Here's chapter 10. Lots of stuff are going to happen so stay tuned in on this chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Walking Dead.
"What the hell you sayin', man? You can't find her?" Shane yelled at his best friend as he and Carl continued running up the gravel pathway.
Rick had his Colt Python drawn and kept pacing around the courtyard. "I dunno! She's not in the cell block or the tombs, I can't find her anywhere!" He rushed out next to the tower and met up with Shane and his son.
"Seems like she has a thang for runnin away!" Merle yelled down from the tower with a amused tone. Shane rolled his eyes. The damn redneck would never shut the hell up. Rick restlessly scanned everywhere in the field then up at Merle.
"You didn't see her, did you?" He roared up at the redneck. Merle shook his head and made attempt to lose his ear to ear smile.
"What, she just decide to bail on us?" Shane questioned. Rick withdrew his revolver and rested both hands on his head, frustrated.
"Ah! Speak of th' devil!" Merle announced and pointed off to the road. Both former cops glanced over to the direction and they spotted Michonne holding a cart of supplies in one hand, and wielding her trusty katana in her other. She paced herself towards the gate and sliced off the heads of walkers that stood in her way.
Merle started laughing at her and looked down at the two cops. "Well? Should ya go see wha' she's up to, Officer Friendly?" Rick ignored the redneck's comment and he and Shane both began sprinting down the gravel towards the front gate.
The African samurai came to stop at the gate and dropped her basket next to it. She then immediately turned around and rose her sword in front of her as many walkers shuffled toward her. The first meat bag threw its hands at the woman but completely missed as the samurai dodged the grapple and gracefully uppercutted her sword at the neck, completely decapitating it.
She took a deep breath and prepared herself for many other biters. The samurai whirled her sword around her head and sliced three walker heads clean from their shoulders. The particular maneuver impressed Shane and he studied her skills with that sword of hers. She cut down four more of the undead and shot a lot back at the two cops.
"Are you going to open up?" She quickly asked as she swung at few more corpses.
Rick had his Colt Python drawn waved it at the samurai. "Where were you?" He growled at her. The woman shot a glare back at the former deputy that slapped Shane across the face. The cop nearly had any fears, but the looks and glares Michonne threw at him, Rick and Merle startled him, and that's an understatement.
"You mean to ask me now? I have important things to tell you!" She yelled back at the cop. Before Rick could ponder on what he should do, a small herd of walkers appeared from the tree line. Shane took the initiative and started getting the gate open. Rick finally began helping out his friend and they both pulled it back. Michonne sliced off a couple more heads, grabbed onto the cart and rushed inside the gate.
Before either men could act, walkers started piling at the gate. The survivors had no choice but to take down this small herd. Rick quickly aimed his .357 at walker, blew its brains out and gunned down three more. He then withdrew it and pulled out his machete. Shane pulled out his curved blade stood next to his friend. Five walkers came at them hissing and growling with their hands out in front of them. Rick swung his blade at the corpse in the middle, engraving his blade into its head. Shane swung and sliced a walker across the face, completely distorting its facial features. The samurai swung her sword around and decapitated two of the walkers' heads. She turned her head and noticed that another walker got too close to her. Before she could parry, a rifle shot pierced the air and that walker dropped dead with barely a face.
She glanced back at the tower and spotted the redneck that tried kill her not a week ago, just save her life. The biker fired four more rifle rounds, dropping four corpses, all in rapid succession. Needless to say, he was a hell of a marksman.
Shane drew his Glock and started shooting down some of the herd. He glanced over to his friend who cut down the last walker in hand-to-hand distance. "Ya wanna close that gate, man?" The three survivors all backed up behind the gate and started closing it as a group effort.
The cop realized that another walker was getting close and he let go of the fence. Just as he about to draw his handgun, the walker dropped and a gunshot echoed from behind him. Carl glanced over to the cop. "I have you covered Shane, help my dad!" Without hesitation, the man helped close the gate. Rick locked the latches and looked back at his friend.
"Well, that couldn't of been easier," Shane commented with a slight smirk. His friend couldn't help but smirk a little, but it dissipated as soon as his gaze focused onto Michonne who was cleaning the rotten blood off her blade.
"I'm going to ask you again, where were you?" His voice was direct and very serious.
The African samurai just lifted her gaze from her katana and glared at the former deputy. Rick didn't break any sort of eye contact with the woman and he took a step towards her. The woman glanced over to Shane. "I went out."
