Disclaimer : Sadly I don't own any of the wonderful characters, only my OCs.
A/N Second attempt at a WD fanfic. Hope you enjoy, please let me know how I'm doing. This is a work in progress but I will update as quickly as possible, though probably not as fast as nine lives, my other story. Thanks for reading.
Chapter 1
They had finally escaped the boxcar after three days of captivity. The morning of the third day was only the second time they'd been bought food and water, but they were ready.
Rosita had distracted the guard with a few undone buttons and a flirtatious look as she'd leant forward to take the box of supplies from him. As soon as his eyes had wandered Abraham had pounced, grabbing his gun, using it to take out the second guard waiting by the door. In seconds they were all outside, looking for cover.
They were all tired, hungry and pissed off, the guards they found didn't stand a chance. Soon they had half a dozen guns and a couple of knives between them.
"We need to find the other prisoners, set them free" Rick Grimes pointed out to the rest of the group. "The more of us there are the more chance we got to escape"
"That depends" Daryl pointed out "If they've bin locked up without food and water longer than us they'll be weak, slow us down"
"He's right" Maggie agreed "Maybe we need to secure the place, then free them. They might be safer in the containers until the fighting's over"
Her husband Glenn disagreed with her for once "I think Rick's right, we need the numbers"
After a quick discussion they decided to free the prisoners and headed towards the containers they had heard cries for help coming from. Those with guns stood facing away from the containers, eyes searching for guards. The others stood in front, waiting for Rick and Abraham to open the heavy doors of the first container. Several people stumbled out, eyes squinting in the strong, morning sunlight. They were scared and disorientated, a few crying. Rosita, Tara and Sasha greeted them, explaining who they were, telling them they were free now. Rick moved on to the second container and unlocked the door, swinging it open.
None of them expected the snarling, cursing figure that hurled itself out the second the doors were open. It crashed into Daryl, the impact knocking him off his feet, the two of them falling in a heap to the ground.
"Where are my men, you sons of bitches?" the figure yelled, trying to land punches on the downed man. Abraham stepped in, an amused look on his face, as he grabbed the person by the arms and pulled them off the embarrassed hunter. Daryl scrambled to his feet; flinching at the pain in his body from the beating he'd received a few days before at the hands of the gang trying to kill Rick, Michonne and Carl.
Now Abraham was restraining the struggling figure they could all get a look at it. It was a woman, looking to be in her early thirties. She was wearing camouflage combat pants and a khaki vest top, a set of dog tags around her neck. Her light brown hair was coming lose from its braid and hung a few inches below her shoulders. Her face was bruised and she had a split lip and as she twisted in Abrahams grip they could see a large bruise on her back, at the base of her neck.
"Stand down soldier" Abraham barked out "We're the good guys here, just tryin' to help you out"
She stopped struggling, but he didn't release her, keeping her arms pinned behind her.
"Who the hell are you?" she spat out
"Sergeant Abraham Ford, US Rangers out of Fort Benning" He informed her.
A slight smile crossed her lips.
"Well Sergeant" she drawled "I'm Captain Natasha Jackson, Third Infantry, out of Fort Stewart. I think you better let me go now, soldier"
Abraham released her immediately, jumping back and snapping to attention.
"Yes Ma'am" he replied, following his training instinctively.
She flexed her shoulders and turned to face him.
"Stand down, I think we're past all that crap now, don't you?" she looked around at the others who were watching with interest. Her eyes scanned the rest of the survivors and she bit back a curse when she didn't see what she wanted.
"This all you found?" she asked Abraham but Rick stepped forward to answer her.
"So far, we only just got out ourselves, we're still looking" She eyed him up and down, not looking too impressed.
"Who're you?" she demanded, seeing his expression harden at her abrasive tone.
"Sheriff Rick Grimes, out of Atlanta" he replied sarcastically, mocking her exchange with the red haired soldier. He saw a brief flash of amusement in her eyes before she turned away.
"What's the plan to get the hell…" she started as a shot rang out and one of the recently freed men fell, a bullet in his neck. Everyone dived for cover.
"This is some rescue" she snapped "Didn't you secure the area first, before freeing the civilians?"
"Bastards up there, on the roof" the man she'd knocked flying was trying to see above him, to locate the shooter. She glanced across at him; he was wearing a leather vest with angel wings on the back and looked as bruised and battered as she did.
"Damn sniper" she muttered, looking around her, her mind already working on a plan.
