NOTE: As with a few of the chapters before, this one jumps back a little in time, so it doesn't start immediately where the last left off, time-wise. This chapter takes place during part of the previous one, and onward, only follows Jesus. I know my readers don't like being told the same story twice, but Jesus and Daryl parted ways and I wanted to tell you guys where Jesus ran off to... The overlap is kind of necessary if you want to know the full story in this case.
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Chapter 10
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With a wince, Jesus landed on top of Daryl and they both fell back onto the ground as the other man pulled him up out of the basement's window. He wasn't sure what was going to happen next, as some of the men who'd captured him were in the basement with Rick now, and the other two men, Rick and Daryl seemed to want some degree of control over him. Jesus didn't like any of that, so he quickly grabbed Daryl's gun out of its holster before the other man could notice.
Daryl shoved Jesus out of the way and moved back toward the window, no doubt to help Rick escape.
For a moment, Jesus wasn't sure what he should do. He couldn't help Rick much, and Rick didn't need his help when he had Daryl's. He also certainly didn't want to risk being caught again. The men knew he had escaped, and could very likely be on their way outside to reclaim him. He didn't have to think about it long before deciding what to do. Still gripping Daryl's gun, he rushed off as quickly as he could.
Since he still didn't feel so well, he stopped at the barn on the property, using it as a temporary shelter. It would do the job of hiding him until he was able to regain a bit of strength.
For a few minutes, he stayed in the darkness of the barn, listening for any indication that his captors were out searching for him, but he heard nothing. No one seemed to be out looking for him, which was odd. He peaked out a crack in the barn's door in time to see Daryl, all alone, making his way back toward the front door of the house. That meant Rick hadn't made it out and Daryl was forced to either leave his friend or surrender himself. Then it occurred to Jesus that perhaps the anger the men felt toward him was now reassigned to the guys who'd helped him escape.
As much as Jesus would have liked to think he could have gotten out of this situation on his own, he wasn't really so sure that was true. Pulling himself up out of the window while one of his arms was broken hadn't been easy. If Daryl hadn't helped, he might not have been able to make it. And then, of course, as Rick had said earlier, if the two men weren't there, someone else would have been watching over Jesus, making sure he didn't get the chance to escape that Rick and Daryl freely gave him. It was quite likely no one else in this group would have kept Matt away from him either.
Though it would have been easier, and safer for Jesus's sake, to leave Daryl and Rick to fend for themselves, he knew he had to go back. They were depending on him, just as he had depended on them over the past hours.
He simply didn't feel right leaving them behind. Whether he had asked for their help or not, he did accept it, and he owed them some gratitude. Both Rick and Daryl had stood up for Jesus many more times than they ever had to. When Jesus attempted to reclaim the truck from them, they hadn't really hurt him more than they had to to fight him off. They could have easily hurt him much worse or killed him, as they were armed and he wasn't... but they had pretty much let him go, and left him unharmed. They gave him a second chance, and even returned for him when they saw he was in danger. They certainly had no obligation to do that either, nor did they owe it to him to stick around and defend him from these men time and time again. They were good people, and didn't deserve to be abandoned to an uncertain, yet likely violent fate.
Gripping Daryl's gun tightly in his hand, Jesus inhaled a bracing breath and then slowly and carefully made his way back toward the house.
Just before he made it to the steps, he heard a scream, followed by a struggle and the sound of feet sprinting up the basement stairs. Jesus froze, hoping those feet continued down the hall away from the front door. And they did. He in-took another calming breath and then made his way slowly up onto the front porch.
Before he re-entered the house, Jesus put his ear up to the door. He could hear people moving around and talking, and could swear he heard a struggle going on down in the basement. That's where Rick and Daryl surely were. He needed to get to them before it was too late.
He carefully opened the door in time to see a few of the men struggling with one of the dead that had somehow managed to get itself inside the previously cleared house. One of the men, whose name Jesus did not remember was holding his hand over a profusely bleeding wound. Jack, who held the gun that had previously been Rick's shot the walker, and then his friend, clearly not wanting to waste time nursing a wound that could not be healed.
Jesus swallowed a lump in his throat. If Jack was at the point where he'd mercy-kill his own friend without even asking the man if that's what he wanted, things did not look good for Rick and Daryl's sake, or for Jesus's, for that matter, if the men managed to catch him again.
It looked like there were three men upstairs now, not including the one Jack had just put down. That meant the other three were down in the basement with Rick and Daryl.
