Suicide Mission pt. 1

Shouldering my bow, I rushed to crouch below the window next to Hershel. I put my hand over my mouth to try to quiet my ragged breathing. We listened as a car pulled up and stopped in front of the bar. My head jerked to the side as I heard car doors open then slam close. "Dave? Tony?" My eyes grew wide as I looked over at Rick as someone called out the names of the men that were just in our company. The voices continued, one telling the other to keep a watch out because 'roamers' were seen and there might be more than expected. I shifted a bit where I was crouched and saw shadows through the curtains of the window. Oh God, please don't let them come in here. Make them turn around and go somewhere else. This obviously didn't help because the men came closer to the bar, so close that if I looked close enough I could see their features through the curtain.

I saw one shadow in particular come up to the door but turned away as another man told him to stay close. Keeping my eyes on Rick, I watched him for signs as what to do next. Standing up, Rick peered from behind the curtain before be crouched back down and came over to where we were. I decided to break the silence by asking why they wouldn't leave. Rick shook his head, "We can't sit here any longer. Let's head out back and make a run to the car." We nodded and we were about to stand up, we heard gunshots, causing us to get back into our crouches once more. I covered my mouth in a silent gasp as I heard, "We're lookin' for Dave and Tony and no one thinks to check the damn bar?" I shoot a look over at Rick and see him raising his gun.

Then Glenn surprised us all by jumping in front of the door as it's about to open. Rick shook his head and then we hear a voice call out, "Yo, is someone in there? We don't want no trouble. We're just lookin' for our friends. If something happened, just tell us. This place is crawling with corpses as it is. If you can help us not get killed, we'd appreciate it." I looked between Rick and Hershel. As I saw that no one was going to speak up, I swallowed and announced, "They drew on us." Rick shot me a look and I chose to ignore it. I heard the man call back, "What do you mean they drew on you? They alive?" Then Rick decided to take charge, "No. Your men drew on my people! I had no choice! Listen, we've all done things we wish we didn't have to. So let's just call it what it was. Wrong place, wrong-"

Rick was interrupted by the sound of a shotgun firing and glass breaking and raining down on top of Glenn. Standing up, Rick aimed his gun out of the broken window and started firing, yelling at us to get out of here. Glenn grabbed my arm and pulled my up from my position, pulling me behind him as we ran to the back of the bar. Sliding on the floor, we ducked behind a piano as more gunfire flew into the building. Hershel took his shotgun and slid it across to Glenn. As Glenn picked it up, we looked at each other, a worried look in his eyes as the gunfire stopped. I nodded and slid my bow off my shoulder. Pulling an arrow from my quiver, I winked as I pressed my back against the wall and stood up, keeping myself hidden behind the piano. Knocking an arrow to my bow, I readied myself in case I needed to fire it fast. Hearing the clatter of bullets against the floor, I turned towards Rick as he shouted, "We all know this isn't going to end well!" I rolled my eyes as I thought, Way to keep it positive, Rick. "There's nothing in it for any of us! Just back off and no one else has to get hurt!"

There was silence until we heard bottles clinking from the back room. Looking at the door then looking back at Rick, I waited until he nodded before shuffling over to the closed door, hearing Glenn hiss my name to keep me from going. Taking the tip of my bow, I placed it into the small opening between the door and the doorjamb. Gently pushing the door open, I slowly moved into the room, keeping to the shadows like Daryl had taught me. Loosely drawing my bow back, I did a quick sweep around the room from the top of the staircase. Deciding that it was okay, I slowly went down the stairs only to have them creak under me no matter how soft I stepped. I scanned around the room, looking into places where someone could hide.

"Shit!"

My ears perked up as I heard bottles clink and someone swear. Looking towards the back door, I saw a shadow and then the doorknob turn. Pulling back, I aimed for the shadow's head and let my arrow fly. The shadow dropped from my view as the arrow crashed through the glass. "Ava! Ava!" I heard Rick yell from the front. Lowering my bow and moving back into the shadows against the wall, I called back, "I'm okay! I just lost an arrow!" Pulling another arrow from my quiver, I knocked it and stepped out in front of the door. Hearing a creaked behind me, I quickly drew back on the string and turned around, only to be met with Glenn and Hershel. Letting go of the breath that I was holding, I muttered a 'sorry' and lowered my bow once more. "Rick wants you and Glenn," Hershel explained, "to try for the car." Glenn broke through the instructions with a wide-eyed look, "Try?!" Hershel nodded, "You'll try and you'll succeed. I'll be here to cover you." I sighed and nodded, "Alright, c'mon Short Round. Let's get the car." Glenn let out a puff of air and led the way.

