harder he tried, before it eventually fizzled out.

Sighing in frustration, he took a moment to construct a well structured plan that involved forcing his way through the windows using his bloody branch.

The glass shattered upon impact, and Five jumped inside, uncaring about the glass shards that could potentially cut him. He really couldn't give two shits about that right now as he carefully walked around the living room, trying to find a light switch. He could make out some basic furnitures; a sofa, a coffee table, and a broken TV.

He eventually did, but nothing happened as he flipped the switch. Figures, he guessed he'd just spend the night in complete darkness. With no ability to travel long distances in a matter of seconds, he pretty much can't do anything more productive but rest on the musty sofa. He plopped his head on the armrest, and focused on trying to ease the pounding headache that currently attacked him.

As he laid there, his chest tightened at the thought of never seeing his family again. He missed them already, and he hated the fact that he had brought this upon himself. If only he tried a little harder, maybe he and his family could've been in a timeline where they all lived a cushy life inside a big house with mom, and the old man dead at the side of a road.

Maybe Allison could've had Claire back, maybe Diego could've gotten back together with Patch. Maybe Vanya could've had a genuine relationship with somebody she deserves, and maybe Klaus could've gotten help. Maybe Luther could've lived a happier life without the old geezer around.

Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe. It's all just a bunch of maybes, but never wills. Five had gotten so tired of thinking about all the possibilities of getting a happy ending, but he could never quite reach that goal.

But maybe, it's different this time. No, he will make sure to find a way out of this mess, he will reunite with his siblings, and he WILL get them the life they deserve. No matter how long it would take, and no matter how impossible it sounded, he knows he would pull through. He'd survived an apocalypse all by himself for 45 goddamned years, he's not about to let an apocalypse inside an alternate universe stop him.

His eyes hardened in determination as he made up his mind. He's going to find out more about whatever the hell was going on in this world, and then he's going to find out what exactly caused this zombie outbreak, and how he's going to stop it. Were there even any living humans left? Or had they all been zombified? Infected?

Whatever, he's going to find out tomorrow anyway.

--- ---

And find out he did. He ended up mentally listing all the stuff he learned over the course of a few hours after dawn.

One, the zombies were indeed... Well, zombies. He knew this already but wanted to double check in case they were actually aliens that hatched from gross alien eggs carried by meteorites.

Two, the zombies could only detect sound, they were positively blind to quiet movement.

And three, you could mask your whole presence by covering your whole body with zombie blood... And their internal organs. Yuck.

He had incidentally found out about that one when he noticed the zombies walking past him when he got himself covered in zombie blood after he made the terrible mistake of skewering three zombies by the throat. To be fair, they tried to gang up on him by pinning him down and mounting on each other, but it was still gross nonetheless.

He hoped to find civilization soon, or maybe a river current. He desperately needed to wash everything off, he smelled horrible. He might have gotten used to the rotten smell of corpses, but that doesn't mean he could tolerate the horrible metallic odor from the drying zombie blood.

Five walked around quietly, trying to catch even the faintest sound of a water current. When he couldn't hear any, he was almost ready to accept the fact that he's going to smell awful for a while.

But then, he heard the sound of a twig snapping. He whirled around, new branch at the ready for more zombies, only to find nothing.

Well, almost nothing. He could see a hint of black fabric peeking out of the thick bush. He could also hear the sound of muffled breathing.

He darted forward and yanked on the fabric, which turned out to be one of the ends of a cloak, or a coat. The person wearing it flailed around, trying to escape his grip.

"God, have mercy! Someone HELP!" the person yelled out in a panic. Five immediately backhands him to shut him up.

"Keep your fucking voice down!" Five whisper-yelled. He really did NOT want to attract a horde of zombies and having to smell even worse with layers of dried blood painting every crevice of his skin.

On further inspection, the person looked to be a priest with dark skin and a bald head. He was opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. He looked like he didn't know whether to gape or be relieved that he wasn't a zombie.

"I- you're- a human!" The priest exclaimed.

"Yeah, no shit." Five stepped away from him, making some distance.

"I- I apologize for screaming earlier. I assumed you were one of...the walkers." The priest gave him a shaky smile. Five raised an eyebrow at that.

"What the hell is a walker? Just call them zombies like a normal person." Five rolled his eyes. That might just be one of the dumbest things he'd heard anyone call them.

"I- I see! I-is that what children calls them nowadays? I'm afraid I haven't been keeping up with the latest 'trends'." The priest attempted to joke, letting out an awkward chuckle.

Five just stared at him.

The priest coughed to hide how awkward he felt at that moment, so he opted to change the topic instead, "A-are your parents nearby? I could accompany you."

"I'm alone."

The priest's eyes turned sympathetic, obviously coming to the conclusion that Five had lost his parents to the unforgiving world of the apocalypse. Not that he would be bothered to correct him. The priest seemed to finally notice his dirty appearance, his expression contorted to one of concern.

"Are you injured? I- I have a few pain medicine and some canned food." The priest offered.

Five's eyes narrowed suspiciously. For all he knew, he could be a cannibal disguised as a timid priest to catch him off-guard. They're in the middle of an apocalypse with limited supplies, there's just no way anyone would be offering free shit just because, especially not to an equally suspicious bloody "teenager". He probably intended to lure him to his territory to strangle him when he's not looking.

Not that the priest could ever pose an immediate threat to him. He'd kill him before he could.

"Where?" Five asked him bluntly. If he did plan to lead him into his own "demise", then he better make it quick.

"I have a church nearby. It's just a five minute walk from here." The priest explained. He started walking to the direction where this supposed "church" would be.

At least it's not a warehouse. Five shrugs as he followed the priest, making sure to keep a few meters of distance.

They walked for about two minutes before the priest opened his mouth again to ask, "What's your name?"

Should Five give him his actual name? Not that it was an actual name, he's basically nameless.

"Five." He replied curtly.

The priest was silent for a few seconds, before he nodded his head. "Five.. What a- peculiar name." He sounded unsure whether or not he was telling the truth. But Five didn't really care, so he didn't deign him a response as they continued walking.

"I am Father Gabriel." Gabriel suddenly told him. Five didn't know when he asked, but that made interacting with him easier he guessed. They finally arrived at the church, and it looked somewhat decent. Surprisingly.

Gabriel unlocked the door with a set of keys, and ushered him in. The interior was... Normal. No hidden butcher knives in sight. Not even a speck of blood could be seen on the wooden floors. But Five was still suspicious, though, he doesn't think he could ever be not suspicious of everything.

Gabriel looks at the church in pride. He seemed to have taken care of this church pretty well, judging by how there's barely any dust covering the chairs.

"Do you have anyone else in here?" Five suddenly asked.

Gabriel tensed up at that. He looked strangely guilty, which skyrocketed Five's suspicions of him being a possible serial killer. A remorseful one at that. Not that he could judge him for it.

"N-no, it's just me. I'll go grab you some canned foods.. And- and pain medicine." Gabriel stuttered before he quickly entered what looked to be his office.

Five walked around the church, observing and trying to find anything that could back his cannibal theory up. So far, nothing. But everything would be revealed in due time. He sat down on one of the chairs, and looked up to see a statue of a man nailed to a cross. It would look creepy to him if he didn't know that was the religious figure that Christians follow.

Gabriel came back with canned peaches and a small pill bottle. He didn't know whether those were actual pain killers or a sedative, so he pocketed them in his awfully dirty shorts. His migraine was mostly gone anyway.

He opened the canned peaches and sniffed around it, trying to detect any trace of poison. The old man used to make him and the rest of his siblings play a guessing game of "is it poisoned or just terrible smelling food?" regularly, so he had become very good at it. And there were none, so he started digging in.

Gabriel watched him eat like some creepy weirdo, but he was too hungry at themoment to even give a shit.

Once he was done, he suddenly remembered that he didn't have any water to wash off the sticky sensation, and the dried blood for that matter, so he groaned in annoyance. Hopefully his unnaturally strong immune system could cancel out whatever virus the dry blood carried.

"Do you have a sink?" Five asked.

"W-well no, but we can make a small detour to find a current." Judging from his clean outfit, he was probably telling the truth. Or maybe he just stayed inside a lot, but Five would take anything as long as there's a chance to wash everything off.

This was going to be a long day.

Chapter Text

Five had come to the conclusion that Gabriel wasn't a cannibal, nor was he a serial killer. He really is just a normal ass priest trying his best to stay alive.

He was a coward, but that made it all the more impressive. It's hard to stay suspicious when there's nothing to point at him being dangerous. (Yet)

Five squeezed out all of the remaining grime from his uniform blazer. The water currently flowing in the river current weren't exactly clean, but it was definitely better than nothing.

He shook the wet blazer to air it out as he laid it beside his vest and tie. After that he took off his bowling shoes, and then socks, before he dipped the socks into the water to try and wash off the remaining dried blood.

He had already cleaned himself beforehand, so all that was left to do was wait for the clothes to dry, and hope that no zombies would pounce on his ass.

Five sat by the shore of the river, staring at the squirrel that was coincidentally also staring at him. It was almost as if those beady eyes were probing into his very soul, but that's just his mind making shit up to avoid boredom.

It was kind of peaceful. The gentle breeze that leisurely swayed the leaves on top of tree branches that kind of looked like it had survived multiple beatings and bullet holes was nice.

It was also an indicator that there were more humans surviving out there, and that meant he could potentially find a lead to start figuring out what exactly happened here. And how to get back home. And maybe how to end it if he had spare time.

Gabriel sat down next to him with unhurried movements. Five had actually forgotten that he was there in the first place, so he chose to keep ignoring him. Although, Five couldn't deny the slight comfort the company of a living breathing human being brings him.

Gabriel looked like he was about to say something but stopped at the last moment. After half a minute passed, he did eventually say something, "Nice day, isn't it? I am thankful that God still gives us the chance to enjoy a pleasant evening."

Five snorted, he considered saying something that could potentially shake this poor man's beliefs, but that would probably push him to the brink of insanity. He knew first hand how much hope mattered in the grand scheme of things.

"Let's just hope that we don't get ambushed on our way back."

--- ---

Five pulled a zombie off of a squirming Gabriel and curb stomped it to the ground. The heel of his shoe easily crushed the fragile decaying skull underneath.

"Ugh, I really need to stop killing them directly." Five's face scrunched up in disgust as he pulled out rotten brain matter from the skull.

Five had apparently jinxed himself as he and Gabriel immediately got ambushed by a horde of zombies on their way back to the church.

Gabriel's screaming didn't do their situation any favor as more zombies came after them. They both ran while Five simultaneously shoves past the zombies that tried to block their way.

A zombie ran at full-speed towards them, barreling into Five. He pushed against the zombie's shoulders and quickly put his hands around the sides of its head to twist them.

The zombie's head snapped backwards and Five immediately yanked it off of its body. Rotten blood immediately came out as he did this, but he swiftly stood on his feet this time to avoid most of the bloody current.

He hurled the head towards a nearby tree, the destroyed head splayed open as it exploded upon impact into a series of blood, eyeballs and brain matter.

At least he didn't have to go back to the river current. His uniform stayed pretty clean throughout the whole ordeal, but he still missed having his long to mid ranged weapons. Noticing Gabriel's quick breaths, he suddenly remembered that he had company. Fuck, why does he keep forgetting about him? Dementia caught up way too early he thinks.

Gabriel shakily stood up as he approached Five. He looked conflicted, like he didn't know whether to be grateful or terrified of what Five had done for him.

Five waved him off and strode over to the church door. Gabriel unlocked it for him, and they both headed inside without another word.

"Th-thank you." Gabriel turned to him.

Five shrugged and sat down on the farthest chair from the altar. He was kind of spent. He also needed to go about finding a mid ranged weapon, tree branches could only do so much before they snap halfway through the fight.

But for now, he's going to have to find the solution to his current predicament; his inability to time-travel. Which confused him, because he could still faintly gather the energy to teleport, but he couldn't feel any tangible sign of the energy he usually used to travel through time.

His ability to teleport somewhat ties to his time travelling as it is merely a matter of stopping and resuming time. It was fundamentally the fast-forward button, so it shouldn't be different from jumping from a year to another.

But somehow, it is. Five had a theory, though he didn't like it one bit. The basis of time-travel was a link between two timelines, there will always be a string connecting those two in order to build a bridge to cross. He'd like to think of it like the "Wi-Fi" Allison had told him about.

You need a specific place to get a "signal" before the cube version of the telephone could even begin to connect to it. But once you found one, you'll be able to connect to quite literally the whole world, which was pretty incredible as much as he loathed to admit.

So maybe, this specific place is also the same place that kickstarted this whole zombie fiasco in the first place. But he really had no fucking clue where. He doubted Gabriel knew anything either, he was the definition of "out-of-touch".

Gabriel coughed to get his attention. Five rolled his eyes in annoyance at having his mental analysis interrupted, but tipped his head up nonetheless.

"What." Five asked impatiently.

"Did- did you have someplace to live before.. Or-" Gabriel did some hand gestures that Five couldn't begin to comprehend.

"Well if you could call an abandoned shack with a broken TV and a terrible sofa 'someplace to live' then yes, I did. For the night, at least." The sofa was extremely uncomfortable, it had holes everywhere and Five was surprised that it hadn't broken down completely the moment he laid on it. "And it had zero electricity, which sucked."

"The night?! S-so you don't have a definite place to stay..?" Gabriel looked even more worried at his admission. Five didn't know why he would be though, it's not like they were close or anything. They had only known each other for approximately seven hours.

"Definitely not." Five did consider staying in that shack, but he's going to go out to try finding somewhere better.

Gabriel went silent for a few seconds, he looked hesitant but seemed to find his resolve when he made eye-contact with Five.

"This church.. You can stay here if you want. T-there's electricity at least." Gabriel smiled genuinely.

Five really didn't know what to say in the face of genuine kindness. It had always been a rather uncommon area for him, since the only people who actually cared about him were his dysfunctional family and Dolores. Anybody else were either using him for their own personal gain, or just straight up out for his blood.

"That.. Would be nice. Thanks." he nodded his head in a somewhat appreciative gesture.

--- ---

"This.. would be our last canned supper for a while." Gabriel sighed sadly as he handed Five a canned tomato soup. He placed down his own can of food beside him before entangling his fingers together to signal prayer.

Five took the canned soup with a somber expression. He used to starve himself during his days in the apocalypse, so going hungry for a few days shouldn't be a problem for him.

But it bothered him (to a certain degree) to see other people go through the same thing as him. He for once, held empathy for somebody who wasn't part of his family. He knew what it felt like to be trapped and starving in a world you didn't even want.

It's different for him, as he chose to actively satisfy his immature curiosity. Coupled with his foolish ego and cockiness in overestimating his own abilities, you'd get a free ticket to early retirement in the apocalypse. And by early retirement he meant death.

Gabriel, however, had no say in this. He didn't choose this kind of life, and he certainly isn't built for it. He'd damn near faint from holding a sharp weapon for a few seconds, Five really couldn't imagine him surviving this kind of world for more than a few months at best. Days at worst.

Gabriel finished his prayer with an 'amen' as he grabbed the canned soup and tipped it into his mouth to consume it.

Five decided that he could go another day without eating, so he left the canned soup as it is. He turned to Gabriel to ask, "Is there an empty grocery store around here? A convenience store? A bakery? Anything that usually sells food?"

Gabriel swallowed his food before nodding in answer. He downed the canned soup to discard it. He looked at Five dubiously, and finally answered,
"There's- there's a food bank near this church. B-but it's flooded and generally unsafe- I don't want you to risk your life in there."

"Gabriel, everywhere is 'generally unsafe' here. And I've gone to worse places, so it won't be that big of a problem." Five scoffed at his apprehension.

"A-are you really going?!" Gabriel stumbled as he stood up in shock.

"Duh? We're literally going to starve if I don't go out and bring something edible back." Five nonchalantly stated as he went to pick up yet another branch with a sharpened end. He hoped to find an actual weapon soon.

"Don't go! You could get- get bitten or irreparably injured!" Gabriel's face paled as he heard him say that.

Five's left eyebrow rose at that. Irreparably? Really?
"I've saved you, multiple times. Didn't you see what I did to those undead fuckers?"

Gabriel appeared agitated. "I know, and I really am grateful for that but- I can't let a child go to such a dangerous place alone. I don't want to have that on my conscience."

"Okay well if it makes you feel any better, you can tag along." Five deadpanned.

"I-I can't! I've been avoiding that place for so long because I knew I would- we would be walking to our deaths!" Gabriel rapidly answered. He really looked like he was about to shit himself.

"You don't want me going there alone but you also don't want to accompany me there either- what the FUCK do you want?! I know for sure I don't want us starving for the next few days, not if I could help it. I'll be FINE! Just peachy, actually."

Without listening to another word, Five walks out of the door. Gabriel scrambled to follow him, ignoring how terrified he felt at that moment.

"Alright I will accompany you! God, please keep us safe." Gabriel helplessly prayed as he did his best to keep up with Five's frantic pace.

--- ---

Gabriel was right, the food bank really was a shithole.

Zombies and rotten body parts swam around the flooded basement, where most of the food supplies were stored at. Five contemplated about whether or not it was still worth scavenging, but he figured he wouldn't exactly find another decently stocked food bank around these woods.

He grimaced in disgust as he dipped his foot in the water to see how deep it went, then finally his whole body. The water went up to his torso, just right below his chest. This limited his mobility, but he was determined to scavenge the area so he didn't back out.

Gabriel stood right at the entryway of the basement with some of the supplies they scavanged from the upper level. Five adamantly told him to stay there and Gabriel reluctantly obliged.

Five went ahead and stabbed the head of the first zombie to come at him. He approached the nearest shelf to grab whatever food supply was left and went back to give it to Gabriel. They continued the process for about 3 more minutes before shit hit the fan.

Apparently the restless zombies broke through the floor from the upper level, and into the basement. Five startled at the sudden amount of zombies swarming to get at him as he fought back.

Five stabbed the head of a zombie that lunged from the right, before effectively twirling the sharpened end of his branch to stab at the zombie coming from his left. He tore off the zombie's head with his branch and used it like a really fucked up club to hit another incoming zombie sideways. It crushed the skull of said zombie and only half of its head remained.

But no matter how fast he killed and fought them, they just kept coming back like fucking bacteria. It was also getting harder to move, and he was getting tired of it.

Gabriel must've seen his beginning of struggle as he suddenly dropped the scavenged supplies on the entryway and quickly made his way to presumably "help" him.

"Gabriel what the fuck are you doing?! Stay the fuck back!" Five shouted as he felt fatigue climbing up to his arms. He risked his balance as he kicked a too-tall zombie in the legs and stabbed its head once it buckled down.

He saw Gabriel freeze in fear? Shock? as a zombie approached him, and Five wasn't having any of it. He pulled at the crusty hair of the zombie and smashed its head against the wall, readying his branch stab it once again.

He didn't expect Gabriel to start shouting at him.

"WAIT! Please don't kill her- please!" He pleaded as Five realized that Gabriel didn't freeze in fear, he froze in recognition.

The zombie was stubborn as it tried biting him with its rotting teeth, but Five quickly ended it with a good stab in the head.

"NO! Why did you do that?!" Gabriel looked hysterical as he sobbed, he didn't even realize that a bunch of zombies had gathered up around him.

"Whoever you think she is, she's already fucking dead!" Five gritted out as he grabbed and pushed Gabriel out of the extremely dangerous zone.

"She- she-" Gabriel couldn't even finish the sentence before a zombie grabbed at his arm. He screamed as he tried pulling back, but it didn't budge. Five whacked its arm off with his zombie-head-club.

They were soon backed off into a corner, and Five could feel the prick of anxiety at the back of his neck. Wait- his teleportation. He fucking hope it works out this time.

He concentrated his whole mind and energy to teleport, this time he didn't feel the accumulated energy leaking out of place. Blue sparks swirled around him as he felt the familiar feeling of a wormhole opening up, waiting for him to jump through.

A zombie was about to get them but Five was faster. He grabbed Gabriel and they both teleported outside of the food bank. Gabriel fell with a thud and he scrambled back from Five in fear and confusion.

"Who- who are you really?!" Gabriel shouted, pointing an accusing finger at him.

When Five stayed silent, Gabriel suddenly looked hopeful. It was a total 180° change from the fearful expression he had just a few seconds ago.

"Are you- a divine entity? An angel sent by Go-" Gabriel looked amazed but Five immediately cuts him off.

"It's none of that bullshit, I was born like this."

"B-but this is impossible. What even happened back there?" Gabriel looked dejected.

"I used my ability to teleport the both of us out of there. We're extremely lucky for it to work, if it didn't we might've not made it out alive." Five couldn't help but feel relieved that his ability came back just in time. Did that mean he could start time-travelling again?

He went to check by accumulating the energy required, he stretched both of his arms out to try and rip through the sheets of reality once again but just like last time, he failed.

Gabriel suddenly knelt in front of him. Five stared at the display, it was so goddamn weird.

"Please, O' Divine Being, please save me from this terrible world! Kill me if you have to-" Gabriel suddenly bowed.

"What the fuck- I told you I am NOT any of that!" Five refused to be called anything like that, he may be superior to most people but he's also just a human nonetheless. A human who had made so many mistakes.

Five strode over to where Gabriel was kneeling to yank him up. He looked at Gabriel in the eyes and said, "Listen, you better keep your mouth shut about this. I don't want you going around preaching about me being God's angel or whatever. You got that?"

Gabriel looked downright depressed, he slumped his head and sobbed again. Five didn't know how to comfort him, or anyone for that matter, so he sighed and left Gabriel alone to give him space. He went back to the entryway to retrieve the supply bag.

Once that was over and done with, he checked to make sure his teleportation had really come back by jumping outside once again, landing beside Gabriel. Gabriel reeled back in shock, not used to seeing an apparently human child go in and out of existence. It was too bizzare for him, he felt like he was dreaming.

Five hummed in amusement. Almost everyone does that when they just met him and saw his teleportation first-hand. Hell, even his siblings do that sometimes, even after all these years.

Five shut his mind up quickly after that. He didn't want to think about his siblings right now. He needs another wash.

Chapter Text

Rick bolted towards the direction where the screaming sounded most prominent. He and his crew of survivors stopped their light-hearted chatter once they've heard a distant cry for help.

Rick knew he should have probably ignored it. Keeping his family safe was a priority. But his time as a cop had led him to instinctively answer any cries for help, and Carl's nudging hadn't helped either. Even if it was bait to lure them into somewhere dangerous, he had a gut feeling that this wasn't like that, but he can't be too sure yet.

They neared the location and Rick could see a figure struggling against four? Maybe five walkers that were grabbing at their legs on top of a boulder. How did they even get on there?

Carl takes the first kill by shooting the walker holding their leg. Michonne stabbed her sword clean into another walker's head, Daryl gripped a walker by the head and smashed it onto the boulder, and Carol stabbed a walker with her knife.

The figure turned out to be a bald man, probably in his mid 40's and appeared to be African-American. He wore a priest's outfit which was oddly clean, which meant he probably had shelter somewhere. Or something of a river current nearby.

The assumed priest got down with Rick's help, he stood shakily as he looked around the area to observe his saviors.

"You okay?" Rick asked after a moment of silence. The priest suddenly doubled over to throw up. Rick looked away as the priest emptied his whole stomach.

The priest stood straight once he was done, "Thank you." He said with a grateful smile. Rick didn't think anyone could look that peaceful anymore, but he somehow did.

"I'm Gabriel." The priest suddenly introduced himself. Rick wasn't going to give the priest his nor his crew members' names until he was one hundred percent sure this man was in the clear.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick asked in a suspicious manner.

"D-Do I look like I would have any weapons?" Gabriel asked him back nervously.

That is a terrible answer, and it makes him look even more shady. Michonne observed him with a frown on her face.

"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like." Abraham piped up.

"I have no weapons of any kind! The word of God is the only protection I need." Gabriel insisted. This earned him a few disapproving looks from his crew.

"Sure didn't look like it." Daryl sneered at him.

"I asked for help. Help came." Gabriel answered patiently. Rick stared at him for a while, the amount of faith and hope he held was something of a rare sight. Although Rick could hear the beginnings of uncertainty in his tone.

Maggie was glaring at him. Gabriel turned over to look at Tyreese, then Judith resting snugly against his arms. "That's a beautiful child." Gabriel said with an amused smile.

At the silence that ensued Gabriel asked, "Do you have a camp?"

What an odd question. Was this man seeking shelter? Rick was almost sure he had one, so he asked him back, "No. Do you?"

Gabriel swallowed, he went silent for a moment before he nodded in affirmation. "I have a church."

Rick sighed as he made a decision. He and his crew are going to stay at his shelter, even if they had to take it over. They urgently needed a place to rest for the next few days, they were all exhausted. "Hold your hands above your head." Rick said in a commanding voice.

Gabriel obliged as Rick felt around the fabric of his sleeves, pants, and shirt. "How many walkers have you killed?" Rick asked the same question he had asked everybody he wanted to take in.

"I haven't killed any-" Gabriel was interrupted as Rick moved on to the next question, "How many people have you killed?"

Gabriel looked conflicted. "No one, I haven't killed anybody."

Rick observed his face for any hints of deception. He couldn't read him as the answer also seemed to be unclear to Gabriel. To that, all Rick could ask him was, "Why?"

Gabriel had a guilty look in his face. Rick stored that thought away as a puzzle to unravel later. "What have you done?" Rick pressed on.

"I am a sinner, I sin everyday. But I only confess them to God, not strangers." Gabriel answered, adamantly not giving them a straight answer. Michonne seemed to have had enough as she questioned him, "You said you have a church?"

--- ---

It had been a week since Five moved into the church.

Five was scribbling on an empty but nasty piece of parchment paper. He was writing down his objectives, and what to do next. As he was about to make another bullet point, he heard the muffled sound of footsteps outside of his room. The amount of footsteps produced could only hint at there being more than a few intruders.

Five could hear the slight clinks that only guns would usually make as the intruders started searching around the church. Five readied his new branch (he unfortunately hadn't found any proper weapons as of now, but that could change soon) and hid himself beside the door while crouching.

Two intruders came inside, they didn't seem to notice his admittedly small figure. They were both armed with rifles, so he had to ambush them quickly. He knocked the man's legs out from under him, sweeping him off his feet which caused the man's legs to buckle down as he cried out in pain.

The lady whipped at his direction to shoot but she was too slow as Five had parried the gun to point away from his direction, causing the bullets to hit the walls from the other side of the room. He got behind the man, caging his throat with the branch.

"ONE more bullet out of that fucking gun, and I'll snap his neck." Five snarled out. He heard alarmed footsteps approaching the room, and soon a bunch of intruders pointed their guns at him. He felt a sense of deja vu, it reminded him of that time a group of commissioned assassins had attempted to ambush him in a local donut shop.

"You wouldn't do that." The lady said, then Five put more pressure into the man's throat to prove otherwise. The man started choking and wheezing, desperately trying to escape his grip but Five wouldn't budge. A woman cried out for him and everyone in the room tensed up. One of them was about to shoot when suddenly Gabriel pushed through the crowd of presumed intruders into view.

"Five, STOP!" Gabriel shouted.

"Did you bring them here?!" Five angrily shouted back at him, he couldn't believe that Gabriel had led a bunch of random armed strangers into this church without verifying their intentions first. Although deep down, Five couldn't stay mad at him. It wasn't like he was any different from them when Gabriel took him in.

A man with graying hair and an unruly beard walked into view. "We mean no harm, all we're asking for is temporary shelter, that's it." The man stated in a stern voice.

"Let our friend go, son. I don't want to have to shoot a kid." Another man with red hair and an equally red beard stepped out, his gun still pointed at him.

After a few seconds, Five let up. He let the man go and he started coughing, placing a hand to his throat to soothe the pain. He was on his knees, as he failed to stand up with aching calfs. The woman who cried out earlier quickly came by his side, glaring daggers at Five.

Everybody else in the room had retreated their weapons, though their wariness against him stayed.

"Whatever, I'm going to the other room. Gabriel, we'll have lunch in an hour." Five rolled his eyes as he walked away from the group.

--- ---

Rick didn't know what to expect when he followed the priest into a church, but it certainly wasn't a homicidal teenager.

Maggie was comforting her husband when Michonne came in the room to give him a few pills that Gabriel had provided for them, in apology for that kid- Five's hostile behavior. They haven't forgiven the kid, but they could at least understand why he did it.

"The hell was his problem?" Carl asked, irritation clear in his voice. Rick sighed as he ruffled Carl's hair.

"We barged into the church unannounced, we'd have done the same thing." Thinking back on it, Rick remembered that Gabriel had tried telling him something after he handed the church key over to him.

Unfortunately, his paranoia had overtaken his mind as he ignored whatever Gabriel said in favor of searching the church as soon as possible.

"I don't like him." Carl said with a grumpy expression. He was clearly upset about Glenn being injured.

"Don't worry, the feeling's mutual."

Everybody in the room startled as Five seemed to suddenly appear in the room. He hadn't knocked, and Rick was pretty certain that he hadn't seen him open the door.

"What the fuck- where did you come from?!" Carl instinctively pointed a gun at him. Five showed no concern about the weapon currently being aimed at him as he pushed it away from his face with an annoyed look. Rick thinks he's a little shit.

"I came to give out dinner. I do hope that you all find canned spinach appetizing." Five said with an infuriatingly smug smile. He walked over to a table and dropped off a basket full of canned spinach. He gave Glenn a look before he walked out of the room.

"So I'm not crazy right? That kid magically popped into existence right?" Glenn piped up with confusion written all over his face.

'This must be what mass hysteria feels like.' Rick thought to himself.

"Everybody, eat and get some rest. We have a long journey ahead of us." Rick instructed. Everybody in the room nodded in understanding as they took turns grabbing a can.

Rick was the last to take one, he opened the can with pure strength and downed the canned spinach. Rick grimaced, it was a disgusting flavor but you really can't be picky about what you eat in the apocalypse.

After a while, Glenn and Maggie had gone to rest for a bit on the couch. Carl and Michonne had taken to tucking Judith in to sleep, so with nothing left to do Rick goes outside of the room to check on the rest of his group.

Sasha and Bob was chatting like usual with the excessive flirting and teasing. They were seated on one of the pew chairs, and sitting next to them was Tyreese. Tara, Eugene, Rosita and Abraham was nowhere to be found.

"Where's Abraham and the rest?" Rick asked the remaining people in the room.

"Oh, Rick. Abraham and Eugene went to try and fix up the old damn bus outside. Tara and Rosita are helping them." Bob recalled.

"What about Carol and Daryl?"

"They're trying to find more vehicles so we can all go to D.C." Sasha informed him. She rolled her eyes in fake annoyance as Bob went to steal another kiss from her.

"What's this about D.C?" Five asked from behind them. They all jumped at that, the kid must've had some insane ability to blend in with the environment to the point of being invisible.

"Jesus- kid! Stop doing that!" Bob scolded him.

"What's. In. D.C." Five pressed on, he seemed entirely focused on that. Rick stepped forward.

"One of our friends is a scientist. He was part of the team that started this whole apocalypse." Rick explained. Five piped up at that.

"So it all started in D.C?" Five asked impatiently. He seemed excited about something.

"That's what he said. He claimed that he knew the cure to this apocalypse." Rick shrugged, he wasn't completely sure that Eugene did but it was better than having nothing to hold onto.

"I'm going to D.C. with you." Five suddenly stated.

"What?" Rick asked, dumbfounded.

"Like you said, this friend of yours may or may not be the key to ending this whole damn apocalypse. I'm going with you whether you like it or not." Five crossed his arms. Rick pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Kid, it's dangerous out there. This church is one of the only safe-zones we've come across, we are not taking you there."

Rick must be losing it because the kid- honest to god disappeared and suddenly appeared in front of him, yanking him down by the collar to face him eye-level. Sasha and Bob screamed in surprise and Tyreese shot up to his feet.

"I don't give a SHIT about how dangerous it is, every corner of this earth is life-threatening at best, torturous at worst. And if you call me 'kid' one more time, I'll rip your fucking head off and mount it on that goddamn wall for everyone to see." Five looked increasingly desperate at that moment.

Rick didn't know what to say, he was extremely shocked that this kid could teleport. He'd seen a handful of it in superhero movies but that was it, it should've stayed fiction, it SHOULD be fiction.

Michonne and Carl burst into the room with weapons in hand, the screams alerted them that something was wrong. Gabriel also came out of his office, looking spooked.

"Holy hell what is going on here?!" Abraham and Eugene were the first to enter.

"Which one of you fuckers is the scientist?" Five lets go of Rick with a light shove as he turned to Abraham. Rick thinks he's hallucinating, this didn't feel real.

When Eugene went to step out, Abraham shoved him behind, shielding him.

"And what reason do you need that information for?" Abraham narrowed his eyes.

Five didn't answer him. He looked straight at Eugene instead. "You're the scientist? Great, let's get packing then."

"Woah, hold on! Why are you calling the shots here? And the bus wouldn't even be fixed until tomorrow."

"That's great, I just need the scientist." Five took another step and Abraham shot at him. Just like earlier, he disappeared and appeared beside Eugene. Rick was starting to feel like he's actually going crazy were it not for the bullet holes being concrete evidence. Carl and Michonne's eyes went wide at the display of supernatural ability.

"WHAT THE FUCK- Are y'all seeing this shit?!" Abraham jolted in surprise and Eugene looked positively terrified as Five yanked him towards a room, presumably to take some supplies for the road- Rick didn't know how he would even travel there without a vehicle but after witnessing his impossible teleportation, he could make the guess.

"You are not taking him anywhere." Rick said after he broke out of his surprised stupor.

"I- I do not consent to this either." Eugene weakly said as he tried to escape Five's grip. Seriously, just how strong is his grip for two grown men to struggle escaping it?

"And it's night out there, if you go now you won't be able to see anything. Not even the road. Unless you also have night vision?" Rick was unsure of whether or not he did, because anything could be possible given that he literally did the impossible.

The kid stopped to think over it. He eventually let go to make eye contact with Rick. "Fine, then we'll leave once the bus gets fixed." His voice sounded condescending, but he looked relieved when Rick gave him a promising nod. Then he popped out of existence.

The room was silent as everyone took a moment to process what they just saw. There's going to be a lot to unpack once his whole group gathers for the next meeting, and Rick could feel a headache developing. God, Rick really hated that brat.

Chapter Text

That went well. He got an active lead now, and he would be leaving by the next sunrise. It's such a shame that he'd be leaving the church so soon, just when he felt comfortable enough with staying in one place.

Five and Gabriel was sitting on opposite sides. They were facing each other, yet Gabriel hadn't spoken a word. It was unusual, since Gabriel would always try to throw in a word or two when the silence gets too loud.

Five almost felt guilty. It was nice to have a companion in the apocalypse this time around, even if it was for a short period of time. But of course, it was inevitable that he'd eventually get a lead to run after.

"So you're leaving?" Gabriel finally broke the silence. He looked sad, but he understood that nobody could stay in one place anymore. That even he would abandon the church one day had it become a place of danger.

"Yeah." Five replied shortly, though the usual tone of aggression had disappeared.

"I understand. Your family may or may not be in D.C, so you have to get going." Gabriel gave him an encouraging look. Five did feel a bit bad that he had to lie about his goal of searching for his family in this world, though it wasn't like he was 100% lying.

It was a partial truth, and it's better than telling Gabriel all about dimension hopping and whatnot, the poor guy would get a seizure trying to comprehend that piece of information.

"You should come with us. The food and supplies are going to run out eventually, then you'll have nobody to help you scavenge for more." Once again, Five tried to convince Gabriel to leave with him, but as expected, Gabriel shook his head.

"This place is God's home, and it's the only place where I belong. I will continue to take care of it, and I'll be smart about rationing the supplies, I promise."

Five only gave a nod as he stood up. He's going to pack up some supplies for the road, though he'll be sure to only grab a handful. Five stepped out of the room to find a few of the other intruders (yes, he's still calling them that) seated on the floor like they're waiting for a college lecture.

When they noticed him, they stared at him like he was some kind of alien creature, and Five didn't know whether or not he should be offended by it.

"The fuck are you all staring at? Didn't your parents teach you that staring was rude?" Five said sarcastically.

The leader inhaled sharply.

"Listen ki- Five, two of our group members had gone missing, so we might have to postpone our departure." The leader looked grave, Five could tell that his eyes were full of worry.

"The hell we are! Fine then, I'll just grab the scientist guy and go. I only asked to come with you out of formality anyway." Five was sure that they'd make it to D.C on foot in about 2-3 days, coupled with small distance teleportation and they could cut it by half.

" Eugene is a part of our group! You can't just take him there by yourself, even if you have super freaky super powers!" A teenage girl protested. She looked to be on the older side, unlike the other teenager who wore the dumbass sheriff hat. Is that what the younger generation are wearing these days?

"I don't think that matters, we'll only need two to three days to reach that place with the map, and I can handle zombies just fine. You can all catch up with us after you find your missing friends. Sounds like a solid plan, don't you think?" Five crossed his arms, daring for her to argue. He could do this all day, it was common territory for him.

"I- I really don't think that's a good idea. I mean- the walkers are way too dangerous for any children under the age of twelve to handle." The presumed 'scientist' spoke out.

"Excuse me? How old do you all think I am?" Five looked flabbergasted. He knew that he looked like a child right now, but surely he wouldn't look younger than 13? Why does it even matter anyway? He's sure that anyone, no matter their age, surviving in this world could defend themselves against the zombies. Otherwise they'd be infected and dying in a random ditch somewhere.

Eugene turned to the teenage girl as if to ask for help, but when he didn't get any he simply responded, "Judging from your height, you should be around eleven years old."

"I'm fifty-eight years old, dipshit. And don't make me explain that, it's a whole other story that doesn't need to be discussed." Five tried his hardest not to look at the dumbfounded expressions everyone had. Now they were looking at him like he was even more of an alien.

"That is scientifically impossible, and I believe that is the product of your active imagination." Eugene denied.

"And how is teleportation any less impossible than me being fifty-eight years old?" When the scientist went silent, Five raised a skeptical eyebrow. Was he even an actual scientist? He seemed more like some guy who tries too hard to act smart by using big words. Whatever, a lead is a lead.

"So what do you say, old man?" Five turned to the leader. He looked deep in thought, then was about to say something when the teenage girl raised her hand. "I'm going too. Eugene's my friend." Her voice sounded determined.

"Alright, great. Anyone else interested in a little road trip?"

The redhaired man from earlier stood up. "Me and Rosita will ride with y'all. We want to get the cure as soon as possible, getting Eugene to D.C had been our goal from the very start."

"Hey! Nobody is going anywhere, we have to stick together until Carol and Daryl comes back. We can't afford to split up." The leader argued.

"Sorry Rick, but the brat is right. You could catch up with Carol and Daryl, but every second that we spend not getting Eugene to D.C means more lives are being wasted. The sooner, the better." The redhaired man reasoned with him.

"Alright then it's settled. I'll pack up some supplies for the road." Five shrugged before teleporting to the storage room.

--- ---

"Dad, are you really going to let them go to D.C alone with that freaky alien?" Carl narrowed his eyes at Rick.

Truth be told, Rick didn't want them to. He felt like they were endangering themselves, but Rick can't stop them either since they're going on their own will and they had the same end goal.

"Nothing we can do about it Carl, they've been gunning for D.C and we're only going to hold them back if we try to stop them." Rick sighed as he sat down on a pew chair, putting his hands on his face.

"Why are we even trusting him in the first place? What if the 'road trip' was a trap to lure them out for slaughter?" Carl's expression held a mix of concern and suspicion in his face. He seemed genuinely worried about their safety, and Rick could relate to that.

After hearing about the details of the ambush from Michonne, he could gather a few things about this kid/old man's (Rick is confused as hell) strengths and possible weaknesses. The first being, his preferred style of combat. Given that he has shown the ability to teleport (Rick still couldn't believe it) with possibly quick to no intervals, Rick has reason to believe that he preferred stealth over anything else.

Second, he had enhanced physical abilities or something along the lines of that. He had not only knocked Glenn over in a matter of seconds, but he had also redirected Michonne's rifle fast enough that she'd completely miss her line of fire.

Lastly, his reaction speed is borderline inhumane. He could somehow anticipate and predict when and where someone was going to send bullets flying at him, and he'd always manage to dodge before the bullets could even hit him.

This was evident in the way that Michonne described him parrying her rifle a mere second after knocking Glenn off his feet. She stated that she had fired her rifle immediately at point-blank range, it would've been impossible for the average human to anticipate much less counter.

With all these facts in mind, Rick had come up with a few strategies to counter the kid if it comes down to it. His preferred style of combat is stealth, so he would be at a disadvantage in a fight against all of his group members at once. He would make sure that they all cover specific areas that he could potentially use to hide, and shoot on sight.

To counter his reaction speed, they would need to lay some traps in the areas Rick guessed the kid would be hiding in, just something to slow him down. He'd need Daryl for that, he's an expert at hunting.

Speaking of, they need to search for Carol and Daryl as soon as possible. Sasha had told him that they went to find more vehicles, so they couldn't have gone too far from here. But if that was the case, they would've been back right about now, unless they were lost.. Somehow.

Anxiety and paranoia from recent events plagued his mind. What if those scumbags had come after them? It was a possibility, since they hadn't checked whether or not every resident in that wretched place are confirmed dead. A group of surviving members could be hunting for them right about now, which means the church is just as dangerous as everywhere else.

He needed to get everyone out tomorrow, they would only be putting their lives at risk if they stayed any longer.

Or maybe he was being hysterical, and all the terminal scums had gone six feet under. That was extremely unlikely, but it was also a possibility. Rick decided that he's going to go find Carol and Daryl first thing tomorrow morning, with Sasha and Tyreese, maybe Bob too. He'll put up barricades before leaving, he wanted to keep his girlfriend and children as safe as possible in the church while he's out.

Rick is going to make sure he kills every single one of the possible survivors from that nasty hellhole, that is a promise.

--- ---

"Is the bus fixed yet?" The teenage girl had been asking that same question for a damn hour. If the bus still hasn't been fixed in another hour he's going to throw a fit.

"I just need to get the back engine up and workin', can someone pass me the screwdriver over there?" The lady in the cap threw him one. Five realized just now that he didn't know their names yet, aside from Eugene. Should he ask for them?

Well, it did make interactions go a lot smoother in the long run, like with Gabriel. So might as well.

"I haven't gotten your names." Five suddenly announced. Everyone turned to him in an instant.

"I thought you wouldn't care about our names." The teenage girl replied honestly.

"Where did you get that from?" Five arched an eyebrow, did he really look that antisocial?

"I mean, you're an alien so we just kind of assumed-"

"I am NOT an alien! I'm literally a human, just like the rest of you." Five narrowed his eyes at the accusation, he knew that having supernatural abilities would make him different in the eyes of most other human beings but that assumption was uncalled for.

"Sorry little dude, it's just kind of hard to believe that superpowers are real. We're in the process of taking that in, you know?" The teenage girl raised both of her hands in mock surrender.

Before Five could continue the argument, a booming voice piped up.

"I'm Abraham, the lady with the hat is Rosita, and the girl that's bullying you is Tara." The redhead- Abraham introduced them.

"Call me Five. Enough with the childish nicknames." He turned pointedly at Tara.

"Why? It's funny. And what are you, five?" She tried not to laugh.

"Har har, very funny. Abraham, are you done yet?" Five was a second away from committing an atrocity. She kind of reminded him of Diego, minus the hero complex. Or maybe she did have one, he just hasn't seen it yet.

"I got it." Eugene stiffly said as he went to fix the back engine. He sounded oddly nervous but maybe that's just how he is. He seemed like a huge coward, but Five wasn't too fond of assuming things about people in that department.

"So, were you born with super powers or something? That sounds cool." Tara suddenly asked.

"Yeah." Five mentally noted to not mention anything about The Umbrella Academy. Judging from how they reacted to his abilities, he could guess that they didn't have any superhero families in this world. The non-fiction kind, at least.

"Is teleportation your only super power? Can you like, fly and make lasers shoot out of your eyes?" Tara enthusiastically asked.

"What the hell do you think I am? Superman? But no, it's not my only ability. I was born with the power to control everything time related, you should be able to guess the rest." Five answered with a mix of sarcasm and amusement. He left out his ability to control the space part, that would be a dead giveaway to his being from an alternate universe.

"Does this mean you can time travel?!" Tara's eyes widened comically.

"Yes, and no. I lost my ability to time-travel when I got here from.. Another country. I'm trying to get it back, and to do that I need to get to D.C, where it all apparently started." Five wasn't going to tell them his whole story, not now at least. He knew that the three others were eavesdropping on their whole conversation.

"Another country? You're a foreigner?" Tara looked surprised at this.

"Something like that." Five shrugged. The sound of the bus starting abruptly ended their conversation, thank god. He wasn't in the mood for another interrogation.

--- ---

Rick and Bob traversed the forest, it was getting late and they still haven't found a clue as to where Carol and Daryl went. They've searched through the church perimeters and then some, yet there seemed to be no trace of them.

Rick hadn't gotten the chance to see Abraham and his lot off since he dispatched the patrol at dawn, but that probably won't matter after they've caught up with them in D.C. Rick hopes they're alright, given that they're driving with that little shit.

Rick and Bob had begun to feel the exhaustion creeping in when the sun was halfway down. Rick thinks it would be best to regroup and discuss what they found, if they even found anything.

They made the detour back to church and found Sasha and Tyreese at the doorstep, the looks on their faces were frantic.

"What did you find?" Rick asked. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer.

"Rick, we found.. Track marks on one of the roads. They might have stolen the vehicle and drove off." Sasha recounted their findings.

Before Rick could try to reason with that information, he heard rustling in the forest. The group had gone quiet at that, they pulled out their weapons as the noise gets more and more prominent, like it was heading towards them.

They were about to yell out a threat when Daryl suddenly limps out without Carol in tow. A kid followed him out.

"Where's Carol?"

Chapter Text

The trees passed by him as he absentmindedly watched through the cracked window. The buzzing whirs of the engine appeased him as Abraham drove through the quiet road, giving the trees the illusion of movement.

'I could fall asleep like this.' he thinks. He was in a good mood actually, nobody could bother him with their dumbass questions since he took it upon himself to hog up the seat at the very back with the help of supply bags. Nobody was talking for the whole ride, this was Five's ideal peace.

But of fucking course the world decided that was the perfect moment to shatter his illusion of a great-going road trip, as shit quickly hit the fan when they passed a random horde of zombies.

Surprised shouts rang out throughout the entire bus body when Abraham suddenly lost control of the bus, it swerved around at random directions and sent everyone (including him) crashing against different random objects in the bus.

Tara tried to stand up for some goddamn reason and she hit her head against the armrest of Eugene's seat. Rosita ended up planting face first against the barrier between the driver's seat and the front row one.

Five and Eugene had enough sense to hold onto something but that hadn't helped much as the bus eventually crashed into another vehicle, causing the bus to flip over on its side.

Five had teleported outside the bus on reflex before it could face total annihilation, just to get get greeted by the ugly faces of a thousand zombies. That was an exaggeration, as there were only about 20 of them.

Five took out his yet again newly sharpened branch, he knew it was going to be messy and tiring on his end. He swore to find an exquisitely sharp and preferably metallic weapon when he gets to D.C.

Just like usual, he lets them make the first move. It was always idiotic, as they kept randomly lunging at him in every direction. When they thought they had him cornered, he teleported right behind them to start hacking away at a mass of zombie heads, driving the branch into 3 or more zombies at once, effectively killing them as he kept on skewering their heads like it was barbeque season.

He felt the familiar rush of adrenaline course through his blood like a raging wildfire actively burning down everything on its path, the fire burned hot and it felt like an unstoppable force.

Skewer it, pull it off. Skewer it, pull it off. Skewer it, pull it off.

It was comically easy to kill the zombies ever since he got his teleportation back. Sure, he hadn't really had a hard time dealing with them before that, but Five definitely felt more at home jumping through wormholes and stabbing a bunch of zombies through the head as he took advantage of his ability to the fullest.

He dodged an incoming attack from his left by stepping back as he stuck a leg out, leaving the zombie to plant its face on the surface of the rotten-blood-covered road. He didn't need to stab its head as it hilariously rolled off its body upon hitting the ground.

He felt another incoming lunge at him from behind, so he readied himself before teleporting behind it in midair, vertically puncturing its body from head to torso. He crashed into the ground with its decomposing body as he swiftly pulled his branch out.

The last remaining zombie seemed to notice and immediately ran towards him, but before Five could teleport again a bullet had already pierced through its head.

Abraham grunted as he withdrew his shotgun, he glanced around the area that was littered with unmoving corpses.

It was tiring, but it was worth it. He thinks there might be something deeply wrong with him. Where others might find desperation and pain in committing violence, he thrived on it. His blood had always flowed much faster the moment he got his hands on a weapon and started swinging, it never failed to inject him with life.

"How long was I out?" Abraham stood beside the wrecked bus, they were lucky the bus hadn't caught on fire.

"Ten minutes, give or take." Five shrugged as he approached the bus, he needed to check on Eugene. He better not be dead, the crash shouldn't have been too bad.

"You did all this?" Abraham let out a whistle as he scanned the carnage done by yours truly. It truly looked horrendous, the corpses laid close to each other like the zombie equivalent for the aftermath of bug spraying mosquitoes.

"I needed to make sure no zombie gets in while you were all unconscious." And with that, Five went inside the bus to check on Eugene. Tara and Rosita too, but mainly Eugene.

When he peeked inside, he found Rosita already up and standing as she helped a dazed-looking Tara walk towards the exit. Rosita only gave him a nod of acknowledgement when she passed by him.

Five's movement halted when his foot came into contact with one of the supply bags, the medicine pills and bottles had all been crushed to oblivion.

'Oh we lost our only means of medication, just great. This is going so well.' Five was internally screaming. He mentally noted to check on the rest later after he gets Eugene out.

Five found Eugene still unconscious in the corner of the bus, glass shards scattered all over his body like glitter. He kneeled beside him and checked his pulse, releasing the breath he held when he found it.

He put one of Eugene's arms around his shoulders as he hitched them both up to teleport outside the destroyed bus.

Rosita and Tara jolted when Five suddenly appeared with an unconscious Eugene, Abraham seemed to be busy checking if the bus really was beyond saving. It just looked like sheer desperation to Five, the bus was flipped on its side, even if the 5 of them tried to un-flip it their combined strength wouldn't be enough.

"Watch over him until he wakes up will you?" Five dropped Eugene's body off beside Tara.

"Ay ay, captain." Tara mocked him as she got her knife out. Five missed the blissful silence already.

Five rolled his eyes at her and jumped back in the bus to retrieve the food supply bag. Hopefully that one hadn't been as damaged as the one he came across earlier.

It wasn't difficult to find as it had been the biggest bag of the bunch. It miraculously hadn't spilled out any contents despite the impact, so that was a plus. He hauled it over his shoulder and jumped back outside.

For some reason, Tara hadn't gotten used to his jumps despite having seen it multiple times by now, as she had attempted to stab him when he appeared in front of her. Five nonchalantly dodged it before it could stab a hole into his brain.

"Oh shit- kid, you scared me!" Tara shouted, he didn't know if it was out of concern or surprise.

"You better get used to it, 'cause I'm not stopping anytime soon." Five gave her a smug grin. Tara just looked indignant.

Five took a glance at Eugene, he was still knocked out. He carefully placed the bag down next to him when it dawned on him that it was probably going to take a while before he wakes, so he walked over to Abraham.

"If you're totally sure the bus isn't salvageable then I can teleport us to D.C. Gradually." Five said it so casually as if he wasn't inviting Abraham to jump in a wormhole created by tearing through the fabric of space and reality itself.

Abraham was bewildered, the shock in his face was palpable as his eyes widened significantly like Five had just told him about the secrets of the universe.

"You kiddin' me?"

--- ---

Daryl and the kid, Noah filled him in on the situation. It had been simple, all things considered. Turns out Beth was alive, thank fucking god for that. Maggie was sobbing in relief when she heard that particular piece of information.

But then they moved on to the next part, where Carol got hit by a car and is currently being held captive in a hospital Noah used to work for. Rick, being the paranoid prick that he was immediately jumped to conclusions.

"You're a spy aren't you?" Rick questioned him accusingly, gripping the kid's collar as he shoved him against a wall to intimidate him. The others immediately tried to get him off, but Rick cared more about their safety than he did about potentially harming an innocent teenager.

"I- I swear I quit man, I wouldn't be here if I didn't! The only reason me and your friends crossed paths to begin with was because I ran away!" Noah was shaking under his grip, but he seemed genuine in his claims. Rick finally let go when Glenn was being extra persistent with his nudging. He didn't know why his paranoia had spiked up lately.

He was going to blame everything on Five, purely because he was an annoying little shit who may or may not have messed up his perception between fiction and reality.

"Rick, what's gotten into you man?" Glenn asked him with concern in his voice.

"I don't know, everything's been a bit much don't you think?" Rick chuckled a humorless laugh, his mind was a whirlwind of different thoughts and emotions and he didn't even know how to begin coping with it.

"We'll get through this, we have to. For Beth, for Carol, we have to rescue them. We should focus on that for now." Glenn shot him a reassuring smile and Rick was eternally grateful for it. Reassurance was a rare thing in the apocalypse, and Rick was extremely lucky to have met a friend like him in this shithole. Without it, he thought that he would've lost it a long time ago.

"Alright, kid-" Rick suddenly raised his voice on Noah, it instantly made the teenager stand upright. "What can you tell us about Beth and Carol's situations?"

"I met Beth at the hospital, we worked under the same woman- Dawn. The situation there is terrible, the officers run the whole place and they monopolize their authority." Noah went silent, before he continued, "Carol is probably hooked up to an IV by now. Worst case scenario, she's on life support, in which case it's entirely up to Dawn to decide whether she's worth saving. I've seen it happen to multiple people already, it wouldn't be any different this time." Noah finished his explanation gravely.

"Which and where is the hospital?" Rick interrogated. He felt like he was thrown back to the time he was a head cop interrogating criminals.

"The Grady Memorial Hospital, it's located in Atlanta." He looked increasingly nervous when Rick makes intense eye contact with him, as if trying to read his deepest thoughts. It probably seemed unnerving, but he let him do whatever because he probably didn't want any more unnecessary problems.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Rick asked him the first of the usual set of questions when he's taking somebody in.

"What- I don't know, not much?" Noah answered in a befuddled state.

"How many people have you killed?"

"N-none..? Why are you suddenly asking me this?"

"Why?" Rick narrowed his eyes, while he can believe that the kid hadn't killed anyone directly, he worked at a tyrannical hospital under someone in power. He had to have killed someone indirectly at least.

"Because I don't want to? What am I supposed to say?" Noah diverted his eyes elsewhere, looking everywhere else but at Rick.

Rick sighed as he went inside the storage room, grabbing a can of food. He walked back outside and tossed it to Noah, who unexpectedly caught it.

"Eat. Tomorrow night, we're going to Atlanta." Rick commanded, already forming a plan in his head.

--- ---

They've teleported for approximately 15 kilometers, stopping in-between jumps because somebody keeps getting fucking queasy. It had been a surprise to himself that he could apparently teleport multiple people at once, but since he had thrown him and his siblings into the void of time, he figured he could do it with teleportation too.

"Kid- Five, we need to take a break. This whole thing is fuckin' insane to begin with, it's nauseating." Abraham complained.

"It's almost dark out here, we need to get there quickly!" Five protested.

"Not everyone have goddamned abnormal abilities like you do! We normal folks get disoriented when we jump through fuckin' wormholes." Abraham said that last sentence as if it was a joke, like he couldn't believe that was a sentence he'd ever say.

Five was about to protest some more when Tara interjected, "He's right, we can't keep doing this. I'm going to hurl any moment now."

"Same here." Eugene hopped into the nausea bandwagon. He had came to 20 minutes after Five's talk with Abraham, and he had suggested they go back to the church immediately. As if they had the time for that, they had travelled all this way and one of the things Five absolutely hated is wasting time.

"We should find somewhere to rest." Rosita suggested.

"Yeah? Like that conveniently placed bookstore over there." Tara pointed at an old bookstore. Five hadn't realized he had teleported them to some kind of ghost town, the buildings looked old and moldy, like the ones he used to find in his first apocalypse.

"Alright, fucking whatever! Let's break in." Five huffed at them, he figured he couldn't force Eugene to continue their little jumping journey as he looked rather green in the face.

They broke in by forcefully kicking the door down, it had been rickety so it was pretty easy. Abraham and Rosita scanned the bookstore to kill any remaining zombies inside, while Five and Tara looked around the store.

An encyclopedia isle here, a novel isle there, it's the same old boring shit Five used to find in the rubbles of libraries, something to keep him mildly entertained while surviving in a world where insects are his only friends. Five missed Dolores, he hadn't seen her ever since he trusted the retail employees to take care of her.

When Abraham and Rosita gave the clear, Five settled himself down against the back of a bookshelf. It was dusty and gross, but Five took comfort in the familiar scents of paper. But of course, Tara had to sit down next to him with some kind of superhero comic in hand.

"Oh wow Five, I can't believe you came right out of this book. This you?" She pointed at a character, he was short, had green skin, long ears and a pair of fangs.

"Fuck off. I'm not engaging in your petty bullshit." Five rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, looking away.

It was silent for a moment, before she solemnly said, "Thanks. For keeping us safe back there. And sorry for almost stabbing you."

Five just shrugged, "I'm used to it. Back in my days, everyone and everything were out for my blood."

Tara laughed at that, "If you keep talking like that, I'm going to start believing you're actually a fifty-eight year old man."

"Believe whatever you want, but I'm completely serious about that."

"Serious about you being a wrinkly old grandpa?" Tara said in a teasing voice. Five hit her shoulder in retaliation, though there was no real force put into it. Five missed bantering with his siblings. They were definitely more mean-spirited than Tara, but that wasn't a surprise since they were raised by an ancient douchebag.

It was silent again, but Tara still looked curious so Five knew she was about to shoot another question when they heard moaning- like sexual moaning. What the fuck?

