Invasion was always apart of their plan. It had to be didn't it? They moved much quicker then I was expecting, using chinooks to get their armor within range. It's my fault they've gotten this far, I wasn't paying attention. By the time Toby's nightmares started they were close, ten miles from the Alexandrian safe zone. It was three in the morning when we ordered evacuations, the few people who still lived in Alexandria had to flee before those humvees destroyed them, most of them made it... but not all of them.
Im not worried about the Humvees, hell Im not even worried about the company of fourteen tanks rolling our way. Im worried about Carmine, and the four other evolved he has with him. The problem I'm having is identifying them, evolved look the same as normal humans, and I don't wanna risk Fenrir getting close enough to smell them, Ive had him flying over them ever since they showed up last night.
I know Eugene is here, I know Negan is in one of those tanks, and I know Carmine is here, hidden in one of those tents, hiding from my view.
They've already taken the Alexandrian safezone, and a small detachment of two tanks and eight foot soldiers are in route to Sanctuary, we evacuated them too. However, before our farmers left, they booby trapped the area with explosives, hopefully it will take out those tanks or at least stall them.
The black hawk crew is ready, but Those Apaches will tear them apart if you don't deal with them first. Fenrir can take out some of them from his current position using archer missiles.
Do it.
Archer missiles inbound, standby.
I bang on the side of the bus to alert the driver that they're clear to leave. The bus one of many, all of them full with those whom are either to sick, old, or incapable of fighting. They're being taken to the Kingdom, our most secure location. Ezekiel is leading his army to his designated combat zone. Rick is inbound to Sanctuary to deal with the few hostiles in that area, he'll join me when I give the order. Maggie herself has moved to the Garden, her and her child, Hershel JR. however, Jesus is commanding the Hilltop in her place. I didn't wanna risk her death right after the child's birth.
"Squad one, Whats your status?" I radio in to my training squad, lead by the one and only Connor Lane.
"We're still in foxhole fourteen, got eyes on three tanks, looks like they're fueling up."
"Alright, stay hidden, wait for them to trip the defenses."
Foxhole fourteen is located about three miles west of Alexandria, Im not sure whats in that area, didn't exactly explore it before the Leviathan burned it to ashes.
Two Apaches down! Three more to go! Swat them outta the sky!
Right.
"Squad 3 I'll be overhead in... i'd say three minutes. Imma slap some sky asses for ya, you know what to do when I get there."
"Roger doger, slap em silly alien."
"Fuck you Dwight." I laugh.
I know what you're thinking. Why the fuck is Dwight, a former savior, in charge of squad three? Well there's a simple answer to that question, he isn't, he just has the radio. Why does he have the radio? I don't know, I didn't give him the radio. However it seems like the leader of squad three, U.S. Navy Seal chief petty officer Kane Nixon must have given it to him.
Squad three is closest to the Alexandria Safe zone, and is made of mostly of special forces. Seals, Delta, Marine force recon, the best this world has to offer... all at my disposal. But thats not why I have them there, they also have the most high tech equipment, and we left a little present for Carmine in the tunnels under the Alexandria safe zone.
"Wait for me to be overhead before you do your thing, squad three! Hold your fire!" I say, and shift into my combat skin, taking off into the sky. If i had a theme song it would be playing right now and I'd look epic as fuck! Unfortunately that is not the case... I should get a theme song one of these days... from the theme song store.
I wonder what my theme song would sound like? Probably some sort of heavy metal rift. Maybe I would have three theme songs? I mean I have three forms dont I? It would make sense for each form to have its own song. I think the combat form would be all heavy metal and badassish, but the flesh skin would be a bit more... trepidatious in comparison, a bit more danceable... a good time. It would be energizing and upbeat, and I feel like a violin would be involved. It would be the type of song that would make people want to get up and dance! It would be party music!
The Leviathan would be scary, orchestral based music. It would be very loud and chaotic, creating a sense of anxiety and fear in anyone who listens to it. It would signal the end lf the world... I mean to these people that ship has already sailed. But to other people! The unseen observers! It would give them the heebie jeebies!
