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Chapter Text

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ACT ONE

WHEN STARS BURN
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SEASON ONE—SEASON TWO

Chapter Text

"IS HE GOING TO BE OKAY?"

Her words echoed across the room, but no one moved to answer. Carl buries his head in his mother's embrace. Shane buries his head in his hands. Iris sighs, standing up to stare at her brother's limp form through the hospital window, divided by the glass that they weren't allowed to break through. Despite all of the noise of the hospital behind her, all Iris could hear was static.

It had been an hour since Iris had been alerted that Rick was in the hospital. Just some 60 minutes ago, it was that Rick had been shot on duty, a scary thought but one that Iris had always been expecting since the day that her brother had graduated from the police academy. No, now it was something far more haunting. Rick has fallen into a coma.

Iris turned around. She couldn't bear to see Rick like that, not when she couldn't force her way into that room and hold his hand like he had for her countless times as children when she had nightmares. Shane was still in his police get-up, her brother's blood still splattered on his shirt like a sick reminder. Clutched in Lori's hand was a clear sealed bag that read 'PATIENT'S BELONGINGS' with Rick's uniform, hat and radio. Her other hand was stroking a comforting, repetitive motion through Carl's short dark hair.

The twelve year old still hadn't spoken a word since Iris had walked through the doors of the sterile hospital, but he finally looks up as Iris sits down on the uncomfortable waiting room chair, wiping at his bloodshot eyes. "He's gotta be okay, Aunt Iris."

"Of course he is, buddy." Iris forces a smile, ruffling Carl's hair as her phone rings in her right pant pocket. She let out a groan before turning to Lori apologetically. "Sorry, I've gotta take this. It's Opal."

Opal was her boss, an eccentric older lady who wore copious amounts of purple and dress jewellery, who reminded Iris a lot of Ms. Darbus without the musical theatre obsession. She ran a small seamstress business in the middle of Atlanta that had started off small and only for her friends until the work grew too much for her and she hired Iris, who was fresh out of high school with no idea what to do with her life. With Iris' help, they had set up a website and joined social media under the handle of  OpalsPatching and business started booming, enough that Opal could retire, or in her terms, limit her working hours to fixing clothes at home and leaving Iris essentially in charge of the shop. She liked it that way, the shop was comforting and secure, and she had made a lot of good friends with the older ladies who she fixed dresses and skirts for, and they always brought her little chocolates and flowers as gifts. Iris had hired extra people since Opal had begun to stitch from home, she was trusted enough to run the shop however she thought was right.

Most importantly, she'd become a co-owner of a business, managed the money, the employees, and it's social media without going to college and getting a business degree like her father had always wanted for her.

Opal started talking as soon as Iris flipped her phone open, not giving her the chance to answer the call or fully make it to the hallway before exclaiming loudly. "Honey, is everything okay? Doris got to chattin' to me in the grocery store and she told me that she walked past the shop and you'd closed up early!"

Despite the situation, Iris felt a small smile tug at her lips at Opal's sweetness. It was so much like the old lady to call with concern and not with a reprimand. "Yeah, Opal, I'm okay. Sorry, there was a family emergency. Rick's been shot."

An exclamation down the phone. "Oh, doll, that's awful! Don't you worry about the shop, I'll get Frankie from the Convenience down the block to post a sign on the door getting people to drop their clothes off to me, you take all the time you need."

"Oh no, Opal, it's okay. I hired Jess and Natalie a couple months ago to handle things when I'm not there, remember?" Iris was not going to let Opal take on any extra work now that her arthritis had flared up. Jess and Natalie were sweet girls, both in Senior Year of High School and worked a lot of weekends for Iris. They couldn't actually handle much alone, but Iris wasn't going to disclose that to Opal. "I'll close up tomorrow, I can visit Rick in the morning."

Opal hums. "As long as that's what you want, sweetness. I'll send Doris down to check on you tomorrow, she's still got good enough legs."

Iris let out a breathy laugh. "I appreciate that." She leans her head against the wall, a sigh replacing the laugh as the panic sinks in her mind again. A doctor makes his way past her, dressed in the typical blue scrubs and pushing through the door that led to Iris' family. Iris kicks herself off of the wall, peeking through the window and watching him walk towards Shane and Lori, the latter of which held on to Carl like a lifeline. "Hey, Opal, I gotta go."

Opal gave her goodbyes and well wishes, and Iris tucks her phone back in her jean pocket, walking through the heavy hospital doors. She walks straight to her sister-in-law, who always felt to Iris like a real sister, as Lori had married into their family when Iris was nine and Carl had been born when she was ten. Lori gave her a reassuring smile as she found her place, still listening to the doctor who was giving his update on Rick's condition.

"The surgery was successful but Mr. Grimes had a delayed emergence from the general anesthesia which has developed into a coma. Currently, we cannot provide an estimate to how long Mr. Grimes will be asleep." The doctor says, keeping his tone professional and cool. Lori gasps and sits down on the chair behind her, massaging her temples. Iris puts her hand on Carl's shoulders, looking between Lori and Shane with trepidation.

"What can we expect?" Shane asks, harshly but in a manner that could be excused given the circumstances. Shane was someone else who Iris had known for a long time: he was already best friends with Rick, both in the fifth grade when Iris was born and it was almost like she had two older brothers rather than just one. Therefore, she knew that Shane had a tendency to be impulsive and let his decisions be swayed by his strong opinions in a way that strangers could get intimidated by.

Doctors probably faced a lot of hostility in their field and the man in scrubs wasn't swayed by Shane's question, nor when he stood up and stepped closer to him. "It can be hard to predict how Mr. Grimes will react to the medication we have given him. Perhaps in a few days we can provide a more accurate timeline of his coma, but we are in the early stages."

Shane looks like he wants to say something back, his mouth hanging open but he clearly thinks better of it, backing up and shaking his head. Iris follows his gaze to her brother in his hospital bed, who still hadn't moved since she'd walked through those doors. The doctor hesitated, looking at Carl who had been incredibly brave as he waited for news on his father. "Unfortunately, until Mr. Grimes does stabilize more, we are unable to let anyone under the age of sixteen in to visit him."

Carl's eyes widen. "What?"

"Carl's his son." Lori exclaims, her grip on her son tightening protectively.

"I understand this is difficult." The doctor rationalises, holding out a passive hand. "And your son will be allowed in to visit his father. After he has stabilized."

"How long will that take?" Iris asks, biting her cheek in sympathy for Carl, who wouldn't understand why he wasn't allowed in to see Rick while he was sleeping.

"We really don't know." The doctor repeats. "A couple of days is our best bet."

"A couple of days?" Lori asks, running a hand through her long brown hair. "How am I supposed to-"

"It's okay, Lor." Shane interrupts. Iris whips her head around to look at him with a raised eyebrow that he couldn't see below her thick blonde fringe. "You go in. I'll take Carl."

"We can allow two adults in the room at once." The doctor informs. "Not too many at a time because of the heavy machinery in the room."

Iris sighs. Carl looked like he was about to burst into tears and Shane was not very good at dealing with upset children. Lori was on the brink of a panic attack, unable to even look into the room where Rick was unconscious. Iris picks up her backpack from where she'd dropped it on the floor and slung it around her shoulder. "No, it's okay. You two go in and see him. I'll watch Carl for the night, okay?"

"Iris.." Shane starts, but Iris holds her hand up.

"No, you saw it happen, you should go in and see him. I'll swing by before work tomorrow. I'll take care of Carl, you take care of Lori, yeah?" Iris says, flashing Shane a sad but reassuring smile.

Shane takes a moment to consider it, but ultimately nods. "Yeah. Yeah."

"Yeah." Iris echoes, taking Carl by the shoulders and guiding him away from Lori. Before she leaves with him, she embraces Lori into a hug. "He'll be okay with me."

"I know." Lori whispers. "Thank you."

"Come on, Carl." Iris says. "Pizza party at my place, how does that sound?"

Carl considers it. "Can we get enough so we can have leftovers for breakfast?"

"Yeah!" Iris exclaims, ruffling his hair. Lori shakes her head, and Iris sucks on her teeth. "Ah. I meant no. Sorry, buddy." But the second that Iris and Carl leave the room, she grins, leaning down as she walks. "Just don't tell your mom."

Carl was a growing boy, and the dent in Iris' wallet after he was through with the pizza order was proof enough of his bottomless stomach. But Iris didn't mind if it meant her nephew's mind was being taken off of his father and his coma. Plus, she really loved pizza.

The thought of Rick not waking up anytime soon weighed heavily on her soul, but she was trying to be upbeat and cheerful for Carl's sake. She had a reserve of old comic books in her apartment that she picked up from odd stores here and there for him and that she left in her spare room whenever Carl crashed there. Ever since she'd gotten her own place three years ago, Carl had stayed with her a lot, but his interests were starting to evolve from that of a little kid to a teenager, and Iris didn't want to lose her place as the 'cool aunt'. Which is how her spare room became full of comic books and old video games she thifted.

"Pizza will be here in 20." Iris says, flopping onto her couch next to Carl who was twiddling with his thumbs and staring at her honeycomb patterned wallpaper. "Hey. Talk to me."

Carl sighs. "Is dad gonna die?"

"What? No. No." Iris shuffles closer to Carl, speaking firmly but not intimidating (not that she could ever really intimidate Carl who always felt like more of her kid brother than her nephew). "He's gonna wake up, Carl."

"How do you know that?" Carl asks, squinting his eyes and avoiding her gaze.

"I don't know it." Iris says. "But I believe it. Your dad is too stubborn to die."

"That's not true. Monica from English class took a week off of school because her dad died in the fifth grade. She said that her mom told her that her dad was stubborn." Carl spoke in a low tone. "And he died anyway."

Iris closes her eyes. How do you even comfort a twelve year old when their dad has been shot? When he's in a coma?

"I know." She settled on. "But your dad is a fighter, Carl. The surgery was successful. His body just needs to recover from the stress. He's going to wake up, you have to believe it. He'd want you to believe it."

"I'm trying to." Carl's voice broke and tears spilled down his reddened cheeks.

"Oh, Carl." Iris coos, embracing the boy tightly, forcing her own tears at bay. "It'll all be okay."

She didn't let go of Carl for a while, letting him cry it out because it was important that he felt safe enough with her. After she felt Carl's sobs subside a little, she let go, rubbing a tear away from his flushed face and giving him a kind smile. "I picked up The Incredible Hulk from Goodwill yesterday. You wanna watch it with pizza?"

Carl nods. "Yeah, I'd like that, Aunt Iris."

"Nice." Iris ruffles his hair, standing up to grab the movie. "Hey, turn on the DVD player and we'll load this baby up."

Carl nods, standing up and doing what he was asked. "I thought you didn't understand The Incredible Hulk?"

"I don't!" Iris exclaims, dropping to her knees and placing the DVD into the player. "I mean, why is he green? Why is he so angry? Is that how gamma radiation even works?" She says dramatically. "But, I'll watch the most confusing movie on earth for you, Carl. Because I'm the cool aunt."

To her relief, Carl lets out a laugh. "You are the cool aunt."

"Hey, I'll remind you of that when you're a teenager and you hate everything." Iris grins. The doorbell rings, and she jumps up. "Pizza's here. Hey, maybe the pizza guy will understand the nuances of The Incredible Hulk."

Iris swings the door open, smiling at the pizza delivery guy who was holding far too much pizza than two people needed. She sucks on her teeth at the sight of it. "How much do I owe ya?"

"Uh- thirty bucks." The pizza man says, still holding the pizzas in his hand. He looked young, probably around Iris' age, with an awkward smile on his face. He had a baseball cap with the company logo on it despite the fact that it was evening and the sun had already started to go down. "You hosting a party?"

Iris hands the cash over, with an extra five dollars for a tip. She lets out a puff of air. "Nah. Just a twelve year old nephew who's really hungry. And watches confusing superhero movies."

The pizza guy nods. "Ah, I see. Perils of babysitting a tween."

"Yeah." Iris agrees, taking the pizza and balancing the boxes in her hands. "It's a tough life, huh?"

He paused for a moment, still clutching the bills in his hand before he shakes out of it. "Did you need anything else?"

"Just an answer as to why the Hulk only turns into a big green monster when he's angry." Iris jokes, but her face falls at her very poor attempt. "Um- nothing. We're all good. Thank you."

Just as Iris shuts the door, the guy speaks just loud enough for her to hear. "It's... gamma radiation."

Iris smirks.

"Hey, Carl, the pizza guy did understand the nuances of The Incredible Hulk!"

"Aunt Iris, tell me you didn't ask the pizza guy about The Incredible Hulk!"

Carl wasn't going to school the next day, for obvious reasons. He still wasn't allowed to see Rick as he hasn't stabilised enough to let minors into the room. But Lori came by to pick Carl up, not even tutting at the half eaten pizza slice in his hand, leaving Iris open to go to the hospital and visit her big brother.

She hovered outside the door to Rick's room, already spotting his lifeless form attached to the machines, breathing artificially through a tube. Her hand shakes as she grips the metal door handle, trying to force herself to open the door. She bites her lip as she stands there, crumbling like an ancient statue, not even able to bring herself to walk into the room where her brother lay, hurt and unconscious.

To tell the truth, Iris had her own reasons for volunteering to take Carl for the night, for letting Lori and Shane sit with Rick first. She did not want to see Rick. It was selfish and wrong and wretched of her, but the thought of sitting next to Rick while he was unresponsive made her throat tighten until it was hard to breathe. Yet Rick had been her rock through everything. Her big brother, her protector, the person who she ran to as a child when she was afraid of the dark or her nightmares or the noises that the trees made in the window outside her bedroom. But Iris couldn't even do something so simple as sitting at his bedside when he needed her. She'd never been so afraid in her life.

She ran a hand through her thick, tangled blonde curls that she hadn't bothered to brush that morning, and was definitely regretting now that her bangs were in her eyes. People were walking in blurs all around her, visiting their own sick family members with more strength than Iris could ever show. She lets out a heavy exhale, closing her eyes for a moment before she finally pushes the door open and walks towards Rick's bed.

Rick still didn't move, but Iris wasn't sure what she was expecting from him. To pounce up, declare this all as a stupid practical joke and breathe and talk to her. But he didn't talk.

Iris runs her hands over her face. "Fine. You don’t wanna talk. I will. I'll talk."

Rick makes no movement, no sign that he was listening, but Iris kept speaking anyway. "I hate that you're in here, Rick. I hate it. And I don't know if you're listening, but god I hope you're in there somewhere. Because it's not fair. You're good. You're a good person. You're better than me. You're better than Mom, than Dad, than Shane. You always have been, Rick. And I hate, I hate myself for thinking it but sometimes I wish you weren't so good, that you didn't try to help everyone all of the time. That you didn't get shot because you signed up to the police academy because you wanted to help people."

Iris wipes a stray tear from her eyes, not straying her sight from Rick."Because it's not fair. You have people who need you. Lori needs you. Carl needs you. I need you." Her voice breaks. "I need you and I can barely even work up the courage to see you when you're hurt. And I'm so mad that you got yourself shot because goddamnit, can't you see that we need you? I can't navigate this world without you, Rick."

"But I'm not really mad. Not at you. I couldn't." Iris grabs Rick's hand, stroking it as a comfort to both her and hopefully Rick. "You are strong, Rick. You're stronger than you know, you're stronger than me . I know you can get through this. So just wake up. Okay. Wake up, Rick."

She gently places his hand back on his chest, wiping the tears that had started to fall like raindrops. "Just come back to me and tell me that everything is going to be okay. I'm not strong enough to believe it myself."

Iris buries her face in her hands.

The closing shift at Opal's shop was usually something that Iris enjoyed. It was quiet enough that she could sit and watch the sun set over the horizon, or watch the people in the streets and play guessing games about their lives. Usually she had a couple pieces of clothing that she had piled up next to her that she set to sewing (typically old clothes that had holes or wear and tear that Iris usually fixed by patching together different strips of fabric). She'd even started to use scrap pieces of fabric to sew together a blanket for Opal, which was a side project for when things got slow. Which was often on the closing shift.

Today, Iris wasn't feeling particularly creative. She had the stitch and needle in her hands, mindlessly playing with them as she stared out into nothingness. There were quite a lot of people outside, an odd bustle around the streets for a Thursday night, but Iris wasn't paying much attention to them like she typically did. If she was, she perhaps would've noticed how the people outside seemed to be walking aimlessly, and she would've shut the door that she left open because she liked to feel the breeze.

She had a pile of clothes that needed repairs right next to her that she was willfully ignoring. She supposed that her regulars would let her off considering that her brother was in the ICU, which just became something else she was being selfish over. These people needed their clothes. Still, Iris didn't make any move to pick up the first one on the pile.

The infrequent noise of the old fashioned bell on the door rings out, the little ding uncommon enough this late at night that it piqued Iris' interest. She was hidden behind the shelves that contained all of the sewing supplies, but she forced herself to jump up and greet her late night customer.

"Hey, welcome in. How can I..." Iris tailed off as she gets a good look at the woman who had entered. Her polite smile drops slightly as the woman stumbles, her eyes looking oddly milky as if they had rolled to the back of her head. "Oh my god, Ma'am, are you okay?"

The woman doesn't reply. Iris feels her heart racing. She backs up, scrambling for her phone as she flipped it open and called 911.

"This is an automated message. The 911 lines are busy at the moment. Please call back. This is an automated message. The  911 lines are-"

"How the heck is 911 unavailable!?" Iris exclaims, throwing her phone down. "Okay, miss, sit down. I'll get you some water."

The woman didn't respond. Instead, she took a step closer. Iris took a step back. She feels her voice come out like a pathetic whimper. "Miss. Please stay back."

That was when Iris spotted the massive chunk of flesh missing from the woman's leg, the hole in her pants showing the exposed tendons and the spots of blood she left in her wake. Iris' eyes widen but the woman doesn't slow. She bares her teeth, suddenly breaking into a run and tackling Iris onto the shelves behind her, which shatters on her back. The pain was blinding but the adrenaline kept her going.

She used everything she could. Kicked, screamed, used her hands to push the woman's head back from her attempt to bite and scratch her. 

Is this how I die?

The woman was relentless, trying to grab at Iris' face but Iris let out a primal scream and forced the woman off. Crawling backwards, Iris does everything to get away but the woman was like a rabid dog, pouncing on her again. Panic filled Iris' system and she gasps out for breath whipping her head around as she attempts to find something she can use.

Finally, sent like an object from the heavens, she spots a pair of sewing scissors that had fallen on the floor from the woman smashing the shelves. Iris twists and contorts her body, stretching her arm out in a pitiless attempt to reach the scissors. Iris screams out as the woman's spit reaches her face, but she doesn't give up trying to reach for the scissors. Her fingertips graze the edge of the black handle.

And then Iris smashed the scissors into the woman's skull, letting out sobs as the blood splattered all over her face. The woman drops  dead on top of her, and Iris feels herself hyperventilating as she scrambles to get the body off of her.

Oh my god oh god oh god she just killed someone she killed someone there's a body on the floor the blood is all over her.

Iris crawls backwards until she hits the crushed shelves, sobs shaking her entire body as she makes a grab for her phone, the blood on her hands staining the numbers.

This is an automated message. The 911 lines are-

"Shit!" Iris yells, holding onto her hair so tight she was surprised it didn't rip out. The dead woman on the floor didn't move, but her milky eyes were open, lifelessly staring at her with conviction. "Oh my god."

Iris couldn't look at her. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't see anything except for the blood staining the floor, her hands, her face. This was a woman who had a life, a name, friends, family, a job, hopes, dreams. And now she was dead. Iris' favourite pair of scissors were driven into her skull.

The bell to the door dinged again.

Iris felt her heart stop as she looked up. All she could hear were uneven footsteps.

An equally unnerving groan. 

It was a man.

A man who stumbled into the shop and immediately locked his milky eyes onto hers.

Iris tilts her head, refusing to even blink. What was this? Some kind of disease? She didn't move, watching the man to see if he'd react like the woman. Very, very slowly, she scooted forward and grabs the handle to her scissors, wincing as she pulls it out of the dead woman's head, the blood oozing from the hole in her brain.

The man pounces.

Iris doesn't let him take her down before she drives the blade into his heart and makes sure to pull it out this time.

"What the hell is going on!" She screams to herself, hot tears running down her cheeks as her dead body problem multiples by two.

She'd killed the man without hesitation.

Iris falls to her knees as the realisation sinks in, her fingers turning white from her grip on the scissors. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know what's happening."

Step. Step. Step step. Step.

There were more coming.

Whatever they were.

Iris turns around, getting to her feet as she shakes her fringe from her eyes. She counted five more of them. All stumbling towards her and thrashing their limbs to get to her. She lets out a scream. She had never been so terrified in her life.

There was a hand gripping onto her leg.

Iris yelps, stamping down blindly on the hand until she turns around and realises it was the man.

The one she had just stabbed in the heart.

"How the hell are you alive!?" Iris screams, backing up in utter terror.

The milky eyed people started to swarm the shop, and Iris took out as many as possible, but the shock was setting in and she was losing her edge. Her entire body was starting to shake and her grip loosened. One of them grabbed her from behind and Iris could feel the drool dripping on her shoulder as he prepared to bite down on her.

But he never did.

A knife went down onto the man's head, and Iris could feel the force of him being pulled away from her. All around her, the remaining milky eyed people had been killed, leaving her shop the place of a slaughter. Her shop, the one that she helped build into something so beautiful, had been stained forever.

"Hey? Hello? We gotta go."

Iris barely heard the voice behind her, but she knew it came from one of the people who had saved her life. She wiped the blood from around her eyes and turned around to look over her saviour for the first time. It takes a split second but her eyes light up in recognition.

Chapter Text

"IT'S YOU!" IRIS EXCLAIMS, HER MOUTH HANGING OPEN AS SHE STARES AT THE PIZZA DELIVERY GUY.

"What?" He responds, a frown on his face that he shakes away as quickly as it had formed. "We've gotta get out of here, now."

"You- you delivered my pizza!" Iris exclaims, taking a shaky step back but realising that she was hastily going in the direction of the bodies in her shop and took another step forward. "Incredible Hulk? Gamma radiation?"

"What?" Iris' attention was drawn to the man that was with the delivery guy, exclaiming out loud. He was Black whereas the pizza delivery guy was Korean, and they were both looking on guard around them as they clutched their weapons in their fists.

"Yeah. Yeah. That was me." The delivery guy says hastily. "I can't believe you remember- no, stop, we don't have time for this. We have to move."

"No. Hold on. Hold on." Iris holds a hand out, desperate to catch her breath and her bearings. "Someone explain to me why the hell I was just attacked by people with weird eyes who can't die!"

"Do you really want to stay here out in the open while we ponder the existence of these things!?" The other man says, already turning on his heels. "We're looking for Opal. I'm trying to drive all of the elderly out of here!"

Iris' eyes widen. Opal. "She's- she's not here. She hasn't worked in this store for a year and a half now. She's retired, so I helped her take over. She's at home."

"Goddamnit." The man exhales, his arms falling limply to his sides.

Iris felt a pang of sympathy for him, knowing what it was to be close to the older generation and to watch this happen. If it wasn't because the world had imploded, it was for a million other reasons. "I'm sorry. It's just me."

"We've been trying to find as many of them as possible." The delivery guy says, holding his hands to the baseball cap on his head. "We haven't found one."

The other man looks out of the window, and Iris could see his closed eyes in the reflection. "There are more coming. So many more. We have to move. Are you with us?"

Iris runs her fingers through her hair, trying to control her shaking hands as the idea sinks into her head. There were more coming.

There were more coming, and she had no idea where Lori and Carl were.

There were more coming, and Rick was in a coma.

There were more coming, and she needed to get her head on her shoulders.

There were more coming, and she was in Opal's tailor shop.

"Hold on." She mutters, stepping over the dead man on her floor. "I'm coming, just give me a minute."

"What are you doing?" The delivery man asks, taking a step forward as if to follow her.

"Glenn..." The other man warns, taking a step back towards the exit.

Iris ignores them both and makes a dash for Opal's safe, punching in the code (4321, to Iris' dismay) revealing the contents inside. She empties it out, walking back to the boys as she picks up her backpack, stuffing some stitching and her red handled scissors inside before chucking it over her back.

She could feel the panic rising in her system, but she forces herself to swallow and get on with it. She couldn't afford to falter right now, she had to find Lori and Carl and get to Rick. If these things were everywhere, then they were in danger.

"You've got a gun." The delivery guy, who the other man with them had called Glenn, remarks. Iris wasn't sure if it was a statement or a question, but she answered anyway.

"I thought we might need it." She replies, taking in a heavy breath. And she knew how to shoot it, too. Rick had taught her the moment he'd gotten his badge, and she was a quick learner. "You got pockets?"

He nods, and Iris tosses him her extra bullets. "Take care of them."

"Hey, hey, what's your name?" Glenn asks, pocketing the spare bullets and clutching hold of his knife tightly.

"Iris."  She replies, bringing her blonde hair up into a ponytail to get it out of her face, willfully ignoring the blood streaks over it. "Iris Grimes."

Glenn nods. "I'm Glenn, this is T-Dog." He pointed towards the other man, who was starting to look very antsy. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm coming." Iris rationalised that Glenn and T-Dog were her best chance at finding Lori and Carl. If they were the type of men to run around the city trying to rescue the elderly, then they must be good people.

She followed the two men out of the shop, stepping out into the Georgia heat for the first time in a changed world. She forces herself to take a moment as the world spins around her.

Those things were everywhere. Covering every street corner, snarling and smashing into walls, wandering aimlessly. There were two of them on top of a screaming woman, ripping out her neck in a sickening display of brutality. There were human organs lying in the street, and Iris watched as one of the non-humans tackled a running man to the ground. And the smell. It was grotesque, like the stench of a serial killer's basement, and it totally overwhelmed her senses.

"Oh my god." She breathes out, her own voice sounding foreign to her ears. "Oh my god."

"We're exposed." Glenn says, approaching her carefully as her eyes filled with tears that never fell. "We have to get to the van."

Carl.

"No." Iris barely registers her own voice as it leaves her mouth. "My nephew. His house is that way."

She catches Glenn and T-Dog sharing a glance, but she takes a step forward, in the opposite direction of the van. She needed to save her family. How could she live with herself if she didn't try?

"Iris..." Glenn says, and she can sense the protest on his breath.

"Glenn, there's no time." T-Dog grabs ahold of his arm, but Glenn shrugs him off.

"Just hold on a second. Just give her a second."

Iris breaks out into a run, but the moment she rounds the corner of a building, she trips and lands on her knees, using her hands to break her fall.

It was a leg.

She tripped over a leg.

In front of her was at least fifty of the non-humans who locked their milky white eyes on her.

Iris let out a scream, scrambling up despite her grazed knees. Her heart was racing faster than it had ever raced in her life, it felt like it was about to explode. Glenn had her by the elbow, pulling her up and dragging her away. "Iris. They're blocking the path. We have to go to the van."

Iris let Glenn pull her away, despite the roar in her soul that felt like she was failing Carl by not chasing after him. She lets out the tiniest whimper but she finds her legs and manages to run without Glenn dragging her.

T-Dog's van wasn't too far away, and he already had his keys out, clicking the button and practically ripping the driver's door open. Glenn slides the door to the back open, a hand on Iris' back as he half pushes, half helps her on the seat. Iris lies down, catching her breath as she buries her face on the brown leather seat.

As Glenn runs around to the passenger side of the van, narrowly avoiding one of the dead not dead things and slams the door shut. The three of them take a couple of moments in the safety of the car, breathing out in unison.

Iris sits up, resting her arms on the seat in front of her as she looks between Glenn and T-Dog, two strangers who had saved her life. "What now?"

Glenn turns around, his face partially shadowed by his cap. "We get the hell out of Atlanta."

T-Dog steps on the gas and floors it.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

It seemed that every person in Atlanta wanted to get out of the city. The line of cars on the highway was miles long, stretching way ahead of them and way behind them.

"How many cars are there?" Iris murmurs, lifting her head from where it was resting. She had spent the last two hours with these two strangers who weren't exactly strangers anymore, and her tears had dried and blossomed into a shaky solidarity with the two men in the front seat.

"Too many." T-Dog sighs, playing with his hands on the steering wheel. They hadn't moved in an hour, and he'd called it half an hour ago, turning off the engine. All around them, people had left their cars, walking ahead or setting up tents. Either way, no car was getting through this blockage.

"Everyone's got the same idea." Glenn licks his lips in defeat, looking between T-Dog and Iris with his body twisted to the side to see both of them. "Anyone packing any snacks? I'm starving."

"Nah, man." T-Dog replies, squinting his eyes as he watches ahead. "Wish I did."

Iris swings her bag off of her back, unzipping it and rifling through the blood covered scissors and her thread to find what she had originally packed in there. No snacks. A book, a little pouch where she kept her essential hygiene stuff, her keys, spare paper...

And her most precious belonging.

She thumbs it carefully, stroking the cool metal in her hands. It was tightly secured to the lanyard in her bag, which usually took residence in her bedroom, but she had so happened to put it in her bag the night before because one of Opal's friends had asked to see it. It was strange, fate.

"What's that?" Glenn asks, catching the shimmer even as dusk fell over them.

"Oh, it's a pin." Iris says softly, flipping it over in her hands to show Glenn. "It's in the shape of a  flower wreath, made of gold metal. It was made in 1809."

"It's pretty." Glenn nods, watching as Iris fiddles with it. "It looks important to you."

"Well, it's from my grandmother." Iris explains with a shy smile. "She got it as a present from her father when she was thirteen, and she gave it to me on my thirteenth birthday. It's supposed to bless you with eternal life, but the tradition is that you gift it to the ones you love to pass on the blessing. It's been in my family for a long time. "

Iris couldn't think about the fact that she may be the last person left in her family now that the world had suddenly ended. She couldn't stomach the thought of Lori or Carl or Shane becoming one of those things. And god forbid if she lost Rick. The hospital had to be the safest place for him, it had to be. They probably evacuated him and the other patients first, to whatever refugee site they had started to set up.

There was an uneasy silence hovering over them, interrupted only by the noises of the distressed people in the cars all around them. In the quiet, Iris couldn't stop her burning thoughts from racing. "Hey, do you think the government is prepping a refugee camp for us?"

"I don't think they're that organised." T-Dog replies, a defeated air to his words. "I think it's up to us now."

Iris bites her cheek. "But they'd evacuate the hospitals, surely?"

"If not the government, but the doctors." Glenn swings his head round to catch her downfallen expression. "You got family in hospital?"

"My brother. He's in a coma." Iris whispers.

"I'm sorry." Glenn says, and Iris can tell he doesn't think Rick will make it. "All of my family is home in Michigan."

"I'm sorry." She echoes, an entire world's worth of grief and loss planting itself firmly on her shoulders.

"What do you think they are?" T-Dog asks, breaking through the tension like a well meaning breeze on a cool winter's night. Iris and Glenn share a look, their anxious faces softening for just a moment, neither of them sure of the answer. When his question had hung in the air for too long, T-Dog spoke again. "Think it's some sort of disease?"

"I don't know." Glenn looks through the windscreen of the stuffy van despite the fact that night had very quickly fallen. "Even if it is, they're dangerous. We did what we had to."

None of them liked the thought that they had killed people who were just sick.

"I got one right in the heart." Iris admits, pressing her chapped lips together. "And he stood right up like nothing had even happened. He should've been dead. I don't think they're just sick people. I think they're dead people."

That revelation hung in the air.

"We can't stay here." Glenn decides, speaking rapidly as if mimicking his beating heart. "These cars aren't going anywhere. All it takes is one person to be bitten or whatever it is causing them to turn will spread like wildfire. We're sitting ducks."

"We can't abandon the van." T-Dog rationalises, his eyes widening as big as plates. "Where are we supposed to go?"

The hairs on the back of Iris' back stand up as she hears a distant swooshing sound in the sky. She scrambles to the window of the van, her heart almost stopping as she registers exactly what's happening. "Guys..."

"We can't stay here either." Glenn was still speaking to T-Dog in a hushed but urgent tone.

"Guys."

"We'd be no better off on foot." T-Dog argues back. "We have shelter, safety here."

"Guys!" Iris yells, finally catching the attention of the two men in front of her. Rather than explain, the words dying on her throat as an apple sized lump begins to form, she opens the door of the van despite their protests and stumbles out of the van, the cool air smacking her in the face but she didn't dare rip her gaze away from the sky.

"Airplanes." Glenn says, the moment he gets out of the van and follows her line of sight.

"What are they doing?" T-Dog asks, as they speed over their heads and fly towards the city. "Are they evacuating people?"

Iris wraps her arms around herself, watching with bated breath. Maybe they were extracting hospital patients who were too helpless to get themselves out. Maybe there was some hope for Rick.

The planes started to spray a sickening amount of white, smokey gas over the city. Everyone on the highway froze, like Roman statues forced to watch their city burn down in ruins, unable to do anything but stand in their grand poses as the world crumbled down around them.

The scream left Iris' mouth before she could even process what the gas meant.

"They're dropping Napalm on the streets!" Glenn chokes out, holding his hands to his cap, but unable to rip his eyes away from the picture ahead of them.

Iris felt the hot tears pour down her cheeks, breathing out heavily as she watched the display of defeat, of the abandonment of the people by the army. If there was anyone left, they would surely be dead.

But that's what the army wanted.

They'd set out to kill their own people.

"You were right." T-Dog grips the straps of his backpack, taking a step backwards. "We have to move. On foot."

Glenn nods, but Iris can't look away from the planes over the sky. The bag on her back weighed her down, despite the few things that were inside. Those few things were all she had left in the world. Her bag and the clothes on her back. The pin that she still clutched in her hand.

Eternal life.

What a colossal lie.

"Iris."

She could hear her name being uttered but it felt as if she were underwater. She could hear everything around her increase by tenfold like a roar in her ears, as if her blood pressure was at an explosive level, taunting her mind and making her vision swim. There were children crying, adults crying, horns honking, and the goddamn planes over the skies screaming bloody murder over the dying city.

"Hey. Iris."

Glenn's light and unsure touch on her arm brings Iris back to her senses with a sharp gasp, dropping her grandmother's pin on the floor from the shock of it. It twists and collides with the concrete, but Glenn leans down and holds it delicately in his hands, holding it out.

"Thanks." Iris murmurs, their fingers brushing for a split second as she takes the pin back, turning it around between her fingers. She brushes her thumb over the golden flowers before putting it back in her bag, safe.

"We need to move." T-Dog says, nodding in respect to Glenn and Iris. "It's just us now."

Iris takes one more look out to the city. The sorrow she felt in her soul was monumental, overwhelming her with grief and anguish. But there was no time to wallow. There was no time to mourn. There was no time to do anything except survive.

"Yeah." She says, tightening the straps over her back until it felt close to crushing her. "We should walk ahead, try and figure out if there's a way forward from here."

Glenn and T-Dog both nod, making sure they had all of their supplies from the church van. Glenn taps the bullets in his pants pocket. "You want these back?"

Iris took hold of the handgun that was safely secured to her belt, catching the way Glenn's eyes followed the weapon in awe. She slides the magazine off. No bullets missing. She looks back at Glenn, shrugging. If she's stuck with these guys, she may as well trust them.  "Keep ahold of them. Don't need 'em yet."

Glenn looks pleased. "Oh. Okay. Cool."

Iris, Glenn and T-Dog start their walk, looping through the stopped cars and the people who were inside, all who had lived their own lives, their own dreams and hopes and memories, all to end up in the same place in the end. Some of them had food, sitting in the trunks of their cars and sharing out what they had left. Iris didn't even realise how hungry she was until her stomach let out a large growl.

"We need to find food." T-Dog voices Iris' thoughts exactly, his footsteps starting to slow.

"We're on the highway." Glenn points out. "There's not exactly a Walmart close to here."

"Well, maybe we can-" Iris' words are cut off when a low, snarling growl from the other side of an RV gets louder, along with the yelps and pleas of a man that Iris couldn't spot from her position. "Shit."

She moves closer, despite Glenn and T-Dog voicing their protests, holding her gun steady as she crept forward.

"Wait." T-Dog steps in front of her, and just when Iris thinks he's going to try and stop her from saving the man, he pulls a knife from his belt. "Not with the gun. There are kids around."

Iris nods, letting T-Dog take the lead. She makes sure Glenn is close, she'd be damned if she got split up from her only allies. T-Dog hides behind the corner, waiting for his moment. With his knife ready, he pounces and kills the dead not dead human and throws it to the floor. Iris moves over and holds a hand to the shoulder of the man. He was old, with grey hair and his hands hanging loosely on the doors of his RV. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." He replies, nodding and standing himself up. "Thank you. I was trying to get a look of what was happening."

"Nothing good." Glenn says, leaning against the RV. "The city's in ruins."

The old man closes his eyes, taking a moment before speaking. "The angels weep for us."

"Yeah." Iris agrees. "It's the end of the goddamn world."

The man gives her an odd look, which she could've sworn held a remnant of a grin. "Well, I've never been one to turn away a good person in need of help. You three don't look like you have a vehicle. Or a meal."

"We don't." Glenn says. "We've been on foot for the past hour."

"Well, my name is Dale." The old man holds out his hand for Glenn to shake. "I've already picked up two sisters who needed help, so it's a little cramped, but I'm plenty stocked on food. Come on in, all three of you."

Iris smiles, looking at Glenn and T-Dog who had similar relieved expressions on their faces. "I'm Iris. This is Glenn, that's T-Dog. We can't thank you enough, really. We were seriously getting worried about our lack of food."

Dale nods in solidarity at her, a kind smile on his eyes. "Well, the three of you better come on in, then."

Chapter Text

ANDREA AND AMY HAD A BIG AGE GAP.

Twelve years, to be exact. Andrea was older, thirty six years old to Amy's twenty four. They were both born in Florida, a far ride from the sticky state of Georgia, where Amy went to college. Was currently going to college. Andrea was a civil rights lawyer, visiting her sister after years of distance, the kind of distance that can only be created by a big age gap between siblings, when the whole end of the world thing happened.

Amy was pretty talkative.

She spoke about her major, her college friends, her friends from home, her parents, the fishing trips that her dad took her on. But she avoids talking about the age gap.

A sore spot, Iris assumed.

She could understand, of course. She was born ten years after Rick and had spent her entire childhood watching him grow up ahead of her. Graduation, marriage, kids, a career. Though in Iris' case, she was closer to Rick than she was to her own parents. When she had nightmares, it was Rick's room that she ran into, it was Rick that she found comfort in. She was a sensitive kid and was scared of everything ― the dark, thunderstorms, the monsters under her bed that were out to get her.

Turns out the true monsters weren't hiding under her childhood bed. They were hiding inside all of them.

But Rick had never strayed far, even after he'd met Lori and moved away from home (never far, always a walk away.) It was like Iris had a second home, a second father figure and an older brother figure all wrapped into one.

It was different for Andrea and Amy.

Iris tried not to feel bitter about that.

Andrea and Amy had grown up leagues apart, strangers by any definition of the word. Andrea had missed Amy's birthday parties, graduations, proms...

And they were together now.

They all spoke about their families: Glenn's older sisters back in Michigan, T-Dog's grandmother who he drove to church in the van they'd abandoned, Dale's late wife who had inspired him to take his RV on a road trip. Iris spoke about Rick, about Carl and Lori and Shane.

No one mentioned that they'd probably never see any of their families ever again.

Despite their earlier urge to get off of this highway as soon as possible, the three of them found that they couldn't pass up the warmth of the RV. Or the food. Or the solidarity.

They hadn't moved in a while, but it was a better standstill than the one in the church van. The RV came with a certain feeling of safety, and however misguided that was for their situation, they all needed a chance to feel safe.

If Rick's house wasn't an option, then Iris was glad to find some sort of security in the kindness of the strangers around her. Things had quietened down from the steady chatter that turned the strangers to acquaintances and even friends.

Dale was still in the driver's seat, moving his hands up and down the wheel, undeterred by the fact that no one was moving. His RV was stocked, but it wouldn't last the night. Something had to be done, and fast.

"What if I drive into the woods?" Dale asks, after a long rest of silence. He looks out of the side window into the trees surrounding their part of the highway. It was the end of the woods, where there were less trees and more open grassy spaces. Iris couldn't help but wonder if anyone else had had that idea in the cars surrounding them, but she quickly came to the conclusion that a lot of them must've fled on foot and left their cars behind. Or died.

Glenn fiddles with the cap on his head. "Anything is better than staying on this highway."

"Isn't that against the law?" Amy's voice had a slight tremor in it, peering out of the window.

"I don't think the law matters anymore." T-Dog raises his eyebrow.

"I know- I know." Amy replies, running a hand through her hair. She looks at Iris with guilty eyes. "Isn't your brother a cop?"

Everyone turns to look at her.

Iris can't control the laugh that escapes her. Maybe it was some kind of weird grief response, but the thought of Rick finding out that his baby sister was in an RV with five strangers about to drive off of the highway and aimlessly into the woods was absolutely hysterical to her. "He doesn't control me."

"Oh." Amy shuffles in her seat.

"I think we should do it." Andrea gives everyone a perky nod, her blonde ponytail swinging with her movements. Perky, that's the only word Iris would use to describe Andrea. Very perky.

"Okay. Well, if we all agree, then..." Dale starts the RV, the sound of the engine a welcome one after hours of silence. The RV looked old, and Iris found herself full of relief that it seemed to start up okay.

"Glenn, come here and help me with my sights." Dale inclines with his head, encouraging Glenn to sit in the passenger seat.

With a proud smile on his face, Glenn stands and crawls over to the passenger seat. He adjusts the wing mirror. Dale adjusts it back. Glenn looks in the side mirror, scrunching up his face. "Think you'll get it out? It looks pretty tight."

Dale chuckles. "Son, I've been driving this RV since you've been in grade school. I can get her out "

Glenn nods, taking off his cap and readjusting it on his head for the millionth time that day. He looks back at the others gleefully, before looking back at Dale. "This RV stuff is pretty awesome."

Dale gave Glenn a fatherly smile, patting him on the shoulder. "Well, I'll teach you the ins and outs if we figure out somewhere to stay."

"Really?" Glenn's smile turns into a grin. "Because, that would be really-"

"Glenn." Dale interrupts. "My sight."

"Oh, right." Glenn checks the window. "You're good for a little bit more."

With Glenn's help, Dale manages to get the RV out of its space in the car build up and faces the clearing in the woods. Dale hums. "Okay. It's gonna be a little bit bumpy."

Iris considered herself incredibly lucky that they were on the section of the highway that was located at the edge of the woods because, while the road was as bumpy as Dale warned, once they'd made it onto the grassy clearing, it was a lot smoother.

And they were actually moving somewhere.

Dale had driven them about fifteen minutes away from the highway before he stopped in a partially hidden clearing that had trees dotted around it, which provided at least a little protection from the sun and from the dead but alive people. Iris wasn't sure if they would accidentally find their little camp if they wandered too far off of the highway.

Iris wasn't sure if she believed in God, but she was certainly thanking anyone she could that the three of them had found Dale, because he seemed prepared for everything. In his RV, which apparently he took out camping a lot, he had three tents stored. Despite only being one man, it seemed Dale wasn't one to leave things for chance.

Iris didn't know how she'd made it this far, but she knew she had undeniably relied on the kindness of strangers during such a catastrophic event. As Dale handed out and helped the others set up their tents for the night, Iris' mind had somehow landed on the stranger danger lecture that her parents and Rick and her school had given her growing up.

But maybe humanity wasn't as bad as it had been made out to be.

"What are we gonna eat?" Amy asks, wrapping her arms around herself as the blistering heat of the day slowly turns into a bitter night. It wasn't nightfall yet, but it would be soon.

"We could hunt." Andrea suggests. From her bag, she takes out a gun. "I have Dad's gun."

Glenn shuffles in his seat on the grass, and Iris can feel his firm gaze on her. Or, more likely, her backpack. Iris turns her head to look back at him, her ocean eyes meeting his sun kissed ones. She can't explain why, but she can hear the unspoken words on his lips.

"I have a gun too." Iris offers up, taking Opal's gun from where it was tucked away in her backpack.

"What do you say, Iris? We can take these guns out and hunt for animals." Andrea's voice was bright and lively.

"I've never killed an animal before." Iris says, her chest suddenly feeling very heavy and constricted against her shirt.

"Isn't there a process you need to do?" T-Dog's voice appeared just as nervous as her own. "Like, a certain way to cook it? If not we could all get sick or something."

Andrea deflates.

Iris shoots her a restrained smile. "It's probably for the best. Gunshots are really loud, and we don't know if... if those things can hear and come looking for us."

"What do we do, then?" Amy shivers.

There was an uneasy silence spread over the six of them like they had become simply strangers again. Iris bites her lip. If this was Carl, she'd know how to fix it. She'd ruffle his hair and ask him to tell her a story from one of his comic books. She'd know exactly what to do to make him feel better. Right now, she didn't even know how to make herself feel better.

A harsh shiver flew through her body.

Glenn exhaled, rubbing his hands together. "Okay. It's okay. We'll start small, yeah? Does anyone know how to start a fire?"

Dale nods. "Yeah. Help me gather some sticks and I'll teach ya how to create a spark."

T-Dog reaches into his bag, pulling out a lighter from one of the pockets and tossing it into Glenn's lap.

With a soft chuckle, Glenn pressed his tongue against the inside of his cheek, a relieved glint in his eyes. "Thanks, man."

There was a rustle in the trees behind them.

Iris whips her head around, the force of it causing her ponytail to bounce. She wasn't the only one that was alert ― their new normal seemed to be a constant air of guardedness. Andrea reaches immediately for her gun, but the thought didn't even cross Iris' mind until she saw Andrea do it.

She blinks and holds her gun heavy in her hands.

There was a figure moving towards them, large and burly but not making any sound. Iris lowers her gun. Those things make sound.

"Hey, hey, it's okay." The voice was deep, and it resonated with Iris as she stood up and ran a hand over her face. A wave of hope and nostalgia rushes through her as she drops the gun completely.

"Shane?"

"Iris?" Shane's mouth fell open as he took two heavy steps forward.

The others were still on guard, the hairs on the back of their necks standing up in the face of the stranger. Glenn takes a step towards her. "Iris?"

"It's okay. I know him. It's Shane." Iris finally says, the words stuck in her throat. "I know him."

"You got out." Shane says, moving towards her but not quite reaching her. Shane was an odd figure in Iris' life. He was Rick's friend but they were always as close as brothers. He felt somewhat like another older brother to Iris, but Shane wasn't Rick. And he could never be Rick.

"I had help." Iris says, looking back at Glenn and T-Dog with a small smile.

Shane nods, licking his lips as if he was sealing them shut. Iris wondered if it was because he had more to say, or because he felt uncomfortable under the gazes of the others behind her. He sighs. "Iris..."

"Just say it." Iris cuts in, her voice a little firmer than she was intending. "They're dead, aren't they?"

Something flashes behind Shane's eyes and he turns to the side, not meeting Iris' eye contact. She can still feel Glenn's presence standing just behind her, and she resisted the urge to step back further as the panic overcame her in Shane's silence.

"Rick... He was in a coma, Iris." Shane finally forces out. "I went back for him. I did. But..."

"He was gone." Iris' eyes prick with tears, the effort of keeping them in making her head hurt. "Right? That's what you're saying. That he was dead when you got there."

Shane nods. "I'm sorry. I'm so damn sorry, Iris."

"No." Her voice breaks as the tears finally spill from her eyes. "It's not your fault, I just..."

She couldn't finish her sentence.

She could barely even breathe.

When Iris was five years old and Rick was fifteen, she really hated school. She had barely even started her school career but she dreaded going into her classroom every day, facing the teacher and the other kids and the schoolwork when all she wanted to do was wait at home for the high school bus to pull in just like she'd done since she knew how to wait.

Her Kindergarten class got out an hour before the High School, but once Rick had caught wind of her aversion to school, one day he'd skipped his final period to pick her up instead of their mother, and he'd taken her to the park to talk. He'd managed to squeeze it out of her that she hated going to school because she was too afraid to talk to the other kids — she was a sensitive child, a shy child, she had a lot of early attachment issues and anxiety, and she had a hard time talking to new people. Rick didn't want her to grow up without confidence and that very day he had approached a girl in the park and started talking to her to prove that it wasn't that bad. That girl in the park ended up being her sister-in-law.

Rick always knew what to do, what to say, how to guide her. He was always good at that kind of thing. He was a Sheriff's deputy but he was born to be a leader. Iris would mourn the fact that he'd never get the chance for the rest of her life. But Rick Grimes wasn't just a leader, he was someone that Iris could lean on for comfort.

She'd never get that kind of comfort ever again.

She covers her mouth with her hands, stifling the sob that was about to erupt from her throat. She could sense the atmosphere of the people behind her, the strangers who were watching her break down. They had just joined the small number of people who had. It wasn't often that Iris Grimes broke down, and never in front of strangers. Glenn extends his hand out, but Iris brushes him off, taking a step forward.

Shane had been watching her, and even through the salty water covering her vision, Iris could see his chest rising and falling as he played with his hands.

"You're not alone, Iris." Shane says, his own voice coming out nasally and full of emotions."I didn't just go back for Rick."

Her bones caught a chill, and it wasn't from the cold. "What?"

"Lori." Shane closes his eyes, as if unable to face reality. "And- and Carl. I got them out."

Iris whips her head up as fast as lightning."They're alive?"

Shane gives her a hint of a nod. "I got them out. I was just scouting trying to figure out a way to get them to safety. They're sitting with another family right now, waiting for me to come back."

The shock blew Iris' tears away, her heart skipping a beat as she took a deep breath. "They're alive."

She turns around to look at Glenn and the others behind him. "They're- my family. They're alive."

"Bring them here." Dale says, without hesitation. "The more people we have here, the better. Especially capable ones. I'm Dale."

"Shane." There is an odd air to Shane's voice, one Iris can't quite place. "Thank you."

Dale sharply nods. "Of course. Go and get them before it turns dark."

Shane turns on his heels, but he pauses before he walks back through the entryway of trees. "They're safe, Iris." He leaves before she can respond.

"They're alive..." Iris whispers, partly to herself and partly to the group of people behind her.

"They are." Glenn says, in just as low a whisper. Iris turns to look at him, the memories of him dragging her away when she tried to run for Carl fresh in her mind. This was the first moment they'd had since this whole thing started to just sit and breathe without worrying about their next move. Shane was an officer, and he would know what to do. He had to know.

Iris found herself not knowing what to say to Glenn, to the first person she had spoken to since the end of the world, the person who'd dragged her to where she is right now. Somehow, within Glenn dragging her away from her mission to save Carl, he'd gotten her in the exact place she needed to be to find him. "Thank you."

"What for?" Glenn asks, his eyes widening a little as he tilted his head to the side.

Iris shrugs, moving back towards the fire that T-Dog and Dale had started, needing to feel it's warmth. "Just thank you."

It didn't take long for Shane to return, but night had fallen over their little camp setup. Iris was picking at the grass from her spot, sitting cross-legged and anxiously letting out little puffs of breath. The others were also gathered around the fire, sitting in silence as they waited for Shane to return with Iris' family.

The second there was movement in the little entryway of trees, Iris leapt up so fast she almost tumbled straight into the fire.

There were six silhouettes walking towards them: two of them little, four of them big. The additional three people must've been the other family that Shane had found on the road, which meant their numbers were about to double once again.

First it was Shane, scanning his eyes over the camp like he was double checking it's safety. Iris smiles reassuringly, but it was Dale's nod that led Shane to guide the others behind him through.

And suddenly Carl was running towards her, holding his arms out as he called her name, and Iris was kneeling, hugging her nephew with everything she had. Carl was so much like his father, and Iris was determined to become the figure in his life that Rick filled in hers. "Oh, Carl. Oh my god. You're okay. You're okay."

She lifts her vision from Carl to the others that were with him. Lori was there, her long brown hair and kind eyes that Iris had known for so long, holding onto the arm of a short haired woman. The woman had her spare arm over the shoulder of a blonde girl, who looked about the same age as Carl. There was a man standing next to Shane, with a defensive look in his eyes.

"I knew you were okay." Carl says, and Iris wipes a stray tear from his eye. "You had to me."

"Hey, you know me." Iris replies, playfully pinching his cheek. "I'm strong. And we're gonna figure it out, huh? Me, you, your mom, Shane. And I've got some new friends, and it looks like you do too."

"Iris, sweetheart." Lori's sweet like honey voice travelled to her ears, and Iris felt herself tearing up again.

She stood up, patting Carl's shoulder before pulling Lori into a hug. "Lori, I'm so sorry. God, I'm so sorry."

Lori hugged her back just as tight, keeping a firm hand on the back of her head. "It's okay, honey. We're gonna be okay."

Despite the fact that their newly formed group had gone from three to six to twelve in a matter of hours, there were just enough tents to go around, thanks to Dale and his resourceful thinking.

The family that Lori had made friends with were known as the Peletiers. Carol was the short haired woman that Lori had been holding onto, and her husband was named Ed and her daughter was Sophia. Sophia was about a year older than Carl, and the two kids had become fast friends. Iris didn't get much of a chance to talk to Ed — he didn't seem to enjoy the company of others very much, even in circumstances such as these — but Carol and Sophia were equally as sweet as each other, offering up what little resources they had.

Since it was already dark, the twelve of them all thought it was best to turn in for the night (with a steady rotation of people keeping watch because no one really knew if those things would attack, or even what they were — it was a subject they were all heartily ignoring.)

However, as the sun blared down on their tents, the art of ignorance was lost on them as the same question rose to the top of their minds. What were they going to do next?

Carl and Sophia's stomachs were rumbling with hunger and no one could stand to see the children suffer, and something had to be done.

"A car." Shane suggests, as Dale puts out the fire. "We find a car, maybe two. And then with your RV we can all drive and find somewhere more permanent."

"Where do you suggest we find two cars?" Dale asks, raising both of his long grey eyebrows.

Shane says nothing, but T-Dog takes the opportunity to speak. "There's a highway full of them just over there."

"That's stealing." Dale doesn't falter in his statement.

Shane and T-Dog share a look.

Shane leans forward from his seat on the grass. "Listen, I understand that yesterday and, goddamn, this morning, this would be considered a crime. I mean, I'm an officer, I know how serious it was. But we're living in a new world now."

"A new world where we take cars from people who need them?" Dale questions.

"People who left them."

Everyone turns to look at Iris. She shuffles in her seat uncomfortably, but she understands the importance of her voice. "They abandoned their cars. They decided to move on. It's not their decision anymore."

Andrea nods, putting a hand through her hair as she hums in agreement. "She's right. They're all right. It's not like the twelve of us can fit in that RV. We need cars."

Dale's expression goes from firm to plain shocked, slowly shaking his head as his mouth falls open. "Have you all gone mad? We're talking about people's cars! Their livelihood! They could come back, who are we to strip them of their transportation?"

"Listen, man, if someone like us took my church van because they needed it, I wouldn't be mad. We left it." T-Dog pipes up. "It's a different world. Shane and I will go, no one else has to get involved."

"It's just two cars. I'm sure they'll look for the ones that have been abandoned." Glenn reasons. "Half those cars we passed were abandoned. No one is coming back for them."

"Does no one else think this is immoral?" Dale exclaims. "Lori? Carol?"

Carol says nothing, looking at her husband with an expression that Iris can't quite read. Lori shrugs. "Of course I do. But I have my son to think about here."

"We just- we have to adjust. We have to." Iris says, the crushing feeling on her chest not helping her case. It was immoral, but it was something they had to do. "Or we just won't make it."

Dale sighs, but eventually relents. Though, he makes sure to make it known that he really wasn't happy with this. But it was already decided, out of his hands.

Before Shane and T-Dog started their journey back to the highway, Shane jogged over to Iris. "Iris. Hey. Can I talk to you?"

Iris nods, a little confused at Shane's urgency. "Yeah. Of course."

Shane pulls her aside, away from the others who were still talking about the cars and their next steps. "I just wanted you to know- I couldn't go back for you. There was a whole herd of those things in the way. I couldn't risk it. Not when I had Lori and Carl depending on me. I had to get them out, Iris."

"Okay. Hey." Iris cuts in, shaking her head. "It's fine. You did what you could. And you got them out, Shane. I mean, we all owe you. Seriously."

Shane watches her for a moment, but eventually concedes with a nod. "Yeah."

Iris smiles. "Okay then. Go and get those cars, yeah?"

Shane and T-Dog took about two hours before they eventually returned, each of them driving their own car. There was a cheer from the group as they got out of the cars, both five seaters which even had their keys still in them.

It was a major win, one to be celebrated, despite Dale's clear reservations. However, the cars provided a new hope.

In the time since Shane and T-Dog had been gone, the rest of the group had come up with a plan. It was safe, protected and had plenty of water, and the group was in unanimous agreement.

The Quarry.

Chapter Text

THE QUARRY WAS THE PERFECT PLACE TO FORM A CAMP.

It was high up and isolated, with a big winding path leading up to it. One they hoped meant that would keep them hidden from their new predators. They set up their tents and cars just outside the line of trees, overlooking the quarry which had a pool of bright blue water, enough to keep them hydrated for a long time. Actually, the site was beautiful. Iris could spend hours watching the little ripples hit the rocks, the silence was familiar to her now.

According to Dale's watch, which he religiously kept wounded and marked off every single day since the day that ended all days, it had been two months since the group of twelve had driven to the quarry and decided it was their safest bet to protect them from the walkers.

Walkers had become their term for the undead that had plagued the city of Atlanta, the country, the world. Glenn had come up with it, on their first night in their newly formed camp. Walkers, because they weren't exactly people, and they tended to walk around aimlessly, with no goal or destination. That is, until they found their prey.

But no one in their group had died from them. Not in the two months since they had set up.

No one had died, but things had changed.

They had found new people, taken them in, formed a stronger group. The Morales family — two parents and two children — who became quick friends with Carl and Sophia. There was Jim, and Jacqui, both travelling alone and keen to find people to camp with. There were brothers, Merle and Daryl Dixon, who had stereotypical Southern accents and a motorbike with big handles that Merle rode around.

They had developed a nice system in the two months that had passed. Iris didn't know how permanent of a solution it was, but many of the group believed that the world would be getting back to normal any second and all of this was just temporary. She had her doubts.

Not that she ever wanted to return back to a normal world where Rick didn't exist anymore.

A lot of the girls did the laundry and took it as a chance to hang out next to the Quarry. It had become a communal task where they could sit and chat. Iris was the youngest girl there, except for Sophia and Eliza Morales, but she did enjoy listening to the woman talk, and washing the clothes reminded her of Opal.

Daryl had a crossbow stocked with a lot of arrows, that he took every day out into the woods hunting for food. He shared with everyone what he killed, much to Merle's dismay, (Iris got the feeling that Merle was less than ecstatic that he'd ended up in such a large group and wasn't just alone with his brother). Shane had become somewhat of an impromptu leader, but Dale was the wise man that people went to for advice. A month ago, when Daryl's hunts went dry for a couple of days, Glenn decided to take his first trip back into Atlanta to scrounge for supplies.

Iris had paced around the Quarry for hours while the others hung out and washed clothes, until he'd finally returned with a sheath of knives, a dozen cans of food and a twelve pack of twinkies.

He'd been a popular man that day.

Since then, Glenn went on supply runs into the city every couple of days. Always alone, but he always came back. This morning, Glenn was due to take the car and his pack to Atlanta for another run.

As usual, Iris had woken up early enough to see him off. The group had fallen into a routine, and this was a part of it. Iris was still grateful as hell to both Glenn and T-Dog for saving her life, and making sure Glenn had someone to say goodbye to felt like a small way to say thanks. Most people here had some kind of family around them: Iris had Lori and Carl and Shane, the Dixons had each other, the Morales family was always together, Amy and Andrea stuck together and with Dale too. Even Jacqui and Jim had gotten close.

So Iris liked to look after Glenn and T-Dog. Make sure they know they have their people and their place, just in case they were unsure.

She woke up even earlier than normal today, heading to the Quarry for a couple moments of peace before she watched Glenn drive off. Her thick blonde hair was once something that she loved, but now she had no access to running water (or conditioner for that matter) in the blistering Georgia heat, it was getting aggravating. She started putting half of her hair up into two space buns, getting a layer off of her back while the rest of her hair remained down.

She had just finished the loop on her second bun when she heard Glenn whistle to get her attention from the top of the Quarry. Iris raises her eyebrow, looking up at him with a face that said really? Glenn raises his hands in a peacemaking manner.

"He's really gonna make me trek all the way back up there?" Iris grumbles to herself, but she gets up with a smirk anyway.

Glenn stood at the top of the Quarry, waiting until Iris made it up, her smile still resting easily on her face.

"I'm gonna be late, you know?" Glenn tuts, tapping an invisible watch on his wrist.

"Shut up. I woke up early for you." Iris mutters back, shaking her head.

"Hey, it's appreciated, it's appreciated." Glenn pacifies, adjusting his cap on his head. His face softens. "You don't have to see me off every time, you know? If you want to sleep in."

Iris shakes her head. "Nah. Someone's gotta see you off, or you wouldn't want to come back."

"Hey, I'll always come back." Glenn chuckles. "Even if you snore in your tent instead of watching me drive off."

Iris grins, and the pair starts to walk towards the car that Glenn was going to take into the city. He had his backpack on, ready to go. There was a comfortable silence that they had gotten used to, a silence that didn't feel forced or awkward but rather a quiet between friends. Glenn had become her best friend in a very short period of time, but she wouldn't have it any other way.

Once they reached the car, Iris took a breath. "You want me to come?"

Glenn shakes his head. "No, it's okay. I can get in and out, no problem. It's easier on my own."

Iris hadn't really been exposed to the walkers since the ones she had killed in Opal's shop. The Quarry had been safe, and Iris wasn't a part of the group of people that killed any walker that even got close to the camp. Mostly, that duty was for Daryl, Merle, T-Dog, Shane and Glenn, when he wasn't doing runs. There had been a few instances where Andrea and Jacqui had killed walkers when they needed to. However, Shane tried to keep Iris (and Lori, too) away from the walkers, which was annoying but understandable. Since Rick had passed, Shane felt the need to protect the three of them and keeping them away from walkers was one way he could do that.

Glenn always said no when she offered to go with him. A smile grows on his face, patting his cheek. "But you could give me a good luck kiss."

Iris snorts. "Oh, ha ha, in your dreams." She pushes his face away. She was used to his banter, and she always returned it with an eyeroll and a smile.

He gives her a cheeky smile, opening the car door. "I'll try to be back before sunset. Don't wait up for me."

"You know I will." Iris replies with just as cheeky a grin. "Alright, go. Get us some cool stuff."

"You got it." Glenn salutes her and gets in the car. Iris backs up as he starts the car, watching him drive off and not moving from her spot until he was out of her field of vision. Then the anxiety set in.

When she walked back to the main circle of camp, Dale had woken up and taken his usual position on the top of the RV. He liked to keep a lookout for walkers, and the top of the RV was also the best place for the radio to connect with Glenn, no matter how weak the connection really was.

She holds her hand to her head, shielding her eyes from the sun. "Hey, Dale."

"Hey there, Iris." Dale gives her a kind smile. "Seen Glenn off already?"

"Yeah." She replies. "He's gonna be okay."

"I know." Dale sounds confident and faithful, as he always is. "He's Glenn. He's always okay."

Iris smiles. "Can I come in? Reread another one of your books?"

"Sure." Dale smiles. He had a very small collection of books in his RV from before the apocalypse, which Iris had already gotten through. But there wasn't much else to do apart from worry, and she needed to take her mind off of it. At least until the others woke up.

She read for maybe half an hour when she heard voices speaking outside, and the general shuffle of people starting the day. A lot of the days blended into one, a solid routine was becoming unbreakable. She spots Carl sitting on one of the wooden logs by the fire, eating some oatmeal that was from their food stores.

"Hey, buddy." Iris perches next to him, ruffling his hair. "Where's your mom?"

Carl shrugs. "She said she was going to the bathroom."

"Oh, okay." Iris sits down fully, taking a spoon and stealing a bite of his breakfast. He gives her a look and she chuckles, her mouth full. "What? Glenn'll find more today."

Carl gave her a small smirk, which Iris took as a big win. Since they had lost Rick, it had been hard to make the twelve year old smile, which was understandable. Everything that had happened over the past two months was traumatising enough for a grown adult, let alone a kid. Whenever her grief over her big brother got too overwhelming, Iris thought about Carl and how he needed as many people around him as possible.

She kept her gun in her backpack just in case she needed to protect him one day. Which she kept willfully secret from Shane, who was determined that she never have to touch a weapon. Iris knew better, and kept it around just in case. At Opal's shop, she had worked purely on adrenaline, using the scissors and defending herself, but Iris didn't know if she truly had it in her to actually pull the trigger on the gun. Glenn had told her that the walkers were different two months on than on the first day of the outbreak, they were rotting, had body parts missing, were basically caricatures of every horror movie to exist. The thought terrified her.

Carol brought her over a bowl of oatmeal, which Iris gratefully accepted. Carol was incredibly sweet, and Iris loved being in her company. When she was away from her husband, that was. From the first day the camp was formed, Iris got a weird vibe from Ed, he was oddly possessive and clearly controlling of Carol and their daughter, Sophia. Iris had tried to talk to Shane about her concerns, but all the former police officer could say was that it was none of their business and they couldn't disrupt the careful alliance between all of the people in the camp. It was the same thing Shane said when Iris told him about her observations of Merle and his nasty behaviour to others in the camp.

Iris hated it, but she felt powerless to stop it. Utterly powerless.

Shane wasn't around now, he must've been out hunting with Daryl or Merle because he didn't return for a couple hours, when a small group of them were hanging out at the Quarry. There wasn't much to do in their new life except look for food and wash clothes and not much else. Carl and Sophia were playing by the water, and Lori had finally joined them after doing who knows what all morning. Ed was doing something to his car back by the tents, so Carol was smiling and joking around with them.

Iris had one of T-Dog's shirts in her hands, stitching up a hole. Her skills as a seamstress had come in handy since they didn't exactly have a lot of clothes to spare. Glenn brought back what he could, but there wasn't much to go around. She had one of Glenn's shirts in her pile to fix. The tiny thread and needle was therapeutic for her, it felt like a little slice of normalcy, and she liked to feel useful.

The group had bonded a lot since the world had ended, but there were still very obvious pockets of family who stuck together. Daryl and Merle had gone off somewhere alone again, they didn't tend to stay often during the day. On the opposite end, Andrea and Amy were lying next to the water, talking about their parents. The Morales family were eating lunch together by the tents. Lori and Carol were sitting close to their children, and Shane wasn't far off from them. Iris would've joined them, but she felt a little out of place without Rick there, especially now that Carl had made a good friend out of Sophia and didn't need her as much anymore.

That was a good thing, Carl needed friends in a twisted world like this. They all needed their peers just as much as family.

Iris finishes up her final stitch, chucking the shirt at T-Dog. "Hey, T."

T-Dog smiles and catches it with ease. "Thanks, Iris. You're like a Disney Princess."

Iris snorts. She liked to make sure that both T-Dog and Glenn didn't feel alone in this camp, which meant she'd formed bonds with the both of them. T-Dog was older than them, and he'd stepped into some sort of brotherly role for Iris, which she so desperately craved. T-Dog had a light humor that made her feel better when she was anxious, especially on days like today. When Glenn was out on a run. T-Dog was like a brother to her, but Glenn was her best friend. They were the same age, the only two their age, so naturally they hung out more than Iris did with T-Dog, and they were closer.

"Hardly a Disney Princess." Iris replies, rolling her eyes. She points her needle at him. "It was like... six stitches. And it could come in handy if you ever need me to stitch up a wound."

"Oh please, Iris." Andrea cuts in. "If anyone here is a Disney Princess, it's you. Even your name is princess-y."

Iris gasps, faking offence. "I am not. I'm super tough. I'm not waiting around for some guy to save me."

"That's not what you said when me and Glenn picked you up from the shop." T-Dog smirks.

Iris scoffs and throws her pile of holey clothes at him. "That was different. Besides, I think the princess name should be reserved for Sophia. She looks like a little princess."

Sophia beams.

"Princess Sophia sounds very fitting." Carol nods with a smile. Iris packs away her stitches and the scissors in her backpack.

"That it does." Iris scrunches her nose up. "So take over the princess duties for me, will you?"

It was important to her that the kids still feel like kids despite how twisted the world had become. The kids were their future, and they deserved their childhoods while they were still here.

The sound of a car pulling back into the camp pulls Iris out of her thoughts. Daryl and Merle hadn't taken a car out on their hunt, so there was only one person it could've been. Iris' smile takes over her face. He's early. She jumps up.

"There's one guy she's waiting on." Amy whispers, intentionally too loud.

Iris gives her the middle finger as she starts to walk up the Quarry, just as she had done early that morning. Some people at the camp liked to tease Iris about Glenn when he was gone, because they thought it was totally impossible for a guy and a girl to be friends without there being underlying feelings there. Which there wasn't.

Glenn was just getting out of the car with his backpack, now full, secured to his back. He noticed Iris as soon as she reached the top of the Quarry, and she ran to give him a hug. She always did when he came back, because she was glad that he had made it back alive.

"You're early." Iris smiles as she pulls away.

"I got what I needed." Glenn shrugs. "No need to hang around in walker central."

"You know Shane was thinking about asking volunteers to join you next time, so you can get further into the city and come back with more, have to go less." Iris says, as they started to walk towards the RV where they stored most of the food.

Glenn's face sours. "That's not really necessary. I've been doing it by myself since the start. I can get in and out, with ease. More people will just cause more problems."

Iris sucks on her teeth. "Yeah, but you'll be able to go less. That's less of a risk, right?"

Glenn didn't reply.

Iris stops walking, raising her eyebrows. "You'd still be the most important supply runner, Glenn. You're the only one who knows the ins and outs of the city, the safe places, the places to avoid."

Glenn froze, giving her a sheepish smile. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Iris nudges his shoulder with hers. "So, you'll consider it?"

He looks her up and down, and nods with a defeated sigh. "Yeah. If people volunteer, I'll let them come."

Iris claps her hands. "Yay! Hey, keep this up and you might just get that cheek kiss, after all."

"Wow, even more incentive to keep coming back." Glenn remarks.

Iris giggles, the warmth in her cheeks rising as they reach the RV, still going back and forth. 

Chapter Text

IF YOU WERE TO ASK GLENN, HE WAS WAY BETTER OFF DOING THIS RUN ALONE.

He'd been doing this run alone since the start and he'd never, never failed. Every single time, he came back with more supplies, more food, more clothes. He was good at what he did, and he was a good runner. He could slip in and out with ease, and he knew how to kill walkers.

Now, he wasn't alone. He was stuck with T-Dog, Andrea, Merle, Morales and Jacqui, all of whom were loud or inexperienced or didn't know their way around the city. And it was taking them twice as long.

The worst part about it was that he couldn't even be that mad about it, because everytime he did, Iris' voice rang in his ears.

You'll be able to go less, that's less risk.

You'd still be the most important supply runner, Glenn.

Keep this up and you might get that cheek kiss after all.

She wanted him to be safe, she'd heavily supported the idea to bring more runners into the picture. Hell, she is the one who had convinced him to say yes. He wanted to say he regretted it, but the smile on her face made it all worth it.

Glenn just hoped she hadn't clued on to his massive crush on her.

It had developed pretty fast, and at first he thought it was because they'd fled the city together, like some kind of trauma bonding. But it persisted, everytime she smiled or put her hair up in those adorable buns or stole one of his hats or joked around with him, he fell more.

He was 99% sure that Iris didn't feel the same, so there was no chance he was going to tell her anytime soon. He wouldn't ruin the bond they had created. However, he would take five unpracticed runners into the invested city of Atlanta if it made her feel better about the fact he had to go at all.

He'd left the others in an abandoned mall to loot and taken off to do his usual route. He had a radio on him to contact them if he needed to, but he needed time to hit his usual spots if he wanted this run to be successful.

He rounds the corner from an alley and stops in his tracks, almost running into a whole bunch of geeks that had totally swarmed the tank that usually sat in the middle of the street. Glenn squints his eyes and stares at the walkers. Half of them were ankle deep into a horse that had fallen onto the floor and the other half were climbing on top of the tank. He was about to turn around and head back to the others, cut his losses, but something was stopping him. Whoever had ridden that horse into the city was trapped in that tank.

Glenn turns around, but not to leave. He gets far away enough that the walkers around the tank wouldn't turn their noses on him. His whole plan relied on the fact that the tank still had a radio, and he could tune his to the right channel, and that whoever was inside picked up and listened to him.

He twiddles the tuner until the radio makes a familiar crackle, and Glenn smiles victoriously. He brings the radio to his mouth. "Hey, you. Dumbass. Hey, you in the tank. Cozy in there?"

There was no immediate response, but Glenn wasn't giving up yet. "Hey, are you alive in there?"

A couple beats later, the radio crackles and a shaky, scared voice comes through. "Hello? Hello?"

"There you are." Glenn bounces on the balls of his feet. "You had me wondering."

"Where are you?" The man from the radio asks. He sounded older than Glenn, had a heavy Southern accent that reminded him a lot of Iris' thick honey sweet accent. "Outside? Can you see me right now?"

"Yeah, I can see you." Glenn stands up, squinting to look at the tank. "You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."

"There's good news?" The man sounds a little hopeful. Glenn almost felt bad to ruin it.

"No."

There was a sigh. "Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here."

Glenn can't help but smirk, looking at the scene in front of him. The walkers were loud, and the horse was just enough to keep them busy. "Oh man. You should see it from over here. You'd be having a major freak-out."

"Got any advice for me?" The man asks, his voice gruff.

"Yeah, I'd say make a run for it." Glenn snorts.

"That's it?" The man exclaims after a few beats of silence. "'Make a run for it'?"

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds." Glenn pacifies. "You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. With me so far?"

"So far."

Oh, Iris would kill him for this plan if she ever found out.

"Okay." Glenn says, half to himself and half to the stranger. "The street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?"

"In that duffel bag I dropped out there, and guns. Can I get to it?"

Glenn can see the bag in the street, but there was no way they could possibly get to it without getting eaten. "Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option. What do you have on you?"

"Hang on." The man goes quiet, but he returns a couple of moments later. "Yeah. Yeah. I've got a Beretta with one clip, 15 rounds."

Okay. That was good. Glenn does a 360 of his surroundings. "Make 'em count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe 50 yards. Be there."

Glenn gets ready to take off to the alley, but the man's voice comes through the radio again. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Have you been listening?" Glenn rolls his eyes. "You're running out of time."

"Right." The man says.

Maybe Iris would be proud of him.

Glenn breaks into a run, hearing at least eight shots echo through the streets as he skids into the alley. He could hear walkers coming towards him, and he rushed to meet up with the guy in the tank. He was running a little too fast, because he almost smashed straight into him, getting a gun to the face. The man looked to be in his early thirties, dressed in a cops uniform, his blue eyes looking afraid and defensive. Glenn holds his hands up. "Whoa! Not dead! Come on! Come on! Back here! Come on! Come on!"

Yeah, she'd definitely be proud of him.

Glenn grabs hold of the man, pulling him further into the alley and away from the walkers that were chasing them until they reached a ladder that led high up to a roof. Where walkers couldn't reach them — which the stranger behind him desperately needed, based on how he was staring at the geeks like he'd never seen them before.

Glenn starts to climb up the ladder, but the officer appears rooted in the spot. "What are you doing?! Come on!"

The man snaps out of whatever daze he was in and puts his hands on the ladder, climbing up just in time or his leg would've been walker bait. They make it to the first platform and both lean against it, panting. The walkers began to crowd around the bottom. The stranger was staring at them, and he looked oddly clean by today's standards. He'd shot up those walkers like he had no idea they were attracted to sound. Glenn was drawn to the uniform he was wearing, it was unusual. Everything about him was unusual. "Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?"

"It wasn't my intention." The man replies, totally seriously.

"Yeah, whatever. Yeehaw." Glenn replies in his same light tone. "You're still a dumbass."

The man holds out his hand. "Rick. Thanks."

"Glenn." He shakes Rick's hand. "You're welcome." Glenn looks down at the walkers who had started to form such a large group they were climbing over each other to get up the ladder. "Oh no. The bright side: It'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy."

The two climbed up the second ladder, which was much taller and led to the roof opposite the building that the rest of the group was camped out in. Once they reach the roof, Glenn starts to guide Rick back to the rest of the group. Though Glenn was sure that they had probably heard him and his gunshots.

"Are you the one that barricaded the alley?" Rick asks, as they walk.

Glenn shrugs. "Somebody did.I guess when the city got overrun. Whoever did it was thinking not many geeks would get through."

Rick was quiet for a moment, but takes another breath to speak. "Back at the tank, why'd you stick your neck out for me?"

Glenn wasn't expecting that. It had come naturally to him, he wouldn't just leave someone when they needed help. He hadn't left Iris, and look at who she was to him now. It may be the end of the world, but people were still people, and leaving someone to die is just as bad as pulling the trigger yourself.

However, what comes out of his mouth is: "Call it foolish, naive hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody might do the same for me. Guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you."

They reach the ladder down to the floor outside of the mall where the others were, and Glenn jumps down. Rick follows him down. As they reach the set of stairs, Glenn takes the walkie from his pocket and tunes it back to their usual channel.

"I'm back. Got a guest plus four geeks in the alley."

As they reach the bottom of the stairs, Morales and T-Dog emerge from the inside door, both donning protective gear and holding baseball bats. They both took out the walkers that were in their way, quietly and easily. They'd volunteered to come along, as had Iris, but Shane refused to let her go. Glenn was secretly glad about that, because he didn't want her to see the realities of his runs or she'd freak out more about him going.

Once they get inside, Glenn spots Andrea and Jacqui in the corner of the room, taking cover. As soon as Andrea saw that it was safe, she leapt up, pointing her gun straight in Rick's face. "You son of a bitch. We ought to kill you."

Rick raises his hands, looking mildly shocked.

Morales' eyes widen. "Just chill out, Andrea. Back off."

"Come on, ease up." Jacqui adds.

"Ease up?" Andrea scoffs. "You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole."

"Andrea, I said back the hell off." Morales says, more firmly.

Andrea puts her gun down, shaking her head in distress. "We're dead. All of us. Because of you." Andrea spits. Glenn shakes his head. He'd been worried about taking a group out to scavenge for this exact reason.

"I don't understand." Rick was staring at each member of the group with confusion.

Morales takes him by the arm, guiding him to the front of the mall, where walkers had started to crowd around the entrance. "Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving! You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral."

"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds." T-Dog says, his hands on top of his head.

"You just rang the dinner bell." Andrea says.

Rick wasn't looking at them anymore. His eyes were trained directly at the horde of walkers that had gathered. They now completely blocked the entrance — and their way out. They were officially screwed.

Iris was gonna kill him if he didn't survive this.

"Get the picture now?" Morales mocks.

"Do you think they'll be okay? They'll be okay, right? I mean, they have to be. Yeah. They'll be fine. More than fine. More of them just means more protection, right? Yeah." Iris paces around the camp, pointing with her hands as she speaks, barely even stopping for a breath.

"Iris, you're answering all of your own questions." Shane sighs, with a roll of his eyes.

"I know that!" Iris replies. "I'm anxious about them all. We could lose half of our group here if it goes wrong. And it's been hours!"

"They're fine. They're a capable group." Shane tells her. "Calm the hell down."

Iris sighs, the air going through her nose as she stops pacing. "I should've gone. I could've calmed down if I'd gone."

Shane's face sours. "Iris, you're not going on supply runs. It's my job to look after you now. Don't make my job difficult."

Iris crouches down, putting her hands through her bangs. She knew Shane was just trying to protect her, and she appreciated everything he had done for her, but she really needed space to pace around and vent or her anxiety would overwhelm her.

"He's gonna be fine." Lori leaves her tent, holding onto Carl's hand.

Iris scrunches up her face. Why did everyone just assume? She stands up. "What?"

"Glenn." Lori raises her eyebrows knowingly. "He's coming back, honey."

Iris rolls her eyes. "I never said I was worried about him. There's a lot of people on this run. That's more safety, more protection. They'll be fine. I'm not worried at all."

"Iris." Lori repeats, letting go of Carl to grab Iris' hands. "He will be fine. Fine."

Iris stops her pacing, looking into Lori's confident eyes. She feels herself calm down a little. "Okay. Yeah. He's gonna be fine. You're right.

Glenn vomited his guts out, which was ironic because he was completely covered in guts.

They were still trapped in the mall, and Rick felt responsible for their situation, so he had decided to take the lead and get them out of here. He had taken his duty as a former cop seriously and put Merle Dixon in handcuffs for mouthing off and trying to start fights. Not that Glenn was complaining. He had a lot he could say about Merle Dixon, and none of it was good.

Rick had the idea to disguise him and Glenn as walkers by covering up their smell, which is the reason Glenn found himself covered in the insides of a walker they had taken from the alleyway, throwing up on the floor behind him. This was, without a doubt, the most disgusting thing he had ever had to do. She may lose her mind when she finds out, but Glenn had to tell Iris about this. He looks at Rick, who had a similar amount of blood and guts spread over the white sheet over his uniform.

"Do we smell like them?" Rick looks around at the others, the lucky others, who were going to stay behind.

Andrea turns up her nose. "Oh yeah. Glenn." She takes her gun from her belt, carefully tucking it in Glenn's. Her gun was a similar type to Iris' gun, which brought him some comfort. "Just in case."

Rick sighs, preparing himself to step outside and face the horde of walkers that blocked their exits. Glenn felt his own heart speed up, but he was prepared to do it if it meant they could get out of here. He wasn't planning to die today. "If we make it back, be ready."

Once they had double and triple checked that Rick and Glenn absolutely smelled like they were so dead they were rotting away, the two of them stepped outside. Glenn tried to mimic the stumble and waddle of the walkers, and it felt pretty damn uncomfortable.

Before they reached the main part of the street, Rick let out a soft grunt. "He had a pretty girl waiting on him."

"Wayne Dunlap?" Glenn asks, referring to the man that they were both currently wearing, who they found with a photo in his pocket of his girlfriend.

"I've got a wife and a son who I hope are waiting for me." Rick says. "And I'd do everything I can to get back to them. You got a girl waiting for you, Glenn?"

Glenn was quiet at first. Yes. But never in the way that Rick meant it, so he was stuck with saying, "No."

Rick gave him a once over, raising one of his eyebrows. "You want her to be?"

Glenn looks at Rick defensively, about to deny even the existence of Iris, but Rick's eyes on him made him sigh in defeat. "Yeah."

"Good, you hold onto that, okay?" Rick says. "No matter what happens, no matter how many of those things surround us, I'll be thinking of my wife. You think of your girl, and maybe you'll work up the courage to make her your girl when you get back."

Glenn closes his eyes. Right, Iris. He can picture her right now, worried out of her mind. He needed to do this to get back to her. He opens them again. "Let's go."

The two of them round the corner, immediately facing the large group of walkers that covered the streets. Glenn takes a breath and forces his pulse to slow. A couple of walkers notice them, but Rick was right and they barely took notice of them. They walk further into the horde, the walkers getting so close to him he felt like he might suffocate.

Glenn whispers with glee. "It's gonna work. I can't believe it."

"Don't draw attention." Rick whispers back firmly.

It was working. He couldn't believe it was working. It was disgusting, but it was working.

They were walking through the horde of geeks like it was nothing. They weren't dying.

Then it started raining.

Glenn tries not to panic, but his legs were itching to run away like he was used to doing. He could see Rick tense up which did not help his internal panic. It was a fight to keep walking at the same slow pace. The rain was pouring now, and the walkers that were near Glenn kept looking at him, as if they were figuring it out. "The smell's washing off. Isn't it? Is it washing off?"

"No, it's not." Rick pauses, as he stares at the blood on the ground that had washed off of him. "Well, maybe."

In a split second, one of the walkers charges right at them and Rick responds just as fast, crushing its skull with the axe he held in his hands. "Run!"

Glenn doesn't have to be told twice. He and Rick sprint across the street, Rick using his axe and Glenn taking out two with his crowbar. At this moment, he has never felt more afraid in his life. Every conversation he'd ever had with Iris flashes in his mind as he runs, and what her reaction would be if he died tonight. She already lost her brother, and now he was about to die alongside someone who shared his name.

But he doesn't die. They come across a fence which led to an impound lot, chucking their weapons over it before they launch themselves, just as the walkers that were on their tail reach it. Glenn pants, but he doesn't slow down. He runs to the sets of keys hung up, and as Rick takes out any walkers that wandered over, Glenn sprints back over, calling Rick's name and chucking the keys in his direction. "Go go go go!"

Rick floors it.

Glenn leans back on his chair, still panting. He looks back as the walkers finally breach the fence and swarm the impound lot. "Oh my God. Oh my God. They're all over that place."

Rick keeps driving. "You need to draw them away. Those roll-up doors at the front of the store... That area? That's what I need cleared. Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready."

Glenn nods, but then he screws up his face. "And I'm drawing the geeks away how? I... I missed that part."

Rick looks directly into his eyes. "Noise."

Well, at least Glenn got a cool car out of it.

Rick hotwires a red sports car that they find on the street, and Glenn would have protested the idea of literally drawing all of the walkers to him with a very loud, blaring alarm, but it was a really cool car.

All he had to do was get the walkers away from the front of the store so that Rick could back the truck up and get the others out. In fact, his job was probably the most important one. Yeah, that's all he had to tell himself.

The alarm was drowning out the sound of his beating heart, and Glenn takes one breath, and drives towards the store. He was going slow enough that he could keep as much attention on him as possible. "Come on. Come on. Get closer. Get closer. Come on. Come on."

They started following him, slowly but surely. Glenn got them all away from the store.

He looked in his rear view mirror, catching Rick back up the truck into the doors. He grins.

And he gets the hell away from the walkers.

He takes it back. This was the best damn supply run Glenn had ever done. And it wasn't just about the car, it was the adrenaline rush and the risks and the high, high reward of coming back with something better than supplies: a new stranger who would make a damn good leader.

Glenn steps on the gas, overtaking Rick's truck and getting way ahead of it. It was just him and the open highway, and the speed was exhilarating. The alarm was still going off, but it felt like a roar in his ears. "Whoo-hoo-hoo! Yeah-hoo-hoo!"

When he finally reached camp, he couldn't wait to tell Iris everything that had happened, everything that he had done and achieved. However, as he pulls in, he's faced with Dale and Shane, both covering their ears and scowling.

"Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!" Dale yells over the noise.

"I don't know how!" Glenn fumbles, but he's cut off as Iris practically smashes into him, cutting off his air for a moment. "Hey."

"Oh my god, you're okay." Iris says, and she was attached to him like a koala. He hugged her back, feeling the cool sense of relief for a split second.

"Pop the hood, please. Pop the damn hood, please." Shane was yelling, but the car was still going off and Iris was still attached to him and asking him questions and then Amy started yelling

"My sister Andrea..."

"What happened? Are you okay? I was so worried."

"Pop the damn hood!"

"What?" Glenn was getting a headache. "Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!"

Amy's eyebrows raised. "Is she okay? Is she all right?"

Glenn carefully detaches himself from Iris, walking over to the car and popping the hood. Shane finally gets the car sound off, and Glenn can finally breathe.

"She's okay! She's okay!" Glenn yells back, still not used to the silence without the alarm.

"Is she coming back?" Amy presses.

"Yes!" Glenn replies, holding his arms out. Damn, here is the welcome parade. At least Iris gave him a hug when he got back.

"Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?" Amy keeps asking.

"Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is." Glenn reassures. Iris holds on to his arm, still looking as confused as the others about his sudden appearance. It felt nice. "Well, Merle, not so much."

"Are you crazy, driving this wailing bastard up here? Are you trying to draw every Walker for miles?" Shane scolds, opening his mouth in disbelief.

"Who cares!" Iris exclaims. "He made it back alive!"

Dale held his hands out. "I think we're okay."

Shane scoffs. "You call being stupid okay?"

"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale raises his brow at Glenn.

"Sorry." Glenn says sheepishly. "Got a cool car."

Iris smiles. She looks him up and down, her big blue eyes pouring into him and he can see the concern building. That was just who she was, she cared so much about everyone. Not just him. Before she can say anything to him, the truck pulls up.

Iris smiles harder as Andrea steps out, followed closely by Morales. They both reunite with their families, which makes Glenn smile too. He always tries not to think about his parents and his sisters, because if he thinks about it too hard it'll get too overwhelming and he didn't want to feel numb right now. However, he could see the wistfulness in Iris' face as she watched the hearty reunions.

He felt the urge to distract her. "I wore walker guts today."

There was a flash of confusion behind Iris' eyes, which was quickly replaced by an air of baffle. "Excuse me?"

Dale cuts in. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."

Iris leans in, whispering to him. "I totally didn't"

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asks.

"New guy. He got us out." Glenn breathes, still watching Iris who had turned her attention to the truck.

"New guy?" Shane repeats.

"Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town." Morales says, still holding onto his children. "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello."

Glenn smiles as Rick steps off the truck, excited to introduce him to Iris. However, her face had turned from a big smile to a thin line, her face going completely pale. Her hand fell limp, falling from Glenn's arm. He tilted his head at her.

"The guy's a cop like you." Morales says, and it wasn't until that very moment that it clicked.

Shane's mouth hangs wide open, and Lori turns her head and gasps. Carl breaks away from his mother's hold and runs towards Rick.

Because Rick was his father.

The guy in the tank was Rick Grimes. Iris' brother.

Iris let out a sob and broke into a sprint.

Chapter Text

"OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD. RICK."

Iris sobs as she runs over to her brother, practically jumping in his arms as soon as he lets go of Carl. Rick's arms tightened around her, and the tears streamed free fully down Iris' face.

"You're here, you're all here." Rick's voice was a welcome sound, and it just brought Iris to another fit of sobs. "I found you."

Iris pulls back, one hand covering her mouth while the other holds onto Carl's shoulder. Lori held onto Rick's arm, and the four of them spent a couple of moments just staring at each other. Iris takes a sharp inhale before speaking.  "I- how? Shane said-"

"I woke up." Rick's voice was hoarse, and his blue eyes glistened. "I found my way to Atlanta. Got myself in a bit of a bend, and then Glenn found me, got me out."

Iris looks him up and down. He looked okay, not nearly as sickly as he was when he was in the coma, and he was breathing by himself, standing by himself. He looked alive. Iris couldn't believe her eyes, but there was one thing she knew.

Thank god for Glenn Rhee.

Iris was aware that she was ugly crying in front of the entire camp, but she didn't care. Rick was back, he was home, and Glenn had found him. Glenn had brought him home.

As Lori and Carl engulf Rick in another hug, Iris breaks away, wiping her tears and hoping her eyes didn't look too bloodshot. She stumbles past Shane, who was rooted in his spot, mouth open, just staring. She doesn't even think about Shane, she forgot he was even standing there, as she rushes to pull Glenn into another hug, the tears uncontrollably running down her face like a faucet.

"Hey, hey, you're okay." Glenn soothes, his hand going to the back of her head, allowing her to bury her head in his shoulder. His grip was strong and secure, and he even rocked her back and forth a little as she composed herself, and Iris found herself feeling safe in the arms of her best friend.

She didn't see Glenn look up at Rick as Iris held onto him, nor did she see Rick meet Glenn's eyes as he hugged his wife and son. She didn't see the subtle communication as Rick Grimes came to an easy conclusion. She didn't see Glenn close his eyes and look away.

Iris pulls away, smiling at him as she sniffles. "Thank you. God, Glenn. Thank you."

Glenn nods, and Iris can tell he was feeling the severity of the situation. "Iris, hey, it's okay. I mean, Rick saved my ass too. It was- a mutual thing."

It sounded so ridiculous that Iris couldn't restrain the giggle that left her lips. Glenn's mouth upturned too, but it was hidden under a guise of confusion. Iris finally composes herself. "I got your shirt so wet."

"You did." Glenn nods his head. "But it's okay. It's better than walker guts. Your brother's idea, by the way."

Iris looks back at Rick, who was now engaged in what looked like an apprehensive conversation with Shane, who had finally stepped forward. Iris could only imagine the thoughts and guilt going through his brain right now, having been the one to deliver the news of Rick's death to his family, only to be mistaken. Iris knew that there was no way Shane could've lied, so he can't have known, right? He had to have really thought Rick was dead.

God, it was all too much. All of her feelings were overwhelming, too layered and too complex. It didn't feel real, like she'd wake up at any moment and Rick would still be gone and she'd lose all of her grief progress.

"Iris?"

She turns around. Glenn looks concerned, and he nudges her. "Go over there."

Iris blows a puff of air. "Yeah. Yeah. You're right." She backs up, but pauses. Before she can stop herself, she jumps over to Glenn and plants a kiss on his cheek. "For you."

𖤓𖤓𖤓

Time seemed to move at two times the speed once Rick returned, and soon enough it was nightfall. The group gathered around the campfire, like they had done most nights since settling at the Quarry. However, tonight, Iris could actually feel the warmth from the fire instead of the bitterness of the air.

Rick was cuddled up with Lori and Carl, holding them close like he'd never let go again. Shane was nearby, but he also kept a distance. Iris couldn't tell what it was, but she felt a shift in him that she didn't understand. She supposed guilt could do that to a person, and Iris could see the guilt all over his face, even though she couldn't figure out what exactly was weighing him down.

Iris sat criss-crossed on the floor, right next to the open flame. She had let her hair loose, her bangs a lot more choppy now because she had taken her scissors to it in annoyance when it started growing over her eyes. She smiles as Carl rests his head, and brings her arms around her knees.

Rick had woken up from his coma mere days ago, and he had woken to the worst possible hell: in an abandoned hospital, in an abandoned city, with his family nowhere to be seen. He had done everything, everything he could to track them down, and now he was here. Iris couldn't even put into words how lucky she felt to have her family with her at this moment. She knew other people didn't have what she did.

She turns her head and looks at Glenn. He had his cap on still, despite the fact that the only light that shone was the campfire and the stars above. He was staring at the ground, but he looked up as soon as Iris did, as if he could sense her. She smiles at him.

Dale shuffles in his place on the log. "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

Merle had been one of the volunteers that went on the group supply run, but when Glenn had given Iris the full Rick story, he had told her what had happened on the rooftop, how Rick had handcuffed Merle up there and they'd ended up leaving him behind in the fight to escape. Daryl was on a hunt and had yet to return.

T-Dog swallows. "I'll tell him. I dropped the key. It's on me."

Iris did not like the idea of that. She was about to voice her concerns, but Rick gets there first.

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine."

Glenn holds his hands out. "Guys, it's not a competition. I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

"I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him." T-Dog replies, his jaw set firmly with responsibility.

"Are you sure?" Iris asks him, in a small voice. T-Dog's eyes soften and he just nods.

"We could lie." Amy suggests.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea's blonde ponytail moved with her head. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She looks to Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise… We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt." Dale warns, his brows raised to show his disapproval.

"I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it." T-Dog says.

"We were all scared. We all ran. What's your point?" Andrea asks.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock. My point… Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." T-Dog looks around, with a sigh.

Later that night, Iris sat by the Quarry, long after everyone else had already retired to their tents. She couldn't sleep. Not right now. She cupped the water in her hands, bringing it to her face. She closes her eyes, allowing the cool water to run down her features. It was relieving.

She didn't hear footsteps approaching until a voice spoke. "Iris?"

She whips her head around, holding a hand to her heart. "Jesus. Glenn. You scared me."

"Sorry." Glenn perches next to her. "Why are you out here all by yourself?"

Iris shrugs. "I don't know. Couldn't sleep. Thinkin' about too much."

Glenn took his cap off, adjusting his hair before placing it back on his head. "Like what?"

"The apocalypse. Walkers. Merle up on that roof. Shane acting weird." Iris pauses. She could lie, but this was Glenn and she could tell him anything. "Rick."

"Wow." Glenn sits down fully, giving her a sly smile. "You've got a lot going on in that head of yours, huh?"

"Why do you sound surprised?" Iris snorts, but the moment passes when her smile drops. "I'm afraid that if I go to sleep, this'll all be a dream."

Glenn was quiet for a moment. "It's not a dream, Iris. I promise. Don't you trust me?"

Her smile grows again. He always knew the right things to say. "Of course I do."

"Good." Glenn looks away to hide the telltale grin on his face, before splashing her with the water.

Iris yelps, smacking his arm away.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

Glenn held his hands over his head, groaning as he watched Dale take apart the coolest car he'll ever get to drive. He'd been violently opposed to the idea, and he made that known, but no one listened to him. As per usual.

One hour. One measly hour is all he got to drive it.

He crosses his arms and stares as Dale stands under the bonnet, practically ripping parts out of his sweet, sweet car.

"Aww, you're losing your car?" Iris walks up to them, patting Glenn's shoulders in mock sympathy. "However will you survive?"

"Laugh it up, laugh it up." Glenn replies, shooting her a glare. "You'd be singing a different tune if you got to experience driving that thing."

"I don't even have my driver's licence." Iris laughs, and her smile almost distracts him from her words.

"What?" He exclaims. "You don't?"

Before Iris can reply, Rick approaches the pair, and Glenn tenses up. It is not lost on him how he confessed the fact that he liked Iris to her older brother. Sure, he didn't know Rick was Rick and he didn't mention Iris by name, but the look that he gave Glenn yesterday after Iris had hugged him said a thousand words. This was the first time Rick had been near Glenn since then, and he was nervous. He didn't want things with Iris to change.

Instead, he focuses his energy on the car, holding his arm up in the air. "Look at them. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean."

Dale turns around, giving Glenn a fatherly look. "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn."

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days." Glenn grumbles, and Iris laughs her cute laugh next to him.

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick pats Glenn's shoulder. He swallows nervously, watching Rick with unblinking eyes. He doesn't seem to notice, and neither does Iris, who was bringing her hair into a ponytail, probably frustrated with the heat.

"Hey, Iris, I could use some help with these holes." Carol waves towards Iris, holding a pile of clothes from a supply run.

Iris looks happy to help, heading over towards Carol, but warning flares fire in Glenn's brain, silently begging for her not to leave him alone with Rick.

He taps his foot, itching the back of his neck as he looks at Rick, who was peering at him like he was crazy. He opens his mouth to speak at the same time Rick does.

"So, here's the thing-"

"Glenn, listen-"

God, Glenn kind of wanted a walker to appear out of thin air right now.

He shut up, looking at Rick as he waits for him to talk.

Despite it, Rick smiles. "Calm down. So, you like Iris, huh?"

Glenn purses his lips, trying to gauge Rick's opinion. He thinks about all of the evidence that Rick had already seen, and realised how pointless it was to deny it. "Yeah, I do. But I swear, nothing has happened. Or will happen. You have nothing to worry about."

Rick pats him on the back again, and Glenn could've sworn that he heard him stifle a laugh. "You're a good one, Glenn."

As he walks away, Glenn frowns, pointing a finger in Rick's direction even though he couldn't see or hear him. "Right, but that didn't exactly clarify if... and you're gone."

Dale smiles as he keeps stripping the car.

It wasn't long before Shane returned with more water, and Dale got all of the pieces he needed from Glenn's car. He ended up turning away, in the end, couldn't bear to watch.

Iris kept sitting with Carol, giggling and stitching, thought Glenn was pretty sure that the clothes were just a ruse to cover up their chatting. He loved watching her, and how she was able to get along with everyone at camp no matter who they were, because she was just that kind of person.

Glenn could've kept staring at her all day, but his attention was drawn away by a sudden scream that rippled across the camp. Iris lets out a gasp and jumps up, followed closely by Lori.

"Mom!" Carl's voice shrieked, and Glenn picked up the pace, along with many others from the camp. He sounds terrified, and Glenn's mind immediately jumps to the worst case. It was obvious Iris had too, since she yells back in a tone he'd never heard from her before.

"Carl?" Lori yells back.

The screaming came from the woods, and Carl's voice sounded louder as they got closer. "Dad! Iris!

"Rick!" Glenn catches the attention of the former police officer, who grabs a pole and runs to follow his wife and sister.

Before Rick and Glenn could get there, Carl stumbles into the clearing. Lori drops to her knees, meeting him halfway into a hug. "Carl! Baby!"

"Mom!" Carl allows Lori to embrace him, his voice going quieter the moment he is safe.

"You're okay?" Rick asks, as soon as he gets close enough. Iris breathes out, her shoulders relaxing as she watches her nephew hug his mother.

"I've got him. I've got him." Lori's voice was slightly muffled. She pulls away from Carl, holding his chin. "Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?"

Carl shakes his head. "No, I'm okay."

Rick taps Glenn on the shoulder, motioning with his head. The two of them, along with Iris and half of their group, move towards the direction that Carl had run from. Glenn turns up his nose as they come across a walker that was elbow deep in the carcass of a deer. Iris shudders, and Andrea and Amy turn up their noses as the smell reaches them.

The walker looks up and notices their presence, tilting its head and standing up, running at them like the vicious animal it was. Glenn, along with Rick, Shane, Glenn, Jim, and Morales use the objects they had picked up as weapons to beat it and keep it away. Iris gasps and covers her mouth, but after a moment of hesitation, she pulls out her gun and points.

"No!" Dale pushes forward and swngs his axe, beheading the walker in one foul swoop. Iris' arm falls to her side, looking at the old man in shock. Dale turns to face the group. "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain."

Jim holds his hands to his hips. "Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what."

There was a moment where everyone considered that information, and what it could mean. If the walkers were migrating, the Quarry could no longer be safe in a week, a month. Their carefully crafted home could be overrun, and they would have nothing.

Glenn tenses as a branch snaps and footsteps start to walk closer. His hands tightened on the baseball hat in his hands, but he relaxed as Daryl revealed himself. He scowls as he catches sight of the deer, and Glenn only just realises that the deer that the walker was eating also had an arrow sticking out of it's head.

"Son of a bitch." Daryl grunts, kicking the beheaded walker. "That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this… filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

Iris snorts.

Dale holds his hands out. "Calm down, son. That's not helping."

Daryl scoffs. "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "on golden pond"? I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?"

Shane grimaces. "I would not risk that."

Daryl sighs, shaking his head in annoyance. Glenn couldn't help but think that he was about to be a hell of a lot more annoyed when he found out what they did to Merle. He looks to Iris, who shrugs.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel… about a dozen or so. That'll have to do."

"Oh god." Amy suddenly says, pointing as the walker's head reanimated, baring its teeth and snarls.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl points his crossbow and shoots, getting the walker right through the eye socket. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?"

No one knew how to break the news to Daryl about Merle, but as soon as Iris stepped forward, taking a breath to explain the situation, Daryl walked past them all, heading straight for the camp.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrels! Let's stew 'em up."

Iris takes a step forward, nudging Shane with a glare. Glenn had always thought she had the most compelling eyes, that she could probably get anyone to do whatever she wants with just one look.

Shane picks up the pace, catching up to Daryl as he checks all of the tents, looking for his brother. "Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you."

"About what?" Daryl pauses, clearly alarmed by Shane's sombre tone.

Shane closes his eyes, massaging his temple. "About Merle. There was a- there was a problem in Atlanta."

It was subtle, but Glenn saw the emotion that came over Daryl's face. "He dead?"

"We're not sure." Shane starts,

"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl replies, throwing his hand towards Shane.

Rick holds his hands on his hips.  "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

Daryl squints, peering at Rick. "Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes." Rick says, in his strong accent that was reminiscent of Iris'.

