69. safe and sound

QUINN

     THE SILENCE WAS BROKEN SUDDENLY. The cops reached for their guns and in return Quinn and the others took theirs. Daryl rushed forwards to pull Beth out of the line of fire and even made the effort of taking Quinn's dagger out of Dawn's corpse. He didn't even give the corpse a second glance. Quinn took the weapon from him but her eyes remained focused on the cops standing before them, waiting for one of them to make a wrong move.

But the female cop her group had taken prisoner held out her hands in an attempt to stop them for firing. 'It's done,' she said, her voice stern for someone who looked so unsure of herself. 'It's over.'

'Yeah,' Rick said, watching as the cops slowly lowered their weapons. 'And I'm taking anyone back there who wants to come with us.'

Silence fell over the hall once again. The wards and patients that had watched the entire scene play out from the back of the hallway needed a second to realise Rick was talking about them. They shared a few uncomfortable glares, which was enough for Quinn to know they would never take Rick his offer. They'd rather let themselves be beaten up by poor excuses of cops than step outside and be free. Granted, outside the dead roamed. Inside these walls they could at least pretend like the world was fine and not getting worse with each passing day. For however long these walls would keep on standing...

Quinn was pretty sure that sooner rather than later this place would be gone. She didn't believe in safe havens anymore. It was just them against the world now. And she was more than willing to take those chances.

When no one answered Rick nodded curtly and the look on his face told her that he was thinking the exact same thing she was. These people were already dead. He turned on his heels and walked up to the door without a second glance.

The group didn't hesitate to follow him, leaving the tense silence behind and while they made their way down the stairs the mood slowly changed. It started out subtle but the further down the staircase they got, the brighter the group seemed to shine. Beth was hugged by everyone and even though silent tears were still rolling down her cheeks, she managed to smile so brightly that it was almost painful to look at her. As they walked down the long hallway that would take them to their freedom, the teenager came walking next to Quinn and put her arm around the woman her shoulders. 'Thank you,' she whispered.

Her gratitude made it impossible to not smile back at her. 'You're very welcome,' Quinn replied as she pulled the girl closer, not planning on ever letting her out of her sight again.

Daryl was walking ahead of them and he was the first one to reach the doors. He didn't hesitate to open them, the sunlight shining on their faces as they stepped outside.

Quinn blinked a few times to get used to the light after the dark hallways of the hospital. Slowly her eyes adjusted and when they did, she spotted the one person that had been missing in the hospital. She stumbled forwards, trying her hardest to ignore her aching body but her feet had other plans and before she knew what was happening, she was falling.

Her brother's arms were around her in an instant, catching her bruised body before it touched the concrete. He embraced her so tightly she thought she might break. A shaky breath let her lips as she tried to let the fact sink in that Milo was really here, he was really holding her, he wasn't mad that she left, he was here.

'Hate to shit on the love parade,' Abraham's deep voice boomed over the small courtyard. 'But we gotta go, dickheads are closin' in.'

She untangled herself from her brother's grip and narrowed against the sunlight at the soldier. He was holding his gun tightly, his eyes scanning the approaching group of walkers. In all the stress and turmoil that had happened in the past few hours, she'd completely forgotten they were in a city, surrounded by flesh eating monsters, roaming the streets looking for their next meal.

He was right, it was time to go.

No one in the group seemed to want to stay and so they made their way to a big red fire truck that was parked in the street behind the hospital. It was parked besides a white van that seemed to have endured quiet a lot already.

The group split up and crawled into the two vehicles and soon they were well on their way out of the streets of Atlanta.

Quinn was seated in the back of the firetruck together with her brother, Maggie, Beth, Glenn, Tara and Eugene. Abraham was behind the wheel with Rosita in the front seat next to him. Beth was curled up against Maggie's side, seeming peaceful and happy, which made Quinn feel more relaxed than she felt in a long time. Still, she couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. Maybe it was because of the way Abraham avoided even looking at the direction of Eugene, or the way Milo seemed to avoid her eyes everytime she looked at him.

Something happened while she, Daryl and Carol had been searching for Beth.

And when none of them seemed to want to say anything, even after driving for almost an hour, Quinn decided to be the one to break the silence.

'What did I miss?' She asked, looking between her brother and the others. She waited as they shared a few uncomfortable glares and seemed to be silently debating who would be the one to answer.

'Eugene lied,' Milo was the one to speak up and he sounded incredibly tired when saying those words.

She frowned at him. 'What do you mean?'

'There's no cure,' her brother sighed, now seeming to avoid looking at Eugene as well. 'He lied, just to save his own skin. Washington is a dead end.'

Her mouth opened, only to close again. She had no words. There was nothing she could say to make this situation make sense. There was no cure, no starting over. This was all it was ever going to be. She hadn't desperatly been waiting to go to Washington, she'd even wondered if she'd fit into such a place but to have it taken away so suddenly felt strange and...empty. Then another question popped up in her brain.