Stop zoning out idiot! You passed the combat area!
Huh? Oh right.
I flip a bitch in the air and notice the tree Apaches in the distance, they definitely noticed me. You wanna know how I know? Because one of them had already fired off a sidewinder, the missile was blasting towards me at a air shattering speed.
"Oh shit!" I gasp and roll, narrowly avoiding the sidewinder as it bumps off the armor on my knee, knocking one of its rear rudders and causing it to spin into the ground, exploding on impact. Shit, those Apaches are packing heat! But at least their attention is on me.
"Now squad one!" There's a small delay between when I give the order and when its executed, but Im glad to see the plan finally play out.
The earth cracks before the explosion burst through the ground, swallowing up the mass of infantry and machinery beneath me. Small collections of fragmentation explosives fire off in various sections of the area as well, adding more chaos as squad one fires smoke grenadines and rockets through the small openings in their foxhole, hidden under vegetation. "Good shit squad 1! Fenrir will cover your retreat through the trenches!"
"Roger Spartan, we're Oscar Mike to bravo zone." The chief petty officer Nixon replies having apparently taken the radio back from Dwight. Now its my turn to shake things up a little.
I put my head down and fly helmet first through the side of the lead Apache in the triangle formation, switching my right arm into my whip fist as I do it. The impact doesn't hurt, the shields systems hardening before the impact, splitting the metal like a battering ram would do to a wooden door.
I spin around in the air and launch my whip through the twin engines under the rotator blades of one of the Apaches, using my inertia to spin while I pull the helicopter closer to me, slamming it into the other helicopter and detaching myself before Im pulled down with them as they descend into the fire and smoke and death below us. And from the sound of Conners voice on the radio, I beat them right in the nick of time!
"Dindu!" Connor whisper screams into his walkie talkie, a dull roar in the background. "The tanks are moving! Whats your E.T.A?"
"Give me hmmmm... twenty seconds." I reply and climb altitude, they got tanks right? Imma see if I can cut through em. I fly over the area and spot the group of three tanks, a trail of dust following them as the slowly make their way over the brush. I fly straight down and change my arm into the single massive blade capable of dealing a solid slice through the tanks armor.
"Yeet!" I scream as I descended on the tank like a fat kid descends onto a chocolate cake. My blade smashes into the armor, and instead of slicing like a knife through butter, it kinda ripped it apart, messily like a... like something messy. Insert your own analogy I can't think of one, kinda busy here.
"What the fuck?" The man sitting in the gunner seat of the tank behind me screams, catching my attention. We freeze for a second, waiting to see what the other will do. Im pretty sure he thinks if he stays still I cant see him.
"I see you!" I scream, reveling in his panicked stare as I rotate my wrists, revealing two massive claws. As he cocks his mounted machine gun I slam my claws into the dirt beneath us, causing a eruption of crystallized stalactites to pierce the tanks from underneath, ripping it apart as it expands. "Thats two."
One more.
The third tanks lacks the trepidation that last one did, and fires at me with its massive cannon, knocking me to the ground as the shell smashes into my armor, momentarily overloading my shield systems. I scrambled to my feet and fly forward, grabbing the tanks cannon and ripping it off the turret ring and revealing the two crew members previously hidden in the tanks shell. A growl leaves my throat as I slam the shell with the massive turret, smashing the tank apart with the big gun. Those cunts shot me! I've never been shot with a tank-shell before! Broke my fucking shield, now they'll have to recharge.
"Fuck you, you fucking fuck!" I scream as I repeatedly slam the turret into the shell, crushing the crew inside and quelling my rage. I toss the turret to the side and walk of the the foxhole containing most of my training squad, Carl is with his dad near sanctuary, they're probably already in combat, I'm not sure, Its Almas job to monitor comms traffic and Im not to be disturbed unless it's important.
"You alright squad one?" I ask and they pop their heads into view, looks like everyone is alive. I see a thumbs up by who Im assuming is Liam, Felix usually flips me off. "Alright, Cmon out, we gotta move."
