THE REASON

chapter two : love of her life
[ season five – episode one ]

   REINA COULDN'T HELP but jolt as the redhead, Abraham, pushed his body against the exit of the container –– creating a loud thud.

Everyone in the container was trying to find some way out of it, after hearing the extremely loud explosion that was nearby. As much as Reina tried to tell everyone that it could've been the woman she had been by the side of for the previous week, they couldn't help but be cautious.

She couldn't blame them obviously, but she just knew that it was Kloe.

Currently, the Salazar woman was standing beside Maggie Greene, who was trying to saw through the wood with the chain of her father's stopwatch. "Where's Vickie?" Maggie asked quietly, knowing that the woman's daughter was on the opposite side of the container and didn't want her hearing in case something bad had happened to her. "Is she alright?"

"Uh..." she whispered, trying to find the right way to put the fact that Vickie was no longer with them. Reina hadn't even met the woman, but she knew that she had a special place in her friend's heart, so the mention of her made her insides sink.

Maggie slowly turned her head to the side to face Reina, a saddened look on her face. She bit down onto her bottom lip and shook her head before looking down at the ground. "She's not okay, is she?"

"No... she's in the, uh––" she was interrupted when Maggie gave her a small nudge, discreetly motioning her head to the side. Reina snapped her head over to the direction, seeing that Brianna, the daughter of Vickie Parson, was looking over at them and most likely listening in.

Reina turned back to Maggie, plastering a fake but realistic smile onto her chapped lips and nodded. "She's resting. She um–– she got a bit overworked at the prison bus. She misses her daughter a lot, so we let her rest for a while."

As much as Maggie knew that Reina was technically explaining the story on how Vickie had gone out, she couldn't help but sadly smile and nod her head.

"Hey, why don't we all let story time of secrecy be over, and figure out what the hell is going on, eh?" Abraham groaned, referring to the two women who were talking about Vickie Parson.

Reina pursed her lips and pushed her hands against her knees, pushing herself up. She stumbled over to the middle of the container as a few of the other members of the group began speaking along.

"That explosion could've been Kloe, but it also could've been Rick and everyone getting out," Isabelle Marshel pointed out, standing in between Sasha Williams and Tara Chambler.

Tara was someone that Glenn and Brianna had found shortly after leaving the prison, and she was on their side despite being with the Governor the same day. No one could deny the fact that she was easily a likable woman. If they weren't in such a crisis at this moment of time, they were sure that Tara would've made them laugh.

Out of nowhere, Eugene Porter –– who was in fact a scientist and apparently had found a cure for the virus that killed more than half of the world's population –– budged past Isabelle and Tara, pushing them.

Abraham pounded his clenched fists against the door as Eugene crouched down beside him, starting something which confused mostly everyone in the container.

Rosita Espinosa, who was with Abraham and Eugene before they happened to bump into Glenn, Brianna and Tara outside of the prison, looked down at the Porter man. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I might be able to use this shell to compromise the door," Eugene answered, fidgeting with the 'shell'. "From the sound of things, there may not be anyone left to open it."

"Eugene, I'm sorry, but shut up," Tara dismissed.

"Okay."

Carl Grimes, who was merely beside Brianna Schmidt-Parson, approached the rest of the group. "Hey," he called out, catching everyone's attention. "My dad's gonna be back. They all are."

"They are," Maggie agreed, trying to assure them all as she stopped beside Reina. "And not only are they gonna be back, but Kloe will too. And we need to get ready to fight our way out with them all when they do."

...

Kloe Rhee drove her knife into every single walker that approached her as she and Carol Peletier stumbled into the premises of Terminus. Carol was protected, being covered in walker guts, while Kloe on the other hand was only covered in the blood that splattered out of the walkers when she killed them.

She made sure to stay close to the gray haired woman, not wanting to be split up with her when she was only merely away from death as it is.

"There's too many of them," Carol stated to the woman beside her. She then grabbed Kloe by the wrist and pulled her to the side, pushing her behind her as she raised her sniper. "If it isn't the walkers that kill us, it'll be the people that do."

And with that, Carol pulled the trigger, immediately killing one of the men that worked in Terminus without remorse.

Kloe leaped forward, gripping her fingers onto a walker's shoulder and spun it around. She plunged her knife into its skull and pulled it back with her as Carol opened a door to a building that seemed to be abandoned.

