WHITE FLAG

chapter forty-nine : clear field
{ season three - episode sixteen }

"YOU'RE FINALLY BACK," Kloe said, looking directly at Daryl who walked through the gate that her and Jayce opened for him. The sun had been set for hours, making it nothing but darkness. "You missed out on dinner. We kept two extra plates."

"Might wanna hurry though," Jayce added. "They're going cold and I am more than tempted to have a chomp."

Kloe chuckled quietly, nodding her head in agreement. She turned back to Daryl, who stayed in complete silence. He stayed still, staring at the same spot on the ground. She frowned, noticing the emotionless face that was stuck onto him.

"Wait, hold on. Where is Merle?" Jayce wondered, noticing that the elder Dixon was nowhere to be seen. He raised his flashlight he had used for the pair to see as it got darker.

Kloe's brows deepended, also realizing that Merle wasn't with Daryl. She stared at him for answers, but he only stood still. "What happened, Daryl?" she questioned in a soft tone, stepping forward in front of him.

She hesitantly and cautiously placed both her hands on the Dixon's shoulders, looking deeply into his eyes as she searched for an answer. His eyes flickered up to hers, and that's when she noticed the tears present in his sockets. "When I found him, he was a walker."

His bottom lip began to quiver as he started to think of his older brother. Kloe's lips parted with shock and the inner part of her brows raised as sorrow began to pump through her veins. "Oh my God... Daryl, I'm so sorry."

Completely speechless, Kloe bit down on her bottom lip before wrapping both of her arms around the man. Usually, she would never even dare to even attempt to touch a strand of his hair, but since he was in a state of needed comfort, she thought it was a good idea.

To her surprise, Daryl tightly hugged her back, sobs escaping his lips. Her heart ached at his state that she had never seen him in before, his hands trembling against her back.

"It's okay..." she attempted to comfort the man. Over the man's shoulder, she watched Jayce as he turned down to the ground with sorrow. Once he looked back up at the archers, Kloe gestured to him to alert the group that he was back, which he soon obliged and did.

Hearing the man trod away from them, Daryl pulled away from the young woman, setting his watery eyes on him as he entered the building. "Where's he going?" he croaked out.

"He's gonna tell everyone that you're back. Wanna go inside?" Kloe asked sympathetically, supportively rubbing his shoulder. He nodded, wiping his eyes to clear away the tears.

She began to walk over to C-Block, her head snapping over to the door as she watched Rick rush down the steps. Daryl stopped in his place, waiting for the Grimes man to get over to him.

Kloe continued walking, holding onto the gate before it slammed shut and walked up the small set of steps. She pushed open the metal door, her eyes falling on the entire group that were scattered around the room.

She drifted her eyes over everyone, searching for a few people in particular. Everybody was in separate groups, having conversations. So no one heard the woman enter the room. Once her eyes landed on her brother, her boyfriend, Maggie and Isabelle, she didn't hesitate to hurry over to them.

Hearing her footsteps, the four both turned to face her. She gulped as she came to a stop in front of them, taking a deep breath as she looked up at them all.

"Where are they?" Zayn inquired, eyeing the door over his sister's shoulder, waiting for the Dixon brothers to enter. "Are they still not back?"

"Daryl's back," she responded. "Merle...not so much," she added, making the small group tilt their brows with confusion. "He's dead. He was a walker when Daryl found him."

Everyone's eyes slightly widened at the information, not expecting it. "Oh God..." Maggie silently gasped. "Is Daryl okay?"

Kloe shook her head, folding her arms over her chest. Glenn, who bit the flesh inside his cheeks, watched his girlfriend carefully. "What killed him?" he asked, earning a shrug in return.

"Do you think the Governor killed him?" Isabelle pondered, nervously flickering her eyes over the small group. "Maybe that's why the Governor killed him. If he let Michonne go, when she's who he wanted, then it would make sense why he did."

