Destruction ||| Glenn Rhee (BEING REWRITTEN TO OC)

75 ~ Crash

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Was it over then?

And is it over now?

When you lost control

Red blood, white snow

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Music plays over the radio.

The road is bumpy.

Rosanna looks over at Glenn. "Maybe they're just behind us. Maybe Daryl and Carol came back. Maybe they took the map, found some cars, and they're just down the road."

He nods, grabbing her hand. "They'll catch up. We're clearing the way for them."

Tara nudges Eugene. "How long will it be? After you get on that terminal and do what you have to do?"

"Depends on a number of factors including density of the infected around target sites worldwide." He says.

Glenn looks at him. "Wait, target sites? Are you talking about missiles?"

"That's classified."

Rosanna huffs. "I thought we were over that."

"Anyway, the speed with which things normalize depend on a number of factors including worldwide weather patterns, which were modeled without the assumption that cars, planes, boats, and trains wouldn't be pouring hydrocarbons into the atmosphere this long. Changed the game quite a bit when it comes to air-transmissible pathogens." Eugene says.

There's a pause and Rosanna inhales. "Why the hair?" She asks in regard to his curly black mullet.

"Because I like it. And no one is takin' scissors or clippers to it anytime soon. Do you hear me, Miss Espinoza?"

Rosita laughs. "Yes, loud and clear."

Everyone chuckles a bit. Eugene has a sour look on his face.

Rosanna pats the scientist's shoulder. "No one's making fun."

He shrugs. "The smartest man I ever met happened to love my hair. My old boss, T. Brooks Ellis, the director of the Human Genome Project. He said my hair made me look like, and I quote, 'a fun guy,' which I am. I just ain't Samson."

Abe is driving. He goes around a small cluster of walkers on the road. Suddenly the brakes give, and the bus starts to swerve.

Glenn and Rosanna hold onto each other as the bus drives over an abandoned car in the road, flipping the bus onto its side.

Everything goes dark.

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Rosanna wakes with a jolt.

Her head hurts in several different places. Walkers bang on the outside of the bus. The music is still playing over the car speaker.

She tries sitting up but suddenly yells in pain. Glenn crawls to her. He looks down and pales at the sight of her leg.

A chunk of metal is embedded in her upper thigh. 

Abraham calls out for Eugene. Rosita sees the injury on Rosanna and her eyes widen. Tara sits up against one of the seats.

Rosita looks to them. "The engines on fire! We gotta get out of here."

Glenn nods. "Yeah, yeah, okay." He points at Abe. "You and I go out first, knock them back. Pave the way for Rosita and Tara to get out. Then we all start getting them. Rosanna and Eugene stay here until the moment it's safe enough."

So, they do. Abe kicks open the door to the bus. Him and Glenn climb out first. Rosita and Tara are right behind.

Suddenly a window breaks inside the bus, directly above Rosanna and a walker tries climbing in, the blood and guts from its decayed body spilling onto her. She fights the urge to vomit.

Eugene looks petrified. She hands him a knife. "Eugene!" She coughs out. "Now isn't the time to be scared. Time to be brave."

He takes it from her and looks at it nervously. "Shove it in the head." She tells him.

He does, turning away with a grimace. She nods at him. "Good." She winces as she tries sitting up more. "Now help me get out of here."

He throws one of her arms around his neck and helps her stand, she tries not to put any weight on her injured leg as she hops out of the bus, each jump still sending a wave of pain through her body.

Once out of the bus, she lets go of Eugene and sits on the concrete. He still has her knife.

Glenn, Abe, Tara, and Rosita are taking care of the dozen or so walkers. Rosanna spots her sword laying on the ground and picks it up. She manages to stab one that gets too close to Eugene, while still sitting.

He shakes. He's sweating.

Once the last walker is dead, Glenn quickly walks over to Rosanna. Him and Rosita lift her up and move her away from the overturned vehicle.

It's just in time, because the bus bursts into flames.

The female redhead groans. "The first aid kit was in there."

Abe opens his backpack, pulling something out and tossing it to Glenn. "Bandage. Wrap it up. We need to keep rolling on."

Rosita scoffs. "She's hurt."

"I can see that. We still have to go."

They lower Rosanna back to the ground and Rosita grabs her hand.

She squeezes it as Glenn pulls the metal shard out of her leg. The scream that erupts from her core is relentless.

Once the metal is out, her leg is gushing blood. Glenn and Tara wrap the bandage around her thigh, completely covering the wound.

Without stitching it up, it could get infected. They help her stand. It hurts like hell, but she can walk.

Once she's up, Abe nods his head. "We'll find another vehicle down the road. The mission hasn't changed."

Eugene holds out his arm. "Devil's advocate, nothing more-- we smashed to a stop hard. We spent a lot of time rolling things out of the road. The church is just 15 miles back that way--"

Abraham cuts him off. "No. We don't stop. We don't go back. We're at war, and retreat means we lose. The road fights back, the plan gets jacked. You all know that. Now, we will get through this because we have to. Every direction is a question. We don't go back!"

Rosanna touches his shoulder. "Hey, hey, hey. Are you okay?"

"I am fit as a damn fiddle."

"We are going with you. You are calling this thing. We just need to know you're good." She says.

He nods. "This is how things stop. I can't afford that right now. The world can't afford it. Listen, I took a pretty hard shot to the sack with that crash. I am stressed and depressed to see that ride die, but if you say we're rolling on, I'm good."

She glances down at her wrapped leg. She knows that it'll be a struggle, but she's been through worse. "We're rolling on."

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