- F I F T E E N -

The Walking Dead
(season 1-11)

'I never thought I would
ever love someone because
they were incapable to love me
and here i found you.'

by @everm0res
———————————
- R E G R E T -

TW! suicide

Maia woke up with a massive headache, she was hungover, she had it coming.

The room was quiet and empty, her being the only one in it. She laid flat on her back, staring up at the ceiling as her head throbbed trying to get it to stop.

She blinked almost trying to adjust to the throbbing in her head in order to ignore it.

She sighed to herself before gaining the courage to roll over to reach the bag and search through it.

However when she tried looking through a toiletry bag she packed for some sort of pain tablet she found nothing. She would then make sure to ask Anthony when she got upstairs.

Maia looked down at her clothes before her eyes widened in realisation.

She was wearing his sweater.

She recalled almost everything, from the knocks on his door to the kiss that she initiated.

The kiss.

She regretted all of it.

She regretted that she initiated it, she regretted how much she felt like she needed it and she regretted how much she liked it.

Just because she was hungover didn't mean she would forget.

She tried to stand up, however her muscles ached.

Her biceps had a painful sensation go through them, her legs hurting almost as if she had bruises all over them and her neck was stiff,

She audibly groaned as she stood up due to the pain in her body. Everything felt like it was on fire.

Her spine cracked and she stretched and she put on her shoes, trying to ignore the throbbing in her skull and pain in her body.

She slipped on her boots, they were the only shoes she had, however she was bound to find other ones.

She slowly stood up as she refrained from creating more pain for herself.

Maia walked towards the door and slowly twisted the doorknob to be greeted with the unfamiliar light in the hallway.

Having to cover her eyes as they burned due to the sudden amount of light, she yawned loudly and blinked a few times to adjust.

As she took quite a stroll towards the upstairs, she was met with Dale who she greeted with a half-smile.

"Good morning." Dale smiled at Maia before seeing the dark circles under her eyes.

"Mmm, morning." Maia replied, her voice was raspy and groggy before Dale laughed in response to her morning voice.

"Hangover?" Dale asked as he pressed the button for the elevator.

"Major." Maia replied flatly and rubbed her eyes with a soft groan. She couldn't seem to ignore the throbbing in her skull, the pain was too much but nothing she hadn't experienced before.

It wasn't something you would wish to experience again.

Silence filled the small space before the doors opened and Dale walked out of the elevator first before Maia rubbed her eyes and she walked out.

She was still in the sweater, she never took it off even after she realised she was still wearing it.

She followed behind Dale as he made his way to the table.

"Don't ever, ever, ever let me drink again." The strained voice of Glenn echoed through Maia's ears and she walked into the room.

"And look who decided to show up." Anthony laughed and Maia groaned, it sounded as if everyone was yelling and it just made her headache worse.

The others turned to Maia who had dark circles under her eyes.

"Stop yelling." Maia spoke in an almost whisper.

"That's what you get for getting drunk!" Anthony turned and yelled into her ear causing all the kids and adults around the table to laugh.

Maia stood there frozen and groaned loudly.

"Is this what a hangover looks like?" Luna asked softly.

"At least a type of hangover." Lara then pointed to her brother who was groaning on the other side of the table.

"Where's the..." Maia trailed off before putting a hand to her forehead.

Anthony took aspirin out of his pocket and threw it to Maia and she quickly caught it.

"You're a dick and a life saver, an interesting combination." Maia replied in her raspy voice before opening the aspirin bottle.

"Muscles sore or headache?" Anthony asked softly.

"Both." Maia made a hand motion saying "give" and Anthony gave her a glass of water.

"Thanks. I'd suggest you give pizza boy five of these."
Maia put an aspirin into the water and allowed it to fizz before giving the bottle back to Anthony.

"Morning." Giselle smiled and saw Maia and Glenn, they both looked exhausted.

"Hangover?" Giselle sat next to Maia and Izraella walked in after with Rosalyn by her side.

"You know it." Maia groaned and then downed the aspirin.

"Slow down." Giselle stopped Maia from downing the aspirin and she spilt a bit of it.