Her hand shot out and she grabbed at Rosita's hair, pulling a hair tie from one of the girls pony tails.
"Hey" Rosita's hand came up to stop her but Tasha knocked it away.
"Need it more than you do" she was already retying her hair as she looked the young woman up and down, taking in the shorts and cropped top.
"You gotta be kiddin' me" she muttered in disbelief at the pretty woman's lack of clothing.
"Need a distraction at that end of the building" she announced, pointing away from where they were pressed against the wall, staying out of range. "I got a plan; just need the assholes attention down there." Abraham made a move towards the edge of the building but she stopped him.
"Not you, muscles, need you here for a leg up" She glanced up at the building behind them. She saw the angel wings man follow her look, and a small smirk twitched on his face. He grabbed a gun from a young Asian man and ran into the open, before twisting and firing the rifle randomly into the air in the general direction of the roof. Instantly shots were fired in return, striking the ground around the man as he dashed back against the building.
"Now" Tasha ordered Abraham and the strong man linked his hands together. She put her foot into them and he effortlessly lifted her up, until her fingers reached the frame of a first floor window. She pulled herself up, balancing on the sill, and then used a mixture of drainpipes and window frames to reach the edge of the roof. She glanced down and saw Angel wings shoot her a grin as he dashed out again, firing wildly, ducking back before the return fire could hit him. She swung herself onto the roof, keeping low and they lost sight of her. A few seconds later there was a muffled yell, followed by a thud as the sniper hit the ground, just missing Tara, causing her to give a squeal of terror.
"Hey" Tasha called down to them "Whole load of trouble heading your way. At least twenty; all armed and all looking pissed. Need to get the unarmed into a building, out the way." Everybody on the ground jumped into action. Those with guns found good spots, where they could defend the group, those without quickly found an unlocked door and hurried in all those that couldn't fight. A couple of shots sounded from the roof as Tasha took out a gunman on another building.
She was leaning forward, watching the group of approaching armed men. She was waiting for them to get closer so she could start to take them out from the roof. She heard someone behind her and span round raising the rifle she had taken from the sniper. She found herself face to face with angle wings. He was a lot closer than she expected him to be, he could obviously move quietly.
Daryl came out onto the roof and saw the woman leaning out over the roof; she had one foot resting on the low wall running around the edge of the building and was stretching forward to see. The bottom of her top had ridden up and he could see a couple of inches of bare flesh, there were more fresh bruises on the base of her spine. He guessed she'd put up a fight before they got her into the container. He managed to get quite close before she heard him and turned pointing her gun at him.
"How'd you get up here?" she demanded.
"Through the door and up the stairs, like a normal person" He smirked at her, as she lowered her gun and turned back to watching the approaching men.
"My way was quicker and the jerk was expecting someone to come through the doorway" She calmly pointed out.
"Figured this would be a good place to take some of these dicks out" he stepped alongside her.
"You any good with that thing?" she asked, nodding towards the rifle in his hands.
"I get by" he glared at her.
She grinned and dropped down, sighting the rifle, aiming at the first man.
"Let's see how good you are then" she challenged as she fired. He dropped down next to her, accepting her challenge.
The fire fight was brief and brutal. All the Terminus guards were either killed or injured. Glenn took a bullet in the upper arm and was being patched up by the army medic Bob when Daryl and Natasha arrived back from the roof. They were arguing about who had the most kills. He reckoned it was four each but she said he'd only injured one and she'd already taken out the sniper so therefore she was the winner. They stopped arguing when they reached the rest of the group.
"Who's in charge here" she asked the gathered group. Rick stepped forward.
"I guess I am" he told her "Why?"
"What's your plan now?" she asked "We haven't got all the bastards from here yet. I haven't seen Gareth or the bitch Mary, the one that's always at that damn barbeque. There's at least two more men as well. They were the ones that put me in the container in the first place. I owe them a bruise or two. There must be more prisoners as well as I haven't found my men yet"
"Your men?" Rick questioned.
"I came in with three of the men from my unit. We were the only survivors from our camp. Came here hoping it was safe and they locked us up 'bout a week ago. Took my boys out one at a time over the last few days, one a day. I never saw them again." She looked angry.
"We need to find supplies, everyone's hungry and thirsty. Then we need to find an area we can secure and keep safe until these people are strong enough to move. Then we can decide what to do. While we look for supplies we can look for your men and any other survivors." Rick laid out his plan and she nodded.
"Sounds fair enough" she agreed.