" I've been sitting on my ass for too long now. "

89. overrun

MILO

     'THE TOWN WAS OVERRUN,' MICHONNE SPOKE, her voice soft as if that would make hearing the news more bearable. 'He split off with Nicholas. He had this idea that if he lit a fire, it would stop the walkers from coming here.' Guilt was written all over her face as she looked at Maggie, who simply listened to her friend explaining why she had returned and Glenn hadn't. 'I tried to go instead,' she added, 'I wanted to.' 

All around them Alexandrians were clearing out the bodies left behind from the fight. Milo had been helping them when Michonne, Scott and Heath arrived. All three covered in blood and with ghosts haunting their eyes. Michonne told him about Rick's plan and that Quinn had decided to go along with him. He knew he couldn't be mad at her because he asked her to look out for the man, but still, the fact that she wasn't here had him worried sick.

'The fire never got lit,' Michonne continued, trying her hardest to swallow her emotions. Otherwise she'd never be able to finish. 'We had to keep going. I'm sorry. 'He said if he got stuck, he would find a way to send us a signal.'

'A signal?' Maggie questioned, speaking for the first time. There was hope in her voice, burried beneath weights of worry but still there. But Michonne wasn't given a chance to answer. 

Milo recognised the voice before his mind could even fully register the words being shouted. His feet were running toward the gate before anyone else could react, his heart beating wildly in his chest.

'Open the gate!' His sister shouted once again, her voice now followed by Rick shouting the same thing. Though now, their shouts weren't the only thing he heard. It was the sound of walkers, groaning and moaning. Their stench filling his nose as he sprinted across the pavement.

'Open the damn gate now!' Rick screamed once again.

He was the first one to reach the metal of the wall. His hands worked as fast as they could to get the hatch open and when he finally managed he quickly threw the gate open. His eyes widened at the sight before him. The street ahead of him was completely overrun with walkers. The walking corpses were the only thing in sight, slowly surrounding the community as they stumbled forwards with hungry snarls. Ahead of the herd were Quinn and Rick, both running for their lives, pushing walkers out of their way to avoid being bitten.

Milo tightened his grip on his axe, ready to throw the weapon if necessary. But both of them managed to avoid the corpses and reach the safety of the community. As soon as they did, Milo and Michonne shut the gate and quickly blocked it with the screen so the walkers were out of sight. Though their moans and snarls were not and neither was the smell of death and sun burned flesh that surrounded them like a thick fog.

Turning on his heels, Milo knelt down by his sister's side. She had collapsed on the ground, holding her stomach while trying to catch her breath. She was covered in sweat, her black shirt stuck to her skin. There was blood on her arm but it didn't look like it was from her. Next to her, Rick was leaning his hands on his knees, not seeming to be doing much better. 'Hey, you're okay?' Milo questioned, placing his hand on Quinn's shoulder. She barely managed a nod in his direction, her breathing still too quick to talk.

His eyes did a quick scan of her body and only when he was sure there were no bites, cuts or slashes did he nod and turn to look at the Alexandrians gathering behind them. Silence hung in the air as everyone listened to the terrifying noises of the herd locked outside the gates.

Rick noticed their gazes and straightened his back. 'You can hear it,' he spoke, his voice sounding surprisingly stable. Maybe it was the anger he felt because of the plan that failed, or maybe it was just because he was trying to put on a brave face. 'Some of you saw it,' he added for the people who were only just arriving. 'They got back here, half of them. Still enough to surround us 20 deep. Look, I know you're scared. You haven't seen anything like this. You haven't been through anything like this. But we're safe, for now.'

Beside Milo, Quinn got on her feet and even though she looked tired, her eyes were filled with a determined fire. It was enough to lit the same fire within his own heart.

'The panel the truck hit seems intact. We should reinforce it just in case. Either way, the wall's gonna hold together.' Rick continued with that same fire, looking around the circle of frightened people in a way that only he could, hopeful and stern at the same time. 'Can you?' He added, looking them all in the eye. After everything they had endured, Rick knew it was impossible to ask them to not be scared. But that didn't mean they had to let that fear control them. A lesson these people had to learn faster than they were ready to. 'The others, they're gonna be back.'

'They're gonna be back,' Rosita repeated fiercly, nodding with conviction.

Rick nodded back at her, seeming thankful for her support. 'Daryl, Abraham, Sasha, they have vehicles. They're gonna lead 'em away, just like the others. Glenn and Nicholas are gonna walk back through the front gate after. They know what they're doing, and we know what we need to do. We keep noise to a minimum. Pull our blinds at night. Even better, keep the lights out. We'll try to make this place as quiet as a graveyard, see if they move on.'