"Wow, today is really not my day." Maia groaned softly before wiping her mouth.

"Protein helps." T-Dog brings Maia a plate with a smile, almost to make fun of her.

"Protein doesn't do shit, but thanks." Maia replied and everyone let out a chuckle.

Izraella sighed and came up behind Maia and shook her fast.

"Wake up!" Izraella yelled and this caused both Maia and Glenn to groan.

"Shut up and stop shaking me." Maia hit Izraella's hands away and she just laughed in return.

"You got shitless drunk, I'm surprised you didn't pass out." Izraella explained with a chuckle and took some breakfast, quietly thanking T-Dog.

"Language." Giselle spoke and Izraella nodded.

"How's, "I can handle my alcohol", doing?" Izraella started eating her eggs and looked up to see Glenn with his hand on his head.

"You can seriously not handle your alcohol." Lara piped up and the others let out a chuckle at the younger Rhee's words and saw her take a seat next to Glenn.

Maia looked up and opposite her saw Glenn who mumbled a "Shut up." to his sister causing Lara to roll her eyes in return.

Maia slowly but surely finished her eggs and stood up out of her chair.

Luna and Rosalyn gave each other a mischievous look and as soon as Maia started walking the two girls hugged onto her legs.

She groaned at the sudden weight.

"Is everyone just trying to hurt me this morning?" Her voice got groggier however she cleared her throat to ease it.

"Whose sweater is that?" Luna piped up from Maia's leg.

Maia looked down at the sweater and shrugged.

"Oh this? It's mine." Maia replied flatly and glanced towards Glenn who was already looking at her.

"I've never seen it before." Luna replied and then Lara looked confused.

Lara scanned the sweater, a certain familiarity with it.

She furrowed her eyebrows and then looked at Glenn staring at Maia with a slightly disappointed look.

It was clear there was something wrong.

Or at least to Lara.

"Yeah, I've actually never seen it." Anthony piped up with a confused look as well.

"It's new, that's why, i haven't worn it." Maia made up the excuse on the spot, it seemed to have fooled everyone but not Lara.

"Wait, isn't that yours?" Lara turned to Glenn and whispered.

"No..." He trailed off softly.

Lara's eyes widened and Glenn told her to shut up.

Before Lara could speak again Maia was already on the other side of the room and then Shane walked in.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Maia asked Shane with a look, his neck was scratched.

He completely ignored her and she glared at him as he walked towards the table and greeted Rick.

"The hell happened to you?" T-Dog's voice echoed and Maia glanced his way before going to fetch a glass of water.

"Your neck?"

"Must've done it in my sleep." Shane replied as he sat down and the others scanned his neck.

"Never seen you do that before." Rick spoke up with a look of concern.

"Me neither. Not like me at all." Shane glanced towards Lori and she looked away quickly, Maia was standing behind Shane by the table drinking her water and she saw the small glance.

Maia had a slight look of concern on her face.

The footsteps of Dr. Jenner entered the room and he greeted the rest.

"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing..." Dale trailed off and was quickly cut off by Jenner.

"But you will anyway." Jenner sounded annoyed however he listened.

Maia took a seat next to Luna who sat next to Rosalyn.

"We didn't come here for the eggs." Andrea stated.

————————

The group all followed Jenner towards the main computer and he spoke up.

"Vi, Give me a playback of TS-19." Jenner's voice echoed loudly and the computer echoed the words back.

The screen turned on and started showing brain scans.

Maia, Anthony and Luna all walked alongside each other.

"Few people ever got to see this." Jenner spoke as everyone gathered around the room.

"Very few."

"Get to the point." Maia deadpanned before Anthony pinched her.

"Ow." She muttered.

"Is that a brain?" Carl piped up and Rosalyn rolled her eyes.

"No, it's a foot." Rosalyn mumbled sarcastically and Carl rolled his eyes in return.

Jenner ignored Rosalyn's sarcastic comment.

"An extraordinary one."

"Not that it matters in the end." Jenner spoke and Maia raised her eyebrows.

"Talk about one fucking depressed man." Maia whispered to Izraella, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Take us in for EIV." Jenner spoke to the computer again.