"I think so," Kloe agreed, nodding her head. "Really wouldn't have expected Merle to be the one to release someone..." she trailed off. As she came to realize, her eyes filled with horror. "If the Governor managed to kill Merle, is that a warning for us? Is he gonna attack tonight? Tomorrow?"

Maggie shifted her weight onto her other leg. "We're prepared. Someone just needs to stay on watch and we'll be fine."

"Let's hope so..." Kloe said. "Right, well, I'm gonna head off to bed. See you weirdos in the morning," she joked, a teasing smile on her lips as she backed away, sticking up her thumb. "When are you?" she quickly asked her boyfriend.

"Oh, uh, I'll come to bed in about twenty minutes. Just gotta sort out a few more things," he explained, sending her a small, soft smile. She nodded in acknowledgement before spinning on her heel as she made her way back to her and Glenn's cell.

The next day was going be a big day.

...

The group weren't taking any chances. They managed to sleep through the night without being disturbed. So when they woke up, they weren't going to sit around for another useless day.

They prepared for battle. They took the hint that the Governor was on his way when he murdered Daryl's older brother the day before.

Currently, everybody was packing up all their stuff from their cells. They had all come up with a plan that morning - they would make the Governor believe they had left, and then strike.

Kloe Schmidt was extremely fond of the idea. It sounded like the only opportunity they had. There was no way they could actually leave. And there was no way they could've made it look like they stayed.

All of the teenagers, Hershel and baby Judith were going to go outside of the prison, out of the way. Rick, Daryl, Jayce, Michonne and Carol were gonna hide out in the tombs, set off the alarms that had gone off the day Lori and T-Dog died. While up above, hidden in the shadows, Glenn, Kloe, Zayn, Maggie and Vickie were going to strike the second the Governor and his group began piling into the prison.

It was the best plan they had. The only chance they had at survival. Kloe shoved all her belongings in her backpack, while Glenn did the same beside her.

He occasionally looked up from his belongings and watched the woman he loved more than anyone, not being able to keep in his smile. And just before he could look away, she would lift her head and hold his eyes.

She grinned widely, dimples forming. Although they had been dating for almost a year, they still had the same stomach flips that they would both get when they first started.

"Let me guess... You're admiring my features?" Kloe inquired, giggling to herself as she thought of the memory when her and Glenn sat on the porch steps back at the farm and he had the guitar that was sadly left there to rot.

Glenn chuckled, nodding immediately after. "Yeah, you guessed correctly," he replied as he zipped up his backpack. Kloe, who still hadn't completely finished packing, moved her eyes to under the bunk bed, where something caught her eyes.

"Oh my God," she gasped, clutching onto the weapon that she had completely forgotten about. She stared at the small pocket knife in her palm. "Your patience is your power," she read aloud. "I can't believe I forgot about this."

"I remember when you found that," Glenn said, resting on both knees as he watched his girlfriend fiddle with the pocket knife. "Very motivational," he repeated his words he said on the highway the day she found it in the trunk of an abandoned car.

Kloe almost snorted, remembering when they were both head over heels for each other in that exact moment. But neither of them said anything because back then, they were both like teenagers and would trip and smack their faces against the pavement everytime they made eye contact.

As she continued to finish up her packing, she couldn't help but smile at all the memories she and Glenn shared overtime. From the very first day the apocalypse started when he and her brother showed up on her dorm's doorstep, to where they were now. Packing up their shit as they prepare for battle with the Governor.

"Hey, Klo," Glenn called out softly, catching his girlfriend's attention as she glanced away from her now full backpack. Her small smile faltered as she soon recognized the look he had on his face. "I don't want you to worry, okay? We'll be okay."

As if he knew that she needed to hear that, Kloe sent him a comforting and supporting smile. His hand, that was on top of his zipped up backpack, was covered by Kloe's palm, the warmth from her palm making a shiver go up his spine. "We'll be okay," she repeated his words, barely above a whisper as she stared deeply into his chocolate brown eyes.