Five peeked out of the shelf to see the horrifying image of Abraham and Rosita having sex, this was way more terrifying than anything this world had to offer. Five looked away, the image forever burned into his memory. He wished Allison was here so she could wipe that shit out of his brain.

"Dude, your face is so red right now."

"Why the fuck are they doing that in here?!" Five whisper shouted at her. She just shrugged, as if it was a common occurrence. It definitely wasn't for Five, and he could not take it any longer so he promptly teleported outside. The sun had completely gone down by now, so it was kind of hard to see. But he'd rather walk around the dark road than hear them do that for another second, that shit was uncomfortable.

He definitely needed some fresh air.

--- ---

It seemed like it was almost noon when there was a sudden knock at the church door. Rick was immediately on alert, nobody had gone outside so whoever is on the other side must be an enemy.

Rick quietly told everyone to hide in the rooms, he signalled for Sasha and Daryl to hide in the corners of the church, hidden in the shadows. Carl took Judith into the office room, placing her in the crib to make her fall asleep. Michonne was with him the entire time, readying her katana for the potential danger.

The knocking had evolved into banging. Before it stopped. It was suddenly too quiet, but then the sound of gunshots hitting the glass windows filled the room.

Rick heard the familiar chuckles of a madman, a chuckle so twisted it held the thousand souls of the humans he- they all cannibalized.

"Hey Rick! Come out here if you don't want us sending the church blazing!" Rick called that bluff, Carol had set off every detonator when she came to rescue them. Unless..

"Yep! We made our own molotov." He could hear the animalistic grin in his voice. They were at a checkmate, both parties were waiting for the other to make the first move.

Seems like the cannibals were impatient, as one of them decided to throw in a lit molotov. It hit one of the pew chairs, lighting it up on fire.

Chapter Text

They left the bookstore early, just when the sun had fully shown itself. Judging by the crisp air most mornings tended to have, it was safe to assume that it is currently 7 to 8 AM. They walked past a bunch of abandoned buildings, it definitely looked worse under decent lighting.

Five was correct in assuming the buildings looked run down and moldy, but that was putting it way too lightly. One of the buildings had moss covering its once pearly white walls, the windows were destroyed, and it had all kinds of marks scorching every corner that Five could see. Everyone who lived in this town is most likely dead or they were smart enough to flee because the other buildings looked much, much worse.

Five was shaken out of his observation when Tara suddenly exclaimed, "Guys! Guys, look!" and pointed to a fire truck in an abandoned parking lot.

It obviously belonged to the fire department building right next to it, but Five was skeptical. "The only vehicle, conveniently parked in the abandoned fire department's parking lot. Does this not raise any flags for you?" Five quipped behind Tara.

"I'll take the risk if it meant we don't have to go through your nutty wormholes anymore." Abraham ran past him to approach the truck. As they all caught up, Five waited for something bad to happen. An ambush, the faint ticking sound of a bomb, anything. So he raised his branch, and waited.

He waited.

And waited.

.

But nothing happened.

Five lowered his branch, but he was still suspicious. The others gave him odd looks but they probably understood where he's coming from. He said probably because they quite literally walked around the place as if they were confident the whole place was safe and cleared of any danger.

His back was still tense due to the alarm he felt, but he was actually kind of curious about the insides of the building. Maybe it had some useful first aid kits lying around? Tara seemed to have the same idea as she walked up to him.

"Hey little dude, wanna check it out?" She pointed at the barricaded door, most likely the nearest entrance to the storage rooms.

"Stop calling me that, and that was my idea." Five gave her a look of pure annoyance in which she responded with a laugh. Why was she finding so much amusement in tormenting him?

Whatever, hopefully he can return to his family once they get to D.C.

Five walked towards the door to hack away at the rusty lock and chains, it hadn't been difficult as the door was flimsily barricaded, not properly locked. Strange, it almost looked like someone did it in a haste-

Unless..

The door burst open as a bunch of zombies reached their arms out to grab him. Five yelped as a zombie pulled at his arm but Tara quickly sliced it off. "Kid, focus!" She shouted at him in alarm. This immediately sobered him up as he stabbed at its head with enough force for it to immediately penetrate another one behind it. He kicked at its chest and immediately pulled it out to strike another one.

Tara kept her calm as she stabbed the zombies that walked out of the door, determined to kill them off before they could reach the parking lot. The zombies quickly thinned out, Five seemed to have overestimated the amount as he stabbed the last zombie's head into the wall. The branch was getting difficult to grip with the amount of blood coating it anyway, so he could say goodbye to that one. He could always make another one.

Tara looked at the display in disbelief, "Did you just stab a branch through a brick wall?"

"Genius observation skills, I'm truly impressed." Five blinked inside the entrance, not wanting to step on the puddle of zombie blood.

"Damn, that's cool. I've always wanted to have super strength as a kid, does it run in your genes?" Tara asked, ignoring his sarcastic reply.

"Probably? Probably not. Who knows." Five quickly gave a vague answer. Tara thankfully dropped the question as she stepped around the blood, catching up to Five as he continued walking down the hallways. They eventually came to a stop at two storage rooms on opposite sides of the hall. Which was weird, but it couldn't hurt to check out. Five could just teleport outside should he get cornered by another zombie ambush.

"You check that room, I'll check this one." Five told Tara, she nodded in agreement. They went their separate ways and Five teleported inside. The room was rather humid and grubby, whole shelves were completely covered in dust, so much that it looked like fake snow. Five wasn't surprised to see cobwebs forming around the ceilings and corners of the room. He looked around the room to try finding a medkit.

Five stopped when his eyes landed on a dust covered glass box attached to a wall. He slowly approached it then wiped the dust off with the fabric of his sleeve. It revealed an axe. A shiny, brand new, beautiful red axe.

It felt like seeing Dolores for the very first time. The axe contrasted with its surroundings, it didn't deserve to be encased in such an abysmal glass box. Five elbowed the box, the glass shattered into a million pieces as Five grabbed the axe. It felt great, the edges miraculously stayed sharp, as if it had never been used before. Five couldn't wait to try it out, he finally had a proper weapon.

Five tucked the axe securely in his bag, he's bound to use it later. Oh wait, he's supposed to be searching for a medkit. Five almost forgot about that, the axe was the most beautiful thing he'd seen in this world.

He looked around the shelves, it was mostly empty save for some broken bottles. Why it was even there in the first place, he had no idea. He found that a lot of the boxes and crates were hidden under a tarp, so he carefully removed it as to not get any more dust on his clothes.

Five opened the first box and immediately went into a coughing fit as dust clouded his vision. He promptly closed it, whatever was in that box is junk, he decided. He moved on to the next box, it seemed way more promising than the last one. Five opened the box and lo and behold, a perfectly unused medkit. It was relatively clean too, he'd only need to swipe off a few of the dust for it to look crystal clean, as if someone had purposely stored it there not long ago, judging by the condition. Someone definitely had taken shelter in here then, what if he's basically just stealing another person's supplies while they were out?

Whatever, it's not his fault somebody left behind a clean medkit in their relatively public shelter. He looked around some more to see if he could find some other useful things, but he came up empty-handed. Five teleported outside to see that Tara was already done as she helped Abraham with a.. hose? Are they seriously drinking water from an abandoned fire truck?

It was incredibly stupid, but Five could understand where they're coming from. He once drank radioactive water during his first apocalypse when he was close to dying due to extreme dehydration. Five shuddered at the memory, never again. His immune system fought like hell that day.

"Oh kid, you're back. Want some water?" Tara offered him once she took notice of his appearance.

"I'm not really in the mood for some cholera, keep that to yourself." Five shot her a condescending smile.

"Suit yourself, don't come crying to me when you get a sore throat on the road." Tara shrugged as she kept drinking her nasty water.

"I really hope you get diarrhea after this."

--- ---

Gunfire rang from outside the church. The door were barely hanging on with the amount of bulletholes it had, and their efforts of barricade were slowly stripped away.

"Time's tickin' Rick! Get out now and we'll give ya a painless death, or don't and we'll make sure to torture ya to death!" The Terminus bastard shouted, though Rick could barely hear him as he tried his best to put out the large fire. Sweat ran down his forehead at the heat, Michonne and Tyreese helped him by quickly covering the pew chairs with cloth, though it wasn't thick enough to put it out entirely.

"This isn't working. Everyone! Gabriel! Is there another way out? A backdoor?" Rick asked him with urgency. Gabriel hesitated before he nodded. "I have a hidden hole in my office, you all can crawl your way out from under there."

"Everyone, gather any supplies you can, one or two is enough!" Rick shouted over the loud crackling of fire. Another gunshot rang out and it immediately heightened his urgency. Carl ran towards one of the rooms to grab Judith, Gabriel led Daryl and Noah towards the supposed hidden hole in his office, and the rest went to grab at the remaining supplies.

Rick ran towards the office, seeing Gabriel open one of the floor boards, revealing a tight and narrow space. It's going to be difficult for Tyreese to fit through, Rick realized. But Rick will get him out another way, he promised.

Rick ushered everyone to go in, the first was Michonne. She dropped down and crawled her way out. There weren't any indications of a fight ensuing, so it was safe to assume they got the clear. Next was Bob, then Sasha, then Maggie, then Daryl and Noah. Carl was extra careful as he clutched at Judith, slowly crawling out on his side as to not accidentally crush her under his weight.

Glenn dropped down the hole and looked back at Rick. "You sure you're gonna be okay?" He asked in concern as he cast a glance at Tyreese.

"Yeah, I'll catch up with you guys soon. Gabriel, is there another place nearby?" Rick asked.

"There's a school near the church, I haven't set foot in there for a long time, so I don't know if it's clear." Gabriel talked quickly.

"I'll tell the others. Rick, Tyreese, be safe." And with that, Glenn crawled away.

"Gabriel! Is there a bigger way out of here?!" Rick asked before it's Gabriel's turn. Gabriel looked increasingly alarmed as the fire just kept getting bigger, he swallowed a lump of anxiety and answered, "The other room, you can smash the window open, but doing that would alert the intruders outside."

"It's fine, now hurry up and crawl out!" Rick was confused when the priest did not move an inch.

"This church is a sacred place, if I am to die with it then so be it." Gabriel nervously announced. Rick couldn't believe his ears, surely he's not seriously going to die for a building?

"What the hell are you saying?! Get out while you still can!" Rick didn't want to hear another word from him as he kicked Gabriel down the hole and closed the board, he held it down with his leg. He felt Gabriel hitting the board, but it eventually stopped as Gabriel (hopefully) crawled out.

"Let's go, I'm getting you out of here." Rick said to Tyreese as they both ran to the other room, the flames had almost reached the altar at that point. Rick coughed as the ashes filled his nostrils, but he kept going. They barged into the other room, and Rick wasted no time shooting the window open. The Terminus scumbags probably noticed it by now, so they both got out quick. Rick flinched when Tyreese accidentally got his hand cut from the remaining shards on the rim of the window.

It didn't take them long to find the group who went deeper into the forest, Gabriel was kneeling as if in a prayer. The group just stayed silent, letting Gabriel pay respects to his belief. The church he'd taken care of for who knows how long had burned to the ground, Rick knew he's going through it right now.

The leaves rustled and Rick knew they couldn't stay any longer, so he signalled his whole crew to find the school. Gabriel seemed to have finished praying as he stood up and said, "I'll lead you all there."

His voice sounded hoarse and hopeless. Gabriel walked with the demeanor of a walker, but they all get like that sometimes. Rick thinks he'll be okay, he'll pull through. They all did.

--- ---

Someone must've done something good today because the ride goes on without a hitch. No blown tires, no self-exploding engines, just a nice pleasant ride to D.C. aka Five's probable one way ticket to his siblings. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, except for Eugene. Five has never seen him in a good mood, so maybe the frown he had was some weird sign that he's happy.

"You're awfully excited, what are you looking forward to the most in D.C?" Tara asked from beside him. The seats in the truck was pretty limited, so he had no choice but to sit next to her. So far, she had been asking him relatively harmless questions, but who knows when she's going to start asking him some personal ones.

"Mainly? Getting my time-travelling ability back." Five replied shortly.

"You know, you've never actually explained that bit. Are you a time-traveler?" Rosita unexpectedly asked him a question, and it kind of hit the mark but not quite. She's sharp.

"Something like that. It's part of my job." Five kept on feeding them the most ambiguous answers.

"A job? So you're a time-traveler on a mission?" Rosita narrowed her eyes, Five had a feeling she had never really trusted him, which made sense. He was an anomaly in this world, but they didn't know that. The only thing they knew about him was that he's a 58 year old man in a 13 year old body who can teleport like it's magic.

Point is, he doesn't blame her for thinking he's untrustworthy, he did after all injure one of her crewmates. He didn't really make a good first impression, he could admit.

"Not intentionally, but yes. I'm here to stop the apocalypse in this timeline, which is why I insisted on heading to D.C as soon as possible." He really just wanted his time travelling ability back, but that was half true.

"But what if you can't." Eugene's voice came out of nowhere.

"Excuse me?" Five didn't think he heard right.

"What if you can't stop the apocalypse? What then?" Eugene anxiously rubbed his hands.

"You're a scientist, part of the team who had a hand in unleashing this damn apocalypse aren't you? Then you should know how to stop it." Five's eyes sharpened in suspicion once again. Was Eugene really who he claimed himself to be?

"Y-yes, that is true, I don't even know why I asked such an illogical question." He was full on sweating by now, Five found that odd because the weather hadn't been particularly warm.

The ride continued on in comfortable silence. Well it would be completely silent if it weren't for the engine constantly roaring, as if it's going to give out soon. Five blocked out the sound as he traced the outline of his new axe, it felt like an early Christmas present. Then suddenly-

"For Christ's sake!" Abraham cursed as he stopped the truck.

Ugh, what's the problem this time? Apparently a smooth sailing ride was too much to ask for. Five stood up and walked next to Abraham, trying to get a better view of the problem. Five's eyes almost popped out of its sockets when he saw the big ass horde of zombies, it didn't even look like a horde at this point, it looked like a goddamn ocean. He didn't suppose the truck could part the zombies like that guy who parted a red sea in that one book he read.

But alas, they really needed to get to D.C, so onwards it is.

"Wait a minute, hold on now. Abraham, you're not thinking of driving through THAT are you?" Tara piped up from her seat.

"We have to. It's the only way to save current lives. We can't let all the lives we lost go to waste now, can we?" Abraham answered in an unusually cold demeanor. Five didn't know him long enough to be able to make that assumption, but from the little he's seen of him, he'd always appear more stern than cold.

"That is a very dangerous idea, I advise us to steer clear of it before we lose our lives to it." Eugene chimed in to make his objections known.

"The map here shows an alternate path to go around this one, although it's definitely a longer one." Rosita tried showing Abraham the map. But he didn't listen as he suddenly stomped on the accelerator, marching the truck closer and closer to the ocean of zombies-

"I'm not a scientist!" Eugene shouted. The truck screeched to a halt.

Five fucking knew it was too good to be true.

Chapter Text

Gabriel led the whole group deeper down the forest, it didn't have a clear path until they eventually made it out to a forest clearing. The sun was at its peak and therefore they took the brunt of the scorching heat. Everybody was tired and afraid, they thought they had somewhere they could temporarily rest safely, but then the cannibals came knocking at their door.

"We're near." was the only thing Gabriel had said throughout the entire journey, but Rick couldn't blame him. The situation was too tense for anyone to even be in the mood for small chatter, let alone an actual conversation. Add that with the cannibals that are most likely on their trail, it's better to keep quiet.

A rather uninviting playground came into view with a red building next to it, everything about it looked dreary. It seems the apocalypse had that effect on just about any place that people would've considered a bright and happy place before the walker epidemic started, or maybe not because this is a school they're currently stepping into.

A silver gate greeted them as they got closer to the school, thankfully it wasn't barbed so it was easy to climb over it. The glass doors of the school's entrance were cracked, but they were careful enough to not break it entirely as Gabriel slowly pushed the door open. It didn't look any better inside the school, the hallways were pitch black and they had no way of knowing whether they're in the clear or not. But considering the fact this was a public Sunday school, it's entirely possible that there's a crowd of infected children in one of the classrooms.

The Survivors surveyed the area, guns and rifles in hand. They needed to be prepared to face danger at all times, lower your guard down and it's over. That's the reality they had to go through each day, and today was the prime example of it.

If only Rick had been more vigilant about the possibilities of the Terminus bastards getting back at them for essentially destroying their cannibalistic meat factory, they probably wouldn't be stuck in a dingy school with no light source whatsoever. Fortunately, the woods were quite literally next to the building, so they could definitely build a campfire with Daryl's guidance.

That is, if the cannibals haven't caught up to them by then.

Rick led them up to a flight of stairs, until they were at the highest floor. "Everyone, near the windows!" Rick ordered, the windows were their only light source and to be near them is the best option. They need their vision now more than ever.

Everyone either hid beside or under the windows, their weapons ready in hand. Except for Gabriel, who only curled up in the corner looking straight at the rusty door of a classroom. It was a damning silence, the only sound anyone could hear were their own steadying breaths. The cannibals could be here at any moment now.

It only took a few minutes for that statement to be true. Rick peeked out the window to see all eight of the surviving cannibals approaching the school in an all too carefree manner. The leader (Rick didn't want to remember his name) slowly walked as he dragged his crowbar against the bars of the gates, making rattling noises, as if to mock them.

"Why are you running away, Rick? We just wanted to have a nice.. little.. conversation." The leader didn't seem to have figured out their location yet as he kept shouting in every direction. They switched strategies to try and get them to reveal their positions when two of the members started aiming their guns and firing at the first floor, shattering all of the classroom windows.

"Come out already! You don't want us attractin' a bunch of walkers do you?!" The leader laughed as the members continued to shoot at the second floor. The highest was the third. Rick and the others stayed calm, they aren't taking the bait. Suddenly, the sound of a baby's wails rang through the hallway. Carl jumped as he tried calming Judith down, but her cries got louder since the cannibals hasn't stopped their open fire.

Horrifically, the leader perked up at the sound of the wailing, he grinned maliciously as he said, "What an adorable baby you have there! Judith, was it?" The members aimed their guns but the leader unexpectedly raised his hand to halt them.

"How about we strike a deal, Rick? You die by our hands and we'll let little Judith live! And maybe your son, Carl too, how about it?" The leader smirked as if he was offering them the greatest offer in the world.

Rick didn't answer, he knew it was another bait tactic made to kill him off by revealing himself from the window.

"Know this, you've killed your children, Rick." The leader clicked his tongue at his lack of response, and Rick watched as the members cocked their guns at the windows. Rick was ready to tell everyone to take cover and flee from the range of fire, when he saw it again. Flashes of blue struck both of the armed members like lightning, their guns dropped down to the ground.. with their severed hands attached to it.

<--- ---

"What the hell do you MEAN you're not a scientist?!" Five already knew the answer but he felt like asking it again, if only to delay the feeling of hopelessness from settling in.

Though maybe he did set himself up for failure the very moment he asked to go on a fucking road trip with a group of random strangers. Now that he thought about it, why did he blindly believe in some guy who looked more like a highschool dropout than somebody with any significant experience in scientific fields?

Five felt like kicking himself for being desperate enough to actually believe that in the first place, and for pushing down his more rational side that suspected this guy of lying at every opportunity leading up to this point.

"I mean exactly as I said, I'm not a scientist, I do not possess knowledge of the cure nor anything about stopping the apocalypse." Eugene bowed his head in shame, he sounded extremely guilty.

"..why?" Rosita quietly asked. Her face showed an indiscernible expression.

"Because- I know I'm weak, I know that I'm a coward. I can't survive without any of you. I had to make something up, something that made me valuable enough to keep around. I believe that D.C holds the strongest possibility for survival, so I thought I might as well bring you all with me." Eugene explained.

"People- people died to bring you there, Eugene." Rosita replied with hard, stony eyes.

Five noticed that Tara looked the most disappointed out of all of them, but she just stayed silent. Abraham was shaking in the driver's seat, his hands clenched tight around the steering wheel.

"I-I know, Stephanie, Warren, Rex, Roger, Josiah, Dirk, Josephine." Eugene stuttered out unfamiliar names. Then, he continued, "As the reality of getting to D.C came closer, I intentionally slowed down our path. I was responsible for the church bus. I've managed to get this far because I knew about a lot of things, and I'm a good liar. It helps that I'm smarter than all of you-"

Abraham suddenly lunged at him from the driver's seat, he tackled Eugene to the ground and started rapidly punching him. Tara and Rosita immediately looked alarmed as they latched onto each side of his shoulders to get him off Eugene. Five just stood by, he felt that Eugene definitely deserved the beating he's currently getting. Hell, he'd even contribute a kick to the sack for outright deceiving all of them.

"Abraham! Fucking stop!" Rosita shouted, it was obvious their combined strength wouldn't be enough to hold him back, so Rosita resorted to cocking a gun to his head. Abraham immediately stopped punching in favor of staring at the gun, his eyes turned unseeing, as if it unlocked a distant memory. Rosita kicked the backdoor of the fire truck open and demanded Abraham to step out. Abraham complied, but not before landing one final punch that finally knocked Eugene out.

"What the fuck did you do that for?!" Tara yelled out as she kneeled next to Eugene's unconscious body to check on him. Rosita made Abraham kneel on the ground like he's on time-out. Five felt like he's intruding on some personal business, he really wants nothing more than to go back to the church.

"Fuck this, I'm gonna go back." Five unceremoniously told Tara.

"Dude, seriously? At least wait until Eugene wakes up, we could go back together."

"I am definitely not going to wait for who knows how long for a lying asshat, and it'll probably take him longer to get his shit together!" Five pointed at Abraham. Five ignored the prick of hypocrisy, he was also telling them half-truths.

"Alright fine, but I'm staying here to look after Eugene." Tara sighed.

"Fine by me, you're eventually going to go back right? I'll tell the others." Five said. Without saying another word, he teleported a few kilometers down the road, retracing his steps back to the church. He won't admit it, but he kind of missed Gabriel. He'd been the first person to show him genuine kindness in a long time, one could say he's currently the only person Five held empathy for, and maybe Tara too.

--- --->

"What in the hell happened here.." Five muttered, his eyes widened at the sight of the burning church. Seeing the shattered windows and obvious bullet holes denting the church door, it's easy to guess that the church had been raided. By who? Five doesn't know. But when he finds out, he's going to murder them.

Five teleported inside the church, he needed to check if anybody was left in there. He felt fear at the possibility of Gabriel's corpse burning alongside the church, he wouldn't put it past him. His mind conjured up the unpleasant image, so he tried his best to chase it away as he checked through the rooms, careful to not step into the large fire that kept spreading by the minute.

He coughed and heaved when he accidentally breathed in too much smoke, but he was determined to make sure there were no bodies left behind. He felt relieved when he found no traces of a corpse, he immediately blinked outside to finally breathe in some fresh air.

"Wherever they've gone to, it can't be far." Five told himself, more for reassurance than anything. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost the most familiar face he'd come to know in this unfamiliar world.

Five looked around the church area to see a faint trail of footsteps, he'd almost miss them if it weren't for his training of identifying trail marks. Sometimes he'd like to thank the old man for it, he wouldn't be good at half of the things he does if it weren't for him. He's still an old sack of shit though, so he'd rather die.

Five ran, chasing after the trail. He teleported short distances to help him get to the destination faster. He jumped on roots and maintained balance over the the uneven ground, dodging branches along the way. The trail led him to a forest clearing, and it abruptly ended there. Damn it, where to now?

A barrage of gunshots rang throughout the entire forest, and Five immediately knew where to go. He ran faster towards the direction where the gunshots sounded the loudest, and he could make out a building and a playground from the forest. There were a bunch of unfamiliar faces though, so he slowed his steps to observe them.

"How about we strike a deal, Rick? You die by our hands and we'll let little Judith live! And maybe your son, Carl too, how about it?" One of them shouted so loud Five swore he would've heard it from the clearing. Wait, Rick? That means Gabriel and the others had evacuated there. Then, those fuckers must be the ones who thrashed the church.

"Know this, you've killed your children, Rick." The bastard said after a moment of complete silence. Two of the fuckers had guns aimed at the building. Five teleported.

--- ---

The screams of pain were so loud that it almost completely drowned the sound of Judith's wails. The cannibals turned to the kid with shock, confusion, and horror in their rigid bodies.

An opening, the brat was giving them an opportunity to strike back.

"Shoot them!" Rick shouted and everyone immediately got into action. Sasha revealed herself completely to snipe at an extremely shocked member, the bullet pierced through her head. Daryl shot two arrows to take out two members behind the cannibal leader, and Rick shot his silencer at said leader's head. His girlfriend took out the other two remaining members at the back. Everything happened all at once when the brat instantly sliced two heads off with an axe. And just like that, the fight was over.

The kid seemed to have figured out where they were, as he instantly disappeared from the ground floor to appear beside Rick. He couldn't stop himself from jumping at that, he had almost completely forgotten about the brat and his bizarre, impossible abilities.

It was then, that Rick realized Five was alone. His paranoia kicked back in at full speed, had Carl been right about this alien leading Abraham and the others to their own demise?

The kid- no, the little monster yelped when Rick suddenly pulled him by the collar to slam him against the wall. Rick was so mad, how could he let them go with this creature?! A million thoughts ran through his head, and none of them were good. He failed as a leader, why did he even trust this little shit to go with them?!

"What the hell did you do to them?!" Rick shouted at the alien, he looked surprised and confused at the same time, as if he didn't know what could warrant Rick's act of sudden hostility. The others seemed to have realized it too, as they didn't make a move to stop him.

"I saved your asses and this is how you respond?!" Rick let go and doubled over in pain when the alien suddenly kneed him in the stomach to push him off.

"Answer the damn question!" Rick heard Maggie shout as she brandished a handgun at the creature's direction.

"They're dealing with some private business on the road to D.C. I came back earlier to tell you all about that, but apparently you're all too quick with jumping to conclusions!"

"And why should we believe you? For all we know you've murdered them and came back for more!" Maggie didn't let up.

"Five wouldn't do that." Gabriel suddenly chimed in from the corner.

"Finally, someone who understands me! And use your brain a little, if I wanted to kill you all I would've done it a second ago. Hell, I wouldn't even do anything, I could've just let those bastards shoot you all to bits!" The alien shot her another one of those infuriatingly condescending smirks.

But.. that was also true. Rick saw firsthand just how deadly his ridiculous supernatural abilities were, how it gave him the ability to dismember limbs in a matter of seconds. If the..brat wanted to kill them he would've done it the moment he teleported beside Rick. And he had to account his surprised expression when Rick slammed him against the wall, it was strangely innocent.

No, what if it was a trap? A trick to gain their trust? But then again, he did help them. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Maggie scoff but she relented and sheathed the handgun back to her holster.

Rick finally found his voice again when he told the kid, "Three hours. If they aren't back by then, we'll kill you. Understand?"

"Three hours? Not possible with that unreliable fire truck. Five hours, to compensate in case they run into trouble on the way back." His smile was strained as he negotiated with Rick.

"Fine, five hours! If they're not back by then, you're dead meat!"

"Get that stick out of your ass, why would I even lie to you about that stuff?" The brat rolled his eyes and walked away to sit beside Gabriel in the corner.

Suddenly, he remembered that some people hadn't witnessed the unfortunate existence that was Five and his outlandish abilities, namely Daryl and Noah. They had about the same facial expression Rick had when he was first subjected to it, the 'this must be what mass hysteria feels like' facial expression.

"Be on your guard. He may look like a kid but he's an annoying alien who claimed to be fifty-eight years old." Daryl just looked at him as if they'd both lost their sanity together for him to say something so insane. Noah's is more on the lines of the 'what am I getting myself into?' look.

There's that. Rick sits on the floor, propping one leg up to use his knee as an armrest. Rick thinks he ought to go back to making plans for Carol and Beth's rescue to pass the time, but he felt like he's forgetting something.

The gates were loud as it shook insistently.

Oh right, the walkers the cannibals had attracted.

Chapter Text

Five and Gabriel sat side by side for a while, neither of them saying a word. It was awkward, Five will admit that he's a bit embarrassed of how convinced he was about the lead just for it to be a dead end. Gabriel didn't seem to hold anything against him though. Or maybe he did, and he didn't want to show it.

'He's gloomier than usual.' Five noticed. It's not particularly inconspicuous, he knew how dedicated he was to caring for the church, it just felt off to see him so.. Despondent as opposed to his usually optimistic (delusional) self.

"How do you do, Gabriel?" Five finally said after fidgeting with the hem of his blazer.

"I will not lie to you child, I feel terrible. How could I not when I directly witnessed the ruination of God's home? And I couldn't even do anything to stop it." Gabriel took a shuddering breath before he continued, "I've been serving in that church for more than a decade. I dedicated my whole life tending to that church, I've committed sins that only the church had ever been a witness to."

Five kept listening to his rambles, that's about the only thing he could do for him. Although Five was curious about the 'sins' Gabriel went on about committing, Five wasn't really interested to find out what it was. Everyone had done something bad, and he for one shouldn't be privy to know or judge it.

Five wondered how Gabriel would react if he actually knew what he'd done. They'll cross that bridge when they get to it, he decided.

"And- and I just don't know what to do. What purpose do I serve without God? I was willing to die with the church but that man-" Gabriel pointed to Rick. He was observing what Five assumed to be the zombie horde that was loudly banging on the gates. It was so annoying, Five was itching to take his new axe for another run.

"He made me escape. He told me to flee. I didn't want to, but my cowardice had taken control over me, so I ran. I abandoned the church that I've sworn to care for until the end of time. To abandon it meant that I've abandoned my God." Gabriel continued, he looked to be on the verge of breaking down.

"I'm sure.. 'God' don't see it that way? I mean, he programmed us to not die with our instincts and all, so don't beat yourself up over it." Five hated to sugarcoat things but he really didn't want to deal with a grown ass man crying on his shoulder, so he chose to feed into his delusion instead.

Five could sense a pair of eyes towards his direction, the guy he pretty much attempted to murder back in the church closely keeping watch on their interaction.

He probably should apologize for that at some point. But fuck that, it's not his fault that he assumed they were intruders, they were suspicious as hell and clearly armed, anyone else would've made the same assumption.

Gabriel finished his rambling, and it became silent again. Five suspected he's not going to talk anymore, so he mentally distracted himself by planning his next move, and how he's going to get another lead. With Eugene out of the list of leads, Five quite literally has nothing to look into.

Now that he thought about it, there was absolutely no way Tara and the rest would know about their new temporary hideout. With that in mind, Five stood up and walked over to Rick, who eyed him cautiously as if he's about to jump him.

"What do you want?" Rick asked. His hostility towards him had considerably lessened, but it's still there. What an ungrateful prick.

"It's come to my attention that Abraham and his lot probably won't know about our whereabouts, I suggest we get a move on and wait for them at the church." Five crossed his arms, his attitude was starting to piss him off.

"You do realize that we got a whole crowd of walkers waiting for us outside the gate right?" Rick narrowed his eyes at him. Did he seriously think that was a problem? Five had seen how prepared and skilled his group was, they had definitely gone through worse than the horde of zombies bunching it up at the gate.

"When did that ever stop us?" the dude with the crossbow joined their conversation. Five cannot lie, that crossbow was badass as fuck.

Rick looked like he was thinking harder about it than necessary. Five didn't even say anything remotely incorrect; Tara, Abraham and Rosita would be alarmed to see the church in a state of burnt charcoal, and plus they needed to clear the horde as soon as possible. Five didn't know how long he could take the loud rattling noises before he loses his shit.

"Fine. Everyone!" Rick called to get everyone's attention on him. The words were like magic as everyone turned their heads to him. "Stay on the low here, get as much rest as you can. Me, Daryl and the brat are going to wait for Abraham and the others at the church."

"I'll go too." the guy he almost murdered raised his hand up. These people really did not trust him, which is.. fair since he hadn't done anything to show that he was trustworthy anyway.

Rick nodded. "Sasha, Michonne, and Maggie will be on lookout duty. Kill as many walkers as you can, we need to have this place cleared by tomorrow morning." he said with determination in his eyes. Five was definitely missing out on something here, he talked as if there was going to be a huge event tomorrow.

"I'm going with you, dad." The teenager with the shitty hat approached them. He's really not a fan of that hat, he can't really put a ring to it but something about it is just as irritating as Ricky Dicky over there.

"Carl, I need you here to watch over Judith." Rick patted his head (more like the dumbass hat), voice stern yet gentle.

'Is that what actual dads are supposed to be like?' Five thought with slight envy. He figured it was rather stupid that he'd ever yearn for a loving father figure. His own family was enough, as dysfunctional as they are.

"But dad, I don't want anything to happen to you. I can watch your back." 'Carl' gave him a side eye.

"How about you watch your own back before I rip out your spine?" Five glared, clenching his teeth. He was getting on his nerves.

"I'll shoot you before you can even try." Carl returned the glare, he was straight up scowling now. Rick gripped Carl's left shoulder, quietly saying his name in warning.

"Wanna bet?" Five taunted, he probably didn't have the balls to follow through with it.

It turned out, Five was wrong, the kid was actually stupid enough to shoot a bullet at him. Five teleported the moment he pulled out his gun on him, the bullet missed him completely as he teleported behind Carl, elbowing him in the head.

Nobody had expected Carl to actually do that either, as they only reacted once Carl was on the ground, probably knocked out. Damn, it felt kinda good.

His dad didn't think so though, Rick looked like he was trying to hold himself back from slapping him, but he knew that he was barely at fault here. His kid was the first one to pull out the glock, what he did was an act of self defense.

"CARL!" Rick knelt beside Carl, who slowly stirred up to face him.

"I've taken worse." Carl said as he rubbed the sore spot at the back of his head. Five's gotta give it to him, most people would get knocked out cold for a few hours after receiving an elbow to the head from him. Maybe he should've put more strength into it? The kid's tough.

"Rick, we have to get going. The gates won't be holding up for long." Daryl touched Rick's shoulder. Rick didn't turn his head away from Carl to check for further injuries.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Rick inquired once again.

"Yeah. Can I still come with you?" Carl asked again stubbornly.

"No, Carl. Stay here with Judith, I'll come back soon." Rick said with a finality in his voice. Carl didn't push it any further, he nodded and went back to check up on his baby sibling instead.

"You. Let's go." Rick suddenly dragged Five away by the arm, followed by Daryl and Glenn.

"Loosen up the grip will you? I'm not interested in chopping my arm off due to poor circulation." Five immediately tried yanking his arm off, but holy shit Rick had a grip of steel.

"You'll live." Rick nonchalantly said. He was definitely talented at being a huge asshole.

They walked down the stairs and Five could already hear the beginnings of disgusting zombie rumblings. Rick dragged him along until they were at the gates, standing face to face against the zombies.

"Alright, you can let go now." Five glared at Rick.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"What the fuck? Are you really planning on killing them off with me on one hand?" Five looked at Rick with ridicule, he felt like a kid getting dragged around by a parent for doing some dumb shit like throwing a chair at their favorite flower vase.

Rick just raised an eyebrow at him, as if daring him to doubt his ability to do so. Alright then, since he insisted.

With Rick's hand digging into his shoulder like life support, he teleported outside the gate. Rick's grip on him loosened for a bit as he stumbled, he looked disoriented. But still, he wouldn't let go. This guy's almost as mule-headed as Allison, which was a bad thing. There were practically zombies left and right, and Five kept dodging their attempts to bite him which was harder than necessary since this prick kept holding on to him.

Five looped both of his arms around Rick's arm and pulled him around to match his movements, he wasn't about to let this guy get zombified because his dumbass won't let go. Again, Five jumped to shake him off, but no matter how much he grunted and swayed, he would not let go.

'What the hell is his problem?' Five thought as he blinked again when a zombie attempted to tackle the both of them.

--- ---

Rick felt like he was about to throw up all over the walls. He felt like he was experiencing an out of body experience as the brat kept teleporting all over the place. His instincts told him to let the brat go already but he refused to, if he did he would be putting his whole family in danger.

So Rick made an effort to get used to the feeling of fizzing in and out of existence which was a crazy thing to say. But Rick had been dealing with pure insanity for the past few hours, this was nothing.

They probably looked ridiculous in everybody else's point of view, the kid had been pulling him around as if he was a drunkard on the verge of dying from acute liver failure.

Gunshots reverberated around him, the walkers were slowly thinning out as the brat made sure to lure the walkers to areas where his group could easily snipe them.

A thought nagged at the back of his mind, 'Maybe this kid isn't that bad after all.'

Five kicked at another walker coming their way, said walker went down as Rick watched Daryl take them out from the distance. Rick heard a growl coming from his right, and he didn't want to let this kid do all the work so he steadied himself and stabbed it in the head, killing it immediately.

"Thank fucking god you've gotten used to it, I'm getting tired of pulling your sorry ass out of danger." Five looked at him like he was a burden.

"Couldn't you have taken them out instead of going on the defensive the whole time?" Rick grunted and finally let go.

"Oh I would, but a certain someone decided to manhandle me AWAY from my only weapon." Five sneered at him as he rubbed his newly freed arm to get his blood flowing again.

"We're on a time crunch- brat, watch out!" Rick cut his reasoning off when another one of the rotten bastards reached out to Five. The brat seemed to get the memo as he stepped out the line of assault to grab it by the shoulders, obviously turning it into a target for Glenn to shoot at. He ducked as Glenn's bullet pierced through its head.

Where did this kid even learn all this? Was he a part of some super hero school? It would certainly make sense given his preppy school boy outfit. Rick shook his head, that idea sounded so cartoonishly dumb.

"Thanks for the heads up. Although, I'd know about it even without your pesky yelling." the brat smiled up at him in a cocky way.

'Nevermind, he really IS that bad.' Rick completely took back everything good he thought about him, he was a real pain in the ass.

Rick noticed that the gunshots hadn't attracted the attention of another horde of walkers, it was a stroke of luck that they've basically cleared out the remaining walkers around the area. It was then that he remembered why they came out here in the first place, to presumably wait for Abraham and the others back at the church.

"Let's go, we don't have all day!" Rick called out to Glenn and Daryl who were jogging towards them. Daryl slung his crossbow over his back while Glenn glanced at the kid. Rick didn't know what kind of look he's giving the brat and he didn't care enough to check, so he led them inside the forest to start heading back to the church.

--- ---

The walk was silent and awkward, none of them started a conversation despite having eliminated all of the threats on their tails. Five figured he was the main reason, he understood why they wouldn't be comfortable enough to talk with him around.

He had unexplained beef with one guy, the other dude thinks he's an alien weirdo, and he threatened to kill the last person. He stuck out like a sore thumb.

Unexpectedly though, the guy he gave death threats to spoke up beside him.

"Hey, thanks for helping us back there." He surprised Five even further by giving him a small smile.

"You're.. Welcome?" Five didn't know what else to say, he wasn't used to being thanked for helping anybody.

It was silent for another minute, the rustling of fallen leaves sharp in his ears as they kept walking. This may be his only chance to apologize, since he's in the mood for it. He still didn't believe he was at fault, but he's going to apologize anyway because it's the right thing to do. Probably.

"Sorry about the thing that happened at church." Five suddenly spoke. He really wasn't used to doing that apologizing thing either, why was he even trying to have a normal conversation?

The guy- what was his name again? Glare? Glenn? He was extremely bad at remembering names if he didn't interact with them daily. Glenn looked surprised at his sudden apology, as if he didn't expect that to happen in a million years.

"It's cool, I completely understand where you're coming from." Glenn seemed more relaxed after Five's half-assed apology, so he must be doing something right.

"Do you just forgive anybody who tries to kill you?" Five raised an eyebrow, it was odd that he accepted it so easily.

"No, but it could've been worse. I almost got beheaded by a bunch of cannibals." Glenn said it so casually, as if he was talking about taking his pet to a vet on a Sunday morning instead of a near death experience.

"Cannibals? Huh, I fucking knew they were out there. It's funny how I thought Gabriel was one." Five couldn't believe he ever thought of Gabriel as a potential threat, he'd probably shit his pants if he had to harm an insect.

"Yeah, it's wild out here man. They also burned down the church, bastards threw a DIY molotov inside." This piece of information made Five turn his head.

"Those were the cannibals? It's such a shame we killed them in a few seconds." Five couldn't help it when the corner of his lips curled upwards in satisfaction.

"We're here." Rick announced. The group halted to see that the fire had gone out. What remained was a charred building buried by rubbles of itself. Everything inside had turned to ashes, the walls cracked by the impact of bullets, and the statue in the middle of the altar had fallen. Five was grateful they didn't bring Gabriel here, he would've lost it.

The group chose to camp it out in front of the church, since nowhere else is safer for them. Daryl and Glenn sat on the ground while Rick stood up to watch for incoming vehicles. Five didn't feel like slacking off or waiting for the fire truck to arrive either, watching paint dry would be the more entertaining option. He stretched his legs and started walking around the church, trying to etch every detail in its all burnt glory into his mind.

It was bizarre when he spotted some carved words on the church's outside walls, it should've been charred to hell. Still, Five was curious to see what it was all about so he stepped closer to get a better read.

YOU'LL BURN FOR THIS

Wow, that's morbid.

Chapter Text

Five took off his blazer to tie it around his waist since it was getting too fucking hot outside. They had been idly sitting around for a while, and the boredom was getting to his nerves. His mind wandered to the chicken scratch that was carved onto the wooden walls. What the hell could it possibly mean?

Was it related to the so called "sin" that Gabriel had repeatedly admit to doing in the past? It could also be just another case of vandalism, though Five wouldn't exactly know the amount of teenagers who went to church in the middle of the goddamn woods.

Five was crouching on the ground, his boredom made his face quirk into a constipated expression. To an outsider's point of view, he might as well look like he's about to take the fattest dump of the century. And by "an outsider's point of view", he really meant Rick who glanced at him with a look that questioned whether or not he was taking a shit with his shorts on.

Five scrunched his nose up in disgust at the imagery, he felt offended that Rick would even consider the idea of him willing to do that horrible, nasty act. People who shit on the road needs to be eviscerated, which was a bit rich coming from him. He's had to do that multiple times during his first apocalypse, but that was different. He was quite possibly the only surviving human in that wretched place, nobody would even be around to notice the literal shit hole on the side of the road.

All but Ben, maybe. Five didn't even want to know or think about whether Ben had been with him throughout all those lonely years, accompanying his pathetically grieving and guilt-ridden mess of a younger brother. But given the fact that Klaus could see ghosts all the time, maybe his whole family was there as an audience to his misery, unable to pass on.

Five wondered if their ghosts had been furious at him, or had put the blame on him in their dying breaths. He wondered if he was the beginning of the academy's downfall, if his little disappearance act had caused something to shift in that timeline.

Vanya must've felt lonelier than ever, and maybe that was one of the major triggers that pushed her into blowing up the fucking moon. Vanya deserved better, his whole family deserved better. Things wouldn't have gone as terribly as it did if he'd just swallow down his pride instead of foolishly diving head first into something as volatile as time-travel, he deserved every bad thing that happened to him.

Five sighed, how did he go from expressing disgust towards people shitting on the road to throwing an internal pity party? The things that boredom does to a person. It was at times like these that he wished he could actually fast-forward time. But since that particular ability was currently locked behind this wonderful thing called time-travel, he'd have to say sayonara until he found another lead.

Speaking of, is the Commission aware that he's currently in an entirely different universe? His attempt at time-travel should've sounded some alarms back at the base, though Five doubted they'd give a shit when it came to interfering with the events from alternate universes.

Five stopped his train of thoughts in favor of observing Daryl who looked just as bored as he was, with crossed hands and his back against a nearby tree. Five noted the slight twitching of his body, he seemed agitated. About what exactly? Does he really want to know?

Fuck it, not like he had anything better to do anyway. Five got up from his crouching position to stride towards him, Daryl didn't react to his impending presence.

"You're awfully perturbed, care to explain why?" Five bluntly asked.

Daryl turned his head to give him the blankest stare imaginable. "I got nothin' to say to you." he answered coldly, then continued to stare at an invisible wall. Sheesh, it's a tough crowd out here.

Five shrugged and walked away to sit beside Glenn next, who was in the middle of drawing on dirt. He wasn't doing anything particularly entertaining, but Five watched him scratch line after line with a twig, eventually forming a decent illustration of a rabbit.

"Nice drawing, were you an artist before.. all this happened?" Five waved a hand around their surroundings.

The corner of Glenn's mouth quirked upwards at the compliment, Glenn dropped the twig to face him. "Nah, I was just a pizza delivery guy."

"Huh. Well, you could've probably made it as an artist." Five remarked.

"Thanks. I did consider it at some point, but it was way out of my comfort zone." Glenn admitted.

Five was puzzled. He clearly had the talent for it, but he didn't pursue the career he wanted because it was outside his zone of comfort? That's ludicrous. "Do you regret it?" he asked while raising an eyebrow.

Glenn's mouth opened a bit at the unexpected question, but then he closed it just as quickly with a shake of his head. "No, I don't. I wouldn't have made it this far if I chose a different career path, so I'd like to only focus on the positives."

"And what would that be?" Five tilted his head.

"If I weren't a pizza delivery boy, I wouldn't know a damn thing about navigation." Glenn shrugged.

The conversation ended for a bit when Glenn decided to pick the twig back up for another illustration. Five decided to just lay down for a bit, his back was aching like crazy. Perhaps this thirteen year old body retained the same characteristics of old Five. From the corner of his eyes, he could see that Daryl had started frantically sharpening his hunting knife. The sounds of high-carbon steel against stone grated in his ears.

"What got his knickers in a twist?" Five pointed at Daryl.

Glenn looked up to see what he's pointing at. "He's not usually like this. Prior to the church burning down, he came limping back with the new kid to tell us that one of our friends and my sister-in-law were captured by a bunch of bastards at a hospital. Rick's planning to rescue them tomorrow morning."

Okay, that was a lot of information. Five felt like he missed a couple of episodes, but he's going to go with the flow for now. "And how is he going to rescue them, exactly?"

"Hostages. We'll trade them for our people." Rick suddenly said. He seemed to have picked up on their conversation as he came over.

Five squinted his eyes at him.

"How are you so sure they wouldn't retaliate before you could even initiate this idealistic exchange?" Five asked, doubting the chances of it succeeding.

"Simple, we'll capture hostages with decent amounts of power and standing in their group." Rick's answer was filled with conviction.

That sounded way too optimistic for Five's liking, how the hell is he so certain this whole thing is going to work? It sounded like the whole thing's going to end up in carnage. Before Five could voice in another complaint, the familiar noise of whirring engine drew near.

Glenn and Rick perked up at that, they rushed over to the halting fire truck to greet their friends. Tara came out first and her jaw dropped open at the state of the church. "What happened to the church?!"

"The surviving bastards from Terminus attacked last night. We've migrated to a local Sunday school." Rick informed, he seemed to be in a better mood now that his friends had shown up.

"Where are they now?" Rosita questioned from behind Tara.

"We've taken care of them." Rick simply answered, he didn't even bother to credit him. What a bastard.

--- ---

Glenn was the first to hug Tara in greeting. "It's good to see you all again." he said after he pulled back, scanning each of them. Rick recalled that something "personal" had happened which caused them to turn back, but he didn't question the brat any further.

While Rosita and Tara looked the same as ever, the same couldn't be said about Eugene and Abraham. Something about them was tense, it held an air of hostility. What the hell could've possibly happened to cause this? If the brat had anything to do with it, Rick swore he's going to kill him.

"Abraham. Rosita. Tara. Eugene." He got all of their attention as soon as he called the names of each person. Rick didn't miss a beat as he continued, "Mind explaining the change of heart?"

Tara glanced at Rosita as if urging her to respond.

"Eugene lied. There's no cure in Washington D.C." she answered solemnly.

Rick's body froze at the dawning realization that all their efforts- every life taken, were wasted. Both him and Glenn stilled for a moment, they could only stare at Eugene in shock as he ducked his head in shame. Surely this was a misunderstanding, right?

"Eugene, we've spent inalienable resources getting you there- why are you tapping out now?" Rick was in disbelief. He's had his own suspicions of Eugene's credibility but having to face that reality was a bit too much for one day.

"There never was a cure in the first place. I lied about being a scientist, I pretended to be one for my own survival." Rick thought that was the most transparent answer Eugene had ever given, and that was the nail to the coffin. Rick didn't know what to say, he was actually in a loss for words.

Abraham looked the most downcast out of the lot, Rick noticed. It was understandable, since he'd always been the most dedicated to reach D.C. If Rick felt hopeless, Abraham would be having it a hundred times worse. Rick wanted to hit Eugene right then and there, but the bruises on his face told him that he'd had his fair share already. Presumably by Abraham, judging from his bloodied knuckles.

Rick only had one thing in mind at that point, 'What now?'

No, this wasn't it. He remembered that he had people to rescue, his family. He'd only be wasting time and energy by releasing his anger out on Eugene, having a grudge against one of his people sounded exhausting. It'd be best to give him the cold shoulder for a while.

Glenn was quick to accept that the circumstances had changed, as he only gave Eugene a nod and a light pat to the back. Rick watched as Tara suddenly looked around and asked, "Where's the little twerp?"

"I'm literally in front of you, dipshit." The brat's voice rang out with an insolent tone.

"You fucking ditched us you little shit." Tara grinned as she flicked his forehead, to which the brat returned with an elbow to her side. It was playful banter, and Rick wondered when they'd started getting friendly with one another.

CRUNCH!

Rick heard the noise of withered leaves crackling beneath Daryl's shoes as he suddenly bolted towards the direction of the school. Everyone noticed this and became wary, they all sprinted after him.

"Daryl! Why the hell are we running?!" Rick shouted after him. Daryl suddenly halted and sniffed around, as if he was making sure of something. "I smell smoke. It's distant, but the wind carried it over."

That's not good. By the way they're running towards the path to the school..

Rick hoped his guts were wrong for once. This day couldn't get any worse.

They all ran faster at that, seeming to get the same idea. Everyone's breath became frantic from the speed in which they're running at, it didn't help that the distance between the church and the school weren't the closest.

Eugene seemed to have the hardest time keeping up with them, his breaths were ragged but he continued on. The brat definitely had it the easiest though, he kept teleporting ahead in-between the running. Pretentious little shit.

The smell of that horrible smoke became more prominent as they were approaching the destination, and to no one's surprise the school was burning from the inside. It's ridiculous that this was the second time a building had caught on fire, all on the same goddamn day. Rick's luck had always been terrible but this was on another level.

His people thankfully had evacuated, as they were easily spotted outside the building.

"DAD!" Carl shouted as he ran up to him. Rick held him in concern, looking over him to check for any signs of injury.

"Carl, are you hurt?!" Rick found a few scrapes on his face and arms, but nothing too severe. His girlfriend carried Judith in her arms, his panicked eyes softened at the sight of them alive and safe.

"No dad- the school were full of walkers!" Carl seemed frantic, Rick wanted to calm him down but he needed him to speak to be able to figure out why the school had exploded from the inside after Rick left it for two mere hours.

"Son, how did this even happen?" Rick questioned a little more gently. He didn't have to wait for an answer from him as Michonne did it in his stead.

"We should've checked the place for any walkers. Turns out a bunch of them were inside the classrooms, they managed to break through the doors." she said in a grave voice. Rick was once again struck by that feeling of guilt, how did the walkers go past his notice? He even forgot to clear the area out due to the cannibals on their ass.

"And the fire?"

Michonne looked to the side, then she replied, "That was my fault. They all gathered around the cafeteria, so I had to think of a way to get rid of them in one swoop."

"And your idea was?" Rick raised an eyebrow.

"I asked Sasha to shoot at a gas tank. We barely made it out, but it did the job." Michonne shrugged.

While Rick was impressed by his girlfriend's "kill two birds with one stone" mindset, he couldn't help but feel disappointed that they had lost another temporary shelter so soon. He felt that he was cursed to have eternal bad luck, which he will be blaming the brat for his own mental well-being. His life had gotten crazier ever since he stepped inside that church, if he could turn back time he'd choose to ignore Gabriel's cries for help-

Alright, that was going too far. Gabriel certainly didn't deserve to die, but he was currently under too much pressure to think clearly. It was getting dark out, and they had nowhere to stay.

"Where did you say you were going to rescue your friends again?" came Five's question from behind him. He turned around to find him standing with his hands inside his shorts pockets as if a whole building hadn't burned down for the second time today.

"..Atlanta." Rick replied after a second.

"Why don't we get inside the fire truck and head there? We should probably arrive by tomorrow morning, earlier if we're lucky." Five said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Rick was surprised to hear such a reasonable suggestion from him. Being on the road was definitely better than having to camp out in the woods, and they'd be able to carry out that rescue plan Rick was in the middle of making, with some adjustments from Tyreese. Although Rick still had some doubts about it going smoothly, it was better than his original plan; which was to attack the hospital head on.

To be fair, it wasn't the most rational plan he'd ever made, so he understood why the adjustments had to be made. His original plan could be made into a Plan B if things were to go south.

"Is the fire truck really big enough to fit all of us?" Rick inquired.

"Not necessarily. Some of you could take the roof of the truck, but that wouldn't be ideal." Five pondered. Daryl and Noah walked into view, as if on cue.

"Me and Carol found a vehicle the night we got to the church, and we used it to chase after Beth's captors. We should be able to go together." Daryl explained, his five senses had been terrifyingly sharp these days.

Rick gave a nod, then he turned his head around, his eyes searching for a bearded redhead. It finally landed on Abraham, who had his head down as if he was staring directly into the void. Rick approached him to confront his concerning (though understandable) behavior.

"You alright?" Rick thought it was a rather dumb question to ask, since he was obviously not.

Abraham turned his head up to make eye contact with him. Then, he let out a bitter sounding chuckle. He looked truly devastated, as if all of his life force were drained from him.

"Why would I be? I pretty much got nothin' to survive for anymore." he wiped at his face. Then he continued, "Gettin' Eugene to D.C. saved me from truly offing myself, and it turned out to be a sham."

Rick didn't respond, he only listened as Abraham ran his fingers through his hair. "Worst part is? I bought it. Frankly, I thought I could save millions of lives, prevent the deaths of a million more. It sounds illogical, but too many lives had been taken for me to stop pursuing this dead-end goal. I really couldn't stop to think and listen to what the left part of my brain had been sayin'." Abraham admitted.

Rick took a moment to carefully construct the words he wanted to say.

"We've all lost the things we wanted to survive for at one point. When I lost my wife at the prison, I thought that I might have lost it for good. I started seeing things that weren't there, and I've even considered taking my own life." Rick paused, before he continued, "But I was lucky to have good people on my side. Daryl, Hershel, both of them helped me through it. I eventually came to realize that there might still be a chance for a better future, and so I finally got back up."

Abraham seemed to be ruminating on what he just said.

"Point is, we don't really need to strive for something as unlikely as a cure to the apocalypse, we should focus on fighting for a better future instead." Rick finally finished his TED talk, and he meant every word.

"Didn't take you for a motivational speaker." Abraham said after a long silence. He didn't look happy, but it was an improvement compared to the shell of a man he was a moment ago.

They will eventually find light at the end of the tunnel, Rick will make sure of it.

Chapter Text

The inside of the fire truck was extremely cramped as a bunch of adults and one teenager huddled around the seats. Abraham drove while Rosita sat on the front passenger seat. Maggie, Michonne, Gabriel and the brat got the backseats while Rick, Sasha, and Bob had to sit on the floor opposite to them. Tara and Glenn took up the corners, their legs interlacing with each other.

Rick wanted to do one big stretch, but he could barely move. His body was aching, and to make matters worse the brat had the audacity to dig his foot into his back as if it wasn't uncomfortable enough. Rick swore he was doing it on purpose, everytime he got annoyed enough to glare at him he had this infuriatingly smug smile on his face.

Someone ought to knock him down a peg someday, but it sure as hell wouldn't be Rick.

Ignoring the obvious feeling of red bowling shoes digging into his poor back, Rick was grateful Daryl had a vehicle to spare, he imagined the ride would be a lot more torturous if Tyreese and Eugene had to join in the already cramped space.

Daryl drove with Tyreese on the passenger's seat while Carl, Judith, Noah and Eugene took the back. Daryl was driving ahead of the fire truck, since he was technically the only person who knew where the hospital even was (excluding Noah).

Speaking of, most of his group seemed to be taking Eugene's truth surprisingly well. To say they were disappointed was an understatement, yet they hadn't hurled any insults when Rick eventually told them the truth before their departure.

It was dark outside, the sun had set a while ago. Tara and Glenn were dozing off a bit more comfortably than Sasha and Bob, though they probably didn't mind the limited sitting space as Bob looped an arm around her shoulder.

Rick wanted to do something similar with Michonne but given that he was currently sat on the floor while she took one of the seats, it was literally impossible. Rick would also get some shut eye if it weren't for the brat continuously bothering his aching back.

Rick suddenly realized that he'd need energy from a good night's sleep if he wanted to successfully carry out the rescue mission. With that in mind, he snatched Five's leg and hoisted it up to make room for his effort in turning his body around so his back could rest against the wall instead.

The brat certainly didn't expect him to do that as he jumped in his seat, he yanked his leg back and crossed his legs with a huff. Rick thought it made him look like a toddler who got his new toy snatched away by a parent, it was an amusing thought. He crossed his arms and shut his eyes to get some rest.

--- ---

Five couldn't help but grumble as his only means of entertainment ended when the prick had enough sense to turn around. He noticed that almost everybody except for him and Abraham had fucked off to dream land, which included the paranoid asshole as well.

Five figured he should also get some sleep while they're on the road, but his mind was nagging at him to keep watch in case Abraham had suddenly dozed off and nobody would be awake to shake Rosita into the realm of consciousness. They had agreed on switching drivers every three hours before their departure, but Five didn't really trust any of them to stay awake for the remainder of the road since they both looked equally exhausted the last time he saw them.

They were officially done taking shelter in the woods that surrounded the church and the school area, they didn't plan on going back there anytime soon. Five would miss the church, but he didn't have a hard time saying goodbye to it. Gabriel on the other hand, was a completely different story. The church burning down was one thing, but the school imploding on the same day took a heavy toll on him.

