So here is the next chapter! Let me know what y'all think!
Also, Princess looks like a young Hayden Panettiere, Rachel looks like Katrina Bowden but with glasses, and Marcus looks like Austin Butler when he had curly hair.
The run to where Glenn was being held was short, but silent. I carried the group's backpack on my back over my own satchel. As we looked around the wall, I held onto the knife attached to my belt for comfort.
"You sure you're up for this?" Rick asked T-dog as he handed him the sniper rifle.
"Yeah." T-dog nodded before picking up the bag of guns and slinging it over his shoulders. "Come with me Princess." T-dog held out his hand for me. I glanced back at my siblings. Rachel looked unsure as she watched for Marcus' response. Marcus gave T-dog a quick glance before nodding for me to continue. I hesitantly took his hand and let him lead me up to the top of a near by building. "Stay out of sight." I watched through a hole in the bricks as a man stepped out into the courtyard with our people. We couldn't hear too well what they were saying, but we both tensed up as the Hispanics raised their weapons on our people. Rick gestured to us, showing us to their leader. "Come on, man. Make the trade. Please." T-dog begged the man as his gun was trained on his head. As the men holding Glenn walked back inside, T-dog grabbed the bags and my hand and we headed to the building across the street. We walked in at the same time as the others. Rick took the bag of guns and opened them, looking over our inventory.
"Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You willing to give that up for that kid?" Daryl asked Rick as he checked how much ammo was in each gun.
"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?" T-dog pointed out.
"You calling G a liar?" The kid asked in a pissed off voice from where he sat next to T-dog.
"Are you a part of this? You want to hold onto your teeth?" Daryl snapped at him as he got up in his face. I snickered quietly from my spot next to the kid.
"Question is, do you trust that man's word?" T-dog asked solemnly.
"No, question is what are you willing to bet on it? Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Could be their lives." Daryl gestured to Marcus and Rachel. "Leaving that runt to fend for herself." Daryl pointed at me. "Glenn worth that to you?"
"What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I." Rick's words echoed in my head. These people didn't have to help us out. If we hadn't found them, we probably would have starved to death by this time tomorrow.
"So you're gonna hand the guns over?" Daryl accused. I yanked on Marcus' pants leg next to me. As Marcus looked at me, I nodded my head, not needing to put in words what I thought. Marcus' face grew solemn and he nodded in agreement.
"I didn't say that. There's nothing keeping you guys here. Y'all should get out, head back to camp." Rick warned us.
"And tell your family what?" T-dog asked. Rick looked between all of us. Rick stopped as he looked at Marcus.
"I'm their brother, not their father. We need you guys." Marcus paused as he glanced at Daryl and T-dog. "No time like the present to start pulling our weight in the group." Daryl gave a curt nod in agreement before walking forward for a gun.
"What about me?" I asked as Rachel went forward to pick up her own gun. Marcus looked at me as he handed me a small gun.
"You are going to wait outside the building, away from the gun fire. That is for self defense against an undead or if someone comes and tries to take you. Understand?" Marcus pointed a finger in my face, waiting for my response.
"I can help though." I opened the clip to check inside. Marcus chuckled at me, but kept a serious face.
"I know you can. But right now your greatest asset is that you look about as innocent and weak as snail. You use that for as long as you can. Now, you wait outside the building. Understand?" I nodded quietly as the group continued to pick out their guns.
"Come on, this is nuts." The kid complained as he started to stand up and protest, but Marcus gave him a quick shove back to the floor. "Just do like G says." We all ignored him as we gagged him and walked to the house. Marcus stopped me as we got to the courtyard and made a gesture for me to stay there. I nodded and watched through a crack as they walked inside the building. It was eerily quiet outside, so I quietly crept all the way up to the door.
"You said come locked and loaded." Rick's voice said. I heard several guns get cocked. "Okay then, we're here." My heart pounded in my chest as I saw several guns pointed on my brother and sister.
