WHITE FLAG

chapter thirty-six : further
{ season three - episode four }

A FEW HOURS after Lori saved Hershel's life, he had woken up in front of everyone when they were staring down at him. It was like he knew that everyone was waiting, and his long ass nap time was over.

For an entire week, the Greene daughters stayed in the cell with their now conscious father. Everyone was doing well after that. Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, Zayn, Glenn and Kloe continued to clean out the prison.

The five prisoners on the other hand weren't doing so well. There were only two left, possibly three. They found out what their names were. The guy that always had a gun was named Tomas, but he died only a few hours later after finding them since he tried to kill Rick.

Then there was Big Tiny, who was the biggest, most muscular man of the small group. He got scratched by a walker, but was immediately murdered by Tomas, who bashed his head in with his crowbar.

Andrew, who was the smallest out of them, was unknown if he was dead or not. He attempted to kill Rick after he killed Tomas, but Rick retaliated and locked him in a courtyard full of walkers. They all assumed he was dead, but they couldn't be sure.

And lastly, the two knowing survivors, Axel and Oscar. Axel was the short, blonde man with a funny shaped mustache. Oscar was another big and muscular man, who was caring and honestly, probably the nicest one of them all.

It was evening, everyone was in the cell block eating their canned foods. As much as it didn't sound appetizing, it was a lot better than eating expired food that was in the cupboards of abandoned houses.

The only people who weren't eating with the group was the Greene family, since they were watching Hershel, and Daryl, who was doing a perimeter check around the prison.

No one really spoke the entire time, seeming there was nothing to talk about. That was one thing Kloe missed - the small chats that they would share while eating their food. Back in Atlanta camp, every time they ate food, they would share humorous stories.

Those were the good times, it seemed for Kloe that they were never around anymore. Kloe, Glenn, Zayn and Isabelle all sat around their own circular table. Kloe stared at one spot on the steel table, slowly chewing on a cherry.

Breaking Kloe out of her forgettable thoughts, Isabelle tapped her on the shoulder. "Remember that frog?" She questioned in a hushed tone, not wanting to catch the attention of others. Kloe raised both of her eyebrows and slowly turned to the teen to the right side of her. "You know, the one that made you fall in the water?"

Kloe began to nod halfway through Isabelle's sentence. "Yes, I remember that little creature that pretends to look cute and innocent," she forced a fake smile while whispering, the memories of being drenched with water since the frog hopped onto her shoulder.

Zayn and Glenn, who were on the table, watched the two with amusement. Isabelle chuckled silently, stabbing a canned orange that was in her plastic bowl with her fork. "Yeah, that one. I was debating last night whether or not I should get it and keep it as a pet."

Kloe's brows raised even higher, forming lines across her forehead. "You want the frog that more or less sent my soul on a hike for five seconds and then drench me with freezing cold water after as a pet?"

Isabelle pouted her bottom lip, chewing on an orange and nodded. "Yeah, why not? It could be our little companion."

"Having a small pet that would be easy to deal with in a prison? Hell yeah, I'm up for that," Zayn spoke up, dropping his plastic fork in his plastic bowl, finished with whatever he had eaten. Zayn wasn't the only one that had finished his food, mostly everyone else had too.

Kloe and Glenn held each other's eyes for a moment, sharing smiles that they would always melt to. They loved each other's smiles, especially when they couldn't help but smile. Earlier that day, Glenn had asked her if she wanted to sleep in the guard tower that night, away from everybody else. Without even having to think, Kloe knew exactly what he was hinting at, and she agreed to it.

Kloe quietly sighed, standing up from her seat as she lifted her leg over it. Her eyes drifted over to the large windows, noticing that the sun had more or less set. The sun and its golden glow that usually shone through the windows was no longer there, and faint stars were beginning to paint across the cobalt blue sky.

She was immediately drawn toward it, wanting to sit outside and lay across the grass to watch them flicker. The prior few nights had been cloudy, so Kloe hadn't gotten a clear view of the sky. After staring at the sky for approximately ten seconds, she blinked frantically and snapped her head over to the rest of the small group that were beginning to walk away.

