THE REASON

chapter twenty-three ; unconscious woman
[ season five – episode fourteen ]

DARKNESS WAS ALL she could see, feel, and hear. It was as if she was in some kind of void— but she knew all well she wasn't. She just wished she had been. She could hear the sound of her own heartbeat, beating away without her control like it usually did. Except, it was a quickened pace. Where she was, it was peaceful. If she could've stayed there any longer, she would have. She didn't want to leave just yet, but Earth had other plans.

First, Kloe's senses of touch came first. She was certainly lying on the ground, a few pieces of rubble pushing pressure into the center of her back. Her left arm was near her waist, but her other arm was extended out. The right side of her cheek seemed cold— like that also was against the ground.

Next came her sense of smell — God, it was awful. Every time she breathed, it was like she was breathing in nothing but pure ash. It burnt every time she inhaled. As her sense of hearing began to fade back, all she could hear was a loud ring and the squeak in her chest. She felt warm liquid down the side of her face, running off into her mouth and painting her teeth crimson.

There were muffled voices in the distance, was what it seemed. She had no idea that the muffled voices were next to her. What on earth had happened? Weren't her and her friends just partying over finding Micro-Inverters? She didn't even want to know.

She didn't even realize the heavy weight across her entire body. Something was atop of her — she had no idea what. Eugene rose to his feet after calling out to the others that he was okay. Glenn and Noah hurried over within an instant. Glenn held a worrisome look in his gaze, while Noah had the same. Everyone was coughing... except for Aiden, Tara, and Kloe.

"Eugene," Glenn was frantic, "where's Kloe and Tara?"

The scientific man turned off to the side after struggling to his feet. There were many boxes blocking his path from where Tara and Kloe were from, making him step forward in hope to look over and see that the two women were alright. His bottom lip trembled with fear as he slowly gaped across the wooden boxes. His face dropped tremendously.

Glenn watched the man's face fall, making his stressed out body leap to the side. He shined his flashlight that was clearly running low on battery in between the gaps of the boxes, despite the fact that a majority of them were missing. His eyes widened like bugs when his light landed on Tara.

Blood was everywhere surrounding the woman's head. There was a massive gash wound on her head, an excessive amount of blood pooling around her. "Is she breathing?" Glenn immediately asked. "Eugene, is she breathing?" he repeated after Eugene stood still for one singular second.

"I— I can't tell," he stammered, his next priority settling in his mind. He was scared for his friend, his heart proved that. His heart pounded heavily, the sound of it almost taking over his entire eardrum and any source of hearing. He had to find Kloe. Wherever the hell she had disappeared to, it couldn't have been far. The moment the explosion happened, she pushed him out of the way before something happened.

His incredibly smart mind came into play. She pushed him out of the way. 'For what reason?' someone could've asked, but for him, it wasn't even a question. He looked down instantly and crouched down onto his knees. "I need help!" he yelled out over to Glenn and Noah.

The pair both looked over, their brows furrowing for what Eugene was attempting to accomplish. Glenn shook his head, his eyes beginning to sting from not only the smoke but for the panic of the disappearance of his wife. "What? What is it Eugene? We can't— we can't get over there."

"It's Kloe," he told them without hesitation as he gripped onto the bottom of one of the boxes, "she's trapped under these!"

Glenn thought he was going to throw up his heart. He didn't even think twice to use all of his found strength to push the remaining boxes to the side. His voice strained loudly before Noah jumped in to help him out. As the box shifted, Glenn ducked down, hauling himself across the shelf. A snarl escaped a walker's mouth that was over on Tara's side, causing Glenn to instruct Noah to take it out. He did as he was told.

Glenn crouched down beside Eugene. There were four wooden boxes. It would've been a miracle if she was still alive. To the side of Eugene, the pair both lifted the box, carefully making sure they didn't hit a severely wounded Tara on the other side. Once they successfully lifted the box, Glenn peered downward, his eyes landing on an arm. The arm was limp, but he didn't hesitate to dive down to the ground.