Toby scrambles out of the hole and walks up next to me. "Whats the deal?" He asks "you're walking with us? Don't you wanna fly overhead and give us pointers?"
I shrug and swing my rifle off my back, keeping it ready against my shoulder."I'll scout ahead... but keep low, not alot of cover out here. Scan your sectors and be ready! Squad three already fell back so we're gonna stay low until Squad four and six give us the signal for the pinture movement."
The plan is simple, but I believe it will work, those months of planning would be wasted otherwise. We had spent a good amount of time gathering debris to plant around the area, leaving the Alexandrian safe zone clear. It was bait, we knew that they had air transportation, so we left them a landing zone. We had set up a series of foxholes and under ground tunnels that would be invisible from the air. We let then land at the Alexandrian safe zone, waited for them to show thier capabilities, and draw out their air forces. Once I dealt with the Apaches, the ground teams went to work, firing from the foxholes and setting off traps.
Obviously fighting tanks with infantry would spell disaster for us, thats why once the initial strike took place, our forces would fall back through a series of tunnels, some of which go nowhere and are designed to confuse and deter any hostile footmen who may be in pursuit.
There are three power players on our side of this fight. The first one, obviously, is me. Carl and Fenrir are the other two. Carl is dealing with the Saviors who were dispatched the the east, towards sanctuary. He might be dead... tank shells hurt and he doesn't even have a armored skin, but Imma be optimistic and assume he's alive. Fenrirs job isn't as back breaking as mine or carls, but its still incredibly important. Its a simple job, one a super advanced alien dog can do. He must provide cover for retreating forces, providing heavy weapons cover and artillery, drawing a majority of the fire and luring hostile forces to designated ambush areas, allowing us to flank them. We'll swallow them up! And kick em in the cunts!
Is the black hawk team ready?
They will be... in ten minutes.
"Team four, status?"
There's a anxiety inducing pause before Rick, the leader of team four finally responds. "Were just finishing up, hows things on your end?"
"Doing good, just cleaned up the western flank and team one already dealt with their section, only a matter of time until we can go for the kill, be ready!"
—————————————————
The thing about war is it isn't just constant chaos. Battles are long and take time, often getting eerily quite, and thats just as dangerous as the bullets flying overhead. Silence gives the soldier time to think, time to comprehend, and time to question the plan. This often times leads to panic, even the most hardened soldier can succumb to the threats presented by their own mind. And here I am, with a bunch of kids, a bunch of scared kids.
"Liams having a panic attack!" Toby whispers to me, prompting me to look back at the boy being forced into his brothers arms, his rifle and tact- vest had been kicked away from him, and was laying in the dirt.
"God damnit." I whisper, switching into my flesh skin, this is gonna need a personal touch. "Spread out, keep your eyes open." The squad spreads out, leaving me Felix and Liam in the center of the diamond formation. Liam was taking short, shallow breaths as his twin held him close, keeping his head in the crook of his neck.
"Whats wrong?" I ask, sneaking up beside the two boys.
Felix acknowledged my presence but focuses on Liam, running his fingers through his hair and gently massaging his scalp with his fingers in a circular motion. "He's okay, he's just a little freaked out."
A while ago Felix told me that Liam was terrified of me. Im not sure what that mean, but I know I need to be extra careful with him, and make sure I don't raise my voice, it scares him.
Sedative activated.
"Hey buddy." I say with an American accent and wrap my arms around his torso from behind. I use an American accent to avoid overlapping voices, the two different pitches that sometimes happen when I talk, making it sound like two different people talking at the same time.
"Are you okay Liam?" I squeeze his and rub my cheek on his shoulder.
"Mmmhhmm." The boy said still burying his face in his brothers neck. "You're just scary is all."
Wow thanks.
"That's alright." I say and sneak my hands under his shirt, placing my palms on his sides under his ribs. He jumps at the initial skin contact, but the sedative quickly does its job, relaxing the boy in seconds. Toby and I know that the sedative works through skin contact, but I just realized no one else does, so when Felix sees me essentially groping his brother during his anxiety attack he's understandably confused.