"Enhanced internal view."

The computer zoomed in on the scan, lights were flickering blue on the screen.

"What are those lights?" Shane asked.

"It's a person's life. Experiences, memories. It's everything." Jenner pointed to the screen as he explained.

"Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you. The thing that makes you unique and human." Jenner explained.

The group looked curious and fascinated.

The kids were all staring at the screen in awe.

"You don't make sense ever?" Daryl asked in a confused tone.

Maia leaned on one of the computers, close to Daryl and next to Izraella.

"Those are synapses, electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death." Jenner explained to the group who stared up at the screen, taking in the information.

"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick stepped forward.

"Yes. Or rather, the playback of the vigil." Jenner replied, staring up at the screen.

"This person died?" Izraella stared up at the screen with curiosity.

"Who?" Andrea asked softly.

"Test Subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected, and volunteered to have us record the process." Jenner explained softly glancing towards Andrea.

"Vi, scan forward to the first event." The man raised his voice and the computer did as it was told.

It showed the brain and black lines growing.

"What is that?" Glenn's voice was filled with shock and curiosity.

"It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands haemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. The death." Jenner explained to the group.

Maia fixed the sweater every so often, flattening it and taking small lint off of it.

She felt eyes on the side of her head, she knew it was Glenn.

She decided to act like nothing happened, his constant stares weren't helping either.

The group were all tearing up, as Jim was mentioned.

Andrea started crying, tears rolling down her cheeks.

Maia couldn't help but feel bad for the woman, she lost her younger sister and that was a huge loss.

It all happened so quickly.

After Jenner explained the first event they had scanned to the second one.

Red light shined by the brain stem.

"It restarts the brain?" Lori asked in disbelief.

"No, just the brain stem." Jenner replied.

"So it only starts up the brain enough for the body to move, if that's where you're getting at?" Maia tried to make sense of the information in her own head.

"Yes, it basically gets them up and moving." Jenner nods at Maia's observation.

"But they're not alive?" Rick wondered.

"You tell me."

"It's nothing like before. Most of that brain is dark." Rick observed.

"Dark, lifeless, dead. The frontal lobe, the neocortex, the human part, that doesn't come back. The you part. Just a shell driven by mindless instinct." Jenner explained and the body on the screen moved.

"God. What was that?" Carol piped up as something plunged through the brain.

"He shot his patient in the head. Didn't you?" Andrea pondered softly.

"Vi, power down the main screen and the workstations." Jenner ignored her question and told the computer to shut down.

"You have no idea what it is, do you?" Andrea folded her arms across her chest.

Maia rolled her eyes at the woman's voice.

"If he knew, we'd have answers." Izraella folded her arms across her chest with a glare towards Andrea.

"It could be microbial, viral, parasitic, fungal." Jenner listed and Maia sighed heavily.

"Or the wrath of God." Jacqui spoke up, angry, and sad, tears rolled down her cheeks.

"There is that."

"Somebody must know something." Andrea spoke up.

"If somebody fucking knew something there would be answers to our questions. Do you see another person? He just explained how we die, not what it is." Maia stepped forward and looked around.

She was losing her patience and to be quite frank she wanted to sleep.

"There are others right? Other facilities?" Carol inquired.

"There may be some. People like me." Jenner spoke.

"People like you need therapy." Maia mumbled and walked over to Luna who was holding onto her cow stuffed animal.

"But you don't know? How can you not know?" Rick was getting impatient as well.

"Everything went down. Communications, directives, all of it. I've been in the dark for almost a month." Jenner explained and the others all looked at him in disbelief.

"So it's not just here. There's nothing left anywhere? Nothing? That's what you're really saying, right?" Andrea scoffed.

"Man, I'm gonna get shit-faced drunk again." Daryl sighed and Maia nodded.

"Me and you both." Maia walked past Glenn towards one of the workstations and leaned on it in frustration, rubbing her hands on her face.

Maia zoned out of the conversation until she heard the word "clock."

"What happens at zero?" Dale asked and Maia lifted her head from her hands, seeing Glenn hesitantly stood next to her.