Opening the door, he checked both ways before walking down the steps with me right behind him. Heading down the alley, I kept my eyes peeled for anything unfriendly. A shot rang out behind me before I was pulled to the ground, Glenn lying beside me. Turning over on my back, I saw Hershel aiming at a guy behind us. With one shot, he brought the man down to the ground only stunning him. Groaning, the man rolled around in the grass. I lay back, catching my breath as I heard Rick come running from inside the store asking what happened. "He fired." Hershel answered, "I think he hit Glenn. He's behind the dumpster." Looking over my shoulder, I saw Glenn's legs peering out from behind the dumpster. Sitting up, I took Rick's offered hand and stood up. Picking up my bow from where I had dropped it when Glenn pushed me down, I made my way over to the dumpster. Peeking around the corner, I saw Glenn sitting against the metal as he clutched his shotgun.

Kneeling down in front of him, I placed a hand on his cheek, "It's gonna be okay. The car is right there and we're almost home. You gonna be okay?" He nodded and moved to get up only to be sent back to the hiding place by someone shooting at him. I looked behind me and saw a guy standing on the roof. I smirked as I whispered, "I could take him from here." I felt a hand on my arm and turned back to see Rick shaking his head, "Wait." My eyebrows knit together out of confusion before turning back around at the sound of tires squealing. Hearing the group talk to each other, I smiled as I heard that they were leaving because roamers were everywhere. They yelled at the kid on the roof to jump so that they could go. Shaking my head, I already predicted what would happen, whispering to Rick and Glenn that he wasn't going to make it.

Sure enough, as soon as the kid jumped, he landed on the other roof but didn't catch himself before he fell off the side and landed on something. It must've been something sharp because the minute he landed, we heard him screaming. His group didn't even stay to help him as they just drove off without a second thought. All I could hear was his screaming as I took off in a run to where he was. Once more, I heard my name being called and once again I ignored it. I ran over to the alley where the boy had fallen and was greeted by a fence with his leg impaled on it. Lifting his head, he saw me and kept yelling for me to help him. Hearing gravel crunch behind me, I head Rick's voice harshly telling the kid to shut up. I put my hand on his ankle and looked at where the fence was coming through below his knee, "Rick, I don't know if we can save him but we need to try." Hershel and Glenn came up behind us, telling us that we needed to go before the walkers got to us. This only made the guy whimper and yell more. Hershel put his hand on the kid's knee, apologizing that we had to leave. I turned to Hershel, "We can't just leave him. There's got to be some way to help him." Glenn shuffled around where we were standing, "Ava! He was just shooting at us. I think we could leave him." Growling, Rick asked, "Is there any way to get his leg off the fence?"

Hershel looked at his leg and telling us that there was no way that the leg would come off in one piece. I thought for a second before taking Daryl's knife out of my boot, "Cut it off." When I said this, the kid only screamed louder causing Rick to point his gun and tell him to shut up or else he would get a bullet through his head. I called Hershel's name to get his attention, "This will cut through bone. Daryl uses it all the time when he hunts. It'll work. I know it will." Hershel unbuttoned his shirt and started giving directions on what will have to be done after he does it. As Hershel took the knife, I glanced behind him and saw a group of walkers coming our way. Readying my bow, I announced, "Gonna have to work fast if we wanna get away. Glenn, little help here?" Glenn and I stood side-by-side as we started to pick off Walkers. One by one, we shot them down, but they just kept coming. It wasn't long until I was out of arrows, letting out a "Shit!" I shouldered my bow and turned towards Rick and Hershel. Looking back at the herd of walkers, I gauged the distance between us. Groaning, I ran over to the kid and gripped his ankle. I shook my head and mumbled, "Sorry kid, but we don't have any more time."

Taking a deep breath, I yanked up on his leg with enough force that I pulled his leg clean off the fence. Rick holstered his gun he was using and pulled the kid off the dumpster. Hershel handed me back the knife as he lifted the kid's legs and made their way to the car. The kid wasn't screaming any more, the shock must've knocked him out. Hershel and Rick loaded him into the back of the car as Glenn and I got into the back seat while Hershel and Rick got into the front.
Slamming the doors, Rick started the car and pulled away, leaving the group of walkers behind us in the dust.

"Ava, wake up." I heard Glenn call my name as he lifted his shoulder to nudge me awake. Lifting my head, I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and looked out the window to see that we're driving onto the farm. Turning around, I saw the kid lying in the back. I sighed, "What are we going to do about him?" Rick shrugged and glanced at Hershel before returning his gaze to the road, "What do you think we should do?" Hershel leaned forward and looked out the windshield, "I gave you my opinion back at town." Glenn spoke up, "What do we tell everyone?" Leaning forward, I let out another sigh as we pulled up to the house to see everyone gathered in front, "Well, looks like we're about to find out."

TWDgirl123: Lol thanks for that! I ship them too ;)

gfulloa: Wow! 50 times?! That's a lot. I'm going to try to not stop writing. I have up to chapter 30-something written. It's taken me a while to write the last few chapters because of school and work. But I plan on keeping this story going for a while. :)