Marley stayed absolutely still.

Whereas Glenn and Hershel looked wide eyed at Rick, she simply scratched her head, wiping the hair away from her face.

Glenn's jaw shook as he witnessed his friend lazily look at the bodies.

He felt like he had lost her. Like they had all lost her and there was no getting her back.

They congregated around tony's body, muttering "oh shit".

Rick looked to Glenn. "You all right?"

He gave a small "yeah" before his eyes trailed after his friend in concern, as did Rick's. To Marley, who was standing, now, by Dave's body.

His body had slumped against the shelves, his blood staining the old, rotting wood. He had a hole in his head, eyes wide.

Marley stared at him for a moment, before grasping his shoulder. "Excuse me," she sighed, pulling him forward so she could get to what was behind him.

Another bottle.

"Marley?" Rick called. "You alright?"

She nodded her head, still looking at the body, with a new bottle in her hand.

There was an almost uncomfortable silence as she walked back over to Rick and Hershel exchanging nods. She leaned against Rick again, tired and definitely still not entirely sober.

"Let's head back," Hershel proposed, taking steps back away from the scene in front of him.

Marley stood on her own two feet as Rick claimed what was tony's. His gun.

When he stood back up, she leaned back against him as they started walking to the front of the bar - Glenn took a route to claiming what was Dave's.

Lights passed the windows, and the shadows danced setting panic into the four person's veins.

Rick pulled Marley along with him as they hastily ducked near the front door, away from prying eyes.

The sound of an engine made Marley feel slightly at home.

They all looked at each other, Glenn to Rick, crouched with a gun in his arms.

"Wha-" Marley went to whisper, but Rick was quick to clamp his hand over the lower half of her face, pulling her back into his chest.

She didn't detest.

"Tony!?" A stranger yelled. "I'm telling you, man, I heard shots!"

There was more bickering whilst Marley sat lazy-eyed and bored, watching as Glenn shifted in his position out of nervousness.

A dark figure appeared at the door and they all looked towards it.

Then it left and moved across the windows.

Rick slowly uncovered Marley's mouth, digging into his belt and pulling her gun out. He took her hand and placed it there, replacing the bottle and watching carefully as her hands trembled under the cold metal. He nodded to her, and she nodded back.

They all kept listening, peeping through the windows in hopes of them going away. The plaid curtains turned dark every time one of the strangers passed by.

+

The smell of steamed water and flour echoed throughout the room as dinner was ready. Carl's eyes stayed focused on the doily-like cloth that was laid on the table. Along with the faded pink and green, that decorated the edges of the old plates in front of him.

He missed her.

Carl missed Marley.

"Carl, I want you to keep your head up, okay?" Shane's voice cut his thoughts short.

There was a glum feeling around the room - with Hershel doing a runner, and Rick and Glenn following after them - it made everyone uneasy, especially due to the events that day.

"Your old man, he's the toughest son of a--"

"No cussing in the house," Patricia's sour voice interrupted.

Shane gave a short smile before apologising.

T-Dog passed the bread to the boy next to him, but Carl put the basket down on the other side of him. He wasn't hungry.

Carol walked to the doorway, calling out, "Lori, dinner." But Maggie turned in her seat, waving Carol off. "She's not in there."

Dale leaned forward. "Where is she?" Everyone's attention was brought to Maggie as she didn't have an answer, looking awkwardly at the older man. Carol looked around the table. Shane stopped chewing his food as it dawned on him that the woman he cared about was possibly in trouble.

He discarded of the tissue in his hand and placed his elbows on the table. He looked to the youngest on the table who's eyes were wide with worry. "Carl, when's the last time you saw your mom?"

"This afternoon," he answered in a small voice.

Andrea spoke up. "She was worried about Rick, asked me to look in on Carl," she sucked in a low breath. "She was also looking for Marley."

"She went after them?" Dale inquired.

"She didn't say that."

This time, T-Dog put down his fork and rubbed a hand up his scarring arm. "Why was she looking for Marley?"

"She said she was missing," Andrea shrugged, suddenly realising that Marley probably was missing.

Shane looked to Carl again. "You seen Marley, either?"

