The Lady Claimers

Chapter 35

* Since it's been a minute since I updated I just wanted to remind you all that in chapter 33, Rick mentioned that a call had come in from a survivor outpost and when they went to pick the person up, no one was there. It probably seemed insignificant at the time, but it will make sense with the events that are coming up in this chapter. Big thanks to anyone that took the time to leave a review. **

Daryl woke up to the sound of his name being called followed by a knock on the open door of the room he was sleeping in. His mouth felt like it was full of sand and he had no idea where he was. Waking up hung over with no memory was never a good sign. He slitted his eyes open and regetted it immediately. The sun was shining in through the window, beaming directly into his face. He heard someone moving towards him and then there was the sound of a curtain being closed. The bright light was gone and he was able to open his eyes without wishing he was dead.

With the light shining in behind the woman in front of him, it made her face hard to see, but he had a feeling he knew who it was anyway. There was only one woman around with that body type. Her voice confirmed his suspicions.

"Mornin' sunshine." Daryl groaned.

"Mornin' Katie," he managed to croak out. She came towards him, holding out a large plastic cup like a peace offering. He took it from her and sucked the liquid down gratefully. It was what he guessed it was, a giant iced coffee. He knew he said the stuff was only for rich snobs and men that liked to wear women's pants, but at the moment it was the best thing Daryl had ever tasted in his life. Sugary sweet and strong at the same time. She made herself one almost every morning, then walked around the house sipping on it while she got ready for her day.

"Put an extra shot of expresso in there for ya," Katie said. Without waiting for an invitation she slid over and sat on the cot next to him. "Would've rather let you sleep it off for the day, but Merle said you'd be upset if you missed Hershel's weddin'," she explained. Daryl nodded. It was the truth. Hershel was family and Daryl didn't want to miss out on what promised to be a happy occasion after all the bullshit they had been through together. But he was surprised Merle cared enough to know that.

"Do you remember what happened last night?," Katie asked. Daryl took another healthy swallow of his girly drink and scrubbed at his face with his hand. Katie had not been kidding about the expresso. He could already feel the caffeine coursing through him, chasing away his hangover. But he still had no fucking idea what happened the night before. The last thing he remembered was drinking with Angel and some of the other men down at the brewery. Everything after that was a blur. But he could tell from Katie's tone that something bad had taken place. He woke up in the infirmary, which Daryl knew was also the place where people were kept when it was necessary for someone to keep an eye on them. Morgan had stayed here for the first two weeks after they arrived. Until the girls were sure he wasn't a danger.

"What did I do?," Daryl asked. He hoped he hadn't hurt anyone. Those golf carts didn't go too fast, but if he got in one and crashed it into something or someone it could still do some serious damage. Katie saw the concern on Daryl's face. She guessed last night wasn't the first time he had gotten blackout drunk and taken a swing at someone or done something equally stupid that he regretted in the morning. Her arm went around him and she rubbed his back in soft circles.

"You didn't do anything because Rick and some of your other friends grabbed you before you could," she explained. Daryl nodded, looking obviously relieved. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. While some wrestling and shenanigans were allowed around this camp, angry violence was strongly discouraged.

"What happened?," he asked, hoping for a more clear explanation of the events.

"I wasn't there," Katie said first, "but I heard you went looking for Addy. She was at her house but she wasn't alone..." Katie paused, hoping some of Daryl's memory of the night before would come back and spare her from having to explain the rest.

"That blonde kid," Daryl said, "the one we picked up on that run." For some reason he saw that boy's face in his mind, and the image made him angry. Katie nodded.

"If I let you outta here, you aren't going to go after him again are ya?," Katie asked.

Daryl shook his head again. He wasn't even sure why he went after the kid in the first place. It wasn't like him to get emotional over a woman. There really hadn't been much between him and Addy besides sex. That had been good, but not good enough to try and kill someone over. As far as he was concerned, Addy could plow it wherever she wanted. He didn't need her. He didn't need anyone.