It was like she had never gone deeper than where she was going. Glenn settled his other hand on top of her one, not taking seconds to pull his girlfriend into an embrace.

Taking her aback, Kloe chuckled breathlessly. "You weren't just reassuring me, were you? You were reassuring yourself too."

He nodded in the crook of her neck, placing soft kisses on her skin. "I love you," he smiled widely, making Kloe shiver as she felt it on the bottom of her neck.

Kloe, with a wide beaming smile etched onto her lips, pulled away from their brief embrace as she laced her fingers with his. "And I love you. Now stop worrying. We got this."

She let go of one of his hands, bringing it to his head. She ruffled her hand through his hair, messing it up. Glenn laughed as she brought her palm back down to the ground to keep herself steady - considering she was balancing on one foot and one knee.

"What was that?" Glenn wondered with a curious expression. Feeling the ends of his messed up hair, he stood to his feet as he looked at his reflection in the mirror above the sink. "Kloe, I don't know if you were a hair stylist, but I think you just made my hair look better."

"Oh don't be ridiculous, Glenn Rhee," Kloe snickered, laughing at his sarcastic actions as he fixed his hair. "I think you should try growing it out."

Glenn's eyes went wide as he unhurriedly turned his head to look down at her, and he watched her with an expression as if she was a crazy person. "Grow my hair out? You know how crazy I'll look?"

"Shut up, you'll look good with any hairstyle," Kloe waved him off, ignoring the faces he was pulling at her. "You look good any day."

"Thanks, Ms. Schmidt. That's the best compliment you've given me overall," Glenn smiled tight-lipped, dramatically placing his hand over his chest as he made an 'aw' sound.

Zipping up her backpack, she hastily threw it over her shoulder. "Alright, stop acting like a teenager," she gently whacked him on the arm, earning a chuckle from the man, "and let's get going."

...

Kloe's chest tightened as she held tightly onto the rifle that was sitting in her grasp. The Governor was beneath her with all of his buddies. Before they did, they blew up most of the guard towers except one, shooting relentlessly at them.

If anyone was hiding in them, they were definitely more than dead. But fortunately, no one hid in them. Instead, Zayn, Kloe, Glenn, Maggie and Vickie were hiding in the one place the Governor would least expect them to be.

Glenn and Zayn were behind some concrete slabs they had pressed up against the chain-link on the bridge that connected to two cell blocks. On another bridge, with more concrete slabs to cover, sat Maggie, Kloe and Vickie.

The women were evenly spread out, so if they were to get shot at, it would make it extremely difficult to get hit. Everyone that was outside and not in the tombs were wearing the protective armor they had taken off of the walkers.

On the far left was Kloe, her back pressed against the concrete slab as she took deep breaths. Beside her, in the middle, was Maggie, who was ducked down beneath the concrete slab, double checking that her submachine gun was loaded. And lastly, Vickie, who had her long rifle poking through the chain-link fence as she impatiently waited for the enemies to exit their home. The enemies being the people she once knew and saw as family.

"Remember, girls, try to aim for the ones that aren't screaming and are actually determined to kill us," Vickie reminded, not taking her eye off of the door they had entered through the scope to her rifle. "Some of them are innocent people that have been brainwashed into doing this."

Kloe snapped her head over to the woman, who she could kind of see over Maggie's shoulder. "Got it," she nodded, sticking up her thumb. Her eyes dropped to her best friend, who was slightly shaken up from the explosions. "Maggie," she called out, catching the woman's attention. "We got this, okay? We can do it."

She acknowledged with a nod of her head, biting her bottom lip as she lifted her submachine gun up. She was ready to attack. In a matter of seconds, the recognizable alarm began blaring out through the air, meaning Rick and the others below successfully managed to achieve their plan - so far.