Subconsciously, she matched with everyone else who were throwing their empty bowls in a black bag that Isabelle had found while exploring the infirmary with Kloe the day before. Without second thoughts, she paced over toward the exit of the building, pulling open the door and feeling the cool breeze hit her skin.

She absentmindedly smiled to the feeling, hurrying down the steps as she checked around, making sure there wasn't a walker lurking by that had somehow gotten through, even though she knew there wasn't a possible way for that, but she could never be too sure.

Kloe made her way over to the gate that was ajar. She wrapped her fingers around the fence wire, pulling it to the side so she could slide through to the other side. Once she did, she turned to close the gate, but a new figure caught her eye.

The corner of her lips turned upward when she noticed it was Glenn, who had watched her walk out of the cell block. Glenn smiled across at Kloe, and as soon as he was close enough, his index finger poked her right cheek.

Kloe knew what he was pointing at. Her dimples. Whenever she smiled, the dimples in her cheeks that formed were extremely hard to miss. "I'll never get over your dimples," Glenn muttered, smiling widely as he poked the dimple on her left cheek.

Glenn's actions made her smile even more, the muscles in her cheeks beginning to hurt from smiling too much. Kloe grabbed onto Glenn's hand that had just poked her cheek, intertwining their fingers.

Just one glance at the sky made Kloe's excitement reach its limit, making her spin on her heel while still holding onto her boyfriend's hand. She pulled the door to the guard tower open, allowing Glenn to enter first, but he motioned his head forward for her to enter first.

She sent him another smile before stepping inside, pulling Glenn inside behind her. The only light source they had was the dim light coming from the outside where the door was open - but that soon changed once the door shut, leaving them in nothing but darkness.

Fortunately, Glenn had brought a flashlight considering he knew it would be dark. He had come inside the guard tower earlier that day to prepare a bed for them. The hallway had been dark no matter what time of day, there were no windows.

He pushed the switch forward on the flashlight, a bright white light shining through the corridor. The pair then walked toward the ladder, which made Kloe plant a grin on her lips. "It's been a hot minute since I last climbed one of these," she stated, placing her hand on the sides of the ladder.

"Was that in Atlanta? When we saved Rick?" Glenn asked, the memories of the first ever group still plunged into his mind and forever will be. Kloe looked over at Glenn over her shoulder, nodding as she let go of his hand and grabbed onto the other side of the ladder.

She hauled herself up, moving up the ladder carefully. Glenn stayed cautiously at the bottom, in case his girlfriend somehow slipped. He remembered when Kloe had almost slipped off of a ladder in Atlanta, and it was always the same ladder. The yellow ladder.

Kloe always called it the ladder into hell, which technically it was. Once she reached the top of the ladder, there was a trapdoor that was waiting to be lifted. She placed one hand on it and pushed it open.

A cool draft filled the hallway, blowing her messily tied up hair. She pulled herself up, sitting herself on the metal edge as she stood up. She held the trapdoor open for Glenn, who swiftly began climbing up.

Once he had gotten up, Kloe carefully closed it. She examined the small room, instantly spotting the bed Glenn had prepared. She smiled down at it, admiring the way it was made. If anything, it looked more comfier than the beds in the prison.

She looked up toward the door that was open to the outside balcony, the stars immediately drawing her over to the outside. She stepped outside, placing both of her hands on the railing as she watched the sky that was covered with stars.

She began to smile to herself, and that smile grew wider when she heard footsteps approaching her from behind. Her stomach then started doing flips as Glenn wrapped his hands around her waist, gently resting his chin on her shoulder.

Kloe's eyes fell shut, the hands that were wrapped around her waist making the butterflies in her stomach raise. A small smile formed on Glenn's lips as he watched his girlfriend's eyes close, meaning she was enjoying whatever she was feeling.

He tilted his head to the side, placing his lips on her neck. Kloe's teeth dug into her bottom lip, a new feeling settling within her. "I love you," Glenn whispered into her left ear, his soft voice sending shivers down her spine.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned to face him, his hands reluctantly pulling away from her waist. The couple held each other's eyes for only one second before crashing their lips together. Glenn cupped Kloe's cheeks as her arms hung over his shoulders.

Of course, it felt like heaven all over again. Every time the pair connect their lips, they get sent into a different reality where it's only the two of them. Although, every time they did kiss, it would never be for a few seconds considering it was never usually the right time to go off somewhere and leave the group.