Daryl looks close to blow, looking between Iris and Rick. "Grimes, huh?" He steps closer. "You got something you want to tell me, Rick Grimes?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Rick." Iris gives her brother a pointed look. Glenn had a feeling this wasn't going to go well.

Daryl's face reddened. "Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

"Yeah." Rick nods, and to his credit, he owns up to what he did, and doesn't offer any excuses. He was a good man, just like how Iris was a good woman. He didn't blink, just watched Daryl carefully.

Daryl wasn't quite so calm. He lunges forward, taking a swing at Rick, but Rick shoves Daryl off with the same strength he'd used to handcuff his brother. Iris took a step forward, but there was no way Glenn was letting her get in the middle of a pissed off Daryl and his target, and he lightly grabbed her arm. She looked like she was about to pull away, but at the last second, she relaxed.

Daryl pulls his knife from his belt, but before he can even think about using it, Shane practically jumps him and places him in a tight chokehold. Iris had said that Shane and Rick were like brothers, but this was the first time he had seen it in action. "Okay. Okay."

"You'd best let me go!" Daryl struggles.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

"Chokehold's illegal." Daryl grunts, still trying to escape Shane's grip.

"You can file a complaint." Shane replies. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

Rick steps closer, his hands up. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?"

"Mmm. Yeah." Daryl hits Shane off again, but this time, Shane lets him go.

Before Daryl can get any words in. Rick speaks up. His voice was smooth and calm. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others.

"It's not Rick's fault." T-Dog defends. "I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl scoffs, but he was considerably less calm than he was before.

T-Dog's face drops. "Well... I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl scrunched his face up, shaking his head as he looked away. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will." T-Dog offers up, sparing a glance at the others. "Look, I chained the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something." Rick steps closer.

His words seem to set Daryl off again, and he throws his fist in the air. "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him."

"He'll show you." Lori says, speaking for the first time. Rick looks at her, and Lori gives him a nod. "Isn't that right?"

Rick gives her a curt nod in return. "I'm going back."

Iris wasn't sure how much she liked the plan that was in place. The last thing she wanted to do was watch Rick head off again when she had only just gotten him back. It was hard enough sending Glenn out to do his supply runs, and she couldn't stand the thought of staying behind again while her brother went back to the city. Least of all for Merle Dixon.

However, the part of her that knew what it was like to be the youngest sibling left all alone, understood that Daryl needed to try.

There was a debate as to the importance of the mission to free Merle, as it would take at least a day and Rick had already volunteered to leave camp. Some people just didn't think it was worth it.

"I can't let a man die of thirst." Rick argues, adamant on his choice to go back. That was just the kind of man Rick was  — noble and moral. "Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

Lori still wasn't sure. Iris could understand her hesitation, especially since she had Carl to think about as well as herself. Just two men alone is risky. "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?"

Rick shrugs and glances pointedly at Glenn, raising his eyebrows in hope. Iris sighs and shakes her head. Glenn realises exactly what Rick is getting at and groans. "Oh, come on."

Trust her brother to rope her best frend into a dangerous mission to the city. Another dangerous mission, considering only one day had passed since the two of them had covered themselves in guts and traipsed through the city like dead people.

Iris had a feeling that the two of them could cause a lot of trouble together.

Rick gives Glenn a chastened smile. "You know the way. You've been there before. In and out, no problem. You said so yourself." He looks over at Iris, who holds her lips together and shakes her head. Rick sighs. "It's not fair of me to ask. I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." He motions to Lori behind them.

"That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane spits, scoffing as if he couldn't believe the audacity.

"Four." T-Dog volunteers, puffing his chest out as he does so.

Well, Iris couldn't let them have all the fun now, could she?

"Five." She says. If Rick and Glenn were both going, she was damn well not going to sit at this camp and do nothing. Not this time. Iris decides, here and now, that she needs to be strong. She had a gun, and all she needed was the will to use it.

Granted, it was going to take a fight just to convince them to let her go.

There was a shrill silence when she spoke up. First it was Glenn who hesitantly shook his head, then it was Rick giving her that disapproving look, and finally it was Shane who gave a very firm, "No."

Iris looks at him. "Yes."

"Iris, no." Shane pushes. "You can't even shoot a gun."

"Then I'll learn." Iris says, looking between Shane and Rick and Glenn.

Glenn licks his lips and she watches him attentively. He exhales and nods. "I can keep her safe."

"No, I'm supposed to keep you safe." Shane protests.

"I'm a big girl." Iris tells him. "I can handle it. Rick?"

Shane raises his eyebrows at Rick, giving him secret communication. Iris stares at him just as intently. Rick sighs. "Okay, but stay close to me or Glenn. And, for god's sake, be careful."

Iris grins. "I will, I will." She looks back at Glenn, and he gives her a soft smile in return. Iris can see the worry on his face, and she hated being the cause, but it had gone past the time to step up.

Shane huffs, and the smoke almost blew out of his ears. When Shane didn't agree with you, he did everything he could to let you know. He was stubborn, but he was protective.

However, there was another reason to head back to the city that wasn't just Merle Dixon. After Rick had woken up from his coma, he had met a surviving father and son who had caught him up and helped him take a bag of guns from the sheriff's station, and a radio that Rick had promised to use to contact them again. However, when he had gotten himself stuck in the tank, he'd dropped the guns and left them behind.

If the walkers were migrating towards the Quarry, they were going to need more guns.

After giving Carl a big hug, and promising that she'd be back really soon. Iris climbed into the truck with Rick, Glenn, T-Dog and Daryl. There was a twist in her stomach as it drove off, the reality setting in as soon as the Quarry was out of sight, and they were faced with the world around them. T-Dog was driving, and Glenn was sitting next to her, watching her as if she was about to break down.

She fiddled with the gun in her hands as the truck drove on, imagining herself using it, on a real human person, even if they had already died, and being able to live with herself afterwards. She wasn't sure if she ever could.

"You've got to take the magazine off to load it." Glenn says, softly taking the gun into his hands and showing her how to load it. "And take the safety off before you shoot. But hopefully you won't have to."

"Yeah, hopefully." Iris echoes, bringing her arms around her knees.

Once the truck pulls up to a stop, Daryl reanimates, giving everyone a glare. "He'd better be okay."

T-Dog raises his hands. " It's my only word on the matter. I told you the geeks can't get at him. The only thing that's gonna get through that door is us."

"Yeah." Glenn stands up, extending his arm to help Iris get up. "We walk from here."

Once the doors open, the first thing Iris becomes aware of is the stench. It was worse than what it was like when she had first escaped the city. The smell of rotting flesh was overwhelming, coupled with the constant aroma of smoke from the government's attempt to destroy the city. It immediately made her feel nauseous, but she pushed it aside, focusing on the things she could control. The gun in her hand, the bag on her back, and the mision they had.

They walk along the railway track until they find a fence that could lead them into the main part of the city. It didn't take long to cut through the wire, and they were in.

Rick put his hands on his hips. "Merle first or guns?"

Daryl glares at him. "Merle! We ain't even having this conversation."

"We are." Rick interjects, turning to Glenn for his input. Iris found herself  proud of the fact that Rick valued what Glenn could add, because he was sometimes unaware of his own merit. "You know the geography. It's your call."

Glenn nods, looking at Daryl in solidarity. "Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first."

"It won't hurt to have another man when we go for the guns, too." Iris says.

As it turns out, the city wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. There were walkers everywhere, but there were enough of their group that they could easily pick them off. The thought of Glenn doing this alone, time and time again, made her feel ill, however. So many things could've gone wrong and he had no one to have his back.

He'd never go alone again. Not if Iris had anything to say about it.

They had made it to the abandoned mall, and thanks to Rick and Glenn's quick thinking the day before, it wasn't totally full of walkers. "It's so weird. I think I came here once to buy a TV on Black Friday. It all seems pointless now."

"We ain't got no TV's now." T-Dog replies, as they move towards the roof.

Iris wanders over to a blood splatter on the wall, hovering  her fingers over it. It all still felt like something out of a crazy movie. The thought that that blood once belonged to an actual human and no—

"Iris!"

Glenn's voice breaks her out of her thoughts, and Iris gasps as a walker runs right at her, pinning her against the wall. She yelps, taken aback as the walker's teeth bare, only just missing her skin. Before she could do anything, Rick had pulled the walker back and Daryl's arrow flew through its skull. Iris pants, holding her heart.

"Are you okay?" Glenn asks, holding onto her shoulder.

Iris finally catches her breath, and she nods. "Yeah. Hey, Rick, let me get the next one, yeah?"

"Sure." Rick replies, and Daryl rips the arrow from the walker's skull and walks up the stairs that led to the roof.

T-Dog had the bolt cutters in hand, and the second the doors opened, Daryl ran through. "Merle! Merle!"

Iris follows him through, expecting to see Merle or at least hear him mouth off, but instead, there was nothing.

"No! No!" Daryl yells. Iris and Glenn run after him, but her steps falter when she sees it.

A hand.

Merle had cut off his hand.

Chapter Text

DARYL WAS NOT HAPPY.

Glenn, Iris, T-Dog and Rick stare at the severed hand. There was a blood splatter on the floor that still looked fresh, and Rick's handcuffs were left behind. Merle wasn't sentimental, apparently. The hand hadn't even turned blue yet, but it was one of the grossest things Iris had seen.

Daryl was crouched next to his brother's hand, resting his own tightened fist on the ground. Iris took a step forward, wanting to offer the younger Dixon some comfort, but he swung upwards with his crossbow before she had the chance, holding it right at T-Dog's head.

Just as fast, Rick pulls his gun on Daryl. "I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it."

A low grunt escapes Daryl as he looks Rick up and down, sussing him out. He lowers the crossbow, swinging it over his shoulder as he turns back to his brother's hand. "You got a do-rag or something?"

T-Dog was quiet for a couple of beats, but he eventually reaches into his pocket and hands Daryl a fabric cloth. Daryl nods at him, taking the cloth and kneeling down on the ground.

"Oh, I don't-" Iris starts, but she shuts up when Daryl picks up the severed hand and wraps it in the cloth. "Okay, then."

Daryl ignores her. "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch."

"I guess there are worse ways to stay alive." Iris comments, watching Daryl like he had a bomb as he calls Glenn over with two fingers, grabbing his back and opening his backpack. "Whoa, Daryl, what're you doing?"

Daryl drops the hand in the backpack, and Glenn shoots Daryl a side eye. Daryl grunts in response. "He's gonna need that when we find him. Does that bother you, Princess?"

Iris shakes her head rapidly. "No, no. No at all." But she side steps away from Glenn all the same.

"He must have used a tourniquet." Daryl looks at the blood splatter on the ground. "Maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't."

Daryl turns his head, focusing on a trail of blood that led down the stairwell. "Merle? You in here?"

Without missing a beat, Daryl started following it. T-Dog grabs the box of tools that they'd also left behind the first time. Glenn tried to catch up to her as they walked, but dodges his attempt.

"Whoa, whoa, you have an actual human hand in your backpack right now." Iris pouts, looking him up and down with her hands out. "That's... really gross."

"Aw, come on." Glenn replies, smirking. He tilts his head. "Are you serious?"

"No. Yes." Iris' face was paper straight. She groans. "Glenn, it's just really gross."

"No, no, I see how it is." Glenn replies, but he was still smiling, so Iris knew he wasn't really mad. She chuckles, biting her tongue to stifle it.

They track the blood trail to an office down the stairs. Daryl was ready and took out a walker that was inside, but there were two who had already been killed, lying on the ground.

Daryl kicks one of the walkers. "Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."

Rick puffs out air. "Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is."

Iris bites down on her teeth as she imagines finding Merle passed out from blood loss somewhere in this building. She didn't like the man, but it didn't mean she wanted him to die. She shudders. If they do find Merle's body, she hoped she wouldn't find him alone.

The group kept moving, taking out walkers everytime one appeared. However, there was no sign of Merle. Not anywhere.

"Iris." Rick calls, motioning her over with his head.

"Hey." Iris smiles. She still wasn't used to Rick being around again, and everytime she was reminded it felt like a rush of warm air. "Thanks for letting me come, by the way. I really needed this."

"I know." Rick nods. "I don't think I could've stopped you even if I tried."

Iris grins. "Yeah, well Shane would beg to differ." She pauses. "But he means well. He just isn't you."

"I owe him everything now." Rick says, his expression becoming more serious. "He saved my family, all of you. I don't know what I would've done-"

Iris scrunches her features up. "Uh, yeah. He got Lori and Carl out. He made sure the two of them were safe. I met him along the road, it was a miracle I found them, really."

Rick was quiet for a moment, staring at the wall. Then, he turns to her. "He told me he got you all out."

"Glenn and T-Dog saved my life. They were total strangers but they helped me. I would've died without them." It was important to Iris that Rick knew the truth. "I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding. He was just... generalising or something."

"Yeah, I'm sure." Rick says, shrugging. Iris studies his face, but she can't quite read him.

Their conversation is cut short as Daryl gets more desperate. "Merle!"

Rick winces. "We're not alone here. Remember?"

Daryl scoffs, still walking through the rooms at a rapid pace. "Screw that. He could be bleeding out. You said so yourself."

"What's that smell?" Iris asks, her eyes darting around. "Do you guys smell that?"

"What? The smell of rotting corpses?" T-Dog raises his eyebrow. "That smell is everywhere, in case you didn't notice."

"No, I smell it too." Daryl cuts in, opening the door to a small kitchen where the smell of burning increased by tenfold. Iris groans, covering her mouth.

Merle's belt was on top of the stove, which was still lit. Iris feels ill when she realises exactly what it was.

"What's that burned stuff?" Daryl turns his nose up.

"Skin. He cauterised the stump." Rick says.

There was a moment of silence.

Daryl blows out a puff of air. "Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick reminds him.

Daryl walks over to the window, which was smashed to bits, broken glass spread all over the floor. "Yeah? Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap."

"He left the building?" Glenn asks, adjusting the bag on his back. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving." Daryl sends a glare in Rick's direction. Iris guesses he still wasn't over it.

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog sounds unsure. "Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?"

Daryl switches his glare towards T-Dog. "No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks. You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."

"What about 1,000 dead dumb bastards? Different story?" Rick argues back, crossing his arms.

Daryl shakes his head, pushing away from him. "Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him."

Rick grabs Daryl's arm, pulling him away from the window. Iris takes a step back. She had a feeling this would not go down well. "Daryl, wait."

Considering this was about the sixth time Daryl had been restrained since Rick had returned, he still attempted to fight his way out of it. "Get your hands off me! You can't stop me."

Ricks grip only tightened. "I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head."

Daryl sighs, looking around at the group as if he was trying to figure out if they'd actually help. Iris gives him a small smile and he returns a sharp nod. "I could do that."

"Only if we get those guns first." T-Dog says. "I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"

"He's not wrong." Iris backs up. "It'll help our chances if we have more weapons."

Rick looks to Daryl, who looks away, but doesn't argue. "Okay. We get the guns. Then we look for Merle."

Once Daryl had agreed to go after the bag of guns, they needed to form a game plan. Glenn leapt straight into action, using his quick thinking to come up with a scheme that was well thought out and really smart. Iris loves watching him step into the kind of role that Iris always knew he could fill — even if the others still thought of him as the reckless kid who went on supply runs. The role of a leader, someone who initiates plans and ideas. It was nice seeing him act with the confidence that he had right now, and Iris could tell that he wasn't even aware of his change in attitude, but Iris sure was.

He was still talking, but Iris was focusing on the assertive tone in his voice and the way his eyes had this almost wild look in them, that she wasn't even listening to the words he was saying.

That was, until Rick cut in. "You're not doing this alone."

Iris' mouth drops open. "Excuse me? You want to do what?"

"Iris." Glenn sighs, looking at her with an intensity that almost makes her knees weak.

"No way." Iris argues. "Do you even know how many walkers there are out there?"

"Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl adds. Iris points in his direction, as if to say see?

"It's a good idea, okay, if you just hear me out." Glenn cuts in, raising his eyebrows. "If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast."

Iris shakes her head, feeling a pit in her stomach start to form. Glenn leans down, drawing in the dirt with a stick. He marks the tank, the bag of guns and a couple of blocks around the area. "Look. That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now. That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met. That's where Daryl and I will go."

Iris taps her foot on the ground as she studies Glenn's map. She trusts him, she really does, but she also knows of his recklessness and that scares her half out of her mind.

Because he was her best friend, and he saved her life, and she didn't want to see him die.

"Why me?" Daryl asks, unconvinced.

"Your crossbow is quieter than his gun. While Daryl waits here in the alley, I run up the street, grab the bag." Glenn answers. He avoids Iris' gaze, as if he knew she would be pleading with him if he met her eyes.

"You got us elsewhere?" Rick kneels down beside Glenn.

Glenn nods, pointing to a second street further up from the camp. "You and Iris and T-Dog, right. You'll be in this alley here."

Iris frowns. "All three of us? Can't I come with you? Then I could have your back."

Glenn shakes his head. "No. The three of you because that alley hasn't been cleared yet, so you'll need more manpower." He finally looks up at her and smiles. "Plus, I still have that hand in my backpack and it's really gross, remember?"

"Glenn-"

"We're two blocks away? Why?" Rick interrupts. Iris sighs.

"I may not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards, we'll all meet back here." Glenn explains.

Daryl, Rick, T-Dog and Iris share looks. It seems the other three were seeing what Iris always could. Even if she was still a little mad that he was doing the dangerous part all by himself. She had to pick her battles, she supposed. Rick smirks as Glenn keeps drawing his map.

Daryl whistles. "Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?"

Glenn looks up. "Delivered pizzas. Why?"

Iris smiles.

There was no time to waste, and the group had to get Glenn's plan in action. Iris was between T-Dog and Rick as they moved into the alleyway. The three of them took out all of the walkers that were blocking the exit, including Iris, though she used the knife on her belt rather than her gun, because it would've drawn more noise towards them and Glenn needed it to be clear if he ended up running in their direction.

Iris swallows as she drives her knife into the skull of a walker, grimacing as it almost fell on her feet. "I'm sorry."

"Iris!" T-Dog yells, and she whips around and stabs another walker, twice in the head, whispering another apology.

Rick steps over the body. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Iris breathes and runs a hand through her hair. "Sorry."

"Hey, don't apologise for feeling bad. It makes you human." Rick holds a hand on her shoulder. Iris nods her head, licking her lips as she averted her gaze from the bodies on the ground. Rick and T-Dog move them together, piling them up so that they're out of the way.

"Do you think Glenn has the guns yet?" T-Dog asks.

"I hope so." Iris whispers, poking her head out. "I can't see anything from here. Stupid two blocks away."

"Wait, shut up." Rick interrupts. Iris was about to scoff at him when he spoke again. "Do you hear that?"

Iris perks up. Someone was yelling, a word she couldn't distinguish and a voice she didn't recognise. Then: "Help! Help!"

"Oh, god." Iris whispers, and the three of them break out into a run. They were too far away to get there in time if there was a walker problem. "Stupid, stupid, two blocks away."

By the time they arrive at the alleyway where Daryl was, the archer was slamming his fist on a closed gate at the end of the alley as a car skidded off, too fast for Iris to see who was driving it. "Come back here, you sumbitches!"

There was a younger man standing in the alleyway, no older than a teenager. Iris guessed that this was the voice they had heard calling for help. Before Iris can reach him to ask him if he is okay, Daryl pushes off of the gate and slams him into the wall, in a fit of rage.

Rick jumps up, trying to pull Daryl off. "Whoa whoa whoa. Stop it."

"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat!"

"Let me go!" The teenager yells.

"Chill out." T-Dog says to him..

"Daryl!" Iris shouts.

"They took Glenn." Daryl shoves the teenager against the wall again. "That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends. I'm gonna stomp your ass!"

Iris felt her soul leave her body. "What?! They what? Daryl!"

Daryl doesn't reply, too preoccupied with the kid to answer her shouts. Iris yelps in anger and runs over to the gate, but it wouldn't budge and even if it did, the car that had taken Glenn was long gone. "Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

The panic started to rise in her as she kicked the gate, letting all of her pent up emotions out. They can't have taken Glenn, not strong, capable, reckless Glenn. Her best friend who she'd promised to herself she'd take care of because he didn't have any other family. The one time she'd joined him on a run, and he'd been taken.

"Guys! Guys! We're cut off!" T-Dog yells.

"Get to the lab. Go." Rick says, picking up the bag of guns that Glenn must've dropped. He pauses, and walks over to her, taking her by the arm. "Iris, let's go."

Iris allowed Rick to drag her, forcing her feet to co-operate and following the others towards the lab. Daryl had the teenager by the wrist. "Come on. Damn, let's go."

The moment they stumble into the room, Daryl shoves the kid down on a chair. Rick lets go of Iris, and she immedietely starts pacing the room, breathing in and out erratically.

Rick leans down, his hands on his hips. "Those men you were with, we need to know where they went."

The kid scoffs, shaking his head. "I ain't telling you nothing."

T-Dog looks at Daryl, his eyes as big as saucers. "Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?"

"I told you, this little turd and his douchebag friends came out of nowhere and jumped me." Daryl grunts back, pointing at the teenager.

"You're the one who jumped me, puto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault." The boy shouts back.

"They took Glenn." Daryl turns around to look at Rick, and Iris could see the pleading in his eyes. "Could have taken Merle too."

The kid's face lights up, and he starts chuckling. Iris glares at him. "Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle."

Daryl's eyes narrow and he lunges forward, going to kick the teenager but Rick holds him back, pulling him away. "Damn it, Daryl. Back off."

Iris takes the opportunity of Rick being distracted to kneel down in front of the teenager, glaring at him with unusually fiery eyes. She wasn't typically quick to anger, but this was really pissing her off. "Listen here, kid. You don't wanna mess with him, okay. So you tell me right now where your men went, or I swear to God, I'll-"

"Iris!" Rick spits, letting go of Daryl to reign her in. "Don't make me hold you back too."

Iris doesn't struggle in Rick's hold, but she follows Daryl with her eyes as he is free from her brother's grip. Daryl takes Merle's hand out of Glenn's backpack and Iris feels a rush of emotion all at once. Stupid hand, stupid guns, stupid anger.

"Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl says, his voice low. Rick tenses up, but Iris stares at him until he sighs and nods, letting go of Iris.

The kid starts to back away, shaking like a leaf at the sight of the severed hand. Daryl smiles sinister. "Start with the feet this time."

Iris crouches next to him. "All we want is a location. I'd start talking if I were you."

The teenager nods, raising his hands in fear. "Okay. Okay."

Thank god for that hand.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

The pit in Iris' stomach still hadn't let up. Not when Miguel told them the location of his hideout, not when they made a plan to talk to his leader, and certainly not when they arrived outside.

"I don't like this." Iris says, biting her lip as she stared up at the building. "I don't like this. What if we can't get him back? What if they hurt him?"

"We're gonna get him back." Rick replies. "Iris? We're gonna get him back."

"I wouldn't go near him because of the stupid hand." Iris says, sniffing and closing her eyes. "Just because I thought it was gross. I should've hugged him goodbye. And now he could be gone."

Rick sighs. "Iris, he's gonna be fine. He wasn't offended. He's your-"

"Best friend." Iris finishes, wiping away at her eyes. Rick only nods. "Okay. I can do this. We can do this."

The plan included T-Dog taking a rifle to the roof of one of the neighbouring buildings to provide them some extra protection. Rick hands him the gun. "You sure you're up for this?"

"Yeah." T-Dog nods, and he moves away, ready to set up. Iris holds onto her stomach. This was getting all the more real.

Daryl's grip on Miguel tightens. "One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know."

"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." Miguel shot back. Iris scoffs.

"G?" Rick questions.

"Guillermo. He's the man here."

Iris raises her eyebrow. "Hell of a man if he frequently kidnaps people who did him no wrong."

Miguel rolls his eyes. "Debatable."

Rick clicks his tongue. "Enough. Let's go see Guillermo."

The building was clearly affected by the government's napalm attack on the city. It was partially collapsed and surrounded by overgrown plants, and it looked like something out of a dystopian movie. Which, to be fair, was their reality now. A really creepy, dystopian movie.

As if he knew that they were there, the doors opened with a stiffening creak, and a man that Iris assumed to be Guillermo stepped out. Something shifted in the atmosphere around them, and the pit in her stomach only grew.

Guillermo looks over at Miguel. "You okay, little man?"

"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal." Miguel replies. Iris shoots him a look. Did he really think they were being serious?

"Cops do that?" Guillermo looks amused, staring at Rick's uniform.

"Not him." Miguel replies. "This redneck puto here, and that spitfire blondie. He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me."

Well, maybe Daryl was serious.

"Shut up." Daryl grunts.

One of Guillermo's men, who he was surrounded by and who were protecting him, steps forward and aims his weapon directly at Daryl's head. "Hey, that's that Vato right there, homes. He shot me in the ass with an arrow.”

Iris tenses, her hands going straight to the gun in her belt. She didn't want to shoot anyone, but if these men have Glenn and won't let him go, she can't help but think she would use it in a heartbeat.

Guillermo chuckles, holding his hand in front of the man's gun. "Chill, ese, chill. Chill. This true? He wants Miguelito's feet? That's pretty sick, man."

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion." Rick interjects, holding his hands out.

Guillermo steps forward. "That hillbilly jumps Felipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet, Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and that blonde spitfire as he puts it hasn't taken her hand off of her gun, and you want a calm discussion? You fascinate me."

Rick turns to look at Iris, staring at her and the gun, silently communicating with her. Iris sighs and flexes her jaw, letting go of the gun.

"Heat of the moment. Mistakes were made on both sides." Rick rationalises.

"Who's that dude to you anyway? You don't look related."

"He's one of our group, more or less. I'm sure you have a few like him." Rick says calmly.

"He's family." Iris adds, keeping her hand in a tight fist.

"You got my brother in there?" Daryl asks.

"Sorry, we're fresh out of white boys. But I've got Asian. You interested?" Guillermo offers. Iris straightens, searching every man around Guillermo for Glenn.

Rick holds onto Miguel. "I have one of yours, you have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade."

"Don't sound even to me."

Oh, what an asshole.

"Come on, man." Miguel holds his arms out.

"My people got attacked. Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?" Guillermo raises his voice, sounding more and more frustrated.

"Guns?" Rick echoes, tilting his head.

"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."

"You're mistaken." Rick's words were deliberate, planned. Iris knew that she had to keep her cool, that they had T-Dog in place and that they had a plan.

"I don't think so." Guillermo was confident, so confident that Iris was struggling to just stand there and let Rick take the lead.

"About it being yours. It's my bag of guns."

"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word? What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?" Guillermo threatens.

"You could do that." Rick shrugs. "Or not."

Rick points to the roof of the building behind them, where T-Dog was in place, holding his gun straight as he stared through the lense of the gun.

Iris breathes out, put at ease as she spots T-Dog in position, playing their mastercard. They had the guns, they had Miguel, they had T-Dog. They had everything they needed to save Glenn.

Guillermo doesn't even react to the sniper. He makes a call to his men, and Iris' attention is brought to a commotion happening on the other roof. There were two men, holding onto a third with a bag over his head and a fourth holding a big gun to his body.

Iris gasps.

No, no, no, no, no.

It was Glenn.

Iris takes her gun out, her hands shaking and her eyes seeing only red.

"I see two options. You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." Guillermo says, turning on his heels with his men and slamming the door.

Iris' eyes fill with tears, staring up at Glenn as he was practically dangled off of the roof. She couldn't properly make out his face, but she could imagine the fear that was on it as the gun was held closer and closer to the back of his head.

There was a single moment where she could've sworn he stared straight at her before he was dragged off again.

Iris didn't walk away until Rick dragged her away, kicking and screaming.

Chapter Text

"WE HAVE TO GIVE HIM THE GUNS." IRIS SAYS.

There was no other option, no other way around it. Iris felt sick to her stomach thinking about it, about handing over their bag of weapons, their protection, their safety. These guns had become nothing but a prize to gain, and it simply wasn't worth it. Not to Iris. They had to give up the guns, because they could not afford to risk what could happen if they didn't. She wouldn't let it even be a debate. It was Glenn over a bag of guns without question.

As it turns out, not everyone shared the same opinion as her.

"You can't be serious." Iris laughs, because if she didn't laugh, she would start crying. "You don't want to hand over the guns."

No one responds to her.

"Rick!"

Her brother unzips the duffel, laying the guns out one by one, taking stock. Iris sighs, crossing her arms. Unbelievable.

Daryl watches Rick with narrow eyes. "Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You're gonna give that up for that kid?"

"Not just for a kid. For Glenn!" Iris says.

"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree." T-Dog cuts in. "But you think that Vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?"

Miguel, who was in the corner of the room, watching their debate, pipes up. "You calling G a liar?"

"Are you a part of this!?" Daryl yells, slapping Miguel over the head. "You want to hold onto your teeth!?"

"Question is, do you trust that man's word?" T-Dog asks.

"No, question is what are you willing to bet on it?" Daryl paces the room, acting like this decision was as easy as picking what you wanted for dinner, and not a literal life on the line. "Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?"

Iris scoffs. "Yes! Have you all gone insane? He would do this for you, he would do more than this for you, for all of you, damn it. We're not leaving him behind. They're just guns!"

Rick more aggressively loads another gun, staring at Daryl. "What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I."

Iris looks at Rick, her eyes filled with hope. Rick was right, Glenn didn't leave people behind. He was the reason that Rick was here, that her brother was safe and home and here. She wasn't giving up on him, not now, not ever.

"So you're gonna hand the guns over?" Daryl still looks unconvinced.

"Yes." Iris says.

"I didn't say that." Rick says at the same time.

It only takes one look for Iris to know what he's getting at. Her eyes widened. "An ambush? Seriously?"

Rick ignores her sharp words, looking between T-Dog and Daryl. "There's nothing keeping you two here. You should get out, head back to camp. Iris... I know you're not going to leave, so... just listen to me when we're in there."

"Rick, think about what happened last time we tried to ambush them." Iris bites her lips, speaking in a low voice. "It's not worth the risk! It's not."

"Iris, just trust me, okay? Trust me." Rick says, firmly. "You two can head back out."

T-Dog shakes his head. "Oh yeah, leave. And tell your family what?"

Rick nods his head in solidarity, sharing a glance with both T-Dog and Daryl. The thought reassures her a little. It was a risky plan, but it would be easier to pull off with all of them in. She uncrosses her arms.

As Rick hands the newly loaded guns around, Miguel stands up. "Come on, this is nuts. Just do like G says."

Miguel's protests get ignored as Rick and Daryl continue to load the guns, preparing for the very thing that had gotten them into this mess: an ambush.

𖤓𖤓𖤓

Rick's rifle was forcibly pressed against Miguel's back, his hands tied as he walked with difficulty towards Guillermo's building. The doors were already ajar; they were expected. Rick offered Iris a rifle, like the three men held in their hands, but Iris opted to keep Opal's handgun which was still tucked away in her belt. She wasn't planning to use it unless absolutely necessary.

She still wasn't sure if she agreed with the plan to go in all guns ablazing, but now it was happening, she felt proud of the fact that her brother had chosen to fight, and just maybe, this could bring a positive outcome.

As they walk into the room, Iris takes in her surroundings. There were men planted all over the room, staring at them with hostile eyes and raised weapons. She scanned every single one of their faces, but she couldn't see Glenn anywhere.

The men parted like the red sea, and Guillermo stepped forward. "I see my guns but they're not all in the bag."

Rick raises his rifle higher. "That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that."

The man who had spoken to them before, Miguel's cousin, rolls his eyes. "Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese. All right? Unload on their asses, ese."

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Guillermo's voice was still just as confident.

"No, I'm pretty clear." Rick cuts Miguel free, pushing him forward. "You have your man. I want mine."

Guillermo gives a low chuckle. "I'm gonna chop up your boy. I'm gonna feed him to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale. I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"

Iris' fingers twitch as she brushes them against her gun. She looks at Daryl and he gives her a curt nod.

"No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded." Rick says. In a heartbeat, Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Iris cock their guns, pointing them at Guillermo. Iris did everything in her power to stop her hands from shaking. "Okay then, we're here."

Guillermo and his men followed Rick's lead in an instant, raising their guns until they were stuck in a total stalemate.

"Felipe! Felipe!"

Iris frowns at the voice. It wasn't guarded, it wasn't defensive, it was shaky and vulnerable. As if the guns didn't even exist, an old lady walks past Guillermo, right in the line of fire. Iris' grip slightly loosened on her gun.

Miguel's cousin's voice softens. "Abuela, go back with the others, now."

Something did not add up here.

"Rick." Iris calls, as the old lady got closer and closer.

"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl yells.

"Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay? This is not the place for you right now." Guillermo's voice had a softer edge to it too. Iris moves her mouth into a very straight line, suddenly feeling like they had gone and misinterpreted this whole situation. Could a group of people who house such a sweet old lady really be capable of killing Glenn? Or was this all just one big understanding.

The realisation that they had just assumed the worst of these people rocked Iris' mind. Were they really this far gone, did the end of the world change them so much that they had completely forgotten about the benefit of the doubt?

Had they lost their humanity?

The old lady, Abuela, moves even closer. "Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He needs his asthma stuff. Carlitos didn't find it. He needs his medicine."

Guillermo nods somberly. "Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you."

Felipe puts his gun down, stepping forward to take her arm. "Abuela! Ven conmigo por favor."

"Who are those people?" Abuela asks, and Iris feels her chest rising with guilt. Iris was someone who loved old people, she took over Opal's shop and she knew all of her customers by name. And now she was threatening some sweet old lady with Opal's gun.

Felipe keeps speaking to her in Spanish. "Por favor, ven conmigo."

Abuela pulls away from his grip, looking at Rick straight in the eyes, clearly catching his uniform and newly discovered hat. "Don't you take him."

"Ma'am?" Rick asks.

"Felipe's a good boy. He has his trouble but he pulls himself together. We need him here." Abuela holds a hand to her heart.

Rick lowers his gun, confident that Daryl and T-Dog and Iris would have his back if it went sideways. "Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson."

"Then what do you want him for?"

Rick pauses. "He's… helping us find a missing person."

Iris puts her gun back on her belt. She puts on her most convincing smile, smoothing her hair through. "His name is Glenn. He's a dear friend. Have you seen him?"

Abuela lights up. "The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come. Come, I'll show you." She holds onto Iris' hand, pulling her towards another room. Iris lets her, with her heart speeding up at the confirmation that Glenn was okay and he was helping a sick old man. "He needs his medicine."

Abuela holds Iris' hand all the way to one of the back rooms of the building, through a courtyard and up some stairs. Rick follows, along with the bag of guns and Daryl and T-Dog, who were still very guarded. The second building was better structured, not as affected by the bombing of the city. It had a very distinct smell, like a hospital. Iris realised very quickly what this was.

These people were not bad at all.

They walk past several rooms, all of which housed different elderly people who were being taken care of by younger members. Iris looks back at her brother and catches the understanding on his face as they walk further and further into the nursing home. Even Daryl lowers his weapon.

The final room was a big, open gymnasium, where a lot of people were gathered around a man who was breathing heavily. Mr Gilbert, most likely. Felipe had already made his way over, kneeling next to the man and whispering kind words.

As Iris got closer, her straight expression turned into a grin as she recognised the familiar red cap, belonging to her best friend, who was also kneeled with Mr Gilbert. God, she felt so relieved she let out a breathy laugh, stepping forward. "Glenn."

"What the hell is this?" Rick asks.

Glenn finally looks up at the four of them, looking very focused as Felipe helps Mr Gilbert with his medicine. "An asthma attack. Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden."

"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-Dog exclaims. Glenn smiles sheepishly.

There were three chihuahuas sitting in a little dog bed, whimpering and barking and ultimately harmless.

Once he was given the medication, Mr Gilbert managed to catch his breath, and everyone could rest easy. As Rick engages in a low conversation with Guillermo, Iris runs over and hugs Glenn, wrapping her arms tight around his neck.

"Whoa, whoa, what's that for?" Glenn asks, but he still wraps his arms around her waist.

"I will never avoid you ever again, even if you're carrying a gross severed hand. Even if you're carrying a dozen gross severed hands." Iris rambles, holding him close. "You scared the hell out of me and the whole time you were just hanging out with a bunch of old ladies!"

Glenn laughs and pulls back. "Iris, it's okay. The hand was gross. Blame Daryl for that, not yourself."

Iris nods, looking back at Daryl, who was listening to Rick's conversation with Guillermo. "Yeah, I'm good with that."

She walks closer to the others, where Guillermo was now speaking in a quiet, non-confrontational voice.

"Well, I'm glad it didn't go down that way."

"If it had, that blood would be on my hands." Rick replies. He looks at Iris as she walks up, a look that says a million things. She smiles.

"Mine too." Guillermo admits. "We'd have fought back. Wouldn't be the first time we've had to. Protect the food, the medicine, what's left of it. These people, the old ones, the staff took off, just left 'em here to die. Me and Felipe were the only ones who stayed."

Iris bites her lip. It was a long shot, but she had to ask, to know. "Did you ever let in anyone named Opal Bennett? She's 83, I lost her in the struggle."

Guillermo turns to one of his men, who just shakes his head. "No, I am sorry."

Her heart breaks all over again. "What about Doris Anderson? Bette Powell? Lisa Fisher?"

Guillermo shakes his head. "I'm sorry."

Iris just nods in return, not trusting her own voice. She knew the odds, she knew it was unlikely, but the feeling of grief and loss still weighed her down. She'd experienced a miracle getting Rick back, and it was naive to expect that twice. Yet she felt like she was suffocating just as much as that old man.

"What are you, doctors?" Rick asks.

"Felipe's a nurse… a special care provider. Me, I'm the custodian." Guillermo says, looking over at Abuela with a kind gaze.

"What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asks. It was true, there was a severe lack of other nurses or workers in the home, and the elderly population greatly outnumbered them.

"The Vatos trickle in to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind, plunderers, the kind that take by force."

"That's not who we are." Rick says, not defensively but still with a strong, assertive tone.

Guillermo shrugs. "How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage. Appearances."

Iris can't fault him for that. They had done the exact same thing, after all. Everyone in this world could do with being a little more trusting. It might take them a long way.

"Guess the world changed." T-Dog comments.

"No. It's the same as it ever was."" Guillermo replies. "The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The Vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The Vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here, they all look to me now. I don't even know why."

Iris certainly knows why. Guillermo was a natural leader, and he cared. He had the best qualities that led to the creation of such a beautiful community.

"Because they can." Rick nods, holding a respectful hand to Guillermo's shoulder.

It was the best possible solution for such a big mess that had been created. Glenn was safe, and the big villain they were expecting to have to fight to get him back ended up being nothing but a kind man who needed protection for th elderly people in his care.

They split the contents of the bag in half.

Iris left that place feeling a little more connected to her own humanity than before. It was refreshing, being somewhere else other than that camp, to talk with people that weren't the same dozen people she spoke to everyday. For one of the first times since the world had ended, Iris felt a flicker of hope.

Glenn wasn't put off by his kidnapping and rescue, and as they walked away from the home with their half of the guns, he grins at Rick. "Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat."

Iris hums, sending Rick a cheeky smile. "Mhm. He loves that hat. Gives him a sense of authority."

Rick shoots the pair an amused look, shaking his head. "Don't tell anybody."

Iris was excited to go back to camp and tell Carl all that had happened today. The twelve year old was big on adventure stories and comic books, and this was a hell of a story. Plus, it had a pretty damn good moral message.

Apparently, Daryl wasn't as entertained."You've given away half our guns and ammo."

"Not nearly half." Rick says, standing his ground. Iris straightens up, watching her brother proudly.

"For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long do you think they got?" Daryl snorts.

Iris gives him a look of disgust. "That makes them any less undeserving of life than any of us?"

"How long do any of us?" Rick adds. If Daryl had a reply in mind, it was lost when they finally got to the spot where they'd left their van.

Only, in its place, was nothing but an empty space.

Iris whips her head around, convinced they'd accidently just walked to the wrong spot. The expressions of the others just confirmed what she knew was true.

"Oh my God." Glenn exclaims.

"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl spits out, his face going as red as a beetroot.

"Someone's taken it.." Iris tails off, her jaw hanging open in shock.

"We left it right there." Glenn says. "Who would take it?"

"Merle."

Iris stares at her brother. "No..."

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl closes his eyes.

"We've gotta get back." Iris was filled with the same fierce determination she felt when she thought Glenn had been taken hostage. "Now."

Four hours.

That's how long it took to run back to camp.

Iris' legs ache like hell, her lungs were burning as she panted for air. Her hair was stuck to the back of her neck, her fringe sticking to her forehead. Four long hours.

None of them slowed down, not even for a moment. They all knew what was at stake if they couldn't get back in time. Merle had a hell of a headstart on them, and he had a truck on his side.

Night had already fallen, and Iris started to stumble as she walked. She was exhausted, and all of her adrenaline was draining from her body the longer it took to get home.

"God, I don't know if I can do this." She pants, wiping sweat from her forehead.

Rick pauses and turns around. "You can, Iris. Look up there, that's all we have to get to. Just a little further."

"Okay." Iris nods. "Just a little-"

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Three gunshots rang out, consecutively. They echoed brutally over the woods, a vicious display of violence, of death, of fear. It was coming from the Quarry.

Iris forgot about her exhaustion.

The five of them ran. As fast as humanly possible. Despite the fact they had been moving for four hours, despite the fact that they were scared out of their minds.

When they arrived at camp, breathless and confused, it was so much worse than Merle Dixon.

It was walkers. Dozens of them. Snarling and baring their teeth, like the animals they were, tearing into some of the people at camp. There were people screaming and running and Shane was emptying his clip into the mass of walkers that roamed the camp that was once safe. It was too dark to see, Iris couldn't spot Carl in all of the chaos.

She didn't even have time to think about it, she just grabbed a hold of her gun and shot.

The sound of the shot made everything go silent for a second. Her hands shook. T-Dog, Daryl, Glenn and Rick were shooting their guns, lunging forward and taking out every single one they saw.

Iris stared at the walker that she had jusr shot in the face. She was a woman, barely decomposed, with curly brown hair and a pretty dress. And a hole in her face. She screams.

She stumbles over her body, looking up at the blur of movement ahead of her. There was another walker heading right for her. She shot a bullet. She hit the walker right in the face. This time it was a man, who had a pair of round glasses that were now shattered.

Rick's voice carried across the camp to her ears. "Baby! Carl! Baby!"

His pleas snapped Iris back to reality. She looks up again. There were more, so many more.

They weren't people anymore. They were just the monsters that were trying to kill her nephew.

She shoots two more walkers. She doesn't look at their faces.

A shout caught her attention, and through her own heavy breaths, she sees Glenn a couple of feet away, fighting off one walker while another came right at him. Iris doesn't hesitate, shooting the second walker in the head from her distance and running over, bashing the walker that Glenn was fighting with the barrel of her gun.

"Thanks." Glenn breathes, reaching over to grab her hand. Together, they take out a couple more.

After ten minutes of fighting, all of the walkers were dead. The camp fell into a dull silence. No one knew what to do, what to say.

Iris broke away from Glenn, falling to her knees beside Rick, taking Carl from his arms and pulling him into a bone crushing hug, her eyes filling with tears. "You're okay, you're okay."  

"Iris." Carl sobs, burying her head in her shoulder.

"Amy! Amy! Amy!"

Iris looks up from her hug with Carl, letting out a sob of her own when she hears Andrea's cries of grief.

Amy was dead.

"I remember my dream now, why I dug the holes." Jim says.

Iris squeezes her eyes shut. The darkness was much more preferable to the horrors that were reality right now. She couldn't believe how high her spirits were just a couple of hours ago.

There was no hope. Not anymore.

Chapter Text

JIM HAD BEEN DIGGING GRAVES.

The sun had risen over the horizon at some point over the last few hours, but no one had slept through the night. Only a handful of words had collectively been uttered since the gunshots had died down, and everyone was rooted in their spots, as if moving or talking or even breathing would make it all the more real.

While they were embarking on their mission to save Merle and recover the guns, Jim had suffered from a form of heat stroke which had caused him to stand outside for hours, just digging holes. When Shane and the others had tried to intervene, he said that it was something he felt compelled to do. That he didn't understand it himself, at least not until they needed graves.

Amy was dead. Ed was dead. So many others were dead. There were dead walkers littered all over the floor. Dead, rotting carcasses. Monsters, but people all the same.

Iris was staring at the grass, one of the only patches of grass that didn't have something slowly rotting on top of it.

Some of the others had finally started to move. Lori had moved over to Andrea, who was still cradling Amy's dead body, stuck in the same position for hours. Iris could hear her softly trying to convince Andrea to let her go, so they could give her a nice send off before she became one of them. Daryl was swinging his axe into every single one of the walker's heads, killing their brains, and Glenn and T-Dog had started to throw their bodies into the fire they had started.

It wasn't until the grotesque smell of charred flesh reached her nose that Iris finally stood up to help.

She wipes her bloodshot eyes, throwing her hair up in a ponytail before walking over to Glenn and T-Dog. She watched the pair for a second, as they tossed body after body into the open flame. They were only burning the walkers. Any of the own people, some of whom Daryl had already gotten in the head, were in a separate pile.

Iris swallows the bile that rises in her throat.

"Let me help." She says, and she barely recognises the croak in her throat.

Glenn takes one look at her, and sighs. "Iris, you don't have to-"

"I need to help." Iris interjects. She looks up, staring at Glenn intensely. Glenn licks his lips and nods, pointing her towards another body. Iris moves closer, taking its feet while Glenn grips its arms. It was a woman with curly brown hair, a pretty dress and a hole in her face.

They throw her in the fire.

There were so many bodies to dump that they had to swap out people so that no one got too tired. When Iris, T-Dog and Glenn headed down to the tents, Andrea was still sitting on the floor, cradling Amy's body. She still wouldn't let anyone near her, but Amy's time was running out. No one wanted to be the person that took Amy away from her sister.

Daryl put his axe down, shaking his head. "Y'all can't be serious. Let that girl hamstring us? The dead girl's a time bomb."

Rick sighs in defeat. "What do you suggest?"

"Take the shot." Daryl says simply. "Clean, in the brain from here. Hell, I can hit a turkey between the eyes from this distance."

Lori scoffs, staring at Daryl like he had two heads. "No. For God's sakes, let her be."

Iris couldn't listen to it any longer. It was too sad, too much. She remembers a time, when all of this originally happened, that she felt bitter and jealous that Andrea and Amy got to survive together, when she was mourning the loss of Rick and it felt like the very universe was stacked up against her. Now, watching Andrea shut down and cradle the body of her sister, sitting in a pool of her blood, Iris realises how lucky she truly was.

As she walks away, she hears two sets of footsteps behind her, following her as she got away from the pitiful sight of Andrea and Amy. She stops, sighs, and turns around. "What is it?"

Glenn and T-Dog share a look. T-Dog steps forward, holding a magazine clip's worth of bullets. "You should restock your gun."

"Oh. Right." Iris takes the bullets, reloading her gun slowly. It felt heavy in her hands, heavier than it did last night. "Thanks."

"Are you okay?" Glenn asks.

Iris hesitates. No. But none of them were okay. Iris hadn't experienced a personal loss last night, not like Andrea, not like Carol, not like Sophia. "I'm fine."

"Just because it was the first time in a while you've had to do that, the first with a gun." Glenn explains. Both Glenn and T-Dog had the same expressions on their faces, like they were walking on eggshells.

Except Iris didn't feel fragile.

As she held the gun in her hands, she felt glad that she'd been strong enough to use it. That she'd helped protect the camp. Shane was wrong. You couldn't be shielded from the bad stuff, not anymore, not if you want to survive. It may have taken her hours of staring at the same patch of grass for her to realise it, but it was true. It was a survival of the fittest, and Iris was ready to adapt. She always knew it would come down to this, she'd have to be able to kill walkers eventually. And now she could. Next time, she would not hesitate, she would not apologise, she would not memorise their faces and imagine what their lives were like before all of this. They were nothing but predators, and Iris refused to let herself become prey.

So, she just gives a small, sad smile. "I'm okay. Really. I had to learn, especially now. There's gonna be a hell of a lot more walkers in our future."

"Where do you think we'll go next?" T-Dog asks in a quiet voice.

"I don't know." Iris looks down at the ground. "But Rick will figure it out. He'll find something."

T-Dog nods, and Iris looks back at him, the broken expression on his face mirroring her own. She looks to Glenn, expecting to see something similar, but instead, he is staring at Morales and Daryl moves one of the bodies towards the fire. In a heartbeat, he was walking over there, looking more angry than Iris had ever seen from him.

"What are you guys doing? This is for geeks. Our people go over there."

Daryl turns up his nose. "What's the difference? They're all infected."

Iris runs over as Glenn raises his voice louder, his face scrunching up in pain and grief and anger. "Our people go in that row over there. We don't burn them! We bury them. Understand? Our people go in that row over there."

Iris takes him by the shoulder, squeezing it in reassurance. The second she touched him, she could see just how tense he was, and just how much this was affecting him, despite his attempts to hide it. "Hey, it's okay. He will. Daryl, just... take them over there. Please."

Daryl stares at her for a moment, but eventually nods, pointing to Morales as they haul the body back to the row for their people, muttering something under his breath as he did.

Glenn let out a shuddering breath beside her, and Iris kept her hand on his shoulder until he finally looked up to meet her eyes. "Thanks."

"It's okay. You're right. There's a difference between us and them. There has to be." Iris' voice was soft, as soft as she could muster. "Hey, are you okay?"

Glenn hugs her.

Tight, differently than any hug they'd shared in the past. Iris could sense how much he needed it, and she let him bury his head in her shoulder. The events of last night was a devastating blow, the first time any of them had experienced such a mass casualty event since this whole thing had begun. Things had even started to feel normal for a while, until it had all come crumbling down. Iris felt the weight of her best friend in her arms and closed her eyes.

Iris pulls away after a couple of seconds, sniffling herself and needing her hands free to wipe her wet eyes.

Of course, it wasn't over. Iris wasn't sure if it would ever be over. It wasn't enough that their own people had died, and had been lost. There just had to be more.

"A walker got him." Jacqui shouts loudly, pointing accusingly at Jim. "A walker bit Jim."

Glenn breathes heavily beside her, and the others form a defensive circle around Jim, who raises his shaky hands. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

Daryl points a guarded finger towards the man. "Show it to us. Show it to us."

"Easy, Jim." Shane advances forward,hands outstretched like he was dealing with a wounded animal.

"Grab him." Daryl grunts, just as Jim starts to panic, picking up a shovel and pointing it wildly around the circle.

"Jim, put it down. Put it down." Shane's voice took a sharper edge, and Glenn turned away beside her, as if he couldn't bear to look. T-Dog effortlessly grabs Jim from behind, holding him back and causing the man to drop the shovel.

"I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay." Jim kept muttering, sounding more and more wounded and broken as Daryl lifted up his shirt. The bite was deep, bleeding sluggishly with every breath he took. It was one of the worst things Iris had ever seen. "I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay."

Iris swallows.

They were about to lose someone else.

There was a mass funeral arranged a couple of hours later.

Even after hours of sweet talking, Andrea refused to let anyone go near Amy who wished her harm. Everyone had tried. Lori. Dale. Rick. Even Daryl had threatened to shoot Amy from where he was standing, get it over with. After all, they had taken care of all of the others. Carol had taken care of Ed herself, which Iris thought was exceptionally strong of her to do.

Andrea cradled Amy's body until her eyes opened again, her vivid blue replaced with a dull, milky white.

And then she shot her in the head.

Iris thought Andrea was an exceptionally strong woman too. It required a massive amount of courage and grit to do what Andrea had done, and Iris knew she wouldn't have been able to go through with it if someone she loved had turned in such a brutal way. In the blink of an eye, really.

As the group filed in to pay their respects, Iris could see Andrea and Dale carrying Amy's body, wrapped in a white sheet that had red blood stains spilling from its head. It was early, so early for a funeral, so soon after the deaths, but they had to bury their losses so they could move on. Andrea was adamant on burying her sister herself, which Iris thought was incredibly noble.

She stood on the edge of the ceremony, feeling a little out of place among the mourners. She was very lucky that none of her family or closest friends had been lost in this brutal attack, but she still felt the incredible crush on her chest as she watched Andrea numbly pile dirt on her sister's body, as she watched little Sophia Peletier bury her head in her mother's arms. Rick and Lori were speaking in hushed tones beside her, but Iris couldn't hear them through the thumping of her own beating heart.

Carl moves up beside her, wrapping his arms around her midsection. Iris sniffs and holds onto his head in a protective manner.

After the small ceremony, Iris found herself taking laps around the camp, watching as everyone prepared to leave, to go... somewhere. Anywhere but here. Everything over the past few days had happened so fast, Iris felt like she hadn't even had the chance to talk to Rick properly since he had returned to them.

She found him leaning against one of the cars, fiddling with the radio in his hands.

"You trying to call Morgan?" She asks, sliding over next to him and leaning back on the car.

"He's not answering." Rick says, with a sigh. "I'm going to leave him a note. When we go."

Rick tails off slightly, shaking his head and putting the radio on top of the car.

Iris tucks a stray piece of hair over her ears. Her buns had fallen out from both the struggle in Atlanta and the fight last night. "You're right, by the way. We should go to the CDC."

There was a debate among the camp members as to where they would end up next. Rick had come up with the idea to head to the CDC. He thought that if anything was going to be protected by the government, that if anything would have supplies and medicine, it would be the CDC. There was even chatter over the radios that the CDC was working on a cure for this disease, which meant that the government probably tried to protect it even more. However, Shane disagreed. He thought that they should try Fort Benning, which was 100 miles in the opposite direction, because it was an army base that was potentially still heavily armed.

However, Shane's plan failed to account for one crucial detail: Jim.

"You think so?" Rick asks, and for the first time, Iris can see a hint of doubt in his voice.

"I do." Iris says. "We're fighting a disease, aren't we? The CDC is trying to find a cure. We can't just leave Jim to die without trying."

"Shane thinks we'll be better off at Benning."

"Shane is wrong." Iris implores, letting out an amused scoff. "He-"

"He blames me for all of this." Rick exhales heavily. "Because I went back for Merle and brought four other people with me."

Iris stares at him for a moment. She knew that Shane had his doubts about Rick taking that mission, but this was too damn far, even for Shane. He had always been hotheaded, and Iris loved him like a brother, but she also fought with him like a brother. In the last few months, in her grief, she had let Shane control her, shield her from any harm like she was still a child. But now Rick was back, and Iris had to be the adult she was.

"We brought back more guns." She says, her voice soft. She looks away from Rick, spotting Shane and Lori talking by the RV. She frowns, studying them for a moment. Shane was talking at her, and Lori was staring at him with some level of shock or maybe even anger. She tilts her head. "We probably wouldn't of been able to take out as many as we did without them."

"Yeah, you're right." Rick answers, giving her a sad smile. He'd caught sight of Shane and Lori too, and he pushes off the car and walks towards the. Iris follows.

Shane was still talking to Lori, his voice dragging across to Rick and Iris. "I guess I'll just add it to the list of habits that I'm breaking whether I like it or not."

"What habits?" Rick asks, and Shane abruptly stops talking. Lori bites her lip and turns her head. Iris peers at her for a moment.

"Just talking about my need for a plan, man. So what is it? Are we leaving or not? Maybe y'all just want to stay here. We could hang some more tin cans." Shane says, raising his eyebrows with passive aggression.

"We're leaving." Iris replies, just as curtly, with a sarcastic smile.

"We can't stay here. We both know that." Rick says to him.

"I was just telling Shane I think we should trust your gut." Lori says, sounding a little panicked, her voice raising just slightly.

"Let's go do our sweep." Shane sighs, taking hold of Rick and pulling him away. Iris watches them go, feeling even more weight crash down on her chest.

Iris doesn't know how Rick and Shane resolved their difference in opinion, but within hours, the small group was preparing to leave. For the CDC. Iris had carefully packed up her very small pile of belongings. Her gun was safely planted on her belt, her grandmother's flower wreath pin, and her scissors all went into her backpack.

She met up with all of the others as they gathered around the cars. Everyone was packed and ready to leave, it was just a matter of making sure everyone knew the plan.

Shane stands in front of them all. "Everybody listen up." He looks over at everyone's faces, taking a moment of pause before continuing. "Those of you with C.B.s, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B., can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan. Any questions?"

Morales steps forward, hand in hand with his wife. "We're, uh. We're- we're not going."

Iris' eyes widen. She looks around, and everyone looks just as shocked as her. Before anyone can get in a word of protest, Miranda speaks up. "We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people."

Shane nods, but he still took a step closer to Morales, lowering his voice. "You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back."

Morales hums in agreement. "We'll take the chance. I gotta do what's best for my family."

"You sure?" Rick asks. Iris bites the inside of her cheek. She didn't want to say goodbye. Not when they'd lost so many people already.

"We talked about it. We're sure." Morales' voice had a confident edge, nodding at Rick like he had been thinking about this for a long time.

Once Morales had made up his mind, there was nothing that could change it. He was going, taking his family with him, and it was likely he'd never see the rest of the group ever again. In a way, Iris understood. He wanted to be with family, but Iris' family was standing right here.

Rick and Shane set Morales up with a gun and ammo to keep them going. Shane hands the box over. "The box is half full."

Miranda smiles warmly. "Thank you all. For everything."

Before leaving, they took a moment to say their goodbyes. Miranda hugged Lori, Jacqui and Iris in turn, while Eliza hugged Sophia, giving her the little doll that she always carried around. Iris could've started crying right then and there, the moment was so tender.

Rick gave Morales one final goodbye. "Channel 40 if you change your mind. All right?"

"Yeah." Morales shakes his hand, giving him a nod of solidarity. Then, the Morales family packed into their cars, and headed out.

As Rick watches them drive off, people start to get into their own cars. Shane slaps his shoulder. "What makes you think our odds are any better? Come on. Let's go. Let's move out."

Rick nods, and as he heads to his car, which was stocked full with Lori, Carl, Carol and Sophia, he stops by Iris. "You gonna be okay in that RV?"

"Yeah." Iris nods. She was going to take the journey in the RV, with Dale, Glenn, Jacqui and Jim, in the makeshift bed. "I started all this in this RV. I'd like to finish with it, too."

Iris found Glenn holding the map to the CDC just next to the RV. Dale, Jacqui and Jim had already gotten inside, just waiting on the two of them. The RV was going to be leading the march to their next destination, which meant that Glenn was in charge of getting them there.

"You do know the way, right?" Iris asks, raising her eyebrow,

"Yeah, of course I do." Glenn replies, straightening the map. "I'm just giving this place one last look."

Iris looks out at the Quarry. She would miss it here. Before the attack, the Quarry always felt peaceful, an escape from the new reality they were living in. Truthfully, she was living in a mirage. "Yeah, it feels weird that we're leaving."

Glenn opens the passenger door, climbing in beside Dale. It is weird. But we're gonna be fine. This RV runs like a horse."

Iris snorts, swinging around to climb in the back. "Sure."

The RV broke down.

It was something to do with the radiator hose, as Dale had explained, but none of the technical stuff made any sense to Iris.

They were only out on the road for a while when the RV had spluttered to a slow stop. The group gathered around the smoke filled vehicle, with crossed arms and tired sighs. They were only halfway to the CDC, and no one wanted to experience bumps in the road.

"I told you we'd never get far on that hose. I said I needed the one from the cube van." Dale shut the bonnet, wiping his brow.

"Can you jury-rig it?" Rick asks

"That's all it's been so far. It's more duct tape than hose. And I'm out of duct tape." Dale responds, his voice as calm and level as always.

"I see something up ahead." Shane holds a hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes. "A gas station if we're lucky."

The door to the RV opens and Jaqui steps out, the only one in charge of Jim's care. She looks crestfallen. "Y'all, Jim. It's bad. I don't think he can take anymore." She warns, sighing heavily before walking back into the RV.

Everyone knew that Jim was running out of time, including Jim himself. He was in extraordinary pain, in agony even. Everyone knew what what happened after someone got bit by a walker, it wasn't survivable. The thought of getting to the CDC before he succumbed to his bite suddenly became very far fetched as Jim continued to whine and groan in pain.

Jim was the only one strong enough to suggest what they were all thinking.

Dale had managed to get the RV running again, hopefully enough to get them to the CDC without any further trouble. However, before they could set off again, there was a conversation to be had. Iris leans against the RV, listening to the words in silence.

"It's what he says he wants." Rick sighs.

"And he's lucid?" Carol asks, holding onto her daughter's shoulders.

Rick nods. "He seems to be. I would say yes."

"Back in the camp when I said Daryl might be right and you shut me down, you misunderstood. I would never go along with callously killing a man." Dale sounds defeated, shaking his head. "I was just gonna suggest that we ask Jim what he wants. And I think we have an answer."

Jim wanted to be left behind.

Shane sighs, bringing his hand over his hair. "We just leave him here? We take off? Man, I'm not sure I could live with that."

"It's not your call, either one of you." Lori cuts in, looking between Shane and her husband. She was right. The only person who had the right to make the decision about his life was Jim himself.

And he wanted to be left to die.

Iris prepared her words of goodbye as Rick and Shane carry the wounded, struggling man to a tree on the edge of the road. They softly lower him down, leaning him against the tree and stepping back.

Jim groans. "Hey, another damn tree." He chuckles.

The group gathered around Jim, each giving him a sad smile and trying not to show their grief and sadness on their faces.

Shane kneels down. "Hey, Jim. I mean, you know it doesn't need to be this."

Jim looks up at him and shakes his head. "No. It's good. The breeze feels nice."

"Okay. All right." Shane stands up, allowing room for Jacqui to kneel down next to Jim. Jacqui was an incredibly sweet woman who took care of them all the best she could, and Iris knew just how hard this would hit her.

She kisses Jim on the cheek. "Just close your eyes, sweetie. Don't fight."

Rick takes one of the guns from his belt and offers it to Jim, his face straight. "Jim, do you want this?"

Jim looks at it for a moment, and shakes his head. "No. You'll need it. I'm okay. I'm okay."

Iris sniffles. It was an incredibly noble thing to do, to give up the easy way out for the sake of all of them, for their survival. She kneels down and pats his shoulder, biting the inside of her cheek hard enough that it could've drawn blood. "I'll miss you, Jim. You're so brave."

Jim gives her a smile, and it was a geniune, glad smile. "Keep fighting, Iris."

"I will." Iris replies, bouncing on her legs as she kneeled. "I promise."

The CDC was a graveyard.

The building was a large compound, standing tall and invincible, like a God amongst mortals. It was completely undamaged, which was a massive anomoly in the world today. There was an air of silence wrapped around the building, like it had a shield of protection wrapped around it, preventing it from any harm. It stood despite everything, like some kind of moral message beaming down on them, giving way for even the tinest flicker of hope. It was built around a large piece of land, which was littered with bodies. Some were moving with new life, and some were so destroyed that they didn't even get the chance to become walkers.

Hundreds and hundreds of dead bodies.

Iris doesn't think she'd ever see this many bodies in one place. She covers her nose, the smell was overbearing and horrific. Worse than it was when she escaped Atlanta. Worse than anything she could imagine.

As they walk, Lori holds onto Carl just as tight as Carol grips Sophia, both mothers trying to shield their children from the horrors of the bodies, piled up and butchered.

"Keep moving. Come on." Rick implores, leading the way towards the building.

As they walk past the dead people, there was a small chatter of noise, snarling and growling as they smelled fresh prey. Most of them were too mangled to move, which was damn lucky for them. It made her feel so alone, so small in this world.

She reaches out and grabs Glenn's hand. He squeezes back, giving her a moment to collect herself before they moved off again.

"Oh, God." Glenn gasps, as they step over a mangled leg in the middle of the pathway. Iris fights the urge to close her eyes.

When they finally reach the doors to the building, they were faced with a bolted down, shuttered door. The silence suddenly went from something Iris could draw some comfort from, to something much more sinister.

Shane attempts to pound on the doors, yelling for them to open. Nothing.

"There's nobody here." T-Dog exclaims.

Rick shakes his head, moving around erratically. "Then why are these shutters down?"

"Walkers!" Daryl yells. Iris looks around. Behind them, a group of walkers had gathered, ones who could move and were advancing on them rapidly.

"We've gotta move." Iris whispers, watching Rick as he kept banging on the doors, begging someone who probaby didn't exist to open them.

"Baby, come on." Lori tries to persuade him, to no avail.

Daryl turns around and shoots a walker in the head, letting out a grunt. "You led us into a graveyard!"

"He made a call." Shane defends.

"It was the wrong damn call!" Daryl yells.

"Just shut up. You hear? Shut up. Shut up!" Shane's voice grated on Iris' brain, her breathing quickening as everything happened all at once. Rick pounding on th doors, Shane and Daryl fighting, the walker's snarling. "Rick, this is a dead end."

"Where are we gonna go?" Jacqui asks, a hand over her mouth.

Shane ignores her, still glaring at Daryl. "Do you hear me? No blame."

"She's right. We can't be here, this close to the city after dark." Lori says. All of the voices were blending together in her mind, and she couldn't think. She couldn't think. She couldn't think.

"Fort Benning, Rick. Still an option." Shane says.

Andrea scoffs. "On what? No food, no fuel. That's 100 miles."

"125." Glenn spoke next to her. He was still squeezing her hand, and the repeative motion was the only thing calming her down. "I checked the map."

Even Lori's voice sounded distressed now. "Forget Fort Benning. We need answers tonight, now."

Iris rips away from Glenn's hold, her hands cradling her head as she covers her ears. They needed this. They had fought so hard, they had come so far. it couldn't be for nothing. It couldn't. There had to be someone inside because they had fought and lost and suffered and they needed a goddamn win. She grunts. "Shut up! Shut up! Everyone stop! Stop this!"

Her outburst was so surprising that everyone did shut up, staring at er like she had three heads, but Iris paid them no mind. She removes her hands from her head so roughly she almost rips her own hair out, stumbling over to the doors and pounding, again and again, hot tears streaming down her face as she screams right frm her very soul.

"Iris, it's not worth it." Shane steps forward, trying to grab at her arm, but Iris pushes him off.

"No! This has to work! It has to work! Let us in. Let us in."

Shane shakes his head. "Come on, let's go. Let's get out of here. Let's go. Please."

Iris was about to let up, to collapse against the doors and let Shane drag her away, but Rick's voice suddenly rings out, like an angel frm the heavens.

"The camera... it moved."

Iris' eyes widen. She stares at the camera above them, her heart racing and her mind screaming. It moved. It moved, it moved, it moved.

"You imagined it." Shane says.

"No." Iris breathes. "No, he didn't."

"It moved. It moved." Rick refuses to rip his gaze away from the camera above them.

"Rick, it is dead, man. It's an automated device. It's gears, okay? They're just winding down. Now come on." Shane says assertively. "Iris, you can't be serious. "Look around this place. It's dead, okay? It's dead. You need to let it go, Rick."

Rick slams on the shutters.

Iris wipes her tears, stumbling back as she watches. Glenn grabs ahold of her, not to pull her back, but to steady her as she shook.

"Rick, there's nobody here!" Lori yells.

"I know you're in there. I know you can hear me." Rick says, looking between the camera and the doors.

Shane and Lori move forward in an insant, both grabbing one of Rick's arms, pulling him back. Iris protests, watching the camera with an unwavering glare. Damn you, she thought to herself. Damn you for knowing we're here and not letting us in.

Even as Rick was dragged away, he was still pleading. "Please, we're desperate. Please help us. We have women, children, no food, hardly any gas left."

"Rick. There's nobody here." Lori repeats.

Rick ignores her. He escapes their grips, running forward once more to slam his fists on the doors. "We have nowhere else to go. Keep your eyes open. If you don't let us in, you're killing us! Please! Please help us. You're killing us! You're killing us! You're killing us!

Nothing.

Then, a brilliant, blinding light.

Chapter Text

"ANYBODY INFECTED?"

There was only one man in the entire building. He didn't reveal himself until the group had taken a couple of formative steps inside, holding a gun close to his chest and watching them with suspicion. Iris had to blink a couple of times, her eyes adjusting to the unnatural, corporate lighting of the large, open room. She felt uneasy, like she'd stepped back into a world where there was no apocalypse. However, the complete and total silence and isolation of the large room was suffocating, enough to remind her that there was no escape from the end of the world.

Rick takes a step forward. "One of our group was. He didn't make it."

The man inches closer to them. He had light hair, looked to be maybe in his mid forties. He still clutched his gun close to him, but Iris was over the moon that he had actually let them in. Her tears had dried, replaced with a look of wonder as her eyes stared into the roof over their heads. When the man gets close enough, he speaks again. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"A chance." Rick breathes heavily, staring at the man with hopeful eyes.

The man's expression stayed guarded. "That's asking an awful lot these days."

"I know." Rick agrees, but his gaze didn't let up.

The man takes a moment, looking at every one of their faces. Their dirty, horrified, pained faces. Their hopeful, wistful, begging faces. He looks at their unkempt hair and their filthy clothes and their tattered bags. He doesn't keep them waiting long.

"You all submit to a blood test." He finally says, swallowing as his grip loosens on the gun. "That's the price of admission."

Iris' arm tingles at the thought of the needle that would have to be stuck in there, but she can understand his need to test them, especially if there was a potential cure in these very walls.

"We can do that." Rick speaks.

The man nods curtly. "You got stuff to bring in, you do it now. Once this door closes, it stays closed."

Everything that they had, they had on their backs, so no one hesitated to run through the second set of doors, watching without regret as the shutters closed behind them. The man pressed down on something that looked like an intercom. "Vi, seal the main entrance. Kill the power up here."

The man led them to an elevator, one big enough to fit them all in one trip. Iris was glad about that, she doesn't think anyone would want to be split up from the others right now, not even for a moment.

The elevator went down, and the ride took longer than Iris had ever experienced. At first, there was silence, until Rick stepped forward. "Rick Grimes."

"Dr. Edwin Jenner." The man replies, in the corner of the elevator.

Over the hum of the elevator, Daryl chuckles. "Doctors always go around packing heat like that?"

Jenner smiles. "There were plenty left lying around. I familiarised myself. But you look harmless enough." He leans down to Carl's level, kindly pointing. "Except you. I'll have to keep my eye on you."

Carl chuckles, scrunching up his nose at the joke. Iris feels her heart warm at his smile, something that was a rarity these days.

The elevator opened up to another harshly lit hallway, which looked almost infinate from where Iris was standing. The facility was gigantic, even bigger than what it appeared to be from outside.

"Are we underground?" Carol asks, from the back of the group.

Jenner turns around.  "Are you claustrophobic?"

"A little." Carol shrugs.

"Try not to think about it." Jenner replies. Iris grins from where she was standing, sandwiched between Glenn and T-Dog.

"Is this even real?" Iris whispers to the two of them, still looking around in wonder.

"Maybe. Maybe not." T-Dog replies. "Maybe we all died in Atlanta and this is some weird afterlife."

Iris swats him on the arm, but she was grinning all the same.

Jenner led them right to the end of the corridor, which opened out on a big room that contained dozens of computers, looking like some sort of computer lab. Iris could imagine some fifty workers in this room once upon a time, smart scientists who were trying to find cures for diseases and to save lives. Now, it was empty, desolate, isolated.

"Vi, bring up the lights in the big room." Jenner commands, and in an instant, there were a series of hums and beeps, and the room lit up like a candle. Jenner turns around, lifting out his arms. "Welcome to Zone 5."

"Where is everybody? The other doctors, the staff?" Rick asks.

"I'm it." Jenner sniffed in. "It's just me here."

"What about the person you were speaking with?" Lori pipes up.

"Vi?" Andrea adds.

Iris looks around, to see if she could spot this mysterious person. However, there was no one except for Jenner and their group.

Jenner smiles. "Vi, say hello to our guests. Tell them welcome."

There was an automated voice that spread across the whole room. It was like something out of a sci-fi movie. "Hello, guests. Welcome."

Iris shares a giddy look with Glenn. That was pretty awesome.

However, Jenner shakes his head unhappily. "I'm all that's left. I'm sorry."

Iris drops her smile.

After giving them a small tour of the facility, Jenner took the group to a room where he started to draw each of their blood for testing. Iris was glad as hell for the chance to sit down, and she massaged her calves as she waited anxiously for her turn.

It's not that she hated needles, per se. She just despised the thought of being stabbed with a tiny sword that stole her blood right from her veins. But she wasn't scared of needles or anything.

When it was her turn, she refused to look at the needle as Jenner drove it into her arm, yet she still flinched when she felt it go in. Jenner chuckles. "Got an aversion to needles?"

Iris breathes out, turning to look at him. "I used to be a seamstress."

Jenner smiles, pulling the needle out and labelling her blood. "You can work with needles all day long and still hate to be stuck with them."

"I used to ask the nurses to numb my arm for me." Iris confesses with a sheepish smile.

Jenner laughs and pats her on the shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with that, kid."

Iris smiles.

She walks back to the others, sitting next to Carl and marvelling at the little plaster on his arm. Carl hated needles almost as much as she did.

Andrea was the last person who needed her blood drawn, and as she sat in front of Jenner, she looked back at everyone. "What's the point? If we were infected, we'd all be running a fever."

"I've already broken every rule in the book by letting you in here. Let me just at least be thorough." Jenner answers, pulling the syringe out of her arm. "All done."

Andrea nods and stands up, stumbling a little. Jacqui was on her immediately, steadying her.

Jenner stands up. "Are you okay?"

Andrea nods. "Mmm."

"She hasn't eaten in days." Jacqui cuts in, still holding Andrea's arm. "None of us have."

Jenner spins in his chair, shooting them a thoughtful but cheeky grin.

The dinner that he had prepared for them was marvellous. It had been so long since any of them had seen this kind of food, real food, not just stuff in cans or random squirrels that they had to cook on the fire. The moment that Jenner had taken them to the dining room, with its long, rectangular table, big enough to fit them all, adorned with foods that Iris may have once called simple but now made her feel like royalty, Carl and Sophia let out exclaims, running over to the food with massive grins on their faces.

Once the rest of them sat down on the table, they started smiling for an entirely different reason.

Jenner had alcohol.

Giggles echo across the room as the liquor starts to pour, the adults in the room welcoming the liquid courage and the means to finally escape reality for at least a couple hours. Some people started to drink heavily right away, not passing up the opportunity to get black out drunk for the first time in months and potentially the last time ever, but Iris only poured herself one glass of wine. If she was getting to eat like royalty and sleep in a real bed, she wanted to remember it.

Sure, she'd only technically been allowed to legally drink for a year and a bit, and she should be in the middle of her wild years, but Iris preferred to pace herself, at least a little.

She bit into another piece of chicken, smiling as she looked around at the others. She'd never seen them all look so happy, and it was a good look on them. She was sitting opposite Carl, who looked positively delighted to be where he was.

Dale raises his glass, pointing it at Rick and Lori with a smirk. "You know, in Italy, children have a little bit of wine with dinner. And in France.

"Well, when Carl is in Italy or France, he can have some then." Lori shoots back, raising her eyebrows as Carl gives her a hopeful look.

Rick laughs over his own glass. "What's it gonna hurt? Come on. Come on."

Iris giggles, shrugging as Lori looks at her, shaking her head, but Iris could see the hint of a smile. Lori ends up letting up, nodding her head at Dale. There was a cheer across the table.

Dale pours Carl a glass of whine, passing it over to the twelve year old as everyone watches with anticipation.  "There you are, young lad."

Carl has a look in his eye that was similar to that if he'd just stepped foot into Disneyland. He stares at the liquid for a moment, giving a second glass to his mom before taking the tiniest little sip. Followed by a harsh gag. "Eww."

Everyone breaks out into laughter, and Iris takes another sip of her own glass of wine. Carl wasn't wrong, it was a little disgusting.

Lori smiles, taking the glass from Carl and quickly pouring the remainder of it into her own glass. "That's my boy. That's my boy. Good boy."

Carl was still sticking his tongue out, scrunching his face up. "Yuck. That tastes nasty."

"Ain't that the truth." Iris says, raising her glass.

"Yet she still drinks." T-Dog quips, and Iris gives him the middle finger.

"Hey, I like the results, not the process."

"Well, just stick to sour pop there, bud." Rick says, patting Carl's shoulder.

"Not you, Glenn." Daryl says, moving his glass around so much that some of the liquor spills out.

Glenn smiles from where he was sitting at the end of the table, one of his big smiles that made Iris feel a flicker of hope every time she saw it. "What?"

Daryl smirks, scrunching his nose in Glenn's direction. "Keep drinking, little man. I want to see how red your face can get."

Glenn laughs, raising his drink right back at him. Iris giggles, already feeling very slightly tipsy from the wine, stands up before she even knew what she was doing, flopping in the chair next to Glenn and stealing his hat from his head, putting it over her hair. Glenn let her do it, raising his brow and stole her glass, downing the last sip of her drink.

Throughout the laughter and the clinking of glasses, Rick raises his voice over the chatter. "It seems to me we haven't thanked our host properly."

Iris looks at Jenner, her vision a little obstructed by Glenn's visor. He was sitting away from the table, on a chair, sitting alone. If she was a little more sober, she may have checked on him. However, she was very slightly tipsy, enough that she stayed sat in her chair, eating some of Glenn's food.

"He is more than just our host." T-Dog says, grinning wildly.

There was a unanimous, "Hear hear!" Iris cheers loudly, leaning back on her chair.

"Here's to you, doc. Booyah!" Daryl yells.

"Booyah!" Everyone chorused at once, strangely in unison despite their inebriation.

Jenner smiles, nodding his head. "Thank you."

"Booyah!" T-Dog adds, clinking his glass with Jacqui. Everyone followed his lead, clinking their glasses together as the chatter started up again.

Shane's voice cuts through, strangely steady, as if he hadn't been drinking at all. "So when are you gonna tell us what the hell happened here, doc? All the... the other doctors that were supposed to be figuring out what happened, where are they?"

"We're celebrating, Shane." Rick cuts in. "Don't need to do this now."

"Whoa, wait a second." Shane moves his hand up, silencing Rick. Iris' lazy smile drops a little. "This is why we're here, right? This was your move. Supposed to find all the answers. Instead we found him. Found one man. Why?"

Jenner swallows heavily, tilting his head and squinting his eyes. "Well, when things got bad, a lot of people just left. Went off to be with their families. And when things got worse, when the military cordon got overrun, the rest bolted."

"Every last one?" Shane asks.

"No, many couldn't face walking out the door. They... opted out. There was a rash of suicides. That was a bad time." Jenner informs. Iris takes Glenn's hat off, biting her lip. That was terribly, terribly sad.

"You didn't leave." Andrea points out. "Why?"

Jenner shrugs, but he doesn't meet her gaze. "I  just kept working. Hoping to do some good."

No one replied to that. Iris looks down at the ground.

Glenn stands up, rolling his eyes as he looks at Shane. "Dude, you are such a buzzkill, man."

No one wanted to keep eating after that conversation, so Jenner took them back out to the corridor to talk to them about what they would be doing for the night. Honestly, Iris didn't mind where she slept tonight. She was inside, with lights and heating and a general guise of safety, and she was convinced she could fall asleep anywhere tonight.

Jenner was giving them a small speech on the rules and the workings of the facility. "Most of the facility is powered down including housing, so you'll have to make do here. The couches are comfortable, but there are cots in storage if you like. There's a rec room down the hall that you kids might enjoy. Just don't plug in the video games, okay? Or anything that draws power. The same applies... If you shower, go easy on the hot water."

Glenn looks around at the rest of the group, his eyes practically giddy with excitement. "Hot water?"

"That's what the man said." T-Dog replies, his voice sing-songy.

The feeling of the hot water running down Iris' back immediately sobered her up. She let out a breathy laugh, cupping her hands under the steady stream of hot water. It sends a shiver down her spine, and she grins as she finally puts her head under the water, all of the dirt and grime of the last few months finally wash away. Her overgrown bangs fall over her face and she brings a hand up, pushing it back. For a while, she closes her eyes, feeling the water run down her body, and she finally relaxes.

The feeling of her freshly washed hair was the best feeling in the world, and she came out of that shower feeling a hell of a lot lighter. The shower wasn't the only luxury that Jenner had supplied for them, and as Iris stares at her own reflection in the mirror, she can hardly recognise the girl looking back at her. She brings a shaky hand to her cheek.

She decides to leave her hair partly wet, getting dressed again without drying it all the way through. It felt nice, her hair was slightly curled due to it being wet, and for a moment she finally felt like herself again.

Iris had a little exploration of the facility, eventually finding the rec room that Jenner was speaking about before. It was empty right now, and Iris took a few steps inside. There were multiple couches spread about, with a coffee table that had a couple boxes of board games placed on top of it. There was a TV that had been switched off, and a pool table in the corner of the room. However, the thing that intrigued her the most was the small shelf of books on the wall. She had exhausted Dale's small selection of fiction, but Jenner had dozens of books, just sitting right here.

She walks over to the shelf, her footsteps light and lacking the tiredness that had always seemed to befall her before. Tucking a stray wet curl behind her ear, Iris thumbs the spines of the books, tilting her head to read the titles. She would have cried, she was so happy.

"Found a good one?"

Iris turns around at the sound of the familiar voice. "A lot of good ones."

Glenn smiles, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest. "Any in particular."

Iris motions for him to come closer, which he did, coming up behind her to look at the books. Iris pulls out one of them. "Alice in Wonderland. I used to love this book growing up."

Glenn smiles. "You know, I can totally see that. Little tiny Iris, reading Alice in Wonderland and trying to put on an English accent while pretending to go mad."

"How'd you know that?" Iris jokes, snorting. "Nah, I never was good at accents."

"So, you finally get the chance to read something other than Dale's selection and you pick a book you've already read?" Glenn asks, a smile playing on his lips.

Iris shrugs. "Hey, it's nostalgia. Maybe you should try and read one of Dale's books for once."

"Oh yeah, are they any good?"

At first, Iris doesn't say anything. Then, she bursts out into a giggle, holding her hand over her mouth. "No, they're terrible! God, I think I'm still drunk."

Glenn smirks, bringing his hand from behind his back, where he was holding a bottle of wine. "Not too drunk to say no to splitting the rest of this with me?"

Iris holds her finger to her chin, pretending to think about it. In truth, there was no way she would ever say no. "And ruin my perfect evening reading children's books?"

Glenn tilts her head, like he wasn't sure if she was joking or being serious. He opens his mouth to speak, but Iris holds a hand to his forearm.

"Yes, yeah. I'll split it with you. But not here. C'mon, let's go to one of the rooms. I've already claimed one of them with my bag." Iris smies, taking the bottle of wine out of his hands.

Glenn downs the last couple sips of the bottle, taking Daryl's advice to keep drinking until he was red in the face a little too literally.

"God, I never thought I'd get to do this again." He says, laying down in the cot next to Iris, who was on her back staring at the ceiling.

Iris sits up, taking a big breath as she rests her head against the wall. "I forgot how good it feels, and how weird." Her head lolls ever so slightly to the side, and she giggles. "I... want to steal your hat again."

Before Glenn can respond, she lazily reaches out and grabs his hat, spinning it around in her fingers. She giggles again. "Hey, why do you always wear this hat? It's... not even sunny today." Her fit of giggles turns hysterical.

Glenn thinks about it. "Actually, I don't know."

"I bet- I bet it makes you feel cool." Iris says, draping it back on his head. "I'll have to find you some sunglasses."

Glenn smiles, and it suddenly turns into a full blown laugh. "It's nighttime."

Iris laughs again, and flops back down on the bed. "Tomorrow it'll be day again, silly."

"Oh yeah." Glenn says, because he thinks he actually had forgotten that the sun comes up every day. Iris closed her eyes on the bed, and for a moment, there was silence.

Glenn feels his heart speed up, and his self control waver. "Iris, I-"

She snores.

Glenn smiles, and he stops talking. He stands up, grabbing the blanket from the chair and draping it over her body. "Rest well, Iris."

Iris didn't stir for the rest of the night, but Glenn just couldn't get to sleep. He knows he should've at least tried to sleep some of the alcohol out of his system, but he just couldn't stop staring at Iris as she slept. Not in a creepy way, but as the alcohol lowered his inhibitions, he couldn't stop smiling as a stand of hair fell over her face as she moved her head. She was on the cot, and he didn't know how comfortable she'd be and she clearly wasn't in a state for him to ask, so he settled himself in the chair in the corner of the room. However, everytime he closed his eyes, he couldn't help but open them again, just to look at her face.

He ended up getting restless by the early morning, his head pounding as the alcohol drained from his system. Before Iris woke up from her slumber, he stumbles back to the dining room, groaning as he walks in and drops on a chair, ignoring everyone who was already awake.

"Oh, honey." Jacqui says, moving over to touch his shoulders, sliding a glass of water in his direction. Glenn just groans in response.

"He's hungover." Carl whispers to his mom.

Glenn looks up with tired eyes. "Never drink, Carl. Ever."

There was a group laugh that felt like drills carving holes  in Glenn's skull. He groans again and flops his head down on the table, ignoring the laughs that continued to sound around him, and Glenn blocks it all out, until he hears her voice greeting the others. He lifts his head up.

"Hi." Iris says, giving everyone a sleepy smile. She looked way better than he did, despite the fact that they'd drunk the exact same amount. She sat down on the table and downed a glass of water, not even flinching from the bright light above them or the insessent noise the others were making.

Glenn gives her a little glare. "Why are you not dying?"

Iris shrugs. "Low tolerance, I guess. What, are you hungover?" She shot him a perky smile. Way too perky.

"Cruel. You're a cruel, cruel woman." Glenn says, letting his head drop back down.

A couple of moments later, Rick steps in the room. "Morning."

Yeah, he looked just as bad as Glenn felt right now.

"Are you hungover?" Carl asks. "Mom said you'd be."

"Mom is right." Rick says, sitting in the chair between his wife and sister.

"Mom has that annoying habit." Lori smiles, picking apart some of her breakfast.

"Eggs. Powdered, but I do 'em good." T-Dog comes bounding over, holding a couple plates in hand. He drops a plate in front of Glenn, and he moans in pain again. Jacqui puts the fork in his hand, and he moans again. His head hurt too much to eat, to do anyhing. "I bet you can't tell. Protein helps the hangover."

"Where'd all this come from?" Rick asks, looking shocked. T-Dog puts a plate in front of Iris, who gives him a pat on the arm in thanks.

"Jenner." Lori answers. "He thought we could use it."

Rick nods to Jenner. "Thank you."

"Some of us, at least." Lori says. Glenn can feel her staring at him, and he lets out another groan. He looks back up to see Iris, forcing down a smile.

"Don't ever ever ever let me drink again." Glenn says, to no one in particular.

"Hey." Shane's voice was just as rough, and there was a stumble in his footing as he walked to the food station to pour himself some juice.

"Hey. Feel as bad as I do?" Rick asks, giving his best friend an amused look.

"Worse." Shane grunts.

"The hell happened to you?" T-Dog exclaims, tilting his head to look at Shane. "Your neck?"

Glenn looks up, chewing one of his tasteless eggs and feeling his head clear just a little. Shane had three nasty scratches on the side of his neck, still red and raw. He looks to Iris and catches her curious look.

"I must have done it in my sleep." Shane shrugs, taking a swig of juice.

"Never seen you do that before." Rick comments.

"Me neither. Not like me at all." Shane says shortly. Glenn couldn't tell if he was angry or just hungover, and his head hurt too much to figure it out.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..." Dale pipes up.

"But you will anyway." Jenner sounds accepting, at least.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea says.

Jenner nods. He stands up, a hand motioning towards them. Glenn and Iris share a look, before inevitably standing up to follow.

They were about to get their answers.

Chapter Text

ONCE THEY WERE ALL GATHERED IN THE COMPUTER LAB, JENNER STARTED HIS PRESENTATION.

"Give me playback of TS-19." Jenner says, looking up at the big blank screen on the wall.

"Playback of TS-19." The robotic voice echoes, and in an instant, the screen lights up. Iris stares up at it, as the pictures appear, unblinking, as if she was scared she'd miss it if she stopped looking for even a millisecond.

"Few people ever got a chance to see this. Very few." Jenner says, clicking his remote as the images shift.

"Is that a brain?" Carl asks, his voice full of wonder.

The picture of the brain filled almost the entire screen, looking like one of those hospital scans that were on every procedural TV show ever, but it felt weird seeing a human brain in person, even if it was just the diagram or an x-ray of one.

Jenner nods. "An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end. Take us in for E.I.V."

"Enhanced internal view." Vi replies, and the image of the brain starts to move, zooming in as little flickers of light shoot between the different synapses, like some sort of epic firework show, happening all inside someone's mind. If she thought about it too hard, it made her own head hurt.

"What are those lights?" Shane asks.

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories. It's everything." Jenner answers, looking around at the group, taking in their shocked expressions. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique. And human."

Iris holds a hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat, thumbing in tune. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. There were so many flickers of light, through so many different pathways in the brain. It was beautiful, really. It made her stomach twist and her head feel light. She was never very good at science, she came really close to failing it at school, but right now, with the rush of adrenaline she felt, she thought she could understand every complexity.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asks, frowning. Apparently, the image of the brain wasn't having the same effect on him than it did Iris.

"It's all the sparks that happen every time we think." Iris says, the corners of her lips upturning. She looks to Glenn, who was leaning against one of the desks, looking up at the screen in similar wonder. It was strange to her, that both of their brains were firing sparks and light all at the same time.

Jenner clicks his tongue, pointing at her in approval. "Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death."

"Death?" Rick asks. "That's what this is, a vigil?"

"Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil." Jenner answers. Something flashes behind his eyes, something curious that Iris couldn't place.

"This person died? Who?" Andrea asks, her eyes wide as saucers.

"Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected..." A pause. "And volunteered to have us record the process. Vi, scan forward to the first event."

"Scanning to first event." Vi speaks.There was a beep, and in an instant, the brilliant sparks of light faded out, replaced with jet black strings, invading the brain, until all that was left was just... darkness. Iris covers her mouth.

Glenn spares a look in her direction before asking, "What is that?"

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands haemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death." Jenner says, taking a shuddering breath. "Everything you ever were or ever will be...Gone."

"Is that what happened to Jim?" Sophia asks, her innocent eyes staring at her mother as she clutches her hand.

"Yes." Carol nods, because there was no simple way around it. Iris wonders if Jim had already turned into one of them, or if he was still by that tree, waiting. Waiting to die, waiting to rise again.

Jenner was staring at Andrea as she turned away, trying to contain herself.

"She lost somebody two days ago." Lori says. "Her sister."

The fact that the Quarry was only attacked two days ago seemed unbelievable to Iris, the memories of that night felt almost like a dream, or a nightmare. For Andrea, it probably felt incredibly fresh and raw.

"I lost somebody too. I know how devastating it is." Jenner comforts, a sad smile on his face. "Scan to the second event."

"Scanning to second event."

If it was even possible, the black infection spreads even furthur, not just cascading over the sparks, but the entire brain itself.

"The resurrection times vary wildly. We had reports of it happening in as little as three minutes. The longest we heard of was eight hours. In the case of this patient, it was two hours, one minute, seven seconds."

As Jenner speaks, there is a new light emerging. Only one, still dark and contained to one tiny spot in the brain. It was a spark, but it was different. It lacked what was supposed to make it human, becoming nothing but a mindless monster. Iris had seen the process happen in person, to Amy, she knew how it worked. But actually seeing the process, mapped out right in front of her, it made everything feel hopeless.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asks, shaking her head in shock.

"No, just the brain stem. Basically, it gets them up and moving." Jenner says.

"They really are just mindless creatures." Iris blinks.

Rick looks at her in a way that Iris can't discern. "They're not alive?

"You tell me." Jenner shrugs.

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." Rick points out.

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part. That doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." Jenner's voice carried over the room, like he was a lecturer speaking to a class full of bright students.

On the screen, there was a sudden tunnel of light, and the brain cracked in two.

"God. What was that?" Carol swallows, closing her eyes.

"He shot his patient in the head." Andrea's hand was clasped into a fist, hovering over the gun on her belt and her shaky breaths revealed exactly what she was thinking. "Didn't you?"

Jenner doesn't respond to her. "Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations."

"Powering down main screen and workstations." Vi echoes, and the screen, and the picture of the brain on it, shuts down.

No one knows what to say next.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea eventually asks.

Jenner pauses. " It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal."

"Or the wrath of God?" Jacqui comments. It was morbid, but Iris snorted. The idea of a God was a nuanced one for Iris, she truly didn't know what she believed in, but if God was real and he had done this to them, it seemed so ironic that she couldn't not laugh about it.

"There is that." Jenner says, and his hint of a smile shows Iris that he saw the humour in it, too.

"Somebody must know something. Somebody somewhere." Andrea flew her arms about.

"There are others, right? Other facilities?" Carol questions.

"There may be some. People like me."

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick's voice was doubtful, and he stared at Jenner like it was his fault that there were no scientists left. Iris felt a strange kind of connection to Jenner, like she totally understood him despite the fact he hadn't revealed anything about himself. Something about the man intrigued her, the idea that it seemed like he had totally given up, yet he was still here.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives., all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner says.

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea moved her head around, her ponytail flying behind her as she did so. That was something Iris had never thought about: if this disease was just happening here, where they were, or if it had taken over the entire planet, diminished it down to nothing.

Lori holds onto Carl tight, her hands around his shoulders, pulling him closer. Jenner truly had no reply to that, which said it all. This... thing was everywhere. There was no escape. It was, without a doubt, the end of the world as they knew it.

There was nothing left.

Daryl grunts, turning around. "Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again."

"Dr. Jenner, I know this has been taxing for you and I hate to ask one more question, but-" Dale swallows, and Iris follows his gaze to a big clock on the wall that was counting down in bright red letters. "That clock. It's counting down. What happens at zero?"

"The basement generators, they run out of fuel." Jenner says. His voice was simple, like he was talking about the weather and not... whatever it was he was talking about.

"And then?" Rick asks.

But Jenner had already started to walk off.

Iris shares a look with Glenn, suddenly feeling like she'd missed something big about Jenner, that she had overlooked in her desperate attempt to latch onto the fact that he had answers, that he was the genius that could solve this whole thing.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asks.

"When the power runs out, facility-wide decontamination will occur."

After Jenner walked away from them all, retreating to whatever room he stayed in, Rick, Glenn, Shane and T-Dog took matters into their own hands, using Jenner's sudden absence to explore more of the facility and attempt to figure out what the hell a 'decontamination' was.

The rest of them headed back to the rooms that they had slept in, just trying to relax until the boys came back, hopefully with some information. Any kind of information. Some, like Daryl, were halfway down another bottle, while Irs sat on one of the cots, holding onto Carl as Lori stood over them, her hands on her hips.

Iris thumbs the strap of her backpack, glad that it was back in her possession after leaving it in the room when she woke up that morning. Any comfort she felt earlier that morning had drained from her the moment Jenner had revealed that there was actually nothing to do about this disease and their hopes of answers had been dashed.

"Is dad gonna be back soon?" Carl asks, fluttering his eyelashes.

"Yeah, he is. I promise." Iris smiles, running her hand over his hair. "He'll figure something out, I know it."

Lori was lifting her arms up, staring at the ceiling with a heavy sigh. There was a guise of nervousness in her actions, and she was practically biting on her nails.

"Mom? Something wrong?" Carl asks.

"Nothing. It's just, the air conditioning stopped." Lori puts her hands down, frowning.

"Do you think the power is starting to go out?" Iris asks, her eyes wide and afraid. She tries to hide her fear as much as she can around Carl, but there was one thing she feared more than anything: the unknown.

Lori gives her a confident smile, and shakes her head. Iris had known Lori since she was five years old, and she had always been the older sister she never had. "No, I'm sure we'll all be okay."

Overhead, all of the lights go off, until they are engulfed in darkness. Iris grips Carl tighter.

Lori lets out a breath, turning around and ushering Iris and Carl to stand up. "Come on."

The three of them walk into the corridor, Carl clutching Iris' hand as Lori opens the door. Thankfully, the lights in the hallway were on, likely emergency lighting. It wasn't just their room that had had trouble with the lights, as everyone else exited their rooms, including Dr Jenner.

Jenner walks like a man on a mission, ignoring them all. However, they follow.

"Why is the air off? And the lights in our room?" Carol asks.

"What's going on? Why is everything turned off?" Daryl grunts.

Jenner sighs, sounding exasperated. "Energy use is being prioritised."

Iris frowns.

"Air isn't a priority? And lights?" Daryl asks, his voice gruff.

"It's not up to me. Zone 5 is shutting itself down." Jenner says, walking down the stairs with a weird kindness. Daryl moves past them all, still yelling questions as they speed down the stairs.

"Hey! Hey, what the hell does that mean?"

Above them, the lights on the stairway power down, leaving them in more darkness. Sophia lets out a small gasp, and Daryl only speeds up more.

"Hey man, I'm talking to you! What do you mean it's shutting itself down? How can a building do anything?"

"You'd be surprised." Jenner says.

Daryl looks like he was about to yell something else, but he's cut off as the boys meet them halfway, running up the stairs.

"Rick?" Lori calls, and the four of them speed up.

Rick stops the moment he reaches the scientist. "Jenner, what's happening?"

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark." Jenner saunters into the computer lab, closely followed by the group. He points at the clock. 32 Minutes. "Right on schedule. It was the French."

Andrea frowns. "What?"

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know. While our people were bolting out the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution."Jenner says.

Iris paces in her spot in the lab, staring at the clock aa it counted down. What the hell was going to happen when it reached zero?

"What happened?" Jacqui asks.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." Jenner laughs bitterly. "The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?"

Shane grunts. "Let me tell you..."

He jumps up, squaring up to Jenner. Iris tuts and runs over to him, at the same time that Rick manages to restrain him.

"To hell with it, Shane. I don't even care." Rick yells, pushing Shane off. "Lori, grab our things. Everybody, get your stuff. We're getting out of here now!"

Iris gasps, already turning on her heels and Rick ushers them all towards the door. She already had her backpack on her back, but she knew some of the others had left their things in the rooms. She felt the adrenaline rise in her as she picked up her pace, practically running towards the doors in a group panic. This was definitely an unknown. A pretty massive unknown.

An alarm blared.

Loud, deafening noise that forced Iris to put her hands over her ears, looking around at the others who all had similarly shocked expressions. All except Jenner, who had the same calm expression on his face that he had the entire time, like he was expecting all of this to happen. It was paired with a flashing red light that reminded Iris of a firetruck. In her experience, a flashing red light typically meant trouble. Big trouble.

"What's that?" Shane asks, his voice still raised.

The robotic voice spoke, loudly announcing, "30 minutes to decontamination."

"Doc, what's going on here?" Daryl asks, pausing in his run.

"Everybody, y'all heard Rick." Shane almost tripped on his feet, he was up so fast. "Get your stuff and let's go! Go now! Go! Let's go!"

Iris felt like she couldn't breathe. She couldn't figure out what the alarm was for, what the clock was counting down. She could see the others running past her but she couldn't force her limbs to move through the sound of that damn alarm hurting her brain.

Glenn grabs her hand, pulling her along and jumpstarting her mind. "Come on, Iris."

The doors shut. One huge, metal door that slammed down with a sickening bang, trapping them all inside.

Iris' breath hitches.

Oh god, oh god, oh god.

If there was one thing Iris feared more than the unknown, it was being trapped in one space, with no windows, no open door, no escape.

Glenn gasps beside her, squeezing her hand even tighter. "No. Did you just lock us in? He just locked us in!"

Jenner ignores them, walking away and sitting by one of the computers, speaking into its camera. "We've hit the 30-minute window. I am recording."

"Carl." Lori calls, running over to her son.

"Mom!" Carl yells back, wrapping his arms around her and blocking his face from the sight of the doors.

"You son of a bitch." Daryl grunts, getting ready to pounce on Jenner where he stood.

"Shane!" Rick yells, pointing over at the situation, giving his order. Iris breaks away from Glenn to run over, just as Shane grabbed ahold of Daryl's shoulders.

"You let us out of here!" Daryl yells, sounding more desperate than Iris had ever heard from him.

"No, stop. Don't!" Shane says, struggling to hold him back.

"You lying..."

"No no no no!"

Daryl has his open bottle of liquor in his hands, raising it high as he swings.

T-Dog runs over to help, taking the bottle away from Daryl, who pushes both of them off, but stops his attack. "Wait, no! No, don't do it."

Rick runs over, pointing with his finger as his head tilts to the side. "Hey, Jenner, open that door now."

"There's no point. Everything topside is locked down. The emergency exits are sealed." Jenner sighs.

"Well, open the damn things." Dale says.

"That's not something I control. The computers do. I told you once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that. It's better this way." Jenner says.

"That's... you didn't tell us the whole truth!" Iris exclaims, holding her hands to her head. She realy, really hated being in the dark. "So, open the damn doors!"

"What's better?" Rick questions. "What happens in 28 minutes?"

No reply.

"What happens in 28 minutes?!" Rick yells.

"Come on!" Daryl repeats, aggressively.

"You know what this place is?!" Jenner yells back, standing up and practically spitting his words. Iris takes a step back. "We protected the public from very nasty stuff! Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever! In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, H.I.T.s are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out."

No, that didn't sound good.

That really didn't sound good.

"H.I.T.s?" Rick asks.

Jenner sighs again. "Vi, define."

"Hits. High-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000° and 6,000° and is used when the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

Iris' eyes fill with tears.

Somehow, knowing because so, so much worse than not knowing.

"It sets the air on fire." Jenner summarises, his voice just as accepting as it had been since they'd met. "No pain."

Iris covers her mouth with her hands, stifling her sob. All around her, people were crying and hugging each other, processing the news. Iris could feel herself shutting down, the clothes on her back suddenly sticking to her skin and her hair grazing against the back of her neck. They were all going to die. All of them. This was all going to be over, in half an hour. Thirty lousy minutes, the rest of her life.

She looks at Jenner and she couldn't understand how he could just accept this fate. Things were worth fighting for, life was worth fighting for. There was more than this, there had to be more than this. They may be in an apocalypse, they might die tomorrow, but Iris didn't want to go down without a fight. Life was worth more than... this.

Maybe one day she'd understand.

"An end to sorrow, grief, regret. Everything."

But that day wasn't today.

Daryl chucks his bottle at the metal door, smashing it into a million pieces as he lets out a shout. "Open the damn door!"

After two minutes, a long 120 seconds where no one knew what to do, where no one moved, where no one even so much as panicked, there was a sudden burst in energy that was solely focused on physically breaking through the door.

"Out of my way!" Shane yells, running over with an emergency axe in hand. He grunts, slamming it at the doors, but it did nothing but make a screeching scrape of metal hitting metal.

"Daryl!" Glenn yells, throwing a second axe into his hands, and the two of them pound against the door together, but even that does nothing.

Iris was sitting on the ground, with a lot of the others. She sniffles next to Lori, who had one arm around her and one around Carl, suddenly feeling so much less like an adult and more of an imposter, speaking a lot of big words when it came to things she could control, but the moment she was faced with a problem that was hopeless, that she just couldn't fix, all she wanted to do was curl up and cry. Life was wirth fighting for, but right now, they were left with nothing.

"You should've left well enough alone." Jenner shakes his head dissaprovingly. "It would've been so much easier."

"Easier for who?" Lori asks, stroking Iris' hair the way she liked it growing up.

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short, brutal life and an agonizing death." Jenner looks at Andrea. "Your-your sister, what was her name?"

"Amy." Andrea's voice breaks.

"Amy. You know what this does. You've seen it." Jenner stands, looking over at the boys still attempting to break through solid metal. "Is that really what you want for your wife and son? And your sister?"

