[Outfit Above]
S5 Ep: 14 "Spend"

Everyone on the run team was preparing for our run, Aiden and Noah were once again trying to console Eugene as he attempted to back out of coming with us. He knew more about what we were setting out to really get hence why he was needed. I shook my head and walked out of the storage beside Tara as she tossed a bag to Noah to put in the van. "Heard you talking to Holly last night. What's her story?" The short-haired brunette mused with a hand on her hip, I looked at Noah expectantly with a small smirk.

"Why do you ask?" He questioned back causing Tara to shrug. "No reason." Noah looked at me and I couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't let her fool you. She wants to know, Every. Single. Detail. Ever." Tara scoffed and swatted my arm. Noah laughed and turned around walking back towards the storage. "It's an innocent question. Don't make me hurt you." Tara teased with pursed lips as she put her hands on his shoulders jumping after him.

I shook my head amusedly watching the two before turning towards my parents who stood on the side watching as we all loaded up. "I don't like this." My dad argues with a deep frown. "Dad, I've been doing runs since Atlanta. I'll be fine." Looking at me for a moment before cupping my face in her hands my mom smiled softly. "We know you will. Be safe." I smiled back "Always." I gave them both a hug and stepped back as Glenn came over to my side.

"Aiden wants to head out." I nodded and looked back at my parents. "We'll be back. Love you" The two of us walked away from my parents and climbed into the back of the van. I sat on the ground and leaned against Glenn who sat next to me while Tara and Noah both sat on our bags. Tara fiddled with her gun and looked back at Noah. "So, seriously, though, what's her story?" Noah continued twisting on his silencer seemingly about to answer before Aiden started blasting music.

"Great, another mix." Noah pointed out, we all shrugged at each other not knowing what to say. Tara hid her face in her hands causing me to chuckle. "Helps draw them away." Noah leaned back against the walls of the van and looked around at the three of us who were older than him. "This some kind of club-rave music?" Tara shrugged and turned towards me, my jaw dropped as

I looked up meeting her and Noah's awaiting eyes. "Wha-why are you asking me?" Tara shrugged innocently again. "Cause Glenn wouldn't know." Glenn looked up at her with his face scrunched in offense. "Hey!" I rolled my eyes and looked back at her and Noah. "I will have you know I was a good child. I didn't go to clubs or anything, the occasional bar yes but no hardcore partying. That would have been my brother."

Beside me, Glenn laughed "When he got caught...whew it was fun to see him try to lie to your parents." Noah's brows knitted. "Why?" I played with my locket as I answered. "Marcus was not known for being a good liar. At all." Tara laughed lightly before changing the topic. "What's it like seeing your parents again?" My eyes drifted away in thought and I smiled softly. "It's amazing. I mean we all never thought we would see our families again..it--it still kinda feels unreal."

The three of us continued talking on and off for the rest of the ride until we pulled outside of the warehouse. "That's it there?" Tara asked as she clicked her mag back in. "That's the warehouse. Looks like that door is our fastest way in and out." Aiden decided shortly but most of us disagreed. "We should check for any other exits in case something happens." Nicholas scoffed at my words with a smug grin. "Already got one. It's called going out the front." I shared a knowing look with Glenn. "Noah heads up." Tara warned and we all turned to see a lone walker heading towards us until Noah took it out with one lone shot.

"Got it." I high fived him as he grinned proudly. Aiden handed us both rifles as he smirked at Noah. "Look at you with the aim." He turned around back towards the van and grabbed his own rifle. "Aubree's right, we should do a perimeter check. Know our exits just in case." Everyone split and went out doing a perimeter, Noah, Glenn and I stayed together while Tara went with Eugene and Aiden and Nicholas stayed together.

"It was good aim back there." Glenn commended Noah who smiled lightly. "Aubree's target practice helped. Actually, last week, I was pretty close to practicing on Aiden." The three of us laughed. "Me, too, man." I grinned and added onto Glenn. "I think we all were." The three of us kept walking but started to speed up when we heard groans. The front of the warehouse was blocked off by walkers. Glenn sighed heavily. "Well, we're not getting out the front." I turned around and gestured back towards where we came with my head. "Come on"

Finding no other available entrances, we opened the side door by the van, Glenn and Aiden were first to the door with Noah and I behind them. Glenn hit his hand on the wall causing a rippling effect to sound out through the building. Aiden impatiently held his rifle up and pushed himself next to Glenn. "Give it another second. It's a big place." Glenn whispered with his hand up signaling us all to stay back. "There could be some inside."  Aiden looked at him. "So let's say they are. Let's move. Let's be safe." Glenn nodded once. "All right."