'This place is a graveyard,' Francine spoke with a trembling voice.

Her words silenced Rick, anger now brewing behind his eyes. He knew the truth was that they had no way of knowing if the others were alive. Rick wanted to believe it, they all did but it was really hard with the smell and sounds of the herd trapping them here. He was trying to show them another way but these people just kept on being too stubborn to see it.

'The quarry broke open,' Aaron said, taking a step into the middle of the small circle that had formed. 'Those walkers were heading this way. All of them. The plan that Rick put into place stopped that from happening.' He looked around, his voice growing in volume and strength as he continued 'We got half of them away! I was out there, recruiting with Daryl and Quinn.'

Next to him, Quinn winced at the mention of the redneck's name but he pretended not to notice, knowing she wouldn't like it if he did.

'I wanted to try to get into a cannery and scavenge, so did Quinn but Daryl wanted to keep looking for people. We did what I wanted and we wound up in a trap set by those people and I lost my pack.' He took a shaky breath. 'They must have followed our tracks. Those people who attacked us, they found their way back here because of me.'

Rick nodded slowly at him, but the anger on his face was gone. 'There'll be more to talk about.' But he wasn't given a chance to say what exactly because Tobin broke the silence by calling out Deanna's name. The crowd turned to look at the leader of Alexandria, the one who should be holding them all together right now, walk away. 'Deanna?' Tobin called out once again but no answer came. She just kept on walking, not once turning back to the people she should be leading. Instead, she disappeared into her house, leaving a disappointed silence behind.

For a moment no one moved, everyone lost in the terror of their reality. But then the crowd slowly dispersed as everyone headed back into their houses, either in shock or in absolute fear.

Quinn slowly stumbled into the direction of the house and Milo was quick to follow. 'What happened here?' She asked him, her voice trembling from her lack of energy.

He suppressed the urge to reach out and support as she walked and instead clenched his fists at his side. 'There was a group, they climbed over the wall. They didn't seem to want anything, take over this place, food or something. They just...killed everyone who got in their path.'

She nodded, taking in the information, her eyes going to a puddle of blood on the sidewalk that they still had to clean up. 'And the horn?' She muttered, sounding like she didn't truly want to know the answer.

'They had a truck,' he explained, 'Spencer took out the driver and it crashed into the tower. The driver's corpse was pressing on the horn.'

She came to a halt in front of the house and raised her eyebrows at him. 'Spencer?'

He shrugged. 'It was a lucky shot, but I'm damn happy he made it. I don't think we'd be standing here if he hadn't.'

Quinn just nodded, seeming too tired to question Spencer's skills at the moment. Her eyes scanned the empty streets and she looked infinitely tired when she added: 'I'm gonna take a shower,' she paused, then added with a smile that failed to reach her eyes. 'And a nap.'

Before she could disappear inside though, he called out her name, making her turn back to him. For a second he doubted about his words but then he took a deep breath and said: 'You know Daryl's gonna be okay right. If anyone can survive out there, it's him.'

Her gaze held his and he knew she desperatly wanted to believe him, but the fear of losing the stubborn redneck was still written all over her face. Then, she nodded, turned around and disappeared into the house.

He stared at the door, even after it was closed and he wondered if she had figured it out for herself by now. If she knew what he had known for a while now and judging by his earlier conversation with Beth, most of their group had as well. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen his sister so affected by a man, if he ever saw it at all. Their connection was special, even a blind man could see it, and he would hate it if she were to screw it up just because she was too damn scared to open her mouth and embrace her feelings. And in that moment he promised himself that if he would ever be lucky enough to fall in love again, he wouldn't hesitate to express his feelings.

With that thought burning in his soul, he turned away from the house and made his way back to the wall with the intention of helping with the reinforcements. That plan quickly left his mind, though, when he noticed Aaron walking a few steps ahead of him. Calling out his name Milo ran a few steps to catch up with the man. When he did, he couldn't help but notice the obvious feeling of guilt written all over Aaron's features.

A small sigh left his lips. 'Listen, I didn't want to say anything before, hoping you would figure it out for yourself,' he began.

'Figure what out?' Aaron questioned.

Milo shook his head. 'It wasn't your fault we got attacked.' He held up his hand to silence the man when he opened his mouth to protest. 'Was it dumb that you dropped that bag? Maybe. Should you just've kept looking for people? Perhaps but you weren't the only one who made that choice. If you're going to place blame, blame those people for having such sick minds.'