As Kloe dragged the deceased walker's body, Carol made sure to close the door firmly behind her. "What are you doing?" the gray haired woman asked.

"Get me a sheet. I'm wearing Brianna's flannel and I have to give it to her without smearing it with blood. It already has enough splatters of blood as it is," Kloe said, slashing her knife across the walker's torso.

Carol nodded, spinning her body around as she searched for a sheet. Kloe gulped as she watched the amount of crimson red flood out of the walker's stomach, but it was the least of her priorities at this moment.

It wasn't that much long after that Carol returned with the spotless white sheet. How they had managed to keep it clean without a single patch of dirt on it was beyond Kloe.

She took it gratefully and cut three holes into it, big enough to fit her head and her two arms into. As she pulled it over her head, Carol knelt down and grasped onto some of the walker's guts and began smudging it across the no longer white sheet.

Kloe sealed her eyes shut as she stood straight, scrunching up her face as she took in the smell. "Once you're done, we're gonna split up, okay?" Kloe told the Peletier woman, who glanced up at her while painting on more blood onto the white sheet.

Carol's brows lowered with confusion, standing up straight and wiping her hands down onto her own sheet once she was finished. She somewhat tilted her head to the side with confusion. "Why would we split up? That's a suicide mission."

"No, it's not. We're strong, Carol. We've both proven that to ourselves already," Kloe reasoned. "When we both have something to fight for, something to live for, then you make sure you don't get killed. We can do this, Carol. You wanna save your friends, save them. I wanna save my family, so I will save them. Even death won't stop me."

Before Carol could reply to Kloe's reasoning, the raven haired woman spun on her heel and stepped over to the door. She stopped before she could open it though, and she peered over her own shoulder and looked over at Carol.

"You try and find the room where Gareth was in –– where he was about to murder some of our own. And I'll go to the container where Reina was put into, okay? We got this."

She made sure she shut the door tightly behind her as she walked out of the building. Every walker that was in the same proximity as her didn't hesitate to turn around to face her, their growls immediately becoming louder.

"Yeah, I know," Kloe whispered to the walkers as they all stumbled over to her, causing her to grab onto her pistol. "I know you're all starving." She knew exactly where she was going with this, upon hearing faint footsteps that were far too heavy to be a walker, but someone who was about to kill her. "But I'm hardly a snack. This douche on the other hand––" she shot the man in the leg, making him grunt and drop his weapon onto the ground, "––that dude's a whole ass meal."

Kloe sprinted in the opposite direction as the walkers' attention was now set on the man who cried out with pain, falling to the ground as the dead began to hover over him.

They all dropped down to the ground, biting harshly down into his flesh and began feeding on him.

She sprinted as fast as she could, the whole place feeling like a maze as she turned corners while dodging the bony fingers that tried to reach for her. But before she could get even the containers in sight, someone had grabbed onto her shoulder and yanked her.

She released a small yelp as her back was pressed against a brick wall, and the man that was directly in front of her with his hand pushed up against her neck was the very man that Kloe wanted dead.

"You..." Gareth seethed, glaring straight into her eyes as his small group of friends behind him shot down any walker that happened to step over to them. "You caused all of this!"

"Oh yeah? And I don't fucking regret it, asshole," Kloe returned, squinting her eyes as she stared deeply into his eyes, not daring to look away or even blink. "Dude, I haven't even been here for two hours and I know this place better than you do."

"What?" he wondered, perplexed.

Out of the blue, Kloe raised her leg and kicked down a wooden platform that covered a door beside her, not hesitating to grip onto Gareth's lower-arm and twist it backward, getting the upper hand.

She then twirled her body around, causing Kloe to be the one with her hand against his neck. His pals were far too busy to realize that their friend was one tug away from suffocation as Kloe tightened her grip around his throat.

With her free hand, she twisted the door knob to the hidden door and swung it open, catching the attention of Gareth's pals. Just as they all spun around in unison, Kloe shoved Gareth into the room and slammed the door shut behind her.

The people started to yell as they lunged at the door that even they didn't know about, but while Gareth gasped for breath and coughed, Kloe had enough time to push a chair against the door, restraining them from getting inside.

As many bangs and clanks erupted from the other side of the door, Kloe watched as the dirty blonde haired man straightened his back and chuckled. "You honestly thought I didn't know this little secret area in my own home? I scouted this place head-to-toe, Kloe."

