The Governors transition from Phillip Blake to The Governor interests me, I decided to try and make my character play a part in that. This chapter will not be the end of the rivalry. Merely a small battle in a very long war.
This chapter Eric is trapped between a rock and a hard place but unforeseen circumstances lead him to learning the true meaning of protecting the people you love.
Continued from last time frame
"Those are not skeletons! I am the one to blame Phillip." I said to him beggingly.
"Don't call me that!" He yelled threateningly, a psychopathic look in his eye.
"I'm sorry, just... don't hurt them." I said, trying not to stare at Rory.
Blake looked at me and chuckled. "Way I figure it... you owe me three things to prove yourself innocent. If you fight this piece of traitorous shit to the death...!" He yelled, pointing at Whiskey. "...and execute your Nurse whore who planned to abandon her people and told you a series of lies to try and make you take me from my position as leader... The third thing we can discuss privately... Maybe then you can walk out of here alive, but make no mistake I will be hunting you and your group down until you are all dead for what you have made happen here today."
I looked at Lila and Whiskey and choked on my saliva a little as I contemplated what he had said, I felt Martinez's gun against the back of my head. "Think quick, pretty boy." The man hissed.
I was about to turn and smack Martinez in the nuts in anger but a sudden shake in the ground stopped me, I followed my ears to where an explosion had gone off at one of the nearby walls. Everyone paused and looked around.
"What the fuck was that!?" Martinez screamed, people began to panic and run and for a moment I was forgotten. Phillip looked around in shock and sent Martinez and a few others to go check it out. Another explosion went off a bit further down the wall and I heard gunfire start to go off in the distance.
"We're under attack!" Martinez screamed back to them in fear. "They're shooting at the walls."
Blake swore. "Rory! Crowley! Watch the prisoners! Everyone get in your homes and let us handle this, stay low and stay quiet!" He announced as he rushed off towards the attack. The noise of gunfire made the chaos all the worse as people scrambled around each other and struggled their way off of the bleachers, three people fell from the higher levels and hurt themselves in falls and two people got trampled on the way out towards the apartments, there weren't even that many people to make a stampede. The fear that the gunfire instilled into them made it happen nonetheless.
Everything cleared and the five of us waited there quietly and awkwardly as the gun fire continued and another grenade sounded. Shumpert was heading towards the square from the caravan at a jog, Crowley looked around desperately and Rory was staring right at me. I nodded to him slowly and he closed his eyes tight and grimaced with fear before opening them and nodding back.
He pointed his rifle up towards the town. "Fuck, What's that up there!?" He yelled with fake desperation. Crowley turned and looked up towards the buildings through his scope in panic for a while and Rory used the time to slip a knife into Whiskey's hands. I saw Whiskey's surprise but right away he began to saw through the zip-tie around his wrists with the small fold out knife. Rory turned and smashed the butt of his shotgun into Crowley's temple and he plummeted to the ground like a sack of bricks.
"Hey! What the fuck...!" Shumpert yelled as he reached for the pistol at his side.
But Whiskey was already on him. He was bleeding from the mouth ad his beard was stained with blood, he had been stripped to his tight, black, muscle t-shirt and he looked like a wild cave man as he grabbed Shumpert by the waist and threw him to the ground with a snarl. Whiskey leaned over the man and grabbed his throat with his left hand and began hammering blows into him like a jackhammer as Shumpert gargled and grunted on the ground in front of him.
I crawled over to where Lila was crying on her knees and I grabbed her neck and stroked her gently. Whiskey grabbed the pistol from Shumpert's hands and knocked him out with it before standing up and spitting at him. "We gotta get out of here. I dunno what that blast was but I'll take it as a miracle and take my leave." He said, panting heavily.
I stood up and Lila stood with me, sobbing and clutching my arm desperately. "You need to take her with you..." I said to Whiskey slowly.
Whiskey grabbed her hand and she went to him reluctantly. "I need to find my son." I told her. "Whiskey will protect you."
"What about me man?" I heard Rory say.
"I'm going to find him." I said, ignoring my brother and running away from them, taking Crowley's assault rifle with me, he had two clips with him and I made my way toward the apartments at a high speed, my eyes scanning everything around me for signs of my son's location. I stopped when I saw Karen in the lobby of one of the apartment buildings holding my baby.
