THEY WERE HESITANT at first with the man's offer. Before they can respond, the group spotted two others walking toward them. It was Erica and Ramon.

"Hold it!" Martinez, one of Philip's men, called out as he raised his rifle.

"Whoa! Wait!" Y/N raised his hands at him. "They're with us."

Martinez glanced at Philip who in turn gestured for him to lower the gun. The siblings eased their way to the group.

"Y/N. Lili." Erica spoke. "What's going on?"

"Your friends were about to be kidnapped and God knows what else would've been done to 'em if we didn't step in." Philip said.

They looked at the two. Y/N nodded and backed up what the older man stated.

"Yeah. Bandits were going to kill us." He said.

"Jesus." Ramon muttered as he looked over at the bodies nearby.

"So they're with you?" Philip turned to Liliana and asked.

"Yes." She simply replied.

He kept looking at her for a moment before giving a nod.

"Like I said before...we have a community about 45 miles north. If y'all are fine with that."

"Is that an offer?" Erica questioned.

"What else would it be?"

"Awfully nice of you."

"We try to be one of the good guys." He looked at Liliana. "As you've seen, there are not a lot of friendly faces out here anymore. It's a rarity."

"How can we trust you?" Y/N asked.

"What's in it for me by lying? Why would I offer you room in my jeep? Just to take y'all into a field and execute you all? I could've just done it here already and saved the time."

Y/N was taken aback by Philip's honesty and the details of it. But...he had a point nonetheless.

"You said how many miles?" Ramon asked.

"Forty-five." Shumpert chose to answer for him.

"Should be about an hour's drive." Philip added and looked back at the jeep. "Tight fit with all of us though."

"I have a car." Ramon said then looked at his sister. "We can check it out with them and then go back and let the camp know."

"Camp?" Philip asked him.

"Yeah. With about twenty people."

"Hope that's fine...bringing them in." Y/N chimed. "Would be doing them a great favor."

Philip stayed quiet for a second before responding. "That can be decided back home. We should go before it gets dark."

They were prepped to leave. Y/N and Liliana were about to walk back to their car so they can follow Philip's, but the man called out.

"But I would like to hear more about your camp on the way. And I'll consider every word." He eyed the blonde. "Ma'am? Mind being their voice?"

Liliana looked at her group upon hearing his offer to join him in his vehicle. She still wasn't sure what to think of the man...but also didn't want to be the reason her father and the rest of the camp would be denied admission into his community. If it was real that is.

Before she can answer, Y/N spoke.

"She can. Only if I join her."

Philip rested his hands by his waist. "It'd surely be a tight fit."

"Make some room, then." He shot back. "A couple of your men can join Ramon and Erica."

Ramon eyed his friend. "Dude—"

Y/N stretched his arm back and stopped him. He wasn't going to have Liliana in the car alone with strangers on the way to their place.

Philip looked at the young man for a moment. He was intrigued by his admonishment and tenacity to stay with the blonde.

"If you say so." He replied before looking at his men. "Crowley. Tim. You ride with our new friends."

They obliged and went with Erica and Ramon. Liliana looked at Y/N, who gave her a reassuring nod before walking up to Philip's jeep.

"Ladies first." He said in a gentlemanly manner as he opened the door. All the blonde did was nod as he entered it.

He didn't even hold it for Y/N and went inside right after. The young man just eyed Philip before going in.

• • •

IT SEEMED TOO good to be true...but it wasn't. Philip Blake was right and he did have a community with over fifty inhabitants. Its name...Woodbury.

He showed the four around the town on their way to the apartment complex. They passed by a few people who had greeted the older man as Governor.

"You in politics back then?" Erica asked after hearing it.

"Oh, no." He let out a chuckle. "It's just a nickname I've been given. Don't think too much of it."

"Seems more like a title than a nickname." Liliana quipped.

The man laughed again and looked at the blonde who was walking beside him.

"Then...I guess I'll consider it an honor."

Throughout their walk, the Governor would be close to Liliana. Y/N didn't want to admit it out loud, but it felt like he had a thing for her already. With that though, he could also tell she was rebuffing his advances.

They entered the building and walked up to one of the upper floors. He lead them to a door and opened it. Once inside they realized it was an interconnected room.

"Not the Hilton, but this should still be comfortable. We got clothes, food, water...hot showers but we like to keep the use limited."

