Standing on the clean porch of a pristine house, Daryl looked at the blue sky in Alexandria, Virginia and shook his head slightly. Was it really true? Did they at last find some kind of sanctuary in Alexandria. It just seemed like yesterday when Rick, him and the others were on the run. Walkers around every corner or worse, some people who just like him had turned into animals. Just as he was lost in thought standing on his porch one of the tower lookouts waved frantically. Daryl snapped out of his daydreaming and ran towards the tower in the middle of the small fortified village. Rick Grimes, the former sheriff who was now asked to ensure the safety of Alexandria, was already there.
"What is it, Tom?" Rick yelled.
"Rick, I think I saw a…" he paused, grimacing slightly.
"What Tom?" Daryl and Rick were now standing at the bottom of the church tower, looking up the 20ft wooden church tower.
"I saw a plane." The timid teenager said.
"That's impossible, kid" Rick turned around shaking his head. "Let's go back Daryl"
"There! It's a helicopter!" Tom pointed straight up the sky. Daryl, Rick and a handful of others looked up and instantly ran towards the tower once again. A small black dot was clearly visible in the summer sky.
"It must up there more than a mile! But it sure is coming down." Tom yelled.
Rick and Daryl look at each other quickly comprehending the situation.
"Get the others ready! Now!"
Daryl knew what to do and started sprinting, getting together the team and instructing them to gather every weapon in the village.
Meanwhile the dot slowly got bigger. Seconds turned into minutes. The helicopter descended very slowly. Rick, Daryl, Glenn and more than 20 other people were now gathered on the grass in front of the main gate. Everyone who was not armed was hiding inside the houses. Except for Deanna Monroe, the leader of the community.
"What's the meaning of this?" She asked Rick, with a worried yet strong expression.
"I don't know, but we're going to shoot it as soon as it is in range. We won't take any chances." Rick replied.
"But what if they are friendly?"
"Deanna, what if they aren't? I won't risk the lives of my people. Your people. Us."
Deanna looked at Rick, looked up and looked back at Rick, thinking about all possible scenarios.
"I can't shoot worth a damn. I'll go inside the house." She said. Rick nodded. He was in charge now.
The helicopter was down to about 400 feet now. Its rotor howled slightly, much like a large fan and much more quiet than average helicopters.
"Everyone listen up! When I say fire, everyone with a rifle starts firing. Do not shoot straight up. Bullets might hit you on the way down. Make sure to fire in an angle. No handguns fire unless I say so! Everyone stay in one line and not across from each other. "
The first gushes of wind from the rotor blades were starting to move about the grass and clothing of everyone in sight.
"FIRE!" Rick ordered.
Completely focused on the threat above, they all started firing. The helicopter was around 200 feet up now and seemed to go down faster. Rick stopped firing, lowering his rifle, noticing the helicopter was not changing course or trying to flee. The bullets jumped off it like firecrackers on a steel safe. A few moments later, this large dark grey piece of technology was hovering just 20 feet above the crowd. The noise of of the gunfire almost masked machines metallic howling. The rotors wind power ripped a few hats off 2 of the shooters heads and visibly moved the large wooden city walls back and forth. Everyone was walking backwards while still firing at the helicopter.
"Waving and signaling to everyone Rick shouted "Cease-fire! Cease-fire! It's bulletproof and is armed" he pointed towards the exposed gatling guns on both sides of the helicopter. "If they wanted us dead, we'd be dead. If they wanted to flee, they would have fled".
Touch down. Rick signaled to everyone to make a full circle around the helicopter and wait. The rotors slowed down unusually fast for a helicopter. Just about 15 seconds later everything was quiet. The helicopter was standing right on a small spot of grass, just about 30 feet from the gate.
"Hold your fire!" Rick reminded everyone firmly, checking out all 20 people, and spending an extra second to check hothead Daryl who standing on his right hand side.
"You too." Rick said quietly. Daryl nodded.
"Hold your fire. I am coming out now. I need to speak to the man with the crossbow." A voice said, muffled by plastic and metal.
All eyes in the circle were instantly on Daryl, who had lowered his rifle. Rick looked at him, turned around to the others and said "Hold your fire."
The door opened with a slight sigh of air depressurizing. Everyone had not heard the sound since they last went off an airplane many years ago. Out came a blonde man in his mid forties who closed the door very slowly with his left arm, while the other was in the air, showing no weapons. He was dressed in black camouflage with a visible kevlar vest, covered in old brown blood stains. He had a short beard and piercing blue eyes. His expression was serious.
"I am unarmed. If we wanted to kill you,you would not have see it coming.." He paused. "My name is Jack Bauer. I work for the government. Or what's left of it."