Rick turns around, baring his teeth and shaking his head. "I don't want this."

Shane bangs the axe against the doors again. "Can't make a dent."

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner says.

Daryl grips his axe tighter, grunting as he runs over, swinging it. "Well, your head ain't!"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Lori yells.

"Daryl!" Iris shouts, gasping.

"Daryl! Daryl!" Rick runs over, reaching Daryl at the same time as Dale.

"Just back up! Back up!" Dale tries to soothe.

"You do want this. Last night you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." Jenner shoots in Rick's direction.

Iris stands up, her hands shaking. She studies Rick's face for any hint of deception, but her brother's head was rooted to the floor. Iris shakes her head. "That's not true."

"What? What? You really said that? After all your big talk?" Shane asks, raising his voice.

"I had to keep hope alive, didn't I?" Rick says, clearly stressed and under pressure.

"There is no hope. There never was." Jenner says. Iris closes her eyes. Two days ago, she had the exact same thought. Hell, two minutes ago she had the exact same thought. But she looks at Carl, who hadn't cried despite their perilous situation. She looks at Sophia, with her big, innocent eyes. She looks at Rick, and sees the determination all over his features.

And she looks at Glenn, and sees the desperation written all over his face.

Maybe hope couldn't survive soley through one person. Maybe hope could only be maintained when you had someone to hope for. Iris had her family, not just Rick and Lori and Carl but everyone in this room, who she had bonded with so much over such a short period of time, was her family too. And they had enough hope fo all of them.

"There's always hope. Maybe it won't be you, maybe not here, but somebody somewhere..." Rick tails off.

"What part of 'everything is gone' do you not understand?" Andrea snaps.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it. This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." Jenner implores.

"This isn't right." Carol cries. "You can't just keep us here."

"One tiny moment... a millisecond. No pain." Jenner continues.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this!" Carol shouts, clinging onto Sophia.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate to just hold your loved ones and wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner asks. Iris backs away, shaking her head.

Shane's gun cocks, and points it right at Jenner's head.

"Shane, no!" Rick yells.

"Out of the way, Rick! Stay out of my way! Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?!" Shane's voice gets louder and louder. Iris stumbles awya, covering her ears, almost backing straight into Glenn.

"Brother, brother, this is not the way you do this." Rick held onto Shane's arm.

"We will never get out of here." Jenner says.

"Shane, you listen to him." Lori says firmly.

"It's too late." Shane barely gets his words out through his rage, his face red with raw anger.

"He dies, we all..." Rick's voice was cut off by Shane's yell, but Rick didn't let up. "We all die! Shane! Shane!"

Shane yells again, loud enough to break through glass, clutching his gun and wildly spraying bullets around the room, hitting and blowing up computers. Iris yells for him to stop, but her voice was drowned out by the sound of richocheing bullets.

Rick snatches the gun out of his hold and hits Shane down, hovering over him and pointing the back end of the gun at him. "Are you done now? Are you done?"

"Yeah, I guess we all are." Shane spits back, shoving him off.

Iris tucks a piece of hair behind her ears, her hands shaking like a leaf that she almost misses and pokes herself in the eye. Very softly, Glenn takes her had between the two of his and steadies it for her.

Rick hands the rifle to T-Dog, walking back over to Jenner. "I think you're lying."

"What?"

"You're lying about no hope. If that were true, you'd have bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick asks. Iris thinks about that. It was a good point, if Jenner was so adament that all hope was gone and that the world wasn't worth fighting for, then why was he still here

"It doesn't matter." He brushes off.

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when others ran. Why?"

"Not because I wanted to. I made a promise. To her." Jenner points at the screen, which was still blank. "My wife."

Oh.

"Test subject 19 was your wife?" Lori asks, her voice softer.

"She begged me to keep going as long as I could. How could I say no?" Jenner says. Iris feels a rush of sympathy for him. Losing a spouse.. it was probably one of the worst pains one could experience, life changing, terrible pain.

Daryl was the only one still pounding on the door, a constant background noise, a constant reminder of their prediciment.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world. Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just... Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do." Rick argues. "That- that's all we want. A choice, a chance."

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori adds.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"I told you topside's locked down. I can't open those." Jenner's voice was suddenly filled with a new sense of purpose, and he stands to walk over to a device on the table, tapping a few buttons.

A woosh.

And the door flies open.

Iris lets out a shuddering breath, the corners of her mouth upturning into a grin.

There was a cascade of voices.

"Come on!"

"Let's go!"

"Come on, let's go!"

"Come on!"

Glenn grabbed her hand, pulling her towards the door, but Iris pulled back, waiting until Carl and Lori had run up beside her. However, Rick still wasn't thee, still locked into a conversation with Jenner. The scientist was whispering something in Rick's ear.

"Let's go!" Glenn calls, squeezing Iris' hand but he didn't even make a movement to leave without her.

Lori breaks away, leaving Carl in the middle of Glenn and Iris, both of which held one hand on each of his shoulders. She takes Rick by the arm and pulls him back.

"Hey, we've got four minutes left! Come on!" Glenn yells, his voice getting more and more strained.

"Let's go. Let's go." T-Dog says, looping his arm around Jacqui.

"No no." Jacqui pushes T-Dog off. Everyone turns around, staring at her in shock. "I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie."

"Jacqui..." Iris whispers. No, no more losses. They'd already been through so many losses.

"But that's insane!" T-Dog exclaims.

"No, it's completely sane. For the first time in a long time. I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy. There's no time to argue and no point, not if you want to get out. Just get out. Get out." Jacqui nods, looking confident in her decision despite the tears that pooled in her eyes.

Jacqui was right. There was no time to argue. In three and a half minutes, this whole building was going to go up in flames, and all of this would be for nothing.

"Dog. Come on, man. Come on! Let's go! Let's go!" Shane runs over, dragging T-Dog back.

"I'm staying too." Andrea announces, sitting down on one of the chairs.

"Andrea, no." Dale takes a step forward.

The others hover, unsure what to do. None of them wanted to just leave two of their own behind, despite the runnng clock.

"Just go! Go!" Dale waves a hand to them.

They don't hesitate. The group run as fast as possible, but not before Iris silently says her goodbyes to her lost friends. Jacqui. Andrea. Dale.

Iris runs up the stairs, skipping steps as she follows Shane and Daryl's lead. It was their fight of a lifetime, their race for their lives and for their future.

"Come on." Rick calls, making sure Iris keeps up.

The moment they reach topside, T-Dog runs to the doors, slamming his fists on them again and again.

"Get them doors open!" Shane yells, as he and Daryl run to the glass windows, searching for any weak pint.

Iris and Glenn speed over to the doors, helping T-Dog. Iris tries to wedge her fingers between them, but no matter what she tries, they will not budge.

"Does it work?" Glenn asks.

"Wait a minute! Wait a minute!" T-Dog fiddles with the senser on the wall. "Try it! Try it! Try it now!"

Iris screams out as she tries to rip the doors open, but nothing happened. Absolotly nothing.

They were running out of time.

They follow the others to the glass windows, where Shane and Daryl were bringing their axes to it. The glass didn't break, didn't even crack.

"Come on! Come on!" Daryl yells.

"Daryl, look out!" T-Dog bellows, running over with a chair and smashing it into the glass. It just bounces off.

Shane cocks his gun. "Dog, get down! Get down!"

Before Iris even knows what's happening, Glenn grabs her by the shoulders and pulls her down, just as Shane fires his rifle directly at the window.

Nothing.

"Oh god, oh god!" Iris shouts, feeling Glenn's hands on her back.

"The glass won't break?" Sophia says, her big eyes filling with fear.

As Iris sits up, Carol stumbles over to Rick. "Rick, I have something that might help."

"Carol, I don't think a nail file's gonna do it." Shane yells sarcasically.

Carol ignores him, rummaging through her pocket. "Your first morning at camp, when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket."

A grenade.

Iris smiles. She'd helped Carol with the laundry that day, and she hadn't even seen the woman take it.

Oh, Carol Peletier was much more resourceful than she let on.

Rick takes the grenade, holding it in his hands. "Come on."

"Look out!" Shane yells, and this time Iris is prepared. Still, she feels Glenn's steady hands cover her back.

Rick pulls the pin . "Oh..."

"Get down! Get down!" Shane bellows.

"Shit!" Rick curses, and he launches himself to the ground just as the grenade explodes and shatters the glass all over the floor, leaving a massive hole, big enough to climb through.

No one hesitates.

Shane, Rick ad Daryl take out every single walker standing as they run towards the cars, Daryl even beheading one clean with his bow.

They all leg it to the cars. Shane and Rick shoot any stray walkers. Daryl beheads one with his crossbow. No one was taking any chances, not when they were this close to making it.

Rick opens the door to the RV, and Iris collapses through it's doors with Carl and Glenn on her tail. She takes a heavy breath as she rests on the couch, her entire body shaking with shock and adrenaline. Rick and Lori run to the driver and passenger seats, Rick starting the RV with a heavy pant. The others had ran to the other cars that were parked alongside the RV, no doubt trying to catch their breaths too.

Just as Rick was about to floor it on the accelaration, Lori gasps. "Wait wait wait. Wait wait. They're coming."

Iris stands up, leaning on the back of Lori's chair and following the point of her finger, where Andrea and Dale were climbing out of the shattered window. Iris grins

"Come on." Lori whispers. When Rick lays heavily on his horn, Lori pokes her head out of the window and yells. "Dale, get down! Down!"

"Get back! Everybody down! Down!" Rick repeats, and Iris and Glenn shield Carl, pushing him to the furthurst wall of the RV.

Then, the most brilliant display of light that Iris had ever seen. Even as Dale and Andrea climbed into the RV, to safety, even as Rick drove away and led them to a new horizon, Iris couldn't rip her gaze away from the orange, incredible, terrifying light.

The CDC was gone. 

Chapter Text

IRIS DIDN'T WANT TO GET UP.

Her bed was so comfortable, the sheets wrapping around her like a warm hug, keeping her a willful prisoner to its serenity and peace. There were sounds of the city below her, the honks of a car horn, the general chatter of the morning commute, birds chirping over the apartment building, but Iris ignored it all. Her blonde hair spread out over the pillow, her right hand gazing over the other pillow on the bed, where there was only empty space. The corners of her mouth upturn and she gives a content sigh.

It was only when the irresistible smell of bacon and eggs travelled through the bedroom door and to her nose that she finally shifted in the bed, opening her eyes as she ran her hands through her hair, sitting up and bringing it into a loose bun. She stretches her arms, arching her back as she rubs the sleepiness from her eyes. Instead of getting dressed, she just picks up her robe from where it was hanging on the door, wrapping herself in it, still cold despite the fact that it was a summer's morning in Atlanta, Georgia.

She opens the door, still stretching a little more with a tired yawn on her lips, walking towards the really good smell that had interrupted her slumber.

The kitchen door was already propped open, and Iris can't fight the smile that overcomes her when she sees the scene. "Wow, you've gone full chef mode this morning."

"What can I say?" Glenn smirks, scrambling up the eggs in the pan while they sizzle. "There's a lot you can get done when you don't sleep in 'till noon."

"Oh, ha ha." Iris replies, walking over to the coffee pot and pouring herself a big cup. "It's my day off, I'm allowed to be lazy."

Glenn smiles, starting to plate up two servings of breakfast. "I know, you work hard. Way harder than me. And I know you worry, but Jess and Natalie have the store handled. It'll survive one day without you."

Iris smiles. He knew how to read her so well he always could. She leans her head on her fist. "Yeah, I know. Okay, fine. No worrying. What do you wanna do today?"

Glenn sits opposite her, putting the plate on the table in front of her. There were purple irises on the table between them, which he had brought home yesterday. "Hmm, I have a few hours until my shift starts. Movie?"

"Mmm, sounds perfect." Iris says, taking a bite of her bacon. "And so is this bacon."

Glenn licks his lips, and smiles. "Thanks for the compliment."

He reaches over and kisses her, through the smile on his face, and —

Iris wakes up with a start.

She shot up, clearing her throat as she tried to take in her surroundings. Her back was killing her, probably from sleeping in an awkward position. She blinks a couple of times, acclimating to a very different environment than the one she was just in in her mind.

Right, she was in the RV.

The apocalypse, the Quarry, the CDC, all of it.

She massages the back of her neck, letting out a little groan as she sat up on the hard couch of the RV. Her mind was racing, but she was way too muddled up to think too hard about it right now. She squints her eyes, her vision finally clearing up, revealing Shane, Andrea and T-Dog watching her with amused expressions. She shoots them a glare.

"Good nap, Princess?" Shane asks.

Iris grumbles. "Did I miss the day when everyone collectively started calling me princess?"

"You've been asleep for hours." Andrea says, leaning back against the wall. "You must've been having a really good dream."

"No." Iris denies, a little too fast. There was no way she was talking about this particular dream, ever. She swallows heavily, averting her eyes. "I had a dreamless sleep. Absolutely no dreams today. I must've... really needed an... uninterrupted sleep."

"Sure thing, princess." T-Dog says with a smirk, obviously just trying to rile her up as he stood and walked towards the bathroom. Iris fights the urge to chuck the pillow she had under her head at him. She was not in the mood.

She rubs her eyes in exhaustion, which was ironic considering that she had felt so peaceful when she rubbed her eyes in her dream, when she was so well rested and she was in a house with—

Nope, she was not thinking about it. Not now, not ever. It was just a weird, psychological manifestation from all of the trauma she'd experienced in the last few days. That was all.

"You sound pretty flustered right now, are you sure you didn't have a single dream?" Glenn asks, turning around from his seat in the front, a smug grin on his face.

Iris' eyes widen. Crap. She forgot he was here too.

She laughs. Loudly. Then she brings a hand to her mouth, cutting herself off. When she is confident she isn't about to have another fit of giggles, she takes her hand away. "No, actually. I don't dream that often, okay?"

"Alright, weirdo." Glenn laughs, shaking his head playfully.

"Iris, get your gun out." Shane suddenly says, fiddling with his own, giving it a clean.

"Uh, why?" Iris asks, looking at him weirdly.

"Because we need to clean our guns so that the next time you need to shoot it, it actually fires."

Iris zips open her bag, pulling out her gun, and looking up at Shane expectantly. "Okay, show me then."

Shane starts to take apart his gun, and Iris copies his actions, biting her tongue in concentration as she fiddles with the parts of her gun, getting to know the weapon in her hand.

"Looks complicated." Andrea says, picking her head up from her fist.

Shane shrugs. "The trick is getting all these pieces back together the same way. I could clean yours. Show you how."

Andrea gives him a nod, handing him the gun. Shane takes it his hands, giving a smile as he felt its weight in his hands. "Oh yeah. It's a sweet piece."

As Iris puts her gun back together, securing it on her belt again. It was fully loaded again now, and it was a weight that she had gotten used to in the last few months.

"It was a gift from my father." Andrea says. "He gave it to me just before Amy and I took off on our road trip. He said two girls on their own should be able to defend themselves."

Iris smiles. She can imagine Andrea and Amy's father in her mind, giving his daughters a gun because they were going on a road trip alone. It reminded her of Rick, in a way, who liked to make sure Iris knew how to defend herself just as passionately as he protected her, if there was ever a time he wasn't around.

"Smart man, your father." Shane comments, putting Andrea's gun back together. "Look, it's a- it's a limited capacity. See? Only holds seven rounds."

"So you have to be able to reload it quickly." Iris says, leaning in closer. "In case you need more than seven bullets."

Shane clicks his tongue at her, pointing. "Bingo. But you already know how to reload, don't you."

"Rick taught me." Iris says. "But I've never actually used it on someone... well, at least until-"

Until the Quarry was attacked.

Actually using the gun on a living being, however undead they were, was vastly different than practicing on metal cans. Vastly different. The worst part about it was that Irs knew it wasn't the last time she'd have to use it.

"Oh jeez." Dale's voice cuts through their conversation. Iris perks up, looking out of the window as the RV rolls to a stop. In front of them, on the highway, was a complete standstill of cars, spreading out for miles, and totally blocking their path. Iris stands up, watching Dale and Glenn share a concerned look. Daryl's bike sounds past them, trying to get a look ahead.

"Aw no. See a way through?" Dale asks, but Daryl shakes his head. Iris sighs. T-Dog walks over, catching sight of the blockage and facepalming.

Dale tries to inch forward anyway, and Iris grips hold of the back of Glenn's chair, looking at the map he was holding. Glenn sighs. "Uh, maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass-"

"We can't spare the fuel." Dale interrupts, shaking his head.

With Daryl in the lead, they keep trying to weave their way through the cars. Rick was following behind them in his car, with Lori, Carl, Carol and Sophia. Iris catches the eye contact of T-Dog, shaking her head in worry. Eventually, they were going to bump into a blockage that they couldn't pass.

There were so many cars, abandoned cars, just like the church van that Iris had abandoned with T-Dog and Glenn, that it made her breath hitch. All of these cars, all belonging to real people with real lives and real families, and dreams and hopes, all just to become an obstacle in their path.

"Jeez." Glenn says, staring out of the side window.

"You've got that right." Iris says.

"Can we get through here?" Glenn asks, as Daryl reaches a very narrow pathway between the cars.

The answer was no. For two reasons: the gap was far too narrow for even Daryl's bike, and the RV splutters like it had done on the way to the CDC and came to a jittering stop, filling the air around it with dark smoke.

God, this kept getting worse and worse.

They filed out of the RV, rejoining Rick and the others, who were looking at the smokey RV with a sigh. Iris moves over to Rick, still feeling a little weird around Glenn after her dream, which she did not have the mental capacity to try and unpack right now.

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times dead in the water." Dale exclaims.

"Problem Dale?" Shane asks, looking off at all of the cars.

"Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no hope of-" Dale tails off. He looks at all of the cars around him, with their endless supply of parts that was theirs for the taking. Iris grins. "Okay, that was dumb."

"Can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane starts.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl finishes.

"Can syphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog walks towards the cars, tapping one of the car trunks with his fingers.

"Maybe some water." Carol adds.

"Or food." Glenn says.

"Some medical supplies." Iris brings up, letting out a breath.

"This is a graveyard." Lori says. "I don't know how I feel about this."

Lori was right, in a way. It was a graveyard. It was the final resting place of many people, who tried so hard to survive, to escape, only to meet the deaths. However, they were gone now and their resources couldn't go to waste. Not when the RV was the only decent shelter they had.

If anyone agreed with Lori, they didn't speak it.

"Come on y'all." Shane says eventually, motioning them all to scatter and find supplies. "Look around, gather what you can."

Iris walks towards one of the cars that looked like the one Rick drove when he wasn't using his sherrif's car. She didn't have a licence herself, she liked to use the city bus or walk when she could, but Rick often picked her up when he could, especially when she was still in high school. The car in front of her right now was empty, devoid of any bodies. She opens the boot, letting out a victorious laugh when she zeros in on a first aid kit. She opened it, and thankfully, it had stitches and gauze and bandages.

Happy with what she had, she headed back to the RV to put it in a safe place, finding Dale and Glenn crouched over the hood, trying to fix it.

"Any luck?" She asks, once she'd put the kit inside, swinging around to face them.

suddenly seeming superficial after they'd all almost died. Again.

Together, they move a couple more cars. Glenn knew how to hotwire them now, which he had been bragging about since he'd ridden that red car into camp for the first time. However, in the blistering heat, it was hard work.

"I'm gonna get some water." Iris says, and Glenn nods. She moves off, walking towards their newly improved water supply and pouring herself a bottle.

She frowns when she hears muffled voices arguing. She stands up, poking her head around the RV, but quickly hides when she notices Shane and Lori speaking in hushed voices.

"The way you blew him off just now. You crushed him. I don't believe you. You're giving me the cold shoulder?" Lori was whisper yelling. Iris frowns. She knew there was something weird going on between them, but this was the first time she'd come across real evidence and not just her own weird vibes.

"Isn't that what you want? Aren't you the one who said stay the hell away from him and you?" Shane spat back.

"You forget what happened at the CDC?" Lori says harshly. Iris' eyes widen. What the hell happened at the CDC? "Your little meltdown in the rec room slip your mind? When you tried-"

"Can I have some of that?"

Iris jumps. "Jesus, Glenn."

"Sorry." Glenn chuckles. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." Iris replies, shoving the water bottle in his hands. "Here."

When she turns back around, Shane and Lori had dispersed. She sighs.

"Let's go." Iris says, walking back around the RV. "Sort out more of those-"

"Oh God, they're back." Glenn says. Iris looks up, her eyes filling with hope.

But Sophia wasn't with them.

Sweet, little Sophia. The little girl who had survived so much, who had lived through the wrath of her father and had finally escaped him. The little girl who hadn't stopped clutching her doll since Eliza Morales had given it to her. The sweet little girl who had so much hope, and so much innocence.

"You didn't find her?" Carol sounds horrified.

Rick shakes his head. "Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light."

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods." Carol sniffs, holding a distressed hand to her hips.

"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost." Daryl says. He was a tracker, he knew what he was talking about. If Daryl said it wouldn't work, then Iris believed him.

"But she's 12." Carol argues. "She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?"

Rick holds a passive hand out. "I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there."

"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl adds

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." Rick says.

Iris knew she'd be the first to volunteer tomorow. She wanted to find Sophia, more than anything. She couldn't lose anyone else.

"Is that blood?" Carol gasps. Rick and Daryl both had blood staining their clothes, though Daryl's was probably from T-Dog's more than anything.

"We took down a walker." Rick admits, stil l holding his hand out to attempt to soothe her.

"Walker? Oh my God." Carol holds a shaky hand to her mouth.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Rick says quickly.

"How can you know that?" Andrea asks.

"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." Daryl grunts.

Iris turns up her nose. "You... did an autopsy on a walker?"

"Oh God. How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" Carol's voice was getting more and more agitated, and honestly, Iris couldn't blame her.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Rick says, keeping calm despite Carol's accusations.

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane pipes up.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child." Carol yells, her eyes filling with more tears.

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make."

"I'm sure nobody doubts that." Shane says.

"My little girl got left in the woods." Carol cries, blinking heavily. Iris wanted to cry for her. She sounded so broken. Sophia was all she had, Sophia was all she ever had. She couldn't die, she wouldn't die, not when she had so many people out there, wishing, praying, for her safe return.

At the crack of dawn, the group set out with one goal in mind: find Sophia Peletier.

Chapter Text

TH EY WALKED IN SILENCE THROUGH THE WOODS.

It looked a lot less creepy in the daytime, when there were no immediate threats in sight, just the trees and the crunch of her leaves under her foot as she walked. Iris couldn't imagine how terrified Sophia was when she was being chased by walkers, as the sun went down and she was left alone while Rick drew them away. Rick had done the best he could to try and protect Sophia, Iris knew that, but the little girl could've been spooked by anything in the short time Rick was away from her.

Everyone wanted to help find her, even Carl, who had volunteered to join them on their hunt. Iris could see her nephew start to grow up right in front of her eyes, and it was a bittersweet feeling. He was growing up too fast, and this world had stolen his childhood enough already.

The only people who stayed behind were Dale, who was still working on fixing the RV so that they could move off once they returned with Sophia, and T-Dog, who was still injured and recovering from blood loss. His tourniquet was holding steady, but soon enough they would have to stitch him up or it would get infected. Iris had never stitched anyone up before, but she had stitched a lot of clothes. How different could it be? Since she'd found a first aid kit, it was next on her list of priorities, once they found Sophia and she was safe.

Daryl and Rick were leading the charge, with Lori and Shane tailing them at the back. Iris was in the middle, walking just in front of Glenn. She had her hair in her favourite hairstyle, half of her hair down and the rest in two buns at the back of her head. It was way easier to do today, since she'd recently washed it, and freshly cut her bangs, though she had become an expert at doing it without a mirror.

As she walks, Glenn catches up to her, taking off his hat and running a hand through his hair. "Hey, Iris, wait up."

Iris pauses, letting him catch up to her, and the two of them walk in step for a moment. Iris bit her cheek, feeling herself make the situation awkward with her silence.

"Are- are we okay?" Glenn asks, and Iris immediately feels bad.

"Oh, Glenn, yeah. Yeah, of course we are." She tells him, giving him her most convincing smile.

Glenn smiles back, and nods, licking his lips as he chuckles a little. "Okay, good. Because you've been acting a little weird, and I was worried I did something, or something happened, or-"

"No." Iris interrupts. "I'm just- processing. A lot has happened in the last few days."

It wasn't technically a lie.

"Yeah." Glenn agrees. "Hey, at least it can't get worse than this, right?"

Iris snorts. "I swear to God, if you've jinxed this."

"I didn't take you as superstitious." Glenn smirks, taking his hat and plonking it on her head. Iris scoffs and rips it off, chucking it at his chest and feeling for the sturdiness of her buns. She rolls her eyes at the stupid smirk on her face. For the first time since she'd woken up, things actually felt normal with him

"I spent thirty minutes doing my hair this morning, asshole!"

The group end up in a little clearing, where they find a large tent, which looked abandoned and partially coated in leaves from the trees. Iris drops her banter act with Glenn, analysing the tent, but she couldn't catch any movement.

"She could be in there." Shane says, walking over from the back of the line.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there." Daryl comments. He steps forward slowly followed by Rick and Shane, his crossbow in the air. Once he got closer, he took out his knife, searching for any obvious threats. Iris hung back, watching the scene in anticipation.

"Carol." Rick motions for the woman, who takes a couple of tentative steps forward. "Call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."

"Sophia, sweetie, are you in there?" Carol calls, her voice soft but still breaking. "Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's mommy."

Daryl inches even closer, unzipping the tent as quietly and carefully as possible. As he makes his way inside, all three boys cough and splutter. Lori walks over to Carol, holding a comforting hand to her shoulder, and Iris follows her lead.

"Daryl?" Carol asks, trying to step forward but Lori pulls her back. "Daryl?"

Daryl emerges, shaking his head with a grimace. "It ain't her. Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?"

Iris sighs. Even if Sophia had come across this tent, the dead body would've definitely scared her off enough that she wouldn't have stayed here, not even overnight. Hell, even Iris doesn't know if she could spend the night with a dead body, and she wasn't twelve years old.

A sound reaches her ears, one that she can't place, that she thinks she might've even imagined. It sounded like bells, reminding her of the bells she would hear outside of her elementary school.

The school that was near a church.

"That's church bells." Iris says, looking around, trying to pinpoint the sound.

Rick jumps up, running through the trees, quickly followed by the others. The art of being quiet was suddenly lost on them, not feeling its importance if it meant they could find Sophia.

"What direction?" Shane asks, all of them looking in different directions as the sound echoes through the trees around them like a bird call.

"I think that way. I'm pretty sure." Rick says, pointing north.

"I thought it was more towards the east." Iris frowns, holding a hand over her eyes.

"Damn, it's hard to tell out here." Shane shakes his head.

"If we heard them, maybe Sophia did too." Carol suggests, looking more hopeful than ever.

"Someone's ringing those bells, maybe calling others." Glenn says.

Iris looks at him. "Like another group?"

"Or a group signalling they found her." Andrea adds.

"She could be ringing them herself." Rick says, starting towards the northeast. "Come on."

As they got closer and closer, the sound of bells got louder, and the group moved faster. If Sophia was calling for them, they didn't want to make her wait. Iris smiles when the white building with a large cross comes into view.

However, her hopes were rapidly dashed when Shane gruffly sighs, looking at the church in frustration. "That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells. Rick."

"Listen to the bells, Shane, they're so loud. This has to be it." Iris says. If she could will a steeple on that church with her eyes, she could.

Rick and Daryl run up to the doors, listening out for a sound, a sign, anything. When they were sure, together, they opened the doors. Iris raises her head, walking up the stairs as she looks at the pews, and the large statue of Jesus Christ on the cross right in the centre.

There were walkers, too.

One was in a wedding dress and veil.

Rick, Daryl and Shane take care of all three of them, taking out their brains and leaving them lying on the ground. The happiest day of their lives had turned into their final place of rest, and Iris had to turn herself away, not being able to bear looking at the wedding veil streaked with red blood.

The others scattered, shouting and calling for Sophia, opening all of the doors, checking every crevice, every room, for her.

"Yo, J.C., you taking requests?" Daryl asks, looking up at the statue. Iris smiles, because, damn, there was so much irony in this situation. Or poeticness, maybe.

"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick. There's no steeple." Shane repeats. Iris hated to admit it, but Shane was probably right. Sophia was nowhere to be found.

Much, much louder than before, right over their heads, the bell rings out again.

Glenn was closest to the doors, and he turned on his heels and ran outside, quickly followed by the others, all looking up as they followed the noise. They rounded the wall, where they quickly discovered exactly what they'd been hearing.

There was no steeple. The 'bell' was a speaker. Glenn looks at the electricity box, ripping out the wires with his hands, and the sound of the bell finally stops.

"A timer. It's on a timer." Daryl exclaims, chucking a bit of grass on the floor.

"I'm gonna go back in for a bit." Carol speaks, her voice quiet and lost.

Iris shifted in her spot in the front pew, sitting next to Lori and bouncing her knee. Rick and Carl stood at the back of the church, silently watching over them as Carol speaks to the cross that loomed over them.

Iris had been to a lot of churches in her lifetime. She'd been raised in a Christian family, in a Christian town, went to a Christian school, and lost every sunday to church during her childhood. The most memorable experience in a church for Iris was at Rick and Lori's wedding, when she was ten years old and the flower girl, but other than major family events, Iris found herself distancing from church as an adult.

"Father, forgive me. I don't deserve your mercy." Carol says, bringing her hands together in prayer. "I prayed for safe passage from Atlanta and you provided. I prayed for Ed to be punished for laying his hands on me and for looking at his own daughter with whatever sickness was growing in his soul. I prayed you'd put a stop to it, give me a chance to raise her right, help her not make my mistakes. She's so fearful. She's so young in her way. She hasn't had a chance. Praying for Ed's death was a sin. Please, don't let this be my punishment. Let her be safe, alive and safe. Please, lord. Punish me however you want, but show mercy on her."

Carol sniffles, wiping her eyes and turning away. She sits in the middle of Lori and Iris, both of whom wrapped their arms around her in comfort. Carol had said her piece, which is what she desperately needed.

"Do you believe in God?" Carol asks, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

"Of course, honey." Lori replies, rubbing her arm up and down. Carol nods.

"Iris?"

She looks up. Carol and Lori stare back at her. She hesitates. "Yeah. I mean, I was taught to believe."

"But you don't?" Carol asks. Lori raises her eyebrow.

Iris sighs. She looks at the stature of the cross which seemed to be staring into her soul. "Honestly, I don't know, I guess I was... losing my connection even before all of this went down, but now? I mean, if God exists how could he let this happen? It just makes me think-"

That maybe we've been abandoned by God.

"Think what?" Carol asks. Lori shoots her a look.

Instead, Iris smiles. "Nothing. Of course he exists, and he's looking out for your little girl right now. I know it"

The group waited as long as they could, just in case Sophia did hear the bells and was on her way. The majority of them gathered around the graveyard, which did not bode well for their morale.

"Do you believe in God?" Iris asks Glenn, suddenly. It was still playing on her mind, and she wasn't sure why.

Glenn looks surprised. "Uh, I don't know." He shakes his head,getting a thoughtful look in his eyes. "Why?"

Iris shrugs. "I don't know either. So, that's good to know, at least."

Shane walks over to Rick, and Iris was close enough to hear their conversation. "Got to move here, man. These people are spent. There's only so many hours of daylight left. We still have a long way back."

"I can't stop yet." Rick tells him.

"We still got a lot of ground to cover, whole other side of the Creek Bed. So we search that on the way back." Shane says.

"She would have heard those church bells. She could be nearby." Rick argues back.

"She could be a lot of things." Shane mutters darkly. Iris turns up her nose

"I can't go back. Her being out here is my fault."

"That's great. Now they got you doubting yourself, huh?"

Rick scoffs. "What about you? You doubt me?"

"Hey, we can assign all kinds of blame." Shane holds up his hands. Iris doesn't understand what his problem has been lately. She'd known Shane all her life, and he and Rick hardly ever fought, but ever since he'd returned from the dead, Shane hadn't stopped fighting him on everything.

Rick inches closer to Shane, lowering his voice. "This means something, finding her. It would be the miracle we need. We can't give up."

Shane hums, and moves away, addressing the group. "Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough."

Iris raises her eyebrow, looking at Rick. He gives her a nod, a subtle, approving nod.

"You're splitting us up." Daryl says, sounding uncertain. "You sure?"

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you." Shane says, looking at Rick in a way that Iris just can't understand.

"I want to stay too. I'm her friend." Carl says. Iris swings her backpack over her back, as Rick looks to Lori for her input.

"Just be careful, okay?" Lori says, patting him on the back.

Carl beams. "I will."

Lori pinches his cheeks, embracing him in a hug. "When did you start growing up?"

Carl laughs, and dodges away from her. "Bye Aunt Iris."

"Seeya, kid." Iris replies, giving him a wave as Lori kisses Rick goodbye.

"I'll be along soon enough." Rick says. "Iris, you still got your gun?"

"Yep." Iris grazes her fingers over the weapon.

"Good. Use it if you have to." Rick brings her into a hug. Iris smiles and hugs her older brother back, feeling the comfort and familiarity of his embrace.

"I will, Rick."

They doubled back after leaving the church, Daryl leading them back through the woods to the highway. Iris was glad that Daryl was with them, because she knew she would struggle with getting back on her own. Every one of her own weaknesses just reminded her more of Sophia, and how she must be feeling right now.

The group spirit had been slowly eroding away the further the way walked, the same way it felt as a kid going home from something fun: devoid of any anticipation that the journey there provided, leaving only a dull sense of melancholy.

Not even Iris and Glenn were chatting like they usually did, keeping each other's morale raised the best they could, but now they walked in silence, stepping in unison, following the others as they walked.

"So this is it? This the whole plan?" Carol asks eventually. It was getting dark, and they were all tired.

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl shrugs, a little touch of amusement in his voice.

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea scoffs. She looks at Iris, who was sitting on one of the logs, shooting her a glare. "I see you have a gun."

Iris frowns. Dale had taken it upon himself to take Andrea's gun away from her, worried about another suicide risk after she almost stayed behind at the CDC. Shane had agreed with him, but Iris had nothing to do with it. Andrea may be angry, but Iris wasn't as soft as people expected and she sure as hell wouldn't let someone speak to her in that way.

"Excuse me, do you have a problem?" Iris crosses her arms, staring at Andrea with unblinking eyes. "Because it seems to me that your problem is with Dale, not me, so don't you take it out on me because I have my gun that my brother trained me to use."

"Oh yeah, we all know about your brother, don't we?" Andrea shoots back, circling her like a dog.

"What the hell does that mean?" Iris demands.

Glenn steps forward, taking her by the arm. "It isn't worth it."

"No." Iris replies, looking straight at Andrea. "You blame Rick? Go on, then. Say it outright!"

"Enough." Lori says, her voice cutting through the atmosphere like a knife. "Now, there's a lot of blame going on here. And I'm sick of the looks that you keep giving me. All of you."

Andrea sighs, and shakes her head..

Lori turns to Carol, her voice softening. "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently."

Lori pauses, addressing everybody in the group now. "Anybody? Y'all look to him and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."

"We should keep moving." Andrea says after a moment of silence. She gives Iris a small smile, extending an olive branch when she holds a hand out. Iris nods. Rise above. She takes Andrea's hand, allowing the older girl to pull her up.

"Yeah." Iris nods. "Or we'll lose the light."

BANG.

Iris' heart drops to her stomach.

"What was that?" She asks, her voice shaking. "Was that a gunshot? That was a gunshot."

"Yeah." Daryl nods, tightening his grip on his crossbow. "Sounded far off, not any threat to us."

"Far off like back at the church?" Lori asks, and Iris stares at her, face paleing.

"I'm sure it'll be okay." Glenn says faintly, just to her. "That gun could've gone off for any number of reasons."

As the six of them keep moving, Iris can hear Lori drawing in and out short breaths, and Iris herself has gone stiff, walking slowly with her lips brought into a very thin line.

"You two still worrying about it?" Andrea asks, raising a brow.

"It was a gunshot." Lori says, taking a swig of her water bottle.

"We all heard it." Daryl says.

"Why one- Why just one gunshot?" Lori questions.

"Maybe they took down a walker." Daryl offers up.

"Please don't patronize me." Lori sighs, staring at him. "You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker, or Shane. They'd do it quietly."

"Especially if Carl is with them." Iris murmurs quietly, a scared pout on her lips. "They- they wouldn't risk him."

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asks. The sun had long started to go down, which meant they'd spent the entire day out in those woods, from dawn to dusk.

"There's nothing we can do about it, anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes." Daryl says.

"So, what do we do?" Lori asks.

"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway."

Iris fiddles with her fingers. She wished she'd gone with Rick. At least then she'd know if he were okay.

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV." Andrea says. Iris nods.

Glenn nudges her by the arm and the two of them start to walk further, alongside Lori and Daryl. However, Andrea's voice pulls back their focus.

"I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel."

"I suppose you do." Carol answers, giving her a smile. "Thank you. The thought of her, out here by herself. It's the not knowing that's killin' me. I just keep hopin' and prayin' she doesn't wind up like Amy." Carol pauses, her face scrunching up in regret. "Oh, God! That's the worst thing I ever said."

Andrea shakes her head. "We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth."

"I'll tell ya what it's worth.Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hopin' and prayin'." Daryl says. Iris rolls her eyes at him. "We're gonna locate that little girl. She's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one Zen around here? Good lord."

They keep walking, but the more they travel without any sign from Rick or Shane or even Carl, made Iris' stomach twist in anxiety.

There were a multitude of things that could've happened. One of them could be dead, or a walker, or all of them could be walkers, or they could be taken hostage by a stranger or maybe it was even an accidental fire.

God, she didn't even know which possibilty to hope for.

The highway felt like it was still miles away, despite the fact they'd already been walking for so long, with no sign of Sophia, and now no sign of Rick or Shane or Carl.

"How much farther?" Lori asks, wiping her brow.

"Not much. Maybe a hundred yards as the crow flies." Daryl answers.

Iris scoffs. "What does that even mean?"

"As the crow flies, my ass." Andrea says, struggling with a cobweb dangling from one of the trees. The tiredness was getting to all of them.

Andrea suddenly lets out a bloodcurdling scream. Iris immediately has her hands on her gun, running over.

"Andrea?" Lori asks.

Andrea had a walker on top of her, and she was struggling to get it off. The walker had her totally pinned.

Iris takes a breath, and points her gun. Iris had practised a lot on tin cans, but this walker was moving constantly, and Iris was struggling to get a good shot without risking Andrea's life.

Andrea managed to kick away, but the walker was heavily advancing. Iris runs closer, about to take her shot, when a steady clop clop clop takes her attention away.

There was a woman, with light brown hair cut into a short bob, wearing a pink shirt and carrying a baseball bat. In a flash, she guides her horse over, taking out the walker with her bat, before bringing her horse around, and she looks at each of their faces, speaking in a heavy southern accent. "Lori? Lori Grimes?"

"I'm Lori." Lori says urgently, staring up at the woman on the horse. She looked young, probably Iris' age, or a little younger.

"Rick sent me." The woman says. "You've got to come now."

"What?" Lori asks.

"What happened!?" Iris exclaims, her eyes filling with tears.

"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. He's still alive but you've gotta come now. Rick needs you- Just come!"

Iris couldn't breathe.

Carl had been shot. Carl. Her nephew, only twelve years old, couldn't have been shot. It didn't feel real, it wasn't real. Carl was just a kid, a sweet, funny, innocent little kid who didn't deserve to live like this, surrounded by walkers and having to risk his life day after day. Carl deserved to be in his house, playing video games, reading comic books, watching The Incredible Hulk with her despite the fact she couldn't understand it for the life of her. Carl couldn't die, if Carl died, Iris didn't know how any of this could even be worth it.

Lori doesn't waste a moment, and the woman helps her on the back of the horse.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa! We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse." Daryl yells.

The woman ignores Daryl. "Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?"

"Uh-huh." Glenn replies, his hand finding Iris' as her eyes fill with tears.

"Wait, let me on!" Iris yells, feeling herself get more and more desperate. "He's my nephew, you have to let me on!"

"There's no room." The woman shaks her head. "We have to go, I'm sorry."

"No." Iris cries, crouching down as her knees go weak. Glenn is right there with her, a hand pressed firmly against her back.

"Look after her, Glenn." Lori says. Glenn nods slowly.

"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene." The woman says, before she kicks off, and she and Lori go shooting off.

Leaving Iris as she lets out a shuddering sob, her knees hitting the ground.

Chapter Text

"WE'RE ALMOST THERE, COME ON."

Iris stumbles up the hill, still reeling from the news. She had imagined it a million times over in her head in the short time since Lori had been swept away. She thought of Carl, lying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood, shot in the chest. Or the arm, or the stomach, or the leg, or-

The truth was, she had no idea what had happened to Carl, because there was no room for her on the horse. She was being kept in the dark, and she hated it. Her mind couldn't handle the endless possibilities, couldn't handle the fact that something was happening to someone she loved and she was totally powerless to stop it, to do anything about it.

She looks up at the blue sky, wondering if there was a God staring back at her, watching her suffering, watching Carl's suffering. She so desperately hoped that this farm had enough resources to save him, because if he died before she could...

It was Glenn's words that pulled her out of it.

"Yeah." She replies, as they reach the barrier of the highway. "Almost there."

Dale was on lookout, standing on top of the RV, and he climbed down the moment that the five of them came into view, rushing over with a shocked expression on his face. "What's going on? Where's- Iris? What happened?"

Iris opens her mouth to speak, but no words come out of her mouth. She sucks in a gasp of air, blinking away the tears. She shakes her head.

"Carl's been shot." Glenn says for her.

"Shot!?" Dale repeats, his eyebrows raised. "What do you mean shot?"

"I don't know, Dale. I wasn't there." Glenn responds. "All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."

"You let her?" Dale exclaims.

"Yes." Iris says, her mouth falling open again. "She took her to Carl!"

"Climbed down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her." Daryl adds. "She knew Lori's name and Carl's."

Iris walks further towards the highway, taking out the buns that had been tightening around her scalp all day. She usually likes the feeling of them, but right now she really needs to let loose.

"I heard screams. Was that Iris?" Dale asks.

"Andrea." Glenn replies. "She got attacked by a walker. It was a close call."

Dale gasps, turning to the blonde woman. "Andrea, are you all right?"

The two of them talked a little more, in low whispers, but Iris wasn't listening anyway. She shook her hair out and walked to their water supply, pouring a little bit of water into her hands and bringing it to her face, relishing in the cool feeling. She brings her hands into tight fists, trying to stop them from shaking.

She stands up, holding her hands to her hips and bites her lip. Carol walks over to her, holding a hand to her shoulder.

"I understand how you feel. It's the not knowing, that's the worst."

Iris looks into Carol's eyes, nodding. "Yeah. It really sucks. I'm sorry we couldn't find Sophia."

"It's okay. Not your fault." Carol replies. She pauses for a moment before bringing her into a tight hug. Iris made a little sound of surprise, but hugged Carol back. It was something they both needed, Iris realised. "We'll find Sophia, and Carl will be okay."

"And now we have a safe place to stay so Carl can heal and we can look." Iris says, pulling away. "Or, at least, I'm hoping."

"The farm?" Carol asks, tilting her head. "You want us all to go to the farm?"

"What farm?" Dale asks, and Iris looks up to see everyone staring at her. Even T-Dog, with his tourniquet still tied around his arm.

Iris steps closer to the group. "Two miles from Fairburn road, there's a farm. The Greene Farm. It's where that woman took Lori. It's where Carl is. I'm going. I need to see him."

"Of course." Dale nods. "The RV is ready to go when you are."

Carol shakes her head. "I won't do it. We can't just leave."

"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale tries to reason, but Carol immediately shakes her head.

"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen."

Andrea spares an apologetic glance in Iris' direction. "If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful."

"That's okay. I can go alone." Iris says.

"You don't even have a driver's licence." Glenn says.

"How hard can it be?"

"Okay." Daryl interrupts. "We gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."

"If the RV is staying, I am too." Dale says.

Carol lets out a breath, smiling widely. "Thank you. Thank you both."

Andrea puts a comforting hand on Carol's shoulder. "I'm in."

Iris hovers awkwardly. She couldn't spend an entire night without being able to see Carl. She'd drive if she had to, it's not like there was traffic to take into consideration.

"I'll go to the farm. Take Iris." Glenn says, holding a hand to his hip.

"Okay. Thank you. Thank you so much." Iris says. She should've known she'd have Glenn in her corner.

"Take Carol's Cherokee." Dale says, and Glenn nods. "You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most importantly, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke."

Iris walks into the RV and gets out the first aid kit. She smiles at T-Dog, who was looking a little worse for wear. "I was going to use these to stitch you up, i'd feel a hell of a lot more comfortable doing it on a farm rather than on this highway. The only stitching experience I have is on clothes, and I have a hunch that human skin is gonna be a lot harder."

Daryl walks over to Merle's motorcycle, opening the hatch and bringing out a large plastic bag with something inside that rattled. "Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash. Crystal, X- Don't need that." Daryl searches through the pile of pills. "Got some kick ass painkillers. Doxycycline. Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion."

Despite herself, Iris laughs. "Damn Dixon. Who knew you had this stash this whole time."

Daryl hands her the bag, looking away. "Yeah, well. Go see the kid, Princess. Make sure he's aight. He's tough."

"Thanks." Iris says, taking the bag and holding it in her hands.

Glenn pressed harder on the gas, cruising down the road as they drove to the Greene Farm. Iris sat in the front seat, staring out of the window as the large stretches of green pass them by. She had her head leaning on her arm as she rested against the window, letting the movement of the car loll her into as much peace as she could manage.

T-Dog was sitting in the back, clutched onto the bag of meds. He was doing a little better, Merle's pills had helped bring the fever down, and he'd settled into a slightly disturbed silence. It was odd, the three of them in one car again, after what felt like so long since they'd met and escaped the city, but actually, it was hardly any time at all. Yet, everything had changed.

"You know, this car drives pretty fast but it's nothing compared to the challenger that me and Rick stole. I mean, the car alarm was kinda annoying, but I'd listen to it all day if it meant I could drive that awesome car again."

Glenn was trying to fill the silence, talking about the car he wasn't over, how well it drove, how fast he went, anything except for the bad stuff that Iris and T-Dog were trying to avoid. It was what he did. Glenn always spread as much positivity as he could, it was just in his nature. Iris lived for his unwavering spirit, even when she was struggling, especially when she was struggling. Glenn never expected her to match his enthusiasm, or even talk back to him if she didn't feel up to it, he just wanted her to feel okay.

He never said any of that in his ramblings, but Iris could read him like a book.

"This car can go pretty fast, once you ignore speed limit rules, which I never even did before the apocalypse, because most of the time I was driving, I was delivering pizzas and I really needed that job, but-"

"But it's got nothing on your little red car?" Iris finishes.

Glenn gives her a double take, the corners of his mouth upturning at her sudden words. "Well, it's a challenger, but yeah..."

"He'll be okay." Iris says, dropping her hand from her cheek. She fiddles with her fingers, looking at Glenn with big eyes.

Glenn kept his eyes on the road, but Iris caught his jaw tightening, and his fingers curling around the wheel. "He will. He's a strong kid. He comes from a strong family, you know?"

"We'll get there, and we'll give that girl on the horse these meds for him, too." T-Dog adds, speaking for the first time in a while. "He'll make it, Iris."

"Thanks, guys." Iris says, clearing her throat of her emotion. "Almost feels like old times, huh?"

Glenn chuckles.

The farm was large, with an even larger patch of land that spread out for miles. Glenn drove as close as possible, parking up to what Iris assumed was one of their family cars. Iris shut the car door, looking up at the building. It almost looked unaffected, like the apocalypse hasn't even happened here. It was so out of the way, Iris couldn't even see any walkers. The only thing that signified that this farm had experienced the end of the world the same as everything else was the silence. Suffocating, deafening silence.

Glenn started towards the house, and Iris and T-Dog followed his lead, anxiously stepping closer and staring at the wide, closed doors.

"So do we ring the bell?" Glenn asks. "I mean it looks like people live here."

"We're past this kind of stuff, aren't we? Having to be considerate." T-Dog says.

"I guess, but still. If they're helping Carl, it doesn't hurt to be polite." Iris says, stepping onto the porch.

"Did you close the gate up the road when you drove in?"

Iris whips her head around. The girl on the horse, who'd taken Lori and told them where to go, was sitting on the porch swing, just out of sight. She stands up, looking at the three of them with pretty blue eyes. Iris makes a small noise of surprise.

"Uh, hi. Yes, we closed it. Did the latch and everything. Hello. Nice to see you again. We met before, briefly." Glenn rambles, giving her a smile.

"I'm Iris. Iris Grimes, my, uh- Carl's my nephew." Iris says, extending her hand out. "I appreciate your help."

"Maggie." The girl says, taking Iris' hand and shaking it. "Of course. My daddy's been seeing to him."

"Look, we came to help." Glenn tells Maggie. "There anything we can do?"

Maggie looked like she was about to reply, but she pauses as she catches sight of T-Dog, and the wound on his arm. Her eyes widened.

"It's not a bite." T-Dog reassures. "I cut myself pretty bad though."

"I have a first aid kit, with stitches. I was hoping for a clean place to stitch him up." Iris offers, her own strong accent mimicking Maggie's.

"We'll have it looked at. I'll tell them you're here." Maggie nods.

"We have some painkillers and antibiotics. I already gave him some. If Carl needs any." Glenn hesitates for a moment before holding the bag of meds out.

Maggie beckons them in. "Come on inside. I'll make you something to eat. Your nephew is in the first bedroom on the right, he's with his parents."

Iris nods graciously. "Thank you, so much. Hey, do you... do you know what happened?"

Maggie tenses, which made Iris clench her fists in fear. "You should talk to Rick about that."

Iris makes an 'O' shape with her mouth and nods, and she follows Maggie's directions, her footsteps light and hesitant. Glenn and T-Dog were right behind her, supporting her as she very slowly opened the door.

Rick and Lori both look up immediately, their eyes wet and their faces solemn. Iris hangs in the doorway for a moment, her gaze going from her brother and sister-in-law down to the figure that lay on the bed next to them. He looked so small, so pale, so sickly, that it couldn't possibly be Carl.

Yet it was.

He was unconscious, which was perhaps a mercy on him. He was laying still, too still, compared to his usual hyperactive state. His hair was sticky and pulled back from his face, which was white as a ghost. The sheets were pulled up over his body, so Iris couldn't see the wound, but seeing Carl's poor face was horrific enough. He looked dead. He looked like Rick, in the hospital, days before all of this started. It was a terrifying thought, considering Rick had been in a coma for months afterwards and even then he had access to a hospital and a constant supply of medication. All Carl had was whatever the Greene family had on their farm.

Iris licks her chapped lips, taking a tentative step closer. Rick, who had a plaster around the vein on his arm, didn't stand up to greet her, and neither did Lori, her hand resting on Carl's head. Hot tears burned in her eyes, but Iris blinked them away. Now wasn't the time for tears.

"Iris." Rick finally says, looking more broken and destroyed than she'd ever seen from him. "Come here."

Iris complies, finally feeling brave enough to step towards the bed. She hovers next to Carl's head, staring down at him. If he'd just looked like he was sleeping, maybe it wouldn't have been too bad. But he looked like a corpse.

When Iris was fourteen, her grandmother died. It was a heart attack, but peacefully in her sleep. She had an open casket funeral, and Iris could never forget the moment she stepped up to the casket, hand in hand with her mother, and saw the body of her grandmother lying in front of her, lifeless and still.

It haunted her nightmares for years.

That was what Carl reminded her of right now. Like he was lying in an open casket, and she was saying her goodbyes to him. It wasn't right, it didn't feel real.

"Sit down, honey." Lori says, patting a spot on the bed. Iris looks at her for a moment in worry but with Lori's encouraging nod, Iris softly sits on the bed, next to Carl.

"God." She says, and it's the only word she can even get out. God. Could God let this happen? Why would he let this happen, if he was real?

"Hershel is going to try and do an operation. That's Maggie's father." Rick says. "But he needs a respirator or it'll be too difficult a surgery."

Iris gingerly places her hand on Carl's head, stroking his dark hair. "Oh, god. I- how did this happen, Rick?"

Rick and Lori exchange glances, which just heightens Iris' anxiety even more. After a moment, Rick sighs. "We found a deer in the woods. Carl moved a little closer to it, and we let him, because we didn't think he was in any harm. But... there is a man that lives on this farm, uh, Otis. He was hunting for food, he shot the deer from a distance, and- and the bullet went right through."

Iris gasps, holding a hand to her mouth. "Oh, oh no. I- they did this?" She looks around the room.

Rick holds a hand out. "No, no. It was an accident, okay? He couldn't see Carl from where he was. And he's trying to make up for it. Him and Shane went out to find him a respirator so Hershel can do an operation to get the bullet pieces out."

"Okay." Iris agrees. "Okay, it was an accident. I just- I can't believe this."

"Neither can I, honey." Lori says.

"Hey." Glenn's voice comes from the doorway. Iris jumps. She forgot that Glenn and T-Dog were here.

"Hey." Rick answers.

"Um, we're here, okay?" Glenn says, his voice low and soft.

"Thank you." Lori smiles sadly.

"Whatever you need." T-Dog adds.

As Maggie ushers Glenn and T-Dog out of the room, an older man with grey hair and a stethoscope walks in, moving towards Carl. Iris shifts in her position, looking up at the man with scared eyes.

"Irs, this is Hershel." Rick says. "Hershel, this is my sister, Iris."

Hershel smiles at Iris. "It's nice to meet you. I'm just going to check your nephew's wound."

He moves the quilt down, peeling Carl's shirt up. Carl had bandages wrapped all around his stomach, and there was blood soaking through them. The skin all around the bandages was discoloured and sweaty. It looked a hundred times worse than she imagined, so much so that she had to look away.

Hershel moves Carl's shirt back down. "They don't get back soon, we're gonna have a decision to make."

"And that is?" Rick asks warily.

"Whether to operate on your boy without the respirator." Hershel replies.

"What?" Iris sits up straight.

"You said that wouldn't work." Lori says.

"I know. It's extremely unlikely. But we can't wait much longer."

Iris buries her head in her hands.

Rick and Lori didn't know what to do, what impossible decision to make, or how to save their son's life. They hadn't left his side since it had happened, but now they were talking outside, needing to get away just for a couple of minutes just so they could make a decision.

Iris sat in Lori's chair, her hand carefully stroking Carl's hair as he lay, unconscious, on the bed. He seemed so young, so little in that massive bed. It was so unlike him, for him to be so still, to seem so lifeless.

"Hey, buddy." She says, her voice croaking as it fills the silence. "You're gonna be okay. This isn't the end, I know it. You've gotta recover from this, alright? You still need to explain The Incredible Hulk to me."

Iris wipes a stray tear that falls from her eye. Carl's eyes were moving under their lids, but Iris guessed that was normal, considering the amount of pain he must be in.

"Just.. get better okay." Iris speaks again. "Your mom and dad couldn't take it if somethin' happened to you. I couldn't take it."

Carl's eyes flutter even more under his lids. Iris sits up. No, this can't be normal.

"Carl." Iris whispers. "Buddy?"

Without any warning, Carl's eyes flutter open, looking at her with groggy, disoriented eyes. They could barely stay open, and he kept letting out little whimpers. Iris kept her hands on his hair. "Shh, shh. You're okay, sweetheart."

Carl didn't look like he could take in any of the words she was saying, and his eyes were staring at her, but they looked unseeing. His mouth opens, but no words came out.

"Shh, don't try to talk." Iris soothes. "Just close your eyes, for me. Just close your eyes."

His eyes fluttered again, and this time they closed fully, and Carl's body fell limply again.

"There you go." Iris smiles sadly, tucking him in carefully. When she was sure that Carl was totally out cold again, she covered her mouth, stifling a sob.

Carl woke up for a second time once Rick and Lori returned. Hershel had been examining him, while Iris' arms wrapped around her knees, her head falling limply onto them.

A weak cough makes her sit up immediately, just as Rick and Lori do. Carl was way more alert than he was last time, looking around in fear. "Where are we?"

"Hey, little man." Rick says softly. "That's Hershel. We're in his house. You had an accident. Alright?"

"It hurts, a lot." Carl's voice was so weak, it didn't even sound like his.

"Oh baby, I know. I know." Lori soothes.

"You're gonna feel better soon, okay?" Iris says.

"You should have seen it." Carl mutters, smiling deliriously.

"What?" Lori says.

"The deer." Carl's head lolls to the side. " It was so pretty, mom. It was so close. I've never been.."

He stops talking.

His eyes stay open, but he falls completely limp, not speaking, his chest barely rising and falling.

Iris clasps her hands together.

"Carl?" Rick asks.

It happened so, so fast. One moment, he was talking and smiling, and then, his eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he started shaking, convulsing uncontrollably in the bed.

"What is happening!?" Lori exclaims.

"Carl!" Iris cries. This was the single most terrifying thing she'd ever witnessed. Carl was gasping, seizing on the bed, and there was nothing they could do.

In an instant, Hershel jumps into action, removing the pillow from under Carl's head and moving him. "It's a seizure. If you hold him down, you could hurt him."

"You can't stop it?" Lori asks, burying herself in Rick's chest.

"He has to just go through it." Hershel sighs, keeping his hands out and ready.

It felt like hours before Carl finally stopped. When he did, he rolled back on his back, his face covered in sweat. Lori was clinging onto Rick, and Iris hugged her arms around her own chest, she was so horrified she couldn't even look away. She'd never seen a seizure in person before, and it was a thousand times worse than anything she'd ever seen on TV.

Hershel started to check on his vitals, feeling for Carl's pulse. He sighs. "His brain isn't getting enough blood. His pressure is bottoming. He needs another transfusion."

Rick peels away from Lori, holding his bandaged arm out. "Okay, I'm ready."

Hershel shakes his head. "If I take any more out of you your body could shut down. You could go into a coma. Or cardiac arrest."

Rick shakes his head, staring at Hershel in determination. "You're wasting time!"

"Puncture the left part of the skin the same as you did the right, and then wrap tightly around the needle holder." Patricia says, slowly enough so that Iris could follow along. "That's it. Then pull carefully, don't be afraid to do it tightly, you need it to be tight so the wound holds."

Iris nods, pulling on the stitches tightly, until T-Dog's wound slowly starts to close up. She desperately needed a break from Carl's room, and when she stepped out, she had found T-Dog, Glenn and Patricia sitting on the dining room table, with the first aid kit opened. Apparently, Paticia had offered to stitch him up when they first arrived, but T-Dog had opted to wait for her, because he knew she wanted to learn.

"Like that?" Iris asks.

"Exactly like that. You're a natural." Patricia smiles. Otis, the man who had accidentally shot Carl, was Patricia's husband, and Iris could see the guilt on her face every time she looked at her. However, she was good people, and Iris was sure Otis was too.

"Thanks for being my guinea pig." Iris smiles, looking at T-Dog who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well, next time I get hurt, you'll be a professional."

"You got here right in time. This couldn't go untreated much longer. "Merle Dixon." Is that your friend with the antibiotics?" Patricia asks.

"No, ma'am." Glenn answers. "Merle's no longer with us. Daryl gave us those.. his brother."

"Not sure I'd call him a friend." T-Dog retorts.

"He is today. This doxycycline might have just saved your life." Patricia holds up the bottle of pills. "You know what Merle was taking it for?"

"The clap." Glenn answers, before he almost chokes on his own spit. "Um, venereal disease. That's what Daryl said."

"I'd say Merle Dixon's clap was the best thing to ever happen to you." Patricia comments.

Well, that was a sentence she never expected to hear out loud.

T-Dog grimaces. "I'm really trying not to think about that."

Night had fallen over the Greene Farm very quickly, and within half an hour, it was pitch black. The house started to feel stuffy and suffocating, all of the energy of the people inside was overwhelming, and Iris couldn't stand it. She desperately craved some kind of normality, and there was only person that could do that for her.

She found Glenn outside, sitting on the porch and staring into the dark nights sky. When he heard the door he turns around, relaxing when she sees that it's just her, moving to te left a little so she has room to sit down.

Iris moves with heavy footing, sitting down next to him and tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. "What are you dooing out here?"

"I don't know. Praying, I guess." Glenn answers. His hat was in his lap, and he ran a hand through his hair. "I was thinking about what you said, back at the church, about how you didn't know if God was real. I still don't know, but I got the urge to pray anyway. For Carl."

"For Carl." Iris echoes, wiping her eyes again. She leans closer, resting her head on his shoulder. Glenn doesn't resist, actually wrapping his arm around her, pulling her closer. "Can I pray with you?"

"Yeah." Glenn replies, his voice barely above a whisper. "Of course. I don't really know how, so I've just been winging it."

Iris nods against his shoulder, closing her eyes. She knew how to pray, she'd been taught to pray from a very early age. It involved a lot of clasped hands and whispering and begging. Iris prefers Glenn's method, sitting out in the fresh air, in silence, and thinking.

They sat there for a while, in the quiet, staying close as they listened to the crickets chirp and felt the night breeze on their skin. Iris only lifts her head when the blinding light of a car pulls into the farm, and she gasps when she realises it was Shane.

Rick, Lori, Maggie and Hershel burst out of the doors, reaching Shane at the same time as Glenn and Iris. Shane was breathing heavily, holding the respirator in his hands with a grave expression on his face.

"Carl?" Shane asks, staring at Rick with terrified eyes.

"There's still a chance." Rick says. Shane's expression relaxes. He hands the bag to Hershel, who hesistates, looking behind Shane and seeing nothing.

"Otis?" Hershel asks.

Shane runs his hands over his face. "No."

Hershel pauses for a moment, processing the news, before addressing everyone. "We say nothing to Patricia. Not till after. I need her." He stalks off, running back into the house with the respirator.

Iris sniffles, walking over to Shane. He looke forsaken, and Iris wondered what he could've gone through out there, all to save Carl's life. She walks over, giving him a tight hug, wrapping her arms around his neck. "God, thank you, Shane."

Shane doesn't reply, he just simply nods, waiting until she let go to speak to Rick. Swallowing heavily. "They kept blocking us at every turn. We had nothing left. We were down to 10 rounds. Then he said.. he said he'd cover me and that I should keep going. So that's what I did. I just.. I kept going. But I.. I looked back and he.. I tried."

Rick holds onto his shoulder. "He wanted to make it right."

"He saved Carl's life. And so did you." Iris says.

Hershel doesn't waste time. The moment the respirator was in his hand, he got straight to work, beginning work on Carl's life-saving operation.

Chapter Text

"MMM, SOUNDS PERFECT."

Iris takes a bite of her bacon. "And so is this bacon."

Glenn licks his lips, and smiles. "Thanks for the compliment."

He reaches over and kisses her, through the smile on his face, and—

Iris lifts her head, massaging the crook in her neck, groaning in confusion. Carl was asleep on the bed that Iris was resting her head and shoulders on. She must've fallen asleep at some point while she was sitting with him. She rubbed her eyes, looking at the clock as soon as her vision cleared. It was midday, which meant she'd been napping for about two hours without realising it.

Carl had stabilised since Hershel had completed his operation yesterday. He was going to pull through, but he was still weak and spent most of his time sleeping and recovering from the severe trauma that had happened to his body. The others had driven to the farm early that morning, with preparations to go back out there and keep looking for Sophia in the woods. Iris was pretty sure they were all going to be meeting to discuss their plan soon, and she hoped she hadn't missed it.

They held a funeral for Otis that morning. Iris never got the chance to meet him, but the Greene family had spoken very kind words about him, and Shane had recounted his bravery in his final moments. It was a very nice service.

Iris figured she was so tired because she hadn't really slept at all last night. She dozed in and out, but the fear and the adrenaline from everything that had happened was keeping her up. That, and The Dream. The weird, recurring dream that had taken over her subconscious mind in ways that she couldn't explain. She'd taken to calling it The Dream, because ever since the CDC, it happened every time she fell asleep. Without fail. The exact same dream, down to every word, up until the kiss, which is when she'd wake up.

Every single time.

It meant something. She knew it had to mean something, but she just couldn't focus her energy on it right now. There was too damn much going on, and she hadn't even had time to breathe, let alone ponder a dream that kept popping up in her mind, that was confusing and strange and scary all at once. Iris was pretty sick of feeling afraid. All she had felt in the last few days was fear. Hell, all she had felt in the last few months was fear. Pure, unbridling, inextinguishable fear. In truth, she hadn't allowed herself to feel anything but fear since Rick had been shot. It was there, in the background, through everything that she did. Through every smile, every laugh. Fear for Rick, for Lori, for Shane, and then for Glenn, for T-Dog, for Dale, for Andrea, for Carol, for Daryl. For herself. She'd bitten her nails down to nothing, picked her lips until they were chapped and sore, and it did nothing to ease the fear that had become a weight on her chest.

The Dream was too perfect. That's how she knew that it wasn't real, that it would never be real. She had crafted some sort of false reality in her head, where nothing was broken, no one was lost, where she was safe and she never felt any fear. Maybe she was protecting herself, maybe she was subconsciously allowing herself to feel something, anything other than the fear that controlled her.

Right now, for the first time in months, as she stared at Carl's sleeping form, all of her fear disappeared. It evaporates from her like water turned to steam. She couldn't lose Carl, she couldn't lose anyone. If she did, she didn't know how she would handle it. Things tended to boil over, when Iris didn't know how to handle something.

And right now, the only thing running through her veins was anger.

A hot, burning anger, a passion that she had refused to let herself feel for so long. It wasn't Otis' fault, but Carl had been shot. He almost died, because there are no hospitals anymore. He could've just as easily been bitten, or starved, or gotten an infection, or, hell, even a common cold in this environment could wreck your body. There was no protection anymore. There was nothing she could've done to help Carl, and without Hershel, he would've died.

She didn't want to lose anyone else.

Iris looks up at the clock. 12:27. She sighs. She can push the anger down, just as she had been doing, all of these months, with her fear. There was more to focus on. If Iris didn't want to lose anyone, that started with finding Sophia.

She stands up, gives Carl one final hair stroke, rubs her eyes, and walks outside.

The sun was raised even higher than it was in the early hours of this morning, hurting her eyes for a moment as she walked to where some of the others were gathered around one of the cars. Rick had a map spread out against the bonnet, and he was about to begin a discussion with Hershel, Daryl, Andrea, Shane and Maggie.

She took a moment to observe before she made any move to announce her presence. Rick's face was a display of determination, something that she saw mirrored in Daryl, which, if you asked her a week ago, would've been surprising, but after Daryl had gone out of his way to save her and T-Dog from the herd of walkers on the highway, Iris realised that he really did care. Especially about that little girl. Hershel was a fair man, and he was hearing Rick out and providing them with the resources they needed for both Carl and Sophia. His daughter, Maggie, was on the outskirts, like she was trying to keep her distance, but she couldn't stop herself from being involved. Andrea had her hands on her hips, her fingers grazing over her gun like she was gearing up to play the defence, like she was struggling with trust. It reflected in Shane's face; lack of trust coupled with severe doubt.

Iris takes a breath and starts towards them, getting the attention of Rick, who gives her a small nod. It was possible he was waiting for her arrival, since he knew she would want to be involved in the discussion.

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asks, bringing himself closer to the map that was laid out.

"This'll be day three." Rick says. Iris bites her lip. Three days was a long time for a child to be out there alone, even without the threat of walkers looming over them.

"County survey map." Maggie says, pointing to some of the markings on the map. "Shows terrain and elevations."

"So we could identify the hotspots, see where Sophia would've most likely ended up." Iris says.

"This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organised. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." Shane says, holding his hands out.

Hershel shakes his head, looking at Rick. "Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." He switches his gaze to Shane, raising his eyebrow. "And your ankle. Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."

"Guess it's just me. I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." Daryl says. Iris was right, he was determined to find Sophia no matter what, even if he had to do it alone.

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Shane pipes up.

Rick nods. "All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right."

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives." Shane says, adjusting the gun on his belt. "They need the gun training we've been promising them. That you too, Iris. You may have learned to shoot tin cans as a kid but you've gotta learn to shoot a moving target."

Iris nods.

Hershel sighs, shaking his head. "I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."

Shane raises his eyebrows, and in line, so did his voice. "All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here-"

Rick holds up a hand. "Look, we're guests here. This is your property, and we will respect that."

Like he was extending the first olive branch, Rick unhooks his gun from the belt, placing it on top of the car. Shane lets out a heavy breath, clearly displaying his approval. However, with a stern look from Rick, Shane puts his gun down. Iris takes Opal's gun from her belt, feeling its weight in her hands for a moment before she carefully places it on the car.It felt a little weird, wearing her belt without her gun, like she'd lost a part of herself, of her new self. Hershel nods in appreciation.

"First things first: Set camp, find Sophia." Rick says assertively.

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit?" Shane asks. Iris closes her eyes, the thought of any of them having to put Sophia down made her see red. "I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."

Rick pauses, looking at Hershel as if he was testing his reaction. "You do what has to be done."

"And her mother?" Maggie asks, holding onto her shoulders. "What do you tell her?"

"The truth." Andrea says.

"Carol would understand." Iris adds, in a low tone.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site." Shane says. "I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience."

Hershel looks like he was about to protest, but Rick clears his throat. "Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." At his words, Hershel gives a small nod, which Rick returns. "Thank you."

"That stuff you brought, got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?" Maggie asks, squinting her eyes as she sun shone through the trees.

"Just what you've seen." Andrea says.

"I found that first aid kit on the highway." Iris adds. "But most people don't carry them in their cars."

"We're running short already. I should make a run into town." Maggie offers up, looking at her dad.

Rick raises a protective eyebrow. "Not the place Shane went?"

"No, there's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before."

Rick nods, turning Maggie's attention towards Glenn, which got Iris' attention. "See our man there in the baseball cap? That's Glenn, our go-to-town expert. I'd ask him along just to be cautious."

Maggie nods, and she walks away from the group. The others kept talking, kept making plans, but Iris turned her head and watched Maggie approach Glenn.

Glenn was looking at her in a mixture of shock and intrigue, nodding his head at her as she talked. Maggie tucks a piece of short hair behind her ears, and Glenn follows her movement with his eyes, looking at her with that stupid look on his face. She said something else and he nodded again, fiddling with his baseball hat. She can't hear their words, and honestly, she doesn't wanna know what Maggie was saying to Glenn. Sure, Glenn was their supply guy, but that didn't mean Rick had to offer him up to do this one, without even consulting him.

She bites her lip in frustration, turning around to give Rick a piece of her mind, but when she did, the whole group was gone. They must've cleared out while she was... distracted. She sighs. Giving Glenn and Maggie one final look, Iris stalks off.

One thing that Iris still hadn't gotten used to since society collapsed was exactly how many hours there were in a day. All she had now was time, and it made the days drag. Glenn and Maggie still hadn't gone out on their run, still supposedly preparing. Not that Iris paid them any attention. Glenn could do what he wanted, and if he wanted to do a supply run with Maggie, then that was his prerogative.

Iris walks back towards the house, seeing Daryl head out, crossbow in hand, ready to try and find Sophia. Iris could only hope that he'd find her.

Rick was sitting by himself on the porch, and for a moment, Iris considered walking over there, hot on her tails, to ask him what he was playing at volunteering Glenn without even consulting him, but something else was swirling in her stomach, and Iris couldn't pass up the opportunity to have Rick alone, for once at least.

Iris approaches slowly, sitting next to her brother, who smiles at her. "You okay? You seem... different."

Iris nods. "Different how?"

Rick shrugs. "Remember when you were nine, and that boy in your class stole your pencil case, and you came home and broke the fridge because you slammed it so hard?"

"Yeah." Iris can't fight a smile. "That made me really mad. I can't even remember that kid's name, but the next day he gave it back, with a little note asking me out. I said no."

"Of course you did." Rick laughs, and then his face falls again. "But that wasn't exactly my point. Things happen, and you get mad. You don't let yourself feel it, and then it explodes. So that's how you're acting differently. You're not letting yourself feel whatever it is you need to feel."

Iris scoffs, burying her face in her hands. She doesn't reply right away. There were a lot of things that she wasn't feeling right now, but she didn't think it was just her that was doing this: they'd all lost so much and suffered so much, that despite all of the hours in the day, there wasn't enough time to process it all. "It's not just me."

"Maybe not. But I know how to read you. Who's the pencil case stealer today, then?"

"What? No one." Iris rolls her eyes. "Or everyone. And everything. Maybe life is my pencil case stealer."

After another beat, Iris lifts up her head. "Do you think dreams mean anything?"

Rick lits a brow. "They could. I think dreams could be a sign of many things. What dream did you have?"

Iris coughs a couple times, cringing. "That's not the point."

"Okay. Okay." Rick holds up his hands. "Well, whatever you're dreaming about, maybe it's your subconscious mind trying to tell you something? Hopefully, something you'll figure out before you get to the breaking fridges phase, huh?"

Iris exhales deeply. Rick pats her on the shoulder, as Hershel exits the house, and he stands up to go and speak with him. Iris stays where she is, holding the back of her neck, willing away the pit in her stomach.

There was a walker in one of the wells.

It had probably been there for a while, based on how bloated it's body was, expanding probably two times it's original size as a result of being submerged in the water for months and months. If it wasn't already unrecognisable from being a walker, it was definitely unrecognisable now. It snarled and grabbed at them as they stared at it from the ground, completely at a loss as to what to do.

Iris held a hand to her hips, frowning as she stared at the disgusting creature that polluted the supply of the water. Even by walker standards, this one made her feel like belching. At least if she threw up in the well, she couldn't pollute the water any more than it already was.

Shane, T-Dog, Dale, Lori and Andrea were crowded around the well, to Iris' left. To her right, were Glenn and Maggie, who had walked over together when they heard the commotion. Still planning the run, apparently.

"Looks like we've got us a swimmer." Dale comments.

"Swimmer?" Iris snorts, looking at Dale with her face still scrunched up. "More like one of those recovered bodies they find in the rivers after years."

Everyone looks at her.

"Sorry. Too dark?"

"How long do you think it has been down there?" Glenn asks.

"Long enough to grow gills." Andrea says.

"We can't leave it in there. God knows what it's doing to the water." Lori crouches down, resting her arms against her knees.

"We got to get it out." Shane says.

"How could we possibly do that?" Iris asks, crouching next to Lori. "It's a big well, and... not exactly a little walker."

"Easy. Put a bullet in its head." T-Dog says simply. "I'll get a rope."

Maggie makes a sound of surprise. "Whoa whoa, guys. No."

"Why not? It's a good plan." Glenn asks, frowning.

"It's a stupid plan." Andrea rolls her eyes, her ponytail swinging behind her. "If that thing hasn't contaminated the water yet, blowing its brains out will finish the job."

"Still, I don't know if I'd want to drink this water." Iris turns up her nose. "Even if I was desperate."

Shane shakes his head. "Andrea's right. Can't risk it."

"So it has to come out alive?" T-Dog asks.

"So to speak." Shane mutters.

"How do we do that?" Glenn purses his lips, looking at each of them with concern.

For a moment, all of them just stare at the walker in silence. This was tricky, and any solution they could think of came with a multitude of problems.

"Hey, Maggie, have you got any fresh meat?" Iris asks, standing up and facing Maggie. The farm girl was taller than her, by a couple of inches, and the hat she was wearing on her head made her look even taller.

"Uh, yeah. We've still got a block of ham let over. We were gonna use it to fix up dinner." Maggie says, looking at her with curiosity.

Iris sucks on her teeth. "You might have to go for the vegetarian option."

Once Maggie ran inside to get the block of meat, it didn't take long to fashion a kind of fishing rod out of rope. Shane held it over the well, lowering it carefully until it reached the walker.

The walker reaches its arms up, trying to reach for the meat, but it wasn't bothered when it couldn't. Iris swallows, the disappointment rising in his chest.

"He's not going for it." Dale says.

"Maybe 'cause a canned ham don't kick and scream when you try to eat it." T-Dog comments, looking unimpressed.

"He's right. There's a reason the dead didn't come back to life and start raiding our cupboards." Lori adds.

"What do we do, then?" Iris cuts in, holding her hands to her hips.

"We need live bait." Andrea suggests. She goes quiet, and Iris raises her head to try and figure out her problem.

She was looking at Glenn.

They were all looking at Glenn.

Iris feels her heart speed up. "Guys. No. No."

Shane sighs heavily, looking at her with frustrated, dark eyes. "Iris, don't make a problem where there's not."

"You can't be serious." Iris replies, stepping back, away from him. She shakes her head, her eyes hardening. "You can't ask him to do that. You can't... ask him to do that."

"Iris..." T-Dog interjects, his eyes looking a little less firm than Shane's but just as intent.

Iris scoffs, looking away. She almost walks away completely, but she turns back around at the last minute. "Really? All of you? You've gotta be kidding me. Do you think he wants to do that, go down that death trap?"

"Iris, come on-" Andrea starts, but she is interrupted.

"I'll do it."

Iris turns around to face Glenn, her face falling in shock. "No. Don't do this just 'cause they want you to. They can do it themselves if they're so damn-"

"Iris!" Glenn exclaims. "I can do it. It has to come out, right?"

Iris blinks away the tears. No, she wouldn't let herself cry right now. Glenn was staring at her with conviction, and Iris knew it was a lost cause. "Fine. Do what you want."

She walks further away, still in sight of the well, and crossed her arms.

Shane ties the rope around Glenn's torso as Glenn sits down, dangling his legs over the well. Now he was actually about to go down, Iris could see the fear and reservation in his eyes. She bitterly shakes her head.

"Have I mentioned that I really like your new haircut?" Glenn says to Shane as he tightens the rope. "You have a nice shaped head."

"Don't worry about it, bud." Shane pats Glenn's shoulder. "We're gonna get you out of here in one piece."

"Living piece. That living part is important." Glenn adds, sighing nervously.

Shane, T-Dog, Andrea, Lori and Dale all hold onto the rope, which was also tied around the hydrant that was in the ground, for extra support.

"Nice and slow, please." Glenn adds, just before they start to lower him down.

"We got you." Maggie says, and she spares a look at Iris, shaking her head. "Oh, you people are crazy."

"You want to get it out of your well or not?" Shane practically spat. Iris shot daggers into the back of his head.

"Give us an eye there, Maggie." Dale says, and Maggie walks over to the well, staring at Glenn. Iris glares at him, too.

"Iris, do you wanna hold onto the rope?" Dale turns around, looking at her. "I think you're going to want to."

Iris bites her cheek, but she moves towards the rope and picks it up anyway.

Glenn gently lowers himself down the well, and Iris feels the tug on the rope as they take on his bodyweight.

"Doing okay?" Maggie asks him.

From the back of the line, Iris feels a pang of regret. She suddenly wishes she was in Maggie's place, being the face that he saw as he did the terrifying stunt, and voice that he hears as he goes down. She wished she'd hugged him goodbye, like she had everytime he went on a run back at the Quarry. She felt such a disconnect to that girl, to the girl she was before, but Iris doesn't know if she could get her back.

"Yup, doing great. Living the dream." Glenn mutters.

Maggie looks back at the others. "Little lower. Little more."

The sounds of the walker snarling as it was finally given what it needed made Iris' stomach hurt. She couldn't watch, she could barely even hear it without wanting to run home. Wherever home was. Her hands were starting to ache from the pull of the rope, which just made her head spin worse with anxiety and-

The hydrant rips from the floor.

The rope tugs out of her grip. Out of all of their grips, and the weight slips thrugh her fingers.

No, no, no, no, no, no.

Every inch of fear that Iris had ever felt in her life tripled and rushed into her system all at once. Someone yells, telling them to grab the rope. Glenn was screaming, and maybe Iris was too, but she couldn't focus on anything other than the feeling of a bomb going off in her head, amplifying the thump thump thump of her heart and twisting her stomach until she felt like vomiting her guts out.

"Get me out of here!" Glenn's desperate, pleading, terrified voice pulls her away from her stupor.

T-Dog and Shane both run fo the hydrant at once, but T-Dog gets their first, falling to the ground and holding onto it for dear life. Iris grabs her portion of the rope, screaming in determination as she pulls, the burning in her hands almost overtaking the burning in her heart.

"Get it off. Get off. Get off! Get me out!" Glenn screams, unaware of the combined efforts to pull him out. "Oh my God. Oh my God. Guys, get me out! Come on, you guys. Get me out! Oh God. Oh God. Oh my God!Get me out of here!"

She couldn't lose him. She couldn't lose him.

She couldn't she couldn't she couldn'tshecouldn't.

"Pull!" Someone yells.

"Pull! Pull!"

"Pull! Pull!"

"Let's go, pull."

"Get me out. Get me out." Glenn yells again, whimpering and screaming.

"Come on. Come on. Glenn!"

"Glenn!" Iris shrieks, hot tears running uncontrollably down her cheeks.

The seven of them manage to get a good grip of the rope and they slowly start lifting Glenn up, his whimpers and shouts getting louder as he gets closer.

"Pull him up. Pull him up." Shane breathes.

Finally, finally, Glenn's dark hair comes into view, and Iris can't help but give a heavy laugh, as Glenn collapses onto the floor, holding his head to the ground as he catches his breath.

Lori holds a hand to his back. "Are you okay?"

Glenn pants again, but he sits up, looking between Lori and Andrea, who were crowding him, and nods.

"Back to the drawing board." Dale winces.

"Says you." Glenn speaks, and he stands up, putting the rope in Dale's hands.

He'd done it. He'd attached the rope to thre walker.

Iris wipes her tears, unable to stop staring at his face. God, his beautiful, familiar, and damn stupid face.

Glenn was okay.

Her fear evapourates.

And boils into red hot steam.

As the others pull of the rope, bringing up the walker so they could dispose of it. Glenn made a beeline for her, approaching her with a smile.

"Well, well, well-" He starts, smirking and reaching out to touch her arm.

Iris scoffs, jerking her arm away from him violently, pushing him off of her. "Don't you dare, you ass."

Glenn's smile drops, but Iris could feel the bomb that was ticking in her head, and so she just scoffs, walking away from him. She clenches her fists as she walks through the grass, wiping her eyes and feeling the breath in her chest tighten.

His footsteps were catching up to her, but she just walked faster, trying to outrun him.

"Iris! Hey!" Glenn yells, running after her now, until he gets in front of her, cutting her path off. Iris sighs, not looking at him. "What's wrong?"

"You are unbelievable." Iris spits, dodging past him and walking again.

Glenn grabs her wrist, twisting her around. "Iris! Stop! Stop walking. Just talk to me!"

Iris takes another heavy breath, yanking her arm away from his hand and holding it to her head. "What the hell is your problem? You could've died! Do you understand that? You could've died!"

"I didn't." Glenn says, looking her up and down in surprise. "I didn't die."

Iris shakes her head harshly. "God, you just can't get it, can you?"

"Get what?" Glenn's own voice was raising now. "You're not making sense!"

Iris shoves her finger into his chest, poking him with every word she spat. "You do stupid, reckless things! This isn't a video game, or some kind of simulation, this is real life. Okay? And maybe I could excuse it when you ran to the city alone, week after week, but I can't excuse this. When you do stupid things, it actually affects the people around you, and if you die, that's it! No do overs, you got that?"

"I-I know that. God, iris. Stop yelling!" Glenn replies, holding his hands out passively.

"No!" Iris yells back. "I won't stop yelling. You think I want to worry about losing people all the time? Carl's been shot, Rick's back from the freaking dead, Sophia is missing, I don't have time to worry about you and your stupid decisions!"

"Why do you care!" Glenn yells back, taking Iris off guard enough to stop talking and breathe through her rage. "Why are you so mad, Iris? Tell me that!?"

Iris grunts, closing her eyes and opening them, unable to contain herself. Glenn was staring at her, his eyes were still so damn calm and worried even though she was yelling in his face and he was yelling back and she was so angry at the whole damn world that she-

That the explosion goes off in her head.

She grabs him by the collar, smashing her lips against his in a stunning loss of control. He felt like coming home from a long day at work, like the anticipation you feel when you're about to board a plane for the first time, like finally finishing your favourite book of all time, like fireworks were being set off behind her. Like it was just him and her, in this moment, forever. It felt exhilerating, like she'd opened herself up, cracking into a million different pieces as she finally let herself feel.

Like she was opening herself up to something other than fear, than anger. Something that could lead to everything she couldn't risk feeling. Vulnerability. Connection. Trust. Comfort.

Love.

Grief. Possibility of grief.

She pulls away forcibly, stepping back with her mouth hanging wide open.

Glenn's face softens, and he takes a step closer, the corners of his lips turning upwards as he reaches out for her.

Iris brings a shaky hand to her lips, meeting his eyes.

Then she turns around and runs, as fast as she possibly can. 

Chapter Text

GLENN FELT LIKE HE'D ROYALLY SCREWED UP.

He wasn't exactly sure what he did, or even what the hell had happened between him and Iris an hour ago. It had taken him completely off guard when she started yelling in his face, but then she was kissing his face and then she was shoving him off and then she was running away so fast it had given him whiplash.

The moment her lips had touched his, he was overcome with euphoria, with the feeling that everything was right in the world.

When he went down into the well, willingly, like it was nothing, he thought he was helping the group, doing his part, being the guy that they can count on, the guy that does the hard jobs because he didn't think anyone else should. If someone had to go down that well, he'd rather it be him, because everyone else had too much at stake, too much to risk. He knew Iris was upset about it, but in truth, he didn't think she would get as mad as she did.

There was a split second, when the rope broke and Glenn went flying down towards the walker that only saw him as prey, and his life flashed before his eyes, and he felt a rush of clarity. Why was he here? Why did he go down this well? What was he trying to prove?

And then the fear set in and all he could do was scream.

Her lips were soft, despite how chapped they were, like cotton candy or a perfect cloud or a new pillow.

It was the most terrified he had felt in a while. Worse than when he and Rick walked through a horde of walkers covered in guts. Worse than when he was kidnapped by the Vatos, before he knew they were good people and he didn't know if he was gonna die or not. Worse than when he was trapped in the CDC, waiting for their impending doom. Somehow, for the first time, this felt real.

"When you do stupid things, it actually affects the people around you, and if you die, that's it! No do-overs, you got that?

Once he was carefully lifted out of the well, and his hands touched the green grass, the ground below him was strong and sturdy and not surrounded by walkers. It was safe, it was solid, he could finally breathe. Anything that he felt while he was dangling over that well drained out of him and was replaced with a strong sense of relief.

Before Glenn could even process the fact that Iris Grimes was kissing him, she roughly pulls away, her breaths hot and mixing with his for just a second before she backs away, leaving him in bone chilling cold.

He looks up at the others as they crowd around him, but he was only looking for one face. She was stood to the side, staring at him with her bright blue eyes, but instead of her usual still waters, all he could see was a stormy sea. He needed to talk to her, he needed to say... something to her, before all of his bravery from his near death experience faded.

He stepped towards her, feeling like he was dreaming when the girl he's been falling for actually grabbed and kissed him. He wants to touch her again, he needs to touch her again, and he reaches out, like a dying man reaching for oxygen.

Iris stared at him as he approached, biting her lip with something indistinguishable in her eyes. He made a joke, like he always did with her when things went bad, but she didn't react the same. She scoffed, and walked away.

She pushed him off, her own shaky hands touching her lips, her soft, like cotton candy, like a cloud, like a new pillow, chapped and freshly swollen. She shakes her head, her breath hitching in her throat, and then runs away.

Glenn didn't follow, frozen in place, staring ahead into the open space that she once stood, feeling the throb of his own lips still reeling from the impact of her.

Iris Grimes had wormed her away into his heart, and Glenn Rhee would never know a day without the thought of her again.

It was senseless, how one little kiss could make his brain go haywire, how one little taste of the very thing he had craved for so long could magnify every single thought and wish and desire and dream he'd ever had about her, until she utterly consumed him.

He had desperately tried to find her once he had come to his senses, but she was nowhere to be found. She was avoiding him, she had to have been avoiding him. He just hoped she wasn't avoiding him out of regret, though he had run every scenario through in his mind and he just couldn't figure her out. She was under a lot of stress, with Carl and everything that was happening with Sophia, and Glenn knew he had unintentionally added to that stress. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

"Come on, Iris." Glenn mutters to himself, looking behind every tree in case she was hiding behind it. He just wanted to talk to her, to find out what was going through her mind, to apologise for not taking her feelings into consideration, for thinking that she could never feel anything for him, for doubting himself when it came to his place in her life. Whatever that place was.

He just needed clarification.

She wasn't sitting by any of the trees, she wasn't in the farmhouse, or the RV, or her tent. She was nowhere, like she had disappeared into a puff of smoke.

He sighs, and puts his hands on his head.

"You ready to go?"

Glenn looks up. Maggie was staring at him from her horse, an amused spark in her eyes as she held onto the reigns of a second horse. God, he must've been distracted if he didn't hear those horses approach. For a moment, he was confused, until he remembered that he and Maggie were supposed to be going on a supply run before the whole well and Iris situation.

He nods. "Uh, yeah. I'm ready."

He pats his pants pocket, feeling the piece of paper that Lori had given to him, when he had come across her looking for Iris in the main part of camp. She had been acting odd, which was apparently something the Grimes' woman did nowadays, and had asked for his discretion. Just like before, at the well, he knew he was the supply guy, the guy they count on to get whatever it was they needed, and the guy they knew would come back every single time.

"Okay, good. We should get going before we lose the light." Maggie says, steadying the horse that she held onto.

Glenn holds onto the horse, bringing his leg over the saddle and sitting himself firmly on the horse. Maggie passes him the reins, and his fingers tighten around the straps. He was pretty inexperienced with horse riding, so he was a little wobbly, but he followed Maggie's lead as they rode out of the farm and started to move towards the pharmacy in the little town.

Maggie was quiet as they rode along the desolate roads, which Glenn was more than fine with. He was thinking so much that his brain hurt, replaying the kiss over and over again, like it was the single most important moment of his life.

Maybe Iris was just overwhelmed in that moment, overcome by the high stakes and the adrenaline that rushed through her that she couldn't help herself, that it was the heat of the moment and the second she realised what she was doing, she came to her senses and that was why she'd ran away.

Maybe she really did have genuine feelings for him, and seeing him almost die was too much, and she couldn't stick around.

Maybe she was possessed by an evil spirit that had left her body the moment she kissed him.

Either way, having a girl like her kiss him and then literally run as fast as she possibly could to get away from him didn't exactly make him feel great.

"You know, when I first met you, I took you as a talker." Maggie suddenly says, and Glenn glances at her.

"Oh. I guess I am a bit of a talker." Glenn says, a little sheepishly. "I just... I'm thinking about a lot right now."

Maggie hums, moving gracefully in tune with her horse. She was a true natural with it, and Glenn suddenly felt bad that he had kind of ignored Maggie in his tunnel vision focus of Iris. He watches her for a moment. Maggie was interesting, the entire farm seemed pretty sheltered from the apocalypse considering how out of the way they were, it was probably unlikely she'd seen many walkers up close, and the one in the well was pretty disgusting. And Glenn would know.

"You all right?" Glenn asks, moving a little faster to catch up to her.

"I'm fine." Maggie replies, shrugging as she kept moving.

Glenn hesitates, but he keeps talking. "I saw the look on your face back at the well. Never seen one killed up close before? Guess it's kind of a shock. You know, being out on the road, we've seen a lot. Guess we've gotten a little numb to it."

Maggie spares him a glance, something in her eyes changing, but she doesn't reply, keeping her gaze ahead of her as they trod up to the pharmacy. In the same silence, the two of them secure the horses to the lampposts that stood outside.

It was still strange, seeing how abandoned everything was. Somehow, seeing it in a small town was so much worse than seeing it in the city. It felt more personal, in a way. There was a large sign in the pharmacy window, which just displayed that fact even more.

Take what you need and God bless.

Glenn took his backpack off of his back, holding it in his hands as he stared at the sign. He looks at Maggie, but she just walks to the door, opening it slowly. The bell still rang, despite her efforts to muffle it.

The pharmacy was a mess. Half of the shelves were broken and there were products all over the floor. It had obviously been ransacked, picked almost dry. Maggie had mentioned to him that she'd done this before, and she clearly knew where she was going. She turns to face him.

"I'll go see what antibiotics are left." She says, holding her hand out. "What else is on the list?"

"Uh." Glenn reaches into his pocket, pulling out the main list along with the piece of paper that Lori had given him, handing the main list to Maggie. "Why don't you get started?"

Maggie takes it, opening the paper. "What about you?"

"I'm gonna look around, see what's worth grabbing." Glenn excuses. Lori had wanted discretion, but Glenn was a pretty terrible liar. He swallows. "Just some general stuff."

Maggie nods, walking towards the back of the store, looking at the different bottles of antibiotics. Glenn watches her go, grabbing one of the baskets and checking all of the signs until he found what he needed.

Feminine Hygiene.

He spares another glance in Maggie's direction, seeing her distracted, and he crouches down, searching through the boxes. He honestly had no idea what was classed as a good test or a bad one, so he spent some time searching through the different boxes and bottles, sighing as he couldn't even see one in his sights.

His eyes widen when he sees the box, just in front of him on the floor. He picks it up, his hands shaking as the reality sets in. Lori had asked for a pregnancy test.

"What do you got?" Maggie asks, suddenly appearing behind him.

Glenn panics, shoving the box into his bag before grabbing the first thing he saw, standing up to face her. "Uh... um... Nothing. Just, like I said, general stuff."

Maggie raises her eyebrow. "Condoms?"

Glenn's jaw drops, realising exactly what he held in his hands. He winces, spluttering as he attempts to come up with an excuse, any excuse, that could get him out of this. "I-uh. No, I-"

"I didn't realise you and Iris were there already." Maggie comments, frowning somewhat playfully.

It only causes Glenn to panic more, shaking his head as he tries to force words out of his mouth. "I... Iris? What, no? I don't- I'm not, with Iris? No. That's not... did you... see something earlier?"

"No." Maggie replies, her cool voice a juxtaposition to Glenn's racing mind. "But she's your girlfriend, right?"

Glenn closes his eyes for a moment. "No, no. She's not my girlfriend. She's my... friend."

Maggie laughs, a hand over her mouth. Glenn makes a little noise of surprise and she only laughs more. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just... she's not your girlfriend? She acts like your girlfriend, you know?"

Glenn drops his arm, letting it fall limply by his side. He tilted his head, but he didn't catch any playfulness in her tone. "Seriously? You think she acts like my girlfriend?"

Maggie drops her bag down, smirking as she reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder. "I know how girls are, and that girl likes you. She wouldn't put up with all of your-" She waves her hands about. "You, if she didn't like you."

Glenn frowns. "Uh, I don't know if I should be mad or happy that you said that."

Maggie rolls her eyes. "Okay, sit down."

"What?" Glenn echoes, scrunching up his face.

Maggie smiles. "We've got some time. Sit down."

She sits cross-legged on the floor, and Glenn found it so nonsensical that he couldn't help but chuckle, yet he still sits to join her. He was going to get along with Maggie, he decided, at that moment. She was staring at him as if she was expecting him to talk, so he did.

"She kissed me." He sighs, taking off his hat to run his fingers through his hair. "And then she ran away."

Maggie winces. "Ouch. That's harsh."

Glenn holds out a hand. "I mean, it was understandable. I did a pretty stupid thing."

"The well?" Maggie asks. "Yeah, that was pretty stupid."

"Yeah, well you don't have to tell me twice. I got that when Iris yelled it in my face."

"Sounds like you deserved it." Maggie comments. Glenn glares at her, and she bites her cheek. "Sorry. Okay, I'm bored, and I'm lonely, so I'm going to help you."

"Wait, really?" Glenn was surprised. Maggie didn't look like she was joking, so he continued. "Help me with what, exactly?"

"With Iris. You know, help you figure her out so you can ask her out? Or so she can kiss you again when she's not angry at you. Either works."

"No offence, but she's been my best friend since this all started, and if I can figure her out, I don't think you have a chance." Glenn says, standing up and grabbing his bag.

"She kissed you because she likes you, and she ran away because she's scared of the fact that she likes you." Maggie says. "She thinks that if she pushes you away, it'll somehow make her stop liking you, but it's not gonna work."

Glenn pauses, turning around. Maggie's words were confident, like she really believed them. But there was no way. She may have kissed him today, but she didn't like him, she couldn't like him, and Glenn couldn't open himself up to the possibility that she might like him, because he couldn't take the blow if she truly only saw him as a friend. That it was just a hat of the moment, and now their friendship could be broken because he couldn't look at her anymore without being overcome by it. "Oh. Wait, really? I thought she was just mad."

Maggie groans, raising her eyebrows. "She was mad, idiot. That's why she kissed you."

Glenn's eyes fill with confusion. "That doesn't make sense."

"People hardly ever do." Maggie replies, leaning back on her hands. "Which is why you need to talk to her."

"Yeah, but she won't let me get close to her!" Glenn exclaims. "Everytime I try and find her, she's just gone. She's avoiding me." He sighs. "I can't stop thinking about what she was saying to me before she kissed me. About how she doesn't have time to worry about me too, because of Carl and Sophia and everything, and I know she was mad, but it also... hurt."

Maggie nods. "She does seem to be under a lot right now, but if I've seen anything, I've seen how she leans on you. She needs you. She'll come around."

Glenn opens his mouth to speak, but Maggie interrupts him, looking outside. "We should go, my dad sends out the search party for me."

"Right. Right." Glenn nods, following Maggie as she puts her bag on her back, and opens the door to the pharmacy.

Glenn picks up his own bag, shoving the box into it before swinging it onto his shoulders, running over to his horse and picking up the reins.

Glenn thought that Maggie would keep talking to him once they got on the horses, but she was silent, trodding along the road without sparing him a glance. He frowns. Why were girls so damn confusing?

He moves his horse closer, catching up to her and looking her up and down. "So, was she mad at me or did she like me? Because, you didn't exactly specify."

Maggie stares at him. "She likes you and she's mad at you. That's why she kissed you."

"So, how do I get her to kiss me when she isn't mad at me?" Glenn asks.

"You have to stand up for yourself. Find her, and speak your mind. Tell her how you feel, and ask her to be open with you." Maggie tells him.

Glenn doesn't reply for a beat, thinking about that idea. One the one hand, he really wanted to do it, to get some answers and find out where he stood with her. On the other hand, talking to Iris about his feelings meant actually talking to Iris about his feelings, which was scary and had friendship ruining potential.

Maggie scoffs. They were just coming up to the gate of the farm now, which meant that he had to face reality soon. "You're helpless. Fine, I'll help you out. We'll talk more, but not now."

Maggie starts ahead, securing her horse to a tree and taking the reins of his horse. Glenn gets off of the animal, stretching his legs as Hershel walks over to the two of them.

"Everything go okay?" Hershel asks.

"Fine." Maggie gives her father a smile. "We got all the stuff."

Glenn gives Hershel a nod as he and Maggie walk away, heading to the kitchen of the house to take stock of the antibiotics. The moment they go out of sight, Lori slips out of the house, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she looks around, making sure no one is watching.

"Did you find it?"

Glenn nods, sighing as he takes the bag off of his back, handing Lori the box. He stares at her, waiting for her to say something, anything about it.

But she just nods her head and walks back off. Which seemed to be all the women in this camp kept doing to him.

He licks his lips, groaning and turning around, about to go back to his tent and accept his failures and sleep for an eternity.

Iris was staring at him behind one of the trees. He did a double take, the sight of her making his heart skip a beat. She was frowning, which meant she probably saw that whole exchange with Lori. Goddamnit. She was already mad at him, and now he was keeping secrets from her about her own sister-in-law. He remembered Maggie's words to him, telling him to find Iris and talk to her and tell her everything he was feeling.

He starts after her, breaking out into a run. "Iris!"

She disappeared from his sights, hiding behind the tree that she was watching him from.

Glenn made it to the little group of trees, panting from his desperation. He stood on the other side, resting his head against the tree. "Iris, hey! Please, I just wanna talk to you."

No response.

Glenn walks over to the other side of the tree, expecting to see her face.

She was gone.

She had run out of his sight completely.

"Godamnit." Glenn grunts to himself, throwing his hat to the floor.

Chapter Text

CARL WAS AWAKE.

He had been in and out of consciousness since his operation, usually only awake for a couple of minutes before he went back down into his slumber. Hershel had reassured them that it was normal, that it was good for him to let his body heal in sleep rather than be awake and in pain. Every time he did wake up, he got a little better, a little more alert, a little more like himself. He had started to get colour back in his face, and he wasn't as disoriented by fever and pain.

Iris was spending a lot of time by his bedside, even when he was sleeping. She had never seen Carl look so sickly in her life, even when he'd been sick from tonsillitis and had to have an operation to take them out. He had missed three weeks of school when that happened. This was worse, so much worse, not just because of the bullet wound but because of the lack of access to proper medical care. Hershel had been a Godsend to them, no doubt saving Carl's life with the resources he did have, and the thought of what they could've been dealing with without him made Iris feel sick to her stomach.

She was sitting with him now, playing idly with his hair as his eyes fluttered open, looking at her with bleary eyes. She gives him a soft smile. "Hey, kiddo."

Carl clears his throat, coughing a little in his place in the middle of the bed, looking so small compared to the large double bed. Iris remembered when she was ten years old, and her mother had taken her to the hospital to meet her baby nephew for the first time. Holding baby Carl in her arms was one of the most defining experiences of her childhood, always feeling like more of an older sister than an Aunt. Carl tilts his head towards her. "Aunt Iris?"

"I'm here, honey." Iris says softly, taking her hand away as Carl lifts his head a little. "How are you feeling?"

Carl closes his eyes for a moment, opening them again to look at his surroundings. His blue eyes, looking so much like her own, had a new spark in them, his personality shining through. "Like I got shot."

Iris smiles, clicking her tongue. "Oh, you've got jokes now, huh?"

"Mhm." Carl murmurs, shifting in position. "Where's mom and dad?"

"Your mom is getting some rest in the tents we set up outside." Iris says, checking his temperature with the back of her hand. His fever had gone down by a lot, compared to how much he was sweaty with fever before. "And your dad is right over there. He fell asleep a couple of minutes ago. Would you like me to wake him up, honey?"

Carl takes a glance at Rick, as if he'd only just realised that his father was in the room, asleep uncomfortably upright in the chair on his other side. Carl swallows, his throat a little hoarse from lack of use, and looks back at Iris with a small nod.

Iris pats his shoulder in comfort before standing up, walking over to Rick and kneeling down beside him, gently tapping his arm. "Rick, hey."

Rick stirs immediately, going from fast asleep to wide awake in mere seconds. He jumps up, alert and takes hold of her hand, looking at her in worry. "Is everything okay?"

"We're okay." Iris replies. Rick had always woken up like that, in fear and anxiety, even as she was growing up. Iris used to wake Rick up quite often as a child, taunted by vivid dreams that she found difficult to shake. Not much had changed, apparently. "Carl's awake, he's asking for you."

Rick rubs his eyes tiredly, sitting up straight and moving closer to his son, his eyes softening as he realises that Carl was watching him with tired, curious eyes. "Carl."

"Dad." Carl says in response. His voice was still weak and he occasionally slurred his words, but it was so much better than he had been since the gun had gone off. "It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"That's good, that's so good." Rick replies, holding onto Carl's forehead lovingly. "You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that."

Carl smiles, looking at both Rick and Iris with so much more awareness that Iris was fighting tears. "Hey, I'm like you now. We've both been shot. Isn't that weird?"

