After much struggle, Rick's group could pull through that forest that was interposing in their way to the refuge they were aiming for.
If they were exhausted before, now they were totally broken. Since Kevin couldn't fight anymore, Rick needed to hold the frontline and make up for him. However, neither his spells nor his body constitution was suited for that kind of job. Kevin was just perfect on that matter, because he was tall, strong, and had the right spells.
Also, Clay needed to stay in the middle instead of on the rearguard of the group. He needed to take Rick's place, after all. Hector couldn't do the job because he didn't know a thing about melee combat, so he stayed on the rearguard as always, but the job to kill Dreads and aid the group at the same time at a frenetic pace was making him run out of "Willpower" way too quick.
Paul couldn't help them as well. In these last weeks, Rick was worse than ever before. He was at the limit of his patience with the young slave.