Kloe felt her heart beat fasten up as she lunged upwards so that she could get herself into a shooting position. Unlike the other two women, she made herself more visible so she could have better aim at the attackers.

She swallowed thickly as she watched them pour out of C-Block - the block where spent the past few weeks living in. She squinted her eyes as she carefully looked through the scope to her rifle.

Their goal was to make the attackers scared so they would run away and flee. After being told by Vickie, Michonne and Brianna that most of the soldiers that were going to show up weren't actually soldiers and were just normal innocent people.

To what they were witnessing at that moment, it seemed that they weren't wrong. Kloe's ears started to ring as more gunshots erupted around her, coming from where her boyfriend and her brother were.

The pair began to shoot at the people that were sprinting for their lives, only aiming around them. They weren't planning on hurting them, only the ones that they all recognized.

Kloe didn't bother shooting at the people, purposely waiting for the man she wanted dead more than anyone. The two women beside her began shooting incessantly, also shooting the floor to frighten the people.

Her eyes soon turned to a glare as she recognized the very man that assaulted her. Without hesitation, she hovered her finger over the trigger as he began to run.

She held her breath as she pushed her index finger down, the bullet flying through the air within an instant. The force of the trigger being pulled sent a shiver down Kloe's spine.

She could hear her pulse in her ears as they continued to ring. At the speed of rain falling in the sky, her heart fell into the deep bottom of her stomach. She had missed.

The Governor, who realized he had been shot at when he saw the bullet hit the wall behind him, shot his one singular eye up at the young woman. He didn't even have to take two seconds to recognize the woman before he raised his gun.

Mercilessly, he held his finger down on the trigger as the bullets flew towards Kloe's head. Instantly, she ducked down, the bullets flying over her head. Her breath got caught in her stomach as she waited for the man to stop shooting, and when he did, she immediately stood back up.

She hastily got back into position, staring through the scope as she trained it on the man once again, who was now running out of the gates with his group.

She knew she wouldn't be able to kill him, but that's all she wanted. So she tried. She pulled the trigger again, the shudder rocketing through her body as the bullet pierced through the air.

This time, the bullet went straight through his forearm, earning a painful yell as he clutched onto it. Putting his pain to the side, he grabbed onto one of the women that were terrified, pulling her with him as he continued to sprint out of the gate.

She gritted her teeth as she took several more shots at the men she recognized - the ones who knew the Governor was torturing her and Glenn while doing nothing about it.

She missed every time, knowing that they probably didn't deserve death. The only person that deserved it was the Governor. And now that he was outside of the gates and racing towards his vehicles, he was way out of range for any of the group to get him.

As he climbed into his car and drove off - along with everyone else - silence poured down upon them all, the shooting coming to an end. It was extra quiet, considering the Governor and his friends took down all the walkers when they entered. There were no growls.

Everyone panted as they lowered their weapons. As Kloe stood up, straightening her back, she dropped her rifle onto the ground. Maggie's lips formed a proud smile as she watched the car drive off into the distance. Vickie sighed with relief, wiping away any sweat that managed to coat her forehead.

The women's heads whipped over to the door that led to the bridge Zayn and Glenn were on, their eyes setting onto them as they took off their helmets. Maggie, who smiled even wider upon the sight of the two men unharmed, began to unclip her own helmet. "We did it?!"

"Hell yeah, we did!" Zayn shouted back, a smile on his own lips. Kloe didn't even bother to unclip her helmet and just pulled it off, throwing it onto the ground beside her.

Kloe didn't see this as a win. She saw it as a failure. They didn't manage to kill the one person they planned to have dead by the end of the day. Instead, they drove off in defeat.

That didn't mean it was over - the Governor could come piling back in at any time without notice, with possibly an even bigger army. Ones that were more trained at least.

"Yeah. Come on down!" Glenn stated, pointing down to the ground beneath them as he sent the women a small smile.