"I'm good," Daryl assured Katie. She stopped rubbing his back and hugged him against her side. Having someone touching him usually made Daryl uncomfortable, but he was used to Katie by now. Like his brother she had no concept of personal space. Katie released him from her grasp before she hopped down off the cot and stuck her hand out for him to take.

"Let's go then, we got a weddin' to get to and you look like shit warmed over." Daryl laughed before he could stop himself and let Katie lead him out to the little golf cart she had waiting. They drove past the main dining area on the way to her house and he could see there were tons of people already running around, getting things ready for the big event.

TWD

Katie had somehow managed to get herself and her son ready without any major incidents. Bash was in khaki shorts and little button down shirt, looking every bit the little fancy man. He was so adorable she had already covered his little face in kisses until he started smacking her to make her leave him alone. She put on a floral sundress and a pair of leather sandals. The dress belted in the middle and made her waist look tiny. Her hair was still a bit of a mess, even after she curled it. So she pinned the front back with a clip and called it good enough.

After dropping off Daryl and picking up her son, Katie headed up to the main house where all the women were getting ready. She helped Lexi curl her grandmother's hair and pin flowers into it that they had cut from the garden. Against the white of her hair, the colorful flowers looked even better than she thought they would. They had already talked the woman into wearing a white dress, despite the fact that she had insisted she was far from being a virgin after giving birth to two children. The look was completed with a long fringed shall she draped over her shoulders.

Katie could feel herself starting to tear up. Someone shoved a handful of tissues at her so she could hold them to the corners of her eyes and keep her mascara from running. She turned to thank the person and saw it was Hershel's daughter Beth. Beth was a pretty girl, even when she dressed in grungy overalls she wore to muck out the horse stalls. But all cleaned up and made up she was really something. Her hair was twisted up into braids that were pinned to her head with a few tendrils falling down. She was wearing a sundress that flattered her thin frame. With makeup on her big blue eyes looked even bigger and bluer.

"You look so pretty," Katie told the girl. Everyone looked so good. And her gran looked so damn happy. Katie felt like she was about to burst with joy. Beth seemed to share her excitement and she pulled the other woman into a rushed embrace.

The rest of the ceremony passed by in a blur. Maria's young daughter and Katie's son served as the flower girl and ringbearer. Bash made it about halfway around the circle they were walking in before he grabbed the basket of flowers and dumped them out. He clapped for himself and took off running back to his mommy, causing lots of happy laughter from the crowd. Katie picked him up and held him on her hip while she watched her grandmother say her vows through bleary eyes. Tom had some sort of ridiculous internet officiants license, but the couple opted to simply say what they wanted to say to each other without anyone there to perform a ceremony. Hershel quoted from the bible. Momma D read a poem from one of her favorite books. They kissed and just like that the deed was done.

Beth stood next to her sister, holding tight to Maggie's hand. The ceremony was so short, there was no need for chairs. People simply formed a loose circle around the couple, with close friends and family members being encouraged towards the front of the crowd. Beth noticed Daryl, across the small clearing from her, standing next to his brother. Merle had his good arm around Katie and her son, looking sligthly uncomfortable with the woman's outward show of emotion. Daryl kept his eyes down. The dark circles under his eyes were the only sign of what had gone on the night before. About halfway through the ceremony he looked up and caught Beth staring at him. She wiggled her fingers and gave him a warm smile, which was returned with just a slight nod of his head before he went back to staring down at his boots.

After the ceremony, people lingered around, talking and waiting for their chance to congratulate the new couple. Beth noticed Daryl's brother disappear. When he showed back up he had a drink for himself and a very full glass of wine that he handed to Katie with a kiss on her head. She took it from him with a big smile and proceeded to chug down about half the glass.

Beth started to get worried when she saw her father with a glass of champagne in his hand, but when she got close enough to hug him he leaned in and whispered to her, telling her that it was only sparkling juice. Then he pointed. Some of the women were pouring the same drink out into little plastic cups for all the kids.

Beth headed over and took a glass of juice for herself. She knew no one would stop her, but she still felt strange drinking in front of her father. She knew he knew she was drinking and smoking but it still seemed disrespectful to do it in front of him.