Rick gives a low laugh. "Yeah, I think your mother would rather hear we got the same eyes. So let's keep that between us."

Iris smiles. Carl was such a sweet kid, he always had been. She knew that Lori had concerns about Carl losing all of his humanity in this new world, but Iris had a feeling that even if he adapted beyond recognition to survive, Carl would never lose his care and loyalty towards those he loved.

"I'd rather not see you get shot ever again." Iris says, booping Carl's nose with a laugh.

Rick takes his sheriff's hat off of his head, plopping it on top of Carl's hair. It was so big for him that it flopped over the top of his eyes, and all Iris could see of him was his wide grin. "Since you're in the club now, you get to wear the hat. Didn't you know? We'll pad the rim tomorrow so it sits better."

Carl picks it up, adjusting it so he could look up at his father with admiration. "Won't you miss it?"

Rick shrugs. "Maybe you'll let me borrow it from time to time. We can share it."

"Wow, do I have to get shot now so I can get in the club?" Iris jokes, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Maybe." Carl murmurs, his eyes fluttering shut as he struggles to keep them open.

Rick gives him a soft pat. "Sleep now."

"We'll be here when you wake up." Iris soothes.

Carl doesn't need much persuading. "Okay. I love you, dad. I love you, Iris."

"I love you." Rick replies.

"I love you too, kiddo." Iris says, watching as Carl's eyes closed completely, and his breathing evened out once again.

Iris didn't want to sleep in the same awkward position as she did the night before, so once Carl was down for the night, she crept out of the house and slept in one of the tents that Dale had set up for the group. Hershel's land was expansive, but they set up close to the house, the new environment feeling strange after so many nights at the Quarry but also so much safer.

Tired as she was, it took what felt like hours for Iris to fall asleep. The quiet of the tent wasn't helpful, giving no distraction to the thoughts that raced through her mind, replaying all of the events of the day in her mind. She couldn't believe that she had lost control in the way that she had, and Iris didn't know how she would face it the next day. Glenn had already tried to speak to her twice, but Iris just wasn't ready to look into his sweet, confused eyes and explain exactly what was going through her mind. She was sure that if she told him everything, all of her fears and worries that plagued her mind constantly, he would run in the other direction.

So she had just run first.

"Mmm, sounds perfect."

Iris takes a bite of her bacon. "And so is this bacon."

Glenn licks his lips, and smiles. "Thanks for the compliment."

He reaches over and kisses her, through the smile on his face, and—

Iris throws her pillow at the wall of the tent. The morning light was shining through, the sun blaring down on her as she sat up, groaning in annoyance. For the third night in a row, she had that stupid dream, despite the fact that she did listen to what her stupid brain was trying to tell her and it had been the single worst thing she ever could've done.

The thing that she hated most about the whole situation?

Before the fear set in, before she felt the cold, hard reality sink in, when it was just him and her in that one moment together, it was the happiest she had felt in years. It was in that one moment that the anxious twist in her stomach had finally disappeared, turning into a kaleidoscope of butterflies that wrapped a warm blanket around her heart, shielding her from all unease. It felt right, like coming home, like her entire life had led up to this moment, to be this close with Glenn.

She had ruined it all for herself.

When she unzipped the tent flap and stepped outside, she bit her cheek, looking for Glenn around their little set up. Some people were awake already, eating food or chatting by the RV. She couldn't see Glenn with them or by the fire, which had been put out now. If he was awake, he wasn't anywhere around here. She sighs. Maybe that was a good thing. Still, it felt weird, like the longest she'd ever gone without speaking to him since they'd first met.

She walks over to the line that Carol had set up to dry their clothes, rubbing her face tiredly as she spots the clothes that she wore yesterday, dry and ready for her. She reaches up, taking the pegs off and folding the clothes over her arm.

"Ah, Iris!" Lori calls from the other side of the line, walking over to her with a smile.

Iris' eyes widen as she almost slams straight into Lori. "Oh, uh, hi."

Last night, against her better judgement, Iris had decided to wait by the trees, watching and waiting for Glenn and Maggie to come back from their pharmacy run. She just wanted to see how long it took for them to return, because hours in close proximity to someone, on a life risking mission could potentially cause people to bond, and she had to know when they'd be back. Plus, Iris had spent all day feeling terrible about how she had reacted, and she desperately missed him. They came back talking, and Iris couldn't rip her gaze away, even after Hershel approached and walked off with Maggie.

Which was the reason that Iris had seen Glenn hand a paper bag to Lori, who looked incredibly sheepish and secretive as she took it from him. Iris had no idea what was in the bag, but just based on Glenn and Lori's body language, she knew it couldn't be good. If Iris was about to finally give in and let Glenn find and talk to her, seeing that secret exchange put a damper on her plans. Iris couldn't stand being kept in the dark, or being lied to. Glenn saw her before she could walk away, and the second that he called her name, she ran. Again.

She was two for two. Talk about making a situation worse.

If she wasn't already stressed enough about what she was going to do about Glenn, now that Lori was in front of her, Iris was flooded with questions about her sister-in-law. She had been overhearing so many pieces of conversations, from Shane and Lori's harsh whispered words just before they left the Quarry, to a second conversation between Shane and Lori about something that happened at the CDC, and now Glenn was handing her mysterious packages. She didn't even want to think about it, because she had a feeling it would open up a lot of rabbit holes that she just couldn't deal with right now.

"Me and Carol were thinking about making dinner for Hershel and his family, so we can say thanks for his hospitality and for helping Carl." Lori says. "You want in?"

"Oh, um, yeah." Iris replies, touching the back of her neck. "That's a great idea, Lori."

"Yeah, I thought it would be nice, for all of us." Lori gives her a smile. "Things have been really turned around lately. And you've been a little... off in the last couple days."

Iris sighs, holding her hand to her hips. She has been off, but she really didn't want to explain it all to Lori. "I guess. Just worried about Carl, that's all."

Lori puts a hand on her shoulder. "We all have, honey."

Iris smiles, folding her clothes back over her arm and dropping them off at her tent. Rick slept in the house with Carl again, she's pretty sure, so she decides to go over there and check on them both, see if Rick wants to take a break.

Her smile drops when she sees Glenn on the porch, holding a guitar that Dale haf found on the highway, and talking to Maggie. There was no way she could get past them without having to face Glenn.

He turns around and looks at her, freezing in place. However, he makes no effort to get up and walk over to her.

Iris halts, turning on her heels, and heads in the opposite direction.

Glenn leans his head against the RV window, fiddling with the pages of the book in his hands. He finished it this morning. Before the whole Iris situation happened, he'd picked it up because Iris was always reading Dale's books, even though she complained about how awful they were. She wasn't wrong. Glenn wasn't sure why he even finished it, since all it did was remind him of Iris and she wasn't even talking to him right now.

He wanted to get out of the house, since Iris was in there most of the time, sitting with Carl. Right now, she was with Lori and Carol, preparing to make dinner for them all tonight. It was good to get a sense of normality, and to distract Carol, while Daryl was still spending his days looking for Sophia.

He still desperately wanted to talk to Iris, to find out if she was okay and ask her where they stood, but Maggie told him he should give her space. Maggie was true to her words, and she hatched a plan to help him. He wasn't sure exactly how he felt about her influence, especially after what had happened this morning with Iris, and he was worried that she was going to get the wrong idea.

She kept watching him, when she thought he wasn't looking, but then she would run away when he got too close. This morning, he'd asked Maggie if she thought Iris would like him playing to her, and Maggie had just laughed at him. It was at that moment when Glenn saw familiar blue eyes and blonde hair watching him laugh with Maggie, and all he wanted to do was run over to her and kiss her and tell her that she was the only person he wanted to be around. Maggie told him not to, that he should give her space and wait until she comes to him.

But Iris had just turned around and walked away.

It was getting impossible.

He just hoped that he hadn't ruined things by keeping Lori's secret from her, which he already knew was going to make things even work. Iris hated secrets, and she hated being kept in the dark.

Glenn was terrible at secrets, and now he had no idea how to get out of this bind. Maggie was a friend, and she was really trying to help, but Glenn thought it couldn't hurt to get advice from someone more... experienced.

He straightens up when Dale walks in the RV, pausing when he sees Glenn sitting at the table.

Glenn smiles sheepishly, holding up the book. "Sorry. Just returning your book."

Dale shakes his head. "Oh no, I'm sorry. If I had known the world was ending, I'd have brought better books."

"Yeah, well, Iris did warn me." Glenn says, and then his face drops. He can hear Andrea pacing around on top of the RV, with her rifle, taking watch duty instead of helping the other girls cook dinner. "Hey, Dale, you think Andrea's on her period? I'm only asking 'cause it's like all the women are acting really weird. And I read somewhere that when women spend a lot of time together, their cycles line up and they all get super crazy hormonal at the same time-"

Dale holds out a hand, a small smile reaching his lips. "I'm gonna advise you to keep that theory to yourself."

Glenn chuckles. "Yeah."

"Who else is acting weird?" Dale asks, sitting on the sofa opposite the table that Glenn was sitting on.

Glenn purses his lips. "Iris."

Dale's smile only grows. "Ah, of course. Iris."

Glenn leans in, as if he was afraid that someone would overhear. "She won't go near me. Like... she's afraid I've got cooties or something. And Maggie is trying to help me but she's got all these schemes and I don't know if she's on her period too, and I don't even want to know what's going on with Lori."

"What's going on with Lori?" Dale asks, raising a brow.

Glenn gulps. He should not have said that. "Nothing. I don't know."

If Dale thought that Glenn's words were odd, he gave him the mercy of not pushing it further. "All right, let's take this back a step. Why won't Iris talk to you?"

Glenn sighs. "Well, she got really mad at me after the whole thing with the well, so she yelled at me about it. But then when I started yelling back, she kissed me. And then she ran away. And now she won't talk to me."

Dale exhales a big breath, holding his hands to his knees. "Wow. That's a lot."

"I know." Glenn sighs, holding a hand to his head. "And she keeps seeing things that I think she's misinterpreting and I just want to talk to her.. and I really like her, and I'm pretty sure she likes me at least a little considering she-"

"Okay. Okay." Dale interrupts. "What did Maggie tell you to do?"

"First she told me to talk to her. Then she told me to give her space and let her come to me. So now I'm confused."

"Well, I think space is good." Dale says. "Maybe she just needs to work through her own feelings first. Have you given any thought to how Rick would feel about all this?"

"Oh, Rick knows. I kinda told him. Before I knew he was Iris' brother. He's fine with it. Actually, he hasn't mentioned it since. That's kind of cool of him, actually, you know? So I guess the only thing standing in the way of me and Iris is, well... Iris. She can just get a little overwhelmed sometimes, I think. But I can't help her if she doesn't talk to me."

"Son, you're not going to like this, but Maggie is right. Give her space. Give her time."

Glenn groans. It really wasn't what he wanted to hear. He stands up. "Thanks for the book. You're right, it sucks."

Glenn only makes it a few feet out of the RV, when Andrea suddenly shouts out.

"Walker. Walker!"

Glenn pauses, looking into the horizon. Andrea was right, there was a walker stumbling through the trees, starting towards them with slow, bloodthirsty steps.

Rick runs over. "Just the one?"

Andrea straightens her rile. "I bet I can nail it from here."

"No no, Andrea." Rick commands. "Put the gun down."

Glenn backs up, running over to their small gathering of weapons. He picks up an axe, holding it steady in his hands as he runs over to help Rick. Shane and T-Dog had the same idea, both grabbing the weapons closest to them and preparing to do what had to be done.

"You'd best let us handle this." Shane yells, gripping his weapon.

Rick shakes his head, holding a pacifying hand out. "Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers."

Shane scoffs. "What for, man? We got it covered."

Before the walker could get any closer, the four of them rush through the grassy plains towards the walker, and Rick stops a couple paces back, holding out his gun.

Glenn narrows his eyes. Something about the walker, through all of its dirt and grime and general nastiness, seemed familiar. He gasps. "Is that Daryl?"

The walker, who was apparently not a walker but Daryl Dixon, scoffs. "That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

Shane's mouth was hanging open, and Rick was tilting his head, dropping his gun to his side. He took a step forward, but the moment he was out of shot, a bullet flew past his head and launched itself straight into Daryl's shoulder. He goes flying to the ground, the force of the shot knocking the wind out of him.

Andrea.

"No! No! No!" Rick screams, and from a distance, Glenn can see Andrea drop her gun.

At the sound of the shot followed by Rick's scream of protest, the others in the house sprint towards them, with Lori in the lead. She pauses when she sees the scene. "Rick!"

"What on earth's going on out here?" Hershel bellows.

Rick ignores him, kneeling on the ground next to Daryl, who was groaning, but conscious. He grunts as soon as Rick lightly touches his wound. "I was kidding."

Rick, with the help of Shane, hauls Daryl up, looping his arm over his shoulder. "Come on."

They take a couple of tentative steps forward, as Andrea runs over to them, along with Iris. Glenn stares at Iris as she pants heavily, her blonde hair flying about everywhere. She looked terrified.

Iris makes it before Andrea does, staring straight at him for the first time, her eyes looking wild as she holds her heart. "Are you okay!?"

Glenn sputters when he realises she was talking to him and not Rick or Daryl. He nods. "Yeah, yeah."

He keeps staring at her, but the moment is over as Andrea arrives and Iris steps away from him, putting her hand on Andrea's arm as she starts freaking out. "Oh my God. Oh my God, is he dead?"

"He's unconscious. You just grazed him." Rick answers gruffly, struggling from Daryl's weight.

Glenn raises an eyebrow. Daryl looked pretty scary right now, with all of the dirt and the blood and the necklace of- wait.

"But look at him. What the hell happened? He's wearing ears!" Glenn says, running along to catch up.

Rick looks at Daryl's necklace of ears, wincing and he pulls them off, throwing them on the ground before Hershel could see them. "Let's keep that to ourselves."

"Guys, isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog calls.

The group turns around. T-Dog was holding up Sophia's doll, the one that she got from Eliza Morales when the family split off from them.

Glenn wasn't sure if that was such a great sign.

Rick was right, Daryl was only grazed by Andrea's bullet, and Hershel got right to work patching him up upstairs. It was an easy job, according to him, and he was finished by the time dinner was plated and on the table.

Everyone came, except for Carl and Daryl, for obvious reasons. There were so many of them that they couldn't all fit on the long table, and Glenn, Maggie, Beth and Jimmy had their own little table just off to the side of the long table. Iris was on the big table, next to Rick, which made sense because she'd helped prep this dinner with Lori and Carol.

She'd gone right back to avoiding him even after the bullet went off and she was obviously worried about him, which was confusing. He turns around to look at her, sipping a glass of wine and talking with her brother. She caught his eye, and her smile dropped slightly, her face softening and hardening all at the same time.

Glenn swallows. "Does anybody know how to play guitar? Dale found a cool one. Somebody's got to know how to play."

"Otis did." Patricia says, after a beat of silence. Glenn sucks on his teeth. Way to make the situation awkward, Glenn.

"Yes, and he was very good too." Hershel says.

Glenn turns back around, taking a bite of his green bean. He bounces his knee on the floor, listening to the silence with a lump in his throat.

There was suddenly a weight on his lap, and he looked down to find a folded piece of paper on his legs. He looks up at Maggie, who was smirking and nodding her head. Okay, now Glenn was even more confused.

He unravels the note, reading Maggie's scrawl.

Strategy talk. Name a place.

Glenn smiles. Maggie seriously did not let up. He looks around, this time he completely misses Iris' eyes burning into his skull, biting down on his tongue. He takes the pencil, writing his answer down.

Barn?

He hands the note back to Maggie, but she didn't unfold the piece of paper, looking away from Glenn as her father stared at the two of them with raised eyebrows. She pockets it.

Glenn should not have suggested going to the barn.

He was staring down at the floor of the barn, frozen in place. There were so many of them, dozens of them, dozens of walkers, walking around in the dark, snarling and growling and not dead. Well, they were dead but they weren't dead.

He couldn't even move, he was so shocked. The last time he'd seen this many walkers all in one place, Sophia had gone missing.

His heart stopped as he felt movement coming up the ladder behind him.

It was Maggie.

"You weren't supposed to see this."

Chapter Text

IRIS WAS READY FOR THE GROUND TO SWALLOW HER WHOLE.

She lay on her back in her tent, staring up at the fabric ceiling, listening to her own steady breaths and holding on to the pulse point on her wrist. She was still alive. At least according to the thready heartbeat under her fingers, she was still alive. Iris sits up, running her fingers through her tousled hair and groaning. One glass of wine. That's all she had last night. Yet she felt like she had just been run over by a truck.

After yet another interrupted sleep, Iris really didn't want the first thing she saw when she finally crawled out of her tent, her hair messy and unbrushed, was Glenn and Maggie talking to each other again, over a basket of fruit. But that is exactly what she saw. She sighs. Glenn and Maggie had been stuck together like glue ever since their pharmacy run, as if they'd suddenly unlocked the great secret of life in the middle of a pharmacy together.

She wasn't bitter or anything, but she found it kind of frustrating that Glenn had seemingly moved on from their kiss so fast that he was doing everything with Maggie that he used to do with her. Iris didn't even have the right to feel abandoned: she'd caused all of this.

That didn't mean she didn't feel annoyed about it.

It had been two days since Iris kissed Glenn, and she still hadn't worked up the courage to go near him. It didn't help that every time she tried, she saw something she probably shouldn't. And yet, no one would tell her any damn thing about anything.

So she steered clear of Glenn. Of Lori. Of Shane. Which pretty much just left Rick and Carl in her inner circle, one of which was a twelve year old boy who spent most of his time sleeping, and the other was her older brother, and she really didn't feel like talking to him about her pathetic mess of a love life, so she held it all in.

Which, historically, never ended well for her.

She sat down on the ground by the RV, her legs crossed, driving a stick into the ground over and over again. T-Dog and Dale were fixing the metal bars of another tent, and Andrea was preparing for another day of watch (even though she'd managed to shoot zero walkers and exactly one human so far.) But each to their own, she supposed. Andrea was certainly dealing with whatever issues she had better than Iris was.

Glenn and Maggie stop their whispering, and Glenn walks around with the basket of fruit, handing out peaches to everyone. God, he was so nice and caring and he always shares everything he has with everyone and-

She drives the stick into the ground again.

"Dale, here's some peaches for you." Glenn approaches, his voice a little higher than normal, his breath hitching as he hands Dale a peach.

"Mm, thank you." Dale says. He picks one of the peaches up, and Iris can feel his eyes pouring into her. Dale had been shooting her a lot of looks since yesterday, but Iris was doing what she did best: pretending that she didn't see it so then it didn't exist.

Glenn walks closer, handing a peach to T-Dog, who gives him a nod. "Sup?"

Iris sneaks a peak at Glenn, and she can see the mania in his expression even as he tries to play it off. She rolls her eyes. "Nothing. Nothing's up. Why?"

T-Dog takes a bite of his peach, raising his hands. "Just a greeting, man. Jeez."

Glenn moves away, standing directly in front of her with the basket of peaches. Iris looks up at him, trying to read the expression on his face.

"Just take the peach, Iris." Glenn says, shocking Iris out of her stare. She sighs, and takes the top one from the pile.

"Thanks."

"Yeah." Glenn replies, and he turns away, walking towards where some of the others were. Iris takes a bite of her peach in defeat.

T-Dog crouches next to her, patting her on the shoulder. "Ouch. Cold as icee. What's going on there?"

Iris glares at him, throwing her stick on the ground. T-Dog wasn't one to take things personal, so he just chuckles when she stands up and pushes him off. "Shut up. Eat your peach."

"You're losing your mind, girl." T-Dog calls after her, and she flips him off and walks away, crouching next to yet another tree to eat her peach in peace. It seemed like all she did lately was hang out with trees.

She listens to the sounds of the birds flying in the sky over her head, and the squirrels that were no doubt causing the leaves to shake and move above her. It was a small comfort to think that, even after humanity had fallen, animals still roamed this planet, living their lives just the same as before. This farm had more animals than Iris had seen in a while, full of chickens and pigs and hoses.

It had also been a long time since Iris had eaten fresh fruit, and the peach tasted incredible. The closest thing she had ever gotten to fresh fruit in the last couple of months was old canned stuff that was bordering on expired, which felt disgusting in hindsight.

"I'll make another run into town. Just tell me what you need."

Iris fights the urge to slam the back of her head into the trunk of the tree. Glenn's voice was low, and Iris could definitely guess who he was talking to.

"I need you to be quiet about this." Lori whispers, and her voice sounds pleading, desperate. "All right? Please."

Iris frowns. This was getting to a point that she really can't ignore. She hadn't even meant to eavesdrop, not once, but everytime she hung out with the trees, she seemed to overhear random snippets of hushed conversations until it seemed like everyone in this camp had some sort of secret.

With Lori, she felt a pit in her stomach from everytime she thought about it. From the multiple conversations with Shane to the mysterious packages she was getting from Glenn, it seemed that there was something big afoot. Iris had to know what it was, or she would feel like she was lying to Rick by omission every time she saw him, and she really couldn't afford to add him to her list of people to avoid.

She peeks at Glenn from behind the tree. He was alone now, after whatever discussion or argument he'd had with Lori, holding his basket of peaches tightly in his fingers. She exhales, preparing herself to do what she needs to do to find out the truth, and she steps forward.

"I heard you're going on another supply run."

Glenn's eyes widened. "I- Irs, hey. Yeah, I, uh- there are some more things that we didn't grab."

Iris nods. "Okay. I'll get the horses ready."

"You're- you're going with me?" His eyes light up a little, but his mouth is still a very straight line. "I mean, of course, I'd like you to come, so we can-"

"Hey, peach man!"

Glenn closes his eyes. Shane's voice called for him all the way across camp. Iris bites her cheek when he steps backwards, holding his thumb out towards Shane. "I've gotta go."

Today was Carl's first day up after getting shot, and he had bounced back incredibly fast. Iris supposed it was a good thing that he was so young, this stuff didn't affect him as much, and he was already roaring to get back into the swing of things. Like any other kid his age, he loved being outside, and he hated being held back by the worry of Iris and his parents. The bullet wound in his stomach was still healing, and as much as Carl wanted to, he couldn't do as much as he thought he was capable of.

Iris was going to get the horses ready soon, which she was regretting offering to do because she actually had no idea how to muck up horses and she really didn't want to ask Maggie. She supposed she could ask Beth, if she really wanted.

She had decided to just own her new identity as a spy who eavesdrops on people to find out their secrets, but now she was actually trying to hear any slip of information about Lori, she couldn't find out a thing. Maybe one day the universe would stop being against her, but it was not today.

She stares at Shane as he sits against the back of a car, cleaning his gun. Hershel agreed to let Shane run a training course to teach the group how to shoot guns, which included anyone from the farm who wanted to learn. Iris was pretty sure that it was just Jimmy who volunteered. Shane wanted Iris to attend the course, but she really didn't want to be in close proximity to Shane and Lori and Rick all at once until she figured out what the hell was going on.

Maybe Shane had some answers, some missing piece of the puzzle. Something had happened at the CDC, she knew that much. She also knew that Shane had been acting strange ever since Carl had been shot and he had returned with the respirator and without Otis. It may have just been the experience of a stranger sacrificing their life for you and for a child, but there had been a change in him. He'd shaved his head, gotten more.. distant. Before Rick came back from the dead, Shane would never leave her alone, like it was his responsibility that she stayed healthy and well. But Iris had hardly spoken to him since even before the CDC.

She walks over to him, biting her cheek, and just sits down next to him. She doesn't say a word, which was something she always appreciated about Shane, he understood that sometimes silence was needed.

Shane keeps cleaning his gun, but once it is back together, he reaches into his pocket and takes out a second gun, placing it in her lap. Iris looks down, picking it up. It was Opal's gun, the one she gave over to Rick when Hershel had asked them to. She raises an eyebrow. "My gun?"

Shane clears his throat. "You still going on a run with Glenn?"

Iris nods.

"Then you're gonna need it."

Iris turns the gun over, feeling its weight in her hands. She smiles. "Thanks."

"I want to learn to shoot too." Carl says, walking around the corner. He was wearing Rick's hat, and he looked so much healthier than he had, which made Iris sigh in relief every time she saw him. "Can you teach me?"

Shane runs a hand over his face. "Well, man, that's- that's up to your parents."

"Can you talk to them? They'll listen to you." Carl asks. He looks at Iris with wide eyes. "I don't wanna just be a little kid anymore."

Iris studies Shane's reaction. He sighs, blowing out a puff of air. "We'll see, okay?"

"You'll always be a little kid to me, anyway." Iris teases, scrunching up her nose. Carl rolls his eyes, and Iris stands up to take him back over to Rick. As she stands, she catches something on Carl's belt, and her heart almost stops.

"Carl, what is that?" She asks, her eyes widening. "Is that a gun?"

Carl may be more like her little brother than her nephew, but that didn't mean that she would let him get away with everything. Some things, sure. If he wants candy before dinner or ice cream for breakfast, Iris could let it slide. But carrying a gun without explicit permission?

Iris marches him straight to Rick and Lori.

"I don't want my kid walking around with a gun." Lori repeats, looking straight into Rick's eyes with a fire that could only be produced by a mother. Iris didn't want to talk about her opinions until she'd heard from Rick and Lori, but she was conflicted.

Lori was adamant that she didn't want Carl carrying a gun, much less one he stole and lied about having. However, Rick and Shane were both pushing for him to at least learn how to use one. Both of them had points. Carl was young, too young to have a gun, but they weren't in the old world anymore, and now they were being hunted. It wouldn't hurt for Carl to just learn, even if he didn't carry.

"But how can you defend that?" Rick replies to her. "You can't let him go around without protection."

"He's as safe as he'll ever be right here." Lori argues.

"For now." Iris cuts in. Lori spares her a glance, looking like she was holding herself back from saying something. "Things change all the time. We thought the Quarry was safe, until we were attacked."

"Look, everything you're saying makes perfect sense. It feels wrong. I mean I didn't feel good about him following you out into the woods. And I wish I'd said something. I should've gone with my gut." Lori sighs.

Rick holds out his hands. "He's growing up, thank God. We've got to start treating him more like an adult."

"Then he needs to act like one." Lori replies, sighing. "He's not mature enough to handle a gun."

Carl, who was sitting on the ground just off to the side of them, stands up, adjusts his hat. "I'm not gonna play with it, mom. It's not a toy. I'm sorry I disappointed you, but I want to look for Sophia and I want to defend our camp. I can't do that without a gun."

Lori opens her mouth to say something to him, but Carl steps closer, staring at each of them individually. "Didn't Dad teach Aunt Iris how to shoot when she was twelve?"

No one had anything to say to that.

Rick nods, and he levels his voice. "Shane's the best instructor I know. I've seen him teach kids younger than Carl."

Lori sighs, running a hand through her hair before she relents. She kneels down, looking Carl right in the eyes. "You will take this seriously and you will behave responsibly. And if I hear from anyone in this camp that you're not living up to our expectations..."

"He won't let you down." Rick cuts in, looking at Carl with pleading eyes.

Carl nods. "Yeah."

The others had already loaded up into the cars. Hershel wanted them to drive a little bit out of the way, and use the guns away from his property, which Rick was adamant to honour. It made Iris feel bad about the gun that was resting in her belt, but when she had told Rick about the fact that Shane had given it to her, Rick told her to keep it. Which, Iris wouldn't protest.

Most of the group was going with Shane, with the exception of Rick, Dale, Glenn and herself. Iris leaned back against the RV as Rick loaded Carl into the car, tapping it with his hands when he was safe in his seatbelt. Shane holds his hands to his hips, looking over at Glenn with a frown. "You coming?"

Glenn hesitates, pointing back at the RV. "I gotta help Dale clean the spark plugs on the RV.

Shane nods, turning his head to look at her. "Iris?"

Iris opens her mouth, tilting her head and shaking her head. "I'm good. I think I'm gonna... prepare the horses for the run."

Before they left the Quarry, Shane probably would've stayed and argued with her, tried to tell her that she needs training and she needs him to teach her how to defend herself so that he doesn't have to watch over her all the time. He would've been defensive, protective, and just slightly bossy. But now, he just nods in acceptance, gets in the car and drives off. Iris shares a glance with Rick, playing with the hair on the back of her neck, and she moves towards the stable.

She walks past Glenn and Dale, locked in conversation about something. Something that looked serious, at least more serious than a conversation about a bunch of spark plugs would look.

Great, another person that Glenn is probably airing all of her business out to. Or maybe he's telling Dale about Lori's big secret. Figures.

She could've stayed and tried to listen in, but she just runs a hand over her face, and heads towards the stables.

"You didn't have to come." Glenn says, looking up from his horse. Iris looks at him blankly. "You could hate me from a distance."

Iris tightens her fingers on the reins, staring at him in annoyance as she rides in silence.

Glenn sighs. "Please say something."

Iris whips her head up. "Are you gonna tell me what you gave to Lori?"

Glenn closes his eyes, looking frustrated and simply shakes his head. "Iris, please. No."

So he did know that she saw him hand that package to Lori that night. Iris purses her lips. "Then I have nothing to say."

"Then why'd you come?" Glenn asks, rolling his eyes.

Iris just keeps looking forward.

"Did you come because you wanted?" Glenn presses. "Or because you didn't want me to go with Maggie?"

She sends him a glare.

Glenn doesn't try to talk to her again for the rest of their ride to the pharmacy, which Iris doesn't know is a blessing or a curse. She wants to talk to him, she really does, but she also wants to find out what the hell is going on with her family.

When they finally reach the pharmacy, which was abandoned and surrounded by other abandoned shops in the middle of an abandoned town, Iris jumps off of her horse, allowing Glenn to help her tie it up to the lamppost so that it wouldn't come undone.

"You know, we're gonna have to talk eventually. You can't push me away forever." Glenn says, pulling tight on the rope.

"Glenn, please." Iris massages her temple, feeling the headache form.

"Fine." Glenn replies, letting go of the horse. "But if you keep putting it off, things are just gonna get worse and worse. If you're okay with that, then go right on ahead."

"Yeah, thanks." Iris says sarcastically as he holds open the door for her.

The bell of the door clings as he opens the door, and Iris steps inside the pharmacy. It still smelled like the inside of a hospital, which was honestly surprising considering how long it had been and how many people must've come through here and looted.

Glenn starts looking around the shelves, and Iris taps one of them, looking at Glenn expectantly. "I can't help you look if you don't tell me what to look for."

Glenn stands up, using the shelf for support. "Yeah, well, that's the only reason you came, isn't it? To find out the big secret."

Iris crosses her arms. "If it involves my family, I have a right to know."

"I made a promise, okay? Can't you just let me keep it? Can't we just move forward already?" Glenn asks.

Iris keeps staring at him.

Glenn sighs. "Fine. Just... help me look, okay?"

He hands her the piece of paper. Iris looks him up and down, before she slowly takes it from him. His gaze on her didn't waver, even as she opened it and read what was written inside. His eyes change from the frustrated ones he had been looking at her with for the last two days to much softer, sympathetic ones as she processed the words on the paper.

Iris bites her cheek so hard that it almost draws blood. The string from the lining of her cheek was nothing compared to the sting in her mind, her hands shaking. She looks up at Glenn, all of their tension forgotten for a moment when he gives her a small nod.

"The- the package you gave to Lori. It was a pregnancy test, wasn't it?" Iris asks, even though she already knows the answer. It had been staring her in the face the entire time.

"Yeah." Glenn says. "I- I'm sorry. I just- We haven't exactly been speaking, and-"

"It's fine." Iris cuts in, her voice empty and hollow. She hands him the paper back, letting her arm hang loosely by her side.

Lori was pregnant.

And she wanted abortion pills.

"I think we should get some vitamins, uh, prenatal ones too. Just in case she, you know-"

Lori was pregnant.

And something was happening between her and Shane.

Iris swallows. Her heart beats wildly against her chest, and she really didn't want Glenn to see her cry right now. "I'm gonna go look over there."

Glenn gives her a hum of acknowledgement, and Iris walks up the steps to the back of the shop, where there were more shelves stocked full of random pills and medication. She wasn't really looking, the buns of the back of her head bobbing up and down as she moved her head. She desperately didn't want what was going through her mind to be true, but she couldn't help but think that this pregnancy was the final missing piece of the puzzle that she was trying to put together.

She could hear Glenn rifling through different boxes on the other side of the pharmacy, and she lightly banged her head on one of the shelves. God, she was a mess, and the situation kept getting worse and worse, and she truly didn't know how to fix it.

Not with Glenn, not with Lori, not with anything.

She leans on the shelf, dropping her head down to rest on her arms. Things were spiralling so far out of her control, she felt like the world was slowly closing in on her.

Something grabbed a hold of her arm.

For a split second, she thought it was Glenn, trying to get her attention, and she sighs, looking up to tell him to stop. For a split second, she forgot that they're not safe, that they're never safe.

She gasps as the walker tightens its grip on her arm, thankfully on the other side of the shelf or it would've bared its teeth and sunken them into her skin by now. Its nails crawl over her wrist as it pulls her closer, a grip of death that Iris couldn't escape from, no matter how hard she struggled. For a single moment, she screams, and no sound comes out. She had been so wrapped up in the thoughts of her own mind and her own issues that she hadn't even looked around for walkers before she let her guard down. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Her bottom lip sticks out, and she finds her voice. "Oh my god, oh my god."

The walker snarls again, pushing against the shelf in such force that Iris has to take a step back, whimpering with fear as she feels the burning in her skin from the walker's touch, as if the very contact of them was toxic. "Glenn!"

"Iris!"

She hears him yell back, his voice breaking as he screams her name. She reaches for the gun on her belt, but the walker had her dominant hand trapped and she couldn't get a good grip of the gun to confidently pull the trigger without potentially attracting more of those things. The walker manages to break the shelf that was separating them, the broken wood fragments tear little cuts into her skin, and she drops the gun in her hand, using her free hand to attempt to push the walker away from her, screaming.

"Iris!"

"Glenn! Help!" She shrieks, struggling to breathe through her blinding panic. The walker was attempting to climb through the bigger hole that had been created, holding its teeth right to the edges of her skin.

Glenn gets there just in time, wacking it over the head with a shelf, and the walker drops to the ground with a horrifying thud.

Iris rips her hand free, holding her arm to her chest as she tries to catch her breath, hyperventilating as panicked tears streamed down her face. "Glenn."

"Iris!" Glenn runs over to her, holding her by the shoulders with a terrified expression, looking her up and down as he grabs her arm. "Did it get you? Did it bite you? Oh god, you're bleeding."

Iris takes one look at him, and she crumbles. She opens her arms and clutches ahold of him, suddenly not caring that he could see her cry. She holds onto him effortlessly, and he cradles her in return, making her feel like precious material as he holds the back of her head, allowing her to break down in the safety of his embrace. He smelled familiar, and, despite their constant lack of showers, like sweetness. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, her bangs falling down on his shoulder, closing her eyes as she tried to keep the rest of her tears at bay. Her arm stung, but the pain of the small cuts were dulled by the sense of safety that Glenn's presence provided. A safety she hadn't allowed herself to feel in days, a safety that she was pushing away and a safety that she'd inevitably keep pushing away, because she was so goddamn afraid that walkers would keep-

"Glenn!" Iris screams, squeezing his shoulders as the walker stands back up, it's neck almost full off of its shoulders. Glenn breaks away from her, gripping ahold of the shelf and slamming it down on the walker's head, again and again and again.

Iris scrambles, crouching to the ground to pick up her gun, clicking the safety off and aiming. However, the walker was dead. She takes another breath, steadying her heart as Glenn turns back around, and they lock eyes again.

Iris holds onto the white paper bag from the pharmacy, her fingers going white from the pressure she was gripping it with.

Even after their encounter with the walker, the ride home was still silent and awkward between Glenn and Iris. It was another heat of the moment situation, which seemed to be the only way Iris knew how to show him affection, and once it was over, the lump in her throat and the pit in her stomach returned to full focus, and the only thing going through her mind was what the hell she was going to say to Lori.

Glenn let her go and see Lori alone, so long as she made sure Lori got the prenatal vitamins as well as the pills, just in case she changed her mind.

Lori gives her a double take when she sees Iris approach with the bag in her hands. She holds her hand to her hips. "Did you two get it?"

"What, your abortion pills?" Iris asks, making no effort to keep her voice low.

Lori sucks on her teeth, looking around and grabbing her shoulder, bringing her closer. "Keep your voice down, okay."

"Does Rick know?" Iris asks, raising her brow as she still holds onto the bag.

"No." Lori replies. "He... he doesn't know. I- I was waiting to tell him, when-"

"Lori." Iris' eyes harden as she stares into Lori's, seeking something, anything, that told her that everything she was suspecting was false. "Just tell me, is it Shane's?"

Lori closes her eyes. She lets go of Iris' shoulder, running her hand through her brown hair as she looks in any direction but Iris. "How did you know that we-"

Oh, god.

"Is it Shane's?" Iris repeats, this time her voice low and accusatory as she says each word slowly.

"I don't know." Lori replies, clenching her teeth. "Iris, you can't-"

"Oh my god." Iris steps away from her, her mouth falling open in shock. She held her hands up, shaking her head as reality sank in. "Oh my god, you-"

"Iris-"

"You need to tell Rick." Iris says coldly. "I'll give you 24 hours, and if you don't tell him, I will."

Iris turns away, wiping her eyes as the anger poured out of her, holding the back so hard she almost poked a hole in it. She turns back around, throwing the bag down in Lori's direction, spitting her words. "And Glenn bought you some other stuff. In case you change your mind."

If Iris was in a better state of mind, she probably could've taken the surprise that Glenn had a second secret a little bit better.

However, after another night of dreams that seemed magnified even more by the contact that she had with him that day, and an even more stressful morning watching Rick's mannerisms to try and figure out if Lori had told him or not, and bandaging the little cuts that covered her wrist, she really wasn't in the mood to find out that Glenn was keeping a pretty significant secret for Maggie.

She was so distracted that she didn't realise that Dale had somehow managed to gather them all together, nudging Glenn to encourage him to stand up. She had only noticed when Glenn cleared his throat, looking sheepish.

"Um, guys. So. The barn is full of walkers."

Iris had stood up so fast she saw stars in her vision, but she walked as fast as she could anyway.

She kicks a leaf that had fallen from one of the trees, because it was the only thing stopping her from ripping her own hair out of her scalp. There were walkers in the barn. The horrible, disgusting, vicious monsters that killed and scavenged and hunted and would not stop until everyone she loved were dead were here, in the barn, close to them all, to Carl, to Rick, to everyone that she cared about in this world that was left. And Glenn hadn't told her.

"Iris." Glenn pants, running in her direction. He holds out his hands soothingly. "Please. It's been three days. We need to talk. I'm sorry, I-"

"It's been three days." Iris repeats, nodding her head in agreement. "Three days of space from me, after we survived everything together, after we survived death together, and you run straight to the first girl in sight. You've got some kind of- of club going on with Maggie, keeping her secrets, telling her everything."

Glenn's expression breaks, and Iris instantly feels bad, but her mind was reeling and he was making her feel so many things that she didn't want to feel right now and she felt like she was losing her mind. "Iris, that's not-"

"God, it's just like Lori, how could she do that, to Rick, to Carl!" Iris exclaims, pacing around in front of him, holding her hands to her forehead.

"Okay, you're jumping around, Iris, talk to me, please." Glenn says, stepping closer to her. "What did Lori do? Iris!"

Iris covers her mouth, her eyes filling pathetically with tears. "I think the baby is Shane's."

Shock and concern and sympathy and sadness cross Glenn's face all at once. "Oh, Iris. I'm sorry." He reaches out to touch her.

"I can't- I can't do this. Not now." Iris says, sniffling.

"You can't keep all this in, Iris." Glenn says, watching her. "We, we don't have to talk about the kiss right now if you don't want to, but for the record, all of my conversations with Maggie were about you."

Iris stares at him.

Glenn winces. "No, in- in a good way. She was helping me, okay? She was helping me with you, because I like you, I like you so damn much, and I don't know the first thing about relationships and I just- didn't know what to do so she offered to help me, at the pharmacy. And, and that was the whole reason I was in the barn, because we were meeting so she could help me, with you. When you kissed me, it changed my life. It was... the best moment of my life. Because I like you, I have liked you, for a long time, Iris. I could never move on to another girl, you understand? Never. And I was hurt when you ran away, until I figured that you were probably scared or confused, or I don't know, feeling a lot of big emotions, because I was too. I still am, if I'm being honest. And I think it's because this feels like such a significant moment, like it's the start of us."

Iris listens to him talk, her breathing evening out a little as the tears continue to pool down her cheeks. She couldn't get Lori out of her mind. Lori, who she'd known since she was five years old, and Shane, since she'd known since birth, betraying Rick's trust and love in the way he did. His lover and his best friend, crumbling into nothing all because of stupid feelings.

She sobs a little harder. "I can't do it, Glenn. I can't. I'm-"

"You're what?" Glenn exclaims. "You have to open up, you have to talk to me."

Scared.

Angry.

In love.

"Just... please." Iris repeats, closing her eyes. "Stop."

Tears prick in Glenn's eyes, and he backs away. "Okay."

Chapter Text

IRIS COULD HEAR THE GROWLING OF WALKERS THROUGH THE BARN DOORS.

She held her hands to her mouth, holding her palms together as she listened to the haunting snarls and the sickening sounds of nails driving against their wooden cage, desperate to escape, to feed on live flesh as was the only instinct in their poisoned minds. It was bone chilling. The implications that would be made from the sight and the sound of dozens of walkers trapped in the barn made Iris feel ill.

The Greene's had a big secret indeed.

Shane had his face pressed right against the door, looking through the gaps at their captured predators. He practically had smoke flying out of his ears. He grunts and pushes off, gunning right for Rick with an accusatory finger in his face. "You cannot tell me you're all right with this."

Rick matches Shane with an equally frustrated stare. "No I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land."

"This is our lives!" Shane yells, his face reddening.

"Lower your voice." Glenn says, his own voice a harsh whisper as he turns away from the barn. He hadn't spared Iris a glance since their last fight, but Iris was still reeling inside from the words he had said to her, echoing in her mind over and over again like a broken record player. She desperately wanted to go back, to a time before Carl was shot, before she found out Lori and Shane got into a callous affair just weeks after they thought Rick had died, when she still believed in love and hope and the future, but she couldn't fight the horrific feeling that she'd lost her chance to feel any of those emotions ever again.

"We can't just sweep this under the rug." Andrea argues.

"It ain't right. Not remotely." Shane spits, pacing the land like a rabid dog. "Okay, we've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."

"No." Iris denies, speaking before she could even process her words. "We can't leave!"

Shane zeroes in on her, crooking his neck as he glares at her. "Oh, we can't leave? And why is that, Iris? Have you gotten too comfortable on this farm? You don't wanna go back on the road, princess?"

Iris scoffs, stepping closer to Shane in a fit of rage. "You want Carl to go back out on the road? Or are you gonna ruin that too!?"

"My daughter is still out there." Carol says, wiping her eyes. Iris points in her direction, glaring up at Shane.

"Okay. Okay." Shane rubs the top of his head. "I think it's time that we all start to just consider the other possibility."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" iris whispers, stepping away in disgust. Shane had always felt like a second older brother to her, but right now, the very sight of him disgusted her to her core. The thought of him and Lori, right under her nose, while she was mourning her brother. She wanted to scream.

"We're not leaving Sophia behind." Rick says firmly.

Daryl points a finger at Shane. "I'm close to finding this girl. I just found her damn doll two days ago."

Shane laughs bitterly. "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll."

"You don't know what the hell you're talking about!" Daryl yells back.

"I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours." Shane kept speaking, irritating Iris' mind like a cheese grater.

"Shane, stop." Rick cuts in.

"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction." Shane yells at Daryl, the veins on his forehead popping with rage.

Daryl lunges for Shane, and Shane reacts with an equally vicious arm reaching out to punch him straight back. Rick jumps into action, trying to seperate them, to no avail. Iris, Glenn, Andrea and Lori attempted to step in, finally breaking Shane and Daryl apart.

"Back off!" Rick yells.

"Keep your hands off me." Shane yells, pushing Lori's hand off of him. Iris scoffs bitterly. Of all times to say that.

Rick waits until Shane calms down a little bit, taking a step closer. "Now just let me talk to Hershel. Let me figure it out."

"What are you gonna figure out?!" Shane turns back around, walking towards Rick.

"Enough!" Lori yells, slapping Shane on the chest.

"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it. This is his land." Rick repeats.

Dale jumps in, his voice much calmer in comparison to everyone else's. "Hershel sees those things in there as people. Sick people. His wife, his stepson."

Rick raises a brow. "You knew?"

Dale nods, exhaling. "Yesterday I talked to Hershel."

"And you waited the night?" Shane yells.

"I thought we could survive one more night. We did." Dale says, unaffected by Shane's harsh tone. "I was waiting till this morning to say something. But Glenn wanted to be the one."

"The man is crazy, Rick, if Hershel thinks those things are alive or not." Shane's voice took a lower tone, and he went quiet as the chains on the door started to rattle. The walkers knew they were there.

The group quickly disperses after the chain starts to rattle more aggressively, as if they had forgotten that the very thing they were arguing about were only a couple of feet away from them, with only an old piece of rackety wood separating the two of them.

A lot of people needed time to cool off, the debate about what to do got incredibly heated and Iris in particular just wanted to hang out with Carl and forget that any of her problems existed. The twelve year old was healing incredibly well from his bullet wound, even making jokes about how his scar makes him look like a superhero, and Iris found that his energy always lit her up, and made her feel better.

The unfortunate underside of hanging out with Carl was that one of her problems was Lori. Everything she had discovered made it incredibly difficult to be around her, but she couldn't exactly explain all of that to Carl, and she wouldn't. Carl deserved to be able to still see his mother as his safety, as the same person he had always known, at least until Lori figured something out with Rick. So much had changed, and Carl was owed at least some normality within his own family.

When Carl asked Iris to help him out with some of his math problems (both Rick and Lori thought it was important that he kept up at least a little school work), Iris couldn't refuse.

She follows Carl to his little work station, where he had a notebook and a pencil set up, her eyes widening for a slight second when she sees Lori already sat down. Something flashes behind Lori's eyes too, but it is gone in an instant. Iris clears her throat in discomfort, perching next to Lori. She keeps her tone cool and relaxed as she watches Carl work, smiling at his pencil marks on the pages.

Iris picks up one of the spare pencils, absentmindedly drawing little doodles on the paper that Carl was working on, focusing purely on the breath that was filtering in and out of her lungs.

"Does Shane think Sophia's dead?" Carl asks, putting his pencil down. Iris tenses, stopping her little drawing of a lion and looking at Lori, her eyebrow raised.

Lori sighs. "Shane's just scared."

"Of the walkers in the barn?" Carl asks. His eyes were so innocent, and Iris didn't know how to even start explaining to him the complexities of adult relationships and opinions, especially when it came to someone like Shane.

It seemed that Lori didn't really know what to say either. "Yeah."

Iris pats him on the arm. "Shane's just worried, is all. Of course Sophia isn't dead. I think the walkers have made us all on edge."

Carl nods, blinking. "I'm not leaving until we find Sophia. And I don't want to go even after that."

"Well, we're not leaving, Carl." Lori replies. Iris shoots her a glance, which she ignores. She wanted to ask Lori if she had said anything to Rick, but she hadn't been able to get her alone since their last conversation. Iris wasn't sure how intentional that was. "You finish those problems."

Carl nods, picking up his pencil. I just think she- she's gonna like it here. This place, it could be a home."

"Yeah." Iris smiles at him. "I think it really can."

"Have you seen Rick?" Iris asks, catching Carol as she wanders out of the stables.

Carol stops, wiping her eyes. "I heard he's going out soon with Andrea to look for Sophia. Daryl's going out too." She sighs. "I think it's far too early for him to be up and about."

Iris nods, her frantic search for her brother halted when she looks upon Carol's tear-streaked face. "Hey, I'm sorry. Are- are you okay? Shane is- Shane is wrong, you know? About Sophia. I believe she's out there, I really do."

Carol smiles, her sweet, maternal smile that Iris loved so much. "I'm alright, honey. Thank you. I don't think Shane meant it. Tensions have been... high."

Iris laughs, despite it all. "You can say that again." She holds her hand to Carol's arm, giving it a friendly squeeze. "You sure that you're alright? I can sit with you, if you'd like."

Carol shakes her head, placing her hand on top of Iris'. "No, it's okay. You go and catch Rick before he leaves."

Iris smiles. "Okay. As long as you're sure. I'll see you later, alright? And... don't worry too much about Shane. He just talks a big talk, you know?"

"Yeah. I know the type." Carol comments, and Iris grins.

Carol was right, Rick was setting up to leave the farm in another attempt to find Sophia. She needed to talk to him, badly. Iris felt like she hadn't had a chance to have a good talk with Rick in so long, not without being interrupted or there being some other pressing matter, and she desperately missed him. Rick was always a voice of reason to Iris, he had this incredible skill of being able to see a full picture, which couldn't be any less true for Iris. Rick was everything for her, and the pit in Iris' stomach would only grow unless she spoke to him about Lori.

She leans against the boot of the car, watching Rick load it with supplies. "Need any help?"

Rick shakes his head. "I'm all good. You alright? You've been spacey, a little isolated. At first I thought it was because of Carl, but he's up and about now. So.. what's going on?"

Iris sighs, biting her cheek as she tries to form the right words. She looked up at her brother's face, his kind blue eyes that mirrored her own, the stubble that was growing on his face, which was so strange because he had always been clean shaven, always. Lori liked it like that. "Has Lori spoken to you yet?"

Rick's expression changes to one of surprise. "You know? About the baby?"

"I found out yesterday." Iris says, looking chastened. "On the supply run, with Glenn. Lori wanted..." She tails off.

"Abortion pills?" Rick finishes, leaning more heavily against the car next to her. "She threw them up. She's keeping it."

Iris' breath hitches. She stands up straighter. "She is? I- wow. How do you feel about that?"

Rick moves so that he's standing in front of her, looking around and lowering his voice. "Can I tell you something?"

"Yeah." Iris' eyes soften, wondering if Rick was going to say something about Shane. Iris had told Lori to tell Rick everything, and that included the fact that Shane was potentially and most likely that baby's father.

"Hershel is going to kick us out."

"What?" Iris hangs her mouth open, looking in Rick's eyes for any sign of dishonesty. "What do you mean? Why?"

"He was always going to. Once Carl heals up and we find Sophia. He never wanted us to stay." Rick was crestfallen, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Oh god." Iris runs a hand through her hair. She seemed to be running into problem after problem in the last few days. If they had to be out on the road, again, with no home, no safety blanket, nothing, Iris didn't know how she'd survive it. "What about Lori, the baby?"

Rick swallows harshly. "I know. I just spoke with him again. I'm trying to negotiate, Iris, I really am. He's... stubborn. I didn't want to tell anyone, not when we finally settled, and everyone was worried about Sophia, I just didn't think-"

"Rick." Iris cuts in, a small smile forming on her lips. "It's okay. I get it. You're trying to protect us, all of us. You don't have to explain yourself, never to me. I'm behind you, no matter what. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you about Lori right after I found out. I wanted Lori to at least be the one to explain."

"Yeah, I know." Rick adjusts his python in its holster. "At least?"

Iris' expression falls. She shifts uncomfortably, her arms wrapping around her midsection as it tossed and turned like a ship at sea. "Rick. I- I think- I've got reason to believe that Lori and Shane-" She swallows. "I think the baby might be Shane's."

She was expecting Rick to react. To maybe laugh, tell her that she was crazy and Lori would never sleep with Shane, or scrunch his features up in anger or shed a tear or something. She was expecting him to react. Instead, Rick doesn't even flinch. He simply nods. "Yeah."

"You knew?" Iris asks, her voice barely above a whisper. Her heart broke for him, and she wondered just how she had managed to miss this. How long has Rick been sitting with the feeling that his wife had slept with his best friend? "How long?"

"Since I got back. I don't know. There were... signs, I guess." Rick sighs. "It was different. It wasn't like this was happening right under my nose. They thought I was dead. They both needed some sort of comfort, and they found it in each other. I'm gonna tell Shane about the baby. We'll figure something out, we always do."

Iris hums. She doesn't think that was an excuse to sleep with your husband's best friend weeks after he had died, no matter what the circumstances were. Rick may have rationalised it like that, but Iris truly didn't think she could look at either of them the same way again. There was a tiny, selfish part of her that resented the fact that Lori and Shane were... enjoying themselves in that way while she mourned the loss of her brother — the only person that ever seemed to understand her.

And I was hurt when you ran away, until I figured you were probably scared or confused, or I don't know, feeling a lot of big emotions.

Glenn understood her too.

Rick nods. "I appreciate you giving Lori time to tell me herself. It must've been awful for you to keep it all in, huh? You've never been great at that."

Iris snorts, the pit in her stomach dissipating ever so slightly as she relaxes in the company of her big brother. "Yeah, it was really hard. You don't even know. Like... you really don't know. I felt like I was going to burst with all of these things that have been happening. I swear, I've been going slowly insane over the last few days, like, climbing up the walls and somehow managing to screw up everything I've touched." She puts a hand on her forehead, the words leaving her mouth at the speed of a rocketship. "God, I'm just like dad. Kill me now and put me out of my misery."

Rick smiles, one of those big brotherly smiles that makes her feel frustrated and comforted all at once. "Oh, come on. What have you screwed up so bad that you can't fix?"

Iris sucks on her teeth, looking at Rick like she had just been caught with her hand in a cookie jar. "I kissed Glenn."

Rick's eyes light up. He smiles. "You... what? I knew it! I knew you liked him. You're so different around him."

Iris scrunches up her nose. "That's not how an older brother is supposed to react when he finds out that information. Now I've gotta disappoint you when I tell you that my stupid mind ruined it all."

"What did you do?" Rick asks, a hand on his holster.

"I was so mad at him after he went down that well. I was already mad about what happened to Carl and I was already spiralling and he goes and almost gets himself killed and I just, I exploded. I kissed him. And, ever since I have just had this, this weight in me and everything was just too much and so I ran. I ran away from him."

"This has been going on since the well?" Rick asks, "Why didn't you tell me?"

Iris sighs. "Because I was avoiding you because I didn't know what to do about Shane and Lori, and I didn't want to stress you out when you were already so stressed out about Carl, and part of the reason why I was so upset was because of Shane and Lori and I obviously couldn't tell you that and- God, I should've told you. You could've stopped me from ruining my chances with the only boy I've ever..."

"What?" Rick presses. "Liked?"

Iris' blue eyes turn into a salty sea as tears well up in them, a singular tear running down her right cheek. "Liked. Loved. I don't know. I've never been in love, Rick. Not like you. And then Lori." She waves her hands about. "And I-"

Rick pulls her into a hug. Iris buries her face in his chest, her body shaking ever so slightly. After a few moments, Rick pulls away. "Iris, love is complicated. It's not easy, it's not black and white, it's not the be all and end all. Love is about perseverance, about loving someone, not just despite their flaws, but because of them. Don't frame your entire ideal of love on just two people, because it is different to everyone, okay? And Glenn, he isn't going to be scared away by a couple of days of silence. He likes you. I know he does. He told me himself."

Iris looks up at him. "What? He told you. When?"

Rick chuckles. "Before he even knew who I was. He's not good at secrets, you know that."

Glenn knew that he liked her all of this time.

Iris cradles her head, massaging her temples. "God, oh my god. I'm an idiot. I screwed up. I ruined everything before we even had a chance."

"Hey. Stop." Rick holds her shoulders, steadying her. "You're doing it again. You're spiralling, you're letting it build up, and then you're spewing it all out in one go. Pace yourself. You're skipping over information. You ran away from Glenn, and then what?"

Iris takes a big breath. "I avoided him for a couple days, then I went with him on a supply run and ignored him, then he finally got me to talk to him and he confessed his feelings for me, and then I proceeded to cry my eyes out and beg him to stop, and, god, I'm a sociopath."

"You're not a sociopath." Rick laughs. "Okay, you probably confused the poor boy, but it's nothing you can't fix okay. Just talk to him, just as openly as you are with me. Explain to him what's been going through your head, and I'm positive that he will understand. If he doesn't run a million miles away from you."

"Yeah, ha ha." Iris mocks, pushing his shoulder. "You think I can talk to him? Without crying? Or yelling?"

"You can." Rick says. "If you really care about him, and I know you do, you can."

Iris stands up straight. Rick was right. She wasn't Lori, and Glenn wasn't Shane, and nothing had been screwed up until she had gotten stuck in her own head.

She just had to show him otherwise.

"Glenn!"

Iris ran through the farm, her hair blowing behind her from the speed of which she was running. She had no idea where he was, but she needed to find him, while she was being brave and open and ready. It couldn't wait, not for anything. She had waited long enough. She'd made him wait long enough.

"Glenn!" She calls again, looking around frantically. "Where the hell is he?"

She skids into the cluster of trees, finally spotting his familiar white hat stood between them, leaning against one and staring out into the distance. She runs over to him, halting to a stop right in front of him, leaning her hands on her knees as she tries to catch her breath.

Glenn sighs. "What do you want, Iris?"

Iris gulps, sucking in one final rush of oxygen as she stares at his hurt face. Her face softens. "Glenn."

"Are we doing this again?" Glenn asks, turning to walk away.

"Wait, please don't make me run again." Iris pleads, holding his arm and pulling him back. He looks at her with a thousand stars in his eyes, bright and powerful and overwhelmingly surrounding her with light, but at the same time, were full of fire and passion and pain. For a moment, it drove her speechless, and all she wanted to do was kiss him again and wrap herself in the serenity of him. But she had hurt him, and she needed to make it right. "Explosion."

Glenn turns around fully, tilting his head. "What?"

"I- explosion." Iris mimics an explosion with her hands. She splutters, and starts again. "I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this whole words thing. I- I hold things in. A lot. I shut myself down when things get too much, when things hurt, and I get in my head, and then it gets to a point where it just... explodes out of me. And I know it's not healthy, and I swear to God, I'm gonna work on it, which I know doesn't exactly mean much because I don't really believe in Him, but I'm gonna try. To talk. To people more. To you, more."

Glenn was quiet, taking in her words. Finally, he speaks in a hushed, almost upset voice. "So you only kissed me because of the explosion? And that hurt you so much that you had to shut yourself down? I confessed everything to you, Iris."

"I know." Iris closes her eyes painfully. "Please, don't think any of this is because of you. Not- not in the way you're thinking."

"Then what, Iris?" Glenn presses. "What hurts?"

"I love you so much it hurts!" Iris blurts out. "Like, like a good hurts. Like the kind of pain you feel down to your heart and soul, like the kind of hurt that you feel when someone becomes so intertwined with your very existence that you feel an actual pain deep inside you when they're away from you. Like the kind of hurt that makes you so damn afraid that something is gonna happen to them or they're gonna do something to hurt you. I- I feel a physical pang in my chest when I think about you, because I love you so damn much that I can't lose you, and it's a road that I'm so terrified to go down but it's too late! I'm already here! And I've never been in love before, and I don't know what it's supposed to feel like, but you are with me in everything I feel, in everything I am. You haunt my fears, my hopes, my wishes, my scariest thoughts. You're even in my damn dreams! Do you know how insane that's making me feel? But I don't wanna stop! Because it's you, and you make me feel insane in the best way and I'm such a stupid, stupid idiot, and if you don't say something I am gonna keep talking and going around in circles and you really don't want that to happen because eventually I'm gonna run out of breath so-

Glenn clasps his hands over her mouth. Iris lets out a muffled sound of surprise.

Glenn removes his hands, holding them out as if to calm Iris down, his face totally unreadable, even to her. He looks her up and down, spending an almost uncomfortable amount of time just staring at her.

"You love me?"

"Yeah." Iris nods her head, letting her tears spill. "I'm sorry. One day I'll be able to talk to you without crying. I just- I'm sorry, Glenn. I love you. I always have, I think, even if I didn't know it. I still don't really understand what love is supposed to feel like, but if it's even a fraction of what I'm feeling right now, then it's a pretty powerful thing."

Glenn steps closer to her. Very slowly, his fingers brush over a strand of her blonde hair, twiddling it in his fingers. Iris' breath stops, feeling his hands graze the skin on her face, making it tingle as he tucks it behind her ear.

Then he kisses her. It was different than before. It wasn't desperate, or angry, or pleading. It was slow, sweet, yet just as passionate, if not more so. Iris smiles into it, because she just can't help it. Butterflies fly around her stomach, and she wraps her arms around his neck.

She pulls away, laughing as their breaths mingle, like their souls were intertwining forever. "You forgive me?"

"Always." Glenn whispers back, and he kisses her again.

Iris was in a total euphoria, feeling like she could reach up and touch the stars with all of the energy that was running through her system. She could achieve anything with him, she decided at that moment.

Glenn pulls away, a hand running through her hair, and he smirks. "Anyway, what dreams were you having about me?"

Iris giggles, playfully smacking him on the shoulder. "Shut up. I'm not telling you that."

"Uh, I don't think so. Tell me about these dreams of yours. What was I doing, exactly? Is that why you couldn't look at me for three days?"

"Be quiet." Iris laughs, and she pulls him into another embrace. Everything felt right.

Chapter Text

"DON'T DO ANYTHING TO THE WALKERS IN THE BARN."

Iris looks up from pinning a fresh set of clothes on the washing line. Maggie stood in front of her, her short hair blowing ever so slightly in the wind. Iris puts the peg down in shock that Maggie had just come up to her and started speaking, because they really hadn't even had a conversation yet, but when she saw the seriousness in Maggie's expression, she nodded. "Oh, Maggie. No, I won't. Not if I can help it. Rick is working on finding a solution. He's a fair man."

"It's not Rick I'm worried about." Maggie murmurs, and she looks at Iris like she was holding something back. "Not everyone in your group is as understanding."

"I know." Iris bites her lip. She couldn't help but wonder if Maggie was insinuating something other than just her worries about the barn. She looks up at her face. Maggie was pretty, with her big blue eyes and her light, wispy hair, and she had been a good friend to Glenn while Iris was dealing with her own issues. Now things were resolved between her and Glenn, she wanted to try and make friends with Maggie.

At least, before her father kicked them out for good.

Maggie was still watching her, the silence between the two of them was loud but somehow not at all awkward. Iris brings a hand to her ear, fiddling with her hair. She smiles. "I hear you were helping Glenn, with me, actually. So, thank you. It worked."

Maggie smiles. "I know. I'm glad it did. I've only known the two of you for a couple of days and I was already getting sick of that act you were putting up, dancing around like that."

Iris chuckles. She couldn't exactly argue with that. "Yeah, I was kinda dumb. I really thought for a moment that he had something going on with you and I'm pretty sure I was jealous, but I didn't realise that, until, well, now. But I'm sorry if we got off on the wrong foot. That was never my intention."

"It's okay. I was a little mad at him too, after he told y'all about the walkers." Maggie says. Her accent was smooth like honey, and it brought Iris' own strong accent out even more. "But I could guess that something like that was running around in your head."

Iris grins. "You must be a talented matchmaker, if you could see all that without even talking to me."

"Well, a girl gets bored. And I still have all of my step-mother's old romance books, so I could see the signs." Maggie gives her a mischievous smile. "You start to internalise those kinda things when it's all you can read."

"Tell me about it." Iris stifles a giggle. "Dale has these books in his RV, and they're God-awful terrible, but you get so bored that you don't have a choice except to read them again."

"Well, maybe we can swap and experience a new torture." Maggie says. Iris laughs, looking at the farm girl with a fondness that she didn't expect to feel.

"Did your step-mother read often?" Iris asks, squatting under the line until she is on the same side as Maggie.

Maggie smiles sadly. "Yeah. She used to read all of the time, but she liked to use the library in town. Beth was still really young when Anette married my dad, and she used to read her stories at night."

"That's nice." Iris says. "My brother used to read to me, a lot. When I was growing up. He's way older than me, so he was already an adult when I was little."

"Shawn was an adult when his mom married my dad." Maggie nods. "It was nice, having an older brother."

"What happened to them?" Iris asks, and then she shakes her head. "Oh, God, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay." Maggie holds out her hand. "They got the sickness, back when it all first happened. They- my dad is convinced that they're gonna get better once a cure is found."

Iris breathes in understanding. She put a comforting hand on Maggie's shoulder, frowning in concern. "Maggie? Are your step-mom and step-brother in the barn?"

Maggie stifles a breath, but nods. "We keep feeding them. And our neighbours, and the townspeople. It was Otis' job. To keep them safe in the barn, until-"

"Until there was a cure." Iris finishes. "Maggie?"

"I know. I know. I thought he was right, for the longest time. Until I saw the walker in the well, and- and I talked to Glenn, he told me about what happened to you guys, when you were attacked. I know that they're gone." Maggie says.

"I'm sorry. It's a lot to come to terms with. I'm here, if you want to talk." Iris says quietly. "Everyone here has lost someone. It's just about finding ways to cope."

"It'll kill my daddy if something happens to Shawn and Anette. He's a stubborn man, and he really does believe they can be saved."

"We will do everything we can." Iris says. "Trust me, no one wants to do anything to hurt Hershel. Not if- not if we want to stay."

"I'm gonna talk to my dad about it. See if I can convince him to let y'all stay. You deserve some safety." Maggie says, and Iris believes her.

"Thank you. I appreciate that." She smiles.

"Guess who?"

Iris put her hands over Glenn's eyes, smiling so hard that the corners of her lips practically touched her eyes. She stood up on her tiptoes to reach over his head, stifling a giggle in anticipation.

Glenn hums, smiling his own amused smile as he holds a hand to his chin, pretending to contemplate it. "Oh, well, I hope it's Indiana Jones. Or Han Solo. Any Harrison Ford character, really."

Iris laughs, taking her hands away from his face as he turns around, facing her. "No. Just your girlfriend. Sorry."

"Hmm, girlfriend. I'm starting to like that word." Glenn says, reaching down to kiss her.

Iris smirks, putting a finger to his lips. "Wait. Wait. Where's Dale?"

Glenn's face fell. "Well, that dampens the mood."

Iris snorts, holding onto his hands. "Just trust me on this."

"He was supposed to be on watch, but he's not here for some reason." Glenn answers, unable to stop his gaze from wandering.

"So the RV is empty?" Iris asks.

Glenn smirks.

She takes him by the hand and pulls him into the RV, shutting the door behind her with a heavy breath. She stumbles backwards with a snort, backing up against the table, wrapping her arms around his neck. She lets him brush her cheek with his fingers, finally threading her fingers through the back of his head, bringing her lips to his softly.

Glenn kisses her back, smiling just as wildly as she was. His hair felt soft and fluffy, and Iris was confident that his hair would always feel this amazing, even though they could hardly ever have showers and never had actual shampoo. It was like magic, and that was exactly what she felt in all of her nerves and twisting around in her stomach.

She pulls away. "Can't believe we waited so long to do this."

"That was your fault, last I checked." Glenn quips, smirking. Iris rolls her eyes and kisses him again, a little firmer than before. Glenn's smile disappeared as he kissed her back more tentatively. It felt a million times better than she had imagined in her mind, deep in sleep when her inhibitions were lowered and her desires came to fruition.

"Dale!"

Shane bursts into the RV, his voice heightened and angry, slamming open the door with vicious intent. Iris pulls away from Glenn, standing up from the table, and putting a passive hand on Glenn's shoulder.

Shane looks around the RV, his face red with rage, which wasn't out of the ordinary these days. Instead of Dale, he found Iris. And Glenn. He pauses, looking at the two of them with such an intensity that Iris can hear Glenn gulp in front of her. That was the protective big brother look she was expecting to see from Rick, but seeing it from Shane just made her feel uncomfortable. Iris clears her throat. "Shane, oh my god. I-"

Shane sighs gruffly, shaking his head and holding out a hand. "I don't have time to deal with this. Where's Dale?"

Iris' eyes widen. She takes a hand off of Glenn, moving in front of him. (He wasn't speaking at all, as if he thought speaking would just escalate the situation more, and it was so effortlessly adorable that she had to put him behind her.) "Excuse me? What? Don't have time for what?"

"Iris! Focus! Dale!"

"Jesus, I don't know!" Iris yells back. Glenn moves his hand into hers, squeezing it tightly. She sighs.

"Son of a bitch. You see where he went?" Shane directs his fire towards Glenn.

Glenn splutters, coughing up a lung and blinking at Shane. "Uh, w-who?

"Don't even try to shit me, okay?" Shane spits, sighing with impatience. "Dale, Glenn. Did you see where Dale went?"

"I got him some water, he said he'd cover me on watch, and when I got back he was gone. So we-"

Shane winces, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah, stop talking. So he was gone when you got back, huh?"

"Yeah." Glenn says, his voice cracking from his obvious anxiety. "You think he's okay?"

"Oh, he's fine." Shane says bitterly.

"Why'd he bail then?" Glenn asks.

"So you wouldn't tell me which way he went." Shane rolls his eyes, gruffly stepping out of the RV and slamming it shut on his way out.

"Oh, and I'm in a relationship now, thanks for asking!" Iris yells after him, even though he couldn't hear up, putting up her middle finger, even though he couldn't see her. "God, he's been such an asshole lately."

"Was he ever not?" Glenn comments, before straightening up. "Sorry."

"I swear he used to be different." Iris sighs, resting her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what's gotten into him."

But she could probably guess.

It hadn't even been twenty four hours since Iris had confessed everything to Glenn, but she couldn't get enough of the feeling of his hand in hers, of the security and the comfort of being intertwined with him. Glenn rubbed her hand with his thumb when he held onto her hand, and the motion made her feel loved and important.

Their newest development was so new that only a handful of people knew that they were even together. Which was Iris and Glenn, obviously, Maggie and now Shane. She hadn't even had a chance to tell Rick, who she presumed was out on his run with Andrea to look for Sophia, despite the fact that his advice had sparked the entire thing and without him, Iris probably would've still been bitterly isolating herself from everyone.

It was a lot easier to just amp up the PDA and let people draw their own conclusions.

Shane had run off to God knows where looking for Dale, which Iris had decided she simply did not have the energy to care about anymore. What Shane did was not her fault and certainly not her responsibility to deal with, and she was sick of letting other people rule her emotions.

Her and Glenn step out of the RV, in their own state of bliss that neither of them had felt in a long time. Iris had had relationships of course, but none of the boys she had ever dated made her feel the way that Glenn made her feel, and he was right in the way that he described them as permanent, as something that would last for a long time. She hoped.

She held onto Glenn's hand, which was strung around her shoulder as they walked. She had brought her hair up into a ponytail, and it swung behind her as they walked, chatting mindlessly about random things, just enjoying each other now that they could.

"You two look comfortable." T-Dog slides over towards them, a conniving grin on his face. "Anything you wanna tell me?"

Iris looks at Glenn, puckering her lips in contemplation. "Um, no. Nothing special has happened that I can think of."

Glenn nods in agreement. "Yeah, she's right. Been a bit of a boring day, actually."

T-Dog scoffs.

Iris dramatically gasps, playing it up as she rests a hand on Glenn's chest. "Oh, wait, there was that one thing."

"Oh, yeahh." Glenn draws out, pulling her even closer to him. He kisses her on the cheek and her cheeks hear up. "Me and you."

T-Dog smiles at the two of them. "I'm happy for you guys. I've been waitin' for you to screw your heads on since Atlanta. I was starting to think you'd both suffer in silence forever."

Iris shakes her head bashfully. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, T."

"Hey, I brought you two together." He raises his hands. "All I'm saying is I better be the best man at the wedding."

Maggie was sitting on the porch when the three of them approached, resting her elbows on her knees. She smiles when she sees them, moving aside so that Glenn and Iris can sit down.

As Iris plops down next Glenn, she reaches over and takes his hat off of his head, just like she had done in the CDC when she had had a little too much to drink. She puts it on her own head, giggling when Glenn grumbles and murmurs under his breath.

"You best get used to that." Maggie says. "Too bad you don't have anything of hers to steal."

"Except her heart." Glenn replies, and Maggie and T-Dog both make vomiting sounds with their mouths. Even Iris scrunches up her nose.

"That was sappy, even for you."

Andrea appears, walking with urgency as she ran towards the others, a confused expression on her face. Iris sits up straighter, instantly nervous. Andrea was supposed to be out on a run with Rick, but Rick was nowhere in sight.

Andrea sighs, her eyebrows furrowing together. "Do you know what's going on? Where is everyone?"

Glenn places his hand on top of Iris', looking at Andrea. "You haven't seen Rick?"

Andrea puts her hands on her hips. "He went off with Hershel."

"Crap." Iris curses, standing up so she can pace around. "What the hell is he doing with Hershel?"

"I don't know. We were supposed to leave a couple hours ago." Andrea grumbles.

"Yeah you were." Daryl calls, walking over with Carol in towe. He looks at Andrea in annoyance. "What the hell?"

"Rick told us he was going out." Carol says, her gaze going towards Iris and her pace around the stretch of land.

"Damn it." Daryl exclaims, throwing his arms up in the air. "Isn't anybody taking this seriously? We got us a damn trail."

Daryl turns around, catching sight of Shane sauntering towards them. Iris raises a hand to her head, shielding her eyes. Shane walked like a man on a mission, clutching the confiscated bag of guns in his fist.

"Oh, here we go." Daryl says, as Shane aggressively holds a rifle in Daryl's direction. "What's all this?"

"You with me, man?" Shane asks, breathing through his mouth militantly

Daryl takes one moment to look at Shane, taking in his guarded stature. He nods, taking the gun and holding it firm in his hands. "Yeah."

"Time to grow up." Shane says, not to anyone in particular. He looks at Andrea. "You already got yours?"

Andrea nods. "Yeah. Where's Dale?"

Shane hesitates for just a moment, closing his mouth and gulping. "He's on his way. Iris, you got yours?"

Iris gives him a side eye, watching his impulsive movements. "Yeah, but not to do whatever it is you're thinking of."

Shane ignores her, and he keeps handing out the rifles to everyone.

"Thought we couldn't carry." T-Dog says.

Shane shakes his head, walking around like he was running an armed camp. "We can and we have to. Look, it was one thing sitting around here picking daisies when we thought this place was supposed to be safe. But now we know it ain't."

Iris watches in horror as Shane stops right in front of Glenn, extending a gun out to him. "How about you, man? You gonna protect your own? Or do I have to worry about you gettin' cozy with her?" He points at Iris with the back end of the gun. Iris turns up her nose, shaking her head.

Glenn looks at her, his expression apologetic. Up against Shane's intense stare, Iris didn't blame him for taking a gun, just to get Shane off of his back. She gives him a subtle nod, and Glenn lightly holds it in his hands.

"That's it." Shane hypes up. He walks towards Maggie. "Can you shoot?"

"Can you stop?" Maggie spits back. "You do this, you hand out these guns, my dad will make you leave tonight."

"Look at the bigger picture, Shane." Iris stares at him, shaking her head in disbelief.

"We have to stay, Shane." Came Carl's voice, walking outside of the house with Lori.

Lori took one look at Shane, and the guns that he held in his hands, and sighs. "What is this?"

"We ain't going anywhere, okay? Now look, Hershel, he's just gotta understand. Okay? He-Well, he's gonna have to. Now we need to find Sophia. Am I right?" Shane rallies, but the others just stood around watching him go off of the rails. Shane kneels down and hands a little handgun to Carl. "Huh? Now I want you to take this. You take it, Carl, and you keep your mother safe. You do whatever it takes. You know how. Go on, take the gun and do it."

"Shane!" Iris warns, gritting her teeth.

"Rick said no guns. This is not your call. This is not your decision to make." Lori yells. Shane ignores her, still holding out a gun for Carl.

T-Dog breaks his focus. "Oh shit."

Iris follows his eyeline, and the moment she sees what he is staring at, she can hear the snarling and the heavy footsteps of walkers coming through the trees. However, they were not alone. The walkers were being herded towards the barn, attached to snare poles that Hershel, Rick and Jimmy were holding, purposefully guiding the monsters into the barn.

Iris gasps, but she couldn't even react before Shane started running, sprinting towards Rick in an even figger fit of rage. In total fear of what he could do, Iris started running after him, as did the entire group, for once moving towards the walkers and not away from them.

"What is that? What is that?"

"Shane!" Lori yells.

The walkers growl even more strenuously as Shane approaches. "What the hell are you doing?"

Iris trusted Rick with all of her heart, she really did. But the scene before her looked terrifying, watching Rick handle the walker with the snare pole, in such close proximity, and it sent a chill down her spine. She knew that Rick would have a plan in place, even if it wasn't obvious to her, it would be a plan that would protect them all.

However, Shane didn't see it like that.

"Shane, just back off." Rick warns, struggling to keep his walker at bay.

"Why do your people have guns?" Hershel asks. Iris feels a pang as she thinks of the gun she had been keeping in her belt.

"Are you kidding me?" Shane exclaims. "You see? You see what they're holding onto?"

"I see who I'm holding onto." Hershel corrects, just as stubborn as Shane.

"No, man, you don't." Shane says.

"Shane, just let us do this and then we can talk." Rick says. He stares at Shane with pleading eyes. Shane ignore them.

"What you want to talk about, Rick? These things ain't sick. They're not people. They're dead. Ain't gonna feel nothing for them 'cause all they do, they kill! These things right here, they're the things that killed Amy. They killed Otis. They're gonna kill all of us."

Rick starts to yell. "Shane, shut up!"

Shane was relentless, and he was being fueled by the rage that was darkening his heart. For a moment, Iris was reminded of herself and the rage she felt inside when Carl was shot, and seeing it displayed on the outside, in such a violent, open way, made her want to rethink any and everytime she felt consumed by her anger and her emotions, because what she saw in front of her terrified her much more than the walkers.

"Hey, Hershel man, let me ask you something. Could a living breathing person, could they walk away from this?"

Without warning, without thinking, Shane shoots his gun. Aggressively, rapidly, the shots echoing through the farm like a smoke signal, hitting the waler that Hershel was holding three times in the chest. Iris gasps, covering her mouth with her hands at the suddenness of it all.

"No! Stop it!" Rick yells.

"That's three rounds in the chest. Could someone who's alive, could they just take that?! Why is it still coming?" Shane shouts. He cocks his gun, shooting again, and again. "That's its heart, its lungs. Why is it still coming?"

"Shane, enough." Rick tries again, restricted by his grip on the walker to do anything about it, and everyone else was too scared to confront the man with the gun.

"Yeah, you're right, man. That is enough." Shane's voice took a sinister level of calmness, and he lifts his gun one final time, and shoots the walker in the head.

Hershel's face fell as the walker dropped to the ground, letting go of his hold on the snare pole as he fell to his knees.In an insant, Maggie, Beth, Patricia and Jimmy surrounded the old man, holding onto his shoulders, as he stared at the ground in shock and disbelief.

"Enough risking our lives for a little girl who's gone!" Shane yells. Tears prick in Iris' eyes, and she finds Glenn's hand, squeezing it so tight she was surprised he didn't yell out in pain. This was the worst she had ever seen Shane, and it was the toughest wakeup call of her life. His harsh words were even harder to stomah when she saw the absolote pain on Carol's face. "Enough living next to a barn full of things that are trying to kill us. Enough. Rick, it ain't like it was before! Now if y'all want to live, if you want to survive, you got to fight for it! I'm talking about fighting right here, right now."

As he finished his garbled speech, Shane turns on his heels and runs to the doors of the barns.

"No..." Iris whispers. She knows exactly what Shane was about to do. She raises her voice higher. "No! Stop!"

Her desperate tone was mirroed in Rick as he grunts. "Take the snare pole. Hershel, take the snare pole. Hershel, listen to me, man, please. Take it now. Hershel! Take it!"

There were shouts coming from everyone in the group, yelling at Shane and telling him to stop, but Shane didn't listen. He was far too wrapped up in his own mind at this point. He grabs an axe and starts to slam it into the wooden doors, again and again and again.

"No, Shane. Do not do this, brother. Wait!" Rick keeps yelling.

Next to Iris, Glenn grips her hand, bringing his other to her shoulder, keeping her close. "Don't do it!"

"Shane! Stop it!" Iris screams desperately.

"Rick!" Lori pleads, holding onto Carl and shielding him.

"Please!" Rick tries again, his voice breaking in a way that broke Iris' heart.

Shane manages to rip open the doors, stepping back and cocking his gun, staring into the darkness of the barn and waiting, biding his time. "Come on. Come on, we're out here."

"This is not the way! Please!" Rick was looking between Shane and Hershel, who had not moved from his position on his knees, staring blankly at nothing.

"Come on." Shane repeats, not listening to any plea, not hearing reason.

Finally, one by one, like they were watching a vicious fight to the death on stage, walkers start to pool out of the barn. Growling, staring with milky eyes, locking onto their targets.

Maggie's step-mother, Maggie's step-brother, Maggie's neighbours and the people from Maggie's town.

Shane had started this, but if they wanted to live, they had to end it.

Andrea, T-Dog and Daryl line up beside Shane, holding up their weapons as they waited for the walkers to get closer. Then, they started spraying bullets, killing every single walker that left the barn. Iris started to tear up, looking at Hershel and his family, sobbing as they watched all of these people they knew get bullet after bullet.

Glenn breaks away from her, whispering words of comfort in her ear. He steps forward and shoots a couple of walkers as they emerge from the barn.

"Maggie, I'm-" Iris starts, her hands shaking as she grips her gun.

Maggie turns around, her face covered in tears as she nods. "It's okay."

Iris winces and she clicks the safety off of her gun, and points it in the direction of one of the walkers. She pulls the trigger.

They keep going, for many horrifying minutes, until all of the growling came to a stop and all that was left in it's wake was dozens of dead bodies, lifelessly on the ground.

There was silence.

Everyone stares at the heap of bodies on the grass. At the blown open barn doors, and at the darkness inside, because nothing was inside anymore.

That was what they all thought.

There was a low, weak growl, and two little legs take a shaky step out of the barn. Her shoes were familiar, her blue shirt was familiar, and her short, blonde hair was familar.

Sophia Peletier walks out of the barn.

Except she wasn't Sophia Peletier anymore.

Not even Shane was brave enough to move.

Carol breaks out into a run. "Sophia? Sophia! Oh no. Sophia. Sophia. No."

Daryl catches her before she could get herself killed running to her daughter's side. Carol falls to her knees, and Daryl drops to the ground with her, holding her back in his arms as Carol sobbed and cried for her baby girl.

Sophia keeps walking, her unnatural milky eyes unseeing and her mind corrupted. There was a large bite mark on her shoulder, dripping blood down her blue shirt.

Rick lifts his gun. He steps forward.

There was a menacing gunshot. 

Chapter Text

⋆˚⁺
the flower wreath

SOPHIA FELL TO THE GROUND WITH A SICKENING THUMP.

Carol's screams were relentless, making strangled sounds of grief and pain as Daryl held her on the ground, his arms wrapped around her stomach as she struggled to run towards her daughter. "Sophia!"

Rick lowers his gun, staring at Sophia's body, which had fallen stomach up on the ground, the bullet in her head dousing her hair in thick red blood. Hershel was still on his knees, staring ahead at the barn, and Beth was sobbing in Jimmy's arms, her face displaying the kind of trauma that a sixteen year old girl like her should never have to face. Carl was on the ground too, his head in Lori's lap as she ran a hand through his hair, tears streaking down his cheeks at the sight of his friend, dead on the floor, and his father, holding the gun that had finished her off. Glenn's hand was on the bottom of her back, firmly holding her in place and giving her something to ground herself with.

The sound of sobs replaced the snarling of the walkers, and Iris didn't know which one was better. The adrenaline was gone, and the exhaustion was setting in.

Beth pulls away from Jimmy, stumbling towards the walkers on the ground. She bats Rick off when he attempts to hold her back, falling on the floor when she finds who she was seeking. The woman was lying on the ground, underneath another body, which Beth gingerly moved away. "Ma..."

Beth's hands were shaking as she hovered them over the face of her step-mother, as if she were too afraid to touch her. It seemed that her brain was still intact despite the shooting, because she shoots up, grabbing onto Beth's arms and chattering her teeth. Beth screams, trying to pull away but the body that was once Annette Greene was holding onto her with a grip so strong that Beth couldn't pull away.

Everyone jumps into action. Rick, Shane and Glenn run over to Beth, trying to pull her away as she sobs and screams for her step-mother. Iris takes a breath and runs over, scrambling to take Annette's arms and rip them away from Beth, but the walker was incredibly strong and attempting to dig her nails into Beth's skin.

"Come on!" Rick yells out.

"Pull her away, pull her away!"

Just as they pull Beth away, taking a few steps back with her, T-Dog runs forward, and drives his foot into her head. Iris falls back, crawling backwards on her back as T-Dog kept going. As Annette lunges again, Andrea drives a sickle through her skull, the blade piercing through her like a knife through butter.

Iris stands up, brushing the grass stains off of her clothes as Glenn breaks away from Beth, letting Jimmy take her back to her family, and he pulls her into a hug. It was one of those hugs that envelopes her completely in his hold, like a bubble of safety just for him and her.

Iris pulls away once she stops shaking, his comfort washing over her in waves and allowing her the space to calm. She nods her head. "We're okay."

"Yeah." Glenn replies. He looks over her shoulder to see Maggie, Hershel and Patricia hauling Beth away from the bodies, the teenager still crying and being held up by the three of them. Iris sighs as she turns around and watches them go.

It was unforgivable, what Shane had done to them, in the way that he had done, yet Iris felt like she had broken her promise to Maggie by being unable to rein Shane in. But no one could've stopped him from tearing open those doors. Shane had changed, undeniably for the worst, and he was no longer the man that Iris knew growing up. Instead, he was something else.

He storms after them, and Rick, Iris and Glenn break out into a run after him, but they were too slow to stop him from yelling after Hershel like it was his life's mission.

"We've been out. We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along? You knew."

"Leave us alone." Maggie yells, still keeping her hand on Beth's arm.

"Shane." Iris clenches her teeth.

"Hey, Shane, just stop, man." Rick says, grabbing onto Shane's arm. However, Shane pushes him off.

"Get your hands off me!"

"I..." Hershel starts.

Shane scoffs, not allowing him to speak as he continues to gruffly walk behind them. "You knew and you kept it from us."

"I didn't know." Hershel says, not even turning around to look at Shane.

"That's bullshit. I think y'all knew." Shane accuses.

"Shane! Stop it! They're our hosts!" Iris spits, feeling her own rage grow stronger and stronger.

"We didn't know!" Maggie yells, as they reach the porch of the house. Patricia guides Beth up the stairs, but they pause at the door as Shane continues to yell.

"Why was she there?!"

"Your..." Hershel starts, blinking heavily. "Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed."

"You expect me to believe that? Do I look like an idiot?" Shane shouts.

"Shane, hey hey hey." Rick pacifies, but Hershel is done playing nice.

"I don't care what you believe!" He shouted back.

"Everybody just calm down." Rick says, taking a hand to Shane's arm again, and this time, Shane didn't brush him off.

"Get him off my land!" Hershel bellows, pointing at Shane with vicious intent.

Honestly, Iris couldn't argue with that.

"Please. No." Rick says.

"Let me tell you something." Shane moves forward to grab Hershel, but the moment his fingers touch him, Maggie jumps forward, pushing Shane off and slapping him across the face.

"Hey. Don't touch him!" She yells. Iris has decided that Shane is done, and she moves in front of him, a hand on his chest to push him back as Maggie continues her scolding. "Haven't you done enough?"

With a scoff and a final glare at Shane, Maggie steps backwards, opening the door of the farmhouse to help Patricia bring Beth inside.

Hershel walks up the stairs to follow them, but he turns around, giving one more menacing look to Shane. "I mean it... Off my land." Before following his family inside.

The moment Hershel was out of sight, Iris recoiled away from Shane like he was hot coal. She may have known Shane since she was a baby, but she made a promise to Maggie, and Shane had caused her to break it.

"Ass." She mutters under her breath, walking up the porch and heading into the farmhouse. It was a display of where her loyalty lied, which was with Rick and his attempts to get Hershel to allow them to stay, not with Shane. Glenn follows her as she walks through the door, and Iris waits until he gets inside, turns around and slams the door on purpose, shutting Shane out of the farm and out of her mind.

She holds a hand to her hair. "Goddamn. Idiot. Asshole. Impulsive son of a bitch, I swear to God, I'm going to-"

"I know, I know." Glenn says, smiling at her as she curses, making it impossible for her to stay mad because his amused face was so effortlessly cute. "You can call him any name under the sun, but maybe wait until Beth isn't in the room."

Iris clicks her tongue. "Sorry."

Hershel says nothing, holding onto Beth with a straight face which could be attributed to the massive trauma of what he had seen, but Maggie smiles. "It's okay. I appreciate you comin' in with us."

Hershel and Patricia usher Beth out of the room, and Maggie sinks herself down on the couch, sighing. Iris leans against the wall, tapping her foot anxiously. "What happens now?"

"I don't know." Glenn answers, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know if Hershel will let us stay."

"He has to." Iris says, looking into his eyes. She was silently saying that they had to stay, for Lori and the baby in her stomach that couldn't possibly survive a life on the run.

"We'd figure it out, if..." Glenn tails off. He moves closer to Iris, taking her hand and stroking his thumb up and down her knuckles. He looks at Maggie with hesitation. "I have to ask you. Did you know she was in the barn?"

Maggie just stares at him.

Iris sighs and bites her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Maggie. If I had known Shane was going to-"

"It's not on you." Maggie cuts in, giving her a reassuring smile. "No one sane would get between a crazy man with a gun and the thing he wants to destroy."

Iris smiles.

"In some weird way, this could be for the best." Glenn says. It was in his nature to find the bright side of things, and it was something that Iris loved about him. "At least we know and we can move on, Carol can move on."

"Yeah." Iris says. "Not knowing is so much worse than knowing."

"Move on?" Maggie says, straightening herself up.

"Yeah, it's just like..." Glenn pauses. "It meant so much to everyone. Finding her, you know?"

So now you two'll just move on?" Maggie asks. Iris peers at her curiously. She wonders if there's a double meaning behind Maggie's words.

Glenn shrugs. "If we can. I mean, we've lost others. This is- this is Sophia. This one was different."

"We've gotta be able to move on, or we'll go crazy." Iris says. "In this world, there's hardly ever time to dwell."

"So what happens now?" Maggie asks.

"We bury our own people." Iris says. "And we burn the rest."

"Sophia, your stepmom and your stepbrother." Glenn adds. "We have a service."

Maggie nods. She looked at least a little comforted by that fact. She stands up, looking at both Glenn and Iris at eye level. "And then?"

"I wish we knew." Iris whispers.

The service was short and simple, but incredibly effective.

Hershel had put on his best suit for the funeral of his wife, and he stood in solemn silence, his hands clasped together in front of his stomach. Everyone stood around the three graves, the dirt freshly dug and placed back on top of the bodies with care. There weren't any words spoken, but the silence was enough to convey the feelings that a million words could not.

After everything, after all the searches and the pleading and the begging and the wishing, Sophia was just gone. Dead, bitten by a walker before they even arrived at the farm in the first place. All of the hope they were clinging onto was ripped from their grasp, leaving them to drown in their grief and the feeling of pointlessness. It rippled around them in waves.

Shane was the first to leave.

Iris stuck by Carl, keeping her hand on his shoulder throughout the entire service, and even afterwards when they walked like wilted flowers back to the farmhouse. Hershel had gone off somewhere to be alone, because he did not follow them to the house like some of the others did. Carl needed somewhere warm to sit after being forced to say goodbye to his friend. There was a chill in the air; winter was coming.

She sat with him on one of the beds, in a spare room. Carl was quiet, staring at a painting of a boat at sea, riding fierce waves that threatened to wash the boat away. It felt relatable, constantly being on the cusp of drowning, of being lost forever.

"Is Glenn your boyfriend now?" Carl asks suddenly.

Iris raises her eyebrows, and she nods. "Yeah, buddy. How do you feel about that?"

"I like Glenn. He talks to me about comics. He told me a whole story from an X-Men comic by heart when I was still sick."

Iris feels her heart warm at his words. "He did? I didn't know that. That's really sweet."

"Is Glenn like my uncle now?" Carl asks. There was a creak in the floorboards and Iris looked up to see Lori leaning in the doorway. She looks away, focusing on Carl's question, keeping her voice soft for him.

"I suppose so." Iris hums. "He'd definitely be good at the job, I think."

"Yeah, he would." Carl grins.

"Hey, Carl." Lori says, stepping into the room. "Can you give us a minute? I need to talk to Aunt Iris."

Carl looks to Iris, as if he can sense the tension in the air. She gives him a nod and a smile, and Carl stands up, walking past Lori and heading down the stairs.

Lori hovers, moving closer to Iris and hesitantly sitting down. Iris looked at her sister-in-law, feeling a weird awkwardness that felt so unnatural around Lori. She truly looks at her, seeing her brown hair and her blue eyes and remembering how she was so in awe of her at five years old when they first met, remembering how amazed she was visiting her in the hospital at ten years old when she gave birth to Carl and how she had decided that moment that one day she'd be a mother too, at her maternal mannerisms as she crossed her legs on the bed, looking at Iris with apologetic eyes, and she tried to imagine all of those versions of Lori that she has known and loved her entire childhood having an affair with Shane.

Rick had forgiven them, but Iris still felt a pang in her chest everytime she looked at them.

"You and Glenn, huh?" Lori finally says.

Iris nods, not taking her eyes away from Lori. "Yeah."

"You two are good together. Not like any of your other boyfriends. Glenn's different. You two will go the distance." Lori says, moving a little closer.

"I hope so." Iris replies. She knew Lori was trying to make amends, and Iris felt bad for acting so closed off. Lori was still her sister-in-law, and she was still important to Rick and she was still Carl's mother. So she smiles. "Remember Brad?"

Lori's eyes light up a bit as Iris extends the conversation. "God, Brad. What was it he used to say? Come on, dude?"

"After everything! And he didn't even mean it as a question. Drove me insane." Iris replies, shaking her head. "Rick and Shane tried so hard to... run him off." Her voice drops again, the mention of those two names a harsh reminder of why she was being so closed off in the first place.

Lori nods, her voice changing to a more serious tone. "Listen, Iris. I know the last time we spoke, properly spoke, it was tense. But I, I spoke to Rick, and he understands what happened and why it happened, and I just wanted to explain."

"You don't need to explain. I already talked to Rick." Iris replies, a little coldly. "He understands, but I can't say I feel the same. Have you even told Shane about the baby?"

Lori sighs. "Iris, it's complicated. I'm- I'm worried about Shane."

"Because he's going off the rails? Yeah, I noticed that." Iris comments.

"Iris, listen to me." Lori cuts in. She sounded so desperate that Iris couldn't help but shut up, her eyes widening. "I think Shane has gone too far. I-" She brings her voice into a whisper. "I think Shane might've killed Otis."

Iris coughs in the air, standing up and holding a hand out. "Jesus, Lori. You can't just drop something like that! You can't just... this is murder we're talking about."

"I know that. Keep your voice down." Lori hushes. "I know it's a lot, but I don't know who to-"

"No, stop." Iris says. She walks to the doorway. "I'm tapping out. I can't deal with this right now."

Lori doesn't try to stop her, so Iris walks out of the door and down the stairs.

Glenn was on the couch, massaging his hands together. He looks up as soon as she puts a heavy foot on the floor, jumping to his feet. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah." Iris says, forcing a smile. However, it drops in a moment. "No."

Glenn brings her into a hug, and Iris takes in a large breath. "Thanks for being honest. You talk to Lori?"

"Mhm." Iris says, her voice partially muffled. "Everything is so damn messed up right now. Except you, except us."

"Hey." Glenn pulls away, gripping her shoulders. "We're going to be okay. We'll work everything out."

There was a sudden crash coming from the kitchen, followed by Maggie's loud gasp. Glenn and Iris share a panicked look before they rush into the kitchen, seeing Beth on the floor, eyes open, but unmoving. Maggie was freaking out on the floor beside her, shaking her sister and begging her to get up.

Iris kneels down next to her, checking Beth's forehead. "No fever. I think she's in shock. We should move her to a bed."

Carefully, the three of them manage to haul Beth up and place her in the bed that Carl recovered in. Glenn and Iris step back, giving Maggie a moment with her sister.

Maggie strokes her hair, looking at her open, blue, unseeing eyes. "Sweetie, can you hear me?"

Beth doesn't respond.

Lori comes running in, doing a double take when she sees Iris but shaking out of it when she sees Beth on the bed. She looked pale and sickly, her open eyes making her seem a little scary at first sight. "What's wrong with her? She might be in shock. Where's Hershel?"

"We can't find him anywhere." Glenn says, crossing his arms.

Once Maggie was confident that Beth was stable and could be left alone, she led Glenn, Iris, Lori, Rick and Glenn into Hershel's bedroom. It was exactly as it could be expected, full of a lot of stuff that he must've collected over the years, and the curtains were drawn, letting in a lot of light that felt refreshing. Iris brushes her fingers over a stuffed elephant on the drawers, which looked old and loved.

"Your stepmother's things?" Rick asks.

Maggie nods. "He was so sure she'd recover. They'd just pick up where they left off."

Iris gives her a sad smile. This new world had taken so much from them, and it was a terrible thing to come to terms with. The thought that they could never pick up where things left off was incredibly difficult.

"Looks like he found an old friend." Shane laughs, chucking a flask in Rick's direction. Iris rolls her eyes.

"That belonged to my grandfather, gave it to dad when he died." Maggie explains.

"I didn't take Hershel for a drinker." Rick says, holding the flask in his fingers. Iris tried to imagine the stubborn, larger than life man losing himself to the bottle. The image couldn't translate in her mind, even as she watched the beautifully detailed flask.

"No, he gave it up on the day I was born. He didn't even allow liquor in the house." Maggie says.

"What's the bar in town?" Rick asks.

"Hatlin's. He practically lived there in his drinking days." Maggie says, licking her lips as she speaks.

Rick sighs. "Betting that's where I'll find him."

"Yeah, I've seen the place. I'll take you." Glenn says. Iris looks up at him in shock, tilting her head with wide eyes.

Rick just nods. "All right, I'll get the truck."

"What? No?" Iris protests. "You can't go."

"It's an easy run." Glenn says. His voice softens, and he steps closer to her, grabbing her hand. "In, out. It won't take long."

Iris shakes her head. "No, please. I worried about you going on runs enough before we- I can't do it, it breaks my heart everytime." She looks at Rick with big, pleading eyes. "Let me go instead."

"No." Glenn says, bringing her hand to his heart. She closes her eyes, feeling his heartbeat strong under her palm. It should've calmed her, but all she coul think about was all of the ways that she could lose him if he left. It was exactly the feeling that she was so afraid of. She keeps her hand on his chest even after he drops his hand, trying to keep her heartbeat in sync with his.

"I need you here to look after everyone, okay?" Rick says. Iris looks at her brother with vulnerable eyes. Rick nods at her. "I'll bring him back."

"We'll be okay." Glenn whispers, just to her. "I promise I'll come back, I'll always come back."

Iris nods, trying her hardest to breathe through the panic and not let it control her. At some point, the others had stepped out, though Iris could hear Rick and Lori arguing in the hallway. She didn't want to be like that, she wanted to trust Glenn and not doubt in his ability to survive. She wanted to feel proud that he was kind and brave enough to do this kind of run for another person. Because she did trust him, she didn't doubt him, she was proud of his kindness and bravery.

"Okay." She says.

Rick prepares the car for their trip to find Hershel, but Iris wasn't ready to let Glenn go yet. She trusted him, she knew he would come back, that he would do everything he could to return to her side, but she needed time with him before.

This was so new, and Iris had to make sure Glenn knew just how much he meant to her.

She caught up to him on the porch, ignoring the fact that Rick was already in the car waiting for him. Her hand was in a fist, clutching something small and cold between her fingers. She puts it in her pocket, feeling the weight of it. "Glenn!"

"Hey," Glenn says. "I was just about to come find you."

Iris steps forward and kisses him, grabbing his face in her hands and revelling in the feel of him. It was a sweet, loving kiss, one that said a million things, but most importantly: this will not be our last.

Iris didn't do goodbye kisses. Only ever 'see you later' kisses.

"Good luck." She whispers, holding her forehead on his. "Be careful."

"I will." Glenn whispers back. He lifts his forehead, taking both of her hands and squeezing them. "I love you. I didn't say it before, but I love you. I've loved you since the day we met. I never want you to forget that."

"I won't." Iris smiles. She takes her hands away, putting them in her pocket and bringing out the object that was in there. "I have a gift for you. Do you remember when we escaped Atlanta, and you asked me about that flower wreath pin I was holding?"

Glenn nods. "The one from your grandmother. The one that means eternal life."

Iris smiles widely. "And there is a tradition. You gift the pin to the person that you love, so you can pass on the gift of eternal life forever." Iris opens her palm, where the flower wreath pin was held. It was beautiful, intricately detailed, and something she has treasured for nine years. She holds her spare hand to Glenn's cheek. "And I'm passing on the blessing to you."

Glenn's eyes soften, and he looks at her so tenderly her knees go weak. Slowly, he takes the pin from her hand, handling it with incredible care and love. "Oh, Iris. Thank you. I'll take good care of it, I promise."

Iris smiles warmly. "I know." She reaches up and kisses her on the cheek. "A good luck kiss. Now go, before my brother kills us both!"

Glenn nods, turning to walk away. He turns around. "Good-"

"No goodbyes!" Iris interrupts. "Just a see you later, okay?"

Glenn gives her a salute. "See you later."

Glenn rests his head against the car window, watching the world go by. Despite his anxiety about the mission they were about to take, Glenn felt nothing but warmth and happiness.

Iris Grimes was beautiful. Her hair was soft and light, and her space buns just embodied the spirit in her heart. Her eyes were blue, like the sky and the ocean, a million atoms flying around inside of them, and he felt the immense power of them every time she looked at him, like they controlled his very heart and kept it beating with every smile, every scrunch of her nose when she laughed, every time she touched him and everytime she kissed him. Her personality was beautiful, a bright fire that burned, but it wasn't destructive. It was like starting a fire on the coldest day of the year. She was warm, like the sun. She was beautiful, like the sun.

Iris Grimes was beautiful, and she loved him.

Iris Grimes was beautiful, and she loved him so much that she blessed him with eternal life, through a little pin of a flower wreath that had been through generations.

Iris Grimes was beautiful.

So much had happened in the few hours since Iris had confessed everything to Glenn and they had become official, that they hadn't even had time to formally tell Rick the news. Of course, Rick must've figured it out. If not from all of their touches and general close proximity, Iris kissing him passionately to say goodbye with Rick in the car staring at him would've done the trick.

Rick drove in silence, and Glenn all but sank into the passenger seat, looking out of the window but sending the occasional nervous glance in Rick's direction. Yeah, he'd spoken to Rick before about his feelings, and he had seemed supportive, but it was still incredibly daunting being trapped in such a tiny, inescapable place with your girlfriend's older brother.

Eventually Rick must've decided to stop torturing him with silence and he glanced at him. "Is that Iris' pin?"

Glenn looks at the flower wreath pin that was safely fastened to his shirt with pride. He almost teared up when Iris had given it to him, knowing everything it meant to her and to her family, and what the tradition was. It was a sweet thought, giving up eternal life to pass on to the ones you love, and it was now Glenn's most prized possession. "Yeah. She gave it to me."

"She talked to you, then?" Rick asks, with a smirk.