Five felt kind of bad for him, but he needed him to understand that nobody can stay in one place anymore. Not in an apocalypse. Five learned this the hard way when he lost his house to a raging sandstorm while he was out getting barely edible scraps from abandoned restaurants.

He remembered crying about it, he was fifteen and it took almost a month of hard work to gather enough materials for a makeshift house. He was proud of it, even if it looked like shit.

He spent a few years renovating and living in that house, and it only took one violent sandstorm to rip his efforts apart. He settled on constantly being on the move after that, frantically scratching equations onto any surface he could find.

He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the school imploding on the same goddamn day though, it was comical. He knew that no place would ever be safe from collapsing at some point but this was a whole new record. He certainly wouldn't miss the place, he'd only been in it for a couple of hours. The only thing worth mourning over was his axe, his shiny beautiful axe.

He didn't even get the chance to use it properly before it was cruelly burned away alongside the entirety of the school building. He'll probably find a new weapon in Atlanta since it was a relatively big city, but it was a shame he only got to use it to cut a few limbs.

This was definitely the prick's fault, if he hadn't yanked him away from his axe it wouldn't have been thrown inside the metaphorical oven. He was lucky Five didn't teleport during their descent down the stairs, he would've stumbled down and end up breaking a bone or two. Not that he wouldn't deserve it.

A loud snoring noise overpowered the almost deafening silence sans the whirring engine. Five traced it back to its owner and-

Of course it's the prick. It wasn't a surprise at all, he definitely looked like someone with obnoxious snoring habits. Five's going to rag on him for this, he had half the mind to just teleport and sleep on the roof of the truck.

But he wouldn't, because he noticed something extremely unpleasant earlier. In the midst of their little group up outside of the burning school building, he had tried teleporting inside in an attempt to retrieve his probably smouldering axe.

Keyword; tried. Five's starting to feel resentment towards this alternate universe which, he didn't even fucking ask to be tossed into. He was about to make the jump when suddenly, he could feel the unfamiliar sensation of his power literally draining. When that happened, he immediately stopped his jump halfway through.

That kind of thing never really happened back in his universe, but it was definitely a similar experience to Vanya sucking his and the rest of his siblings' life force.

It was as if this damn universe needed to limit the amount of energy his power would be allowed to consume, thus limiting the amount of jumps he could do as well. Shit, that's such an annoying concept. Whoever thought of it should get lobotomized.

Though to be completely fair, him using the natural atoms that exclusively resided in this one universe could bring about total energy imbalance if he continued to consume them carelessly. For the first time since he got here, it heavily dawned on him that he really doesn't belong in this universe. Some time ago, he'd convinced himself into thinking that this world wasn't all that different to his original one.

Inevitably, more and more glaring differences would rear its ugly head. The most obvious one? This world didn't have the natural atoms to supply the use of supernatural abilities. Seriously, how did he even get here in the first place?

Five didn't know exactly the amount of jumps he had left, but it was best to use them sparingly. No more jumping because of boredom, and definitely none for the convenience.

Although he could sense his body slowly seeping out of power, he still felt a decent amount left for him to use in case of emergencies. He should have enough for a few confrontations with humans and zombies alike, but he's going to have to go about it like a normal person. Great.

The fire truck halted. Guess it was time to switch drivers. Five didn't think he'd be alone with his thoughts for that long, but constantly trying to figure out the laws of this universe needed his utmost attention. Miraculously, Abraham had managed to keep his eyes open for longer than Five's estimation.

It had been a few hours since sundown, it should be around nine by now. Rookie hours, he used to not get any sleep at all, this was practically nothing. But even then, it was all thanks to the luxurious coffee the Commission had provided for everyone, he might really have to get some rest this time.

Rosita took over the steering wheel and the truck began to move once again. Her style of driving was oddly calm and relaxing, it made him sleepy as fuck.

'Alright, maybe a few minutes wouldn't hurt.' Five thought as his body got drowsy. He closed his eyes.

.

.

.

When he opened them again, the truck had parked in front of a warehouse.

--- ---

Rick placed down the chairs he found from the abandoned storage rooms in the middle of the warehouse. The whole setup looked like it was ripped straight out of a generic Hollywood movie, but it should do nicely.

When Rick came to with the sun glaring down at him through the windows, he realized that they've already made it to Atlanta. It surprised him that there hadn't been any mishaps on the road considering how bad his luck had been in the past few days, but he was extremely grateful since it gave him the best sleep he's had in a long time.

He felt like he'd just woken up from hibernation, he felt so.. refreshed. He didn't feel nearly as tired as usual, his eyes didn't feel like it was stabbing in on itself, and he felt infinitely lighter. His everlasting migraine had been reduced to a gentle throb, which Rick could definitely tolerate. All in all, he's fully energized and was dangerously optimistic about the rescue plan working as intended.

Everybody seemed to have woken up earlier than him, except for the brat who was leaning his head against the window behind him with his arms crossed. Was that supposed to be his signature pose or something? Rick thought it looked goofy.

Abraham pulled up at a random abandoned warehouse, and they all got up quietly as to not jerk the kid awake with loud, sudden noises. Rick wasn't in the mood to get kicked in the face, and neither was everybody else.

Daryl threw him bundles of ropes, which was slightly concerning, but Rick really couldn't care less about whether or not this warehouse was used as a base of operation for drug deals and torture sessions. He might've two years ago but.. time has changed him as a person. He could never go back to being his old self, and it was for the best.

"Think we got enough rope?" Daryl asked in case they needed more.

"I doubt we'd be able to take more than two hostages." Rick nodded his head. They all got a job to do, some of them was in charge of clearing out any remaining walkers in the storage rooms and the other half kept watch to make sure nothing had noticed them occupying the warehouse.

Rick was about to ask if anybody was willing to wake the brat and get his sleepy ass in the warehouse, when said brat finally showed up at the entrance of a loading dock.

"I see you've already got the place set up." The kid remarked as he looked over the chairs and ropes at the ready.

"We did a lot of work while you were sleeping like a damn baby." Rick offhandedly said as he laid out the Atlanta map on a rusty table.

"And whose fault was that? Your snoring kept me awake." The brat had an annoyed look in his face.

"I snored?" Rick was in disbelief.

The kid seemed to think his disbelief stemmed from embarrassment as he continued, "It sounded like it came from a Parasaurolophus. Could've attracted a horde from a hundred mile radius if we weren't in a moving vehicle."

Snoring? That's a new one. He almost couldn't believe he was relaxed enough to snore, most of his "sleeps" were restless.

"Parasau- what?" The kid probably made up the word to throw him off.

"It means you snore obnoxiously loud."

Alright, that's enough. Rick desperately needed to put him to work so he would stop running his mouth.

Rick grabbed an M24 from their weapon stash and shoved it to him. Five just squinted his eyes in confusion as he took a hold of it.

"You're in charge of lookout duty." Rick said.

"Who the hell are you to boss me around?" The brat snorted but he surprisingly complied.

Rick didn't remember teenagers being this insufferable, but then again he was deputy sheriff at the time so they were probably inclined to show him at least an ounce of respect. He absolutely refused to believe Five is-was a fifty eight year old man, nothing about him pointed towards that.

Rick breathed in some fresh (polluted) air to clear his head. Beth. Carol. He had to completely focus on getting them back.

After Rick had finished setting up the map, Noah, Sasha, Daryl and Tyreese stood around the table in a circular motion. The four of them looked grim, but Rick knew they would do everything they could to make sure the mission was a successful one.

"We need a plan to lure them out. Noah, do you have anything?" Rick didn't bother beating around the bush.

"Yeah. Dawn has eyes and ears all over Atlanta, we could get their attention through a gunshot.. Or an explosion." Noah explained.

"Then there comes the question of a distraction. We wouldn't be able to corner them without some kind of bait." Sasha brought up a good point.

Daryl and Noah looked at each other in silent communication.

"We talked about this in the car last night. They were searching for me, so I'll be the bait." Noah declared with resolve.

Rick, Sasha, and Tyreese stared at the brave facade Noah wore, but they appreciated that the kid would contribute despite his fears.

"Then it's settled. We'll take the car here and fire a few bullets." Rick announced as he pointed to a point in the map, it was somewhere near the hospital yet far enough from the warehouse. This was necessary to keep prying eyes away from it.

--- ---

Five was so bored. Rick and some of the others in the group had fucked off to do their "rescue mission" and he had nothing better to do than be on "lookout". That was the stupid part, they didn't have anything to be on the lookout for since the only creatures roaming the streets were truncated zombies and creepy crawlies every once in a while.

And he couldn't even shoot them unless he wanted another tsunami of corpses surrounding his ass, so what even was the point of giving him an M24? Although he wouldn't exactly complain about it, he did plan on getting himself a new weapon but it was practically handed over to him on a silver platter. He'll take what he can get, no need to be picky.

He basically used the scope for sight seeing at that point, not that there was much to see. It was a pretty standard view for a post-apocalyptic city. Cracks on walls, shattered windows, dried blood seeping out behind closed doors, you get the idea.

Five noticed that the constant state of boredom was becoming more and more prominent for him rather than remaining tense and vigilant, probably because there was no apocalypse to prevent since it already happened long before he got thrown here. He was cautious and wary for the first few days, but he eventually got used to it. At least there were people.

Five felt an incoming presence behind him, and he was determined to ignore it. He kept still even as the figure stood directly beside him, pretending to not notice. The figure was fidgeting, as if they didn't know why they had approached him in the first place.

'Please don't start a conversation please don-'

A cough to clear out the throat. Five internally groaned.

"What?" Five snapped as he turned to see the kid with the stupid cowboy hat.

"I think we started off on the wrong foot." Carl simply said.

"That's a bit of an understatement considering you tried to blow my head off yesterday." Five deadpanned.

"Sorry about that. Though to be fair, I knew that you'd dodge it." Carl gave him a wry smile.

"That was a point-blank shot, if I wasn't on high alert I'd be lying in a puddle of my own blood and I'd make it your problem for the rest of your life. As a fucking ghost." Five told him off even though the kid was absolutely correct.

"Is that a literal thing or a figure of speech?" Carl raised an eyebrow.

"Literal. Surprise, ghosts are real." In turn, Five did some quirky hand motion that you'd typically see when a parent revealed some hidden surprise to their six year old.

Carl's eyes widened a bit before it returned to normal in the next second. "I guess it's true. Walkers exist, you exist, why not ghosts?"

"Why the hell are you grouping me in with those brain dead fuckers?" Five knew why, but he felt offended so he's going to complain.

"Dude, you're like X-Men." Carl answered with complete seriousness.

"I want you to know that you've spoken one of the dumbest sentences anyone has ever said to me." What's with these people and comparing him to fictional characters?

"What an honor." Carl replied sarcastically.

Five guessed that Superman and the X-Men were universal, they probably exist in every universe. Five could find a strange comfort in knowing that Superman and the X-Men comics also existed in this world, it's one step closer to closing the gap of glaring dissimilarities.

Chapter Text

It wasn't until an hour later when Rick came back with the hostages. They've managed to capture three hostages- which is one more than expected. It wasn't much but it should elevate their chances of getting Beth and Carol back.

They had some interrogation to do, preferably without any form of torture. Surprisingly, the hostages had started speaking before they're even seated.

"Your friend, what's his name?" The lady- Shepherd asked. She looked agitated, which was understandable given their current position. When she was met with silence, she continued, "Your plan is going to get me and my friends killed!"

"We're gonna make it work." Sasha waved her off.

"It would work if you had different cops to trade." Shepherd pressed on. Rick, Daryl and Sasha halted, turning around to face her.

Feeling more confident, Shepherd says, "Dawn's running Grady into the ground. A bunch of us want her out and she knows it. Pretty sure she knows we want Lamson to replace her, too."

"Dawn doesn't know that." The man beside her said sharply.

"She might. And, she's smart. There's a good chance we can't make this deal work, and that'll leave us all dead." Shepherd argued while simultaneously glancing at their captors. She seemed taken aback to see a whole group of people hanging around in one place, Rick could deduce she hadn't seen another group of survivors outside Grady's- not in this scale.

"If you let us go, we'll take care of Dawn ourselves. And then we'll let your friends go and this is over." Shepherd proposed. There was no way she thought she was getting through, Rick needed to rescue Beth and Carol their own way.

Lamson seemed to disagree with Shepherd. "No, we're not doing that."

"Do you want to die?" Shepherd gritted her teeth.

"No, I just need you to shut up right now." Lamson calmly replied. Shepherd didn't say another word. Lamson stared Rick directly in the eyes as he continued his sentence, "You can make this work. But you've gotta be able to talk to her."

"Noah told us everything we need to know about her." Sasha scoffed at him.

"I've known her for eight years, ma'am." Lamson retorted. He turned back to Rick, "I know this woman. And my only interest is peaceful resolution, not dying, and sleeping in my bed tonight. So please, let me help you."

Rick didn't catch any lies from how he spoke, but he remained wary despite that. He wasn't going to let his guard down at the promise of help in increasing the chances of striking a deal, but he wasn't dumb enough to refuse it.

--- ---

'What the fuck, that went way too fucking well.' Five narrowed his eyes at the hostages with suspicion, they were currently tied to the chairs. There were only two chairs available, so the Lamson guy took the pillar instead.

Forget about interrogating the hostages, they practically spilled everything out with zero hesitation. Either they were trying to bluff their way out, or this was an elaborate plan to give them false information under the guise of it being factual. They didn't need to talk if they had supposedly given them something to work with.

Whatever, it wouldn't even matter in the end. Rick's going to trade them in for whoever the hell his friends are, the "information" they gave would be completely irrelevant.

Five went back to fiddling with his M24, it wasn't the type of rifle he would normally use but it was still in good condition. His Henry AR-7 was leagues above it, but he kept reminding himself this wasn't the time to get nitpicky. Plus, he hasn't even tried the damn rifle yet, it'll either be his new Henry or another CZ 550.

From the corner of his vision, Rick could be seen chatting with the Lamson guy. Probably about the quote on quote "help" he wanted to oh so generously offer to the entire group. If this Dawn woman chose to decline the deal for whatever reason, he'll shoot her on the goddamn head for wasting their damn time.

They finished their conversation with a nod of approval from Rick, and he turned to glance at Five, as if he could feel him staring at them behind their back. The prick was absolutely right about that, but it was still creepy as shit. He made some kind of signalling look that practically screamed, "Get your ass off the floor and watch over him for me."

To which he replied with a roll of his eyes. Since when did the prick become the boss of him? He isn't anybody's lacky. Nevertheless, he stood up and sat directly in front of the Lamson guy after Rick got up to leave. Watching over some hostage would be a nice change of pace to the otherwise boring view the crestfallen city had to offer.

He crossed his legs and stared. Unnervingly so if the slight aversion of Lamson's eyes were to indicate anything. They stayed like that for a while before Lamson got his bearings back and threw him a question, "How old are you?"

Five didn't really have the time nor patience to explain why he's actually fifty eight, so he tells him, "Thirteen, going on fourteen."

Lamson nodded his head and looked to the ground. "My kid.. He was about your age when the outbreak started. He didn't get far."

'The hell does that have anything to do with me?' Five internally thought. He didn't care, but he felt that it was only right to offer him his condolences. "Sorry to hear about that, I guess."

"It's been a few years, I've moved on. Even got myself a new Lamson Jr. with my woman waiting for me at Grady." Lamson said in a tone that was probably meant to garner sympathy from whoever hears it. Then, it clicks. This fucker was trying to-

"If you could help me out of this restraint, I could-" Lamson didn't finish his sentence when Five cuts in, "You're not going anywhere. I know you probably wanted me to sympathize with you about your non-existent son, but you're gonna have to try a little harder than that. I can smell bullshit from a hundred miles away, and you reek of it."

Lamson clamped his mouth shut at that. He definitely didn't expect him to call him out on his half-assed bullshit like that, and in the next second his face contorted into one of anger. He started frantically pulling at his cuffs, "You're just a kid, you don't know shit! You're all going to die, you're all-"

Five's had enough of him so he knocked him out with the butt of his M24. His whole sudden outburst seemed to turn a few heads towards their direction, but they turned away after it was clear that Five had it handled. What a dramatic son of a bitch.

As it turned out, watching over an unconscious body was as entertaining as watching paint dry. He laid his back on the ground, staring up at the ceiling. It was as nasty as the rest of the warehouse, rust and moss visible on just about every inch of the surface. Suddenly, Tara appeared in his tunnel of vision.

"What's up, twerp?" She said while grinning down at him. He sat up when she sat down beside him.

"Literally nothing. Can't do shit in this shithole." Five loudly complained.

"We'll get a move on soon, we're just waiting for Rick." Tara assured him, then she smacked him with a- is that a fucking yo-yo?

"Found this in the forest after you ditched us, I was all alone with nobody to watch my back." Tara dramatically sighed as she feigned sadness.

"Quit it. Seeing how you're still alive and breathing you obviously didn't run into much trouble." Five rolled his eyes for the second time that day. Just when he thought he wouldn't have to experience theatrics.

"Check this out." Tara did some trick shots with the yo-yo.. Or at least she thought she did because Five didn't think it was all that impressive. She kept thrusting it downwards before rotating back up with a spin to it. Eventually, it ended up tangling around her palm.

"Amazing." Five flatly commented.

"Let's see you do better then." Tara scoffed at him in offense.

They ended up taking turns with the yo-yo. Five knew it was a childish way to pass the time, but it wasn't nearly as boring as the rest of his activities earlier.

--- ---

Rick stationed everyone on the rooftops of buildings that surrounded the clearing. He already notified the Grady cops to meet him in the area, all that was left to do was wait.

He'd given each of them a rifle to be on the lookout for him. If the Grady cops tried anything, they'll be dropping like flies. Rick hoped it didn't have to come to that, he desperately wanted the plan to work.

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to wait long before the distinct sound of tires screeching against asphalt drew near. Two men in the same cop uniforms as Shepherd, Lamson, and Licari got out, guns in hand.

Rick raised his arms, signalling that he meant no harm (yet). The cops stayed cautious, their grip on their respective handguns tightened.

"Put your weapons down!" One of them shouted at Rick. He complied, using one hand to unfasten his gun holster and lower it to the ground.

"I want to make an exchange. We have your people, you have mine." Rick's voice wasn't as loud as the cop had been but they still heard him clearly.

"Who?" The other cop narrowed his eyes, putting two and two together to conclude that Rick was responsible for the disappearance of his co-workers.

"Officers Shepherd, Lamson, and Licari. Three for two of our people, Beth and Carol. It's a great deal if you ask me." Rick answered.

At the confused looks the two cops shared when Carol was mentioned, Rick pressed on, "You picked up a woman yesterday, after your people hit her with a car."

That finally got him looks of recognition, the first cop nodded and asked, "Noah, he's with you? That's how you know?"

"Yes, he is." Rick answered truthfully.

"Where are they now?" The other cop demanded. Suddenly, a Walker behind them was shot down.

"They're close." Rick gave them a vague answer. The cops seemed to have taken the hint. They didn't lower their handguns but that's fine.

"Radio your lieutenant. I'll wait." Rick said as he took a few steps back.

--- ---

Five followed the cops into the hallway of the hospital, Daryl and Rick in front of him leading the group. Shepherd, Licari, and Lying Douchebag stood at the very front. They came to a halt before a door, one of the cops radios the person in charge- most likely Dawn.

'Holster your weapons.' Five could barely make out from the Wally Talky. Rick gestured the whole group to lower their weapons. "That goes for you too." Rick pointedly glared at him. Five reluctantly lowered his M24 with a huff.

The door opened after she radios an affirmative.

At the end of the long hallway stood a bunch of cops, a woman in a wheelchair and a blonde girl he hasn't seen before. Ah, those people must be the prick's friends.

They marched forward until there's a sizable distance between them.

"They hadn't been harmed." Rick throws it out there for assurance. Dawn took count of Shepherd, Licari, and Lying Asshole before she nodded. "Two of you, for three of mine."

"Alright." Rick nodded in easy understanding. Daryl moved Licari along while a cop on the other side moved the woman in the wheelchair to meet at the center. They quickly made the exchange, Daryl letting go of Licari as he took hold of the woman's wheelchair.

The trade continued, Rick pushed Shepherd and Lying Bitch forward to meet Dawn in the middle, with the blonde girl in her arm. Rick lets go of Shepherd and Lying Asshat while Dawn did the same. The blonde girl quickly made it to Rick's side and he affectionately patted her back to move her along.

'What the fuck, the plan actually worked.' Five was astonished. He's gotta give it to the prick, he actually knew what he was doing.

"Glad we could make things work." Dawn said. Rick was visibly relieved, he wasn't as tense as Five had usually seen him. "Yeah." Rick whispered. Maggie couldn't contain a sob as she embraced the blonde girl- her sister Five's guessing.

Fate must've been on their side today, because there's just no way this thing could go so smoothly. His grip on his M24 tightened as he waited for the other ball to drop.

"Now I just need Noah." There it is. Five called it, there was no way they could've left the place without some kind of repercussion. Everyone turned back to her in disbelief.

"We traded two for Beth, Lamson could fill in the trade for Noah." Rick argued.

"Noah is my ward. Beth took his place and I'm losing her, so I need him back." Dawn simply stated.

"Ma'am, please it's not-" Shepherd tried to reason before Dawn sharply silenced her. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him, one of them died."

"He ain't staying." Daryl was positively fuming as he marched towards her, he didn't get far with Rick holding his shoulder back.

"He's one of mine, you have no claim on him." Dawn stubbornly retorted.

"The boy wants to go home, you have no claim on him." Rick's booming voice filled the narrow hallway.

"Then we don't have a deal." Dawn grimly stated.
"The deal, is done!" Rick shouted at her.

Suddenly, Noah stepped forward. "It's alright." he tried to assure Rick.

"No, it's not." Rick shook his head. Noah clearly didn't listen to him as he took the pistol from his holster and handed it back to Rick. As he started to walk away, the blonde girl shouted, "Wait!"

Noah stopped and the blonde girl hugged him, she clearly didn't want him to go. Dawn just looked at Noah expectantly after she let go, but Five could immediately sense that something was going to go very wrong.

"Dawn's running Grady into the ground. A bunch of us want her out and she knows it."

Beth slowly walked towards Dawn, one step at a time. She stopped right in front of her and said, "I get it now."

And then she immediately stabbed her.

BANG!

.

.

.

A gunshot echoed throughout the hallway, nobody moved. They all stood frozen in shock, as blood dripped onto the floor. A mangled hand released her pistol. Five's heart raced as he couldn't believe he shot Dawn's hand just in time, not letting her pull the trigger on somebody the prick went above and beyond to save.

A scream of pain reverberated throughout the hallway, it was shrill and genuinely unpleasant to hear. The blonde girl shakily ran back to Maggie's arms.

Five raised his M24 higher and yelled out, "If you don't let us fucking go right now, I'm aiming for your head!"

Dawn clutched at her torn hand tighter, she looked at him with wide eyes. The cops on the other side had drawn their guns, but lowered it when Shepherd shouted, "Hold your fire!"

"Shoot them!" Dawn commanded. When nothing happened, she turned to her side in pain and confusion. "What the hell are you doing?! Shoot them!"

From the corner, Five could see Shepherd staring at him. Subtly, she mouthed;

SHOOT HER

Now that's more like it. Five grinned as he aimed his rifle at the back of her head, pulling the trigger without hesitation. The second gunshot made everybody flinch, as they weren't aware of Shepherd and Five's silent communication. Dawn dropped dead in an instant, then it was quiet.

"Go. We're done here." Shepherd announced.

Five lowered his M24 and everybody hurried to the entrance. The Grady residents didn't follow or chase after them, they were free to leave.

--- ---

This brat is going to be the death of Rick, he swore. Rick's heart was pumping unusually fast, from the adrenaline? Partially, yes. But he almost gave Rick a heart attack with the gunshots. Beth- Beth was so close to dying. Rick saw a flash of an image, one of Beth laying on the ground, blood pooling under her bullet-pierced head. But she didn't- she's still alive, and well, and breathing.

Five saved her life. Rick felt immensely grateful to him.

None of them talked, they kept it together until they were safely outside the hospital. Once they did, Daryl and Carol let out giggles of joy and relief with tears in their eyes. Maggie and Glenn gave Beth the tightest hugs known to mankind, practically swallowing her up in their arms. Rick couldn't help but get glassy-eyed, something good finally happened to them after this messy week.

Rick thought that the brat had been one of the worst things to happen to him in the past few days, but he was wrong. Rick looked around to find the kid standing awkwardly to the side like somebody who doesn't know anyone in a party.

Rick took it upon himself to approach Five, who really didn't know what to do in the face of emotionally charged situations.

The kid turned to him with his usual aggressive expression. "What do you want?" he said while glaring at him. Normally, this would aggravate Rick but currently, he only felt gratitude.

"Thank you." Rick bluntly said. The kid was taken aback, as if he hadn't just saved one of the most important people in Rick's life.

"Don't thank me for shit like this, it's embarrassing." The brat was red in the face, which Rick couldn't quite fathom why. Was he not used to being shown gratitude?

"Are you going to stay?" Rick asked. He remembered Gabriel somewhat mentioning that Five used to wander alone before staying at the church.

"What?" The brat looked confused.

"The group. Are you going to stay with my group?" Rick elaborated.

Five was silent for a moment, Rick patiently waited for an answer.

"I mean, I've got nowhere else to go." The kid shrugged.

Rick smiled, then he prepared to ask him the usual sets of questions.

"How many Walkers have you killed?"

"The hell is this about, all of a sudden?" Five squinted his eyes in bewilderment. Seeing that Rick was being dead serious about his question, Five answered, "I don't know, I've been fighting off zombies left and right. I only remember the hordes, probably about twenty or more."

"How many people have you killed?"

That question seemed to have struck a chord with him. He looked conflicted, as if he didn't want to answer. But he did, "Three."

Rick raised an eyebrow, why did he hesitate to answer?

"Why?"

"You know why. You saw all of them didn't you?" Five answered with an uncharacteristically mellow smile on his face.

Rick did witness his murder of about three people, but Rick had a feeling that the brat had done more than he let on. This kid was so needlessly complicated with his impossible supernatural abilities and unclear past. He was a puzzle Rick would be willing to put the effort in solving, but for now he's going to push that thought to the very back of his mind.

"Alright then. Welcome to the group."

Chapter Text

Holy fucking shit his arms are SO sore.

Rick, Five and the rest of the group had been walking for hours, trying to see if there was any store or building left unchecked.

Five had been carrying the damn M24 around since he didn't have anything to take it off his hands, and there was no way in hell he'd ask one of his now-group-members to carry it for him. That's just plain embarrassing, and his pride wouldn't allow it.

He almost wanted to blame his teenage body if it weren't for the fact that his old body most likely wouldn't be able to carry around a rifle that weighed more than three kilograms for hours on end. An M24 usually weighed around six, it's safe to consider his teenage body to be the more durable of the two.

He's going to need something to carry it on his back or shoulders. Since they were currently in a major city, there's bound to be abandoned places that used to sell bags.

Five got so distracted with his plans of raiding local bag shops he didn't even realize that the group had collectively gone to a halt.

"The hell?" He grunted as he bumped into Rick's back, it felt more like bumping into a solid brick wall.

"Everybody, keep close. We're checking that diner next." Rick didn't pay him any mind as he led the way into the diner, gun raised high. He stood in front of the entrance for a moment, before kicking the door down.

As expected, zombies roamed inside the diner, the loud noise of a door crashing alerted them of their incoming attack. Rick lowered his handgun to pull out his hunting knife instead, stabbing into the nearest zombie before grabbing another one to smash its head against the dining counter.

They all went inside to assist him, but there weren't a lot of zombies to begin with so the whole diner got cleared out within minutes.

Five was the first to crash into the nearest chair, immediately plopping his M24 on the table. Finally, some sweet relief for his aching arms. The others followed his actions soon after, groaning out of sheer exhaustion.

He took a few minutes to rest, until the pain in his arms had been reduced to a dull throbbing. He could hear some people in the group rummage through the kitchen area, most likely looking for something that's barely edible. Five can't lie, he was starving. Most of the food supplies had been burnt to ashes thanks to a certain someone, but he could hold it in for a day or two. He'd survived worse.

Five stretched his arms out, feeling the satisfaction of his bones cracking back into place. He rubbed at his eyes, getting any dust or debris off his lashes. The city had quite the nasty air.

His eyes darted around his surroundings, observing whatever the people in the group were up to. Sasha and Bob were joking and doing all sorts of cheesy romantic gestures, nothing out of the ordinary there. Maggie and her sister were busy talking to each other, probably catching up on the time they lost together. The smile on their faces were wide and genuine.

Tara was fooling around with her yo-yo, Carl was straight up asleep on one of the diner tables, Michonne and Tyreese sat in a corner to watch over the baby. Five kept forgetting they had a baby in the group since she was always dead silent.

Suddenly, the chair in front of him was dragged out before the prick took a seat. He pushed a can of mac & cheese towards him. Five looked up at him with a questioning look.

"Eat up. We're leaving in a few hours, don't want you travelling on an empty stomach." Rick told him.

"Don't have to tell me twice." Five took a relatively clean fork from the cup of utensils to his right before digging in. It wasn't delicious by any means, but anything would taste great when he's starving. It tasted bland and watery and a little sour, but he continued to swallow it down.

The sting in his stomach slowly abated as he finished the can, his energy replenished.

"Thanks, I guess." Five thanked the prick as quietly as possible, he didn't want to say it out loud. Rick just gave him a knowing smile in return.

Five noticed that Gabriel had been even more depressed than ever after the whole hostage trading thing had almost turned into a fiasco, but he didn't really think much of it and just chalked it up to him still being upset over the church. Now he was hunching over a barstool like some drunkard reminiscing an ex from high school.

Five got up from his chair to sit next to him. He didn't think Gabriel would jump out of his skin when he did, as if it was something wholly unexpected.

"The hell are you brooding about?" Five asked him. All he got was a nervous expression in answer, which was weird since he'd never seen him like that before.

"Are you sick?" Five asked him again, injecting some concern in his tone of voice. Gabriel shook his head, refusing to verbally answer him.

What the hell was his problem? He couldn't think of anything he did that could warrant this kind of behavior. He's acting like Five drop kicked a baby in front of him or something. Oh right- he was there when he shot that conniving bitch. It would be the first time he'd seen him kill another human being.

But that shouldn't be a problem, Gabriel saw what that bitch intended to do. Why the hell would seeing him killing her bother him this much? Sure, he's a priest and all but shouldn't he understand that he's living in an unforgiving post apocalyptic world by now? You either kill, or be killed.

Five stood up from the barstool, if Gabriel wanted to piss himself over that, then fine. He went over to Rick, who was still sitting at the same table.

"I'm going to head out for a bit, I need to get something." Five nonchalantly said.

"I'm not letting you go out alone." Rick gave him a look of disapproval.

"Watch me." Five petulantly replied.

As he grabbed his M24, Rick snatched him by the wrist. Five felt his annoyance building up, he wanted to punch the prick.

"I'll go with him!" Tara suddenly exclaimed. She scrambled up from her seat as if she could see the rising tension.

Rick's pinched facial expression eased as he let go of Five's wrist. Right in the next second, he pulled out his hunting knife. Five tensed up, is he rearing for a fight? Then, to his complete surprise, shoved it against the palm of Five's hand.

"Take it. You don't want to attract a horde with that rifle." Rick said. Five curled his fingers around the handle.

These people are so fucking weird, just yesterday the prick was looking at him like he's the spawn of Satan and now he's suddenly acting like an overprotective parent? Ugh, Five hoped this wasn't going to be a recurring thing.

He properly grabbed his M24 and left the diner with Tara in tow, he didn't really need her accompanying him but Five appreciated it regardless.

"So, where we heading?" Tara jogged up beside him.

"Somewhere that used to have backpacks for sale. You know anything?"

"There's a mall within a five kilometer radius, we just need to take a few twists and turns."

Five stared at her, wondering how the fuck she knew all that. They didn't even bring a map. At his confused expression, Tara elaborated, "I grew up in Atlanta."

Ah, that made sense. "Alright then, lead the way." Five gave her a mocking bow.

"Well if you insist, young lady." Tara responded with an overly exaggerated posh accent.

Five rolled his eyes, "You should show some respect for your elders."

"I'm an adult, you're a minor." Wait what?

"I'm sorry what? you're an adult?" Five didn't quite believe it.

"I'm in my mid twenty's. And is that an underlying compliment I hear?" Tara grinned.

"No, I just assumed you were a little bit older than Carl because you're a childish piece of sh-" Five ducked as Tara playfully swatted at him.

Five didn't mind having company, he admitted to himself. He didn't really have time to enjoy the company of anybody in his universe, not even his siblings. But here? The apocalypse had already happened, there wasn't any warning sign with a countdown for an incoming world-ending apocalypse constantly looming over his head.

Here, he didn't feel like whipping himself into running around like a headless chicken chasing down anyone he thought could potentially trigger the apocalypse that he himself had lived through for decades.

He misses his family, he really does. But seeing how he won't be getting any solid leads anytime soon, Five could only hope that they're doing fine, wherever they are. Wait, what the hell is he even saying? Of course they are. They're grown ass adults, they can handle themselves just fine.

They continued walking, taking a few turns and killing off any zombie that got in their way along the deserted road. Eventually, they made it to a giant building with a grand, though withered entrance.

The huge glass door that greeted them had already been shattered, indicating that somebody had been inside. Well, this was a huge ass building for anybody to see, the chances of other survivors coming across a building as big as this one would be astronomical.

Five held Rick's hunting knife at an arm's length, he gestured for Tara to do the same. She nodded, and they both quietly walked inside. Hiding in the shadows of the corners, they surveyed the area and kept their eyes peeled wide open to watch for incoming zombies.

The entrance led to a long hallway that led to a mall square, blood splattered all over the yellowing walls and specks of dried blood littered the entire floor. On the center of the square stood a water fountain, it had long stopped working, and the amount of rotten organs floating around the reservoirs reminded him of the food bank.

Five and Tara were practically surrounded by rows and rows of glass displays as they continued their stroll, corpses laid out randomly outside of it. Five picked up a few gurgling noises from inside the shops, but he didn't really want to go out of his way to kill them since they're currently locked away in what Five is assuming to be the storage rooms.

Moving on, Five and Tara checked for any signs of a bag shop. So far, they've only come across bookstores and clothing shops. Seeing an escalator that led up to the second floor, they both shrugged and made their way up. Suddenly, Tara gasped as she saw a store with a sign that spelled out "Hot Topic".

Tara went in to snatch some of the shirts in it, Five didn't know what was so special about this particular shop but Tara seemed ecstatic. The T-shirts were obnoxiously bright in color even if it's slightly faded. Most of them had weird designs, ranging from human skulls to.. Human cartoon drawings? And what the hell is a Metallica?

Some of the T-shirts had "Nirvana" printed on it, was the shop ran by a group of Buddhists?

As Five took in the rest of the heinous product designs (his opinion), Tara came right behind him to tap him on the shoulder. Five glanced at her, she was hiding something behind her back.

"You said you're looking for a backpack right?" Tara looked like she was trying hard not to laugh.

"Yeah... Have you found anything?" Five slowly asked. Then, realization struck. Tara grinned as she revealed a... Half white and half black backpack? The white part was slightly smudged and the black part had a red lightning bolt, Five wasn't sure what it was.

"What the hell is this?" Five asked, completely unimpressed.

"It's your new backpack." Tara was grinning from ear to ear.

"The design is shit." Five deadpanned.

"We've been walking around the mall for ages, we finally got what you were looking for and you're complaining about the design?" Tara crossed her arms.

"Alright fine, but isn't there any... Less weird looking ones?" Five took a quick look at the backpack section of the store and-

Holy shit, nevermind.

Five aggressively snatched the backpack from Tara's hands before shoving his M24 inside. It wasn't big enough to fit the whole rifle with most of the top half peeking out of the bag even when he zipped it, but that's fine. He didn't want to hang around this place longer than he has to.

THUD

Five snapped his head at the sound, noticing a loud thud. Tara seemed to have heard it too, that's when he saw it. There was a figure clad in all black running out of the store. Five and Tara ran after them, the bastard had been watching them from the dark which was creepy as fuck.

"Stop running you creepy bastard!" Five shouted at them, and they ran faster. The bastard kicked down a few ceramic vases, attempting to hinder them from catching up.

Five jumped over each of them with ease, stepping out of the way as they got desperate enough to fling one of the plant vases at his head. It hit the wall instead and the vase shattered upon impact, producing an explosion of dirt and broken ceramic shards. Five caught a piece of the shards and threw it, the razor sharp end of the ceramic dug through their back.

The figure cursed in pain, they were most likely female from the voice alone. But it clearly wasn't enough to stop her as he kept running. She eventually led them to a clearing and abruptly stopped, raising both of her arms in surrender.

Five drew out his M24, Tara breathing heavily from behind him as she shakily aimed her gun at the lady too.

"I mean absolutely no harm, kid." The woman took off her mask as she turned around with her arms still raised high. She then proceeded to pull out the shard that was dug into her back, wincing as she did.

She had curly blonde hair and dark skin, although Five could clearly see that it wasn't her natural hair color. She reminded him too much of Allison, but she's not. It felt like the universe was mocking him, 'haha look, it's your sister, oh wait she's not.' Five sarcastically thought.

"Care to explain why you were watching us like a creep?" Five clicked the safety off.

"I was doing a simple observation." The woman stated in a placating voice, she had started to sweat as the pain slowly gets to her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tara chimed in.

"You two seem to be doing rather well- none of you look especially injured nor malnourished, perhaps you have a group with you?" The woman's voice had started to strain a little at the end.

"What's it to you?" Five replied with hostility.

"Maybe you could lead us to them, if you'd be so kind." The woman smiled, it looked so off. Five's danger sense immediately kicked off on full alarm.

"Us?"

Red dots were suddenly visible on Five and Tara's bodies, painting a clear picture that this was an ambush. Five quickly grabbed Tara's arm, teleporting behind a wall out of pure instinct.

"Get out of here!" He whisper-yelled at Tara.

When Tara opened her mouth, he quietly shouts, "Don't you dare talk back to me, get the fuck out!" Tara hesitated once more, but she complied.

And with that, he surveyed the area of rapid fire with full focus. There had been a temporary ceasefire, presumably due to the shock of using his stupidly abnormal teleportation. He shoved his M24 back into his weirdly designed bag, he decided to go for a stealthier approach.

He took a quick peek and he was right, they were confused about his whereabouts, which gave Five an advantage. There were a total of six men, currently leaving their stations to look for Five and Tara.

'Three more jumps.'

One of the men had come checking a relatively dark area, which was pretty dumb. Still, Five took this opportunity to teleport behind said man. Five stabbed him in the flank with Rick's hunting knife. The man hollered from the pain, he dropped what looked to be an M4 Carbine. Five slid the weapon away for later usage, then he slit his jugular open. Fresh blood came bursting out, thankfully away from his uniform.

One.

Five unceremoniously threw the body right out, the corpse undeniably visible under a proper light source. Five continued to stay hidden in the shadows, waiting for them to take the bait.

He didn't have to wait long, shouts of alarm echoed across the mall. A bright light shone across the room, just barely hitting him. Once the men walked closer, Five took the chance to strike.

He teleported right above the man with the flash light, landing with his thighs around his neck in a triangle chokehold. The man started firing at random, positively spooked. Using the momentum, he twisted around, the man's body wobbled under his weight, eventually firing at the three men who weren't quick enough to leave the line of fire, shooting them in the abdomen as they both crashed into the ground.

Five swiftly stabbed the knife into the man's skull before teleporting again, dodging the incoming bullets which made itself right at home inside the man's corpse.

Two.

The bullets had definitely came from the last man standing, he looked extremely disoriented as he wildly pointed his rifle around. Five reappeared from behind him, grabbing the M4 he had shoved away earlier before kicking the back of the man's knees which sent him toppling down. Five kicked him again to flip him on his back before shooting his face in.

From the corner of his vision, he could see a throwing knife flying towards him. He jumped backwards, the knife barely grazing him. He glared at the woman, who had started running the other direction. Five considered shooting her, but he really wanted to slit the woman's throat with her own knife. Give her a taste of her own medicine. He pocketed Rick's hunting knife.

Throwing away the M4, he picked up the knife and started chasing after her. He noticed that her speed had significantly decreased when compared to earlier, she was in a full-blown panic.

Five didn't bother to catch up by then, he immediately teleports to sink her own knife into her nape.

Her body fell with a thud, he didn't bother pulling the knife out.

Three.

Well, that's that. He needed to check on Tara now, he fucking hoped she had actually listened to him.

But what the fuck were these people's problem? You don't just shoot at a bunch of random strangers, not only was it a waste of bullets but they'd also be killing off potential allies. Even Luther would get that.

Maybe Rick knew something. He went back to pick up the M4 he'd thrown away.

As it turned out, Tara did listen. Surprisingly. He couldn't find her anywhere in the mall, which meant that she took his advice and booked it. Speaking of, the gunshots from earlier had definitely alerted nearby zombies on the second floor. He could see a bunch of them slowly walking into the clearing, Five took it as his cue to leave.

--- ---

That stupid brat. Rick knew it was a bad idea to let him go out even with Tara's supervision, trouble just kept coming for him.

When Tara burst through the door without the kid in tow, Rick had prepared himself to hear something about the brat dying. As it turned out, he's currently in the mall trapped with a bunch of armed, hostile men?

Rick knew the brat could handle himself, he'd seen what he could do in combat, but there was always a chance for him to bleed out and die no matter how small it is. Rick hadn't known him for long, but he'd done him a huge favor. He wouldn't let him die before he could repay it.

Rick ushered for Daryl and Sasha to assist him on their way to the mall, the others staying behind to get more rest. As Tara was leading the way, the brat was suddenly sprinting out of the mall.

"Five!" Tara shouted. Five jogged up to them.

"It's good to know you listened." The brat gave her another one of those smartass smirks.

"What happened in there?" Rick's feelings of concern for him quickly ebbed away after knowing that the brat's still alive.

"Not sure. One of them dropped this, what do you make of it?" Five handed over a rifle.

Rick inspected it, the rifle's quality had definitely aged. It looked like an M4 Carbine, which was extensively used by military personnel.

"What were they wearing?" Rick asked as he searched for a brand stamp, but it was entirely possible that the assailants had been regular citizens who got their hands on military gear.

"Black bodysuits, which was weird."

Could they be?

"There's a chance that they might be survivors from Fort Benning, where are they now?"

"Like, dead."

Rick stared at him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, there goes a bunch of people who might have valuable information.

Rick decided to just focus on getting Noah home for tomorrow, he was getting tired. Rick heard loud growling noises coming from inside the mall. He glanced at the kid, knowing that he was probably responsible for the crowd of walkers currently spilling out of the mall's entrance.

"Oh right. We should make a run for it."

Chapter Text

Thank fuck they'd lost the zombie horde after a few kilometers of running. Five found himself panting once they found a stop point, he had never been used to running long distances at full speed since he had his teleportation ability.

But ever since he found out his abilities may or may not deplete out of existence due to continued overexertion, everything sucked.

Five was kind of glad that his siblings weren't here to witness this, he knew that they'd most likely laugh their asses off at his predicament. Five knew that at some level, he's overly reliant on his abilities. The fact that his body had regressed into the teenage version of itself didn't help.

He's always been rather short. Shorter than the average male population, even as a grown ass adult. This was most likely caused by the malnourishment that he had to endure for the past four decades of his life.

Bitter as he was to admit it, he had learned to compensate for his small stature with sneak attacks. Stealth, his preferred style of combat could only be as effective as it was thanks to his abilities.

Did that mean Five was useless without it? Yes, and no. He knew that he was a competent fighter. But without it, there's only so much he could do against an actual life and death situation, like getting stuck inside an elevator that's one tingle away from free-falling into an endless void of darkness.

Five realized that he was lost in thought, yet again. The others seemed to have regained their stamina, Rick gave a nod to signal that they're nearing the diner. Recollecting his breath, Five evenly jogged to match their pace.

--- ---

The fire truck stopped working. Rick sent Abraham to check on the engine, then the tires to see if something had wedged itself inside. As it turned out, the truck had been suffering from a bad fuel pump.

Rick sighed, it left them no choice but to occupy the diner for a while. At least until they could find another vehicle. For now, it's best to lay low. Glenn had reported that there were enough food supplies to last them for a couple of days, a week if they really stretched it.

It wasn't so bad here, in the diner. At least he could actually cuddle with Michonne now, which was more than he could say about the fire truck. The brat kept giving them looks of fake disgust, Rick could only snort because that just made it impossible to see him as anything other than a kid. Maybe he was, at his core.

Rick noticed the new addition of a backpack, had he gone out to find one? He did notice that the brat had trouble carrying the M24 but chose not to say anything. Rick would've given him one if he asked, but he knew the kid long enough to know that his gigantic ego wouldn't let him.

When Rick closed his eyes, he could feel a presence standing in front of him. He peeled his eyes open to be greeted by the sight of his son with his baby daughter in his arms. He still looked a bit sleepy, but Rick was happy to see him nonetheless.

Carl sat down beside him, Rick saw that he looked.. Warm. Content. Happier than he'd ever seen him ever since the day Beth was presumed dead.

"Carl." Rick gently muttered his name, he smiled and cradled his son's shoulders with one arm.

"Hey, dad." Carl flashed him a smile that he'd forgotten he was even capable of.

"How's things with Beth?" Rick quietly asked to avoid waking Judith.

"Good. I still can't believe it." Carl let out a chuckle.

Rick nodded his head in understanding. They'd all gotten Beth back just a few hours ago, and yet it still felt surreal. In truth, Rick was afraid to sleep. He was afraid that he'd wake up just to find that it was all a dream. That he's still inside that railcar, waiting for slaughter.

But he wasn't. Here he was sitting in between his family members, still alive and intact. They'd escaped Terminus, found a church, and a bratty teenager with impossible abilities. It didn't feel real, but it was.

To solidify, the proof of it were all present in the same room. Carol, Gabriel, Five. They grounded him, assured him that the past few days hadn't been all in his head, that he hadn't gone delusionally insane.

Rick tugged his son closer. For the first time in a while, he felt whole again.

--- ---

It was peaceful again. Five didn't have anything to do but sit in a corner, quietly observing everything and anything around him.

The diner was quaint, it had the classic checkered flooring and red sofa chairs. Five wondered if the owners were going for the 1960's look, possibly for the nostalgic value.

There was a mini bar coupled with a row of barstools, at the end of it stood a jukebox. It was a peculiar thing, Five had only ever seen them twice in his life. Once in his childhood, the second during the apocalypse.

Five felt like someone had been staring at him for a while now, but as always he'd choose to ignore it. If they wanted to start a conversation then so be it, but he wasn't too keen of starting one himself unless it was absolutely necessary.

He flitted his gaze towards that someone, it turned out to be the blonde girl from the hospital. She seemed to have noticed that he was made aware of her staring as she got up and made her way over to him.

"Hello. I don't think I've seen you before." The blonde girl greeted. She had a light southern accent, Five could see why she's related to Maggie.

"I'm new. I've only known Rick for a few days, at best." Five shrugged.

The blonde girl nodded and she sat down next to him. Five scooted away a little bit, he didn't like strangers invading his space. The blonde girl didn't seem to mind as she introduced herself, "I'm Beth. What about you?"

"Five." He responded shortly.

"That's a unique name, I've never met anyone with a name like that." Beth gave him a smile full of optimism.

Five was weirded out. Her optimism was certainly out of place, but it held an air of maturity to it. He kept silent, wondering what she's trying to do. Again, she didn't pay any mind to his overly anti-social demeanor as she continued, "I wanted to thank you, for what you did in the hospital. I didn't get the chance to since, well.." Beth took a glance at Maggie.

"It's whatever. I figured out a way to end that shitty showdown with a single casualty, so I did." Five was starting to get uncomfortable, he absolutely wasn't prepared to get a few couple words of gratitude flung in his direction today.

She gave him another smile before casting her gaze downwards. Her smile faltered as she said, "I thought I was about to die at that moment. When I heard the gunshot, I thought the bullet was coming for me. I keep imagining what it would be like for Maggie if I died right then."

That's a bit off topic, but Five wasn't about to say anything. In truth, Five was surprised that the bullet had actually lodged itself into that bitch's hand before she could pull the trigger. She was literally half a second away from firing at reflex.

"Well, you're not dead yet. It's pretty dumb to imagine something that didn't even happen." Five was aware that he sounded like an asshole, but what the hell else was he supposed to say?

Unexpectedly, Beth let out a small giggle. "You're right, it's dumb. I don't know what came over me."

It was silent again. Five didn't have anything more to say to her, so he picked at his nails instead. It had gotten quite dirty and grown in length, but it wasn't bothering him all that much if he was being honest. It's not like nail clippers could magically spawn in front of him.

"I can clip them for you, if you want." Beth suddenly offered from beside him. Five was surprised, he wasn't expecting that. At his surprised expression, Beth smiled as she grabbed a nail clipper from her right breast pocket, under her fucked up cardigan.

"Dawn had me carrying it around, she didn't want any of the patients to have long nails. Prevent them from potentially retaliating." Beth explained.

Five couldn't think of any reason to refuse so he shrugged and extended a hand over to her. She gently grabbed his hand and started trimming his nails, careful as to not cut him by accident. This was an unfamiliar experience to Five, for a part of his body to not be treated so roughly.

He was used to receiving punches, for his knuckles to split and bleed as he returns it. He was used to being hurt, his enemies kicking him left and right, smashing his head against solid walls and glass windows alike.

For his nails to be trimmed so neatly, it somewhat made his chest tight. He can't remember the last time anyone had been this careful with him, not even his siblings. Not that he could ever blame them, they'd all been trained to fight for their lives since childhood.

The clicking noise of nails being clipped away was the only thing Five could hear at the moment. Beth reminded him of his mother, Grace. He remembered all the times she had clipped his and his siblings' nails when it got too long.

The old man programmed her to keep track, the bastard didn't want any of them to get distracted during training by having overgrown fingernails. When Klaus discovered that they could actually decorate them, he fought hard to keep it long.

The miserable old coot wasn't having it, he had Allison rumoring him to stay still as he got his nails clipped off then unceremoniously threw him inside the mausoleum that he knew Klaus had hated and feared the most. Five absolutely despised the old man for that.

"All done." Beth announced, breaking off Five's line of thoughts. He was so engrossed in his memories that he didn't even realize she had switched to his other hand, making light work of them. Five retracted his hands to observe them. His nails had gone back to being neat and tidy.

"Thanks." Five muttered. Beth had unfortunately caught it, she flashed him another amused smile before saying, "Least I can do. Let me know if you need another one."

--- ---

"Here." The brat suddenly extended his hunting knife. Rick raised an eyebrow, he thought that he had made it pretty clear that the knife was his to keep.

"It's yours. You'll need something to quietly defend yourself."

The kid squinted before retracting his hand, then he shrugged off his backpack to stuff the knife inside. They were currently going out on a supply run in preparation to bring Noah home. It was a long trip, so they needed the extra supplies.

Daryl and Noah had found a working ambulance while they were searching for pain killers for Carol yesterday. She had been recovering remarkably fast for someone who got ran over by a vehicle, but that's Carol for you. She's a tough woman, seemingly able to survive just about anything.

And now he's currently walking with the brat and his girlfriend in tow, Glenn leading them towards a convenience store nearby. According to Glenn, the convenience store had been the only place they have yet to check. Rick hoped there were still some supplies left for the road, they needed food, water, and pads. Snacks too, if possible.

"There it is." Glenn pointed at a large one story building. It certainly didn't look like the average convenience store, this one looked more traditional and conservative. It looked misplaced compared to its neighboring buildings with its wooden walls and door curtains.

Rick pressed his right ear against the door, listening for any signs of walkers. The old fabric over it made his ear itch, but he kept still as he pressed against it even harder.

Then, he got it. He could hear raspy moans against the other side of the door. It wasn't loud, which meant that the place only had a few walkers inside. Rick nodded over to Michonne, "As soon as I open the door, you slash as many as you can."

Michonne gave him a nod of understanding. Rick counted to three, before jerking the door open. A walker lunged at her but she easily decapitated it with her katana. Another two escaped from the convenience store, only to get immediately stabbed in the head by Glenn and Five.

Rick quickly moved inside, surveying the aisles for remaining walkers. When he found none, he turned to his group, "Michonne, Glenn, you're both in charge of getting the drinks and some pads. Five-" Rick turned over to where the brat was standing just to find nobody there.

Rick darted his eyes at just about any angle, wondering where the little shit had gone off to. When his eyes finally caught a glimpse of his black and white backpack, he sighed in relief. Rick saw him going through the snack aisle, which left him on food duty.

After Glenn and Michonne had scattered, Rick went straight to the bread aisle. Most of them had expired, but it should be fine to consume after ripping off the moldy parts. Rick went back to grab two shopping baskets, before returning to place the least moldy ones inside the basket.

Rick caught a glimpse of a single honey jar, which was absurdly fortunate since honey can't expire. There wasn't much else in the condiment aisle, most of it were technically expired chemicals.

Moving on, he got to the meat area. Rick sharply inhaled, remembering how close he and Glenn had been to getting beheaded in that damn meat factory. Flies swarmed around the rotten meat hanging off the meat hooks, Rick felt the urge to puke at the sight.

The freezers were absent of flies, which probably meant that there weren't any meat stored inside. Still, Rick approached one of them to check, making sure he wasn't missing out on anything.

He was then greeted by the sight of a walker, its eyes wide open as it lunged at him from inside the freezer. Rick let out a shout of surprise, his hands pushing against its shoulders to put some distance between his face and its concerning amount of sharp teeth. The walker was unusually strong, Rick found himself at the brink of getting completely overpowered, the walker's mouth had been a few inches away from his face-

SHLICK!

Rick felt the sensation of liquid rolling down his face, when he opened his eyes he was greeted by the pointy end of his former hunting knife.

Rick pushed the disgusting corpse off his body, his arms ached from the confrontation. It was disturbingly strong, which was worrying since most walkers tend to have fragile, decaying bones.

Standing in front of him was the brat. He was wiping the blood off his knife using the sleeves of his navy blazer, which was tied around his waist.

"Is it just me or was that thing tougher than usual?" The kid asked with a frown on his face.

"Not just you, that walker wasn't normal." Rick scowled, what did this mean?

Five looked contemplative before picking up his basket, Rick could spot a bunch of sweets ranging from marshmallows to hard candy.

"What?" Five spat out when he noticed Rick gawking at his basket.

"You got a sweet tooth?" Rick asked.

"Why does it matter?" Five tried dismissing it.

"No it's just.. unexpected." Rick took a second to find the right word. It's not everyday that he learns something new about the kid.

The brat just snorted before turning away, probably to look for more obscenely sweet snacks. Rick could hear frantic footsteps marching towards the meat aisle.

Michonne looked alarmed as she came into view, katana in hand. Michonne immediately lowered her guard down when she found him standing, still alive and kicking. Michonne went in for a hug, which was followed by Glenn.

"We heard distant shouting, we ran as fast as we could." Michonne said as she let go.

"What the hell happened man?" Glenn's face was pinched in worry.

"A walker lunged at me." Rick automatically replied.

Michonne and Glenn frowned at each other, they had a doubtful look in their faces.

"It wasn't a normal walker. I saw the inside of its mouth, it was full of fangs." Rick gestured to the corpse lying on the floor.

Glenn looked hesitant before tentatively crouching and prodding its mouth open. His jaw dropped open when he saw a mouth full of razor sharp teeth, Michonne's eyes widened in horror.

Glenn slowly turned to Rick before nervously asking, "Do you think.. they're evolving?"

Rick and Michonne glanced at each other, this was god-awful news. They needed to get far away from Atlanta, as soon as possible.

Chapter Text

Five was pushing a trolley along with his group members. His trolley had been filled with a mix of moldy bread, salty snacks, and various sugar treats. He was pleasantly surprised to find anything at all on the shelves, much less a bunch of unopened food products.

He noticed that his trolley had been the lightest out of the four trolleys, and he didn't know whether to be grateful or offended since Rick had been the one to divide the scavenged supplies.

He's well aware that they were at risk of alerting a horde, what with the loud noise of the trolley wheels scraping against uneven asphalt, but they should all be fine and dandy as long as they make it back on time.

Five looked up at the sky as he pushed his trolley with an absent mind, it looked to be the beginnings of an evening. The clear blue sky he had seen earlier transformed into a lovely shade of the orange color, reminding him of the exquisite polka dot blouse that he had gotten for Dolores.

It was strange, how the smallest of things could easily remind him of home. He didn't belong in this universe, and it was this conviction alone that had kept him going. He had a family to go back to, no matter what happens. He may be feeling a little lost right now, but he was determined to find a way back.

Five didn't know why, but he had an inkling of feeling that he'd lose himself if he wasn't.

It's been about two weeks since he had been punted across the time void, and he wasn't anywhere close to figuring anything out. This was like the time he'd scribble random equations on any flat surface his old self could find, desperately writing down every possible equation to see what stuck.

Except, this apocalypse really wasn't that bad. Humans still roamed the earth, they were fortunate enough to find a shit ton of supplies, and there were hardly any buildings that had been completely obliterated.

Yes, there were a lot of walking corpses chomping at people's faces but they were all literal skin and bones. They shouldn't be considered a threat unless they all band together to form a sea of decaying flesh, which was a disturbing thought.

The journey back to the diner had been rather uneventful, a zombie would pop up here and there but that was it. It helped that they took the secluded route halfway there, otherwise there would be so much more. Nobody was in the mood to start a conversation ever since that happened in the convenience store.

Five wasn't quite sure what it was, but judging from the way Rick had reacted it was definitely not a normal occurrence. He didn't get to see the abnormalities of that particular zombie, but boy did he feel it. Its skin was hard to get through, it felt more like stabbing into neglected beef jerky. Just how many layers of muscle did that zombie have?

He followed the others in parking his trolley right outside the diner. The prick looked more agitated than usual, which was saying something. Rick slammed the door open and yelled something about getting the vehicles ready.

