TWD Chapter 19 – Love conquers all.

"Oliver." Was all Luke could mutter before Olivia's arms were tightly clenched around him, a slight grunt sounding at the impact against his ribs.

"I'm so glad you're okay..." She managed as she tucked herself in the crook of his neck.

"There's a time and a place!" Jane screeched at them as Olly sheepishly pulled herself away. That's when she spotted a very weak looking Nick behind him.

"Oh my god! Nick! Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah." He groaned through pained grunts.

"He got hit on the way outta Howe's." Luke explained, a concerned expression on his face as his friend rubbed his own shoulder.

"We need to get you some place safe so I can look at that properly." There was a slight pause as Olly searched over Luke, wanting to sooth every bruise she could see on his face. "What about you? Are you hurt?" She already knew the answer.

He shrugged lightly, attempting to conceal the ache he was feeling. "I'm, uh, I'm walkin'. Can't do much else, though." Luke's expression immediately dropped, pain and defeat gracing his features. "Sarah... she's another story... I don't know what to do about her."

"What's the matter?" Jane asked calmly.

He paused before turning to the room that Nick sat with her in. "You gotta help." Quickly, all three of them followed after Luke who was now solemnly trying to coax the scarred girl in to life. "Sarah, look. Look, it's Clem. See? It's just like I told you, they're okay." The girl lifted her head and looked around, but it was obvious she wasn't actually seeing anything. "Sarah, come on. We... we have to go now." There was no response from her. "I don't know what to do. I can't snap her out of it, okay? Me and Nick tried to carry her, but I... I guess Carver messed me up pretty good back there and Nick's shoulder doesn't help much."

"After Carlos, she just lost it, man. Started running through the woods like a maniac." Nick explained, his voice dry and rough. "We chased her for, I don't know how long... she saw this mobile home and made a beeline for it."

"I'm just glad ya'll are here." Luke finished, taking a quick glance towards Olivia before turning away.

The sound of roamers seemed to increase as they piled up against the mobile home, banging on the sides. "We're not out of the woods yet." Jane pointed out, her face trying to conceal her worry.

"What are we gonna do about her?" Luke asked hesitantly.

"What d'ya mean?! We carry her." Olly stated, as if it was obvious.

The banging grew louder and Jane was looking more and more uneasy. "Look, I, uh." The woman looked from person to person then down to the floor. "They're gonna tear this place open pretty soon. We can't stay. So we gotta get her up, or we gotta..."

"Well, me and Nick have been trying... we've been trying for hours. I can barely get her to look at me." Luke was still hunched over clutching his stomach and just the sight of it made Olivia determined that nobody else was going to get hurt.

"Then let's hurry up and grab her. How we gonna get out of here?" Olly asked, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows furrowed in determination... her mind clearer than it had been in a long time. She'd survive this. They'd all survive this and then finally, she'd tell Luke just how she felt. That notion would keep her going.

"It's not that easy. When I tried to pick Sarah up the last time, aside from the pain... she kicked and screamed. Nick couldn't calm her down either."

"It's true. It's like she doesn't want anyone touchin' her." Nick reassured Luke's statement with a sad expression.

"Who gives a fuck?! If it saves her life, we'll persevere. Now how the hell do we get outta here?" Olivia was losing her patience fast, almost as fast as they were losing time.

"Well- what about the skylight?" Jane quickly pointed up above Luke and Nick's heads, prompting Olly to start looking around for anything to get them up there. Before there was even time to react, however, the blockade covering the front door began shifting and the roamers scrambled over. "Get up that skylight now!" Jane shouted as she sprinted to cover the entrance.

"Com'on Clem, I'll boost you." Luke began kneeling down in front of the skylight before Olivia shook her head adamantly.

"Stop and think, Luke! You're injured, as is Nick. You guys need to get gone first. I'll boost you." He almost looked as if he would refuse, but his will was as weak as his body at that moment and allowed Olly to kneel in front of him, grasping his foot and pushing him up. The sounds of falling corpses sounded from the other room, an indication that their time was almost up. Luke just about managed to drag himself out of the small space, before turning to reach for Nick. "Jane, you okay?!" Olivia had to make sure that none of those falling corpses had been her.

"Yeah, just hurry the fuck up!"

That tired voice was all Olly needed to speed things up. Nick's foot was the next to be grasped in her palms, using all her strength to get him up and to safety. The distressed grunts he gave as he was lifted were almost unbearable, but at least he was safe. "Now you, Clem."

"What about Sarah?!" The girl was worried that Olivia would leave her behind, but that would be insult to Carlos' memory.

"I'll handle it. Just go." She wasn't budging and the hesitation was setting Olly's nerves on end. "Trust me."