"Umm what are you doing?" Felix asks and pushes me away from his brother, making me chuckle.
"Relax" i say holding my hands up. "I need skin contact for the sedative to work."
"Its true." Toby says, not taking his eyes off his sector. "He's done it to me before too."
Felix takes in the information, but still gives me a skeptical glare, the kind with his eyes half closed like he's having trouble seeing. "Okay... do you have to touch him like that though?"
"Would you rather have me jack him off?"
Liam laughs against his brothers shoulder and shoots me a playful look, I think my joke worked for the most part. I mean the goal was to lighten the boys mood and I think I've done that.
"Yeah Dindu, just jack me off in the middle of a war why don't cha." Liam laughs and rubs his red eyes, drying his tears. I give the boy a half smile and run my hand through his hair, enjoying the feeling between my fingers. "I'm sorry I called you scary." The boy apologies, catching me a little off guard.
"Its fine, Im a lit..." I feel something hot trailing against my skin, but I'm not sure what it is. It starts at my side and trails up my body towards my head. I look into the brush for a few seconds and then I see him. "Oh hai."
The bullet strikes my forehead, making me stumble back and let out a gasp as I fall onto my back. "Well that's a concussion." I groan, a bit of blood pouring into my eyes.
"Sniper! Hit the deck!" Screams Connor as he and everyone else jumps flat to there stomachs. I wait for my head to stop spinning before I stumble to my feet, receiving a bullet to the chest plate of my mesh suit and falling flat on my back again.
"One more time!" I whisper to myself and get up again, rolling out of the path of the bullet as the sniper tries picking me off for the third time. "Juked!" I scream and roll towards Liams discarded firearm, putting the butt to my shoulder and letting a few rounds off in the snipers direction, inducing a eruption of blood and shattering his spine. "Bingo bango bongo!"
I began a happy little dance, triumphantly shaking my hips from side to side and throwing my ass in a circle. And you know what happened? I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with "recond piper."
"Ooph!" I groan as the bullet from a second sniper scrapes my throat, leaving a nasty scratch with burned skin near my wind pipe. How many fucking snipers can be here? Fuck playing fair! Imma show these faggots what a alien can really do!
"Djimon transform!" I scream and fade away into distortion, emerging all big and armored and full of rage. I use thermal vision to finally spot that second sniper, dudes wearing a bush to blend into the vegetation. I sprint forward and jump, launching myself in the direction of said bush sniper. I use my boosters to jet forward, slamming my fists into the ground creating a bio magnetic shockwave, launching the sniper a few feet away from where he originally laid.
"Open fire!" A man in the distance screams, and a volley of fire slams into me, activating my shield systems from the sheer amount of projectiles being launched into me.
Get to cover stupid!
"Right!" I acknowledged out loud and sprint forward, smashing into a approaching humvee and knocking it on its side before swinging my rifle off my back.
The scientists at the Garden took a look at me and my weaponry a while back and decided that my rifle fires a sort of "magnetic-light bolt". Do I know what that means? No.
Do I care? Not entirely.
Is now the time for this?
Not at all.
Ten to my left including one Humvee. Eight more close behind, one tank in the distance, past the forest. Gonna need to get creative for this one. Hmmm so many choices so little time.
I spin the revolver built into the underside of my rifle, picking which slot I should use. "Hmm this one sounds fun."
Activating pressure grenade.
I peak around the turned over humvee and pull the secondary trigger, letting off a ball of black light... or absence of light at the group of soldiers taking cover behind the approaching humvee. I slink back into cover and let the grenade do the work.
The pressure grenade works like this. You know how if you go deep sea diving they tell you not to go flying on the same day. Its kinda like that, minus the fun of seeing eels or sharks and instead of flying your on the ground, writhing in pain. Nitrogen bubbles begin forming in your blood stream, affecting all of your organs.