"Felipe. Felipe." An old women said as she made her way through the crowded room. I noticed a hole in the bottom of the shack off to the side and shimmied my way through.
"Abuela, go back with the others, now." Felipe said. If these people had old people here, then they wouldn't shoot a kid.
"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl growled out to the men. I quietly worked my way behind some of the men so that I was closer to my group.
"Abuela, listen to your m'hijo, okay? This is not the place for you right now." G told the old women.
"Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing. He needs his asthma stuff. Carlito didn't find it. He needs his medicine." The old women insisted.
"Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you." G ordered. Felipe said something to his grandmother in Spanish, but she ignored her grandson.
"Who are those men? And that girl?" The grandmother slowly moved forward more to Rick and Daryl. Our people slowly lowered their guns so that they wouldn't be aimed at her. I watched from behind the large toolbox that I hid behind. "Don't you take him."
"Ma'am?" Rick asked confused as she directed her comments to him. I covered my mouth to silence my breathing since Rick and G were just two feet away from me.
"Felipe's a good boy. He have his trouble but he pull himself together. We need him here." She said softly.
"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." Rick replied, finally realizing what she was talking about.
"Then what do you want him for?" She asked kindly. How was it that any grandmother could diffuse arguments?
"He's…helping us find a missing person. Fella named Glenn." Rick lied to the grandmother.
"The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come. Come, I show you." The grandmother took Rick's hand as she began pulling him to the back rooms. "He needs his medicine."
"Let 'em pass." G said in a defeated voice. The rest of the group looked at each other a little confused.
"Should we go get her from outside then?" Marcus whispered to Daryl. Daryl shrugged in response. "Um, I guess I'll go get her then…"
"I'm already here." I replied as I stepped out from my hiding place to behind G, causing said man to jump and swear.
"I told you to wait outside." Marcus angrily marched forward and yanked me by the ear as we followed behind Rick.
"I got bored. Ow! I only came in once the grandma came out." I attempted to yank my ear out of his hold, but that only made it hurt worse. Once we made it through the crowded room of men, Marcus finally let go of my ear and gave me a little shove to in front of him. I rubbed my aching ear and grumbled as I shot dirty looks over my shoulder at him. We walked through a hallway filled with old people till we came to what looked like a small gym with a stage. Standing in a group was a bunch of old people, and Glenn.
"What the hell is this?" Rick asked Glenn, who stood there calm and unharmed.
"An asthma attack. Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden." Glenn answered as if he were there just for a visit and not a captive.
"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man." T-dog complained to Glenn. Glenn just looked over his shoulders at the three Chihuahua's that sat in the corner. I gasped as I ran over to them and picked up the white one to pet. It licked my face happily as I scratched it behind the ears.
"Princess, come on." Marcus called as the others began to leave the room. I jumped up and carried the dog with me, following behind them as we walked into a side room.
"What about the rest of your crew?" Rick asked G. G glanced at me as I held one of his dogs.
"The vatos trickle in, to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind; plunderers, the kind that take by force."
"Your not the only ones to run into them." Marcus muttered under his breath. Daryl glanced at us over his shoulder.
"That's not who we are." Rick responded.
"How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage; appearances." G responded as he gaze fell back on me. The dog gave me a few licks as I continued to pet it.
"Guess the world changed." T-dog said rather depressingly.
"No. It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here, they all look to me now. I don't even know why." G softly answered.
"Because they can." Rick silently handed over a gun and began to take out a few more for them. G looked over at me.
"I've never seen that over grown rat be quiet for so long." G smirked at me as I continued to pet it. "You can keep him if you like." I gasped in surprise and immediately turned to look at Marcus, a large smile covering my face.
"No." Marcus answered before I could even ask. My smile fell and I put on a pouty face. Marcus looked down at me and groaned as he rubbed his face. "Ask Rachel." I quickly spun around to look at her with the same sad puppy dogface.
"Why do I always have to be the bad guy? No, this is all you." Rachel said as she threw up her hands. I quickly turned back to my brother and held the dog up by my face. Marcus looked up at the ceiling instead of down at me.