Aaron took a deep breath, seeming to have trouble accepting Milo's view on the situation. It didn't matter if he didn't want to believe it right now, because Milo knew it was the truth. The attack was in no way Aaron's fault and he would hate it if the man suffered under the weight of thinking that it was.

The two of them walked around the corner, almost reaching the wall, when Milo's eyes caught sight of Maggie seated by the pond. From his distance he couldn't see what she was doing, but by seeing the way she was working, it couldn't be anything good. When she seemed done, she gathered her stuff and stood up, disappearing down the street. The two men shared a small glare and didn't need words to break out into a sprint. They followed her into the weapon's inventory where they found her loading up a gun. He didn't need to ask her to know what she was planning. There was no way Maggie Rhee would sit still while her husband was in danger, he should've known that by now.

'You're going out?' Aaron questioned, despite already knowing the answer.

She threw a quick glare over her shoulder but didn't answer him, instead she kept on loading up on weapons in silence. As though she knew the question was stupid and she refused to waste her time answering it.

'The flashlights, the rebar, the rope,' Aaron spoke, reaching out to touch the rebars she'd been working on earlier. 'You lower them off the wall, a good distance apart, maybe spin them. That way the walkers are drawn to each one and you open up a path.' He stood straight, watching Maggie with a knowing look on his face. 'Now you're gearing up. Just waiting for dark, right?'

Still she didn't respond, only turning around to place the now loaded weapons into a bag.

'What happens when you twist an ankle jumping down?' Aaron asked, taking a step towards her. 'Hmm? Or you just get slowed down by one of them and then you have to deal with all of them?'

Milo took a deep breath, crossing his arms over his chest. 'Getting her to stop is impossible, Aaron. I know people who've tried and all of them failed.' A small smile appeared on his face when the thought of Sasha and Maggie debating after the fall of the prison crossed his mind. 'Especially when it's about saving her husband.'

To his surprise, his smile was reflected on Aaron's features. 'I know, that's why I'm going to help her.'

That stopped Maggie in her tracks, a small frown on her face. She looked at Milo, who just shrugged and said: 'I thought I made it clear long ago that I would follow you. Even with a plan as stupid as this one.'

'Don't worry,' Aaron said, reaching for the bag with weapons and handing it to Maggie. 'I know a safer way out.' Then he turned and left the inventory.

'You don't have to do this,' Maggie said, looking at Milo.

'Wrong,' he said, already starting to make his way after Aaron. 'I've been sitting on my ass for too long now.' He opened the door, letting Maggie pass first before walking after her as they followed Aaron towards his so called "safer way out".

He took them towards the green field surrounding the pond. There, hidden beneath the long grass, was a manhole cover big enough for a large man to enter. Aaron knelt down beside it. 'This leads to a sewer that was part of the old neighborhood that was here before they built this up,' he spoke while working on opening the hole. 'It'll take us under the wall and hopefully past the walkers.'

'Thanks,' she said, then reached out and took his arm. 'But I'm going on my own from here.'

'Maggie-' 'No,' she interrupted him.

'Please,' Aaron said, looking her right in the eye. 'I can't watch any more names go up that wall.' He gestured towards the wall behind them, making Milo turn to look at the Alexandrians. They were writing the names of the people they lost on the panels using black paint. Looking at it felt like knives were cutting away at his heart and when his eyes fell on Glenn's name, his determination only grew. He wasn't just doing this to help Maggie. Glenn wasn't just her husband, but Milo's friend as well. And he'd be damned if he just sat here and did nothing. He listened to Rick when he told him to stay behind while they went out to lead away the herd. He refused to be benched now.

'Fine,' Maggie finally said. Then she gathered her stuff and jumped down to the sewers below.

Milo took his flashlight in one hand and his axe in the other before following her down. The two of them waited for Aaron to join them in the darkness. The only light they had to guide the way were the three flashlights they grabbed from the inventory. He forced himself to keep his eyes looking forward, not wanting to see what was in the water he wading through. The smell was telling him enough.

'If he's alive,' Maggie started, only to be interrupted almost immediately by Milo.

'If?' He questioned. The thought of Glenn being dead tugged at his heart and made it hard to breathe. He couldn't even begin to imagine what it did to Maggie when she thought her husband walking around out there like any other corpse.

'He told Michonne he would've found some way to signal us if he got out,' she went on, ignoring him. 'If he's alive, he's hurt or trapped. Maybe taken.' She took a turn into the sewer on their right. 'If he's alive, he needs my help. That's why I'm doing this. And if he's dead I don't want to be waiting on him.' She came to a halt and looked Aaron in the eye. 'None of this is your fault. You don't need to do this.'