The young sir shook his head.

+

Rick slid up the wall, opening the curtain a little wider. He couldn't see any motive cars, just static ones, so he only gave himself a second to be sure before crawling his way towards Glenn and Hershel. He cast a blink behind him to see Marley's little hand latched onto his belt loop, dragging her knees across the ground after him.

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn whispered, looking between the four of them. Marley closed her eyes, leaning on Rick's arm.

"Would you?" Hershel replied

Rick began to take charge. "We can't sit here any longer," his voice strained. "Let's head out to the back and make a run to the car."

Hershel nodded surely, and as they got up to leave their bodies shook within their skin as a gun shot rang out and caused them to suck in a breath and duck back down to the floor. More gun shots and the four of them gripped the handles of their weapons taut, Marley's recovering eyes blinking feverishly.

Rick was able to see one of them from the window. "What happened?" Another stranger yelled. With that, two more of them appeared.

"They disappeared, their car's still there."

Marley licked her lips slowly and caressed the side of her gun with her thumb, her other hand still hooked on the sheriff's belt loop.

"I cleared those buildings. You guys get this one?"

"No."

"Me neither."

The footsteps became louder, and closer, and much more frightening - Rick drew his gun, and Glenn struck a worried glance in Rick and Marley's direction.

As the strangers strode closer, the redhead snuck her way around Rick's knees and placed herself on the floor right in front of the door, her back pressing against the wood. She let out a calm breath from her mouth as her nails scratched across the floor in an attempt to root herself.

But it wasn't enough, as the man went to open the door, Marley's light frame caused her body to jolt forward. She wasn't prepared for that hard of a push.

She pushed the door back, and Glenn left his shotgun on the floor as he crawled quickly to press his own self against the door to help her.

"What?"

"Someone pushed it shut."

Glenn bit his lip and he shook.

Marley stayed still.

"There's someone in there. Yo, is someone in there? Yo, if someone's in there we don't want no trouble. Look we're just looking for our friends."

Friends.

Marley trailed her eyes along the floor and to the two bodies that lay in their own decay. Their friends. Could these people be their friends, she thought.

The strangers talked some more. "We don't want any trouble!" They yelled loudly.

The only thing Marley could think of was that was what everyone always said. That's what Dave and Tony intended. Hell, that's what the group intended when they got to the farm. But it seemed that trouble seemed to be more concentrated ever since they got there.

Shane and Marley killed Otis. Shane and Marley also forwarded the action of shooting up the barn; in the process, threatening Dale. Lori became pregnant, not knowing who the father was. The group had used up Hershel's medical supplies. Daryl was almost killed.

And all the troubles had made Marley lose her mind, just as she was finding it again.

"We're just looking for our friends. If something happened, tell us. This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed I'd appreciate it."

Rick gritted his teeth brought a knuckle to his forehead. The immense intensity was weighing down on him heavily.

As the footsteps started to depart, Marley flicked away a piece of hair that had been hanging in her eyes. She breathed out but her eyes turned wide when Rick started to yell. Just before he had been tilting his head and taking short breaths, contemplating whether to talk.

"They drew on us!"

Marley launched forward and took his shirt collar into her hands and pushed him further into the wall, leaving Glenn as the only one against the door.

She brought her face close to his, her eyebrows furrowed and started talking through her teeth. "You stupid bitch!" She whispered, curling her fingers near his throat.

The footsteps started to approach again as Rick gently try to pry Marley's hands away from him, but she had a strong grip on the fabric of his shirt.

"Look what you've done," her voice cracked from anger.

"Dave and Tony in there?They alive?"

Marley took Rick and abruptly pushed him against the wall, making a noise and sending pain briefly across his shoulders.

She looked at him like she wanted to kill him, and he had a feeling that he should be taking that feeling seriously. "Sort it out," she whispered, standing from her kneeling position, and taking the bottle she had left on the ground with her.

She swayed her way away from the three men, not afraid of the strangers seeing her shadow. Marley passed a glance at the men over her shoulder and unscrewed the lid to the bottle after tucking her gun into her jeans.

Rick screwed his face up in frustration. "No!" He called out.