She saw me and ran outside. "Take him." She yelled. "Shumpert told me he was yours. Take him and go. Get your group as far away from Georgia as you can get..." She said quickly and fearfully with wide, frightened eyes.
I grabbed the bundle, shocked at her words. They knew he was evil, all of them. Yet they all followed him like a king. I wrapped the rifle around my back and ran back to where the square was, puffing by the time I got there. Leon and Rory were standing there arguing and I managed to catch a glimpse of Michonne taking Whiskey and Lila over the wall. That relieved me a little at least.
"Leon!" I shouted desperately.
"Eric!" He screamed. He saw the bundle and clicked. "What the...!"
"We need to fucking move!' I yelled as I got to the square. Teddy approached me and took the baby off my hands and headed over to where Michonne had climbed up some containers to get over the wall. I nodded to Teddy thankfully and he sped off towards the wall carefully.
Leon looked at me and pointed at Rory. "This piece of sh..."
Before he could finish I felt the rifle around my back jerk my shoulder down and I looked down to see Crowley conscious and angry. He sprayed the rifle and it caught Rory in the stomach, shoulder and thigh. He fell to the ground with a pained grunt. I elbowed the man's face and he released the gun and grabbed his bleeding nose. I aimed the rifle at his face but Rory stopped me. He was grunting as he stepped towards Crowley and He kneeled over him and smashed the hilt of his knife into the man's face before delivering a savage stab to his heart and twisting the blade around angrily.
Rory fell to the ground and chuckled, spitting out blood at the same time. "We don't have much time... For the mushy shit." He said between breaths. "But I missed you brother... I gave that kid Ben your weapons. Shumpert had them in the caravan..." He looked up at me and smiled. "Could've been fun y'know... catching up... Now get out of here, before I have to watch you die."
"I won't let you turn brother." I said to him as I rose to my feet.
I shot him through the head with the rifle emotionlessly and Crowley as well. Leon tapped my bare shoulder and we took off in a hurry. The climb up the containers wasn't so bad. When we hit the ground there was forest not ten metres away and we all sprinted for it with all we had.
Later that Evening: 7.17pm
I woke up at the bar. The feeling was strangely calm. I don't like this. I sat up in a rush and looked around. "Eric! Eric. Relax, lie down." I heard Lila say.
Lila! Lila was alive, in front of me, at the bar. It was all so out of place and I needed to get up. "Lila!" I said sitting up with a smile. "What are we doing here?"
"We lost them... Well really your friend Teddy ran them off the road with the cargo truck. I don't think they died though. Everyone's packing your place up..." She said as she cradled my son."It was really cute, I wish we didn't have to leave."
"His name..." I grunted as I began to calm down. "Connor." I said with a deep breath.
"Why Connor?" She asked curiously.
"The local doctor in our town was Connor Oakfield. He stitched my mum and my brothers and I plenty a time when Silas came home in a tantrum." I explained to her slowly and softly as I looked at my son.
"That's a good name, strong and kind." She said reassuringly.
"Thank you. Do you know where we are heading?" I asked her in anticipation.
"We're going to be riding with one of the newcomers. He knows where we're going" She said with a smile.
"We got new people?" I asked with a smile.
"Two apparently. They're all new for me." She said with a shrug.
"Getting a bit overwhelmed?" I asked cheekily as I struggled into my faded black jeans.
She stood up, holding my boy and walked up to me. I put a hand on her waist and she kissed me longingly. I broke away and kissed my baby boys forehead. "I love you Connor." I said with a big smile.
She brushed my cheek with her hand lightly and I kissed it. She smiled at me sweetly. "We're about done!" I heard Ernesto call from the other side of the door. "Is he up?"
"Yeah, he's just getting ready!" She called back before giving me another desperate, lingering, deep kiss. "Please be more careful from now on." She said with bright, wide, scared eyes. "Leave Connor, I'll bring him, you just go wait in the truck." I told her strongly.