"Enjoy your decompression sickness!" I growl out just before the black ball does its job and collapses in on itself, changing the atmospheric pressure within a forty foot radius and making every single soldier collapse as well as ripping the windshield off the humvee infront of them. Opportunity! I peak out and fire a volley of hard light at the humvee and its occupants, mowing them down as the cool kids would say.
"The master marksman smells cum in the water." I whisper to myself as I set my sights on a fleeing soldier, stumbling though the forest towards the tank on the other side. "He strikes." I growl and pull the trigger, firing a shot that splits the man in half. The tanks cannon turns towards me and I prepare for what's coming, ducking right under the shell as it barrels past me into the forest, smashing into a cluster of trees.
Activating M.A.C cannon.
I hold the second trigger, making the revolver spin slowly, quickly accelerating until its a blur under the rifle barrel. It quickly syncs with my armors shield systems, and a dull blue glow radiates in the air around me, circling around me as my shields go into overdrive. I aim at the tank and release the trigger, firing a massive magnetic blast into it ,smashing into the tank and igniting its munitions, making explode into a massive fireball. The M.A.C cannon is super powerful, unfortunately it also depletes my shields for a solid forty seconds, leaving me Flightless and vulnerable to heavy munitions.
All hostiles down. "Good job, me." I say to myself and jog back to my friends. "Everyone alright?" I ask the group of sprawled out people.
"Sound off squad one!" Connor orders, reaffirming his role as squad leader.
"Toby here!"
"I got a fucking splinter in my god damn leg!" Screams Jacy, and by splinter she doesn't mean a small one, she essentially got shanked in the calf, the chunk of wood actually went through her pants and embedded itself into her calf. Besides her everyone else seems okay. "Leave it in!"
"Jacy, we cant leave it in, It'll turn septic." Toby says as he holds her down by her wrists. "Do it now Connor!"
"Alright, sorry Jacy!" The man says and pulls the wooden chunk out of her leg, a piece of tendon snapping with it. Jacys leg spasms for a second before she starts screaming, the pain from the tendon shooting up he leg as she trashed around in Tobys grip.
"Get the FUCK off me!" She screams and Toby rolls off her, letting he curl up and clutch her wounded leg.
"So ummmm can you still fight?" I ask, Im pretty sure I know the answer already but I better make sure.
"No I can't still fight you stupid motha fucka!" She screams at me momentarily forgetting her pain and replacing it with rage, I shrug and move away from he, looking through the tree line. We still have work to do, but we cant bring Jacy in her current condition.
"Maggie, can you hear me?"
"Everything alright Dindu?" Maggie replies, but its the wrong Maggie.
"I mean Maggie Hall."
"What do you want alien boy?"
Yep thats her.
"We need a med-evac at zone eight... please."
I hear her groan on the radio before replying "I already have a full load, you're gonna have to hold out for a while?"
"A full load? Why? What happened?"
"Team six was wiped out along with most of team five, Carmine pushed through sectors two and six... you didn't know that?"
"No I didn't fucking know that!" I scream, team five was led by Ezekiel, I like Ezekiel. Im not gonna ask if he's dead until after this is over, I can't afford to get distracted right now. I take a deep breath "when do you think you'll be able to get here?"
"Well we have to go back to base and unload, so I'd say fifteen minutes."
Sigh. "Roger that."
Connor motions next to me to get my attention and I squat down next to him. "The hilltop is defenseless with sectors two and six unchecked like that, you're gonna have to go their without us."
"But what about the pinture maneuver? You cant cover this side by yourselves."
"We can get ourselves outflanked if you don't deal with sectors two and six. I'm sorry son, but this is our best option." Shit, he's right. We'll lose the hilltop and get outflanked, and then whats to stop them from taking over the Kingdom? Can I even cover those two sectors at the same time? There's still those evolved at play too. Mhhhhh.
I get back onto my suits internal radio and transmit to Rick, I have a idea... but its all or nothing. "Rick? Where are you? Is Carl with you?"
"We're moving down the highway, and yeah he's with me... why?"