He pulled out his gun and flashlight and led our group with Aiden directly beside him, we all followed in with our weapons raised. Nicholas and Aiden took one isle while Tara, Noah, and Eugene followed after us. "Tara." I whispered. "Yeah?" She called back. "You got this one?" She nodded. "I got this aisle." Glenn and I continued to lead our group with Aiden and Nicholas now behind us too. I heard something clanking in the distance, I quickly held my hand up telling everyone to stop and be quiet. 

"They're stuck behind something." Glenn decided in a hushed whisper. Aiden leaned closer to us. "How do you know?" He asked and Glenn shook his head. "I don't."

"But they're not here." Glenn glanced at me before looking around again. "All right." He looked back at Aiden. "Hey, let's go. Eyes up." We moved along the aisle making a left and going straight until loud snarling pulled us to a stop. Walkers jumped against a metal fence as our flashlights settled on them. I took a step back and followed the lines of the fence making sure there were no breaks or anything in it. "It's clear." 

"You know your stuff." Aiden praised with widened eyes. "We were out there a long time." Tara said from the other side as she looked at the fences. "There could be more." Glenn warned and Aiden nodded. "Let's get to work."  Tara and Eugene took one side of an aisle while Noah, Glenn, and I took the other. "We found em'" Tara whispered happily. "Alright Eugene" Glenn applauded but our happiness was short-lived.

I looked over the boxes towards the front of the warehouse where an armed walker was walking towards Aiden who kept firing silenced shots at it. "It's got armor. Let it come closer." Glenn stated but Aiden didn't stop. "I got it." He called back and shot the walker in the leg causing it to drop on its back as he kept shooting it. I grabbed Glenn's arm out of fear when my eyes set on the walker's chest armor. "Glenn. There's a grenade."

The two of us quickly rushed around a few boxes and frantically tried to call out to Aiden telling him to stop but he didn't listen even for a second. He shot the damn grenade. Glenn wrapped both of his arms around me, pulling me into him and ducking behind the boxes. I groaned from the impact of the grenade sending us backwards, Glenn carefully pulled himself up and lifted me next. "You okay?" I nodded through a cough. "You?" He nodded and we both picked up our flashlights and walked forward shining them over where Aiden last was.

Aiden had gotten sent backwards into a shelf that was holding him up from two different parts sticking out of him. "Oh, God. Oh, God." Nicholas groaned. "He's dead." I held my gun up at the sound of walkers around us, I looked back and saw they were coming from the cage. "Noah? Tara? Eugene?" Glenn called out as we both looked around, as I turned back Noah was there cringing from the bright light. "You good?" He asked us and Glenn nodded. "Yeah. Cage is open. They're getting out."

"We need to find--" I started with heavy breaths but was cut off by another voice. "Here. Over here. I need Aubree." At his words I felt my heart drop worriedly, I looked around the boxes trying to find a way to see their side. I caught a glimpse of Tara on the ground, her head was all bloody and she seemed to be asleep. " Eugene, is she breathing?" He didn't answer. "Eugene!" I called again with more force. "I-- I can't tell from right here."  The snarling around us started to get louder. "They're getting close." Nicholas panicked. "Walker. Walker." Eugene breathed out fearfully. I looked through the boxes to see a lone walker heading towards him. "Eugene, it's yours. Take it out." Glenn told him, it seemed like he was about to when another walker jumped him and knocked him down.

Glenn climbed through the boxes to help him while Noah and I went around taking out the walker that jumped him while Glenn took out the other. He turned around and gestured across the room. "Get to that office. I'll get Tara." I looked at him hesitantly, Eugene had already made a run for it but Noah stayed beside me. "Go!" Glenn ushered and I inevitably gave in. He came to the office behind us with an unconscious Tara in his arms, he laid her down on the desk and I started to check her out.

"How's she doing?" He asked worriedly. "She has serious head trauma and she's losing blood fast." I explained as I used a towel to hold against the gash on her head to try and at least slow the bleeding. "How do we stop it?" I look up at him with my brows knitted. "I'd need the medkit." Nicholas turned around from looking out the office windows. "Medkit. That was in Aiden's pack. It got blown to hell." Glenn looked back at me. "There's another one in the van."