"Clearly," Rick replied coldly. He placed a hand on his Colt Python. Shane noticed that his friend was possibly losing himself and walked in between the two with his hands up.
"Hey hey hey, c'mon man. Not worth killin each other," the man concluded. Rick glanced to his friend then to his son and finally lifted his hand from his holster. Shane turned his head and met the intimidating woman's glare. "Just tell us why ya went out there, Michonne."
The woman flicked her sword over, then withdrew it into its sheath. She gave Shane a slightly less intimidating look, but it was still a glare nonetheless. "I have my own reasons for going out. Neither of you can tell me if I can or can't."
Both cops tensed up a bit. Rick took another step forward, not forgetting about what the woman claimed that convinced him to open the gate. "You said you had information," the leader hissed. Shane raised his hand to her defense, never leaving her glare.
"I was just getting to that," she replied flatly. Shane brought down his arms, rested them on his hips and pressed his lips together. The woman exchanged glares to both men and took a small breath. "Your people were taken by the Governor's Gestapo."
Both Shane and Rick widened their eyes. Carl gaped. "What?" The young soldier said in awe.
Shane glanced over to his friend then back to the woman. "Wh-what did ya say?" He said in disbelief, taking a step towards the samurai.
"You heard me," she replied directly.
Rick lost his temper and took several more steps towards the woman. "And you didn't do anything to stop them?" He shouted.
"There were too many of them and they all had heavy artillery, what was I supposed to do?"
The former deputy put a hand on his forehead and let out one large exhale. She had a valid reason, but Rick didn't want to accept it. He cursed himself for not listening to that one handed redneck. The cop never thought that this Governor would actually take his people.
Shane looked over to his friend. He knew when he or Rick informed the group about the sudden event, Merle would resemble a rabid dog. "Hey man, what should we tell the group?" Rick glanced back over and rested his hands on his thighs. Lying to them wouldn't help anything. Three people of their family have been kidnapped and are likely being tortured.
"The truth. There's no reason to lie to them."
Shane nodded, seemed reasonable in his eyes. "Alright, then we need to come up with a plan then."
Everything was spinning and distorted. The hunter flickered his eyes open and realized he had a bag on his head. "Fuck.." He struggled his arms but they were taped to the chair he was seated in. He wondered what the hell was going on. The only thing the hunter remembered before he blacked out was a long black haired asshole that ordered his men to take him, Glenn and Maggie. A strange feeling flipped over his stomach, he should of warned them a bit earlier, and otherwise, they probably wouldn't be in the mess. He shook his head trying to get that kind of thinking out of his head. It wasn't his fault that this happened.
All of a sudden, the door to the room sounded like it was kicked open. Daryl could faintly see through the bag that two men entered the room. He immediately realized the long black haired asshole, but the other man he couldn't recognize. The man was clearly taller than the asshole and he seemed a little older.
The man walked to the table before the hunter and took a seat with his hands folded together. He gave the black haired asshole a nod and the hunter's bag was pulled off his head. Daryl got a better look at this man and assumed that he was the leader of these thugs. He had a calm expression on his face but Daryl knew better that it was just a mask. He knew there was something insidious about this man. He could see the tyrannical look in his eyes. The hunter knew better not to talk, but allowed himself to listen to what the man had to say.
"Who are you?" The man asked calmly with a developing smug smirk.
Daryl knew better to not give up his name so he sat there silently with a look of pure loathing on his face. The man smirked a little more and leaned back into his chair, crossing his arms. Daryl turned his gaze towards the long black haired man.
"Not the loquacious type, are you? No matter," the leader commented. "Well, I can see that Merle found his way to you guys, but I can't quite understand why he chose to stay with y'all." Daryl turned his head back to the man. He had his head cocked a little to side and an ear to ear smile. "Unless.."
At this point, the hunter knew who this guy was. "You're the Governor," he said very lowly and directly. The Governor smiled a little more and spread out his arms.
"So, Merle told you who I was. I can see him doing that." The man took one long look back at the hunter. "Speaking of which, you got his posture." Daryl quickly looked away from the Governor. "Ah now I see why he chose to stay at that filthy prison. You're his brother. Daryl if I remember correctly, right?" The hunter chose not speak and kept his gaze down to his lap. The Governor laughed. "Well this certainly changes everything."
The two former cops debriefed the group as to what happened to three of their group members. All of them were shocked, except for Merle who just leaned on the bars with a very pissed expression written all over his face. The only thing they had to discuss now was who was actually going to go save them.