Marley didn't hear what the people outside were saying but Rick could as he responded. "Your friends drew on us! They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people," Rick's pulse rose at every word he said, wishing he could take back words like Marley had scolded him for. "Done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that!"

There was no response, so he continued. Glenn watched from the sidelines but then diverted his eyes back to the standing Marley who leaned on one foot and drowned her throat in more alcohol.

"Let's just chalk this to what it was-- wrong place, wrong--"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence as he had to duck down when shotgun bullets made their way through the windows. The strangers were obviously taking their anger out on them, repeatedly pulling triggers as the glass shattered over Glenn's shoulders.

Marley, surprisingly, wasn't hit at all. And the thing was that her body jolted but she didn't move. Almost as if she was a daredevil.

Even though she was tipping to the left, she still stood.

Rick stood up and aimed his gun through the hole in the window, shooting once then shouting at Glenn and Hershel. "Get outta here! Go!"

Hershel and Glenn stayed low as they scurried to the back of the bar.

With guns firing and glass shattering, Glenn tried to get Marley to go with him in the few moments he had to stand where shots were being thrown.

He grabbed her shoulder and elbow, practically dragging her to the left of the bar and ducking behind a piano.

Glenn lay an arm across her shoulder, keeping her still as his body panicked when a few bullets scattered themselves near the side of his body.

He was breathing heavily as Hershel slid his shotgun across the floor to him.

"Get your hands off me pepperoni boy," Marley warned, batting Glenn's arm away from her. "Huh," she pointed to the piano. "Did I tell you about that one time me and Daryl put a piano on a door."

He obliged and muttered a small, "Sorry," more focused on not being shot than trying to make sense of what Marley was trying to achieve by getting drunk.

While Marley brought her knees to her chest and got comfy, sinking back into her dazed state, Rick, Glenn, and Hershel passed each other glances.

More scared than the stressed damsel in disguise.

+

Daryl squinted his eyes, staring at the red and orange flames as he teased it with a stick.

He was, for the first night in a while, alone. And he absolutely hated it.

It was too silent for him. Sure he relished the solitude sometimes but when the tables had turned and he suddenly got used to the company he really didn't want that the change.

Right then he wasn't listening to her steady breathing as she slept, the way she rubbed her shins with her foot subconsciously. The sound of her trailing pencils along pages and turning those pages.

Even her low mutterings had suddenly become like a work song for him.

Marley had become his routine and when she was evolving, changing, and even missing he didn't know what to do.

He became frustrated and angry and found himself becoming closer to what he used to be before he met her.

On top of that, what had happened that day set a sour feeling in his mind and anger in his veins. He was just so tense.

And he hated that. He never wanted to be that.

But he couldn't pull her back like he asked her to because he didn't like to order her around if she didn't like it.

He'd noticed she had become more vocal and cocky around the group, but to him, she was the same. She was still advising him and talking to him even when he didn't answer back which was almost always.

He knew she kept secrets, and he also kept them for her.

If she didn't say anything, he didn't dare try himself.

He moved his leg to a comfier position, but in the process knocking over something that was laying beside it.

He dropped the stick and muttered curses as he gathered the papers in his hands, carefully laying them back where they were - in a neat pile between two pieces of leather.

He didn't know why Marley had ripped up her book or where she had gone.

But he had figured she was just sorting something out - he hoped. And with the book, well, he really didn't know. But Daryl didn't hesitate to pick up the pieces and make sure it was all still there.

+

Rick had tried conversing with the strangers, tried to make a deal.

But with no reply they had figured they had left.

And after Glenn had gone to the very back of the bar after hearing a few bottles rattling, and seeing them trying to get in, he shot at the door it shattered.

Rick called out to Glenn, but he assured that he was okay.

Glenn guarded the door with the shotgun pulled to his chest, loading it and finally feeling the breeze of the cool air outside that reminded him it was getting late - and people were probably worrying.

Rick and Hershel were situated beside each other, and Rick started to think of a plan. "I'll hold 'em here. You cover Glenn. See if you can make it to your car. Tell him-- tell him to pull up back. We'll run for it, get the hell out of here."

"You want me to cover Glenn?" Hershel inquired.