But for now, they were safe and now they were finally able to call themselves safe for the time being. Kloe had gotten goosebumps from the cold air that was traveling onto her skin, nipping at her cheeks. While Glenn was cupping her cheeks, she could feel the warmth instantly making the goosebumps disappear.

Their lips moved in sync, passion running into their veins as fast as water traveling through pipes. One of Glenn's hands moved down to her shoulder, his other hand sliding down to her neck right underneath her ear.

Kloe placed her hands on Glenn's waist, a shiver shooting up her spine from Glenn's hand movements. Hesitantly, she slowly pulled away from Glenn's lips, her eyelids remaining shut. Glenn opened his eyes, staring deeply at Kloe's now open eyes.

Kloe's hand snaked down Glenn's bare arm, connecting their hands with ease. Kloe watched their hands entwine, smiling softly as Glenn moved them upwards at chest height. "I love you too, Glenn," Kloe answered before gripping onto Glenn's hand and leading him inside of the guard tower.

The corners of Glenn's lips lifted as he made sure to close the door to the outside. Kloe tugged onto his hand, pulling him closer to her. Their lips were instantly pressed together again, a new feeling settling within them.

Luckily for them, they both knew the new feeling, considering they had slept together beforehand. The last time they had actually done anything sexual was at the CDC, and that was around eight or nine months before.

They had only ever found the right moment to do it again, but held back since they never wanted anyone in the group to hear them. The house was fairly old that they had found during the winter, and the walls were extremely thin.

So, they both agreed that they'd wait not for the right moment, but the perfect moment. And now they did, and so far, there were no regrets about it. For Kloe, it felt like her first time with Glenn, but of course she knew that they had done it before in the CDC.

But unfortunately, she couldn't remember barely any of it. Some memories of parts had returned to her, but they were like pictures. Kloe gripped onto the edges of her tank top, pulling away from Glenn to pull it over her head.

She dropped her top onto the metal floor, Glenn's eyes widening at her chest, but his eyes immediately averted to her own eyes, his wide eyes going back to how they were. Although they weren't normal, they were filled with love. And so were Kloe's.

Without any hesitation, Glenn lifted his white long sleeved shirt that was rolled up to his elbows over his head. Kloe's heart hammered in her chest as she stared at his abs that had formed overtime. She could have guessed that everyone had gained strength after running for eight months.

Glenn gently wrapped his fingers around Kloe's upper arm, pulling him closer to him as their lips joined again. Their chests were pressed against each other, and they could both feel each other's hearts at a fast pace.

Kloe stepped backward until her back hit against the wall, a small laugh escaping her lips as Glenn placed his lips against her neck. Her eyes rolled upwards and her eyelids fell shut with pleasure as Glenn reached her sweet spot. Her head lifted as he continued kissing the same spot.

After around five seconds, Glenn pulled away, staring deeply into her eyes. A smirk etched her lips as she walked over to the makeshift bed he had prepared, kneeling down to sit on it. She lifted her chin, watching Glenn crouch down onto the bed, crawling over her as he pressed his lips against hers.

While kissing until they ran out of air, they both simultaneously unzipped their jeans, hastily slipping out of them. Kloe ran her hand around her back, unclipping her bra and pulling it off. She threw it onto the floor beside them, and next thing they knew after pulling off any other clothing, they were bare skinned.

"You sure?" Glenn asked, separating their lips to ask the question. Kloe, who opened her eyes and looked up at her boyfriend who was on top of her, smiled.

"I swear you asked this last time at the CDC," she said, the smile growing wider. He copied her actions by smiling down at her, brushing a few strands of her dark brunette hair behind her ear.

He slowly nodded. "Yeah, I did," he replied with a raspy voice. She continued to smile at her boyfriend, happy that he was one to ask consent before anything.

"Hmm, how about nah?" She joked, nodding her head after. She placed her palms on Glenn's cheeks, pulling him down onto her lips.

"Did we even use a condom last time?" Kloe giggled, realizing that they had no protection. Glenn froze for a moment, searching back in his memories to get the answer.