He pressed his index and middle fingers against Kloe's wrist. He waited for a moment, and soon enough, a shaky breath of relief filled the air. But that didn't stop him from panicking. What if she was trapped for any longer? She would have run out of air. Or, even worse, could have been crushed to death.

Grasping onto another box, he used all of his strength to lift it. He released a small yell. He didn't care how far he pushed himself. For him, his wife was more important than himself. Her safety was all that mattered.

Noah had joined the two men in helping the woman before she got crushed. The second box they lifted revealed the rest of her body. There was no way her head had a box on it — it would've immediately killed her. The weight of them was astonishing.

They got the two off of her, revealing her state. Her eyes were shut, even though she was aware of what was going on— or did she? It took her a few moments to even realize the breathtakingly large weight that was pushed down onto her. There was no doubt her hand wasn't broken now.

Glenn's knees crashed to the ground as he crawled over to her, cradling her in his arms. "Hey, hey, hey. Kloe, c'mon. Wake up," he frantically shook her. He knew she could hear him, he just knew she didn't have the strength to lift her eyelids. He also knew she was breathing — the wheeze in her chest making that fact clear for them all. Walkers had been heard, but he didn't care. He relied on the other two to take care of them, to which they did.

A lump formed in his throat as he still held his wife, looking down at her pale face, the blood coating the right side of her face from where a cut had formed on her head. It was nothing compared to what had happened to Tara, but it was still enough to gush out blood.

A small murmur escaped her labored breaths, the eyelids protecting her irises twitching. Glenn's bottom lip trembled as he cupped her cheek with his free hand that wasn't holding her, brushing some of her damp hair behind her ear. Slowly, her lids lifted.

Creases formed under her eyes when she squinted, the dust and ash in the air stinging them. The first thing she saw was truly the thing she prayed would be first. Her husband. As she continued to wake up, the small senses she had felt before she had been freed from the boxes soon turned to her regular ones.

She sat upward at the speed of light, reluctantly leaving Glenn's arms. She coughed violently, a strong pain in her ribs and every other bone in her body screamed out with agony, a small cry exiting her lips as she clutched onto her middle. Everything had hurt. Her head, her hand, her ribs, her legs, her chest, her lungs— everything.

Before she had been knocked out, the explosion sent a large wave of force over them. She had seen the boxes swaying, to which her instincts kicked in as she noticed Eugene was standing starstruck directly beneath them. If she was gonna go out, she at least wanted to go out protecting someone. That was the way she wanted to.

Black dots filled her vision, and she felt immediately like passing out. Glenn noticed her face expression and cupped it instantly. "No, no, stay awake, Klo," he desperately begged. Her eyes rolled around, but he could see deep down she was trying her hardest to stay awake. The nauseating feeling deep within her stomach along with the throbbing pain from her definite bruised ribs caused her to sway, even in the arms of her husband.

"I'm—" she muttered, her voice hoarse and raspy from her weakness and the ash floating in the air, "I'm awake..." Glenn nodded at her quiet words, reassuring her that she was indeed awake. Her eyes finally adjusted as her body fought its way to consciousness and not the familiar darkness she had just managed to escape. She looked up at the two men standing still, relieved looks in their expressions as they watched her. Her face fell into a mixture of confusion and pain. "Where's Tara?" she croaked out.

"Shit," Glenn cursed under his breath. "Noah, Eugene, hold onto her," he commanded the pair, to which the pair both knelt down and wrapped an arm around the fragile woman. She coughed lightly and groaned with tremendous pain as they both slowly but surely lifted her to her feet. She still didn't get her answer. Where was Tara? She was worried. "Get to that office. I'll get Tara. Go!"

Kloe let out a sob as Noah and Eugene adjusted her arms around their shoulders. Noah tried to make it appear that he was calm with the whole situation, but deep down he was panicked. He was scared of what had just happened with two of his friends. Eugene, on the other hand, didn't even think to conceal his true fear. Tara and Kloe were the only ones that could talk to him without giving him some sort of judgemental glare, and both of them had been seriously injured.

