-Quentin's POV-

-Five Hours Later-

I woke up in a daze, and immediately I felt a searing pain in my shoulder and my hip, and there was something on my head. Upon opening my eyes, I noticed Brock sitting by me, and once he saw me stir, Brock stood up quickly.

"Easy!" Brock yelled. "Dude, you've been through a lot, you need to rest for a bit." Listening to him, I stopped moving. "Thank god you're alright, when the sun began coming up we thought we lost you." Brock chuckled a bit. "You're officially the most badass person ever." I couldn't help but smile, but my thoughts drifted to Gabriel.

"How's Gabriel?" I asked, and Brock's face fell. "Jane said he's alright physically except for the eye, but mentally…" Brock trailed off. "...he's going to struggle, a lot."

"I can imagine so." I replied. "I mean, how can you be fine when you got your fucking eye cut out?!" Brock realized he was raising his voice, then sat down again. "I'm sorry, just...I'm really happy you're okay."

At that, Amy came into view and, once she saw me, wrapped her arms around me, causing me to groan in pain and Amy to let go. It was then I noticed that she had a replacement arm made of wood. Amy seemed to notice, and smiled. "Gabriel made this for me…" Amy said, and her expression faltered a bit before smiling again.

"I can't thank you enough for saving Gabriel." Amy said. "Seriously, I can't." Jane and Judy then walked in at this point. "Alright, shoo, we need to work on him." Judy said with a forced smile. Jane, noticing this, turned to me. "It's Gabriel, she can't stop thinking about him." Jane said.

"Wasn't she a paramedic?" I asked confused. "She usually got calls for heart attacks and that stuff, but never a guy missing an eye." Looking over at Judy, who had just ushered Brock and Amy out of the room, I noticed her unease.

"So, um, Quentin, first off, I'm glad you're alive." Judy spoke after a moment. "Yeah, I'm surprised I'm alive, thank you." I replied. "Amanda's the one you should thank." Jane said. "Yeah, she was the one who found you." I smiled. "Well, I'll have to thank her." Jane paused for a moment.

"Anyways, Quentin, while your shoulder will heal up fine, the bullet didn't pass through in your hip, and it struck a muscle bad." Jane said. "We got it out, but you'll have to rest for a bit and use a cane for a while."

"Um, what's Gabriel's status?" I asked, and Judy noticeably flinched while Jane gave me a sad look. "I asked Brock and Amy to keep an eye on him, and I'll help out just in case he…" Jane paused. "Decides to exit on his own terms…"

I already knew what Jane was talking about, and at that moment, I went to rest again.

-One Week Later-

Today was the day I got out of the infirmary, and, like Jane said, I had to use a cane for a while to walk. Staggering out of the infirmary with some help with Jane and Judy, I gazed around the new events that had occured.

The guy who got shot in the shoulder when Jeffery died, Noam, finally was healed up and began a relationship with Leah. I knew this because when I walked past them, they were in the middle of holding hands, and waved to me as I stumbled by.

Noticing a crowd nearby, I began to head there, but I heard a familiar voice speak up. "Hey, Quentin!" I turned to see Andrew and Trinity walking over to me. "I'm glad to see you up." Andrew said. "Andrew was worried you wouldn't make it." Trinity replied, and Andrew smirked at her. "Hey, come on now babe."

Babe?
"I guess you finally asked her out?" I asked amused. "Aye, it was difficult, considering everything that happened, but aye, we're together." I gave them a thumbs-up and gestured at the crowd. "What's going on there?" I asked.

"Since you were out, the residents decided to vote on the final council member." Andrew said. "Trinity is among the nominees." I smiled at her. "Who are the others?" I asked. "Shawn and Colby." Trinity replied. "Trust me, they're making good points on why they should be on the council, Colby especially." Andrew chuckled at this. "I know Colby's likely going to win since he's more active in defending Rock Hill, but I know that Trinity and Shawn won't give up easy."

I bid them farewell, and I noticed Garrison sitting at a table with a bunch of people, and I noticed that there were a number of black people at the table. Even more jarring was the sight of Garrison interacting with them with a grin on his face whilst Macey sat by his side.

"Hey, Garrison, you're staying?" I asked. I had a feeling that Garrison, as soon as the war was winding down, would take off. "Yeah, I'm done with being alone." He looked over at Sesugh. "Hey, rummy!" A chorus of laughter directed at a flustered Sesugh followed. Seconds later, I noticed Dakota walking by and giving a warm smile towards Garrison. I guess they made up.

Evan proceeded to walk up to me with eleven of the prisoners, Alex among them, and raised his hands when he saw my unease. "They've decided to join us." Evan said. "Jayson wanted to join, but he wanted to keep the prisoners in line, mainly Phil." I did remember Amy speaking to me at one point about some asshole that they captured, likely that Phil guy.

Johnny was still here, talking to Peter about future plans, and once the two noticed me, they gave me a small smile. "Hey Quentin, I'm glad you're alright." Johnny said. "Thanks, I'm sorry about your people." Johnny sighed. "Don't worry, Sabatino, Fabian, Cezar, and Riddick will hopefully understand." Johnny said. "Their deaths weren't in vain."

"Agreed, I may have lost Eddie, Bilal, and Demi, but at least I managed to put down Tucker." Peter said. Johnny put his hands on his hips and gave me a smile. "Why are you here?" I asked. "I just came to check the place out, make sure the wounded are alright." Johnny replied. "I must say the doctors are absolutely incredible." Johnny paused for a moment. "Thanks for setting up the supply lines by the way, and honestly, despite losing four people, I'm willing to work with you."