"-he ambulance! Abraham, go get the gasoline!" Rick shouted as he walked into view once again. Five raised an eyebrow at him, it seemed to him nobody else had any idea why he's acting like this.

"Christ on a stick, what's goin' on Rick?" Abraham grunted as he carried two tanks of gasoline in his arms. Rick didn't say anything in reply, he only gestured for him to place the fuel tanks beside the ambulance.

"I'll tell you later, but we need to leave Atlanta. Immediately." Rick finally said with urgency. Everyone who had gathered outside looked at each other in bewilderment, not quite sure what to think of the current situation. Rick paced around for a bit before shoving past Eugene, who was standing right in the entrance of the diner.

Five wanted to get to the bottom of this, he walked over to Glenn before nudging his arm to grab his attention. It worked as intended, Glenn snapped from his anxious stupor to meet his eyes. "What's up man?" Glenn tried to cover his anxiety-induced thoughts with a strained smile.

Five just looked unimpressed. "Spit it out. I know that you three saw something disturbing back in the convenience store."

Glenn looked hesitant, as if he didn't know how to word it. Five can guess that even he was unsure of what it was, which Five found concerning. After a few more seconds of a lack of response, Glenn finally stated, "We have suspicions that the walkers... might be evolving. The walker that attacked Rick, it had a mouth full of fangs of all things."

Well that was horrible news. The zombies, as of now, weren't hard to deal with but those braindead fuckers had managed to consume the lives of- a fuck ton of people. The people here are barely surviving against brittle bones nicky out there, how the fuck are they going to defend themselves against zombie variants???

Five could suddenly relate to the growing panic Rick had displayed earlier, they needed to bulk up on weapons and gasoline. Mostly gasoline, he didn't want to imagine getting stuck inside an unmoving car as the threat of metal eating zombies drew nearer, unable to use his teleportation to save his own scrawny ass.

What the fuck, that sounded terrifying. Five cursed at the universal laws for the fourth time that week, he wanted his limitless teleportation back. But alas, he can't do jack shit about it (yet).

Rick scrambled outside with the weapon stash. He kicked open the trunk of Daryl's stolen car before storing all of the guns inside. He slammed the trunk close then proceeded to get in the driver's seat, twisting the car key experimentally to start the car.

The engine roared after Rick's third attempt, he frantically got out and started ordering everyone to get inside a vehicle, either the ambulance or the car. There came a problem; two vehicles couldn't possibly fit all of them- not with the addition of two people and the loss of a fire truck.

Abraham seemed to catch on to said problem pretty quickly as he protested, "You can't be serious. There's no fuckin' way those two vehicles could carry all of us, we'll need to find another one."

"We could make it work, but it'll be a tight squeeze. Now I don't know about you, but I'd rather not spend the whole trip getting asphyxiated." Bob added into the protest, raising both of his arms.

Rick suddenly zoned in on him, his body language suggested that he's currently calm and collected, but his eyes told a whole different story. "We're in the middle of a fucking apocalypse, comfort is a luxury and we won't be able to bask in it until we're out of here."

Sasha rushed in between them in case a sudden fight broke out. "If it's so urgent then why don't you explain? We're not doing shit until we know exactly the kind of danger we're in." Sasha cautiously demanded.

"Fine. The walkers are evolving, I don't know when it started, but it's clear that the walkers we've come to face for the past few years were only in their early stages." Rick announced gravely.

Shock was plastered all over everyone's faces at that, nobody knew what to do with that information. In the middle of the damning silence, Eugene suddenly voiced, "But that's not possible. Evolution would take years- if not millions to be entirely feasible. The walkers can't possibly evolve to an altered extent in only a few years."

"Oh, so now you know a damn thing about walkers." Abraham scoffed.

"It's just a general fact. The theory of evolution is a middle school subject, though given your background I don't reckon you consider it to be a subject of interest." Eugene calmly replied, not rising to the bait.

"Are you calling me stupid?" Abraham glowered, there was a challenge in his voice.

Seeing the rising tension, it was Rick's turn to defuse it. "Alright that's enough! Don't waste your breaths on getting at each other's throats, we have enough problems already."

"This got nothin' to do with you." Abraham retorted.

"I know you're still pissed about what happened, but I'm gonna need you to move past it. Remember our conversation." Rick warned.

After another round of scowling, Abraham finally relented and stomped over to the driver's seat of the ambulance. He lightly slammed the door shut, not wanting the ambulance to somehow go off.

'These people are so fucking dramatic.' Five internally rolled his eyes. He thought his siblings were bad, Five felt like he was watching a low-budget, poorly acted soap opera in the middle of the goddamn zombie apocalypse.

"Since everyone is too busy dwelling in problems that don't even matter, I'm gonna go find us another vehicle." Five announced, his exasperation clear in his voice. They wouldn't be getting anywhere if they keep pulling this shit, if all of them are going to continue acting all hesitant and apprehensive then he might as well take the initiative in doing something about it.

Rick, being the prick that he is chose to have another problem with that. "You're taking the car with Daryl, we can't afford to stall our departure by going out of our way to find another working vehicle."

"Your friends are protesting it, and you know what? I can totally see their point. I wouldn't want to sit in an uncomfortably tight space for long periods of time either, even less if we could help it." Five crossed his arms as he fired back.

Rick opened and closed his mouth, seemingly unable to form a sentence to refute his point. He wiped a hand over his face before exhaling a frustrated sigh. "Everyone, take everything you need and fill out the vehicles. Don't force it, I'm taking anybody left out on a run for another vehicle."

--- ---

In the end, Rick took a detour with the company of Michonne, Tyreese, Eugene, and Gabriel. He had originally wanted his girlfriend to take Daryl's car alongside Carl and Judith, but she had insisted to go with him instead. Rick felt strong feelings of affection blooming inside his chest at that, but he's not about to turn into a sappy son of a bitch until they're out of Atlanta.

Rick had told the rest of his group to meet up somewhere near outside Atlanta, at Stone Mountain. Rick was only equipped with a gasoline tank, his new knife, and a pistol in case something happens. Daryl had promised to be on standby for immediate aid, right after he drove the kids (minus Tara) to Stone Mountain.

They've all been quiet, watching out for walkers that may come in their way. Tyreese held his gun defensively, turning it upwards with the intention of bludgeoning walker heads with the butt of his gun. Michonne had her knuckles wrapped tight around the hilt of her dirtied katana, they haven't had the time to wash up on the weapon department.

Eugene looked awfully calm to the average person, but Rick had spent half a decade of his life studying body language as a Deputy Sheriff, he was anything but calm. Eugene probably didn't expect anyone to see it, but Rick could tell that he was anxious from the way he deliberately avoided eye contact, keeping his head bowed. Rick could also see that he was fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, restless in a way that revealed a sense of guilt.

Rick wasn't a dumbass, he knew that Abraham and Eugene would still have beef with each other even after Rick had gotten the both of them to tolerate and cooperate with each other. The roots of their problem went way back, Rick had never deluded himself into thinking his borderline corny TED talk could magically erase the petty hatred Abraham now held for Eugene.

He wished they could reconcile soon, before it causes a bigger problem within the group.

Rick diverted his eyes to Gabriel. The priest had stayed uncharacteristically silent, he could barely believe this was the same person he'd met a few days ago. Of course, Rick had noticed the way he was giving Five the silent treatment. Something had obviously happened between them to cause the sudden rift, but Rick wouldn't pry into it since it wasn't any of his business to begin with.

They reached the clearing of a highway by the time the sun had set. Rick knew this was a whole other level of danger, they couldn't see anything under the blanket of darkness the universe had tucked the world in. They should've brought Daryl's flashlight, and Rick blamed himself for being way too hasty with the decision to leave Atlanta.

They couldn't turn back now, the fatigue had started climbing up their legs with every step they took and he'd be damned if they turn back without a vehicle in tow.

The highway had been flooded with hundreds- no, thousands of wrecked, abandoned cars. He opened the doors to a few cars, and one out of the four of them were unlocked. Rick wasn't planning on shattering their windows anytime soon, he's not going to risk setting the alarms off.

There had been a maggot-infested corpse inside, it had likely graced the car with its rotten smell for over a year, Rick scrunched up his nose in distaste. Michonne opened the door from the other side, pulling the corpse outside. Rick got his lockpick out to start fiddling with the keyhole in an effort to start the engine. As unfortunately expected, the engine had blown off a small heap of gas before completely shuttering down.

Rick sighed before getting out, what a waste of effort. Though he didn't feel too bad about it, the car had stank to high heavens and Rick wouldn't be able to concentrate if they had managed to take it out on a drive.

"Any luck?" Rick called out to Tyreese and Eugene. They shook their heads, Rick could imagine the exhausted looks on their faces despite not being able to see much under the horrible lighting. The sky looked to be the beginnings of night time, they better hurry up before they get shrouded by a heavier darkness.

They tried a few more cars, one of them was a promising looking Luxio. To his suspiciously good luck, it happened to be one of the unlocked ones. Rick quickly got in, scanning the car for walkers. When there had been none, it was almost certainly a trap, but Rick would take his chances. He rolled the window open, putting out a thumbs up to signal that he'd found a vehicle.

The others seemed to get it as they opened the car door to quickly slip inside. They looked equally as suspicious as Rick was, it was musty and dusty on the inside, but it was relatively too clean for a car that was supposedly left on the highway for years.

This wasn't worth the risk. He should find another vehicle instead of putting his group in danger, so he resolutely tried opening the car door.

It wouldn't budge.

Rick's eyes widened, everyone seemed to have realize it too. Tyreese and Eugene started frantically trying to open the door, but then one of them had triggered some kind of switch; the car had went off in a sudden loud blaring noise.

'Shit. Shit. SHIT!' Rick cursed to himself. He and Michonne tried shattering the windows open, but Rick was horrified to find he didn't even put a crack on it.

"These car windows are made of Polycarbonate Glass. They're made to be near unbreakable." Eugene muttered. Rick internally swore at him for stirring up the panic even more.

Tyreese tried hitting it with the sharp end of his gun, but it was no use. No matter how much force they put into hitting it, every hit felt like it was rebounded back to them. The alarm hadn't stopped, and Rick felt a pinprick of anxiety as he knew they were effectively attracting the walkers. Soon, they'd be surrounded by a horde of walkers and there wouldn't be any way out.

He had to think of something- things couldn't end here. He had promised to lead the group through the endless tunnel of darkness into the light, he's not about to break that. Not now, not ever, especially since his girlfriend was beside him, looking as persistent as ever to survive. There's a lot of things about Michonne that had drawn him to her, and her endless determination is one of them.

"We have to cover up the windows- the walkers may be blind but they could still detect movement." Michonne said urgently, swiveling around to look for something that could potentially cover the entirety of the car windows.

Tyreese started rummaging through the seat's pockets, Eugene doing the same a second later. Michonne opened the car's drawer, but in the end they all found nothing but dust. The car had entirely been cleared out.

"If- if I may, why don't we try cutting up the leather of the seats?" Gabriel suddenly stuttered out.

Rick stared at him. That was a good idea, why didn't he think of that?

Drawing his knife, Rick started stabbing into his own seat, making deep, long cuts. He was being careful with it, he didn't want to accidentally cut it too narrow and waste a leather. Tyreese and Michonne started following his lead, Michonne used her katana while Tyreese used a kitchen knife. Gabriel and Eugene didn't do much but they did try to help by holding the leather together as to keep the cutting steady.

They eventually collected four big pieces of fabric, but it wasn't nearly enough to cover every window. From the backseat window, Rick could see a bunch of walkers slowly approaching them. Rick needed to cut faster, beads of sweat ran down his face as he shoved his way to the back of the car, next to Gabriel.

"Everyone, cover up the windows from the front! They're coming." Rick clenched his teeth as he tore through the fabric, ripping the rest right off manually in a state of disarray. Rick and Gabriel jolted as the walkers had gone near enough to bang at the windows. Rick shoved the jagged leather to cover their movement, but it was only effective for a few seconds.

Inexplicably, the car had grown insanely hot, his sweating had gone increasingly worse. Gabriel had started sobbing, mumbling about hell or some shit. Michonne and Eugene's eyes widened at something- Rick followed their line of sight and his breath hitched.

Right outside their car was a giant walker with the skin texture of molten lava.

Chapter Text

"Goddamn, I didn't think we would be able to see things like this anymore." Five breathed out.

He stared up at the giant stone mountain that towered over the bloody clearing. He was in awe, and Tara just looked at him with a smug expression on her face. She playfully ruffled his hair then proceeded to grin, "I used to visit this place every weekend as a kid. You know, for a picnic. Outside. I bet you spent your entire childhood holed up inside a big fancy library."

Five glared as he swatted her hand for messing with his already messed up hair. It was sticking out all over the place and his normally coiffed bangs had fallen to cover the right side of his face in strands. He hadn't been given the chance to arrange it properly, which was understandable considering he didn't have the time to sit around and do his hair what with running away from zombie hordes and murdering a bunch of human assailants becoming a constant in his life.

"Lucky you. Did you get horse-riding lessons while you're at it?" Five drawled sarcastically. He was regretting the decision of telling her all about his life when he still lived inside the Umbrella Academy's mansion. He absolutely didn't go over the hell he and the rest of his siblings went through thanks to the old bastard's mandatory training lessons, but Five figured it wouldn't hurt to tell her about all the mundane stuff he and his siblings used to do inside the mansion. He was severely wrong.

And now she kept on making annoying "Rich British Kid" jokes at him, which in Five's humble opinion was in poor taste because he's fucking Irish. He didn't even think it would come to that, the information sort of just spilled over the moment he vehemently denied her assumptions of him having a poverty-stricken childhood. His childhood was atrocious in its own right, but by no means was he poor and starving.

"Jesus, don't you two ever get tired of bickering?" Carl spoke out before Tara could fire another argument. He sounded fed up, probably because they'd spent the entire car ride arguing about random dumb shit and ended up waking his baby sister. Five and Tara decided to relent, going silent at once.

Taking in the dark scenery, Five decided he liked sight-seeing. The sky barely had any clouds to cover the moonlight, making for a nice background to highlight the sheer size of the mountain. He'd only ever seen the aftermath of the destruction an apocalypse left at its wake to ever really appreciate the wonders mother nature and humans alike had built across the centuries.

They all parked the vehicles in the grassy clearing, all the roaming zombies around it had either been ran over or taken care off relatively quick. It gave him a new understanding that strength could only be found in numbers to effectively fight and survive an apocalypse.

Most of the group had dozed off, only a few of them taking turns to keep watch. It was probably for the best, they had a long ass journey to sit through tomorrow, but that was assuming Rick and the others made it back by then. But he wouldn't worry about that, they can definitely handle themselves. In which case, Five would be happy to just sit back, relax, and enjoy the cool midnight air.

.

.

.

Of course, the universe wouldn't allow him even a moment to recuperate. Five was beginning to suspect that it had some kind of fucked up hidden agenda.

There was suddenly a big, blinding light cutting through the fabrics of reality from the sky, right above Atlanta. Everyone woke up with a jolt, startled by the loud rumbling sound produced from the gaping hole in the fucking sky. Abruptly, it stopped, then-

Five's eyes widened, he didn't account for an explosion to suddenly happen. The impact of the explosion traveled at the speed of light, causing the trees and everything around them to quake. It had also released a wave of extremely strong wind, Five held onto the car's outer rearview mirror to keep himself from getting literally swept away. Easier said than done, dust had accumulated and assaulted his vision.

Just as quickly as it came, the wind stopped. The blinding hole in the sky stitched itself up, and Five had no fucking clue what that was about. Seeing the group's bewildered expressions, they definitely didn't either. It's safe to assume that this wasn't a regular occurrence then. Great, just great.

Was his power directly responsible for this? Logically speaking, it wasn't because he would have noticed something amiss during the first three days he got here. That wasn't to say he was going to scratch that particular possibility off his list, he did tear through the fabric of an unknown reality after all.

Someone smacked a hand to grab at his shoulder. Five spun around to see Tara, looking worse for wear.

"What the hell was that?!" Tara almost shouted the question at him. Five could see that she was trying her hardest to keep her composure, but he could easily identify the cracks here and there.

"I don't know, I legitimately have no clue." Five sighed. It was sort of a lie but not really, he didn't know what it was nor where it came from, but he had his own suspicions. He's not about to voice them though, he would need to further investigate whatever the hell happened before he could reach a definite conclusion.

"Dude. That shit looked like it came straight out of an MCU movie, there's no fucking way you're not connected to it one way or another." Tara frowned, she didn't look convinced.

'What the fuck is an MCU?' Five quickly shook off the thought. "Just because there's half a chance that I'm somehow connected to it doesn't mean I know jack shit about it." Five crossed his arms.

Tara opened her mouth to argue, but it looked to be quite the struggle for her to properly form the sentence. She closed and opened her mouth once again before exhaling to compose herself. Her shoulders slouched as she gave up on her attempts to throw some surely bizarre accusations at him.

"Dad! Michonne! They're still at Atlanta!" Five distantly heard Carl cry out for his parents, and he felt a twinge of sympathy. Carl forgot about the infant sleeping in his arms before he got reminded by a loud wailing. He startled, before quickly shushing her in a frenzy.

Then from out of nowhere, Daryl shoved him off from where he was standing to get into the driver's seat. Five was about to curse him to hell and back for that but Daryl quickly held one finger up to get his attention.

"I promised Rick I'd be on standby for him after I drop y'all off, but the situation's changed." Daryl said. He didn't elaborate, and the silence stretched on.

"So?" Five was confused. But he had a nagging feeling of what Daryl was going to say next, and he didn't like it.

"What happened earlier was freaky, and you're freaky, so you're gonna have to help me out." Daryl shrugged.

"I don't see how I'm gonna be of any help-" Five wanted to rant some more about how he didn't have anything to do with that but Daryl quickly cut him off.

"Just get in." He sternly said. Five groaned but reluctantly opened the car door and got in the back. He fucking knew Daryl was going to drag him into this shit, he really couldn't catch a damn break. Technically, he could just refuse to go, but the better part of his brain told him this was his chance to find out what exactly happened. He'd feel guilty if Carl's prick of a dad died and it turned out Five had indirectly caused it anyway.

"Wait, you're going back?" Tara asked from the window sill.

"Daryl seemed to have reached the same conclusion as you did, so yes, unfortunately." Five scoffed.

"Make sure to keep watch for walkers, we'll come back with Rick and the others." Daryl assured her from the front.

Tara nodded, albeit slowly. She gave Five a look of concern, before promptly walking away. Five didn't know why she'd be concerned, it's going to take more than a few hundred zombies to take him out. Okay, maybe he was exaggerating a little bit but point is, the zombies here are a joke.

--- ---

As if the walker wasn't bad enough, there had been a flash of blinding light and a deafening explosion suddenly resounding on the sky. Rick couldn't see what it was, but he and everyone else could definitely feel the small earthquake it caused.

Rick got over his shock faster than anybody else as he threw himself to the front seats, startling Eugene and Tyreese in the process. Rick slammed the leather over the front view window in an attempt to cover their movements. It didn't seem to be working very well since the abnormal walker stood unnaturally still.. as if it could still detect them somehow.

Rick signalled for the rest of his group to lay low, keep themselves hidden. They obliged instantaneously, and now it was up to Rick to hold up the leather for as long as they needed. The heat hadn't gone down at all, the scorching warmth surrounded them at every corner.

They waited for a few minutes. Rick, tired from the events for the day started faltering his hold. His shoulder blades were extremely sore to the point of becoming painful, his back felt like it had been stabbed by a thousand knives, and sweat kept pouring down his body, sending unpleasant tingling sensations.

Michonne seemed to have noticed his struggle because she sat up to help him hold the other side of the fabric, giving Rick's left arm the chance to rest. Rick sighed a breath of relief and smiled a grateful smile at his girlfriend, to which she responded with a sweet smile of her own.

Then it was quiet. The horns had stopped blaring and the only sounds that could be heard were Gabriel's heavy, labored breathing and Eugene's constant shifting against his seat. If they wanted to get out of this alive, they'll have to lie down and wait.

They waited. It was Tyreese's turn to shift anxiously against his seat and the car door, his bulky stature not allowing for him to get comfortable.

They waited some more. Gabriel was in near hysterics as he clutched at his head while muttering incoherently.

They waited more. Michonne got tired of holding up the leather with her left arm as she swiftly switched it with her right.

Ten minutes must've passed, it certainly felt like it. Rick glanced at Michonne questionably, as if asking for her permission to take a peek. Michonne nodded, and so Rick slowly peeled away his side of the fabric, just about an inch.

Rick was greeted by the sight of a charred, decaying face staring right at him.

Rick shouted in alarm, which made the others jump as well. Rick felt himself descending to a state of panic, their efforts weren't doing shit, the abnormal walker wasn't going away anytime soon, everyone was terrified, they were getting tired, they're going to die soon from a heatstroke, and Carl's going to be left an orphan-

THUD

Everyone flinched once more when there's the sudden sound of a heavy thud at Rick's right window. Rick snapped his head to the right, looking at the remnants of rotten brain matter adorning the previously clear window.

Next thing they knew, the unbearable heat had started going away, leaving them to exhale a breath of relief as the temperature of their bodies started collectively dropping to a normal rate. Daryl must've rescued them.

Rick dared another peek and the overheated decaying face was no longer there. Rick and Michonne gave up on the leather as their arms fell limp. They could finally breathe a little.

BANG! BANG!

Rick startled from his seat to find the brat banging on his window, frantically wiping the blood off with his hands before... Muttering something? Rick could only stare in confusion as the brat kept mouthing something.

"What? I can't hear you!" It was Rick's turn to shout at him.

"As I mentioned before, these are polycarbonate glass windows- it's basically almost soundproof." Eugene helpfully supplied.

Rick gritted his teeth before putting his whole ear against the window, trying to understand what the brat was saying.

Car. Asshole. Start.

Rick felt like a dumbass when he finally understood. He hurriedly grabbed at his lockpick to try and start the car. The engine roared up with no problems, Rick checked the back window to see the situation. It looked to be clear of walkers, Rick could see Daryl shooting down the walkers from Tyreese's window.

Which meant the brat was steering the abnormal walker away. Rick wildly searched for Five's whereabouts and his eyes landed on him running around the abandoned cars, literally jumping over them as if it was a parkour course to bait the walker into lunging at the cars instead.

For all his personality flaws, the brat was certainly efficient in handling threats. Rick revved up the engine to reverse the car, intent on getting out of the highway as soon as possible. It wasn't easy with the terrible lighting, there had also been a few cars blocking their way out but Rick managed to maneuver around it.

They were lucky as hell that the car hadn't been parked deeper down the highway, it would've been impossible for them to bring the car out, much less survive in the highway.

--- ---

Five took everything back. What the fuck are these zombies becoming?!

'Fuck shit fuck shit. Five kept repeating the words over and over inside his head as he swung his legs over another car to avoid the magma blast coming at him, it quite literally melted metal holy shit.

He wasn't stupid, he knew he wouldn't be able to fight that shit off with his fucking metal knife, so he resorted to running and dodging instead, buying the prick some time to get away with the car.

It was dark out here but the glowing lava zombie provided enough light for him to see it try and failing to tackle him. Five jumped over to another car.

He climbed onto the roof of the car, having a brief staring contest with the fucked up looking volcano zombie. This zombie is different, isn't nearly as brain dead as the others, which made it extremely dangerous. It wasn't smart, but it was very in tune with its instincts. It had the classic predator mindset, it stayed still until there's an opening for it to strike.

Jokes on it, he's not going to be its prey.

The zombie jumped at him, but Five was faster- he teleported a fair distance away, effectively confusing it. With the sea of cars surrounding it, Five was certain it would be extremely difficult for it to catch up.

His guess was correct, though it came with a few extra bonuses. It seemed that anywhere it touched melted at a quick rate, leaving it with a lot of molten metal to stick and solidify to it, restricting its movements as it caged it in.

Satisfied with the outcome, Five ran towards where Daryl's car was parked at. Daryl seemed to busy himself with finishing off the remaining zombie horde, and Five could see that he's been doing a pretty great job so far. The prick's car was nowhere in sight, he assumed Rick had regained his brain cells after Five deadass shouted at the top of his lungs.

Killing the last remaining zombie, Daryl went to pull one of his arrows out of its head. Five helped him by pulling out three more since it was nearby, then gave them to Daryl and he nodded in thanks.

"We got 'em out. Good work, alien kid." Daryl commended.

Five really wanted to complain about his new stupid nickname but he was exhausted. "Let's just head back."

Daryl gave him an agreeing hum and they both got in the car to start catching up with the prick to Stone Mountain. As he leaned back in his seat, he took a moment to properly organize what the fuck he'd just seen.

That charcoal lava zombie wasn't just abnormal, it was straight up his original world's brand of supernatural. One way or another, this definitely confirmed that his existence here had caused something to shift in this universe. Five didn't exactly know what that something was, but he could guess that it had something to do with the tear he inflicted on the fabric of this reality.

Could it be.. Energy and Atom alteration?

Oh fuck off, he's so screwed. To simplify it, his existence here had been prolonged enough for the universe to start considering him to be less of an anomaly, and more of a moving neighbor. This world didn't have the necessary energy to supply his use of supernatural abilities, but it was adapting to his existence.

By doing that, the zombies here are slowly mutating to something he'd normally see in his world line. Actually scratch that, even back home he had never seen such an ugly ass lava zombie in his life. His supernatural existence really had fucked up the energy flow in this universe.

Five internally groaned in frustration, he hasn't even figured out what the hole-in-the-sky ordeal was.

Drowning in his exhaustion, Five felt the lull of sleep slowly overtaking him. He made himself more comfortable, looking out the window as the car sped by the highway. He closed his eyes and dozed off.

--- ---

"Lila, where the fuck are we?!"

Chapter Text

Rick sighed as he sat on the ground beside the ambulance. Daryl, Carol, and Maggie surrounded him in a circle, making sure he was alright while simultaneously fishing for answers from him, Carol most of all. Rick suddenly remembered that Carol was absent for most of the crazy shit that happened in the past few days.

"I'm fine, just tired." Rick replied after receiving yet another set of dubious faces.

"I'm glad Daryl brought you back safely, but I need some explaining, Rick. I'm beginning to question my own sanity after seeing that.. gaping hole in the sky." Carol said in a soft voice. She looked painfully confused. Which, Rick was too because what the hell did she mean by that?

"What? What hole?" Rick looked dumbfounded. Daryl and Maggie glanced at each other before telling him about the incomprehensible event of a giant hole opening up in the sky above Atlanta, which was the apparent cause of the mini earthquake that Rick experienced in the highway.

"That makes no sense." Rick muttered in disbelief.

"I brought the Five kid with me in case he knew something, turns out he might just be as clueless as we are." Daryl grunted.

"You brought that little kid with you on what was supposed to be a solo rescue mission?" Carol looked baffled. She wasn't one to stop the younger members of the group from aiding their adult counterparts in a lot of cases, but bringing a thirteen year old to a rescue mission was where she drew the line, for some reason.

Daryl shrugged. "Worth a shot."

"You could've woken me." Carol sighed.

"You were recovering, and you definitely needed that extra rest." Daryl's taut eyes softened a little.

"What does that child have to do with..whatever the shit happened?" Carol could only frown, never hesitating to move onto the next questions.

Rick, Daryl, and Maggie went silent. Rick imagined that they all kind of got used to the brat's existence that they'd entirely forgotten that what Five could do wasn't normal in any way. He knew he was going to have a hard time explaining.

"That kid, he's not normal. Well, not normal in human standards, it's not that he's a creature from outer space wearing the skin of a human boy-" Rick started babbling, he had forgotten just how fucking insane he's going to sound.

"Rick, what are you saying?" Carol probably thought he had completely lost it.

"He has superpowers. He's actually fifty eight years old, but he's somehow stuck in the body of a thirteen year old." If Rick himself couldn't even entirely believe what he was saying, there was no way in hell Carol would.

"What?" Carol definitely thought he had completely lost it.

"Carol, I know how it sounds, but I'm being completely honest." Rick's eyes met hers and he put on his best pleading look.

"Daryl, are you hearing this?" Carol turned her head over to Daryl in disbelief.

"He's telling the truth." Daryl simply answered.

Carol looked lost for words. She opened and closed her mouth, not knowing how to react to all that. Rick could see it, he could see the very clear doubt and concern in her eyes, she was convinced they'd all been having collective hallucinations.

"What an honor it is to be the subject of today's gossip."

Rick, Daryl, and Maggie suppressed a flinch at the sudden sound, Carol immediately jumped back in alarm. Five was suddenly standing beside him, looking as bored as ever.

"Jesus, how did you get here?" Rick looked up at him in bemusement.

Five looked at him as if he was asking the world's dumbest question. "I walked."

Rick raised an eyebrow. "You walked?"

Five rolled his eyes, and Rick could already hear the usual mean shit he's about to spout at him. "Yes, Genius. Do you know what walking is? Do I need to explain it to you? It is the act of movi-"

Rick decided he wasn't having that today as he shot out from the ground to place both of his hands on Five's tiny little shoulders. Five jerked back, clearly not expecting the sudden breach of proximity.

"Five, can you demonstrate your teleportation? Like, right now?" Rick's eyes were wide with desperation. He needed Carol to believe him.

Five whirled around, probably expecting a horde ambush from the sound of his voice. When he didn't find anything, he simply asked, "Why?"

"I need to convince Carol we're not halfway through on our way to the nearest asylum."

Five snorted. "I'm not doing that."

Rick shook him in frustration. "Come on, kid- Five, You've done it countless times before, what's one more?"

Five pushed his arms off with a sneer. "It's not my problem if your friend thinks you're a lunatic. I'm not wasting my ability for that."

Rick's mouth fell open at the implications. Wasting? What did he mean by that? Did he have a weakness after all? Five seemed to catch on that Rick was getting it as he tugged at his shirt collar to meet him at eye level.

"Listen, we'll talk about this somewhere more.. remote." Five eyed the other three people staring at them in bewilderment.

"If you got something to say-" Five cut him off.

"I should say it in front of them? Yeah, not happening. As much as it pains me to admit it, I trust you a bit more than these asshats." Rick was surprised about that, he didn't think the brat was capable of trusting anybody. But given that Rick's the only one besides Tara that he's been consistently interacting with, it wasn't a shocking discovery.

Rick finally nodded and they both walked away to talk behind one of the taller trees around the clearing. Five surveyed around to make sure nobody was spying on them before he opened his mouth, "If you had half a functioning braincell then you'd surely notice that I haven't been using my ability as often as I used to."

Rick thought back to the past few days following their rescue preparation. It definitely occurred to him that Five had been teleporting less but it hadn't been something remarkable until now. Rick slowly nodded in answer, letting Five continue.

"The reason.. is rather shitty," Five shrugged, letting himself pause before, "I have reason to believe that my power is slowly draining out of me."

Rick felt unsettled by that confession. Why the hell would he tell him that? Rick could use this information against him. Five definitely knew what Rick was thinking, however, as his face morphed into an unpleasant sneer.

"Don't delude yourself into thinking I'm powerless, I could still kill you in my sleep." Five sounded like he was half joking but Rick failed to see the humor in it. Then, the brat's tense expression smoothed over into a serene, bitter smile.

"I'm telling you right now, because I don't want you nor anybody else to think- expect me to save everybody."

Rick frowned, he didn't expect that at all. "What made you think that?"

Five turned away, if Rick didn't know any better he'd think Five was embarrassed to admit, "All the things I did- saving your group from certain death, I wouldn't be able to do all that without my ability."

"Five, you saved Beth without it." Rick was just confused now. The brat had shown that he was capable of keeping everyone out of harm's way even without his freaky powers. Rick had also never expected him to consistently save their asses, though he was grateful when he does.

"Fortunate circumstances. I had a sniper rifle, we were indoors, and the lady from the other side gave me the 'okay'." Five tried to justify his point.

"Jesus Five, what kind of crazy scenarios do you imagine us going through?" Rick asked in bewilderment.

"I don't know, what if we got stuck inside a giant ball of twine, surrounded by an ocean of zombies as we barrel through rocky mountains and I couldn't teleport us out? What then?"

Rick choked on a laugh, what the hell is up inside that fucked up brain of his?

"We would be completely screwed at that point, there's no saving anyone." Rick was horrified to find that he was starting to feel a tiny bit fond of the brat. "You're not obligated to save anyone, that's a choice you should make for yourself. Surviving is a burden for everyone to carry together."

It was Five's turn to look bewildered, before he actually- honest to God fucking laughed. It wasn't his usual mocking laugh, he wasn't laughing out of spite, he was genuinely laughing. Rick could only stare at him.

"When- when you say shit like that, you sound like such a sentimental old man. Oh, that was amazing. I didn't know you could be such a sap." Rick could see something that suspiciously looked like tears forming on the edge of his eyelashes, he wasn't sure whether it was the result of laughing so hard or something else entirely. He's not about to bring that up.

--- ---

Five was determined to forget about whatever emotional outburst he went through earlier while talking to the prick. He absolutely hated feeling anything other than his usual set of spite and smugness, he wanted to keep disliking Rick as if he killed his grandmother.

But- goddamn it he actually felt joy for a few seconds when Rick told him that corny sappy bullshit. A few sentences shouldn't affect him that much, that was his whole thing.

Five helped Tara gather all the snacks to dump in the car trunk, Rick had expressed permission for them to snag a few of them to eat in the car or vehicle or whatever. Five decided to grab a few handfuls of fruit roll ups and stuffed it inside his bag.

They finally continued the journey after that, Rick's new car following behind Daryl's, with Abraham driving the ambulance at the very front. Surprisingly, Five actually managed to steal the front passenger's seat from Noah so he got the best view of everything. Noah grumbled in protest, but Five didn't really care. He got the seat with the best leg room, he'd kill him if he tried stealing his seat back.

Five and Tara learned their lesson, they're not about to wake Carl's baby sister with their incessant bantering anymore. Although they did whisper a few fleeting commentaries on the zombies the car drove by, the entire ride had been peacefully quiet. The car radio didn't nearly have enough signal to play any station, but that's fine.

Five resolutely kept his eyes peeled open to watch the endless road, feeling his brain frying up from the total lack of stimulation. While Rick did warn him that this was going to be a long journey, Five wasn't prepared for how boring the trip ended up being. His ass felt numb from the hours of doing nothing but sit in silence, he almost wanted to unlearn his lesson and start something with Tara.

It got so bad that Five started stabbing at the gaps of his fingers with Ric- his hunting knife, playing the commoner's game of 'Knife Game', which wasn't at all a creative name for such a reckless game. Daryl immediately put a stop to it, thinking Five was dumb enough to stab at his own hand. He was absolutely right, he would definitely risk stabbing at one of his fingers in the name of stimulation.

Eventually, he withdrew his knife to eat one of his roll ups. He'd been telling himself that he was going to save it until their arrival but Rick had insisted they eat something in the car.

"Are we there yet?" Five asked for the fifth time I'm approximately ten minutes. He could taste the bitter irony, he'd threatened to burn Luther with a cigarette lighter when Five was the one driving. But fuck that, the ride had been a shorter distance compared to this.

"I'd give it two hours." Five could tell Daryl was starting to get annoyed at him. But Five didn't give a shit, he needed something to do other than watching decaying corpses fucking around all day.

Five stared out at the back of the ambulance, the sky had started becoming darker as the sun was beginning to set. Five didn't have a watch, but he'd guess that they've been on the road for five hours since they departed just below noon.

Telling time from the sun alone was something Five had become great at, though it was a skill he had to unfortunately learn if he wanted to survive in an apocalypse deprived of every form of electricity.

He resigned himself into mentally doing calculus equations, he wasn't about to let himself lose his precious brain cells. Only God would know what happens if he did. He started caressing his M24 as he did some mental gymnastics, the feel of a rifle had never failed to soothe him.

Before he knew it, the ambulance had come to a stop. Five snapped his head up to see the outlines of a gate, the fancy kind. Although the view inside said gate was obstructed by ugly grey walls, he could definitely tell it was an entrance to a real estate neighborhood.

--- ---

"What the fuck, this is like an opposite version of Dallas." Diego exclaimed as he saw the rows and rows of ruined buildings.

"We've been encountering alive corpses everywhere we go and that's the thing that concerns you?" Lila huffed frustratedly as she kept trying and failing to get her briefcase working, she jammed it shut and opened it just as aggressively.

"Yeah, those things are creepy but look at Dallas! It's like we're in a completely different universe." Diego kept on trying to compare the differences.

"Diego, that's not the thing we're fuckin' focusing on! The briefcase isn't working and if we don't do something about it we're stuck here forever!" Lila kicked at Diego's shin.

Diego wiggled his eyebrows, "That doesn't sound half bad. Just me, you, and a bunch of zombie voyeurs."

Lila made fake gagging noises but she couldn't help feeling amused at Diego's antics. Well, you kind of bloody have to since they both met at the nuthouse. Lila felt frustration building up as the briefcase kept flashing red.

"This is what I get for trying to find that little turd brother of yours." Lila kicked at her briefcase.

"You mean Five? Five is here?!" Diego turned to her in shock.

Lila rolled her eyes, "Why the fuck else did you think I was using the Infinite Switchboard? The puny bastard's been travelling all around the fuckin' universe until he suddenly went missing."

Diego's jaws fell open, "I thought he got sick and tired of our bullshit and ditched us."

"That could be a possibility. I would too if I were him." Lila grinned.

Diego let out an indignant squawk but did absolutely nothing to refute it. Lila liked that about Diego, he may be an idiotic bastard but at least he's self-aware.

They'd been walking around the abandoned town, easily killing off the zombies with Diego's projectile manipulation combined with her ability to imitate it. Lila had kept that piece of information a secret back at the nuthouse, but she eventually had to tell him after she quite literally kidnapped him into working at the Commission for trying to prevent the assassination of JFK.

Diego had been happy to find out about that though, the fuckin' sap made some shit up about their "fated" meeting. Lila acted indifferent about it but deep down, she's just as sappy as he was. Her adoptive mother wouldn't be happy to hear that, but she didn't have to know about that.

Diego kept throwing knives after knives, moving them around to decapitate the zombie heads. Bizarrely enough, some of the heads kept moving even after it disconnected from its torso, but Lila and Diego didn't really care enough to figure out a way to kill it completely.

Chapter Text

Noah was pacing around the gate, banging on it, shouting in hopes that someone on the other side would eventually hear them and open the gate to welcome them in. Five had been watching him in silence, his arms crossed over his chest, uncertainty crawling over his guts.

Five had always been skeptical over everything in his life, he knew that hope was a dangerous thing for someone to have- especially in the apocalypse. He'd heard some bits and pieces about Noah's life before the apocalypse, about his family and his hometown when they were discussing the plan in taking him home to see his family, seeking temporary refuge in return.

Nobody answered. There was nothing but total silence from the other side. Five could only pick up some distant cawing behind the gate, his sharp eyes had noticed a flock of crows perching on suburban trees. The sign of death.

From that fact alone, Five could draw the conclusion that if they were to open the gate, nothing good would come of it. If they were to open the gate, they'd be met with nothing but decaying, rotten corpses and the smell of death permeating the air they breathe in. If they were to open the gate, Noah would shatter a piece of himself.

Five shuddered. He knew full well what that felt like.

Noah's banging turned frantic, he rapidly brought his fist down to slam it against the rustic, metallic surface of the gate. Rick had put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down, but Noah just seemed increasingly desperate by the second. Five sighed, he walked around the gate to see if he could find an opening, an area he could climb through without barbs sticking out of it.

"Tara! Come over here for a second." He called her over.

"You found an opening?" Tara raised an eyebrow. Five pointed at a direction, and a very small section of the gate had indeed been melted off. It would be concerning, if it wasn't so convenient. The only problem was, a swirl of barbed wires had inconveniently blocked off the entrance.

"I'm gonna need some fencing pliers. You got the tool box?" Five glanced at Tara.

"Why are you asking me for those? Can't you just, teleport inside and open the gate for us?" She asked in confusion.

"That would've been too easy. Do you have the tool box?" Five asked again with a hint of condescension.

Tara huffed in exasperation. She nodded and opened the trunk of Daryl's car to pull out a red tool box. She opened it and fished out some fencing pliers, just as he requested. Five gave her a smile before taking it out of her grasp. He began to cut away at the wires carefully, he didn't want to risk cutting himself and contracting some horrible infection.

Once he's done, he used the sleeves of his uniform blazer to protect his bare hands from the metallic wires, setting the cut up swirl of barbed wires to the side. He walked inside the opening slowly, sliding his bag in front of him in case his M24 got stuck somewhere behind his back. He was a bit grateful his body was small enough to pass through the rather narrow opening easily.

When he was successfully on the other side, he was immediately greeted with the stench and view of death. It was raw, it felt fresh. Without a shadow of a doubt, the town had been massacred not long ago.

He walked towards the entrance gate, he could see a legless torso crawling towards the gate post. Five quickly stabbed it, not letting it get far. Looking over the gate, Five debated on whether he really should be opening it, so he opted to shout a warning instead.

"You sure you want to be seeing this?" Five raised the volume of his voice.

"Five? How'd you get in- whatever. Open the gate!" He heard Rick shouting in reply.

"No like, seriously! It's fucked in here!"

"Kid, if you don't open the gate right now-" Five heard Daryl say. He didn't let him get the chance to finish as Five pushed the gate open to the left.

As expected, Five was met with a face full of pure terror. Noah's eyes widened and his disbelieving shock was painfully obvious with the way his furrowed eyebrows kept twitching downwards.

Noah shoved past him to witness the entirety of the wreckage. Predictably, he crumpled into himself and gave out devastated sobs. Everyone looked wildly uncomfortable, including Five. Some of his leftover hero-instincts urged him to go and give the kid some form of comfort, but he didn't really know how. That had always been more of Vanya and Ben's thing.

In the end, most of the others had chosen to watch over the vehicles instead of having to walk around the bloody neighborhood. Tyreese had been kind enough to spare Five the responsibility of having to comfort Noah, Five watched him put a comforting hand at the small of his back.

Feeling allergic to watching emotional exchanges, Five kept himself busy by jogging towards where Rick and Michonne were headed. He eventually slowed down as he neared, not wanting to make it obvious that he was following them. They seemed to have caught on to that anyway, but intelligently didn't comment on it.

They eventually found the town centre, it was just as painfully gory and disgusting as the rest of the neighborhood. If Five wasn't used to it, he was sure he'd have been emptying the fruit roll ups he had earlier.

Five decided he'd rather witness uncomfortable vulnerability than whatever bloodbath had been happening across the entire neighborhood. Quickly leaving Rick and Michonne's side, he ran towards wherever Noah and Tyreese had been crouching at. Five backtracked from where he ran off, but much to his utter relief they had both gone somewhere else.

'Wait, so where HAD they gone to?' Five thought, his concern had suddenly gone full force. He knew that whatever had happened, the massacre, it wasn't normal. No human nor zombies could cause that much wreckage, literal human limbs, guts, and brain matter had been sprawled all over the ground, walls, and windows. It reminded Five of Ben, the way he'd leave a room full of enemies drenched in blood and gore.

No fucking way. Could it be another type of evolving zombie? Five desperately hoped the universe would give him a break for once, but any hope was dashed as soon as he realized that he's never getting a break for as long as he was stuck living inside this universe.

Zombies made out of magma had been bad enough, he couldn't imagine a version that could possibly do all this.

What exactly had been causing these shifts in the zombies' genetics? Other than the Magma zombie he'd encountered, Five couldn't recall any other strange looking ones. That was a small relief, Five wouldn't dare to imagine a scenario where he would be forced to deal with a crowd of evolved zombies.

Five checked every other houses in the neighborhood, killing still-moving zombies along the way. Five finally caught up to them when he saw Noah frantically banging on a door.

"What's happening?" Five asked Tyreese, who was startled by his presence.

"He was panicking, and he started running here. I'm assuming this was his home?" Tyreese awkwardly responded.

Noah finally kicked the door open off its hinges when he started calling out the names of his family members. Five felt extremely empathetic at the moment, he could still smell the smoke and taste the cinder in his tongue.

Suddenly, a zombie lunged at Noah from under a couch. Noah screamed and Five didn't have to be told twice before he shoved Noah away from danger. Tyreese had the height advantage, so he was the one to quickly stab at its head cleanly. The corpse fell down with a thud, and Noah started scrambling towards it, muttering incoherently at it.

It really hadn't occurred to Five just how fucked up this apocalypse was. Until now. He thought an isolated apocalypse was bad, this one was downright horrible. Five had gone so long without needing human interaction that he'd forgotten the most fundamental thing; humans are social creatures. They strived on human contact, they strived on building emotional connections, they strived on team work.

Surviving the apocalypse with somebody by your side, just to have them dying on you the next day. Five really can't imagine how that would feel like. He needed to shut his brain up before it starts wandering to what-if scenarios with Dolores.

Tyreese was on the ground again, doing his best to comfort his shaking body. Five kind of just stood to the side awkwardly, so after shooting them another glance he decided to check the place out in case another zombie attacks them when they're at their most vulnerable.

He grabbed his knife and dropped his bag down beside the couch. His M24 was just dead weight at that point, not like he could use it unless he fancied a crowd of zombies huddling outside Noah's house.

Five slowly walked through a corridor, there were a total of four doors. He slowly turned a knob open, knife raised high at eye level. He cautiously pushed the door quickly, his eyes scanning what seemed to be a bedroom with extreme caution.

It was.. a regular bedroom. It looked lived in, with the unmade bed having wrinkled sheets, posters stuck all over the walls, and a desk which had accumulated dust on its surface. Five noticed a bunch of photographs displayed on a board.

It definitely looked like Noah's family. He sees a woman, a man, and two boys standing in front of a bench in the picture. Must be Noah's parents and.. a sibling? A cousin? Five honestly thought Noah was an only child.

Five could hear a fraction of rustling before his fight-or-fight instinct kicked in at full force. He had half a second before a zombie got up all close and personal. Five swiveled around to deliver an elbow to its head, immediately sending it stumbling on the wrinkled sheets of the musty bed. He didn't waste another second, he slashed at it with his knife- or well, tried to at least. The fucking zombie grabbed at his wrist to prevent him from piercing his knife through its head.

Five immediately reeled back, changing his offensive stance to a defensive one. 'When did it grow a fucking brain?' Five questioned with a scowl. His back hit something solid, Five took a glance behind him to realize he was quite literally backed up against a wardrobe.

The zombie prepared itself to lunge again, Five urgently looked around and his eyes landed on a lampshade on the bedside table, just behind the zombie. Five waited for it to lunge at him again, before narrowly stepping to the side which resulted in the zombie crashing against the wardrobe. Five sprinted towards the bedside table, grabbing at the lampshade, fully intent on hurling it at the zombie.

'Shit.' Five swore as he realized the lampshade was connected to a cable. The zombie was quickly recovering from the crash, Five brought his knife down to slice the cable apart. Collecting all of his strength, he threw his arm back before flinging the lampshade at the zombie's head.

The lampshade shattered upon impact, causing the zombie to topple backwards on the floor. Five quickly straddled the zombie, grabbing at one of its wrist to prevent hindrance before driving the blade of his knife downwards, violently spearing its head. The zombie finally stopped wriggling but Five stabbed it again twice just to be on the safe side.

With a huff, he got up and observed the musty bed once again. Now that he looked closely, there were definitely specks of blood dirtying its yellowing covers. How he missed that the first time, Five had no idea. The door suddenly lurched open, Tyreese came to view with a gun in hand, completely disregarding the fact that he wasn't supposed to use it.

Tyreese's eyes landed on him and he sighed a breath of relief. "I heard loud crashing, are you alright?"

"Never been better." Five shrugged as he gestured at his now bloodier vest and the zombie corpse lying in front of him. Five repressed a shudder of disgust at the more-than-likely possibility of the blood stains being permanent.

Tyreese looked confused before looking downwards. He staggered back, clearly not expecting to find another zombie in the house.

"You're not- you're not bitten are you?" Tyreese finally asked, looking unsure.

Five snorted. "Would be a whole lot bloodier if I was."

Tyreese nodded once when Noah came through the door. Recognition flared up in his eyes once more, as he started sobbing over the zombie. Five was mentally exhausted at that point which led him to clap a hand on his back and tell him they're leaving. For good. Noah only shook him off in denial.

Five can't lie, he feels so fucking bad for him. But they needed to get another move on, he wasn't exactly keen on staying at the bloody ghost town any longer.

--- ---

"Are we sure we're going the right way?" Diego started grumbling as they made a detour down a deserted road.

"I don't know Diego, are we?" Lila shoved the map at Diego's face, to which he muffled a quiet 'That's hot'. He absolutely loved bossy women, he's having the time of his life in this quote-on-quote apocalypse.

Diego took the map off Lila's hands and inspected it once more. The edges were frayed and jagged, but the map itself wasn't all that bad in terms of visual condition. It was a bit difficult to read, there were bloody smudges covering the city landscape but Diego was completely sure it still held viable information.

"Oh hell yeah, we're definitely at Atlanta!" Diego hollered, completely unconcerned with the moaning noises echoing from shady alleyways. He didn't give a shit, he's too used to dark and shady alleyways to even be remotely nervous.

Plus, if one of the decaying freaks tried to attack either him or Lila, he could just send a blade or two their way and it would be over for them. It was just too easy.

"That's great and all, but which part of Atlanta are we currently standing in?"

"Uh," Diego looked back at the map, he tried to pinpoint their exact location just to find the area completely smudged out. "Brookhaven?" he tried.

"Oh you fuckin' idiot." Lila groaned.

"How 'bout you try reading this shit? It looks like someone squeezed their tampon on it." Diego felt a bit offended. He knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but he doesn't play with map reading.

Lila just rolled her eyes in that stupidly sexy way of hers before snatching the map back. "According to the Infinite Switchboard, something must've dropped in this exact city. I don't know what exactly, but it probably had something to do with that brother of yours."

Diego's chest tightened a bit at the mention of Five. He had gone weeks thinking his older-younger brother decided to leave the family for good, just for Lila to drop the truth bomb on him. Apparently the little old man had been frolicking around in this other place? World? Universe? Diego really didn't know where here was.

"When I find that little shit I'm punting him across Georgia, this is NOT how I'd like to spend my weekend." Lila complained.

"You and me both Lila, you and me both." Diego easily agreed.

"Don't try to act innocent either, we wouldn't be here wholly unprepared if you didn't fuck around with the buttons." Lila always found ways to blame him.

"Not my fault they didn't put labels on it." Diego muttered.

WHIRRRR

They both pivoted, staring at a rather sweet-looking truck. Suddenly, a few armed men came rushing out to form some sort of defensive-offensive line with their guns out, aiming straight at them. Then, a man with a kind of badass baseball bat stepped out, his face held an easy grin on it.

Diego and Lila exchanged varied glances of 'You know this guy?' and 'We could definitely take them on.' when said guy started speaking loudly. "A little birdie told me someone fucked with the hospital staff. Y'all know anything 'bout it?"

Diego and Lila turned to each other again, they had no fucking clue what this guy was on. He was probably trying to mug them, Diego concluded. "We have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Don't play dumb with me, I know one of you definitely caused the coup that's currently happening over at Grady's! Ring a bell?"

"We really don't know what you're talking about! You're barking up the wrong tree!" Diego counted about six armed men, none of them had heavy rifles which was always a plus.

"I practically run everything around here! Now admit it or I'll have my boys shooting you and that pretty lady over there to bits, and I wouldn't want that on my conscience, believe me!"

"I know a schizo when I see one. Spent too much time in the nuthouse I could practically see the symptoms." Diego whispered to Lila, who snickered in return.

The schizo seemed to find offense in their little interaction because the next thing they know, his little cronies started shooting at them. Diego used his power to stop the bullets from hitting them, and Lila imitated his ability to throw a few throwing knives at them, primarily targeting their feet.

They definitely looked shocked at their blatant display of breaking gravitational rules, even the schizo had his jaw dropping open. The only thing he could say in the end was,

"Well, I'll be damned."

Chapter Text

"So we're just going to D.C regardless?" Five questioned as he took a bite of hard candy.

Tara cringed at the loud, crunchy chewing noises. "How the fuck are your teeth still intact?"

"Genetics." Five responded thoughtlessly.

Rick loudly exhaled to an obnoxious degree, as if he wanted everyone to notice his frustration on the subject matter. Five internally groaned in annoyance, he'd been adamant about being against the trip to D.C, and he had a vague idea of the few reasons why.

Logically speaking though, it was a sound plan. They didn't really have a next destination in mind, and there was no way in hell they're staying in the blood-soaked town any longer than necessary. That would've been cruel for Noah.

Keeping that in mind, there were still a miniscule amount of people complaining, namely Abraham and Rick.

Of course, everybody had known about the whole 'cure to the apocalypse' thing they could potentially find in D.C being complete bull, but Eugene did in fact bring up the benefits; they had better chances at surviving there compared to literally anywhere else.

Still, Five had somewhat learned that the group didn't exactly have the most democratic of systems when it came to calling the shots. Sure, Rick took each and every one of their opinions, seriously considering them, but ultimately every choice they made had always depended on whatever comes out of his prickly mouth.

"Listen, we can work out an alternative." Rick suggested, clearly indecisive. Five wanted to slam his head onto the nearest wall.

"We don't have the time, Rick. You clearly don't have enough foundation to even begin thinking of another destination in mind, this is our best shot." Michonne, bless her, decided to put an end to Rick's unusual hesitation.

"If y'all are that set on goin' to D.C, be my fuckin' guest. I ain't goin'."

Rick turned to Abraham in exasperation, "We're not leaving without you."

"You sure as hell look convinced. You don't need to bust your balls trying to talk me out of this, I'm stayin'." Abraham pointedly looked at the ground.

"Abe, you're really going to leave me? Leave us? Just like this?" Rosita placed a desperate hand on his shoulder.

Abraham only stayed silent, as if there wasn't anything left to discuss. Rosita shook her head, clearly upset, yet she held her ground and walked away with amazingly steady steps.

Five swallowed the remnants of hard candy. He guessed there's that. Abraham doesn't seem like he's going to change his mind anytime soon if even his girlfriend couldn't talk him out of it. Frankly, Five didn't really feel the impact all that much, he'd only known the guy for a week max.

He's still going to try though, as stupid as it sounds.

"What's your deal? You're just gonna break it off with your girlfriend over some petty grudges?" Five spoke directly at Abraham, purposely making his tone sound as aggravating as possible.

Abraham's head shot out of his ass, looking at him with an annoyed expression. "Excuse me?"

"Are you really going to stay here like a sitting dunce, dawdling your life away over some kindergarten grudge against this guy?" Five casually pointed a finger at Eugene.

"You don't know what you're talking about, kid." Abraham looked positively enraged, though it was a subtle kind of anger.

"I do know this place is going to be your final resting place if we left." Five clicked his tongue.

"And what of it? You don't know me, you shouldn't give a rat's ass where I choose to die."

"So, what? You're just gonna play corpse in this glorified gore-fest? Wait for the monster that caused it to come after you?" Five derisively snorted.

"Five, hold your tongue." Rick sternly warned.

Five ignored him. "From the way the others talk about you, I'd expected better. This facade you're displaying? It's sugarcoated cowardice."

"Shut up. SHUT UP! Leave me the fuck alone!" Abraham bristled.

"Can't handle the fucking truth?" Five challenged.

Abraham stood up, apparently unable to contribute to the one-sided argument. Well, more like a lecture. Five didn't really know what the hell he was talking about, he's just pulling shit out of his ass, taking advantage of every context he had ever gathered about the redhead.

"Abraham-" Rick tried to call out.

Abraham halted, then slowly turned to him. "No, I see how it is. Y'all would rather take the fuckin' alien's side. Never mind the fact that he tried snappin' Glenn's fuckin' head off!"

"I thought we were over that." Five muttered as he crossed his arms. Rick sent him a quick glare then turned his attention to Abraham.

"We're not taking anybody's side. This is a matter of life and death, don't you remember what I said?"

"Ha! You mean the crap about 'strivin' for a better future'? You know as well as I do, Rick, that kind of mentality won't last." Abraham's voice sounded bitter.

"I thought we were making progress." Rick narrowed his eyes.

"And what did you expect? That I would've been fine the moment you finished givin' me the sap speech? That I would just- magically forget 'bout everythin' we did- everyone we lost to get there in the first fuckin' place?!"

"Oh get over yourself! You think you're the only one who lost anything?!" Maggie suddenly piped up from where she was leaning against the ambulance.

Abraham chuckled. "Sometimes it feels like. I ain't goin', and that's final. Stay if you like, or don't, I don't give a shit."

--- ---

Rosita ended up being the only one to stay behind.

Rick and Tara had tried their hardest to convince her otherwise, but she chose to stay with Abraham until he 'gets his shit together.' Rick reluctantly left her with a few of their food supplies, and Rosita sent them off with the promise that this won't be the last time they'll see of them, and another promise of meeting up in the near future.

Tara hugged her goodbye and they set off.

It's been about half an hour since they did, Glenn had taken to driving the ambulance. The road to D.C from Virginia wasn't the longest, but the path had been littered with walkers and corpses alike. In the midst of driving through the tainted road, Rick's mind couldn't help but bring up afterimages of the town.

Rick could still feel the dry, rough sensation of the endless bloodstains that clung to mossy white walls. He'd spent most of adulthood working as a sheriff, he could see that the massacre had been a recent tragedy. Whatever caused it wasn't human. No human could do that kind of controlled damage, not even with a fully-loaded battle tank nor the whole U.S arsenal.

The damage inflicted onto every corpse had seemed too precise. Whatever attacked them, it wasn't feral. No, it would be something much, much worse. A creature with a fully functioning mind. Rick suddenly felt the urge to laugh, first it had been magma fucking walkers, and now it feels like there's a whole other creature on the loose.

In all the years Rick spent surviving in the apocalypse, he'd never seen anything like it. He had a feeling this had something to do with the brat; crazy unnatural shit had been happening all around Rick ever since the church.

Rick didn't nearly feel as inclined to putting the blame on Five as he probably should, he realized. Rick knew the brat was as clueless as they were in the matter, he could read him clearly whenever Five subconsciously puts himself in a vulnerable position. Rick could see the way he had gone rigid the moment they witnessed the extent of the town massacre, he could see the subtle way in which his body shook from the slight quakes of the sleeves on his blazer.