It all felt surreal. The quartet had been used to their camp in the RV park and they were taken aback by the security they were given and the amenities.

"Whoa." Ramon muttered then looked at Y/N. "I can finally live like you did, hermano."

Y/N chuckled as they walked in. He eyed the fresh clothes on the beds and even the tray of food on the small table.

"Our guns? You still gonna hold them?" Erica asked Philip.

"You're safe here. You get them back whenever you decide to go outside the walls."

Y/N looked away from the tray and eyed Philip, who in turn stared back at him. Finally, Ramon spoke and broke the silence.

"Thank you. For all of this."

He nodded. "Now...about your camp. I have no reason to believe they are hostile, thanks to Miss Liliana's reassuring words. We will start heading out there."

"We appreciate it." Y/N said.

Philip looked at the blonde and smiled. "I'll make sure to bring your father back here...along with the rest."

All she did was nod in thanks. Philip glanced at the rest of the group...still with a smile.

"Works out for all of us. You all get a home and we get more manpower. Numbers are key for this town to thrive." He started walking out. "Someone will let you know when we're back."

He closed the door and left them all in the room. Ramon plopped down on the bed and let out an exhale.

"Holy shit. It's been so long since I've been on a mattress." He sat up and started bouncing on it.

"Relax. Last thing we want is you breaking it." Erica said.

He chuckled. "So...there's a bed in the other room and one here. There are four of us. How...?"

"Well, I ain't sleeping with my brother." His sister said and walked over to Liliana. "I'd rather share a bed with my best friend."

Liliana laughed. "Like those sleepovers in middle school?"

"Damn right."

Y/N chuckled before looking over at Ramon. "Guess that leaves us with this."

He shrugged and reached out to Y/N, who dapped him up in return.

"No homo though, right?" Ramon quipped.

"Nah. I was thinking the whole nine yards with you." Y/N joked.

Ramon let go of his clasped hand and laughed. "Yeah. All right, man."

The Latino got up from the bed and started making his way to the other room.

"I'm gonna take the first shower. Don't bother me."

Erica tried playfully punching her brother on the shoulder as he walked off.

"No desperdicies toda el agua caliente (Don't waste all the hot water)."

Ramon laughed before leaving. Erica grabbed her bag and made her way to the other room.

"I'll unpack the stuff we got."

She left, leaving Y/N and Liliana in the room. The girl crossed her arms and let out a sigh as she sat at the small table.

"Everything all right?" He asked her.

She leaned on the table and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good."

Y/N made his way to the table and sat across from Liliana. Back at camp, she would always move away or shift her body whenever he would sit near her. But this time she didn't and looked more comfortable.

"Be honest with me...what do you think about all this?" He asked.

"Honestly? This all seems...too good to be true. Like I'm still waiting for there to be a catch or something. Or that there's some fucking curtain to be pulled back and this is actually a village full of cannibals."

"That's pretty morbid." Y/N replied, assuming that was far from ever being true. The world wouldn't get to that point, right?

"And now I'm bringing all of them here." Liliana said. "I wonder what my dad will say."

"This guy...Philip...he has his way with words. It'd be all up to Alan on what to do with them." Y/N replied. "But once he mentions you, I highly doubt he'll turn down the offer."

She nodded. "Right."

There was a moment of silence. Liliana picked up a grape from the tray and ate it. Y/N decided to break the quiet.

"Have you noticed?"

"Noticed what?" She asked.

"The way that guy's been eyeing you."

She let out a quick chuckle. "Yeah. I have."

"He seems like a charmer. You better watch out." He replied. "Maybe he can teach me a few things."

"Please, I've had enough of how you already are."

The young man laughed and the blonde surprisingly did as well. It was the first time they shared a moment without animosity.

Y/N looked at the open door leading to the other interconnected room. He started to get up.

"I'm gonna go see if Erica needs some help."

He made his way toward the door but Liliana said his name, stopping him.

"Yeah?" He turned around and asked.

"Thank you for what you did back there...at the country club." She said. "You didn't have to. That was very brave."

The man softly smiled. He would've rather been exposed as a liar and beaten to death by the men than allow Liliana to be assaulted by them.

"It was just something I had to do." He replied, then walked away.

Philip Blake and a trio of men rolled up to the RV park, the location where Liliana had informed them of where their camp was. He noticed the blockade of inactive cars and a man watching.

