Two hours later, the trio are still stuck on the rooftop of that three-story building.
"Fortunately, this place has some shade, or we would have been cooked by now." Alan chuckled while the trio hid under the shade of the rooftop deck. The moans of the walkers surrounding the building had also become noticeably quieter.
"I even thought they were gonna break through the door earlier. Those things sure are strong despite their state of decay." When Cole remembered how the door was on the verge of getting destroyed earlier, he shuddered at the thought of what would have happened to them.
Leaning against a wood post, Cole turned towards Glenn. "How long do you think before their numbers thin out?"
"Hopefully before nightfall or else, we'll have to stay here tonight" Glenn responded after taking a sip from a water bottle.
"Fortunately, we were carrying some supplies in our bags or else we would've starved tonight." Alan added while chewing on a cracker.
"Do you think they're looking for us? We're several hours late from our scheduled return." Cole asked aloud.
"As you said, it's only been several hours. So just relax for now and take some rest, you won't have the luxury to have one later." Glenn tried to act calm and reassure them, but even he can't hide the anxiety in his eyes.
"I wonder if Michael has already returned or if the camp is still doing okay with most of its fighters currently away." Alan said while fanning himself with his hat.
Listening to his words, a sudden shift of expression appeared on Glenn and Cole's faces. The two look at each other, and seemingly understanding each other's intention, the two immediately stood up.
"I think we need to go." Glenn got up and started packing his things back into his backpack.
"I think we do, I'm suddenly worried about them." Cole also followed suit.
Alan looked up at the two with a confused expression. "What? So sudden?"
Glenn paused and looked at him. "Are you not even the least bit worried about them, or Jacqui in particular?"
Alan shrugged his shoulder and responded. "Not at all. Come on, you two need to calm down. The others can take care of themselves. Besides, Rick and the others are probably back by now. So we don't need to worry, and instead, we need to remain patient until the herd downstairs subsides. Hopefully, as early as tomorrow."
Cole and Glenn looked at each other for a moment. The former shrugged his shoulder and placed his bag down. "Well, he's not wrong. Worrying and doing something reckless is not gonna help and would just get us killed. Besides, I just realized that besides that door, we don't actually have another way to escape from this place unless…"
Cole paused, he was almost convinced by his words, but then he realized something just now. Something they had completely overlooked since.
"Unless what?" Alan was feeling impatient.
Cole suddenly let out an amused chuckle. "You fool; we had completely overlooked the fire escape of this place!"
"And every building is required to have one." Glenn added as he immediately went over to the edge, followed by Cole who went towards the opposite direction.
"What? No." Alan on the other hand, felt that it wasn't a feasible plan.
"Come on, you two. The fire escape is useless if the building is still surrounded. Is it so hard to just rest for the remainder of the day?" Alan complained, but he still got up and headed towards another direction.
"Found it." Alan softly called out when he spotted the staircase leading down, but his expression quickly changes when noticed something down below.
"What the heck is that?" He shivered while watching the figure moving erratically below.
"What's wrong?" Cole hurried over and got near enough to catch his words.
Alan turned towards him before pointing down. "That's what's wrong."
"Well, fuck." Cole immediately let out a curse when he saw it.
"That... that's one very tall walker, and there's even two of them conveniently down the fire escape." Glenn had jogged over and also saw the situation below them. It made him shook his head with worry.
"Must be over seven, right?" Alan said, his eyes constantly watching the two odd walkers among the herd.
"They must have been Volleyball or Basketball players, and how odd that they just happen to be at the place where we were planning to escape to. Now, we have two tall obstacles worry about." Glenn could only shake his head in helplessness.
"Maybe this is God's way of telling us not go and this is a bad idea." Alan shrugged his shoulders.
Glenn and Cole's turned their gaze towards him.
"Seriously?! You mean the god..you know what? What's wrong with you? You've been acting like you don't want to leave at all." Cole flared his nostrils in annoyance.
"I'm not against leaving, but you two are not thinking straight and needs to calm down. Look, I also have someone waiting for me to return, but doing something reckless can get us killed. We barely escaped from the herd when we encountered them on the road. Now, you two want to go back out there because of an unfounded worry. Until the herd moves away, going out there is tantamount to suicide."
"You're the one who fucking brought it up! What do you think expect us to do?!" Cole was enraged and slightly raised his voice at him.
Alan just sighed and turned around. He slowly walked away from them saying. "How would I know you two would suddenly act suicidal? Come on, let's just rest. I don't want to argue with you today."
Glenn and Cole looked at each other. The former eventually let out a sigh and followed after Alan.
They eventually heeded his words and rested under the shade of the rooftop deck, alongside the lullaby of the walkers surrounding the building they're on.