"I'm goin with y'all whether ya like it or not. I'm not going to sit here on my ass when my brother is out there!" Merle's temper pretty much shook up the entire cell block.
Rick decided to not argue with the redneck but he had to make something clear with him. "Fine, but if you do any funny business out there, I won't hesitate to blow your head off, you understand?"
Merle nodded. He knew there was no way to reason with the Governor. The man ordered him to do the dirty work in the past so Merle knew exactly what he was dealing with. "I know where they'll be holding them too. So Officer Friendly, you're gonna need me if you want to get your chinaman and the girl back."
Rick did a slight nod and looked back at the group. Shane spoke up. "Y'know you're gonna need me on this, man." Rick nodded.
Then the African samurai took a step forward. "I'm going. I know the place well." Rick had a skeptical look on his face but decided to not argue against her.
"That's enough," Rick concluded.
Stephanie uncrossed her arms and took a step forward. "Wait wait, you guys are going to need my help."
The former deputy shook his head. "No. From what I've seen already, you're a pretty good shot, and I'd feel a lot better if you stayed here, holding down the fort. You good with that?"
She had a slight frown on her face but she nodded her head in agreement. Someone had to stay behind and help defend the prison. The former deputy took a long look at the rest of the group. He saw the long on his son's face and he knew what the boy was thinking. For the past few months, he and Daryl had become close up to the point where the hunter was like his older brother. Needless to say, hearing this news about Daryl being kidnapped was harsh in his mind.
"Alright, c'mon. Let's gear up."
Shane packed up his favorite 590 Mossberg with several shells into the back of the Hyundai along with a M4 Carbine and his favorite Glock 17 handgun. Merle situated himself with a Kalashnikov AKM with a few mags and his Colt MK IV .45 handgun. Michonne just stuck with her trusty katana. Rick holstered his Python, packed up another M4A1 and decided to bring along a couple flashbangs. The cop closed the back door and got into the driver's seat then turned the ignition.
Before Shane got into the car, he took one last look at the group and his eyes fell onto the woman that saved his life a few weeks ago. She stood next to Carl and Beth with a worried look across her face. The cop suddenly had a strange twisting feeling in his gut, one that he never had before in his life. His mind began to race until he concluded what the feeling was. The feeling of never seeing these people again. Fear. Since the beginning of the outbreak, he was never afraid of dying. The sight before him made him develop that fear. He was afraid of dying.
"C'mon Shane," Rick said in the driver's seat. Shane shook his head and got into the back seat next to the elder redneck. He cursed to himself beneath his breath and looked out the window back over to Stephanie once again.
Suddenly he heard the man beside him start chuckling. The cop quickly turned his head away from the window then glared at Merle. The redneck only laughed and winked at the cop. Shane rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Alright, let's get going."
With that, the light green Hyundai drove out into the field and crossed the gate Axel and Carol opened up. As the car drove off, Shane took one last look at the gateway being closed behind them. I'm coming back. I'm not going to die out here.
Daryl spat out blood and gave out a agonized cough. The black haired man, they call Bruce, stood in front of the hunter, throwing punches at the hunter's face. Daryl has been enduring his throws for the past couple hours and it was getting to the point where he could very well pass out from the pain. The hunter couldn't take it any longer and he lowered his head down in surrender. He was slightly surprised when Bruce decided to cease.
"Damn junky, you're a tough nut to crack," he commented as he panted a little. "Y'know, I gotta admit, you're as tough as your brother, maybe tougher. But that doesn't matter anymore, does it?"
Daryl coughed out more blood out his mouth and managed to pick up his gaze towards the man. "W-what di' ya fucks do to Glenn n' Maggie?" He demanded from the black haired man.
Bruce smirked a little and crossed his arms. "Well, let's just say the Gov wanted to have a little 'talk' to your lady friend." Daryl sneered at the man and struggled a little in his chair. "As for Glenn, he's getting the same hospitality as you. Only seems fair, huh?"
Daryl squinted his bruised eyes and gritted his teeth. "Fuck ye."
"Too late," he laughed, "I already fucked you up pretty bad. Maybe next time, pal."
The four formed up in front of Woodbury's gate. Before they got there, they came across a hermit in his shed who was making a ton of noise drawing in multiple walkers, so Michonne had no choice but to stab him through the back then the rest of the group had to feed his body to the corpses so they could escape. Shane felt guilty that they had to do that, but they had no choice if they wanted to live.