The Governor stepped out of the vehicle and had his hands raised. He wanted to reassure the man on watch that he was friendly. He also pulled out a white cloth as a sort of flag.

"Don't shoot! I'm not armed!" He called out. "We want to talk with the one in charge. Have a word with him."

The man looked at him for a moment before glancing at his colleague. One of them left to get Alan. It didn't take long for the man to appear.

"Who are you?" Alan exclaimed.

"I'm Philip. We are a part of a settlement a ways away north."

He turned around and motioned his three men to leave the jeep. They also had their arms up and weren't armed.

Philip continued. "We stumbled upon your folk. Four of them. One of them is Liliana."

Alan's eyes widened and his full attention went to the man in front of him.

"What? Liliana?"

"Yes. They got into some trouble but we were there to help them. We took them back to our town."

Alan walked through the gap of the blockade and went toward Philip, but stopped. He had his hand near his holster still.

"You best not be lying."

"I'm not." He replied. "She's still with the others. Ramon, Erica, Y/N. If I was lying how would I know all their names?"

Alan took a breath and looked back at a couple of people by the blockade. Philip spoke again.

"I want to offer you and your people a place in my town. I've heard you've been out here a while. How does that sound?"

"So my daughter sent you?" Alan asked.

Philip nodded. "She wants you all to come back and be secured like she is now. And, if I'm being honest, I would love that manpower you all would bring."

Alan thought for a moment. He did have a way with his words and his calm demeanor supported it. He decided to go with his gut and put trust in Liliana back at the settlement.

"All right. That sounds fine. Th—Thank you."

Philip smiled. Alan did so as well and turned around to nod at the two behind him.

"Great. It's about time for a change." Philip said.

With a swift movement, the Governor took out his pistol and shot Alan. The man fell to the floor and before the other two could react, they were shot down by soldiers behind the trees.

The three men with Philip who had their hands up went back to their car and grabbed their rifles. They were joined by a few more guys and made their way to the gate. Philip stared ahead as he gripped his gun.

"We clear this place out. Leave no survivors."

• • •

PEOPLE FROM THE front gate informed Y/N and his group of the Governor and his team's arrival. They went outside of the apartment where they'd soon be face-to-face with the leader.

The first thing they noticed was that it was just him. Liliana expected to see her dad beside him. Y/N thought he'd reunite with Tyreese and Sasha. But they weren't around. It was just Philip and his solemn expression.

"We stumbled upon your camp in Andersonville." Philip looked down at his hands and exhaled. "I—I'm sorry but..."

They awaited the conclusion of his sentence, but his tone and demeanor had given the news away. It felt like the beginning of a conversation between a doctor and the family of a patient who'd just passed away.

He continued. "There was no one left. Everyone was..."

"What?" Ramon was the first to react.

Liliana didn't have any words but had a stunned expression. Philip noticed it and got closer.

"I'm so sorry." He shook his head. "I'm...I'm as hurt as you all must be."

"What the fuck happened?" Erica asked.

"When we made it there, the whole camp was overrun. Must've been a herd that had gone through. Many bodies...both undead and not."

Y/N glanced at Liliana, who was now starting to tear up and cry. She thought of her father who was now likely dead. The young man was about to console her himself, but Philip reached over and did so.

"I'm truly sorry. But...all that matters now is that you all are safe." He looked at the blonde specifically. "That you are safe. Isn't that what he would've wanted?"

Liliana didn't respond and kept crying. Philip ended up hugging her. The girl didn't pull away and simply accepted the older man's consolation.

"You are all part of this place now and it'll always be my responsibility that you and everyone here are safe." Philip told them amidst the embrace.

Ramon let out an exhale and was saddened to hear about the loss of life back at camp. Erica gave her brother a side hug and rubbed his shoulder. Y/N looked down for a moment, grieving as well, before glancing at Philip and Liliana.

The older man rubbed her back and looked blankly ahead, the solemn expression he had before seemingly gone. Philip noticed his gaze and parted from the hug.

"I give you my word." The Governor concluded.

• • •

IT WAS A time of mourning for the four young people. The people they had survived with for each of their respective amount of times had perished. Ramon and Erica lost friends they had grown to like, Y/N lost Tyreese, Sasha, and the group he had been with, and Liliana lost her father.

It was that way for the last couple of days with Liliana being the most affected, not talking to any of her colleagues and mostly staying in the apartment. That day, Erica and Ramon were out walking through town to get their minds cleared. Y/N was with them for a bit until he excused himself to go back to the apartment.