"Clem, hurry! We don't have time." Apparently Luke was feeling the same, his hand extending down towards the girl. Clementine glanced upwards at the outstretched arm, and after a seconds thought, allowed herself to be pushed upwards and out to safety. "Jane, get in here!" Olly had decided in that instant that if Sarah was going to be difficult, she wouldn't let someone else die for it, not somebody who could be saved. In what seemed like less than a second, the woman had sprinted in the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Before there could be a moments thought, Jane had been shoved through the skylight with the others. That just left Sarah and Olly.

"It's our turn, Sarah. I'm gonna grab you now, okay?" The girl said nothing, she didn't even acknowledge her existence. At least that was until Olly picked her up. The screaming and kicking ensued immediately, an accidental punch to the face by the girl causing Olly to almost drop her.

"There's no time! Leave her!" Jane ordered, but Olly wasn't listening. She wouldn't do that.

The banging on the bedroom door was only growing louder, the wood cracking as it splintered because of the force against it. Luke stared down at Olivia's struggle, completely helpless and he couldn't bare it. "Perhaps Jane's right, Olly."

The red head stared at him with disbelief, not comprehending how this man could be the same one she had fallen for over the past few months. "I won't leave her! I won't shit on Carlos' memory like that! If we leave her, he died for nothing!" Luke shook his head before reaching his hand down once again.

Somehow Olly found the strength to block out Sarah's screams and minimize her swatting and kicking, moving towards the skylight. Just as Sarah was pulled to safety, the door gave in and piles of roamers fell into the room. "OLLY!" Luke and Clem's unified terror was enough to give her a heart attack. Once Sarah was yanked to safety, she had a split second to get herself up. "Please hurry, Oliver!"

Olly had never been a good jumper, but she had never had so much adrenaline coursing through her body either and somehow even with a roamer almost grasping her leg, the jump was easy. The strain on Luke, not so much... it took the aid of Jane to get her fully up before she fell in the arms of her death. The whole group's hearts were pumping at an incomprehensible speed, Olivia knelt over, her breathing erratic. A pair of strong arms closed over her tightly pulling her up straight.

"Don't you dare ever put yourself in danger like that again, Olly." Luke's voice was barely audible as he struggled to breath.

"Someone had to." The disdain was evident as she spoke causing Luke to take a step back... somehow things were different. "Sarah? You okay?" The girl didn't reply, she was still shaking from the encounter.

"Come on!" Jane jumped down from the roof, soon followed by a very solemn group.

"Urgh... Okay, I hate to be the one to ask, but... are we nearly there yet?" All of them had been walking for some time, stopping only a short while as Olly tried to apply what little Carlos had taught her to fix up Nick who was still bleeding from the gunshot.

Jane gazed over at the struggling man, a glint of amusement in her eye. "We're not far."

Olivia managed a glance towards the man she was struggling to recognise, noticing he was looking at her too. They shared a moment and Olly shook her head lightly, her eyes clenching shut as she turned away. "You were right." She looked back unexpectedly at Luke's confusing admission. "I shouldn't have been so willin' to leave her."

Nick turned to his friend, not seeing what he saw. "We do what we have to, right?"

Luke scowled. "I... just... can't believe it. Soon as you said 'go', I was the first up on that roof."

"You did as I asked, Luke."

"Yeah, and you almost died because of it." The guilt was emanating from him, making Olly wonder if the man she loved was still in there after all. Yes, the man she loved. She had been avoiding thinking it, that confession seemed too much for her... but she knew she loved him. She always had.

"You can't let it eat away at you, Luke." Jane interrupted from the front of the group.

"She's right. You were injured... and I... I needed you to be safe." Olly's eyes shot to the ground, counting the footsteps she took, anything to avoid his gaze.

"You did good getting out there. Now you gotta keep it up." Clem's voice sounded from behind them, obviously trying to communicate with Sarah.

"But... I'm not okay." At least she was talking.

"Just try, okay?" The struggling girl returned to silence and hope for her was diminishing.

"She just needs a little time, Clem. Leave her be for a bit." Jane commanded softly, not wanting to cause any upset, but letting people know at the same time she knew what she was talking about. "I don't know about this. The way she is... she's gonna cause problems."

Olivia's worn out features soon morphed in to that of anger. "So, what? We should have just left her? Is that your suggestion?!"

"No, I didn't mean... look just because you got her out of there today, doesn't mean you saved her. Trust me." There was a hesitant pause of silence. "I tried to save Jaime too. But she... gave up. I dragged her across four states. And every morning, she'd say she wasn't getting up. So I'd convince her. Or push her. Or goddamn carry her, if I had to. Until this time... walkers cornered us. Forced us to the roof. And then when they kept coming... I... I couldn't make her jump. Couldn't throw her. So I tried something else. I told her she could have what she wanted. And I left her there."

"Jaime isn't Sarah." Olly stared her down for a second before shaking her head.

"You don't get it. Has it ever occurred to you that you're putting her through a forced march through hell?"

"Has it ever occurred to you that we shouldn't just give up!"

"Hey, com'on guys. Now's not the time." Nick was looking nervously from woman to woman, worried a cat fight might follow.