Eugene looked down at Tara and helped me apply the pressure to her head. "She's on her way out." He alarmed and I looked at Glenn determinedly. "We need to get her there." He nodded. "All right, we'll get her there."

"Help! Somebody!" Aiden called out from his place stuck in the warehouse, the walkers heard him and a few stumbled away from the office. "Oh, Jesus." Nicholas whispered in horror. "He's alive?" Nicholas looked out the window at his friend. "I checked him. I-- I thought--"

"We've got to get him." Noah said. "It's gonna take at least three of us." Glenn summed up and Noah looked back to Eugene and I. "We got that kind of time?" I went to answer but Nicholas freaked. "We pull Aiden off there, we could kill him." I shook my head about to speak again but Noah glared back at him. "So you're saying we leave him?"  I shook my head. "If I help you he might have a fighting chance." Beside me, Eugene spoke up. "Go, save him." Everyone looked back at him shocked at his tone of voice. "She'd do it. I know she would. I'll stay with her. I'll keep her safe, I assure you. I will."

Glenn looked at me. "If we get him off you think you could keep him alive until we get back?" I shrugged nervously. "I can try." He thought for a moment before deciding. He gestured towards Noah, himself, and I. "All right, we'll knock 'em back. You still have that flare?" He asked Nicholas who nodded and started to reach into his backpack. "Yeah."

I handed off the main pressure of the rag on Tara to Eugene and waited by Glenn's side as he stood next to the door. "You fire the flare over the shelves. That'll draw some of them over." Glenn grabbed the handle as Noah and I readied ourselves. "All right, we're gonna hit the rest hand to hand." I pulled out my matching machetes. "You ready?" We all nodded and breathed out a quiet 'yeah'. "One, two, three." Glenn shoved open the door and we ran towards Aiden taking out walkers in our path. 

We finally made it over to Aiden and I could see the full damage, he had shrapnel sticking out above his heart and his lower abdomen that had impaled him from behind and multiple large gashes. Noah covered us from behind while I checked him over with Glenn and Nicholas beside me. "Hey, it's gonna be okay. We're gonna get you out of here. All right? Everything's gonna be okay." Glenn assured Aiden breathlessly. "I need you to stay quiet, okay? Can you do that?" Aiden nodded and gritted his teeth in pain. "Okay."

The three of us carefully held onto him and attempted to pull him off but he screamed. "The flare. It's burning out." Noah warned. I looked back at Aiden sympathetically. "I know it hurts but if we get you off we can get you back to Alexandria and I can help patch you up." Aiden whimpered.  "Come on. Come on, again." Glenn ordered and I was ready but Nicholas took a step back.

"We're not gonna make this." Glenn grabbed onto him pulling him back. "Hey, yes, we are. But we need your help. You can do this." Aiden grabbed onto Nicholas's shoulder and pulled him towards him. "Nick. Nick, don't-- don't leave me." Nicholas nodded and glanced at Glenn and I. "Okay. Okay. Okay."

"Three!" We attempted to pull Aiden off once more and he tried to quiet his groaning.  When Aiden wasn't coming off Nicholas leaned up and said something to him before backing away. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He repeated. "They're coming." Noah called. Glenn and I both went back to Aiden about to try getting him off again but he grabbed our shoulders. "Okay, it was-- it was us. The others before. They didn't panic. We did. It was us." He explained through laboring breaths. Glenn went to try again but Aiden stopped him. "No."

"They're here!" Noah yelled before he ran over and grabbed my hand and Glenn's shoulder and pulled us with him. The walkers all grabbed onto Aiden and ripped him apart as we ran away.  We ran through the warehouse to the front trying to catch up with Nicholas. "Nicholas, stop!" Glenn shouted as we got to the doors Nicholas had gone out but froze when all the walkers turned towards him. "Heads up." Noah called and I turned around taking out a walker with my machete while he took another out with the butt of his rifle.

Glenn took out a few of the walkers coming from where we just did before his rifle started clicking. "I'm out!" I took out another walker before Noah grabbed onto us. "Let's go! Come on!" He shoved us into the revolving doors, I ended up stuck in the same part as Nicholas while Glenn and Noah were directly across from us. Nicholas held one side while I held the other, he looked over at Glenn and Noah. "Hey, maybe-- maybe we can shoot our way past them. You guys still have guns."

