Former Deputy Sheriff Rick Grimes was in a pile of shit so deep that he couldn't ever see a way out. He'd ridden into the city on a borrowed horse and found himself swarmed by a herd of hungry Walkers looking for their next meal. He'd dropped the Sheriff bag containing his rifles and shotguns and clambered his way into an armoured tank that was just sitting in the middle of the street.
The world had completely gone crazy whilst he was in a coma after being shot in the line of duty. He had woken up to find the hospital deserted and parking lot full of dead bodies. He had made his way back to his own neighbourhood, bobbing and weaving on his feet; still recovering from his wounds and dizzy from being unconscious for so long. He stumbled into his own home calling for Lori and his son, Carl; he barely noticed that all of the picture frames and photo albums had been removed from the house before stumbling outside to collapse on the front lawn. A man named Morgan had picked him up off the street and given him the rundown on how things had come to be.
Once he had woken again, Rick remembered the lack of pictures at his house and came to the conclusion that his wife and son were still alive out there somewhere. He had taken Morgan and his son Duane, down to the Sheriff office and between them they had cleared out the gun cage. Rick vowed to call Morgan every day from his Walkie and that they would soon meet in Atlanta.
Well, Rick was now in Atlanta and he sure as Hell wished that he wasn't. A crackle from the CB radio in the tank had him crawling over to reach it.
"Hey, you in the tank…you comfortable in there?"
"Hello? Can you see me?" Rick thumbed the mike and waited for a response.
"Yeah, I can see you, dumbass."
"What's it like out there?"
"Most of the Walkers are feeding on that horse you rode in on, there's only one on the roof and you could take him out easily. You armed?"
"Yeah, Beretta with one clip and fifteen rounds."
"Okay, you need to make a run for it. Get out of the tank and make a run for the alley directly behind you. I'll be there waiting."
Rick climbed over the body of a fallen soldier, removing a grenade from the soldier's uniform pocket as he did so. He opened the door gingerly and immediately took down the Walker about to lunge for him. Rick rolled down the side of the tank and raced for the alley to be met by a young Asian man waiting impatiently for him. They raced down the alley and took hold of a fire escape ladder and quickly climbed up to a platform, pulling the ladder back up with them
"Nice moves there Clint Eastwood, you the new sheriff come riding in to clean up the town?" Glenn ran his gaze over the other man's stained tan uniform.
"That wasn't my intention," Rick drawled back, scanning the surrounding area for any signs of the helicopter that had drew him into the City in the first place.
"Whatever, you're still a dumbass." Glenn huffed and looked at the man again, something about him was very familiar but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"The name's Rick, and thank you."
"Glenn, and you're welcome….aaaawww Shit!" They looked down to see the stumbling and groaning Walkers swarming the alleyway and blocking their escape route. Glenn looked above to see a thin metal ladder extending up to the roof. "Bright side it will be the fall that kills us. Hey what can I say, I'm a glass half full kinda guy." They climbed up the ladder and ran across the City rooftops before climbing down into a department store loading bay.
Glenn's companions; Morales and T Dog ran out wearing riot gear and started to take down the Walkers in the area so that Rick and Glenn could enter the store; where they were greeted by two women, Jacqui and Andrea. Andrea pulled out a pistol and rounded on Rick threateningly.
"Well done…we're all dead now because of you!"
"Andrea, back off." Glenn tried to calm the almost hysterical woman waving a handgun in the Sheriff's face, he could see that Rick was trying but failing to grasp the situation.
"I don't understand…" Rick began only to be cut off by Morales who ripped the riot gear over his head and started to roughly shove the other man out into the store so that he could see exactly what they were up against.
"We came into the city to scavenge supplies," Morales explained leading Rick through the dim confines of the empty clothing store. "You know what the key to scavenging is – surviving. You know what the key to surviving is – keeping quiet, sneaking in and out; tiptoe – not shooting up the streets like it's the OK corral."
"Every Walker for miles around heard you shooting off rounds," the rumbling voice from a large black man came from behind Rick.
