ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ɪꜱ

⁰¹¹. ᵉˡᵉᵛᵉⁿ

ɴᴏᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ

( tw: blood, kidnapping,
weapons, zombies,
manipulation,
injuries caused by others,
and death )
PLEASE READ
WITH CAUTION

₊❏❜ ⋮ ⌒ DEATH IS NOT THE END ... typically people who believe would say, but today, it's the topic of our story. It'll be slipped into parts of the world, and sometime it'll be in the palm of our hand, we just have to open our eye and see it. We have to choose to see it, so really, it's all up to you.

"Charli!" Kohana jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Charli, pulling the older boy in for a hug. She had missed him, and he's been locked away in a room for what felt like forever.

"Hey, Ko." Charli hugged Kohana back, tightening his own grip around her and hugging her until she felt the need to pull away. "I'm here."

"Hi, Char." Zay stepped forward when the two pulled away from each other, taking his own arms arms and embracing Charli in a hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you two are okay." Charli said towards the two heroes before he turned towards Beth Greene, a smile on his lips. "And thank you for keeping them safe."

"Of course, Charli." Beth blushed slightly as she handed Charli a sweater. She was glad that she had been able to help, even if it just meant that she took Kohana and Zay in and made them feel like they had somebody. "I'm glad I was able to help."

To the side was Carol, she was smiling despite the pain she was in. It made her heart warm to see Beth happy with these three kids they had just met. It made her happy to know that she had somebody when she couldn't be there.

"They're here." Someone announced. They were one of the workers, someone with a police vest and lips pressed into a thin line. "Let's go."

Beth moved forward and grabbed ahold of Carols wheelchair, starting to follow the guard who lead them down the hallways. Charli, Kohana and Zay followed behind Beth, keeping close to each other as they walked down the hallways. They all took notice of the things they managed to miss when they were walking the halls by themselves - the clock that didn't tick, the painted hand prints along the walls, the door that had the window shattered from it.

There was a gut feeling in the pit of everyones stomach. I mean, no one truly knew what would happen. They wanted to believe they knew what would go down, but life works in unexpected ways and they couldn't be sure until everything happened.

"Stay close, okay? Please." Charli muttered as they walked through the door doors that had swung open. He held his hands out, reaching blindly for Kohana and Zays hands that dangled at their sides. "It'll all be okay."

Charlis eyes wonder, and he pretends he doesn't see the shimmer of metal stuck in Beth's cast. He diverts his gaze and looks towards Dally and Liam, whom he can see from the little window, they both hold guns in front of their bodies. He pretends even more, pushing himself further into fantasy land, he blinks and shifts as if he thinks it'll help his gut feeling.

There's only two people from the hospital group that Rick can trade. He only had thought about trading for Beth and Carol, the two that were really apart of his group. So in a split second, when he notices how these kids who had been taken look, he pulls zip ties from his pockets and silently tells Daryl to tie the three other cops to use as leverage. Rick just hopes he can keep everyone else distracted for long enough.

Daryl does as told, and once the new plan starts, the group holster their weapons and walk inside to the area where everyone else is.

Rick sends two cops first, letting Beth and Carol come towards him. He hugs Beth, smiling slightly at his and her reunion. He lets Daryl help Carol up from her wheelchair, supporting majority of her weight as he does so. There's three more cops left, three they have no names for, but they're still cops that he's using to trade.

"Now the other three." Rick narrows his eyes at Dawn, slightly pushing the three cops he had taken into custody forward. "Your three for those three."

Dawn doesn't falter. She stands tall and steadies her feet. Her hand rests against her side, as close to her gun as possible. She nods, and makes eye contact with Charli who takes the first step forward. It's like she's telling him to go, to go but mess up in this moment so that she can much more control than she already does. She wants power, and she might not stop.

"Glad we could work things out." Dawn said, a tone of voice that just didn't sit right with Rick. Charli, Kohana and Zay were now standing with Liam and Dally. Everyone was on the side they belonged on. "Now I just need Noah... and then you can leave."

Everyone stopped walking, turning around and looking towards Dawn with wide eyes and confusion laced on their faces. Noah was never apart of the deal, he was free to leave, he was leaving.

"That wasn't apart of the deal." Rick strolled forward and his hand wrapped around the handle of his gun.

"Noah was my ward. Beth took his place, and I'm losing her, so I need him back." Dawn tilted her head. "My officers put their lives on the line to find him. One of them died."

"No, he ain't staying." Daryl pushed Noah back as he spoke, getting to stand in front of the boy the woman wanted.

"He's one of mine. You have no claim on him." Dawn stated matter-of-factly. A forced smile that made her seem so terrible on her lips.

"The boy wants to go home, so you have no claim on him." Rick spoke lowly, his head tilting to the side. The group of heroes that had met Rick and noticed a few things, one being that every time the man tilted his head, nothing good ever happened.