Rick decided to put all those thoughts away for now, instead opting to put all his focus into the destination in mind. It was starting to get dark out, and Rick was leading all three of the vehicles. He needed to sharpen his eyes, he can't let it get bleary or it'll all be over for them.

Unfortunately, the road to D.C is a difficult one. They might be forced to pull up and rest away somewhere. Rick disliked the idea of sleeping in vehicles, there's always that risk of waking up to a crowd of walkers.

Gripping the steering wheel tighter, Rick made a few neatly controlled maneuvers to avoid running over the walker corpses currently littering the road ahead. It was particularly rocky, every little turn was accompanied with the sound of glass rattling and bumps, which was a bother to practically everyone in the car.

Rick's eyes flitted to the rearview mirror, checking to make sure the ambulance and Daryl's car was still efficiently following.

When Rick turned his eyes back on the road, he nearly sent the car crashing to the right side of the road. There were three- no, five deers in total, hurriedly crossing the road like pedestrians on a busy work day.

As if they were running from something.

Rick stared. It was difficult to make anything out from the darkness that was starting to blanket around the area. The ambulance stopped just behind the car. Looking at the rearview mirror, Rick could see the top of Glenn's head popping out of the car window in concern.

Movement happened from the right corner of his gaze. It was faint and anyone would've missed it if their eye sight weren't nearly as sharp as a sheriff's, but Rick knew something was coming out of that damn forest if the rustling of leaves were anything to go by.

"What the fuck..?" he heard Michonne say beside him. She sounded sleepy.

A sharp glint of metal. It was enough to ring every alarm.

Rick stomped on the accelerator.

The car sped up, and that seemed to be effective in signalling to the vehicles behind him to speed the fuck up.

The sudden increase in speed jolted everyone awake, they blearily looked around, trying to discern the problem.

"There's a fucking monster on our trail." Rick hastily informed them. He didn't wait to check if the other vehicles were following anymore, he had more than enough faith in Glenn and Daryl. He swerved a sharp turn, heading for a grassy clearing instead of keeping to the road.

Rick saw Daryl's car unexpectedly maneuver to the side, the walker that Rick could now see was entirely made of metal followed suit. He cursed under his breath, as much as he wanted to help them, he knew that it was practically Daryl's way of signalling that he's acting as bait, and that he should entirely focus on getting everyone else to safety.

Rick was suddenly glad Carl and Judith had taken to fill up space inside the ambulance instead of staying in Daryl's car, he wouldn't be able to focus otherwise.

--- ---

"So what's the plan, huntsman? We're just gonna- watch the fuck out!" Five exclaimed as the car had almost met its demise courtesy to a big ass boulder lying around the narrow dirt path.

"I know what I'm doing. The plan is to draw it out and hopefully find a cliff to throw it out somewhere." Daryl gave him an answering grunt as they both could clearly see the- whatever the thing is still hot on their trail.

"Hopefully? This isn't the time to be hopeful, we're on low fucking ground! There's no way we'll be able to find a cliff!" Five protested as he kept checking the back window.

"If you have a better fuckin' plan then let's hear it!" Daryl shouted as the car screeched, quickly making a U-turn to avoid going deeper in the forest.

Five rolled down the car window, carefully peeking his head out to observe the creature, his sharp eyes trying to identify some kind of weakness.

Well.. It was definitely metal. And all sharp edges. And fucking jagged. What the shit, it was one of the ugliest things his eyes ever had the misfortune of beholding. The creature itself looked like a malnourished mental wards patient freshly out of the Danvers state hospital with its long, pale neck and balding head. It was pale, the color a stark contrast to its surroundings.

Five's eyes moved downwards, and he noticed that the creature was running at them on all fucking fours. It would've been a hilarious sight if it weren't for the goddamn machetes stuck to its hands, resembling claws.

"Found a cliff yet?" Five shouted sarcastically over his shoulder.

"Shut your trap, kid. What's it lookin' like?" Daryl questioned, infuriatingly not rising to the bait.

"Definitely one horrid looking individual. It has machetes for limbs and shit!" Five rolled up the windows before settling comfortably in the passenger's seat once more. As comfortable as he could in a moving vehicle running at a hundred kilometer per hour to outrun certain death.

"This one of those freaky walkers like the one we saw at the highway?" Daryl calmly threw him another question as he deftly maneuvered the car around the forest trees. It was pretty impressive considering the only light source came from the headlights.

"Unless man-eating metal monsters with machete claws were normal prior to that, then it definitely is!"

"Why don't we divert its attention? Shoot one out away from us and it'll go for another direction."

Five shot Daryl a squinty-eyed look, as if he was re-assessing his mental capacity. "One, that'll be a waste of ammunition. Second, there's no fucking way it would fall for that."

"And how exactly would we know that, smartass?" Daryl gave him an annoyed side-eye.

"It's pretty obvious that these evolving fuckers have superior intelligence compared to its braindead counterparts. If you hadn't noticed, it's currently making calculating movements to effectively catch up with us." Five rolled his eyes.

"It's still a walker either way, enhanced or not." Daryl said, voice tight with conviction.

Five looked up ahead, seeing that they're quite literally nearing a dead end. If they don't do something about this quick, the car would be entirely unsalvageable. Five loudly exhaled. Grabbing his M24 from his bag, he then rolled down the window to aim his rifle at the creature.

It had significantly reduced its distance from the vehicle since the last time he checked, but that wouldn't matter. Five moved his rifle to the right, aiming at one of the trees. He needed to shoot at something considerably close to the creature, yet far enough to catch its attention.

Five decided to shoot at the trees. The bullet shot out, hitting one of the trees dead center. This didn't do much to deter it however, as the sound would be much louder coming directly from his M24. They needed something bigger.

"You got a grenade or something?" Five urgently asked over his shoulder.

"Nah, but I have some leftover molotov in my bag."

"A fucking forest fire. That'll do the job." Five muttered from under his breath before quickly unzipping Daryl's bag from the back, grabbing at the shabby bottle of alcohol.

Five threw the molotov in the air, waiting for it to fall low enough near the trees. Righting his aim, he didn't hesitate to shoot the molotov mid-air, accurately shattering the alcohol bottle to pieces, effectively creating a bright and deafening explosion. The creature turned its head towards the blinding light and crackling noise, quickly getting distracted by the bigger subject of interest.

Five settled back in the car, just in time to see Daryl swerving away from the forest into another dirt path.

"What did I tell you? A walker is still a walker." Daryl smirked.

"Lucky assumption." Five snorted, the corners of his lips threatened to curl upwards.

The ride continued on in comfortable silence. But Five had an uncomfortable feeling that they hadn't truly thrown that creature off their trail. And just like always, he was right.

The creature had somehow appeared on the road, albeit a few distance away from them. Daryl halted the car in confusion, then his eyes widened as the creature slowly stalked forward, menacingly. Daryl quickly put the car in reverse gear, his foot letting go of the brake pedal as the vehicle backed away.

Ironically and impossibly, the creature teleported, immediately closing the distance. It pulled its claws back, readying a strike. Grabbing his bag, Five looped an arm around Daryl and blinked away from the car.

Chapter Text

"Nice place you got running." Diego commented as he took in the factory.

"Yeah well, when everyone's out working their asses all day it better yield some results." Negan laughed as he clapped some workers on the shoulder, Lila didn't miss the resulting flinches he received.

Lila really didn't like the place, or "The Sanctuary" as the madman had dubbed it. Negan reminded her a bit of her adoptive mother, which was uncomfortable.

"You gonna work us off to death? This isn't exactly what we expected when you offered us a 'place'." Lila drawled as they moved past the marketplace.

"Oh no, honey. If you wanted, you could be up there as one of my wives. They live the most luxurious lives out of everyone here." Negan said in an overly flirtatious tone. Yikes.

"Hey! Don't talk to my girlfriend like that." Diego shouted heatedly, already reaching for one of his throwing knives.

Negan threw his hands up. "I'm just kiddin'. We don't condone any form of sexual harassment around here, we're all about consent."

Well, guess that's one similarity off the table. Lila merely crossed her arms as they continued walking to a meeting room. There were two cronies guarding outside, scrambling to open the door for the three of them.

They walked in, and Lila immediately hummed appreciatively as the cool breeze of the air conditioner blasted the hot air away. Negan led them to one of the tables, ushering them to sit. The place was quite nice, it had clean marble flooring and the meeting table in particular was absent of dust.

"KitKat?" Negan offered them a jar. It had a total of three candy bars, and Lila had a feeling that Negan desperately hoped they refuse. Diego didn't catch on to that though, ever the dense idiot.

"Sure, thanks." Diego snatched a bar, tore off the wrap, and proceeded to take a huge chunk of it.

"You're.. welcome." Negan's left eye twitched and his smile was strained. Lila thought that was the funniest shit ever.

"Now that we're here, let's listen to this 'offer', you old coot." Lila slung a leg over the meeting table, a clear display of disrespect.

"If you were any other person, I'd have your legs sawed off right this instant." Negan stated with an uncharacteristically serious expression. Then, he continued, "But you're not 'any other person', are you?"

"Just get to the point already." Diego said while chewing on a mouthful of the candy bar.

Another annoyed twitch from the corner of Negan's lips.

"If it isn't clear already-" Negan halted his words, vaguely gesturing at Diego who was stuffing his face full of chocolate, before continuing, "And I somehow doubt that. The Sanctuary would positively crumble without the workers running it."

"A bit unfair isn't it? You're out here talking to us in a fully air-conditioned room with comfortable chairs, and the workers out there seemed.. overworked." Lila narrowed her eyes at him.

"I can assure you, they are sufficiently compensated for the same amount of work they do to keep this place running." Negan gave her another one of those cocky grins.

"And how are we supposed to know we're not agreeing to work for a born-again capitalist?" Diego made obnoxious munching noises, probably out of spite at this point.

"How I operate this place really isn't any of your goddamn concern. My offer is rather generous, don't you think?" Lila could hear the irritation from his tone alone, not counting the way he was grinding his teeth and the veins slightly popping out of his skin as he flexed his fists.

"I don't know Lila, what do you think?" Diego rolled his eyes at him, then playfully turned to her instead. Lila could tell that he wasn't taking Negan seriously either.

"I think we have another power hungry fear-mongering arsehole on our case. Don't you think we've seen enough of his kind?" Lila answered with a playfully malicious grin.

CLANG!

Negan slammed his metal bat on the wooden table, creating a slight indent in the process. His expression turned serious, he looked like he was seething inside, probably thinking of the thousands of ways he could murder them on the spot. Lila scoffed at the thought.

"Y'all think you're funny? This is a once in a lifetime offer, I ain't ever given this opportunity to anyone else." Negan said with clenched fists.

"Should we be honored or something?" Diego raised an eyebrow.

"This is how they usually get when someone talks back to them, I would know." Lila shrugged.

CLANG!

Another indent to the table. Lila's starting to think the nutjob held some kind of grudge. Negan looked like he was trying to keep his shit together, but was ultimately failing. His self control was sort of impressive, Lila would've expected him to lunge at them by now.

"The offer is simple; I provide y'all a comfortable living space along with the essentials, and in return, y'all lend me your services." Negan stated with an impatient look.

"I mean, that's not exactly unfamiliar territory for us." Diego scratched the back of his neck.

"And I'm not exactly fond of sleeping on hard concrete either." Lila contemplated. She disliked the dictator arsehole, but it wasn't her bloody fault that they got here. She didn't deserve to sleep on fucking concrete.

Biased opinion aside, it was an objectively good deal. They both get food and shelter, and all they'd have to do is kick up a few thousand people or so which was probably the easiest job she'd ever heard of. On top of all of that, they'd be travelling all around the city, they would find the little shit in no fucking time.

Finding no faults in the offer, Lila and Diego agreed, which seemed to have boosted Negan's mood significantly. The cocky smirk was back on his face, and Lila couldn't wait to see what it would look like when she and Diego inevitably packs it up as soon as they find Diego's oldest-youngest brother.

"We have a condition." Diego suddenly spoke up. Negan just gave him a hum in response, prompting him to continue.

"We'll still follow whatever the fuck you tell us to do, but we're allowed to do whatever the hell we want." Negan's smirk fell. Diego grinned.

--- ---

"You could've at least warned me!" Daryl grouched as he wiped the remnants of bile from his mouth.

"Oh I'm sorry, I guess I should've held your hand along with that." Five rolled his eyes. "That creature was right in front of us, the hell did you expect me to do?"

Daryl went silent after that, which Five was thankful for. He didn't think he would be able to stand it had the man started loudly giving him shit for it like Abraham did. He was way too focused on trying to comprehend what in the ever loving fuck just happened.

That creature teleported.

Five didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse. There was no denying it; the hole in the sky, the sudden appearance of supernatural "zombies", it's somehow connected. He doesn't know how or even why, but it would be too much of a coincidence for those two events to not have any correlations somehow.

He thought he had read about something like this happening somewhere, probably one of the articles in the Commission's exclusive library. Or was it the manual? Five wracked his brain to remember more.

Daryl and Five walked through the forest in silence, as they usually do when the only company they had was each other. Neither of them were particularly talkative at times like these, but Five didn't mind it at all. In fact, it was preferable.

Five thinks the ripple in the sky had seemed familiar, but he hasn't thought much of it until now. It was definitely caused by a device from the Commission, it had similar elements to the Briefcase though that couldn't be it. Briefcases would've caused a much smaller hole to appear, and it wouldn't have caused a mini typhoon.

The closest Five could think of would be the Infinite Switchboard, but that couldn't be it either. That particular machine was tightly guarded and would only be operated by the most knowledgeable and trusted of workers. That massive tear in the sky would only be possible if someone had recklessly messed with one of its terminals, which Five doubted could've been caused by one of the employees unless they were that desperate to quit or die.

Another thing that Five found weird was how.. conveniently placed it was. The hole could've appeared anywhere else but it just had to appear right above the city that he had been in not too long ago, which meant that it was a controlled and intentional move on the Commission's side.

So that was it, right? But of course, that would be too simple of a conclusion. Sure, Five could chalk it up to the Commission going after him once again, just in another universe this time. But what the hell could've been the motive? Revenge? Were they pissed that Five had stopped the Moonpocalypse they had tried so hard to maintain?

Or maybe the Handler was just that much of a petty bitch that she couldn't handle leaving him the fuck alone after he ditched the Commission for the second time. He wouldn't put that past her. Does that mean she had sent some agents to go after him?

That wouldn't explain the sudden appearance of those creatures though. Five thinks harder, he vaguely remembered reading something about oddly shaped monsters manifesting from excess supernatural energy. He thought about it again for another minute, before suddenly remembering.

The Guardians.

Although they don't exactly fit the bill of whatever the fuck is happening, they're quite literally the closest and only thing Five could remember reading about in the Time Manual. These creatures were protectors of some dimensional universe-resetting machine he can't remember the name of, but they definitely manifested from an abundance of supernatural energy. At least, in theory.

But how was that even remotely possible? His own supernatural energy had been getting drier lately, and it wasn't like his energy alone could possibly be that much excessive as to manifest actual fucking creatures to the realm of the living. Although it could technically be possible, had the Handler sent superpowered agents to go after him. That would definitely explain it.

Five suddenly tasted metal, some liquid dribbling from his nose to his mouth. He hurriedly swiped at the line of blood flowing down, wondering when the hell that had happened. Daryl hissed from beside him as he saw the amount of blood coming out, tipping his chin up.

"Did you get a concussion?" Daryl clicked his tongue as Five tried to swat his hands away.

"No, I would definitely know if I did. Also, stop trying to tip my head back, I could choke on my own blood." Daryl finally stopped as Five tipped his head forward, using his already stained uniform vest to clog his nostril. As if his vest couldn't get any more gross.

"You okay?" Daryl asked with a hint of concern.

"Sure, whatever. Can we start a fire or something? I can't see shit from here." Five started walking again, though he could feel the exhaustion climbing up.

"You wanna set up camp?" Daryl sounded like he wasn't expecting that. To be honest, Five wasn't expecting himself to say that either, but he figured walking in the daylight would be much preferable than continuing under the moon light, it lessens the chance of getting lost.

Five shrugged and they both started gathering sticks to create a makeshift fireplace. It eventually took six minutes to create a friction strong enough to spark a blaze and they both finally sank down to the ground from their crouching position.

Five made himself comfortable around the dirt, sweeping off any leaves that stuck to his socks. He ought to get himself a pair of trousers soon, his shorts really aren't doing any favors for the comfort of his knees and popliteal, the feeling of dried leaves left a tickling sensation to the exposed flesh.

For a few minutes, they both sat up, silently staring at the fire they had manually started. It was pretty risky to start fire anywhere, but Five hoped that the previous forest fire he had directly caused would bear some fruit after all. If not, then he basically got away with starting a forest fire for absolutely no fucking reason. At least it would've been big enough to lure incoming zombies towards it, probably burning them along in the process. Five loved nature.

Daryl seemed to think the air had become way too silent, as he grabbed at one of the pebbles they'd used to create friction and started sharpening his dagger. It was far from an ordinary sight. Five had seen some of the workers in the Commission use machines to sharpen the knives, but he had never seen anybody sharpen their weapon in such a.. primal way.

Getting tired of the crackling sounds over the fireplace being his only source of company, Five told Daryl what he had been thinking about the entire time, "That crossbow's really fucking badass. It's such an attractive weapon."

Daryl stopped sharpening his dagger only to raise a questioning eyebrow at him. Five scoffed, "What? I can't say nice things to an inanimate object?"

"It's a really weird statement." Daryl finally said.

It was silent again after that. Five was starting to get really bored, so he shot Daryl another question, "Is it like, a family business? A tradition?"

"What is?" Daryl seemed confused, then finally got it when Five gestured at the obvious hunting gear. "Nah. Parents weren't all there to care about shit like family traditions." At that, Five's eyes gave way something akin to understanding and empathy. He most definitely could relate to that.

Taking Five's silence as his cue to continue, "I was a drifter, alongside my brother. We used to constantly move from one place to another, eventually hunting for food in the wild when money gets rough. Can't say it didn't pay off, though."

"You have a brother?" Five was slightly surprised at the revelation, he had assumed Daryl was an only child. Honestly, he just assumed everyone is an only child.

"Had." Daryl responded curtly as he turned his head away.

"Damn." Five didn't know what to say to that. Family was a bit of a delicate topic for the both of them it seemed. It was silent again, the atmosphere had suddenly become heavy.

"I had six siblings. Well, I guess I have five now. Oh look, that's also my name, crazy how that works." Five didn't know what came over him, but he felt the need to share something. It grounds him whenever he talks about his siblings, it reminded him that they were still alive and breathing somewhere in a distant universe so unlike this one.

"That's a lot. Your mother okay?" Daryl turned to his direction once again, surprisingly interested in what he had to say about his family.

"We're not biologically related. Me, and all of my siblings were adopted. We were one huge family, living inside an equally huge mansion." Five drawled. The last times he had ever talked to anyone about his family to were with Gabriel and Tara, so this wasn't entirely new.

Daryl snorted, "That sounds like something out of a comic book. Were your family.." Daryl paused, seemingly trying to find the right inoffensive word. "Special?"

Five huffed out a laugh, "All of my siblings have 'special' talents, that's correct. Kudos to you for that absolutely mind blowing hypothesis."

"Okay well, you don't have to be such a dick about it." Daryl put on an unimpressed expression, but he looked like he was trying hard not to smile. "It's still difficult to wrap my head around it, you know? I grew up in some rural area at Northern Georgia, and never had I ever seen anything like- like all of these." Daryl waved an arm around their surroundings, then at Five.

Five only hummed in response, "That makes the two of us. I've never seen anything like the zombies before, and to think they'd have flooded the entire planet by now? Shit's terrible."

Daryl was quiet as he took that in. Then, he sounded like he was throwing him a question he had been wanting to know the answer of for a really long time, "Why do you call the walkers 'zombies'?"

It was Five's turn to look perplexed, "It's the universal name given to those types of creatures, is it not? It's weirder to call the zombies 'walkers' in my opinion."

"I ain't ever heard a name like that before in my entire life." Daryl shook his head.

Huh. "That's just what we call alive corpses, where I'm from. Surprise culture exchange?" That's one more thing to add to the list. I can't believe they don't have modern zombies around here.

"Sure, let's call it that." Daryl finally allowed a small smile to show on his face. Well, more like a slight curl of one corner of his lips, but whatever, he'll take it. Guess his social skills weren't as bad as Tara had made it out to be, that jerk.

With nothing more to say, Daryl turned back to continue sharpening his dagger, though it looked more like he was trying to do something to keep his mind off of things. Five laid down on the dirt, using his bag to function as a pillow. He hadn't noticed how weary his body had been, the effects of constant adrenaline he guessed.

Before succumbing to sleep, he made sure to ask if Daryl was willing to take first watch. His only response was, "Did you even have to ask?"

They didn't even notice the pair of eyes observing them from a distance.

Chapter Text

Rick was worried.

Well, that was an understatement, he was a little more than worried. Daryl and the kid hadn't turned up since the car chase, and it had been a few hours since. They were certainly successful in baiting the creature away, but Rick's anxiety and paranoia hadn't washed out at all.

He drove them to a barn. It looked barren and had probably seen some better days, but it was infinitely better than having to camp out at the forest. Upon entering, Rick was prepared for an encounter with a bunch of other survivors, but they'd only found a few walkers crawling around the place instead, which was a huge relief.

He spent the first hour resting his legs, sitting on the hay-covered wooden floor with one leg propped up. He rested the back of his head against the wall, silently watching Carl rocking Judith in one corner, trying his best to lull her to sleep despite the pitter-pattering of light rain that was quickly filling up the deafening silence.

His girlfriend seemed to be hard at work, barricading the door to keep the rain out. Carol and Beth seemed to be doing the total opposite however, as Carol had quickly fetched two empty rustic buckets before placing it outside, while Beth was uncapping their nearly empty bottles of water and doing the same.

Understanding dawned on the others as they started soaking their hands out on the rain, washing out all the dirt, blood, and grime as the rain falls harder. It wasn't the cleanest source of water, but they had to make do with whatever nature gives them.

In the next hour, Carl and Judith had dozed off, leaving the others to take turns in keeping watch duty. Seeds of doubt started imbedding itself inside Rick's guts, but he told himself that everything's going to turn out fine.

Daryl's one of the most experienced members in the group, he'd have little to no trouble navigating his way back to them. Or, they'd go straight to D.C, and had decided to wait for Rick to catch up with them the next day. The brat definitely knew what he was doing..most of the time, so there's absolutely nothing to be concerned about.

Absolutely nothing.

By the fourth hour, Rick was starting to doubt that. The rain had reached its peak by the third hour, much to the dismay of the others. Rick anxiously rapped his knuckles against the uneven wooden surface he was resting on, thinking about the ways things could've possibly gone wrong for Daryl and Five.

What if the creature had caught up with them? Leaving one of them, or the both of them gravely injured? Or even worse, they've been dismembered, completely torn apart by that hideous metallic monster, and Rick feared by the time he goes out in search of them he'd only find a dismantled car filled with minced meat. Human meat. Human flesh. Rick fought down a shudder as he remembered the events of THAT day.

Rick sucked in a breath, just now noticing that Michonne had sat down beside him, looking at him with an expression full of worry and affection. Michonne pressed her lips against his left cheek, giving him a peck as she asked, "You okay?"

Rick only had the energy to give her a small nod, mouth turning up as he throws her a smile of appreciation. Michonne didn't seem to buy it, but she also didn't seem to want to press any harder than necessary.

Still though, she asked him another question, "You wanna talk about it?"

Rick was quiet for a few seconds. He felt like the luckiest man alive for having a partner like Michonne, how is it that she seemed to know him better than he himself does? Managing another small nod, he started talking, "Daryl and Five, they're still out there."

"Rick, you and I both know they can look after themselves-" Michonne was cut off as Rick started ranting, "I know! But you don't get it, I keep envisioning the absolute worst and it makes me feel so fucking anxious right now. I consider Daryl as a part of my family, just like Carl, Judith, Glenn, Carol, Beth and especially you. I don't want to lose him just because he lured that fucking monster away to save our asses, I don't think I'd survive that feeling of particular guilt. We're a team, we're supposed to stick together no matter what and- the thing with Abraham, and now Daryl's far on the other side of the forest, I can't help but think the group's going to fall apart sometime soon and, I don't think I could cope if that ever happened. Or maybe I could, because the apocalypse had been fucking up my brain-"

Michonne enveloped him in a warm hug. It'd been too long since they've last shared an embrace, but it felt just as magical as the last. He felt like a sappy old man, just like the brat had called him. And he didn't think there was anything wrong with that, not anymore.

"If there's one thing Daryl's good at, it's surviving unlikely circumstances. I get that you're worried, hell, I'm worried about him too. But we need to keep a level head, we can't be using up all our energy into thinking the worst about literally every situation." Michonne assured him.

Rick smirked playfully at her, "Are you telling me to become an optimist?"

Michonne shrugged, "It's not healthy to be pessimistic all the time. Look at the bigger picture, nobody had died since the last two weeks and I think that's a major improvement. Considering we spend most of our time on the road, at least."

"If I were to tell your past self about this-" Rick chuckled as Michonne playfully elbowed him. They leaned on each other, Rick slung an arm over her shoulders. Suddenly, Rick could breathe easy again.

--- ---

When Five woke up, it wasn't to the sight of Daryl sharpening his knife primitively.

The sun had risen, giving him a clear view of everything around him. The fire had been put out, and Daryl's hunting gear were nowhere in sight. That wasn't the correct subject of concern, however, as Five made eye contact with a total stranger sitting across from him, rummaging through his weird ass backpack.

The freak had a 'W' carved into his big forehead, which had to account for something in this universe right? Five slowly sat up from where he was laying down, glancing around to see where Daryl was. He wasn't anywhere, and he doubted the man sitting in front of him had come invited.

The man stopped his rummaging, inclining his head towards Five instead. He gave him one of the fakest smiles Five had ever witnessed, which had to be saying something because he used to be in contact with the Handler on a regular basis.

"Hey buddy, had a good sleep?" The man asked him in that tone adults would only use to speak to toddlers, and Five didn't like that at all. He didn't know what he was getting into, his weapons were taken away, and the man seemed mentally unstable.

There's no telling when he's going to get violent. He's had multiple dealings with unhinged freaks way back in the past, but just to be on the safe side, Five decided to play along. If pretending's the kind of game this freak wanted him to play, then so be it.

"It was rather nice, yes. Who are you, mister?" Five decided to pull out his acting Trump card; the snobby rich kid posh accent. He had used it to mock so many people that he'd eventually become quite good with it.

A quiet chuckle, "Nothing that concerns you, kiddo. Where are your parents?" The man cooed, probably thinking his acting was convincing enough to lull him into a false sense of security. Even Luther would be a better actor.

Five turned his whole body towards the man, facing him head on. He shifted his body in a way that could make him seem uncomfortable, which got the right reaction as the freak started licking his rotten, yellowing teeth, most definitely thinking he got the upper hand in this interaction.

Honestly, Five wasn't really acting uncomfortable per se, he really was uncomfortable on the inside. Probably something to do with imagining just how much his mouth stank if he breathed in Five's general direction.

"I- I only have my good uncle Daryl, have you seen him?" Five made sure to add a stutter, it's his very own version of what he thought thirteen year olds are like. To be frank, he had absolutely zero points of reference so he was kind of pulling shit out of his childhood memories.

The man seemed to disagree with his version of what he thought teenagers were like, apparently.

"No, can't say I have." The man frowned. Shit.

"Wait, my bag!" Five suddenly exclaimed, hoping it was enough to divert his attention back to the situation at hand before he could start speculating about whether or not he was faking the dumbass childish mentality.

The freak seemed to have taken the bait almost immediately as he flashed him a crooked grin. "Oh, this adorable thing?" He dangled the bag in front of him like a carrot to a pig which was quite an offending analogy.

"Please give it back." Five intentionally raised his voice higher, trying to gouge out his true nature.

Another chuckle.

"No can do, kiddo. This is mine now." Then, he pulled out the knife Rick had given him from inside the bag, turning it over to 'inspect' it when really, he's just trying to remind you that the lethal weapon was in his hands, not yours.

Dealing with people that has a few screws loose aren't inherently difficult, once you get a good idea on how their minds worked. From the interaction so far, Five could gather that the freak's just another one of those cocky motherfuckers who gets off on challenging anything they perceive as 'weak', drunk on the imaginary power they 'gained' from committing senseless acts of violence.

"Sorry mister, but I'm gonna need that back-" Five abruptly stopped talking when the blade was suddenly in front of his neck, the freak holding it stared him down in a mocking manner, daring him to try and do something.

"I told you already didn't I? No. Can. Do." The freak dragged out that last sentence one word at a time, a pathetic attempt at trying to come across as intimidating in Five's humble opinion.

Five just stayed silent as the freak continued his corny villain monologue, "Now.. Now, what to do with you? If I'm being truthful, I didn't think this through at all. You and your.. uncle's fire had attracted us, you see."

Five tried so hard to resist the urge to roll his eyes, where the fuck even was Daryl? Did he really ditch him after all that talking? Shit, and he was starting to like the guy. Wait, what the hell did he mean by us?

He probably said that last thought out loud since the man had immediately replied, "I'm not alone, kiddo. I have a buddy with me, he's currently hiding somewhere in the bushes. Can you guess which one?"

"Wow, I really don't know mister, I'm just a helpless little kid stranded in the middle of the fucking forest." Five drawled, deciding he was done roleplaying with the dramatic freak.

The freak barked out a laugh, "Language, kiddo! You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"I'm rather horrified that your mother has to kiss that disgusting forehead of yours every night." Five snorted.

Five could see that the man had noticed his sudden change of behavior, though it was rather odd that the man hadn't commented on it. Instead, he just sat down beside Five, throwing an arm over his shoulders, blade still pointed at his jugular. "You're a funny one. It's too bad that I'll have to kill you."

Five was right. His breath stank to high heavens, it made the stench of fresh corpses smell tame in comparison. That can't be a good sign, just what the hell has he been eating for it to get that bad?

"But you know kiddo, you look pretty fucking delicious. Mind if I have little taste before I slit your throat out?"

Nevermind, this man wasn't just a freak, he's also a cannibal judging from the way he was creepily staring at the flesh of his knees of all places. No fucking wonder his breath smelled like shit.

As soon as the freak laid a hand on his leg, Five deftly shoved the hand that held the offending blade away from his neck which immediately startled the man. He wasn't about to waste the opportunity, he sharply brought down his elbow to his face, digging through his left eyeball to momentarily impair his vision.

The man let out a shout as he clutched his eye, dropping the knife as a result. Five shot up to his feet, landing proper kick against the side of the man's head, sending him stumbling sideways. The freak started pathetically writhing on the floor, leaving Five reeling from the waves of satisfaction coursing through his veins as if he was shot with a dose of artificial serotonin.

Someone rushed out from the bushes behind him, which was a bit predictable. Five could vaguely hear the sound of a handgun clicking in place, and that was all he needed to hear before prompting to teleport behind the other man, alarming the both of them significantly. The other man lost his marbles rather quickly with the way he started firing shots at random, Five could almost see the rational part of his brain metaphorically melting away in favor of blind irrationality. Pulling the other man's arm back, he started wrestling the handgun off his grip, redirecting his aim to shoot at the sky when the man resisted. Five eventually took the handgun from the man's hand, throwing the firearm as far away as possible.

As Five sent the man tumbling forward on the ground, he was suddenly struck with a sharp pain in his head, like a spontaneous migraine. Five clutched at the warm liquid trailing down his nose in confusion. The man saw an opening, and he unfortunately had enough brain cells left to take it. He recovered from the fall, turning around before shooting up to his feet, sending Five a quick blow square in the guts.

Five grunted as he quickly brought out the both of his arms to block the incoming barrage of blows to his face. He had a pounding headache and he'd be damned if he didn't put a stop to the fight. Gathering all his strength, he teleported again to where the freak had apparently recovered and was now standing with the knife in hand. He looked like a mix of anger and fear, with narrowed eyes and an open jaw.

The freak lunged at him, and even with the feeling of needles prickling at the back of eyeballs and the fresh batch of blood trailing down his nose, Five snatched at the hand that held the knife before sending three quick jabs at the freak's family jewels.

The man didn't drop the knife this time, even after screaming at the pain that no doubt exploded in his lower regions. The freak snatched his hand back from Five's weakening grip, thrusting the knife forward at his head. Five snapped his head to the side, narrowly dodging the knife. The freak changed strategy last minute and made a horizontal slashing motion instead, and Five just barely ducked in time before the knife could slit his fucking throat out.

Five dropped into a crouch, then he stuck a leg out to literally sweep the freak off his feet. The freak lost his balance and Five didn't hesitate to grip at the hand that held his hunting knife and driving it to his jugular, making sure the blade dug inside his throat properly. The freak choked on his own blood, the knife stuck to his throat as he weakly tried to pull it out. Five decided to help him just this once, as he slowly dragged the knife out to watch him squirm at the pain.

The knife was now back in his possession, just in time as he saw the other man charging at him. Ignoring the throbbing pain that was slowly invading the better part of his brain, Five avoided the tackling attempt by stepping to the side counterclockwise, bringing the both of his hands down to pierce through the man's back.

The man howled in pain as Five pulled the knife downwards, which was difficult to get through what with all the taut muscles of his back and the leather jacket covering it proving to be quite the obstacle. But with all the adrenaline currently overriding his exhaustion and pain, he finally managed to dig through the lumbar vertebrae of his spinal cord, furiously jabbing at it as the man started to vomit at the pain.

Once he was done, Five shakily stood up and sauntered over to his backpack, his bloodied hands tainting the white half of it. He wanted so badly to just lay down and sleep once again, but he can't do that here due to the previous gunshots that had no doubt gained the attention of more than a few zombies nearby. The freak was probably dead, and the other man's most certainly paralyzed from the waist down. The zombies should be thankful that he's leaving them something to be eaten alive, he thinks to himself.

Deciding to get the hell away from there, Five forced himself to start walking. He didn't really know if Daryl had just up and left him or not, but he's still going to drag his ass to D.C since he didn't have a backup plan for shit like this. He probably should've, now that he thought about it. But whatever, he's walked farther distances during his first apocalypse in an even worse state.

Five kept walking, one leg forward at a time. The pain was getting to him, the taste of metal never leaving his mouth. He didn't have a sense of direction anymore, he just fucking prayed to a probably non-existent deity that he's somehow in the right path to D.C, he used to do that a lot when he got desperate enough.

He didn't know how long he walked, could be ten minutes.. three minutes.. half an hour?

The last thing he remembered was the sound of somebody shouting at him. He didn't have that hideous 'W' carved onto his forehead, so he's probably not a cannibal. Or maybe he was, but Five didn't really care anymore as black spots started dancing across his vision.

Chapter Text

Rick pushed on through the dawning hour. His vision was still bleary from sleep, but he didn't care.

When Rick woke up with Daryl still nowhere in sight, his paranoia spiked up, stomach clenched with worry. He opted to start searching for Daryl, and the brat too, which is why he was currently navigating through the dry forest at six in the morning with nothing but a knife.

It was a terrible idea to go anywhere alone nowadays, but he didn't have the heart to wake anyone this early in the morning- especially not Carol and Beth. They'd been as worried as he was last night, constantly peeking out the windows or the entrance, expecting a sleek black car to pull up outside and to hear the sound of rumbling engine shuttering down. It never came.

Rick tried, he really tried to think positively for once but it was getting increasingly more difficult to deny the thought that something had clearly gone wrong for the both of them.

Traversing through the forest was rather easy with the early morning sun shining down at him. He thought it was a sign of good luck, having been woken up just when the sun had begun rising. Rick hoped that luck held up for the rest of the day, but knowing how unfortunate he usually was, it might as well be a fluke.

He had walked a fair distance from the barn, retracing his steps from where the chase had started. Rick had considered taking the car out for the search, but ultimately decided against it after taking stock of the extremely limited gasoline in their inventory. Besides, his body could do with a little more exercise.

It was almost peaceful as he walked. Almost.

Problem was, somebody had started a forest fire by the looks of it. A good amount of walkers were literally roasting themselves by walking head first into the fire. Their loud groaning and the vile odour of burning flesh stubbornly permeated in the air, making for a quite unpleasant morning sight.

He considered it a good sign, Rick had a pretty good idea of what might have caused it, or rather who. With that in mind, he continued down the path, eventually finding himself crossing a rocky road. There were tire tracks on said road, the inky black set of lines going straight down the road before seeming to have taken the right turn. Rick couldn't believe his good luck.

Following the tracks, Rick took off on a run, sprinting like his life depended on it. The tracks had to end up somewhere and Rick was determined to bring both of them home- well, technically the barn but home wasn't a place in this case. From the distance, Rick could make out a black car neatly parked on the side of the road. Grinning, Rick picked up the pace with renewed vigor. As he drew nearer, Rick's previous sense of good fortune and optimism started fading.

The first red flag. There were dents on the metal surfaces- the doors, the roof of the car, the trunk.

The second red flag. The front of the car had been scratched to hell. There were indents in the shape of claws, holes and white lines plastering itself onto the black surface. All the evidence pointed to the fact that the creature was strong enough to stop a goddamn car. It was a terrifying thought, but it didn't shock Rick nearly as much as it should've. Dealing with a teleporting brat for the past week does that to a person, he supposed.

Rick dreaded the final stage of his investigation. The black window film obstructed any view from inside the car, leaving Rick to dread the outcome of this search. There were two possibilities- Daryl and Five were in there, strapped in their seatbelts and sound asleep- or possibly dead. Rick wasn't certain that was the case, though. The front window had been scratched, yes, but it was entirely intact so the creature couldn't have gotten through to them. Which left Rick with another possibility; they fled.

Just to be sure, and also to soothe his nerves and paranoia, Rick hastily opened the door and- to his relief, he found nobody inside. He closed the door and checked the trunk. It seemed his luck really had stuck with him as he surveys the remaining food supplies.

Well, since Daryl and Five weren't here, they surely must've gone to D.C. Rick got inside the driver's seat, turning the car keys over to start the engine. It took him three tries before the car had fully roared to life. There was absolutely nothing he had to worry about, he would meet up with them in D.C.

Right?

--- ---

Voices. White. Pain.

Those were the only thoughts in his mind when he forced his eyes to peel open all at once. He woke up with a jolt, body hunched forward as he sat up on the uncomfortable bed. He tried to remember where he was, but every time he did so a sharp pain would immediately slam his thoughts down. It was infuriating and frustrating all at once.

It didn't help that his surroundings started becoming noisy. He fucking hated the noise, it made his migraine pound that much harder. Who even are they? And what the hell was he doing here? Wait- who is he?

Panic started to build inside him, he felt like he could vaguely remember his identity but his mind would always come up blank at the last second. What the fuck?

Snapping out of his stupor, he could hear questions being thrown his way, but it sounded distant. Muted. As if he wasn't all there.

"Kid? Are you alright?" A man suddenly asked from beside him. Five slowly turned to him- wait, Five? Like the number? Was that his age? His thoughts and his body didn't feel that young. Must be his name then. What a weird ass name.

"Who are you?" Five snapped at him. He didn't know why he did that, there was a surge of aggression in his mind that he couldn't control. It must be a habit of his. What a nasty habit, Five could already tell he's quite the problematic person if all the things he thought about were to be accounted; he swore a lot and he has unexplainable urges to lash out.

"Woah! Calm down, kid. You suffered a light beating when I found you." The guy threw his hands up in a placating manner.

A light beating? Just what the fuck was he doing before this?

The guy seemed to have noticed the lost expression on his face as he made a show of clearing his throat, "I'm Aaron, and this is Denise, she's the one that treated you." He pointed at the woman standing in front of the bed. She had blonde hair and glasses, Five thought she looked friendly enough.

The woman- Denise quickly turned away, she seemed oddly uncertain. "That's a bit of an overstatement, I merely assisted in the check-up, you should be crediting Pete."

Aaron frowned but didn't retort. Instead, he shifted his attention back to Five as he asked, "What's your name?"

A simple enough question. "Five."

Aaron didn't look like he actually believed that, and Five didn't exactly believe that was his actual name either but what else can he do? It's becoming more apparent that he was currently suffering from a shitty case of amnesia that may or may not be permanent. Hopefully not.

"Okay.. Five. Are you, like, are you- you know, alone?" Aaron winced. Five knew that he wanted to ask if he was an orphan without coming off as insensitive, but honestly who the fuck cares? He doesn't remember them anyway, given that his vision would go white the moment he tries to remember the events leading up to now.

"I don't remember." Five simply said. Aaron and Denise gave each other a look.

"How much do you remember?" Aaron tried again.

"I already told you asshole, I can't remember shit." Five answered through gritted teeth.

Denise looked perplexed at the change in verbs. "Can't or don't?" she questioned.

"Can't, don't- what does it matter? It feels like something's blocking my fucking memories-" Five suddenly felt that flaring pain after he accidentally tried brushing down his memory lane. He clutched at his head in pain while Denise and Aaron was immediately alarmed as they scrambled to help him lay back down.

"Are you alright?" Aaron asked again in that stupidly concerned voice.

"What the fuck does it look like?" Five spat out as the pain quickly recedes.

"No need to get so pissy about it." Five heard Aaron quietly mutter. Denise just looked mildly exasperated at his admittedly horrid behavior but she seemed used to it.

"Did you get a concussion?" Denise methodically asked.

"No?" Five didn't really know about that but his sudden migraines only lasts for about a few seconds, which led him to believe he didn't have any major skull fractures.

"Any signs of nausea? Urges to vomit?"

"No. I'm feeling completely normal." That was a complete lie, nothing about this situation was normal. He felt like an outsider, communicating with his surroundings through a giant looking glass.

"But you can't.. remember anything prior to your incident?" Denise asked with furrowed brows.

It was his turn to look even more confused. "What incident?"

Aaron clapped a hand to his shoulder. "Kid, you were completely out of it when I found you. And you were drenched in a concerning amount of blood, I thought you were at death's doorstep."

Five looked down, then he muttered, "I don't remember."

"He got amnesia or something?" Aaron turned to look at Denise. Her lips were pursed, as if considering something.

"Looks like it, but we don't really have treatment for it." Denise checked something off a binder.

"What is this place?" Five suddenly remembered to ask, despite that being one of the first questions that popped up since he woke.

"Oh, I almost forgot. We're at the infirmary of Alexandria." Aaron scrambled to open his backpack as he pulled out a bundle of pictures, then extended one for Five to see. He snatched the picture, eyes quickly skimming over the details. It was in black and white, and the picture showed a large gate.

"We're a community of survivors, we have a lot of resources like food, water, electricity, and medical care." Aaron gave him another picture, it showed a rather nice house with a small garden. Aaron continued, "We constantly scout for survivors who might be in need of our help, then recruit them to join our community. We give them housing, their essential needs, and also a pretty darn good shower."

Not for the first time since he came to the realm of consciousness, he was confused. "Survivors?"

Aaron and Denise widened their eyes, as if they were the bewildered ones. Their mouths opened and closed, like they were unsure of giving him an explanation. Five found that suspicious, "If you both got something to say, then spit it out."

After a few more hesitant stuttering, Aaron finally said, "No, not really. We call every member in this community a 'survivor', it's like a fun nickname."

What kind of fuckass reasoning was that? Five could immediately tell that was bull.

"Wow, I totally believe that." He responded sarcastically.

"Anyway, welcome to Alexandria! We have everything you need and more. Just ask away, kid." Aaron ignored his tone of voice.

"You mean, I can have all this?" Five raised an eyebrow as he pointed at the picture with the house.

"Well, that's complicated. We can't house individual survivors, much less children." Aaron sighed, "And you said you don't remember anything, so I can't exactly scout out your older relatives."

"Actually, forget all that. What's the catch?" Five narrowed his eyes, there has to be a catch. What's it gonna be? Aiding in the creation of crystal meth? Murdering a bunch of innocent targets? Somehow the latter didn't sound as morbid as it should be.

"Oh. Well normally, we scout out groups of survivors, and usually they're adults, so we give them roles and some jobs to do to contribute in exchange for their continued housing- but that all goes out the window since you're like, what? Twelve?" Aaron tilted his head in question.

I'm fifty-eight, dipshit.

A small voice rang in his ears. Five didn't know where it came from, but that's a big fucking stretch. He figured he'd be all wrinkly and shit if he's actually that old.

"In case you've forgotten, I can't remember anything prior to this pleasant experience of waking up to a room with two strangers and a stubborn migraine that flares up whenever it wants, and I think that includes my age too." Five strained a smile.

"A minor then. Just rest up a bit, Deanna wants to meet you soon. She'll know where to place you." Aaron gave another exasperated sigh, it felt strangely familiar.

"Who's Deanna?" Five handed the pictures back.

"She runs this place. Well, one of the people anyway, they're a family. She interviews scouted survivors all the time, no need to worry about it." Aaron stashed the pictures in his backpack.

"So, what? She's gonna play tic-tac-toe on where to place me? Gee, I feel like a real orphan." Five drawled.

Aaron snorted and ruffled his hair, and that too felt familiar. "I'd say tone down the sarcasm, kid, but I think it's quite charming."

--- ---

"What do you mean Daryl's gone?!" Carol cried out.

Rick heaved out a sigh, "He's not gone, Carol. The car's just empty by the time I found it."

"And I'm supposed to believe that he got away from- from that creature?!"

"Like I've explained to you over and over, that kid has superpowers, if anyone could get Daryl out of that whole ordeal, it would be him." Rick pleaded desperately as he clutched both of her shoulders.

"You're not making sense, Rick! What is this? How did this even happen?"

Rick didn't know what to say anymore. Carol was in heavy denial, but Rick couldn't entirely blame her either. He knew better than anyone just how fucking nuts everything's been ever since that faithful day at the church, as if the decision to save Gabriel had triggered something that shouldn't have happened in the first place.

Rick was grasping at straws here, Carol was one step away from marching out to search for Daryl herself as if Rick hadn't done that already.

"I know it's hard to believe-"

"What you told me is outright fiction. You couldn't have given me a realistic explanation?" Carol declared coldly.

"Oh and the 'gaping hole in the sky' was also fiction to you?" Rick shot back, "And what about the 'creature' we all narrowly escaped? Can you honestly find it in yourself to believe that I hallucinated that entire chase?"

Carol opened her mouth, then promptly closed it upon realizing her flaw in logic.

THWACK!

Everyone startled at the sound of somebody- or maybe a walker violently forcing itself through the entrance. Rick had his revolver at the ready, Carol took her hunting knife out of its sheath, Michonne held her katana at the ready, almost everybody was wielding various different firearms and meele weapons alike.

As it turns out, they may have overreacted as a bloodied Daryl unexpectedly came stumbling into the barn, clutching at what looked to be a wounded shoulder. Everyone cried in relief as Rick and Carol quickly approached him to help him sit down.

"Thank goodness you're okay!" Carol carefully hugged him, not wanting to aggravate the wound.

"How'd you find us here?" Rick immediately asked, his eyes never leaving the bloody gash on his left shoulder.

"I saw- the ambulance outside." Daryl grunted as he clutched at his wound tighter. Beth suddenly crouched from beside him, carrying a bucket of 'fresh' rainwater.

"What happened to you?" Carol frowned as she quickly ripped a cloth out of her shirt before dipping it in the water, soaking said fabric.

"Got ambushed-" Daryl hissed as Carol started gently dabbing the cloth to clean up his wound. Rick frowned, then his eyes widened when he realized the kid wasn't with him.

"Where's Five?" Rick questioned. Tara perked up at the name, seemingly curious and concerned at the same time.

"Shit- that's the thing! Some freaks ambushed me and I woke up in a fuckin' junkyard! We set up camp beforehand and we got separated." Daryl looked vaguely guilty.

Rick exchanged a glance with Tara, collectively worried at the thought of Five having been ambushed by the same people. While Rick knew the brat could handle himself- to some extent, Rick could imagine a scenario where said people caught him unaware and threw him to a horde of walkers. For all his suspicions, Five was quite the heavy sleeper.

"You woke up in a junkyard? And then what? That doesn't explain why you're drenched in walker blood." Carol moved on to clean the remaining blood off his face, then his arms.

"I tried to fight 'em off when I came to. One of the freaks stabbed me in the shoulder to attract a bunch of walkers in the junkyard, fuck knows what for." Daryl sighed.

"Who are these 'freaks'? They're a group?" Rick pinched the bridge of his nose, he was getting tired of all these batshit insane people teaming up to make life harder for the other survivors.

"Beats me. They had the letter 'W' etched on their foreheads." Daryl shrugged.

Almost everybody groaned as they heard this. Dangerous groups in the apocalypse keep spawning one after another, Rick wondered if it was really going to be his group against the world.

Carol patted Daryl's back as she tied the fabric around his wound. Daryl winced but he didn't look pained anymore.

Tara suddenly tapped him on the shoulder. Rick turned to her as she told him, "I'm gonna head out to search for him."

"I'll go with you, but let's wait until Daryl recovers. He's the only one who knows where the camp is." Rick glanced at Daryl. Tara hesitantly nodded.

Chapter Text

"Well, this is your home now, kiddo."

Five took in the interior design of the two-story house. For some reason, Five thought it was smaller than what he was used to, even with its generous size. The design was rather old fashioned with the patterned rugs and dark wooden varnished tables, and the grandfather clock was.. definitely a choice.

"What do you think?" Aaron tried again.

"It's certainly.. a house." Five said as politely as he could.

Aaron sighed. "I know it's a bit old-fashioned, but we can't really be picky about it in the-" he looked at Five, "In this day and age."

Five raised an eyebrow. "You seriously couldn't get it renovated at least? I could practically smell history in here."

Aaron shushed him. "Be nice. At least the kitchen looks modern."

Five went around the corner to see said kitchen, and holy shit he was right. The house had a fucked up interior design, it was as if the architect wanted a mashup between the nineteenth and twentieth century just for it to end up looking like a time-travelling attraction. Strange, he somehow knew that wasn't how it worked.

The meeting with Deanna went well. Five was interviewed, and he wasn't at all pressured to answer questions he didn't have knowledge, or in his case, memory of. In the end, he was shoved off to live with Aaron since he was already familiar with him. That or nobody else wanted another member in their suburban household, which he was fine with because their houses probably looked worse than Aaron's.

Five's suspiciously good hearing caught onto the soft sounds of socked feet going down the stairs. He turned around and found a man with auburn hair greeting him as he descended from the last flight of stairs.

"Oh, shoot. I forgot to introduce you, this is my husband, Eric." Aaron suddenly said from beside him.

Well, that explained the generous size of the house. He didn't know if he liked the idea of sharing a house with another stranger, but Five guessed he should give them a chance. He was not about to sleep outside like a fucking raccoon.

"Hi?" Five greeted the other man back. The man looked like he was expecting him to say more, but Five didn't know what else to add so he won't.

Eric cleared his throat, "Nice to meet you, Five. Hope you like it here."

"Apart from the.. unique choices in the interior design, I think the house looks pretty alright." Five opted to throw in a compliment instead, ignoring the shrieking protests that suddenly welled up inside him. Gee, was his ego bigger than the fucking sky?

The three of them just stood there, frozen on the spot. Wow, this was awkward. Five needed to come up with an icebreaker, "Where's the bathroom?"

Nice job, you sound like an absolute moron.

That voice again. Was he schizophrenic? This shit wasn't normal, and he didn't need a PhD in psychology to know that.

"Ah, bathroom's right down that way." Eric pointed to his left. With a nod, Five hastily grabbed his stuff and left for his room- wait.

"You haven't shown me my room." Five turned his gaze to Aaron again.

"Right, almost forgot that part. Well, come on, we don't have all day."

--- ---

Alexandria was weird.

Like, not even in a bad way. It was way too.. normal? Lively, peaceful. There were these walls looming around the place, and Five didn't really know why it was there. The people were friendly, they kept greeting him and introducing themselves all throughout the day, though Five couldn't remember any of their names.

His own room was pretty nice, it had a desk and an actual bookshelf. While there weren't many books in said bookshelf, Five found himself engrossed in some light reading during his first night at Aaron and Eric's.

Still, he couldn't quite shake off the feeling that something about all this was.. wrong? Why was he so suspicious? There was literally nothing that could warrant that. He must've had a case of chronic paranoia or something. Whether he liked it or not, his subconscious always showed the worst of the worst outcomes. It's like his body was constantly living in survival mode.

Five was lounging on the couch with a book on string theory when he heard some knocking on the door. Aaron was out, and so was Eric, doing who knows what. So that left the responsibility of opening the door to him. He knew he was being uncharacteristically lazy, but Five was tempted to fake sleep just to have an excuse for ignoring whoever was on the doorstep later.

When the insistent knocking continued, Five groaned and got up to kill whoever the fuck was knocking. Wait, that's the wrong line of thought. He's just going to rudely greet whoever it was on the other side of the front door.

Five ripped the door open with more force than necessary, which ended up denting and creating a crack on the fucking wall. What the.. I am NOT paying for wall repair.

The person on the other side was revealed to be a blonde woman with a ponytail. She had a surprised expression on her face, probably not expecting some random kid to slam the door open on her.

"Oh, hi! You must be the new resident. Five, was it?" She greeted cheerfully. She was a little bit taller than Five, so she had to glance down a bit to make eye contact.

"Can I help you?" Five went straight to the point. Who knows what kind of shady business this woman would be partial to? For all he knew, she could be planting bombs and trackers inside that.. actually delicious looking pie.

"I actually wanted to meet you, I heard that you were staying at Aaron and Eric's." She smiled and handed him the pie.

"Okay, great. You've met me. Now what? You want me to shake your hand too?" Five felt kind of bad for acting like a total asshole, especially after she had graciously gifted him something so scrumptious, but he was in a bad mood so she was unfortunately getting the brunt of it.

"If- if you want? My name's Jessie, and I live just down the street. How old are you again?" Jessie looked put off by his rude behavior but didn't seem to be offended by it.

"Eleven? Twelve? Thirteen? Take your pick, lady." Five stuck a finger in the pie, expecting to find something incriminating like drugs or a micro tracker. He couldn't find neither, so he might as well get a taste. He licked the blueberry jam cleanly off his finger.

"Oh, you're not supposed to.. Okay." Jessie's left eye twitched in disgust? Irritation? Whatever. At the end of the day, he's the one who gets to eat the tasty pie. It was a bit too sweet for his taste, but good food is good food.

"You wanna come in?" Five raised an eyebrow, she didn't say anything more but she made no move to leave the doorstep.

Jessie cleared her throat. "No, it's okay. I just wanted to ask if you would come over sometime? I have a son your age."

Five considered this. It does get pretty lonely with Aaron and Eric constantly leaving the house for their 'scouting' job, and he could probably fish some info on the weird walls off the kid. "Sure, I'd love to." he puts on his best smile.

"Great, just come over at any time, you'd always be welcome." Jessie patted his left shoulder before turning to leave the doorstep. Five watched her go as he munched on a slice of pie. Damn, this is good.

--- ---

A week had passed since his arrival at Alexandria.

Five couldn't say it had been a productive week since all he did was read books, eat breakfast, dinner, and lunch. At some point during the week, Aaron had noticed his lack of outfit change despite them having provided him an entire wardrobe. Five didn't know why, but it was difficult for him to let go of the dirty uniform.

Eventually, he relented when the smell got unbearably horrible. On that same day, he rummaged his wardrobe for some suitable clothes. Honestly, the options were rather awful.

Five pulled out four white t-shirts of roughly the same size, it all had different drawings of cartoon characters. There was a single hoodie, three sweatpants and a pair of jeans. They all looked stupid on him, but he can't be picky. He wouldn't want to go out naked.

Today, Five was going to visit the son of his neighbor who rudely interrupted his reading session two days ago. He had been mulling over what to wear, as he didn't want to appear lame but none of his options were great either. Finally, he came to the conclusion that he didn't care about the opinion of some stupid kid as he threw on a hoodie to cover his t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He still wore the weird red bowling shoes, since it was his only pair of footwear.

Five left his room and was immediately greeted by Eric, "Hey buddy, you going out today?"

"Yeah, some blonde lady invited me to a play date a few days ago. Am I not allowed to?" Five tilted his head, as if challenging him to say he wasn't.

"Of course you can! It's actually great to see you willingly interact with anybody that isn't.. us. I've heard some of our neighbors complaining that you were too.. 'closed off'."

Five scoffed. "They're all a bunch of old people, I don't care about their opinion. And what business would I have in joining their conversations?"

Eric sighed, but didn't say anything to refute it. "Me and Aaron are going out on another mission today, lunch and dinner's at the kitchen aisle, you can heat it up in the microwave. Have fun, buddy."

Five nodded, then set off. Leaving the house, a strong wind blew over his face. Alexandria's air was fresh, as if pollution had never been a thing. The trees were perfectly green and well kept, Five could see his neighbors on their front porch, either drinking coffee or having a chat with other old people.

He stuffed his hands inside his jeans pockets, the weather had always been windy during the transitions from mornings to afternoons. Five walked down the perfectly ordinary neighborhood, and some of the old ladies waved at him, beckoning him over to join their conversation or whatever.

Five knew better though, the last time he complied they had gone out of their way to pinch at his cheeks and calling him adorable or some other bullshit. For some reason, he held a strong dislike against old ladies, they give him the creeps.

Ignoring them, Five walked faster as he tried to find Jessie's house. He got so distracted by looking through the house windows that he didn't notice a man smoking in the middle of the road.

"Watch it, kid!" The man yelled at him when Five bumped into him. Five glanced up, he didn't recognize the man.

"And who the hell are you? Also, you were standing in the middle of the goddamn sidewalk, it's not my fault I bumped into your smoking ass." Five crossed his arms. Who the hell was he to tell him off?

The man was pissed, that much was obvious. But then, something unbelievable happened. He schooled his expression and introduced himself, "You must be the new kid. I'm Pete, the local surgeon."

