Chapter 99) Distance

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I know

I know

I just know

You're not gone, you can't be gone, no

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"We're still too close." Y/N mumbles.

The two are now looking through the gate at the end of the sewer tunnel.

Less than 30 feet in front of them, is the hoard outside the walls of Alexandria.

"We just have to get through a few of them, then we're gone." He says, going to open it.

Y/N grabs his arm. "No..."

He turns to look at her.

"We can't." She says.

"You can stay. I'll go."

"No." He tries to open it again and she loses patience.

"No! It's over!" She says loudly this time, attracting two walkers to the gate. A few more follow, trying to grab at them.

Y/N pulls Aaron further into the tunnel.

She feels tears form in her eyes but she wipes them away. "I don't know if he's alive. But what I do know, is that he would never forgive me if I went out there. He always puts the baby first. I have to put the baby first."

Aaron wraps her in a hug. She sighs. "I want to find him. I want to see him. But I won't risk my child. Not this time."

Back inside the walls of the community, Y/N stands with Aaron at the memorial wall.

Glenn's name has been painted on it. She takes a bottle of water and splashes it onto the letters, using her sleeve to wipe it away.

Aaron helps her. After a moment he nudges her. "When he gets back. It's worth mentioning that Aaron, Erin, works for a boy or a girl, depending on the spelling."

She smiles with a shake of her head. He shrugs. "Just saying."
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Y/N doesn't glance down when she hears someone climbing up the ladder to the guard post.

It's morning now. She stares out into the horizon. The sound of the walkers below drown out her thoughts.

"You don't have to be up here so much." Rick says from beside her.

She finally turns to look at him. His eyes widen slightly at her physical appearance.

She has heavy bags under her eyes. Her hair is sticking to the sides of her face from sweating due to the heat.

The light that he once saw in her eyes is gone. It's been replaced with a darkness. A sadness. An emptiness.

She looks back out into the distance. "This is the direction he'd come in. If he sends a signal, it'll be from out there."

He nods. "Yeah."

Her brain feels foggy. "Or it won't be."

He looks at her again. "When we go out there, it's never easy. It's never simple. It's always a fight. But we've come back from harder things. You've come back from harder things."

She sighs.

"Glenn. Daryl. Abe and Sasha. They will too. Maybe we don't wait for them to come back. We should start figuring out how to draw the walkers away."

Y/N leans her automatic gun against the railing, massaging her shoulder as he speaks.

"We have some food and water to last us a while and the walls are holding. We can take our time. Really think this through. Do it right. Clear it so they can walk right in."

They remain silent for a moment. Y/N finally speaks. "I stopped by and saw Judith last night. She's looking more and more like Lori."

He huffs with a light smile. "Yeah, she is."
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For hours, Y/N stares out over the wall.

Past the hoard. Past the road.

She just looks. Every minute that passes by and she doesn't see a sign of her husband, she falls apart.

Down in the community, people are training. Learning how to fight. Learning how to shoot.

Rick adds some boards to one of the walls. People are productive.

Hours pass.

When suddenly...

In the distance...

Y/N spots a cluster of green balloons, drifting in the wind.

She has never run faster. She climbs down from the post and sprints.

She doesn't stop running until she makes it to Rick who is also watching the balloons in the sky.

"That's Glenn. That's Glenn." She pants, out of breath.

The relief that fills her is instant. Her husband is alive.

Rick nods but the loud creaking of wood distracts them.

They turn to look and see the tall wooden tower outside of the walls, tipping over, towards them.

Everything moves in slow motion as Rick grabs Y/N's arm and pulls her away from the wall.

They try getting as far as possible before the building collapses.

The sound is deafening as it falls, breaking down one of the metal barriers protecting the Alexandrians.

Rick and Y/N are knocked to the ground due to the blow.

There's silence for a moment after the crash. And then comes the unmistakable sound of walkers.

They start entering in through the now open gap, inside the neighborhood.

Rick helps Y/N stand, cursing under his breath. "Everyone, get back!" He shouts to some of the others who are nearby.

"Get into your houses, go!" He tries pushing Y/N into the direction of Carl but before she can make it to him, a walker grabs her shoulder.

She yanks herself away with a yelp. She glances around but nobody is there. She reaches for her sword, using it to stab the closest walker in the head.

She stumbles on her feet, trying to get to safety. Everywhere she looks, there's walkers.

She can't make it back to the house. She sees the guard post and makes a run for the ladder.

She starts to climb it but a walker pulls her foot. She almost falls but catches herself. She climbs higher, screaming when the ladder comes loose from the platform.

She quickly reaches for the railing, grabbing onto it as the ladder falls into the pit of walkers below her.

Now she dangles from the platform, struggling to hold herself up. She swings her feet, trying to work up enough momentum to get her whole body up.

It ends up working and she pulls herself onto the solid structure, gasping for air.

She lays flat on her back, staring up into the sky as she feels the walkers below her, grabbing at the wood trying to get her.

Her mind wanders to Glenn.

He's alive.

Now all she has to do is survive, so she can see him again.
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