CHAPTER THIRTEEN || BELIEVING

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glenn and Alex began moving the walker's bodies to one side so the group Could set up camp for the night, As the couple moved the last walker Alex caught sight of Eli talking to Maggie as they sat in front of the fire Abraham had made. a smile tugging at her lips in disbelief she wasn't dreaming, Eli, Glenn. it was unreal. 

The two best friends had spent a while talking and catching up before Eli did the inevitable and ushered her back to her boyfriend claiming he deserved just as much of her time as he did, Alex begrudgingly listened to Eli despite the fact she didn't want to leave his side, she wanted to be in Glenn's arms too. they were alive, she had all the time in the world. 

Alex and Glenn let go of the final walker, letting the thing's limp body fall into the pile they'd created before Alex ran her hand through her hair as she looked back to Glenn. happiness rushing through her veins, he was safe, he was alive. and the feeling was more than euphoric. it almost felt too good to be true.

"god. you are so beautiful" Glenn hummed watching Alex, His compliment caused Alex's smile to grow, as her cheeks changed to a light shade of pink. butterflies erupting in her stomach from just his voice alone. Taking a step toward him her hands laid on his chest, her hands gripping the edges of his Jacket she pulled him closer pressing a gentle kiss to the soft skin of his cheek, he's beautiful she thought.

"I don't think I've actually ever told you how handsome you are." She whispered into his ear, Glenn grinned ear to ear as his cheeks turned red, as he glanced away avoiding her eye contact an unfamiliar shyness rushing through his body. The compliment warming his heart, his hands fell to her waist pulling her closer to him as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

as she broke the kiss Alex caught sight of Rosita walking over, Alex's smile only Grew seeing her old friend, everyone was alive and it felt like a fever dream. As Glenn turned his arm still around Alex's waist she leant into his touch.

"How did it go?" He asked Rosita as she came back from checking the end of the tunnel, ensuring if anything made its way in they'd hear the dangers of the world not disappearing for a moment. Alex leant her head against Glenn's chest as they stood watching as Rosita came to a stop in front of the couple, the woman Alex hadn't recognised with Glenn beside her.

"end of the tunnels secure. if anything tries to come in. we'll be out in plenty of time." Rosita nodded smiling at her old friend, the world wasn't so scary when there were people worth fighting for.

"thank you espinosa" Alex smiled escaping Glenn's grasp as she pulled the brunette into another hug, Which she gratefully returned. the two brunettes had never been extremely close, with Alex and Eli being as close as they were but they were still family, and family means everything.

"I missed you O'connor. don't disappear again, don't think I can handle Eli that crazy again" She chuckled into Alex's shoulder as she broke the hug, the pair locked eyes sharing a moment of disbelief. Rosita, Abraham, Eli, Glenn. they were alive. but there was still a long road ahead, Alex needed to find Rick...

"I'm here to stay" She smiled catching a glimpse of the other woman Glenn was with, who she didn't recognise. the name he'd called out that had led her to finding him. Tara...

"We didn't get to officially meet" Alex started as she turned to The woman she didn't know, Glenn immediately stepping forward, as Rosita walked past the pair heading back to the group Alex raised a brow at Glenn's swift step forward before turning back to Tara.

"oh- I'm sorry.. uh Tara, this is Alex. Alex, Tara" He introduced, Slight worry in his voice as Alex looked at him in confusion before Glancing back to Tara. a peculiar sense of awkwardness looming in the air as Tara avoided eye contact.

"hi," Tara spoke innocently, Almost pain lacing her voice which didn't go unnoticed by the ex-solider as she raised an eyebrow.

"hi," Alex replied the slight awkwardness lacing the conversation confusing her as she noticed Tara's eyes fixated on Maggie as she sat by the campfire speaking with Eli, Alex tilted her head trying to read between the lines and figure out the cause of the awkwardness yet came up with nothing.

"he's a big fan of yours" Tara added, Alex smiled as she looked over to Glenn the vibe surrounding the conversation making her eyebrows knit together in confusion, yet she tried convincing herself she was overthinking it. 