Food was starting to be brought out of the kitchen and placed on tables under the tents. The poles of the large dining tent had been wrapped in colorful fabric and there were cut flowers on the tables. Further out in the yard, lots of tents and several small metal chimineas were set up for later on in the night. Beth guessed lots of people were planning to stay up late and make the festive occasion last as long as possible.

There was an area set up for dancing, with speakers for music. None was on yet, but Katie's twin brothers were over there fiddling around with an ipod. Beth was about to walk over and see what music they were getting ready to play, but then she saw Addy stand up from behind one of the speakers and changed her mind.

Turning on her heel, Beth headed for the food instead. With all the bustle that morning, trying to get everyone ready, she hadn't had anything to eat yet and the smells coming from inside the tent were making her mouth water. Beth had helped with the food preparation. She was pretty sure almost everyone had. But she had been up at the main house helping with the pies, so she had not seen what was being made in the larger kitchen. She realized as she looked over the food at the table that they were having a pig roast. The thought of that made Beth smile from ear to ear. The last time she had been at a pig roast was the one they had for Maggie's high school graduation.

There was plenty of pulled pork, and sitting next to it were large jars full of different types of bbq sauce. But not just that, on the table near the pork were all her favorite picinic side dishes. Potato salad, baked beans, coleslaw and slow cooked collard greens. In addition to that a bunch of the seafood the girls had come back from that last run with had been cooked in all different ways. If she wasn't careful Beth knew she was going to eat herself sick before this party was over.

The big white cake Katie had been helping with was set up inside the gazebo. Fans blowing the cold air off large buckets of ice were set up around it to keep the frosting from melting. Beth knew the rest of the desserts were set up inside the main house. Pies she had helped bake, plus cookies and Tom's special brownies that were being kept in a giant pan up on top of the fridge. In the tent, there was another station set up outside with salads and large trays of cut up fruit and vegetables. Since not as many people seemed to be crowding around that table, Beth headed in that direction and started filling up a plate for herself.

TWD

Rick was sucking down his second beer. It was warm out and he was thristy, so he made a mental reminder to make his next drink an iced tea before he got himself as drunk as Daryl had been the night before. Now that the fight was over and no one had been hurt, Rick was able to laugh at the mental image of Daryl barreling at that much smaller man like and angry bull after a flag. That kid didn't know who he had been fucking with, that was for sure.

Carl had abandoned him shortly after the ceremony was over. The boy was at another table, eating with a large rowdy crowd of other boys and girls that were about his age. Rick was trying to keep at least half an eye on the boy, mostly to make sure he wasn't drinking. Judith was dressed in a new indian style dress that either Zara or Selena had made for her. It was bright red and green with gold designs on it. She even had little gold baby sized bracelets on her wrists. Rick laughed as he watched the sisters showing her off around the party. Everyone was gushing over how cute she looked and Hershel even took the little girl into his arms so someone could snap a picture of them together.

"It's almost like the world never ended, isn't it?" Roberta set a slice of cake down between them and forked a small bite of it into her mouth before she handed him the fork. Rick looked around and nodded his approval.

"Everything good up at the gate?," he asked. The girls that were keeping watch were young and inexperienced. After the ceremony Roberta had gone to check on them.

"All clear," she said, reaching for his beer to take a sip of it. Her hair was down and styled so it fell in a long slick straight curtain down behind her shoulders. She was wearing a gold colored dress that hugged her in all the right places. He couldn't help the naughty thoughts that crossed his mind when she put the bottle of beer up to her lips.

"Did I already tell you that you look beautiful today?," he asked her. She handed his beer back and leaned in for a kiss.

"Three times already," she whispered, "but don't worry I never get sick of hearing it." That made him laugh and with the thought of her earlier comment in mind, he glanced around again at the party. Looking around, he really could almost believe that the outbreak never happened. Music was playing. People were talking and laughing and eating. Carl and the other kids were up from the table now, dancing to the music and goofing around with each other. Katie took her son and Zara took Judith. They went over to where the bigger kids were dancing and the two women set the toddlers down and put their little hands together, encouraging them to dance together. Judith had only just started learning to stand and soon she was facedown in the soft grass. Zara scooped her back up, brushing off her new dress before she took the little girl over to a more quiet area to nurse her.