"Yeah. Yeah. She did. She told me I have you to thank for that, so thank you." Glenn sits up a little straighter.

"She would've gotten there eventually." Rick says. "Sometimes she needs a little extra push. She gets stuck in her own head sometimes. Just don't let it scare you off."

"God no, I wouldn't. I've known that since day one. She has a spirit, that's for sure. I love that about her though." Glenn smiles to himself, he couldn't help it.

"Love?" Rick asks.

Glenn looks a little bashful as Rick smirks at him, and he chuckles. "Yeah. She said it first, you know? And I didn't say it back, not at first. I've never had a woman say that to me before except my mom, of course, and my sisters, but then I thought about it, and I know it's soon, and we've only known each other for a few months, but I love her. I really do."

"I know you do." Rick replies. "You look after that pin, it's important to her."

"I will." Glenn nods, feeling the metal with his fingers. "Rick? I know about Lori, her being pregnant. I got her those pills."

"I figured." Rick replies.

"Hey, I'm sorry I kept it from you." Glenn apologises, shuffling in his seat.

Rick shakes his head. "Don't be. You did what you thought was right."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm still sorry." Glenn says quietly.

"You're a good man, Glenn." Rick takes one hand off the steering wheel and pats Glenn's shoulder. "You'll treat her well. But if you hurt her, I hurt you. Understand?"

"Yeah." Glenn gulps. "I would never hurt her. Never."

"I know." Rick smiles. "You're good like that."

Glenn smiles.

Chapter Text

HERSHEL WAS IN THE BAR.

His back was turned from them, huddled over a bar stool and nursing a glass of scotch. He made no acknowledgement when Rick and Glenn walked into the bar. Hershel was hunched, his usually large, unyielding form was shrunken and small in the wake of the utter destruction of his beliefs and his values.

Glenn hung back, holding his rifle in his hands as he stared at the back of Hershel's head. Rick steps forward.

"Hershel."

"Who's with you?" Hershel asks. His voice was gruff, sounding like he had scratched his vocal chords with sandpaper.

"Glenn." Rick says, taking another step closer.

Hershel puts his drink down. "Maggie sent him? Your sister let him go?"

"He volunteered. He's good like that." Rick replies. "Iris knows that. How many have you had?"

"Not enough." Hershel scoffs bitterly.

"Let's finish this up back at home. Beth collapsed, is in some sort of state. Must be in shock. I think you are too." Rick reaches the bar, leaning against it. Glenn's feet itched to move closer, but he stayed by the door. He was not sure Iris would forgive him if they got ambushed in the middle of some bar, surrounded by old alcohol and dust particles.

Hhershel spares Rick a glance. "Maggie's with her?"

"Yeah, but Beth needs you." Rick replies. His voice was calm and hushed, as if he thought he might scare Hershel off. Before today, Glenn wasn't sure if Hershel could be afraid of anything.

"What could I do? What could I do? She needs her mother. Or rather to mourn like she should've done weeks ago. I robbed her of that. I see that now." Hershel's voice held a remorseful tone, picking the glass back up and swooshing the liquid around absentmindedly.

"You thought there was a cure. Can't blame yourself for holding out for hope." Rick says.

His words reminded Glenn of Rick's pleas in the CDC to Edwin Jenner, begging for him to let them go, to let them live. He had cited hope as the reason then, too.

When Glenn thought of the word hope, specific images crossed his mind.

Blonde hair.

Big blue eyes.

An old pin in the shape of a flower wreath.

"Hope?" Hershel echoes. "When I first saw you running across my field with your boy in your arms, I had little hope he would survive."

"But he did." Rick deflects back.

"He did. Even though we lost Otis. Your man Shane made it back and we saved your boy. That was the miracle that proved to me miracles do exist. Only it was a sham, a bait and switch. I was a fool, Rick, and you people saw that. My daughters deserve better than that." Hershel continued his drunken rambles, staring straight ahead as if Rick didn't even exist.

Rick moves away from Hershel, walking back over to the door with a sigh. If Glenn knew Rick, he knew that Rick would never leave without Hershel. When Rick made a promise, it stuck.

"So what do we do?" Glenn whispers. "Just wait for him to pass out?"

"Just go." Hershel yells, with the same strong and loud bellow. "Just go!"

Rick sighs, closing his eyes for a moment but he starts towards Hershel, holding a hand out as he speaks. "I promised Maggie I'd bring you home safe. I promised Iris I'd bring him home safe."

"Like you promised that little girl?" Hershel says. Glenn can see Rick tense from where he was standing. Rick was a lot like Iris in a lot of ways, and one of them was their intense need to do everything they could to save the people they cared about, and that comment stung Rick just as much as it would have Iris. Glenn steps closer, walking next to Rick as the words of retort form.

"So what's your plan? Finish that bottle? Drink yourself to death and leave your girls alone?" Rick asks, shaking his head in disappointment.

Hershe takes a breath, turning to look at Rick with a yell. "Stop telling me how to care for my family, my farm. You people are like a plague! I do the Christian thing, give you shelter, and you destroy it all!"

"The world was already in bad shape when we met." Rick shoots back.

"And you take no responsibility! You're supposed to be their leader!"

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?"

Hershel scoffs. "Yes. Yes. Yes, you are."

"Now come on. Your girls need you now more than ever." Rick pleads, and Hershel turns to face him, shaking his head distinctively.

"I didn't want to believe you. You told me there was no cure, that these people were dead, not sick. I chose not to believe that. But when Shane shot Lou in the chest and she just kept coming, that's when I knew what an ass I'd been, that Annette had been dead long ago and I was feeding a rotten corpse! That's when I knew there was no hope. And when that little girl came out of the barn, the look on your face. I knew you knew it too. Right? There is no hope. And you know it now, like I do. Don't you? There is no hope for any of us." Hershel drawls on, his voice becoming louder and louder and more passionate as he speaks.

Glenn tries to think about what Iris would say to Hershel if she was here like she had wanted. Iris would've been better at this than him, she would've cited all of the different reasons Hershel has to go on, she would've done whatever it took to convince him to get back to that farm, to Maggie and to Beth.

Rick massages his temples, sighing. "Look, I'm done. I'm not doing this anymore, cleaning up after you. You know what the truth is? Nothing has changed. Death is death. It's always been there, whether it's from a heart attack, cancer, or a Walker. What's the difference? You didn't think it was hopeless before, did you? Now there are people back at home trying to hang on. They need us, even if it's just to give them a reason to go on, even if we don't believe it ourselves. You know what? This-this isn't about what we believe anymore. It's about them."

Yeah, Iris would've said something like that.

Glenn can see the expression change on Hershel's face as Rick spoke. He slowly puts down the glass, swinging his stool away from it as if he couldn't stand the sight of it. He puts a hand on his knee and starts to stan

"Son of a bitch. They're alive."

Glenn whips his head around. Two men stood in the doorway of the bar, gigantic smiles plastered on their faces.

"Can you pass the salt?"

"Yeah." Iris says, picking up the salt and bringing it to where Carol was heating up portions of stew for dinner. Iris had helped the woman prepare it and they had been working all afternoon, trying to make it perfect. They both had things they wanted to take their minds off of. Iris hoped that Glenn and Rick would return with Hershel in time for dinner, but as she stared out of the kitchen window to nothing but darkness, she knew it wasn't likely. They were fine. They had to be.

"Try this." Carol says, shoving the spoon in Iris' mouth before she had the time to respond.

Iris made a noise of surprise, holding a hand to her full mouth, and she hummed in satisfaction. "Mmm, yeah, oh my god, this is great. We did great, well, you did great. I kinda just stood here and watched."

"You were a great moral support." Carol says, taking her own bite."Yeah, this is good. It's ready."

Iris bites her cheek, checking the window one more time. It was getting darker, and Glenn and Rick were nowhere in sight.

"They'll be fine." Carol says, and Iris looks away from the window and at Carol's kind face. "They're too stubborn not to come back."

"Yeah." Iris says. A gathering of people had formed at the dining room table, chattering quietly and setting their places as they waited for food. Everyone contributed to life on the farm in their own ways, it had become a quick routine, just like the one that had formed at the Quarry. Especially since the loss of Sophia, the group had rallied together, doing things together more often like they were their own little family. Even Shane. The only person who hadn't been getting involved was Daryl, who had sulked off on his own since Sophia was found. She holds a hand to Carol's shoulder. "We appreciate you cooking. We're all here for you, you know? All of us."

"Thank you, Iris." Carol smiles. She looks over Iris' shoulder, seeing the group sitting on the table and chattering away. "I have all of you, and I'm glad that I do."

Iris smiles and picks up one of the pots, walking to the table. Carol follows her, holding the second pot and placing it down on the table. Iris puts her pot down in front of Carl, leaning down to squeeze her nephew's shoulders and hug him from behind, despite his joyous protests. Iris sits on the chair next to Carl, putting a decent sized portion in his bowl. Carl tucks in immediately, shovelling the food down his throat like the growing boy he was. It was a strange thing, watching someone grow from a tiny little baby to someone who was almost a teenager, and she almost wished that he would stop growing and stay like this forever.

"They should've been back by now." Andrea says, walking into the room with T-Dog. Iris starts plating up their dinner as they sit down on the table.

"Yeah. They just got holed up somewhere. We'll- we'll head out first thing in the morning." Shane sits at the head of the table, taking a bowl from Carol. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Shane points at Carl with his spoon. "Carl, I want you to keep your head up, okay? Your old man, he's the toughest son of a-"

"No cussing in the house." Patricia tuts.

"Sorry." Shane raises his hands. Iris brings her arms around Carl's shoulders, keeping him close. She doubted that Lori and Rick (or Shane, for that matter) had spoken to Carl about the baby, and even less so about its potential parentage. Despite the tension and the hard feelings, the four adults at least agreed on one thing: Carl would not get dragged into the middle of it. But Iris was going to do her damn best to make sure Carl wasn't influenced too much by Shane and his quick to anger attitude.

"Lori, dinner!" Carol calls.

Maggie looks up. She had finally emerged from Beth's room, having stood vigil over her little sister for hours while she stayed in her catatonic state. Iris had sat in there with her for a while, but she could sense that Maggie needed time alone with her. Iris had needed that with Carl when he was lying in that very bed. "She's not in there."

Iris frowns. She thought that Lori was upstairs in one of the guest bedrooms, getting some rest. When she was pregnant with Carl, Iris got obsessed with the idea of pregnancy and babies and she learned everything that was appropriate for a ten year old to learn in preparation. The first trimester was tricky, and it was the one that most women felt the sickest in. "She's not upstairs?"

Shane looks up and stares at her. "Where is she? Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?"

"This afternoon." Carl says. He looks up, reading the concern on everyone's faces. Irs squeezes his shoulder again.

"She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl." Andrea says.

"She went after them?" Dale exclaims.

"She didn't say that." Andrea says quickly.

Iris raises her eyebrows. "Then where the hell is-"

Shane puts up a hand, silencing Iris. "Nobody panic. Gonna be around here somewhere."

After dinner, the group split off, all looking for Lori in different places. It was well into the night now, and it was getting unsafe to be away from the safety of the group. Iris was already worried enough about Glenn and Rick and how their 'easy run' had turned into an hours-long journey and it wasn't any less safe out on the road than it was out on the farm land.

It was to Iris' surprise that Shane had volunteered the two of them to check out the barn, considering the fact that she hadn't spoken a word to Shane unless it was to yell in days and the majority of that yelling was because of what he had done in the barn. (Another major factor was the baby and the affair, but as far as she knew, Shane didn't know that she knew that.)

She only remembered Lori's whispered words to her about how she thinks that Shane killed Otis when they were inside the barn, and she pushed down a shiver as she listened to Shane's heavy footsteps. Was Shane capable of murder? If he did, was it in cold blood? Did he feel guilty about it? Was that the reason his behaviour had been so erratic lately?

"I don't see her." Shane says suddenly, and Iris jumps, letting a frightened yelp out as he appears behind her. Shane chuckles. "Calm down."

"Don't tell me to calm down." Iris snaps, walking away from him. "You don't just sneak up on a girl in the dark like that!"

"Jesus, Iris." Shane curses, shaking his head and catching up to her. "What? You still got a problem with the barn, because we would've never figured out about Sophia-"

"It's about you and Lori!" Iris cuts in, still furiously walking away.

Shane pulls her back by the elbow with a death grip. Iris tries to pull away, sending him a glare. Shane lets go, and Iris pulls her arm away viciously. "Me and Lori?"

"Having an affair when you thought my brother's body was only a few weeks cold." Iris laughs bitterly, licking her lips as she flexes her jaw. "There must've been some underlying feelings there, huh? And now-" She cuts herself off.

"Now what, Iris?" Shane smiles, which sends a chill down Iris' spine. "The baby? So you admit, it's mine."

Iris scoffs. "Go to hell."

"She was lonely!" Shane says, even as Iris pulls away and starts her walk back to the others. "I did her a favour!"

"You're delusional." Iris spits back. "And I want you to stay away from my family."

The words stung even Iris, who could've never imagined herself saying those words to Shane. He had always been there for her, but Iris was led to question everything about his intentions in the past. How long had it really been since Shane had started having feelings for Lori?

It made everything feel like a lie.

The strangers seemed nice.

Glenn was on the other side of the bar, leaning his elbows on the counter as the two men sat down. If anything, Glenn was glad that he wasn't left alone with Rick and Hershel, standing awkwardly between their heavy conversation.

The man who had spoken when they had entered the bar smiles, finding a chair. "I'm Dave. That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony."

"Eat me, Dave." Tony says. Glenn smiles at their clearly well-known banter.

"Hey, maybe someday I will." Dave jokes. "We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit-show that was."

Glenn smiles, looking between Dave and Tony. He waves. "I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet some new people."

"Rick Grimes." Rick offers. His voice was gruff, mistrusting. Glenn wasn't too sure. Not all people were bad. Hershel wasn't bad, Maggie wasn't bad. There was more to life than constant enemies, he thought.

"How about you, pal?" Dave lifts his drink in the air, pointing it at Hershel. "Have one?"

"I just quit." Hershel says.

Dave chuckles. "You've got a unique sense of timing, my friend."

"His name's Hershel." Rick says. "He lost people today, a lot of them."

"I'm truly sorry to hear that." Dave lifts up his glass. "To better days and new friends. And to our dead. May they be in a better place."

Glenn picks up the bottle of scotch, pouring his own glass. It couldn't hurt, right? It would've been better if Iris was here, like she was at the CDC. That night with her, joking and laughing, was wirth any hangover in the world.

Dave looks up at Rick, his eyes widening in realisation as to what he was staring at. He takes his gun from his holster. "Not bad, huh? I got it off a cop."

"I'm a cop." Rick says.

Dave smiles and shrugs. "This one was already dead."

There was a short silence that followed Dave's words. Glenn takes a sip of scotch, but it was so disgusting that he disguises his disgust with a cough, holding his chest. Glenn looks at Rick and Hershel, wondering if he was going to have to carry this whole conversation with the newcomers.

Rick finally speaks, clearing his throat. "You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia."

"It feels like we're a long way from anywhere." Dave laughs.

"Well, what drove you South?" Rick crosses his arms over his knees.

"Well, I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped 30 lbs in sweat alone down here."

Tony snorts. "I wish."

Dave chuckles, shaking his head. "No, first it was D.C. I heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass. Every group we came across had a new rumour about a way out of this thing."

"One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the Gulf, sending ferries to the islands." Tony adds.

"The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country. Kansas, Nebraska."

Glenn raises his eyebrows, leaning closer. "Nebraska?"

Dave shrugs. "Low population, lots of guns."

"Kinda makes sense." Glenn says. It did, especially for people like Dave and Tony, who seemed to constantly be on the move. Ammo would run low often, and Glenn knew how hard it was to find more, and on the move, you always needed more.

"Ever been to Nebraska, kid? A reason they call 'em flyover states." Dave asks. Glenn shakes his head, leading to a big laugh from Dave. "How about you guys?"

"Fort Benning, eventually." Rick answers. His words were short and a little snippy, and Glenn started to wonder if Rick was seeing something in these men that Glenn didn't.

But if Glenn hadn't trusted enough that some random guy in a tank was someone worth saving, he wouldn't be standing here right now. So Glenn preferred the benefit of the doubt.

"I hate to piss in your cornflakes, officer, but-" Dave leans forward, holding his drink in his left hand. "We ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains."

Glenn stands up, unable to hide his disappointment. "Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?"

"Sadly, I am. Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab a hold of you when you sleep." Dave sighs. Glenn wasn't sure if he believed that. There had to be more to life than just running and surviving. Living and surviving were two very different things.

"If you sleep." Tony comments.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here." Dave frowns curiously. Something in his voice changes. "You holed up somewhere else?"

"Not really." Rick lies.

Dave raises a brow. "Those your cars out front?"

"Yeah. Why?" Glenn asks. If Dave and Tony wanted a place to stay, Glenn would happily point them into a good direction. A lot of stores around here had potential, if they could be cleared out.

"We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?" Dave stands up, and the look on his face sends a shiver down Glenn's spine. He doesn't know what to say, looking between Rick and Hershel with a rush of anxiety.

Maybe Dave and Tony were not what they seemed.

"We're with a larger group out scouting, thought we could use a drink." Hershel says. His voice was low, sounding almost like it had done when he spoke to Shane, ordering him off of the farm. There was an immediate hostility between the other four people in the room that Glenn felt like he had totally missed something.

"A drink? Hershel, me I thought you quit." Dave says. He looks around the bar, taking in a big inhale. "Well, we're thinking of setting up around here. Is it-is it safe?"

"It can be, although I have killed a couple of walkers around here." Glenn says. He wanted to be able to at least have a benefit of the doubt, or he'd feel like he was losing himself to this world.

"Walkers? That what you call them?" Dave asks, smirking.

Glenn chuckles nervously. Rick and Hershel were still on edge, and it was messing with his head. "Yeah."

"That's good. I like that. I like that better than lamebrains."

"More succinct." Tony adds, raising his shoulders and his arms as he speaks.

"Okay, Tony went to college." Dave jokes.

"Two years." Tony corrects with a smile.

"So what... so what, you guys set up on the outskirts or something? That new development? Trailer park or something? A farm?"

Glenn tenses. Hershel draws in a deep breath, and Rick refuses to look up from his peircing glare at the floor.

Dave's face lights up, smiling sinisterly. He moves around the bar, singing the nursery rhyme Old McDonald had a Farm under his breath. "You got a farm?"

His voice, coupled with his mannerisms and the way that he was carrying himself had gone from just a kind stranger coming across others in a bar to a sinister predator, and Glenn started to feel like his benefit of the doubt was very, very wrong.

Tiny stands up and unzips his pants, turning around and relieving himself against the wall. "Is it safe?"

"It's gotta be. You got food, water?" Dave asks.

"You got cooze?" Tony adds. "Ain't had a piece of ass in weeks."

Glenn turns up his nose in disgust. He was suddenly incredibly glad that Iris hadn't come in his place, and he was regretting every word he had spoken to the men. He despised the thought of Dave and Tony finding the farm, finding Iris and the other women in camp — strong, incredible women that were brave and good fighters, true surivors — and disrespecting them like that.

No, they could never find out where the farm was.

"Listen, pardon my friend. City kids, they got no tact. No disrespect." Dave says, waving his hand. "So listen, Glenn..."

"We've said enough." Rick cuts in, glaring at Dave with a murderous stare.

"Well, hang on a second. This farm, it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony?"

"Yeah, real sweet." Tony says, zipping up his pants.

"How about a little Southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp, been having a real hard time. I don't see why you can't make room for a few more. We can pool our resources, our manpower." Dave suggests.

Rick shakes his head. "Look, I'm sorry. That's not an option."

"Doesn't sound like it'd be a problem." Dave says defensively. He was slowly getting closer and closer to Rick

"I'm sorry. We can't." Hershel backs up. Glenn felt frozen in place. He suddenly felt cornered, like the walls were closing in on him as he realised just how naive he was. If he was alone, he might've trusted Dave and Tony too much and paid the terrible price of learning exactly what kind of people they were too late. Glenn wasn't on his own anymore. He didn't just have himself to look out for. He had Iris now, he had someone that he loved more than anything that he had to protect, keep out of danger, even if she was more than capable. He had to think of Iris first, or he'd risk losing it all. It was not a risk he was willing to take, not here, not ever, not when it came to Iris.

The realisation came crashing down on him like a bunch of bricks.

"We can't take in any more." Rick shakes his head.

Dave sighs heavily, his hands on his hips and his fingers going dangerously close to his gun holster. "You guys are something else. I thought, I thought we were friends. We got people we gotta look out for too."

"We don't know anything about you." Rick points out.

"No, that's true. You don't know anything about us. You don't know what we've had to go through out there, the things we've had to do. I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right? 'Cause ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world. We're all the same. So come on, let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other. You must be rolling in it, look at that pin on your shirt there? What is that, a bunch of flowers? How cute."

Glenn shudders.

"That's not gonna happen." Rick says again, his voice firm and unwavering.

"Rick..." Dave sighs.

"This is bullshit." Tony exclaims, throwing his hand in the air.

"Calm down." Rick tell him.

"Don't tell me to calm down!" Tiny yells. "Don't ever tell me to calm down. I'll shoot you three assholes in the head and take your damn farm!"

Glenn felt a chill. His heartbeat starts to go as fast as a racehorse in his chest, his lungs constricting as he scanned the bar for any exit other than the door.

Dave holds a hand out to his friend, but his tone was still light as if he was disussing the weather and not the potential shooting of the three of them. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. Relax. Take it easy. Nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Rick?" Dave grunts and jumps over the counter, taking out his gun an placing it there, a smile forming on his lips. Glenn panics even more now that Dave was on the same side of the bar than him, and all of a sudden all he could think about was Iris and the look on her face if he never came back from this. "Look. We're just friends having a drink. That's all. Now where's the good stuff, huh? Good stuff, good stuff, good stuff. Let's see. Hey, look at that. That'll work. You gotta understand... we can't stay out there. You know what it's like."

Rick nods. His fingers graze over his own gun holster. "Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking."

"Keep looking." Dave repeats, looking dumbstruck. "Where do you suggest we do that?"

"I don't know." Rick shrugs. "I hear Nebraska's nice."

Dave chuckles even harder, pointing to Rick with his thumb. "Nebraska. This guy."

Glenn doesn't know what to do. He was totally, completely helpless. Iris was right to worry about him going. He could be the best supply runner in the country but none of that mattered if he got shot by some other guy because he was too much of a trusting person to realize the guy was holding a knife behind his back. He needed to get home, he needed to hold onto Iris and never let go, he needed to —

BANG.

BANG.

Smoke filled the room.

Glenn didn't realize what had happened until a thud registered in his ears.

Rick had shot them both in the head. 

Chapter Text

"HOLY SHIT."

Glenn looks down at the two bodies. He was no stranger to blood, not anymore, but Dave and Tony weren't just walkers who they had to shoot and kill because that was just what the world was now. Dave and Tony were people. Just like him and Rick and Hershel, and now they were dead.

The adrenaline was still coursing through him, which was probably why he wasn't freaking out in utter shock. There was a part of him that felt incredibly afraid, that in only a few months, humankind had gone from a civilised society to... this.

A much bigger, more rational part of him knew that Rick had done what he had to do to protect his own.

"You all right?" Rick asks, his breath heavy and sweat dripping from his hair.

Glenn nods wordlessly. "Yeah."

There was a long, and somehow loud silence.

Rick clears his throat. "Hershel?"

Glenn looks up at the older man. For someone who had, up until very recently, thought that the walkers were sick people and was incredibly against killing them, he was uncharacteristically calm about the fact that Rick had actually killed two humans. He just nods his head. "Let's head back."

Rick exhales, holding a hand to his hips and he gingerly steps closer to Tony's body slumped on the floor, hesitating before nudging him and taking his gun, putting it on his belt alongside his python. Glenn looks over the other body lying on the other side of the counter. Unflinching, unmoving, dead.

The strange, selfish thing that was going through his head was how stupid he felt looking at the bodies of men he thought he could trust.

It was possible it could be a fluke. That humanity wasn't like this now. That there was a Hershel to counteract every Dave or Tony in the world, and Glenn clung to that belief, because if he couldn't hold on to that, he didn't know how to stay true to himself, and everything he'd ever known.

He looks away.

There was a roar of an engine and a bright light shone through the thin doors of the bar, followed by a chorus of different voices speaking indistinctly.

Rick reacts immediately, crouching down to the ground and crawling over to the door, pressing himself against it. "Car. Car. Get down."

Glen gasps and follows in Rick's footsteps, launching himself down and sitting on the other side of the door. He rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes so tight he could see stars. His breath hitched, as he heard men draw closer and closer to the doors.

He was a million times more scared than he ever could be around walkers.

The thought of that terrified him.

"Dave? Tony? They said over here?" A man says. His voice was hushed, and the very thought of an enemy being so close that Glenn could hear his whispers making him stifle a gasp.

"Yeah." Another man responded.

"I'm telling you, man, I heard shots." A third man.

"I saw roamers, two streets over. Might be more around here."

"Dave! Tony!" One of them yells. Glenn tenses as his voice echoes right through his head. He opens his eyes to see Rick looking at him, nodding his head in reassurance. Glenn looks into his eyes and for a moment, all he can see is Iris in him, and in his blue eyes.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Another man reprimands. "You wanna attract 'em? Just stick close. We're gonna find 'em."

"Dude, he said to stay close. Tony!"

Their voices start to get further away, only slightly, looking for their friends around the outside of the building.

Glenn swallows the bile that rose in his throat, whispering. "Why won't they leave?"

"Would you?" Rick whispers back. He looks between Glenn and Hershel. "We can't sit here any longer. Let's head out the back and make a run to the car."

Outside, a gun fires. Glenn jumps, squeezing his eyes shut as he braces for impact.

Nothing came.

"What happened?" One of the men asks.

"Roamers, I nailed 'em. They disappeared but their car's still there. I cleared those buildings. You guys get this one?"

"No."

"Me neither."

"We're looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?"

The footsteps approach closer again, and their shadows loom over where Glenn and Rick were sitting, like the monsters that children were afraid would come out of their closets. Glenn had never really been afraid of that stuff as a kid, but right now he felt every single childhood fear and bad memory all at once. He looks at Rick again. Iris spoke about how she was afraid of a lot of things as a kid, especially at night, and she would climb into his bed at night and Rick would take care of her. If anything, Glenn was glad that Rick was with him now.

There was a clicking noise, followed by a grunt. A second man speaks up. "What?"

"Someone pushed it shut. There's someone in there." Before Glenn even had time to react, the man spoke louder. "Yo, is someone in there? Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends."

Rick holds a finger to his lips, and Glenn nods silently, trying to get his breathing under control.

"What do we do?" One of them whispers.

"Bum rush the door?" Another one suggests.

"No, we don't know how many are there. Just relax." The third one sighs. He takes a breath, and speaks to them again. "We don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends. If something happened, tell us. This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it.

"Dude, you're bugging. I'm telling you nobody's in there."

"Someone guard the door. If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."

The footsteps start to depart, and Glenn starts to wonder if maybe they would actually leave them alone.

Rick grunts and crooks his neck up, opening his mouth and projecting his voice. "They drew on us!"

Hershel puts a hand on his temple as the footsteps come back, and Glenn bites down on his tongue, praying to any God up there that Rick knew what he was doing. Iris couldn't lose the both of them. Not now, not when things were so bad with Lori and Shane and she had so much stacked against her, and he refused to contribute to that.

"Dave and Tony in there? They alive?" The man asks.

"No." Rick admits, and something flashes over his expression. Anxiety.

"They killed Dave and Tony." Another man spits.

"Come on, man, let's go."

"No, I'm not leaving, I'm not telling Jane. I'm not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar!"

"Your friends drew on us!" Rick yells back. He swallows, before continuing to speak. "They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people, done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that! So let's just chalk this up to what it was. Wrong place, wrong..."

A shotgun fires, hitting the door between Rick and Glenn. It shattered the glass, raining down on them like lethal downpour. Glenn can't hold it in anymore and he lets out a little noise of fear, covering his head with his hands as he shakes in anticipation.

"Get outta here! Go!" Rick yells, throwing a hand up. Glenn takes a moment to stare at Rick, but when Rick looks at him with a pleading, almost desperate expression, Glenn crawls away from the door, hiding behind the piano.

Please, let me see Iris again.

It felt like hours before Shane pulled back up to the farm after leaving to search for Lori.

When the headlights shone through the open kitchen window, Iris jumped up. She hadn't slept all night, too worried out of her mind to even try and sleep. Carl was curled up beside her, sleeping with his head resting on her knee. When she saw the car, Rick and Glenn immediately crossed her mind, and she stood up so fast that Carl woke up just from the shock of his pillow leaving his head. Iris ran to the kitchen, looking through the window.

She recognised the car as Shane's.

The disappointment faded quickly when Carl's face lights up, and he grabs her hand, pulling her outside with the others to greet him. The sound of Shane closing his car door echoed through the otherwise silent farm, and Carl and Iris get outside just as Lori gets out of the passenger seat. A sigh leaves her mouth when she sees her sister-in-law, despite recent events, she didn't want to lose Lori, either.

Andrea was a couple beats ahead of her, and she exclaims loudly. "Oh my God, are you all right? What happened?"

Iris runs over when she hears Andrea's words of worry. The darkness was hiding a lot of her face, but her chee was bruised and her temple was cut. Iris lets go of Carl's hand to inspect her. "Oh my god, Lori."

Lori brushes both of them off, shaking his head. "I was in an accident. I'm fine, I'm fine."

"She was attacked." Shane corrects, walking off and standing further away, his back facing them. Iris turns back to Lori, her eyes wide as she tries to find any semblance of truth in her eyes.

"I really am." Lori says. She looks back at Iris, looking at the empty space next to her as if she was expecting someone to be there. "Why isn't Glenn with you? Where's Rick?"

Iris frowns. She looks around at Andrea, who looks just as confused. She tilts her head, hoping that Lori hadn't suffered some kind of memory loss because of the accident. "They're not-"

"They're not back?" Lori finishes. Her eyes harden, and she turns her head to look at Shane. "Where are they?"

Shane turns around, bringing his hands down. "Look, I had to get you back here."

Lori shakes her head. "You asshole."

"Lori-"

"He's my husband." Lori spits, walking over to Shane and slapping him in the chest. As Iris watches Lori's pained and almost heartbroken words, and she wonders if Lori had fallen in love with Shane like she had thought. Maybe she wasn't even at all. "Where's my husband?"

"Lori, I will go after him. I will find him." Shane tells her. Iris runs over, holding Lori by the arm and feeling her shake. Right now, she felt all of the rage and betrayal towards Shane, but an odd sympathy for Lori that she didn't think possible. Shane keeps speaking to her, his voice raised even higher. "Hey! Now look, first things first- I gotta, I gotta look after you. I gotta make sure the baby's all right, okay?"

Good lord.

"You're having a baby?" Carl exclaims, pushing through the crowd. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Lori looks down at the floor. " I...I."

Dale sighs. "Come on. Let's make sure you're all right."

"Come on." Andrea repeats, when Lori hesitates.

Lori shoots a look at Shane as Andrea and Dale lead her away. Shane doesn't look back at her.

"Aunt Iris?" Carl asks. His voice sounds so betrayed and vulnerable, which Iris couldn't blame him for feeling. She had been feeling a hell of a lot of those emotions herself, even more so.

Iris takes him by the hand, carefully adjusting Rick's hat on his head. "Come on, we'll talk to your mom inside."

Carl squeezes her hand, and Iris leads him into the warmth of the house. The last thing she wanted was for Carl to be dragged into this mess, especially before Rick and Lori had the chance to figure out what to do, and what to do about Shane. But now he knew about the baby, and he deserved answers. Carl was a lot like her in the way that he hated being kept in the dark just as much as she did, and if he wasn't able to find out why this secret was being kept from him, he'd start pushing them away.

Lori sat down heavily on the couch. Dale and Andrea were on the one next to it, checking Lori over for injuries. However, they all seemed superficial, which was a small mercy. Carl didn't need to be worried about both of his parents. Carl and Iris sit down next to Lori, and Lori immediately holds onto her son's hand, giving him a sad smile.

"I am so sorry that I left without telling you." Lori's voice was apologetic and genuine. She looks over Carl's head at Carl, and Iris gives her a small smile.

"It's okay." Carl says. He looks at his mother with an overlay of awe and wonder, his blue eyes shining up at her with the kind of innocence you can only find in a child. "I wasn't scared. When's dad getting back?"

"Let's hope soon." Lori says, brushing her hand up and down Carl's arm. "Dad... and Glenn..." She looks at Iris and nods. "Will be back soon."

Iris nods. She holds a hand to Carl's shoulder, making the twelve year old look around at her. "Your mom is right. And they're doing a kind thing, helping Hershel."

"I wanna be there when you tell him about the baby." Carl says giddily. Iris and Lori share a sad look.

"Oh, love, he already knows." Lori says. "We were just trying to find the right time to tell you."

Carl was taking it incredibly well, which was probably because his excitement about the possibility of a new baby was overshadowing any frustration or upset that would've come from not being told. Iris smiles at his enthusiasm, and for the first time since learning of its existence, she realised that in less than nine months, there would be a new baby in the family. Iris loved babies.

Carl smiles mischievously. "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Well, we won't know that until it's born." Lori says, pinching Carl's cheeks.

Carl holds his hand to Lori's stomach, lightly grazing his fingers over it. Iris touches her chest, feeling her heart. Carl's actions reminded her so much of herself at a young age, desperate to meet Carl when he was still in Lori's stomach. "Will I be able to feel it?"

"Not for a while. You must have a lot of questions, huh?" Lori chuckles. She looks round at Dale and Andrea. "We never had the talk. I guess we forgot."

Iris laughs too, a genuine, warm laugh that makes her feel hopeful that everything could be okay. Carl raises his eyebrows, looking at Dale with an unspoken question.

Dale laughs, raising his hands. "Don't look at me. That's your father's job."

Carl smiles, looking back up at Lori. "If the baby's a girl, can we name her Sophia?"

"That's sweet." Iris says softly, smiling at Carl's thoughtfulness.

"Hey, dude." Shane leans on the doorway. Iris shoots a glare in his direction, their last conversation running over and over again in her head. Stay the hell away from my family. "Hey, I'm sorry, bud. Okay? I thought you knew."

Carl shrugs. "Big brother Carl. Pretty cool, huh?"

Shane laughs. "I say that's very cool." He moves away from the door, putting his hands on the back of the couch. "You mind if I talk to your mom a sec?

Iris tenses, and Shane looks directly into her eyes, with a smug sense of superiority. Iris knew that he would never listen to her words of warning, and in truth, there wasn't much she could do to stop him.

"How about a little later after she's had some rest?" Andrea suggests.

Shane sighs. "You wouldn't have come otherwise. How about you- how about you just hear me out, please?"

Lori looks at Iris. She can see the silent plea in her eyes, the wordless begging that, even though they weren't on great terms, she needed to trust her. Before, Iris might've argued, but she had seen Lori's anger and betrayal directed at Shane when she found out he had lied, and it had given her a slither of hope. "Okay. Give me a minute."

Iris nods, standing up and taking Carl by the hand. She shoots one final glare at Shane, and he simply looks through her like she never even existed, like he had suddenly decided that Iris was nothing to him, like she never meant anything.

Glenn peers into the darkness. It was cold. It was forbidding. The darkness twisted and disguised itself, tricking his eyes as he searched for an invisible but at the same time, the very real, enemy. His heart thumps in his chest, almost as loud as the gunshots that had echoed a couple of moments before. The gun in his hands felt large and heralding as he held it against his chest, his fingers brushing over the trigger despite the fact he felt terrified to pull it. A drip of sweat fell down his face from his forehead, his body so tense and tightly wound from his likely imminent death that he had to force himself to take a step forward.

He had a job to do. Get to the car, use it to drive around and pick up the others, and get the hell out of here.

It sounded so easy in words.

The darkness made him feel even more afraid, and he swallowed, wincing from his dry throat. He looks back at Hershel, who holds his own gun close, ready to cover him from walkers and humans alike. Hershel nods curtly, motioning towards the door.

Glenn closes his eyes, preferring the darkness of his eyelids over the giant mass of space in front of him, filled with any number of unknown predators. He brings a hand to his chest, trying to feel for his heartbeat, so he could get control of it. His fingers accidentally touch the metal of Iris' pin. His pin.

That pin was a blessing of eternal life. A gift from the woman he loves, a woman who hated goodbyes, a woman who struggled with the idea of losing people, a woman who was waiting for him to come home.

Glenn steps outside.

He walks tentatively, cautious to even breathe too heavily as he walks towards the car. He didn't look back at Hershel behind him, hoping that the older man was watching his surroundings carefully. He thought about all of the ways he could die tonight. Walker bite. Surprise attack. Torn apart.

There was a sudden bang, popping Glenn's eardrums.

Gunshot.

Glenn drops to the ground. He doesn't even think about it. He hits the floor with a thud, his mind working slow, too slow. He felt sluggish and in shock. He didn't know what being shot felt like, but he had fired enough bullets at this point to know what it sounded like.

He wasn't shot.

Hershel's gunshots echo too. He can hear the shell casings hit the floor, he can hear running footsteps and he can imagine all of their enemies falling to the floor, defeated, dead. He imagined that they were safe, that he could stand up and get in that car and go home.

He knew that was nothing but a dream.

Glenn was paralyzed with fear, until he was suddenly moving because of his fear. Fear of dying, fear of leaving this world, fear of being reduced to nothing, fear of leaving people behind, fear of not getting the chance to do everything he wanted to do in life. He didn't want to go out like this. Not now. Not when he's finally been given everything he's wanted.

His stupidity wasn't selfish.

But hiding was.

And yet, he hid.

Behind a dumpster, of all places. It smelled like the regret that he felt in his soul, and he clutched the gun close to his chest like it was his lifeline. He felt like he was going to throw up, but he still didn't move. He couldn't hear any more gunfire, but he still didn't move. He could hear Rick and Hershel talking, but he still didn't move. He was breathing so heavily that Iris' pin was moving against his chest. He needed her. He needed to hold her, to be held by her. He could still feel her kiss on his lips and the giggle on her breath as his forehead fell on hers.

He imagined the tears that would fall from her face if he never came back from this. He imagined the look of terror in her eyes as she was told of his demise, and the sobs she would let out when she realised he was never coming back.

Glenn didn't think he could ever move from this spot.

"You hit?"

Rick's voice couldn't get through to him. It sounded like he was underwater, and Glenn couldn't move.

"Are you hit?" Rick spoke louder, fear creeping into his voice.

Glenn shook out of it, taking a soothing breath and shaking his head. "No. No."

Rick moves towards his end of the dumpster and crouches down next to him, taking in the sight of him. He probably looked pathetic, Glenn thought to himself, sitting against this dumpster and hiding like a coward.

However, Rick softly places a hand on his shoulder, lowering his voice to a low whisper. He looks Glenn up and down, taking in the heaving breaths and the way he clutched his rifle and his wild eyes. "It's all right. The car's right there."

Glenn nods his head. "Okay." He still doesn't make an attempt to move.

"We're almost home." Rick adds, taking his hand from Glenn's shoulder. "Do it for her, okay? You good?"

It takes Glenn a moment, staring at Rick and studying his face in the dark. He wouldn't let Iris mourn him. He'd do everything in his power to get all three of them home, safe. Glenn nods his head and moves his fingers an inch, ready to push himself up. "I'm good."

Rick nods, and Glenn sees a proud smile on his lips. "Let's go."

Glenn stands up, and he follows Rick as they stick their heads over the dumpster. There were immediate gunshots, and suddenly Rick was pushing him back down. "Get back."

Rick covers Glenn's head with his hands, looking up at the roof of the bar, where there was a sniper. Tires squeal into place under the roof, and Glenn closes his eyes, expecting the familiar light of the headlights to give up their position. However, they weren't here for them.

"Let's get out of here! Roamers all over the place! Hurry up! We gotta get out of here!" One of the men from the cars yells up to the man on the roof.

"What about Sean?" The man replies.

"They shot him. We gotta go. Roamers are everywhere."

"We're leaving?"

"Jump!" The man in the car yelled. "Hurry up, jump already."

Glenn risks a peek over the dumpster, and he watches the man on the roof attempt to jump on top of the dark car. However, in the coverage of the night, it proved itself a difficult target.

After a couple moments of consideration, and perhaps even a little bit of peer pressure, the man jumps.

And falls.

The scream he let out was death defying.

Glenn grunts in sympathy. "Dude didn't make it."

"Help me! Help-help me!" He was screaming and pleading for his friends to stop, but Glenn wasn't sure they were the type of people who would stop.

He was right. "I've gotta go. I've gotta go. I'm sorry!"

"No no, don't leave! Help me! No! No! Help!"

As the car drives off at a terrifying speed, Rick shoots up. He nudges Glenn, pulling him out of her another trance. "Get Hershel."

As the man keeps screaming and begging for help, Rick shoots off towards him. Glenn takes a breath, still holding onto the dumpster, until a gunshot draws him away. Hershel was attacking walkers, advancing towards the man on the ground, but there were too many for just one person to keep them at bay.

"Her-Hershel!" Glenn whisper-shouts.

Hershel doesn't respond, focusing all of his attention on the advancing walkers, shooting each one with a precision that Glenn didn't expect from a man who was so against having any kind of gun on the farm.

"Hershel. Hershel." Glenn calls again.

Hershel drops his gun down to his side, walking through the alleyway to where Glenn was standing. "The gunfire must've attracted the walkers. Where's Rick?"

"He-he ran across." Glenn says, pointing in the direction that Rick ran over to.

"Well, hell, we can't go without him." Hershel exclaims, running after him with the same bravery that Glenn was severely lacking. "Rick!"

Rick was standing next to the man, who, when Glenn got closer, he realised was just a boy. Maybe only a couple years younger than him, really. He was screaming and tears were streaming down his face that glistened even in the dark. His right leg was terribly, excruciatingly pierced by the fence he had fallen into, bleeding sluggishly only because the fence was holding all of the blood in his leg. Glenn's eyes widened. He can't possibly imagine the pain that he was in. He also can't imagine a way out of this.

"Rick!" Hershel says again, once they approach. The boy was crying louder and louder, which didn't bode well for the walkers in the area already drawn in by the continuous gunfire. "We have to go now."

"No!" The boy screams.

"I'm sorry, son." Hershel softens his voice, patting the boy's good leg. "We have to go."

It was incredibly difficult to even think about it, but Glenn agreed with Hershel. They had to get out of here before they were swarmed, and this was someone who was trying to kill them. It felt so unlike him that he hated himself for it, but he wanted to get home so desperately.

"No no, don't leave me please."

"We have to go." Hershel replies firmly.

"We can't." Rick says, and his tone was final, his gaze switching between the two of them like they were crazy. Glenn couldn't believe his ears, and the sound of walkers all around them was making his head pound.

"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn yells, his eyes wide and afraid.

"He's a kid." Rick replies, sounding angry and even a little disappointed. Glenn had to shrug it off.

"Please help me." The boy begs. The snarls of the undead started to get closer and closer.

"This place is crawling with walkers!" Glenn shouts, stepping closer to Rick to show his urgency.

"We can't leave him!" Rick says through gritted teeth.

"The fence went clean through. There's no way we can get the leg off in one piece." Hershel argues.

At Hershel's words, the boy screams louder, repeating the word 'no' again and again.

Rick grunts, taking out his python and pointing it right at his head. "Shut up or I will shoot you!"

Hershel takes Rick aside, speaking just loud enough for the three of them to hear. "That may be the answer. We're not gonna get that leg off without tearing the muscle to shreds. He certainly can't run. He may bleed out."

The boy screams again, and Glenn walks over, holding his temples and trying to pat the boy's leg sympathetically. "Shut up." The screaming continues. He probably shouldn't have touched his wounded leg. "I'm sorry. Sh-sh... shut up. Shut up."

"Maybe we should put him down." Hershel keeps saying in a low tone. "I don't wanna see any more killing, but this is cruel."

Glenn sighs. They had to make a plan. Now. If they didn't, they would get swarmed with more walkers than they had bullets. If they were getting this kid out of here, they needed to do something quickly. "Can't we just take the leg off?"

Rick sighs, considering it. "That hatchet still in the car?"

The boy gasps, bringing his hands up in fear but he was unable to lift his body. "No no, don't-don't. Don't cut my leg off, please. Please, not my leg."

Rick unsheathes his pocket knife from his belt, holding it up for Hershel to see. "Will this cut through the bone?"

Hershel takes a moment of consideration. "I'll have to sever the ligaments below the kneecap, cut above the tibia. He's going to lose his lower leg."

"No, don't. No." The boy protests, but Hershel keeps speaking, taking off his jacket.

"When we get clear of here, we're gonna have to find some tinder, cauterise the wound so he doesn't bleed out." Hershel starts to fashion his jacket sleeves into a tourniquet, similar to how Daryl had done with T-Dog when the herd had attacked them on the highway.

Rick nods. "All right, no choice. Hurry up."

"Oh God, oh God. No!" The boy yells. Glenn watches in horror as Rick holds him down, kicking his good leg and screaming. It was one thing to suggest amputation, but actually seeing it about to happen was another ballgame.

"Hand me that stick." Hershel commands, and Glenn crouches down to pick up the giant stick and hands it to Hershel, who immediately uses it to make the tourniquet stronger.

There was a low growl, and Glenn turned around from the grotesque scene that was about to happen. His eyes widened. There were so many more walkers than before, and they were all advancing on them like some horror movie villain "Guys, walkers. Hurry up!"

Glenn raises his gun, and shoots down every walker in sight. However, they kept coming and coming, and Glenn didn't have any spare ammo in his pockets. His shots tore right through his eardrums, and at the sound of other gunfire, he realised Rick was shooting too. Walkers were coming in all directions.

"Hershel, how we doing over there?" Rick yells over the gunfire.

"I need more hands!" Hershel grunts, struggling to keep the boy down. "Easy, easy."

"No, don't, don't, don't, don't cut my leg off, please!"

"Come on, we gotta go! I'm almost out of ammo!" Glenn shouts. He risks it and turns around, walking towards Hershel with his face reddening with adrenaline. "We don't have much time! Come on, we've gotta go!"

"Can't hold 'em off!" Rick agrees. He turns around and runs back to the fence, looking Hershel up and down. "Hershel, do it now! Come on, Hershel!"

"There is no time!" Hershel bellows.

"Hershel, come on!" Rick repeats, as he turns around to walk away. Hershel lets go of the boy's leg, looking downfallen and regretful.

"Please don't leave me! Please! No!"

Rick sighs, stopping as the boy's screams keep going. Glenn watches him with concern, but Rick always knows what he's doing. Rick can always get them out of a tricky spot, and Iris trusted him implicitly.

Rick grabs ahold of the boy's leg, and rips it out of the fence without hesitation.

The sun had risen an hour ago.

Iris was exhausted. She hadn't slept all night, just staring out of the kitchen window and waiting for Glenn and her brother to return. It had been long, so long, since they had left. It felt like weeks ago that Iris had given Glenn her flower wreath pin, not hours. Lori had tried to coax her to go to sleep, but Iris couldn't. She couldn't sit down and rest unless she knew Glenn and Rick were safe, and not lying in a ditch somewhere or torn apart and reduced to nothing.

Finally, finally, the red car came into view.

Iris gasps, and she runs to the door, throwing it open as the others gather around it, smiling and cheering with relief. Iris felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes, all of the tension leaving her body yet somehow all of the exhaustion too.

"Dad!" Carl exclaims, practically tackling his father into a hug. Rick smiles and ruffles Carl's hair, collapsing into Lori, with Carl squished between them both.

Iris smiles at the happy picture, actually believing in it for the first time in a while. She turns back towards the car and locks eyes with Glenn, who carefully shuts his car door and bites his lip.

He looked awful, emotionally distraught. She could see it in his eyes, even though she was a couple of feet away from him. Before she even registered what she was doing, she had taken a step forward, her walk becoming a run and she threw her arms around him, and he almost fell over from impact.

He immediately buries his head in her shoulder, and Iris holds onto the back of his head, stroking his hair with her fingers. She held him tight, and he clung to her, and Iris knew that something had gone wrong out there.

She pulls away, only barely, just enough so she could cradle his face, holding his cheeks in her hands. "Are you okay?"

Glenn nods, but from the way he was nuzzling into her hold, she knew he wasn't telling the whole truth. She hums, stroking his cheek. "We'll talk later today." She whispers, for him and only him. Glenn closes his eyes and nods, and Iris is about to pull him back in for another hug, but Hershel's voice pulls her attention.

"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery."

Iris moves her hand to Glenn's shoulder, looking in Hershel's direction as he walks towards the house. He seemed to have done a total 180 since the barn, and Iris wasn't sure who could possibly need surgery.

Lori seemed to be thinking the same thing. She looks at Rick. "Are you hurt?"

"No, but what happened to you?" Rick asks, spotting Lori's cuts and bruises.

"I was in a car accident." Lori says.

"Accident? How?" Rick exclaims, brushing over the cut on her temple.

"I went looking for you." Lori says.

"Snuck out on her own. Brought her back." Shane adds. Iris rolls her eyes, taking Glenn's hand in hers.

"Are you crazy?" Rick asks her. "You could've..."

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog interrupts.

Iris frowns, peering through the car window.

There was someone inside. Someone who was passed out, with his eyes covered. She felt immediately on guard, wondering if this stranger had anything to do with Glenn's recent upset. "What... on earth?"

"That's Randall." Glenn explains.

Iris raises an eyebrow.

Chapter Text

"THEY'RE BACK."

Iris lifts her head from Glenn's shoulder as he speaks out, rubbing her eyes until her vision clears. A small group of them were sitting in a circle next to the RV, waiting for Rick and Shane to return. It seemed to be all they ever did these days, just waiting for people to return and give them some semblance of good news.

The car came to a very sudden stop and Iris ran to meet it, along with everyone else who was waiting with her. Rick was driving, and Shane was in the passenger seat. Iris couldn't make out their expressions, but she could tell from their body language that they were both pissed off about something. There was a third person in the car, and upon further inspection, Iris realised it was Randall.

"What happened?" Iris asks, as soon as Rick steps out of the car with heavy footing. Her eyes widen when she finally gets a good look at his face, which was cut and bruised, littered with what seemed to be thousands of little scrapes. He holds his arm. "Rick? What-"

"Walkers." Rick replies, but his words were short and curt. Shane steps out of the passenger side, and his face was equally as bruised and cut.

Iris raises an eyebrow, looking at both of them with exasperation. "Walkers? So if I look at your fists, there won't be any matching bruises, right?"

"Rick!" Lori calls, saving Rick from having to come up with a response to her snarky comment.

Rick sighs, turning around to see Shane dragging Randall up and out of the car. He massages his temple, before addressing the small crowd that had formed. "He knew where the farm was. We couldn't risk it. We gotta find another solution."

The solution, which was temporary and very impulsive, was to send Daryl in to question Randall. Iris wasn't sure how well that would go, but she also knew that Daryl would probably resort to more violent methods to get the information out of Randall.

It wasn't until an hour or so had passed that the group, who were gathered around the campsite, started to go a little stir crazy waiting for Daryl to return with any information that might make the decision about what to do any easier.

Lori sighs. "So, what are you gonna do? We'd all feel better if we knew the plan."

"Is there a plan?" Andrea asks, sounding unsure.

"We gonna keep him here?" Glenn asks next to her. Iris doesn't know if that is a good solution, especially if they were going to be staying in the farm for the long run. So many things could go wrong, it was too unpredictable and too risky.

"We'll know soon enough." Rick says. He turns around, watching Daryl as he steadily approaches, swinging his signature crossbow over his back.

Daryl speaks as soon as he reaches the group. "Boy there's got a gang, 30 men. They have heavy artillery and they ain't looking to make friends. They roll through here, our boys are dead. And our women, they're gonna, they're gonna wish they were."

Iris shuffles uncomfortably, the implications of Daryl's words making her squeeze Glenn's hand. He recognises her subtle need for comfort, and starts to rub her hand with his thumb. She knows that the whole situation with Randall was probably really hard for Glenn, being there when this all started and saving him when he was trapped in the fence, and now they had to decide his fate all over again.

"What did you do?" Carol asks.

"Had a little chat." Daryl replies. Carol puts a hand over her mouth as she looks at the cuts all over Daryl's knuckles.

"No one goes near this guy." Rick says firmly.

"Rick, what are you gonna do?" Lori asks.

Rick pauses, sharing a look with Daryl before making his decision. "We have no choice. He's a threat. We have to eliminate the threat."

Iris listens to Rick's words, licking her lips in worry. The thought of Rick executing Randall brought a twist to her stomach, but at the same time, she understood just how necessary it was.

However, some didn't.

"You're just gonna kill him?" Dale exclaims, his eyes as wide as saucers.

"It's settled. I'll do it today." Rick says, and he pushes on his feet and stalks off. Dale sighs and stands up to follow him.

Iris could guess that Dale would have a lot to say about this decision.

"Iris."

She was walking back towards the farmhouse, her hair trailing down her back, feeling nice and smooth due to her new access to running water and showers. The air wasn't as sticky as it was a couple of weeks ago, and for once, her bangs wasn't stuck to her forehead like they had been for so long, and it was fluffy and freshly styled, the first layer of her hair swooped up into buns in the back of her head. She was looking for Carl, it had been a while since she had spoken to him, and she knew that all of this stuff had to be affecting him in some way. Not just the Randall stuff, but his mom was having a baby, and that could be a lot for a kid to deal with.

"Iris."

Iris turns around, seeing Dale running towards her, and she stops to let him catch up. She had a feeling that she knew what Dale wanted to talk to her about. "Dale. Are you okay?"

"Iris." Dale pants, clearly out of breath. "We don't have to do this. We don't have to vote for murder."

"Dale." Iris sighs, rubbing her temples. "It's not that simple. This isn't black and white."

"Well, why the hell not?" Dale exclaims. "This is a human life. We can't do this. I can't condone this. And I need help, support. What do you say?"

Iris exhales heavily. "Dale..."

"Please, before you say no, just hear me out." Dale says desperately. "You're Rick's sister. You have a sway in this group, more than most."

"That's not true." Iris frowns. "Rick hears everyone out equally."

"Yet if his baby sister begged him not to kill a human just for the crime of trying to survive, do you think he could really go through with it?" Dale presses.

Iris shrugs, shaking her head. "And what if I think he's right?"

Dale's face falls. "You can't seriously think that. Glenn-"

"-Is traumatised by what happened at the bar." Iris grits her teeth. "Because of him, shooting at them. Because of his whole damn group shooting at them. They could've died. And I can't forgive something like that. We have to prioritise our own, Dale."

"By killing, without mercy? Is that what it's come to?" Dale asks.

"Listen, I understand." Iris implores. "I really do. But I can't have someone like that around Carl, around Lori's baby, around my family. Our family. Life is different now, Dale. It's time to adapt to it." She spots Carl walking in their direction, looking a little deflated. She sighs. "I've gotta go, Dale. I'm sorry. I have to put them first."

She walks away from Dale, her heart heavy with responsibility and even a little guilt. She doesn't want to vote for execution if it wasn't necessary, but it felt like the only option that could keep everyone in this farm safe. Andrea was right, in an odd way. Iris was lucky that she still had Rick, and Lori, and Carl. She was lucky that she found something special with Glenn, something that makes her want to live and survive through this hellhole just so she could see him everyday. It was that luck that the universe had gifted her, for whatever reason, that made her so adamant to protect what was hers.

"Hey, kid." She says, purposefully brightening her voice so Carl wouldn't pick up on the heaviness that pressed on them all.

"Hey." Carl says, kicking his feet on the ground and squinting his eyes.

"What's up?" Iris tilts her head. "You look upset."

"Is Randall really a kid?" Carl asks. Iris' breath hitches. "Shane said that it's all grown up stuff, that I wouldn't understand. He said I should let you guys handle this. But I want to understand."

Iris takes his hand, kneeling down and looking him in the eyes. "I know you do. Randall isn't a kid. Not really. That's just what adults say to people younger than them, because they're inexperienced, in a lot of ways, At life, at having responsibilities. But that doesn't excuse bad actions. And bad actions have to have consequences, especially in this world today. I know you want the answers, but everyone here is trying to protect you from being exposed to something that you don't need. Okay? The walkers, Randall, everything. You deserve to have a chance to still be a kid. Because, you, sweetheart, are a kid."

Carl listens to her words, still not really looking at her. Iris knows that it isn't what he wants to hear, but it's what he needs to hear. They had a real chance here, with this farm, to get away from everything that was dragging them down. Carl had a real chance. "I guess."

"You guess?" Iris echoes, pinching his cheeks with a smile.

"I understand." Carl corrects, looking down at her with the same blue eyes that she had. "I wish I was the same age as you, though, Aunt Iris."

Iris chuckles. "You don't. I promise you, you really don't. You said you talked to Shane? Where is he?"

"He's talking to Andrea. She's guarding Randall, outside the barn." Carl says.

Iris sucks on her teeth. She still didn't exactly trust Shane, and the fact that he was still talking to Carl made her feel nervous. Dealing with Shane had become low on their list of priorities, what with Hershel disappearing and Beth still in recovery and everything that had happened with Randall. However, she wasn't stupid, and those injuries on Shane and Rick's faces were obviously from punches. Maybe Rick was dealing with it in his own way.

She pats Carl on the cheek. "Okay. Go find your mom, you got it?"

Carl nods, and Iris stands up, conflicted by her own thoughts as she walks towards the barn. She didn't exactly want to talk to Shane, but he had a tendency to be short and curt with Carl, and it couldn't fly. Not now, not ever. No matter how mad he was with Rick or with Lori or even with her, Carl loved Shane and he didn't deserve to be treated like that. If she wasn't so wrapped up in her own mind, she might've noticed Carl sneaking into the other side of the barn, his own curiosity getting the better of him.

Shane was in a heated conversation with Andrea, which didn't surprise Iris. Every conversation Shane had was heated, lately. They both stop talking as Iris steps on a twig, snapping their attention towards her. Andrea leans against the barn, crossing her arms, and Shane rubs his hands over his head.

"Dale ask you to keep watch?" Iris asks, stepping closer to Andrea.

"Yeah." Andrea nods. "He's real torn up about all this."

"I know." Iris sighs. "He tried to convince me."

"You disagree with him?" Shane asks, standing up straighter.

Iris tilts her head at him, intrigued by his sudden interest in her opinion on the matter. Shane hadn't seemed to care about any opinions other than his own recently. "Yeah, I disagree with him. I want to protect my family."

"Really?" Shane asks, a bitter tone in his voice. "That's interesting, Iris."

Iris sighs, already annoyed. "Yeah, really. And by the way, Shane, be careful what you say to Carl. Kids can pick up on subtleties, you know?"

"You want him to go and explore things for himself and get himself killed, or do you wanna keep him safe by scaring him with the real stuff?" Shane says.

"Oh, like the barn? You think Carl was scared watching his dad shoot his best friend dead?" Iris shoots back.

"Guys." Andrea says.

"And we're all still alive!" Shane yells. Iris flinches.

"Guys!"

"And now we're dealing with Randall because of it!" Iris shouts. "You think I can't see those bruises on your face, on Rick's face. What were you really doing when you were dropping him off, huh?"

"Guys! I can hear Carl!" Andrea finally yells.

Iris stops speaking immediately. She goes silent. She can hear Carl's voice, in the barn, and Randall's voice was talking back to him. She gasps.

In an instant, Shane was kicking down the doors and running into the barn, all guns ablazing. Iris was a split second after him, running straight for Carl and hugging him tightly. Carl was hovering next to Randall, and Iris dreaded to think what they were talking about in there, and she swallowed her disbelief that Carl had even come in here in the first place.

Shane grabs hold of Randall and shoves him straight into the wall of the barn, bringing his gun into his face, clenching his teeth. "What the hell are you doing in here? What did you say to him? What did you say to him, huh?"

"I didn't say nothing." Randall argues back, struggling in Shane's grip.

Iris takes hold of Carl's head, pulling it into her stomach, in the attempt to shield him from Shane's violence. Carl may have known that they were planning to kill Randall, but that didn't mean she wanted him to actually become a witness to it all. There was a difference between imagining something and seeing it with your own two eyes.

Shane still had his gun pointed in Randall's face. "Hey, hey. Let me tell you something. I will shoot you where you sit."

"Okay Shane, not now." Andrea says, stepping into the barn.

"Open your mouth. Open your mouth!" Shane yells.

"Shane." Iris says, but her words only worked to aggravate him more.

"You like talking, man?" Shane pushes Randall further into the wall. "You like talking?!"

"Back off!" Andrea warns.

Shane pulls Randall away from the wall, roughly letting him go. With all of the excess energy and rage inside of him, he grabs Carl by the shoulder and drags him out of the barn, pulling him out of Iris' grasp. Iris glares at him. "Shane!"

"Get your ass out this door." Shane ignores her, yelling at Carl. "Let's go. The hell you doing?"

"Please don't tell my parents." Carl pleads. "Aunt Iris, please. I just wanted to find out more about what he did wrong! I wanted to understand!"

"Carl." Iris' voice softens. "That's not what I-"

"Carl, that ain't cool, man." Shane interupts her. Iris shakes her head, putting her hand on her hip. "You could've gotten hurt in there."

"I can handle myself." Carl shoots back. It was the first time that Iris truly looked at Carl and realised that he was becoming a teenager, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"Let me tell you something." Shane says coarsely. "You do not go near him again. Do you hear me? Damn it."

"Carl, honey, you can't do this by yourself. It's not safe." Iris says, trying to keep her voice level and calm.

"You won't tell my parents, will you?" Carl asks.

"Carl, man, this, this isn't about getting in trouble, okay? A guy like that, he will say anything to you. He'll try to make you feel sorry for him. He'll try to make you get your guard down. You let your guard down out here, people die." Shane says. Carl's entire body language wilts, and Iris sighs. "Now, just. Do me a favor, man. Go find your ma. Go on. Carl, quit trying to get yourself killed, man."

Carl nods, clenching his fists and refusing to look either Shane or Iris in the eye, and he runs off.

"Nicely handled." Iris scoffs. "People will die. What the hell is wrong with you? He's twelve!"

"And where were you? Trying to protect his innocence? You only sparked his curiosity, Iris! I know what's good for him." Shane yells back. Iris feels the rage rise in her system, listening to his words like they were a slap in the face.

"You're not his father!" Iris yells, right in his face. She grits her teeth, her face reddening in anger. "So you'd better damn stop acting like it!"

Shane scoffs and stalks off.

"I don't know what to do about Carl." Iris mumbles. She was in Glenn's arms, having walked over and immediately bringing him into a hug. Glenn had taken it in stride, enveloping her into his hold, letting her bury her head in his shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Glenn hums, playing with the ends of her hair.

Iris pulls away and grabs his hand. "He's growing up. He's getting more curious about things. He's seeing and understanding more and more. I don't want this world to ruin him."

"Yeah, I get that." Glenn says. "Sometimes I feel like this world is ruining us all. Dale talked to me."

"And?" Iris asks, tilting her head curiously.

"I don't know." Glenn sighs. "I want to understand what he's saying, I really do. But Dale wasn't there. I was. And- I don't want to risk anyone here."

"That's what I said." Iris smiles sadly. "I'm glad we agree, at least. Sometimes, I kinda think I was ruined before this world ever ended."

"How could you ever think that?" Glenn asks, and she hears his words deep in the depths of her soul.

"I don't know. I was lost, I guess." Iris says softly. "I mean, I loved the shop, I really did. But I didn't really know what I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. My dad really wanted me to go to college, but it just... wasn't right. Nothing ever really felt right. Like I was a... wandering soul of something. I always wanted so much, but I could never bring myself to take those leaps. Like I was ruined before I even had the chance."

"That's not true." Glenn says. "I mean, I was a pizza delivery boy. I get the feeling like you're constantly waiting for a future to start that you don't even know will start. But it's not over, Iris. We still have a future, you and me. We can do everything you wanted to do, it might just look a little different."

"A little different." Iris echoes. She feels her worries drain from her, relaxing as she stands up straighter and kisses him softly. She imagined the future that she always wanted growing up. A future where she had made something of herself, where she was doing good for the people around her, especially the elderly people that she had made such good friends with. She always wanted to be able to open some kind of shelter, or open an affordable clinic and really impact people's lives for the better. In the back of her mind, she had always imagined that she would have a family of her own who would do it with her. A husband who supported her hopes and dreams, kids who wanted to follow in her footsteps, or even have their own hopes and dreams that she could watch them achieve. She had told Glenn about the first part, but never the last part. It had always felt so far away, so unachievable. "You're sure?"

"I'm sure." Glenn says. "We have a future, Iris. We're not ruined."

"I love you." Iris breathes, smiling. Glenn was perfect, exactly the type of guy that she imagined marrying growing up. She was always a romantic at heart, and she had always attributed that to watching her brother fall in love when she was very young, so love was always something that she believed in, no matter how much it scared her.

"I love you, too." Glenn smiles, and his voice sounded so, so in love that Iris wanted to hear him say those three words every single day for the rest of her life.

There were voices behind them, and Iris looks away from Glenn, spotting Rick and Carl engaged in a commotion. Before she could figure out what they're saying, Carl was storming away from him.

"Hey. Hey. Carl." Iris calls, and the twelve year old sighs dramatically and turns around. "What's going on?"

"My dad is mad at me because I told Carol that believing in Heaven is stupid, because it is." Carl grumbles.

Iris' eyes widen at his sudden change in behaviour. When she thought about the fact that he was turning into a teenager, she wasn't expecting it to happen this fast. She guessed that it had everything to do with what happened with Shane, and it honestly hurt her heart to see him this affected. "Hey. Whoa. Carl, Carol is struggling. She's clinging onto every belief she has, to comfort her about the loss of her daughter. She needs comfort, not ridicule."

Carl scoffs. "You don't believe in Heaven. I heard you. In the church, when we were looking for Sophia. You said that if God exists, he wouldn't let this happen. Now you want me to lie to Carol?"

Iris let her mouth hang open, dumbstruck by Carl's words. She had no idea that Carl was even listening to her when she said all of that. Her conflicting relationship with religion was always something that she struggled with, but seeing her own words thrown right back in her face stung. Carl rolls his eyes and walks away. Iris holds her hand out, trying to find something to say, but Carl had already walked off. "Carl, I- damn it."

"That wasn't your fault." Glenn says, watching Carl walk off. "You're allowed to feel those things. He's just having a hard time right now."

"Yeah." Iris nods, biting her cheek. "I just worry about how our decision is going to impact him. I'm not saying Dale is getting to me, and I do think that this is our only solution, but it just feels like this world is a constant struggle."

"I know. But we're gonna get through it. There will come a day where we don't have to struggle, I know it." Glenn tells her.

It wasn't very long until the group were gathered in the house, sitting in silence as they waited for smeone to speak up, to begin the heavy conversation that would hopefully lead to a decision. Iris taps her foot on the floor, looking around at everyone as they all avoided eye contact with each other. Everyone was here, with the exception of Carl, Beth and Jimmy.

Glenn sighs with discontent and becomes the first to speak. "So how do we do this? Just take a vote?"

"Does it have to be unanimous?" Andrea adds. There was a distinct shuffle in the air as peope felt more confident speaking.

"How about majority rules?" Lori suggests.

"Well, let's just see where everybody stands, then we can talk through the options." Rick says, standing in the middle of the room, where he could see all of their faces.

"Well, where I sit, there's only one way to move forward." Shane says. Iris hates the fact that she agrees with Shane, it made her feel like she was becoming someone different, someone who could condone the things that Shane could. However, she also knew that she had Rick and Glenn on her side, and they were both kind, loyal people.

"Killing him, right? I mean, why even bother to even take a vote? It's clear which way the wind's blowing." Dale says snidely.

Rick sighs. "Well, if people believe we should spare him, I wanna know."

"Well, I can tell you it's a small group." Dale says. "Maybe just me and Glenn."

Glenn tenses next to her, looking up at Dale apoligetically. Iris suddenly feels bad for the man. It was noble, what he was trying to do, but Iris couldn't help but think it was just a little naive. Or perhaps willfully ignorant. Dale's face fell, and Iris could see the disapointment in his eyes.

Glenn shifted sheepishly. "Look, I- I think you're pretty much right about everything, all the time, but this..."

"They've got you scared!" Dale exclaims, pointing around the room accusingly.

"That's not fair, Dale." Iris defends. "He's allowed to make his own decision. It's not safe to keep him here. It's not safe to let him go. What are we supposed to do?"

"He's not one of us. And we've-" Glenn looks over to Iris. "We've lost too many people already."

Dale sighs, giving up on Glenn and staring at Hershel in a mixture of shock and disbelief. "How about you? Do you agree with this?"

Hershel doesn't say anything, keeping his gaze rooted on the laminated floor. Maggie, who was stood next to where her father was sitting, speaks. "Couldn't we continue keeping him prisoner?"

"Just another mouth to feed." Daryl says. He was in the corner of the room, and his voice was deep and gruff. His words were short, but impactful.

"It may be a lean winter." Hershel says, shaking his head.

"We could ration better." Lori suggests.

Iris shakes her head. "We can't afford to spare food for someone we don't even trust."

"Well, he could be an asset. Give him a chance to prove himself." Dale says. His voice was desperate, but it wasn''t getting anywhere.

"Put him to work?" Glenn asks. He looks at Dale with a remorseful expression.

Rick shakes his head. "We're not letting him walk around."

"We could put an escort on him?" Maggie wonders.

Shane scoffs. "Who wants to volunteer for that duty?"

"I will!" Dale exclaims.

"I don't know." Iris moves her hands together. "We really don't know what he's capable of."

Rick backs her up. "I don't think any of us should be walking around with this guy."

"He's right. I wouldn't feel safe unless he was tied up." Lori says, wrapping her cardigan around herself.

"We can't exactly put chains around his ankles, sentence him to hard labor." Andrea comments.

Shane exhales loudly, stepping forward from where he was leaning. "Look, say we let him join us, right? Maybe he's helpful, maybe he's nice We let our guard down and maybe he runs off, brings back his 30 men."

"So the answer is to kill him to prevent a crime that he may never even attempt?" Dale asks, a disgusted expression on his face. "If we do this, we're saying there's no hope. Rule of law is dead. There is no civilization."

"What if this is what we have to do to save our civilisation?" Iris argues back. "There's no society if we're all dead because we spared his life."

"Could you drive him further out? Leave him like you planned?" Hershel proposed.

Lori shakes her head, looking at Rick with wide, pleading eyes. "You barely came back this time. There are walkers. You could break down. You could get lost."

"Or get ambushed." Daryl adds.

"They're right. We should not put our own people at risk." Glenn says. Iris smiles at him, their conversation when Glenn had gotten back from the bar echoing in her mind.

"If you go through with it, how would you do it?" Patricia asks, bouncing on her feet. "Would he suffer?"

"We could hang him, right? Just snap his neck." Shane says. Iris shudders at the mental image. It felt way too violent, like they had reverted back to a mediaeval time.

"I thought about that. Shooting may be more humane." Rick says.

"And what about the body?" T-Dog pipes up. "Do we bury him?"

"Bury him, or burn him." Iris says.

"Hold on, hold on!" Dale raises his voice, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "You're talking about this like it's already decided."

"You've been talking all day, going around in circles. You just wanna go around in circles again?" Daryl asks.

"This is a young man's life, and it is worth more than a five-minute conversation! Is this what it's come to?" Dale cries out. "We kill someone because we can't decide what else to do with him? You saved him and now look at us. He's been tortured. He's gonna be executed. How are we any better than those people that we're so afraid of?"

Iris could give him that. This was nuanced. It wasn't easy, and no one really wanted to harm Randall. If it wasn't for the threat of this group being ambushed or attackd, she was sure this would be a very different conversation

"We all know what needs to be done." Shane says impatiently.

Rick clears his throat. "No, Dale is right. We can't leave any stone unturned here. We have a responsibility-"

"So what's the other solution?" Andrea interrupts.

"Let Rick finish." Lori spits. They were clearly still having conflict, after their fight in the kitchen that Iris had witnessed.

"We haven't come up with a single viable option yet." Andrea rationalises. "I wish we could."

"So let's work on it!" Dale implores, holding his hands out theatrically.

"We are." Rick says.

"Stop it." Carol cuts in. She was stood by the door, and her voice startled Iris for a moment, not expecting to hear Carol speak up as assertively as she did. "Just stop it. I'm sick of everybody arguing and fighting. I didn't ask for this. You can't ask us to decide something like this. Please decide. Either of you, both of you. But leave me out."

"Not speaking out or killing him yourself." Dale sighs. "There's no difference."

"All right, that's enough." Rick cuts in. Carol's eyes were wide and she hugged her arms around herself. Rick looks around. "Anybody who wants the floor before we make a final decision has the chance."

Rick waits for someone to speak.

No one does.

Dale swallows thickly, looking at Rick with the same fire that just couldn't seem to burn out. "You once said that we don't kill the living."

"Well, that was before the living tried to kill us." Rick reasons. He was right. Since the bar, everything had changed. Suddenly, they were fighting against two enemies: the dead, and the living.

"But don't you see? If we do this, the people that we were, the world that we knew is dead. And this new world is ugly. It's... harsh. It's- it's survival of the fittest. And that's a world I don't wanna live in, and I don't- and I don't believe that any of you do." Dale's voice shakes a little. Iris looks down on the ground. Dale's words resonated with her, they really did. They were almost exactly like the words of worry that she had spoken to Glenn mere hours before. "I can't. Please. Let's just do what's right. Isn't there anybody else who's gonna stand with me?"

However, Iris still didn't think that they should let him go, or keep him around.

If the world they knew was dead, Iris was not going to let it take her too. If that meant adapting, then so be it.

"He's right." Andrea says. Dale's expression became elated. "We should try to find another way."

Rick nods, taking that into consideration. "Anybody else?"

No one spoke.

Dale's eyes were becoming wet with emotion. His voice was thick, clearly holding it all in. "Are y'all gonna watch, too? No, you'll go hide your heads in your tents and try to forget that we're slaughtering a human being. I won't be a party to it." Dale steps towards the door, stopping to pat Daryl on the back before he let. "This group is broken."

Iris sighs.

Rick, Shane and Daryl were going to be executing Randall.

The decision was not made lightly, but it was made with consideration and an attempt to find any other solution, but everyone came up empty. Dale hadn't shown his face since he had walked out of their debate, and Glenn was obviously nervous about it.

The three boys waited until nightfall to carry out their execution, and they didn't want anyone else involved or being a witness to it. The group gathered around the camp, just like they had earlier that morning when Rick and Shane returned with Randall. Iris was waiting and waiting to hear the shot, the silence making her nervous. This was taking way too long. The longer it went without hearing the shot that signified the end of Randall's life, Iris felt more and more unsure.

If Shane really had killed Otis, was this any different?

Were they acting too hastily?

"What is taking so long?" Iris sighs.

"They're coming." T-Dog says.

Iris looks up. Rick was walking towards them, slowly walking with defeat. Carl trailed behind him, and Iris whips her head around to look at Lori, who she thought knew where Carl was. Carl had a knack for sneaking into places he didn't belong.

Rick waits a moment when he reaches the middle of camp, sighing. "We're keeping him in custody, for now."

There was a collective sound of relief.

"I'm gonna find Dale." Andrea smiles, standing up and running off towards the RV.

"You should talk to him." Iris says to Glenn, smiling at him. "He wasn't really mad. I'm sure of it."

Glenn nods, still looking more serious than she was used to. "I will. I'll go and find him soon."

"Carl, go inside. Now, please." Lori says, nudging Carl towards the tent. Carl looks like he was about to argue, but decides against it, walking into the tent.

Rick got closer to Lori, Iris and Glenn. He puts his hands on his hips, whispering. "He followed us. He wanted to watch. I couldn't."

"Oh, no." Iris says, covering her mouth with her hands. This was exactly what she had feared. She didn't want to watch her baby nephew grow up numb to all of this. To grow up believing that all of these horrors were normal, because they were not, nor would they ever be, normal.

"That's okay. That's okay." Lori whispers, and she brings Rick into a hug.

Someone screams.

Iris gasps, grabbing onto Glenn with an iron grip. The scream was loud and guttural, and it did not bode well for the already grave environment that had been created.

"What was-" Glenn starts, but he was was cut off by a second scream, just as painful and chilling as the first one.

"Get Carl." Rick says, already jumping into action.

"Baby." Lori calls, and Carl comes running out of his tent.

"What happened?"

"Come here. Come here." Lori grabs hold of Carl, bringing her arms around her son tightly. Iris takes the gun out of her holster, gripping it tightly in her hands as more and more people become aware of the commotion.

"T-Dog, get a shotgun now!" Rick yells.

Iris can hear Lori saying something to Carl about getting back to the house, but she and Glenn were running towards the noise before she could hear Lori finish her words. They were sprinting, her heart pounding in her chest as she panicked over what the hell was happening.

"Help! Over here!"

"That's Daryl!" Glenn exclaims, and Iris only runs faster.

When she sees who Daryl was crouched over, her heart almost stopped.

There was a walker, dead on the ground with Daryl's knife in its head. Daryl was on his knees, talking to Dale, who was crying out in pain. His entire stomach had been ripped open. So much so that all of his internal organs were exposed and laid out all over the ground. It was brutal and gruesome, and Iris couldn't control the tears that streamed down her face. She took a couple of steps back, her vision skewered by the tears and the lack of oxygen caused by her short, panicked breaths.

The others finally make it over, and there was a series of gasps and cries at the sight. Iris had gone pale with shock, staring at Dale's intestines with a blank, unreadable expression.

"Who is it?" Andrea asks, before her eyes widen. "Oh, my God. Oh, God."

"Rick!" Lori screams.

Rick kneels down on the ground next to Dale, gripping his hand. "All right, just listen to my voice. Listen to me, all right? Just listen to me. Okay, hold on now." He turns around screaming with desperation. "Get Hershel! He needs blood. We gotta operate now."

Iris comes to her senses and she looks away from Dale's dying, open body, and she looks over at Glenn. His eyes were filled with pain, staring at Dale with the same numbness as hers. However, as Iris stared at Glenn, her own pain and numb feeling becoming secondary as she stumbles over to him, bringing him into a hug and pulling his head away from the sight. She could feel Glenn's sobs on her shoulder, and it broke her heart. Glenn had wanted to talk to Dale, to make things better between them, and now he would never get his chance. Dale was dying.

"Hang on, Dale. Hang on." Daryl says, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"Listen to me. Come on. Okay, just listen to my voice." Rick soothes. He turns around again, staring at the house. "All right, please. Hershel! We need Hershel!"

"Look at me." Andrea pleads, dropping to her knees.

"Dale, we're gonna help. We're here. Just hold on. Hold on."

"What happened?" Hershel asks, sprinting on scene as fast as he could. However, his question was answered the second his eyes fell on Dale. Glenn lifts his head as Hershel approaches, his eyes a little drier as he composes himself, still clung to her tightly.

"What can we do?" Rick asks lowly.

"Dale, it's gonna be okay." Glenn says. His voice cracked as he spoke, and Iris knew that he needed to believe it so badly.

"We're all here, Dale." Iris says, doing her best to keep her voice stable. She couldn't bring herself to tell him it would be okay, because in the back of her mind, she knew. She knew it wouldn't.

Iris knew that they were about to lose Dale. Wise, kind, unafraid Dale. The man who had risked his own life to save Andrea in the CDC, the man who had taken Glenn under his wing and taught him things like a father, the man who let Iris borrow his really bad books and the man who had saved them all numerous times with his RV.

The man who had rescued Glenn, Iris and T-Dog on the highway.

Dale, who just wanted them to spare Randall's life and now he was lying on the ground, losing his own.

"Can we move him?" Rick asks.

Hershel shakes his head. He won't make the trip.

"You have to do the operation here. Glenn, get back to the house!" Rick yells. Iris shakes her head painfully, still gripping onto Glenn for dear life. She didn't want to say it, and she bit her tongue to keep the words at bay.

"Rick." Hershel says quietly. Iris closes her eyes when she realizes that Hershel knew what was happening too. It was obvious, Dale couldn't survive an injury like this.

"No!" Rick screams, and Iris can hear the struggle in his voice. She squeezes Glenn's hand tighter, clenching her teeth in bold, red anger. Anger that this was happening, anger that this had to be Dale, anger that he was dying thinking that the world and the group were broken beyond repair.

"Oh god." Andrea cries. Carl pushes his way through the crowd, his eyes widening as the innocence drained from him when he saw Dale on the floor. Iris could no longer contain herself and she sobs, holding her hand to her mouth as she whimpers. Carl runs straight to Lori, burying his head in her chest. Andrea gasps again. "He's suffering. Do something! Come on."

Rick grits his teeth and raises his gun, pointing it at Dale's head. His hands shook, and his fingers tightened around the trigger, but no matter how much he stares at the form of Dale, suffering and dying, he cannot pull the trigger.

"Oh god." Andrea says again, looking away.

Daryl steps closer to Rick, placing a hand on Rick's arm. He moves in front of Rick, raising his own gun in Dale's direction.

"I'm sorry, brother."

Daryl pulls the trigger.

Chapter Text

"DALE COULD GET UNDER YOUR SKIN."

Iris stares at the makeshift grave, the fourth one they had made in as many days, the dirt in the ground still fresh and the wooden cross that was stuck into it stood with sinister meaning, signifying yet another body that she had to mourn. Dale's grave was next to Sophia's and it felt like a cruel twist of fate that the graves of someone who had lived so little and someone who had lived so long were now side by side in death, the impermanence of life stinging everyone who stood in somber silence, listening to Rick's thick, meaningful speech.

"He sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought, how he felt. That kind of honesty is rare and brave." Rick continues, bringing his hands together in front of him. Lori had her hands on Carl's shoulders, and he was fighting tears under Rick's sherrif's hat.

Rick swallows, taking a moment to pause before he keeps speaking. "Whenever I'd make a decision, I'd look at Dale. He'd be looking back at me with that look he had. We've all seen it one time or another."

Those words brought a sad chuckle amongst the group. Iris knew exactly what Rick was talking about. Dale had the power to say a thousand words with one single look, and he was unyielding with his opinions, and he never backed down. Iris had always admired that about him, but now she'd never get the chance to tell him. "I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us. The truth. Who we really are."

Iris strokes Glenn's hand, encasing it in both of hers and holding it to her chest. She reaches down and kisses his fingers when she sees a single tear run down his face. Glenn was always close to Dale, almost like a father. She knew this was hitting him harder than most. She shares a look with Rick, and he softly nods at her, taking another shallow breath. "In the end, he was talking about losing our humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it."

Iris listens to Rick's words with a heavy heart. Since the loss of Sophia and everything that had happened in the barn, this group was divided, it was broken. She was one of the guilty parties, consumed by her conflict with Lori and her tension with Shane. She looks over to Lori and smiles, hoping that the past few days were enough to mend their relationship. She looks at Shane too, but she can't see any emotion on his face. It made her sigh in worry. It was going to be hard to unbreak something when Shane wasn't interested in repairing the broken glass.

Rick takes another pause, and he continues talking. "Set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control. Of our lives. Our safety. Our future. We're not broken. We're gonna prove him wrong. From now on, we're gonna do it his way. That is how we honor Dale."

Iris feels a rush of pride as Rick finishes his speech. In truth, she can't believe what they were about to do, what they were about to commit. Seeing Dale on the ground, dying right in front of her, only served as a reminder of how precious life really was. She resents that Dale had to lose his life before the group could see his point.

Iris worried a lot about this world corrupting Carl, but she hadn't stopped to think what this world was doing to her.

She never wanted to think about killing another human being again.

Glenn moves closer to her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. The others started to disperse, but Glenn and Iris stayed. Iris held onto Glenn's hand that was wrapped around her, touching his head with her own. She wrapped her spare arm around his waist, feeling his comfort and his closeness to her.

"I told Dale about us, after you kissed me." Glenn says.

Iris turns her head to look at him. She remembers all of her actions after she kissed him for the first time, the regret still fresh and burning. "You did?"

"He told me to give you space. I was kinda mad about it at the time, but he was right. It did make me feel better, talking to him." Glenn says, staring at the wooden cross rooted in the ground. "He was good like that. At making things seem okay. I don't know what we're gonna do now."

"I'm sorry." Iris whispers, because there are no other words she could say. The loss of Dale was huge, and they would feel his absence as clear as day. There wasn't quite anyone in the world like Dale.

Following the funeral, Hershel had made the decision that the entire group should stop sleeping in tents outside and move into the farmhouse. Rick was finally getting what he wanted, but now it felt bittersweet and all of the events leading up to it felt pointless. It was going to be a squeeze, the entire group and all of the stuff that they had amassed. All of the bags were on one of the trucks, with Glenn helping unload into the house.

Iris wraps her jacket around herself. Hershel wasn't wrong when he mentioned that winter was right around the corner, and the chill in the air had led to Hershel sharing his supply of jackets and warm coats with the others, which Iris was very thankful for as she shivered a little when the wind changes direction.

"It'll be tight, 15 people in one house." Rick says, leaning against the truck.

Hhershel brushes him off. "Don't worry about that. With the swamp hardening, the creek drying up..."

"With 50 head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell." Maggie finishes, standing next to Iris with her arms crossed due to the cold.

"She's right. We should've moved you in a while ago." Hershel admits. Iris smiles at Maggie, feeling the closeness between the Greene family and the group that had become a family. The death of Dale had united them all, and it was like they were now one singular group.

"All right, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors facing out toward the road. We'll build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft. That should give us sightlines both sides of the property." Rick says, pointing towards the windmill. "T-Dog, you take the perimeter around the house. Keep track of everyone coming and going."

T-Dog nods. "What about standing guard?"

"I need you and Daryl on double duty." Rick says, stepping into the leadership role that he was so good at.

"Gotcha."

"I'll stock the basement with food and water, enough that we can all survive there a few days if need be." Hershel says.

"I hope it won't come to that." Iris whispers. She loved this family, but staying in one room with them for days sounded very difficult. Maggie heard her comment, and she chuckled.

"What about patrols?" Andrea asks.

"Let's get this area locked down first. After that, Shane'll assign shifts while me and Daryl take Randall offsite and cut him loose." Rick says.

Iris smiles. She was glad that they were honouring Dale's wishes, even in death. She hopes that Dale would be proud of their decision, if he knew.

Shane grumbles. "We're back to that now?"

"It was the right plan the first time around. Poor execution." Rick tells him.

Shane rolls his eyes, crossing his arms argumentatively. "That's a slight understatement."

"We're trying to put aside our differences." Iris says, gritting her teeth and shooting him a forced smile. "For Dale."

Shane glares at her, a little tempered down due to Rick's presence, and he sighs. "That goes for all of us."

Rick holds up a hand. "You don't agree, but this is what's happening. Swallow it. Move on."

Shane chuckles bitterly. "You know that Dale's death and the prisoner, that's two separate things, right? You wanna take Daryl as your wingman, be my guest."

Rick sighs, raising his eyebrows tiredly. He was getting sick of Shane attitude too, and he doesn't even argue, walking off. "Thank you."

"You got it." Shane mutters.

Iris squints as the low sun reaches her eyes, which are more sensitive to light than others. She picks up a duffel bag of stuff, probably clothes based on the weight, and she swings it over her back, walking back over to the farm. Shane was a problem before, and Iris was worried that it would only get worse and worse. First, it seemed like he had only turned on her, but something had clearly happened with Lori because of his anger and his treatment of Carl, and now he was picking fights with Rick.

If Shane got his hands on Randall, Iris didn't want to think about what he would be capable of.

She opens the door, taking the bag off of her back and dropping it on the floor. She looks up, making a noise of surprise at the state of the house. There was stuff everywhere, sleeping bags all over the floor. It looked like someone dropped a bomb in the room.

Iris itches the back of her head, looking around in confusion. "Whoaa. Glenn?"

"In here!"

Irs follows Glenn's voice through to a little corner of the living room, where he was grinning his face off and spreading his arms out over the two sleeping bags behind him. "Ta-da!"

"Wow." Iris smiles, stepping closer. "What's this?"

"It's our little nook." Glenn beams, bouncing on his feet. "I've got our sleeping bags, but I snagged a blanket from Maggie so we can just use them like a mattress so we can sleep close. And I've got your backpack here, and this little box-" He holds up a black container. "-is for the flower wreath. To keep it safe."

Iris looks at the set up, her cheeks warming as the blood pumped through her. He was keeping her most precious belongings safe, he had provided the two of them their own little space, and he'd even gone as far as to think about asking Maggie for a blanket just so they could sleep closer. She had no words, her mouth dropped open in wonder. No one had ever done anything so sweet for her in her life.

Glenn watches her with worry. "You don't like it. I know the blanket has loads of little cats on it, but it was Beth's, and it was all Maggie-"

Iris laughs, walking over to meet him and cutting him off with a kiss. She feels him smile into it, and she pulls away blushing. "Glenn, I love it. You're amazing."

Despite the fact that they now had free reign of the house, Iris still liked to sit outside in the fresh air when she did her usual chores. She was handwashing some laundry (Hershel's washer dryer used up too much of their water supply, and power, so she took the time to do it herself whenever she could). Most of her load today was shirts and pants, which didn't take too long to clean. She hums as she works, handing the wet washing to Glenn to hang up on the line.

"I'm glad we're here together." Glenn says suddenly.

Iris looks up at him. "Me too. Hey, if we're gonna be in an apocalypse, we may as well be in it with our soulmate."

The word slipped out.

"Soulmate?" Glenn questions.

Iris blushes, looking away from Glenn to stare at the ground. "Uh. Yeah. Maybe. I don't know, it just-"

"I didn't think you believed in soulmates." Glenn smiles.

Iris looks back at him. "I guess I didn't. Until you."

Glenn smirks, sitting down next to her, abandoning their laundry duty. "You, my love, are a secret romantic."

"Oh, shut up." Iris pushes his face away from her.

"Aunt Iris?"

Carl's voice was small and unsure, appearing out of the trees and walking over to her hesitantly. Iris immediately stops joking around with Glenn and she looks at her nephew with concern. "Carl? What's wrong?"

Carl looks between Iris and Glenn with nervous, scatty eyes. "I'm sorry for yelling at you yesterday."

"Hey, it's okay." Iris says softly, patting the ground so that Carl could sit in front of her and Glenn. "I know you didn't mean it."

"Your aunt is tough." Glenn adds with a smile. He pats the sheriff's hat on his head, embodying his new role as Carl's kind of uncle.

Carl didn't reply, looking at the ground like he was avoiding their gaze. Iris scootches closer to Carl, softening her eyes. "What's going on, kiddo? Are you upset about Dale? Because you're not the only-"

Carl pulls out a gun.

Iris' words are cut off from shock as she stares at the handgun in Carl's hands, her face whitening with panic.

Glenn could see the speechlessness on her face, and he shuffled closer. "Is that Daryl's buddy?"

"You can't tell my parents." Carl says, his hands shaking as he holds the gun, staring at Glenn. "I took it from Daryl's motorcycle. If he found out I took it, he'd kill me."

Iris swallows, trying to find her words but her tongue feels like rubber. All she could see was her kid nephew holding a gun in his hands, with no idea how long he's been holding onto it or what he has been using it for. She bites her tongue, trying to get it to work.

Glenn spares her a glance, before turning back to Carl. "Why have you got it?"

"Dale. It's my fault that he died." Carl says, in a small, remorseful voice.

Iris shakes out of it. Carl sounded so upset, like he was carrying the weight of a million tragedies on his shoulders. All of a sudden, he didn't look twelve years old anymore. He looked like her. She bit back tears, knowing Carl needed her right now. "Oh, honey, no. Dale was attacked by a walker. No one could've done anything to stop it."

"I saw that walker." Carl says. Iris closes her eyes for a moment. "I was gonna shoot it. When he was stuck in the mud. I was- I was throwing rocks at him and stuff. But I was gonna do it. Shoot it right in the head. And it- it got free, came after me and... I ran away. If I had killed it, Dale would still be here."

Iris feels her heart break in two. Surprisingly, it was Glenn who spoke up first.

"No. Hey. Look at me." Glenn says assertively. "This wasn't your fault. Do you know how many walkers there are in this world? You couldn't have known."

"It's not your fault." Iris echoes. "Why were you out there anyway, honey? You're not supposed to go out there alone."

Carl shrugs. "You were right, Aunt Iris. I do want all of the answers. I didn't want to be afraid anymore. I wanted to see a walker for myself, I wanted to know how to kill them, so I don't need to be protected anymore."

Iris holds onto his shoulder. "Hey, now. You're growing up. It's natural that you don't wanna be so protected all the time. And this wasn't your fault, Carl. I promise you."

Carl nods and doesn't say anything else. He turns the gun over in his hands and holds it out for Iris. She was about to take it, but Glenn put a hand on her wrist. He exhales. "Maybe he should keep it. Just in case."

Iris looks at him for a second, studying the determined expression on his face. She thinks about it for a moment, before pushing the gun back to Carl. "We'll have to check with your parents, but Glenn is right."

"I'm never touching another gun again." Carl denies. He shoves the gun in Iris' lap, and stands up, walking away.

Iris holds the gun in her hands, looking at Glenn in defeat. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I mean, do I tell Rick? Do I leave him be?"

Glenn shrugs. "It's hard. Growing up is hard, even without all of the walkers. Kids deserve to be able to make mistakes."

Iris massages her temple. "I know. I just... I can't stop thinking about Carl and Sophia and this new baby. What is this world going to do to them? Kids are... they're supposed to be the innocent. The incorruptible. But this world is ruining their lives, their futures."

"Talk to Rick." Glenn tells her. "I think he would want to know. And I think he could help you, too. I always talked to my sisters whenever I had a problem, and they always made me feel better."

"Really?" Iris asks, looking up. "Yeah, you're right. I'll talk to Rick." She stands up, clipping Daryl's gun to her belt. "I should just get it over with."

Iris was lucky to catch Rick on the porch of the farmhouse, with his jacket on as he prepared to leave with Daryl to drop Randall off. He still had purple bruises and deep red cuts on his face, which Iris really did not feel good about. Rick spots her as she walks up the stairs, and he smiles. "Hey, kid. How are you doing?"

Iris smiles. "Alright, all things considered. Hey, Rick, do you have a moment to sit down?"

Rick pauses, a sense of curiosity on his face. He nods, motioning towards the swing seat that was on the porch. "Yeah."

Iris takes a breath, trying to sort out the jumble of words that were going through her mind. She wanted to put it delicately, she wanted to be able to explain her worries clearly, but Iris wasn't exactly the best with words when she was feeling things. Rick kept peering at her, and Iris finally clears her throat, moving all of the hair from her face. She moves positions, facing Rick with great hesitation. "Carl came to me today."

Rick raises his eyebrow. "What did he say?"

Iris bites her lip, and she passes Daryl's gun to him. "He didn't want me to tell you, but I feel like I have to. He's struggling with a lot of guilt, Rick. He went out in the woods yesterday, took Daryl's gun, and tried to shoot a walker that was stuck in the mud. And he couldn't go through with it. He ran away."

Rick could pick up on the hidden meaning behind her words. He speaks with an added weight. "The same walker that killed Dale?"

Iris nods. "Yeah. I told him it wasn't his fault, but I could see it on his face, Rick. This type of thing could impact him forever."

There was a heavy silence.

Eventually, Rick clears his throat, standing up. "I'll have Lori talk to him."

Iris jumps to her feet too. "Rick, wait. I just- I think this is something you should talk to him about. Just... as soon as you can."

Rick turns around. "Okay. As soon as this Randall thing is over, I'll talk to him. Make sure he knows that it's not his fault."

"How about I ride out with Daryl?" Shane's voice was gruff and unwelcome, walking around the corner of the house as if he'd been listening the entire time. Iris' face sours, staring at the bruises sported on his face too. She didn't want him knowing those kinds of things about Carl, not anymore. "Good for us to spend a little time together."

"Nah, I need you here." Rick says.

Iris finds that surprising. She wondered what went down between the two of them the first time they dropped Randall off, that made Rick distrust Shane as much as Iris had started to distrust him. She shared Rick's urgency to get the whole Randall situation behind them. It made sense.

"Don't think I'll handle it right, huh?" Shane asks bitingly.

"Didn't say that." Rick denies.

"What you say?" Shane shakes his head. He looks at the gun on Rick's lap, before sending a piercing glare in Iris' way. "You should get that back to Daryl, huh? Freeing that prisoner... More important to you than Carl. Some father, huh."

Iris hears Andrea in the distance, struggling to start the RV. At every rumble of the engine, her heart sank, thinking about Dale and how he could probably fix this in seconds. His absence was already being felt all around this farm, and Iris didn't know how long she could stand it.

Glenn was on her way to the RV, and she takes a pit stop, walking over to him as he fixes one of the tent poles, despite the fact they weren't living in the tents anymore. He was probably just distracting himself.

"Hey, did you talk to Rick?" Glenn asks, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

"Yeah. You were right. He did make me feel better." Iris says. She sighs. "Until Shane showed up."

"Ouch." Glenn winces. Iris hadn't told him about what Lori had said, about Shane killing Otis. She wasn't sure why. Maybe it was some misguided loyalty that she still felt towards Shane. Maybe she wanted to figure it out all on her own, like she owed it to herself to stand up and prove herself against him. "Still mad at him?"

"Yeah." Iris says. The engine sputters again, followed by Andrea's groan of frustration.

Glenn moves past Iris, waving towards Andrea. Iris follows him, feeling a rush of pride, knowing what he was about to do and knowing that Dale would've been so happy about it.

"Andrea. Hey, did you try pumping the gas pedal?"

Andrea tries the keys again, frowning. "I think it's been parked too long."

Glenn looks up at her. "You gotta tap it three times..."

"And give her a twist." Andrea finishes. "I know, know."

Iris smiles. She really didn't have a technical mind for cars or engines or anything like that, so it all felt like gibberish to her. However, seeing Glenn and Andrea bond over what Dale had taught them was incredibly sweet and it was what both of them needed. Out of everyone in the group, Glenn and Andrea were the closest to Dale.

Glenn taps the engine. "Let me see."

Andrea nods and steps out of the RV, lugging Dale's toolbox behind her. "Hey, Iris."

"Hey." Iris smiles, helping Andrea with Dale's tools.

Glenn looks at the engine, squinting. "Uh, Dale told me that in these old vehicles the points get corroded."

"Screwdriver?" Andrea offers, holding a screwdriver out.

"Flathead." Glenn corrects. Andrea hands him the right tool and Glenn takes a breath, shaking his shoulders out. "Okay. Could you hand me a file?"

Glenn starts to use the tools on the engine. Iris has no idea what he's doing, but she can sense the sadness in his body language. Glenn was hunched over, his movements slow and his breath heavy, like he was holding something back. Iris walks on the other side of him, just being a presence next to him as she leaned against the RV, watching him work. She looks up at Andrea, who shoots her a sympathetic smile, before turning back to Glenn.

"I let him down." Glenn murmurs. I

"He was proud of you." Andrea says, almost immediately. "Maybe not in that moment, but overall."

"Oh, that's easy for you to say. You had his back." Glenn sighs, not looking up from his work.

"I have my share of regrets, but I think that he knew how much we cared for him." Andrea combats softly.

"He would be so happy that you're doing this." Iris mumbles to him.

Glenn sniffles, wiping a tear that fell from his face as he takes the screwdriver out. Iris keeps herself close, not touching him but giving him the chance to reach out to her if he wanted. "That might do it."

"Yeah?" Iris asks.

Glenn walks towards the RV doors, just about to open the door when Andrea calls him back.

"Glenn."

When he turns around, Andrea tosses the keys in the air. Glenn gives a very small smile as he catches them. Iris follows the two of them into the RV, hanging back as they sit in the driver and passenger seat. Iris catches sight of the little shelf of books, brushing her fingers over Dale's books. It hurt.

"Bet it'll work." Andrea smiles, and Iris walks over, standing behind the two of them. Glenn looks at both of them before he turns the key, and the car doesn't jutter, but starts. Glenn and Andrea start to chuckle victoriously.

Iris grins, holding onto Glenn's shoulders from behind. "Good job."

"Thanks." Glenn smiles, his tears from earlier drying. Iris knows what is going through his mind, and it was that he could finally stop feeling guilty that he didn't side with Dale, because he had absorbed Dale's teachings and had saved the RV. "Wanna go on a joyride?"

Iris smiles, shaking her head. "Rain check? I think I'm going to go with Rick and Daryl to drop off Randall."

Both Glenn and Andrea look at her with matching expressions.

"Really?" Andrea says.

"Yeah." Iris nods, shrugging. "I don't know. I feel like I need to see this thing to the end. For Dale."

"Want me to come with?" Glenn offers.

"Nah." Iris pats his shoulder. "You two take your joyride. We'll be back soon."

Iris jumps out of the RV door, adjusting the gun on her belt and bringing her hair into a ponytail on the back of her head. Daryl and T-Dog were setting up to leave. She guessed that Rick was late, and hoped that it was because he was having a conversation with Carl.

"Hey." Iris says, adjusting the backpack on her back. She leans against the car, watching Daryl load a gun.

"You comin' with, Princess?" Daryl asks, raising his eyebrows.

"Mhm." Iris says. "For Dale. Hey, why have you got a gun? Where's the crossbow?"

"Only got so many arrows." Daryl grunts.

"Is that Dale's gun?" T-Dog asks.

"Yeah. Wish I knew where the hell mine is." Daryl says. Iris stifles a snort, not about to tell Daryl that he was essentially burgled by a twelve year old. "Ready?"

"Yeah. I'll get the package." T-Dog says, walking towards the barn to get Randall.

"Thanks." Daryl sends him a salute. Iris snorts.

"Sure you're gonna be up for this, Princess?" Daryl asks, not as genuine as he seemed.

Iris scoffs. "Please, I'm more capable than you know. And I'm not a princess."

She looks around as T-Dog pants over, his eyes wide and a panicked expression on his face. He shakes his head. "Randall is gone."

"What!?" Iris exclaims. She doesn't like this. Not one bit. If Randall was gone, that meant he had either escaped, or been let out. Either option wasn't ideal, and she was imagining a million possibilities run through her mind as her heart raced, her protectiveness flaring up.

There was only one person who was against the plan to let Randall go, and only one person impulsive enough to actually go against the entire group and do something drastic.

Shane.

She couldn't let him do whatever it was he was going to do. She thought it through in her mind. Shane wanted Randall dead, that much was obvious. He wouldn't do it on the property, not if he wanted to keep his image that was already starting to crack. Shane had overheard Iris telling Rick about the walker that Carl had come across in the woods, he knew how dangerous the woods could be, likely riddled with walkers.

Shane was becoming dangerous. Iris had no doubt in her mind that Shane killed Otis. Any doubts drained from her when she saw his face at Dale's funeral, and saw nothing in his expression.

Iris wouldn't let Shane do anything to hurt her family.

"Crap." Iris curses under her breath. She looks at Daryl and T-Dog. "He might have escaped. I'm going to go find Glenn."

Iris ran off in the direction of the RV before T-Dog and Daryl could answer. She stopped when she was out of their sight, waiting until she saw their truck drive back towards the farm.

Iris turns around and runs straight into the woods.

Chapter Text

IRIS FELT THE RUSTLE OF TREES BEHIND HER AS SHE RAN.