"Cool, it T-Dog," Glenn waved a hand to try and calm the situation, feeling the atmosphere getting more and more tense as the minutes passed.
"You just rang the dinner bell, " Andrea stated bitterly and stared through the dirty store windows, streaked with goodness knows what. "What the Hell were you doing out there anyway?"
"Trying to flag down the helicopter," Rick stated quietly, it was what had startled the already nervous horse, the sudden whirring of the blades flying low overhead and just skimming the rooftops.
"Jesus, man what kinda shit are you on anyway? There ain't no damned helicopters anymore, ain't nothing been flying in the sky for weeks now." T-Dog smirked over at Morales who just shrugged in response.
"I know what I saw! I'm telling you there was a helicopter flying over the City; probably on its way to the CDC…" Rick placed his hands on his hips and stared down the other man. Suddenly the sound of gunshots echoed around the empty store and everyone looked up to the roof.
"Oh my God – is that the Dixons?" Andrea sighs heavily and they head upstairs.
"Yeah well, hopefully they've put that lazy good for nothing, Ed in their cross fire!" Jacqui stated bitterly as they climbed the stairs. She had seen the fading bruises disappear and then reappear on his wife's arms and knew that they weren't a case of 'walking into a door' or 'tripped over the cat' like so many reported in to the battered women phone line that she manned once a week – or used to man when there were phone lines. They reached the roof to see Ed taking potshots at the Walkers below; with Daryl and Merle trying to restrain him.
"Ed, are you crazy!" Morales stepped forward to try and reason with the man, and T-Dog shouted from behind him.
"Man you're wasting bullets!"
"I ain't taking orders from no one, especially from a nigger like you." Fists started to fly and Ed started to pummel and kick T Dog, Andrea and Jacqui started to scream for him to stop and Ed was yelling obscenities at both T-Dog and Morales.
"Hush up, Ed – you're bringing the Walkers closer!" Daryl and Merle ran over to peer over the edge of the building to see the Walkers starting to swarm against the side of the buildings.
"Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? Bunch of no good rednecks; always sniffing around my woman…probably waiting for me to die so y'all can move in and fuck her…" Ed swung wildly around with his fists only to have it caught in Daryl's firm grip. Daryl watched Ed's face as he tightly squeezed until his knuckles turned white.
"That ain't no way to speak about a Lady…especially one a sweet as Carol."
"I was right…you do want to fuck her… well she's an ice cold bitch in the sack, had been for years."
"Probably 'cause you made her that way, I oughta just throw you off the roof right now!" Daryl screamed in Ed's face, anger turning his face purple.
"Yeah…" Ed jeered and tried to wrestle his way out of Daryl's hold and reach down into his waistband where his pistol was stashed.
"Yeah…." Daryl loosened his hold as Ed slowly turned his head to find himself facing the butt end of Rick's rifle. He gave a muffled shout as it connected to the side of his head and then he hit the ground finding himself being cuffed to a railing by a very pissed off Rick; who had heard every vile word that had poured out of the man's mouth.
"Who the hell are you anyway?"
"Officer Friendly." Rick leant in close to the furious Ed and lowered his voice. "Look here, Ed. There are no niggers anymore, no inbred white trash either. Only dark meat and white; that's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together; not apart,"
"Screw you."
"You ougta be a bit more friendly to a man with a gun."
"Screw you twice."
"Well, I'll just leave you here to think things through for a bit, Y'all have a nice day now." Rick tipped a finger to his forehead and managed to flip Ed off at the same time; all the time wearing a sugary sweet smile of an innocent officer of the law. He went over to join the Dixon brother's at the roof and peered over the sides.
"Officer Friendly, huh? Like your style, man. Name's Daryl and this here's ma brother Merle. That piece of shit's been beating on his wife for years thinkin' he could get away with it…Not anymore though…" Daryl saluted Rick with his crossbow and pointed out where Walkers were swarming against the glass plated doors of the store. "We ain't gonna just be able to walk away from this one…have to think of another plan."