Olly sighed before turning to the little girl beside her. "You've been very quiet, Clem. You okay?"

She paused before dipping her head. "I was just thinking about Kenny. He seemed really mad at me earlier."

"It wasn't your fault, Clem. Don't ever think it was." Clementine nodded in response and the chat died down once again, creating an empty silence. Olly could feel Luke staring at her, but she was unwilling to look. It hurt to see his sad eyes. She missed his perfect, genuine smile and his sense of humour. Every smile mustered recently felt forced and fake. She needed to fix this. She wasn't prepared to see this all end now, not after everything. But at the same time, she couldn't face it. She was afraid, it was pathetic.

"Come on, let's get you all back to your friends."

A few minutes later, the Civil War site was in view and Mike and Joel were there to greet them. Surprisingly, Joel pulled his daughter in to a hug causing her to yelp in surprise. "You've been gone ages." Was all he muttered, but she knew what he meant. He had been worried.

"You found 'em!" Mike smiled upon the group, but it wasn't returned.

"Yeah, I'm a little amazed myself, to tell you the truth." Luke shifted nervously as he passed Joel, still not trusting him. "If it weren't for Clem, Jane... and Olly, well I don't know what would've happened."

Bonnie soon joined the group, guiding a very distressed looking Rebecca who was slightly hunched forward, hand resting on her belly. "Sarah, how you doing hon?" The girl managed to walk forwards slightly, but didn't respond. "That's okay, sweetie. Whenever you're ready. I'm just glad you're here." One last look and then Sarah was off, sitting away from everyone else. "But, wait.. wait.. Nick are you okay? You're bleeding."

"Yeah, I could use some help with that. Olivia did what she could, but it still hurts like hell."

Olly shook her head. "There's nothing more I can do with out supplies. We need to search the surrounding areas for some."

"Well we'll need stuff for Rebecca when she goes into labour too." Bonnie agreed.

"I guess we'll need to split up." Joel stated, his hands on his hips.

"We need you here, Joel. In case Kenny isn't willing to help deliver the baby... you've been there before." The man almost seemed to blush at the memory, but was replaced with a look of despair which Olivia guessed was him remembering her mother.

"Where is Kenny?" Clem asked, averting her gaze around their make-do camp.

Bonnie turned to look at an old tent, silently revealing the answer. "He went in there after you left. Took Sarita with him... to take care of her. I don't think he's doing well. In fact, I was hoping you'd talk to him again. Try and get through to him. We need him to be straight when Rebecca goes in to labour."

Clementine seemed hesitant, but she nodded. "I'll try."

Olivia felt like stopping her, but Jane's comment about her being possessive echoed in her mind... and she decided against it. "Be careful, Clem." The little girl nodded before setting off towards Kenny's hiding spot.

"We need to discuss plans for getting supplies." Bonnie said.

"I think we could take five minutes, Bonnie. Our trip wasn't exactly easy." Only then did she see the true extent of their exhaustion, instantly agreeing with Olivia once she realised.

Olly took the moment to sit down next to the statue, her head in her hands, fighting back a headache. It wasn't long before she felt a presence beside her. She knew it was Luke. Who else would bother?

"You okay?"

She felt like saying she was, just to put him at ease... she didn't have the energy to lie, though. "No, not really. Everything is just shit."

"You have me worried, Olly. That whole thing with Carver... I've seen you angry but-"

"-Please, don't. Don't judge me. I'm not judging you for wanting to leave Sarah-"

"Hey, I never wanted to leave her but-"

"But you would have." She sighed. "I guess we're both losing who we are. I certainly don't know any more." She rubbed her head roughly before lifting it up and looking at him. "I know you're probably questioning me... questioning how you feel about me. For a second I thought I was doing the same back at that mobile home, but-"

"Just stop there, Olivia. I have never questioned how I feel about you. I've questioned your motives, sure... but I was more worried about you than anything. And yeah, I was a little pissed back at Howe's... I understood though. What that man tried to do to you-" His eyes clenched at the thought, his nose shrivelling in to an expression of disgust. "I just didn't want to lose you to the hate. I'd miss you too much, Oliver."

She managed a smile at the pet name and the relief she felt was overwhelming. He didn't hate her and that was enough for her. "I love you, Lucy."

His eyes widened slightly at the revelation before relaxing, returning her smile. Olivia supposed he hadn't expected her to ever voice the words, especially with their current predicament being what it was. It seemed like such a bad time and yet, it was the perfect time. If she didn't say it now, she might not get a chance later and he very much felt the same way.

"I love you too, Oliver. Always have."

A quick chapter release to make up for my lack of updates over recent weeks. It's a little shorter but a lot of tense moments resided within it. AND NICK'S ALIVE! There is a reason and it all comes together for the ending, trust me.

I know I say this every time, but I really do appreciate everyone sticking by this story and all your reviews really do mean a lot. They're my motivation and the reason I keep going with this. You're all awesome!