Roberta had a beautful smile on her face and Rick put his arm across the back of her chair, gently stroking her back with his thumb. A slower song came on and he thought about asking her to dance, but decided to wait until later when there weren't so many kids out there horsing around. He was having a good time just watching for now, especially since Carl had his hands on the slim waist of Katie's pretty red haired neice, shuffling his feet in the grass and turning the girl around in an awkward circle.

Rick was grateful for a lot of things. But mostly he was glad that Carl was getting a chance to be a kid again. He was still going to be expected to learn practical things instead of going to normal middle and high school. But learning how to grow tomatoes and trim goats hooves instead of writing a book report wasn't the worst thing Rick had ever heard of. They would have a simple life here. But they would still have a life.

TWD

Hershel had been smiling for so long his face was starting to hurt. He had been hugged and kissed by so many people they all started turning into one joyful blur. There was a special table set up for him and his new bride. It was positioned so they could see the whole party while sitting in the shade. The small table was covered in a white cloth and a small mason jar full of sweet smelling flowers was in the middle of it. He never had to get up to go get himself something to eat, people just kept showing up at his table with food. Little bits of this or that, things they made special for the party that they wanted him to try. The best thing he had so far was a dish of giant shrimp smothered in some sort of flavored butter.

Katie stopped by and kissed her grandmother, asking them if they wanted to go ahead and cut the cake before the kids got into it.

"Piss on that cake," Dolores told her. Hershel laughed, almost snorting sweet tea out through his nose. He had come to realize that his new wife was much more like his first wife. Maggie's mother. She was blunt and she hated people making a fuss over her. The foul language was nre for him. That was going to take a little getting used to. "Just let the lil'uns go nuts with it," Dolores added, smiling over at the small group of children that were swarming the gazebo, plates and forks in hand.

"You want me to bring you a piece at least?," Katie asked, leaning down to wrap her gran up into a fierce hug. The woman nodded.

"I would love some cake," Hershel said. He looked down at all the empty plates in front of him and added, "maybe just a small piece." Katie laughed and bent down to kiss his cheek. She whispered not so quietly into his ear, thanking him for making her 'nana' so happy.

Katie gathered up the empty plates from the small table and dropped them off in a large bin of soapy water that had been set out for that purpose then she headed for the gazebo. Lots of high pitched squealing and yelling from the children could be heard and then they were walking out one by one, carefully carrying little white plates that were now filled with slices of cake. One little girl ran out with a slice of cake in her hand, crumbs dropping down the front of her shirt as she tried cramming the whole thing in her mouth at once.

A slightly older child had been trusted to carry not only one but two pieces of cake over to Hershel's table for him and Dolores. Dolores lifted the girl up onto her lap and let her eat her piece while Hershel laughed at them both. He recognized the child, but wasn't sure who her mother was. He had been trying to get to know everyone, but the group was large and scattered. There were still some people he hadn't had much contact with. From the girl's slight accent Hershel guessed she must belong to one of the russian women that worked in the gardens and spoke mostly in broken english. Maggie told him those women had been living here long before the outbreak. Victims of international sex trafficking that Katie and her sister Mandy had taken in. The girl managed to polish off most of the cake before her mother came to retrieve her. Like everyone else, the woman offered them her heartfelt congratulations. And an apology for her messy cake eating daughter which Dolores told her was totally unnecessary.

"How did this start?," Hershel asked, gesturing towards the woman as she walked away. She had ahold of her daughter's hand and they were skipping back to the area where people were dancing. But when the woman approached the table, he had noticed the scars on her arms and one long nasty looking one on the side of her face.