She seemed hesitant to leave but she eventually exited the flap and went striding down the walkway and I put on my quilted black winter shirt and the brown denim coat Rea had picked for me. I slipped into my white hi-tops and stretched my shoulders and neck. I saw my weapons and chuckled to myself. The image of Rory dying and my bullet entering his living forehead came to my mind and I gave a half-hearted smile. It was an incredible gesture. I had definitely underestimated my brother. I hadn't given him a chance and that would hang over me for a long time. I finished strapping my weapons back on and suddenly I felt complete as I put my dark blue beanie into place over my hair.
I carried my clothing bag in one hand and Connor in the other as I stepped out of the flap and walked down the wooden floor boards and onto the roof of the bar. I climbed down the hatch and made my way to the vehicles as fast as I could. They were already started and I threw the bag over into the cargo truck and handed Connor to Lila who was waiting with her arms outstretched. With my hands free I climbed nimbly up the back of the truck and stood up straight, clicking my back. Rea came and took Connor off of Lila and began playing with him on the ground. Lila hugged me as we took off and I sat down next to Rea and watched her with Connor. She looked back at me excitedly and I grinned.
I suddenly heard a deep, loud powerful voice. "GET DOWN!" He yelled. A gunshot was heard as Lila threw herself to the ground against the cargo truck and lay down and I saw the source of the voice was none other than Shane Walsh. He was firing his assault rifle out the back of the cargo truck alongside Ernesto, Andrea and another stranger. "Step on the gas Ted!" Shane yelled desperately.
The cargo truck began to pick up speed, the other vehicles were ahead of us, I had no idea who was where but I did know that this car chase meant bad news. I got up and glimpsed over the side of the truck to see two Range Rovers, filled with people chasing us down as the men inside clumsily shot at us. I didn't see Blake and was more than a little relieved. I pulled my pistol out of the holster and fired three loud shots at the closest Range Rover. The third shot punctured the front right tire and they started to wobble on the road as they slowed down. I ducked as the next few bullets came flying in my direction and breathed with relief as I found myself alive and unharmed.
"ERIC!" I heard Rea yell over the shots and Connor's relentless crying. I looked over at her and she was kneeling over Lila trying to put pressure on a wound in her chest. "Eric!" She screamed with tears in her eyes.
"Lila!?" I yelled as I crawled towards her and her eyes opened and she looked at me hopelessly. It crushed me inside and I smashed the ground with my fist.
"Andrea I'm gon' lay some down. You gun for the driver, buy us some time!" Shane said as he popped up from cover and began burst firing at the Range Rover behind me.
"Lila..." I said sadly as I reached her and her hand grasped mine weakly.
"Connor... Was a good name..." She whispered to me and I knelt over her as her hand went limp in mine and the light fled from her eyes.
"No! Lila! Hold on!" I said squeezing her hand. But there was no response, she had died.
Rea drew the knife from her belt and I stood as Andrea fired a shot from her rifle and the driver of the last attacking vehicle was killed. The Range Rover slowed to a halt as we powered forward and I saw the men scrambling to get out of the car. We must have gone almost a hundred and twenty metres by the time I jumped out of the back of the moving cargo truck and rolled to my feet.
I didn't really have a plan... It was spur of the moment to be honest. I pulled my pistol out once more as the four remaining men in the car recognised that I was coming towards them. One of them fired his SMG at me but a bullet took him in the shoulder before he could. I was striding towards them recklessly. As the rest of them raised their guns I raised mine faster with one hand and shot two of them, one in the chest and one in the ribs. The one I had hit in the chest was wearing a vest however and he got back up onto his knees as I got within twenty metres of the crew. The last came around from behind the Range Rover and aimed his gun at me.
"On your god damn knees you...!" He began to hiss at me in a shaky and desperate voice.
Before he could finish his sentence I raised my gun to his head and blasted his brains out of the back of his skull. The man on his knees went for his gun groggily and I booted him in the head. I put a round into his skull as he lay on the ground knocked out. The two men who were slowly bleeding out were moaning and I pulled out my combat knife after I holstered my gun. I stabbed the first man that Andrea had shot for me in the skull before I looked down at the last man. He was looking up at me... in so much pain... and I liked it. I pressed my boot over his gunshot wound and he began to scream wildly with pain. I slid the knife into his torso multiple times, in truth I began to get carried away as my right arm, and most of my torso was covered in blood by the time I was wiping my knife clean on one of the dead bodies.