"You missed all that gun training. It could've come in handy now."

Hershel shook his head and looked down to his gun, checking the amount of bullets. "Nah, I can shoot. I just don't like to." He went to walk away but the redhead still sitting by the piano caught his eye. Thankfully, she had stopped drinking and just sat there. "What about Marley?"

Rick sighed, annoyed that there were so many loose ends that could be pulled to make their escape fall into a shambles like the shattered glass that had previously fallen on his shoulders. "Don't worry about her. I got her."

That was enough for Hershel as he followed Rick's orders and walked to the back to where Glenn was.

Rick banged his head against the post behind him, briefly, then he looked to the lady on the floor. "Marley?"

She looked at him expectantly.

He held out a hand, wiggling his fingers as an invitation. "Come on."

Her eyes rolled and she slumped lower, hugging her bottle close to her chest.

"Come on. Please, Marley, Please," he begged, nervous of not being able to bring her home.

Something clicked inside her, and it was as if her body was getting up without her permission. Her legs were shaky as she strolled through the gunfire zone. Rick was nervous as her footsteps were slow, and could have possibly put her in danger since she was walking right past the windows.

But, she finally made it to him, her shorter self looking up at him with red and green eyes that looked to be holding a lot of emotions right then that he couldn't really decipher what she was feeling right then.

And right then, she didn't really know herself.

She took his hand in hers lightly, and he gripped hers tightly.

When the sound of gunshots coming from where Hershel had walked to, Rick panicked and dragged her with him to investigate. Marley huffed in annoyance at the man and really regretted letting him take her hand.

They both made it to the back, and Rick poked his head out to see Hershel under the lintel, gun raised and ready.

"What happened?" Rick asked, out of breath. Marley tried to pry her hand away but he kept her there.

"He fired," Hershel's voice shook. "He must've hit Glenn." Hershel turned to look at the dumpster where Glenn had ducked down to. "He's behind the dumpster."

If this was a few hours ago then Marley would hastily go after him, but she stayed still.

"Doesn't look like he's moving."

Rick nodded to Hershel, then gestured to Marley. Hershel nodded back and took that as a queue to place his hand on Marley's shoulder so that she wouldn't wander off.

When Rick held up two guns and went to check on Glenn, Marley batted away the man's hand away from her. "Get off me, old man," she huffed. Hershel surrendered to her and held up a hand.

Marley was more focused on the man whom Hershel had shot down, he was writhing on the floor in pain from he bullet wound. She leaned against the door frame, swinging her bottle from side to side. She patted Hershel on the arm, gaining his attention.

"You should shoot him again," she said casually, nodding her head to the man in pain.

"What?" Hershel asked, bewildered.

"You shot him in the leg, he's a meal for the walkers now," she explained. "But you're some hoity-toity man of God so you wouldn't want him to be in pain - therefore, you need to shoot him again."

Hershel started at her with wide eyes. He couldn't believe that she was saying that - sure she hadn't been the most interactive or even liking towards him before. But she was so small and so young.

"Is that what you would do?"

"Oh no," she said aghast, a smile rising on her face. "I wouldn't bother myself. I don't really care."

There were more gunshots, and Marley's eyes widened and she became annoyed; "People just need to stop."

So, she stood there bored as more noises fell around her like electrical sparks. She was unfazed, and not only did the toxicity in her veins help, but Marley had genuinely been in much more formidable situations and settings.

The stranger shouting caught her attention, and she turned on her heel to see one of them on the rooftop of one of the buildings. She couldn't really decipher what he was saying. To her what he was shouting was unintelligible.

She watched as the person jumped down to a lower level, and then down to a lower level. And at that, the person let out a curdling scream - and Marley couldn't help the smirk that spread across her face. Because these strangers were the opposing force and with that sweet and poisonous noise, she knew that at least one of them was losing.

"Hershel! Marley!" Glenn's sharp whisper caught her years, and she looked to him down the lane with that shotgun in his arms. She jumped down the door and started walking to him, even when Hershel shot a walker that strolled near the man on the ground. Hershel attempted to take them out, but one was already gnawing on the man's face, therefore, another scream filled the air.