It was becoming dusk, but Iris wasn't about to let that stop her from finding out what Shane was up to, and putting a stop to it. Shane had disrupted her family one too many times, and now he was going against what ended up being Dale's final wishes, and Iris was sick of his disrespect and entitlement. Perhaps if she was less angry, she would've stopped to think about what she was really doing, but she was overwhelmed by the thoughts in her head telling her that she had to do something about Shane. And she couldn't do anything until she figured out exactly what Shane was up to.

The woods were confusing, and she was no tracker. She had no idea if she was just going in circles. She could have been following Shane or she could have been just stumbling around aimlessly, and she would have no idea. The silence was haunting, with nothing but trees and the animals that inhabited them as her company, which wasn't very comforting. Every little sound made her jump and touch her gun holster in preparation: Shane wasn't the only potential enemy in these woods, she could not forget about walkers, and damn her if that was how she went out in this world.

Owls hooted in tandem, waking up to start their night, and Iris had never stopped to consider how creepy they sounded when you were alone under a darkening sky, trying to stop a minacious event from ever occurring. Her stomach twisted in anxiety, the more time that passed the more she was starting to severely regret her impulse decision to run into the woods, and she suddenly wished she wasn't here alone. But she knew that if she had taken the time to go to Rick and Glenn with her plan, they would have protested and attempted to stop her or talk her out of it, and by the time she convinced them of what she knew was happening, it may well have been too late. Whatever Shane was up to, Iris wasn't about to sit here and let him become a murderer.

Again.

She brushes through a low branch, the rustle of the leaves making her wince in fear, her heart speeding up until her hands are shaking uncontrollably. She couldn't see any sight of Shane or Randall, and there was always a chance that she was totally off and Shane didn't take Randall into the woods. Or Shane didn't take Randall at all.

But she wasn't convinced she was wrong.

"Who knows if they're still there?"

Iris stifles a gasp as she hears a hushed conversation to her left. Being incredibly careful with her footsteps, she moves closer, trying to catch the conversation and who was speaking it. She reaches a large tree, holding her fingers against it as she sticks her head out, squinting her eyes to make out the shapes of the figures in front of her.

"So you gonna take me to 'em?"

Iris instantly recognised Shane's deep, gruff voice, and her eyes widened as she realises he's talking with a sense of urgency to Randall. They were stumbling through the woods together, and Shane had a tight grip on Randall's shoulder, guiding him roughly through the trees. They were making a lot of noise collectively, so Shane obviously wasn't expecting anyone to follow him. She was right.

She hated the fact that she was right.

Shane was staring at Randall with an intensity, something in his eyes darkening that Iris could see even as the sun went down. She didn't know if his calmness comforted her or worried her, but Shane wasn't actively trying to kill Randall. It sounded like he wanted them to escape together, to find Randall's group. The group of despicable, evil men slaughtered and stole and terrised. Iris just couldn't imagine Shane willingly leaving the group ― leaving Lori ―to join up with a bunch of selfish assholes who only cared about themselves. They weren't the type of people Shane would be around, with no one dependent on him for anything. No, he had to be up to something.

"I- I'm just- I'm done with this group, man." Shane keeps saying, and Iris holds her breath and closes her eyes, praying that Shane wouldn't spot her. There was a time where she never would've believed that Shane could do anything to hurt her, but she wasn't about to risk herself like that. "They're doomed and I want no part of it. That's all."

"So you're not gonna kill me?" Randall asks. Iris feels a pang in her heart at his words, and how much Dale would've hated them.

"Come on, man. If I was, you'd be dead. Come on." Shane grabs Randall, pulling him further out of the woods, away from where Iris was standing and listening. Iris holds onto the tree for dear life, as if it would protect her from all harm. She could feel her wrist pulsating as her heartbeat thumps in her chest, and it was a small miracle that Shane couldn't hear it beating out of her chest.

"Hey, you ain't gotta be so rough. We're on the same side now." Randall says, letting his guard down. Iris so wants to jump in and warn him, but she hasn't seen enough to figure out what was actually happening. She had learned from recent events that Shane was unpredictable. "You're gonna like it with us. Gets a little crazy sometimes, but it's a tough bunch of guys. You'll fit in good."

"Less talking, more walking." Shane grumbles. They are starting to get a little further away, but Iris stayed rooted to her tree, despite the fact that she was urging herself to just move.

"Look, I run my mouth when I get nervous. I can't help it. I got a lot going on, you know?" Randall rambles, looking at Shane with wide, trusting eyes.

"It ain't all about you." Shane mutters.

"I- I ain't saying it's about me. Just trying to-"

SNAP.

There was a thud.

Iris gasps loudly, before covering her mouth in utter terror. Her breathing quickens, uncontrollably as her eyes pool with tears, unable to process what she had just witnessed.

Shane had snapped Randall's neck.

Iris felt like the trees were closing in on her, laughing at her ineptness as her legs turned to jelly underneath her. She can feel the rise of a panic attack forming and she attempts to harshly swallow it down, staring at Randall's dead body. His eyes were open, permanently frozen in a state of stock and betrayal that would stain his face forever. His neck was bent in an awkward position, something that would live in Iris' nightmares forever. If she survived this.

Shane sighs, and he slowly turns around, towards her direction.

Iris naturally takes a step back, without even thinking about her environment. She steps on a twig; it snaps in half in a brutally familiar sound.

Shane whips his head around. His eyes narrow just as Iris' widens. She held her breath, stuck in place as Shane stared at her like she was an animal in a zoo exhibit. She catches the moment that Shane realises exactly what she just witnessed, and something sinister flashes behind his eyes. He takes a step forward, crunching all of the leaves under his feet as he did so.

"Iris!"

She gasps again, goosebumps rising all over her skin and the hair standing up on the back of her neck. She finally lets herself breathe and she gasps for air like a fish out of water, forgetting every single ounce of training against walkers she had ever learned, staring into the eyes of her brother's best friend. The murderous, scheming eyes of her brother's best friend.

Shane had always been such a force in her life. The tension of the last few weeks was an anomaly, Iris had never seen Shane quite like he was looking at her now. He was eyeing her up with such brutal tenacity that she couldn't even recognise him. He was looking at her like she was prey.

When Iris was nine years old, Lori and Rick announced their pregnancy during a big family party, and Iris, for the most part, had loved Carl since she found out he existed, but that day, finding out about a new baby which would take Rick's attention, Iris was terrified that she was going to be forgotten. Like most children, she dealt with those anxieties by hiding, particularly by hiding under the stairs. Shane had left the room where the music was booming and laughter was echoing, for whatever reason that Iris didn't know or remember, and he had immediately found her sniffling to herself. Shane coaxed her out that day, and she confessed all of her fears to him. She still remembered the words he had told her, to this day.

Rick will never forget you, okay? You're Iris Grimes, you're unforgettable. You're his baby sister, and you're like my baby sister, too.

"Iris!"

She turns around and runs.

Iris doesn't look back. She can hear Shane's footsteps, heavy and looming as he darts in and out of the trees, following her every movement. She was practically hyperventilating as she ran blindly, narrowly avoiding low branches that scratched her skin from the speed that she was running in. Shane's voice got louder and louder behind her.

"Iris! Hey, it's not what you think, Iris! Iris! Stop. Come back."

Iris doesn't pause, she doesn't halt. She doesn't believe Shane anymore, and she knows that he would keep up appearances and get back to Lori unscatched. She knew what he would do to make sure that no one knew what he had done to Randall.

Iris knew he would try to kill her.

Every regret pools through her as she runs, her vision cutting in and out from the lack of oxygen as she refuses to take a break. She was twisting and turning through the woods, with no idea what way was up or down, no way of knowing which way was home. She had never been more afraid in her life, never felt so close to death before, not ever. Not even when this outbreak first happened.

She had to go home. For herself. For Glenn. She couldn't stand a world where she didn't come back from this and Glenn had no idea what happened to her, if she suffered, if she was afraid when she went out. It would destroy him. Completely and totally destroy him. He would never recover if this was how she went out. He was too kind and sweet and pure to have to experience a loss like this, and Iris was determined to never make him go through that pain. Ever. She would get home to him, she would get to hug him so tight she cuts off his breath, to feel his hair between her fingers and to shower kisses all over his face because she missed him so much.

She had to go home for Carl. For her innocent, loyal baby nephew who needed her, who needed someone in his life who wasn't his parents, who he could talk to, and get advice from, whenever he needed it. Carl would mourn her too. Probably for the rest of his life, and she would become a ghost in his story, haunting his mind and his decisions and his well being for a long, long time. She couldn't do that to him.

She had to go home for Rick. Her protective, strong big brother who she has looked up to her entire life. The person who comforted her when she would have nightmares as a child, the man who taught her how to shoot a gun and unwittingly prepared her for an apocalypse that no one was expecting to come. Her childhood role model, her idol who she based her entire moral code on. He would never forgive himself if he lost her like this. He would blame himself forever, for not seeing the signs, for somehow failing to protect her.

And she had to go home for Lori. The woman who had become her sister when they were five and fifteen years old. Lori would miss her, probably feeling like a dull ache, missing their solidarity and their jokes, missing her support that they had always given her. Iris would never get the chance to meet the little baby growing in Lori's stomach, and Lori would remember that everytime she sees Carl and the child together, reminding her of Iris when Carl was born. Loving him, protecting him. Lori would miss her.

She had to get home, because she refused to go out now, and let Shane return to camp and lie to her family about her demise. To see him from whatever afterlife that may or may not exist and live with her loved ones when she couldn't.

Iris had to survive, if there was any justice in the world.

Iris turns again, avoiding walking straight into a large tree. She runs without looking, the fear overtaking her senses and clouding her mind.

She trips.

Iris hits the ground with a heavy thump, the air being sucked right out of her as she feels something warm underneath her. She had tripped over Randall's body. She ran in a circle.

She stifles a terrified scream, scrambling up to start running again. However, Shane's body slams into her, pulling her back down on the ground. Iris screams out loud, grunting gutterally as Shane pinned her arms over her head, her legs moving involuntarily as she tried to kick out of Shane's lethal grip. She gasps. "Get the hell off of me!"

"Just listen to me!" Shane shouts, so loud that it blares into Iris' eardrums as his spit sprays on her face. She struggles against his grip, but Shane was too strong, keeping her pinned to the hard ground as he continued to yell in her face. "You don't understand when to damn stop! Do you think I wanna do this!? You're forcing me to make a decision I don't wanna make! You and Rick, getting in my way, stopping me from having what I want. You just can't let up! You can't leave well enough alone! I was going to spare you! I was only gonna take Rick, but now you're forcing me to do this! I never wanted to hurt you, Iris. I never wanted to hurt you. Remember that."

Iris struggles to find her breath through her blinding panic, Shane's words barely registering in her mind. Shane, who she had always loved like a brother, was blaming her for the murder he was about to commit. Her murder. She struggles to find her voice, but when she does, it's hoarse and low. "F- fuck you."

"Damn it!" Shane yells, taking one of his hands from her wrist to slam it into the ground beside her. Tears form in his eyes, and Iris stares at the wetness in his eyes in disgust. He didn't get to feel bad about this. This was all him. He was going to kill her in the woods just like he had done with Randall, and he was going to do the same to Rick. He punches the ground two more times. "Damn it! Damn you!"

He brings his hands to her neck.

Iris feels her breath cut out, her limbs twitching uncontrollably as she reaches up and tries to stop Shane. Her mind was slowing, until the only thing she could feel was his fingers tightening around her throat, pressing down on her windpipe so hard that it hurt.

"I don't want to do this, I don't have a choice. I have to do this. I have to do this to survive. I have to survive." Shane was muttering under his breath, but all Iris could see was the darkness in his eyes and the stars in her vision.

No.

She wouldn't let him win.

She forces her left arm down, reaching for something, anything that she could use. She strains with all of her might, reaching as far as her fingers would take her.

A rock.

Her fingers brush against a rock.

In an instant, and in her last surge of strength, she brings the rock up, slamming Shane straight in the face with it. Shane shouts and stumbles back, his grip around her throat loosening as he falls on his back.

Iris gasped as air reached her lungs, holding her heart as she hyperventilated, feeling the bruises around her neck start to form and the burning of her chest. She crawls backwards on her back, but she wasn't fast enough to stop Shane from leaping up, and bringing the rock down on her temple.

Then Iris didn't feel much of anything.

Her vision swam in and out, only vaguely aware of Shane pacing around her, slapping his head and holding his bloody nose. Iris brings her fingers to the side of her head. She can't tell if her fingers bring back blood, swaying a little to the side. There was a grunt, and she thinks that it might be coming out of her as she crawls away, disoriented and watching the trees dance around her.

There was another grunt. This time it wasn't from her, she knew that much.

She squints her eyes, flopping on her back as she focuses all of her attention on a third figure, walking oddly and snarling viciously. Its neck was bent in a weird shape. Randall was back to life.

She groans. She can hear Shane moving, standing over her, and she focuses as hard as she possibly can, trying to make out the words coming out of his mouth.

"Goodbye, Iris."

Shane turns around and walks away.

Randall pounces.

Randall was missing.

Glenn puts his hands on his baseball cap as he stares at the empty spot where Randall had been. Rick was breathing heavily beside him, the panic on him obvious even though he tried to hide it. T-Dog and Daryl were speaking instinctively to each other: they had been the ones to realise that Randall was gone, and no one had any idea where he was.

A small group had gathered outside, trying to figure out what the commotion was as Rick sighs and throws his hand in the air.

"What's wrong?" Lori asks, panting as she catches up to them.

"Randall's missing." Glenn says, shaking his head.

"Missing?" Lori exclaims, her eyes widening in fear. "How?"

"Hey, Glenn, didn't Iris tell you that?" T-Dog asks, frowning.

Glenn looks up at him in confusion. "No? I thought she was with you?"

T-Dog pauses, as if thinking hard to himself. He looks back at Glenn and shrugs. "Maybe she went to find Carl."

"Yeah." Glenn says, but there was something in his gut that worried him. He didn't quite understand it, but the hairs on his arms stood up as if he was expecting some massive threat. He perks up, searching for Iris in the crowd.

Hhershel pushes his way through. "How long's he been gone?"

"What's goin' on?" Patricia asks, holding a hand to her mouth.

"It's hard to say." Hershel shrugs.

"The cuffs are still hooked. He must've slipped 'em." Rick shakes his head, looking at the cuffs in concern.

"Is that possible?" Carol asks, her voice high with fear.

"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea says, holding her hands to her ips.

"The door was secured from the outside." Hershel suddenly says. Glenn looks up, staring at the doors with sudden realisation. Had someone-

"RICK?!"

Lori lets out a gasp as Shane's desperate pleas echo through the camp. He crawls out of the woods, and Glenn's heart drops to his stomach. Shane's face was bloody and bruised, streaking down his nose as if he had been brutally attacked. Glenn took a step back, looking around more frantically for any sign of Iris. She had to be in the house, it was the only place she could possibly be. In the house. safe.

"What happened?" Lori asks, running over to Shane. The others follow her, a mixture of scared looks and noises of surprise as Shane gets closer, holding his bloody nose with gasping breaths.

"He's armed! He's got my gun!"

"Are you okay?" Carl exclaims, running up next to Glenn. He does a double take when he sees Carl appear next to him, without the familiar sight of Iris with him. A lump appears in Glenn's throat. Something was very, very wrong.

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face." Shane yells, making it over to the group. He holds out a gun. Glenn recognises it instantly, and he stifles a panicked shout. "Iris was followin' him, ran after him before I could stop her. Damn kid took hold of her, clocked me in the face and when I woke up they were gone! He left her gun on the ground! They're somewhere in the woods, Rick!"

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

Not his Iris, not this soon, not right now. He couldn't lose her, he didn't have it in him to lose her. Iris was his entire life, Iris made his entire life have meaning and purpose, like he was waiting for two decades to find her, and now that he finally had, he couldn't live without her. He needed her, as much as he needed oxygen and food and water. If she was just... gone, like she never even existed...

He couldn't stand the thought.

Rick's face hardens. "All right, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, come with us."

Glenn nods. If Iris was still out in those woods, alive, he was going to find her. He had to find her. His heart, his soul, his life.

There was no time to cry. She needed him, at this moment, and Glenn wasn't about to let her down. He pushes every thought that consumed him, thoughts of her hurting, suffering, dying.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane commands, the rage consuming him so much that he was as red as the blood on his face.

"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?" Carol says, her eyes soft and afraid.

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun and a hostage!"

Even Carol can't argue with that. Iris was loved by everyone, because she was special and she had so much heart and love to give. Iris could comfort anyone through anything, and the thought of her, afraid and alone, made Glenn's eyes sting.

"Get everybody back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" Rick yells. Glenn had never seen Rick quite like he was now, his eyes bloodthirsty and preparing for a fight.

A fight for Iris.

As Andrea and T-Dog rush everyone back towards the house, Rick, Daryl, Shane and Glenn walk in tandem towards the woods, their weapons raised with fierce determination. Randall would not take Iris from them, and they were all united in that front.

Glenn ignores everything he was feeling, every fear and worry and grief until he could only feel a strong determination to get her back. To find her, to bring her home.

He would not find a body.

Shane was practically leading the charge, pointing in a direction in the woods. "I saw him head up through the trees with Iris, that way, before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long."

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted." Rick says, shaking his head.

"And armed." Glenn mutters. He imagines Randall threatening Iris with his gun, and it makes him sick to his stomach.

"So are we." Rick puts a reassuring hand on Glenn's shoulder, turning to Daryl. "Can you track him?"

Daryl shakes his head, staring at the ground. "No, I don't see nothing."

Shane sighs, moving in scattered steps around them. "Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? He went that way. We need to pair up. We spread out, we just chase him down, find Iris and bring her home. That's it."

Daryl peers at him with narrow eyes. "Kid weighs a buck-25 soaking wet. You trying to tell us he got the jump on you? And he overpowered Iris in her state, managed to drag her through these woods?"

Shane scoffs. "I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you? And Iris is a pretty small girl, wouldn't you say."

"She's more capable than people think." Daryl replies, in a low voice.

"Alright, knock it off. You and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane'll take the left. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other." Rick interrupts. "We're bringing her home, alright?"

The four of them split ways, and Glenn follows Daryl through the darkness of the woods, struggling to control his frenzied thoughts in the silence as Daryl stared at the ground, following the tracks.

Glenn's heavy breathing must've put Daryl off, because he stands up and stares at him. "Stop that. We'll find her, alright?"

Glenn bites his cheek. "What if we don't?"

"We will." Daryl replies, like he was certain that Iris could never be lost to him forever. "Randall ain't got nothin' on her."

"That's true." Glenn manages a smile.

Daryl looks back at the floor, pointing out some scuffles on the ground to him. "There's two sets of tracks right here. Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said. There's fresh blood on this tree. There's more tracks. Looks like they're walking in tandem. And then, over here-" Daryl walks to a big tree."-I don't even know what could've happened here. Looks like someone was lying down."

Glenn stares at the ground, feeling his stomach twist as a thousand possibilities run through his mind. There was a snap of a tree branch, followed by a loud bird call. Glenn turns around as he walks, fearing the idea of Iris making those sounds and him completely missing her. He bumps straight into Daryl, gasping in shock. He closes his eyes, taking a breath. "Sorry."

Daryl stares back at the tracks on the ground. "Yeah, there was a little dust up right here."

"What do you mean?" Glenn asks.

"I mean something went down." Daryl says.

Glenn sighs. "It's getting weird. I just- Iris wouldn't do this. It doesn't seem right."

Daryl nods in agreement, pointing at the marks on the ground. "Had a little trouble."

Glenn crouches down and picks up Randall's blindfold that was discarded on the ground. He swallows nervously.

"There's blood here. Fresh." Daryl says in a hushed tone.

Glenn feels the blood rush under his skin, wondering if the blood was Randall's. Or if it was Iris'. However, before he could respond, a deep snarl growls behind him, jumping on top of him and pinning him to the ground. Glenn lets out a panicked gasp, bringing his hands up before the walker could bite him. The walker was Randall.

Daryl points his crossbow, but he clearly couldn't get a clean shot because he grunts and puts it down, scrambling for the knife on his belt.

Glenn yelps, pushing Randall up with all of his strength and he reaches for his own knife, shoving upwards and pushing Randall to the floor, driving his knife into Randall's skull.

Glenn sighs and runs a hand through his hair, panting from the strain. Daryl holds out a hand for Genn to take, nodding in approval. "Nice."

But Glenn can't celebrate his victory. He stares at Randall's milky eyes, open and staring at him, taunting him. His fate was horrifying, but nothing was freaking him out more than looking at the lifeless form of his girlfriend's captor and she was nowhere in sight. Where was the walker that attacked Randall? Had he..?

"Daryl." Glenn holds a hand to his mouth. "Daryl, he's-"

"I know." Daryl says. His voice was quiet, even a little comforting. "It's not gonna happen to her. She is not a walker."

"I can't-" Glenn could feel himself panicking. "If she's... I can't-"

"You won't." Daryl says, even firmer. He kneels down, studying Randall's body. "Got his neck broke. He's got no bites."

Glenn crouches down next to him, raising his eyebrow. He accepted Daryl's obvious attempt at distraction. "Yeah, none you can see."

Daryl shakes his head, his fingers brushing over Randall's neck. "No, I'm telling you he died from this."

Glenn felt his heart sink. "How's that possible?"

Iris, where the hell are you?

Shane had done something terrible.

Rick knew it, down to his very soul. Shane wasn't telling the truth. He had been lying since the moment he stumbled out of those woods, claiming that Randall had attacked him and taken Iris hostage, in the darkness of night, in the rough terrain of the woods, while injured and disoriented. It just didn't make sense.

Shane had done something to Iris.

His baby sister, with her sweet blonde hair that had been as long as her for as long as he could remember, with her bright spirit and the kindness that she bore in every part of her body. The amount of love that she had to give, and how fierce she could be when someone had done her or someone she loved wrong.

Shane was leading him to something.

Rick could guess what it was. But he wasn't going to fight it. Not yet. If, and God forbid, Shane had already... disposed of her, Rick had to know where she was. It was the most difficult thing in the world, picturing his best friend doing such an awful thing to his baby sister, but he forced himself to hold it together. Right now, Shane thought he had the upper hand.

But if Shane had done something to Iris, Rick would reign down everything he had on him. He would never, ever let it go. If Shane had... if Shane had murdered Iris, then Rick would kill him.

He would not hesitate.

Rick watches Shane as he walks in front of him. His movements were slow, calculated. It was obvious from the way he kept looking up that Shane was leading him somewhere. He just prayed that it wasn't Iris' early grave.

"Does this way feel right?" Rick finally asks, keeping his voice steady. He would not give Shane any reason to believe that he was onto him.

"As right as any." Shane grunts.

"Snatched your gun, huh?" Rick asks again, tilting his head. "Took Iris?"

"Yeah." Shane rubs his head. "It's my favorite piece too. And I watched him drag Iris away from me. I couldn't protect her, you know? I'll... hate myself forever for not being able to do anything. Gonna wish he'd- wish he'd killed me when I find his sorry ass."

They were both quiet after that.

Rick watches Shane with hardened eyes. He couldn't read the expression in his eyes, he couldn't discern if it was guilt or remorse or just acceptance. In the bottom of his heart, he couldn't imagine Shane killing Iris with his own two hands. He prays with every part of him that she is alive, that she is fine. That she was with Randall, that she had gotten the upper hand and was running home right now. But Shane was lying about something, and Rick was suspecting that Shane had killed Randall, done something to Iris, and was planning to do something to him.

Shane led him to a large clearing.

Rick looks at his surroundings, swallowing his anger and his rage and forcing his voice to steady. "You say he got you with a rock?"

"That's what I said." Shane sighs, not turning to look at him, still.

Rick raises an eyebrow. "Inside the shed? 'Cause that door was shut when T-Dog rolled up."

Shane nods, his voice gruff. "I saw that too. Must've slipped through the rafters in the roof."

Rick stares at him. Really stares at him. This clearing was widespread, covered by a line of trees. It was very well hidden, far away from the farm. Way too far for Randall to have made it by himself with his leg in the state that it was.

Rick clears his throat and prays that he wasn't standing over his sister's grave. He walks ahead of Shane, holding a hand to his hip as he looks out into the horizon. "So this is where you planned to do it?"

"It's a good place as any."

Rick turns around, scoffing and stares at Shane in disgust. "At least have the balls to call this what it is. Murder. You really believe if you walk back onto that farm alone. No me, no Randall, no Iris. What did you do to her, Shane?"

Shane holds his hand out, breathing erratically. "I want you to hush up."

Rick tilts his head, biting his tongue as Shane avoids his question. "You really believe they're gonna buy whatever bullshit story you cook up?"

Shane laughs, smiling at him psychopathically. Holding his gun steady, clicking the safety off. "That's just it. It ain't no story. I saw that prisoner shoot you down. I saw him push Iris into a walker and... and there was just no saving her. I ran after him. I snapped his neck. It ain't gonna be easy, but Lori and Carl- They'll get over you. They done it before. They just gonna have to. They'll get over Iris, too, in time. I'll help them. And Glenn? He'll move on. It's just puppy love, those two. They ain't gonna last anyway."

Rick's breath hitches, staring at Shane's gun as it was pointed in his direction, brother on brother. He felt the sting of betrayal. "A walker? Is that what happened? Did she get bit?"

"Randall turned, man. He wasn't even bit by one, but he turned. Now, Iris put up a good fight, but she wasn't in the best of states. He would've gotten her." Shane shrugs, like it never even bothered him. But Rick knew better. Shane hadn't been able to bring himself to do it, he'd left her to a walker. Iris was strong. She had a fighting chance. Shane had at least given her that.

"Why? Why now? I thought we worked this all out." Rick spits, shaking his head.

"We tried to kill each other man." Shane exclaims, raising his voice louder and louder. "What you think? We just gonna forget about it all? We gonna ride off into the sunset together? You're gonna kill me in cold blood?"

Rick scoffs, letting go of some of his rage as he stares at Shane's pathetic, cowardly face. "Screw my wife? Attempt to murder my sister? Have my children, my children, call you daddy? Is that what you want? That life won't be worth a damn. I know you. You won't be able to live with this."

"What you know about what I can live with?" Shane yells, his voice echoing through the empty space. "You got no idea what I can live with, what I live with! You wanna talk about what I can do, Rick? How about what you can do? Here I am. Come on, man. Raise your gun."

Shane lifts his gun even higher, stepping closer to Rick. The gap between them was still large, foreboding.

Rick does not put a hand on his gun. "No. No, I will not."

Shane laughs bitterly. "What happened, Rick? I thought you weren't the good guy anymore. Ain't that what you said? Even right here, right now, you ain't gonna fight for 'em? I'm a better father than you, Rick. I'm better for Lori than you, man. It's 'cause I'm a better man than you, Rick. I'm better than you and anyone else who calls themselves a damn Grimes! 'Cause I can be here and I'll fight for it. You come back here and you just destroy everything! You got a broken woman. You got a weak boy. You got a helpless sister! You ain't got the first clue on how to fix it. Raise your gun."

Rick shakes his head. "You're gonna have to kill an unarmed man. Watch my hand."

Rick slowly reaches for his gun in the holster, tipping it handle up and extending it out towards Shane. He was too far gone . That much was obvious. Otis, Randall, Iris. Shane couldn't walk back from this, Rick couldn't let him around his family.

But his guard had to be down.

"Nice and easy. Easy does it." Rick soothes, Shane steps closer to him now, until they are practically touching. "Now listen to me, Shane. There is still a way back from this. Nothing has happened here. We're gonna lay down our guns and we're gonna walk back to the farm Together. Back to Lori. Back to Carl. Put this all behind us."

It happens in a blur.

Rick and Shane move at once, every single ounce of anger and frustration and resentment and even love poured out of them, yet, in a split second, a gunshot went off, booming and shattering through his eardrums.

He caught Shane as he fell to the floor, and all he could feel was anguish. Hot, burning, overwhelming anguish. "Shh. Damn you for making me do this, Shane. This was you, not me! You did this to us! This was you, not me- not me! Not me! Son of..."

"Dad?"

BANG.

Iris perks up when she gunshot blares, gasping for breath and groaning as everything swam around her. She was on her back, staring up at the trees above her. Her head felt heavy and her limbs uncooperative.

She screams when Randall pounces on her, baring his teeth and overwhelming her already disoriented senses. She was not dying today. Not by Shane, and not by a damn walker.

She forces herself to sit up, staring in the direction of the gunshot like a deer caught in headlights. There was blood trailing down the side of her face, and she tenses up as she brings her fingers to her neck, the bruises tender and painful. She doesn't know how long she had been passed out, or if she even was passed out.

She fights with all of her will, kicking Randall off of her. He does not relent, going for her again like she was an animal to slaughter. Iris reaches for her gun, but she finds nothing in her holster. Her eyes widened. Shane.

The gunshot was so loud, it had to be close. No one would fire a gun at just a walker, not when the sound could attract so many more and potentially harm their entire group. No, this had to be a dispute.

She crawls on her knees, letting out terrified yelps as she feels Randall's fingers reaching for her skin, pulling her back with mindless, bloodthirsty need.

Shane wanted to kill Rick. He had admitted that himself. Iris stumbles to her feet, the urgency causing some adrenaline to course through her system, and she feels a new level of alertness. Rick. She had to help Rick.

Iris pushes herself to her feet, ripping a low branch off of a tree and launching it towards Randall. He trips over it, and Iris takes the opportunity. She runs, and runs, and runs, and runs, until she falls to her knees and darkness overtakes her.

Iris runs, as fast as she can, towards the sound of the shot. She pushes through tree branches, ignoring the pain that coursed through her. She stumbles onto a clearing, rubbing her eyes when she sees three figures in front of her.

Rick, Shane and Carl.

She gasps, her hands shaking as she puts them over her mouth, projecting her voice. "Rick!"

Shane turns around. Iris stares at him, tilting her head.

He had milky white eyes.

BANG.

Shane thumps to the ground.

Carl was holding the smoking gun. 

Chapter Text

"RICK!"

Iris broke into a run, sprinting through the short grass, past the broken form that was once Shane Walsh, straight into her brother's arms.

Rick grunts in surprise, but he wraps his arms around Iris the moment he processes who she is, swaying with her back and forth as he strokes the back of her head. Iris can feel his heavy breaths on her shoulder, and her eyes fill with tears as she feels the comfort of his embrace after everything that had happened. Rick was shaking, gripping hold of the side of her head with care, and when he pulled away, he was crying.

He brushes his fingers over the blood running down the side of her face. "Iris... you're alive."

"I'm alive." Iris sobs, wiping her eyes and taking large, swooping breaths. "I'm okay. I'm alive."

"Oh, what did he do, what did he do?" Rick asks her, the emotion thick in his voice as he looks down at the bruises on her neck. He furrowed his eyebrows as he stroked the back of her head, cradling her like she was still a baby.

"I'm okay. It doesn't hurt too bad, I'll be alright." Iris whispers. She looks past Rick, spotting Carl standing a little while off, still holding his gun and staring at Shane's body on the ground. She breaks away from Rick, moving towards Carl and kneeling on the ground. "Carl, sweetheart."

For a moment, Carl doesn't move. Then, like he realises that he was safe for the first time, he drops his gun, breaking out into a run. "Iris!'

"Oh, buddy, you did so good." Iris breathes as soon as he reaches her. She brings him into a tight hug, ignoring the pain circling around her head. "I'm so proud of you. We're okay, we're okay."

"Dad." Carl says, pulling away from Iris to look at his dad with panicked eyes. "Shane- I- he was."

"It's okay." Rick says, walking over and putting a hand on Carl's shoulder. He helps Iris up, making sure she was steady on her feet. Iris was certain there was still a lot of adrenaline coursing through her, because her pain had dulled into numbness. "We've gotta get back."

"Yeah." Iris says, gripping onto Rick's shoulder. "We'll have to... come back. For the body."

Rick nods curtly. "Yeah."

They started trailing back in silence. Occasionally, Iris felt her temple, wincing at the fresh blood that would occasionally sprout from the fresh wound. It wasn't bleeding constantly, which she hoped was a good sign. Her tender bruises on her neck were more irritating, and Iris guessed that her voice would still be hoarse for a while from the strain.

Carl was on the other side of Rick, holding his gun that he had picked back up off the floor. He looks up at his father. "You bit too?"

"No." Rick says.

"Iris?" Carl asks. "Is that why you're bleeding?"

"No, I'm okay." Iris says, hesitating. She doesn't know how much to tell him. "I fought it off."

"Shane was bit." Carl says in a low tone.

"That wasn't Shane. You know that." Rick replies.

"Used to be." Carl mutters. "What happened? You guys attacked? I mean, I- I heard a gunshot, but I didn't see any walkers nearby. How did Shane die? Where were you, Iris?"

Iris and Rick both stop walking, looking at each other. Were they supposed to tell him the truth? Could he handle that?

Iris opens her mouth to say something, anything that could make him feel better.

She was interrupted by a series of growls, sounding far off in the distance. She frowns, trying to locate the sound through her still ringing ears.

In the treeline, there were walkers. Dozens, no, hundreds of walkers. Walking with slow but steady footsteps, advancing towards them with a thirst for human flesh and no intention to stop until everyone in their path was dead and gone. Her heart skipped a beat as she realised just how close the walkers actually were to them, and how outnumbered they were.

"Shit!" She exclaims, reaching for her gun, but she grunts when she remembers that Shane had taken it off of her. "Rick!"

"Oh my God!" Rick exclaims, scrambling to take hold of his belt. He throws a gun at her. "Iris!"

Iris catches it, realising with a relieved smile when she realises it was her gun, the one she's had since the very start. Rick gasps, shuffling on his feet and grabbing hold of both Iris and Carl. "Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go!"

Rick leads them both to cover behind some trees, and Iris crouches down, hitting the ground heavier than she was intending to. She grunts, holding onto Carl's arm for dear life as she looks up, spotting how far away the herd was. They were advancing quickly, much quicker than Iris thought possible.

They must've been drawn in by the gunshots.

"We- we gotta get to the house, tell the others." Carl says, standing up and getting ready to stride off.

Rick pulls him back down. "We'll never get through that. Can't go around."

"We have to run." Iris whispers, clasping her hands together.

"Carl, stay close." Rick nods, standing up and motioning for Iris and Carl to follow him as he finds a clear direction. "Go!

Glenn runs a hand through his hair as he follows Daryl back to the farm. It was starting to get far too dark to stay in the woods, but Glenn probably would've walked around all night if Daryl hadn't practically dragged him back. Since they had found Randall in the woods, with his milky eyes and baring teeth, a walker with no bites and a suspicious snapped neck, Glenn didn't know what to think. Shane had said that Randall had taken Iris, but Glenn knew that Iris and Shane weren't exactly on the best of terms right now, but would Shane ever do something to actually hurt her?

His mind hadn't stopped racing since he learned of Iris' disappearance, and the guilt was weighting on him. He should've known she was gone, he should've done something to stop her from going out into those woods alone. When Randall had appeared as a walker, Glenn knew in that moment that he wouldn't have the strength to do what needed to be done if Iris was one of them too.

Similarly to when they had lost Sophia, they had to return to the farm to regroup and not to risk their own lives fumbling around in the dark. However, Glenn felt like throwing up as he followed Daryl out of the woods, feeling like he was abandoning the girl he loves and leaving her to...

He couldn't even think it.

Daryl had decided that they needed to head back once a loud gunshot rang out, blaring through their ears despite the distance. It could've been anything. Glenn just hoped and prayed that Iris wasn't anywhere near it. Maybe Rick and Shane had returned by now with her.

Glenn wilts as Daryl opens the door of the farm, hating the idea of facing Lori and Carl and telling them that he had failed to find Iris. To say the words out loud would make the possibility of losing her so much more real.

Glenn Rhee would die before losing Iris Grimes.

The group was gathered in the living room, and Glenn instantly looked for Rick and Shane, to see if they had happened across Iris and brought her home. They weren't anywhere in sight.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" Daryl asks, swinging his crossbow over his shoulder.

Lori stands up, shaking her head. "No."

"We heard a shot."

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggests.

Daryl gruffly shakes his head. "We found him."

"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie asks.

"He's a walker." Daryl says. The group tenses.

"Where's Iris?" Andrea asks.

Glenn bites his cheek in shame, feeling the guilt run through his system at Andrea's hopeful eyes. "She wasn't anywhere near him. We saw blood, but it could've been his."

"God." Lori says, clasping her hands together. "Please find her, Rick."

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asks

Glenn shakes his head with a sigh. This situation was getting more and more confusing. "No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit."

"His neck was broke." Daryl adds.

"So he fought back." Patricia states.

"Could it have been Iris?" Andrea suggests. "Maybe she got the upper hand and she ran away."

Daryl shrugs. "The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together. And Iris' tracks came up to that big tree, like Shane said she did, but her tracks don't cross with Randall's at all, except for some big mess on the ground, like there was a fight."

Lori sighs. "Would you two please get back out there, find Rick and Shane and Iris, and find out what on earth is going on?"

Daryl nods, tapping her on the shoulder reassuringly. "You got it."

"Thank you." Lori answers, looking at Daryl with appreciation.

Daryl walks straight outside, but Glenn hangs back. He wanted to go back out there, more than anything, but in the back of his mind, he was terrified as to what he was going to see if he did.

Maggie taps his shoulder in solidarity. "She's okay, Glenn. She's tough. She'll come home."

"Yeah." Glenn sighs, but he doesn't sound very convincing, staring at the ground and playing with his fingers.

Andrea gasps from the window, and Glenn whips his head up, wondering if she'd spotted Iris or Rick or Shane in the distance. The group runs over to the porch, and Glenn practically leads the charge, flying open the door and squinting to see what was coming in the dark.

It wasn't Iris. Or Rick. Or Shane.

It was walkers.

A lot of walkers.

"Patricia, kill the lights." Hershel commands, with a heightened tone of urgency.

"I'll get the guns." Andrea adds.

Glenn couldn't believe it. There couldn't be walkers coming out of the woods, not now, not when Iris was lost out there and vulnerable. What if she was part of the attack?

"Maybe they're just passing." He suggests, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?"

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about. A herd that size would rip the house down." Daryl remarks.

Glenn clasps his hands together over his mouth.

Suddenly, Lori runs out of the house at lightning speed, her voice high and frightened. "Carl's gone."

"What!?" Daryl exclaims.

"He- he was upstairs." Lori stammers, looking out at the herd in fear. "I can't find him anymore."

"Maybe he's hiding." Glenn suggests. Iris would be panicking like nobody's business if she was here right now, she loved Carl so much and if he was gone too, it would break her.

"He's supposed to be upstairs. I'm not leaving without my boy." Lori says firmly.

Carol shakes her head. 'We're not. We're gonna look again. We're gonna find him."

Maggie nods in agreement, handing out rifles to the group one by one. She passes one to Glenn, and he raises an eyebrow at her in surprise. The Greene family seemed to be very against guns, though Glenn couldn't forget how Hershel's good aim had saved his life. "Maggie?"

Maggie shrugs. "You grow up country, you pick up a thing or two."

"I got the number. It's no use." Daryl says.

Hershel doesn't move from his place on the porch, holding his rifle close to his chest. "You can go if you want."

Daryl raises an eyebrow. "You gonna take 'em all on?"

"We have guns. We have cars." Hershel replies

Andrea nods. "Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the cars to lead the rest of them off the farm."

"Yeah. We need to lead them away from the woods. She's still out there." Glenn says.

Daryl peers at Hershel. "Are you serious?"

"This is my farm. I'll die here."

Glenn looks at the herd of walkers, coming from multiple directions. They were getting louder and louder, littering the farm like an infestation, ruining any chance of finding Iris anytime soon, and his heart broke in two the more he came to realise that he might lose her before they'd even had a chance to live.

"All right." Daryl nods. "It's as good a night as any."

Iris, Rick and Carl made a beeline for the barn, getting inside and slamming the doors shut before any walker could get in. Iris pants, listening to the snarls and scratches behind the door and the wooden walls of the barn, trapped in the knowledge that they were totally surrounded. Carl backed up, his eyes widening as he looked in all directions, seeing the movement of the doors as the walkers tried to force their way inside, forcing their way to the three of them.

"Rick." Iris says hoarsely, gripping hold of her gun so hard her hands shook. "Rick!"

Rick frantically runs around the barn, scavenging through the hay bales and farming equipment scattered on the floor. He looks up when Iris yells his name, breathing heavily, his hair wet with sweat. "Hold on."

Groaning from the effort, he picks up a can of gasoline, pulling open and lid and walking around the entire barn, spilling gasoline everywhere. Iris grips hold of Carl, watching Rick with wide eyes.

"All right, here we go. Come on. Hurry." Rick was muttering to himself, sounding a little like a madman as he spilled gasoline all over the floor. There was a sickening crunch, and Iris looked up, seeing a piece of the wooden doors fractured and the faces of walkers appear, growling with even more tenacity and thirst for blood. Rick curses. "Oh shit. All right. Okay. Up there. Hurry."

Rick grabs a hold of both Iris and Carl, dragging them towards the ladder that led to the top half of the barn. Carl starts to climb it, turning around in worry. "Well, what about you?"

"I'll be right there." Rick reassures, handing Carl his lighter from his pocket. "Drop the lighter when I say. We'll stop some of them from reaching the house and distract the others, so at least we'll have a chance."

"God." Iris mutters to herself, putting her hands on the ladder and pulling herself up.

Carl was staring at his father with hesitation, and Rick nods his head at him. "Hey-hey-hey, look at me. You can do this. Carl, Iris... I love you. I love you both. We're gonna be fine."

"C'mon, buddy." Iris murmurs, sending an understanding nod in Rick's way. She helps Carl climb up the ladder, and Rick does not move from his position until they are both safe and up high.

Rick takes a breath, running towards the door and unlocking them all, throwing them open and sprinting away as the walkers burst through, swarming the barn like a virus. "Hey! Hey! You want some?! Come and get it! Come on! Come on!"

Rick kept yelling, enticing the walkers in. He backs into the ladder, clutching hold of it with his hands and pulling himself up, just before a walker could grab his foot with it's hand. Rick looks up at the two of them, halfway up the ladder. "Carl, now!"

Carl does not hesitate. In a split second, he clicks open the lighter, tossing the open flame down on the gasoline.

And the entire farm goes up in flames.

"Rick!" Iris yelps, running over and grabbing Rick's hands, helping him up to safety. The flames were hot, burning against her skin from the sheer proximity to the fire. The walkers burned underneath her, their already decomposed bodies crumbling to ash right before her eyes. She smoke rises and fills the air, black meeting orange in a hauntingly beautiful display of light.

"Let's go." Rick says, gritting his teeth in determination. The three of them run to the balcony, trying to find any means of escape before they burned alongside the walkers.

Just as Rick was going to test out how difficult it would be to jump down, the RV squeaks as it zooms towards them, and Iris can't help but let out a breathy grin. Jimmy was driving it, looking around into the flames, likely for the three of them.

Rick waves his arms and yells. "Hey! Here! Get in here! Put it right there! Come on!"

Rick grabs Iris by the shoulder, gripping hold of her as he whispers reassuring commands. "Jump, I'll be right behind you."

Iris nods, swallowing down her nervousness. If this herd advanced any further, it would swarm the farmhouse, and they had to get back, so she could find Glenn and make sure that he was safe, that he was okay. She grinds her teeth together, and jumps.

She lands on her feet on the RV, crouching as she breathes out, touching her fingers to the RV roof. She looks up as Rick follows her lead, jumping beside her and reaching a hand out to Carl. "Carl, now! This way!"

Carl hesitates, but in a toss up between jumping and burning to a crisp, jumping on the RV and into Rick's arms. Iris sighs in relief.

"Let's go." Iris says, and she and Rick start shooting down all of the walkers surrounding the RV as they attempted to get off of the roof and into the safety of the RV, however, there were a lot of walkers being drawn in by the heat and the noise of the flames that it was becoming impossible.

Rick pulls Carl onto the RV ladder, shooting three more walkers down. Iris pants, taking out a couple more walkers before her gun clicks and she curses. "Shit. I'm out. Rick!"

"We've gotta run for it!" Rick yells. The three of them reach the floor, sprinting around the front of the RV. However, Iris gasps when she realises that the walkers had broken into the RV, and a horrifically large blood splatter stains the windscreen. Jimmy was dead.

And so was Dale's legacy.

Adrenaline burned through her, and she stumbles backwards, shocked by the amount of blood on the window. "We have to go!"

"There." Rick points, grabbing Carl's hand as the other one grips his gun. "Head for the woods now, as fast as you can. Come on. Come on!"

Glenn bares his teeth in concentration as he aims his gun, struggling to shoot walkers with any accuracy as the car sped past them. He was trying to put every fear and anxiety and panic into his shots, taking out as many walkers as he possibly could.

The heat from the barn reaches his face, and all he can do is wish that Iris was the one who had started it. The idea was smart, and just may well save the farmhouse from what was certain doom. The barn fire had drawn away a lot of the walkers, but this herd was large, bigger than the one on the highway, and relentless.

Daryl was speeding around on his bike, taking out walkers at a closer range and searching for Rick, Shane, Carl and Iris among the firefight. T-Dog and Andrea were in another one of the cars, shooting at the walkers and Jimmy was running the RV, all six of them working to protect those who were still inside: Lori, Carol, Beth and Patricia.

Glenn reloads his rifle and sprays out shots again, trying not to stare at the walkers too closely. He couldn't see their faces in the dark, nor did he want to see their faces, especially if one of those faces confirmed his worst nightmare. He couldn't afford to think about it right now.

Maggie was beside him, driving the car as they looped around the farm land, trying to create some sort of path. Glenn grunts as they drive over the bumpy grass. "Keep it steady!"

"I'm trying!" Maggie replies, twisting them back around again.

Glenn looks around, staring at all of the walkers who were still roaming the land. There were too many of them. Way too many. Even with the barn on fire, and their cars and guns, they were fighting a losing battle. They were going to lose the farm. "Damn it!"

The two of them keep it up for as long as possible, looping around and taking out as many as they can. However, Glenn squeezes himself back into the passenger seat fully, staring out of the windshield as T-Dog's truck starts to zoom away from the walkers, and Glenn shakes his head in fear.

"No, no, no, no." Glenn panics. "Why are they leaving? We can't leave! We haven't found Iris."

"Where the hell are they going?" Maggie says, her hands shaking. "Should I follow them?"

Glenn swallows, staring as T-Dog's car disappears from view. He bangs his fist on the dashboard, fighting the tears that were building in his eyes at the thought of having to leave the farm without knowing if Iris was okay. "Damn it. Yeah. We have to get out of here. Swing it around. Swing it around here."

Maggie nods, turning on the wheel and the two of them fall towards the right at the force of the turn. Walkers were everywhere, and it was like they were multiplying by the second, totally surrounding their car and making it impossible to follow T-Dog. Maggie gasps "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Oh my God. I can't get through."

Glenn swallows. His fingers squeeze tighter against the strap of Iris' backpack, which he grabbed from the house, knowing how important it was to her. He closes his eyes, letting his head rest on the seat as he works up the courage to do what he has to do.

Iris, I'll find you

"Head out." He says, quietly and unwittingly.

Maggie's eyes widened. "What?"

Glenn sniffles. "Get off the farm now."

"Don't say that." Maggie argues, looking at him with fear as the colour drains from her face. "What about-"

"Maggie, it's lost!" Glenn says. "We will find them, but we need to be alive to do it! We can't help them if we're dead! Get off the farm now!"

Maggie reverses the car, and she floors it.

Iris blinks away the stars in her vision as she grips hold of Carl's hand, running through the woods. They had looped back around, avoiding the main cluster of walkers. Her breaths were starting to get heavier and heavier as her lungs burned from the effort of both the fight for her life and the run through the woods.

Rick was leading them through it, weaving in and around the trees and dodging as many walkers as possible, until they stagger towards the farm.

"Glenn!" Iris yells, looking around frantically for her boyfriend. She can't see anything. No cars, no people, nothing. "Glenn! Glenn! Where are you!?"

"There's shots!" Rick exclaims, and he breaks off into a run towards the porch. Iris follows him, dragging Carl behind her. Hershel was standing guard in front of his farm, striking down every walker that came his way. Hershel's back was facing them, but Iris could imagine the fierce look of determination on his face.

"Rick!" Iris warns, her gun empty and helpless as she spots a walker advancing on Hershel from behind. Rick reacts instantly, shooting the walker down, catching it right in the head, it's blood and brain matter exploding everywhere.

Hershel turns around, his eyes widening as he runs over to them.

Rick wastes no time. "Where's Lori? Did you see Lori?"

"And Glenn!" Iris yells, her eyes pouring into Hershel with fear. "Where's Glenn!"

"I don't know what happened, Rick. They just keep coming. It's like a plague. They're everywhere." Hershel says, a haunted look in his eyes.

"Lori! Did you see her?" Rick repeats desperately.

"No!" Hershel yells.

"What about Glenn? Where's Glenn?!" Iris begs.

"He was in one of the cars! I don't know where he went!" Hershel yells over the loudness of the walkers surrounding them.

"We have to go. Find mom and the others." Rick grits his teeth, trying to gather them all into one of the cars.

"It's my farm!" Hershel yells stubbornly.

"We have to go!" Iris yells in disbelief.

"Not anymore! Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on! Hershel! Come on!"

"Go." Hershel waves away, but Rick wasn't about to stand and let him die.

Rick ushers the three of them to one of the cars, shooting down walkers as he ran into the driver's side. Iris collapses into the passenger seat, her energy zapped out of her as she rests her head on the window of the backseat, letting out a thready breath as darkness finally claims her.

Chapter Text

"IRIS? WAKE UP!"

Iris starts awake, groaning as she lifts her head from its awkward position against the car window. She massages the back of her neck, blinking her eyes as her vision unblurred, and Carl came into focus. "Carl? What-"

The memories flood through her in a flash.

Shane's hands on her neck, squeezing the air out of her lungs and leaving her gasping for breath, her vision swimming in and out of focus, the fear creeping in that the last thing she would ever see was the face of her killer, the man who once felt like a brother. Waking up in the woods to the sound of a gunshot so loud against the throbbing of her skull it felt like an explosion had rocked through her mind. Running through the woods, disorientated and terrified, and seeing Shane's body crumble to the floor after being shot by Carl, unable to understand what was happening until she moved closer and saw the milky white film over his eyes. Her desperate screams for Glenn that rippled through her very soul when she got back to the farm, followed by a herd of walkers. "Oh, god. Glenn. Where's Glenn?"

"We don't know." Hershel's voice came from the passenger seat of the car. Iris squints at him, seeing the blood that still stained the back of his head from the walker guts that were sprayed everywhere during the battle. "Hopefully he got out along with my daughters and he'll meet us here."

"Iris, are you okay?" Rick asks, looking at her through the mirror. His hands tighten around the steering wheel as he drives, the motion rocking her injured body back and forth. "You had us worried for a moment."

"Yeah." Iris sighs, stretching out with a small grunt. She leans her head against the headrest, feeling heavy with the weight of everything that had happened. "Where are we?"

"The highway." Carl says, perking up as Iris becomes more and more aware. His blue eyes point at the window, looking bright and expectant despite recent events. "We're gonna meet up with mom. Maybe Glenn will be with her."

Iris looks out the window, her fingers brushing over the bruises on her neck. The car was moving quickly, dodging all of the abandoned vehicles as the familiar sight of the highway came into view. She reaches for her bag, but her eyes widen when she realises that it wasn't with her, she didn't bring it with her when she ran after Shane in the woods, and it was probably still in the farm. She deflates. "I hope so. I really hope so."

The car eventually slows to a stop, and Iris recognises the spot from a couple weeks ago, when they had cleared the cars from the highway waiting for Rick and Daryl to return with Sophia. It wasn't that long ago, but it felt like a lifetime had passed since then, and everything had changed.

Carl all but jumps out of the car as soon as he can, and Iris' movements were too slow to grab at him before he started to search all of the cars for Lori. Rick scrambles to follow him, the highway was still littered with walkers, despite the fact that such a massive herd had passed through, but Carl was clearly not thinking about the danger, his mind purely on the possibility of reuniting with his mother.

Iris and Hershel step out of the car, the slamming of the door making her tense, the sound reminding her too much of a gunshot. She walks over to Carl, holding onto his shoulders as his face falls and he looks at Rick with panic. "Wait, where's mom? You said she'd be here. We gotta go back for her."

"Carl..." Rick says, trying to reach out for his son, but Carl pulls away.

"No. Why are we running? What are you doing?" Carl demands, looking between Rick and Iris. "It's- It is mom. We need to get her and not be safe a mile away. What about Glenn? He's not here either. No one's here!"

"Shh." Rick says, kneeling down to hold onto Carl's arms, looking around for walkers. Iris winces as Carl yells, the wound on her head had stopped bleeding but she was still tender and sore. "You need to be quiet, all right? Please. Please."

"It's mom." Carl repeats.

Iris sighs. "Carl. We need to give it time. We just got here."

"How much time!?"

Rick closes his eyes for a moment, standing up. "Look, Carl, listen..."

"No." Carl pulls away from Rick, backing away and walking off through the cars, staying in view but facing far away from his father.

Iris puts her hands on her hips. "I'll go talk to him."

"No." Rick shakes his head. "Give him a minute."

"Rick?" Iris asks, her voice small and vulnerable as she looks around, feeling the crisp morning air on her teary eyes. "What if they don't-"

"They will." Rick interrupts, nodding his head firmly. "They'll be here. Lori, Glenn, Hershel's daughters. They'll all be here. We just have to wait."

"Rick. You've got to get your boy to safety, and Iris is gonna need patching up." Hershel says. His voice was calm and measured. "I'll wait here for my girls and the others. I know a few places. We'll meet up at one of them later."

"Whoa. No." Iris shakes her head. "I'm not going anywhere until I find Glenn."

"You're lucky you don't have a concussion." Hershel shoots back. "We don't have time to wait. You three need to get to a safe place."

"Where? Where is safe?" Rick asks. "We're not splitting up."

"Please, keep your boy safe." Hershel pleads. "I'll hide in one of the cars. If a walker gets me, so be it. I've lost my farm. I've lost my wife and maybe my daughters."

"You don't know that. They'll be here." Rick shoots back.

"And you don't know that."

"Don't say that. We're not the only ones who made it out. We're not." Iris replies.

"You're a man of God. Have some faith." Rick says.

"I can't profess to understand God's plan, but Christ promised the resurrection of the dead. I just thought he had something a little different in mind." Hershel sighs. Iris grunts as he talks, refusing to even humour the idea of leaving before Glenn got here.

"We stick together." Rick repeats, and it was firm and final.

They stayed for a while without qualms, taking out any walker that came within their radius. Iris had scounged some bullets from the cars around her, but she had found a knife that she was using to kill them. Considering they had no idea what was left for them, she guessed they should probably be saving bullets.

Carl had come around once more walkers started to walk through their small setup, and the four of them were crouched behind their car, trying to stay as quiet as possible. Iris closes her eyes.

Please get here soon, Glenn.

"I don't know how much longer we can stay here." Hershel whispers, holding onto the car as he hides behind it.

"I- I'm not leaving without mom." Carl insists.

Hershel shoots him a look.

Rick sighs, whisper-shouting at Hershel. "So we're just gonna walk away? Not knowing if my wife, if Iris' boyfriend, if your girls are still out there? How do we live with that?"

"You've only got one concern now." Hershel lifts a finger. "Just one. Keeping him alive. Nature may be throwing us a curveball, but that law is still true."

Something changes in Rick's face, and Iris sighs in realisation. She shakes her head, but Rick focuses on Carl, making eye contact with his son. "Carl. It's not safe here. I'm sorry. We'll-"

Rick suddenly cuts himself off, his face paling with relief, all of his stressed features loosening as he looks out in the distance. Iris stands up, holding a hand over her head to shield it from the low hanging sun, trying to catch what Rick was seeing.

Carol and Daryl were on a motorbike, riding towards them and circling around to face them. Behind, two different cars followed, like a flash of bright light in the darkest night. Iris can't help but let out a giggle, holding her hands in the prayer position over her mouth.

Lori jumps out of the third car as soon as T-Dog brings it to a stop, running towards her son and collapsing down to Carl's level, bringing him into a huge hug, one that Rick joins as soon as she stands up. Iris was about to run over and greet Lori, but she stops in her tracks the moment she spots the driver of the second car, everything slows to a stop.

"Glenn!" She yells, just as Glenn and Maggie get out of the silver blood streaked car, and his entire expression lights up, and he stumbles towards her. They meet in the middle, practically falling into each other. Tears sting in the corners of her eyes, and she clutches onto him, the two of them swaying back and forth together. Iris buries her head in his shoulder, basking in the scent of him and finally realising just how terrified she was waiting on this highway for him, not knowing if he was even going to show up.

"Iris." Glenn whispers in her ear. Iris laughs giddily again at the sound of his voice, bringing her hands even tighter around him, feeling the familarness of his hair between her fingers. "Iris. Oh my god, oh my god. I thought you were dead. You- Randall..."

Iris pulls away to speak to him, to hush his whisperings. "Shh, I'm here. I'm here now."

Glenn's face falls and he very gently lifts his hand and grazes over the cut on her temple, staring at the very obvious bruises on her neck with wide eyes. "Iris, you're hurt."

Iris shakes her head, still smiling from ear to ear, taking both of his hands into hers. She barely even feels the pain right now, too overtaken by the sight and feel of him to feel anything but pure joy. "I'm okay. I'll be okay. God, it's so good to see you."

She collapses back into him, and Glenn takes her tightly into his arms, wrapping her in a warm blanket of safety. He gasps, and pulls away, letting go for a moment as he takes a backpack off of his bag. "This is yours."

Iris grins. "My backpack! I thought this was gone forever. Oh, thank you."

"Where'd you find everyone?" Rick asks. Iris pulls away a little from Glenn, still holding his hand. Maggie, Beth and Hershel were in a group embrace, and Iris felt warm seeing their family reunion.

Daryl smirks. "Well, those guys' tail lights zigzagging all over the road, figured he had to be Asian, driving like that."

Glenn shakes his head, but he catches Daryl's playful tone. "Good one."

"Where's the rest of us?" Daryl asks, looking around at their significantly smaller group.

Rick shrugs. "We're the only ones who made it so far."

Iris squeezes Glenn's hand tighter, biting her lip as she looks in the distance for any other cars.

"Shane?" Lori asks, her eyes widening.

Rick tenses up, but simply shakes his head. Lori gasps, and Iris feels the bruises on her neck twinge, as if the very mention of Shane made her feel guilty even though she was the one that had to fight for her life against him. She lifts Glenn's hand up, feeling the pulse on his wrist and timing his breaths with her own. It was a reminder that she could breathe, that her oxygen flow wasn't restricted anymore and she didn't have to panic for air. Glenn puts his other arm around her shoulder, holding her close, sensing her distress even if he didn't understand all of the reasons why.

"Andrea?" Glenn asks, and Iris realises that the blonde wasn't among the people who had joined them.

Carol sniffs. "She saved me, then I lost her."

"We saw her go down." T-Dog says quietly.

Iris breathes out. Andrea was brave, and protective, and sweet in her own way. Iris would miss her strong opinions and her spirit.

"Patricia?" Hershel asks.

Beth shakes her head, burying her head in her father's chest. "They got her, too. Took her right in front of me. I was- I was holdin' onto her, daddy. She just..." Beth trails off. Maggie strokes her hair softly, and Beth sniffles. "What about Jimmy? Did you see Jimmy?

"He was in the RV when it got overrun." Iris informs softly. Beth sobs again.

"You definitely saw Andrea?" Carol asks, raising an eyebrow.

Lori swallows. "There were walkers everywhere."

"Did you see her?" Carol questions.

No one answers. Lori and T-Dog share a glance, and Iris inhales in anticipation

Daryl walks back over to his bike. "I'm gonna go back."

"No." Rick says.

"We can't just leave her." Daryl argues back.

"We don't even know if she's there." Lori says.

"She isn't there. She isn't. She's somewhere else or she's dead. There's no way to find her." Rick shakes his head, refusing to go back to the walker invested farm.

"So we're not even gonna look for her?" Glenn asks, his hand tightening around her waist.

"What if she's still there?" Iris asks, feeling Glenn's anxieties radiating off of him.

"She's not." Rick insists. He sounds different, more commanding. More hardened. "We gotta keep moving. There have been walkers crawling all over here."

"I say head east." T-Dog suggests.

There was a general feeling of acceptance in the air, knowing that Rick wanted to keep them safe and to go back would mean risking more lives for someone who was more than likely gone. Iris leans her head on Glenn's shoulder.

Daryl nods. "Stay off the main roads. The bigger the road, the more walkers, more assholes like this one." Daryl points at a walker advancing towards them. "I got him."

Daryl takes his crossbow from his bike, loading the arrow and shooting it right in the eye.

They still had no idea where they were going, but getting away from the highway and the influx of walkers that constantly cycled through it. They had enough cars to transport all of them, and Iris sat in between Glenn and Maggie in the back of the silver chair, resting her head on Glenn's shoulder tiredly as the hours went by. None of them had really spoken in a while, not even Beth or Hershel in the front seats, which Iris was glad about. Glenn hadn't asked her about the bruises on her neck and the cut on her temple, likely due to the fact they hadn't had a chance to be alone yet.

Iris sniffs, shifting in her seat a little. It was getting uncomfortable, after a long amount of time, and she desperately needed to stretch her legs.

Glenn hums next to her, dropping his shoulder up a little to make her more comfortable, and she smiles to herself.

Rick was driving behind them, and Iris looks up when she hears him honk and slow to a stop. Hershel presses down on the breaks and Daryl stops his bike, he and Carol walk over to the cars. Glenn opens the left hand door and steps out, extending a hand for Iris as the group meets up. Rick sighs as he walks over, his hands on his hips.

"You out?" Daryl asks.

Rick nods heavily. "Running on fumes."

Iris shivers, only in the clothes she was wearing when she followed Shane, a short sleeved shirt and cargo jeans, which didn't do much to keep her warm in the new weather, especially as evening fell once again.

"We can't stay here." Maggie says, looking around at the empty road.

"We can't all fit in one car." Glenn points out.

"We'll have to make a run for some gas in the morning." Rick says. He frowns as he stares into the open horizon.

"Spend the night here?" Carol exclaims, wrapping her cardigan around herself.

"I'm freezing." Carl says, and he was shivering more so than Iris was.

Lori wraps Carl into her chest, rubbing his arms. "We'll build a fire, yeah?"

"It better be a big one." Iris comments. Glenn pulls her into a side hug, neither of them wearing any jackets. The walker attack on the farm had caught everyone off guard.

"You go out looking for firewood, stay close. Only got so many arrows." Daryl says. He looks at Rick. "How you doing on ammo?"

"Not enough." Rick sighs.

"Got a couple rounds from the cars on the highway, but it wasn't much." Iris says.

"We can't just sit here with our asses hanging out." Maggie says, standing close to her sister.

"Watch your mouth." Hershel warns. Iris grins at him. "Everyone stop panicking and listen to Rick."

Rick sends him a nod of respect. "All right, we'll set up a perimeter. In the morning, we'll find gas and some supplies. We'll keep pushing on."

"I can go make a run now, try and scrounge up some gas." Maggie offers. She looks at Glenn and Iris huddled up. "I'm sure Glenn and Iris would join me."

However, Rick was staying firm in his authoritative decision. "No, we stay together. God forbid something happens and people get stranded without a car."

"Rick, we're stranded now." Glenn protests hesitantly, still rubbing his hands over the goosebumps on Iris' arms.

"I know it looks bad, we've all been through hell and worse, but at least we found each other." Rick says. Iris nods, remembering how horrible it was when they first arrived on the highway. Her bruises twinge in anxiety. "I wasn't sure. I really wasn't, but we did. We're together. We keep it that way. We'll find shelter somewhere. There's gotta be a place."

Iris values Rick's enthusiasm and his strong sense of hope, but right now it felt like some kind of false positive, and this group needed something to work for. Glenn sighs, and Iris squeezes his hand in encouragement. "Rick, look around. Okay? There's walkers everywhere. They're migrating or something."

Rick shakes his head. "There's gotta be a place not just where we hole up, but that we fortify, hunker down, pull ourselves together, build a life for each other. I know it's out there. We just have to find it."

"Even if we do find a place and we think it's safe, we can never be sure. For how long? Look what happened with the farm. We fooled ourselves into thinking that that was safe." Maggie pipes up. Iris nods. She had once thought that about the Quarry, too. It seemed like no place was ever safe for long, and they would struggle to find somewhere long term, which caused a lot of problems, especially with Lori's pregnancy as it advanced.

"We won't make that mistake again." Hershel says, looking at Rick with solidarity and respect.

"We'll make camp tonight over there, get on the road at the break of day." Rick decides. Iris wasn't sure how this would affect group morale, but she wasn't going to go against Rick, not now, after everything.

"Does this feel right to you?" Carol asks in a hushed tone. Some people shuffle uncomfortably.

Beth swallows, looking nervous. "What if walkers come through, or another group like Randall's?"

"You know I found Randall, right? He had turned, but he wasn't bit." Daryl says, his head tilting in confusion. Iris had seen Shane kill Randall, she had seen Randall rise up again without ever being bitten, but at the time, she was too distracted to pay any mind to it. How had Randall turned without being bit?

"How's that possible?" Beth asks.

"Rick, what the hell happened?" Lori questions, her voice going down an octave.

Before Rick could answer, Daryl speaks again. Shane killed Randall. Just like he always wanted to."

"And then the herd got him." Maggie states, but it sounds like more of a question.

Iris opens her mouth, her throat feeling hoarse as she tries to speak the words that she was dreading. "No. I- I saw it happen. Shane killed him and... and then he turned. Just like that."

Glenn peers at her in shock. Iris doesn't meet his gaze, feeling the shame and the struggle to even think about what happened, let alone say it out loud. There was a general sigh of worry as Iris spoke, looking at Rick with panic.

Rick closes his eyes, wincing as if he was bracing herself. He looks up, frowning and shaking his leg. "We're all infected."

It was so silent a pin drop could be heard.

Iris pales, trying to decipher exactly what Rick was saying. They were all infected? How could that be possible? All of Iris' wishes and deepest hopes that eventually this whole thing will end and the world will go back to normal were crushed, as Rick's words sunk in.

"What?" Daryl finally asks.

Rick massages his temple, not quite looking at anyone directly. "At the CDC, Jenner told me. Whatever it is, we all carry it."

Iris holds a hand over her mouth. "No way."

"And you never said anything?" Carol asks with a twinge of anger.

"Would it have made a difference?" Rick reasons.

"You knew this whole time?" Glenn asks, holding onto Iris tightly. She looks at Rick and he looks back at her, pleading with his eyes. She can understand why he would keep this from them, but she also felt just a little betrayed by it. She knew that the others certainly did.

"How could I have known for sure?" Rick says. "You saw how crazy that mo..."

"That is not your call." Glenn interupts. Rick looks up at him in shock, his tone was far from his usual one, and Iris couldn't really blame him. "Okay, when I found out about the walkers in the barn, I told, for the good of everyone."

"Well, I thought it best that people didn't know." Rick replies. He sighs, staring at all of them for several long seconds before he turns on his heels and walks towards the woods.

Lori sighs and moves away to follow him. The group settles, letting the news sink in as they started to spread out a little between the cars.

Iris sniffs and runs a hand through her hair, accidently brushing against her stinging head wound, and she stumbles over to a tree, sliding down it and resting her head against it.

Glenn follows her, softly perching down next to her. He waits a couple of beats, before taking a breath. "You saw Shane kill Randall?"

Iris nods, her eyes involuntarily spilling with salty tears. "Yeah. Right in front of me. He just... snapped his neck. Like it was nothing."

Glenn nods, giving her a supportive space to speak, in her own time. "I'm sorry."

Iris catches him looking at her injuries, the question heavy on his tongue. She points to it, wiping her tears. "Shane, uh... he-" She cuts herself of, sniffing again as it all crashed down on her at once.

"It's okay." Glenn soothes, wiping her tears with his thumb. "Take your time. It's okay."

"I made a sound when he killed Randall. I was shocked, even though I had a feeling that was why he had brought him into the woods. But he- he saw me, and he chased me. I tripped, and he got me." Iris takes a pause, licking her chapped lips. "He used a rock to hit my head and he put- he put his hands around my neck. I thought I was going to die, I was going to die, but I got away. I just- I've never been so terrified in my life. I thought it was all over, and it was going to be at Shane's hands. The apocalypse of monsters, and I was going to get killed by a human. And I don't know what to do with that." She breaks out in a sob, trying to stifle it in her hands.

Glenn brings both of his arms around her, and she cries into his chest. It was all too much, and every movement of her neck was just another reminder of what she had endured. Glenn was whispering sweet nothings in her ear, rocking her back and forth. "It's okay. He's gone, he can't hurt you anymore, it's alright."

Iris scrunches her eyes together, trying to speak through strangled gasps. Her words came out in a sudden, distressed string. "I don't wanna see anyone die ever again. God, please don't let me see anyone else die. I don't wanna have to kill anyone, I don't wanna be like Shane. I don't wanna-"

"It's okay." Glenn whispers, still rocking her. "We're okay. We're alright. We're safe. Shh, shh."

"Ow."

"Sorry." Glenn winces for her, very carefully pressing the bandage to her head. They were lucky that Iris kept her backpack stocked with simple medical supplies, but it didn't make the process hurt any less.

"It's okay. Thank you." Iris forces a smile. Night had completely fallen very quickly, and the group had reformed to gather around the fire that was being built. It took Iris a while to stop crying, but Glenn had held her without question, for as long as she needed. She didn't think it was possible to love him more than she already did, but his actions warmed her heart faster than any fire.

Carol and Daryl were muttering indistinctively to each other on the other side of the fire, but Iris payed them no mind as she cuddles back into Glenn's side, feeling nurture and cared for. At some point, Lori had rejoined them, sitting with Carl as she warms herself up. She had probably had some sort of fight with Rick, but Iris closes her eyes and ignores everyone but Glenn.

"How does it feel?" Glenn whispers.

"Better." Iris softly replies, in the same calm tone as him. "It hurts less now I'm with you."

Glenn chuckles. "Good, I'm-"

However, he was cut off by Daryl loud and sudden exclamation to Carol. "Rick has honor."

Iris sits up a little, peering at the two of them suspiciously. But Carol didn't say anything further.

"I think we should take our chances." Maggie says to Beth, but Iris was close enough that she could overhear her.

"Don't be foolish." Hershel says. His newfound loyalty to Rick seemed unbreakable. "There's no food, no fuel, no ammo."

Leaves rustle behind them, immediately alerting everyone into attack positions, reaching for their weapons, because that was what life was like now.

"What was that?" Beth says in a shaky voice.

"Could be anything. Could be a raccoon, could be a possum." Daryl looks into the bush, but in the cover of night can't make out anything.

"Walker." Glenn adds quietly. He and Iris both stand up, trying to get a better look.

"We need to leave." Carol repeats insistently. "I mean what are we waiting for?"

"And go where?" Iris sighs, shrugging her shoulders. "We're doing the best we can."

Glenn was still looking for whatever had made the sound. "Which way?"

"It came from over there." Beth points.

"Back from where we came." Maggie adds, tilting her head.

"Stop." Iris looks for the familiar voice. Rick appears through the treeline, illuminated by the light of the fire. "The last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark. We don't have vehicles. No one's traveling on foot."

A branch snaps somewhere around them, which seemed much scarier at night, especially knowing what predators were afoot. Maggie sighs loudly, pacing restlessly.

"Don't panic." Hershel says.

"I'm not." Maggie replies. She keeps pacing. "I'm not sitting here, waiting for another herd to blow through. We need to move, now."

"We don't have enough vehicles." Iris points out.

Rick shakes his head, his voice level and commanding. "No one is going anywhere."

"Do something!" Carol implores.

"I am doing something! I'm keeping this group together, alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what. I didn't ask for this. I killed my best friend for you people, for Christ's sake!" Rick yells, immediately shutting everyone up. At the mention of Rick killing Shane, which most people didn't know, there was a tension added to the atmosphere that could be cut with even a dull blade.

No one else spoke, so Rick continued, holding his hands out as his words hit. "You saw what he was like, how he pushed me, how he compromised us, how he threatened us. He staged the whole Randall thing, tried to kill Iris when she she saw right through him, led me out to put a bullet in my back. He gave me no choice. He was my friend, but he came after me. I wasn't smart enough to see it then, but Iris saw all of the signs, and I will never make that mistake again. I will never let anyone get to that level without intervention again, do you hear me?"

"My hands are clean." Rick keeps saying his speech, looking at each person individually with a newfound strength and sense of leadership. "Maybe you people are better off without me. Go ahead. I say there's a place for us, but maybe, maybe it's just another pipe dream. Maybe I'm fooling myself again. Why don't you go and find out yourself? Send me a postcard. Go on, there's the door. You can do better? Let's see how far you get. No takers? Fine. But get one thing straight... if you're staying."

Iris watches her brother intently, seeing the graveness on his face.

"This isn't a democracy anymore."

Chapter Text

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ACT TWO

THE WORLD COLLAPSES
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SEASON THREE — SEASON FOUR

Chapter Text

SILENCE.

The shrill, bitter quiet was the new normal in a world that existed post-apocalypse, where there were no longer hundreds of cars driving on the roads, filled with tired people taking their morning commute or their evening drive home from work, a general hum of electricity couldn't be heard in the streets anymore, and a dome of stillness had fallen over the globe. Anyone who was still alive could not afford the luxury of making a lot of noise. They had gotten used to existing in the quiet, for some it was even a small comfort, no longer listening to the constant background noise of society, for others it felt suffocating, a constant reminder of the danger that was around every corner.

Iris Grimes runs her fingers through her hair, screwing up her face at the greasy feeling of it. She missed showers. Hell, she missed the couple of days they spent camped out beside a lake before it got overrun, even though it was so icy and bitter, practically frozen over. Her blonde hair had gotten darker as it typically did during winter months, and her bangs had grown out fully now. She was lucky to have found a pack of bobby pins to pin it up and out of her face, or she would've been driven to insanity from her obstructed vision a long time ago.

"Please let the next house have running water." She whispers to herself, careful not to step on any sticks as she listens out for walkers, clutching her dagger close to her chest. She wasn't sure she would ever get used to the lack of access to clean water, both to drink and to wash with, and she despised being forced to use the woods as her toilet, to the point where she refused to do it around the others, not even Glenn. She had done her business and spent a few seconds longer revelling in the short amount of solitude, something that was a rare feat since being out on the road.

She sighs and places the pin back in her hair, smoothing it out and swinging her backpack over her shoulders. As she walks, she brushes her hands over the leaves on the low hanging trees, the ones that were finally regrowing after many long months of winter. There was a warm breeze in the air, one that felt much deserved and welcome as she closed her eyes and took it in. Today was the first time in many, many weeks that she didn't wear her jacket, a green fleece that she found on a run and grown to love, but if summer was approaching, she would gladly hang up.

Rick had decided to stop in the middle of a long and quite frankly, boring dirt road. They had been travelling for a while, and people were starting to get restless and hungry. Iris holds a hand over her eyes as she squints at the line of cars, headed by Daryl's motorcycle. Some of the others had already made it back, waiting to get going again and try to find a safe place to spend the night. Iris steps over a fallen branch, walking back towards the others with a spring in her step.

Without the farm, the group was left without a home base, and they spent a lot of time bouncing from house to house, taking what they could and sleeping when they could. The time spent on the road, living rough, sleeping with one eye open, had been tough, but it had made Iris significantly more confident with killing walkers and being able to survive out there. Daryl was teaching her to hunt, and she had killed a lot of smaller animals already, learning how to properly prepare and cook them. She was a million times more reliant on herself than she ever had been in the past, and it made her feel better in herself, more in control which she desperately needed after those final days at the farm.

Iris approaches the cars, leaning heavily against one of the doors, nodding in T-Dog and Rick's direction. It was common amongst their group to not speak much when they were out in the open, both out of comfortable habit and a constant fear of attracting the undead. It had been drummed into them ever since they had left the farm. Eight months ago, according to Hershel's pocket watch and Lori's growing belly, which looked fit to burst. Everyone was looking forward to meeting the little baby, Iris most of all.

The eleven of them had grown close in the proximity, united in shared experience and living space, until their friendships had formed into a tight knit family unit. They protected each other, kept one another safe and brightened each other's spirits when things felt hopeless. Iris felt like she belonged amongst them, and it was the only thing she thanked the apocalypse for giving her. A larger family, a more assured version of herself, and an amazing, supportive boyfriend who loved her. Glenn was as optimistic as ever, he was the brightest star in any galaxy, shining a light that reflected onto her and made it impossible for things to feel bad or downcast because he was always right there beside her.

She could achieve anything as long as she was with him.

The others start to slowly file back towards the cars, not speaking a word but communicating through smiles and nods and the point of a finger. Iris plays with the dagger in her hands, her primary weapon now that they couldn't use guns without silencers. It was a gorgeous blade, one she found hidden in a box under someone's bed, intricately detailed with a flower pattern on the handle. It felt very her.

She feels pressure on her hand and she looks up as Glenn slips his fingers through hers, and she smiles, putting her tongue on the back of her teeth as she suppressed a breathy laugh. The last eight months had done him good, his hair was growing out and she was able to run her fingers through the front strands as they fell over his face, somehow always looking perfect no matter how he placed them and without being able to wash it properly. It wasn't fair. She can see the glint of his flower wreath pin carefully fastened to his shirt, and she smiles wider, walking her index and middle finger up his arm, feeling the goosebumps build on his skin.

Lori holds onto her belly as she walks back over, assisted by Beth and Carl, who helped her get in the passenger seat of the car right away. Iris watches as Lori sinks into her seat, feeling a pang of sympathy for her sister-in-law having to live with a pregnancy in what was essentially living on the lamb. The lack of access to healthcare and simple hygiene must've been weighing on Lori so much more than anyone else, which made Iris feel guilty for her inner complaining.

"Dad, I'm hungry." Carl whispers, walking over to his father with a practiced light step. Carl had grown a lot in such a short time, which made sense because his thirteenth birthday had certainly passed already, not that they could pinpoint the exact day. He wasn't a little kid anymore. Carl was a teenager now, and his hair was longer and his attitude was calmer and more understanding of the things happening around him.

Iris' own stomach rumbles at Carl's mention of food, and it aches with hunger that wasn't easily quenched. The food store was running low again. It was difficult to keep a constant supply of food in these conditions, even after the worst of winter had passed. Canned food was impossible to carry in bulk, and Daryl's hunts could only get them so far. They were a small group — at least the smallest group they had had in a while — but food was one of the hardest things to stretch out to all of them, especially with Lori's pregnancy in its end stages. They had resorted to raiding any house that they came across, eating when they could and going without when they couldn't.

Rick nods, flexing his jaw through the growing stubble on his chin. He looks at everyone gathered together, speaking in hushed and simplistic words. "Let's go. There's a neighbourhood not far from here."

Their group movements were practiced and routine, everyone had their own spots in their cars to make it easier to be fast and quiet when in the face of walkers. Daryl always led them, it was easier to get through tighter spaces on his bike and he often scouted ahead, guiding the way for the others to get through safely. It was an organised system, one that Rick had worked hard to form, and his leadership was recognised, from the day that they abandoned the farm and Rick had announced that they would no longer have democracy. Iris couldn't fault him, they hadn't lost a single person in eight months, which had to be some sort of record.

Once they were in the cars and moving, things always felt a little more relaxed. It was a little more protected and the roof of the car made it feel safer to talk, even if it was just small conversations here and there. Hershel liked to drive, and Iris and Glenn always sat in the back with Maggie, linking arms or holding hands like seven year olds on the schoolyard, which made Maggie roll her eyes and act out throwing up in disgust.

As the car drove along the road, Glenn perks up, watching as the neighbourhood came into view. It looked like a rich community, large and gated, which always made them excited to look through them and hopefully find some useful stuff. This particular street looked like it had been raided a couple of times already, based on the state of the metal fence and the walkers that wandered through, but there was always a chance that they could find something, or at the very least, spend a couple hours inside before facing the night again.

"Maybe this one will have a ring." Glenn mutters, brushing over each of her fingers with a cheeky smile.

Iris looks at her boyfriend in amusement, shaking her head at his relentless need for jokes. He had been looking for a ring in every house, apartment, workplace they raided for months, but he always came up empty. He liked to play it up, promising that he would find her a ring one day since they were practically married already, and Iris always laughed at his incessant lighthearted banter, knowing that he probably wasn't  totally serious. After all, they hadn't even technically been together for a year. "When are you gonna let that go?"

Glenn smirks. "When I find you a ring."

Iris rolls her eyes. "Okay, lover boy. Come on, are you getting out or what?"

"I'm coming." Glenn groans, opening the door and helping Iris out. They were the last car to arrive, so Daryl, Rick, T-Dog and Carl already busted the doors of one of the houses, clearing it out of any walkers inside with mastered care. There were usually at least a couple of them inside the houses, from the outbreak, and Iris had to think of it as finally putting them to rest after a year of mindless existence.

Rick pokes his head out of the back door, and beckons for them to come inside. Glenn nods his head and takes a shovel out of the trunk of the car, following Iris into the kitchen. It smelled musty and old, covered in a thick layer of dust which made it feel haunted, and in a weird way, it was. The house was littered with stuff, mostly just clutter that was likely collected over the years. She knew how much stuff she had amassed even in the short time she lived in her apartment in Atlanta. She missed her collection of movies.

Glenn pats her on the shoulder and places his shovel against a wall, and Iris sheathes her dagger, following him to the front door where Daryl was walking down the stairs with a dead owl in his hands. Iris raises an eyebrow, but Daryl simply salutes at her, looking proud as he carried it into the living room. It wouldn't spread far, but it was something at least. Glenn and Maggie move the bodies in a pile, out of the way for Carol, Lori, Beth and Hershel to enter, resting finally in the temporary shelter.

Iris dodges past Carol and she opens the door to the bathroom, jogging over to the sink and trying to turn the taps on. She sighs in discontentment when it comes up dry, barely even dripping a drop of water out of its follicle. She walks out of the room, shaking her head at Glenn who was waiting for her to see if they finally had water access, and he drooped when she softly shut the door.

Glenn leads her to the living room, where the group settled in a circle on the floor. They had a miniscule amount of food left, which they shared out, but it really wasn't enough to get them by if they had to use more energy getting through the relentless amount of walkers that always showed up, no matter where they stopped.

Iris looks up from the owl that she was helping Daryl depluck, as Carl walks in, dropping his bag on the floor and gripping a can in his hands, one that Iris quickly made out as dog food. Her eyes widen as Carl greedily takes out a can opener, prying it open in hunger. She swallows, feeling the defeat of what they were forced to resort to and an ache in her heart at the desire to finally find a home worth fortifying.

However, when Rick notices what Carl was doing, he walks over in silence, picking up the can and throwing it into the empty fireplace. Iris flinches as it clutters loudly against the wall, sitting back against Glenn and holding a hand to her forehead.

Glenn massages her shoulders, getting the tension out of them in dedicated care. Iris sighs heavily and looks up at him. shrugging her shoulders. She whispers in his ear, desperately craving his comfort. "I just want to find a permanent place to stay. I need a home, I'm sick of this."

"We'll find a place for us." Glenn whispers back, so close their foreheads were practically touching. Things had become a lot more serious without a blanket of safety, and it had dampened their frames of minds. Everything felt more mature, somehow. She blows out some air from her lungs and feels for his pulse point on his wrist, taking comfort in the familiar beat pattern.

"Psst." T-Dog motions his head towards the window, where a burst of walkers were advancing towards the house.

Something they had learned being on the road was that sometimes, it wasn't worth it to fight and kill walkers when they had means of escape, and Rick decided to use the back door to run from the main cluster of walkers in the front of the house. It was a plan they were used to, and one they knew how to execute well.

All eleven of them formed a tight line as they advanced towards the cars, getting their most vulnerable members into the safety of the vehicles first as they packed their bags and stuff into the trunk.

They were gone within minutes, as if they never even existed in the first place.

The group had gotten used to the lay of the land after months of staring at maps, and they knew what to avoid. However, the spots they had to steer clear of were becoming more and more recurrent, and they were quickly running out of places to look for the safe haven that they all dreamed of.

They couldn't drive without having a destination in mind, so it wasn't long before they stopped again, on yet another long dirt road.

Iris stretches her legs, holding her hand on her hips as she follows Glenn to where Maggie, Hershel, Daryl and T-Dog were crowded around the car with a large map laid out.

"Fifteen, you’re on point." Rick says, clicking his tongue and patting Carl's shoulder.

As Carl looks out in the distance for walkers, Rick joins the group, looking at the map with a raised eyebrow and a stressed sigh.

"We’ve got no place left to go." T-Dog says, shaking his head.

Maggie points her fingers at points they had previously marked on the map. "When this herd meets up with this one, we’ll be cut off, we’ll never make it south."

"So we're stuck north." Iris sighs, moving her eyes over the map, praying there was something that they were missing.

"What do you say, it’s about 150 head?" Daryl asks, chewing on a toothpick.

"That was last week, could be twice that now." Glenn says. It was true, walkers tended to multiply at incredibly fast rates, and their safe zone was getting smaller and smaller by the way.

"This river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through this." Hershel suggests.

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." T-Dog says, pointing towards another marked out spot.

"So we’re blocked." Maggie sighs.

"Only thing to do is double back at 27th and swing towards Greenville." Rick says.

"We picked through that already." T-Dog replies. He groans. "It’s like we spent the winter going in circles."

"Can't we try to explore outside the map?" Iris suggests. "There's gotta be more than this."

"Yeah, I know. I know." Rick sighs. He looks up, scanning his eyes at Carl, who was keeping a dedicated eye out into the open road, and Lori, who was still resting in the car. "At Newnan we’ll push west. Haven’t been through the area. We can’t keep going house to house. We need to find some place to hold up for a few weeks."

T-Dog nods. "Alright. Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? It won’t take long. We gotta fill up on water, we can boil it later."

"Yeah." Rick says. He motions towards Daryl. "Come with me to scout ahead?"

"Yeah." Daryl gives him a sharp nod, carrying his crossbow on his shoulder.

Rick turns to Iris, holding onto her shoulder tightly. Rick had counted a lot on everyone in the group now that every day was a fight for their lives, and their bond had only grown now that they were focused just on survival. Things were still tense between Rick and Lori, especially after she started showing, the remnants of everything that happened with Shane still cut deep, and he relied on Iris to make sure Lori was safe and eating enough. "Hold down the fort until I get back."

"You know I will." Iris smiles.

Rick and Daryl weren't gone for very long, but Iris took her position as interim leader of the group, and she had the others gathered around in a circle, making towers out of sticks. It was hard to find entertainment these days, so Iris likes to keep the morale high by hosting silly competitions and passing the time so that no one could dwell on the fact that they had absolutely no direction or plan for the night. Or tomorrow night.

It was probably only an hour or two before Iris spotted Rick and Daryl riding back towards them, and she grins.

"Okay. Times up. Carl, I think you won." Iris smiles at her nephew.

"Only because he's your nephew." Glenn grumbles, crossing his arms playfully. Iris rolls her eyes. Glenn was competitive, and she learned that he didn't let anyone win, no matter how young they were.

Iris looks up as Rick and Daryl get off of the bike, walking towards them. They both had odd expressions on their faces, and it was only when they got closer that she realised it was hope.

"Rick?" Lori asks, holding onto her stomach.

Rick swallows, nodding his head curtly at Lori before he grins. "We found a prison."

Chapter Text

IRIS NEVER THOUGHT SHE'D BE SO HAPPY TO SEE A PRISON.

The West Georgia Correctional Facility was incredibly large, surrounded by tall watch towers, thick steel walls, and multiple layers of fence that, once upon a time, would've been electrified to keep inmates in. It was like a premade apocalypse surviving base: equipped to both keep them safe and keep walkers out. It was just outside of their original zone that they had stuck to since leaving the farm, north of the highway and likely somewhere that was just within their grasp. It felt ironic, but also like fate was on their side for once, and a warmth rushed through Iris at the sight of it.

The excitement amongst the group when Rick and Daryl returned with a new spark of hope was tangible. Enthusiastic chatter had replaced the sharp silence that often fell as people began to consider the possibility of an end to their pitiless existence that was purely centered around survival. The last eight months had felt like a constant stalemate, like they had put a pause on everything human, reverted to nothing but animals fighting and hunting. It was freeing, hearing an influx of excitement, like their spell of discontentment had finally been broken. Iris had never seen them arrive somewhere so fast. But for the first time since the CDC, they finally had a direction and, most importantly, a goal.

Maybe it was time to finally start living again.

There would've been a time where the thought of even visiting a prison would've made Iris uncomfortable, afraid of the people inside, people who Rick dealt with almost every day in his job, and she heard the horror stories. However, Iris was no longer afraid. This prison was the light at the end of the tunnel, and after eight long months of barely scraping by, the thought of shelter and walls and beds made this prison her new favourite place in the world.

Iris moves a low branch out of the way as she stops alongside the others, staring at the prison as if they thought it was nothing but a mirage. It looked relatively untouched by the apocalypse, the walkers that roamed around in the courtyard wore jumpsuits and there were no holes in any of the fences. It had done its job exceedingly well. She thought back to the nights that she had spent lying awake, protected in Glenn's arms, worried out of her mind about the future that was rapidly catching up to them, knowing that her niece or nephew could be born tomorrow or in a week or in an hour's time, and dreaming of a day when she didn't have to sleep with one eye open, a day when they found a place they could make their own, free from worry.

And what was more secure in the state of Georgia than a county prison?

It was an answer to all of their players, the hopes and wishes of the entire group about a safe and fortified sanctuary may finally be realised, and it was somehow better than anything they would have wished up in their wildest dreams. They had found potential bases before, once at an old abandoned school with a gate, but it had been torn down and rendered unusable, and another at a department store just off of the highway, which was just as swarmed and insecure, but this one felt different. Iris had learned the hard way that faith got you nowhere in a cruel world, but as she held onto Glenn's hand, lovingly rubbing her fingers over his knuckles, faith was all Iris could feel.

"I'll be damned." T-Dog says, grinning widely.

Iris laughs. A full, breathless laugh that escapes her lips, and she bounces on the balls of her feet. She felt like she was standing on the top of a mountain after days of climbing.

"What are we waiting for?" Glenn asks, the corners of his mouth lifting. "Let's go to prison."

T-Dog snorts. "Never thought I'd hear you say that."

Iris stands between Glenn and T-Dog, the people who she started everything with, the two people who saw her though the start of the outbreak and had been at her side ever since, and she felt safe. Glenn and T-Dog were both extraordinary good at keeping things lighthearted no matter how dire it seemed, and they balanced out her inner negativity and brought out her more playful attitude, and Iris couldn't believe that she had only known the two of them for a year: they were so deeply intertwined in her life she couldn't imagine a time without them.

The apocalypse had taken a lot from all of them, but it had also given them something irreplaceable. Iris' small family had grown from five to eleven, with a new addition well on the way. A year ago, her biggest desire would've been for everything to go back to normal, for her to return to Opal's store, fixing clothes and working the closing shift. Now, things were different. The only thing Iris wanted more than anything was a home big enough and safe enough for her family.

"Let's go to prison." Iris echoes, swinging Glenn's hand in hers and taking a step towards their next chapter.

Rick grunts as he cuts a hole in the fence with wire cutters, making a hole just big enough for a person to slip through. The prison was well guarded and this fence was one of many, leading to the main courtyard of the prison where there were many walkers wandering around. It would take a lot to clear the entire prison, which was eventually the idea, but Rick wanted to take it slowly, clear one section at a time. It was likely that they wouldn't get into the actual building today, but if they could clear the courtyard, it would be a good day.

Iris grips her dagger in her right hand, panting as she brings it down onto a walker's skull. She steps over its body on the ground, pushing a second walker into the fence and away from Rick, driving the blade down through its eye. She wipes beady sweat from her forehead, avoiding the blood splatter on her sleeve. Glenn was using his shovel to take out another walker, the two of them keeping the undead away from Rick as he paved the way for them to get inside the safety of the fence.

Rick backs away, and slowly, the group began to file through the makeshift door. He made sure Carl and Beth got through to the little fenced alleyway that divided the prison land to the rest of the world. "Watch the backside!"

"Got it." Lori says, waiting for some of the others to make it through, checking all around for threats.

"Lor." Iris calls, taking hold of Lori's arm and carefully guiding her over the bodies. She was struggling to even walk in her condition and she would not be able to fight very well. Best to leave that for the others. Lori smiles at her gratefully, holding onto her stomach as she stops beside Rick, sparing a glance at him for a split second.

"Come on." Iris repeats. She keeps her hands on her weapon, looking out for any signs of walkers as she and Lori climb through the makeshift door. Glenn and Daryl were waiting either side of the wire, with a coil in hand, so they could patch up the hole and keep walkers out.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Rick beckons T-Dog through the fence as another couple of walkers advance heavily on them.

Glenn and Daryl only barely thread the coil through the fence before one of the walkers smashes itself against it, causing Iris to gasp and reach for Glenn's hand, pulling him away from the fence possessively. She looks around, not seeing any other kinks in the armour. The alley wasn't particularly large, but it did mean that, for now, they were safe.

There were walkers on both sides, trying to get to them, but the fence was strong. It wouldn't collapse quickly.

Daryl took a breath, and he started running down the length of the alley. There was a sense of urgency as the group follows, turning the corner until they reach the end of the line. There was a actual fenced door that led to the main courtyard, riddled with inmates turned walkers and cutting them off from filtering into the alley where they stood. Iris studies the open area, seeing the amount of walkers that were walking around. It was a lot, but they were a skilled group. There was a second fence that divided the courtyard to the main part of the prison, which swung open as more of them wandered in and out.

Iris licks her chapped lips, sharing a glance with Carl. He was still wearing Rick's sherrif's hat, clutching his gun that was extended by a silencer in his hands and smiling with glee at the opportunity presented to them.

"It's perfect." Rick exclaims. "If we can shut that gate, preventing more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight."

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel asks.

"I'll do it." Glenn suggests, putting his hands on his hips and staring out at the gate. It was starting to look further and further away. "You guys cover me."

"No." Iris denies without even missing a beat. "Absolutely not."

"Iris-" Glenn starts, but she shakes her head, refusing to budge.

"No. Do you have a death wish or something?" Iris questions, raising her eyebrow.

"Someone's gotta open it. I'm a fast runner." Glenn rationalises. He was pleading with her with his eyes, and if it was anything trivial, Iris would've melted in an instant.

But this was his life.

"Please." She whispers.

"No." Rick decides. Iris shoots him a grateful look, knowing that no one was going to go against Rick. After all, he'd gotten them this far without injury. Rick points in the direction of the fence. "You, Iris, Maggie and Beth draw as many as you can over there, pop them through the fence. Daryl, go back to the other tower. Carol, you've become a pretty good shot, take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste. Hershel, you and Carl, take this tower."

"Alright." Carl says, without resistance. He had begun to love using his gun and being trusted to be a part of the missions, and he was growing up, slipping right through their fingers as he had suddenly transformed from a scared little kid to a protective teenager who listened to orders.

"I'll run for the gate." Rick says in a hushed tone. Iris tuts, not exactly wanting Rick to do the run either, but she was good at persuading Glenn. Rick was an entirely different ballgame, and that came with a certain level of acceptance.

Glenn smiles at her apologetically, and Iris smiles back. She wasn't mad at him. She could never be mad at him, but she worried and she wouldn't let him do dangerous stuff without at least some fight. Together, they back up towards the fence, tailed by Maggie and Beth. Iris takes her dagger from her belt, using it to scratch against the metal, enticing the walkers towards them and yelling for them to follow her.

It was the first time in a very long time that she was finally granted the chance to be as loud as possible, and she certainly needed to let out a lot of pent up emotions. Together, the four of them screamed and bang their weapons and enticed the walkers away from Rick as he prepared to make the run of a lifetime.

"Come on! Hey, come here! Come on! Hey, come here!"

As the walkers began to follow them, Iris got closer to the fence, stabbing her knife through the holes and getting as many walkers as possible. Glenn was still yelling and banging his shovel against the fence, as Maggie pokes her knife into their eyes.

As soon as Daryl, Carol, Hershel and Carl were in position on the watchtowers, their guns pointed and ready, Lori opens the gate for Rick and he starts to sprint towards the prison.

Walkers were immediately alerted by Rick's presence, moving towards him in animalistic interest. Iris gasps, screaming for their attention and feeling the rush of adrenaline as she watches Rick make his run.

"Come on! Come on!" Glenn yells, luring more and more walkers towards them, their mindless brains unaware of the fence that was between them and their prey.

Shots lurch off the ground like small bombs, ricocheting as walkers went down around Rick. The commotion was too much, and they started to walk away from the fence, circling around Rick.

"Hey, come on, over here! Hey! Hey, hey, hey, come on, over here!" Beth pleads, but it was useless. Iris gasps, holding her hands over her mouth.

However, Rick was close, and in an instant, he sprints through the gate, slamming it shut behind him just as the cluster of walkers surround it. A second later, and he would've been caught by them. Rick backs away, running up the tower that was attached to the prison and closing it behind him.

Iris gasps, putting her knife back in her belt as she jumps up and down estatically, practically tackling Glenn into a celebratory hug. Glenn wraps his arms around her, spinning her around and making her laugh giddily.

"He did it." Iris breathes, giggling as Glenn puts her down. "He did it!"

"We're gonna take this place." Glenn whispers, just for her ears and her ears only.

Iris breathes into his ear, pulling away from him as she watches gunshots light up the courtyard, killing the walkers. Glenn, Iris, Beth and Maggie join in, shooting as many as they can alongside T-Dog and Lori who were waiting by the gate. Rick was right, there were a lot of walkers out there, but once they were contained to just the courtyard, every single walker was dead on the ground in a matter of minutes.

Iris looks up at Rick on the far watch tower, and he sends her a salute. Iris grins.

"Come on!" Beth smiles, running back towards Lori as she walks into the courtyard, following the others who were already running around inside.

Iris shares a look with Glenn, smiling mischievously as she grabs his hand, dragging him along with her as she runs to the gate, her eyes widening in wonder when she looks around the massive, gated and free space. It was littered with bodies, but it was theirs.

"Oh!" Carol exclaims, looking up and around in glee. "We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!"

"I haven't been able to stretch my legs like this in so long." Iris grins, swinging Glenn's hand up and down as they walk in tandem. She wiggles her eyebrows. "Hey, maybe we can finally get some sleep away from this lot?"

"That sounds like an excellent suggestion." Glenn grins, titling his head adorable as he backs away from her for a moment, catching a walker that was still moving with his foot and using his shovel to pierce it in the head.

"Wooooo!" T-Dog laughs, cheering Glenn on with his hands around his mouth, projecting his voice.

Iris felt free. She could run, dance, yell without consequences, protected by the fence that separates them from the outside world. They were in their own little bubble, and the tension that had been weighing down on every single one of them dissipated and it was replaced by a rush of euphoria.

She laughs again, holding her hands to her knees in disbelief.

This prison was theirs.

Iris warms her hands over the fire as she shivers in the openness of night. Despite the chill in the air, no one felt the need to comment on it, revelling in the simple luxury of not having to constantly look over their shoulders for walkers.

Iris shifts in her position, lying down with her head rested on Glenn's lap. His fingers immediately started to run through her hair, stroking it softly as he finished his last bite of cooked squirrel (courtesy of Daryl) and moving slightly to make her more comfortable. Rick was pacing around the perimeter, keeping watch even though he had already triple checked it for any holes or weak points. Daryl was also keeping watch on top of a turned over prison bus, and Iris hums as she turns her head a little, watching Carol approach him.

She sniffs and turns back around, stretching her limbs as Glenn provides a calming repetitive motion in her hair. She smiles, taking hold of his spare hand, absentmindedly playing with his fingers as she listens to the crackle of the fire and feeling the heat of it on her face. She closes her eyes.

"Mmmm. Just like mom used to make." Glenn comments, throwing a bone away. Iris snorts, opening her eyes to look up at him from her position on the ground.

"Tomorrow, we'll put all the bodies together. We want to keep them away from that water. Now, if we can dig a canal under the fence, we'll have plenty of fresh water." T-Dog says, puffing out his chest proudly.

"Fresh water. Finally." Iris mumbles, a chill going down her spine as Glenn tightens his fingers around hers.

"The soil is good, we could plant some seed, grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, soybeans." Hershel adds. He looks at Rick, sighing. "That's his third time around. If there was any part of it compromised, he'd have found it by now."

"He's just paranoid." Iris says, blinking sluggishly as she relaxes further and further into Glenn.

"This will be a good place to have the baby." Beth says in a small voice. She smiles, looking at her father and sister with an innocent smile. "Safe."

"Are you tired?" Glenn whispers to Iris, leaning down to speak in her ear.

"Mhm." Iris hums, running her fingers over all of the crease lines on Glenn's hand. "Tired. Exhausted. Ready to sleep without worrying about walkers eating my fingers without me realising."

"Oh, sleepy you is full of jokes, isn't she?"

Iris snorts. "Still better than yours."

"Ouch. That hurts." Glenn pulls her closer. "Insulted by my own girlfriend."

Iris smiles.

Hershel inhales a big breath, looking at his daughters in admiration. "Bethy, sing 'Paddy Reilly' for me. I haven't heard that I think, since your mother was alive."

"Daddy, not that one, please." Maggie protests. Iris opens her eyes fully, turning her head to look at the group.

"How about uh... 'Parting Glass'?" Hershel suggests

Beth shakes her head sheepishly. "No one wants to hear."

"Are you kidding? A free concert? Who would pass that up." Iris replies, sitting up a little against Glenn's chest. Maggie smiles, nodding her head in approval. Carl was staring at Beth in anticipation, and Iris could see the awe in his eyes, smiling to herself at his little crush.

"Why not?" Glenn adds, shrugging.

"Okay." Beth says, and she sits up straighter.

Of all the money, e'er I had

I spent it in good company

And all the harm, e'er I've ever done

Beth's voice was sweet and small. It was very soothing, like a lullaby that played from a music box. Her voice was pretty and Iris loved listening to her sing, imagining a guitar strumming in the background of the beautiful song.

Alas it was to none but me

And all I've done for want of wit

To memory now I can't recall

So fill to me the parting glass

Good night and joy be with you all

Iris sighs in fulfillment, lowering herself back down against Glenn as her eyes felt heavier and heavier. The warmth of the fire and the comfort of the song was like a blanket that covered her, and Glenn's fingers massaged her skull and relieved the pressure.

Maggie joins in Beth's singing, both of their voices blended together, making it sound even more incredible and calming. Their Southern accents were sweet like honey, and Iris wishes she could live like this every single night.

Oh, all the comrades

That e'er I had

Were sorry for my going away

And all the sweethearts that e'er I had

Rick softly approaches, perching in between Carl and Lori. Iris perks up a little as she registers his presence, watching him share his food with Lori and, despite their tension, she takes it. Rick quietly listens to Maggie and Beth sing.

Would wish me one more day to stay

But since it falls unto my lot

That I should rise and you should not

I'll gently rise and I'll softly call

Good night and joy be with you all

Good night and joy be with you all

"Beautiful." Hershel smiles, bursting with pride as he looks at his daughters.

Rick stretches, patting the soft grass. "Better all turn in. I'll take watch over there, we've got a big day tomorrow."

Iris raises an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" Glenn asks.

"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we gotta push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards or prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early. Could mean the supplies may be intact. They have an infirmary, a commissary." Rick explains.