"Whatever. I have somewhere to go." Five waved him off. He stepped to the side to continue walking but his path was quickly blocked off by Pete's arm.

"Did your parents never teach you manners? Where are you going anyway?"

Deep down, Five's instincts that laid dormant screamed at him to break the arm in front of him. To claw his eyes out, to stab him with an invisible dagger. Shaking off the intrusive thoughts, Five decided to answer, "You know a Jessie? She invited me to come over to her house, but every house in this neighborhood looks the fucking same."

Pete's eyes lit up in recognition as his frown morphed into a more light hearted expression, "Ah right, she did mention that. Jessie's my wife."

Five looked him up and down. He silently thought that Jessie could do so much better, Pete had the appearance of someone's creepy uncle that desperately tries to hide his crippling alcohol addiction.

"Great. Mind telling me where it is?"

"Just follow me. Sam's been awfully lonely lately, I'm sure you can understand." Pete laughed out of nowhere as they walked.

"Who's Sam?" Five didn't recognize that name either.

"My son. He's kind of shy, but you'll get along fine. I think."

They walked past a few more houses before Pete eventually settled on the right one. He knocked on the door and shouted, "Jessie, open the door!"

Five could hear some shuffling from inside the house before the door was opened, and Jessie stared at Five in shock. Didn't she invite him in the first place? Why was she looking at him like he's the freak in this situation?

"Something on my face?" Five drawled, breaking the vague tension.

Jessie blinked out of her stupor, "No, just. Didn't expect you to visit so early in the morning."

"It's way past eleven." Five shot back.

"Yes, well. Come on in." Jessie's smile was tight, but Five thought she was just tired from doing house chores, probably. He would know, Aaron was rarely home and Eric's consistently on kitchen duty.

Five walked in after Pete, immediately noting the much modern interior design of the house. Everything looked neat and thoroughly cleaned, not a single speck of dust on anything present.

"Sam! Someone's here to see you!" Jessie yelled at the stairs.

More shuffling, then a bunch of thudding as a pair of feet rapidly descended the staircase. A kid with mousy brown hair slowly came into view. He was short in stature, probably shorter than Five. Finally, he had found someone shorter than him.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Jessie nudged him.

"I'm Five. Nice to meet you, I guess?"

The kid didn't even return the introduction, he straight up ran back upstairs. Jessie's smile fell, and she nervously suggested for him to keep the kid company anyway. Five shrugged, he needed to figure out a way to shake some information off the kid. But how?

Giving Jessie his most politest smile, "Is there anything he'd like? Favorite food? Hobbies?"

Jessie considered it, "He loves cookies, but he doesn't really have a hobby."

"Alright, thanks." Five could work with that. Nodding at Jessie and more reluctantly, Pete, Five climbed up the stairs and went to find Sam's room. He really should have asked Jessie about the specifics of everything's whereabouts, but it's too late now.

The second floor stretched out like a long hallway, and there were three sets of bedroom doors. Problem was, which one is Sam's? One of them was probably a guest room, and the other was Pete and Jessie's. Wait, then it doesn't even matter, two of the bedrooms would be empty anyway.

Opening the first door, Five was immediately met with a.. teenager? No wait, there's another one on the bed.

"Got the wrong room." Five bluntly said. He went to close the door when the male teenager stopped him.

"You the new kid?"

Five rolled his eyes, "I'd assume you've never seen me around before."

The female teenager snorted. The male teenager glared at her, then turned to Five, "Sam's room is next to mine. Good luck trying to get him to open up, you'll need it."

Five wordlessly nodded and pulled the door shut. He proceeded to walk to the next room and opened the door- well, tried to anyway. It was locked. Feeling a bit annoyed, Five knocked on the door, "Hey, it's me, your new friend. You can at least open the door."

Silence. There weren't even any responding thuds, it was as if he was knocking on an empty room. "Kid, if you don't open the door in three seconds, I'm going to.. call your mom." Five refrained from threatening to kick the door open.

Still no answer. Five clicked his tongue, "Alright. I'll wait however long I need to. You know, outside. Waiting for you to just open a simple door. It's actually really simple, just put your hand on the knob and twis-"

The door clicked open. Five sighed, fucking finally. Although he really was ready to kick the door open, it would've been the much more productive solution.

Sam peeked out of the door, and Five gave him an awkward wave. He stepped inside the room and immediately noticed that it was significantly smaller than the other teenager's. Toys were cluttered all over the floor, and his bed wasn't even made. It looked messy as all hell, and Five realized with some dread, that he's about to be someone's goddamn babysitter.

Five was internally screaming, but he didn't let it show. Instead, he opted to smile at the kid, "Hi. Let's try this again, my name's Five. What's your name?"

"That's a stupid name." The corner of Five's smile twitched a little. As if he didn't know that already. He raised an eyebrow to keep the kid going, "My name's Sam."

"See, that wasn't so bad. What happened to your room, Sam?"

Sam shrunk in on himself. "I forgot to clean it up.."

"You know, that's a bad habit to have. For all we know, this place could be roaming with roaches." Five tried to joke. It must've flown over Sam's head as he looked horrified and disgusted at the possibility of that joke happening.

This is rough.

That voice again. If only he could shut it out completely.

"Hey, why don't I help you clean up? It's not an ideal activity for a hangout but it's better than nothing." Five suggested.

Sam looked like he would've rather done literally anything else, but nodded nonetheless. Five saw this as an opening to claw out information.

Picking up two out of five toys, a car and a robot figure, Five initiated the conversation, "So, how long have you been living in Alexandria?"

"A long time." Sam- the little bastard wasn't even doing anything to help. Fine then, Five's just going to clean up some stupid kid's room all by himself, an extra chore for today.

"That's.. interesting. Say, what do you make of the walls surrounding us?" Five moved on to stuff the rest of the toys in some dusty box.

Sam looked puzzled. "The four walls of my room?"

Five didn't have anger issues, he really didn't. He was actually the most patient individual alive. "No, I meant the walls outside. What's the deal with that?"

"Oh. Um," Sam clutched at the hem of his shirt nervously. Five nodded his head, demanding for him to get on with it. "It's to protect us from the monsters."

Goddamn it. Another lost cause, this kid's also a schizo. Guess he really had to ask the adults on this one, no other choice. And if they think he's crazy for asking, then so be it.

Five hastily folded Sam's blanket and made his bed, "I'm almost done. You know, I heard you like cookies. What's your favorite?"

Sam's eyes lit up at the subject of cookies, "Chocolate chip cookies, they're a classic. I love the sweetness of it and the chocolate just melts in my mouth." That's literally the longest sentence he had ever spoken and it's about cookies? Some kids are just plain weird.

"Huh. What a coincidence, that's also my favorite. You wanna try baking cookies with me?" Five offered, he couldn't think of any other plan that could potentially snag him a one-on-one private conversation with Jessie. He refused to talk with Pete, the man's presence rubbed him the wrong way.

"Really?!" Sam perked up after hearing that, then immediately deflated, "But.. there's no way that mom's going to let us near the oven, she only lets Ron."

"Ron.. he's your big brother?" It's really strange that Five had immediately assumed Sam's an only child.

Sam nodded, "He's really nice! I bet if we asked hard enough, he'd come to bake cookies with us."

Must be nice to have siblings. Five wouldn't know, he can't remember shit.

"Alright, then let's ask him." Five smiled and led him to the room next door. This time, he knocked. They waited in the corridor for a few seconds before Ron lazily opened the door. He looked at Sam and Five in surprise, "Holy shit, you actually got him out?"

"Yeah, it's crazy. Anyway, you up to bake cookies? Sam told me you're allowed to use the oven." Five crossed his arms.

"You.. actually want to?" Ron glanced at Sam questioningly.

Sam shyly nodded, and Ron's mouth stretched into a wide grin.

"Sure, let's go." Ron left the room and ushered them downstairs.

"What happened to that other girl? She could join us if she wanted." Five asked halfway down the stairs.

Ron shook his head, "Nah. She left a while ago. I'm just glad I could do something with my little brother today."

For some bizarre reason, Five felt.. jealousy? No, it felt more like envy. He found himself envying Sam, for having a brother that cared enough to sound grateful at the notion of spending time with him. But that's insane, he doesn't even remember anything prior to waking up on the medical bed, why would he feel envious of something like that?

"Mom?" Ron's voice shattered his swimming thoughts. Jessie wasn't anywhere to be found. Neither was Pete, which was a plus.

"I guess we're alone today." Five shrugged. Ron responded in kind, "More cookies for us. Alright kids, since I'm the adult-"

"You're a teenager." Five cuts in.

"- in this situation, I'll be the one doing the instructing." Ron continued on as if Five never opened his mouth.

Sam clapped excitedly. Five had a thought, Ron seemed mentally stable, and he was a teenager, practically a mini adult. He could give him an actual answer this time.

Ron told them to prepare some of the ingredients from the fridge and kitchen cabinets. Five got the eggs and milk out, while Sam went to fetch the flour and brown sugar. Ron was the one doing the actual mixing, as he didn't trust either of them to pour in the correct measurements of each ingredient.

At some point, Sam mischievously started smearing flour all over his hoodie and Ron's shirt. Five silently swore at the little bastard for ruining his only hoodie, now he had to go home wearing a hoodie with 'X' symbols written in flour staining it. Ron didn't seem to mind, in fact, he took it as an invitation to ruffle Sam's hair with a handful of flour. What a mess.

When Ron finally shoved the tray of cookie dough inside the oven, Five quickly asked, "Why are there walls surrounding Alexandria?"

Ron stiffened. He looked at Five as if he just stepped on his favorite pet turtle and admitted to getting off on it.

"You don't know?" Ron asked with uncertainty.

"Not sure if word got out, but I have a severe case of amnesia." Five carefully watched out for Ron's reactions.

"You don't remember anything? Nothing at all?"

"Yeah." Five nodded. Ron had that air of hesitance, the same kind Aaron and that other woman had when Five asked them why the residents were called 'survivors'. Of course, Five hadn't bought Aaron's excuse for it, but at the time, he didn't have much else to work with.

Unlike Aaron, Ron's air of hesitancy dropped at once. He looked grim as he says, "It protects us from the walkers, had been keeping them out for a long time."

Walkers?

A surge of extreme pain assaulted his senses. Five yelled out in pain as his knees buckled. Ron was immediately alarmed, he kept shouting something at him but it sounded muffled, as if he was being drowned. He felt suffocated, his chest felt tight and he let out ragged breaths as sudden images of situations he had never seen before flooded his vision.

Bloody hands.

An axe.

A sea of walking corpses.

A fire truck.

A hospital.

A bloody neighborhood.

Ą̸̵̨̢͉̘̺̥̤̱̦̰͙̣̠͕̪̗̤͛ͩ̋ͬͮ̍̀̐́̂̂ͣ͑ͮ̚͢͢ M̸̡̢͖̺͈͖͂̋̒̅̒̈ͯͪ́͘_̶̨͕̱̱͎̖͈̺̐̆͋̇͗͛ͫ͑ͯ̾̎̎̈ͩ͜͟Ȩ̨̰T̼͓̼̊ͣͣ̔ͥ͐͂̒͌͠ͅ_̸̛̫͚͈̝̲̱̮̅ͦ̃ͮ̾ͯA̸̸̧̢̧̛͍̟̲̣͍̩͇̲̱͇̫͕ͫ͐̉ͮ͗ͧ̔̍̆̓͞͝͞͠͡Ľ̯̯̳̈̑̏ M̴̴̡͚̟͎̮̘͍̍̏̀̀̃̅ͫ́̚̚͠͝O̤̰̹̤̟̣̪̲͚̓́̆͛ͬͩ̌͗ͪͭ̕͡N̡̧̯̦̣͔͓̙͉̲̟͑͂̽ͥ̄ͮ̀͘͞ͅS̡̺͍͔͍͓̄̍̋̿̒ͣ͗͒̍͘Ţ̸̛̳͓͖̳̤̌̊ͨͤͤ̿̒Ȩ͖̃͒Ř̶̛̼̗̦͍͙͍̳͚̬̰̳̯͔͂̀̽̓̋̈́̄̿͆ͮ͢͜͡ͅ

Then, the pain receded. Five still let out a series of quick, short breaths but he could finally relax a little. His vision was blurry, and his stomach felt awfully bloated. He wanted to vomit, but the bile wouldn't go up. Finally, he could clearly hear again.

"Dude! What's wrong with you?!" Ron shouted at him as he patted Five's back.

"Migraine. My body does that sometimes." Five heaved one last sigh as he shakily stood up. Ron helped him steady himself, and Sam approached them with a glass of water in hand. Nodding gratefully, Five downed the glass of water in one go. Fuck, his throat was dry as hell.

"You call that a migraine?! I thought you had.. I don't know- a seizure or something!" Ron sat him down on the dinner table.

"It's fine, not the first time it happened." Actually, Five was fucking horrified. What the hell was all that?!

Then suddenly, there was a burning smell coming from the kitchen. Ron jumped in alarm before quickly rushing back to the kitchen, leaving Five alone with his thoughts.

Something's extremely wrong with this place.

Chapter Text

It has been a week since the chase.

After Daryl had come stumbling in the barn, injured and agitated, Rick and Tara had made it their goal-for-the-week to search for Five, who was reportedly missing after Daryl's unfortunate encounter with an unruly group of freaks.

They waited for Daryl to recuperate before setting off on a search. Luckily, the area in which he and the kid had set up camp weren't too far a distance from the barn. On the third day, they made it to the clearing, and it was far from empty.

Rick could tell a lot of walkers had come by to presumably munch on two of the rotting corpses, it looked like the man was eaten alive. Rick would feel pity if it weren't for the fact that they were clearly members of the group that had attacked Daryl and Five in the first place. The brat probably kicked their asses and left them at the mercy of the walkers. Oddly enough, Rick felt a sense of pride.

Other than that, there were no telltale signs of the brat anywhere, not even a piece of fabric. They wandered around for a while, but it was starting to get glaringly obvious that Five had left the area. Tara looked sick with worry, what if the brat had sustained injuries and none were properly treated? If Rick was being completely honest, he was also starting to panic alongside her.

Since then, they ended up revisiting and expanding on their search area every other day. Today was the seventh day, and still. No sign of Five yet.

Rick and his whole group had fully recovered since then, so now the barn served as temporary refuge until they find the brat. Some of them weren't on board with it, well, mainly only Eugene, due to his concerns over the depleting food supplies. Tara had strongly scolded him over it, ranting about how they had enough to last them a month if they were being generous.

Eugene didn't seem too keen on being told off but he relented. Rick noticed that Gabriel had been eerily quiet since- well, everything. The hospital exchange, the highway lava-walker experience, and the recent chase seemed to have changed him for the worse. And now with Five missing and potentially kidnapped (Rick doubted that), he had started praying more often than usual. Not that he had a problem with it, Rick had nothing against people of religious faith.

Sasha and Bob weren't all that bothered by the current situation as they've been rather busy with staring at each other's eyes for an ungodly amount of time. Rick guessed they were one of those couples that could take anything in stride for as long as they have each other.

Maggie and Glenn were concerned, Five had played a major role in getting them all out of the hospital in one piece. Carl and Tyreese had been disconcerted over the possibility of an attack made by another dangerous group, and Noah was becoming more paranoid as the days go by.

Rick figured they should be checking another route as he scribbled on the worn map. So far, Five hadn't been spotted in any of the areas he could've possibly escaped to which was a huge source of frustration. Today, they're going to check the next most likely route, though it was a bit far fetched. But it wouldn't hurt to search the area regardless.

Tara hadn't been in the best of moods since the last few days. She had grown agitated, despite being able to stay optimistic throughout the whole week of relentless searching. Rick did his best to keep her morale up, but he didn't know for how long he could keep doing it before she gives up. He thought better of her, so he wouldn't entertain the possibility of her stopping anytime soon.

As they left the barn to continue the search, Rick was suddenly reminded of the strange water bottles that suspiciously followed their trail. Daryl suspected that it may have been the freaks that he and the brat encountered, but that didn't sound right. Why would they waste something as valuable as drinking water to- what? Signal that they're onto them? It would be a terrible stalking habit. Not that it didn't benefit them. Rick brought the bottles back to the barn for Eugene to inspect and confirm that it was safe to drink. It was.

The route they're taking this time led to a ghost town, so they took the opportunity to scavenge for extra food. They've been running low on baby food for Judith lately, and Rick didn't want to risk giving her diabetes as a consequence for feeding her crushed candy. He blamed Five for that one, he stuffed his trolley cart with way too many sweets.

Honestly, the group had been cutting loose on their sugar intake. They didn't have any toothpaste, and nobody took dentistry prior to the apocalypse. They would be in a world of hurt when the cavities inevitably starts kicking in. Rick could only hope for Carl and Judith's wisdom teeth to grow perfectly vertical.

Rick, Daryl, and Tara chose to scavenge the local bakery. Bread would suffice as an alternative for applesauce if it gets watered enough. Glancing at Tara, he noticed the crinkles of dissatisfaction in her face as she sorted through the hardened bread pile.

"How are you feeling?" Rick whispered to Tara, trying to initiate small talk.

"Fine." She curtly answered.

"You know that you can.. talk to me about anything, right?"

Tara halted for a moment, "It's really fine, Rick. I'm just feeling a bit down, but I'll get over it."

She continued to sort through the pile, and Rick stood awkwardly to the side. As the group leader, he felt some moral obligation to talk to his group members until they feel better, "Five's tough, he wouldn't die so easily."

Tara snorted, "Yeah, we used to try and shoot him all the time."

"Can he really blame us though? I admit I still find his superpowers to be kind of freaky."

"Hey! I'm telling him that!" Tara worked up an amused grin before it dropped again, "If we ever find him, at least."

Rick puts a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Don't beat yourself up over it. Maybe his silly superpowers finally got to his head and gave him amnesia, or something."

Tara smirked, "Or maybe it's the supernatural dementia talking."

They both giggled like little gossiping school girls, Rick was embarrassed to admit. But it did seem to lighten the mood, so it was worth it. Tara resumed her sorting with a smile on her face, this time.

"But, don't you find it a bit weird?" She suddenly started talking again, with a more thoughtful expression.

"That he was hiding in some random church with a priest for company? Yes."

"No. It's just that-" Tara pursed her lips, "I don't think he belongs here."

Rick's jaw dropped open, feeling a bit defensive, "He became part of the group the moment he saved Beth and Carol."

"No! I don't mean that. I meant he doesn't belong in this world!" Tara exclaimed.

Rick was perplexed, "Tara, if walkers exist, what are the chances of superhumans existing too?"

"Don't you find it strange? Too big of a coincidence? Our journey had never been smooth-sailing, but the moment we found him at the church everything's been.. kind of crazy?"

He never even thought of that. He had accepted everything so quickly, telling himself that weirder things are bound to happen. But it was true, what Tara was saying. It was as if.. the brat's existence had triggered something to shift. Triggered the world to change its laws of nature. Prior to meeting Gabriel, Rick had never seen giant holes in the sky or anybody else possessing superhuman abilities. He sure as hell had never seen walkers made of magma and machetes either.

It was as if.. Five was never meant to exist.

"What are we supposed to do about it, though? It happened, so it happened." Rick didn't want to think about the laws of nature and how the brat's existence had impacted it, nope. He was a survivor, not a supernatural analyst.

"True. Sorry for bringing the mood down, a lot of things had been on my mind since.. Five just up and disappeared." Tara grimaced.

"It's perfectly fine, I'm actually happy that you're sharing your thoughts," Rick assured her with a smile, "We can discuss this with the brat later, when we find him."

"When we find him." Tara repeated with a smirk.

--- ---

Five huffed as he carried a box to the garage table. It was full of dusty, uneaten jam, he was sure.

"Thanks for the help, son. We appreciate it."

He felt an eye twitch irritably at that. As if the prick hadn't forced him into doing his chores. "Why don't we have laws against child labor around here? I'm suing your ass for this."

Pete just waved a dismissive hand on him, as if telling him to go away. He let out an embarrassing squawk when Five proceeded to kick the table in retaliation. Prick.

He fucking hated the guy. Why Jessie decided he was good enough to marry, he'll never know. Five had been spending an ungodly amount of time at her place, either to eat dinner or spend time with Sam. The house he was staying at was almost completely empty anyway, something about Eric and Aaron taking on a long, heavy scouting mission that required them to stay somewhere outside Alexandria.

Five still couldn't wrap his mind around the information he learned, about the- the monsters outside the walls. Whenever he even thought about it for longer than ten seconds, he'd start getting a migraine.

Weird.

But then again, it's a welcome contrast to his otherwise boring day-to-day life. It adds some flavor. Five took to helping around his neighbors, just to have something to do. It's like his body was allergic to doing nothing, he'd get itchy if he sat on the couch too much.

As Five walked into the living room, he saw Ron and the female teenager he saw earlier go at it on the fucking couch. Five gagged, has any of these people ever heard of public decency?

"Get a fucking room, you two!" Five announced his presence crudely.

Ron and his presumed girlfriend startled at that. Their eyes were blown wide open as they stared at him. Five merely rolled his eyes and made a beeline for the front door, not wanting to be a victim of their disgusting make out sessions any longer than he has to.

The fresh air of Alexandria swept over his face, Five sighed softly as he relaxed under the slight pressure of crisp, cold air washing over his entire body. It may be a bit of a boring routine, but he liked to take a stroll around town, appreciate the tall, healthy trees looming across the sidewalks.

Sometimes, he could smell the delightful pastries being baked over the open windows. Other times, he wanted to pull up a book and start reading on the evenly trimmed grassy fields near the borders of the walls. Most times, he refrained from doing any of that. He had gotten a bit too curious on one Sunday morning, so he decided to take a closer look at the walls caging Alexandria. Upon inspection, he heard low growling noises coming from the other side of the wall.

He hadn't checked back since then.

Five's legs marched forward, one leg at a time. He was absentmindedly enjoying the breeze when his unusually sharp hearing picked up some commotion nearby. He had two options, continue walking and enjoy the mundanity of an evening stroll, or sprint over to satisfy his curiosity.

Of course, he chose the latter.

Five ran up to where the noise sounded the loudest, and he saw.. a bunch of people arguing near the gate. Five clicked his tongue, he thought he was about to finally see something actually interesting.

With another disappointed huff, Five resumed his leisure evening stroll like nothing had disturbed it in the first place.

--- ---

Rick couldn't believe his luck.

Rick and Tara had been approached by a random man, claiming to have been the one to leave water bottles in their trail. Rick had immediately gone on the offensive, thinking it was some kind of trick. But then the man had quickly explained that he was part of some community of survivors, claiming to be able to help them with housing, food, and literally anything else.

Naturally, Rick didn't believe him.

The whole premise of a 'safe haven' made by survivors to help other survivors sounded uncomfortably similar to Terminus. He was not about to put his whole group through another one of those traps.

But then, Tara had foolishly accepted, she told him to give the man a chance. Rick didn't want to, but he needed to heed second opinions. The man wasn't armed, and he was presumably by himself. Worst case scenario, Rick could just shoot him and be done with it.

At least Daryl thought the man was shady, too. The three of them took the man, who introduced himself as 'Aaron' back to the barn. Predictably, everyone had their weapons pointed at the guy upon entering. Rick waved them off, and he demanded for Aaron to explain his proposition.

In the end, Rick had the whole group vote for the decision. They could stay in the barn for God knows how long, or they could visit this 'Alexandria' community and continue the search more comfortably. In the end, Rick and Daryl was outvoted.

Aaron essentially earned some semblance of Rick's trust when he noticed Judith, and he brought out some quality applesauce. Of course, Rick had been suspicious of this, so he forced Aaron to consume it. The applesauce was legit.

The whole group packed up, and they drove out at dawn. In the middle of the journey, Aaron had told them to stop by somewhere. Rick, still suspicious of his intentions, decided to follow him inside a deserted building. Turns out, Aaron hadn't been alone after all. He brought his partner with him, and he was injured.

Beth was the first to volunteer her assistance, and Carol followed suit. Soon enough, they got him patched right up and they continued the journey. It wasn't a long journey, by any means. Definitely one of the shorter ones, compared to, say, driving from Atlanta to Virginia.

And now here they are. Outside a tall, bronze colored gate. It looked intimidating from an outsider's point of view, Rick had to admit. Aaron got out from the passenger's seat and promptly started to shout at the people manning the gate. Rick strained to hear, but he could've sworn they started arguing at some point of the conversation. After three minutes spent clutching at the handle of his steering wheel, the gate finally opened.

It definitely seemed like the gates of heaven were opened before him.

As soon as Rick saw the suburban houses, tall trees, and well trimmed lawns, he knew that this was an actual safe haven.

"You alright?" Michonne chuckled from beside him.

"More than alright. I mean, look at that." Rick was in awe. He had never seen a town so clean, not since the Governor's. It was like the apocalypse had never happened here, children were running about, messing around. The elderly people were sitting out in the front yard, either gossiping among themselves or just simply enjoying the unpolluted breeze.

"Careful there, I'd mistake you for a walker if your jaw dropped any further." His girlfriend teased playfully. It was a rare tone of voice, and Rick loved it.

"Dad, does this mean we don't have to sleep on hay anymore?" Carl looked excited at the prospect of not having to sleep on dirt anymore, and honestly, Rick was too.

"Yeah, we have actual bedding here." Aaron confirmed from behind them. He was smiling at them, and Rick thought it looked genuine enough. Aaron wasn't as unhinged as Rick had initially thought, maybe he had severely misjudged him after all.

"So, where are we staying?" Michonne asked.

"Oh, you'll have to follow the basic procedures first. It's nothing difficult, just a regular interview, that's all." Aaron explained.

"And what does it entail? Are we supposed to share some very specific information?" Michonne crossed her arms.

"It's nothing like that. Deanna likes to keep a record on every survivor we recruit, it's mainly for documentation." Aaron refuted.

"Say, I don't think you've told us, but what's the catch?" Daryl had suddenly asked. Aaron recoiled at his sudden appearance, throwing his hands up defensively.

"Scared me for a second. Okay, so about the catch, it's rather simple. I see that you have a lot of adults in your group, so we will usually assign you to a post. Help contribute to the community in exchange for housing and electricity, and all that."

Well. That does make sense, and he had no reason to be suspicious anymore. Unless of course, the community was full of cannibals and they would go rogue on them come nightfall, or something. It doesn't seem like a far-fetched theory. He had to be prepared for anything at this point.

"Aaron." Rick called out.

Aaron swivelled around to see him, "Yes?"

"This is all a bit too good to be true, but we're trusting you on this one. However, if there is any indication that you and your community wanted to harm my group," Rick cracked a knuckle.

Aaron went paler than he already was, then he gulped with a nod. Rick sent him a nod in answer, signalling mutual understanding. Their weapons may have been confiscated the moment they stepped foot inside the gates, but Rick still had his hands. And teeth. He was a fighter, just like the rest of his group.

--- ---

"Five, sweetie, do you mind taking this to the new residents? I have an appointment with Denise." Jessie requested. She looked nervous, Five could tell from the way her hands were slightly trembling and the cold beads of sweat trailing down her forehead. Her eye bags were getting more and more prominent, as if she wasn't getting enough sleep.

'Yes, I'd mind. I'd very much mind, I've been doing the chores meant for your stupid bum of a husband since the afternoon.' was something that he desperately wanted to say.

Seeing how tired and disheveled she looked, however, he changed his mind. He normally wouldn't care, but something about Jessie being sleep-deprived tugged unpleasantly at his heart.

"Are you sure? Why can't Ron do it?" Of course, he still had to fight for his case. If there was any chance that he could throw this job at somebody else, he'll take it.

"He's helping in the pantry today, sorry for the trouble." Jessie sighed.

Five nodded in resignation, guess it couldn't be avoided after all. He accepted the basket filled with fruits, and headed out. The air was cool and relaxing, as per usual. But, something about it felt off. Shaking off the thought, Five sprinted past the houses.

He had been living in Alexandria for more than a week now, he pretty much memorized the whole layout of the suburban neighborhood. Although he couldn't remember most of his neighbor's names, he could still tell which one's occupied and which one wasn't.

Five could easily identify which one is freshly occupied, as he had passed it a couple of times and nobody had been occupying it. Until today. Walking up the front porch, Five rudely knocked on the door.

He waited for a response, but nothing came. Five could vaguely pick up the sounds of a shower running, so he had to be patient. Five groaned, he could literally be doing anything else right now.

After half a minute of standing on the front porch, bored out of his mind, he could finally pick up some shuffling from the other side of the door. The door finally opened and-

His eyes had become the victims of witnessing a grown man's hairy chest and nipples.

The view assaulted his brain, he recoiled from the sheer shock of nudity. The man had a shocked expression on his face too, but for a completely different reason.

"Five?!"

Chapter Text

Rick just got out of a nice, warm shower. It felt heavenly, absolutely amazing to be able to wash off the grime that stuck to his body for a good while. He was in the middle of scrubbing his toes when he heard the undeniable knocking on the front door.

He had half a mind to shout for Carl, but then he remembered that he was out like a light the moment he laid on the bed. Honestly, Rick would've, too, if he had the chance.

His instincts shouted at him to stop showering and open the damned front door, but at the same time, he really didn't want to.

But still, what if.. danger was lurking from the other side? Something about being an ex-sheriff, his first instincts had been tailored to check on any signs of danger in every given situation.

And now, here he was, standing in front of the frozen body of Five with only a towel to cover his genitals. He looked absolutely gobsmacked, and so was Rick. And who could blame him? He had spent the majority of the week trying to find the brat, only for him to show up knocking on his doorstep carrying a fucking fruit basket.

It was such a weirdly normal thing for him to do, like he was about to introduce himself as Rick's new neighbor and welcome him to the community or something. It didn't quite fit the image of the Five he knew.

Five finally regained his composure after a minute of gawking, and the first thing he said was, "What the fuck?! Put on a shirt, you absolute degenerate!"

Rick's mouth dropped open in shock, of all the things he could've said, he was not expecting that. He really couldn't be bothered to at least throw him a 'hey Rick, long time no see' after all this time?!

"Where the hell have you been?!" Rick shouted in question, he couldn't believe that the brat had just up and left them without a single hint of where he could've possibly gone. As it turns out, he was actually living in a suburban neighborhood with running water and a fully functional kitchen. Rick was pissed, he had spent nights wondering whether or not Five had keeled over and died somewhere. His guilt had been eating at him for the better part of the week.

He was fully expecting him to throw another colourful insult, Five was creative that way. He did not expect him to say, "Who the hell are you? And how do you know my name?!"

Rick felt himself stagger a bit, because what in the ever loving FUCK was that supposed to mean?! He remembered making a joke about supernatural dementia catching up to him but it was supposed to be just that; a joke! Rick pinched the bridge of his nose, Five must be fucking with him. There's just absolutely no way.

"Kid, stop messing with me."

Five's eyebrows shot up to the roof of his forehead, "Who am I to you, old man?"

Rick didn't miss the suspicion lacing his question, and shit, that was a confirmation if he ever heard one. But how? Surely, the supernatural dementia thing wasn't an actual thing that could happen to.. whatever the hell Five is. But then again, it was Five, literally anything could happen with him around at this point.

Coughing into his elbow, Rick answered, "I'm your.." He paused. What was he going to tell him? He could just tell him the truth, that they were strangers until a certain point in time, but he had a feeling that Five wouldn't be satisfied with just that. And he didn't want him to distrust him, God knows just how hard it was to earn the kid's trust in the first place. The brat was impatiently tapping his foot, still carrying the fruit basket that was comically large in comparison.

"I'm your long lost father?" Rick answered on impulse, the kid was starting to have that look on his face, the one that promised a beating of his lifetime if he didn't give him a verbal response fast enough. He didn't risk it.

"Are you making fun of me?" Five narrowed his eyes further.

"Okay look, it's.. complicated. But first of all; kid, what the hell happened to you?" Rick threw his hands up.

Five was silent for a few seconds. "I have no fucking clue. I woke up in this place remembering absolutely nothing." He shrugged.

Rick thought so. At times like these, he hated being right. Honestly, what the fuck was he supposed to do in this situation? He never had to deal with one of his group members suffering from memory loss. Alright, one step at a time.

"I knew you. We used to be in the same group." Rick calmly explained the truth.

Five's eyes shot up to his face, as if searching for signs of deceit. Rick knew that the brat didn't find any, he could see the loosening of his tense narrow shoulders as he slowly lowers his guard, though clearly not all of it if the suspicious glint in his eyes were anything to go by. It was typical of him, to be so suspicious of everything.

"Why weren't you with me? When I woke up?"

Rick felt a pang in his chest. The kid woke up alone, without any memories to go by. In an unfamiliar place, with even more unfamiliar faces. He briefly wondered how he'd turn out if he woke up like that in the hospital. Probably dead, part of a walker horde in a ditch somewhere.

In the end, Rick settled for, "We got split up. We were running from danger, and you just happened to draw the short end of the stick."

Rick could practically hear the gears turning inside that tiny little head as he processed the information. After half a minute of awkwardly standing shirtless in front of a minor, Five heaved out a sigh as he relented.

"Fine. I'll take whatever information I can get, even when it sounds like a load of bull."

It seemed like the kid intended to cross his arms, only to realize that it was occupied. "Oh, right. My.. acquaintance asked me to deliver this to you, welcome to Alexandria or whatever." Five rudely shoves the basket for Rick to grab onto.

Rick easily held the basket in his hands, though it was heavier than it looked. It was then that the brat turned to leave, but Rick quickly stopped him, "Five."

With an annoyed sigh, Five turned back around to face him. Rick continued, "It's good to see you again." He couldn't contain the smile forming on his face.

"I would probably say the same, if I actually remembered you."

--- ---

Life at Alexandria just kept getting weirder by the days.

After checking up on Aaron and Eric, Five went out on his daily stroll around the neighborhood. It was just like any other walk, the calming breeze and the chilly, unpolluted air accompanied him wherever he went. It was weird enough that he had to talk to a shirtless middle aged man who just happened to know him in an unclear past, Five felt that he was pretty much ready to face every other weird shit imaginable.

It was especially peaceful today, which, Five wasn't going to complain about. Sure, it was boring, but it helped him collect his thoughts, to think, digest, and process the information thrown at him from yesterday.

That shirtless weirdo knew him, he was part of some group, and he ran away from certain death prior to losing his memories. What a life he used to live.

Five knew for a fact that the weirdo and his band of misfits were outsiders. Going by that logic, that also made him an outsider too before Aaron eventually took him in from buttfuck nowhere.

An outsider.. running from danger.. the monsters that are apparently crawling around the other side of the walls..

A flash of an image depicting decaying flesh and drying blood assaulted his vision.

Pain exploded as it comes in waves, Five let out a yelp as he clutched at his head. Not again.. not again.. this shit is the worst.

He continued muttering curses as he rode through the pain. At some point, he could feel the slight brushing of a freezing palm on his back as a familiar sounding voice echoed in his ears,

"You'll be alright, Five."

The pain subsided all at once. In the midst of it all, Five could make out the harmonious melody of a violin, ringing in the distance.

Well, Five was sure about one thing now. He had to take care of his schizo problem before it gets out of hand.

--- ---

"What do you mean you don't have medication for it?!"

Denise sighed, looking about ready to just get up and leave the clinic. "For the last time, you are not schizophrenic. What you were experiencing were simply random bouts of audible hallucinations caused by your confusing, yet unique variation of amnesia."

"Then prescribe me with anti hallucination pills, or something! You're telling me there's literally nothing you can do about it?" Five anxiously tapped his feet against the wooden flooring.

"Normally, patients suffering from hallucinations would be prescribed with a bottle of depressants, but there are two glaring problems in that. First problem, you're underage."

Five scoffed, "Didn't think having hallucinations would have an age limit, yet here we are."

"Second problem, we ran out of it." Denise ignored his jab.

"You couldn't have started with that?" Five questioned flatly. Denise shrugged.

Five could clearly hear the knob of a door turning before it fully swung open. He didn't pay it any mind at first, wondering which poor bastard had accidentally chopped their fingers off. His main concern was first and foremost, how exactly was he going to go about snagging himself a bottle of depressants? Maybe he could ask Aaron to get him some, when Eric fully recovers.

Hell, maybe he could just. Ask if he could join in on a run. Highly doubt they'd let him, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. Something about the mundanity of his life didn't quite fit his body, anyway.

It was a source of frustration for him. Neither Denise nor Pete has ever tried prescribing him anything, spouting some bullshit about how there's nothing they can do about it. They didn't say it out right, but Five knew they expected him to suck it up. Not like either of them had tried to find a solution to his amnesia problem.

"Five?"

Oh, you've got to be kidding him. If he had a nickel for every time a stranger flat out recognized him enough to call him by his name, he'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's outrageous that it happened twice.

"Five, is that really you?" The new voice sounded hopeful, so different from the shirtless weirdo's unjustifiably angry tone. Five turned to glance at the owner of said voice, curiosity overtaking him.

At least she wasn't shirtless. He was currently staring at a.. he couldn't tell if she was a really young adult or a really old teenager. She had her hair done up in a messy bun, and she was wearing flannel. Five thought she looked like a dork.

"Sorry, who are you again?" Five asked, entirely too bold.

Just like the last guy, her mouth dropped open in shock. She seemed inexplicably distraught, even when Five was a thousand percent sure he had never met her in his entire life. Maybe she was also part of the may-or-may-not-be-real group the shirtless weirdo mentioned?

Then, for some bizarre reason, the girl started laughing. It was a full on belly laugh, but Five didn't find anything particularly hilarious about this situation, so he just sat there, gawking at her.

"Good one! But uh, you can drop the act now, it wouldn't be funny the second time." Her voice had become strained near the end.

"No, I literally have never met you my entire life." If Five had to be brutally honest, she looked one sentence away from having a meltdown. Five actually felt a bit.. worried? It was a foreign feeling to have, even for Aaron and Eric, much less a complete stranger.

"He has amnesia." Denise quickly cuts in, in case the girl starts spiraling even further.

"But- that can't be right?" The girl muttered.

Five sighed. What do you even do in this situation? It'd be weird to go try and comfort somebody he doesn't even remember. But a strange tug of sympathy and worry kept pestering him, urging him to do something.

He hopped off the patient's bed, carefully advancing towards the girl like one would approach a cornered, wild animal. "Hey, how about we go outside and take a little breather?"

The girl turned to him, dumbfounded. With the way she was looking at him, anyone else would think Five had just admitted to being a flat earther, or worse, a conspiracy theorist. Eventually, she relented and followed him outside, but not before dropping a brown paper bag on Denise's table. Five would normally be curious, but he somehow knew that nothing in her bag would even hold his interest.

Walking side by side with a total stranger was.. weird. It was way out of his comfort zone, but somehow, his gut told him that the girl didn't pose any danger to him, nor does she seem to hold any sort of ill intensions. He trusted his gut instincts more than anything, so he listened.

They were quiet for a while, just enjoying the humdrum scenery of the suburban neighborhood. The sidewalks were clean as always, so was every house they passed by. It's like the town had a super janitor to tidy up the place 24/7, the windows of most of the houses were squeaky clean.

The girl cleared her throat, "So."

Five snapped out from his thoughts, suddenly remembering where he was and who he's with and what he's supposed to be doing, "So." Five parroted.

When the girl took too long to respond, Five came up with a question of his own, lest the atmosphere gets uncomfortably awkward. "You knew me?"

The girl tensed up at his use of past tense, but how else was he going to say it? He can't just suddenly remember her from a few minutes of being in her presence. It occurred to him that he doesn't even know her name yet.

Taking a deep, shaky breath, the girl replied, "Yeah, I did."

In the back of his mind, Five thought the girl was being a bit dramatic. Not like, in a mean-spirited way, but they couldn't have been THAT close for him to cause such an impact by simply not being able to recall any memory of her.

"That's.. good? Bad? I don't know know anymore, the last guy who recognized me reacted aggressively, not like you."

The girl turned to him, "Which guy are you talking about?"

Five hums in thought, "Now that I thought about it, I didn't really catch his name."

Surprisingly, the girl snorted, mumbling a quiet 'typical' under her breath. Five wouldn't have caught it had his hearing been completely normal.

"I didn't catch your name either." He crossed his arms defensively.

"My name's Tara." The girl- Tara introduced herself bluntly. Her face was blank for a moment before it scrunched up in laughter.

Five could only raise an eyebrow at her odd behavior, "What's so funny?"

Tara coughed out a few times to stifle out her giggles before answering, "Sorry. It's just.. I've never had to introduce myself twice."

An understandable reaction then. It does sound pretty bizarre in context, but he could definitely find humor in it. Five let out a shocking laugh.

Tara's eyes widened at that. Even Five himself was shocked at the sound that came out of his mouth. He couldn't help it, something about Tara was just hilarious to him, so much so that he couldn't contain the budding urge of laughter building in his stomach.

"Holy shit. Dude, was that an actual, genuine laugh?"

He abruptly stopped laughing. "You didn't hear anything, it was all in your head."

Tara grinned for the first time since he met her, which was like, ten minutes ago. "I think I like this new you better."

His ears metaphorically perked up at that. Any information regarding his life prior to getting memory loss was valuable information. Five coaxed her to continue, "What was I like?"

Tara snorted, "Definitely a lot more nihilistic. And for the record, you wouldn't have laughed just now."

Five frowned at that, "I sound miserable."

Tara shook her head, "You weren't that bad. In my opinion, at least. Rick probably thinks of you as Satan's spawn."

"Does 'Rick' happen to be a raggedy white man with a pair of depressing blue eyes?" Five drawled, already reaching for a conclusion.

Tara laughed out loud at that, "So you've met him. I'm gonna have to tell him that next time."

Five nudged her as he shot her a smirk, "Throw in a creative insult while you're at it. Something about growing a forest on his chest."

She looked perplexed, "What brought that up?"

He grimaced when the image of shirtless Rick's hairy chest popped up, "He didn't exactly make the most appropriate first impression."

"Oh. Ew."

They eventually stopped in front of Jessie's house. Five hadn't intended to come here this week, since both Aaron and Eric decided to take a leave and stay in the house more. Still, he had been coming over whenever the loneliness gets too tangible, he guessed it was a force of habit that took him here.

"You going in?" Tara asked after a good while of staring at Five, who was observing the Anderson's front porch with particular interest.

Five immediately snapped out of it, "What?"

Tara gazed at Five with an unreadable expression, as if he was a difficult jigsaw puzzle with a bunch of missing pieces. Five could see where she was coming from. He, too, felt like he was missing a few pieces of himself.

"You do that a lot."

Five crossed his arms, "I'm not following."

Tara gestured at her own head with some kind of spinning hand movement, "Your thoughts are loud. Whenever you're thinking of something, you always get into a weird trance."

"Happens to the best of us." He shrugged.

A sudden loud crash could be heard from inside the house. They swivelled in alarm, tensing up in case the source of danger barges out of that front door. Five relaxed, however, when Jessie opened the door and shouted something about fixing broken owl statues.

He sighed, facing Tara once more, "That's my stop. You up for a hangout this week?"

She didn't seem to expect the sudden invitation for a hangout, much less from Five of all people.

"Yeah, absolutely. I got nothing to do anyway, Deanna hadn't assigned me work. She didn't know where to put me."

An idea popped up in his mind. He remembered Aaron mentioning that the adults were all assigned work upon joining the community, so Tara technically counts as a functioning adult in this situation.

"Why don't you join in on the runs?"

She considered the idea, "I could probably talk to Deanna about that." Then, her eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Wait, why are you suggesting this?"

Five mock whistled as he put folded his arms behind his back, "Well, since you knew me before my unfortunate memory loss incident, I'd figure you wouldn't mind doing an old pal a small favor?" The corners of his lips lifted upwards, forming the most innocent smile he could muster.

Tara scoffed, but it didn't sound unamused, "Knew it! Ugh, fine. What do you want?"

"For the love of God, please get me a bottle of depressants."

Chapter Text

"Hey dude, stop spamming your skill!" Ron shouted while aggressively hitting the buttons on his joystick.

"Not my fault you picked the worst character to play as." Five laughed derisively as he repeatedly clicked the same button relentlessly.

The television in front of them played out in slow motion as a big K.O sign filled up the entire screen. Ron groaned at his defeat, infinitely more bristled when Five decided to shoot him a smug look.

"Can't you pick a different character for the next round? You picked the cheat character!" Ron huffed in frustration as he scrolled through his character selection menu.

Five clicked his tongue, "You could've picked literally any other character, and they would've been better. But no, you chose the Space Monkey so you gotta stick to it."

Ron had introduced him to the concept of video games. Five was pretty sure he had never seen anything like it, but the video game itself felt outrageously familiar. It was a 'pee vee pee' game where two players would beat the shit out of each other's characters until one of them dies in game.

It was fun, Five found himself liking video games a lot. He was skeptical at first, thinking that he was too old for that type of thing. But since Ron and his girlfriend played it.. and they were older than him..

Well, it was a no brainer.

Ron had picked the Space Monkey due to his strength stat being higher than any of the other characters, which Five thought was a hilariously stupid decision. Even the Rumor Girl had a better kit than him, and she arguably had the lowest strength stat in the game.

He randomly chose the Assassin character because he thought he looked cool. The Assassin was an old man with a classy business suit and a briefcase, but that wasn't the reason why Five absolutely refuses to switch to any other character.

This character can literally teleport with a press of a button, which was pretty much a cheat skill. Sure, he had a cooldown and all that jazz but Five could still use it enough to annoy Ron with his dodging. It didn't help that the Space Monkey's hit box is kind of fucked up.

"What's the point of choosing a different character when your character can teleport? Who even thought it was a good idea to put him in the character selection?! He's fucking broken!" Ron gritted his teeth, seemed like he was stuck choosing between the tentacle guy and the knife guy.

Five rolled his eyes, "You could try using that violinist. I read up on his kit, he could be considered broken as well."

Ron snorted, "Yeah, right. What the fuck's a giant laser beam gonna do against the dude who could stop time?"

Five paused, taking his eyes off the screen to stare incredulously at Ron, "He can do that?"

"Well yeah, it's his ultimate." Ron shrugged, then, his eyes widened in realization, "Shit."

"Really shouldn't have told me that." Five's grin grew impossibly larger by the second.

Resigning to his fate, Ron started another round. Five decided to keep the teleporting at a minimal, but Ron hadn't been able to land a decent hit since the round started. True to his advice, Ron decided to use the Violinist instead of sticking with Space Monkey, though Five could tell Ron would've performed much better as the latter.

"Come on man, the teleporting is getting annoying."

"No offense, but that just sounds like a skill issue." Five smirked at him.

As the Assassin and Violinist continued trading blows, the fight came to an end when Five dealt a finishing blow with his newly found ultimate. Freezing the whole game except for his own character was a really cool mechanic.

Five was about to make another sniping comment when the sound of something shattering interrupted them. Both of them froze, then Ron took the initiative to pause the entire game. They were quiet, waiting for a cue- a sign, anything to give them an idea of what exactly was happening downstairs. After about ten seconds, the walls gave a slight rattle as the front door was aggressively slammed open and shut.

"What was that?" Five muttered the question.

"It's- nothing. It's fine, let's just keep playing." Ron fidgeted with his joystick, attempting to shrug off the fact that anything happened at all.

Five gently placed the joystick on the floor, "I'm not buying that crap."

Snorting, Ron let out a humorless chuckle, "Of course you don't."

Five frowned. It had only been a little over a few weeks since they first met, yet he had actually felt some sort of bond developing between them. Whether that bond was a one-sided one has yet to be answered, but still, Five could confidently declare that he knew a few things about Ron Anderson.

"You're speaking in that bitter voice again," Five turned to face him, Ron didn't match said gesture yet he opened his mouth to say what Five knew was about to be another deflection, "It's seriously nothing, everything's fine."

His eyes narrowed suspiciously at Ron, "Fine? This shit's been happening since the last few times I hung out with you!"

Over the past few days, every time Five had chosen to visit the Anderson's, there would always be something going on outside his line of sight. Between the unpleasant shattering of glass, the obnoxious thudding of objects being thrown at walls, and the sharp, grossly familiar stench of blood as Jessie tried her hardest to clean up the cut on her hand when she thought nobody was watching, Five could definitely tell something was wrong.

To be honest, it was entirely too obvious. He walks in, Pete goes out. Jessie gets hurt, Pete leaves the house. Five shoots an innovative insult at him, Pete comically clenches his fists, as if unused to the concept of anybody- well, children in this context nonchalantly disrespecting him.

Or maybe he's offended that none of his empty threats could ever work on him? Whatever, he was literally taken under the wing of one of the community's top contributing members, Pete would get in trouble if he tried anything. Five knew the signs of domestic abuse when he sees it. He couldn't remember what it was like to have a family, ever, but he just knew.

"It's none of your damn business!" Ron lost his composure as he shouted, then his lips gave a slight quiver when he insisted, "Are we still playing or what?"

Ron sounded so nervous and frustrated, he had never seen him like this. Five felt inclined to comfort him, but he knew that he wasn't good at it. He'd probably just make the situation a whole lot worse for his friend. Picking up the joystick, Five silently nodded. Ron relaxed, he looked relieved when they started yet another round, easing back into exchanging light hearted remarks meant to chip away at the core of each other's pride.

Neither of them brought up the subject again, mutually agreeing to erase it off their memories. Ironically, Five couldn't forget.

--- ---

"Oh! Five, this is quite the surprise." Deanna opened the door wider, ushering for him to come inside.

Smiling what he hoped was a pleasant smile, Five wiped the dirt off his shoes on Deanna's front porch rug before actually heading in, just to be extra polite. He needed to make the best second impression if he wanted to get anything out of this woman, she seemed the diplomatic type.

Walking through the narrow corridor that would eventually lead to the meeting room, Deanna continued the small talk, "I trust that things have been going well?"

"Personally? Yes. I've made a few friends here already." Five tried to chuckle lightheartedly but it fell short when he realized how strained his voice chords sounded.

"That's very nice to hear. No need to be nervous, I'm a very laid back person. When there's nothing going on, that is." Deanna laughed in his stead.

"Ha." The dry laugh tumbled out of his throat.

"It's not everyday that I get a visit from one of my residents, we like to keep everyone happy."

Before Five could formulate another sentence, they'd already arrived at the meeting room. He could recognize those big oak doors in an instant, which was crazy because the entrance to the meeting room wasn't significant in any way, shape, or form.

Deanna took a seat by her desk, which Five followed suit by sitting in front of her. Face to face, they were on equal grounds now. Verbally, at least.

"I'd offer a treat, but we're currently running low on sugar." Five grimaced at the borderline condescending tone she took on when saying that. "Now, what did you want to discuss?" Deanna laced her hands together, staring at him with a piercing gaze.

Where to start. The literal giant walls around Alexandria, his correlation with the new outsiders, the obvious case of domestic abuse in Jessie's household? There were a lot of starting points, but for today, he wanted to focus on one problem and one problem only.

"I want to file a report on domestic violence." Five puts it bluntly.

Deanna looked taken aback, "Pardon?"

"Domestic violence. It's something that's been happening in the Anderson household for quite a while now." He elaborated. Deanna schooled her features after a moment, face as passive as ever, as if Five hadn't just told her about the possible case of domestic abuse happening to one of her oh so beloved residents.

"That is a very serious accusation to make. Are you sure of this?"

The fabric of Five's cargo pants bunched up as he fisted a handful of it, "It's so blatantly out in the open, I'm surprised none of her neighbors had filed for a noise complaint or something similar."

Deanna's gaze went elsewhere, her lips were pursed in thought. "I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it."

Five opened his mouth in disbelief, "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Language."

"Lady, don't give me that crap. A few of your residents are vulnerable to danger- in their own house no less- and your immediate thought was to deny them any chance of escaping it?!" Five stood up in a fit of boiling rage, slamming both of his hands down.

Deanna sighed, and Five fumed even harder. She wasn't even taking any of this shit seriously!

"It's complicated."

Did she know? From the way she was talking, it was as if she knew this whole time, yet she wasn't doing anything to stop it?

"You knew, didn't you?" Five gritted his teeth.

"Pete is a surgeon," Deanna coldly stated, "You have to understand, medical staff is hard to come by. Pete is all we have, and he's an exceptional surgeon. Alexandria considers him a priceless asset."

Priceless asset? He's an ugly piece of shit who deserves nothing, much less a family. With the way he was treating them, Five couldn't name anyone more deserving of a slow and painful death than that miserable sack of dirt.

"You're acting like Denise isn't just as capable as that bastard is in the medical field."

"I believe her best ability lies elsewhere." Five wanted to beat the living shit out of here, how dare she dismiss this case so quickly, and being so.. unsympathetic? He wouldn't pretend that he was the most sympathetic guy in the world but even he knew how fucked up this was.

"She can learn. If it's a surgeon you want, anyone can train to be one. Hell, I'd even start studying biology or whatever the fuck surgeons learn in med school." Five crossed his arms in a challenge.

Deanna glowered, "Go home, Five."

"I'm not going to let you turn a blind eye to domestic fucking violence. I find this all extremely ironic, considering you have a family of your own." Five snorted instead, not moving an inch.

Copying him, Deanna stood up and slammed a hand on her own desk, "You think this isn't hard on me?!"

"Oh boo-fucking-hoo, absolutely nobody can replace precious Petey as the local surgeon." He deadpanned.

"He saved my son's life."

Five paused. Then he knocked over the chair he was sitting on to prevent himself from assaulting the insufferable woman, "Cry me a goddamn river!"

Despite her annoying shouts of protests, Five wasn't listening anymore as he made his way out of the meeting room. If Deanna wanted to be a sitting dog about this, then so be it. He'll do things his own way.

--- ---

A welcome party for the outsiders is being held tonight.

Of course, Five would much rather lounge around in Aaron and Eric's house all night while the adults are all out drinking champagne or whatever, but for some goddamn reason he was invited solely because Sam wanted to go and Ron bailed out doing who knows what with his girlfriend.

Don't get him wrong, he held a lot of tolerance for Sam, he didn't hate him. But he was a pretty boring friend compared to his brother, as mean as that sounded. The boy barely even talked, and the only topic he's even a little compassionate about is baking cookies.

Cookies are great and all, but the topic gets a little stale when that's all you can talk about.

Fortunately, the party had a lot of snacks, so that's how Five chose to spend his time. Well, that was until Sam kept dragging him everywhere to put a stamp on people's hands. Like what the hell was the point in doing that? The stamps itself looked uncomfortably identical to brand stamps. Sam is one creepy kid.

The adults didn't seem to mind. Quite the contrary, they thought Sam was adorable. Five couldn't see it.

At one point, Sam and Five met up with depressed blue eyes, which he assumed was the 'Rick' Tara was talking about. And if the guy knew him at some point, it's only polite to greet him upon arrival, right?

"Hey old man, what's good?"

Rick swivelled around so fast Five could swear he heard a bone pop. Yikes.

"Uh- I uh-" Rick coughed up a storm before trying again, "It's been great."

Five squinted his eyes, Rick's cheeks were suspiciously red after oogling at something that way.. his eyes moved to Rick's was-line-of-vision to see Jessie talking animatedly to a black woman.

His eyes widened, was Rick checking Jessie out?

He grinned deviously, a plan already forming in his head.

"Someone caught your attention?" Five asked with an air of nonchalance.

"Yeah- wait what?"

Five smirked, absolutely thinking that he had it all figured out, "Fortunately for you, that lady over there is very single."

Rick kind of just stared at him for a few seconds before realizing what he was getting at, "No, it's nothing like that-"

"Um, excuse me.."

They both turned to look at Sam, who was holding up his creepy brand stamp expectantly, "Would you like a stamp?"

Shit, Five completely forgot he had babysitting duty. He was too focused on getting this guy hooked up with the kid's mom.

Rick gave him a questioning side-eye before smiling at Sam, "Sure, buddy. Stamp away." He extended his hand. Sam nodded and quickly stamped Rick's hand with red ink.

"Don't even ask." Five declared when it looked like Rick was going to ask him the same question he had been asking himself the whole time. Sam tugged at his sleeve, signalling that he already had his eyes dead set on another prey. Before walking off, Five decided to throw Rick another advice, "Feel free to ask about that pretty blonde lady over there though, her spouse ain't shit."

Rick sputtered, "I told you, it's not like that!"

His cries fell on deaf ears.

--- ---

Sam was acting weird.

While that wasn't exactly new, Five found himself being concerned over his change in behavior. Sam had always been a really quiet kid, which Five thought was a huge plus because he, too, equally enjoyed a moment of peace and quiet.

But he'd been too quiet lately, almost like he's gone mute.

Ron was the first to express his concerns over Sam's new behavior, as he wouldn't even come out of his room to eat. Not even when chocolate chip cookies were involved.

Frustratingly enough, Ron wouldn't even tell him the possible cause of this, but he didn't need to. Five knew that it had everything to do with that bastard. But Ron wouldn't admit it, and Jessie wouldn't either. They'd much rather live a life of denial and abuse.

The very next day, he caught Sam sneaking out of the house. Five was out and about, running an errand for one of his noisy neighbors when he saw Sam quietly living the house from the backyard entrance. Five thought that was out of the ordinary, he didn't think he'd actually have the balls to sneak out on a Sunday morning. All the more power to him, Five guessed.

He was tempted to continue his walk and act like nothing ever happened when he suddenly remembered Ron's request for him to keep an eye out on his brother at all times. When he's out of the house, that is. Five wasn't exactly going to approach him, but he'd sure as hell tail him from a distance. He was also a bit curious too.

Five made sure there was always a good distance between them, not wanting to be caught too early, that'd be lame. He made a few turns throughout the neighborhood, and Five was very sure that the neighbors had caught him tailing the kid from a distance, yet they didn't say anything.

He suddenly remembered that he had a delivery to make, but that could wait. Following Sam was of utmost priority, and he'll leave once he gets to wherever the hell he's going safely.

It took a bit, but Sam eventually arrived at his destination which was.. a small storage building?What the hell would he even do in there? He half expected him to go steal cookies from a poor unsuspecting neighbor's window, not this.

Five quietly snuck inside along with Sam, and it was a miracle that he hadn't realized he was being followed yet.

Holy shit.