"And you have the ammo." Glenn yelled back. Even though I had my gun even if I reloaded it wouldn't be enough to get us out of here. "We've got to do something, man. We're gonna die in here." Nicholas shouted in fear. From outside loud dance music and honking could be heard, I could faintly hear Eugene calling out to the walkers as he led them away from the doors leaving the front clear. "All right. Hey. I need you both-- hey, Nicholas!" Glenn banged on the door to get Nicholas's attention. "I need you three to keep the door steady, all right? I'm gonna break the glass. We get out, you push out. We get the rifle and we're good."

I nodded and leaned against the door to keep it steady. "All right? All right? Ready?" Glenn started to hit the glass which caused the door to open the slightest bit on our side. "No! No, stop! It's not safe!" Nicholas started to lose it. "This is the only way." I told Nicholas as I turned towards the door ready with my knife in case any reached through. "No, it's not gonna break." Noah looked over at him. "It will. We can hold it. We can." Glenn looked at me and I nodded telling him I was okay.

"Trust me, okay?" Glenn told Nicholas. "Count of three. Count of three. One, two--" Nicholas screamed and started to push against the door to get himself outside. "Nicholas!" I tried to pull him back. "Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Nicholas! Nicholas, don't! Nicholas! Damn it, Nicholas, no!" I tried to pull him back again through Glenn and Noah's screams. Nicholas turned on me and stabbed me in the thigh with his knife multiple times causing me to release him and him to get outside. I screamed from the pain and pulled back grabbing my leg, I looked over at Glenn and Noah to see him trying to hold onto the younger.

Noah was ripped away from Glenn by the walkers and disappeared in the crowd of the dead until he jumped back against the glass forcing us both to watch and listen as he screamed and was ripped apart. I covered my mouth with my bloodied hands to quiet my sobs. As the dead continued to eat Glenn looked back at me with tears in his eyes. "We are gonna get out of here. Okay?" I nodded at his shaky tone not trusting my own voice at the moment. "I love you."

"I love you too" I cried out in fear. "I'm going to push to get out and then I'm gonna pull you out. Okay?" I nodded and gripped my knife harder watching for any walkers to peek through my door as he pushed but none came. He slipped mine open and quickly helped me out, he started to help me walk but ended up picking me up until we got to the van by the back entrance. Nicholas had started to fight Eugene but Glenn jumped in after setting me down against an old trailer.

Glenn punched Nicholas twice so hard that he knocked him out. He looked up at Eugene and pushed his hair back through his heavy breathing. "Help me get him in the back." He said with a breaking voice. Eugene looked back at me, his eyes fell to my heavily bleeding leg for a moment. "Where's Noah?" He finally asked. I sucked in a thick breath stuttering my cry. Eugene took that and stayed quiet the rest of the time as he helped Glenn pick Nicholas up and set him in the back of the van. Glenn helped me in next and I sat down next to Tara. I quickly pulled out some gauze and bandages from the medkit to change from the towel around her head. I then checked her breathing and her pulse, both were low but steady.

I leaned my head against the wall trying to breathe through the throbbing pain in my leg and through the fatigue the loss of blood was causing. I barely noticed Eugene as he sat sideways in his seat to keep his gun pointed at Nicholas and his eye on Tara and I. My leg had lost feeling by the time we arrived at Alexandria, I faintly heard Glenn screaming. "Help! I need help!"

"What happened?" I heard the frantic voice of Michonne followed by multiple others. "Tara got hurt and so did Bree." The back doors to the van busted open and I saw my dad along with Michonne, Rick, and Maggie. "Oh my god." Maggie breathed out in shock. "Tara has serious head trauma. We need to get her to mom now." I ushered my father who climbed in and carefully picked her up. Maggie and Michonne helped me out as Eugene went with my dad and Glenn walked around to the back.

Rick looked in the van and back to us, his eyes met mine and I shook my head giving him the answer no one truly wanted. He looked at an unconscious Nicholas and I couldn't help but sneer at said man. "It's his fault." Maggie rubbed my back soothingly. "Come on, let's get you patched up too."

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I really debated on writing this and having it play out this way. I love Noah and I think they could have done so much with his character and he could have really helped build up Alexandria but they didn't give him a chance.

Until next time my loves - A