She bit her lip and moved away slightly, keeping her distance from Glenn. The atmosphere around them was thick and awkward, tension rose between the two since the night before.

Maia knew he remembered it, she definitely remembered it.

"The basement generators...They run out of fuel." Jenner deadpanned leaving everyone speechless.

"Then what? we're left with nothing?" Giselle asked in disbelief.

"Vi, what happens when the power runs out?" Rick asks out loud for the computer to hear.

"When the power runs out a facility-wide decontamination will occur."

Maia's eyes wide in realisation.

—————————

Anthony, Rick, Glenn, Maia,T-Dog,  Shane and Izraella rushed down the stairs to the basement.

"Decontamination, what does that mean?" Glenn breathed heavily as they rushed down the stairs.

"In short, we're gonna blow up." Maia rushed ahead of Glenn behind Shane.

"What?" Anthony pipes up and Maia doesn't answer.

"The way he just wandered off like that." Shane spoke up and Maia shook her head in confusion and disbelief.

"Did anyone hear what I just said?" Maia walked with a confused look as to why they just completely ignored her statement.

"What's wrong with him? Seriously man, is he nuts, medicated, what?" T-Dog asked.

"Probably suicidal." Anthony piped up and Izraella sighed loudly as they stopped in front of a map.

"In there."

————————
The others split up, Glenn and T-Dog, Rick and Shane, then Maia, Anthony and Izraella.

They had been looking around the basement and the lights turned off.

"Hey, did you guys kill the lights?" Glenn jogged towards Rick.

"Nah it just went out." Shane replied.

"Anything?" Rick pondered.

"Yeah, a lot of dead generators." T-Dog came out from the back and Maia, Izraella and Anthony jogged forward.

"More empty fuel drums than we can count." Anthony added with a pant.

"And none of my goddamn dignity left." Maia sighed with a bitter and sarcastic smile.

Izraella nodded and gave Maia a high-five before Anthony rolled his eyes.

"You guys seriously aren't helping." Anthony groaned at the two and the other men just sighed.

"It can't just be down to just that one." Shane turned to Rick and Maia shined her flashlight on the generator.

Glenn's staring was getting more often and now people started noticing it.

Anthony and Izraella gave each other a look before looking back at Glenn who had a disappointed look on his face.

He couldn't stop thinking about it.

The kiss.

He couldn't stop thinking about it, about what she said.

"It was a mistake."

He didn't think it was a mistake, he wanted that kiss, he craved it.

"It sure as hell can, if it is." Anthony replied.

———————

By the time the rest were in the main room, Rick and the others ran upstairs in a hurry as everything started to shut down.

"Rick!" Lori looked over the railing and Rick gave her a hand signal telling her to wait.

"Mai! Ant!" Luna yelled as she stood next to Lori by the railing

"Jenner, what's happening?" Rick asked in a rushed manner, wanting answers.

"The system is dropping all the nonessential uses of power. It's designed to keep the computers running to the last possible second. That started as we approached the half-hour mark." The group all followed the blonde man towards the main centre.

"Right on schedule."

Maia sighed and took Luna into her arms and placed her on her hip.

Jenner was drinking alcohol and he stopped by a step.

"It was the french." Jenner spoke vaguely as Daryl snatched the alcohol bottle out of his hand.

"What?" Andrea pondered.

"They were the last ones to hold out as far as I know." Jenner explained his statement.

"While our people were bolting the doors and committing suicide in the hallways, they stayed in the labs till the end. They thought they were close to a solution." Jenner walked up the steps without looking back.

"What happened?" Jacqui asked, her voice slightly wobbled.

"The same thing that's happening here. No power grid. Ran out of juice." Jenner stated flatly, there was no other way to explain it.

"The world runs on fossil fuel. I mean, how stupid is that?" Jenner wondered.

"Great positivity Doc." Maia put up a thumbs up and then the others gave her a glare before she put her thumb down.

After Shane created a commotion the group was all instructed to get their stuff and get ready to leave.

Maia placed Luna down and made a run for it before a loud alarm started blaring.