"Then the deal is off." And just like that, at the words Dawn had so hardly threw at everyone, the feeling in Charlis stomach got worse. He tightened his grip on the hands he was holding, and didn't let go.

"The deal is done." Rick snarked and stood his ground.

"It's okay."

"No. No."

"I've got to do it." Noah muttered and handed Rick the gun he had been given.

Beth and Dally moved forward. Side by side like two badasses. Beth hugged Noah first, after all, she was much closer with him than the others might have been. Dally reached out, clasping her hand with Noah's and giving him a hand shake, a way of her saying thank you.

Dally looked towards the people behind her. Her family. The people that had become so much to her, the people she would do anything to protect. She nodded towards them, smiling a genuine smile that said so much.

Beth stepped forward, something Dawn had whispered upsetting her. Beth fidgeted with her cast, the silver pointy scissors slipping down so she could hold it. With tears fresh in Beth's eyes, she looked Dawn right in the eyes.

"I get it now." And then Beth Greene plunged the silver scissor into the shoulder of Dawn.

The gun shot was loud. It echoed and caused everyone to look at the blood and the fear laced on peoples faces. Daryl, who didn't hesitate, pulled his gun from his own side and pulled the trigger. Another body dropped and blood pooled on the once shinny hardwood floor.

"No!"

They had to be heroes. They knew what they were signing up for when they showed up that one day after they were selected. Each and every one of them knew. But what they didn't know, was how hard it would be to face things they wish they wouldn't have had to.

"Someone help her!"

The heroes hadn't been given any kind of training, which made this whole entire situation so much worse. It's like the government and the watchers were laughing from the side lines at the messy work they've been doing. Really though, it's been clean work, work that only heroes could do.

"They said help her! She's bleeding, help!"

Harsh things happen, and more often then not, we can't stop them from happening. Harsh things can come in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes it's a small thing, like a bad day, and sometimes, it might feel like the end of the world. But whatever it is, its up to ourselves to decide if its harsh or not. The heroes decided in a split second that it was harsh, that it felt like the end of the world.

"Please... please help."

Impact. It's something that can also come in different forms. Good or bad. A good impact, one that can change nature's course. And a bad impact, one that also changes nature's course. People impact us for the better, and for the worst, but sometimes we never realize the impact they had on us until they're gone. The heroes wished they realized the impact others had on them before it was to late.

"I'm here! You can't leave us!"
"I'm so sorry."
"Please forgive me."
"Why won't you just open your
eyes! Open those eyes!"

Blood soaked into the clothing of the heroes as they knelt. Tears dipped and splashed against the crimson that managed to spread like a wildfire. Sniffles filled the silence everyone had to suffer through, the ringing in everyones ears being replaced with it so quickly.

Daryl had been the one to step forward and pull them into his arms, lifting them and carrying them outside of the hospital. A burial, or something in his mind and he thought about what they deserved. He let the blood coat his arm, letting it dry as he walked further.

The fresh outdoors didn't do anything for the heroes, in fact, the bright sunshine made everything so much worse. They had tried so hard, and now the sun was screaming at them, yelling about how bright and shiny it was.

Broken sobs continued to echo as the heroes looked around towards the group of people kneeling down on the cement, gathered around someone else who must have suffered a tragedy.

"No!"

Two bodies laid together. Both still and broken like shattered glass. There was still so much perfect about them, despite the ticket that had been punched to early.

Charli, Kohana, Zay, Kat and Liam leaned against one and other. As if they were holding onto each other so nothing else bad could happen. Every time they blinked, each one of them saw death again.

Adi - someone who brought a smile to everyone's faces and who managed to change lives, was lying there. They were cold, yet it looked as if they were sleeping. They weren't, Adi was gone. He had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, unfortunately being caught of guard and bitten by a walker. There was no way he would have been able to come back, so with a heavy heart, he was pronounced dead before the trade had even happened.

Dally - someone who managed to find their family, who managed to changed lives aswell, laid there on the cement. She did what she had too, and that included saving her family and someone who had helped keep her family safe at one point.

Nothing was about saving Beth, it was about family and the ones who helped protect said family too. Sometimes it was just worth it, even though others were hurt in the crossfire.

Things happen in slow motion,
things we don't even realize, yet we still manage to live with them. Dally and Adi are two Heroes who lived up to their titles as heroes. Even though their lives had ended in slow motion, they knew as things happened, that the others around them would be okay.

That nights, everyone stood together as two bodies were buried. Dally and Adi would remain in everyones hearts. And they would remain forever and ever, because death isn't the end and they still live on through memories.

authors note,,
goodbye dally and adi. you two will forever have a place in my heart. i do hope that you rest well. hopefully we meet again... because yknow, this is a fanfic and there's no telling what i'll do one day.

please don't hate me. please don't. again, this was just the way it was going to go, from the very beginning.