"I'm, uh, I'm not sure," he answered truthfully, making Kloe's eyebrows raise. That was a big risk, but fortunately nothing happened. Glenn then smirked, his hand sliding underneath the pillow that Kloe was resting her head on.

Kloe watched his hand as he grabbed onto something, pulling it out. She then smirked along with Glenn, seeing the square wrapping in his hands. "You had this planned I see?"

Glenn chuckled, tilting his head to the side as he opened the condom packet with his teeth. "Only if you wanted to, though."

"Where did you even get them from?"

Glenn chuckled again. "Remember when we went to the pharmacy when we were still at the farm?" Kloe nodded. "Well, I saw them. And I know that at the time we weren't a thing, but just in case, you know?"

"I left them there when I went on the run with Maggie and got Lori's pregnancy test..."

"Yeah. Them ones."

Kloe smiled brightly, her chocolate brown eyes shining from the moon that was rising in the sky, a dim white light filling the small room.

She took one look at the gibbous moon, slowly turning back to her boyfriend who instantly pressed his lips onto hers. At least this time, Kloe would remember that night, unlike the night at the CDC.

...

Slowly fluttering her eyes open after sleeping through the whole night, Kloe squinted her eyes from the sun that was directly in her face.

She used her hand that wasn't laying across Glenn's bare stomach, that was slowly lifting up and down as he breathed, and covered her eyes.

The only sound she could hear was the sound of Glenn's heartbeat from where her head was leaned against his chest, his chin resting on the top of her head. Considering the sun was up high already, it didn't take her too long to figure out that she should've probably gotten up to help the group, but her eyelids choose sleep over anything.

She closed her eyelids, her facial muscles relaxing as her hand covered her face. Although her brows furrowed when she realized that she had clothes on. She looked down at her body that the blanket covered her lower half, seeing that she had a jacket that was slightly bigger than her.

"You got cold last night," the voice that belonged to her boyfriend spoke raspily, making her lift her head to look at him. "That's my jacket, it looks good on you."

Kloe weakly smiled, still tired. "I guessed it was yours. I like it." She smiled once more at him before sealing her eyelids. Glenn rubbed her arm, making her even more sleepy than before.

"Glenn! Kloe!" The pair both jolted at the sudden yell of their names. Kloe instantly sat upright as Glenn did the same, jumping up to his feet and fetching his jeans.

He immediately pulled them up, rushing over to the door as he buttoned them up. Kloe stood up, squinting her eyes again from the bright light. Glenn pushed open the door, looking down at the small group of people who were already working.

"Hey, what's up, guys!" Glenn called out to them, now doing up his belt. Kloe stared out of the window, barely seeing the four people that were outside. Daryl, Rick, Carol and T-Dog all looked up at the tower with wide smiles and laughs escaping them.

Daryl, whose hands were on his hips and had a teasing smile on his face. "You coming?" He yelled. Kloe rolled her eyes, wanting to just go back to sleep, not help out the others which sounded selfish, but she didn't care.

"What?" Glenn asked, not hearing what the man had said. Kloe crouched back down onto the ground, gripping onto her own skin tight black jeans. She pulled them up, hastily buttoning them as she heard the group chuckling at the couple.

"You coming?" Daryl repeated, but Glenn still couldn't hear him. His brows deepened with confusion, turning to his girlfriend who stood back up and joined his side, still adjusting to the bright light. "Come on, we could use a hand!"

Finally hearing what the man was saying, Glenn frantically nodded his head. "Yeah, we'll be right down!" He went back inside to finish getting ready, while Kloe frowned at the group who turned around, laughing loudly.

She turned around, walking back inside. She could hear their voices already. They would tease them for at least a few days, if not, an entire week. Glenn bent down, picking up his shirt. Kloe groaned, rubbing her eyes. "Do we have to?"

Glenn turned to the side, looking at his girlfriend's annoyance. "Trust me, once we're out there, you'll feel more awake," he reassured, chuckling as he stepped over to her. He placed his arms on her upper arms, rubbing them gently with his thumbs.

Kloe sighed, her head intentionally falling limp. Glenn lifted her chin with his hand, holding her eyes. Even just looking at Glenn was enough to change her mind. "Fine. Only because there'll be no point staying up here if you're not."