While the three hobbled over to the office, two of the Alexandrians joined them. Nicholas looked as if he'd seen a ghost, after witnessing his closest friend get pinned up on the wall with a metal pipe sticking through his abdomen. Madolyn had tears staining her cheeks, the assumption that her boyfriend was dead was unexpected and she had no idea what to feel. She was the first to ask if Kloe was alright, only to get a simple 'yeah' in return as they kicked down the door to the office.

Noah ordered Madolyn to make room on one of the desks and a chair, to which she nodded and dashed inside. Even though she was half out of it, Kloe couldn't help but cringe and scrunch up her pained face at the amount of sound the O'Niell woman was creating as she pushed things onto the ground— but she knew it had to be done.

The pair holding onto Kloe settled her down onto a wooden chair, a shriek of pain expelling out of her mouth as the discomfort in her bones grew worse as every second went by. As time went on, she scarcely became more aware of what was going on as the black dots finally went away.

Before long, Glenn hurried into the room with an unconscious Tara in his arms, making Kloe sit straight up despite the pain that screamed. Blood was dripping out of Tara's head like it was water being tipped out of a glass slowly. Her heart sank into her stomach as she gulped painfully. Noah ushered his friend over to the desk Madolyn had made room for. Glenn carefully laid Tara down on the desk as Kloe attempted to rise to her feet, only to sit right back down.

As Eugene pressed his hand against Tara's chin as he inspected her, Noah didn't think to jog over to the other injured person in the room. Kloe felt a hand belonging to the teenager lay on her shoulder, making her look up at him with glazed eyes. "You're alright, right?" he asked her, his voice shaky without meaning it to be.

"Just a bruise," Kloe replied, her voice barely above a whisper. The snarls from the walkers surrounding the office only grew louder. She took in the pain that took over her body, pinpointing the areas that hurt the most. The side of her head, her bad hand, her left leg, and her lungs. Everything else was like a dull ache that was bearable. "Can you help me up?" she questioned, her eyes glued on her unconscious friend on the table. Noah nodded, wrapping her left arm around his shoulder.

Noah helped her over to the others, her heart beating rapidly as she got a closer look at Tara. She had only been put on the desk for twenty seconds and the crimson that had pooled out of her head coated it. "How's she doing?" Glenn asked, his hand trained on Eugene's hand that was keeping Tara's head up straight.

"She has serious head trauma. She's losing blood fast," Eugene answered quickly. Nicholas and Madolyn peered over their shoulders at them as they pushed their bodies against the doors, restraining the walkers from breaking in.

"How do we stop it?" Noah quizzed, tilting his head to the side as he asked the question. Glenn looked over at him, his eyes instantly transferring to his wife. She was more awake than before, the blood that had dribbled down from the gash wound on the side of her head now bone dry as it stained her face red. All of her body weight was put onto her right leg, her left one far too injured to assure it with her weight.

Nicholas left Madolyn's side and approached the group. Now was not the time to let their cocky selves take over. Before, they weren't as serious, but this was one of the biggest events that had taken place for them. But they had trained themselves to push through it. "Med kit was in Aiden's pack. It got blown to hell," he enlightened.

Kloe's brows furrowed ever so slightly. Why didn't Aiden just listen to Glenn? None of them would've been in the situation they were in and he wouldn't have gotten himself killed. The med kit that was in his backpack had been the one Isabelle instructed them sternly to make sure not to lose. And, of course, they lose it.

"Isabelle made sure to give us more than one," Kloe raspily told them, her eyes dancing between the five in the room. "There's two more in the van."

Eugene pants became heavy. "She's on her way out," he trembled, before he lifted his head and looked across at the other four. "We need to get her there. We should also get Kloe there too." Kloe's mouth went to retort that she was okay, but he cut her off. "You don't know if it's just a bruise. Cardboard boxes that have equipment that weighs a double wardrobe crashed down onto you. You could have internal injuries. We have to be sure."

