Chapter 14
Daryl, Glenn and Maggie pulled over to the side of the street and shut their engine off as the car they were following pulled up to a gate of a tall, chain link fence, to which a hospital loomed inside like an entity in of itself.
Two men got out, they were dressed in full police gear, right down to the badges. But nowadays there was no telling if they really were cops, or not. Hell, Rick used to be a cop and look at him now.
One of the men suddenly looked in the direction of their car and Daryl, Glenn and Maggie froze, afraid to even breathe. After what seemed like forever, he slowly slid back into the passenger seat, stealing one final glance back at them before they drove through that gate and disappeared around the backside of the dark hospital.
"Do you think they saw us?" Maggie hissed. Daryl didn't respond as he grabbed his crossbow and heaved himself out of the car, he didn't even wait for them as he started heading down the street.
"We have to get a vantage point on these pricks." He said harshly as he pointed to an adjoining office building. He strode right up to the front entrance and kicked the doors in with a loud smash that echoed down the deserted street.
"Daryl! Be quiet! Are you trying to attract geeks or what?" Glenn hissed his tone desperate as he gripped Daryl's shoulder. Daryl shrugged him off and gave him a murderous look.
"Those pricks are gonna pay for what they did." He growled, a feral look in his eyes.
"Daryl … I get where you're coming from, you know I do, we both do. But getting yourself killed is not going to help Charlotte, or Kaela. We're going to do this, but we're going to do it right." Glenn said as he gave Daryl a reassuring look.
Daryl regarded him for a long moment before nodding his head as they proceeded with caution. Luckily the locked door had kept most of the walkers out, they found a few, probably people who worked there and had locked themselves in, too afraid to leave. Maggie's heart ached with sorrow for them as they looked over their frail, emaciated bodies, they probably starved to death.
"You'd think I would get used to it by now." She said.
"If ya really think about it, it's the kindest thing you can do for em, puttin' em down. I know I wouldn't want to be walking around as one of those things, but not everyone has the guts to kill their selves." Daryl said as he walked to the window facing the hospital.
"Yeah, this'll work, we can see everything from here." He said.
"The following morning we'll report back to Rick just what we're up against." Glenn said as they settled in for a long day and night.
"I'll take first shift." Maggie said as she pulled a chair up to the window and took the binoculars from Daryl. "You've been driving all day, you need rest." She said to him.
Daryl awoke with a start to someone shaking him gently. "Easy! It's just me!" Glenn's hushed voice said as Daryl shot upright, hand darting to his knife.
"It your turn for watch." Glenn said as he rubbed his face sleepily.
"Okay, get ya some sleep, china man. You'll be drivin' back tomorrow" Daryl said as he took the binoculars from him, a brief exchange of respect and understanding passed between the two men as they passed each other.
Through the night, Daryl didn't see much of anything, he didn't expect much, not to many people moved around at night anymore, it was just too risky.
It wasn't until the morning that he noticed movement, his heart sank, it was as he feared, they were a well-organized, heavily armed group of thirty or more. If they were going to take them on, they would need firepower … and lots of it.