Rick and Shane both surveyed the walls and they spotted three sentries patrolling on top of it. Shane looked back and noticed both Merle and Michonne were gone.
"Fuck!" He silently yelled. Rick turned his head around and his eyes turned dead. "Those bastards baled on us, man!"
"Psst!"
Both cops flipped their gazes behind them and they saw Michonne there waving them to follow her. Rick and Shane crept to her and the trio pushed on around the building.
They came behind a broken window that looked like it was boarded up and Michonne climbed through the window then motioned the two cops to hand over their firearms. Shane threw his Mossberg 590 to her and lassoed his M4 around his shoulder then climbed into the building. Rick threw the cop his M4A1 and climbed in after them.
"Next time," Rick murmured to the African samurai, "tell us what you're doing." The woman rolled her eyes and turned around. He paused and looked around the room which seemed to be a storage room of boarding supplies. "You know where Merle is?"
"Right 'ere, Officer Friendly. Be quiet, would ja?" The redneck stood in the room just next to them surveying out the window. Rick and Shane both ran up behind him.
"I thought you said there was a curfew," Shane scolded the redneck and the African samurai.
"The streets are packed during the day," Michonne replied. "Those are stragglers." The two cops nodded and looked back at Merle who stood there with an AKM in his left hand.
"Ya know where they hold 'em?" Shane whispered to the redneck.
The redneck turned his gaze away from the window. "I gotta couple places 'n mind, but I couldn't tell ya which one exactly."
Suddenly, a couple knocks came from the door and the four scrambled to the other room past the curtain. Shane pumped a shell into his shotgun and stood behind the curtain just out of sight. Several more knocks came from the door.
"I know you're in there, I saw you moving from outside." The door unlocked and an older man came into the room with a flashlight. "C'mon, you know that you're not allowed to be out after curfew." The man didn't seem to notice that they weren't part of their group.
Shane aimed the end of his barrel towards the opening of the curtain. Rick stood next to him crouched down with his Python drawn. He kept glancing at his friend to know when to ambush. Both Merle and Michonne stood on the other side of the curtain waiting for the cop's call.
The man obliviously walked across the curtain and immediately realized that it was a horrible idea. Before he could act, Rick tackled him to the ground and pointed the end of his revolver at the man's forehead.
"Stay down, be quiet!" Rick ordered the man. The man quickly nodded his head in complete horror and held up his hands. "Where's our people?"
"What?" The man shrieked.
"Where's. Our. People?" Rick repeated in his face.
"I don't know!"
"Yes you do!" Rick tightened his grip on the man's shirt and kept glaring at him. Shane walked up and pointed his Mossberg at the man's face. The man opened his eyes as wide as they could go at the sight of the end of the shotgun barrel.
"Well, ov course he wouldn't know jack shit," Merle commented as he walked in front of the man.
"Merle? They said you're dead!" The man cried.
"Of course they did. The Gov' only tells a couple of us what's really goin' on. An' ya, m'friend, ain't one of 'em."
Rick picked up a rag and stuffed it into the man's mouth. Shane then flipped his shotgun around and swung the stock at the side of the man's head. The guy dropped down to the ground unconscious.
"Always was a pansy-ass," Merle commented as he walked to the window. "A'right, I gotta place in mind that'd I'm sure they'd be hold up in. Ya better follow m' lead if ya want yer china boy and his gal back."
The group followed Merle around several bends, through rooms and they came to a stop next to a room. Rick glanced through the window and noticed Glenn and Maggie on their knees with several armed men surrounding them. One of the men started putting bags on their heads and then started move them out the room.
Instinctually, Rick pulled out two flashbangs and pulled the pins. "Get back," he whispered to the three. He chucked the grenades around the side and they exploded around the armed men. They all fell to the ground coughing and started vigorously rubbing their eyes. Rick and Michonne quickly ran around the bend, pulled the bags off Glenn and Maggie's heads and rushed away. Shane wrapped his Mossberg around his shoulder and took Glenn's arm, wrapping around his collar bone.
Then shots were fired from an automatic. Merle flipped off the safety to his AKM and returned fire while taking cover behind the wall.
"Where's m' brotha?" The redneck shouted at Glenn as he kept holding down the trigger.
"I-I dunno," Glenn barely replied.
"C'mon, we gotta go now!" Shane yelled out to the group. The group started to move away but Merle hesitated.
"Fuck dis!" Merle started sprinting around the bend.