'But why did he all of sudden admit that he lied?' She asked, her frown becoming deeper.

Milo shifted nervously beside her and that was all the confirmation she needed to know she wasn't the only one who left. 'Abraham couldn't wait any longer and wanted to go, didn't he?' She asked softly, looking at her brother. 'And you went with him.' She didn't bother making it into a question.

'I did,' he confirmed. 'I promised I would and I couldn't break that promise.'

A small smile formed on her lips. 'I understand.'

He frowned, finally lifting his head to look at her, his eyes filled with confusion. It made her chuckle lightly. 'I made a promise too,' she said, her eyes drifting to Beth. 'You weren't the only one leaving to protect someone you care about.'

His frown faded and made way for the smile that always managed to put her at ease. 'You're right.'

They drove until darkness fell.

It was Rick who gave them the order to stop and set up a camp for the night. Quinn wasn't sure what Rick was planning on doing. First she thought they were driving towards Washington but since that no longer seemed to be an option she wondered what their leader had in mind.

She was slightly surprised with the impact Eugene's news had on the group, especially Abraham. When she first saw him she pictured him as the kind of man who couldn't be broken by anything. Yet Eugene's news had broken in him in every way possible. The fire he used to carry in his eyes was gone and even Rosita couldn't seem to pull him back together.

But he wasn't the only broken soul in the group.

It had taken her a few tries to get the entire story of the happenings in her absence but apparently Gareth and some other people from Terminus had attacked the group. They'd taken Bob and...ate...his leg.

Her stomach turned in disgust every time she thought about it. But that wasn't even the whole story. They probably would've eaten him entirely had he not been bitten on the run to the foodbank. He'd hidden it at first, not wanting to upset them and Sasha in perticulair. But the fever caught up to him, like it always did and burned his life away.The woman seemed to be an empty shell of her former herself. Tyreese was always hovering nearby, his worried gaze constantly going back to check on his sister. But she seemed to broken to even care.

Quinn couldn't even start to imagine how it must feel the have the man you loved taken away. She'd only been in love once in her life and there were times she wondered if it hadn't just been because of the drugs...

'I'm taking a group tomorrow,' Rick started, pulling her out of her thoughts, 'to check out a place Noah told us about.' He let his eyes go around the circle, almost as if he was waiting for someone to question his decision, no one did. 'It was his home before he got taken. It might still be there. If it is...it could be the only chance we get. Noah's leading the way, who else wants to join?'

'I'll go,' Michonne spoke up almost immediately.

Rick nodded, letting his gaze go around the circle once again.

'Me too,' Glenn said, sitting up straight, ignoring the side-eyed glare Maggie gave him.

'I'll go, too,' Tyreese joined in.

'Me too,' Quinn said, sitting up straight. She wanted to make herself useful, do something to give the group hope again now that Washington had failed.

Rick turned his eyes to her and he didn't have to speak for her to know what he was going to say. 'You're not strong enough. You need to take it easy and heal.'

She opened her mouth to protest but the look in Rick's eyes stopped her. He already made his decision and wasn't planning on changing it.

'Alright, it's settled,' Rick said.

Her heart was beating painfully in her chest as she leaned back, retreating in the shadows. A small voice in the back of her mind told her he was right, that her body wasn't capable of doing things of that extent right now but a much stronger voice was screaming that it wasn't fair. That she was supposed to be able to go with them and fight for the possibility of a home.

The silence that had followed after Rick's decision was broken by Beth's small and tired voice. It took Quinn a moment to realise what the teenager was doing. The song she'd choosen to sing wasn't exactly happy, but it held a certain hope that made listening to the words bearable.

"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'll never let you go
When all those shadows almost killed your light
I remember you said don't leave me here alone
But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight"

Quinn let her eyes go around the group, taking in everyone seated here. She'd die for them, without question. And, maybe even worse, she'd kill for them. She did and would gladly do so again. She wasn't the same person she was since this all started. Never before did she have people she wanted to fight for, people that meant so much to her that thinking of losing even one of them hurt like hell.

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound"

"Don't you dare look out your window, darling everything's on fire
The war outside our door keeps raging on
Hold onto this lullaby even when the musics gone, gone"

Her eyes landed on Daryl. He had his legs pulled up to his chest, his arms resting on his knees. His blue eyes were shining like stars in the light of the fire. The sharp lines of his features looked like a treasure map in the dancing light of the flames. She'd been afraid to look at him, scared to remember her coma dream. It scared her that he had been the one to pull her out of that nightmare. Not Milo, not Michonne, not even Beth. It was him.

"Just close your eyes, the sun is going down
You'll be alright, no one can hurt you now
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound"

She leaned back against a tree, pulling her eyes away from Daryl. The pain in her bones was overwhelming. She didn't want to think about how complicated her feelings were, how Daryl had gotten under skin without her even noticing. All she wanted to do was sleep.

"Just close your eyes, you'll be alright
Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound"

And to the sound of Beth's calming voice, she drifted off.