Kloe only frowned more, glaring harshly. As much as she wanted to glance around to actually take full awareness of where she was, she didn't even think to look away from the evil man. "Look, I only want my people back, alright? Just–– let them all go, and you won't even have a scratch on you. Except first thing you need to do is tell me who the hell you were with when I was talking to you through the intercom."

Gareth smirked widely, shaking his head and chuckling more to himself. "You don't intimidate me, Kloe. Honestly, you're a lil' funny. I can see right through those determined, stubborn eyes of yours. I can tell that you really don't want to hurt anyone, and you're only putting on a mask. Deep down, you hate every single part of this."

She felt a small amount of pain in her chest as she took in his words, but she didn't let it show. Instead, she clenched her fist tightly and brought it to the side of the man's face. "I'm not going to listen to a single word you say unless it's about the people you had with you."

Gareth brought his index and middle fingers up to his face and grazed his cheek, a purple bruise bound to form in the exact area. Now, his smug smirk turned into a scowl as he eyed the Rhee woman in front of him.

He was only lying to himself when he said she didn't intimidate him –– when she sure as hell did. The woman showed no fear. Someone like that could easily startle someone.

But he felt a new sense of rage begin to boil in his blood as his own fists clenched, gritting his teeth. He charged forward after the woman, lifting his fist into the air.

Kloe's lips formed into a straight line as she stood in a defense stance. She caught Gareth's wrist with her right hand and pulled it to the side, pushing herself off to the side and grasping onto his other wrist with her left hand. She then vertically punched Gareth in the face with her right fist, causing him to stumble back from the force.

She then licked her lips and grinned. "I've got a few defense tricks up my sleeve, Gareth." She stepped forward, gripping onto Gareth's right wrist again, twisting it backward before forcefully raising her knee into his stomach. He let out a loud groan of pain as he clutched his arms around his abdomen, his eyes squeezed shut from the soreness.

"Tell me who you were with, Gareth," Kloe snarled, looking down at the pained man. After a few moments of silence –– minus his small noises of discomfort –– Kloe clenched her jaw and striked him across the face, this time hitting his nose. "Tell me!"

"Do you realize this is torture? Do you really like the thought of that, Kloe?" Gareth asked as blood trickled down his nose. "Would you really like to have the thought floating around in that thick skull of yours? That you're a torturer?"

"Would you really like to have the thought in your hollow skull that you're a fucking sick cannibal?" Kloe retorted before wrapping her fingers around the man's collar, throwing him against the wall. "You're a sadistic, vile monster. At least I'm not any of those."

Once again, she slammed her knuckles against his nose, successfully breaking it. An idea popped into her mind, and she reached down into her belt and grabbed onto her knife. She flung it up toward Gareth's throat, pressing it against it.

"If I hear a particular name come out of that foul mouth of yours, and that you were willing to eat him for dinner, then I swear to you this knife will make a perfect fit in your throat," she threatened, her tone in a low tone, sounding more intimidating than ever before. "But–– if you tell me in the next five seconds, perhaps I'll give you a second chance. If you even hesitate, then I won't."

Gareth's breaths became heavy as he felt the cold metal blade against his skin, and as he gulped, he felt the blade somewhat dig deeper. "Okay–– okay! Jesus! You're insane!"

Kloe scoffed, "I'm insane? Dude, look at yourself!" She pushed her hand harsher against the male's chest, restraining him no more from even trying to move. "Five... Four..." she counted down, raising her brows as she watched the man.

"Three... Two––"

"There's a Rick!" Gareth blurted out, well and truly showing his fear as the sharp blade felt even deeper than before. "Bob... Daryl... Jayce..." he continued to list, making Kloe nod as every name was said. "Zayn––"

"Zayn?" Kloe scoffed. "You mean–– you mean my brother, Gareth? You were going to eat my goddamn brother for dinner time, huh?" She couldn't help but punch him in the stomach, causing him to grunt with pain. "Who else?"

Gareth panted heavily as he winced at the recurring pain that was present nearly all over his body. He then looked up at her. "There– there was a Glenn. And that was it."

Kloe felt her heart race pick up at the sound of her husband's name being in the list of the people Gareth was more than ready to chomp on. She then started to shake her head with the biggest scowl she thought she'd ever do.

"You..." she growled through gritted teeth. She brought her foot up to his groin, making him yell with pain. "Not only were you gonna eat my brother, but my fucking husband, too?!"