"Don't look down, don't look down." Marcus chanted as I kept my same facial expression. "No." I huffed, but persisted.
"I'll feed it my food rations and water. I'll take it out for the bathroom. You wont even know he's there!" I pleaded. Marcus continued to stare at the ceiling and chant about not looking at me. I went for my one last-ditch effort.
"Pwease big brother." I said softly in a baby voice as I tugged gently on his shirt. Marcus peeked down at me and I began to smile as I saw him cave.
"Fine." He said in a defeated voice. I gave a whoop and hugged the dog tightly to myself.
"I hate you." Rachel deadpanned behind me. I stuck my tongue out at her as we finally began leaving the old peoples home.
"I hate me, too." Marcus said in a flat voice. "I blame you though. You know I've never been able to say no to her."
"That things gonna get eaten quicker than a snake strikes." Daryl said as he walked beside me.
"No faster than your face will. I will protect him and he will protect me." I bragged as we walked out of the city. Daryl snorted at me.
"It's a rat dog, not a German Shepard." I rolled my eyes and ignored him as I continued to walk. "At least tell me his name isn't fluffy."
"His name is Blade." I nodded in approval as I held Blade over my head. Daryl shook his head at me.
"Better than Fluffy." We walked quietly for a few beats before I opened my satchel and took out Daryl's arrow that I had put inside earlier.
"Here. You should keep better track of these. Kind of hard to replace now." Daryl looked at me in surprise and took the arrow as I stuffed Blade into my side satchel, freeing my arms.
"Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat." Glenn teased Rick as we trudged on.
"Don't tell anybody." Rick responded with a smile as I giggled from my place between him and Daryl.
"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl complained as we continued to walk.
"Not nearly half." Rick defended himself.
"For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?" Daryl complained.
"How long do any of us?" The group stopped at the edge of the depot that we were walking under. We stood staring at empty space.
"Oh my God." Glenn said in a worried tone of voice. I quickly looked over at my siblings for answers, but they looked equally as confused.
"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl asked in confusion.
"We left it right there. Who would take it?" Glenn asked rhetorically but Rick still answered anyways.
"Merle." Realization hit the group at different times. I could feel the worry and panic slowly stirring in the others.
"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl admitted. "Ain't no cars round neither. Gotta run it on foot." The group wordlessly broke into a run. Blade began barking in complaint as he bounced up and down in my bag, so I quickly took him out and carried him in my arms. Rachel and Marcus seemed to be having a harder time than the rest of them, but I was quickly tiring out. I stopped running to catch my breath, not even having enough breath to tell them to stop. I felt arms scoop me up as my brother wordlessly began to carry me. His panting breaths washed over my face and I could see him tiring quicker than before. As the sun began to darken, my brother's steps began to falter. "Giver her here. I'll take a turn." Daryl huffed as he scooped me from my brother's arms. Marcus didn't even have enough breath or strength to protest. We ran a little longer till it was pitch black. Guns fired close by as people screamed. Daryl quickly set me down as he reached for his gun.
"Oh my God." Rick breathed. Marcus grabbed my hand as we all began to run to the camp.
"Go! Go!" T-dog ordered. Everyone got out their guns, including me. We came up on a tiny group that was being attacked by the undead.
"Princess, stay behind me!" Marcus shouted at me as everyone began to fire. I grabbed onto the back of his shirt in fear as gunshots rang out around me. Blade barked furiously in all the noise and I held him close so he wouldn't run away. One by one the undead all fell till there was none left. Rick hugged close to him a boy about my age and a woman. Rachel instantly came to us and picked me up while she hovered closely to Marcus' side. A sudden fear clutched my heart at the thought of having to meet the new members. Marcus held us both close as a women wailed over her dead sister. Everyone stayed huddled into a group as we continued to watch for the undead. A buff looking man with dark brown hair and a face that looked mean and scary turned to look at my siblings and I in confusion.
"Who are y'all?"