The small group of five rushed down the steps, not wanting to waste time. Not that it mattered of course. They just wanted to see if everyone else was okay. Glenn, who was in front of all of them, came to a stop at the gate that was now no longer closed.

They came to a stop side-by-side. They eyed the field that was covered with dead bodies. Not even a minute later Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Jayce and Carol made an appearance, clearly unharmed.

Everyone was panting as the new group stopped beside them, scanning the field. "We did it," Rick stated, unnoticeable nodding his head as he finished eyeing the field. "We drove them out."

Kloe, who looked up at the man beside her, only shook her head. "We did nothing," she simply said, making the group turn to her. "He's still alive."

"She's right," Michonne agreed. "We should go after them." Kloe couldn't help but nod in agreement, they were vulnerable. They had to kill him before anything worse happened.

"We should finish it," Daryl added, taking the side of Kloe and Michonne.

"It is finished," Maggie countered. "Didn't you see them hightail it out of here?" she asked, drifting her eyes over the three as if they were crazy.

"Think about it. What's stopping him from turning right back right now? We're out here thinking we've won - he'll use that to his advantage," Kloe explained, not changing her mind no matter what anyone said.

"He won't stop. He'll never stop until he gets what he wants," Vickie stated in a warning tone to the ones that thought they should leave the man be. "He'll attack when least expected."

"They're right," Carol breathed. "We can't keep living like this." Her eyes switched between Kloe, Michonne, Daryl and Vickie - the ones that wanted to attack back.

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury," Maggie started, not fond of their current mindset. "We barely made it back last time," she referred to the night when they saved Kloe and Glenn.

"I don't care," Daryl retorted, wanting his own revenge. It was clear Vickie wanted him dead because she knew what he was capable of. But Daryl, Kloe and Michonne weren't thinking about his capability. They were thinking of revenge. They all had something they wanted revenge for.

Daryl wanted his revenge because the Governor had killed his brother. Michonne wanted him dead because he sent people out to kill her because she never trusted him. And Kloe wanted him dead because he had sexually assaulted her. The trio's reasoning was valid.

...

The group walked back into C-Block - where the Governor had been not so long before. Before they did anything, they needed to make sure that the others that hid outside of the prison were okay.

The second Kloe's eyes landed on Isabelle, she couldn't stop herself from wrapping her arms around her. "I'm glad you're okay," Isabelle muffled through the protective armor Kloe was still wearing.

"I'm happy you are too," she replied, pulling away from the teenager. "We saw them flee. Are you going back?"

"I think so," Kloe responded, her hands still on Isabelle's shoulders. "Did anything happen out there?" she pondered.

Isabelle, who's mouth slightly fell open, slowly looked over her shoulder and watched Carl for a few moments, who was talking with his father. She turned back to a confused Kloe. "Yes."

"Why? What happened?" Kloe inquired, looking between the brunette teen and the young boy who was a few meters behind her. "Did Carl do something?"

"Yes," she answered quietly. She hesitated for a moment, blinking constantly before looking up at Kloe in her eyes. "There was another boy who was my age. He was with the Governor. He was putting down his weapon and then-" she cut herself off, gulping and took a breath, "then Carl just shot him. For no reason. Right in the head."

Kloe felt her heart fall. Her hands dropped from Isabelle's shoulders as she stared at her with surprise, shock and sadness. She transferred her eyes over to the young boy. He wasn't like the boy she once knew a year before. He had gone cold.

But he had every right to. He watched his mother die right in front of him, and he had to shoot her in the head so she wouldn't turn. He was grieving. And he probably would never be the same.

"Carl...killed someone?" Kloe asked in a deafening silent tone of disbelief.

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words: 4005
11th november 2022
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did you guys know it was my birthday yesterday? LMFAO-
ANYWAY, there is only one more chapter left for this season, then there will be one chapter that'll take place in between season 3 & 4 abt.. nvm not sayin.
then after that ofc will be season 4 - then THE NEXT BOOK AYY