Momma D closed her eyes and thought about Hershel's question. She and her husband had built this place when she was pregnant with her first daughter, Katie's mother. Slowly adding on over the years. At some point the place started making money. A lot of money. The guided hunting trips were popular and so were the vacation cabins. They were often booked for the entire next summer before winter was even over. Dolores had been a teacher, back before her and her husband started homesteading, and she was still passionate about it. So she started with the summer programs for at risk youth. As her children grew older and had children of their own, they got involved as well. Katie and Mandy's mother had sent them to public school, wanting them to get a taste of the real world.

One day Katie brought a friend home with her. Katie had been in high school at the time, already hopelessly in love with her future husband. The girl she brought home was skinny with long dark hair and a haunted look to her face. After Katie forced a sandwich and giant glass of milk on the girl she sat her down at the table and asked her to repeat the story she had told Katie for Katie's gran. The girl looked scared, but she held tight to Katie's hand and told her story. Her mother's boyfriend had been raping her. One day her mother came home from work early and caught him. So naturally she called her daughter a whore that was trying to steal her man and kicked her out of the house. The girl had been living on the streets and in dingy motels, stealing or working as a prostitute to get money for food. Somehow she had managed to keep going to school, though her attendance was getting worse and worse. Dolores looked at her granddaughter's hopeful face, knowing right away what Katie wanted.

Ten years later and the girl that Katie brought home for dinner was still with them. She was Hex, the woman that took care of all the horses. But something had started that day that was about more than just one girl. Katie started stopping in at shelters for at risk youth or battered women. Leaving her number. Inviting girls she met at the shelters to come home with her for dinner. Some stayed at the compound until they were finished with school and moved on. Farm life was not for everyone. But some chose to stay permenantly and become part of the family. Once the turn happened it became about more than just giving someone a better life. It became about saving their lives. The first run outside the walls she picked up Roberta, Addy and Cassandra. Once they had Roberta things got much more controlled and organized. They still saved people, but they also trained them.

"I think we were very lucky that we ran into your granddaughter and her friends when we did," Hershel said. He was smiling, thinking the story over in his mind. No wonder these people were so prepared for the outbreak. They knew the horrors of the outside world long before the dead started walking. His new wife reached over and grabbed his hand.

"I'm the lucky one," she assured him.

TWD

Beth ate so much she was ready to burst. She laughed and hugged her father. Glenn got down on his knee and proposed to Maggie. Beth cried tears of happiness for them. She danced with Katie's brothers. Then she and Carl danced together. But eventually they grew bored of dancing. The twins wanted to smoke, but Beth and Carl didn't want to get high in front of their dads. So they headed into the main house and clustered themselves in one of the control rooms. Beth was there, sitting between Carl and Gannon. Greg had his arm around Kristin, who kept giggling every time he whispered to her. Beth felt a connection with Kristin, since she had been there when the girl was rescued from the men that were holding her. She was happy to see that Kristin seemed to have gotten over her fear of men and strangers in general. Lexi was sitting crosslegged on the floor, rolling a joint.

They smoked themselves silly. Somehow Beth ended up with her pink guitar in her hands, playing music that she knew well enough to not have to think about it too much. Carl and Lexi were sitting in the same chair, with Lexi half in his lap. Between the two of them they had devoured almost an entire chocolate cream pie straight from the dish. Beth was pretty sure neither of them was going to be pooping for a while and when they did, it was going to look like chocolate cream pie. Greg and Kristin were using the video monitors to try and spy on people. Since they were only pointing outside the walls, there wasn't much to spy on, but they had spotted a few walkers shuffling around. At Gannon's request Beth was playing all the Tom Petty songs she knew while he sang. He actually had a half decent voice and she was enjoying having someone to make music with.

Suddenly Kristin was shushing all of them up. Once Beth stopped playing, she heard a funny beeping sound coming from on top of one of the metal shelves. It took her a moment to realize it was a phone ringing. It had been a long time since she hears one, she had almost forgotten they existed.

"There," Kristin pointed, "I knew I heard something." Gannon cursed and stumbled forward, snatching up the phone. Luckily there was a big poster on the wall that told him what to say.

"This is base camp. Survivor Outpost you are speaking to base camp."

There was a long pause and then a voice came through from the other end. It was a woman and she sounded scared and nervous.