"Don't move," Jack's angry voice demanded as he noticed Jesus near the door and pointed his gun at him.
Jesus pointed his gun right back.
"You're outnumbered, you little prick," Jack growled. "Drop the gun, or I'll drop you. No one else has to die."
Jesus did not waver. He knew better than to trust this guy's word, and he certainly didn't often have the luxury of being armed with a loaded gun. He wasn't going to just give that up for a promise he was certain would not be kept.
Jack must not have appreciated Jesus's refusal to cooperate. A look of anger flashed across the man's face followed by the sound of a gunshot, which Jesus sort of saw coming. He dodged out of the line of fire, behind a wall and held his gun tightly, listening intently to the sound of footfalls as Jack made his way down the hall.
"Get back here!" Jack yelled, though he surely didn't expect Jesus to comply with that request.
Before Jack would have the upper-hand, Jesus peered around the corner, raising his gun and preparing to fire. Unfortunately, Jack had sent two of his men before himself. Jesus was out-numbered indeed, needing to get rid of three people now before he could go to the aid of Rick and Daryl. Without a second thought, he shot at the first man, and then aimed toward the second, Scott, who was yelling some sort of battle cry while charging right at him. Before he could fire again, the man tackled him to the ground, but Jesus kept his grip on the gun and fought to regain control of the situation.
By then, Jack had also caught up with him. He didn't even bother trying to wrestle the gun away, but instead hauled Jesus up off the ground and then hit him hard across the face.
Jesus staggered back, caught off-guard long enough for Jack to reach out and snatch the gun right out of his hand. He handed it off to his remaining friend, Scott.
By this point, Jesus's back was literally and figuratively against the wall. The two men pointed guns down at him, a scene which strangely mirrored what he'd encountered earlier today with Rick and Daryl. Except this time, he was not nearly as optimistic. Rick and Daryl just wanted him to stop following them. These guys were out for violent revenge.
Raising his hands in defense, Jesus stared back at his aggressors as he breathed in pained breaths.
"We should just kill him, Jack," Scott spoke in a low growl. "He's not worth it. We already lost three men because of this bastard."
Jack neither agreed nor disagreed with this idea. He remained silent, staring at Jesus and holding Rick's gun firmly out in front of him.
"And we need to get rid of those other two," Scott added. "I'm done with this. At this point, I don't care if anyone learns any damn lessons. I want all three of them dead."
As if on cue, Rick and Daryl quietly emerged from the basement, fortunately quiet enough so that Jack and Scott did not hear them. The door to the basement was further down the hall. Jesus was facing toward it, so he could see the men, but his captors could not.
Jesus did his best to keep his facial expression neutral as he briefly glanced in Rick and Daryl's direction. Both men had blood all over them, mostly on their hands. They also each carried a knife, also coated in blood. This meant they'd probably taken care of the men who had stayed downstairs with them, which meant Scott and Jack were very likely the only two left.
The smartest thing Jesus could do now, he supposed, was to stall for time, so that perhaps Daryl and Rick could sneak up on the two armed men before they were noticed. The more Jesus spoke, the more the attention would be on him, and the less likely anyone would hear or sense the other two men cautiously making their way down the hall.
With his heart pounding in his chest, Jesus began to plead his case. "I see no reason why we shouldn't just call it even at this point," he spoke. He knew his words were probably only going to enrage the two men, but he also felt confident that he'd be able to keep them talking. They wouldn't shoot him before speaking their minds.
"You just shot my friend," Jack spoke in a cold, even tone. "You call that even?"
"I'm sorry it had to happen that way, but I was only defending myself," Jesus explained with a calm tone. "If we can all just agree to leave it at this, no one else has to die. I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone."
Scott scoffed, "You're not really in a position to make that kind of request. Can I shoot him now, Jack? I'm done with this."
Jack shook his head, staring at Jesus, but talking to Scott. "Hell, I'm tempted to just let you and Matt and the others go nuts on this guy. Tie him up, let Matt do whatever the hell he wants. Make Rick and what's-his-name watch. They seem to fucking love you so much," Jack added, glaring at Jesus. "We'll let them watch... Tie them up too. Let them see Matt do all sorts of nasty shit to you, and then Scott and I can break your little fingers, one by one... I'd like to break Rick's fuckin' nose while I'm at it... All three of you will be a bloody mess when we're done with you... and then we can give you a taste of your own medicine and throw a dead one in with you, lock the door behind us and go. See how you like it... You don't get to call us even. Not after what you did. You threw one of the dead in here with us, with no warning... That's just cruel. You deserve what's coming."