"30 minutes to decontamination."

The computer's voice echoed through the room.

"Fuck." Maia mumbled to herself, she knew what was bound to happen.

She remembered her training in ROTC and the small amount of military training she had, they spoke about situations like this.

Before they could get to the exit, a large metal door flew up sealing the exit.

Maia stared at the door, her palms started to sweat, her heart started racing.

"Did you just lock us in?" Glenn asked Jenner in a panicked tone.

"He locked us in?" Lara looked terrified, her eyes wide and she took Glenn's hand seeking comfort in her brother.

"He just locked us in!" Anthony yelled right after Glenn spoke.

"You son of a bitch!" Daryl yelled as he made his way towards Jenner who sat in an office chair, he was ready to break the alcohol bottle on his head.

Maia stared at the door, her chest heaving and Luna took Maia's hand.

"Maia, I'm scared." Luna spoke softly and tears welled up in her eyes.

"I know, I know, we'll be fine." Maia put a hand on Luna's face and looked the younger girl in the eyes.

"We will be okay." Maia spoke in a whisper, her voice slightly wobbled.

Anthony came jogging towards Maia and Luna.

"You okay?" Anthony asked the two and Maia nodded.

"She's just scared, we all are." Maia replied sternly and turned to Jenner who sat in that chair.

"He can die, I'm not fucking dying." Maia glared at the blonde man who sat in his chair.

Luna looked scared and saw the way Maia glared at the man, it was almost the exact same way she looked at their father.

Jenner's voice echoed louder.

"I told you. Once that front door closed, it wouldn't open again. You heard me say that."

Maia jogged forward and took the man by his collar.

"Woah! Woah!"

"Okay, now just because you're fucking suicidal doesnt mean you need to take us with you. Open the fucking door." Maia glared into the man's eyes and Rick, Shane and T-Dog got her off of him.

"It's better this way." Jenner was panting and looked at the others as Maia stood with a glare.

"What is? What happens in 28 minutes?" Rick asked frantically, his eyes flickering towards the clock.

"He's gonna blow this place up. Didn't you hear me in the basement?" Maia looked at Jenner with the same glare.

The group started to look at Maia with scared looks and Jenner ignored the question.

"What happens in 28 minutes?!" Rick yelled at Jenner who then stood up and yelled in return.

"You know what this place is? We protected the public from very nasty stuff!" He got up in Shane's face.

"Weaponized smallpox! Ebola strains that could wipe out half the country! Stuff you don't want getting out! Ever!" Jenner then got in Maia's face and she took a step forward.

"You better back the fuck away from me." Maia warmed and Anthony pulled her back.

Luna was on the verge of tears and Rosalyn hugged the younger girl.

"In the event of a catastrophic power failure, in a terrorist attack, for example, HITs are deployed to prevent any organisms from getting out." Jenner sat back down.

"HITs." Rick inquired and Maia closed her eyes.

"Vi, define."

"high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives, consists of a two-stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear."

"The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen between 5,000 and 6,000 degrees and is useful where the greatest loss of life and damage to structures is desired."

Luna started crying in Rosalyn's arms and Anthony and Maia took the girls into a hug, and soon Izraella and Giselle joined in.

Lara ran off to Glenn who had his sister tight in his arms.

"It sets the air on fire. No pain. An end to sorrow, grief. Regret. Everything." Jenner deadpanned and Maia pulled away from the hug. 

"Let. Us. Out."

————————

The men tried breaking down the door, using axes, metal poles, but it didn't budge.

The kids all sat on the floor with the moms, crying softly.

Maia held Luna and Lara tightly by her side and tried to distract them and next to Maia sat Giselle holding Rosalyn close to her.

Maia held the two girls close to her before planting a kiss on both of their heads.

"We're gonna get out of here, I promise." Maia whispered and the girls each hugged her sides.

Jenner started talking and Maia covered the two girls' ears.

"Shh, don't listen, block him out." Maia whispered to the two who closed their eyes and covered their ears.

"Easier for who?" Lori raised her voice.

"All of you. You know what's out there. A short, brutal life and an agonising death. Your...Your sister." He turned to Andrea.