"uh- I met Tara on the road. couldn't have made it here without her" Glenn explained, As Alex nodded along with a smile, turning back to Tara, if she saved Glenn, that was good enough for her. Just how she trusted Rick she trusted Glenn. if tara had proven herself to him, then she'd proven herself to Alex too. 

"thank you" Alex smiled her eyes flickering between both Tara and Glenn with a smile, Tara nodded thankfully a sad look remained in her eyes despite the smile she was forcing upon her face before walking off. Alex raised a brow her glance flickering to the man beside her, Smiling Glenn took Alex's hand in his As they walked back over to the Group, Alex's eyes again fell on her best friend. Eli. Disbelief he was Alive still rushing through her veins. As she noticed the smile on Both his and Maggie's face as they spoke.

the memory of what had happened back at the prison rushing through the girl's mind as she watched Maggie and Eli, Thankful for the smile Eli had managed to pull from the woman who'd just lost her father, Yet the look on Sasha's face soon distracted Alex As she stood up, confusion etched onto her features.

"he just said he knows what caused the outbreak" Sasha scoffed pointing toward Eugene wearing Glenn's riot gear, Alex's eyes shot toward Abraham and Eli as her brows furrowed together as the small details began forming a pattern in her mind, Why was he wearing Glenn's riot gear? 

"yeah" Glenn sighed, Alex's eyes meeting his. This was the first she'd heard of that. Confusion flooded through her as she looked between the people she trusted, letting go of Glenn's hand.

"he does. Let me guess he asked you to go to DC with him?" Glenn questioned talking About abe, Alex looked at Abraham a sense of shock running through her body.

"I'm Downright tickled y'all found each other and we found Alex. we should spend the rest of the night celebrating. because tomorrow, there's absolutely no reason why the eight of us don't stuff ourselves in that van and head up to Washington." his strong accent shone through as he explained, Alex shook her head as he did, the two locked eyes, Abrahams eyes consumed with resistance. he was a stubborn man and she knew that all too well. 

"he's right. I'm gonna go..." Tara added sat as far from Maggie and Eli as she could whilst still being able to feel the warmth from the fire, Alex looked down to Eli who sat beside Maggie on the floor, Avoiding her eye contact.

"Woah hold on. Eli you're all just gonna go?" Alex questioned in disbelief, She just found him, she just found out the people she'd been grieving for a year are alive just for them to leave again, there was no way, she knew it felt too easy, happiness never seemed to come without a price.

"Alex this is the cure we're talking about. You're coming with us.. think of it as another deployment" Alex shook her head in disbelief at her best friend's words. She had to find Rick, she had to find Carl, there was no chance she was going anywhere. she would not leave without them.

"I can't. Rick and Carl, they're still out there." Eli's face dropped at her words as he looked down at the fire unsure of what his options were if Alex decided against going with them. he didn't want to abandon anyone, yet he knew Alex wouldn't leave without her family.

"he's wrong. We're 55% of the way to Washington. up until now we've had an armoured military vehicle for transport and we've lost eight people" Alex sighed her eyes squeezing Shut as she thought about the rest of the group.. the rest of the group she'd lost as well as her family. 

"That wasn't our fault" Rosita defended turning to Eugene, The guilt of the deaths weighing on her showed clearly through her anger-ridden tone of voice, Josh's eyes flickered between the people he'd never met before his eyes met Sam's.

"they're gone" Abraham exclaimed his voice booming through the tunnel as Alex scoffed running a hand over her face, this was not needed. Why couldn't the happiness last just a second longer?

"I can't imagine we'd have better luck with that grocery grabber we picked up. we're a day's walk from Terminus. who knows what they've got there." Eugene explained, Eli looked up from the fire his eyes meeting Alex's again. She didn't want to leave him...

"I've known this guy for what? five minutes? he's already giving me a headache" Josh scoffed quietly, only Sam managing to hear the young boy clearly as the freckled man tried to hide his own smile caused by Josh's sarcasm-laced words. 

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a/n- I hate this chapter but oh well stan josh, I've just made so many edits of him icl, if you wanna follow my fanfic edit tiktok its @halstead217wp

please don't be a silent reader, I really appreciate comments and feedback, the chapter before this I might re-write again because I can't tell if it's awful or not.