"I didn't do that," Jesus kept his hands up in front of him as he continued, and as he watched Daryl and Rick taking further slow, calculated steps toward Scott and Jack. Both of the men were very close to Jack and Scott now. If they weren't careful, they were going to get caught.
Suddenly, Rick and Daryl, at the same time, each decided to jump into action. It seemed as though they had some sort of unspoken communication between the two of them. Daryl moved toward Jack and Rick moved toward Scott, each of them disarming one of the men.
"I did," Daryl growled into Jack's ear as his hand darted quickly around the other man's body and grabbed the the gun out of his hand.
At the same time, Rick opted to simply knock the gun away from Scott and proceeded to hold his knife up to the man's neck. "This is over," Rick spoke in a low, serious tone. "Whether you live or die is now up to you."
Jesus remained still as he watched Daryl and Rick. He wondered if they would kill Scott and Jack now that they didn't really have to. At this point, they weren't such a threat, but leaving them alive would certainly be a risk in itself.
It seemed Scott and Jack were able to communicate without speaking to one another too. The men glanced at each other, and then immediately fought back at the same time. Jack threw his elbow back against Daryl and lunged for the gun Rick had knocked away from Scott, while Scott stomped on Rick's foot and spun around, knocking the man's knife out of his hand. Within seconds, Rick and Scott were rolling around on the floor, and Jesus and Jack were diving for the gun on the ground.
Daryl went to Rick's aid, hauling Scott up off his friend long enough for Rick to scramble after the knife he'd dropped. Within an instant, Rick was back on the man, stabbing him multiple times in the chest followed by a quick stab through his temple.
While all this was going on, Jesus continued struggling with Jack until the gun was in both of their hands at once.
"Back off," Daryl growled. Jesus, still attempting to wrestle the gun from Jack, who was on top of him on the ground, looked up to see that Daryl was holding the second gun up against the side of Jack's head.
Jesus kept his grip around Jack's hands tight as he continued in his effort to get the gun fully away from the other man. As he did so, he looked up at Jack's face. The other man looked absolutely pissed as he glanced briefly toward Scott, who was now lying dead on the ground. He looked back down toward Jesus, offering a look which was almost a smile, but not quite.
The next thing Jesus heard was a gun shot. Not half a second later, he heard a second gunshot, followed by Jack falling heavily on top of him.
For a moment, Jesus remained still, lying on the ground, un-moving besides a rapid rising and falling of his chest as adrenaline coursed through him. Jack was no longer tightly gripping the gun. Jesus pulled it out of the man's loosened fingers and held it tightly. Everything had happened so fast, but now time seemed to almost stand still. He wasn't sure who all had been shot. Obviously Jack had, but the second shot was unaccounted for. When he and Jack had been struggling over the gun, the weapon had been all over the place. Jesus was fairly certain the first gunshot he heard was Jack's doing, but he had no idea where the bullet went. The first shot could have hit anyone.
As he tried to bring himself back to the present, Jesus let his head fall back against the floor as he tightly gripped the gun in his hand and closed his eyes. He felt so exhausted, almost too exhausted to even move out from under Jack's body. It wasn't until he started feeling a warm, wet sensation on his shoulder that he decided to move to shove Jack's body off of him. He certainly didn't want to be covered in the dead man's blood.
At that point, time seemed to start to flow normally again. He remembered all the pain he felt from the abuse he'd endured throughout the day, and noticed that Daryl and Rick were pulling Jack up off him at the same time as Jesus was shoving the other man to the side.
"You guys alright?" Jesus breathed out an exhausted breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding in. He felt adrenaline still coursing through him, but felt somewhat numb and dizzy at the same time.
Neither of the other men answered. Jesus frowned and stared at them, trying to discern for himself if they seemed to be uninjured. As he considered the other two men, he began to become more aware of himself. Whatever blood had spilled onto his shoulder from Jack's body somehow hadn't stopped flowing onto him. The warm, wet, sticky feeling was only spreading.
As Daryl dragged Jesus up into a sitting-position, Jesus frowned and looked down at his shoulder, and at the blood seeping through his shirt. It wasn't Jack's blood at all. It was his own.
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