"What was her name?" He asked.

"Amy."

"Amy, you know what this does. You've seen it. Is that really what you want for your wife and son?" Jenner turned to Rick.

They listened to every word.

"I don't want this." Rick deadpanned.

"We can't even make a dent." Anthony panted and Maia looked over to see Shane and Anthony leaning on a work station.

"Those doors are designed to withstand a rocket launcher." Jenner stated.

"Well, your head ain't!" Daryl tried to swing an axe at the man's head before he quickly got stopped.

"Daryl! Daryl!" Rick yelled.

The men all pushed him away and the women shielded the children.

Izraella sat next to Maia with a sigh, Maia was still closing the girls' ears.

Izraella rested her head on Maia's shoulder and Maia rested her head on top of Izraella's.

"You do want this. Last night, you said you knew it was just a matter of time before everybody you loved was dead." This statement caused Luna and Lara to both break down in tears and both Maia and Izraella tried to calm them down.

Rick and Jenner started arguing back and forth about how there was hope, whether or not it was in the CDC with Dr. Jenner or if it was still out there.

There was always hope.

"What part of "everything is gone" do you not understand?" Andrea piped up as she hugged her knees to her chest.

"Listen to your friend. She gets it." Jenner stated.

"This is what takes us down. This is our extinction event." Jenner stated and the children and mothers sobbed even more.

"This isn't right." Carol choked on a sob, tears rolling down her cheeks as she kept her daughter close.

"You can't just keep us here!" The woman exclaimed.

"One tiny moment, it...A millisecond. No pain." Jenner tried to sound convincing.

"My daughter doesn't deserve to die like this." Carol cried.

"Wouldn't it be kinder, more compassionate, to just hold your loved ones and just wait for the clock to run down?" Jenner stated and Maia ushered the girls to stand up.

The sound of a gun cocking caught everyone's attention.

Shane had a shotgun in his hand and he made his way towards Jenner.

"Open that door or I'm gonna blow your head off. Do you hear me?" Shane threatened.

Maia ushered the girls to stand up and the rushed over towards where Anthony was, Gisell, Rosalyn and Izraella following shortly after.

Lara ran towards Glenn who embraced her trying to calm her down.

However he wasn't so calm himself, he was quiet before gunshots caused everyone to flinch.

They all ducked behind a few workstations away from where Shane was.

His yells filled the room and the kids were crying.

However Rick knocked him down and disarmed him of the shotgun.

"Are you done now? Are you done?" Rick asked with the shotgun in his hand and Shane pinned to the floor.

"Yeah, I guess we all are."

Maia held Luna close to her and Anthony held his two sisters by him.

He had an arm around Maia's waist to give her a sense of security, he felt how tense she was, how her chest heaved.

"I think you're lying." Rick turned to Jenner.

"What?"

"You're lying."

"About no hope." Rick breathed heavily.

"If that were true you would've bolted with the rest or taken the easy way out. You didn't. You chose the hard path. Why?" Rick asked and studied Jenner's reaction.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does matter. It always matters. You stayed when the others ran. Why?" Rick interrogated.

"Not because I wanted to." Jenner turned to Rick his voice strained.

"I made a promise." He stood up from his chair.

"To her." He pointed to the screen.

"My wife."

The room went quiet before Lori spoke up.

"Test Subject 19 was your wife?"

"She begged me to keep going for as long as I could. How could I say no?" He sounded hopeless.

Pounding on the door started once more, Daryl started hitting it again.

"She was dying. It should've been me on that table. I wouldn't have mattered to anybody. She was a loss to the world." He stated.

"Hell, she ran this place. I just worked here. In our field, she was an Einstein. Me? I'm just...Edwin Jenner. She could've done something about this. Not me."

The room was quiet, nobody spoke, they just listened.

"Your wife didn't have a choice. You do. That's...That's all we want." Rick tried to reason as Jenner turned away.

"A choice, a chance."

"Let us keep trying as long as we can." Lori pleaded.

"I told you topside locked down. I can't open those." Jenner walked past Rick and everyone followed his every move.