Kloe thought this was the first time Eugene hadn't used highly formal words as his words rushed out of his mouth faster than a fly flew through the air. She stayed silent, only until she gave in and singly nodded. Glenn exhaled heavily, trying his hardest to remain calm. "Alright, we'll get them there—"

"Help!" Everybody turned to face the window that no one could see out of through all of the walker hands that desperately tried to claw through the window. "Somebody!" The loud yell of pain coming from none other than Aiden Monroe made Madolyn's face contort into sadness and guilt. She thought he had died and that was it— but no. He was suffering and had to slowly fade into his death.

"Oh, Jesus," Nicholas muttered.

Nicholas and Glenn edged closer to the window and peaked in between the walkers. Madolyn kept her body weight against the door as walkers lightly pushed against it, but she twisted her body to look out the window. The mere sight of her boyfriend in pain wanted her to pull open the door and sprint over to him to save him.

"He's alive?" Glenn wondered with surprise.

"I— we checked him..." Madolyn answered, her voice shaking with fear of the life of Aiden. "I assumed he was gone. His pulse, there was nothing there."

"Must've been faint," Kloe commented.

Noah shook his head. "We gotta get him." Even if they all had a grudge toward Aiden, they didn't want to leave him behind if he was still alive. How would Deanna and Reg feel? He was their eldest son. How would Spencer feel? He was his older brother. And besides, none of them were like that. Even if most of the Alexandrians assumed that the group were heartless and stoic, none of that was true.

"It's gonna take at least three of us," Glenn told them. Kloe took a look at the side of Noah's face before slipping her arm from Noah's grasp, stumbling backwards with a few mutters of pain before falling down onto the chair. Noah twitched as an instinct to reach back for her just in case she fell, but when he noticed that he held up a hand to signal she was okay, he swallowed thickly and turned around.

"We got that kind of time?" Noah questioned the smartest man in the room. Eugene's breaths were still heavy as he held a cloth against Tara's wound in hope that it would magically stop bleeding, or at least slow it down. His other hand quivered, along with his bottom lip.

Nicholas' brows furrowed deeply at the back of Noah's head, his eyes widened. "We pull Aiden off there, we could kill him," he countered, shaking his head toward the group. The main thing he wasn't expecting however, was for Madolyn to disagree.

"What the hell else are we supposed to do?" she choked, tears pooling in her eyes. "We can't just leave him here."

"Go. Save him," Eugene shouted over to them, his head covered with sweat from the anxiety in his veins. He looked up as the others all watched him with certain looks. "She'd do it. I know she would. I'll stay with her and Kloe," every bone within him trembled, but it only proved that he wasn't lying. His eyes then turned to Glenn, considering he was one of the main ones that were deeply hurt by his betrayal. He knew Glenn didn't trust him with most things, but this time, all Eugene needed was his trust, especially with his wife in his hands. "We'll keep her safe, I assure you. I know full well Kloe can't do much, but she can still talk. She can tell me what to do."

Madolyn's eyes turned to Nicholas. "You go with them. I'll stay here," she told him with soft eyes. He went to return with a disagreement, but she cut him short. "Please bring him back in one piece. Please..." Nicholas nodded.

Glenn's eyes shot over to Kloe as she clasped onto a shelf beside her and pulled herself up with all of her weakened strength, yelling out with strain. He extended out his arms to catch her in case she fell, only for her to hold up a hand once again. "I'm okay, I'm okay," she repeatedly said as she fought down the bile rising in her throat from the throbbing pain. She lifted her eyes up at Glenn and Noah. "You hear this?" she pointed toward her chest as she sucked in a deep breath, a wheeze sounding out from it. They nodded. "My inhaler got crushed under the boxes. I'll make sure nothing happens, I promise."

Glenn still stepped forward and gently wrapped his arms around her, burying his head in the crook of his neck. "Be careful," he whispered, pressing his soft lips against the side of her head. He pulled away, cupping her face with his hands as he rested his forehead against hers. His hands were cupping her face, to which she grasped onto them and pulled them away along with her head.