It was Teddy who came to get me as I looked on at the pile of corpses. "C'mon man. We got to find some place." He said with a cough.
"Yeah...?" I asked distantly. "Where?" I said, turning on him angrily. "Somewhere that son of a bitch can't find us? I doubt it." I said, before striding back towards the cargo truck.
When I got there Andrea gave me a lift up into the truck and I hugged her quickly. "That's fine shooting girlie." I said with a small grin.
I looked down and noticed Lila's dead body once more. Rea was crying next to her holding her bloody knife and Lila had a fresh stab wound in her head. I looked at Rea with remorse, I can't just stand here. I got down on one knee and took the knife out of Rea's hand. I wiped it on Lila's pants and placed it in her sheath tenderly before sitting myself beside her and wrapping an arm around her back and stroking her hair as she cried into my jacket.
That Night: 10.22pm.
We had arrived at the truck stop at least an hour ago from what I could remember. Everyone was still a little on edge from everything that had happened. I had managed to learn that the new woman was named Tess. She was middle aged, around her late thirties at my guess, she was slightly plump with big, round eyes and a wide mouth with thin lips She had long, curled, dark red hair and blue eyes. Her face was slightly wrinkled but not excessively, she was pretty short. I had seen her carrying around a long wooden pole with a blade attached to the end. I must get to know her later on, when I've had some time. I thought once again paying homage of Lila... And Ro... in my mind.
The worst thing was the fact that she had been here all this time and I had no idea, I could have helped her but I just didn't know. And Lila? It had all happened so fucking fast that I hadn't had time to register what the fuck was going on until I climbed back into that truck. Tyreese had been doing his best to talk to everybody but it was all a bit of a mess.
The truck stop was one big building with an excessive amount of parking space outside around the gas area. There were a few stores inside the building. The register for the gas along with the usual junk you find in a gas station. Somewhere that looked to have been a café was wrecked and trashed, everything spread out of the ground and torn apart. Another building was a clothes store, this one had been looted somewhat but otherwise it was neat.
The last store held some sort of gift shop, all sorts of weird odds and ends in there that most of the women were all looking over. I chuckled to myself from where I was sitting in the corner with Connor. He had been asleep for a while, all the fear and crying had taken it out of him and he was sound asleep as I rocked him softly back and forward in my arms. He was so adorable. I still found myself second guessing my capabilities in this situation but there was no time for that... no room for it. I had to do right by this kid. He was here now and it was my job to make sure he stayed. Make sure he has a chance at a life.
"He's beautiful." I heard from beside me, Donna had approached with Ben and Allen.
"Thank you. It was some coincidence finding him there... I can hardly believe it." I said to them, shaking my head.
Allen smiled at me and Ben chuckled. "This has been one hell of a few days for everyone man." Ben said sadly.
"Do you want to hold him?" I asked Donna.
She looked at me with a desperate glance. "Yes please." She begged. I handed him to her and she cooed at him as she took him
I looked at Allen and then at the ground. "I-I shouldn't have left... I got there... And it all looked like it was gonna work out... He seemed so reasonable... so genuine." I muttered as fear crept into my heart. "Then when I got out of that caravan... I saw him, the real him... behind the charming smile and the slick haircut." I said hatefully. "He was gonna kill me... Make me beat Whiskey to death, make me kill Lila..." I said, looking at the floor and stomping in frustration. "Looks like he got something he wanted at least huh..." I said sadly, my voice shaking.
"You didn't kill that girl Eric, a stray bullet did. It could've caught any one of us." Allen said slowly and reassuringly. "You're not the bad guy here Eric, remember that."
"He was gonna do something else too. He wanted me to do something... A favour most likely... Like I was actually gonna be his bitch!" I said angrily, spitting on the ground as I said it.
"You've no idea what it was?" Ben asked me softly.
"None..." But I looked up at Whiskey and pointed to him. "But he might." I said, looking out the window next to me as they strode off.
It was then that I noticed Tyreese striding towards me with a chair and a bottle of water. "Have a drink." He said as he set up his seat.