Before they knew it the door opened.

"Come on!" Daryl yelled.

Glenn let go of his sister and took her hand.

"Let's go! Come on, Let's go!" Glenn yelled to the rest of the group.

Maia and Anthony gave each other a look.

"Luna, run okay?" Maia looked at Luna who nodded.

"Come on! Move it! Move it!" T-Dog instructed and Maia, Anthony and Luna were off.

Giselle, Izraella and Rosalyn right in front of them making their way down the long hallway.

Before they all stopped.

"Come on, we only got four minutes left!" Glenn held Lara by the shoulders.

"Let's go. Let's go." T-Dog ushered Jacqui who shook her head.

Maia saw Jacqui shake her head and she quickly ran back into the room.

"No. No, I'm staying. I'm staying, sweetie." Jacqui had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"But that's insane!" T-Dog yelled.

"No, it's completely sane. For the first time in a long time I'm not ending up like Jim and Amy." Jacqui spoke and Maia walked towards the woman.

She felt her pain, she knew what it felt like to feel that way.

To just want to end it all. End the pain and the suffering.

"There's no time to argue and no point, not if you want to get out. Just get out. Get out." Jacqui let out a sob before Maia moved forward and took Jacqui into a hug.

"I'm sorry, I know how it feels, I respect you so much." Maia looked at Jacqui who cupped Maia's face.

"Hey, Dog. Come on, man." T-Dog stared at Jacqui in disbelief.

Maia looked at Jacqui with slight tears in her eyes.

"You do this for yourself." Maia whispered and hugged Jacqui who hugged her back.

Maia felt a small connection between her and Jacqui, a small friendship where they could relate to each other.

"Maia, come on." Glenn and Anthony took Maia by the arms who looked at Jacqui with sad eyes.

"Thank you, Maia." Jacqui sobbed and Maia sniffed before blowing Jacqui a kiss and making a run for it.

Maia ran towards the rooms with Anthony and Luna.

They all threw their stuff into their bags and took it upstairs, making sure they had everything they packed.

After getting their stuff they made their way to the exit.

They were trying to break the glass but it wouldn't budge.

"Your first day at the camp when I washed your uniform I found this in your pocket." Carol scavenged through her backpack and took out the Baretta that he and Maia found in the tank.

Maia's eyes widened.

"Rick, the Baretta, come on." Maia spoke rushed before he took it out of Carol's hands and ran towards the glass.

"Everybody look out!" Maia yelled before taking cover by the stairs, shielding Luna and Anthony.

Glenn shielded Lara and the others did the same.

Rick took out the clip and started running towards the others but before he could hide it exploded.

The glass broke immediately and everyone got out of the broken window.

Maia had her bow and arrows swung around her shoulder and her handgun in hand.

Everyone shot down the walkers in their way and made their way to the RV.

After ushering the kids into the RV first, the adults made their way after.

"Wait, Wait, wait, wait, wait! They're coming!" Lori yelled pointing to the CDC.

Andrea and Dale made their way quickly back outside and towards the cars.

"Everyone get down!" Rick ushered everyone towards the back.

"Come on!" Maia called for Luna who stood upfront and brought her down and Anthony shielded them both

And within a few seconds the CDC burst into flames and exploded.

Everyone slowly looked up at the building.

Maia's eyes were filled with tears however she didn't let them spill.

She couldn't believe it, Jacqui was gone.

She wished that Jacqui would've come with, however it wasn't her choice, she gave Jacqui her respect and her compassion.

They had hope now that they were out of there.

They always had hope.

————————

jada speaks!!
SEASON ONE IS DONE!!
oh my god I can't handle this, I'm excited but so scared, it's like a weight has just lifted off my shoulders.
Also another long chapter and more tension, how do we feel about the tension? too much? too little?
i hope you guys enjoyed this, this chapter showed a little bit into Maia's past as well as last chapter and we will get to see wayyyy more.
i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!
tags: BerxshiresWp cclineswp "dakuhebun dixongalore alycialcver eltheria -h3rmosaa katgrahamslvrr Pizzaboyrheewp