Out of everything he expected to see, he did NOT expect a full on armory with all kinds of guns and knives. His jaw dropped open when Sam took a gun off the shelves, which at that point he immediately made his presence known.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

Sam was so startled that he dropped the gun.

"I- I just-" Sam took a deep breath, then his face contorted to one of determination that Five had never seen before. "I'm going to protect my family."

Five swallowed every bit of the scolding rant that was about to come out, he really wasn't expecting that answer. He fucking knew it! That bastard's the core of every problem.

"And how are you going to do that?" Five placed a hand on his hip.

Sam paused, the determination in his eyes faltered and he looked uncertain. He glanced down at the gun, "It's for safekeeping. I won't hide in my room anymore."

While Five himself had zero problems with murdering a dirtbag like Pete, encouraged it even, he found himself worrying about the possible repercussions Sam would face had he been caught red handed.

With a renewed resolve, Five assured him, "That's a great idea. Keep the weapon with you at all times, and I'll help you deal with that bastard, yeah?"

Sam gave him a grateful smile, and Five smiled back in reflex.

Before Sam could pocket the gun, however, a cough tore through the light silence.

Leaning against the entrance was an old woman with grey hairs, arms crossed and a glare on her face.

Chapter Text

"What are you boys doing here?" The old lady Five had never seen before asked sternly, her gaze felt cold and unforgiving.

"..Treasure hunting." Five strained a smile as he subconsciously dragged Sam behind him. He instantly knew the woman was bad news, somehow. But then again, he gets the heebie-jeebies around any old lady.

The lady raised an eyebrow, entirely unconvinced. Sam clutched at the sleeve of Five's hoodie, doing his best to conceal the gun he was about to steal. It proved to be a futile effort, since the woman spotted it with ease.

"That's a dangerous treasure you found there. Want to take a guess on what it does?" It seemed like she was prompting him to answer, but he couldn't even say a word before she cut him off, "It kills people. That little trigger right there? The moment you pull it against someone, there's no going back."

The woman took a step forward, "Your hands would forever be coated in blood. You would never be clean. No amount of scrubbing would ever wash the filthy blood away."

Another step forward. "And when everything is over and done with, you'll realize that your soul has become impure, tainted beyond all recognition. You can never go back."

"Back the fuck off, you creep! I can ask you the same question, what business would someone like you have in here?" Five scowled, feeling strangely provoked. Logically, he knew she was spouting bullshit, but something about her choice of words irked him to no end.

"I have my reasons." she simply answered.

"That's really not helping your case-"

She cut him off when she quickly lunged at Sam before he could properly react, prying the handgun off his hands. Sam screamed, visibly terrified of the unexpected movement.

Out of some forgotten instincts, Five immediately snatched a handgun of his own, uncaring whether it was actually loaded or not. "He has his own goddamn reasons too! Give that shit back or I'll fucking shoot."

The old lady tilted her head, "You wouldn't dare."

He didn't know what came over him, but he automatically clicked the gun safety off. The old lady stiffened at the sound.

"We really don't have to be shooting at each other, you know? Just give him the gun back, and we can all pretend this little exchange has never happened." Five said through gritted teeth. His hands are starting to cramp up from the amount of energy he's exerting to not pull the trigger.

The lady's gaze hardened once more, "What justification would he have in having this?"

"What the fuck are you going to use the gun for?" Five retorted.

"Answer me." The old lady demanded, not moving an inch. Why the hell does she want to know the reason so badly? It's not like it's any of her goddamn business. Old people and their nosy habits.

"In-house protection. Now give him the fucking gun back before I put a bullet through your ancient skull!" Five cocked his gun at Sam's direction, indirectly telling her to hurry up and get this situation over with.

The lady's gaze softened a fraction, then she heaved a sigh as she relented, releasing Sam and handing the gun back to him. Sam took it with shaking hands.

"I don't doubt it, I've seen it happen before." The lady commented offhandedly and finally took all the weapons she needed before fleeing from the crime scene.

Five couldn't even ask her to elaborate. He lowered his gun, and debated on taking it for himself. Eh, it's just one of many, nobody's going to think anything amiss. And, it's a very effective intimidation tactic. Five's sure it'll come in handy sometime.

With that thought, he clicked the safety on and nudged at Sam to hide the gun before anyone else could catch them red-handed. Sam complied easily, and they both quickly left the room, with caution this time.

--- ---

After walking Sam home, Five made a promise to help him the next time he felt the need to sneak out. He wasn't about to let him wander out and about with no supervision, only God knows what other suspicious activities he would be up to.

After that was done, he finally started on the delivery gig, which was the original reason for his stroll before Sam led it astray. He wasn't delivering much, just a few unlit wax candles and a bottle of water. Why he was sent out to deliver exactly one bottle of water was out of his guess. It didn't even look like it could last two cups.

The recipient was supposed to be some bald dude, or something? His neighbor wasn't specific at all. He'll find out when he gets there, he supposed. Right now, the only question in his mind was; what kind of bald-headed freak lives out in the secluded area of town alone?

Five would get it if the guy was like, a super introvert, but that's just like.. asking for trouble to come your way. Not that anyone he knew would even have the mind to rob someone. Except, maybe that bum Pete when he successfully convinces Jessie to kick him out.

Maybe the guy is the danger. Five was actually curious to know what the guy's actually like, would he be as hostile as the other old people he knew? Or perhaps, he's some creepy old man with a hidden agenda revolving around satanic cultist activities, that would explain the candles. Was he going to try and recruit him into a cult? Ha. As if he'd ever be moved.

Well. Those are just a bunch of meaningless assumptions his overly imaginative brain decided to conjure up.

As he walked, Five noticed that the surroundings had started to feel.. eerie the closer he got to his destination. There were less housings, and more trees than usual. Of course, that's just the difference between living in the neighborhood and living in the outskirts of the small town, but still. However, his guts didn't think anything was wrong, so it was probably the work of his not-schizophrenia in an effort to mess with him.

The wind blew lighter in this area, almost gentle. Five could barely feel the breeze, which was disappointing since a strong wind would definitely go well with the scenery and atmosphere of the area. Trees surrounded him on all sides, standing tall and well-groomed as the sun continued to shine down on them, casting soft shadows that imprinted itself on the edges of the deserted road he was walking on.

At last, Five spotted a small building in the short distance. It looked.. well, to be brutally honest, it looked raggedy as hell. The entire building presented itself more like a witch's cottage, and it didn't look like it had been lived in for a long time. Maybe his baseless assumptions had some ground to stand on after all.

Cautiously stepping into unknown territory, Five approached the shady front porch. But before he could even knock, the door itself had been flung open by some bald guy. His eyes were blown wide when it settled on him, which kind of felt offensive since he was looking at him like he was facing the incarnation of Satan himself.

Neither of them moved for a few seconds, Five waited to see if the guy would say something. A few more seconds passed, and the dude just stood stock still, as if petrified by that snake lady from that one Greek mythology book he read a while ago.

"Are you just going to stand there, or?" Five tried to break the silence but he was met with even more silence. His eye twitched, annoyance already building up in the forefront of his mind. "Nevermind. I'm just running an errand, take this."

He extended the paper bag that contained all the wax candles and the singular water bottle, but the guy didn't immediately reach out. Five shook the bag impatiently, his patience wearing thin. "Either take the bag or say something, damn."

With shaky hands, the man quickly snatched the bag, albeit a bit aggressively. "I- I have nothing to say to you. But for- for this, I am grateful. God bless you." He stuttered out.

And with that, the man closed the door in the same manner he did when he opened it, meaning it was slammed shut with borderline hostility. None of Five's assumptions were accurate, but now he can say with absolute certainty that the guy was a total nutjob.

--- ---

"Great news, I could officially participate in a run tomorrow."

"Huh. That took you a while."

Five and Tara took turns ladling the pudding mixture into small cups, they were on dessert duty for an upcoming welcome party... again. Just how much resource do these people actually have to be this generous? In this economy?

"Yeah.. you don't want to hear the worst of it. Anyway, I'll remember to bring you a bottle of Xanax or two. Our scouting crew spotted an abandoned pharmacy nearby." Tara shrugged, brushing her spoon against the pudding mix to even them out.

"That's awfully convenient." Five quipped as he went back to preparing the caramel. He found that to be extremely ironic, considering the amount of fuss Deanna threw about their sugar stocks running 'alarmingly' low. Apparently not low enough to stop her from enlisting caramel pudding in the dessert menu.

"I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth." She looked like she was about to drop out from the conversation, until her eyes lit up in excitement. "Did I ever tell you that me and Denise have been getting closer lately?"

Five raised a brow, curiosity piqued, "Closer how?"

Tara suddenly had a stupid smile on her face, her movement becoming almost bashful, "You know.. romantically."

He stopped stirring his caramel, absolutely flabbergasted at the unexpected confession. "..Denise? Really?" Five said with a grimace.

All too quick, Tara's smile dropped from her face, replaced by a cautious frown. "..Do you have a problem with that?"

"Of course I do! That woman wouldn't prescribe me with some actual medication and instead chose to label me hysterical whenever I tell her about my amnesia-induced schizophrenic episodes!" Five huffed, "I really think you need to re-evaluate your taste in partners. Next thing you know, you're at that stage where she'll diagnose you with a bloated stomach after getting a fucking insemination."

And just like that, her frown completely dissipated as a relieved laugh bubbled out of her throat. "Oh thank God, I thought you had a problem with me liking another chick."

Five's face contorted in offense, "Why would I have a problem with that? Why the hell would anyone, for that matter?"

"Homophobia, mostly. Some things just never truly go away, even after.. everything." Tara finished her sentence in a vague note. Then, she coughed profusely and continued, "A-and she's really not that bad when you get to know her!"

"You're just saying that because you're biased." Five deadpanned, very much ready to block out any of her attempts to redeem Denise through a few words of appreciation.

"Dude, come on man, just give her a chance." Tara pleaded in a whining tone.

"Definitely not happening anytime soon." He drawled, "And why the fuck do you need me to give her a chance? It's not like you need my approval in anything."

"Because I really like her and you're my friend and if my friend don't like my future girlfriend I will genuinely start losing it!" Tara talked exceedingly fast as she started to rapidly stir a juice pitcher.

BANG BANG!

The door rattled as somebody decided to make some unwanted noise to gain their attention.

"Hey! Less gossiping and more working! We're running on a tight schedule here!" came the familiar voice of Spacial or whatever the shit his name is. Deanna's kid, or something.

Tara and Five both groaned in annoyance, they almost forgot they had a supervisor next door.

"Anyway, you should totally come with us to the lake next week! We'll be having a picnic date." Tara extended an invitation with enthusiasm.

Five faked a gag, "And become a third wheel? Yuck, no thanks."

"There's going to be a fuck ton of fluffernutters."

"You should've started with that."

--- ---

Later that day, Five approached the Anderson's doorstep, politely knocking on the door for good measure. Eric had 'accidentally' baked more of the experimental cookies than he hoped, and Five thought it would be a good idea to share some with Sam and Jessie. It was better than having to overeat anyway, and he also didn't want to get diabetes if he could help it.

He expected Jessie to open the door right away, greeting him with a usual bright smile on her face. On the contrary, it was Pete's ugly mug that greeted him, and Five could instantly feel his stomach drop at the sight of his bloodied knuckles.

"What the fuck have you done, you absolute imbecile?!" Five instantly felt the anger coursing through his veins, his head ached from the sheer pressure of the rage that expanded with every waking moment.

"Absolutely none of your business-"

CRASH!

Five's freaky hearing picked up the noise of a quiet groan from inside the house. Most likely the kitchen, it sounded hoarse and feminine. There was absolutely no doubt about it. Jessie's in danger.

Without hesitation, Five attempted to throw the cookie jar at Pete, though he moved faster by slamming the door shut. Five desperately rammed onto the door, gripping and pulling at the handle to keep it from being locked. Alarmingly, he could hear some shouting behind the door, and it wasn't Pete.

Running on pure adrenaline, he immediately ran to the backyard, he had already memorized the layout enough to identify the window to Sam's room.

He wasn't stupid, he knew his own scrawny ass wouldn't be able to pull the door off its hinges, so he had to quickly come up with an alternative solution. Picking up multiple garden pebbles, Five threw the pebbles as accurately as possible.

The house itself wasn't exceptionally tall, which proved to be advantageous in this specific situation. The pebbles easily reached the window panes, hopefully generating enough noise to alert Sam of his presence. There was no way in hell Sam wasn't aware of the current situation downstairs, which could only mean he was hiding in his room closet.

True to his assumption, the window slowly slid open, revealing Sam's trembling form. He looked taken aback by his sudden appearance, but an explanation was way at the bottom of his current list of priorities right now.

"Bring down a rope or whatever the fuck you used to climb down!" Five shouted, the noises inside the house grew distressingly loud, and it was a wonder none of the neighbors went out to help.

The rope came down, and Five hoped his body was athletic enough to climb a whole story without safety measures. He shoved that concern aside, focusing entirely on stopping Pete from causing further harm.

It was a difficult climb, his arms ached from the unfamiliar exertion of muscles but he reached the window nonetheless. Front rolling inside Sam's room, Five frantically asked, "Did you have your gun with you?!"

An anxious nod.

"They saw it?"

Sam shook his head, his eyes were red from holding in frightened tears. Five took a deep breath to calm himself, "Stay put. I'm going downstairs."

Sam's eyes widened at that, and he tried to grab at his sleeves to stop him, but Five was quicker. Throwing the door open, he all but sprinted down the stairs where the commotion had almost reached its peak.

What he saw absolutely infuriated him. Pete repeatedly stomped on a sobbing and whimpering Jessie, completely helpless and in unimaginable pain.

Five ran up to them to clutch at Pete's arm, throwing the bigger man off balance to stop his endless tirade of animalistic violence. This caught him by surprise, to which Five doubled down by sending an elbow to his face, and Five could almost hear the satisfying crack of a broken nose.

He didn't stop there, Five delivered another punch, sending his body laying flat down on his back, the impact undoubtedly painful for his spine. Pete let out a surprised wail of pain, and Five hated the noise. He sent another jab at the guy's throat, then another, then another.

By the end of it, Pete was choking at the blows to his trachea, his body shook from the sudden set of jabs. However, he proved to still have some fight left in him as he suddenly lunged at Five's waist, throwing him across the room in a fit of anger.

Five squawked in surprise, not expecting the strength put in retaliation. Covering the back of his head, Five felt the pain blooming in his thighs, back, and cheek. Holy fuck, he's going to really feel it in the next morning.

Pete threw a shaky fist at his direction, but Five easily ducked to dodge it, looping both arms around one of his legs to successfully topple the sad excuse of human garbage back on the floor. Still clutching around his kneecap, Five bent it at an awkward angle and pushed.

Pete screamed at the pain of having his calf muscles stretched out unnaturally, at this Five exerted a larger amount of force to actually snap the fucking bastard's leg off. Not to say it wasn't a difficult thing to do, said bastard tried kicking out from under him, to which Five decided to just stomp on his testicles instead.

The howl Pete let out would sound funny if it wasn't for the sound of Jessie shouting at him, desperately telling him to stop.

But why should he? Ironically, Jessie was the one who looked the most battered out of the three of them, and yet she wanted him to show mercy for this vile scumbag that raised a fist against her?

Oh wait, fuck, she was the most battered out of the three of them.

Kicking Pete's body to the side, Five quickly ran to Jessie's side, crouching to get a better look on her condition. Her eyes were bloodshot, bruises covered her entire left arm and her shirt was crumpled, stained with soot that took the form of a shoe sole.

"Shit, we have to get you to the infirmary." Five clicked his tongue, wondering where the hell Ron was when they needed him the most.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Pete's ragged form struggling to stand up straight. His legs wobbled, and he tried to stand up straight. His eyes were red and glossy with unshed tears, the look on his face gave away that he was furious at this whole situation. However, Five could see the fear in his body language.

"You fucking brat! You couldn't have minded your own fucking business?!" He yelled in outrage.

"You're abusing your own wife, you goddamn sicko!" Five yelled back with narrowed eyes, the disgust clear in his voice.

Pete awkwardly advanced forward, "What I do in my household-"

Five was quick to draw out the gun from the armory in his pocket, aiming it right between Pete's terrified eyes.

"Take another step and I'll fire this thing, I wouldn't even hesitate." Five stated, completely serious about that statement. He's always had an unexplainable urge to kill someone, and that someone may as well be Pete this whole time. He wasn't crazy, his gut instincts were just telling him to take out the trash.

Pete didn't seem to take the threat seriously, his face contorted in the unpleasant way that told him he was about to throw his head back and laugh. Five raised an eyebrow, then clicked the safety off. The small gesture was enough to tell Pete that Five knew what he was doing very well.

Cowering, Pete pathetically fell back on the floor, ceasing further movement. Great.

"Now, I'm dragging your sorry ass directly to Deanna's house and I'm not going to hear a peep of complaint from your disgusting mouth, are we clear?"

Scowling, Pete gave a reluctant nod in agreement. Still not lowering his gun, Five glanced at Jessie, "Where did Ron run off to?"

"R-Rick's house. Five, you can't be serious about dragging Pete to Deanna's house, you'll be in deep shit when everyone sees you carrying that gun." Jessie weakly reasoned.

"Do I give a damn?" Five hissed, then swiveled at the footsteps timidly approaching them. Sam looked at Five, then at Pete, then at the gun in his hand.

"Sam, take Jessie to the infirmary. You know to use the first aid kit?"

Sam nodded, then tearfully cradled Jessie's head. Her bruised arm winded around his arm, trying her best to comfort Sam even in that state.

With renewed fury, Five dragged Pete's body up, ignoring the fact that he's limping. The only thing that Pete should know in this situation is the bullet that's going to embed itself in his skull if he doesn't start walking fast enough.

Chapter Text

It was on a rather breezy evening when he heard it. His day was pretty ordinary so far, nothing of note happened, and the empty roads were a joy to walk on during daily patrols.

BANG!

As per usual, he spoke too soon.

Rick quickly took it upon himself to rush towards the source of the gunshot. From the distance, he could make out a bunch of residents gathering up and crowding someone. When he squinted his eyes, he could identify that the figure of interest seemed to be small in stature.

They had one arm raised up with their hand clutching at- was that a pistol?!

Processing that information, Rick rushed forward with more speed and effort than necessary considering the potential shooter wasn't doing anything to cause further damage. Rick racked his brain for a shortstack with a penchant for gun violence, and-

Five. Of course it was the brat, who the hell else would shoot a warning shot in the middle of a suburban neighborhood? Rick wasn't surprised in the slightest, he guessed the kid was throwing his fit for the day. But there was one glaring problem.

Five was taking Pete hostage. Not only that, the guy looked like he was violently rolled over by a truck, and Rick had zero doubts that it was the kid's fault. Why did he have to keep making his life, and by extension his job, so much harder than it needed to be? Rick knew the brat had to have a good reason for this, 'cause otherwise he might really have to use his pepper spray on him. Consequences be damned.

Calmly approaching the scene now that he had a better idea of what's going on, the small crowd gathering around them parted to let him through. "Hey! What problem do we have here?" Rick shouted using his most professional sheriff voice.

The brat immediately swiveled to face him, though he didn't seem all that alarmed. Maybe the kid was actually happy to see him for once. Then, he proceeded to aim the gun at him. Maybe not.

"These people wouldn't fuck off and mind their own business!" Five explained in a not-so-friendly manner. Rick noted that the kid looked so stressed out at this moment. The people around them started shouting their protests at him, to which Five fired another bullet at the sky.

BANG!

"Cease fire immediately! You're going to alert the walkers nearby!" Rick clutched at the pepper spray slotted in his thigh strap, ready to incapacitate him if he proved to be unreasonable.

"To hell with that! Unless you can get the rest of these fuckers to get out of the fucking way, I am not stopping." Five warned, pistol already reloaded as a threat.

Rick knew Five was a stubborn little shit, but he didn't think he'd be the type to risk the safety of literally everyone just to prove a goddamn point! Lowering the pepper spray, Rick held up both of his hands in an attempt to placate him, even a little bit.

"I promise to get everyone away from here, but only after you explain why you're doing this." Rick gestured at Pete, he had a hopeful look on his face the moment Rick joined the scene, probably thinking he could get him out of this.. situation. He'll be the judge of that though, Rick trusted Five more than Pete at this given moment.

Five harshly yanked at Pete's arm, ignoring the squawks of protests from the crowd, "This bitch decided to make it his hobby to beat his wife."

The people crowding them went silent. Most of them had contemplative, yet conflicted looks at the revelation. Rick observed Pete more closely for his reaction, and what Five was saying must've been true from the way Pete hung his head low, eyes going anywhere but the people of Alexandria.

To be frank, Rick wasn't all that surprised. He knew something was off about Pete the very moment he met him, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it, until now.

Rick picked up the murmurs around him, they didn't sound like they wholly believed Five, but the seed had definitely been planted into their brains. Some looked skeptical, a few had complete doubt, and the rest were frowning at the allegation.

Slowly, one by one, a woman retreated from the crowd. Then a man, then another person. The road started clearing up. Pete looked taken aback, as if he couldn't believe everyone had taken the brat's words for it, and he had a betrayed look on his face.

Rick heard Five mutter a 'finally' before he continued dragging Pete out, presumably to Deanna's house. But as it turned out, he didn't need to do that. Deanna was already at the location, probably alarmed by the gunshots. She seemed stunned as she took in the condition Pete was in, and she inexplicably glared at Five, for some reason.

"Care to explain why you're going around beating up my residents?" She coldly demanded.

"You should be asking him, I'm not the one senselessly beating my defenceless wife." Five snarked.

Deanna crossed her arms, "And yet you're senselessly beating up my resident, a surgeon no less."

Five's eye twitched in anger, "Are you being serious? This guy was also beating one of your precious residents, in the house you provided, why aren't you evicting him?!"

Deanna pursed her lips, "Hold your tongue, child. Pete, what do you have to say for yourself?" She turned to the person in question.

"I- I uh." Pete started off confident, then his words faltered as he remembered something. Rick thought this whole situation was absurd, and he felt disgusted that Deanna would continue to justify the man's behavior.

Deanna narrowed her eyes at his lack of response, "Pete."

"I did do it, okay?!" The sudden outburst caught everyone present off-guard. Pete was breathing heavily, eyes blown wide open as if he couldn't believe he just admitted to it without putting much of a fight.

Pete glared hatefully at Five, who watched on passively as Pete started ranting about the reasons why beating up Jesse was something that could be justified.

"So what if I did, huh?! That bitch hasn't done anything but annoy me all day!"

"She thinks I'm not working hard enough? She has no fucking idea what I've had to put up with in the clinic!"

"Don't even get me started on my own sons! One keeps running away with some unruly whore while the other is a fucking fairy!"

Rick felt his disgust rising up with every sentence that came out of that repulsive mouth. Surprisingly, Five hasn't done anything to interrupt Pete, no matter how many times the man had explicitly insulted Jesse and her sons. Instead, he looks at Pete like he was the most repugnant scum he had ever met, which wouldn't be that far off. Anyone who harms their own family deserves a fate worse than death.

Deanna looked increasingly disappointed, until she had a resigned expression on her face. The on-lookers who hadn't fully fucked off to their own homes seemed baffled, yet they stayed silent as they listened to the word vomit Pete was churning out.

Now that Rick could properly take a look at his face, he could deduce that the guy had a really rough night out, probably drinking himself half to death. It would explain the delirious state he was currently in.

As he finished venting to literally everyone in the neighborhood who couldn't keep their noses out of anyone's business, Pete suddenly started shouting at Five, "Are you fucking happy now?! You ruined my life! My image!"

When Five didn't deign him with a response, Pete became even more violently twitchy, "Come on now, got nothing to say? Even after you effectively destroyed Sam and Jessie's home life?"

Five snapped up at the taunt, "And whose fucking fault is that?!"

Instinctually, Rick stepped in front of Five, shielding him from Pete's view in case he started getting violent again. While he knew the kid could definitely fight back, the urge to protect the people he had come to care about would double down on him at times like these, causing him to intervene.

"Pete Anderson, you are one fucked up son of a bitch, you know that?" Rick said, glowering. He waited for an order from Deanna, waiting for her to say or do something.

Unexpectedly, the woman opened her mouth to announce, "Pete Anderson, from today onward, a restraining order will be placed between you and the Andersons for the crime of domestic violence. I'm very disappointed."

Pete had the decency to lower his head at least. Rick inclined his head to Deanna, "What's going to happen to him?"

Before she could even respond, Five immediately cuts in, "That asshole doesn't deserve anything less than a death penalty!"

"That's not for you to decide." Deanna coldly replied. Then, she turned to Rick, "Go get him patched up, I'm moving him to a different house."

Five watched on in shock, mouth hanging wide open, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing, "I'm sorry? That's it? That's all he gets after tormenting his whole family?"

"I can't give him a more dire consequence, Alexandria still needs his medical expertise." Deanna dismissed. Five looked about ready to commit another assault when Rick decided he had enough of it.

"I'll take him to the clin-" Rick started, then immediately got cut off by Five's resounding "Don't you fucking dare!"

Five sighed, "Jessie's in the clinic. I don't want this asshole to ever see her again."

That statement seemed to blow a fuse in Pete, "Who the hell do you think you are?! You will never have a say in what I can or can't do with my own goddamn family!"

Before Five could deliver what Rick would assume is a mind-crushingly painful kick in the nuts, Rick already sent the guy flying by breaking his nose in even more than it already was. Pete whimpered in pain, clutching at his nose and trying to stop the prolonged nosebleed.

"Grimes, what the fuck are you doing?!" Deanna shouted in distress.

"Giving this guy a taste of his own medicine. We can't afford to let abusers prance around this place without any consequence." Rick didn't intend to let this guy off lightly. Not after the sheer amount of bullshit he spouted off just a minute ago.

"We still need-" Deanna tried but Rick wasn't having any of it, "We need as many medical professionals as we can get, I get that. But we need everyone to acknowledge that nobody here is immune to punishment, no matter how indispensable they may be."

Deanna went silent after that. With a dubious expression on her face, she gave her quick, formal goodbyes before storming off somewhere. Bizarrely, Five childishly blew a raspberry the moment she turned her back.

"Did- did you just blow a raspberry?" Rick questioned, absolutely baffled.

"It's a small gesture of disrespect. What, you got a problem with that?" Five returned the question with that familiar smug look on his face.

Rick let out a tired exhale, not even going to bother arguing with him. There would simply be no end to an argument with someone like Five, with or without amnesia. Hell, he doesn't seem to be all that different compared to how he was before his memories got mysteriously wiped out, he just became a bit more.. normal? And significantly less violent.

Rick wanted to dig more answers out of the kid, but now wasn't the time. It became very apparent that the blow he had dished out on Pete's face was a little too much, and had probably evolved into a concussion. Not that he'd give a shit, Rick would never bring himself to care about the well-being of wife-beating alcoholic assholes like him. Carol would've done so much worse.

"I'll put him in the cell after applying the bare minimum first aid, you don't need to deal with this anymore." Rick said as he dragged Pete to his feet.

Five paused, then gave a small shrug. "Suit yourself. You made a few good points earlier, so I'll trust your judgement for now, Sheriff."

That almost put a smile on Rick's face. Almost.

He was about to bid him goodbye when Five suddenly shot up with a request, "Jessie told me that Ron came over to your house today. Tell him to meet me at the clinic as soon as possible."

He had almost forgotten just how much of a handful the brat can be. Nonetheless, he complied to the reasonable request, even if it sounded more like a demand than a request. Pulling out the walkie-talkie from his utility belt, he turned the speaker on, "Carl? Do you copy?"

There was a slight buzzing noise as the wavelength proceeded to reach out to the recipient, then some static, until finally, "-opy. What's wrong, dad?"

"Has Anderson left?"

More static. "-e hasn't, why?"

"His mom's in the clinic right now, and Five wanted to meet up with him."

A lot of static, then a loud BRZZT! before it calmed to form a coherent sentence, "-ive's alive?!"

Oh right. Rick had kept his mouth shut about Five's status thus far, and most of the group had assumed he just up and died or ran away.

"I'll tell you later, Carl. Make sure Anderson gets to the clinic as soon as possible, it's urgent." And with that, Rick clicks off. With a jolt, he suddenly remembered that Five still had a gun on him. "Can I trust you with that pistol?"

Five nonchalantly waved the pistol in front of Rick's face, "What, this? Nah, I think I'll just go berserk and commit several felonies 'till nightfall."

"Five." Rick said his name in exasperation, utterly unimpressed.

Five rolled his eyes at him, "I never intended to shoot at anyone earlier, those were just warning shots. Plus, we can never be too careful these days, can we?"

Rick nodded, he decided that he'll let the brat keep the pistol. His guts told him that the kid had the right moral compass, albeit a bit questionable sometimes.

"Oh and, the clinic's that way, I'll be taking my leave." Five shot him a friendly smile before shouldering past him. Not quite literally though, his shoulders were barely aligned with Rick's midriff.

It was only after getting Pete roughly patched up that he noticed something was amiss.

--- ---

"-not your fault, sweetie."

"I should've been there to protect you."

Five uncomfortably sat in a chair next to Ron, trying his damn hardest to tune out of the conversation that felt a tad bit too personal for his outsider ears to listen to.

"You don't have t-"

"Of course I do! You're my mom, and dad is-" Ron cuts himself off before he can say anything he might regret. Five could see him flexing his fists, as if rearing for a fight. He was hesitant to admit it, but he would've loved to see Pete get his shit kicked in by his own son, it would've been funny.

Five looked down at his bandaged knuckles. He hadn't even realized that he had cracked it open in the effort of rearranging Pete's face from inside out, completely lost in the sensation of hurting someone. It felt.. nice, and that's scaring him.

What kind of fucked up individual would take pleasure from beating a man half to death? Well, it was justified, but Five still surprised himself with how much violence he could dish out in a fit of anger.

That was concerning. Not only did it feel good to brawl with someone, it straight up felt therapeutic for his fucked up brain. Five had always felt like a part of him had been emptied out from the moment he first woke up in Alexandria, and for a short moment, he felt like that part of him had been filled yet again. What the hell was he supposed to make out of that?

He wasn't sure he would ever want to get his memories back, he was afraid of the person he might become- or more accurately, revert back to if he did remember everything. Curiously, Five had picked up on Rick saying that word again.

Walkers.

He really didn't know what the fuck those are, but from the little he could gather, they were total monsters. Like, not even in the human sense, just literal ugly abominations that eats people. Personally, Five had never seen one, but he had definitely heard them from outside the walls. The growling, low groaning sounds echoing across the streets closest to the walls of Alexandria.

The first time Ron had spoken that word, his mind went haywire for a full minute. He had thought that was something of a trigger word, but to his surprise, nothing happened when Rick was the one saying it. Maybe that was a one-time-trigger thing? Was that even an actual thing? Five could already feel the beginnings of a migraine settling in.

Five broke out of his thoughts when Ron stood up, his chair creaking as the pressure subsides. Ron tiredly looked at Five, gesturing for him to meet him outside, then he walked out. It was Five's turn to check on Jessie, and by extension, Sam.

"Uh. I'm sorry for beating your deadbeat husband." Five wasn't sorry at all, but Jessie seemed honestly distraught when he had a chance to glance at her during the fight.

Jessie had a ghost of a smile on her lips, "Thank you for helping me. I would've died for real if you hadn't."

Five felt himself fluster at the gratitude being expressed towards him. He really didn't want to think about the implications of what that might mean for his non-amnesiac self. "It was way past due anyway. If I hadn't done it, Rick probably would've."

Jessie frowned, "What's going to happen now?"

Five crossed his arms, "Deanna's going to evict him, move him to the farthest side of the neighborhood."

"..I see." Jessie looked down at her injured body, then at Sam, who was peacefully taking a nap beside her. Today must've been an especially tiring day for him, and it is getting late.

It was silent, then Jessie spoke up, "Have I failed them as a mother?"

Five was taken aback, he was in no way mentally ready to be asked a question like that. "Don't you even dare think like that. I might really have to murder him if you did."

Jessie chuckled humorlessly, "When I think about it, none of this would've ever happened had I married someone else. It's completely on me. I've seen the red flags, yet I ignored it."

Silence rang around the air after that. Was it just him, or was the fan whirring a little too loudly for his liking?

"I'm heading out. Go get some rest, and tell Sam I said goodbye."

Without another word, Five left.

Ron was waiting for him outside the clinic it seemed. He waved him over and they both sat on freezing concrete.

"I'm going to be real with you, your dad is a monster." Five declared.

Ron snorted at the sudden confession, "And you're absolutely right."

Again, more silence. They were solely basking in the midnight air, no pollution in sight. When Five looks up, he could see the countless stars decorating the walls of darkness, and it feels nostalgic.

"Would you hate me if I killed your dad?" Five suddenly asked.

Ron shifted uncomfortably, "Maybe. As fucked as it sounds, I still love my dad. Even when he's a total monster."

They stopped talking for a while. Five looked to the side, contemplating on what he should do. He pulls out the walkie-talkie he had snatched from Rick's utility belt earlier, then promptly hands it over to Ron. "Keep this with you."

At Ron's confused and questioning glance, Five explained, "It's connected to the Sheriff's house, might be useful if you need urgent help in the future-" Five paused, then adds, "Don't tell him I gave you that, he might send me to juvie."

With a dejected expression on his face, Ron nodded. Five stood up, brushing off any debris that might stick to his shorts. "Good talk, I'm freezing my kneecaps off. This is goodbye."

"You're a weirdo." He heard Ron mutter as he walked away. Was it just him, or was the wind irritable today?

Five could feel his teeth chatter, but he couldn't tell if it was due to the cold, or the overwhelming desire to devour something.

Five had some things to plan for.

Chapter Text

"Get those boxes sorted out faster! We ain't got time for dilly-dallying all day y'know?!" Negan clapped his hands around the Saviors.

They've been up all night hoarding some abandoned post office, unboxing and sorting out whatever they find inside the unsent mail packages. Diego can already feel his eyes getting droopy, he tends to feel sleepier when he's feeling the boredom. And in this case, he is really feeling it.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Diego muttered as he sat idly by, watching Lila list off the sorted items.

"We just didn't want to sleep on concrete at first, but doing all this work for some redneck bastard is making me question our prior decision." Lila drawled.

Diego groaned, "This blows. We've been travelling around Atlanta for weeks, and Five's still nowhere near our radar."

Lila sniffed like she had gotten a particularly nasty cold at that, "This world isn't limited to fuckin' Atlanta you idiot, the little shit could practically be anywhere, anytime."

Putting his hands on his face, Diego wiped his eyes open, actively fighting to stay awake. "If we end up finding him in- say, whatever the fuck is the equivalent of France in this universe, I'm going to lose my shit."

Negan had been making them follow his every step like they were his personal guard dogs. Well, maybe in a way, they technically were, but this guy had absolutely nothing on his little-older brother's possible whereabouts. Normally, during these times, Diego would try to remember if he was on something when he made the decision to work under some schizo-tyrant. He was a proud vigilante for fuck's sake.

Lila tapped her feet, "Would be really nice if we could instantly get your little boy sibling's coordinates, but these assholes don't know shit."

Diego crosses his legs, taking in the scene in front of him. Most of the Saviors were still on box duty, and they weren't allowed to take breaks before the place gets empty and dusted. In other words, both him and Lila got the longer end of the stick, and Diego's sure as hell going to make the most of it.

Ever since their arrival at the Sanctuary, they had been given more 'privileges' than most, which then lead to them being the subject of hostility for most of these bastards. What made it all the more depressing is the fact that these quote-on-quote privileges were just the bare minimum. What kind of bastard would make air conditioning a privilege?!

Diego knew full well that electricity had become very difficult to come by in this world, but his point remained standing. He had confronted Negan about that sometime ago, but the only answer he got was some bullshit high-ego speech about how you need to pull in your own shit if you wanted AC privileges.

Other than that, it had been batshit boring. Not even throwing knives at the zombies could entertain him anymore, that activity had gotten stale one week into the 'apocalypse'. Hell, could it even be considered an apocalypse? The way Five described it, Diego expected to see some deserted lifeless land where your only friends are the talking cockroaches and mannequins your delirious mind would conjure up to avoid pushing insanity.

Sure, they had to tag along on 'supply runs' or whatever, but those would always end up being a walk in the park. Neither him nor Lila knew why some of the people in the Sanctuary would be afraid of the zombies, they weren't shit. But then again, he was and still is a vigilante and was actively fighting against criminals since he was a prepubescent teenager, these factors are pretty much adding up to his side.

Suddenly wallowing in self-pity, he realized that he never got around to saving JFK. Lila pulled him out of that quickly when the Commission had apparently put a bounty on his head for Lila to cash in, but she chose to recruit him instead. Maybe he could talk Five into giving him another chance to do so but the chances of that happening was devastatingly slim.

But even after all that, Diego was so glad that the machine had thrown Lila in with him. He would've gone slightly insane if she wasn't, she was the only one keeping the boredom at bay at this point.

"I can feel you staring, Diego. Don't be lame." Lila called out, though she was fighting a smirk on her face as she wrote down bullshit on a clipboard.

Diego wiggled his eyebrows teasingly, "If staring at the most gorgeous woman I've ever laid eyes on is considered 'lame', then I'd happily be considered a lame'o till the end of time."

That shitty pick up line seemed to work as Lila snorted. "You're a fuckin' dork."

"I'm your dork." Diego huffed in a laugh, not being able to take himself seriously after saying that. Lila smirked, she tossed her clipboard to the side then swiftly swung a leg around Diego, straddling his lap on the chair. They were on the verge of joining their lips together for a makeout session when an unpleasant whistle suddenly sounded around the room.

"Woah, woah! What the fuck are y'all doing?" Negan exclaimed in mock shock, though he looked more amused than anything.

Lila clicked her tongue as she got off Diego's lap, the interruption doing wonders for her growing bad mood. Diego had never felt so offended from getting blue balled.

Negan threw his hands up, "Don't let me stop y'all from giving us a show, it certainly looked like it was gonna be a good one."

"You ruined the damn mood, pervy old bastard." Lila spat in irritation. Negan only whistled mockingly at that, "Oh honey, you know I'd love to add some feisty women in my wife collection."

Diego was about to say something, 'cause ain't no way he was letting anyone talk to his girlfriend like that. But as always, Lila beat him to it, "You better watch your balls tonight, might find yourself missing a piece."

Negan just laughed like it was a particularly hilarious sex joke, walking away after offhandedly calling her a 'kinky minx'. Diego had known a lot of freaky people in his life, but this guy might as well be at the top of the freaky food chain, and that's saying a lot considering Klaus is his brother.

Lila went back to her clipboard, though she didn't appear to be doing anything with it. She just kind of stared at it with unblinking eyes, while Diego also continued doing absolutely nothing.

"You know," Lila suddenly spoke up, "I thought doing a desk job at the Commission would be the most boring job in existence, but this really takes the cake."

"Same," Diego agreed, "Not about the desk job 'cause I know fuck all about that, but I really couldn't care less about sorting through someone's unsent mailbox."

"And it's always either this or 'make a spectacle with our powers' to entertain the lot of that fuckin' tyrant's band of bootlickers." Lila stuck a tongue out in distaste.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really looking forward to seeing my bitch of a brother's face again just so we can ditch this hellhole faster."

Picking at her nails, Lila's face suddenly brightened with an idea. He'd only need a single glance to know that her idea would be a very good one, and he's going to adamantly deny anyone pointing out that he would go through with anything Lila comes up with just because he's hopelessly in love with her.

"How do you feel about starting a little coup d'etat?" She leaned in to whisper as she gave him a wide, devilish grin.

"Oh fuck yeah." Diego easily agreed with a devious look on his face. He'd been wanting to take that bastard out of commission for a while but he only refrained from doing so 'cause he was the one driving them around the city.

They were going to have to think up a plan on how to go about it. As much as Diego wanted to stand up and kill Negan with a single knife throw, he wasn't as idiotic as his family would make him out to be. Was he hardheaded? Yes. Was he a hotheaded vigilante that punches first, ask questions later? Well, only the first part is true, he considered himself a reasonable man though Five and Lila would argue with him on that.

It definitely wouldn't be easy to overthrow a tyrant like Negan who had ruled over this place way longer than they've been in this world, but both him and Lila had noticed some wide openings in Negan's tight-knitted group of outcasts. Some were more loyal than the others, while a lot of them were clearly only there for the 'safety' Negan had oh so generously provided by letting them stay inside the Sanctuary.

Which meant that a lot of people would easily sway to their side if they were given a much better option for a leader than one tyrannical son of a bitch.

They shouldn't be discussing the plan out in the open though. Sharing a look of mutual understanding, Lila and Diego waited for Negan's lackeys to finish emptying out the place so they could start putting together a more thorough plan.

--- ---

Things have been getting pretty awkward for him and his neighbors since the events of yesterday happened.

The elders he usually ran errands for suddenly didn't want to have anything to do with him anymore, and the creepy old ladies had a one-eighty shift in their behavior towards him. Not that he was complaining, these changes absolutely worked for him. He never really liked being an errand boy anyway, only doing them for the sake of 'contributing' to Alexandria after Aaron's not-so-subtle persistent nudging.

The old ladies were borderline annoying, with how they used to act as if they had personally attended his first baby shower. Whenever he passed by their 'gossip porches' he'd always get a lot of patronizing greetings, to which he usually responded by walking faster.

Eric would always reprimand him for that, telling him that leaving greetings unanswered would come off as 'snobbish' or whatever, but it wasn't like he wanted them to interact with him in any capacity. So really, who was at fault here? Maybe he'd feel a little ashamed if he actually gave a damn about his reputation, which he absolutely doesn't.

Speaking of his reputation, he was sure it had taken a plunge in the negative direction. Normally, most people were neutral with him. He was never viewed in a particularly positive light to begin with, but he'd dare say his reputation back then was amazingly good compared to his reputation now.

It's almost like everyone had become wary of him, looking tense and body shifting uneasily whenever he so much as approaches any of them. Not that he wanted to approach any of them, those were one-hundred percent baseless assumptions on their end, but it would be nice to not have any of them act like he was the walking plague.

At least Tara didn't steer clear away from him. She pretty much treated him the same way she usually does this morning, when he went out of his way to bid farewells and good lucks for her first run.

Two of her teammates seemed to recognize him, gaining shocked expressions on their faces at his unexpected arrival. The both of them introduced themselves as Glenn and Noah after Five's reluctant explanation of not being able to recall ever meeting them in the first place. Noah moved on from that pretty quick, which told him that they weren't that close in the past, and Glenn just looked a tad bit disappointed.

Five thought they were nice. Definitely nicer than anyone had been that morning.

Anyway.

He was relaxing in his room that day, which was unusual. He'd normally go outside to kill the time but he decided he's had enough excitement for the past week to keep him going for the next few days. He wasn't around in his room, much, except to sleep in the nights after dinner with Eric and Aaron.

It was late in the evening already. Even without a watch to tell him that, he could tell the time was around five o'clock with the way the sky had turned a pleasant shade of orange, signalling that the sun would be setting soon. He laid back down on his bed, it cushioned him just right.

He found himself staring up the ceiling. He had thought about it over and over again, his plan to murder Pete and either ditching Alexandria or bury his body somewhere, someplace where no one would notice a new mount of dirt. Of course, Ron and Jessie would definitely know what's up, and they may resent him for it, but he saw justification in the fact that it would liberate them.

They wouldn't spend another night worrying when Pete would come back, looking over their shoulders when doing something as simple as taking a stroll outside, expecting Pete to come out of the bushes to attack them when they least expect it.

That could all be easily solved if Pete just mysteriously up and disappeared. He could probably stage it like a suicide, but Five was rather convinced nobody would buy into that. He strikes him as the kind of guy who was too prideful to ever consider harming himself, even when he deserves it and a lot more.

Who in their right mind would harm their family like that? It was unthinkable.

.

At least that line of thinking told him that he loved his family.

He can't remember them, but he was sure that he cares a lot about them.

.

Why can't he remember them?

Why can't he remember anything?

.

Maybe he hadn't been trying hard enough to retrieve his memories. He'd always take a step back whenever his mind started unravelling, almost like he's too afraid of returning to whoever he used to be. Scratch that, he is afraid of losing his sense of self, would he stop feeling like himself if he let the floodgates of memories stream open?

Was the current him even the real him? Or would he transform into a whole different person, with a whole new line of thinking, and the him of the future would look back and be unable to recognize the him of today?

His eyes flitted itself across the room, where his weirdly designed backpack would sit in front of his wardrobe. He had rummaged through them sometime ago, but nothing he found was particularly remarkable. Just a couple of candies and salted snacks here and there, nothing to be curious about.

His eyes darted upwards, at his wardrobe. Five stood up from his bed, walking towards it and sliding it open. He looked at the outfit he had been wearing when Aaron found him the first time, all cleaned up and pressed neatly. It looked like a regular preppy school uniform, but something about it was different than his other 'possessions'.

It sounded stupid, but maybe it was the key to retrieving his memories. It may not be the case, but it would be worth trying. It was his first and only outfit before Eric had generously filled out his wardrobe with hand-me-downs, and maybe it would trigger a sense of familiarity.

Five took a deep breath before taking off his hoodie to put it on, preppy knee socks and vests and everything.

He didn't feel like anything. It really was just a regular old outfit. Sighing, he didn't bother changing out of it, so he laid back down in the comfort of his extremely cushy mattress.

SCREECH!

Five jolted and sat up straight, he could suddenly hear the echoes of a wail from a distance. Then, that violent violin tune would be playing in the back of his mind, the strings strained against the bow, creating an ear-splitting screech akin to dragging a fork against a chalkboard.

He smelled a burning stench, and he vaguely recognized it. It was the smell of decaying corpses.

His eyes watered, he felt prickles of tears sliding down his face as he felt the sensation of dust particles and ashes and sand swivel around his eyeballs, the polluted air stung his nostrils as he took a deep breath.

He closed his eyes. He didn't dare to open it, too afraid of what he might see.

"Five, wake up." He heard a gentle voice call out.

It was feminine, and it sounded so kind that he could cry just from hearing it. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see..

A beautiful woman with a polka-dot dress. Her face was so bright and angelic, brimming with endless patience. He couldn't explain it, but the rush of relief at the sight of this woman was euphoric. He reached a hand out to her, trying to discern whether she was real or not.

Before he could touch her, though, the woman spoke again, "Five, you have to remember."

Five opened his eyes again, and the woman was gone. But to his horror, he wasn't sitting up in his guest bedroom. He was sitting up in a deserted landscape, the sun cruelly shining down upon him, life was nowhere in sight.

Five clutched at his head, willing himself to wake up from this insanely vivid nightmare. Was he lucid dreaming? If so, he should pat himself on the back because this nightmare was so fucking realistic that his chest constricted as the overwhelming feeling of loneliness ripped at his heart, slowly tearing him apart from inside out.

The nightmare got worse as he felt his lungs dry out, giving him the sensation that he was dehydrated and it was so fucking painful that he started scratching at his rapidly withering neck. His skin wrinkled as he aged faster, the world turned dark before it went bright again, the world felt like it was spinning itself faster as the cycle of night and day continued on endlessly.

Five felt intense feelings of grief, rage, denial, and relief battering down on him. He bit his lip with enough force to start bleeding, his fingernails coated in blood as he clenched his hands into fists, and the dizziness and nausea and anxiety was too much to handle.

He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to live. He wanted his family back, he didn't want to be alone anymore. He needed to get out of there. He wanted to see his family, he wanted to see his family, he wanted to SEE HIS FAMILY.

Suddenly, jumbles of names started appearing in his vision.

Luther. Diego. Allison. Klaus. Ben. Vanya.

Luther. Diego. Allison. Klaus. Ben. Vanya.

LutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanyaLutherDiegoAllisonKlausBenVanya

God it fucking HURTS. Why won't it stop hurting?! The pain wouldn't stop. The pain wouldn't stop. Stop it. He doesn't want to be here anymore, he doesn't want to be here anymore, he doesn't-

He gasped as he woke up. Not in his own bed, but on the front porch of the Andersons' house.

What the fuck?

Distantly, he could still hear the echoing wails of an unknown entity.

--- ---

Something felt different about the air this morning.

Rick didn't know where to start, but he had this sense of foreboding that something major was about to happen sooner than he would've liked.

It could just be the instinctual anticipation of an ambush happening, made possible by the group that left Daryl of all people in tatters and led to the disappearance of Five. Literally and figuratively. It was concerning that they still had yet to expand their knowledge on that subject, but he and Carol had ended up finding some tracks on their secret excursions outside Alexandria.

It could also be the Walker horde outside of Alexandria that Deanna had revealed she'd been keeping under wraps when Rick confronted her sometime ago, and is still on the forefront of his mind since.

Inevitably, they will have to exterminate them some way or another but the supplies they had right now wouldn't even remotely cover a third of them, so Rick will have to revisit that subject after they're done with the run marathons.

There was also another thing on his mind, something Rick had been far too afraid of admitting it existed and wasn't just a nightmare Five had scared into his brain. The evolving Walkers.

Daryl mentioned that fighting the things head on would be a no-go, even with the brat on the front line. They managed to just barely outrun it by starting a forest fire, until that creature suddenly re-appeared on a road the next minute. Daryl had been puzzled about it since then, and he's been spending time investigating around the forest to get a clue on what the hell they were dealing with.

The cherry on top about all this? Five somehow lost his memories. They wouldn't be able to pry open any information from the kid in that state, so they would have to take this matter into their own hands. Tara had been trying to rejuvenate his memories with some subtle wording whenever they hung out, but it proved to be fruitless so far.

As Rick continued his stroll, he felt his anxiety suddenly spike up. His hairs stood on end as he heard the barbaric wails of metal ringing into his ears, akin to a banshee foretelling the death of its prey. It was quite the few distance, yet all Rick could think about is the impending doom for all of the people in Alexandria if they don't start preparing a defense soon.

Subconsciously, Rick darted a hand down his utility belt, instinctively reaching for his walkie-talkie- just for him to remember that the little shit took it.

Fuck.

Deciding against wasting any more time cursing Five to hell and back, Rick opted to run for the guard posts, to notify them of the incoming threat. His feet felt wobbly with anxiety as his feet took him as fast as it could to his destination, his lungs aching from the sudden activity and exertion.

He saw Sasha and Tyreese manning the outpost, completely oblivious for what's to come. They were chattering lightheartedly before Rick's sudden yelling, interrupting them.

"That fucking walker is back! Gather everyone to stay in one place, that thing is unpredictable!"

They were immediately on guard, "But what about the gates?! Shouldn't we be strengthening our gate defenses?!"

"No time! It's coming this way and we wouldn't be able to stop it with two measly automatics!" And with that, Rick rushed to Deanna's house.

Without knocking, Rick busts through the door to find Deanna talking animatedly with Spencer. They were taken aback at his sudden arrival, but he was already trying to explain just how dire of a situation this was.

"We have to gather everyone in one place, there's an abnormal walker coming our way and we need to use up everything in our arsenal to ensure our survival."

Deanna's eyes widened, but Spencer's narrowed down as he inspected him, "What kind of joke are you playing at?"

"Look, I don't have time to explain-"

"You barge into my house uninvited, and you expect me to believe-"

"Goddamn it, Spencer! Just listen-"

"No, Rick. I think it's very obviously clear that you're mentally disturbed-"

"Boys! Pipe it down!" Deanna tried to regain order, but it proved to be unsuccessful as the two stubborn men continued the argument,

"Disturbed?! You have seen nothing of the real world out there and you wouldn't be seeing the next dawn if you don't start listening to me!"

"Oh, I see how it is. You're trying to take over my position as-"

SCREECH!

Spencer didn't finish his sentence as a loud explosion of screams suddenly bursts through outside the house. Spencer visibly clamped his mouth shut, sweat beginning to produce and trickle down his forehead as he whispered, "What the fuck was that?"

Then, the sound of blades scratching, dragging against asphalt reverberated throughout the neighborhood. Rick could feel the chills creep up his spine, it was a sound that could only be made possible in nightmares.

But it wasn't. This was reality. And the reality was that he had to somehow survive against a monster that was now tearing open the front door apart with one slash of its gigantic claws. Rick caught a glance of its glowing, unforgiving blue eyes inside that skull-like head on top of its rakish body, and he decided he would never want to see it again.

Chapter Text

"Fucking RUN!" Rick shouted over the chaos of it all, hastily telling them to run. Predictably, they were obviously frozen in shock, minds probably still reeling from the monstrosity that was happening in front of them.

Reg seemed the most terrified of them all, his coffee mug dropped onto the floor from the amount of shaking his hands were uncontrollably doing, shattering it into a pool of liquidified caffeine. Rick grabbed at Reg before breaking into a run for the backyard, all the while shouting at both Deanna and Spencer to snap out of their stupor and move.

Noticing that they both hadn't moved a single inch, Rick's head swiveled to look over them, their legs entirely stuck to the floor in an overwhelming fear. Clicking his tongue in exasperation, Rick shoved Reg to the direction of the backyard before running back towards the living room to get them away from one of its giant claw attacks as it kept tearing the house apart, as if it was searching for something.

Taking advantage of the fact that the monster hadn't seemed to take notice of them, Rick pulled Spencer and Deanna out of the house as they narrowly escaped the crumbling house, chunks of gypsum eagerly waiting to fall on somebody. They finally made it out alive, Rick transporting them safely to Reg's concerned and waiting arms.

"Rick, what the fuck is that?!" Spencer's voice trembled as he looked back and forth between Rick and the creature that was now destroying his childhood house.

"It's a walker- an evolving walker," Rick started an explanation as they started running to safety. As safe as they could get, at least, in the outskirts of Alexandria. "They take unnatural, almost supernatural forms of existing phenomenons-"

CRASH!

A chunk of wall flew past them as they barely dodged it, the ground rumbling from the impact. Rick could hear the screams of terror from the neighboring residents of Alexandria, they frantically poured out of their respective houses as the creature went after one house to another.

"How the fuck are we supposed to kill that?!" Spencer whisper-shouted, afraid that his volume would draw attention to them.

"We don't. We don't know how." Rick answered honestly. For now, his only concern is to get everyone to safety, and to make sure that Carl, Judith, and Michonne had made it to the outskirts safely.

"What do you mean 'you don't know'?!" Spencer sounded angry, then his tone turned accusing, "It was you, wasn't it? Or- or maybe it was one of you antisocial freaks!"

Rick made sure to make his annoyance apparent in his voice, "Spencer, this is not the time nor place for you to start throwing blame-"

"You've hated us from the very moment we opened the gate, didn't you?! The monster that's currently destroying my fucking house- you set it loose on us." They completely stopped walking after that. The screams of the rest of Alexandria's residents becoming clearer as the massacre dragged on, Deanna flinching as she visibly tried keeping it all together. Reg's eyes were glassy, and so were Spencer's.

"That's bullshit and you know it! If that's true then why the fuck would I bust my balls off trying to evacuate your sorry ass, huh?! And your whole family?!" Rick couldn't keep the underlying anger out of his voice, they really shouldn't be doing this in the middle of the fucking danger zone.

Spencer fell silent after that, his frame still trembled from the shock and sudden devastation of it all. Deanna held onto Reg desperately, as if searching for any semblance of comfort. Rick wished he could tell them that they're going to be okay, that they all would be getting out of this with all of their limbs still intact, but truth be told, he was never much of a sugar-coating liar.

"Keep your head up, we're still a few kilometers away from the outskirts." Rick signalled for them to pick up their pace, he started jogging to get them started before breaking into a full blown run, hoping that the three of them could at least keep the gap at three feet maximum.

"Or.. we could go straight for the arsenal and obliterate the balding clawed son of a bitch!"

Rick looked back at Spencer's heated suggestion and shook his head, "There's no use. Two of my group members started a forest fire in an effort of distracting it-"

"That was you?!" Came Deanna's borderline scandalized voice.

"My two other group members started a forest fire and that still wasn't enough to get that monster off their trail! That thing is far from brainless!" Rick reiterated.

"Why the outskirts then, of all places?! The walker swarm is going to get crazy!"

"Not if we walk the path to the church. That's still the furthest area away from it, and in case you haven't noticed that monster seems way too interested in targeting the suburbs!"

Spencer had a dubious expression on his face, "And if that thing starts targeting the outskirts?"

At Rick's silence, Spencer insisted, "We don't have anything to defend ourselves! We aren't prepared at all-"

"We'll send a few teams to retrieve weapons from the arsenal after we get to safety, how 'bout that?" Rick reasoned. Spencer didn't say anything more to refute that.

Reg started wheezing from exertion, while Deanna and Spencer supported his weight to keep their pace up. Glancing at them from a specific angle, Rick noticed the walkie-talkie strapped on Spencer's utility belt.

"Hey!" Spencer squawked in indignation as Rick slowed his pace to snatch it directly from his belt, already pressing for different channels until he could find Carl's. The walkie-talkie crackled to life a moment later.

BRRZZT!

"Carl! Do you copy?! Carl-" Please pick up please pick up please-

"-can hear you loud and clear dad! Something's levelling the fucking neighborhood!" Carl's voice sounded from the other side.

Rick let out a breath of relief, then horror as noises of destruction could be heard in the background of the other side. "Are you going to be alright?! Any visible casualties outside?!"

A beat of radio silence. Anxiously, Rick picked up the pace, the isolated church just a fair bit of distance left from where they were. The walkie-talkie crackled to life once again.

BRRRZZZT!

"-meone down the block! The monster threw him-" The line was abruptly cut.

Rick's heart stopped beating at that, "Carl?"

Silence. Rick tried again, "Carl?! CARL!"

He wasn't getting any responses. His guts churned painfully in paranoia, his nerves getting the better of him.

They finally reached the church in time, other residents already crowding outside to get in. Gabriel did his best to usher them in, ensuring there was space for everyone. Spencer patted at his shoulder in an uncharacteristically friendly manner, he then nodded at the priest that was helping an elderly inside.

He spotted Carol in one of the crowds, rubbing circles on another woman's back in an effort to calm her down. Most of the other Alexandria residents were in varying degrees of shock, distress, and borderline hysteria.