"We need help. There are biters outside and we are out of bullets."

Gannon looked at the phone in his hand. It was marked with a big number four. He ran him finger over the map, mumbling under his breath. On the map above the shelf one of the outposts was marked with the same number. It was the abandoned McDonalds. He knew where that was.

"How many of you are there?," Gannon asked. That was one of the questions written out in big black letters on the poster. There was a long pause and what sounded like muffled talking on the other end of the phone. Then the woman came back on.

"Only two of us, me and my sister... Can you help us?"

"Yes. Someone will be there in twenty minutes." Before the woman could say anything else the phone either went dead or she dropped it. Greg jumped up and smacked at Gannon. What the hell was his brother thinking, telling that woman that someone would be there in twenty minutes? Katie and all the other run girls were halfway to drunk by now. No one was going out to make a pickup until at least the next morning. Gannon should know better than to tell them someone was coming right away.

"Couldn't we just go pick them up?," Lexi asked. Unlike the other kids, she had been out on the road. A lot. She had been all the way to seaside and back more than six different times. She had been on pickups before too, with Roberta and some of the other women. Carl was quick to chime in, also volunteering to go along. He found himself strangely eager to get outside the walls and prove himself. Make sure this place wasn't making him weak. Also he wanted to impress Lexi.

"I do know where it is," Gannon admitted. There were only two women alone there. He was pretty sure they could pick up two women and make it back before anyone even knew they were gone.

"I don't know," Beth said. They were all high. And she was pretty sure none of them were supposed to go outside the walls without telling people where they were going. "Maybe we should take someone with us." Like Katie or Daryl.

"Ok," Lexi said, "let's go get Addy. I know she wasn't drinking tonight." That shut Beth up in a hurry. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck outside the walls with some crazy woman that hated her for no good reason.

"Forget it, let's just go," Beth said. Greg was telling Kristin she didn't have to go, but she was insisting she wanted to help. Save someone the same way she had been saved. So along she came into the weapons locker where they all started gearing up.

Beth had cowboy boots on under her dress, so she didn't have to change shoes. She strapped a leather holster around her waist and stuffed a gun and some extra clips into it. There was already a small knife stuffed down inside her boot. Beth felt safe at this place, but not safe enough to walk around completely unarmed. She knew most of the other women carried at least knives on them at all times. So she head decided to do the same.

Poking through the bin of secondary weapons, Beth didn't reall see anything she liked and eventually just took one of the long sharpened sticks that were leaning against the wall. The girls here mostly used them to stab at the walkers that ended up at the front gates. But she figured the stick would work for stabbing a walkers without letting it get to close to her.

The twins both took rifles, while Lexi grabbed her sword and one of the handguns she favored. Then she set Kristin up with a large hunting knife and a smaller handgun that didn't have a lot of kickback.

"I'm not a very good shot," Kristin admitted.

"Well...," Lexi said, looking at the gun she was strapping to the girl's thigh over her leggings, "just don't shoot me and we'll be alright." This brought on a round of laughter. Beth laughed too, but she had a sinking feeling in her gut. Everyone was acting like this was some kind of game, nothing more than a bit of silly mischief. But it was a lot scarier than that. She thought about saying something, but she didn't want to come off looking like a coward when everyone else was ready to go.

They loaded up into one of the larger trucks, Gannon drove with Lexi riding shotgun. Everyone else piled into the back. They got through the inner gate without any problems, but Beth knew there were people guarding the outer gate. With any luck they would refuse to let them leave. Gannon stopped the truck just short of the gate and Lexi leaned out.

"Open up," she called out, pointing to the gate. There were two girls guarding the gate and both of them looked nervous and confused.

"Roberta said no one in or out," one of them announced.

"Who do you think sent us?," Lexi asked the girl, talking to her like she was the biggest idiot on earth. The two girls exchanged glances and then the girl looked back at Lexi.

"Why didn't she call us on the radio and tell us herself?," the girl asked.