Marley smiled again.

"Hershel, come on," Glenn begged, his nerves running high. "Hershel. Hershel." The old man backed away from the blood and pain that he couldn't believe was actually possible.

Marley walked past Glenn and towards where Rick had ran. Rick had gone straight past their car and to the man she thought was dead.

"Officer?" She elongated the word teasingly, going to open her bottle again but she found the person in question by the stranger.

It looked like he was trying to help him.

The strangers whimpered and cried, and Marley saw why when he spotted that his leg had been impaled with the fencing that ran beside the dumpster he was lying on.

Hershel came over and begged for Rick to leave him, Glenn said it too and Marley was simply watching.

When the stranger begged for them not to leave him, even Hershel disagreed on helping him.

"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn pointed out.

"He's a kid," rick snarled.

"This place is crawling with walkers!"

"We can't leave him!"

Hershel started to examine the wound. "The fence went clean through. There's no way we can get the leg off in one piece."

Glenn walked over and shook the fence which Marley didn't think was helpful at all. It only made the victim scream louder and Rick gave Marley some instructions.

"Marley shut him up," he insisted.

Marley muttered a very sure "okay" and reached into the back of her jeans, walking further towards him and aimed it right at the person's head.

Rick's heart was in his throat as he quickly rushed over and hit her arm so that her bullet couldn't hit the man but hit the wall beside him.

Marley only raised her gun again but Rick pushed her whole body against the wall beside him.

"Stop, we are not doing that," rick scolded her.

Marley took her fist and quickly jolted the underneath part of his jaw and he stumbled back.

She kicked him in the lower part of his shin and he fell to the ground, unable to fathom what was happening. But when Rick looked up and saw her aiming her gun again, he stood up and pinned her against the wall again.

She sunk, giving up on her goal, but instead gritting her teeth at the man in front of her. "You just killed two men in there, and you're not going to kill a 'kid'"

"That's right," rick still had a pretty good hold on the woman, looking down at her eyes which were framed by her messy hair.

"I'm just a 'kid'. See?" she smiled. "So I hope that if I become a liability like he is right now, you won't be afraid and kill me."

She elbowed him in the stomach, signalling him to step away. He did so and watched as she walked past him, giving one glance over her shoulder. Amongst the chaos her small voice that hissed at him could still be heard. "You're a fucking wimp, Rick grimes."

"Can't we just take the leg off," Glenn suggested, after trying to actually shut him up, unlike Marley's method.

There was a pause before Rick spoke up, holding his stomach where Marley had hurt him.

"That hatchet still in the car?" Rick enquired then the stranger started begging them not to do so.

Marley wasn't paying attention, instead writhing in her skin that Rick was going to spare this stupid kids life.

Hershel was preparing to cut his leg off, Glenn held his gun steady in case of walkers, and Rick held the boy down.

Marley was torn between standing there and fighting again to end the boys life and just walking to their car and waiting for all the drama to die down. Including the walkers which were surrounding them steadily.

The boy screamed into Rick's hand, and Glenn shot every walker that came his way.

Eventually, Rick had to leave the boy and start shooting them from where they were coming on the other side of them.

When the screams of the boy, became all but pleasant to her ears, she took it into her own hands.

If she couldn't kill him, she could, at least, knock him unconscious.

Hershel said he needed more hands, and Marley was going to do that.

It was hard to climb onto the dumpster, and she took her time.

It took so much of her time that when she finally got on there, it seemed that Hershel had given up when it all became too much.

They were about to leave, and Marley could tell that Rick wasn't going to without the boy.

Rick took the boys leg, and with an all mighty crunch lifted it from the fence with so much force that the spike which faced the opposing way didn't stop his skin passing it.

The stranger looked up to the sky and screamed, louder than his others.

Marley took his face between her two hands and lifted it for a moment, before abruptly slamming it against the metal.

When he didn't go unconscious, she did it again.

She eventually just took her fist and swung it across his eyes and that knocked him out.

She looked up from the sleeping boy to Rick.

"I shut him up," she tilted her head and gave him a sneer expression. "You happy?"

+

me at Marley rn:

- sylar