Glenn smiled at her, brushing a strand of loose brunette hair behind her ear. "We can rest later, okay? But let's help them out." Kloe nodded, agreeing with him as she knelt down to pick up her own clothes.

"Okay. Let's go," Kloe said, swiftly pulling her tank top over her head. Glenn nodded, crouching down to open the trapdoor. He pulled it open, gripping onto the side of the ladder and crawled down.

Kloe held the metal trapdoor open for him, grabbing onto the side of the ladder herself and carefully closing it. She couldn't see anything again, but they had the faint light coming from a frosted window on the door that led to the outside.

As the couple paced over to the door, Kloe could hear the voices of the two remaining prisoners. Glenn grabbed onto the door handle, pulling it open and standing to the side to allow Kloe to exit first.

She muttered out a thank you as she stepped outside, the heat from the sun immediately making her want to step back inside. The door closed behind them, and they instantaneously spotted the two prisoners.

"You gotta understand, we can't live in that place another minute," Axel stated, his arms crossed over his chest. "You follow me? All the bodies... the people we knew. Blood, brains everywhere. There's ghosts."

"Why don't you move the bodies out?" Daryl asked in an obvious tone.

"You should be burning 'em," T-Dog added, his hand on his hip.

"We tried. We did."

"The fence is down on the far side of the prison," Oscar informed. "Everytime we drag a body out, those things just line up. Dropping the body and just running back inside."

Axel's arms lifted to shoulder height, taking steps closer to the rest of the group while Glenn and Kloe stayed behind them. "Look, we had nothing to do with Tomas and Andrew. Nothing."

Oscar turned around and looked at the couple, making Kloe scoot closer to Glenn's side, still not trusting them. "You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro. We'll do whatever it takes to be part of your group. Just please, please... don't make us live in that place."

For a moment, Kloe thought Rick was generally debating their begging, but she thought wrong. "Our deal is not negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave."

"There's another thing that you ought to know," Oscar spoke up, a look on his face that looked like he had been hiding something for quite a while, drawing the group's attention. "When y'all found us in the storage room, it wasn't just the five of us in there. There was six." Everyone stared at him, their faces filled with shock. There was another person in there and they never knew? "There was another man that had only just gotten transferred here on the day shit hit the fan. He was in the corner of the room, hiding behind a few boxes. When we went back to take down those things, he was gone. He's somewhere here."

Everyone stood with shock. It had been around a week since they cleared out the room. "There's another prisoner? And you never told us?" Kloe spoke up.

"We're sorry. We thought he was dead since he wasn't there when we went back. He's either dead, or he's gone. He would've shown himself by now," Oscar explained. "His name is Jayce Bryant, and he did nothing wrong to come here. He was set up and was found guilty for murder. But he did nothing wrong, so if you find him, don't treat him like how you treat us."

"And we're supposed to believe you that he's innocent?" Rick growled through his teeth, not believing what he was hearing. "All this time, this whole week, there's been a man on the loose that might try and attack us?"

"No, he's not like that. Man's scared of his own shadow," Axel added, dismissing the man who was beginning to rage with anger.

"You might wanna go look for him while you can. Look for some clues that he's out in the tombs," Oscar finished, sharing a glance with the group. Kloe bit her bottom lip, crossing her arms over her chest as she began to think of any ways she could help.

She looked up at Rick, stepping forward. "I'll go down there. I'll see if he's still down there," she offered, Glenn's brows instantly furrowing.

"What? No way," he muttered, stopping by her side. "There's still dozens of walkers down there. It's a suicide mission if you go down there by yourself."

"Who said I would go by myself?" Kloe shrugged, staring into her boyfriend's chocolate brown eyes, showing him that she wasn't afraid and that she could take care of it. She turned back to Rick. "Isabelle and I will go down there. We both managed to escape the farm by ourselves, we can definitely manage a tomb with not even half the amount of walkers."

Rick sighed heavily, nodding his head as he began to debate his decision.

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words: 4208
9th august 2022
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STOP i am so very sorry for not publishing for a hot minute- idek why i didn't even bother writing, like i ran out of motivation after dealing with covid n shit, but i now have that motivation back! i'm so sorry for keeping you all waiting.
ALSO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 24K READS WTAF-