A few minutes later, Johnny and Peter, along with the people they brought, left. I looked to my left and saw Amanda sitting on a bench, gazing at me. I decided to sit next to her, and once I did, she turned her head away.

"Thanks." I said. "Welcome." Amanda replied. "Why'd you do it?" Amanda sighed at my question. "I told you I was going to do my best to redeem myself, and well, you nearly didn't make it." Amanda said. "Amanda, listen, you definitely redeemed yourself." I extended my hand and she shook it with a smile on her face.

Noticing Shawn nearby, I decided to join him. Shawn looked relieved to see me, and gave me a small smile. "Hey." Shawn said. "So, Shawn, I've done some thinking." I said, causing Shawn to raise a brow. "About?" Shawn asked. "This." I proceeded to kiss his cheek, causing him to blush furiously although I couldn't see it through his complexion. "I think it's time." Shawn grinned madly and kissed me back.

"Hey Quentin!" Brock spoke. Leaving Shawn, I hobbled over to Brock and Amy, who proceeded to put their hands over my eyes. "Uh, what?" I asked, and I felt Brock and Amy move me slowly. "So, Quentin, while you were out, we went back to that hardware store and found a bunch of building material…" Amy said. "...so, we decided to do something." They proceeded to uncover my eyes.

On the large wall were splattered with the words "ROCK HILL" in red paint, and I felt a sense of pride come over me. "That's not all, come on, we did a little something to the office." Brock and Amy led me to Thomas's old office, and I immediately noticed that the sign with Thomas's name was missing. "Yeah, we didn't need any reminder of that asshole." Brock said, and gestured to a wooden board split in half, I noticed the wood particles on Brock's knee. Amy and Brock then opened the door.

The room had been renovated greatly from just a simple office to a full-on council meeting room. The table in the middle had some plaques in front of each of the seats. Brock, Amy, Garrison, Andrew, and at the head of the table was my name. I quickly noticed that Gabriel didn't have a plaque, but I didn't mind. I was more astonished by the fantastic look of the room.

"Wow…" was all I could say. Amy looked over and decided to bring up Gabriel. "Gabriel's...well...struggling…" Amy said. "I'm not sure if he'll be a part of the council at all, which is a shame since we could use his experience as a lawyer." We all went outside, and I noticed that Jane and Judy were outside talking with each other.

"They decided to tie the knot." Amy said with a smile. "Really?" I asked. Brock chuckled. "I've known them for about four years and they've apparently been together for about seven years." Brock then paused for a bit, and dug around in his pocket.

"I think it's time." Brock said, and turned to Amy. "Amy?" Brock asked as he got down on one knee and presented the ring. "Will you...marry me?"

Amy didn't hesitate to say yes.

About six minutes later, I found myself sitting on the steps of the building where the new council room was, tapping my cane against the stone steps. I just took in everything, and I remembered how I got here.

At the beginning, I was a man in the woods who was just barely getting by, who kept their head down in order to survive. It was how I survived for the four years in the time since Garrett's death, and speaking of which, I was finally over him. Sure I would miss him, but it didn't hurt as much.

Then I met Andrew, Lionel, and Frank, and they made me a prisoner at Rock Hill under Thomas's orders. I met Amy, Brock, Gabriel and Jonathan, and in order to save Jonathan from his bite, I cut off his pinkie, leading to Thomas wanting to execute me himself. However Amy, Brock and Gabriel saved my life, but we ended up seeing Jonathan be murdered in cold blood.

We then met Garrison in the train station, and without him, we'd likely be dead. When the train crashed into the wall at Rock Hill, I was reluctant to go back, but I did, and saved many lives. Thomas attempted to kill me, but I revealed the truth about Jonathan. Before Thomas could be punished accordingly, Thomas was killed by Seth.

And a new threat emerged.

Week after week, we struggled to survive without Thomas, until that fateful day where Andrew turned his back on Frank and Lionel, and killed Frank. Additionally, after meeting Shawn, Rajeev, and Hubert, Amanda decided to have sex with me without my consent and when I confronted her, she revealed she was pregnant. Hours before, I was declared the leader of Rock Hill, and after I confronted Amanda, Amy was bitten and I cut her arm off.

That's when I learned that no one knew about destroying the brain.

I was angry, but Andrew helped me get back on track by meeting with Johnny and Peter, and successfully managed to ally with them. Then, when getting medicine for Amy, we found and captured Evan, who eventually allied with us against the Revivalists.

Then Brock and Gabriel were taken, and Lionel was kicked out.

It was difficult, but we managed to get the information of how to get inside the hotel. Then Seth came to me with an offer, and allowed me to take either Brock or Gabriel home. I chose Brock, and Gabriel lost his eye. Despite this, we managed to save him, and in order to save more lives, I led away a herd drawn by gunfire, despite being wounded.

Then Lionel returned and nearly killed me, but I managed to kill him.

I was on my last legs by the next morning, and I was ready to die, but my survival instinct kicked in. I wasn't going to die this easy. Then Amanda saved me, in an attempt to redeem herself, which in my mind, she did. I survived, and now I was living comfortably at Rock Hill as the leader of these people, with two allied communities that will help us fight against the Revivalists.

I knew that they were still out there, plotting their revenge, and I knew that sooner or later, they'd attack.

And I was ready.