"An armory?" Daryl questions, approaching the group.

"That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's offices would have info on the location." Rick replies. "Weapons, food, medicine, this place could be a gold mine."

"You think we could take this whole place by ourselves?" Iris asks.

Hershel tuts. "We're dangerously low on ammo. We'll run out before we make a dent."

"That's why we gotta go in there. Hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance." Rick stands up, glancing at everyone before he turns around and heads towards the fence, ready to go back to his walk of the perimeter. Lori stands to follow him, and Iris drops her head back down, closing her eyes once again.

"You should sleep." Glenn soothes, massaging her scalp under her hair as he speaks in a low, calming voice. He felt so familiar that Iris couldn't help but breathe easier. She was home. No matter where she was, with him, she was at home. "Go to sleep, love. Things will be better tomorrow."

Iris smiles once more, taking one final heavy breath before they even out, and she succumbs to the comfort of sleep, ready to dream of new beginnings.

Chapter Text

THEY ROSE EARLY.

Iris tightens the straps of her backpack, securing it tightly to her shoulders. Due to their lack of ammo, they had to engage the walkers in hand to hand combat, which meant using every available hand and weapon at their disposal if they wanted any chance at clearing this prison.

Iris wasn't sure if Rick had gotten any sleep that night, constantly walking around the perimeter and making a mental map of the layout, because when she woke up, he already had a plan in place. They would be divided into two groups: those who could fight, and those who couldn't.

Hershel, Carl, Lori, Carol and Beth would stand on the other side of the fence, making as much noise as possible and drawing walkers away from the others, killing as many through the fence as possible. Meanwhile, the perimeter would be breached by Rick, Iris, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl and T-Dog, who would clear out all of the walkers in each section before shutting it off and moving onto the next.

She looks down, playing with the dagger in her hands, tracing over the detailing with her fingers. It was an elegant blade. She didn't know if it was vintage, or what it was used for in the past, but she made sure to take good care of it, to honour whoever had possessed the blade before her and to honour herself.

She didn't want a weapon covered in blood.

Rick was preparing himself, talking to Carl in a low tone. Iris knew that Carl would want to join them in clearing out the walkers, but it was far too dangerous for a thirteen year old, especially one who was more on the impulsive side. Iris thought that Carl had probably gotten that particular trait from her.

"You okay?" Glenn asks, coming up next to her, holding his shovel in his hands.

Iris nods, taking a moment to breathe before she looks at him in determination. "Yeah. We're gonna do this. We're gonna win."

"Mhm." Glenn smiles, holding a hand to her shoulder. "The six of us, we're strong. We can take on a couple walkers."

"A couple walkers." Iris echoes, looking at the masses of the undead ahead of them. "Right."

"Have some faith, Iris." Rick says, raising his eyebrows as he walks over to her, his wedding ring brushing over the metal fence as he touches it, an air of confidence about him that made Iris smile, her fingers tightening around her dagger.

"I have faith." Iris shoots back, frowning. Glenn shoots her a look, and she chews on her lip, shrugging. "Sometimes."

Rick grins.

"Ready?" Hershel asks. His tone was serious and he always carried some level of importance in the words that he spoke, his wisdom and approval meant a lot to the group, particularly his daughters and Rick, even if he didn't admit it. Rick nods gravely, sharing glances with Daryl and T-Dog. Iris smiles at Glenn and Maggie, all six of them preparing for the fight that was ahead of them.

They would not lose anyone today.

Rick braces himself, and he opens the gate leading to the concrete courtyard. Iris had never been inside a prison before, but the level of layers that they had to get through before they even got inside the building was surprising to her. This courtyard was closest to the actual walls, and Iris could see the door that led to the prison, which was thankfully shut tight.

Iris tilts her head as they spill through to the other side. Most of the walkers were dressed as guards or inmates: the prison fell early. She felt a chill in her bones at the thought of finding a gold mine of medication and food and even weapons, and it all but motivated her more.

She breathes in as she hears Hershel shut the gate behind them, the clang acting as a sinister feeling of entrapment. Apocalypse or not, Iris was standing in a locked prison, and what she was about to do felt very prison-worthy. She looks at Rick, waiting for his guidance, and he points two fingers at the group. They had discussed their plan beforehand, and it was a smart one.

The six of them moved into a circle, holding their backs to each other as they moved. T-Dog lunges forward and stabs an inmate in the head, throwing it to the ground in excessive force. As they advance further into the courtyard, more walkers become aware of their presence. Iris grunts as she moves forward, sinking her dagger into the eye of a walker, moving her hands to its shoulder as she pushes off, pulling her dagger out with a little resistance.

The snarls and teeth snapping had become a familiar sound after a year of living in a new world. Iris grits her teeth, feeling the dirt and grime beneath her fingernails as she holds the dagger so tight that her fingers were whitening. On either side of her, Glenn and T-Dog attack as many walkers as possible, very slowly picking through the masses, with a willpower worthy of the Gods as they fight for their chance at a new home, at a new life.

Behind them, Hershel, Carl, Carol, Lori and Beth were screaming and banging their knives against the fence from the other side, drawing as many walkers to them as possible and stabbing them through the wire. Iris could hear their pleas radiating through her brain like a pulse, syncing with her oscillating heartbeat like a reminder of all the reasons she should keep fighting. "Come on! Hey, come on! Hey! Hey, over here! Come on! Hey come here!"

They advance through the floor, like one single entity, strong and defensive. Glenn stabs a walker in the heart, not quite reaching its brain as a second one reaches him, clawing for his skin with its mindless tenacity. Iris leaps into action, taking care of the first walker as Glenn drives his shovel through the second one's skull. They both fell to the ground in sync, and Glenn and Iris shared victorious smiles.

Iris' heart leaps out of her chest when T-Dog breaks away from their protective circle, gunning for a police shield on the ground beside a pinned walker. It left them with a weak point, trying to cover for T-Dog's absence as he dives for the shield.

"T!" Iris whisper-yells, stabbing a walker with her blood soaked dagger.

"Don't break rank!" Rick chastises, watching T-Dog with wide eyes.

"We need that!" T-Dog yells back, picking up the shield and returning back to their formation, gripping his shield in one hand and his weapon in the other.

There was no time to debate, as T-Dog backed into the circle and started to push walkers away with his shield. He was right, it was helping them a lot by minimising the amount of walkers that could get to them at once.

Iris feels the roar in her throat as she attacks three more walkers, watching them sink to the ground and refusing to look at their faces. It was the only way to stay sane. She looks around at Rick, who takes out one final walker and watches it drop to the ground, wiping a line of sweat from his brow.

Silence fell over the courtyard.

Iris drops her hand to her side, looking around at the cluster of bodies that littered the ground, the blood and guts staining the concrete, but despite it, Iris couldn't help but feel the adrenalised rush of achievement, knowing they were one step closer to their goal.

"Is that it?" Iris asks, panting breathlessly. "Do we try and go inside now?"

Rick nods, holding a hand to his hip as he stretches his neck out. "Almost there."

Iris nods, taking a step towards the door. However, as soon as she rounds the corner, her eyes widen when she finds yet another gated courtyard, full of walkers that started to growl and reach for her. She gasps.

Rick pulls her back, gripping her by the arm and pushing her against the wall. They were quickly followed by the others as they pressed themselves against the wall. Iris closes her eyes tightly, her hands shaking from her stupidity, not even comprehending the fact that there could be another fence and more walkers ahead of them.

Rick holds a finger to his lips, creeping forward alongside Daryl. Two walkers, dressed in heavy armour and gear, start to walk slowly towards them. Iris pulls herself together, shaking her body out as she forces her hands to still.

A couple more walkers came out from behind the wall, with helmets on that covered their faces ― this was going to be difficult. Maggie lunges forward and kicks one of the walkers, bringing it onto its knees as she attempts to pierce the plastic in front of its head, to no avail.

Daryl and Rick kill the two walkers that were loose on their end of the fence, and Rick rushes to secure the gate that held in the horde of walkers in the other courtyard. It wasn't in their way of accessing the door inside, and therefore, a problem for another day. There were a couple of walkers in their way, helmeted ones just like the two in front of her, and no one could quite figure out how to take them out.

"Daryl!" Rick yells.

Chaos ensues as Rick and Daryl fight to close the door to the courtyard, locking the walkers inside. Iris slams her dagger into the side of the helmet, but nothing could pierce the protective layer.

In the corner of her eye, Iris spots Maggie stab one of the walkers in the neck, lifting up its helmet and getting it right in the eye, twice. Iris laughs maniacally, watching Maggie with pride as the walker drops to the ground. Maggie grins. "Seen that?"

"Hell yeah." Iris replies. She whistles as she faces one of the helmeted walkers, wiggling her eyebrows. "Hey, Magpie."

Maggie smirks and she stands on her tiptoes, lifting one of the walker's helmets as Iris uses her dagger to stab it in the eye socket. Iris laughs and the two girls high five, their hands lingering together as they watch Glenn and T-Dog use their same method to take one final walker.

Iris closes her eyes for a moment, revelling in the quiet. This courtyard was big, it had a lot of potential and space that Iris found herself imagining walking through this very space weeks, months, years later, finally feeling free.

Freedom inside a prison.

The thought made her smile.

"Looks secure." Glenn says, dropping his shovel to his side.

"Nothing will lead to that courtyard over there." Daryl says. He points at one of the bodies, a girl with long hair and in regular clothes. "And that's a civilian."

"A visitor?" Iris suggests.

"Or the interior could be overrun by walkers from outside the prison." T-Dog says, shaking his head in worry.

"Well, if there's walls down, then, what are we gonna do? We can't rebuild this whole place." Glenn asks, looking between Rick and Daryl with wide, and pure, eyes.

Rick shakes his head. "We can't risk a blind spot. We have to push in."

Iris nods, taking a big breath in as she looks back at the others on the other side of the fence, watching them with wide and hopeful eyes. Iris smiles at Carl, giving her nephew a salute. Carl responds by taking off his hat and bowing to her, and she giggles at him.

There was a small alley that led up the stairs to the first door. Rick was in the lead, opening the gate with care and creeping up to the door. Iris moves in between Glenn and Maggie, all six of them in resolute silence as Daryl touches his fingers to the handle, slowly opening the door.

Nothing but dust flew out.

Iris sighs, relaxing a little as she lets her tense muscles loose.

There was yet another gate of fortification when they stepped inside, a metal one that swung open with a loud creak that echoed through the empty space. There were a couple of steps to get into the first room, which looked to be some sort of visiting space when it was still a functioning prison, with round tables dotted around. However, it was hard to tell through all of the dust and dirt that had caked up over time, making the entire room look grey and desolate.

Iris' stomach swirled in a mix of emotion as she looked around the room, not seeing any signs of life, dead or alive. It was almost perfect. It felt like a gift from the universe, rewarding them for their trials and tribulations. For the first time since they had discovered the existence of this prison, Iris didn't feel any sort of excitement or anticipation.

She felt dread.

Cold, foreboding dread that overcame her like an infection, staring at this empty space that felt too good to be true, and thinking about those they lost and how they would never get to see what they could make from this.

Amy.

Jim.

Jacqui.

Sophia.

Dale.

Andrea.

And Shane.

Iris shivers.

She hadn't thought of anyone they had lost in so long, not really, not in a way that matters. It had been so hard, in the many months that they were running around on the road, aimless and directionless, and it felt like all she could focus on was surviving and trying to eat enough every night and sleeping with one eye open for walkers, that it was just too painful to think back on the memories of the farm, some particular ones harder than others.

What if safety meant combating the things that she had been pushing away for so long?

It was a selfish thought.

Rick walks up the stairs towards the guard tower, cautiously and with his weapon raised. Iris watches and waits for him to re-emerge, and when he does, keys clang in his hands as he shows them off, smiling. Iris bites her tongue through her teeth, the corners of her mouth upturning as Rick jangles the keys to the rest of the doors.

The nearest cell block to the little room they were in was Cell Block C, which, when Rick found the right key, was revealed to be just as desolate and run down as the rest of the prison appeared to be. There was not a single sound as Iris took her first step inside, staring at all of the tiny cells and imagining the prisoners that once lived there, wondering what they did to land their sentence and what had happened to them once the outbreak hit.

There were blood splatters all over the floor, and Iris steps into one of the cells. All of them had bunk beds, but they were dusty with things littered all over the floor, like someone had left in a rush. There was a single toilet next to the bed, and a shelf for personal items that was bare. Iris bites her lip, walking out of the cell with a heavy heart. She coughs a couple times due to the dust that was flying around, disturbed by their presence.

"Not too bad." Glenn whispers, coming up behind her. Iris bites a smile, but Glenn had learnt how to read her even when she couldn't read herself. "Right?"

"Right." Iris answers, turning around to face him. She gives him a quick kiss on the lips, patting his chest. "You should probably go get the others, yeah? They're gonna be waiting."

"Okay." Glenn smiles, stealing one more kiss from her before he backs up. "Be back in a minute."

Iris watches him go, turning back around to see Rick and Daryl exploring upstairs, where there were more cells and potentially walkers still trapped inside. That was a hell of a way to live out your sentence. Iris follows Maggie, peering into one of the cells, stopping in her tracks when she sees a dead inmate, sitting inside of the cell. She sighs, holding her hands to her hips as she looks away.

"T." She whispers, backing up to allow T-Dog to enter, picking up the body in his arms and dropping it in the hall. Iris scrunches her nose up as Daryl and Rick drop two more bodies down from the floor above.

"Only three. Could be worse." T-Dog says. "I'll take them outside."

Iris nods, walking back over to Maggie with a compassionate smile. It felt bittersweet, knowing this place fell early. It was great for them, but it also meant the demise of so many prisoners and guards who didn't even know what was happening to them.

"What do you think?" Rick asks, as Glenn leads Lori, Carl, Hershel, Carol and Beth into Cell Block C. It was certainly a fixer upper, but all of them together could turn this place into somewhere worth living.

"Home sweet home." Glenn says, walking back over to Iris and taking her hand in his.

"For the time being." Rick nods

"It's secure?" Lori asks, holding a protective hand over her belly.

"This cell block is." Rick smiles proudly.

"As safe as it can be." Iris adds, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Especially for the baby. Once we find the infirmary, we should be all set."

Lori smiles.

Hershel looks around, sizing up the place. It was decently sized, especially for their group of almost twelve, and Iris was sure it would hold. "What about the rest of the prison?"

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria, and the infirmary." Rick decides.

"Eventually, we could clear out more and more cell blocks." Glenn suggests. "Build a home."

"We'll sleep in the cells?" Beth asks, stepping over a puddle of blood cautiously.

Iris was so excited to sleep in a proper bed, she didn't even care that it was once a cell. She pictured herself cuddled up with Glenn (even if the bunk beds were only single beds) and actually having sheets to wrap around herself, and the thought brought more comfort to her than she liked to admit. Glenn squeezes her hand, as if reading her thoughts.

"I found the keys on some guards." Rick nods. They could unlock all of the cells, making it feel less like a prison. "Daryl has a set too."

Daryl scoffs, "I ain't sleeping in no cage. I'll take the perch," and he walks up the stairs, to the bridge between the floors that Iris guessed was where a guard would typically be stationed overnight.

Iris shakes her head at Daryl's stubbornness. "Speak for yourself. I want a bed. A real bed."

"That can be arranged." Glenn says, taking her by the hand. "Come on, we'll get one without any bloodstains before they all get taken."

Iris laughs. "Okay, lead the way."

"Come on." Carol says, smiling at Lori.

Lori nods, running her hands over her stomach. Before following Carol, she takes a look at Rick. "Thank you."

"This one is perfect." Glenn smiles, squeezing her hand as he leads her into one of the cells. "A bit of a tight squeeze, but we'll manage."

"It's great." Iris forces a smile, letting go of his hand to put her backpack on the top bunk. "Better than anything we've had yet."

Glenn puts his own bag up top, collapsing onto the bottom bunk, putting a hand through his tousled hair. He pats the sheets, tilting his head. "Come here."

Her heart skips a beat, connecting her hand with his as he swings them back and forth, squeezing it to the sound of his heartbeat, connecting them inexplicitly together. His voice was soothing, the comfort that she craved as they touched, his presence washing over her like an ocean on a summer's day. She smiles. A real smile this time, like he always managed to get out of her no matter how sad she felt or how dire the circumstances were. She sits down beside Glenn, bringing a hand to his cheek and feeling his hot breaths on her palm, stroking it with her thumb. Glenn flutters his eyelashes at her touch, his forehead falling onto hers in a moment of intimacy and trust.

Glenn shifts in his position, bringing his hands to Iris' shoulders and rubbing them over her shoulder blades, giving her a much needed massage. Iris sighs, letting her hand drop from his face as her muscles relax, sinking into Glenn's massage and closing her eyes. Glenn must've been able to sense how tense she was, because he leans in from behind, whispering in her ear. "We won today. What's making you so upset?"

Iris sighs, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and she turns around, facing Glenn. "I guess... I guess I've been thinking about Shane a lot lately."

Her neck had fully healed, over seven months ago, but they still stung like phantom pain everytime she so much as thought about Shane. She still had nightmares from being chased in the woods, from the feeling of his hands around her neck, waking up gasping and clutching at her throat like she couldn't breathe. Whenever she saw a walker that even remotely looked like Shane, she was flooded with the memory of Carl shooting him down, of the walkers that attacked their farm and left them stranded. It was something that she wasn't over, but she hadn't mentioned it in months. Rick and Lori had moved on, even Carl, though his experiences had changed him as a kid and as a person, but Glenn knew better. Almost being murdered by someone you considered a friend, a brother, would not fade away in time.

It had fundamentally changed who she was as a person.

"You have?" Glenn asks, inching closer to her. He knows that her experience with Shane had changed her. She felt less like a kid now, more capable of protecting herself from walkers and humans alike. During their first month on the road, Iris had begged Daryl to teach her how to hunt, from the actual killing to the preparation and proper way to cook animals. While they went on their hunts, she asked Daryl to help improve her self defense skills, so she would never find herself in a situation like that again. She never wanted to feel that helpless. "About him? Or about... what happened?"

"Both, I guess." Iris responds, her voice low and vulnerable, something only reserved for Glenn. "I just... I don't know how to explain it. When we were on the road, it was almost easier. To forget, you know? About everything that happened. Shane, and Dale, the walkers in the farm. We've always had other things to worry about. But now we're here, and for the first time in... in forever, there is nothing to take my mind off of it. It's weird, I kinda feel guilty. That we're here, and Dale isn't. That Andrea isn't. And... and Shane isn't."

Glenn nods his head, staring at Iris with unblinking eyes, taking in her words. He plays with her ring finger, stroking it up and down. "You don't have to feel guilty. You don't. We're here, and we don't have to apologise for that. It sucks that Dale and Andrea can't be here with us, but Shane? He wanted to hurt you, he did hurt you. He doesn't deserve your guilt. You feel it because you're a good person, but he wasn't. Not in the end."

Iris nods, sniffling a little as he speaks. She wipes her eyes. "I know. I just... I want to be able to feel like me. Not whoever I was then. I think she's gone forever. I want to be able to move forward, past all this. I want to build a home here, but I don't know how to move past what happened and still feel like me."

Glenn moves even closer to her, pulling her down so that she is lying beside him on the bed, her head resting on his chest, listening to the sounds of his breathing. Glenn kisses her on the cheek. "You're always gonna be you. It doesn't matter how much you change, or grow, or where we are, you can't lose the thing that makes you special. And I'll love you forever, Iris Grimes. We will build a home here, and we'll grow together. What happened with Shane made you stronger, and you shouldn't forget."

She thinks about his words, his perspective was something that she hadn't even thought about. Deep down, in her darkest nightmares, she was afraid that she would change too much, become a person so different than who she was when she first met Glenn, and he would fall out of love with her. Like always, Glenn had read her before she was even aware of her thoughts herself. "You promise?"

"I promise." Glenn whispers, speaking against her cheek. "You're so strong, love. I'll love you no matter how much you change. God knows this world has changed us all."

"I love you." Iris whispers, closing her eyes against his chest.

Glenn smiles, closing his own eyes as their foreheads touch. He intertwines their pinky fingers together. "I love you, too. Infinitely."

Iris feels her eyes grow heavier with sleep, smiling as she hears Glenn's words. She had never felt so seen, and his words made her worries disappear like sand through her fingers. She had changed, but maybe that was a good thing. She blinks one last time, her body limply falling against his.

"Infinitely."

Chapter Text

"HEY, KID."

Carl looks up when she swings her body around the cell that he had slept in. He was sitting on the bottom bunk, holding his gun in his hands, moving his fingers over the silencer. "Hey, Iris."

"Sleep well?" Iris asks, tilting her head as she crosses her arms. The moment that dawn had crept over the darkness that night provided for them, she had woken up, like a habit after months of sleeping the bare minimum and waking up with the sun, to avoid staying in the same place for too long. It felt strange, almost unbelievable, that she didn't have to worry about walkers while she was in the safety bubble of this cell block. She always had trouble with sleep anyway, suffering with nightmares as a child and typically being able to manage on only a couple hours a night.

Glenn was totally the opposite, being able to fall asleep in the blink of an eye, and stay asleep for hours, hardly moving, though occasionally muttering to himself as he dreamed. Iris had spent many nights lying beside him, listening to his breathing and smiling at his incoherent mutters, and it was enough for her. This morning, she had crawled out of bed around his still sleeping form, feeling restless and needing to take a walk around her new environment, needing to acclimate.

She checked in with Rick, and he was still asleep, looking like he was finally getting some much needed rest. Lori was sleeping as well, in one of the bunks, seperate to Rick, which Iris didn't even know what to make of. It had been a long time, and things were still difficult.

Iris was surprised that Carl was awake already, and he shoots her a small smile as she inches closer, still holding his gun close. "Yeah. Better than I have in a long time."

"Good." Iris perches next to him, studying his movements. She imagined that there was a lot weighing on Carl's mind, he was growing older and he had most responsibilities than any kid his age should, and that was without the added stress of his mother's impendant birth with little to no medical resources. He looks back down at his gun, brushing his fingers over every part of it. Iris looks at him. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Carl shrugs, adjusting his hat on his head as he avoids her gaze. "This prison is kinda perfect."

Iris smiles, patting him on the shoulder. "And yet..?"

"I still feel like something's wrong." Carl sighs. Iris grips his shoulder tighter, feeling a pang of sadness in her heart. Sometimes she thought that Carl was too much like her for his own good, going through the exact same thought process that she was still coming to terms with. It felt like something that only she knew how to help him with, and she would be damned if she was going to let Carl fall down the same dark spiral that had consumed her so many times in the past.

"Yeah." She finally says, breathing out with the heaviness of their conversation, especially this early in the morning. "Almost like it's too good to be true? Like you're waiting for the bad to come?"

Carl's eyes widen. "How did you..?"

"It's exactly what was going through my mind all night." Iris says, keeping her voice soft and understanding. "Glenn helped me. Do you know what he said to make it feel better?"

Carl shakes his head.

Iris smiles, taking Carl's gun and putting it down on the bed. "He said that today was a win. A big win. That we deserve this win."

Carl stands up, taking his hat off and running a hand through his now shoulder length hair, shrugging again. "I get that. I do. I just... I wish we could do more to help, you know? For mom."

"I know." Iris says. "But we are helping. All of us. We're gonna clear out more today, find the cafeteria, the infirmary. Your mom's gonna be fine."

Carl scoffs, shaking his head as he stares at the wall, away from her. "We are not doing anything. My dad's gonna bench me, like he always does."

Iris sighs, leaning against the post of the bunk bed, putting her feet up against the sheets. "Why do you think he's doing that?"

Carl rolls his eyes at her.

Iris giggles, stifling it with her hands as Carl glares at her even more. She sits up straight, raising her eyebrows at him. She was so not prepared to start dealing with a teenager instead of the kid she always knew. She holds her hands out apologetically. "Come on. I'm serious. Just humor me, alright."

Carl sighs. "Because he wants to protect me. He tells me that he needs me to look after mom, but I know it's because he wants to keep me safe. From the walkers. But I can handle it."

"I know you can handle it. I've seen that first hand." Iris says. "Your dad knows that too. But he's still your dad. It's his job to keep you safe."

"I guess." Carl grumbles, but he turns around to face her, and Iris takes that as a win. "I just wanna help."

"You are helping. Taking care of your mom... do you know how important that is?" Iris asks, keeping her voice as level as possible. "I know things haven't been great. They think you don't realise, but you see it, huh? They love each other, Carl. Don't you forget that. Your dad is trying to keep you and your mom safe."

It was a risky play, bringing up the less than amicable strain between Rick and Lori. However, she knew that Carl needed to be seen as something other than a kid, and she was in a unique position to talk to him about the things that the others tried so hard to keep him from.

Carl nods, biting his cheek and looking at her with a new softness in his blue eyes. "You really think so?"

"I know so." Iris stands up, cupping Carl's cheeks in her hands, patting them with her palms. "They love each other, and they love you. No matter what. Come on, let's go find breakfast."

When Iris and Carl leave the cell block, Iris is surprised to see more people up and walking about. Rick was sitting up against the wall, massaging the back of his neck as he grunted, standing up. Daryl was still perched on the bridge above, looking down at them as he fiddled with some of his arrows. Iris wanders through to the visiting room, just outside the cell block, and she smiles when she finds T-Dog preparing some of their final cans of food on one of the tables.

"Yum." Iris says, walking over and scanning her eyes over the cans. "Canned beetroot. My favourite."

T-Dog grins. "Yeah, well. Hopefully we'll find the cafeteria today, get some more variation."

"Prison food? Variation?" Iris asks, wiggling her eyebrows. "You have too much faith in our prison system."

"Hey." Glenn's voice comes from the other room, walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her from behind, making her laugh out loud from the unexpectedness. "You left without me."

"Yeah, well. You sleep too long." Iris smiles, turning her head to kiss him. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Glenn repeats, kissing her again. "Sorry. Morning breath."

Iris snickers. "You think I care about a little morning breath?"

T-Dog mimics throwing up dramatically, using his hands to pretend that he was vomiting profusely. "You two are disgusting. And you made me into a third wheel, so thanks for that."

Iris smiles, taking Glenn's hand in hers as he wraps his arm around her shoulder. "Aw, T. You're more than a third wheel."

"Yeah, you organise the food." Glenn says, craning his neck to look at the spread. "Canned beetroot. Yum."

T-Dog stares at him. "You two have spent so much time together, you've become the same person, you know that?"

Iris chuckles. "You two planning to go on the run today?"

"Mhm." Glenn says, and T-Dog nods his head. It wasn't surprising, Glenn and T-Dog would volunteer to do anything if it meant protecting and finding resources for their little family.

"Me too." Iris says. "Rick's gonna need every hand he's got if we're gonna track down the infirmary."

Glenn sighs, taking a spoonful of canned beetroot before he pats the table. "Alright, Rick wants us to look around what we have access to and see what we can use to clear out the halls."

Iris nods. "I'm gonna take some food to Lori."

"Alright, I'll see you soon." Glenn says, pecking her on the lips. As Iris walks away with a couple cans of food, she can hear Glenn and T-Dog bickering like brothers about the cans of beetroot, and she smiles to herself. No matter how many things had changed, she was sure that Glenn and T-Dog would always be the same positive, uplifting people that had saved her when this all started.

Iris knocks on Lori's cell bars, smiling as she spots the woman awake, resting her back against the post of the bed and holding onto her stomach. Lori looks up when Iris approaches, a look of surprise on her face. "Hey."

"Hey, Lor." Iris says. Iris and Lori had gone through their own trials and tribulations since she had fallen pregnant, but they had grown closer since Shane had died, and Iris had taken over from Rick, in a way, taking care of her and making sure the baby stayed okay. No matter what happened at the farm, this baby was her niece or nephew in her eyes, and it may have seemed impossible to forgive Lori when she first discovered the affair, but this new world did not operate like the old world did, and she needed someone in their corner. "I got you some beetroot. Canned, but good for the baby."

"Thank you, honey." Lori smiles.

"How does it feel?" Iris asks, handing Lori the food. "Are they still kicking a lot?"

Lori nods, wincing as she takes a breath. "They were. Way more than Carl ever did. They've been pretty quiet lately. Remember when you always wanted to touch my stomach when I was pregnant with Carl?"

Iris chuckles. "I do. I was fascinated by the idea of pregnancy and babies. Good for it, because I know ways to help you now. You think it'll be a boy or a girl?"

Lori considers her question, taking a bite. "It's a very different pregnancy than it was with Carl. It's gotta be a girl."

"Sophia kicked a lot when I was pregnant with her." Carol says, coming around the corner and looking at the two of them.

Iris smiles sadly. "Yeah? It must feel so weird, huh? I always wanted to have a baby some day. That connection... it's just special."

"Maybe one day you can." Lori says, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Especially if we make this home last." Carol smiles.

Iris blushes sheepishly, shaking her head. "Guys, come on. That's not... even close to being on my mind right now."

Carol opens her mouth, about to shoot back a reply, but she is cut off by Lori gasping, clutching her stomach. Iris jumps up, putting her hands on Lori's back. "Lori?"

"Oh god." Lori mutters. "They haven't been moving, but my stomach... it hurts."

"Okay." Iris whispers, soothing Lori with repetitive motions up and down her back. She turns to Carol. "Get Hershel."

Carol nods and turns around, rushing out of the cell with urgency. Iris keeps her hands on Lori, running them up and down her arm. Lori grunts. "I can't lost this baby. I can't, Iris. There's so much riding on-"

"Shh." Iris soothes. "You won't. You're almost there, okay? There's a lot of random pains and stuff when you're in your final days of pregnancy."

Hershel walks into the room, raising an eyebrow, looking at Lori with an air of concern. Iris looks up at him, softly shaking her head in worry, biting her lip. They needed to find the infirmary as soon as possible.

Lori winces, not taking her hands away from her stomach. "It's the baby, I think I lost it."

Hershel sits on one of the stools in front of Lori, leaning in further to examine her. "You haven't felt it move?"

"Nothing." Lori shakes her head, looking at Iris with wide, worried eyes. "It was constant kicking, all the time. But now? Nothing. And no Braxton-Hicks. At first, I thought it was exhaustion and malnutrition."

"You're anemic?" Hershel asks.

Lori nods, her shoulders sinking. "If we're all infected, then so is the baby. So what if it's stillborn? What if it's dead inside me right now, what if it rips me apart?"

"Hey." Iris interrupts, holding onto her shoulder. "Don't think like that. Babies don't always move so much when you get close to labour."

"Don't let your fear take control of you." Hershel adds, taking Lori's hand.

Lori shrugs. "Maybe I am close to labour. But what if it lives, and I die during childbirth?"

Iris sighs. She doesn't even want to acknowledge the idea that they could lose Lori when the baby comes. Not after all of these months of building new bridges, of finally finding a place for them to live, a place where they could have the baby safely.

"That's not going to happen." Hershek says firmly.

"Why not?" Lori questions. "How many women died in childbirth before modern medicine?"

"We have modern medicine." Iris says, swallowing. "I mean, we will. Once we come back from this run. And Hershel knows how to deliver babies, and he's- he's teaching Carol."

Lori shakes her head, sniffling as tears stream down her cheeks. "It might not be enough. If I come back, what if I attack it? Or one of you, Rick, Carl. If I do, if there is any chance, you put me down immediately, you don't hesitate!"

"Lor..." Iris starts, feeling her own tears well up in her eyes.

"Iris, please. You listen to me. If we're walkers, you don't hesitate, and you don't try to save us! Okay?" She doesn't stop staring at Hershel until he nods, and Iris feels a pang of worry at the thought. Could she do it? If it really came down to it, could she do it? Iris had come so far in regards to dealing with the walkers, but if someone she loved had become one...

She wasn't sure she could find the strength.

Lori sniffles again. "It might have been better if..."

"If what?" Hershel asks.

"If I'd never made it off the farm."

"Lori, no." Iris protests, shaking her head and taking Lori's hand in hers.

"You're exhausted, frightened." Hershel says. He looks over at Iris as if he was trying to reassure her as well.

"Yeah, that's true." Lori sighs. "My son can't stand me. And my husband, after what I put him through. And I know you've been trying, Iris, but I can still see it in your eyes. Everything is different now.

"We've all been carrying that weight. All winter." Hershel rationalises. He looks up at Iris again, shaking his head subtly. Iris sighs, and doesn't say anything.

"I tried to talk to him." Lori sniffs, looking away from Iris as if she was ashamed. "He..."

"He'll come around." Hershel states, patting Lori's hand.

Iris runs a hand through her hair. "You know Rick. He cares about you. He does."

"He cares about me, but he hates me." Lori says, biting her lip. "He's too good a man to say it, but, I know. I put him and Shane at odds, I put that knife in his hands. I'm the reason he did what he did to I..." She tails off, shaking her head.

Iris closes her eyes for a moment, bringing her hands to her head as Lori's words bring back the memories that she tried so hard to push down. She clears her throat, just to remind herself that she could breathe, that there were no longer hands tightening around her neck. Iris stands up, sending a nod at Hershel's way. "Make sure she's alright. I'm gonna go and see if they're leaving soon."

Iris cocks her gun, putting it securely in her holster as the others start to rifle through the weapons and armour from the dead guards. She adjusts her belt, making sure her gun and dagger were in good reach of her hands.

"You taking that shield?" Iris asks T-Dog, watching as he picks up the police shield in his hands, testing its weight and strength.

"Hell yeah." T-Dog replies, smirking. "I ain't letting this out of my sight."

Iris, Glenn, T-Dog, Maggie, Hershel and Daryl would be joining Rick in his mission to clear out some of the halls in search for the cafeteria and the infirmary. They had no idea how many walkers had gotten in through the breach that was hidden somewhere around the building, so they were prepared for a pretty big firefight.

She grins at T-Dog, before she puts her hands on Glenn's shoulder, tightening the riot gear armour around his torso, making sure it was on tight. It made her relax a lot knowing that he had that extra layer of protection, and he smiles at her as he turns around, picking up an extra set of armour. "Here."

"Thanks." Iris says, as he tugs on the material, tightening it against her body.

"Of course." Glenn replies, patting her on the shoulder, watching her ponytail swing back and forth as her head moves. "One more fight, huh?"

"One more fight." Iris echoes, intertwining her pinky with his, smiling with her tongue placed through her teeth, as Maggie helps Hershel into a set of riot gear. She looks up to see Lori standing over them on the level above, watching Rick as she holds one hand to the railing and the other to her stomach.

Carl chuckles as he picks up one of the riot gear helmets, putting it on his head. It was comically large, and Carl was drowning in it as it slipped over his head. He takes it off, a giant smile on his face as he looks at his dad expectantly.

Rick sighs, shaking his head. "You won't need that, I need you to stay put."

"You're kidding!" Carl grumbles, groaning as he looks at Iris. "I told you he would bench me."

Iris raises her eyebrow, crossing her arms as she gives Carl a pointed look. Carl claps his mouth shut, sighing as he looks away from her.

"We don't know what's in there. If something goes wrong, you could be the last man standing. I need you to handle things here." Rick advises. It was a little over dramatic, but Iris knew that was what Carl needed.

"But-" Carl starts. Iris clears her throat, staring at him with a look that she adopted from Lori. Carl sighs. "Sure."

"Great, let's go." Rick says, turning back to the group.

Iris smiles at Carl apoligetically before she follows Rick out of the cell block doors. Carl trails after them, shutting the doors with a heavy breath, his hands clutching Daryl's set of keys as he watches them leave.

"You spoke to Carl about me?" Rick asks, his voice low even though they hadn't reached the corridor yet.

Iris looks up at her brother, catching the worry in his expression. "He's okay. He's just growing up. You know how teenagers are. He doesn't always wanna talk about it with his parents."

Rick nods, clenching his jaw as they round the corner. "Thank you. For being that person for him."

"We're here." Daryl cuts in, reaching the set of bar doors as he reaches for Rick keys, very quietly unlocking the metal bars and swinging the door open. Iris takes a breath, holding her flashlight steadily in her hands as the small group advances through the corridor.

Despite the light that illuminates from their flashlights, the corridor was dark and bone chilling, the only sounds that emerged through the darkness were their own careful footsteps and the pitter patter of water leaking from the ceiling. There were dead bodies scattered all over the floor, and Iris winces as she shines her light on one of them, realising just how disintegrated and deformed they were, and she wonders what had even happened here to leave the bodies in such a condition.

Glenn had found a can of spray paint, and he had the idea to use it to spray arrows on the walls as they walk, reminding them which direction they came and which way to run if it came down to it. The prison was confusing enough in the light, and in the darkness it had become a maze of twists and turns and the possibility of walkers around every corner.

Iris takes a step forward, shining her flashlight at the walls, staring at the guts and blood that stained them. Her heart felt heavy, but she had to put it aside, focus on what was important.

Maggie gasps behind her, and Iris twists her body around, her heart skipping a beat when she points the light in Maggie's direction, relaxing immediately when she realises that she had only bumped into Glenn, and not a bloodthirsty walker. Iris walks over to Glenn, trying to stay as close to him as possible without actually grabbing his hand.

Rick clicks his tongue, motioning for the three of them to follow. Iris shares a glance with Maggie as they walk down the corridors, turning corridors and holding their breaths in anticipation. Iris felt her heart beating inside her chest, and she squeezed her hand into a fist, feeling each of her fingers in turn, allowing the sensation to calm her down.

The hallways were long and convoluted, occasionally leading into other barred cells filled with clusters of bodies, ones that they would eventually have to move out if they wanted to turn this place into something permanent. However, that wasn't the goal at hand.

They turn yet another corner, somehow not expecting there to be a group of walkers around the wall, who all snapped their attention towards them the moment the light shines in their faces, snarling and leaping to attack them. Iris gasps, taking her dagger in her hands and unsheathing it, holding it tightly in her fingers as she backs up.

"Go back, go back! Go back, move! This way!" Rick yells, ushering them all back the way they came. The darkness was not on their side, and their best bet was to try and split up the group of walkers into easier, more manageable parts. She gasps again, running for dear life as the walls seem to close in around her.

Glenn wraps his hand around her arm, likely having dropped the can of paint in their struggle against the walkers that kept getting closer and closer. He drags her along, his own pulse racing through his grip around her. "Come on, come on!"

"Come on, this way!" Daryl shouts, leading them around a corner. However, before Glenn, Maggie and Iris could follow the others through the dark corridors, another group of walkers cut them off, attracted by the noise that they were making.

"Shit!" Iris curses, watching as Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Hershel round another corner, leaving them stranded. Walkers lunge for them from all directions, completely overwhelming them with their snarls and groans. Iris grits her teeth, walking backwards as she whips her head in every direction, trying to desperately find a way out of this situation. Glenn's fingers tightened around her arm, so hard that she wouldn't be surprised if he left bruises.

"Come on, in here!" Glenn yells. He pulls Iris away just as a walker was about to make a grab for her, and Iris grips Maggie's hand, the three of them linked together like daisy chains as Glenn leads them inside a closet, seemingly a storage for fresh sheets and linens. As Glenn slams the door shut, Iris slips against the wall, landing on the floor as she tries to calm her breaths, her hands shaking.

"Oh my god. What are we- what are we gonna do?" Maggie asks, backing into the wall.

Iris swallows, taking one big breath in before she stands up, watching Glenn as he tries to listen through the door for any sign that the walkers are gone. She looks at Maggie. "We're gonna wait. Then we're gonna find the others."

"I think they're following the others." Glenn whispers, moving away from the door to look at them both. "I'm gonna open it."

Iris nods, and Glenn very slowly clicks the door open, stepping out first. He looks in both directions, before ushering Iris and Maggie towards him.

"Rick?" Glenn whisper shouts. Iris follows him, staring out into the open hallway, wishing and praying that the walkers had not caught up to Rick and the others.

"Daryl?" Iris tries, shining her flashlight around. "T-Dog?"

"Dad?" Maggie calls. "Daddy?

Iris sighs, biting her lip. "I don't think they-"

There was an ear piercing scream.

"What the hell was-" Glenn starts, but he was cut off by the sickening sound of a gunshot echoing through the hollow halls, making Iris bring a hand to her mouth, sharing a frightened look with Glenn.

"Oh, god!" Maggie exclaims, speeding off in the direction of the gunshot. Glenn and Iris hastily follow her, almost tripping over each other when they see what had happened.

Hershel had been bit by a walker.

"No! No, daddy! No!" Maggie sobs, almost dropping to her knees. Iris runs over to her, holding her up as she pushes Maggie's head into her arms, allowing her to cry in pain and grief.

Hershel was on the ground, lying on his back and shouting out in pain. His leg was oozing blood and muscle, spilling out onto the floor as he screams, writhing and wriggling on the floor. Iris hadn't seen someone attacked by a walker in that manner since Dale, and the feelings of dread and panic rushed through her system.

Hershel's screams started to attract more walkers around them, and Rick and Glenn rushed forward, picking Hershel up by the shoulders and lugging him upwards, causing him to scream out in pain once again. Iris winces as she watches it unfold in front of her.

"Daryl!" Rick yells, and Daryl takes off, trying to find a passage for them.

"Run!" T-Dog screams, and Iris holds Maggie up, following Daryl and T-Dog as Rick and Glenn hoist Hershel up, attempting to run with his body sagging between their arms.

"We're blocked!" Rick yells.

"Get back, get back!" T-Dog commands, trying to lead them away from any walkers that advance on them.

"Go! Go! Go!" Iris yells, gripping Maggie's hand.

"God! Oh, god! Oh, god!" Hershel whimpers, his legs giving out from under him.

"Daryl!" Iris yells, spotting two big doors in front of them. She runs over to them, trying to slam them open, but they wouldn't budge. Iris screams out, looking behind her as Rick, Glenn and Hershel follow her, slamming her hands on the doors.

"Watch out!" T-Dog yells, kicking down the door and they burst open, leading them into the cafeteria.

"Get in, get in!" Daryl says, and the moment that the whole group was safe inside the empty cafeteria, he and T-Dog close the doors, pressing their bodies up against it as they keep the walkers outside at bay.

Rick and Glenn collapse onto the ground with Hershel between them, lying him down as gently as possible. Maggie breaks away from Iris, falling to her knees beside her father. She cradles his head in her lap, stroking his hair as he whimpered and groaned, his breaths falling shorter and shorter.

Iris falls to the ground opposite Glenn, taking Hershel's hand and squeezing it. "It's okay. It's okay. Rick!"

"Hold him down!" Rick yells, taking his belt off and tightening it around Hershel's leg as he screams out in pain. "Alright. Only one way to keep him alive!"

Iris' eyes widen, moving forward to hold onto Hershel's chest, not even being given a moment to react before Rick swings his axe down on Hershel's leg.

Chaos broke out.

Hershel screams gutturally, the worst, most disturbing sound Iris had ever heard. His blood splatters against her face as Rick brings his axe down for a second time, a third time, a fourth time, gnawing at Hershel's leg with ruthless determination.

Maggie sobs more and more as Hershel passes out from the pain and the blood loss, falling limply to the floor. Iris lets go of his chest, falling backwards as her mouth dropped open, feeling the blood splatters all over her face and neck, shock setting in as Rick brings his axe down one final time, finally chopping Hershel's entire lower leg off.

"Oh..." Rick grits his teeth, wiping his face in shock and disbelief. He crouches down, staring at Daryl, who had run over to help hold Hershel down. "He's bleeding out."

"Duck." Daryl suddenly whispers, standing up and pointing his crossbow into the darkness of the room.

Iris looks up, furiously wiping as much blood from her face as possible before she squints her eyes, seeing exactly what Daryl was pointing his crossbow at.

There were four prisoners staring at them. Alive prisoners, with faces mixed with shock and wonder and curiosity.

"Holy shit."

Chapter Text

IRIS STARES AT THE PRISONERS IN SHOCK.

Hershel's blood was still stained all over her face, sticking to her skin like goo. Her eyes darted all over the place, not knowing where to look or what to do, listening to Hershel's strangled breathing even as he lay unconscious in his daughter's arms. Her hands reached for her gun, holding it up towards the four strangers in a mixture of shock and protectiveness, the roar in her heart only matched by Daryl's quick movements with his crossbow. The two of them stare down the four men, forming a protective shield over Hershel as Maggie, Glenn and Rick tried everything they could to slow the heavily bleeding amputation.

Daryl takes a step forward, his protective aura casting a dome over the six of them as T-Dog holds down the doors. He squints, not loosening his grip on his loaded bow. "Who the hell are you?"

"Who the hell are you?" One of the men responds, narrowing his eyes and stepping closer, despite the arrows and guns pointed at his face.

"Stay back!' Iris yells, gripping her gun in her hands. "Don't come any closer!"

"He's bleeding out, we gotta go back!" Rick exclaims, looking between the prisoners and his group in panic. He turns to Maggie, motioning with his hands. "Come around here. Put pressure on the knee! Hard! Hard! Push, push!"

Iris can hear Maggie's sobs in the back of her mind and she can see her in her peripheral vision, holding pressure onto Hershel's steadily bleeding leg. She doesn't lower her gun however, focusing too much on the four strangers ― the group had learned from experience not to trust strangers, not in this climate, and they could never be too careful, especially when one of their own was down.

"Come on out of here." Daryl commands, pointing his crossbow at each prisoner in turn. "Slow and steady."

The four prisoners heed Daryl's wishes, stepping out of the shadows and into the light. Iris squints her eyes when she sees them, four men of varying heights who were all wearing jumpsuits, looking at the scene ahead of them in twisted awe.

"What happened to him?" One of them asks, his eyes not leaving Hershel's limp form on the ground, spouting blood like a fountain.

"He got bit." Daryl says gruffly. Maggie was still breathing heavily, trying to stem the bleeding, but the open wound was way too massive that both of her hands couldn't even cover it.

"Bit?" The man asks, furrowing his eyebrows as if the concept was foreign to him.

"By the walkers?" Iris offers, raising her eyebrow. "You know? The lamebrains? The undead? Whatever you wanna call them."

The man raises his gun. Iris gasps, her grip on her own gun tightening as T-Dog takes his weapon out too, and it wasn't long before the two groups were at an intensive standoff with no one wanting to be the first to show off their white flag of surrender.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy now." Daryl says, but he makes no effort to lower his crossbow. "Nobody needs to get hurt."

The prisoner with the gun, a man with long, dark curly hair, seemed to be the leader, and he pointed his gun wildly at everyone in turn. Iris tilts her head, studying the expressions of the four men. To their credit, they seemed genuinely confused at the situation, which seemed to account for their hostile nature. However, they could never be too careful when it came to strangers in the apocalypse.

Rick was still speaking lowly to Maggie, grabbing handfuls of fabric in his hands, shoving it into Hershel's open wound, acting like gauze to try and stem the bleeding. "I need you to hold this. As hard as you can."

"Yes.." Maggie manages to get out, still shaking as she holds pressure on the blood soaked fabric.

From behind her, Glenn stands up, moving past Iris and straight into the line of fire of the man with the gun. Iris winces, watching her boyfriend as he moves past the four men with no fear or hesitation. "You got medical supplies?"

"Where do you think you're going?" One of the other men asks him, his voice raising as Glenn ignores his question, searching all of the cupboards for any sign of real gauze or painkillers.

T-Dog grunts as more walkers push against the door, the slamming becoming louder and louder as more and more walkers herded together like mindless sheep.

The leader keeps pointing his gun around, unsure who to aim for as their group gets more confident in freely moving about, their urgency about Hershel stopping any fear about the man actually using the gun in his hands. "Who the hell are you people anyway?"

"Don't look like no rescue team!" Another one exclaims.

"Iris!" Rick barks, trying to take Hershel by the arms to lug him up, but he was pure dead weight in his arms. Iris lowers her gun, knowing that Daryl and T-Dog would have her back, scrambling to try and help Rick lift Hershel, but the unconscious man wasn't exactly making it easy for them. Rick grunts."If a rescue team's what you're waiting for, don't!"

There was a clang and a crash of supplies hitting the ground as Glenn rushed over, rolling a metal table that likely once contained plastic utensils for the prisoners when they ate meals. The moment he made it over to the four of them, Rick and Iris haul Hershel onto the table, gritting their teeth from the effort. Once Hershel was lying down on the table, half conscious and his eyes fluttering in pain. Rick was barking out orders, everyone ignoring the prisoners as they focused on getting out of this cafeteria and back to their cell block. "Come on, we gotta go! Now! Come on, I need a hand here! One, two, three, go!"

"Holy Jesus!" The blonde prisoner exclaims.

"We've gotta go!" Iris yells, pushing the table towards the door. "Maggie! Come on!"

"T, the door!" Rick orders, his loud voice sounding eerily similar to Iris' in tone, which she was very proud of. Rick was a born leader who Iris could only wish she would one day become. T-Dog starts to move, taking down the blockage he had built on the door. Iris braces herself, preparing for yet another struggle for survival against the walkers that vested them.

"Are you crazy?" One of the prisoners exclaims, wincing as the walkers got louder and louder as they became aware of the increased movement inside the cafeteria. "Don't open that!"

"We got this!" T-Dog answers, finally allowing the door to fly open. Walkers burst through the door, and Iris counts seven, maybe eight of them enter the cafeteria, hungry for blood and lacking the self control to wait. T-Dog kills two walkers right away, pushing against some of the others as he attempts to clear a passage for the others to get through with Hershel unscatthed.

Iris breaks away from Rick, unsheathing her dagger and stabbing it right into one of their skulls, using her foot to create pressure, pushing the walker back while simultaneously pulling her blade out of it. She hears shuffling footsteps behind her, and she drives her dagger into its eye socket, dropping to the ground with it as the brain died underneath her.

"Go, go, go!" Glenn urges, directing the wheels on the table as they push Hershel out of the doors. Iris and T-Dog continue to take out the walkers in their path, but Daryl is still focused on intimidating the prisoners, holding his bow strong and steady in their direction.

"Daryl!" Rick yells. Daryl was still in a standoff with the leader of the prisoners, who was holding his gun out still. However, they had bigger things to worry about and Iris could only hope the men were reasonable enough to see that. "Daryl!"

Daryl nods, slowly backing away as he follows the others out of the cafeteria doors. The moment they were out of the line of fire, Daryl turned around, tailing the others from behind as they pushed Hershel through the thin halls.

"Let's go!" T-Dog claps his hands, running alongside Iris as they escape the clutches of certain doom once more.

Leaving Hershel's severed leg behind.

Rick slams his fist against the cell bar doors. "Open the door! It's Hershel! Carl, come on!"

Iris holds her hand to her lips, the adrenaline rushing through her system making her shake in anticipation, watching Hershel start to gain a little more awareness as he gains consciousness. She shakes her head when she looks at the state of his upper leg, the wound was uneven and the prison cafeteria was certainly not a sterile environment for an amputation. Even if they could stop the bleeding somehow, Hershel was going to be prone to all sorts of infections that they just did not have the antibiotics for.

Carl appears from the cell block, looking confused as his eyes widen, landing on Hershel lying on the table with the barely stemmed blood still gushing from his leg. He gasps, but one stern look from Rick and he quickly unlocks the door, swinging it open so that they could bring Hershel in.

The commotion had brought the others forward, and there were a series of exclaims as Rick and Glenn rushed Hershel towards the cells. Beth stifles a sob, her gasps coming out in short bursts. Lori holds her hand to the baby in her stomach, her blue eyes widening in disbelief.

"Oh, my god!" Carol shouts, jerking out of the way of their path.

"Daddy!" Beth yells, her eyes welling up with tears at the gruesome sight. Beth's father was a good man, a kind man who had paved the way for Rick to lead this group. They would not be where they were today without Hershel Greene, and Iris was determined not to lose Hershel today.

"Iris!" Carl calls, backing up into the wall. His eyes darted frantically, not knowing where to look.

Iris knew that the blood on her face and on her clothes wasn't a good sight, but she kneels down anyway, taking Carl's hands in her own. "It's okay. It's okay. Don't look, alright. Just... don't look."

"Go, go, go, go! In there!" Rick scrambles, heading towards the closest cell.

"Turn it, turn it, turn it!" Glenn yells, as Carol jumps out of the way. Rick and Glenn steer the table into the cell, ignoring the chaos that had broken out among the rest of the group, staring at Hershel's severed stump in sinister surprise. Iris gasps, gently pushing Carl towards Lori as she runs over to Rick and Glenn, an energised determination taking over any kind of natural fright or hesitation as she runs over hands over to Hershel's good leg, ready to lift him up.

"Get him on the bed!" Rick all but screeches as the three of them struggle to lift the old man onto the bottom bunk bed. They strain to put him down carefully, but it was difficult to navigate him into the small bunk, designed for prisoners so it was old and rickety and not exactly a hospital bed like he needed. Maggie stumbles over, clinging onto Beth as she repeatedly begs to understand what was going on. When Hershel was situated, Rick turned around, swallowing his guilt down as he looked Beth in the eye. "He got bit."

Iris kneels down beside Hershel, who was barely conscious, his eyes half-lidded and unseeing as his breaths came out in short bursts. She bites down her tears, resting her knees on the ground as she brings a shaky hand forward, pressing it to Hershel's forehead. It was hot, but she hoped that it was a fever drawn from blood loss and not from the turn of the virus. Hershel shifted a little from her touch, and Iris wondered how aware he was of her presence, of Maggie and Beth's presence just behind them. She feels a hand rubbing her shoulder and she closes her eyes, knowing from pure familiarity that Glenn was beside her, giving her the strength she needed to comfort Hershel without breaking down herself.

Beth breaks down into a fit of sobs. "Oh, my god, he's gonna turn!"

Lori's eyes widened, looking at Rick, who was running a hand through his loose curls, dripped in sweat. "Did you cut it off?"

"Yeah." Rick nods. There was no other way around it, and everyone understood that. There was a solidarity within the group now, one that seemed unbreakable and informidable.

"Maybe you got it in time." Lori breathes, backing up a little to hold onto Beth as Maggie stares blankly forward, her fingers curling into fists.

Carol runs forward, squeezing into the small cell as she examines Hershel's wound. The makeshift tourniquet and gauze was working for now, but it was not even close to a permanent solution. Carol looks up at Rick. "I need bandages!"

"We used everything we had!" Glenn stresses, squeezing Iris' shoulder tighter. Iris stands up, allowing Carol room to examine Hershel, gripping Glenn's hand in her own, silently telling him that they had saved him for now, given him time, at the very least.

"Well, get more!" Carol says, her voice carrying an authoritative tone that Iris had never heard from the previously timid woman. "Anything!"

Lori pats Carl's shoulder. "Carl, go get the towels from the back, right next to my bed!"

Carl nods and shoots off, scrambling to find the towels that they had put aside for Lori's impending labour. However, that was no longer their most pressing medical issue, and they needed everything they had.

"Is he gonna die?" Beth asks, her voice breaking in a way that no seventeen year old girl's voice should.

"No, no, no, he's gonna be okay." Lori soothes, taking Beth into her arms as she cries, burying her head into Lori's chest.

Rick stares at the two of them, licking his lips as he attempts to figure out what to do. "You think you can stabilize him?"

"I need to keep his leg elevated. Get some pillows!" Carol commands. Iris nods, quickly grabbing some pillows from the next bunk over, handing them over to Carol just as Carl returns with more towels.

"He's already bled through the sheets!" Maggie says, staring at her father's limp form with a horrifying look of acceptance on her face.

No, they could not let Maggie and Beth lose their father. Not after everything they went through at the farm.

Hershel would not be dying today.

"We can burn the wound to clot the blood. I can start a fire." Glenn suggests. Iris nods, clinging onto his hand as Hershel's blood mixes together through the staining on their fingertips.

Beth shakes her head, her messy ponytail coming out as she moves around frantically. "Oh, god, no please don't do this!"

"No, the shock could kill him." Carol decides. "It's not gonna stop the arteries from bleeding. We need to keep it dressed and let it heal on its own."

"Okay." Iris breathes, bringing her hands down to help Carol stop the bleeding. She ties more and more towels around the stump, and eventually, Lori, Carol and Iris manage to get the bleeding under control, at least by a little. It wasn't much, but it was the beginning of hope that started to seep through the cracks when the red blood finally stopped soaking through the towels.

Lori checks Hershel's pulse, her entire body visibly relaxing when she feels the steady throb of his heart still pumping what blood he had left through his system.

Iris closes her eyes, leaning her head in her hands. Everytime she closed her eyes, all she could see was Carl, shot and bleeding and dying, lying on that farm bed with his only hope for survival being the goodness of Hershel Greene and the hospitality that he offered. Carl had survived being shot because of hershel, and now Iris may never get the chance to repay the favour. It felt like a disservice to Maggie and Beth to not do everything in her power to save his life, just like he had done with Carl and the strangers who had shown up on his doorstep.

"Come on, Hershel." Iris whispers. "Don't do this."

Iris whips her head up when the cell block doors start to clang. She had forgotten all about the prisoners that were in the cafeteria, the ones who had drawn their guns and the ones that she certainly didn't trust. She shakes her head, standing up in preparation for a potential stand-off.

"What was that?" Beth asks, her eyes widening in fright.

"Prisoners, survivors. It's alright, everybody stay put." Rick puts his hands on his hips, pushing off and walking in their direction. He turns around last minute, turning to Glenn. "Do not leave his side! If he dies, one of you needs to be there for that. Think you can do this?"

Glenn sighs, sharing a glance in Iris' direction as she follows her brother, needing to be able to be involved in something she can control. Iris turns around, silently pleading with Glenn, begging him to cooperate and let her do this, do something.

He nods. "I got it."

Rick's expression softens. " I can bring T in."

"I got it." Glenn repeats, nodding firmly.

"Good." Rick answers, giving Glenn an appreciative nod. Rick counted on Glenn for a lot, and everyone knew it. Since the farm, Glenn had stepped up, refusing to be treated as the guy that was disposable, the guy that did the dangerous stuff because no one else would. He was important, too important to be treated like some reckless kid, and Rick wouldn't do anything to put him in danger. Not anymore, not on purpose, not if Iris had anything to do about it.

Iris smiles at Glenn, blowing him a kiss before she turns around, stepping in tandem with Rick. "Let's do this."

Daryl was arguing with the prisoners.

"There ain't nothing for you here, why don't you go back to your own sandbox?"

Iris rolls her eyes, sharing a sigh with Rick as Daryl's gruff voice reaches their ears, puffing the air out of her chest as the two of them run around the corner. Iris holds her hand out passively, taking in the scene ahead of her. The prisoners were close to their cell block, and Daryl had his crossbow raised once again, not knowing who to point it at.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Rick yells, walking beside Daryl as he looks at the scene. "Everyone relax, there's no need for this."

"We'll figure something out, yeah?" Iris suggests. "Now what you saw, we were in a panic, we needed to take care of our own before-"

The leader of the group scoffs, looking at her like she was dirt on the bottom of his shoe. "I don't care, girl! How many of you in there?"

"Too many for you to handle." Rick shoots back, glaring at him and taking a protective step in front of Iris.

The leader raises his brow. "You guys rob a bank or something? Why don't you take him to a hospital?"

Iris crosses her arms. "Seriously?"

"How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asks, shaking his head.

The leader shrugs. "Going on like ten months."

Iris' breath hitches. Rick was right. The prison had fallen early, probably within the first two or three months of the outbreak. If the cafeteria managed to be untouched, that meant the infirmary could be too. She studies the faces of the prisoners, not catching any signs of deceit in their faces.

"A riot broke out. Never seen anything like it." The tallest prisoner says. He was relaxing, telling them his story as if there were no weapons raised at all.

The blonde one nods, chiming in. "Attica on speed, man."

"Ever heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy."

"One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria, told us to sit tight, threw me this piece, said he'd be right back." The leader didn't lower his weapon, but his voice had changed from hostile to at least a little trusting, clearly seeking answers.

"And that was 292 days ago." The tall one adds.

"94 according to my..."

"Shut up!" The leader yells.

The tall one looks between the leader and the blonde prisoner before clearing this throat and looking back at Rick. "We were thinking that the army or the national guard should be showing up any day now."

Rick shakes his head. "There is no army."

"What do you mean?" The leader asks, his face paling slightly.

"There's no government, no hospitals, no police." Rick says, shrugging. It was a huge pill to swallow, one Rick had uniquely experienced too, having woken up from a coma to a world in ruins. It was devastating. "It's all gone."

"It's the freaking apocalypse." Iris says bitterly, holding up her hands as if to say ta-da.

"For real?" The blonde one asks, breathing in heavily.

"Serious." Rick says. Iris nods, taking her fingers away from the gun in her holster.

"What about my moms?" The tallest prisoner asks, his voice ironically small and worried. Iris feels a pang of sympathy, knowing how it felt to not know what happened to your family.

"My kids, my old lady! Yo, you got a self-phone or something so we can call our families?" Another one asks, pleading with Rick as he takes a minute step forward.

"You don't get it, do you?" Daryl scoffs.

"No phones, no computers." Rick lists, shaking his head.

"No families..." Iris whispers, partly to herself, biting her lip. There was no use trying to soften the blow. It was a tough world to be soft in.

"As far as we can see, at least half the population's been wiped out. Probably more." Rick says.

It was like a bomb had dropped on the group of prisoners. They shared looks, heartbreak and disbelief and panic all rolled into one.

"Ain't no way." The leader says, raising his eyebrow.

"See for yourself." Rick responds.

Iris was reassured that Rick and Daryl had the prisoners under control, and they wouldn't have to protect what was theirs against the newcomers (at least for now while the horrifying news of the end of the world sunk in.) She felt bad for leaving so hastily, especially when Hershel's fate still rested in the balance, and Maggie and Beth were struggling to deal with the idea that they could lose him any minute. It was like she was pulling herself in two directions; stuck between the version of herself she used to be, the carer, the girl who sat out the scary stuff, the girl who stayed behind to take care of the vulnerable (the girl who was vulnerable), and the person she was becoming. A fighter. A protector. She wasn't sure which version of herself was better. Maybe none of them were. Maybe Glenn was right.

Maybe you had to lose yourself in order to find a newer, better, stronger part of yourself.

Still, she didn't want to just become a soldier, not like she had when they were on the road and it was what she had to be. While Rick and Daryl took the prisoners outside to show them the ruin and the walkers first hand, Iris had walked back to the cell block to check on Hershel and see how he was doing.

He was still unconscious, which was what to be expected considering the severe trauma he had gone through and the blood that he had lost. Maggie, Beth and Glenn were with him, but they allowed room for Iris to crouch beside Hershel.

"Where are-" Glenn starts.

"It's okay." Iris cuts in, speaking in a low tone and giving him a small smile. "Rick's dealing with it. They won't cause any trouble. At least not right now. They've had a bit of a shock"

Glenn nods, relaxing a little when Iris speaks. "Thank god. Hershel is doing okay. He's not getting any worse, at least."

"That's good." Iris whispers, looking at Hershel with a heavy heart. "He's gonna pull through."

From the other side of her, Maggie stands up, biting her lip and walking out of the cell, running her fingers through her hair and leaning on the wall outside. She held her head in her hands, and Iris could see her shaking even from where she sat. Beth sighs in helplessness, stroking her fingers through Hershel's hair and staring at her older sister in worry. Iris understood what it was like to be the younger sister, watching her older sibling struggle to manage the responsibilities ahead of them, to struggle to keep themselves under control facing hardships.

Glenn moves to stand up, but Iris softly puts her hand on top of his, shaking her head. "Let me go."

Glenn nods, sitting back down next to Beth and allowing Iris to stand up. She walks light on her feet, watching as Maggie leaned her head against the wall, playing with the tips of her fingers in anxiety. Iris couldn't imagine what Maggie was feeling right now, how much the anxiety was grating on her when the one person she could always count on was injured in such a horrific way. Maggie doesn't make any inclination that she hears Iris, so she stands in front of her, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

"Hey, Magpie."

Iris doesn't know how that nickname started. Somewhere along their time on the road, Iris had started calling Maggie 'Magpie' and the name had just stuck. Maggie had become like a sister to her, and it felt fitting for sisters to have little inside jokes and nicknames. The use of it made Maggie smile a little, and she looks up at Iris with wet eyes. Iris puts her arm on Maggie's shoulder, asking her a silent question.

Maggie shrugs, shaking her head with a heavy sigh. "It was stupid of us to let him go. We cleared this whole cell block, just the five of us."

"He wanted to go." Iris soothes, keeping her voice low so Beth doesn't overhear. "You know your daddy. Couldn't have stopped him."

Maggie chuckles, but it wasn't out of happiness. She sniffs, wiping at her face. "What are we gonna do without him?"

"We won't have to find out." Iris replies, rubbing her hands up and down Maggie's arm. "He's gonna be fine."

"His leg is gone." Maggie whispers, the words harsh but not intentionally. She holds her hands out. "His blood is still on your face."

Iris winces and attempts to wipe the blood splatter from her face, rubbing at her cheek with his sleeve. "And he's stable. That's good, Maggie."

"What if he does wake up? Then what? I mean, he can't even walk. All we do is run." Maggie says, staring at Iris and seeking all of the answers, ones that Iris just doesn't have.

Before she can muster together a response, Glenn clears his throat, making his presence known as he leans against the bars. He smiles softly at the two of them, and Maggie smiles back, her anxieties and fears still obvious on her face. Iris sighs and pats Maggie on the shoulder. "Why don't you go check on Beth. Hold onto her."

Maggie nods, and as she leaves, Iris stops holding her breath and turns around, walking a little further away from the cell. It felt suffocating, standing there and watching Hershel suffer. She can hear Glenn's footsteps follow her, and she stops to let him catch up to her.

"It's all going wrong." Iris whispers, as he reaches out to touch her. She leans her head in, pressing it against his chest. "And none of us can stop it."

"We can't control what goes wrong." Glenn says back, just as quiet. "But we can control how we react. We can lean on each other, no matter what. We can control us."

Iris smiles sadly, hearing his words wash over her like a calming wave of relief. There was nothing more she hated than feeling out of control, not knowing what was happening and how to fix all of the problems around her, but Glenn was something she never had to worry about, because he'd always be there, right beside her. "I hate not being able to control anything. It sucks. It really freaking sucks."

"I know, but-"

"Food's here!"

Iris smiles when Rick and T-Dog return, without the prisoners, both holding large bags full of food. They both looked proud and accomplished, holding onto the bags tightly. There was a change in the atmosphere once the group realised what that meant: they could finally eat without worry again. It was one more problem solved, and Iris looks at Glenn with a small look of awe.

Glenn smirks. "-But there's always something new around the corner."

"What you got?" Carl asks, grinning as he lets T-Dog and Rick in.

"Canned beef, canned corn, canned cans!" T-Dog exclaims. "There's a lot more where this came from!"

Iris and Glenn walk over, helping take some of the boxes from T-Dog. "This is amazing!"

"We got a jackpot!" T-Dog exclaims.

Rick smiles and pats Iris on the shoulder, moving towards the bars. Iris turns on her heels and chases after him, catching him before he could make it to Hershel. "Hey, Rick?"

Rick stops, turning around to look at Iris. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah." Iris clarifies, not wanting Rick to worry too much. "I just- what happened with the prisoners? Are they gonna bother us?"

Rick shakes his head. "We're gonna help them clear out their own cell block and then they'll be there, and we'll be here."

Iris tilts her head, running her tongue over the bottom of her teeth. "Just that simple, huh?"

"I'll deal with it, if it gets worse." Rick lowers his voice, looking around. They were right next to Hershel's cell, where Beth and Lori and Carol and Maggie were sitting. "I'll do what has to be done."

Iris understands exactly what Rick means by that. Once upon a time, that thought would've felt foreign to her. Now, it was a small comfort. "Okay. Yeah. When do we leave?"

Rick sighs. "Iris, no. I need you here."

"What?" Iris asks, genuinely shocked by Rick's tone. It was a similar one to the tone he often used with Carl. "I've already been here. They're good. You need backup, okay? I'm nervous. Between the walkers and these prisoners, you're gonna be outnumbered."

"It's not happening, Iris." Rick repeats, and he turns around before Iris can argue any further, looking at his wife. "Any change?"

Lori looks up. "Bleeding is under control and no fever, but his breath is labored, his pulse is way down and he hasn't opened his eyes yet."

Rick nods, his hands on his hips. He stares at Hershel for a minute, as if he could wake him up from sheer force of will. He holds his handcuffs out to Glenn. "Take my cuffs, put them on him. I'm not taking any chances."

Glenn's jaw tightens, and he looks to Iris before taking the cuffs from Rick in reluctance. Rick nods, and he stalks off, walking towards one of the walls and clearly struggling with the idea of losing Hershel like this. Lori stands up to follow him, muttering under his breath as she runs to catch him as fast as she could.

Iris sighs, biting her lip. She respects Rick, more than anything, but she can't help but feel like he isn't listening to her valid concerns about him being outnumbered. She couldn't live with herself if something went wrong and she didn't go just because Rick had told her so. At the same time, she doesn't want to go against Rick's wishes and go, only for something to go wrong with Hershel and she wasn't there.

It was a decision she never wanted to make.

But one she already had.

"Just be careful."

Iris turns around to look at Glenn. He was staring at her with that soft look in his eyes, the one that made her knees go weak and her stomach swim with butterflies. "What?"

"You have to go. I understand. Rick will, too." Glenn smiles. Iris feels the heat on her cheeks at Glenn's words. He understood her more than anyone in the world, and hearing him give his unconditional support made her feel so incredibly well loved and known.

She nods, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. "You're amazing. I love you."

"I love you more." Glenn replies, holding his forehead against hers.

"Impossible." Iris whispers back.

Chapter Text

IRIS TWIDDLES WITH HER DAGGER.

She could hear Rick and Daryl talking to the group of prisoners ― Tomas, Big Tiny, Andrew, Oscar and Axel. He was teaching them the basics when it came to killing walkers, which included giving the men silent weapons, which brought a twist to her stomach. They couldn't trust strangers on the best of days, and these particular strangers happened to be in lock up before this apocalypse had even happened.

Rick still didn't want her to come with him to clear out a second cell block for the prisoners to live in, and he was firm in his decision that Iris was somehow more needed back at the cell block where there are more than enough people to take care of Hershel and monitor Lori's pregnancy. Rick needed extra hands if he was going to avoid a coup (even if that wasn't going to happen, it couldn't help to be prepared) and Iris was right there, ready to help. She leaned her head against the wall, hoping that Rick would see reason before they set off.

And if he didn't, Iris would just sneak in there anyway.

She sighs and pulls her hair into a ponytail behind her head, sticking her bobby pin back over her forehead, clipping her grown out fringe out of her eyes. Her natural curls had begun to show over the last few months, which Iris guessed was a consequence of the lack of products that she used to use which kept it straighter. She had grown to love how the curls looked against her back, longer than it had ever been, and she couldn't believe she ever went through a phase where she could straighten it every single day. It was just as thick as it was before, heavy and difficult to maintain, but it was part of her identity and her past; hair held memories and Iris didn't want to forget what life used to be like in place of the feral, cruel new world.

Her dagger was still stained with blood from the walkers they had taken out both to get into the prison and to get to the cafeteria. Things had happened so fast that she hadn't had time to even clean her blade, something that she always did religiously before, hating when the pretty detailing was covered in blood and guts. After so long of nothing really happening, Iris had almost forgotten how things could turn from good to bad in the blink of an eye, and the pure amount of things that had happened since finding the prison had practically given her whiplash.

Everything was spiraling out of control, and Iris needed a chance to breathe before she threw herself into yet another fight.

She closes her eyes.

Takes a breath in.

A breath out.

She was strong. She was capable. She had grown and changed and adapted. She had a family that she was an irreplaceable part of, one that she would do anything to protect and defend from any threat, big or small. She had fallen in love, in a world of ruins. A love that was overwhelming and earth shattering and all consuming, a love that made her a better person for experiencing it. A love that she could not afford to lose, not for something like over trusting a group of strangers to stay in their cell and stay away from them. It wasn't enough for her. She could handle the storm that was brewing despite feeling like she's standing right in the middle of it because she had everything to fight for. She knew that even the worst of storms had to come to an end eventually, and there would come a moment where everything could be quiet.

But that time was not now.

"Why do I need this, when I've got this?" Tomas, the prisoner who was leading the others, the one who had the gun in the cafeteria, asks. Iris can't see him, but she can imagine the expression on his face, probably staring at Rick or Daryl with raised eyebrows. He gave Iris a bad feeling, and she couldn't stop her mind from wandering what he had done to receive his prison sentence in the first place.

"You don't fire guns." She hears Daryl respond. Based on his tone, she could gather that the archer wasn't very happy about their situation either, but if Rick wanted to try and give them the benefit of the doubt, they would. But Daryl's reservations were yet another warning sign, and Iris was not staying behind in the cell block while Rick, Daryl and T-Dog risked their lives. "Not unless your back's up against the wall. Noise attracts them, really riles them up."

"We'll go in two by two." Rick orders. "Daryl will run point with T, I'll bring up the rear with you."

Iris listens to them planning, knowing that they would have to trust at least two of the prisoners to take out walkers by themselves, which did not bode well for her. Glenn had told her to be careful, and she wasn't planning on anyone dying tonight. Rick would understand that.

"Where do you want me?" Iris asks, pushing herself off of the wall that concealed her, crossing her arms and staring at Rick with unblinking and stubborn eyes. "In the middle?"

Rick looks up instantly when she speaks, sighing in frustration and bringing a stressed hand to his temple, massaging it between his finger and his thumb. The group of prisoners shrug it off, more interested in the pile of weapons on the floor than her, but Rick's reaction was telling. Daryl gives her a small smile, and Iris could've sworn she saw a hint of pride in his eyes. T-Dog mirrors his expression, grinning wider and giving her a small salute of gratitude. Iris smiles at the both of them, grateful for their support and belief in her.

"Rick." Iris repeats, stepping closer. "I can help you. Just let me."

"Iris..." Rick starts, the rejection obvious in his voice, but before he can list all of his reasons that she shouldn't come, he is cut off.

"She could be useful." Daryl suggests. His voice was low, as if he didn't want to admit it. Daryl may have been a lone wolf in his past, but he could not keep up that image around her. Iris and Daryl had spent countless hours in the woods, hunting for food, and even in the silence, Iris had started to understand him more and more. Daryl was loyal, perhaps one of the most loyal members of this group, and he would never admit it, but he saw them all as family. "She helped us clear the first cell block. She's good."

The corners of her lips curl up into a smile, honoured that Daryl would say all of that about her. She looks at Rick with wide, almost puppy-like eyes, knowing that Rick valued Daryl's opinion and he would genuinely take it into consideration.

Rick sighs again, taking his hands away from his face and bringing them to his hips. He stares at Iris for a moment, looking like a father would as he realises he can't stop his child from growing up, clearly weighing the risks in his mind. Eventually, he nods, making eye contact with her as he speaks firmly. "Okay. But be careful, Iris. I mean it. It's dangerous out here."

"I know." Iris says, and she stands up a little taller at his permission. Both she and Rick knew that she would've done this with or without his blessing, but knowing that she had his approval made it feel so much more special. She nods at him, trying to fight the smile that kept threatening to grow larger. "I'll be careful. Always am."

Rick massages the crook of his neck, taking in a breath as he looks away from her. Iris just hopes that he understands why she had to force his hand, and if things go south, he might appreciate her presence. He looks back at the prisoners. "Stay tight, hold formation, no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down, anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head."

"And that's where you aim. These things only go down with a head shot." Daryl adds.

"You've gotta kill the tissue in their brain that's making them reanimate." Iris explains.

Tomas scoffs. "Ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man."

"They ain't men. They're something else." T-Dog says, shivering as he remembers all of the times they had taken out walkers in the past. Iris remembers what Dr Jenner had shown them at the CDC, how the infection spread throughout the brain, incurable and unstoppable.

"Just remember, go for the brain." Rick repeats, trying his best to get it through their heads.

Iris bites her lip. She had a real bad feeling about this.

The flower wreath pin was shimmering in his hands, the golden glint catching his eye as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair. It was reflecting like glitter despite there being little to no light in the stuffy cell, like a flicker of hope that couldn't be snuffed out by any amount of darkness, a beautiful symbol, one that he felt honoured to have been gifted. It was truly beautiful, something that he had admired since first setting eyes on it, knowing how important it was and how much history it carried. The fact that it had survived so much pain and suffering and still shone like the sun gave him hope.

That was the tradition of the flower wreath, he supposed. To pass on the gift of eternal life, to pass on love. And what was a life without a little bit of hope?

He runs his thumb over the cool metal one more time before carefully refastening it to his shirt, patting it to make sure it was attached properly. Lori, Carol, Beth and Maggie were crowded around him, all of them keeping vigil over Hershel's unconscious form on the bed. He was stable, had been for hours, but he hadn't stirred. It was probably for the best, they had a severe lack of pain meds, and at least in his unconsciousness, he didn't have to feel the pain as much.

No one really knew what to do, but doing anything while Hershel was in this state felt almost like a disservice, so all five of them sat in resolute silence, just waiting for something that none of them knew was even coming.

Glenn was trying to distract himself from thinking too much about Iris, the worry creeping through his mind anyway. The little room didn't provide much in terms of distraction, and staring at Hershel's severed stump did not make him feel any better about Iris being out there right now

Iris didn't trust the prisoners as far as she could throw them, and Glenn knew that no one could stop her from going on the mission to clear out the cell block. Iris needed to see for herself what the prisoners were like under pressure, and as much as it felt like she was going to age him ten years from stress alone, it was important to her.

Just as important as it was that one of them needed to stay behind in case anything happened to Hershel.

Iris was stubborn. Glenn had known that about her from the day they met. But she was stubborn because she cared so much about the people she loved, at her core, she was a protector. He knew that she was terrified that she was becoming someone she didn't recognise anymore, but from his point of view, she could never change because she was fiercely protective, in more ways than one.

She was different now, they all were. It was an inevitable consequence of the world that they lived in. Iris was stronger and more experienced, matching Rick and Daryl's capabilities when it came to the walkers and perhaps even more so when it came to people, and Glenn fell more and more in love with her every single day since the moment Atlanta fell. She thought she was losing herself, but that was impossible.

As long as she had people around her, people who loved her, people who needed her, Iris Grimes could never lose herself. She was still the sweet and caring girl who was desperate to save her nephew as the world was ending and she had only become stronger since; she was a protector, a fixer, and most of all, a lover.

He wanted to marry her one day.

It wasn't just a fleeting impulse, it wasn't a decision that he had rushed into. Iris was his whole entire world, and he wanted nothing more than to make her his wife. It didn't matter to him that there were no more churches, no more official ways to get married. As long as he had Iris, that was all that counted. The only thing he was waiting for was a ring, and he didn't have one from lack of trying. Every single house he had tried, he'd come up empty.

He thought that he was screwed when Iris had come across him searching in jewelry boxes in one of the bedrooms, and he was a terrible liar. He had tried to play it off, but Iris had made the joke that he was looking for a ring, and from that day, it had become a running bit whenever they cleared out the houses they broke into. She thought that it was just a joke, but little did she know, he was deadly serious.

In all honesty, the moment he had a ring to give her, he wasn't going to hesitate.

He brushes his thumb over his ring finger, wondering what it would be like to have a ring on it. To be forever intertwined with one person, linked through their love and their hearts. He wanted it more than anything in the world, the whole package. He wanted to be able to call himself her husband, move forward through life laced together forever.

"Is he going to wake up soon?" Beth whispers, breaking the carefully crafted silence like a knife.

There was a moment of pause following her question. No one knew how to answer. It was a massive unknown, and suddenly Glenn was glad that Iris wasn't here for it. He sits up straighter. "Yeah. He will. Soon."

"Soon." Lori echoes, taking Beth's hand in hers. She shoots him a grateful look, and Glenn just smiles sadly.

There was a clang on one of the doors, and Glenn crooks his neck up, wondering if Iris had returned. It was Carl, with a bag trailing behind him and a bold grin on his face, walking into the already tight cell. Something was going on with him, he was acting way too strange for someone who was only supposed to be sorting out their food supplies. Iris was usually the one who could reign Carl in, he was at the age where he didn't want to listen to his parents and Iris was closer to him in age and she could reach him at a level that Lori and Rick just couldn't. In her absence, he knew she would want him checking that Carl was doing okay.

"Thought you were organizing the food." Glenn says, looking at Carl and trying to figure out what his excited expression meant.

"Even better!" Carl exclaims, dropping the bag on the floor and looking at his mother in excitement. "Check it out!"

Carol and Lori exchange glances and reach forward, opening the bag. Glenn's eyes widen when he realises that the bag was full of medical supplies: gauze and bottles of pills and bandages. It was like a gift sent down from God, one that they could use to help Hershel heal even faster.

"Where did you get this?" Lori asks, handing Maggie a bunch of bandages and a bottle of painkillers. Carol and Maggie immediately start applying the new bandages to Hershel's stump, carefully dressing his wound and monitoring his pulse.

"Found the infirmary. Wasn't much left, but I cleared it out!" Carl says, bouncing on his heels.

"You went by yourself?" Lori asks, the panic rising in her tone as she stares at her son in disbelief.

"Yeah." Carl shrugs, as if it was no big deal. Glenn sighs, not wanting to overstep while Lori was trying to talk to Carl, but uncomfortable feeling the tension rise.

"Are you crazy?" Lori exclaims, looking at Maggie and Carol in shock.

Carl scoffs, holding his hands out as if he'd done something as simple as walking to the grocery store. "No big deal, I killed two walkers!"

Glenn runs a stressful hand through his hair.

Lori sighs, her pupils wide as saucers. She points at Hershel, not ripping her gaze away from Carl. "Alright, do you see this? This was with the whole group!"

"We needed supplies, so I got them!" Carl yells, shaking his head. Glenn understood what was going through his mind, and if Iris was here, she'd probably find the perfect way to mitigate the problem, but Iris wasn't here. And Glenn didn't know if Lori would recognise that he was just trying to help if he butted in now. Neither Carol nor Maggie nor Beth spoke either, watching the situation unfold with wide eyes.

Lori sighs, struggling to put into words what she was trying to say. "I appreciate that, but..."

"Then get off my back!" Carl yells, cutting her off with a sharp exclamation, averting his gaze away from Lori in anger. It was one of the first times Glenn had seen Carl act like that, but he supposed it was only a matter of time before he started to act like the teenager he was becoming.

"Carl!" Beth reprimands. "She's your mother, you can't talk to her like that!"

Carl stares at Beth, clapping his mouth shut in shock at her firm words. Beth was usually so sweet and low tempered that it was strange for everyone to hear.

Lori sighs. "Listen, I think it's great that you want to help but..."

Carl shakes his head, turning around to walk away. He is out of sight before anyone can call to stop him, his stomps echoing through the corridor.

Glenn buries his face in his hands.

Iris stares at Tomas as they walk down the dark corridors, watching his every movement from behind as they search for walkers along the passage. He was holding a hammer in his hands, and Iris watches as his fingers curl around the handle, his head moving left and right as he looks at his peers. Iris couldn't help but find everything he did suspicious, even if she knew that was kind of crazy of her. Tomas was the clear leader here, the person that the others looked to for direction and for stability. The mistrust likely went both ways, but they needed this prison to work. For Lori, for Hershel, for every single one of them. Tomas could end up in a power struggle against Rick, and they couldn't afford another loss. She saw the warning signs, she had experienced the warning signs firsthand. She didn't trust any of the men, the memories of what had happened with Randall and the group he was with back at the farm, and she didn't want a repeat of those events. Never again.

Her neck twinges.

"Man, it's too damn dark in here!" Big Tiny exclaims, holding his flashlight out as he tries to light up the hallway with what little light they had.

Daryl sighs. "Gotta hold it up high out in front of you. You're gonna hear 'em before you see 'em."

There was no preparing the men for what it was like to kill a walker for the first time. Iris still remembers her first time, in the shop, before she even realised what the walkers were. She had acted out of pure instinct then, and she probably would've lost her life once she came back to her senses if it wasn't for Glenn and T-Dog appearing at just the right time.

"It's coming!" Axel exclaims, staring out into the distance. Iris squints her eyes, seeing a shadow illuminated by the light in their hands. It staggers towards them, tilting its head as it smells them out, followed by a second walker, just as hobbled over as the first. The two walkers smash into each other as they walk, and their mindless wander turns into a warlike rampage.

"Shhh!" Daryl scolds, his hands tightening on his crossbow, ready to take on the walkers in their path.

"Slow and steady." Iris whispers, raising her blade in front of her face, her eyes moving from Tomas' form in front of her to the walkers that were stumbling towards them.

The five prisoners, however, did not take things slow or steady.

They all rush forward, screaming and bellowing as they attack the two walkers, failing to do the one thing they were told and aiming for anywhere except for the head. Axel repeatedly stabs one of the walkers in the chest, yelling a battle cry at the top of his lungs and ultimately doing nothing to actually kill the walkers. Their noise was probably only attracting more walkers towards their vicinity.

Iris rolls her eyes, feeling the rage rise in her body, as she stares at the prisoners in disbelief. They seriously cannot be this stupid.

"Hey! Stop!" She yells, walking forward and yanking a walker out of Tomas' grip, stabbing it in the head and dropping it to the ground. "One instruction! Just one!"

"It's gotta be the brain!" Daryl adds, raising his crossbow and shooting the second walker in the head. "Not the stomach, not the heart, the brain!"

"I hear you, the brain." Axel raises his hands. Iris rolls her eyes.

A third walker staggers towards them, turning the corner as it becomes aware of their presence. Oscar takes a look at Daryl before he turns around and stabs the walker in the head, letting it fall to the ground. "Like that?"

Daryl nods. "Uh-uh."

More walkers start to pile around them, at least a dozen or so, circling them like rabid monsters ready for feeding time. Both Axel and Rick lunge forward, killing two of them instantly. Out of all of the prisoners, Axel and Oscar seemed to be the ones that picked up on their guidance the most, and Iris could at least respect that.

"Stay in tight formation, no more prison riot crap!" Rick yells.

This time, they really did work as a single group, staying in formation as they became one, killing any walker that got close to them and protecting each other from attack. Iris catches a walker that went right for T-Dog, pulling it back and diving her knife into its skull. Rick and Daryl take on three at once, their experience in the field unmatched as they effortlessly took out any walker in their path.

In the struggle against the walkers, Iris didn't pay attention to any of the prisoners, focused purely on the adrenaline running through her system as she took out walker after walker, flexing her jaw with the effort.

Almost all of the walkers were on the ground, their brain's destroyed, and all that were left were just two: both of them advancing towards Big Tiny who was backed into a wall, his eyes wide in fear as he stared at the ravenous creatures.

Rick stabs one of them in the head, and Iris can only watch as the other one snarls, snapping its teeth and sinking them into Big Tiny's shoulder. Iris gasps, her hand going over her mouth as she winces in sympathy. She may not have trusted the prisoners, but to go out like this was awful and terrifying and achingly lonely.

Tomas takes out his gun and shoots, getting the walker in the head. Iris twists her neck up a little, bracing herself for the sound of the shot and the thump of the walker slamming into the ground.

Rick sighs, staring at Big Tiny in defeat. Rick, Daryl, T-Dog and Iris knew exactly what was coming, that hope was lost. They had seen it time and time again, and Iris couldn't help but think that poor little Sophia was bitten in the exact same place. She shakes her head, biting her tongue.

Big Tiny catches their somber expressions, his breaths becoming shorter as he realises exactly why they were staring. "I'm telling you! I don't feel anything, it's just a scratch!"

"I'm sorry man." Rick says, shaking his head.

"I can keep fighting!" Big Tiny insists.

Andrew scoffs, holding the bloody baseball hat in his hands. "You cut that old guy's leg off to save his life!"

"Look at where the bite is!" Rick yells, pointing at Big Tiny's shoulder as he looks between Andrew and the others. Andrew rolls his eyes, clearly not seeing that there was nothing to be done.

"Guys, I'm fine!" Big Tiny repeats. "Just... I'm fine. Look, look at me, I'm not changing into one of those things."

"It doesn't happen that quick." Iris says softly, putting her knife back on her belt. "It's slow. Painful."

Oscar steps forward. "Look, man, there's gotta be something we can do, we could just lock him up!"

"Quarantine him!" Axel exclaims.

Iris facepalms, not saying anything as T-Dog lightly touches her arm, silently telling her to let Rick handle it.

"We gotta do something! Why are you just standing there!" Andrew yells. "We gotta save him!"

"There's nothing we can do." Rick repeats, his voice betraying the genuine sympathy that he must've been feeling.

"You son of a bitch!" Andrew yells, the veins on his head popping as he strains.

Big Tiny holds out his hand. "I'm alri..."

He never gets a chance to finish his sentence.

Tomas raises his hammer, bringing it down callously onto Big Tiny's head. As he drops to the ground, Tomas climbs on top of him, hitting him again and again and again. Big Tiny's flesh pulses, splitting apart with ease as the hammer dug into his body, his guts spilling out onto the floor like he was nothing but an animal being brought to slaughter.

Iris gasps, her breaths uncontrollably leaving her lungs.

When Tomas turned around, his face was covered in blood, dotting his face yet he didn't even flinch or make a movement to wipe it off. He walks away, the stain of the friend that he had just brutally murdered remaining on the ground, and he didn't say a single word.

"Carl."

"Leave me alone." The teenager says, turning around from his position on his bottom bunk, crossing his arms as the hat on his head fell off.

Glenn shakes his head, walking further into the room despite Carl's resistance, sitting down on the end of the bed and looking at the young boy in sympathy. This world was hard for even grown adults, and Glenn couldn't imagine what it was doing to Carl. He had already gone through so much, mourning his father, losing his best friend, getting shot, having to shoot Shane even if he was a walker when it happened, and having to deal with the worry and fear surrounding his mother's pregnancy.

It wasn't surprising that he was acting out.

Glenn knew that kids picked up on a lot more than adults gave them credit for. Carl was a smart kid, more resourceful than most. He had seen that firsthand many times since Carl had come into his life. Carl must be worried out of his mind about Lori and how she was going to safely have this baby. Everyone was worried, even if no one would voice it. He'd overheard Iris praying at night, whispering to the stars for them to guide Lori through a delivery safely. Carol had taken him walker hunting so she could practice doing a C-section if Hershel still wasn't awake to talk her through it, as if she was expecting a natural labour to go wrong. Rick and Lori hadn't talked much, not in months, but practically the entire reason they were even here in this prison was because of his determination to find a safe place to have this baby.

Carl was trying to help in his own way, and Glenn saw so much of Iris in the way he acted, it was almost uncanny.

He clears his throat, looking at Carl's face again, turned away from him. "Carl."

"If you think you have to talk to me, just cause you're Iris' boyfriend, forget it." Carl says, turning around to look at him. "You don't."

"Hey, I thought we were friends." Glenn replies, trying to keep a lighter tone in his voice. "We were friends before I started dating Iris, weren't we?"

"I guess." Carl admits, sighing as he sits up. "You were okay."

"Okay, ouch." In truth, Glenn was coming to talk to Carl because he knew that Iris would want him to. But that didn't mean he couldn't try and bond with his kind of nephew, especially when he was clearly feeling alone. He shuffles closer. "That was pretty brave, you know. Going to the infirmary."

Carl shrugs his shoulders. "My mom doesn't think so."

"It's your mom's job to worry about you." Glenn smiles. "My mom used to worry about me too. I was the youngest and the only boy, and that made her even more protective of me growing up. She would lose her mind if I came home with even a scrape."

"Really?" Carl asks, looking a little intrigued.

"Yeah." Glenn chuckles, feeling a pang in his chest as he thought of his mother. "And I was a pretty reckless kid, so I had scrapes and bruises pretty much all the time. You know, if you'd asked, I would've come with you."

"You would've?" Carl asks, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Hell yeah." Glenn responds. "It would've been safer, you know? It was a great idea. You really did help."

Carl nods, his expression falling a little. "I'm not a kid anymore. I can't be."

Glenn nods, scooting closer to Carl. He caught the subtext in Carl's words. He wasn't a kid anymore, but he deserved to be. It wasn't fair, that his childhood was robbed from him in such a brutal, masochistic way. One day, he was just eating pizza at his aunt's house, watching The Incredible Hulk and debating how realistic it was, and the next, the entire world fell apart and he lost the one thing that every child should have: his innocence.

"Did you ever read comic books?" Glenn asks, raising his eyebrow as he hastily changes the subject. Sometimes, distraction worked better than always talking about what was going wrong.

Carl lights up a little, and Glenn revels a little in his small victory. "Yeah. All the time. Iris got me a whole bunch for my birthday last year."

Glenn smirks, knowing that his efforts were about to pay off. He stands up, sitting on the chair opposite the bed as he holds his hands out. "So did I. Used to stalk the comic store growing up, waiting for new releases, and then I'd read them over and over again. Probably still got all those stories stored up here." Glenn taps the side of his head.

Carl sits up even straighter, putting his hat back on his head. He smiles a little, his woes temporarily forgotten. "Can you tell me some?"

Glenn leans in, faking a mysterious gaze as he looks Carl in the eyes. "Well, there was this one time, Professor X had run into a very particular problem at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters..."

Iris was still shaking from adrenaline as they followed Tomas down the halls towards their new cell block. She couldn't stop her mind from racing, replaying the moment that Tomas killed Big Tiny again and again in her mind. She'd seen mercy killings, and that vicious display was far from it. It was almost sociopathic, the way that he had brought that hammer down until there was nothing left of Big Tiny's head.

If that was how treated his friends....

Iris dreaded to even think it.

"You see the look on his face?" Daryl whispers. Iris looks up at him, relieved that she wasn't the only one to see it. She glances at the back of Tomas' head, noticing how unbothered he seemed by the event. Even Shane had struggled with the idea of killing a human being.

Rick nods, moving closer to Daryl and Iris as he speaks. "He makes one move..."

Daryl nods. "Just give me a signal."

"Glad we're all on the same page." Iris whispers. "I don't like this at all."

T-Dog was up front, leading them to the entrance of the cell block. This one was different to Cell Block C, it was behind a large room that contained linen sheets and seemed to be a place for prisoners to do laundry. It was still and untouched, and Iris imagined the influx of prisoners and guards that would've once walked through here. There were two doors towards the back of the room, which Iris assumed lead to the actual cell block.

She walks closer to the doors, noticing how they were bolted shut, which was a small miracle, because as soon as she got close, she started to hear growls and scratches on the doors from the other side.

The room was filled with walkers.

Daryl looks the doorway up and down, taking the keys from his belt and throwing them on the ground. They land beside Tomas' feet, who takes one look at the doors and shakes his head. "I ain't opening that."

"Yes, you are." Rick replies, his eyes hardening. They should all be back in their own cell block, looking after Hershel, finally resting in the security of the place that they had claimed for themselves, but nothing ever seemed to be that easy. "If you want this cell block, you're gonna open that door. Just the one, not both of them. Because we need to control this."

Tomas sighs and picks up the keys, walking towards the doors with the correct key in his hand. Iris grips her dagger, that same bad feeling creeping down her spine as she stayed on high alert.

"You bitches ready?" Tomas asks. Before getting any kind of response, he puts the key in the lock, twisting. However, it doesn't open right away. He tries again, straining from the effort and turning around to glare at Rick. "I got this."

After a couple more seconds of trying, the lock finally clicks and Tomas braces himself, pulling open both of the doors with force, a sick smile on his face. Walkers pour into the room, uncontrollably, outnumbering them as Tomas backs away, already attacking walkers with his blood stained hammer.

"Shit!" Iris exclaims, stabbing a walker as it backs her into a wall.

"I said one door!" Rick yells, his rage and frustration coming off of him in waves as he stabs and pushes walkers to the ground.

"Shit happens!" Tomas yells back, and they were too preoccupied by the amount of walkers that were in their way to form any kind of response.

Iris grits her teeth, feeling them grind together as she takes out walkers, moving away from the wall and towards the middle of the attack, her hair whipping over her face as she moves with intention, weaving through the walkers with flexibility and practiced skill.

She grunts as Tomas takes out a walker right next to her, swinging his hammer so hard that he almost clocks her right in the face. She ducks last minute, kicking a walker by the legs and taking it out on the ground. She stands up to see Tomas staring at her, shrugging his shoulders but smirking at her. She bites down her rage, and Rick immediately steps in front of her, getting between her and Tomas as he moves to fight another walker.

Tomas stabs a walker in the chest, throwing it in Rick's direction as another attacks him from behind. Iris gasps as Rick gets pulled down, but she is distracted when a walker pulls at her hair from behind, causing her to scream and get Daryl's attention.

The tracker runs over, shooting Iris' walker with his bow before stabbing the walker that had Rick pinned, sighing as he helps Rick up. Iris runs over, looking everywhere for any more walkers, but they are all dead and gone, leaving nothing but their group still standing.

Rick tilts her head, walking towards Tomas questioningly. The prisoner scoffs, and brushes it off. "He was coming at me, bro!"

Iris watches Rick as he stares Tomas down, seeing the thoughts build in his head. For a split second, Rick looks at Iris, and she sees just from his eyes what he was planning to do, seeking forgiveness. Iris nods her head, biting her lips as she crosses her arms, and it was all Rick needed in that moment.

"Yeah." Rick says. His voice sounded different, bitter, unlike the rational man that she had always known. A chill runs down her spine. "Yeah, I get it. I get it. Shit happens."

Tomas stares at him for a moment longer, his face still covered with blood and his expression showing a total lack of remorse. He was trying to psych Rick out, show his supposed power and strength off. But it wasn't going to work.

Rick lifts his knife and stabs Tomas right in the skull.

Chapter Text

CHAOS BROKE OUT.

Tomas fell to the ground, his face forever frozen in a state of shock from the knife that pierced his brain and ended his life. Rick pulls his knife out, the motion making a sickening squelching sound as the force sprayed blood and grey matter in the air. Rick breathes heavily, letting the blade fall limply to his side, staring at the dead prisoner with a vengeful glint in his eyes. For a moment, no one spoke, staring at Rick with wide, panicked eyes, even Daryl.

"No!" Andrew exclaims, screaming as soon as Tomas hit the ground. He rushes forward, his fingers tightening around his baseball bat, swinging it behind his head

Before he gets the chance to hit anyone, Rick kicks him in the shins, causing him to double back with a sharp breath. Iris puts her dagger away, taking out her gun instead, pointing it towards Andrew protectively. She could afford to risk attracting more walkers by shooting her gun if it meant neutralising a threat. She had never killed a human being before, but she couldn't let that stop her.

Daryl lifts his crossbow, loaded with an arrow ready to fly into Andrew's skull just by the pull of a trigger before Andrew can stand up properly."Easy now."

Andrew gasps, staring at their raised weapons as he scrambles to stand up. He crawls backwards, still half sat down as he turns around, sprinting past the open door, out of view before anyone could do anything about it. Iris grunts, watching him go as she flexes her jaw, clenching her fist in anger. She couldn't let him get away, run wild through the prison. Not when her family were sitting unsuspectedly in the cells, not expecting an attack.

Rick sighs, walking past Daryl at the speed of lightning, clutching his gun in his hands. "I got him!"

"I'm coming with you!" Iris exclaims, pushing on her feet as she runs after Rick, not waiting for a response from Daryl before rushing off. She didn't want Rick to end up in a face off alone, not when she was here to have his back no matter what.

She can vaguely hear Daryl grunt as she turns the corner, telling Oscar and Axel to get on their knees. They almost had control of the situation, but Andrew was a loose thread that they had to pull. The risk was too high, and they weren't in a position to let anyone new in and potentially wreck everything they were slowly building.

They just couldn't have it.

Iris sprints as fast as her legs could take her, catching up to Rick as the two of them skid around the corners, the small bit of light illuminating from Rick's flashlight revealing where Andrew was, not quite fast enough to escape their eyeline. Andrew ran fast, twisting and turning down the bare and similar walls as he raced away from them.

Iris keeps her fingers on her gun, following Rick almost mindlessly as the only thing she could focus on was Andrew's form ahead of her and the potentiality of him getting away, and doing harm to her people, and it was enough to keep her going despite the breathlessness in her lungs. The footsteps merged together like the pitter patter of rain, starting light and turning into a storm of heavy flow, drenching them all in the feeling of urgency as Iris and Rick got closer and closer to catching Andrew.

They reach the end of the hall, staring left and right in the two potential directions that he could've run in. Iris sighs, perking her ears, trying to listen for him. She looks at Rick, whispering to him in as hushed a tone as she could muster. "Should we split up?"

Rick shakes his head, pointing with two fingers to the left. The sound of a door slamming shut makes Iris straighten up, understanding Rick's silent directive. He takes the lead, sneaking towards the door and opening it as quietly as possible, pointing his gun into the empty space. He nods at Iris, and she walks forward, realising that Andrew was headed outside.

She watches as Rick holds his gun up, walking through the hall as he stalks Andrew like a predator stalks his prey. Her hands start to shake as she listens to Rick's intentional breaths, knowing exactly what he was doing: hunting. She takes a step back, blinking again and again as Rick's comforting and protective figure transforms into something much more sinister in her mind, flashing in and out between Rick and Shane, the image of her attacker burned into her eyes as she relives what she thought was going to be her final moments.

She shakes her head, holding her hands to her hair as she desperately tries to get rid of the memories of what Shane did to her. This was an entirely different situation, Rick wasn't Shane. He wasn't going to hurt her. Shane's reasoning was purely self-driven, putting his own need for survival above all else. Rick was trying to protect their entire family, doing what he had to do

Rick wasn't Shane.

Rick wasn't Shane.

Rick wasn't Shane.

Iris bites down on her lip, so hard that she feels the sting of blood. She lifts her finger, tasting the metallic red blood with her tongue, and lightly touches the split lip, wincing as the prick snaps her back into focus. She wipes her finger on her sleeve, staring back at Rick — actually seeing Rick and not the haunting ghost of his best friend seeping through the cracks. Rick hadn't noticed her slip up, focusing on Andrew as a brilliant light cascades over the hall.

Andrew had found the outside.

Rick runs out of sight, and Iris swallows the bile that rose up in her throat as she rounds the corner, realising that Andrew had found the courtyard that they had locked up, the one still full of walkers. Andrew stood right in the middle of it, staring at the walkers that surrounded him like a sheep in a wolf's pen.

Iris makes a small sound of surprise, rooted in her spot as if her legs were welded to the ground with wet metal. Andrew looks around in fear, his eyes landing on Iris standing behind her brother. Their eyes lock.

He was terrified.

Iris' heart skips a beat, watching in horror as Andrew realises exactly what was about to happen. He sprints to the open bar doors, running for his freedom, but before he could make it through the doors, Rick pushes the metal bars shut with a clang, separating him and Andrew, leaving him to the mercy of the walkers despite Andrew's pleas.

"Let me back in, man! Let me back in! Open up, man, open up!" Andrew yells. His eyes were wild, desperate, animalistic. His head snaps towards her, and she flinches. "You seriously wanna do this? You wanna let me die?!"

Iris gasps, accidently covering her fingers in the blood from her split lip. She can't rip her gaze from Andrew's face, practically committing it to memory as he stares at her, an angry, accusing stare.

"You better run." Rick says, blocking her view. Iris squeezes her eyes shut tight, listening to Andrew's guttural, terror-stricken screams.

Until there was nothing but silence.

Iris turned around, crouching on the ground until her head was almost to her knees, her hands cradling the back of her head as she heaved in and out. She blinks heavily, trying to force the tears away, but they just wouldn't stop running down her cheeks. She didn't understand what was happening to her. They needed to get rid of the prisoners that caused trouble, she had wanted this, since the moment she laid eyes on them, she had wanted to do everything she could to keep her family safe.