He entered the room, walking into Ramon and his abode. He looked at the closed door that lead to the interconnected room. Y/N knew that Liliana was in there.

Y/N contemplated whether he should leave her be. But he also wanted to let her know that she wasn't alone...that she shouldn't grieve by herself. With an inhale, he stepped up to the door and knocked.

"Lili?" He spoke, then chose to correct himself. "Sorry...Liliana?"

There was no response. He sighed.

"I just wanted to make sure you're okay. I'm...I'm here if you need anyone to talk to. You shouldn't have to go through this alone."

Again, there wasn't an immediate response. He nodded and started to step away.

"I'll leave you be then. I hope to see you later."

Before he can walk away, there was finally a reply from behind the door.

"You can come in."

Y/N turned the knob and entered the room, seeing the disheveled blonde on the bed with her back against the headboard. He gave her a soft smile.

"Hey."

She feigned one back. "Hey."

He eased his way toward the bed but made sure to respect her space. Y/N fiddled with his hands, trying to think of what to say.

"Asking if I'm okay would be pretty dumb, just letting you know." She told him.

"I figured." He replied with a quick chuckle, still thinking of what to tell her.

Finally, he began to speak.

"Loss is hard to take...especially when it comes to a parent. I get it."

Liliana listened. She remembered how he mentioned that both his parents passed away years before the outbreak.

"And you lost both." She remarked. "Way before I did. How did you...function after that?"

"To be honest...not much changed after my dad passed. He was terrible. Always beat my brother and me. Yelled at my mom every day." Y/N started to explain. "But when my mom died...that's when it hit hard."

Y/N took a large inhale as he tried to keep his composure. Liliana noticed his body expression and gestured him toward the side of the bed. He nodded and sat down beside her. Y/N kept talking.

"Growing up I always felt like I had a part of my mom...and a part of my dad. Not just biologically but...you know. Dad died and I thought back at his many attempts of turning my brother and me into men. Barely any love and just toughness. Then there was my mom, who showed us all the love in the world and showed me true goodness. When she died, that's all I thought of...and how it was now gone."

He continued. "After that, it felt like it was harder to be truly good like she showed me. I was depressed and all that kept creeping back to me was anger...the anger I always saw in my dad. So I had to put up a facade throughout college of that easygoing jock type. That nothing bothered me and I was carefree. Been that way even when I made the league. In doing so...I had abandoned my roots. I...I even changed my last name."

Liliana took in his story and felt for him. A part of her wanted to ask what was the last name he was born with but chose not to pry into that. She scooted over and got close to the young man.

"Your brother. You said that you haven't kept in touch with him." She mentioned. "Is—is that why?"

Y/N hated to admit it, but she was right. The man nodded and kept looking at his hands.

"He was about ten years older so he had already gotten the brunt of my dad's tough love before I came into the picture. In a way, he got more of my dad in him than I do. He got his demeanor...his asshole-like charm too. I didn't want to be around that because...I felt like it'd rub off on me."

The young man moved his hand to his face and sighed. He tried his best to keep his emotions in but the thought of his older brother, the only living family he had, made him spill.

"Now the world is shit and I don't know where he is. Ever since then, I've been cursing at myself for why I didn't speak with him as much as I could've. Why I pretty much abandoned him while I lived out my new luxurious life." Y/N started to tear up. "He—he was the one that introduced me to baseball and taught me. He's a big reason for what I became and I just gave him a big fuck you!"

The man began to cry, finally letting out all that had built within him. He had never got to express his thoughts and feelings before. Liliana got closer and embraced her friend.

"I feel like the worst. Worse than my father." He sobbed into her shoulder. "For the monster that I thought he was...he never abandoned us. I—I'm the monster."

Liliana kept hugging Y/N as he cried, the blonde tearing up too as she felt for him. Being able to console him also helped her, as she had someone that shared a similar feeling of guilt and grief. She rubbed his back and then moved to his hair.

"You're not a monster. No." She reassured him. "A monster wouldn't have been helping my dad at the camp. They wouldn't have lied to save me from those bandits. They wouldn't have come here...to make sure I was okay."

Y/N heard her words. He continued to sob albeit softly now. Liliana still embraced the young man.

"You have a good heart, Y/N. And I know you'll never lose that."