"Merle, no!" Rick yelled out at the redneck, but it was too late. Merle was out of sight and repeated gunshots abrupt through the air. Rick feared the worst but they didn't have time to get the redneck. They had no choice but to run. They were heavily outgunned and the flashbang's effect was probably wearing off. "We have to go now!"
The group ran across multiple rooms and hallways then found themselves outside on the sidewalk next to the street. They quickly glanced around and moved up away from the shouts. Rick kicked open a door of another storage room and the rest piled in.
Shane gently placed Glenn on the ground and looked at his wounds. His eyes were completely bruised and blood was dripping from his nose. "Bastards.." The former cop found a rag and wiped off the blood from Glenn's face.
"Where's the woman?" Maggie questioned as she looking around the room. Rick restlessly looked around for her but she was gone.
"She was right behind us," he growled. "She's on her own." They had no choice but to let her go. Glenn and Maggie were their number one priority as of now. Shane pulled out his handgun and handed it to Maggie.
"Rick, I'm so sorry, I had to tell them how many of us there were. I couldn't hold out long enough," Glenn said as he tried to regain his strength.
"No no, you're fine. You had no choice. We'll have to deal with it."
"Are you going to go get Daryl?" Maggie asked Rick as she pulled the hammer back to her gun.
"Yeah, but first, we need to get you guys outta here."
"I'm goin' with ya," Shane told his friend.
Rick shook his head. "No, I need you to get Glenn back to the car. He's in no condition for this. Alright?"
Shane reluctantly nodded and handed over his M4 Carbine to Maggie. "Alright. I got Glenn. You guys need to cover us."
Rick pulled out a couple smoke grenades and chucked them out onto the street, smoking up the entire road. Shane wrapped Glenn's arm around his shoulder and got ready to run across the road. The four finally booked it across the street and they heard gunshots zipping through the air. They spotted three men on top of the busses acting as the town walls quickly turn around. Rick pointed his M4A1 at the guards and squeezed the trigger. The first guard was shot in the head and fell over the wall. Shane, with his one free hand, raised his Mossberg at another guard and fired a shell, creating a red mist around the man then he fell over the wall. Maggie hip-fired her M4 at the other guard, luckily hitting right in the chest.
Rick took cover behind a solar panel and shouted at the others to climb over the wall. He fired more rounds at the Woodbury group members until he ran out if ammo. He quickly drew his Python and glanced back over. What he saw made everything else around him slow down and the noise numbed. He noticed Shane walking towards him with a shotgun, but thing he didn't understand was that Shane had his buzz cut and clean shave like during the days of the farm. He also noticed that same flame in his eyes similar to that night where Shane had his best friend at the end of his sights. The former cop shook his head trying to free himself from this vision. The old Shane raised his shotgun at the others trying to escape the wall and fired a shell. Rick glanced back to the others and noticed that the real Shane, the one with longer hair and a beard, was shot in his left arm and he fell to the ground roaring in pain.
Rick sneered in anger, pulled the hammer back and swiftly fired at the other Shane in the face, dropping him. Rick walked up to the man with his revolver still pointed at the corpse and noticed that this man had a different look to his. It wasn't Shane.
"Rick!" Maggie shouted at him from the wall. Rick fired more rounds at the other Woodburians and made a run for it to the bus. He came up to his friend and crouched down at the injury on his arm. His left arm looked as if something ripped the skin off of it. Rick quickly pulled off his shirt and wrapped around his friend's arm and helped him over the bus. The four then scurried into the darkness of the night away from the town.
Rick placed Shane down next to a tree and took a look at his wound. Blood was seeping out of his arm. "Shit, we have to get him back."
Shane shook his head. "No man, I'll be just fine. I still got my legs. Just go get Daryl back!"
Rick pondered on what to do but his train of thought was interrupted by a shuffling noise in a bush. He drew his revolver out and aimed to where the noise was coming from. Suddenly, Michonne came into sight with her katana unsheathed. Rick pulled back the hammer and glared at the woman. "Where did you go this time?" He asked coldly.
Michonne lowered her eyebrows and sheathed her sword. "I had a little visit with the Governor."
"You kill him?" Shane asked.
She paused for a moment. "Didn't have the chance, but I took his eye out."
Rick noticed all the cut marks and blood on her face and arms and figured that she was telling the truth. "Alright. You get Shane and Glenn back to the car, now!"
"Where are you going?" She questioned coldly.
"To get Daryl. Let's go Maggie." He and Maggie began running off towards the town to save captive hunter.