I sipped the water gratefully and pulled out a cigarette. Donna came over as I handed Tyreese back his water and lit my smoke. "Why don't you hang on to him for a bit? Rea will take him if you got something you wanna do." I said to her with a smile.
"He can come and meet Aunty Sasha properly." Donna said with a smile.
"Total mind-fuck huh?" Tyreese asked me as we watched her take Connor over to Sasha who was flicking through things in the clothes shop.
"Yep." I muttered as I puffed away at my cigarette.
"I've had a talk with your friend Addison." Tyreese muttered. "Told me about how Blake played the both of you. Sounds like it wasn't so bad in the end." He said slowly.
I looked at him and scratched the back of my head. "Yeah..." I said carefully. "Besides Lila it wasn't all bad." I said, looking away emotionally.
"Shane... Shane is gonna lead us to where he last saw Rick and his group. I suggested we merge... If we take this psychopath together we could have a shot. Apparently Rick ain't in the best mind set right now... Shane is worried... He ain't in too much of a good mind set either to be honest... But I need to know... How is yours? Do I have my number two back...?" He asked me in a low voice.
"I can't just sit here and help run the day to day when that sick bastard is out there planning the best way to end us." I argued in a hushed voice
"And the only way we all stay alive is if we stick together. You want to fight Blake and we don't have the manpower... I want to find us the manpower and protect my group but you want to go off on your own. Can't you see it man? The only to protect everyone you love that is here... is by staying here, staying with us, not running off on your own ninja bullshit." He said strongly.
I looked him in the eyes defiantly, even though I knew he was right, it was still hard to do it... "Okay Tyreese, you've got me man. Protect and serve." I said, raising my right hand with a sarcastic grin. "I'm with you."
Tyreese grabbed my shoulder and smiled. "Good to know." I looked back out the window and my heart filled with joy.
"What you smiling about?" Tyreese asked.
I pointed outside and he came to watch what I was staring at, the first few drops of snow were falling slowly and gracefully from the deep black sky, the sight was one of my favourites of all time, no matter where I was, I always made sure I saw the first few drops of snow. "Are we so sure that's a good thing?" Tyreese asked me with a snort. He stood up and yelled to everyone. "Snows a-coming people!" He said with a grin and they all chuckled.
That bit of news seemed to pick everyone's spirits up and I was smiling widely as they all chattered. There were eighteen of us now... including my son... and I was worried that this group wasn't close enough to brave the storm ahead of us. The road was going to be hell. It was going to be worse with a baby on board... They were all so brave to stay with me after all this, particularly Leon and Rea.
Tyreese looked over at me. "We can talk about business in the morning. Let's just relax tonight."
I smiled at Tyreese thankfully and he nodded slowly before sighing and pushing himself up, going to sit where Shane, Andrea and Whiskey were talking and Leon came wandering over from where he had been standing with Teddy and Ben. "Where's my nephew?" He asked with his arms spread wide.
"Donna and Sasha have him." I said, gesturing to the clothes shop.
He came and sat in Tyreese's seat and smiled as I passed him the cigarette. "The rescue..." He said as he inhaled a lung full of smoke. "...Teddy set that whole thing up. Him, Michonne and I." He said simply as he exhaled slowly.
"Whoever it was I'm in you're debt." I said.
"You wanna talk about Rory?" He asked me cautiously.
"No... Do you?" I asked him with an attitude.
"Nope." He said simply, looking away from me.
"I know you're upset, you think that you could have helped Ro if you knew she was here..." He began to say slowly.
"I know there's nothing I could do about that!" I said to him angrily and quietly. "I got that nurse killed today... Lila..." I said, hardly able to say the name without gagging. "She trusted me... to keep her safe from what she had been afraid of since this whole thing began... I failed her, I stood bye as she was gunned down by men who were trying to kill me. That I know I could have stopped."
"I heard what he said Eric." Leon muttered. "I know what he was gonna make you do. She was doomed either way..."
"Because she was with me..." I said. "I got her killed because I was feeling alone and empty. That's weak and pathetic and unfair." I said. I stood up and walked away from him then. Somehow talking about it with Leon had made the incident more real for me, Tears were rushing down my cheeks and I went and leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the room.
I slid onto the floor and put my face in my hands, half in despair and half in exhaustion.