A/N: Sometimes I know what I'm doing, and sometimes I'm like 'yeah, sure, let's go with that'.
PS- sorry for the delay; the first week of school is busy, busy, busy!
Prompt: Turning Tables
.o.o.o.
"Maggie, keep your eyes peeled for walkers." Hershel ordered from behind the fence. Maggie, the best tree-climber they had at the moment, was beyond the fence, perched high in a tree, hopefully out of view.
"Yessir." She held up a shotgun, looking down the sight in all directions. It'd been maybe 10 minutes since she spotted the flashing signals. Beth was on the second floor of the house, staying out of danger and keeping lookout. Glenn, T-Dog, and Hershel moved two cars up by the locked gate to use as a defense and had guns and extra shells. They'd come up with a small plan; be prepared for the worst.
What 'the worst' was, they weren't sure.
.o.o.o.
"It's not too far now." Rick told them as they approached the gated community. He had hoped to whatever was out there, his faith in God damaged with the appearance of the undead, that someone, anyone, had seen the signals and remembered.
"It's about... time." Max huffed, falling way behind. The mile it took to get out to washing pond was doubled to get to the community. Everyone else, used to working long days in the field or just by doing the washing every week, was fine, keeping a moderately slow pace for their leader.
"No way." One of the thugs, Mike as Anna recalled, was amazed as they came into view of the gated community. "You fortified this place? That's pretty smart."
"We know how to take care of our own." Rick replied, cutting Daryl off from saying something rude.
"As do we." Max huffed, passing them as he tried to get in the front.
"The gate's locked." Another thug leaned in close to the makeshift lock they had. It was only a metal chain held together by a large climbing clip.
"We always lock it after us. Don't want no walkers gettin' in." Daryl shrugged. They looked at him in surprise. Whether it was that he spoke, or that it was a good idea, Anna wasn't sure. All she knew was that she spotted Maggie up in the trees and had been desperatly trying not to stare at her and give her friend away.
"So here's how we do this," Max smirked as he reached to undo the 'lock', "you're going to go in and bring out everything in those houses for us."
"No, son, here's how we do things." Hershel stood, gun ready, behind the hood of Rick's car. He had his gun trained on Max.
"So you left Santa at home to defend? You got quite the merry band." Max laughed, unthreatened. All his thugs raised their guns to Hershel, creating just the distraction Anna was hoping for. She dropped down, supporting her weight on her wrists, flung her legs out to sweep one of the thugs to the ground. Daryl and Rick each took on a thug, wrestling them with their free hands. Maggie dropped to the ground and tossed a handgun to Anna. T-Dog and Glenn kept them all in sight, ready to intervene with their guns.
"Now," Rick said holding the gun he got away from the thug, "this is how we do things."
.o.o.o.
Carol and Lori huddled in Lori and Rick's room on the second floor. Beth kept an alert eye on them, feeding them and comforting them as much as they needed.
Downstairs, it was chaos. Max and his thugs submitted, but were being as obnoxious as before.
"We demand our rights. You're a cop, you must obey!" He demanded loudly. It earned him a hard smack across the face with the butt of Rick's gun.
"You took our women and demanded we give everything to save them. You lost your rights as soon as you stooped that low." Rick said dangerously.
"I guess that shows how much you care for those women. Not willin' to even trade a scrap of food." Max eyed the 'feast' before everyone at the table. They had decided to celebrate by opening cans of the girls' favorite foods. Peaches, pears, chili, baked beans, and creamed corn littered the table, spoons sticking out.
"We have our women without any negotiations. And if you're lucky, we'll let you go without a fight." Rick stood back and took a bite of beans. He was torn. Let them go, or make them walker bait. They certainly deserved it; he suspected they'd tried it before. And by their confidence, they'd succeeded.
"'If we're lucky'? What's that supposed ta mean?" A thug asked, starting to sweat. Daryl took his cue and started fiddling with his large bowie knife.
"You wouldn't." Max sneered. Taking aim, Daryl tossed the knife and it embedded itself in the wood, two inches from Max's right ear.
"Guys, just get them outta here. They're still giving me the creeps." Anna muttered, pulling a sweatshirt tighter. Since night fell and the temperatures dropped, the tank top she had on was now useless against the cool night.
"They are an eyesore." T-Dog laughed, taking another bite.
"Let us go and we ain't be an inconvenience." Mike said, the honesty clear through the desperation in his voice.
"Let the hired help go... I want to keep him for walker bait." Rick decided. It wasn't the ranch hands' fault if their leader was a bad seed. The five men bolted as soon as T-Dog cut their bonds. Max watched them desperately, seeing them abandon him so quickly.
"Bastards." He swore, struggling.
"C'mon let's get some sleep." Rick sighed and slowly, they dispersed into their rooms.
They slept comfortably for once, relieved that everyone was safe and sound. No one noticed when a lithe body got up. No one noticed as they went downstairs. No one noticed as they picked up a hand gun.
And no one noticed when they shot their prisoner.