"Old building like this one often had drainage system leading to the sewers through the sub-basement. I used to work in the City planning office so I saw it all the time." Jacqui pointed out that the building they were in was mostly likely to have one of the drainage systems as it dated from the +twenties. She started to lead the way back down the stairs only to pause at the top of the stairwell.
"What about him?" Rick looked over to see Ed screaming and hollering at them to let him go, he cocked a brow at the Dixon brothers who nodded in agreement.
"Y'all go and see if you can find a way outta this mess. Me and Merle will keep an eye on things from up here." Daryl crossed in front of Ed and bent down low to whisper in his ear. "Me and Ed are gonna find time to have a little 'come to Jesus' chat, aren't we Ed?"
"Okay, T-Dog you stay behind as well and keep trying to contact the rest of your people by CB. Take the key and only let him out of those cuffs if you run into trouble." Rick tossed the key to T-Dog who crouched down beside the wall and instantly started to fiddle with the radio. Rick nodded at the Dixon's who looked way too pleased to be left with that wife beating son of a bitch. Rick grinned evilly and made his way over to where Jacqui, Andrea, Morales and Glenn were waiting just beyond the roof door.
They made their way into the sub-basement and Glenn agreed to go down with Morales as his wing man. Andrea and Rick made their way back to the main store front to keep guard and Jacqui stayed at the top of the stairwell ready to relay the danger signal to Glenn should it arise.
Glenn led the way through the dripping drainage tunnel only to find the exit blocked by a locked gate and a hungry Walker. He and Morales made their way back up the stairwell and they all congregated back on the rooftop.
If Rick noticed that Ed's nose was clearly broken or that Daryl's knuckles were bruised and bloody, then he chose to ignore it; choosing instead to scan the surrounding streets through a pair of binoculars. Merle joined him at the edge of the roof and nudged his shoulders to point out a construction site a few blocks over. There was a truck parked over by the entrance to the site, the kind with a roll shutter on the back.
"Hmm…most vehicles like that would probably have the keys nearby…trouble is how to we get to it?" Rick scanned the area again, noticing the large herds of Walkers that had congregated on every street.
"What you need is a diversion…something to draw their attention away from what you are doing," Merle's keen eyesight picked out a red coupe parked near the construction site and tapped Rick on the shoulder. "That's bound to have a screaming alarm or a rocking sound system, either way you've got it made. Now all you need to do is think of a way to get you to it."
"Something that will let you past unnoticed…to blend in…haven't you noticed the smell…aargh...the dead smell dead and we don't….uh oh I really don't like that look…" Andrea was reflecting on how the Walkers stank to high heaven and noticed a suddenly intent look on Rick's face and he turned to bark orders at Daryl and Merle to stay where they were and to call out if they noticed any difference in the Walker's behaviours.
"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Glenn looked down at the elbow length rubber gloves that Rick pulled off the racks back down in the store. Rick picked out similar gloves for Morales, Andrea and Jacqui and then threw everyone a knee length lab coat to cover their clothes.
"Andrea said it herself…the dead smell dead, and we don't. Except for now, we certainly do." Rick made everyone take a step back as he brought down an axe to a fallen Walker body; cleaving it neatly in two. He smeared a little of the innards over his coat and looked over at Andrea.
"Smell me."
"Yuck, no!"
"Smell me, Andrea." Rick ordered again and watched as Andrea leant forward to sniff slightly at his smeared coat.
"Ummm, you stink but I can still tell the difference." Rick looked over at Glenn who looked extremely unhappy at the prospect of smearing innards all over his clothing.
"We need more guts…" They spoke as one and everyone sighed as they looked down at the gory mess at their feet. Morales stepped forward and swung the axe down into the abdominal cavity and hooked out a mess of squishy intestines which he looped over Rick's shoulder and then rubbed his bloody hands over the front of the lab coat. Andrea and Jacqui followed suit, each swallowing hard at the sudden rush of nausea that rose up in their throats.