He looked at her for a second, then spoke: 'People are dead. I was a part of that and I have to live with that.' Then, without another word, he picked up the pace again, heading straight into the darkness.

Milo looked at Maggie, who watched Aaron continue their path with a small sigh. From the expression on her face he could tell she thought the same thing he did. The attack wasn't Aaron's fault but if he needed this mission to realise that, who were they to stop him? And so the two of them made their way after him through the dark and filthy sewers.

'I haven't been down here since the beginning,' Aaron said once they caught up to him. He stopped in front of a rusty old ladder that was blocking the way. There was something that looked like cloth stuck to the bars and Milo refused to look at it for too long, afraid it wasn't actually cloth. 'This ladder must've fallen a long time ago,' Aaron added with one look at the rusty metal.

'Let's try and get it out of here,' Maggie spoke, reaching for the metal.

'On three,' Milo said while reaching out and taking a hold of the ladder. 'Ready? One, two, three.' They all tried to lift it at the same time but the ladder wouldn't budge. Groaning in frustration he tightened his grip on the metal. 'Again. One, two, three.' Once again they started pulling, only this time the metal bar Aaron was holding came loose and hit him in the face, sending him falling backwards in the dirty sewer water. Blood appeared on his forehead, crawling down from hairline where the bar hit him in the face.

'You good?' Milo questioned, letting go of the ladder and taking a step towards him.

'I'm fine,' Aaron grunted, trying to get back on his feet while trying to hide his pained grunts.

Slowly, though, his grunts were drown out by a wet gargling. At the sound, Milo stumbled even further back from the ladder, his eyes wide when a walker appeared out of the dirty water beneath the fallen ladder. Time had taken its toll on the corpse. All the water that had been soaked up by its skin had turned it green. Grime clung to the walker, making it difficult to see anything but its head. It's wide, white and empty eyes stared at them as it continued its wet gargling sounds.

Maggie reached for her knife, pulled it free and took a step forwards to kill it. Just then, however, another walker came stumbling out of the darkness. Its arms outstretched, ready to grab her. Startled she stumbled backwards, her back hitting the wall as she desperatly tried to keep the walker at a distance.

Wasting no time, Milo turned to the first walker, which had started crawling out from beneath the dirt it was buried in and headed for Aaron. He raised his axe and planted the weapon into the walker's skull, at least, that was what he meant to do. Being in the water for so long had made the bones and skin of the corpse almost liquid. His axe went straight through the corpse its head, cleaving the head in two. The smell that it followed was so intense gross that Milo chocked on air, being forced to take a step back and compose himself before his small breakfast from that morning would end up on the floor.

Beside him, Aaron finally managed to get back on his feet and kill the walker that was still trying to get to Maggie. The corpse fell into the water and this time did not get back up.

'You two okay?' Milo asked, trying his hardest to get the stench of death and sewer out of his nose. He wouldn't be getting out of the shower for days once they got out of this mess.

'Yeah,' Maggie breathed, turning her gaze to Aaron. 'Thank you.' She reached for her bag and opened it. 'Your head,' she said, taking out a bandage. She held it up against his wound, making him wince. 'This could need stitches, Aaron. Just go back.'

'No,' he said firmly, taking the bandage over from her and pressed it to his wound. 'I was just there for you.'

'Milo and I can handle it,' Maggie shot back.

He gave a small shake of his head. 'Just lead the way,' he said, taking his bag from the ground with a determined look on his face. 'Please?'

Maggie threw a hopeless glare at Milo, who simply shrugged. They couldn't convince him to go back, so why would they bother. It would be getting dark soon and they had already wasted a lot of time. He turned on his heels and was the first one to enter the tunnel, keeping his flashlight up and ready for any more possible dangers ahead. They followed the long, dark tunnels for a few more steps. The tunnel went right and Milo followed the curve. A small breath of relief left his lips when he spotted light ahead of them. He wasn't as claustrophobic as his sister but he couldn't imagine anyone would enjoy walking around in dark sewers.

As they got closer to the light, he could see it was a fence leading to the world outside the walls of Alexandria. But even from this distance he could see the walkers of the herd. They still weren't out far enough and he wasn't sure if the tunnels even went any further. Slowly they walked closer, until they finally came to a stop behind the fence. Maybe they'd need to use those sticks Maggie made anyway. There was still a chance they could pull this off.

'We're still too close,' Maggie said, thinking the same thing he was.

'We just have to get through a few of them,' Milo said, gesturing at the sticks she was holding. 'Then we're off.' He reached for the iron bars of the fence but Maggie placed her hand on his arm.

