Eyes Closed [TWD]

°•four•°

It was only an hour or so after Carl left that the gates were opened again. This time, letting people in.

"Jade!" Kate cheers, throwing her arms around me.

I didn't have the energy for excitement, I only felt relief.

"How's it hanging?" Tara asks, moving in to hug me as well.

"Where's Heath?" Eric asks, closing the gates back.

Tara sighs, her face turning a bit gloomy.

"He's alive," Kate answers quickly, "We know that much."

"Things got crazy out there, I'm happy to see all is right here," Tara says.

"What happened?" Eric asks as I ignore the sting of Tara's comment.

"We were all separated. I made it back to where we lost each other and the camper was gone- Heath had the keys. We thought he'd be back here by now," Tara explains.

"We haven't seen any sign of him," I say, confusion hitting me.

"Maybe he found something," Kate offers, "I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later."

"Yeah," Tara agrees, "Me and Kate found each other after that. We ran up on each other in town."

"Her crazy ass held a spear to me! Seriously, look at this thing!" Kate says, grabbing Tara's hand and holding it up to show the stick-like weapon.

Tara nervously laughs, "Yeah, my bad."

Kate shakes her head, though her smile doesn't drop.

"You seem to be in a good mood," I note, feeling queasy knowing I was about to ruin it.

"You were right. You and Maggie both.. Being out there felt good," she says, "And even though it was scary, being on my own for awhile felt good, too. Having time to think and clear my head.. I needed it."

I look to Eric who looked back to me with the same look- reluctance.

"But, I'm glad to be back. Where's Maggie? I wanna see if the baby bump is bigger," she smiles.

"Is Denise at home? I'll catch up later," Tara says, beginning to walk away.

"Wait," I jump, grabbing her arm.

She stops, taking off her neon sunglasses.

"What's up?" she asks.

I look back to Eric for help. He nods encouragingly, taking a single step back.

"We should talk," I say, "Things aren't as right as they seem."

"Is everyone all right? What happened?" Kate asks, concern taking over her voice as her smile fades.

I release Tara's arm, inhaling deeply to give myself strength.

"That place- it was just an outpost. There's more Saviors," I begin.

"What? How many? How do we know?" Tara asks.

"Daryl, Rosita, and Denise were on a run.. Abraham and Eugene, too.. That guy that Daryl saw before- Dwight.. he was back He had others with him," I say, knowing good and well I was about to break everything between Tara and Kate.

"He uh," I clear my throat, "He shot Denise. Attacked the others. Eugene was shot, too. But, he's fine."

"He- he shot-" Tara pauses, hands coming up to her head, "She's okay? They're both okay?"

"Denise didn't make it. He did it when they didn't even know he was there," Eric steps in, causing me to give him a grateful look.

"He blindsided them?!" Tara snaps and Kate rushes to place comforting hands on her back and arm.