She retracted her knife from his neck, but kept her firm grip on his chest. She reached down for one of his hands and pushed it against the wall. Without hesitation, she drove her knife through the palm of the man's hands, screams escaping his lips as blood poured out of the new wound.

With a final strike across the face, she spun on her heel and headed toward the door that was no longer getting bashed against. Before she removed the chair from it, she looked over at the man one final time.

"Don't let me see your face ever again, Gareth," she spoke raspily. "If I do, I will not hesitate to kill you myself. I'll avenge the ones who lost their lives to your selfishness."

...

It had been around fifteen minutes since the group managed to escape Terminus along with Rick and the others, and they were all currently following Daryl Dixon –– the tracker of the group.

Glenn Rhee was directly behind him, along with Rick Grimes. Daryl came to a stop though, when something caught his eyes. "What? What is it?" Glenn frantically asked as he looked down at the ground, trying to see what Daryl had found.

"She turned around," Daryl announced, his eyes then turning to the direction where Kloe had run off to. "Except she didn't go back the way she came from, but went that way." He pointed in the direction, causing everyone in the group to turn.

"Crap..." Reina muttered under her breath, catching some of the ears of people in the group. "She must've set off the explosion while she was inside Terminus... She didn't stay out here, she went back in."

"Or, knowing my sister, she would've set it off out here, then went back in. Jesus, why didn't she just stay out here," Zayn groaned out of frustration, rubbing his forehead out of anxiousness.

"Hey..." Maggie called out, her eyes catching onto something buried under the leaves. Daryl, Glenn, Rick, Zayn and Reina all rushed over to the Greene woman as she crouched down, rustling her hand through the dried out leaves.

Their eyes all slightly widened as they then saw what was buried under the leaves, and Glenn was the first to kneel down opposite Maggie. It was Kloe's bow. The very one that Glenn made sure he'd taken from the prison to make sure it returned to its rightful owner.

Beside the bow was the quiver filled with arrows, some with blood on them, some without. Daryl was the next to kneel down, resting his elbow on his knee. "She definitely knew we were burying shit too," he stated as he then grabbed onto one of the guns that was buried underneath the leaves too.

"Maybe that's her way to tell us that she'll be back?" Isabelle pondered.

"Look, I get that y'all want to get your friend back, but why the hell are we still around diggin' up guns for?" Abraham asked, clearly irritated since the man, Eugene, was at risk.

"We're not leaving," Glenn told the man firmly. "We're gonna wait for her, and if she doesn't show up in the next ten minutes, then I'm going back."

"We're going back anyway," said Rick. "Go along the fences. Use rifles. Take out the rest of them –– we'll do all that once we find Kloe."

"What?" Bob stepped forward, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

Rick then stopped digging, and turned to look over his shoulder to face his group. "They tried to kill us, including Kloe. They don't get to live."

As he looked back down to the ground and continued to dig up more of his guns, Reina decided to speak up. "What if she already killed Gareth––?"

"She wouldn't have," Glenn cut off the Salazar woman, twisting his head to the side to look over at her. "She wouldn't kill anyone unless she really had to. Her heart's too pure for that." He then turned back to face their leader. "Rick, we got out, okay? Kloe's either making her way here as we speak, or she's still fighting. But she's smart enough not to get caught. It's over –– we don't need to put all of our lives at risk again."

Rick picked up his signature handgun, reloading it with a few rounds. "It's not over till they're all dead."

"The hell it isn't. That place is on fire because of that girl. She'll be back here," Rosita shot back at the man. "It's full of walkers and she sure as hell has this all planned."

"I'm not dicking around with this crap. We'll wait here another ten minutes for Kloe, but if she's not here then we'll be going. We just made it out," Abraham added, slightly shaking his head.

"The fences are down. They'll run or die," Maggie reasoned.

There was a long, long silence for a short while –– everyone contemplating on what to do. Little did they know that someone was quietly approaching them. Hearing her footsteps, Daryl's head shot up and his eyes immediately softened as they lay upon none other than a familiar gray haired woman.

Reina couldn't lie that she was happy to see that the woman was okay, but she felt her heart somewhat fall when she saw that Kloe wasn't with her.

Daryl didn't think twice before rushing over to Carol, engulfing her into his arms, lifting her off the ground. Everyone subconsciously began to smile as they watched the scene in front of them.

