found lands → the walking dead ³

[ 007 ] no time to die.

FOUND LANDS.

chapter seven, no time to die.
[ season five, episode seven ]

BETH IS ALIVE. THAT'S what Daryl and Noah tell them. But Carol was taken. The same people who have Beth hit Carol with a car. They put her on a gurney and took her to a hospital.

Noah isn't much older than Odessa. He's nineteen, just like Theo. He knows Beth.

"Come on out." Daryl says. A young black man steps from the bushes. He isn't old, he's young. Still a teen. Just like Odessa and Beth and Theo and Carl.

As soon as Noah's eyes fall on Odessa, they widen. "Odessa?" He gasps.

Odessa's own eyes widen. "How do you know my name?" She glances at Daryl who seems just as shocked.

"Beth... she talked about you. A lot." Noah states.

"You know Beth? How?" Odessa steps forward. "Is she alive?"

"Yes. She's alive. But she won't be for much longer if we don't save her."

That was all it took for them to devise a plan to get Beth and Carol back. They're at a hospital in Atlanta. Grady Memorial, Noah tells them.

Rick, Daryl, Tyreese, Sasha, Noah, and Odessa will go get Beth and Carol. Theo, Michonne, Carl, Gabriel, and Judith will stay behind.

Rick tells Daryl what happened in his and Carol's absence. Everything.

When it's time for them to leave, Odessa kisses Judith's forehead and whispers to her and only her, "be brave, Little Ass-Kicker. Be brave unlike me."

Odessa hugs Michonne tightly and Michonne whispers to her and only her, "you're so strong, Odessa. Bring her home."

She plans on it. Odessa is not leaving Atlanta until she has Beth Greene in her arms.

When Odessa turns to say goodbye to her brother, she can't touch him. She's too scared. She can see the hurt on Carl's face and he can see the guilt on her's. "I'm so sorry." Her voice breaks.

"Don't say that," Carl quickly says. "Don't apologize to me, Des. Please don't. It's not your fault."

Odessa nods, tears in her eyes. "I love you." Her voice is so weak now.

That man broke her. Everyone can see it. He broke her heart. He broke her body. He broke her mind. He's caused a rift between her and her people. He's become a horrid attachment to her. And yet—

"I love you, too." Carl tells his big sister.

Her baby brother still loves her. Carl Grimes would never stop loving his sister. Even if she killed everyone he loved, he would always love her. That's the easy part though because Carl knows she would never kill someone he loved unless they were going to hurt him.

But now, seeing his sister so broken and defeated, it's hard. Because Odessa is the strongest person he's ever known. She's been through hell and back many times. She always bounces back but now... she hasn't bounced back not yet. Carl begins to wonder if she will.

Odessa says goodbye to Theo. They share a nod. Odessa understands it. Theo will do everything in his power to protect her younger siblings.

As they travel in the cube van, Odessa opts to sit in the back with Sasha and Tyreese. She doesn't want to be sitting between two men. And though she knows both would never hurt her and she knows they love her, she can't. Not yet.