But when it came down to it, she froze.

Iris claws at her throat, feeling her lungs constrict and burn as if her air supply was cut off. She gasps, trying to scratch her way inside her neck, to stop it from tightening, tightening, tightening.

"Iris." Rick's voice cuts through her panic, his hand resting on her shoulder.

She flinches, unwillingly and violently, continuing to claw at her own neck in utter hysteria. "I can't breathe, I can't breathe."

"You can breathe." Rick replies, kneeling on the floor next to her. "There's nothing stopping you from breathing, okay? In, out. Just like that. Come on."

Iris closes her eyes, listening to Rick's voice as she tries to focus on her breathing. Rick slowly brought her hands away from her neck, stopping her from hurting herself by accident. She sniffles, still gasping in air like she was trapped underwater, taking her hands away from Rick as they flailed around. "No, he-"

"He's gone. He can't hurt you anymore." Rick says firmly. He takes her hand in his, bringing it to his chest so she could feel his heartbeat, which had always calmed Iris down when she was distressed or upset. The familiar and constant sound of the heart pumping blood through the body helped her to attune her own pulse and breathing.

She nods, taking long sweeping breaths as well as she could, gently lifting her head to look into the eyes of her older brother, seeing nothing but understanding and consideration. She bites her lip, wishing that all of this pain would just go away. It all felt so long ago, that she was running through the woods for her life, but this was the first time she was faced with a reminder like this, even if the situations were different, even if she had stopped having dreams about it, even if she stopped talking about it. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I- It's not you, it's not. I just- I couldn't breathe."

"It's okay." Rick answers, and he shuffles in his spot, moving closer to her. "I know. You can breathe, I promise. I'm sorry, Iris. I'm sorry."

Iris nods, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. "You did the right thing. I think you did the right thing, I just-"

"I know, kid." Rick says. He stands up, extending a hand out for her. Iris looks up, sniffing one final time before she takes it, allowing Rick to hoist her up. He pats her hands, giving her a small smile. "I know you do. I get it. You've got nothin' to explain to me. You alright?"

Iris nods, ignoring the sting in her lips as she speaks. She takes one final breath, smoothing out her shirt."Yeah. I'm- I'm all good. Promise. We still have the others to deal with, anyway."

Rick shoots her a pointed look, one that she wasn't in the mood to try and decipher. She was right, they really didn't have time to dwell in this hallway while Daryl and T-Dog were trying to deal with Axel and Oscar, and they needed their support. Rick sighs and bobs his head, moving out of the way so that she can walk past him. "Okay. Come on."

Iris silently thanks him for not pressing the issue further, walking towards the cell block entrance and hoping that Daryl and T-Dog had everything handled. She felt bad enough that she had to dredge up the past like this, in front of Rick of all people, and she desperately needed this situation to be over. She wanted to go home to Glenn, feel his arms around her instead of the phantom hands that she suddenly felt squeezing on her neck, for the first time in months, and she just wanted to feel it melt away.

Rick doesn't say anything further, and the two of them walk back through the halls, until they find their way through the cell block doors, hoping that they weren't about to deal with yet another situation with these prisoners.

The sight they saw was comforting in a strange, twisted way. Axel and Oscar were on their knees, at the mercy of Daryl and T-Dog as they raised their guns, pointing it at their heads and stopping them from making any kind of movement. Daryl looks up as soon Iris and Rick enter, the silent question carrying through the air without so much as lowering the gun in his hands.

"It's done." Rick answers. He spares a glance towards Iris, seeing the approval and the apologetic gaze she was giving him, and he steps forward, unsheathing his gun and pointing it directly at Oscar, stopping only sheer inches away from his forehead.

Rick tilts his head, his breaths quickening as he grunts, trying to figure out what to do. He moves his gun even closer, if that was even possible, his hands shaking as he grips the weapon tightly. He grits his teeth, flexing his jaw in anger, spitting his words out. "What are we supposed to do with you!?"

"We didn't have nothing to do with that!" Oscar defends.

Rick scoffs, the muscles in his arms tightening as he leans down to Oscar's level. "You didn't know? You knew! Daryl, let's end this now!"

Rick pushes away from Oscar, his face red and his eyes glaringly hard, pouring into Axel as his fingers brush against the trigger. Daryl leaps forward and puts his knife against Oscar's neck, looking to Rick for the go ahead to end this once and for all.

T-Dog looks at Iris, his eyes wide as saucers as he watches Rick and Daryl, his own grip on his gun wavering. Iris swallows the metallic drops of blood on her tongue, shaking her head in acceptance. If this was happening, it was better to get it over with now, than to pay for it later. She knew that. She did.

She doesn't think about what Dale would've had to say about that.

"Sir, please, please listen to me!" Axel pleads, still on his knees, looking up at Rick and the gun trained between his eyebrows. "It was them that was bad! It wasn't us!"

"Oh, that's convenient!" Rick yells, pressing his python against Axel's head. He flinches from the cold metal feeling and the implications from it.

"You saw what he did to Tiny! He was my friend! Please! We ain't like that!" Axel continues. "I like my pharmaceuticals, but I'm no killer! Oscar here, he's a B and E and he ain't very good at it neither! We ain't the violent kind, they were! Please! Please, I swear to god! I wanna live!"

Rick grunts, moving away from Axel as fast as lightning and he points his gun back at Oscar, titling his head as he questions him. "What about you?"

Oscar meets Rick's gaze, puffing his chest and staring, unflinchingly, at him. "I ain't never pleaded for my life. And I ain't about to start now. So you do what you gotta do."

Iris feels a pang of respect for the man, seeing the stark difference in him compared to Tomas and Andrew. It was like he understood the rules to this new, warped world, knew that it had become a kill or be killed society, and he had refused to become part of it. It was noble.

Iris looks at him and she sees a human being who doesn't deserve a bullet at point blank range.

As much as she wants to be the person who can look past that, she just can't.

"Rick." She suddenly says, shocking even herself. Rick and Daryl both look at her, their puzzled expressions making her sigh and she simply shakes her head. "I- I don't know. We have the keys, don't we? We didn't clear this whole block for nothin'."

She watches Rick consider it, looking between her and Oscar. Daryl nods his head, very slightly loosening his grip on the knife around his neck. T-Dog steps forward, his gun completely lowered, waiting for Rick's instructions.

Rick may be their leader, but he was a fair man. It was by no means a democracy, but Rick did hear out the opinions of the others in the group, and if people had pressing concerns, he always paused before making a rash decision. It was all of the dead that came before them that had influenced the carefully built dynamic that went into decision making: the stain of Shane, the strong moral code of Dale, the directness of Andrea. If they really felt that this wasn't right, Rick would understand.

Slowly, Rick lowers his python. "Get up."

Oscar's courageous expression didn't change, not even when Daryl hauls him up into a standing position. However, as Axel stood up on shaky legs, he smiled. "Thank you. Dear God, thank you."

Daryl swung the keys around in his hands as they led the two prisoners to their new cell block. It was empty now, just as desolate as Cell Block C, littered with bodies and stained in blood and guts. However, it was safe, and by today's standard, meant it was a damn good score.

The five of them walk into the cell, their footsteps echoing through the hollow halls. Iris shakes her head at the bodies, each one lined up outside of their cells, with a bullet in the skull. They'd never even stood a chance. She looks away. She had seen bodies every day now for as long as she could remember, but there was something different about a body of someone who had never even turned into a walker. It made it more real, somehow.

"Oh man! I knew these guys, they were good men." Axel says, shaking his head as he catches sight of the executed men.

"Let's go." Rick says, ignoring Axel's remark. T-Dog stood on the other side of the bars, waiting for Rick, Iris and Daryl to cross over.

Oscar turns around, eyeing Rick with frustration. "So you're just gonna leave us in here? Man, this is sick!"

"Trust me, this is the best score you're ever gonna get." Iris says, her voice as hushed as a whisper. Oscar looks at her, studying her face, and she shuffles uncomfortably. They were the villains in Oscar and Axel's story, she realised.

"We're locking down the cell block." Rick says, motioning for Iris to walk with him through the door. She steps through, turning to look at the two men again from the other side of the bars. "From now on, this part of the prison is yours. Take it or leave it, that was the deal."

Daryl moves to follow them, but at the last minute, he turns back. "You think this is sick? You don't wanna know what's outside."

"Consider yourselves the lucky ones." Rick adds.

"Lotta people haven't made it." Iris says, curling her fingers around the metal bar. "Lotta people."

"Sorry about your friends man." Daryl says, before he walks through the doors, walking off ahead of them, the angel wings on his jacket almost outlined in an ironic glow from her flashlight.

T-Dog closes the door, locking it. "Word of advice: take those bodies outside and burn them."

𖤓𖤓𖤓

"Iris." Glenn breathes, taking hold of her as soon as she steps through the metal door.

Iris melts into his embrace, letting him engulf her as she rests her head on his chest. Glenn's hands found their way to her hair, holding her even closer than she even thought possible. She wraps her arms over his shoulders, playing with the hair on the back of his neck. She hums in content, closing her eyes as she hears Rick, Daryl and T-Dog enter behind her.

Glenn pulls away, bringing his left hand to the side of her face, brushing his thumb over her split lip. His eyes soften, looking over her face with an overwhelmingly strong sense of concern. He was so close that she could feel his breath on her face, his warmth undeniable. "You're bleeding."

Iris shakes her head, as he moves his hand to stroke the side of her hair. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt."

"Are you okay?" Glenn asks, catching tight of her wet eyes and tilting his head curiously.

Iris nods. "Mhm. There's- there's only two prisoners left."

"They're not a threat?" Glenn asks, moving his hands from her face to her shoulders. Iris moves her hand up, holding it on top of his and smiling.

"No. At least I don't think so." Iris answers softly. Her voice was a little hoarse, which was to be expected after her moment of panic. She suddenly gasps, feeling awful that she had just been thinking of herself. "Oh god, how is Hershel? Is he-"

"He's okay." Glenn cuts in, stopping her spiral before it could even start. "He's alive. Everyone's okay."

Iris takes a breath in, nodding. She steps past Glenn, squeezing his hand as they walk together towards Hershel's cell. Lori, Beth and Maggie were standing by his bedside, but Hershel was still out cold, the only thing signifying that he was alive was the slow rise and fall of his chest and the small flutter of his eyes under their lids. He was handcuffed to the bed, a safety precaution if the worst did happen and he turned.

He did look healthier, less sickly and half-dead and more like he was just sleeping.

"Hershel stopped breathing." Carl says, hanging off of the bars and looking up at his father. "Mom saved him."

Iris' mouth hung open, the idea of Hershel not breathing for even a second felt like a shock to the system, despite the fact that it had been a high possibility since the moment he was bitten. Glenn nods. "It's true."

"Still no fever." Lori says, holding onto her stomach like she had done a lot since she started showing.

"That's good." Iris speaks, moving forward a little to pat Carl's hat. "No, that's great."

Iris looks around as Hershel starts to shift a little in his bed. Maggie's eyes widened, moving closer to her father, listening as his mouth moved open and shut, like he was trying to speak. Rick perks up, walking into the cell and standing at Hershel's bedside. Iris pulls Glenn into the cell, fighting a smile as she watches Hershel slowly wake up.

There was a silence that fell along the group, just watching Hershel, sharing excited glances everytime he made even the slightest of movements. Maggie sat down on the bed, staring at him as his eyes fluttered open.

Maggie grins. "Daddy?"

"Daddy!" Beth exclaims. There was a giddy laugh that washes over her, clinging onto Maggie as she giggles. "Daddy!"

Iris bounces on the balls of her feet, suddenly feeling so much lighter as she looks at Hershel, his open eyes scanning the room with a slight haze of confusion, but allbiet, awake and alert. She looks at Glenn, who grins at her and laughs.

Rick stretches over and takes Hershel's handcuffs off. There was no longer any reason that he needed them on, he was alert and he was getting better. Hershel would not become a walker anytime soon.

Hershel's eyes move towards Rick. He hadn't spoken a word yet, but he definitely had a certain level of awareness as they lit up in recognition. He reaches out a weak hand, trying to grab at him. Rick leans down, taking hold of Hershel's hand in his, tightly. For a moment, they stay like that, hand in hand, a silent show of solidarity and above all, gratitude.

As Lori quietly slips out of the cell, Rick looks up and watches her go. He stands up, inclining for Beth before he takes her hand, placing it in Hershel's. Beth smiles, holding Hershel's hand and clinging onto Maggie. Iris smiles as she watches the small family, hoping that the three of them would never have to lose the incredible bond that they shared. Rick walks out of the cell, and Iris wonders if he was going to talk to Lori.

Maybe their little family could repair their bond one day.

The group wanted to give Beth and Maggie some privacy with their father, and eventually they scattered around the prison, feeling safe again now that the prisoners were under control. Iris sits on the edge of the bunk in her and Glenn's cell, rubbing her face with her hands as she lets her hair loose, trying not to bite her already aggravated lip as she bounces her knee. She was exhausted, the stress of today was getting to her, more than normal, but she just couldn't get herself to relax.

"Hey."

Iris looks up. Glenn was standing in the doorway, smiling at her. Iris has no idea how long he's been standing there, wrapped up in her own mind, but she was glad he was here. "Hi."

Glenn sits on the bed beside her, grunting a little as he sat down, patting her knee. She turns her head to smile at him, her blonde hair loose and curling down her shoulders, reaching over to kiss him on the cheek. Her lips linger for a moment, feeling the warmth of his skin. Glenn's mouth upturns and his head drops to her shoulder, planting a line of kisses down her bare shoulder. Iris fights a gasp, her smile growing as her hands brush through his hair. He stops when he reaches her shoulder blade, cautious of going too close to her neck, which only makes her brighten up more, knowing how loved she was by him.

He wasn't like any other boy she'd ever known, like any boyfriend she'd ever had in the past. He loved her, wholly and unconditionally, since the day that they met, and their relationship was intimate in every way, but their emotional connection was one that she had never experienced. For so many boys, they only had one thing in mind, but Iris and Glenn were different. They'd waited, for a while, and it was so much more special because of how much they understood each other, and Iris knew that she could talk to Glenn about anything.

"Hey, Glenn?"

"Yeah, love?" Glenn asks, pulling away from her shoulder at her tone, playing with her hair as he waits for her to talk.

Iris closes her eyes for a moment, bracing herself. She looks up at him, staring into his eyes. "Something- something weird happened to me today. I think it was a... like a panic attack or something."

Glenn sits up straighter. "A panic attack? What happened?"

Iris shrugs. "I don't know. We ran into some trouble with some of the prisoners. One of them was bit, but the other two... Well, one of them Rick had to kill, he was terrible, a killer. The other one ran and- and Rick was chasing him through the prison, and he left him out there in that courtyard, the one we didn't clear. But when I was watching Rick chase Andrew through the halls, it was like it triggered something in my brain and I just panicked."

Glenn is quiet for a moment when she stops talking, staring at her as tears start to run down her cheeks. Then, he holds out his arms. "Come here."

Iris nods, sinking into his arms as he rocks her, gently kissing her forehead. Iris sniffles. "It was like I couldn't breathe. Like after Shane. But I knew that Rick wasn't Shane, I knew that Andrew wasn't Randall."

"You went through something terrible." Glenn soothes, still rocking her softly on the edge of the bed. "It's understandable. You see something that reminds you of what happens and you're unable to distinguish what's really happening with what happened in the past."

Iris takes in his words, blinking away her tears. "It felt so real. But Rick was right to do what he did. Now we can feel safe again. Now things can feel better again."

"They will." Glenn tells her, stroking her hair in a comforting, almost ritualistic manner. "There's a place here for us."

God, she felt like a screw-up. Glenn was so sweet, and so loving, but she felt like she was constantly on the edge of losing her mind, dragging him down with her, struggling to quiet the hurricane that was constantly brewing inside her. She buried herself further into Glenn, clutching his shirt with her hands.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess." Iris whispers, licking her split lip as her voice breaks.

"Shh." Glenn says, whispering to her just as quietly, bringing his lips close to her ear. "You don't ever have to apologise to me. We're all messes, sweetheart. It's going to get better."

Iris sits up, kissing him on the other cheek before she rests her forehead on his. Glenn was right, of course he was. He had the incredible gift of faith, and when he told her that things would get better, she believed him.

After all, they had fixed things with the prisoners, and Hershel had finally woken up, and it really did feel like Iris could breathe.

"It will." Iris replies, giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "I believe that now."

"Have some water." Iris says, carefully tipping the cup towards Hershel's lips.

Hershel takes a couple of slow sips before Iris takes the cup away, setting it on the table beside the bed. She shuffled closer in her seat, smiling at the older man as he sat up a little in bed.

Since waking up yesterday, Hershel had been improving bit by bit. First it was simply staying awake for longer periods of time, then he started talking and shifting around a little in his bed, and he was in higher spirits than ever. Iris truly didn't know how Hershel did it, losing so much, losing a part of himself and being able to crack jokes and brighten up the spirits of everyone around him. Beth and Maggie had spent countless hours at his side, and Iris wanted to relive them just for a while, so they could stretch their legs, stop staring at the same four walls.

"Thank you." Hershel smiles, patting her hand.

"Of course." Iris replies, placing her other hand on top of his. "I'm glad you're feeling better."

"Me too." Hershel says. "Don't you worry. I'll be up and about in no time. Hopefully we can find a walker-proof wheelchair."

Iris laughs, shaking her head at Hershel's endless enthusiasm. "Maybe. You never know, huh?"

"You're looking better." Lori walks into the cell, looking down at Hershel proudly.

"Thanks to you, I hear." Hershel responds, sitting up a little more. "I'm gonna repay you, the moment that baby in there is born."

"I appreciate it." Lori replies, her tone honey sweet as her gaze moves from Hershel to Iris. "Mind if I borrow Iris for a minute?"

"Be my guest."

Iris frowns in confusion and stands up, following Lori as her sister-in-law guides her towards the stairwell. Lori sits down, struggling a little by account of the baby in her stomach, patting the stair next to her. Her expression looks serious, and Iris tilts her head as she sits down. "Lori?"

Lori pauses for a moment, tucking a strand of hair behind her ears. "Those prisoners? You really think they'll stay where they are? They won't hurt us."

Iris raises her eyebrow at the question, wondering how much Rick had told her, if he'd told her anything at all. She can sense the anxiety in Lori's body language, and she puts a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving her a genuine smile. "You know what? Yeah. The ones who are left? They're good. I really think we're gonna be alright, Lor. We're turning over a new leaf, all of us."

Lori gives her a small smile. Her voice wavered a little, but she nodded. "I'm sure we will. Carl went to the infirmary yesterday. By himself."

"He did?" Iris asks, feeling a flutter in her chest. "But the walkers..?"

"He said he killed two of them." Lori sighs, holding her forehead in worry. "He's slipping out of my grasp, Iris. So, I need you to promise me something."

"Of course." Iris shuffles closer to Lori. After all this time, things really did feel better. Repaired, almost. Iris had known Lori since she was five years old. She had helped her through everything. When Iris got her first period, Lori taught her all the best tips and tricks. When Iris started showing an interest in boys in the ninth grade, Lori helped her learn how to use makeup and bought her teen magazines. When she got obsessed with the idea of babies after Carl was born, Lori gifted her a new doll, a pram and an entire wardrobe of baby born clothes. Even now, Lori was still such a presence in her life, and the idea of a new baby was incredibly exciting to her. "Anything. Anything at all."

"Promise me you'll take care of Carl? No matter what." Lori says firmly. "I know it'll be okay, but if it isn't, I need you to tell me that you'll take care of Carl."

"I will." Iris replies, without skipping a beat. "No matter what. I've got him, Lor. Always." 

Chapter Text

THE CALM BREEZE BLEW THROUGH HER LOOSE HAIR.

It was gentle, yet it was exhilarating. The flurry of wind danced over the prison courtyard like a well rehearsed ballet, putting on a show as Iris filled her lungs with air, moving her fingers over the breeze. Her fingertips tingle as her muscles relax, taking a moment to feel the stillness of a world that had come to such an abrupt end. There was something beautiful about the silence. No cars polluted the highways. No companies used an excessive amount of fossil fuels to keep their buildings running. The earth had been reclaimed by mother nature, and humanity were no longer the sole inheritors. If they would inherit any part of the world at all.

Society had been reduced to nothing, yet Iris felt like she hadn't stopped moving since.

She had been plagued by her anxious mind for as long as she could remember, but today she felt lighter. Winter had been hard, the months long and spiteful, washing over their group like a bitter pill, making it more difficult to get over their losses, to think about a better future. Their failures were stacked against them ― the farm, the CDC, the quarry ― and all that stretched ahead of them was the impossible unknown.

It was hard to let go of that feeling of hopelessness when the odds were against you, but Glenn was right, as he often was. The leaves grew on the trees, plants sprouted out of the ground from nothing, a new chapter was being formed as new life appeared all around her. Gone was the perpetual darkness that came from the perils of winter, and for the first time, staring at the bright, big open sky, Iris felt a sense of clarity.

She didn't know what the future would hold, but in this moment, she felt secure enough to let herself dream. There was a place that Iris went to in her mind, when she couldn't sleep at night or she needed to escape to a place that exceeded all reality. A forest, big and beautiful, littered with fireflies that flew in and out of the trees like fairies, shining under an azure sky. A day that never ended, reading a book that went on forever. She always pictured herself, in a fresh dress that was patterned with lace, long and flowy, that never got dirty, never creased. Glenn was there too, in a clean, crisp suit, lazing with his head on her lap as she ran her fingers through his hair, reading him the words of the story that never had to end.

Peace.

It felt like peace.

She desperately hoped that one day she could find it.

Peace wasn't the same thing as happiness. She was happy, at her core. She had so many good people around her, people who had become her family. Above all, she had Glenn, and Iris had never been as happy in her life as she was when she was with him. Glenn was everything, her heart, her life, her soul, and she was grateful every day that she had met him. However, she craved a feeling of peace, which was hard to come by even before the apocalypse, and even harder when it felt like you had to look over your shoulder all the time, just waiting for the bad to come.

Or maybe that was just her.

Her curls blow behind her back as she turns around, facing the direction of the wind and looking out into the distance. There were a couple walkers lined up against the fence, but it was nothing they couldn't handle. They made the odd noise, snarling when one of them got too close, clanging against the fence, but their fortifications were strong, and Iris had faith that they would hold.

It was odd. Iris had never had much faith in anything that wasn't tangible, that wasn't right in front of her. She had never believed in signs or in superstitions, she had struggled with the concept of God since she was a teenager, but as she looked over at an untouched, unsoiled new sky, she found herself believing the words that she had spoken to Glenn and Lori a couple of days before. They would be alright.

The universe owed them that much.

Iris knew that she had a tendency to expect the worst, to never let her guard down, and she didn't know if that was something that had always been buried deep inside her, or if it was just something that she had become. Sometimes, she wished she could quiet her own mind, to stop thinking and let the darkest parts of her mind win, and it started by allowing herself to feel a little bit of faith.

Glenn always managed to find the good in everything and everyone he saw.

Despite the scent of bodies that had become a permanent fixture of the world, one that she had somehow gotten used to, the fresh grassy smell of the prison courtyard reaches her nose, and she embraces it. Soon, they would clear all of the bodies out and burn them. The prison would be theirs by nightfall.

The cut on her lip had started to heal over, no longer stinging when she spoke. It had been a couple days, and their situation was improving more and more. They were left alone by Axel and Oscar, only seeing them when they were outside, looking through the fence that divided them. Iris was in high hopes that eventually they could bring their two groups together. Hershel had been healing incredibly well, he was already standing up with help, though he hadn't been strong enough to leave the cell block.

The sun was blaring down on her, but Iris didn't take annoyance to the bright rays that lit up the sky in brilliant blue. She had always run cold, her closet was full of sweaters and thick skirts, her bed had several layers of blankets that she used every single night to keep herself warm. She looked forward to summer every single year, when everything felt fresh and new and exciting: a chapter that had yet to be written.

She runs her tongue over the bottom of her teeth, feeling each individual tooth in her mouth as she crouches down, picking up the bucket of water that she had come outside for in the first place. Their new surplus of water brought a lot of excitement to the group, giving them an even bigger sense of security as the days crawled by, each one getting closer and closer to the birth of Lori's baby.

She has a feeling that this baby would change everything.

"Need some help?"

Iris smiles. Carl was looking up at her, a mischievous smile on his face as he watched her struggle to haul the bucket of water to the prison. Carl was shooting up as he grew, and Iris wasn't exactly the tallest person in the group. He was already up to her shoulders, and he wasn't even close to the end of his growth spurts. She laughs, dropping the bucket back down. Water splashed to the ground, which only made her chuckle again. "I think I might."

"You got it." Carl says. looking down at the water bucket as his hat shields his vision. He curls his fingers around the bucket, and together, the two of them lift it up, sharing the weight between them.

"Thanks, kid." Iris says, biting on her lip as Carl shoos her a glance. "Sorry. Habit. You're not a kid, I know. You're a teenager now, I can hardly believe it."

Carl scoffs, but it wasn't from irritation. "You'll always see me as a kid."

"Guilty." Iris says, smirking. "Can you blame me? I changed your diapers."

Sometimes, Iris felt like she knew Carl better than she knew herself. She thinks back to the conversation she'd had with Lori, a couple of days ago, hearing how desperate she was that Iris took care of him, and she thought it was because Lori was struggling to connect with her son, and Iris and Carl had been like twin flames since the day he was born. She could take the time and talk to Carl about his solo trip to the infirmary, but he'd been scolded enough. He understood that he was wrong. Sometimes, he just needed a friend, someone he can turn to without fear of punishment. Especially now that he was older.

"That's disgusting, Iris." Carl shoots her a pointed look.

Iris laughs, finally reaching the prison as they both plop the water bucket on the ground. "No, it isn't. You were a baby. I'm gonna change the diapers of your little brother or sister. So are you."

"Eww." Carl scrunches his face up.

"You won't be saying that when you hold that baby in your arms for the first time." Iris smiles knowingly. The first time she held Carl in her arms was the first time she ever felt a pull of magic all around her. Watching him grow, seeing him develop his own personality, his own interests, was magical. It still is. "That's a different kind of love."

Carl nods his head, his eyebrows furrowed as if he was deep in thought. "I hope I'm a good big brother."

"You will be." Iris answers, squeezing his shoulder. "You Grimes' boys often are."

"Grimes' girls too." Carl says. His head droops down a little as his cheeks redden. "You know, you're kinda my sister more than you are my aunt."

"Yeah." Iris agrees, nodding her head as she puts her hands on her hips. "Blame that on your grandparents for having a second kid so late."

"I prefer you as my sister." Carl admits. Iris fights a small smile. She had grown up alongside Carl, in the exact same way that Rick had grown up with her, and it was like holding up a mirror.

"You know what?" Iris says, leaning against the prison wall. "Me too."

"Did you know that Glenn likes comic books?" Carl asks her, tilting his head

Iris perks up at the sudden change in subject, but Carl's words bring a flutter to her stomach. "Oh, yeah. He loves those things. Almost as much as you. You know he used to wait outside comic books stores just to-"

"Get the new releases." Carl finishes, grining. "I know. He told me."

Carl had been talking to Glenn. The thought brought a tenderness to her heart, knowing that two of the people most important to her were bonding in their own little way, over comic books and hopefully so much more as the time passed. Glenn was so good with Carl, and it made her so full of love and happiness.

"I like Glenn." Carl adds, shyly, not quite meeting her gaze. It was a lot for him to admit, and Iris knew how truly special it was that Carl was essentially accepting Glenn into their little family.

Iris smiles, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Yeah, I like him too."

Glenn kisses her deeply, pushing her against the wall of the watchtower. Iris giggles as she feels her back press up against the wall, the cold metal making her shiver despite the shirt she was wearing. Her hands run through his jet black hair, making him groan against her mouth as he holds his right hand to the wall, keeping her in place.

Iris pulls away, biting on her bottom lip as she looks into his brown eyes, smirking lustfully at him as she pulls his face towards her again, forcibly kissing him as she drags her hands away from his face and grips his collar, moving her lips against his in a familiar dance that she'd long memorised the steps of. His hands run wild, asking for permission that she enthusiastically granted.

When they needed to come back up for air, Glenn pulled away, his lips puffy and slightly inflamed. He twiddles his fingers around one of her curls, taking her hand in his and kissing up and down her wrist, stopping when he reaches her pulse point, pressing one long kiss against her heartbeat. He breathes out in satisfaction, his hot breaths warming up her cheek from their close proximity. "Iris..."

"Yes." Iris replies, without skipping a beat. She pecks another kiss to his lips, her fingers trailing to the bottom of his shirt, tracing the lining of his stomach. Carefully, she helps him take it off, laughing as she pulls it over his head, tossing it away as she instantly pulls him into another hungry kiss.

Iris and Glenn had slept here overnight, in the watchtower, taking turns watching over the perimeter of the prison through the night. They had a little makeshift bed made out of linen sheets that they found from one of the closets, and it was a lot more comfortable than it looked. It was their little getaway, a tiny little bit of privacy away from the others and the very open cell block.

This was the longest they'd gone without any kind of interruption in so long, and they were definitely taking advantage of their time together.

Glenn presses against her, and she feels his bare chest on her shirt as he plants kisses on her jaw, and she can feel his smile as he does so. She guides his hands down to her shirt, and he quickly gets the hint, taking it off to reveal her bra underneath.

She shivers in anticipation, moving away from the cold wall and wraps her arms around his shoulders, licking her lips before kissing his jaw in turn. He unconsciously flexes his jaw as she lines kisses down it, and she moves upwards to his cheek and his forehead until she has dotted his entire face in her kiss.

Glenn was the sun, and she felt like her heart was only pumping blood through her body so that she could be with him.

Glenn shifts a little, spinning her around and cupping her face, kissing her softly on the lips again. Iris gasps, arching her back to reach him better, holding the back of his head as she plays with the wispy bits of his hair. She slowly drags her fingers down his torso, stopping when she reaches the hem of his jeans, hooking her fingers through the belt holes and―

"Glenn! Iris!"

"Oh, shit!" Iris giggles, holding her mouth to stifle her hysterical laughter as she rests her head on Glenn's shoulder. "Was that Daryl?"

"Yep." Glenn replies, sighing in frustration as he leans his head against hers. "Every damn time."

Iris pats his bare shoulder, stealing one more kiss from his lips that lingered as she slowly pulls away. "We better go before he storms the tower."

Glenn groans, running his hands over his face as if he was attempting to snap out of it, turning his head left and right. "Where the hell is my shirt?"

"Glenn!? Iris!?"

"Oh god, go, go, go." Iris says, pushing him towards the door as she picks up her own shirt, tossing it over her head, not caring about how straight it was.

Glenn stumbles to the balcony, squinting as he realises Daryl, Carol, Maggie, T-Dog and Rick were looking up at them with amused looks on their faces. "Hey! What's up guys?"

Iris feels her face flush with embarrassment as she peers at the four people on the ground. Daryl had one eyebrow raised. Carol held her hands to her hips, shaking her head. Maggie was beaming up at them, holding her tongue to her teeth in enthusiasm. T-Dog was laughing hysterically, holding his tongue between his teeth as if he was attempting to hold back. Worst of all, was Rick, not even hiding his amused smirk as he looked right up at her. She backs up, hiding from him as the sound of chuckles reaches her ears, and Iris rolls her eyes, trying to straighten her shirt a little bit. She licks her lips, whispering to herself. "This is mortifying."

She peeks through the window, watching Daryl cup his hands over his mouth, projecting his voice. "You comin'?"

Glenn's eyes widened, looking back at her in shock before turning back to the others. "What?"

The laughter gets louder. Iris huffs, crossing her arm as she leans against the wall, missing Glenn's warm touch against her body, her lips still tingling from his kiss.

Daryl snorts. "You comin'? Come on, we could use a hand!"

"Uh, yeah, we'll be right down!" Glenn says, turning around as he scrambles to find his shirt on the floor of the watchtower. He grunts and speaks to Iris, his voice quiet and disjoined. "That was... bad phrasing."

Iris finds it by the top of the stairs and crouches to pick it up, walking over to him and shoving it over his head. She gets closer to straighten it up, her mouth in a very thin line. Glenn looks down at her, the corners of his lips upturning, and the two of them lose it in another fit of laughter. Iris holds onto his cheek, pushing his face back away from her playfully. "Yeah, it really was."

Glenn grins and takes her by the hand, and the two of them walk down the stairs until they reach the ground. When they walk through the doors of the courtyard, she expects another series of comments and jokes, but instead, Rick was engaged in what looked like a heavy conversation with Axel and Oscar.

Iris frowns, taking a step closer.

Axel was speaking, pleading with Rick. "Please, mister. We know that, we made a deal. But you gotta understand! We can't live in that place another minute, you follow me? All the bodies, people we knew! Blood, brains everywhere! There's ghosts!"

"You wanna stay with us?" Iris asks, raising her eyebrow as she unlatches from Glenn. Axel looks at her, nodding his head sheepishly. Iris sucks on her teeth and looks at Rick, trying to gauge his reaction. He was shaking his head, his eyes rooted on the ground.

"Why don't you move the bodies out?" Daryl questions, eyeing the prisoners.

"You should be burning them." T-Dog adds, exclaiming loudly.

"We tried!" Axel replies, looking forsaken and maybe a little shameful. Iris tilts her head, studying him in curiosity. "We did!"

"The fence is down on the far side of the prison." Oscar says. His voice was lower, more collected than Axel's. Iris looks to Rick when he mentions the breach. They knew about a breach, but they were unsure about the location until now: it was something worth making a mental note of. "Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. So we dump a body and just run back inside."

"Look!" Axel says, his voice strained and begging. "We had nothing to do with Thomas and Andrew, nothing! You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro! We'll do whatever it takes to be a part of your group, just, please, please, don't make us live in that place!"

Rick shakes his head, holding a stressed hand to his forehead. He moves it to his hip, sighing as he stands his ground. "Our deal is not negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave."

There was a harsh silence. Iris bites her lip anxiously, not sure how to feel about it. Oscar and Axel didn't exactly feel like strangers anymore but Iris knew Rick was hesitant, especially after Tomas and Andrew. T-Dog was tapping his foot on the ground, also looking conflicted and Iris knew that he was more than likely leaning towards wanting to allow Oscar and Axel to stay.

Oscar scoffs, looking down at his friend with a defeated expression on his face. "I told you this was a waste of time. They ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys."

"Wait-" Iris starts, but Oscar whips his head up and interrupts her.

"You know how many friends' corpses we had to drag out this week?" He asks. Iris feels a pang of regret and she looks down at the floor, dragging her feet over the grass. Somehow, in all of the chaos, Iris had forgotten that Axel and Oscar knew all of the prisoners that were executed or turned into walkers. She'd lost her own people, they all had, but not to that extent, not even when the quarry was attacked.

Oscar scoffs, shaking his head. His eyes looked haunted. "Just threw 'em out like... those were good guys! Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint like Tomas and Andrew. Now, we've all made mistakes to get in here, chief, and I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me, we paid our due. Enough that we would rather hit that road, than to go back into that shithole."

Rick sighs again, looking away from Oscar. Iris turns her head to Glenn, watching the shrug on his shoulders. She looked in his eyes, seeing his uncomfortable gaze on the two prisoners. It was a difficult situation, one that no one really knew how to solve in a way that would make everyone happy. Daryl shakes his head softly, and turns on his heels, walking away from them.Iris watches him go, suddenly feeling a weight return to her shoulders. She looks at Axel and Oscar, playing with her hands. "I'm sorry."

Rick leads them away from where the prisoners were locked up, behind their fence in the courtyard of their cell block. The group gathered around, just staring at each other for a few moments. Iris massages her temple, stealing glances at the prisoners on the other side of the fence.

Rick puts his hands out, addressing the group as if he was defending himself. "Look. We can't do this. They're strangers. They're inmates. We can't have them around our people. We can't risk it."

"He's right." Maggie pipes up. She tucks her mousy brown hair behind her ear, it had grown longer since leaving the farm, but it still didn't reach her shoulders. She shakes her head. "I don't like the thought of it."

Iris hums, blinking her blue eyes as she turns back towards the group. "I don't know. I don't know how I feel."

"I think we should let them in." T-Dog says bluntly.

A pin drop could be heard from a thousand miles away, the group went stiffly silent. T-Dog stayed strong, nodding his head encouragingly, confident in his opinion. Iris respected it.

Daryl walks back towards the group, reaching them just before Rick finally finds his voice again.

"Are you serious? You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons, you want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?" Rick questions.

T-Dog holds out a pacifying hand. "I never stopped. Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves."

"I don't know." Glenn says. He glances at Iris, and then Rick. "Axel seems a little unstable."

"We're not sending them packing." Iris adds. She was conflicted about whether or not the prisoners should have free rein of the prison or be confined to their own cell block, but sending them on her way seemed unquestionable to her. The thought made her shiver.

"After all we've been through?" Carol asks, her voice raising an octave. "We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it?"

"It's just been us for so long..." Maggie says. "They're strangers. I don't- it feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around."

"You brought us in." T-Dog argues.

Maggie shrugs. "Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms, didn't give us a choice."

"They can't even kill walkers." Glenn says. Iris tilts her head, peering at him as he speaks. She isn't so sure that she agrees. She doesn't know what her stance was, but it was somewhere between what T-Dog wanted and what the others did.

She purses her lips. "Neither did a lot of us."

"They're convicts, bottom line!" Carol says, holding her hands together.

T-Dog shakes his head, raising his eyebrow at her. "Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do."

"I get guys like this." Daryl suddenly says. "Hell, I grew up with them. They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos. I could have been with them just as easy as I'm out here with you guys."

Iris listens to his words, feeling a pang of sadness at the thought of Daryl ending up in a prison like this in the old world. Daryl was good, truly good, and she couldn't even imagine him living a life behind bars.

"So you with me?" T-Dog asks.

"Hell no!" Daryl scoffs. "Let 'em take their chances out on the road, just like we did!"

T-Dog puffs out air, looking up at the sky in annoyance before he turns to her. "What about you? You tellin' me you're okay with this?"

"I'm not." Iris defends, quickly. She licks her lips, trying to find the right words. "Look. We can't just send them packing. Can't we just... leave them where they are? They'll figure out how to live in there."

If this was about Tomas or Andrew, she would've agreed right away that they needed to be rid of them. However, Oscar and Axel seemed so different to the other prisoners, and it felt like a disservice to them to ignore that.

"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid." Rick says. He looks over at each person individually as he tells his story. "Nineteen years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial, suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and two weeks later, he shot another girl. We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands."

No one said much to combat him after that.

Iris squints as she looks towards the sun, holding one hand over her head and the other on her hip. She leans on her left leg as she bounces on her right, feeling the heat of the beams blaring down on her.

They had been working for a couple hours, trying to clear most of the courtyard of bodies, restore it to at least a little of its old glory. It was about midday, and she was taking a little break after spending all morning hauling heavy bodies up and into the cars, ready to take them outside the prison grounds and burn them, all at once. It was hard work, but it was worth it to turn around and see the concrete courtyard completely empty of bodies, looking promising and almost like a real home.

Carol, T-Dog and Maggie had started to guide their cars towards the gates of the prison, which they would attempt to figure out how to use without accidentally letting dozens of walkers into their new and secure home. The only exit apart from the breach on Oscar and Axel's part of the prison was the hole that Rick had cut in the fence, the one that they kept patched up to keep walkers out.

However, Oscar and Axel wouldn't be here long. Rick had made his decision, and he wanted Oscar and Axel out. Iris takes her hand away from her forehead, locking on the sight of Glenn handing over a box that contained a weeks worth of food. When they finished burning the bodies outside the prison, Oscar and Axel would be cut loose.

Iris still didn't know how she felt about it, but she knew it didn't feel good.

As soon as Glenn got back, she would be going with him, Rick and Daryl to scour the outside of the prison for viable wood to use to create a large enough fire to burn all of the bodies they had collected. Rick and Daryl were already waiting by the fence for them, but Iris didn't want to go over there without Glenn. He had volunteered to give the box of food to Oscar and Axel, and Iris could tell he felt bad about agreeing with Rick and he wanted to do at least one thing for them.

She holds out her hand as he approaches, giving him a sympathetic look when she sees the conflicted expression on his face. Glenn doesn't quite meet her gaze, taking a breath as he speaks. "They'll be alright. We were."

"I know." Iris nods, looking him up and down as her eyes soften. Glenn was the best person she knew, and when he felt bad, she felt it tenfold. "I think they're stronger than we know."

"Are we okay?" Glenn suddenly asks, clearing his throat as he finally looks up at her. "I know you didn't want this."

"Hey." Iris smiles, pushing a floppy strand of hair from his forehead. Glenn's eyes flutter at her touch. "Of course we're okay. We're allowed to disagree. Doesn't mean we need to let it affect us."

Her words have the desired effect, and Glenn's mouth curls upwards. "God, I love you."

Iris holds her tongue through her teeth, her cheeks warming. She leans in, pecking a kiss on his lips and takes his hand. "Come on. Daryl's staring daggers into us."

Glenn chuckles, and he lets her drag him over towards Rick and Daryl. She was pleasantly surprised when neither of them made a lovebirds comment, like they had been doing for months.

Everyone wanted to get these bodies out as soon as possible.

"Come on." Rick says, inclining towards the fence as he unthreads the wire that was holding the hole in place. He opens it enough for them to get out, and Iris runs her fingers over the metal, crouching down as she makes it through to the other side.

It felt strange, like she was exposed, on this side of the wire. They had only been in the prison for a couple of days, but it already felt like a home. She takes her first step on a soil that they hadn't claimed, and it felt foreign.

"Should I take her out?" Glenn asks, looking at a walker that was very slowly stumbling towards them.

Rick shakes his head. "No. If that armory hadn't been picked clean, we could spare the ammo."

"She's not too close." Iris says, squinting at the walker that didn't seem too bothered by their presence.

"I'll start making runs." Daryl says. "The sooner, the better."

"I'd like to go with you, when you do." Iris offers. Daryl gives her an approving nod, making her straighten up proudly.

"We'll throw as much wood as we can in the dog run." Rick says.

Glenn raises an eyebrow. "Won't the fire attract walkers? Maybe we should bury them."

"We're behind a fence." Rick replies. "It's worth a one-time risk to get rid of the bodies for good. I don't want to be planting crops in walker-rotted soil."

The four of them started collecting wood. It helped that the prison was in a sort of hidden location, behind a lot of trees, which is probably the reason that they spent eight months circulating the same area without even finding it. They didn't stray far from the fence, making sure they were able to make a run for it and get back inside if a sudden burst of walkers took them by surprise.

Iris picked up wood until she couldn't carry anymore, turning around with her arms full. Rick and Glenn also had big piles of thick pieces of wood, smiling at each other victoriously.

"What do you think?" Iris grins.

"I think we're ready to burn some bodies." Daryl answers, jogging over to the fence as he holds it open for the three of them.

"Woo!" Iris cheers, laughing as she leans through the gap, peering at Rick and Glenn from the other side. "This prison is ours!"

Glenn and Rick walk through the gap, lugging the wood in their arms as they prepare for the walk back to the others. Iris sticks her tongue out in concentration as she adjusts her wood pile.

"Looky here." Daryl says brightly, pointing to the concrete courtyard. Iris looks over the wood in her arms, seeing Carl, Lori and Beth very slowly guiding Hershel down the stairs with his crutches. He was up, out of the cell block and outside, breathing the fresh air and feeling the heat of the sun on his skin.

"No way!" Iris exclaims, crouching down to drop the wood in her arms. She raises her hands in celebration, beaming at Hershel's incredible process.

Things were finally going right.

Glenn follows her lead, tossing his wood pile on the floor. "He is one tough son of a bitch." He cups his hands over his mouth, bellowing so that the old man could hear him. "Alright Hershel!"

"Shh." Daryl says, keeping his eyes on the outside of the fence. There were a couple more walkers stumbling through the clearing, perhaps attracted by their noise. "Keep your cheers down."

Glenn groans, turning around to glare at the walkers as if they could read his facial expressions. "Oh, man, can't we just have one good day?"

Rick drops his wood on the ground, watching Carl and Lori with a small smile building on his face. As Glenn starts to thread the wire through the fence, closing the hole back up, Iris tilts her head as she watches Lori. She gives Rick a similar smile, running a hand through her hair.

It was a massive step forward for them.

Hershel was chatting with Carl, moving forward with his crutches all by himself. Her nephew was laughing, almost looking like the kid he once was as he clearly jokes around with Hershel. Beth was patting her father's shoulder, hugging him from the side. It was a massive miracle that he was even standing right now, after everything they had gone through when he lost his leg.

A cold chill ran over her as she averted her eyes from Carl, scanning over the building in a sudden sense of dread.

She feels bile rise up in her throat the moment she realises what was wrong.

Walkers.

Dozens and dozens of them.

Not on the other side of the fence.

Inside the prison.

Inches away from Lori and Carl and Hershel and Beth.

"No!" Rick yells, already breaking out into a run as he desperately tries to reach his family, but they were divided by two layers of fencing that was designed to stop something like this from happening. Without missing a beat, Daryl runs after him, managing to catch up to her brother at a lightning pace, running around the fences as fast as humanly possible.

Iris' pupils go as wide as saucers, and she whips her head around to look for Glenn. He was shaking, visibly, trying to patch up the hole in the fence as fast as possible to he could join the others in trying to kill the walkers that had somehow gotten in. Gunshots went off behind her, and Iris couldn't bear to look.

However, that was Carl and Lori in there, and she needed to go and save them.

"Glenn!" Iris yells, looking between her boyfriend tying up the fence as hastily as he could, and at Carl and Lori, finally catching a glimpse at her family. They were both still alive, scrambling to kill as many walkers as they could, but they were being surrounded.

"Go! Go!" Glenn commands, still twisting the coil around the fence. His tone was assertive, so much so that it surprised her. When Iris doesn't move, he turns around to stare at her, his gaze formidable. "It's Carl! Go!"

Iris nods, feeling her adrenaline rise as she backs up, pushing on her heels and sprinting as fast as she can after Rick and Daryl.

She had to protect what was hers.

Chapter Text

IRIS RAN AS FAST AS SHE POSSIBLY COULD.

Despite the fact that there was no longer a comforting breeze, her hair blew behind her from the sheer force of her steps. Rick and Daryl were still slightly ahead of her, and she tried to catch up to them, her lungs pushing out short and shallow breaths as her entire world seemed to tilt on his axis, turning her entire life upside down after she had finally, finally, got it right side up again. She can't focus on any single thought as the fire burns through her legs, and the coldness creeps up her spine, knowing that Carl was out there, that Lori was out there, that her family were fighting for their lives mere meters away from her.

The snarls and growls and gunshots pulse through her body, like a burst of fireworks going off in the sky, overwhelming her with noise. Pure, unfiltered, loud noise. She grunts out loud, grinding her teeth with unbridled fear as she scrambles to unhook her gun from her belt while she is sprinting, clutching it close to her chest.

She couldn't afford to look back, but her thoughts stray to Glenn. He had told her to go, to run for Carl and try to save his life, before more and more walkers spilled into the prison from whatever breach they had entered from. She hoped that he was behind her now, that he had patched the hole in the fence enough to join them. They would need all the hands they could.

"Get out!" Rick bellows, throwing his hand in the air as he looks through the gaps in the fence, not halting in his efforts to get to the first gate. "Get out of there! No! Lori!"

Iris skids, catching up to Rick and Daryl as they made their break for the gate. She frowns, trying to spot any of her people in the crowd, but there were so many walkers in the courtyard at this point, that it was impossible to make out any faces, let alone recognise them.

"How the hell did this-" Iris starts, but she cuts herself off when she realises her words were pointless. It didn't matter how this happened, only that it did happen. Walkers had gotten in, and they were wrong to believe that they had found a place where the walkers could never reach them. Not in this world, not when they had been abandoned by the universe. Iris didn't believe in signs, but the irony was palpable. Now, all they had left were consequences.

"Carl! Come in here!" Rick yells, but from the way his head was tilting side to side, he couldn't find any sight of his son in the crowd either. He was breathing heavily, his curls sprawled out over his forehead from the sweat that was beading down it, calling out his plea, one that he knew would never be granted as long as he was separated from his family.

Iris lunges forward, sprinting past Daryl. She clangs her hands against the gate, trying to push it open even though she knew that it had been padlocked shut because she was right there when Glenn did it. That was something they did every time they left the prison, locking every gate that they went through, so that if walkers managed to get in from outside their land, they would be locked out of the inner levels of the prison.

What a lot of good that did.

She knew that her panic was overtaking her logic, because she slams her fists against the gate once more, trying to will it open with sheer force. She pushes and pulls against the bars, screaming out as if she were in physical pain.

"Keys! We need the keys!" Daryl yells, running up beside her and gripping hold of the padlock. He whips his head around, seeing Glenn running towards them with the keys around his belt. "The lock! Hurry up, the lock!"

"Keys!" Rick yells, as Daryl grunts and breaks out into a run, meeting Glenn halfway. Glenn tosses Daryl the set of keys, who turns around in turn and tosses them to Rick like they were in a relay.

As soon as Rick's fingers curl around the set of keys, he rushes to the gate. Iris backs out of the way, watching Rick's shaky hands as he finds the right key. She takes the short moment to catch her breath, resting her hands on her knees as she leans over. Glenn presses his hands against her back as soon as he catches up to her, and she can feel the adrenaline coursing through his system as she stands up and he takes hold of her arms.

"Oh, god. Oh god, are you okay?" Glenn fretts, even though she hadn't even come into contact with the walkers yet. Tensions were running high, and under pressure, it was hard to distinguish who was in danger and who wasn't.

"I'm okay." Iris breathes, feeling more stabilised as he holds her arms steady. "But Carl, I-"

"Come on!" Rick interrupts, finally getting the right key in the lock and he swings open the gate, pushing it with an incredible amount of force. It was only the first gate that they needed to get through, the second being on the prisoner's side of the courtyard. Rick wasted no time, already with the right key in hand, blasting towards the prisoners, who had bewildered and fearful expressions on their faces. "Get out of my way!"

Rick skids to the second gate, not paying any mind to either prisoner as they jump out of his path. Oscar and Axel share a glance, following Rick like lost puppies as he urgently unlocks the gate.

Glenn grabs onto Iris' hand, pulling her as close to him as possible. Iris takes a breath in, feeling her fingers tense up at his touch like there was static electricity going through the two of them. She squeezes his hand three times in a row, exchanging the silent three words that they both understood at an inexplicable level.

I love you.

Glenn squeezes back, four times.

I love you, too.

With her spare hand, Iris holds onto her gun tighter, running over as soon as Rick opens the gate.

"Come on! Come on, come on!" Daryl yells, moving his hands pressingly.

"There's so many!" Iris yells, breaking away from Glenn to hold her gun steady in both hands. The four of them finally make it to the inner courtyard, forgetting all about any previous plans to keep a firm formation as they look for their people.

They had a lot of walkers to get through before they could try and find them.

"Let's go!" Glenn exclaims, gripping his knife in his hand.

"Pull it!" Daryl commands.

Iris squints her right eye, letting out a series of shots as she takes out the undead that plague them. The kickback took her a little off guard, after not using her gun for months because it wasn't worth making the noise and risking other walkers hearing her. However, right now, that was at the bottom of her priorities. She aims again and gets another walker right in the head, watching it crumble to the ground as she immediately moves on to the next one, shooting its eye out.

"Carl!?" She yells, running around the inner courtyard, shooting a walker in the back of the head as she searches, frantically blinking as if her vision would reset and she would realise this was all one horrible dream. "Lori!? Maggie!?"

"Iris." Rick says, and she turns her head. Her ears still rang from the sounds of her own shots, not used to the large amounts of sound in such close proximity. The walkers were scattered all over the prison, but their little area was somewhat clear. Rick was looking up at one of the sets of stairs leading into the actual prison, also fenced and gated, where Hershel and Beth were standing, holding their hands to the bars and looking down at them. Hershel looks solemn, holding onto his crutches tightly. The bottom of his right crutch was covered in wet, red blood. Beth's blue eyes were large and afraid and her hair was falling out of the ponytail it was in.

"What the hell happened?" Rick asks, looking around at the destruction as Daryl stabs another walker with his knife.

"The gate was open!" Beth exclaims, pointing towards the gate of the courtyard full of walkers that they had sealed off when they first breached the prison. The one that was supposed to be safe, shut with a metal chain. Iris breathes out and looks at the gate, which was now forcibly shut, keeping the remaining walkers at bay, at least for now. She sighs in relief. It meant someone had managed to get the gate closed before they were completely overwhelmed.

Rick holds his hands to his head, his fist still curled around his knife. "Where's Lori, Carl, everyone else?"

"Maggie led Lori and Carl into C Block!" Hershel says. Iris feels her shoulders relax a little, hoping that the three of them were at least out of imminent danger.

Beth sniffles, holding her hand tighter against the fence. "And T was bit!"

Iris' skin runs cold. Her expression drops, looking up at Beth in shock. "What?"

Not T-Dog.

T-Dog, who had been one of two people who had saved her life right at the very start. T-Dog, who was always full of life and loved to cook, who had jokes for days and protected their group with everything he had. She didn't want to lose him, never hear his voice, hear him call her princess because he knows it annoyed her. Right now, she'd give anything to hear him say it. Iris closes her eyes, finding herself praying that he was bitten somewhere that they could at least amputate.

If they found him in time.

She couldn't bear to think what state they might find him in.

Rick pinches the crease between his eyebrows. "Anyone else?"

"I couldn't tell." Beth sniffs, shaking her head.

"We gotta find them." Iris says, her voice unnaturally quiet and unsure. Tears brim in her eyes unwittingly, but she blinks them away.

Rick nods. He looks up at Hershel and Beth with his gun. "Stay put!"

There were a couple more walkers loose in the courtyard, ones that must've escaped before the gate was resealed. Glenn backs up and walks towards the gate, needing to check if it was definitely secure. The last thing they needed was for the gate to break open again and they would have to deal with even more walkers.

Iris, Rick and Daryl watch his back, shooting the last remaining walkers still wandering around the courtyard. Their hard work this morning, clearing it out and trying to make it into a home, but now...

They were just right back to square one.

Glenn sighs, walking back over with a concerned expression on his face. "Those chains didn't break on their own. Someone took an axe or cutters to them."

Iris' eyes widen. "Who would do that?"

Glenn bites his lips, shrugging his shoulders. He looks over her head, his features tightening as Axel and Oscar wander through the gate, looking at the mess of bodies. Iris bites the inside of her cheek, tilting her head. Glenn takes a step closer, whispering. "You think they did it?"

"Who else?" Rick asks. His eyeline was rooted towards them, watching them as if he was waiting for the other shoe to drop.

"T-Dog wants us to trust them." Iris pipes up. She looks at the ground, frowning as she realises her slip. "Wanted. Or... wants. I don't know. But he did."

No one responds to her. Rick sighs, shaking a loose strand of hair from his face. "It's not the-"

An alarm blares.

Iris jumps, frenziedly looking for the source of the sound. It rang all around, making it impossible to figure out what the noise was and if it was coming from one place. The walkers from the closed courtyard perk up, pushing against the fence.

"What's that?" Glenn asks, his voice going up an octave.

Daryl scoffs, throwing his hands up in the air. "Oh! You gotta be kidding me!"

"It's the speakers!" Iris exclaims, pointing upwards at the speakers on the buildings, which were flashing red. Iris spins around, looking for any other speaker so she could shut it down and finally be without the blaring noise. She couldn't think straight, not with the alarm overwhelming her senses, but she still sees the barrage of walkers start to crowd around the outside of the fence, attracted by the noise.

Rick must've seen them too, because he whips his head around. "Daryl!"

As if in sync. Rick and Daryl point their guns up, shooting the speaker with precise aim. Iris looks at Glenn, who gives her a soft nod, and the two of them shoot out another speaker.

"Kill it!" Hershel encourages, looking around as he tries to spot more speakers as the alarm continues.

Rick was an unstoppable force, and he ran over to Hershel and Beth. "Back up!"

As soon as Hershel and Beth clear his field of vision, Rick raises his gun and shoots the speaker over their heads, making little fragmented pieces of metal fall to the ground. The alarm continued.

Rick grunts, pushing away from the floor with an intensity, pointing his python in Oscar and Axel's faces, his voice spitting as he speaks. "How the hell can this be happening?"

Oscar raises his hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, it has to be the backup generators!"

"Well, how do you turn those on?" Rick yells, pushing his gun closer to them. Iris watches him in worry, the alarm still blasting and calling out for walkers.

Oscar swallows, holding out his hands. "There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hatch shut them all off when the prison was overrun!"

Rick was still worked up, yelling at Osar accusingly. "Can someone open up the main gates electronically, with full power?"

"Well, I only worked in there a few days." Oscar says, deep in thought. "I... I guess it might be possible."

Rick roughly grabs ahold of Oscar's shirt, dragging him away. "Come with us!"

"Let's go!" Glenn echoes, running in a circle until he gets to Axel, herding him and Oscar in. As the alarm continues to sound, the group runs towards the prison.

There were walkers in their cell block.

Iris and Rick had pushed ahead, leaving Daryl and Glenn tailing behind with Oscar and Axel. Rick storms through the metal bars, shooting a walker before Iris steps in after him. There were a couple of walkers inside their block, the one that they had tirelessly cleared out and slept in at night.

"Crap." Iris whispers. Their judgement had been impaired, if they ever thought this place could be safe.

"Come on." Rick replies, pointing two fingers towards the left of the cell block. Iris nods, taking her gun closer as she shifts to the left. She slowly walks towards the first cell, the one that Hershel was recovering in. As she peeks her head around the corner, she comes face to face with a walker, who she shoots in the face. Another gunshot echoes behind her, the sound of Rick organising the right.

Iris looks into the second cell block, feeling her anxiety rise. She crooks her head around. "Carl. Carl?"

She kept going until all of the cell blocks were safe, no sign of any walkers or Carl. There was a walker behind the stairs, which she took out with ease, stopping to reload her gun.

"Lori! Carl!" Rick yells, but as she expected, no one answers.

"We just took down five of 'em in here!" Daryl calls, walking into the block with Glenn, Oscar and Axel.

"There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or anyone!" Rick replies, still looking around.

"They're not in the cells." Iris adds, shaking her head. "We've hardly cleared anything else yet."

"They must have been pushed back into the prison." Glenn suggests, meeting Iris' gaze with a heavy one of his own. The alarm was louder now they were in the building, and lights flashed through the hallways, like the thump of a heartbeat.

"Somebody is playing games!" Rick yells, already moving to walk out of the cells. "We'll split up and look for the others. Whoever gets to the generators first, shut them down!"

Daryl nods, taking his position as Rick's right hand man seriously as he ushers the others out. "Let's go!

Iris blinks as soon as they step back into the hallway. The flashing lights were a constant, leaving them stuck in limbo between total darkness and blinding light. She couldn't get her eyes used to it, her vision swimming as she blindly follows Rick as he searches for the generator. She was vaguely aware of Daryl behind her, but she didn't dare twist her body around to look, not being able to trust her senses to keep her standing as the lights flickered in and out.

Rick suddenly breaks out into a run, and the sounds of walkers reach her ears through the blare of the alarm. Her instinct to survive takes over, and she sprints after him, turning and twisting around the corner as they follow Oscar.

He stops when they reach a door, almost running into it, but when the lights allow her to see, Iris can see the sign on it. They had made it to the generator room. Rick pushes against the door, but it wouldn't budge.

"Daryl, get the door!" Rick commands.

The tracker pushes past all of them, forcibly pushing against the door until it finally popped open and they spilled through. Iris gasps, catching her breath, stepping further into the room as Daryl and Oscar slam the door shut, pushing all of the walkers out. There were massive generators in the middle of the room, letting out a faint buzzing sound as they were riddled with power.

She moves forward, touching one of the generators lightly with her fingers. She could feel the electricity running through it, tingling her fingers, and she tilted her head. It had been so long since she felt such a large amount of electricity, something that was normal for her in the old world, living in a city where electricity ran everywhere.

"How do you shut these down?" Rick asks, still just as tense as he looks over the generators.

Daryl grunts as he and Oscar hold the doors down against the walkers that were trying to get in. "Go help him!"

Oscar nods, slowly pushing away. Daryl takes the brunt of the force, gritting his teeth. He was strong, but even he found it hard to go up against a group of walkers like that.

"I got it!" Oscar answers, running over to Rick and pointing towards a lever. "Right here."

"I'm gonna go and help-" Iris starts, but she is interrupted by a battle cry and a figure jumping out of the shadows. He was holding an axe, swinging it at Rick and missing as her older brother ducks just in time. She jumps, quickly finding her gun, pointing it aimlessly as the figures move too fast for her to get any sort of good shot.

"Rick!" She yells, stepping forward to try and force his attacker off of him. Rick scrambles for his gun, but the man pushes him to the ground, making it go flying.

It was Andrew.

Iris' stomach flips as she stares at the man's face, like he was a ghost coming back to haunt her. His terrified eyes flicker through her mind, staring at the angry ones he had now, focused purely on revenge. Their actions, chasing him through the prison, leaving him to die, coursed through her, staring at the image of him, alive and being the cause of all of this, and she screams out, refusing to let Andrew take her family away from her.

Andrew had cut the chains of the gate. Andrew had triggered the alarm. Andrew was the reason that walkers had invaded their home and the reason T-Dog had been bitten.

Whatever had gone down in the past, she felt nothing but a burning hatred for the man that, only a couple days ago, she felt bad for abandoning.

It was her family above everything.

She scrambles down to Andrew's level, bashing her gun over his head. However, she didn't seem to hit hard enough as Andrew stands up, pushing her off with ease as he guns straight for Rick again.

"Iris. Iris!" Daryl yells, and his urgency causes her to look up from where she was on the floor. Walkers were spilling through, and Daryl was killing as many as possible.

"Shit." Iris curses, pushing herself up as she runs over to aid him. She puts her gun back in her holster, and grabs her dagger, stabbing the first walker that she saw in the head and letting it drop to the ground.

"Hey, Princess, behind ya!" Daryl calls, and she twists around, stabbing the walker behind her.

Daryl uses his knife to take out two walkers at once, pushing one of the bodies through the door before any more could walk in, slamming in shut. This time, the door closes all the way, and Daryl lets go of the handle, sighing. Iris drops her hand to the ground, panting

Andrew was yelling, making Daryl slowly creep forward like a cat waiting to pounce on its prey. Iris follows him, raising her knife again as they peek at the scene ahead of them. Oscar was holding Rick's gun, pointing it in Rick and Andrew's direction. Rick held his hand out, trying to pacify the situation, but Andrew was desperately trying to get Oscar's attention.

"Shoot him! We can take back this prison." Andrew yells. Oscar didn't make any movement, still staring at Rick with conflicted eyes. "What you waiting for, do it! It's our house, shoot him!"

Iris takes a step forward, ready to intervene, but Daryl holds out an arm, holding her back. She looks up at him, but he just holds a finger to his lips and tilts his head towards Oscar.

Oscar swallows, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. He raises Rick's gun, his hand shaking ever so slightly. Rick looks at him again, raising his eyebrow as if he was taming a wild animal. Oscar takes one more breath.

And he pulls the trigger.

Andrew falls to the floor, blood dripping from the bullet that landed in his skull. His eyes were still open, and Iris unconsciously took a step closer, staring at his body on the floor.

Andrew was staring at her, the anger not leaving his eyes even in death. His voice echoes in her brain, accusing her as she watches Rick shut him out, frozen in place. You wanna let me die?

She had done nothing then, and she had done nothing now.

Only she didn't feel bad about it now.

Oscar turns Rick's gun around, extending it out to him. Rick relaxes as he takes it, walking over to the generator and pulling the lever. The alarm finally stops, the silence like a pressure lifted off of her shoulders.

Rick nods. "Let's go."

The hallways felt less disorientating now that the flickering light had been shut off, leaving them in darkness, but at least it was consistent. They killed walkers as they went, but there was less crowding the corridor now. There were only a certain number of walkers released by Andrew, and very slowly, they were reclaiming the building.

Iris uses her dagger instead of her gun now they are out of immediate danger. There was no point using incessant amounts of sound when there were only a few walkers around. That was something they could handle with their blades.

Oscar suddenly stops in his tracks, just before they turn a corner. Iris pushes herself against the wall, hearing footsteps start to get louder and louder. She takes a breath, holding her knife steady in an attack position. As the footsteps get closer, Oscar jumps out, ready to swing the axe that he took from Andrew.

Thankfully, he didn't go straight for the attack, because Glenn and Axel jump, holding their flashlights close as they reveal themselves. Glenn sighs as he looks over at each of their faces, relaxing when he realises they aren't walkers either.

"Glenn!" Iris gasps, running forward to take him by the shoulders, hugging him tightly. "Oh, god. It was Andrew. He came back."

"Okay." Glenn whispers, hugging her back tightly. "It's okay. Where is he now?"

Iris shakes her head, pulling away and looking at the ground. "He's dead."

"We've gotta go." Rick says firmly. "We've gotta find Lori and Carl, now."

Iris nods, and together, the group walk through the hallways again. It felt like they were in an endless loop of staring at grey walls, clutching each other close and trying to avoid the predators that roamed the very same halls. Iris held Glenn's hand as they walk, peering into every open room for any sign of Carl or Lori or Maggie or Carol. They couldn't lose anyone else. It was too much.

Daryl suddenly stops, holding up his hand. He turns his head, pointing towards two walkers crouched over a body on the floor. His guts were spilled out everywhere, and the walkers were eating everything and anything that was left, in a brutal and gruesome way.

Iris covers her hands with her mouth.

It was T-Dog.

"No.." Iris whispers, turning around and burying her head in Glenn's chest as her sobs started to rip through her own. "No. No. No."

She squeezes her eyes shut, despite the fact that her vision was cut off by Glenn's shirt. She desperately wanted to erase the image of T-Dog's body from her brain, but she knew it would be burned into her forever.

She had lost a friend.

Daryl puffs out a breath of air, and Iris shifts in Glenn's arms. He wipes her tears for her, and Iris blinks until Daryl comes into view. He picked up something fabric that was covered in blood on the floor. Iris shakes her head again, feeling the sobs rise in her throat.

It was Carol's scarf.

"Come on." Glenn soothes, stroking her hair and taking her hand. "Let's get out of here, okay?"

Iris sniffs, and nods, just letting Glenn take her hand and lead her away from the body on the ground. She can't believe how fast things can change, how much can be taken away at the blink of an eye and at the drop of a penny.

They weren't far from the courtyard now, and the sunlight blinded her eyes as they stepped outside. It blared down on the bodies that had only replaced the ones they had spent so long clearing out, like it was haunted and would be littered with the dead forever.

Hershel and Beth were standing in the courtyard, waiting for anyone in the group to return. When they stumble out from the darkness, he turns around, taking note of their grief-stricken faces.

"Hershel!" Rick calls, running over as he looks around the courtyard. Lori, Carl and Maggie weren't anywhere to be seen, still.

"You didn't find them?" Hershel asks, his eyes widening.

Glenn shakes his head. "We thought maybe they came back out here."

"What about T, Carol?" Hershel asks. Iris tenses as soon as the names leave his mouth, and she bites her lip to stifle another bout of sobs.

"They didn't make it." Daryl answers. His voice was gruff, and Iris could hear the genuine emotion in the words he spoke

"That doesn't mean the others didn't!" Rick insists. In the sunlight, Iris could see the blood that was running down the side of his face and onto his neck, making him look wild and a little crazed. "We're going back! Daryl and Glenn, you come with me..."

But he was interrupted.

By the shrill, agitated cry of an infant.

She moves without even thinking about it, breaking away from Glenn and turning around before she could stop herself. Her hands shook as she held them to her face, tilting her head when she saw Maggie and Carl step into the courtyard from the other side of the prison.

In Maggie's arms, was a pink newborn baby still covered in blood, wrapped up in a towel. Maggie was shivering, holding the baby as her bottom lip quivers, clutching the child close to her chest. Carl was staring at the ground, his hands clenched into fists, not looking up, even when Rick turns around and walks towards Maggie and the babe in her arms.

Iris coughs a little, tilting her head as she tries to figure out what the hell was going on. Lori had her baby. Maggie was holding Iris' niece or nephew in her arms, covered in blood and Lori was gone.

Rick drops his gun on the ground, stumbling over to Maggie. "Where is... where is she?"

When Maggie doesn't immediately answer, her lip still quivering in upset, Rick pushes away, trying to enter the prison. Maggie turns to her side and closes her eyes. "No, Rick, don't!"

Iris unconsciously takes a few more steps forward, taking short and sudden breaths in shock as she stares at the baby. It was small, so small, its head buried into Maggie's chest as the cries continued to echo through the courtyard.

Rick sobs. A real, gut wrenching sob that makes Iris wince as she pushes more tears out of her eyes. He looks at Carl, leaning down as he stares into his face. Carl didn't respond, still staring at the ground, blinking tears from his eyes that fell on the concrete, mixing with a puddle of blood. Rick holds a hand to his head. "Oh no.... No! No!"

As Rick sobs, Iris stumbles forward, meeting Maggie halfway. Her hands subconsciously reach out, still shaking, as she brushes her fingers over the baby's soft head. She felt its breaths against her hand, and her mouth opened to say something to Maggie, anything. She knew what the implications were.

Lori was gone, and Maggie had delivered the baby.

However, no words came out, and she weeps, crying openly and without thought. It was a silent bawl, like the realisation that her sister-in-law was dead had snatched all of the air out of her lungs. Maggie cries more, her hands shaking so much it was surprising that the baby in her arms didn't fall out. Iris slowly takes the baby out of Maggie's arms, cradling the child in her grip, rocking it back and forth.

She stares down at the baby's face, at the blood stained across her body and the umbilical cord which had been severed off. She was perfect. Her little face looks up at Iris, blinking as she experiences the light of the sun for the very first time. Her weight was strong against Iris' arms, her limbs wriggling around as her little mouth opened and closed.

Iris had a niece.

Glenn comes up behind her, and Iris turns around, still rocking the baby in her arms as her emotions completely overtook her. Glenn brushes his fingers over the baby's cheek, before he reaches towards Iris and wipes some of her tears away, stroking her hair and letting her limply hang against his chest.

"No..!"

Rick drops to the ground, his knees weak as he continues to blubber.

Lori Grimes was gone.

But a beautiful baby girl had arrived.

Chapter Text

THE BABY SHIFTED IN HER ARMS.

She hadn't stopped crying, a high pitched, pitiless shriek that rang in her ears just as loud as the alarm that had rung out only moments before. The infant was small, maybe even the smallest baby she had ever cradled in her arms. Iris closes her eyes, rocking the child carefully as she tries her best to soothe her but Iris was far from the girl's mother, and no matter what she did, the baby still whines, as if she could sense the pain and the mournfulness in the air.

It was a horrible way to enter the world, amid so much loss and horror and pain. It was the total opposite of what she deserved, to be greeted with so much happiness and love and excitement. Iris had been anticipating the first time she'd get to hold the little baby in her arms, imagining herself laughing as she bounced the child in her arms.

But she wasn't laughing now.

Her tears had dried, still streaked down her face like a ghost. She licks her lips, still struggling to speak through the build up of fluid in her throat, adjusting the crying baby in her arms. "Shh, shh."

Glenn was still hovering beside her, staring at the baby with the same shocked expression that beheld everyone in the courtyard. His hands shook as he softly touched her cheek again, as if he couldn't believe she was even real. Iris keeps softly making noises to the baby, but nothing she was doing was stopping her strangled cries.

Maggie stumbles away, her hands still shaking as she falls in between Hershel and Beth, allowing them to comfort her as she buries her head away from the baby.

She looks up at Glenn, finally meeting his eyes. They stare at each other in silence, the baby between them still loud and a yet silent reminder of all that they had lost. Rick was still staring into space, like he couldn't hear or see anything that was happening. He was grieving his wife, just the same as Carl was grieving his mother. However, Iris couldn't stand the thought of this precious little girl not knowing just how loved she was.

Iris lifts the baby higher, supporting her head as she holds her underneath the armpits. She raises the baby up, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead before she cradles her against her chest, whispering in her ear. "You are so special, you are so loved, you have so many people around you that love you. Shh, it's okay."

Daryl inches forward, slowly approaching Rick until he crouches down at his level, waving his hand in front of his face. "Rick, you with me? Rick?"

Rick doesn't even flinch.

Carl moves away from his spot, unclenching his fist as he looks up for the first time since exiting the prison without his mother. Iris gives him a sad smile, encouraging him to come closer. He nods as drifts towards the baby, staring at his little sister in a mix of pain and love. Iris pats her nephew on the shoulder, realising for the first time that he must've seen the birth of the baby, and whatever had happened to Lori during the labour. It was something no kid should ever have to experience, the death of his mother, and Iris felt her heart breaking all over again.

She lowers the baby a little, until Carl could clearly see her face. She was still distressed, but she wasn't crying as hard as she had been, almost as if she could sense the presence of her big brother and it was soothing her. Carl sniffles, holding up his hand almost robotically to touch the baby's cheek. She reacted to his touch, opening and closing her mouth like she was trying to speak.

"Let me see the baby." Hershel calls, watching as Iris handles the infant in her arms.

Daryl stands up, moving away from Rick. At this moment, Rick wasn't in his right mind, torn apart by grief and shock. Iris wasn't sure how much he was processing, not right now, and she could sense that he needed space. "What are we gonna feed it? We got anything a baby can eat?"

Iris bounces the baby one more time before she carefully places her in Carl's waiting arms, watching as he takes his little sister over to Hershel, who inspects her colour. "The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula. And soon, or she won't survive."

Iris licks her lips. This was wholly unanticipated, needing to hunt for baby formula to feed the newborn. Everyone was just expecting Lori to breastfeed her, but now Lori would never get the chance. The thought of the tiny little baby crying out in hunger because they had no access to food for her tugged at her heartstrings.

"No. No way." Daryl refuses. "Not her. We ain't losing nobody else. I'm going for a run."

"I'll back you up." Maggie says instantly, her voice more stable than it had been since walking out of the prison. Daryl nods at her in appreciation.

"Count me in." Iris adds, straightening up her shirt. She couldn't be here, she couldn't listen to her poor little niece cry for food that they didn't have. She needed to do something.

"I'll go too." Glenn says, taking Iris' hand and squeezing it tight.

"Okay, think where we're going." Daryl says, pointing at the three of them. He inclines his head towards Beth, speaking in a low voice. "Beth. Kid just lost his mom. His dad ain't doing so hot."

"I'll look out for him." Beth says. Iris smiles. Beth was incredibly sweet and kind-hearted, and when she set out to make someone feel better, she always succeeded. She was good that way.

In Rick's temporary absence, Daryl had taken charge, and he was already proving himself to be a great leader, prioritising what was necessary and designating tasks so that everyone had something useful to do.

Daryl points to Oscar and Axel. "You two get the fence. Too many pile up, we got ourselves a problem. Glenn, Iris, Maggie, vámonos!"

Iris checks the weapons on her belt, making sure they were both securely attached. She and Glenn start to follow Daryl towards the cars, but she turns around when she hears a clang behind her.

Rick had picked up the axe he had dropped on the ground, not saying a single word as he stalks off, towards the prison. Iris catches a glimpse of his eyes, wild and untamed, like a trapped animal that had finally been set free. She shivers.

"Rick!" Maggie calls, gritting her teeth, the guilt obvious on her face. Rick ignores her, walking right past her and disappearing into the darkness of the prison.

Iris sighs, playing with her fingers as she stares at the empty space where Rick had been. She didn't know what to do, or how to fix this. She didn't think that anything could fix this, at least not for a very long time. Rick needed to process what had happened, and so did everyone that was close to Lori. And Carol, and T-Dog.

Rick needed to shut down, but Iris needed to keep moving, or she'd lose herself completely.

"Get the gate." Daryl instructs. He looks at Glenn, Iris and Maggie "Come on, we're gonna lose the light."

Iris nods, glancing between Glenn and Maggie as the three of them follow Daryl in a line. There had to be formula somewhere, and Iris liked to think that it wasn't exactly in high demand these days, but she was mindful not to hope too much.

"There's a Piggly Wiggly on 85." Glenn offers, holding his hands on his hips as he walks.

Maggie shakes her head. "No, the baby section's been cleared. Lori asked me to keep an eye out. I haven't had much luck."

"Is there any place that hasn't been completely looted?" Daryl asks with a sigh.

"We could try houses. Big neighbourhoods, there's gotta be some that had young kids?" Iris suggests.

"We saw signs for a shopping center just north of here." Glenn adds, as they reach the silver car.

"Yeah, but there's too much debris on the road." Maggie scrunches up her face in thought, staring at the silver vehicle. "The car will never get through there."

Daryl shrugs, looking at his bike. "I can take one of you."

"I'll go." Iris and Maggie speak at the same time. They look at each other, carrying sheepish expressions.

Iris closes her eyes, leaning against the car. "Maggie, please. She's my niece, I've just- I've gotta save her."

"I want to help Lori." Maggie replies. She looks down at the ground, not quite meeting Iris' eyes.

"I can't listen to her cries without knowing that I did everything to help save her." Iris says. "Lori would want you to stay here, help out with taking care of her. I've gotta do this, I've gotta be the girl who can go out there and actually get something done. I'm begging you, Mags. Please."

Maggie nods, looking at her with vulnerable eyes. "Okay. For her."

Iris smiles, patting Maggie on the shoulder and giving her a small side hug before sniffing and turning to Glenn, taking his shoulders. "I'll be back soon. I promise. Can you take care of Carl for me? Make sure he's okay while I'm gone?"

Glenn kisses her on the cheek before he gives in and kisses her softly on the lips, taking both of her hands in his, bringing them to his chest. "Of course. I'll take care of him. Of all of them. Be safe, I love you."

"I love you too." Iris whispers, resting her forehead on his.

Glenn was the youngest person in his family.

He had grown up with two older sisters, one who was five when he was born and one who was seven. He had been told many times how overjoyed the two of them were when they found out they were getting a baby brother, they wanted to be involved in every step of the process. April, his oldest sister, had insisted that she be the one to pick the colours of his nursery and help his parents paint it. She had chosen a deep green that always reminded Glenn of a Christmas tree, a colour he had kept until he moved out of the house. His middle sister, Hazel, would read stories to him while he was in the womb (with help from their father considering she was five and couldn't actually read.)

He was convinced that it was his sisters that had made him into the person he was today. They taught him to be kind-hearted and happy, to respect everyone around him and above all, to never forget to love hard and unreservedly.

As he grew up, April and Hazel grew even more protective of him, patching up his scrapes and grazes that were practically a daily occurance the moment he knew how to walk, always climbing up trees and rolling down grassy hills like the reckless kid he was. They would finger paint with him and read him comic books until their voices were hoarse. He loved his parents, but it was his sisters that showed him what unconditional love felt like.

When he reached high school, both of his sisters were adults — nineteen and twenty one — but they still hovered over him, scared off any girl that came within a five mile radius of him because no one was good enough for their baby brother.

April and Hazel would've loved Iris.

She was everything they ever would've wanted for him. She was kind and playful and she loved him more than anything. She was a fierce protector, an incredible aunt and sister, and she would've fit in with them so well. He mourned what could've been, taking Iris home to Michigan, seeing her bond with April and Hazel, spending every other Christmas with them after he proposed, eventually taking their children to meet their aunts to watch them get spoiled.

Glenn had never been around babies that much. He was the last child of his parents, and the last grandchild of his grandparents, younger than all of his cousins, so he had never experienced what it was like holding a newborn baby, feeling them breathe against your chest, listening to every little noise they make like it was a miracle. Iris had described how it felt, holding such a tiny human in your arms, and how much she craved it.

Glenn had never fully understood it, until now.

Lori's baby girl rested in his arms, wriggling her legs through the constraint of the jumpsuit that Maggie had changed her into. Luckily, baby clothes were something they were stocked up on and had in bulk.

"Hi, there." He says to her softly, even if he isn't old enough to understand his words. "I'm Glenn, I'm kinda your uncle now. It's nice to meet you."

The baby coos in response, flapping her arms as she learns how to control her limbs. She was still crying on and off, begging for food the only way she knew how, but right now, she was quiet, staring up at Glenn with her big bright innocent eyes.

"Your auntie Iris is gonna take care of you." Glenn says, rocking the baby gently. "She's out there right now, getting milk for you. To keep you safe."

He'd never spoken to a baby before, but in a way, speaking to this little girl and reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. She was so small, so vulnerable, so young. He couldn't imagine being this small once.

"She's a healthy one." Hershel says. Glenn looks up. The people in the group that was left — a heartbreakingly low number — were gathered around the tables, waiting for Iris and Daryl to come back from their run for milk. Apart from Glenn's quiet mutterings to the baby, they sat in silence, just biding their time. "Strong, despite it all."

"She's gonna be a fighter." Glenn smiles, stroking the baby's cheek again. He looks at Carl, who was sat beside him, playing with his fingers as he watches his sister. His eyes were wet and red-rimmed, and he hadn't spoken a word since Rick had left, going to who knows where in some corner of this prison.

Rick had been gone for a long time. So long that Glenn had started to dig the three graves of some of the people who he had been with since the start. T-Dog, Carol, Lori.

It felt too much, putting your own people in the ground. In the end, he had handed his shovel over to Axel and Oscar, knowing that he would fall apart if he kept going and there were too many people that needed him.

He couldn't stop thinking about Iris and her face when Maggie stepped out of the prison, holding that baby in her arms. Glenn saw her face pale, her eyes dart around as she searched in anguish for a person who she would never lay eyes on again. While he felt helpless, watching Iris stumble forwards towards the crying infant, and it was like a snap of a finger that all of her grief was pushed aside the moment that baby was put in her arms. Iris loved her family more than anything, and Lori was a huge part of that family, and even if things hadn't been great, she was a devastating loss. Iris would do everything she could to try and take the pressure away from Rick and Carl, no matter what it did to her own mental state. Glenn knew Iris, and he understood how her mind worked. She would struggle with this, even if it wasn't in the obvious, expected ways that people grieve. Because Iris didn't do things in the obvious, expected way.

He needed to keep a close eye on her.

Iris was so similar to her family in so many ways. She was hard-headed and protective like Rick, feeling it all with every inch of her body and taking the brunt of her pain and forcing it aside for the sake of others. She was compassionate and impulsive like Carl, going above and beyond for the people that she cared about, risking it at all sometimes without actually thinking about the consequences. She was caring and involved like Lori, taking care of the people around her with a softness that so deeply juxtaposed her impulsiveness and her hard-headedness, a learned trait that would make her an incredible mother one day.

The Grimes' were complicated, but they were just as intricately connected to one another in ways that Glenn wasn't sure he'd ever be able to fully understand. Right now, Rick's suffering was all of their sufferings, and it pained Glenn to imagine them falling apart because of this, after everything. Glenn couldn't help but feel the deep need to try and do something to ease that suffering, even just by a little bit.

"Here, Carl." Glenn says, very carefully passing the baby into Carl's waiting arms, standing up as he ran his hands over his face. "I'm going after Rick."

He didn't get a response, but he wasn't waiting for one.

As Glenn steps out of the silent room, walking through the cell blocks with determination. He couldn't do much to stop the fact that Rick and Carl and Iris had to go through such a level of grief that had become normality. Everyone had lost family, everyone had to go through such terrible grief and still be forced to survive through it. When Glenn realised that his parents and April and Hazel were all probably gone, all he felt was numb.

But when it came to Rick and Carl and Iris, it felt different.

He had the feeling that he knew exactly where Rick had gone.

Lori had died in the boiler room of the prison, in a corridor that was supposed to be clear. It was all because of one person, one prisoner that they had lost three of their own, and nothing would be the same again. They had killed every walker in the courtyard, but walkers still lurked in the halls, a merciless reminder of what they had lost.

The path to the boiler room was carnage. At almost every step, there was another body, brutalised and bloody, like whoever had killed them had taken care and time to make the scene look as horrific and as humiliated as possible. It seemed like Rick was hellbent on revenge, and since he couldn't go after the man who had let the walkers go, he was using the undead as scapegoats, like he was using each and every body as a placeholder for Andrew. The man who had stolen everything from him.

As Glenn stares at each individual body, tiptoeing through the dark hallway in silence, he can't imagine Rick Grimes taking the very same steps as him, doing these things in the height of his grief. This was the very same man that Iris had told him so many stories about when she spoke of her childhood. The one who tucked her in at night, who picked her up from school, who gave her piggyback rides when her legs were tired. How could he have done all of this?

But he had.

Glenn was expecting to find Rick in the boiler room already, but as he turns a corner, he found him, facing a wall and clutching his axe so tight in his hand that his fist was red and it wasn't from blood.

Glenn hovers for a moment, just staring. Rick looked like a statue, not even moving an inch, barely even breathing through a haze of rage and sorrow. Glenn takes a step forward, soft, afraid of scaring him while he was like this. He clears his throat, blinking as he tries to find his words. "Rick? Everybody's worried about you. You shouldn't be in here."

For a moment, Rick did nothing. Then, robotically like a figurine, he turns around, revealing his blood splattered face. His eyes were open but they were unseeing, like he had been transported to some other reality because anything was better than living in this one.

"Come on out." Glenn soothes, approaching Rick slowly. Rick keeps staring him down, but it wasn't the Rick he knew. He didn't know who he was.

Glenn swallows thickly, trying to ignore the scent of decaying bodies that surrounded him. "Rick. You don't have to do this all by yourself. Okay? Our cell block is cleared. We'll just close off all the doors again. Rick, why don't you just go with me? Okay?"

He reaches his arm out, hoping that the touch of a friend could help snap him out of the daze that had overwhelmed him. However, as soon as his fingers brush over the edge of Rick's shirt, calling his name one final time, Rick snaps his head up.

As fast as lightning, Rick slams Glenn backwards into the wall. The force of it knocks the wind out of him, combined with the shock of the sudden movement. Rick's hands pressed against his chest, his heavy breaths utterly unfamiliar, like he had been possessed by an entirely different being all together. Glenn raises his hands the best he can, controlling the tone and volume of his voice as he looks at Rick, doing everything he could to try and get the man to recognise him.

It felt like hours that he was pinned up against the wall, but it only lasted seconds. There was a flash where Glenn genuinely feared for his life, but Rick came to his senses relatively fast. He slowly lets go of his hold on Glenn, until he finally felt like he could breathe comfortably. Glenn relaxes, nodding his head, keeping his movements as small and predictable as possible.

"Yeah... yeah... It's me." He whispers.

Rick was even more messed up than he could've ever expected.

Iris hadn't ever rode on the back of a motorcycle before.

Strangely enough, it felt exactly like the way they portrayed it in the movies. Her hair flew behind her, the wind batting against her face even though Daryl was sitting right in front of her. The bike went fast, even more so than any car she had ever been in, or at least it felt that way, and the trees zoomed past them like they had never even existed, watching them go by in a flash as they prepared for their mission. It was relieving, refreshing, feeling the coolness of the wind on her face, and while she breathed in the outside as it passed her by.

She felt selfish, knowing that she was enjoying the journey despite the reasons that she was forced on it. But she couldn't lose herself to grief, not when there was a baby that needed her. Lori was important to her, and there would be time to process what her loss meant to her once the precious little girl had enough food that they didn't have to worry about finding her next meal.

That's what Lori would want.

Daryl brings the bike to a slow stop, putting his feet on the ground as he turns the key, wrapping it around his fingers as he steps off of the bike. Iris follows his lead, letting her feet drop to the ground as she looks around their new environment. It wasn't the shopping mall that they had planned to go to, but a small building with a park on its front lawn. It was another abandoned site that brought a shiver to her spine, imagining how many kids had played in this very spot in the past, wondering what had become of them now.

"What's this?" Iris asks. Daryl glances at her. He was a quiet person, something that Iris had come to respect, especially on their hunts together when silence was necessary to catch dinner.

Daryl wasn't one to talk about his emotions, but Iris found herself comforted by his presence anyway. He didn't need words, the pure fact that he was here, risking his life to find formula for Lori's baby, that spoke a thousand words for him.

"Looks like a nursery." Daryl replies. "It's a helluva lot closer than that mall. Worth checkin' out."

"That's a good point." Iris says, moving her arm forward to touch against the swingset. "I used to love going on the swings when I was a kid."

Daryl clenches his jaw. "Come on."

Iris shares his need to get this over with as fast as possible. She nods, not saying anything in reply as she walks forward, careful with her steps as she keeps an eye out for walkers. The place seemed quiet, untouched by the damage that plagued all of society. It almost seemed like the nursery had managed to keep its innocence through it all.

It was poetic.

She walks up to the window, glancing back at Daryl before she takes a look inside. Her suspicions were confirmed: the nursery was abandoned but unchanged. The cribs were still in the same spot they had been since before the world ended, based on the layers of dust on the floor. There was mess, but it felt like the mess of children happily playing rather than the mess brought on by looting or panic.

If it weren't for the phantom feeling of holding that baby in her arms and listening to her desperate cries, Iris would've felt bad about smashing the window to get in.

The noise was loud, and she winces hearing the shatter of glass. However, Daryl was still outside and he had her back, like he would always have her back. She grunts as she pulls herself up by the arms, crawling through the hole that she had made in the glass, and jumping down into the room. As her feet touched the ground, dust settled around her. It was likely she was the first person to set foot in this nursery for the better part of a year.

She creeps forward, still not hearing any other noise apart from her own breaths. As if by some miracle, the place was untouched.

If Iris was a more faithful person, she might've thought that Lori had sent them the gift from above.

She turns around and whistles, her signal to Daryl that the nursery was clear and he could make his way inside. It was only moments later that Daryl crawled through the window, looking around with the same amazement that she had seeing how still the building was.

There were handprints on the walls, each one labelled with a child's name, written proudly in clear text. Lori didn't get the chance to name her daughter, but Iris stared at each name and imagined it being the baby's name. Daryl was staring at the wall too, his gaze focused on one single name.

Sofie.

He turns his head to look at her, realising that she was staring at him. He clears his throat, walking away from the wall as he opens and closes cupboards.

Iris crouches, spotting a cupboard on the ground, close to the cribs. She carefully opens the wooden doors, her eyes lighting up when she sees the loot. A pack of unopened bottles and enough diapers to last them a good few weeks. She grins, swinging her backpack off of her back and stuffing it full with supplies.

Once they were sure that the first room had no formula, they moved on to the next. Iris never would've pictured herself doing something like this when the apocalypse first broke out. She was different, then. Weaker, softer.

Easier to kill.

The nursery had a small kitchen, probably for staff to make food and to make bottles up for the babies they looked after. It was promising, except for the rattling and the motion that was coming from the pantry, behind the closed door. The pantry wasn't big enough to walk in, which meant whatever was in there was small. Really small.

Iris and Daryl share a look.

They were good at silent communication now, and Iris knew exactly what Daryl wanted her to do. With a thick grunt, she walks over to the door, her hands hovering over the handle before she just pulls it open, refusing to look at what was inside until Daryl shot his crossbow and it stopped moving.

It was a possum.

Iris relaxes instantly, standing up and wiping a stray tear that had fallen as Daryl chuckles, picking up the possum by the tail.

"Hello, dinner."

Iris scoffs, but not in annoyance. "Well, it may be better than a severed hand, but it's not going near my niece's food."

Daryl shrugs and stuffs the animal into his own bag. Iris turns around and opens the doors to the raised cupboards in the kitchen.

Inside, there were dozens of baby formula tins.

"Daryl Dixon, you're a genius." Iris says, furiously dropping every single tin into her bag and putting it firmly on her back. She still felt heavy, but there was a newfound spark of hope. "An absolute genius."

Daryl brushes her off. "Yeah, yeah. Come on. We gotta go now if we wanna make it back before morning."

It was nightfall by the time Iris and Daryl rode up the road that led to the prison. The wind in her hair had gone from feeling comforting to chilling, the cold air making her shiver. In her haste to leave, she didn't bring a jacket, and the speed of the bike only made the night feel colder. However, the knowledge that they were finally going to be able to feed the baby made it all worth it.

Glenn was in the watch tower as they sped onto the prison grounds, shooting down any walker that came close to them. Daryl parks the bike up, not caring where as long as it was on their side of the fence, and the two of them stand up just as Glenn reaches them, panting from his sprint to get down from the tower.

"Did you get it?" Glenn asks, his eyes heavy with concern even in the dark of night.

Iris nods, patting her bag. "Yeah. We got it."

They didn't waste time. Iris practically ran into the prison, opening the bar doors to Cell Block C with such haste that they clanged against the door, making everyone inside jump from the unexpected noise. Daryl and Glenn were right behind her, sighing in relief as the cries of the infant reached their ears.

She was distressed, but at least she was alive.

Iris drops her backpack on the nearest table, ducking down in front of Carl, who was holding his sister with a new look in his eyes. Iris recognised it. She saw it in Rick everytime he looked at her, the unique gaze of an older brother staring at his baby sister, vowing silently to protect her for life.

She closes her eyes, taking in the baby's warmth. Her head subconsciously reaches up to stroke the baby's soft hair, listening to her cries and watching the tears fall down her face. It was devastating, like the infant was already grieving the mother she'd never get to know.

"Maggie. Beth." Iris says, looking up at the Greene girls and soundlessly asking them to make up a bottle using the formula that they found. Both girls nod immediately, running over to Iris' bag and taking out the supplies.

"How's she doing?" Daryl asks. His voice was softer than Iris knew he could muster, slowly reaching down to the take the infant from Carl with ease. The baby rested against the muscles in his arms, her tiny figure contrasting Daryl's in a way that was strange but incredibly sweet. As Daryl waits for a bottle, he bounces the baby. "Shh. Shh..."

Iris sniffles, finally letting her body slump as she lets herself feel all of the exhaustion that riddled through her body. Glenn was beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist and letting her drop her head on his shoulder, watching Maggie hand Daryl the bottle with tears building up in her eyes.

Daryl takes the bottle, carefully positioning it into the baby's mouth. "Come on. Come on."

The baby latches onto the bottle right away, her crying subsiding in an instant, replaced by content sucking. The atmosphere lifted a little as they watched the baby eat, knowing that even after a day of loss and pain and suffering, they had still managed to provide for the tiny life that was bundled up in Daryl's arms.

This was a baby that was loved by many.

Daryl chuckles, looking up from his admiration of the infant. "She got a name yet?"

Iris perks up, interested.

Carl shakes his head. "Not yet. But I was thinking maybe Sofia. Then there's Carol, too." Carl sighs, looking around the room as he lists their dead, any number of them being suitable names to honour a baby with. "Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or... Lori. I don't know."

Her heart twinges at Carl's last suggestion. This was something that was going to be difficult for a long time, maybe even forever. She could only hope that there would come a time where things could be easier.

Daryl chuckles again, smiling down at the baby cheekily. "You like that? Huh? Little ass kicker. Right? That's a good name, right? Little ass kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart?"

Iris smiles against Glenn's shoulder. It was a fitting name for the little girl who she knew, deep down in her heart, would make it.

Little ass kicker would live to see a better future.

Even if she had to give her blood, sweat and tears to make it happen.

Chapter Text

THERE WERE THREE GRAVES DUG FOR LORI, T-DOG AND CAROL.

They remained empty, as none of the bodies of their lost friends were salvageable, torn apart like animals. The walkers hadn't given them any flicker of mercy, leaving nothing behind, unable to put their loved ones in the ground to rest in death. T-Dog had risked everything to close off the courtyard, and for it his flesh and bones were eaten by the undead, leaving only his shirt in their wake. Carol had disappeared, likely befallen the same fate as T-Dog if her blood stained scarf had anything to say about it.

No one had been able to get to the boiler room where Lori died. Rick was ferociously guarding the entire hallway leading up to it, and no one could coax him away.

The warm sun rose over the prison only a couple hours after Iris and Daryl rode back into its heavily armed walls, with a backpack full of powdered formula and baby bottles. The baby may have been fed and changed, but babies cried a lot, and she would wake up multiple times through the night for food and reassurance. Iris took it upon herself to get up when the newborn cried, to soothe her distress and rock her back to sleep as carefully as possible. Glenn kept her company, even though she told him he didn't have to keep waking up alongside her to watch her stroke the baby's hair as she hummed softly.

Neither of them got much sleep, a couple hours here and there, but Iris wasn't going to get much sleep that night anyway. Not when Lori was dead and Rick was losing his mind in grief, pushing everyone away as he stared at the blank grey walls. Not when Carl was in his own cell, probably lying awake, dealing with the inexplicable loss of a parent, which was hard enough for any kid, but even worse when you had to witness it happen with your very own eyes, and when you had to be the one to raise your gun and end it. Not when there was an infant that had lost her mother before she ever got the chance to be held by her.

Maggie had been forced to cut the little girl out of Lori's belly. It was an unexpected complication, one that may have even happened if they hadn't been attacked viciously by Andrew and his army of walkers. Carl was born through C-section too, however, surrounded by doctors and nurses in a hospital full of drugs and medicine, and even that was a difficult birth.

Maggie told her what had happened in that boiler room, teary eyed and guilt-stricken, the moment the baby was put down to sleep. Iris had taken her friend by the shoulder and brought her into a hug, feeling her own tears sting in the corners of her eyes as she promised Maggie that she could never, ever blame her. In the smallest of whispers, Maggie had told her something that tilted her whole world upside down.

After the baby was born, Carl was the one who shot Lori in the head.

She didn't know what to do with that.

In the blink of an eye, everything had changed. Crumbled around her like ash from a volcano, and she had been stupid enough to become one of those people who just watched the smoke rise, oblivious to the suffering that was about to coat everything she had ever known in a layer of igneous rock, never to be the same again.

Glenn was sleeping beside her now, squashed next to her on the bottom bunk in their cell. The baby was sleeping soundly, making Iris the only person in the room that was awake. She blinks her bright blue eyes open, trying to shake off any tiredness that overcame her, listening to Glenn and the baby's soft breathing through the haze of sleep. It was daytime now, but no one particularly felt the need to get up early to get things done. Not today. Usually, there was a shuffle of movement. Carol and Lori laughing quietly to one another, T-Dog preparing the breakfast foods for when everyone woke up.

But now they were all dead.

Iris sighs as she gently unhooks Glenn's arm from around her stomach, letting it fall softly against the bedsheets as she sits up. She leans her head down, avoiding the top of the bed as she runs her hands over her face. She stands up, leaving Glenn and the baby behind as she wanders out of the cell.

She wasn't sure where she was going, or why she felt the need to walk around when all she wanted to do was curl up and cry. Her footsteps felt heavy, like it was an effort to move her legs, but she kept going, until she had found herself outside. It was very early morning, the sky still coated with a layer of orange and pink, and despite the rising sun, there was a chill in the air.

Despite the fact that there were no bodies to bury, the three graves were in a line on the edge of the grassy courtyard. There had been many bodies in this prison, both on the land outside and within the walls inside, yet these were the only graves here. Decorated with three crosses, carefully nailed together and rooted into the ground, the empty holes buried over with dirt.

Iris falls down to her knees, dropping her hands down on her lap as she stares at the three places of burial. She closes her eyes, licking her chapped lips. Her tongue runs over the small cut that was still there, barely feeling the pain of it anymore.

They had spent eight months on the road and they hadn't lost a single person. Eight months of running and scavenging and struggling to survive, and they hadn't lost a single person.

One week in an armed, formidable prison, and three of their own were dead.

She opens her eyes, scanning over the three crosses one more time, giving her friends one final sad smile.

"I'm sorry." She whispers. "I'm sorry this happened to you."

"What's she doing?"

Iris leans against her chair, tucking a strand of loose hair behind her ear. She hadn't brushed it today, meaning that it was even thicker and more frizzy than usual. She tilts her head, leaning closer to Carl and the baby that was nestled in his arms. She smiles, stroking her cheek as she realised what the baby was trying to do. "She's trying to reach out for your finger. Look."

Iris slowly guides Carl's finger towards the baby's open hand, making sure to support her head as Carl takes one of his hands away. As soon as his finger touches the baby's little hand, it curls around, gripping Carl's finger tightly. She coos, like she was trying to speak to her big brother even though she didn't know how.

Carl takes in a big inhale, a smile building on his lips. "She's so strong."

"Babies are stronger than you think." Iris replies. She scrunches her nose, softly tickling the infant's little stomach. "Especially this one."

"My mom would've been so proud of her." Carl says, still letting the baby grip his finger like it was her lifeline.

Iris puts her hand around Carl's shoulders, looking at her niece and nephew in slight awe. He was handling this extremely well and with a maturity that exceeded his age, holding his baby sister in his arms in a way that Iris imagined Rick did when she was born. "Yeah. She'd be proud of you, too."

Carl shrugs, and Iris moves her hands off of his shoulders as he sighs, looking up at her and shaking her. "I shot her."

"I know." Iris says, giving him a small, sad smile as she strokes his dark hair. The way he said the words, so bluntly yet carrying so much weight, made her want to wrap him up in a soft blanket and shield him from any harm. He shoots his head up, looking at her with a stark vulnerability in his eyes. She softens. "Maggie told me."

Carl doesn't reply, forcing his attention back to the baby, rocking her back and forth gently.

"You're so brave." Iris adds. Carl tenses up as she speaks, but she can see the subtle shake of his head. "I'm just sorry that you had to see it. That you had to do it. I'm proud of you."

"I've never seen dad that upset before." Carl keeps speaking in a small voice, not averting his eyes from the infant. "What if he never forgives me?"

"Impossible." Iris says, her firm answer overlapping Carl's question in her haste to reassure him. "He's not mad at you. Not for this. Not ever for this. I promise you that. He's... dealing. In his own way, I guess."

Rick hadn't left the hallway outside the boiler room since yesterday, and as much as she had to convince Carl that his father would be alright, she really didn't know what was going to happen. She had never seen Rick like that either, completely overcome by grief and anguish, so much so that his mind had been overwhelmed by a wild, animalistic sense of being, pacing the walls as he guarded Lori's body.

Rick hadn't even met his daughter yet.

Iris wanted to go in there and try to talk him out of his instinct driven haze. She wanted to go in there and find her older brother, give him a hug and lead him back into the light. She wanted to snap him out of it, to force him to comfort his son and hold his daughter, but she knew that Rick needed his space if she wanted him to process this properly.

She had the sneaking suspicion that something had happened between Rick and Glenn while she was gone. When she brought up the fact that she was considering going to try and talk to him, Glenn had shot up in bed, begging her not to go. He refused to tell her why he was so concerned, but Iris could see right through him.

It was probably best to let Rick come to them when he was ready.

Carl hums. "I hope he comes back soon. I want him to meet my little sister."

"So do I." Iris says. She looks down at the baby girl, studying her precious and innocent face, staring up at her and Carl in wonder. "I guess we can't keep calling her 'the baby' forever."

"I wanted to wait until dad came back, but..." Carl bites the inside of his cheek, considering it. "But I've been thinking..."

"Yeah?" Iris asks, the corners of her mouth upturning.

"When I was in the third grade, I had that teacher. Mrs. Mueller. Remember her?"

Iris chuckles. "I remember her well. I had her when I was in the third grade, too. She got me through a lot when I was a kid."

"Her name was Judith." Carl explains, playing with the baby's hands. "I can run it by dad when he gets back, but I don't know. I thought it would be nice."

"Judith." Iris echoes, feeling the name roll of her tongue. Carl was right, the name did feel right. It was a name just for her, honouring someone they once knew without it overshadowing her own individuality. "I don't think your dad can argue with that."