"You be careful too, okay?" she told him, rubbing circles on the back of Glenn's hands. He nodded, pressing a quick kiss to her lips before he stepped away and turned to the other two.

"Alright, we knock 'em back," Glenn directed, pointing toward Noah as a signal that they both do that. He turned to Nicholas, "You still have that flare?"

"Y— yeah..." he answered, nodding his head.

"You fire the flare over the shelves," Glenn's voice cracked as he walked over to the door where Madolyn was. Madolyn was wondering how the hell none of them were bursting into tears that their friend was barely surviving. The reason for that was they had been through it enough, they knew that grieving someone that isn't yet gone has to wait until everyone else was safe. Their main priority was to save her. "That'll draw some of them over.

"Alright, we're gonna hit the rest hand to hand," Glenn pointed at Noah, setting the tip of his finger against the teen's chest as he sharply instructed on what to do. This was going his way, no one else's. "You ready?"

"Yeah," Nicholas whispered, his flare gun in hand as he steadied himself into a stance. Madolyn's hand snaked around the door knob, ready to fly it open for the three to rush out.

Glenn nodded toward her, positioning himself in the right way as did Noah. "Alright, one, two, three." Madolyn pulled down the handle and stepped off to the side immediately. Glenn pushed his shoulder against the door with force, pushing the two walkers on the other side, knocking them to the ground.

Nicholas rushed out first, aiming his flare up high as he aimed it to the right side of him across the shelves. He pulled the trigger, a bright, red flare firing through the air, making everyone's sweaty faces turn red as it illuminated through the windows.

Glenn and Noah hurried out, leaving Nicholas to shut it behind them.

...

It wasn't long before Kloe's wound on the side of her head started to run with blood down her face again. She was getting light-headed. Every rag they had found, Kloe insisted it went to Tara since she was in the most critical condition. After all the walkers were led away from the office, Madolyn snuck out to go into the other office beside the office they were in to seek out more rags.

Eugene hadn't taken his eyes off Tara for around five minutes, only occasionally glancing up at Kloe to ask if she was still conscious. Her vocal cords didn't have the energy to speak any words, and simply hummed instead as an answer as her eyelids were half shut.

They were in nothing but silence for a few minutes, only until Eugene mumbled words to Tara and Kloe had caught onto as she slowly twisted her head to the side to look at him. He was hovering over Tara, sweat practically dripping off his nose. "I take no responsibility for this. You should've listened. All of you, you should've listened." Kloe's labored breaths hitched as she watched the man silently. She knew immediately what he was talking about.

He told them all that he would be no use to their small mission. He was a coward, and if things went bad, he would be no help. Little did Kloe know, as he turned to share a look with the door, he was going to prove himself and the others wrong.

"What are you thinking, Sheldon Cooper?" Kloe pondered, the words barely verbal. Eugene's head turned to face her as his fingers traced the switch on his flashlight. The look on his face made her eyes open more than before, and she didn't think twice to straighten herself. She tilted her head as she connected the puzzle pieces together in her head. "I— I can't walk properly, Eugene."

With a stoic look on his face that showed only a small tint of fear, he spun on his heel and pulled open the door to a small room that was used for a storage area. A gash of wind hit him in the face, feeling more cooler than usual since he had a thick layer of sweat coating his skin. He reached inside the small storage room that was filled with boxes upon boxes, a few folders with several files stored inside of them.

Kloe tilted her head to the side quizzically. Eugene spun around, a single crutch in hand. Realization settled inside of her veins, puffing out a breath as she pushed herself up. "Even if we left now, we still need to wait for Madolyn to come back. We can't leave without her," she reminded, motioning her index finger out of the windows. Just as the words left her mouth, the door quickly opened and shut as the mentioned woman came back into the room.

Madolyn froze in place, her eyes going back and forth between Kloe and Eugene. She had found three rags— enough to stop Kloe's wound from seeping out more blood. She soon put one-and-one together, and her hand holding the rags dropped to her side as her face faltered. She looked toward Kloe. "Nice to see you're on your feet."