None of them had seen Carol in weeks after Rick had kicked her out of the prison. Daryl pulled away from the embrace, his own tears prickling at his eyes as did Carol's.

Rick then walked over to the woman, glad that she was alright. "Did–– did you do that... with Kloe?" he asked, his voice cracking as he smiled down at her.

The edges of Carol's lips raised and she slowly nodded, causing Rick to this time pull her into an embrace. Behind them, Glenn and Zayn stood side by side and shared a glance with each other.

The moment Rick pulled away from the hug, Glenn didn't hesitate to step forward, stopping beside the Grimes man. "Where–– where is Kloe?" he questioned.

Carol couldn't help but grin widely as she shifted her eyes over Glenn's shoulder, causing him to spin his entire body around to see where she was looking.

And there she was.

Kloe Rhee.

She had the widest smile etched onto her lips, and her eyes were definitely watery from tears as she watched the love of her life turn around and hold her eyes.

Glenn's lips partnered and he felt his own tears rise in his eyes. Kloe didn't waste any time to step forward over to the other Rhee. Glenn jogged forward too, pulling his wife into his arms and holding her so tightly that he had to make sure he wasn't suffocating her.

She buried her head into his chest as he did the same into the crook of her neck, sealing his eyes shut as all of the muscles in his body relaxed. Kloe had to bite down onto her bottom lip as it began to tremble.

"Oh my God..." Glenn whispered, his voice slightly muffled as he set his hand on the back of Kloe's head. He never wanted to let her go ever again. She let out a small sob as she pulled away, Glenn's hands cupping her face as he tried to process that his wife was right there in front of him, in his arms.

Kloe's cheeks began to ache from how wide she was smiling as she watched her husband. He wiped away her single tear that escaped her eye with his thumb.

Her small cries soon turned into small, happy laughs as she rested her chin on Glenn's shoulder. He planted a few kisses onto the side of her forehead before setting his own chin on her shoulder.

The married couple stayed in each other's arms for at least another ten seconds before they finally pulled away, having to wipe their tears away from each other's faces from how glad they were to see each other –– to have each other.

Her head turned over to the side where she spotted both her brother and sister standing beside one another, making her stride over to the pair. She smiled widely once again before wrapping her arms around both of them.

Zayn rested his head atop of his sister's head, and Brianna set her chin on Kloe's shoulder. "I'm so glad you're okay," Kloe muttered, loud enough for her siblings to hear.

"We're glad you are too," Zayn replied, having not smiled as wide as it was in a long time.

Once she stepped away from her siblings, she turned over to Maggie, Sasha and Bob and grinned over at them, to which they all returned. Kloe's eyes then landed on a set of people who she didn't recognize at all.

Two men and two women she didn't seem to be familiar with. She pursed her lips and sent them a brief smile, turning to Glenn with slight confusion. "It's okay. We can trust them," Glenn assured, lifting up her hand and intertwining his with it. "They helped us."

Kloe's lips lifted once again before facing back to the four other people. She sent them all a small nod as a way to say 'thank you'. They all responded with the same gesture.

"You're one hell of a badass, you know that?" Jayce started, setting his hand down on his friend's shoulder. "The way you spoke through that walkie –– if I was that bastard, I'd be terrified."

Kloe chuckled, shaking her head as she patted the taller man on the arm. "Glad to see you too, Jay."

Beside the Australian man stood Isabelle Marshel, a wide grin on her small face. She wrapped her arms around Kloe's back, hugging her tightly for a brief moment. "Thank you, Klo."

Kloe nodded, rubbing the girl's shoulder comfortingly before her eyes landed on Reina Salazar. The younger woman singly nodded, a small smile on her face. Kloe returned the smile, sending her a thumbs up.

And lastly, she faced Rick Grimes and Daryl Dixon. The man who seemed to always be equipped with his crossbow brought her into a side hug, rubbing her upper-arm supportively. "You're a great planner, did we ever tell you that, hm?"

Kloe snorted, playfully swatting his hand away as the two archers shared a wholesome grin. She then looked up at Rick Grimes. "Happy to see you in one piece, Klo," he said, slightly smiling down at her.

"You too, Officer Friendly." 

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words: 4609
17th march 2023
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LONG ASS CHAPTER BUT HEY IT'S WORTH IT BC GLENN AND KLOE ARE REUNITED !!