"Cause she's drunk at the party ya dummy," Lexi hollered. "Now open up." The girl chewed at her lip a moment. Roberta told her very clearly that no one was to be let in or out. The gates were not to be opened for any reason. But Lexi held some authority around camp as well. Everyone knew she was the youngest memeber of the run team and a field medic. If she was telling them to let her out, the girl figured maybe she needed to go help someone that was hurt. The girl also saw both Katie's brothers in the truck, who she knew had also gone out on a run not too long ago. She didn't think they would be going out unless Katie knew about it. The girl hesitated a moment longer before she climbed down and pressed the button that opened the gate.

Gannon slammed on the gas once they got onto the road, making the tires squeal and leaving black tread on the road behind him. His brother reached through the window of the cab and smacked him upside the head, telling him to knock that shit the hell off people he killed them all.

Beth had not been outside the walls since they arrived. She thought she remembered what it was like on the outside, but seeing it was something different. They passed by a burnt down building with a few charred walkers stumbling around in front of it. Abandonded cars were scattered around, doors and trunks hanging open. It gave her a sick feeling in her stomach and she could tell by the serious look on Carl's face that he felt the same way. Somewhere deep down in some secret place inside of her, she knew now that she had been pushing all this out of her mind. Pretending that the outbreak was nothing more than one long bad dream. Outside the walls of the compound, things were slowly returning to normal. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Gannon pulled the truck up outside what used to be a fast food restaurant. On the tall sign that could be seen for miles, the letters spelled out SURVIVOR OUTPOST. There was a similar sign on the building as well. Above the door. The place was sprayed up with pink spray paint, especially the door, which said ENTER HERE and PLEASE DO NOT STEAL THE KEY. The key was attached to the side of the building with a bike lock, but someone with a bolt cutter could still take it.

There was a small group of walkers piled up against the door. So at least the woman on the phone had not been lying about that. Greg leaped down from the truck, waiting and giving Beth and Kristin a hand down behind him. Lexi whistled, getting the walkers attention. She slashed the first few with her sword while Greg and Gannon sliced at the rest with their hunting knives. Carl's gun had a silencer, so he shot and any biters that were coming at them from the other direction.

Beth and Kristin only had to kill one. It shuffled over from around the back of the truck. Kristin kicked it's knee out and once it was on the ground, Beth stabbed it in the head with the spear she was holding. It felt better than she expected. She didn't even get anything on her dress. Now she was feeling silly for being so scared. She had been on the road all winter. There was no reason for her to feel like she couldn't handle herself.

The twins dragged the walkers away that were blocking the door. Then Lexi opened it. She called inside before they entered. Telling the people inside that she was here to help them and asking them to please not shoot at her or her friends. Beth ended up in the middle of the group, the entrance was narrow and they had to walk single file. Once the were inside, it became clear that something wasn't right.

There were two women, as one of them had said on the phone. But instead of hiding in the back or behind the counters like Beth expected, they were standing out in the open clinging to each other. Neither one of them had much clothing on. One was in a tattered oversized tshirt and the other was dressed in a men's button down shirt that only had a few buttons left. Kristin was standing slightly in front of Beth and then suddenly her body was stiff with fear. She reached for her gun, but in her panic it got stuck in the holster.

"They're going to kill you!," one of the women screamed out. Before Beth could respond the woman was slumping dead to the ground with an arrow through her head. Within the span of a few seconds, everything turned into complete chaos. Kristin started screaming. Horrible ear peircing shrieks that echoed through the empty restaurant. Then some man grabbed for Lexi and she was fighting him. He twisted her wrist until she dropped her sword and then they started struggling over her gun.

Beth felt herself pulled backwards by the hair. A strong forearm pressed against her throat and then everything was going black. She could feel the man's hot breath on her ear. Somewhere in her mind she knew she ought to be going for her gun, but instead she was gripping the man's arm and trying to pull it away from her neck. Air. She needed air. Black spots were swimming in front of her eyes. The last thing she saw before everything went black was some man knocking Carl to the ground and wrapping duct tape around his wrists. His hat flung off and rolled across the floor into a puddle of blood.