"Thanks, it took a lot of courage," she replied back sarcastically, limping along toward Eugene. He handed out the crutch, to which she took it gratefully and wrapped her good hand around the handle. "We need to get Tara back to the van. I also need my inhaler before I trigger another attack. We can't wait much longer."

Eugene walked over to the unconscious woman. "Madolyn, help me," he said. She broke her eyes away from Kloe and darted over toward him. Madolyn may have had a shitty personality, but that didn't mean she didn't have a heart. She already knew her boyfriend was gone, she wasn't going to let someone else die. The pair both wrapped each of Tara's arms over their shoulders.

Kloe hobbled over to the door, using the crutch to her advantage. The moment she heard them behind her, she didn't hesitate to reach forward for the door handle and slowly click it open. She pushed it open cautiously, glancing through the gap, praying there were no walkers nearby. Nicholas had shot a flare in the distance, so there shouldn't have been any.

They were in the clear from what Kloe could see, but she knew they were going to be greeted with a few visitors. The door creaked wide open to allow Eugene and Madolyn to drag their feet through with the unconscious Tara. The door — from the way the building was built — loosely closed shut on its own. Kloe stayed behind, a gun held weakly in her bad hand. Even if her aim was off since it was her left hand and a sprained hand, she still had to help in some way and not be a lonesome burden.

Madolyn had lost her firearm when the explosion had gone off, leaving Eugene in charge of protecting them. At that moment in time, he had one goal. Save Tara, and make sure Kloe doesn't trigger another asthma attack. As a snarl erupted from a lone walker stumbling its way over to them, he shakily lifted his pistol and aimlessly fired it. The bullet pierced through the corpse's knee, causing it to crumble onto the ground and scramble around. As Eugene and Madolyn got closer, Eugene shot it in the head, putting its misery to an end.

Kloe couldn't lie that she was surprised. She knew this was pushing Eugene's limits. She knew his veins weren't filled with fear, but with terror.

...

It only took the three five minutes to get back to the van.

None of them thought twice to slam the back doors open and lay Tara down carefully on the ground. She was safe, and that was all that mattered. Madolyn had got the med kit out and aided Tara with real bandages, all while Kloe treated herself.

She picked out the med kit assigned to her. Isabelle always insisted that Kloe had her own. Inside her med kit consisted of bandages, bandaids, disinfectant wipes, medical tape, an asthma reliever/preventer, and of course, a miniature oxygen tank.

She sat where she was put when they made their way there. She had her back pressed against the side, her left hand resting in her lap as it throbbed with pain. Her other hand held her asthma reliever, pushing it six times into her lungs before they finally calmed down.

At this point, it had been thirty minutes and there was still no sign of the other four that were expected to return. Madolyn held onto hope that her boyfriend was okay, but she prepared herself for the worst.

"Hey, Eugene," Kloe called out to the man in the front seat, his finger tapping impatiently against the steering wheel as he frantically searched around the premises for the others. He broke his gaze away and turned around to look at her. "Maybe drive around. They probably found another exit," she suggested.

"You're right," he stated nervously, twisting back around and twisting the ignition without thinking twice. "I should've thought of that one." Everyone in the back jolted backward slightly as the car began to move. She returned to looking straight ahead at Madolyn and Tara.

Madolyn had finished patching Tara up, but she remained unconscious. Eugene spent three minutes searching around before a voice caught his and the women's attention. "Hey! Hey!" Simultaneously, Madolyn and Kloe scrambled to their feet and peered over the seats. Kloe's face faltered deeply when she only saw one figure, that figure being Nicholas. The man stopped beside the driver's side's door. "Move over. We're leaving."

Kloe squinted her eyes before spinning on her heel, pushing open the back door. Eugene glared at Nicholas, watching him suspiciously as Nicholas pulled open the door. As he went to hurry inside the vehicle, he stopped dead in his tracks as Kloe appeared to the side of him, Eugene didn't move from his seat, and Madolyn's head was hanging over his shoulder with a scowl in her eyes.