Rick was nudging at Deanna and Reg to go inside when his walkie-talkie buzzed to life once again. Rick fumbled to take a hold of it, desperately hoping to hear his son's voice coming through, telling him that he's got everything under control.

What he heard was something out of a nightmare he once had-

"-ad! Judith's in there! She's still in her cradl-"

Rick wanted to throw up. This couldn't be happening, he can't possibly lose his daughter to this- he didn't think he could handle any more losses in his family-

Suddenly, another voice unexpectedly joined in.

BRRRZZZTTT!

"Help.. HELP ME! IT'S TRYING TO KILL US-" the line abruptly cut off.

Ron Anderson.

--- ---

Five was speechless, to say the least.

Not only did he wake up from that acid trip of a nightmare with all his memories returned, he also hadn't anticipated the creature from a month ago attacking the fucking suburbs. God, it was still one ugly ass creature.

He was observing the creature from a window, Ron and Jessie frantically blocking any entry with anything they could move; chairs, sofas, even cable TV.

"You're all wasting your time, that monster could easily rip open any part of the house and we'd be long dead." Five warned, not letting them fall under the delusion that a few chairs and sofas could possibly hold that thing back.

Jessie and Ron looked crestfallen at that, while Sam cowered in a corner, pressing both hands tightly on his ears in an attempt to block out any horrific thing that was currently happening outside. He felt a twinge of guilt for not sugar-coating anything, which made it very clear that he still gave a shit about the Andersons even with his memories re-attached. It was a relief.

"But we can't- we can't just do nothing. We're basically stuck." Jessie protested with determination.

Five surveyed his options; he could teleport them out and risk getting another bout of a skull-shattering migraine, ergo- possibly triggering another wave of amnesia. Or, he could just help them hold out until Rick finally notices the kid he randomly picked up off the streets wasn't there with everyone else.

He thought long and hard about his decision, and it was irritating how indecisive he had become from wasting a whole month standing idly by. It was certainly a surprise that his frantic mindset didn't carry over to his amnesiac state, but maybe it was this universe's way of telling him he needed a break.

Hah. Never happening again.

CRAASHH!

A loud noise sounded from outside, countless windows were helplessly shattered in a mere flick of the wrist- or claws in this context. Jessie let out a surprised yelp, and Ron shakily held onto his trembling brother, trying his best to stay calm for everyone in the room.

Five wasn't entirely bothered, until he remembered that this thing could also teleport at any given moment.

Shit.

They needed to get out of here, fast. He had no idea when the creature would start losing interest in destroying the house down the road to a million pieces, but he sure as hell wouldn't stick around long enough to find out.

"What do we do- what do we do?!" Jessie shouted the last part almost hysterically, Five swiftly clamping her mouth shut. Jessie struggled in his group, but Five quickly made a shushing motion, "Don't shout. That thing is still a zombie, a really fucked up version of a zombie and zombies are generally known to be attracted to loud noises."

Jessie froze. Knowing that she wouldn't be shouting again anytime soon, Five loosened his grip and walked straight to the kitchen.

"You seem awfully calm." Ron pointed out. Five turned to look at him, and sure enough, Ron was psychoanalyzing him.

Five opened the kitchen drawers, "Yeah, well, I don't see a point in panicking either. Unnecessary stress will only get you killed- where the fuck are the knives at?"

"Why would you need a knife?" Ron looked confused.

"We need more weapons to defend ourselves with, keep up." Five rolled his eyes.

Ron seemed miffed at Five's sudden change in attitude towards him, but thankfully kept his mouth shut about it. Instead, he just looked at him like he's gone batshit insane, "Against that thing?!"

Five shrugged, "Multiple weapons are better than one shitty handgun. Or well- two if we count the one upstairs."

Jessie's eyes were blown wide open, "There's a gun upstairs?!"

Oh shit. That part was supposed to be a secret, he forgot.

Sam sat up a bit straighter after that, obviously afraid of his mom finding out that he was the one keeping a weapon hidden inside his closet. Ron noticed this and he went slack-jawed, visibly having a hard time envisioning his shy little brother nursing any murderous thoughts.

Five thought Ron would've immediately understood that, considering everything. But once again, he had that conflicted expression on his face, probably debating with his inner demons on whether or not committing first-degree murder against their abusive father was morally justifiable.

Well, he was just about ready to do the job for them yesterday, but who's to say the creature hadn't gotten to the bastard yet?

Jessie stood beside him, opening up a hidden compartment full of the missing knives. Five threw a questioning glance at her, and she whispered, "Pete used to get drunk every other day. Had to make sure he doesn't have access to any.. sharp objects."

Five gripped at a kitchen knife, his resolve to murder the bastard hadn't diminished in the least. If anything, he was ready to rip his throat out the next time he dared to show up.

The wailing and screeching of the creature soon became louder, slowly but surely approaching their house.

"Jessie, take one and give the rest to Ron and Sam respectively. They'll need it." Five urged before turning to run upstairs, zooming past the dining table and the carpet he'd beaten Pete half to death on. It was a good memory.

Reaching the second floor, Five made a beeline for Sam's room, easily opening it since it hadn't been locked. Small mercies.

As he opened the closet to rummage for the hidden handgun, Five heard screaming downstairs. Sheathing the newly acquired handgun, Five bolted out of the room straight down the stairs and sure enough- the creature was successful in breaching the front door.

It happened so fast, the next thing he knew the creature was bringing one of its clawed hands down a frozen Jessie, and blood splattered all over the pearly white gypsum.

Sam shrieked as Ron screamed something into the walkie-talkie, but Five couldn't hear anything outside the blood loudly pumping in his ears. He remembered who Jessie had reminded him of, someone from a distant memory. Grace.

The monster was ready to lunge at them next, but Five was quicker in drawing his gun to momentarily distract it. Five rushed down the last flight of stairs and- god fucking damn it here goes nothing-

He blinked the three of them out.

No sign of nausea, nor any indicators for the start of a particularly painful migraine. And his memories of his world still remained intact. In actuality, he felt- good. Energized. Better than he had ever been since the day he started limiting his jumps.

He was so back.

He didn't have time to marvel about getting his power back when Ron and Sam started yelling at his direction, already backing up while they looked at him with fear in their eyes.

"W-what the fuck.. What the fuck?! What- what are you?!" Ron's voice trembled slightly as he shifted his stance protectively in front of his brother.

Five suppressed the urge to scoff at them, everyone in this universe keeps coming up with distasteful assumptions the first time he shows them his teleportation ability. "Relax, wait- don't relax. That monster's still going to come after us."

As if on cue, the monster did indeed, appear behind them in a flash of blue particles. It screeched, its gaze locked onto them.

"Run."

--- ---

"Ho-ly fuck! What happened around here?" Negan started cackling loudly at the sight of piles upon piles of decaying dead bodies.

"It smells fuckin' rancid in here." Lila flapped a hand over her nostrils, clearly not finding the sight as amusing as Negan did.

Diego walked around the bloody clearing, it had been a pain in the ass to carve out openings big enough for a truck to fit into with two of his throwing knives.

Clearly, it was home to a bunch of unused cars and trailer trash, there were two white bloody cargo trucks that were crushed to bits. Diego used his power to clear out the remaining zombies, putting them down almost at the speed of sound he might say. Lila may have helped a bit with the clean up, but it was his ability she copied so it doesn't count.

Diego listlessly turned over the corpses, looting them for all their worth. In another world, another time, he might've grimaced at what the fuck he was doing right now and what Patch would've said, but that was all in the past. His home world had been destroyed the moment Vanya decided to blow up the fucking moon.

It was disorienting, at first, when he first landed in 1960's Dallas, but he quickly got used to it after setting himself a new goal; to prevent the assassination of JFK. Surely enough, everyone around him thought he was a total nutjob and called the cops on him, landing him free shelter in the local nuthouse.

He could never complain about that though, he met Lila in said nuthouse after all. She was also the one to break the both of them out, giving them an opportunity to do vigilantism together. They ran around Dallas for a bit, until the day of JFK's assassination came.

Really, Diego should've tried coming into contact with his other siblings before attempting to change the course of history, but oh well.

He's still a bit bummed out to find that JFK's assassination had been a crucial part of history, therefore inevitable- but at least he got to visit his girlfriend's workplace! It definitely felt like a 'bring your hot latino vigilante boyfriend' day. What he hadn't expected though, was to be recruited by his girlfriend's mom. That was absolutely insane to him, it was the first time he ever got to meet a girlfriend's mother.

He resolved to make a good first impression, but that totally backfired on him the moment he clicked on random buttons on something called the 'Infinity Switchpanel', just to pretend he knew what the fuck he was doing, and now here they were. Stranded in a World War Z-esque universe and surrounded by a bunch of redneck criminals.

Thankfully, him and Lila had found some dirt on this Negan guy, something that could hopefully gain them some allies from the inside, enough to eligibly start a coup against the fucker.

Negan cucks a lot of his men by taking their girlfriends slash wives as his own, in his own personal fucked up harem chamber.

Jesus. That's a bit more than fucked up, even by his standards. Diego despised adultery, but it was even more fucked if they were coerced to commit adultery for increased longevity.

Lila had met and talked to one of the wives in some random passing, and her name was Sherry. A bit of small talk here and there, and she could gauge that Sherry was apparently married to Dwight before Negan came and fucked it all up. It was a small probability, but if they played their cards right, they could find a potential ally to dethrone the cucking son of a bitch.

Turning over the corpses, Diego had noticed a small pattern. Every one of these bodies had a 'W' symbol carved on their foreheads, whatever it meant. Some kind of other organization, mayhaps?

Still, the way in which these bodies were killed off were.. unnatural. They were either crushed to death or slashed open by three big ass claymores, with the way the gaping wounds revealed a gash deep enough to reveal the inner workings of the human anatomy.

Autopsy had never been his strongest suit, but even he could tell these injuries couldn't have been inflicted by people.

Unless this universe also had some superhumans they didn't know about, because full offense, none of these guys look like they're capable to do this sort of damage. Much less an army-group- organization or whatever the fuck they were.

The carnage seemed to have left a visible trail, however, but there weren't much. If their eyes followed the order in which the trailers had received the most damage, he'd say whatever attacked them had left after attacking the least damaged trailer.

Something about the air felt weird though, the energy surrounding the massacre weren't overtly unfamiliar, as was everything around them before this.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Lila suddenly spoke up from beside him.

"Whatever it is, it's not human. Manmade or otherwise." Diego sniffed once again, his nostrils stung with residual energy.

"Agreed," Lila scanned over the wreckage, noticing a slick crossbow among the clutter of dead bodies and leather jackets alike.

"Well would you look at that. That's one badass crossbow." Lila pointed out with glee. Then, childishly, she called dibs on it.

"Hey! Not even a headstart?!" Diego playfully fumed.

"Finder's keepers, as one might say." Lila wiggled her eyebrows. It was hot as hell.

SCREECH!

Suddenly, a loud wailing/screeching/mating call could be heard from the distance. Lila and Diego instinctively clutched at their ears, it was so goddamn loud but none of the other bitches seemed to have noticed anything.

What the fuck was that?

Chapter Text

Five swerved to the right as they tried their damn hardest to outrun the machete-claws son of a bitch- the creature's claws extended far too close for comfort which left him no choice but to blink the three of them to a safer distance.

Sam and Ron landed in a shocked heap while Five did so casually, his fine motor skill already adjusting to keep his body naturally balanced at all times. Sam's breathing audibly accelerated while his brother attempted to rub comforting circles behind his back.

The blink didn't take them far, he could still see the creature prowling around the shipwreck of a neighborhood clear as day, no doubt hunting for them. Then, in another second, the creature disappeared once more in a flash of blue energy.

Five was alarmed, the creature had somehow obtained the ability to teleport, much like he could. Not for the first since his arrival, his confusion remained prominent. He'd never heard of anything like this happening. Not from the Commission's manual, not from his own experience in the apocalypse, and definitely not from the rest of his temporary peers.

Sam's sobbing became even more uncontrollable as the creature let out another ungodly predatory screech, and Five couldn't blame him. He'd shit his shorts if his life wasn't literally on the line, and with that thought, he forced down the bile that was rising from his stomach before thinking long and hard about his plans for the next steps of action.

Sam and Ron wouldn't be able to do shit against that creature, so his main objective right now should be focusing on clearing them to a safe shelter- but where the fuck would the safe shelter be?

Five's eyes scanned around the area they were currently holed up in. They were in a musty room with even mustier air, which wasn't ideal but it would do for temporary shelter. There weren't any lights, which made it exceedingly difficult for Five to see anything beyond his limbs and the little ray of sunshine peaking through from one of the boarded windows.

"Talk." Five almost jumped up at the sound of Ron's voice.

"Talk?" He averted his eyes instead, "There's nothing to talk about other than the thing that's currently out for our blood, really."

Ron narrowed his eyes, "Who even are you?"

Five crossed his arms defensively, "What, do you also have amnesia now or something? Last time I checked, that one particular brain disease is never contagious."

"Stop deflecting the goddamn question."

"There's nothing to deflect." Five stalled for as long as possible. He was not in the mood to explain any of the bullshit he somehow got himself into.

"Cut the crap! Why the fuck is there a whole ass monster chasing after us, destroying the whole fucking neighborhood- and how the fuck can you do- all that?!" Ron was panting, whether it was out of exertion or distress, he'd never know.

"I was born with these abilities, and I also have no fucking clue as to why we're running away from an inevitable boss battle. Does that answer your question?" Five raised an eyebrow in condescension.

Ron grimaced. "Fuck no."

Five threw his hands up, "I don't know what more you want me to say."

"What I don't get is- why?" Ron's tensed shoulders slumped, and he looked even more defeated than he already does.

Five sighed, and he rubbed a hand over his eyes, dreading the upcoming topic of conversation, "Why what?"

"You've had these- these superpowers this whole time and- you didn't think to use it sooner? Teleport the four of us to safety? Save mom-"

Five's mouth twitched downward in irritation, "I may have all these fancy 'superpowers' but news flash; I'm not fucking omnipotent! How the fuck should I know that was gonna happen?! And even then, there were too many risks involved in using it-"

"Yeah, and now my mom's fucking dead because of you!" Ron's tearful and heated glare was directed at him, and, shit. It felt shitty.

"Of course. Every bad thing that happens to anyone always circles back to me, doesn't it?!" Five didn't know if he was even saying this to Ron, or to himself. "If I had the power to rewind time, which I don't. I would've saved her, believe me."

That was a complete fucking lie. He knew he also had power over time, but that ability's currently under lock and chains. He didn't lie about bringing Jessie back, though. If he could somehow unlock his time-travelling abilities right about now, he'd try to save them in a heartbeat.

CRACKLE!

The sound of a radio crackling pierced through the heated air, he realized that it came from the walkie-talkie he had borrowed from Rick not that long ago.

Ron hastily grabbed at it like a madman, scrambling to get up as he answered the call, "H-Hello?"

More silence. Then, Rick's voice sounded, "-at happened, are you safe?!"

Five internally rolled his eyes, of course that's the first thing he'd check up on. Not that it isn't nice.

After Ron's shaky confirmation, there was a slight crackle in the background, like Rick was inhaling something. "-lad to hear that. Can you recount the other survivors for me?"

Ron glanced at the both of them, "Only three of us. Mom- mom didn't make it." He choked up on that last part.

Another loud crackle in the background. "-get you safe, don't worry. Wait, who's the other guy? Are you with P-"

Five snatched the walkie-talkie before he could get another word in. The comparison alone would be enough to offend ten capybaras, "Don't you dare finish that sentence, asshole." Five hissed.

A rather loud crackle this time, "-ive?! What the- so that's where you've been!"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"-isten, I need you to escort them to safety, I'm at the church- yeah, that creepy old church on the outskirts."

Five frowned, "Out of all the places, that's where you're taking refuge?"

"-ven't you noticed? That monster's only interested in targeting the suburbs for now, the church is our safest bet."

Five looked out the window.. and yep. The creature's still prowling around town, there's no guarantee they wouldn't immediately be royally fucked the moment they take a step outside. Five also noticed an unsettling pattern of behavior; the creature- whatever it was, would teleport half a second after each and every one of Five's own blinks, which made outrunning it all the more impossible.

And he wouldn't risk the creature tailing them to the supposed safety center, so that was a no-go.

"-ive? Five? Do you copy?" Rick's voice incessantly called out.

"I think I have a plan."

A loud series of crackles. "-ate that sentence. You're going to get them killed-"

"And blindly running to safety, fully knowing that this creature that's currently out prowling the goddamn neighborhood could effectively jump us isn't?" Five deadpanned.

Rick was silent on the other line, but Five knew that question just kick started his frontal lobe into gear once again.

CRACKLE!

"-ade up my mind. Stay put, don't go anywhere, I'll make sure you boys make it out here alive."

And with that, the line cuts off. Great.

He initially planned on going out there to attempt killing it himself, acting as bait or a distraction to buy some time for Ron and Sam, but that didn't seem too likely to happen now that his remaining bullets were used. He really should've taken those extra mags.

Oh well.

Contrary to popular belief, he really would listen to authority every once in a while. That's why he'll do what Rick was telling him to do; just stay. Put. It was quite possibly the easiest thing he'd ever been told to do.

And when you don't have an effective, immediate solution to a seemingly impossible problem? Just let the other person handle it. Maybe what they really needed was a difference in perspective. Besides, Rick was plenty capable enough, and he's way better at navigating the whole of Alexandria anyway.

CRACKLE!

But of course, nothing ever comes easy for him.

"-n? Ron! You still there?!"

It was.. Carl's voice that sounded out this time. Ron hurried up to snatch the walkie-talkie back, "Y-yeah, I'm still here. Where are you?"

"-urrently hiding in the clinic. Is Sam and Jes-"

Ron inhaled deeply, "She didn't make it."

The other line went silent. Carl audibly choked on his words, but he steadied himself enough so that his next words came across as deceptively calm, "-u're going to be safe, okay? Just hold on for a bit-"

CRASHH!

There was a sudden explosive noise from the other end of the line. Ron flinched in horrified silence as the line was abruptly cut off.

"..Carl?" Ron managed to whisper. Sam continued to curl up even more in the corner, as if the shadows would be enough to hide him from the rest of the world.

Five knew then, that he couldn't stay put.

Yeah, he had beef with the kid over some petty things in the past, but they were still allies in the end. He may not have been as interactive with him as he was with Tara or Rick or even Daryl, but he felt a sort of obligation to ensure that every one of Rick's loved ones would survive. Maybe it was born out of gratitude. Gratitude for what? He wasn't sure, and he didn't nearly care enough to sort that one out.

"Wait for Rick to come and get you, give him directions to our location when you need to, and don't go anywhere, you hear me?!" Five barked out as he picked the sharpest knife of the bunch.

"What the- are you fucking crazy?! Rick specifically told us to stay put!" Ron protested.

"I thought we've already established that my mind works in all sorts of unconventional ways, so if you could just pipe it down a little. Thanks." Five shot him a sarcastic smile to hide just how fucking nervous he really was.

Ron glanced at his brother, expecting him to back him up, only to be left betrayed as Sam wordlessly tried handing Five his own gun.

Five pushed the offered gun back, "Keep it. That's the only means of protection you both have right now, and I'm not willing to leave this place with that gun on my conscience."

"Or you could just not do that-"

Before any of them could argue, Five already blinked out.

--- ---

Shit. Five really got his work cut out for him.

As soon as he blinked, the creature popped up right in front of him without a moment of hesitation. It's glaringly obvious to him by now that the creature was dead set on either killing or consuming him, but both of those things were practically the same thing so he concluded that its main goal consisted on unaliving him specifically.

He may have drawn the conclusion that said creature might be an evolving 'walker' but he was rapidly starting to doubt that. The only thing they had in common was their decaying appearance, everything else is just horrible.

Who the fuck gave it the right to use his own abilities against him?! And it wasn't even just that, but this thing was way too agile for its own good. Five found himself blinking rapidly to tight squeezes in order to maintain his unpredictability, but the creature just kept finding him regardless.

It was as if it had an in-built hunting GPS that runs twenty-four-seven.

Strangely, the creature had a much harder time finding him when he manually hid himself, so he tried to keep his blinks at a minimum. That strategy only worked for so long as the creature started noticing his pattern once more and took a weirder approach.

The fucker quite literally sniffed him out.

Five didn't even notice that supernatural energy could smell like anything to anyone, so imagine his surprise when the creature let out a screech as it tore open his hiding space.

Five cursed once more, and he was forced to blink as he sliced the creature's incoming claws into a million pieces. The claws may look durable from a distance, but it felt like slicing through butter when his blink imbued the knife with his supernatural energy.

Five's eyes widened at the realization; so the creature really did have a weakness after all.

His attack had only caused temporary damage, however, as it started regrowing its limbs and claws at a ridiculously fast pace. Five cursed again, he had to get to the clinic before it could start hunting again, so he bolted.

He ran as fast as he could, sidestepping and jumping over the rubbles in record speed, very much not looking back to check whether or not he was being chased after- he skidded to a halt when he saw the clinic looming closer.

It.. had definitely seen better days. There were dents in what used to be a pristine roof over pearly white walls, and now it was littered with web-like cracks as some chunks of the gipsum scattered around the lush grassy lawn.

Five got a bad feeling about it. He remained calm as he scanned over the perimeters, checking for any sign of blood- or dead bodies for that matter. He could easily identify one body across the street, it looked like whoever the victim was subjected to the ragdoll treatment, most definitely at the hands of the creature itself. Rest in peace, whoever the hell they were.

Five climbed through a broken window before checking the inside of the clinic, and it was.. messy to say the least.

Metallic surgical tools were scattered over the floor in the aftermath of someone or something knocking over the tray, some of the patient beds were turned upside down in an attempt to block off any entrances, and there was some type of liquid leaking through one of the wooden cabinets, presumably from a roster of IV bags.

All in all, it was not a pleasant sight.

It was relieving, however, to find the lack of corpses inside the clinic. He didn't know what he'd do if he did find Carl's body lying on one of the patient beds, couldn't really imagine the look on Rick's face if he did have to see that. Five knew first hand what it feels like to lose your family, and he wouldn't ever wish it on anyone, not even the Handler.

Not that she would ever have one, the old bitch was in too deep for her ambition to care for anything else.

Anyway, he should probably try and salvage some of the medical supplies. The people at the church could be suffering from all kinds of injury, so it would be best to prepare for anything. Five looked around for a bag somewhere, surely the clinic had to have one lying around, free for the taking?

He was dead wrong.

Most of the bags were old tote bags with tons of holes, which definitely wouldn't do since he needed it to be sturdy enough to carry all those pain meds and pill bottles. His eyes caught on an abandoned paper bag sitting on a guest chair.

Five snatched the bag to turn its contents upside down. There weren't much, only a couple of crayons along with a stack of colorful paper. Probably meant to occupy the younger patients, if there were even kids younger than he and Sam were.. physically.

Five inspected the pain meds and orange pill bottles, making sure to check for its expiration date before sorting through and stuffing the bag full of it. He decided against taking the untouched IV bags since it would take too much space, and there wouldn't be any way to administer it anyway given the fact that the administration sets were effectively destroyed.

Packing the last of the pain meds away, Five discreetly left the clinic in a hurried pace, keeping to the shadows as he stealthily made his way to the path of the outskirts.

Unfortunately, luck was never on his side.

Thick, long claws-like tendrils shot out from out of nowhere, effectively piercing through his left shoulder as he felt an explosion of pain wreck the entire left half of his body.

--- ---

"You sure we're hearing the same thing?"

"If what you're hearing is the banshee equivalent of running a fork through a chalkboard, then yes we bloody are." Lila rolled her eyes.

It happened so suddenly. One second they were calling dibs on sleek badass crossbows, and now here they were; answering the mating calls of some supernatural son of a mother in heat.

Lila and Diego quickly fed Negan some bullshit excuse about feeling extra horny that day, and that they needed to drive somewhere for a private quickie. The old bastard was skeptical of course, but they still got a car to drive with in the end. Knowing Negan, he probably sent someone to watch over them, so they needed to put in the extra work and effort to lose them as soon as possible.

It wasn't particularly difficult per se.. Just a quick slice to the artery and they could probably get away with framing it as a biking accident. Negan wouldn't be able to do shit about it anyway, he still needed them to do tricks in front of his goons and potential benefactors. They felt more like victims of Negan's extortions, but Lila didn't really care enough to question the morality of getting free shit through sheer intimidation.

As they drove closer and closer to the source, they felt pinpricks of residual energy literally clotting around an entrance gate.. somewhere. The map called it 'Alexandria', but they weren't sure what it was until they got a closer look.

Diego and Lila made short work of the zombies swarming at the gate, immediately killing them with a few controlled stabs through the head.

The guard posts were empty, which meant that this area was completely abandoned. That's great, amazing even. Lila loved going into abandoned places where anything could jump at them at any given moment.

Lila pushed open the gate and-

"You sure we're hearing the same thing?"

"If what you're hearing is the banshee equivalent of running a fork through a chalkboard, then yes we bloody are." Lila rolled her eyes.

Lila focused on the road ahead, feeling an odd sense of deja vu.

"Hey, doesn't this road seem.. familiar?" Diego asked from beside her, his face looked as puzzled as she felt.

"I guess we really are tired." Lila rubbed at her eyes.

Chapter Text

"I swear we've passed that damn sign ten times over!" Diego banged on the car window repeatedly in frustration.

"Well that's just bloody impossible, Diego. We've never crossed this area before." Lila refuted, looking extremely pale and anxious.

"How do you explain this then?! You feeling what I'm feelin' right? Right?!" Diego's voice turned desperate as he stared hard at the road.

Lila pursed her lips. "Maybe we're just, I don't know.. tired?"

Diego felt like he was about to throw up. He could've sworn she'd used that exact same excuse before- but when's before? It was true they've never been on this part of the road before but.. observing the trees and the sign- God, that damn sign. It looked way too familiar to be a coincidence.

It's like they've been driving down the same road over and over again. The road seemed endless, but they've never been to this area before-

What the fuck?

Screw this, he needed to find out. Fishing for a knife, Diego eventually pulled one out, rolled down the car window and threw it precisely at the weirdly familiar no parking sign. The knife pierced through the sign, the handle effectively stuck to its surface as the blade sunk in the metal.

"Diego, what the hell was that!" Lila phrased it more like an exclamation than a genuine question.

"I'm making sure we're not driving on the same fucking road!" Diego yelled back.

Just as Lila was about to clap right back, the car drove past a familiar head of tree. Lila's eyes widened as she sped up, and was finally met with the same 'no parking' sign with Diego's knife embedded on it.

"I called it! That's the same sign!" Diego shouted in victory, feeling entirely too smug for having assumed correctly.

"What the fuck- there's just no way.." Lila muttered, confused and in disbelief.

"You can't believe that I'm right?" Diego teased.

Lila snorted, "I can't believe we're stuck in some kind of road loop."

Diego's good mood immediately died down. Stuck in.. some kind of road loop? Bile rose in his stomach, he couldn't hold on any longer if this kept up- he was already feeling the beginnings of a motion sickness-

Lila clapped at his shoulder, "Don't you dare stink up this half-decent car with your vomit, Diego! Would you rather we end up walking through the road loop?"

The bile uncomfortably settled back in his stomach. That definitely sounded worse in every way, shape, or form.

Diego gulped, "Then how do we get out of it?"

Lila grimaced, "Thing is, we.. can't."

"What do you mean we can't-" He couldn't take it anymore, the bile rose up faster before he can manage to stop it and he quickly threw up outside the car window, the vomit unevenly distributed as it splatters across the moving road.

Lila took a deep breath and muttered, "Good thing you didn't do it inside."

Diego withdrew from window and wiped his mouth before sending a fiery glare at his girlfriend, "That's what you're more concerned about?!"

Lila coughed, "Anyway, I think I've only read about something like this in the old Commission's manual. Didn't think it was a thing that could actually happen, but I guess the world begs to differ."

"Why wouldn't it be a 'thing that could actually happen'? Those Commission manuals are the equivalent to the Christian Bible for you!"

Lila stared at him, "I'm going to pretend you never said that."

Diego raised an eyebrow, "You've been raised by the Commission since you were.. what? A kid? It makes sense that you grew up reading and learning from that book. Sound like a familiar concept?"

Lila rolled her eyes, "You really didn't have to elaborate, I got it the first time."

"So then why'd you think a- a road loop was out of the question?" Diego pressed on.

"Because then there'd be an actual instigator for this loop to happen." Lila explained.

Diego frowned, "An instigator?"

"The only person that could've possibly started a loop would be the Founder of the Commission, and would you look at that, he isn't here."

"Literally why is he the only person that can do this? Is there some sort of criteria for that?" Diego raised an eyebrow.

Lila gave him that look that indicated she was once again questioning his intelligence, and frankly he was tired of it. How the fuck is he supposed to know anything about something as absurd as looping roads?

"He has significant control over space and time, why wouldn't he be?"

A thought clicked in his head. He finally knew something that Lila has yet to realize; Five has control over time, he quite literally disappeared on them because of a time-travel-gone-wrong situation! So with an arrogant smirk, he declares, "You know who else fits that criteria? My smallest eldest brother." Bingo.

Wait.

"Does that mean?" They both suddenly reached a conclusion at the exact same time.

"Five's closer to us than we thought." Diego couldn't help it as a wide grin broke out his previously nauseated face. Oh he had never been more excited to see him.

"We could finally leave this shithole!" Lila threw her hands up in excitement as she sped up.

"Wait maybe don't do that-"

Diego threw up again.

--- ---

The world was grey. Black and white, and Five didn't mean that in the philosophical sense.

The previously colored suburban neighborhood had transformed into a bleak view, its minimalistic colour scheme sucked out and replaced with a dull grey in its wake. The only color he could identify, however, was the electrifying blue his and that creature's supernatural energy emitted out, a sharp and noticeable contrast to the world around him.

The slow thudding of pain from the wound he sustained had stopped completely, the blood trailing from his punctured shoulder blade frozen in time. Immediately, Five recognized the state he left the surrounding neighborhood in; it was his body's natural instinct to preserve his livelihood from incoming doom.

Just as he was able to move back and forth with time, he could also go in a standstill. A realm his powers conjured, creating a large pocket of space where the natural movement of time is irrelevant.

He'd done this a couple of times in his original apocalypse. Just when his body was close to succumbing from starvation, dehydration or clumsy injuries, this pocket of space would allow him to cease his bodily functions for a period of time. Usually, it was enough for him to catch a rat or two.

Now though, it seems the excessive buildup of unused supernatural energy his body had amassed over the past couple of weeks had reached its peak. It completely exploded in his face, thus conjuring a line where absolutely nobody else could cross.

Nobody else except for this creature, somehow.

Five tilted his head to stare at the unmoving creature, just what the hell was it made of?

He took a step forward. Just when he thought he'd successfully subdued it, the creature was up and charging towards him.

With an ungodly screech, it shot another tendril towards him, and Five barely managed to dodge it this time. Using the momentum, Five used his knife to strike upwards, easily slicing through its deceivingly thick skin as it split into two halves. He learned the first time that this creature could regenerate any damage inflicted on its body. He wouldn't make the mistake of letting it do that, he couldn't waste even a single second.

Grunting, Five blinked up into the air, attempting to ambush it from above. The creature unexpectedly sent another spiked tendril towards him, forcing him to uncomfortably twist in midair to narrowly avoid it before blinking again, behind the creature this time.

A clawed hand swiftly blocked his attempts to tear through its exposed, vulnerable back, his knife could only do so much to parry the incoming blows as it moved in an almost unnatural speed. One of the claws nicked him on his cheek, and he immediately blinked back to a safer distance.

However, that effort was futile as it blinked after him, not giving him any time to catch his breath.

Five side stepped a claw, then another claw, before quickly blink slicing through its vulnerable stomach. Black organs spilled out in the next moment, and Five had to stifle a gag at the rancid smell. It smelled weirdly human, he would know.

Where the hell were its weak points?

He knew it was some part-zombie hybrid, but he didn't know what the hell its everything else is. To take it into account, it had his powers, the realm he conjured doesn't affect it, was an exception even. Nobody else should be able to cross it but himself. Since it was a zombie anyway, a really enhanced one, he opted to go for its head this time.

With a new goal in mind, Five ran up to the- hopefully, still regenerating creature.

He was wrong.

Clawed hands grabbed him, the sharp sting of its blades seeped around his neck. Five gripped around the blades in desperation, thinking he was about to be decapitated. Instead, the monster didn't do anything. It stared at him like the freak of nature it was, and Five couldn't help but feel a bit anxious about it.

The blue of its eyes felt familiar in some ways. It was a cold, hard, and unblinking stare, and it was horribly similar to the way he used to look at everyone around him.

The sting of the blades continued to press against his neck. Was this something his victims felt before he dragged them to their demise?

He doesn't get a chance to ruminate over that any further. The creature unhinged its jaws, revealing a mouth full of razor sharp teeth.

There was the slit of a hole he punctured through with the prick's knife.

The goddamn freezer. From that abandoned convenience store in Atlanta. The zombie from the goddamn freezer.

He thrashed even harder, he knew blinking wouldn't do shit 'cause the fucker would just blink after him anyway. Its disgusting mouth moved closer to his face, and he braced for whatever fucked up shit the creature was going to inflict on him.

Thankfully- fortunately, the creature didn't bite his face off like he thought it would.

It was worse.

It started sucking out his supernatural energy, and he could feel some of his life literally draining out of him. It felt worse than the time Vanya was doing it, the creature was aggressive and greedy as it stole more of his life force from his body. The creature was consuming him.

'Albeit in a very unconventional way.' he coped.

Then, in a terrifying second, it started to grow hair. Hair the same shade of brown as his. As if that wasn't horrifying enough, it started to grow half a face. His face.

His powers. His hair. Half of his face. The familiarity of it all.

The creature was himself.

BANG!

The world returned to color as a loud gunshot pierced through the air, breaking off their eye contact.

--- ---

Everything was weird. Extremely fucking weird.

First it was the deja vu he kept experiencing as he trekked the path to the clinic. The Anderson siblings easily gave away the brat's whereabouts while defending his actions. Something about his concern over his son, which was highly unusual of him.

Rick easily dropped them off at the church, meeting up with Carl halfway through. Rick asked him about Five, but he didn't know anything, claimed that he hadn't even met up with him. Then, he slumped in grief as he embraced Rick, mentioning that Judith was still in her crib.

Rick hugged him tighter, assuring that he will do everything in his power to get Judith back. And he needed to find the brat anyway, it was convenient.

He might have to re-evaluate that thought.

Now, he felt like he'd been walking down the same path for an hour. It shouldn't feel that way, as he knew for sure he had only been walking for a couple of minutes. Saddest part is, this wasn't even the strangest thing he'd ever been subjected to ever since the brat had the gall to launch himself into Rick's life.

No, what was actually concerning was the abrupt end of the wails and ear-splitting screeches of the monster.

The creature was nowhere to be found, and so was Five. Which was the most concerning part of it all. Rick didn't give a rat's ass if that monster had turned tail on them for whatever fortunate reason, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit sad if the brat went with it.

Yeah no, he'd definitely be sadder than fuck about it.

He had his doubts about finding them until the monster quite literally fizzled in and out of existence for the next couple of moments.

Christ, maybe he should devote himself to christianity the same way he used to before the apocalypse. If teleporting brats and supernatural walkers with machetes for claws existed, he didn't want to know what else had snuck themselves right under humanity's noses.

Rick ran towards the flickering image of that monster. He readied up his gun, fully prepared for it to manifest fully into a solid form, until his arm faltered a fraction as the brat came into view.

That monster was choking him- or even close to decapitating him. In a flurry of panic, Rick shot a round of bullets at it in the hopes of diverting its attention. He half expected it to fail, but it surprisingly didn't as the monster swiveled around to face him.

Rick's jaw threatened to embarrassingly drop down the floor as he saw the crazy amount of fangs inside the monster's open mouth. He'd known that, he'd seen that, he'd almost been a dead man because of that.

He was so surprised that he didn't notice the brat appearing beside him, already grabbing his unarmed hand to start running.

"I've never been so excited to see you, Prick!" Five exclaimed in a wheezing voice.

"What were you even doing-"

"Later!" Rick turned his head around to see the monster still hot on their heels. He grimaced, exerting more energy to run faster as the monster sent a picket fence flying towards them.

Five swerved into a rubble of an opening, tugging him along in a hurry. It was a narrow squeeze for Rick specifically, the brat was so small it took barely any effort for him to settle into the new space.

The monster let out an ungodly wail as it whizzed by them.. somehow. It stomped and jabbed at its surroundings like a child throwing a tantrum, which was a bizarre comparison. The sound died down when the monster went farther away, deeming them safe for now.

"We don't have much time here, it would always find us." Five spoke in a low voice, though it wasn't quiet enough to call it a whisper.

"You were fighting that thing?!" Rick, however, chose to whisper at him.

Five shrugged, "Had no choice. The son of a freak decided to ambush me when I turned my back on it," He froze, "Which was very stupid of me, I know, no need to point it out." He shot out a number of defenses.

"I haven't even said anything yet," Rick huffed a laugh. Then, his brain restarted when he remembered the brat had somehow been able to use his powers again, "Wait, you got your powers back?"

Five nodded, "Came as a package deal with the memories and all that."

Right. Rick almost didn't notice it. He'd been acting so.. normally. It was very hard to distinguish between the Five that had amnesia and the one that didn't.

"So, what's the deal with that thing?" Rick starts.

"You want the long version or the short version?" Rick was about to say the former when the brat cuts him off, "Don't answer that, I'll just give you the short version."

Rick suppressed an eye roll. He'd almost forgotten how annoying he was.

"That thing is still a zombie- or a 'walker' as you people call it. It's just a bit more enhanced in the strength department, so think a 'walker' on steroids." Five gave a deadpan explanation, leaving no room for Rick to assume he was pulling his leg on this.

"I saw the inside of its mouth. Was it..?"

Five nodded grimly, "The same one from Atlanta."

Rick pursed his lips, "I thought you killed it?"

"You had a front row seat to that whole shitshow, asshole. It was dead." Five bristled.

Rick clutched at his head in exasperation, "It came back?!"

Bizarrely, Five started to look sheepish, "Not exactly. See, I might have stabbed it in the wrong area."

"You stabbed it.. in the wrong area?" Rick repeated slowly.

"It's not my fault that thing's so disfigured I couldn't tell its head from its goddamn mouth." Five defended himself, "And shit, that thing fell over like it's dead. If it tricked me, then it sure as hell tricked you too."

"Okay fine, it's nobody's damn fault." Rick conceded, "Point is, we need to terminate that bastard at all costs."

At Five's nod of agreement, they started the discussion in a very quick pace.

"As I've said before, this thing's just an upgraded version of a 'walker', thus; its vital point should be the skull." Five pointed his knife at his forehead for good measure.

"Slight problem, neither of us have the height advantage to put our weapons anywhere near its disembodied idea of a torso," Rick put up a hand before Five could respond to the subtle jab at his height, "No offense. I just mean that monster's way bigger than the general human population."

"Yeah no shit, but that's where you're wrong." Five smirked, "Teleportation, remember? What makes you think I can't just- climb it?"

Rick's eyes shuttered for a bit, "I'm sorry, did you just imply that you're going to climb it?"

He shrugged, "I mean, what other choices do we have? I tried jumping it from the fucking air and it shot tendrils at me."

Rick puts his hands on his face, "You're crazy."

"You have seen nothing." Five retorted flatly.

It was honestly the stupidest idea he'd ever heard of, and he had done some really stupid stuff before. There were so many things that could go wrong with climbing a goddamn monster thirty times his size, does Five ever think for his own survival?

"Okay, let's say we go about this crazy plan of yours. I somehow keep its attention away enough for you to get the drop on its head, and that monster snags you up in the air and starts chomping on your leg. What then?"

Five snorted, "That creature wouldn't eat me, not physically anyway."

Rick frowned, "Come again?"

"That thing," Five inhaled, "May or may not be the product of an amalgamation between a clash of energy and particle changes caused by an anomaly from an entirely different plane of existence."

That went straight over Rick's head, "That absolutely explains nothing."

"It's this world's version of.. well, myself."

...

What?

As if on cue, the monster attacked their hiding spot from out of nowhere, leaving them no choice but to squeeze further in to avoid the incoming rubble.

"Listen, it's going to come after me no matter what, so try your best to keep up and make a distraction." Five whispered hastily before teleporting out of existence, completely diverting the monster away from where Rick stood.

That cryptic little shit is going to get the both of them killed!

'Fuck shit fuck goddamned brats with superpowers-' Rick internally spewed a river of curses as he ran after the monster.

It was going to be a long day. He could only hope to survive long enough for the next sunrise.

Chapter Text

In all honesty, he really didn't want to climb the goddamn creature.

It all just came out in the spur of a moment, and at the time, it felt like the most logical course of action. He was probably wrong, but that's literally the only plan he got going for him right now, so he'll see through it until it either ends in a good note or predictably goes south.

"Three o'clock!" Rick's shout echoed throughout the empty street, and Five complied. The creature attempts to jab at his side, only for him to easily deflect the blow.

CLANG!

The blade of his knife met its claws with equal ferocity, the impact rattled his bones yet he held on. Rick decided to step in on time, shooting up the windows of nearby houses to distract its senses.

The creature's head whipped up to the new source of sound, its face twisted in confusion. His own face had left its facial structure during the interruption, yet the two glowing eyeballs in its dark sockets still gave him the creeps.

Five runs up to the creature, jumping up and holding on to its torso before plunging his knife into its spine. The creature let out a wail of supposed agony, flailing its body wildly in an attempt to get the offending object out.

Five held on, he gripped onto the blade like a lifeline and pulled upwards, shredding the makeshift flesh of its back.

He threw a leg over its shoulder and attempted to pull up, only to get thrown off by an unusually strong shake of its body. He grunted as he fell off with a thud. Five rolled to the side, clumsily avoiding its incoming barrage of tendrils as the creature madly punctured through the concrete he was laying on.

One of the tendrils sliced through the fabric of his sleeves, carving a deep gash on the side of his bicep.

BANG! BANG!

Rick's bullets ricocheted off the creature's head, sending the bullets flying in all kinds of directions. It stimulated its auditory senses enough to divert its attention away once again.

Five quickly teleported, latching himself onto the creature's neck. Its vigorous efforts to shake him off was fruitless however, as Five dug his blade into its nape, serving as a hook to anchor him to the creature. He was not about to let this opportunity go.

SHRIEEEEEEEK!

Five clutched at his blade as his other hand dug his nails onto the creature's throat, stabilizing him. The creature then starts blinking all over the place, yet Five held on.

'Shit.' he muttered under his breath as the creature blinked up at the goddamn sky, then back down to one of the suburban households, then the clinic from where this whole fight started.

Five gasped for air, completely unused to blinking that many times in such a small timeframe. Shakily, he nudged at his blade, preparing to start stabbing it repeatedly on the head.

With a lot more effort, he pulled.

The blade didn't budge.

Five stilled, then tried again.

It still won't budge. It seemed that the flesh had completely regenerated itself around the steel, entrapping it.

'You've got to be kidding me.'

Overtaken by shock, Five was successfully shook off the creature's back. Five's face was met by concrete once again while the blade stuck to the creature's nape, effectively rendering him weaponless.

Damn it. There had to be something else he could use, if he'd known that it would come to this he would've taken more than one knife-

His whole train of thoughts abruptly ended when a tendril punctured his flank.

Fuck. Well, at least he tried.

--- ---

Rick was panicking.

How the hell can he not?! The brat was fine just a few minutes ago, but now he's bleeding out with his gaping wound pressing against dirty concrete that probably has fuck knows how many contagious diseases with a monster towering over him.

Rick ran like hell as the monster unlatched its jaws over his body. He thought it was going to start eating the brat, so imagine his confusion when it just kept.. hovering over him?

What?

Rick didn't get to maintain his confusion for a moment longer as Five started writhing on the ground, which meant that something was clearly wrong with whatever the hell the monster was doing.

Reloading another round of bullets, Rick shot at the monster to try and get it to stop. He shot at its head, its torso, and its rakish legs, yet his efforts were futile. In a flash of desperation, Rick decided that he didn't need his useless fucking gun anymore and started wrestling it.

He latched his arms around its head, twisting it with all of his strength which successfully startled the monster out of whatever trance it was in.

Its neck was rock solid. No matter which direction or angle Rick snapped it, there didn't seem to be any bone to crack. It was frustrating. The monster thrashed around, throwing Rick off in a fit of pure indignation.

"Are you fucking stupid?!" Rick could hear Five's distant yelling. He wasn't proud of it, but he felt a little bit smug at the sound of his distress. It was payback for the amount of times the brat had nearly given him a heart attack from all the reckless stunts he does.

The monster lunged at him, and so does Five. In a squeeze of luck, Five reached him first and immediately teleported them both out of the monster's raging line of offense.

The monster missed, and it let out a wail of frustration as it unhinged its jaws, revealing dozens of fangs that he could've easily lost his life to just a few weeks ago.

The teleportation thing didn't really take them far, just a hundred feet away from where the clinic was. They ran faster when they heard the monster teleport behind them, closing a good distance between them.

Rick glanced at Five, and the brat just looked contemplative as he clutched at his open wounds. Oh shit. He completely forgot about that.

"Let me carry you." Rick nonchalantly said.

The brat looked at him like he was mentally ill. "I can carry myself just fine."

Rick glanced at the monster behind them before glancing back at the slight limp the brat was sporting, "That gaping hole on your flank says otherwise." He says, unimpressed.

"I'm. Fine!" Five gritted out.

Rick left him alone for a minute, before the monster chucked a larger piece of the rubble at them. He didn't care what the brat said anymore, he slowed down a bit before grabbing Five around the waist and throwing him over his shoulder like a sack of murderous potatoes.

"What the fuck!" Five protested, then Rick felt him freeze for a moment. "Wait a damn minute. Rick, give me your gun."

Rick wanted to ask why but at this point, he's just going to let the brat do whatever as long as it gets this nightmare of an evening to end. Five wriggled around his hold, snatching the gun from Rick's extended hand over his head.

Rick felt the ground shake and he immediately knew the monster was getting a bit too close for comfort. He couldn't see it as he was focused on keeping the distance between them, but the brat sure as hell can. Wait.

"Are you going to snipe that thing?!"

"No shit, Sherlock! What else would I need a damn handgun for?!" Five yelled back.

"Uh, that's the damn problem?! My gun isn't built for sniping!"

Rick could just imagine the annoying smirk when he says, "It could be built for anything as long as you're good enough!"

"And the bullet's just going to ricochet against its disgustingly hard head! It's pointless!"

The monster screeches. Rick heard a click.

BANG!

The gunshot was loud inside his ears, but he had built a resistance over the years. The ground stopped rumbling and the monster went deafeningly quiet. Rick slowed down to a stop, before reluctantly turning around. He was greeted with the sight of a giant corpse.

Rick's knees buckled from the sudden relief, disgracefully dropping Five in the process to which the brat squawked in indignation.

Was it finally over?

"Why the hell did you drop me?! This shit hurts for fuck's sake!" Five hissed.

"I could've just given you my gun from the start and we wouldn't have needed to put.. all that effort?" Rick deadpanned.

"I know, it's crazy how I didn't even think of this sooner." Five groaned.

Rick didn't know whether to laugh or throw his hands up in relief. He saw the smoking hole carved out on the side of its head, just inches away from the dead center of its forehead. "How'd you even get the bullet through?"

"Same method as the way I blinked the both of us, I've noticed that the only thing that could really slice through it was coincidentally the knife that I used to attack it. Anything I come into contact with would automatically imbue itself with my supernatural energ-"

Rick's head was starting to hurt again, "Okay, yeah, all that magic shit. Got it."

Five bristled at that, "It's not magic if there's a perfectly scientific explanation for it you dim-witte-"

There was a roar of engine, then the unmistakable screeches of a tire before it accelerated. A vehicle came into view, ramming itself against the giant monster corpse in full speed.

Somebody kicked the door open, and two unfamiliar faces came out with all the swagger two leather-clad adults could possibly muster up.

"What's up, little brother!" A male voice shouted.

Rick's jaw dropped, and he felt Five stiffening up beside him.

Brother?

The brat's family?

--- ---

The familiar voice of Diego rang throughout his eardrums, and he couldn't help but take a step back from the suddenness of it all.

The man marched up towards him, extending his arms out in an invitation for an open hug, to which Five completely ignored.

"Diego?! What the- what in the ever loving fuck are you doing here?!"

Diego's arms faltered, though his smile had noticeably turned strained as he took one glance at the prick beside him.

"What? I've been busting my ass to come and find you for weeks and this is how you greet me?!" Diego crossed his arms, "And who's this asshole?" He pointed at Rick as if he wasn't even there to answer the question himself.

"What- you do realize that you're in an entirely different universe, don't you?! I didn't even think I could see you again for the next few years!" Five scolds, then he turned to the unfamiliar lady waving at him, "And you even brought a rando from our home dimension?!"

The lady suddenly scoffed in indignation, "I work for the Commission, you little shit."

Before Five knew it, his body had instinctively taken a defensive stance. Blue energy crackled from his tired hands, his injuries be damned. How the fuck had Diego been transported here along with him, and why is he associating with someone from the Commission?! Did he suddenly forget everything that transpired before Vanya blew up the fucking moon?!

The prick seemed to tense, sensing that the situation had gone unpleasant yet he wisely chose to stay out of it. For the time being.

Diego immediately stood in front of the rando with his arms out, "Yeah, I know how this looks-"

"Are you out of your damn mind?!" Five hissed.

Diego shrugged and nervously tried for a good-hearted laugh in response, "I really don't see why you're so upset- I mean, weren't you a part of the Commission?"

"That was in the past, and what do you mean 'you can't see why I'm upset'?! I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't think your brain has completely disintegrated!"

The lady had the audacity to snort from behind his stupid brother, pissing him off even further, "And you, what in the ever loving fuck would the Commission even want with my brother? I'm sorry to say that he wouldn't amount to much as a Commission agent-"

"I was in police academy!" Diego interjected.

Five didn't pay him any mind, "-so you might as well abandon the recruitment ship before it can sail."

The lady then suddenly laughed, as if Five's entire inner turmoil was a joke to her, "Mother was right, you really are a mouthy bastard,"

Five's eyebrow twitched in confusion, completely oblivious to who she was referencing.

The lady continues, "And rest assured, I don't think the Commission would want to keep him after this is all over. You have this moron to thank for getting us stuck out here, or well, I guess you're to blame for kickstarting the problem in the first place?"

Five's eyes snapped to Diego, startling him with the sudden eye contact, "What did you do?!"

"Woah, hey, I didn't do anything!" Diego tried to defend himself.

"He's lying. He messed with the Infinite Switchboard." The lady deadpanned.

"You WHAT?!" Five was starting to feel woozy from the shock and the blood he was steadily losing.

Diego looked unapologetic, "Don't blame me, I thought I made that machine my bitch!"

Five's face was scrunched in disappointment, he was sure. "I am truly disturbed that anyone would even let you near it in the first place."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Diego scoffed.

"It means you're a fuckin' idiot, idiot." The lady rolled her eyes as soon as she was done insulting his brother, "I'm Lila, a Commission agent. Just like you were."

Five eyed the hand she extended with all the wariness of a crooked war veteran. Did she honestly think he would ever accept a handshake from someone in the Commission? The only person he would ever accept handshakes from is the Handler, and that would always end up in disaster. He wouldn't do it then, so he definitely wouldn't do it now.

This 'Lila' seemed to get it as she withdrew her hand, "Not too fond of physical contact then."

"So can we address the literal elephant in the room?" Came Diego's loud voice, "Why's there a whole ass gargantuan corpse that could probably rival the size of my d-"

Lila slaps a hand over his mouth, "What he means to say is, we've never seen anything like it, even within the Commission's manuals."

Five felt liquid trickling down his hands now. He felt uneasy as he answered, "Me neither. It sort of just.. popped out of nowhere for these people," Five gestured for Rick to confirm his claim, which he did so with a concerned nod. "And if my theory is actually correct, there are two others that we haven't killed yet."

"Woah, what? There are two of those Satan's gigantic ballsacks still running around?" Diego squinted at the unmoving creature.

"Let's hear your theory then." Lila crossed her arms.

Five felt increasingly light headed, yet he held on. "Did you know, one of the most important principles from the Commission's manual states that 'nothing could exist without a sufficient reason for its being and existence',"

Lila nodded, "Any agent worth their two cents would always remember that."

"In this case.. a whole different universe we're currently trapped in, and those creatures that just suddenly popped into existence, we're completely at fault."

Silence hung in the air. Diego and Lila looked confused, so he took that as a stepping stone to continue, "Those creatures.. are manifestations of our supernatural energy which is native only to our homeland. We brought it here, an unfamiliar land, and we made that foreign energy exist."

Diego still looked lost, though Lila seemed to be able to follow along with his explanation, "So by that principle, nothing in this world could exist without a sufficient reason. In here, we never existed. We're basically stretching out the universe by breathing the same musty air as everyone else. We've unknowingly forced the world to carve out gaps, a reason for our existence, the absolute anomalies."

"And by doing that, it in turn has to feed off our supernatural energy to completely inaugurate themselves with us?" Lila questioned.

Five nodded in answer, "I fear that it's dead set on 'replacing' us with a version that could have existed had we existed here in the first place. This theory is backed up by the simple fact that that thing had been shamelessly vacuuming all of my supernatural energy just an hour ago, which in turn had morphed its skeletal facial features into mine."

Diego understood at once, and now he was visibly alarmed, "Does that mean we have two of those fuckers on our asses now?"

Five clutched tighter at his flank, "Yes, and I don't think we could ever hope to return to our universe if we don't start killing them off."

"So that's why the briefcase wouldn't work, it had always been strict about cleaning up after our messes." Lila murmured. "Wait. The bloody briefcase!"

"You brought a briefcase?!" Five's hope flared up immediately, it would definitely make his job way easier.

"Yeah, but we kind of left it... at a tyrant's base." Diego said sheepishly.

Rick held him as he started going sideways. What the fuck kind of problems does he have now, aside from the revelation that there is another creature after his own idiotic brother? A tyrant? In this economy? Give him a fucking break.

"Kid? Stay with me. Shit, you're losing a lot of blood, why didn't you say anything?!" Rick said, increasingly alarmed.

Dark spots danced around his vision as he passed out to the sound of people arguing.

--- ---

If Rick thought his life couldn't get any more bizarre, the brat would always come and prove him severely wrong.

They had just been fighting a gigantic 'walker' and won it, that had been unbelievable. As if that wasn't bizarre enough, one of these people started claiming to be his family! Well, he guessed that part was true judging by the familiar way they started to chat.

Then the kid just started getting real defensive when the lady next to 'Diego' said that she was from 'the Commission'? Was that a secret government organization or something?

The real confusion begun when the brat started talking about a different universe, an 'infinite switchboard', anomalies, and a bunch of supernatural theory that Rick couldn't even begin to comprehend, much less want to.

Rick noticed the kid looked a bit pale, but when hasn't he?

And then midway through a conversation about a briefcase, which was already a strange topic of conversation to be having, the kid started swaying and Rick had to physically hold him up to keep him from faceplanting to the ground.

Five passed out not long after, and Rick was internally in a panic. As he went to pick the kid up, the Diego person started protesting.

"Hey! Put my brother down, are you crazy?!"

Rick didn't budge at all. He was going to get Five some help before he bleeds out to death, so he retorts, "He's injured, and we have a nurse on site. Don't start arguing with me."

"Full offense, man, but I really don't trust you enough to be carrying my brother around like this." Diego unsheathed a knife from his pocket, which in turn made Rick go on the defensive as he pulled out his own gun.

"Hey, Five's going to bleed out at this rate you bloody morons!" The Lila lady shouted in alarm.

"But-" Diego tried to protest again, though Lila just started shouting at Rick to get a move on.

Rick easily obliged, and they were off to the path to the church.

Chapter Text

Diego didn't like him.

From the moment they'd trekked down a pathway to some musty old church, this guy has been pissing him off for a total of exactly three times.

He was acting like he knew what's best for his older-little brother, the asshole. What the hell does he know about Five?

And sure, the little shit had been missing since he'd gotten them all stranded in the 60's to avoid getting blown up by Vanya's ultra blast or whatever, but he couldn't have been missing long enough to start replacing his original family members with a bunch of random nobodies, right?

His positive thoughts were proven wrong as soon as they arrived at their destination. There were suddenly a bunch of people surrounding them, expressing words of worry or concern over his sibling as if they were tight and shit.

Now, this kind of thing would be fine and all, if it didn't make Diego feel so out of place. It's a relief to know that Five has been surrounded by people who cared enough to worry about his well-being, but the sight was foreign enough to make it uncomfortable.

When exactly was the last time he checked up on his own brother?

That realization was so sudden that he was wholly unprepared for the spontaneous guilt to come flooding in. He probably should've checked him for injuries, and he felt pretty stupid for not noticing the huge ass gash on his flank sooner.

Honestly, he was a bit uneasy at the thought of other people fretting over him, like, wasn't that supposed to be his job as a member of his real and actual family?

He meant it as a joke when he thought the cause of Five going missing was because he got tired of him and their other siblings and decided to ditch them in Dallas of all places, but now, he didn't really know what to make of it.

Had Five been missing him as much as Diego's been missing him? Yeah, he may be acting all nonchalant and shit when they finally reunited after a fuck ton of months experiencing the absence of each other, but he really does miss his brother. A lot, actually.

But of course, Five had to be a little bitch about it and not only refused his open arms, but also went off on a tangent about Lila, his beloved girlfriend. Who the hell was he supposed to ethically defend at that point?

He sort of felt shitty for defending his girlfriend over his sibling, that probably pissed his brother even more than he probably already was- but then again, when is he not?

All of these points have been leading up to a major conclusion, and a much needed one at that.

They were in urgent need of some real and actual family bonding time. With Lila, of course.

No matter how awkward that would be. But that wouldn't matter as soon as Five gets that huge stick out of his ass and starts seeing Lila as she is; an amazing, understanding girlfriend who's also amazing in other things- fuck he needs to get his head out of the gutter.