Rick and Glenn stepped out of the loading bay doors and gingerly stepped out into the main street. Each man was carrying a weapon, the machete for Rick and pick axe for Glenn. They were watched by six anxious faces from above, two of which were scanning the streets ahead for possible avenues of attack. Rick took a hesitant step forward pausing when a Walker with dripping jaws took a sniff at him. Everyone on the rooftop held their breath as the Walker leant in close to Rick, dripping ooze down the front of Rick's coat to mingle in with the rest.
"Well hot damn! I actually think they're gonna pull it off. Andrea, you and Jacqui head down to the loading bay with Morales and make ready to reel that door up. T-Dog, keep trying to raise the camp and let Dale know that we're likely to be coming in hot. Daryl, keep an eye out for anything that might block Glenn's path to the little roadster and I'll keep an eye on Officer Friendly, let's move it people!" Merle barked out orders and everyone scrambled to follow them; he'd been in the Military for a while after High School; had chosen to serve eight years in the Army rather than eight years in prison but had grown to like the order and structure over time.
Rick and Glenn made it over to the red Roadster and Rick leant in the car and jammed his screwdriver into the steering column to get the engine started; causing the alarm to scream in warning.
"Remember, try to draw them away from the store and the loading bay and then make like Hell outta the City." Rick pitched his voice to be heard over the wailing alarm and Glenn shrugged off his filthy lab coat and gloves to hop in the driver's seat. He pumped the gas and grinned at the sound of the throaty roar.
"Leave it to me, Rick." Rick leant in the broken window to ask Glenn one further question.
"What exactly did you do before all of this happened?"
"Pizza delivery guy," grinned Glenn as he pumped the gas and shot off down the streets, weaving in and out of the herding Walkers.
"Pizza delivery, well that explains a lot." Rick watched Glenn drive off and stood for a moment wondering whether their crazy assed plan would even work. One Walker paused in its shambling movements and tilted its head to the side as if listening intently. It made a step forward and then wheeled around and groaned as it followed the sound of the screaming alarm system. One by one the other Walkers started to follow.
"Yes!" Rick punched the air and made a run for the parked truck. He fumbled around for the keys and started the engine, turning the truck around in the street and making for the loading bay of the store.
"T-Dog throw me over those keys…" Merle held out a hand for the keys to the handcuffs that Rick had left with him, T-Dog tripped as he threw the key and they watched as it went sailing across the roof to disappear down the drain.
"Shit!" T-Dog went pale beneath his dark skin and Merle sighed heavily as he crossed over to kneel by the drain, hoping to be able to fish the key out with one of the tools from Dale's tool chest.
"Go on, boy. Best git your ass down to the bay and tell the other's not to leave without us."
"You cain't just leave me like this!" Ed screamed out at Merle and was cuffed at the side of the head by a scowling Daryl.
"No one said anything about leavin' your sorry ass, did they? Although, if you touch Carol again you may wish that we had left your ass up here to rot…get my drift?"
"Daryl, leave the man alone and give me a hand with this…The key's too far down to reach but we may be able to use a hacksaw to cut through…"
"You ain't gonna cut my hand off are you? I swear…I won't touch her again!" Thwack! Only this time the blow came from Merle.
"Quit your pansy ass blubbering. I ain't aimin' to cut off your hand – jest the pipe. Now shut the fuck up!" Merle had Daryl stretch out the handcuffs so that he could get the hacksaw blade over the thinnest part, where the two cuffs met in the middle. After a few saws the link fell apart.
"There, you got yourself a new piece of jewellery….now I suggest we all move our asses before they decide that we ain't worth waitin' for! Don't forget to pick up Dale's tool chest Ed, otherwise he'll be mighty pissed and that ain't somethin' that I wanna see." Daryl scooped up the binoculars, rifle and his crossbow and made for the staircase; leaving Merle to chivvy Ed along. He chuckled when he heard Ed fall over Merle's deliberately placed foot and Ed's groan of –"You broke my damned nose again!"
"Awwww – does little Eddie have a booboo? Shame, now move your fat ass outta my way!"