"Nick," Madolyn started warningly, her head shaking at him. "We're not doing this again. We're not doing this again," she repeated quietly as her voice shook with sadness. Eugene powered off the engine and stepped out of the vehicle.

Nicholas ignored his friend and sent Eugene and Kloe death stares. "Both of you get back in the van!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.

The pair remained still. There was no way in hell they were leaving without Glenn and Noah. Eugene clenched his jaw, his face inches away from Nicholas' with a fiery look in his eyes— something Kloe wasn't used to seeing ever. If looks could kill, Nicholas would've been dead twice. This was Kloe's husband Nicholas' was demanding on leaving behind, as well as Glenn's brother-figure, Noah.

"We're not getting back in the van until you tell us where they are," Kloe snarled intimidatingly. Nicholas took his eyes off Eugene and twisted his head to the side to catch the eyes of Kloe's. A look of irritation was present in his eyes. He was hiding something— something big. Kloe couldn't lay her finger on it, but something had happened. Her right hand clenched if he mentioned anything bad.

Nicholas shook his head with anger and pursed his lips. He wet his lips before speaking. "Either you both come back with me and Madolyn or you stay here and you die with your friends. Those are your choices," he told them with a harsh glare.

"Nicholas, what the hell?" Madolyn shouted out to him from the car. "We're not having a repeat. You left them?! We're going back for them, end of story—"

While Madolyn lectured the man, Eugene had reached down for his gun in his sheath and hastily pulled it out. However, Nicholas cut him short from firing the weapon as he leaped forward and clutched onto his hand. Kloe's face scrunched up with rage before she lunged for him, wrapping both of her hands around his to stop him from grasping onto Eugene. Since she was weak and one of her hands were unusable, with Nicholas' strength did he push her away with force, causing her to fall down onto the ground with a harsh thud to the back of her head. She cried out with immense pain, her good hand flying to the back of her head as she watched Eugene get thrown onto the ground and Nicholas rushing into the vehicle. Madolyn's shouts were to be heard.

Footsteps entered Kloe's hearing, making her sit up even if she was seeing black dots in the edges of her vision. There Glenn was, alone, sprinting as fast as he could toward them. His hand reached out for the door that was still open and swung himself to the side. His fists wrapped around Nicholas's arm as he pulled him out of the car.

Kloe balanced herself as she held onto the side of the vehicle, and watched with a pained look in her expression. She could read Glenn's body language and the way his face was displayed and the way his voice shook. He grunted, his voice shaky and his cheeks stained with tears as he smashed Nicholas onto the ground with intense force, not having a care in the world if Nicholas was to fall unconscious from the contact to the concrete.

Glenn climbed on top of him as he brought his fist above his shoulder, clenching it tightly before slamming it across Nicholas's cheek. Nicholas released a cry as blood splattered out of the edge of his lips, painting small dots on the concrete a crimson red. Glenn striked the man across the face once more before Nicholas fainted from the punch.

Glenn panted as he steadied himself on the ground, his other hand held tightly on Nicholas's collar. He sat up, resting on one knee as he glared down at the man with glassy eyes. Kloe heart sank into the pit of her stomach that was forever there. Almost as if it was permanent and was never to go away. Noah wasn't with them. She connected two-and-two together.

Her eyes glossed over as she watched her husband stand to his feet, brushing his damp hair out of his face with his bloodied hand. Glenn's eyes stared off into space as he breathed heavily, his bottom lip quivering with pain — not physical pain, but mental pain.

"Hel— help me get him in the back," Glenn's voice shook, tears threatening to fall out of his sockets.

"Where's Noah?" Eugene asked, his own sad expression falling down upon his face.

Kloe felt like breaking down into tears.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

words: 5912
21st september 2023
––––––––––––––––––––
LONG ASS CHAPTER AM I RIGHT- i'm crying. I MISS NOAH AAGGGHHH HE DESERVED SM BETTER THAN WHAT HE GOT (fuck u nicholas u little poopy head go fys)