'No,' she whispered.

He turned to look at her. 'What's going on?'

'It's over,' she said, gesturing at the herd outside the fence. A few walkers had spotted them and came stumbling towards them, snarling and biting. The three of them took a few steps back, so they were out of their reach. Milo felt his heart sinking in his stomach. There truly was no way out of this place. No way of knowing if his friends were safe. It seemed like the only option he had was to sit down on his ass and wait after all.

'I burned his last picture of me,' Maggie suddenly spoke, her voice shaking as she finally showed the fear of losing Glenn. For the first time since she heard he was still out there, all her worries finally came breaking through the surface. 'Because I said he wasn't gonna need it anymore. Because I was never gonna be away from him again.' She took a deep breath, then added. 'I'm pregnant.'

Her words weren't really a big surprise for him, just a confirmation of what he already suspected. The same couldn't be said for Aaron however, who finally looked away from the walkers trying to eat them to look at Maggie with wide eyes.

'He didn't want me going out there and I said "yes",' Maggie added, her eyes slowly filling with tears. 'And if I would've gone, if I was with him, maybe I could've helped him.' She shook her head. 'I don't know if he's alive. He would've shown me by now. That's what Michonne said. I just want to see his face. I can't. I don't get to know what will happen. I don't get to know why it happened, what I did right or wrong. Not now. I have to live with that and so do you too.'

Sighing deeply he took a step forwards and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, sobbing into his shirt. Aaron reached out to place his hand on her shoulder, both men providing her with all the comfort she needed. She was right after all. None of them got to know why things happened the way they did. All they could do was make sure they'd be able to live with it.

Milo lost count of the amount of time they just stood there, providing each other comfort in times so uncertain. But finally it was Maggie who pulled away first, smiling gratefully at the both of them and then turned around, starting on her way back. As quickly as possible the three made their way out of the stinky sewers. It was already dark by the time they finally made it back. Milo headed in the direction of the house, expecting Maggie to follow him and when she didn't he came to a halt.

'You go ahead,' she said, smiling softly, 'I just gotta do something.'

He nodded at her and watched as she walked towards the wall where earlier that day someone had painted Glenn's name on the panel. He didn't have to keep on looking to know she was going remove it. Even none of them were certain he was still alive, they could at least keep hope alive. And that meant believing, even if the odds were this small.

He headed towards the house without a second glance. The first thing he did when he entered was take that long shower he had longed for in the sewers. He could've spend many more hours beneath the hot water but he was growing too tired to keep on standing on his legs. After he turned off the water, dried himself and got into more comfortable clothes, he finally left the bathroom and made his way towards his room. On his way there however he passed Quinn's door and he couldn't help himself but open it carefully, looking inside the dark room.

In the darkness he could see his sister laying on her bed, still wide awake and staring up at the ceiling. The sound of the door opening took her attention and she lifted her head to look at him. She still looked tired, but at least she was more clean now. 'Are they back yet?' She questioned, though there was no hope in her voice.

'No,' he replied softly, 'but they will be. I promise.'

'You can't promise me something like that, Milo,' she said, but there was no accusation in her voice. She was just simply stating facts. Facts he wished he could change. 'Don't carry that weight.'

He wanted to smile but her words made it hard. 'I'll try,' he told her, knowing his words were empty. He would always blame himself for her pain, even if there wasn't a single thing he could do about it. 'Try to get some sleep, yeah?'

She laughed humorlessly, not bothering with a reply.

With his heart breaking within his chest, he closed the door again and made his way to bed. He knew he probably wouldn't be able to sleep either, but oh how he longed for the comfort of feeling nothing at all, even if it was only for a few hours.

A U T H O R 'S  N O T E

Hi guys! First off, I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. First I was sick, then school started again. I wish there were more hours in a day but sadly there aren't. I wanted to update yesterday but school kept me busy and since I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer, I thought I'd make an exception and update on a thursday instead of wednesday.

I really hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I swear with every chapter I write I fall in love with Milo a little more. I honestly didn't expect to love him as much as I do now when I started writing this story. But here I am, loving the hell out of this troubled, caring, badass brother. Please leave some comments with your thoughts on this chapter :)

Also, be sure to keep your eyes open for the next chapter. A certain couple will reunite and I can promise you, it will be worth all the time you guys have waited. 

ANYWAY

Before I spoil too much I should probably shut up.

Thanks for your support guys, it really means the world to me. This story has been getting so much love and I cannot express in words how much I love you all for it.

xXx

UYM