"Stay where you are! Im coming to you!" I say and turn off the radio, Carls not gonna like this. I turn to look at my friends for perhaps the last time. "Good luck squad one!"
I cheer and zoom off into the sky, leaving them perplexed.
—————————————————-
"This is so stupid." Carl says as he grabs me around the neck, hugging himself against me tightly. "I don't like this plan... like at all."
Rick gives me a worried sideways glare before saying "You sure you know what you're doing, thats my son you got their."
"It'll work, we're gonna even the odds." I say while hugging carl to me and slowly levitating off the highway road, zooming into the sky. "You ready team three?"
"Define ready?"
Okay, Maybe its not a solid plan, maybe its a hail Mary at the very best. But its the only plan I have right now. The plan is team three waits for Carl and I to fly over head, and drop into the battalion of tanks beneath us. At that point I'll distract the tanks while Carl rips open their hatches and deals with the crew inside them, at that point team three will takr command of some of the tanks, using them against the Saviors. The biggest problem is we don't have enough soldiers to fill the needed crew for the tanks, so they're gonna be immobile. But the guns will work and thats what we need right now.
Archer missiles on standby, I'll fire on your que.
Is Fenrir ready?
He's locked and loaded.
"Team three, commence attack in thirty seconds."
"Right, good luck spartan."
I give Carl a little shake and he groans at me, looking down at the cluster of tanks below us, I know he's anxious, I am too.
"Ready Carl?"
The boy takes a deep breath and pauses before nodding. I throw him a good hundred feet straight up before letting my boosters go cold, allowing me to plummet straight down. I grab the rifle off my back and fire a few electo-smoke bombs below me, creating a blanket of smoke that thermal sensors wont be able to see through, rendering the tanks blind.
Archer missiles away!
The balls of blue light zoom by me and smash into two of the tanks below me, destroying them instantly. Now its my turn to enter the fray. I speed up and flip so I land feet first directly ontop of my targeted tank, flattening it and killing most of the crew inside, excluding the driver. I grab whats left of the tank and spin like a hammer thrower, launching it into the other tank next to me, toppling it over. As you can probably tell, the tanks aren't the threat, the evolved are. And all this destruction is to lure them out. Its only a matter of time.
The smoke doesn't last long, which is good because I'm blind when Im in it. Unfortunately, once it clears the tanks can see too. The tanks open fire on my position, and I roll out of the way of their shells but the machine gun fire still hit me, activating my shield systems.
And thats when Carl descends from the sky, ripping open the top hatch of one of the tanks and jumping into the armored vehicle, killing the crew inside with his blades.
"Ouch! You dick!" I scream and charge forward at the tank, grabbing ahold of it and flying a hundred feet up into the air, dropping once I think it'll hurt. Maybe dropping a sixty eight ton tank on a field occupied by friendly forces isn't the best idea, but it sure feels good.
"Take cover team three!" I yell into my suits radio as the tank plummets to earth, smashing into pieces on impact.
"God damnit Djimon how the fuck are we supposed to commender those tanks if you fucking destroy them all!?" Chief Nixon screams at me. Damn, he's never actually called me by my real name before. "No more smashing!"
"Fine" I growl out, descending from the sky and circling the cluster of tanks below me, their guns struggling to keep me in sight. "No more smashing."
Why the fuck didn't I give Carl a radio? I have no fucking clue where he is right now, and how is team three gonna know when he's cleared out a tank? Stupid mistake, me!
"Ohhh which one is he in?" I whisper to myself while flying in circles, looking for carls stupid face to pop outta one of these vehicles. "Fuck it! Team three be ready, Im clearing out a tank for ya."
"Alright, were ready for ya."
I go fucking turbo and launch straight up into the air, letting my jets cool when im high enough. Same plan as last time, launch a couple electro smoke bombs as I fall, minus the smashing of a tank.
"Whoah!" I gasp, and realize I'm moving much too fast, i make a split second decision to smash into the ground next to the tank instead of ontop of it. I roll with the inertia before flipping onto the tank, using memory to find the hatch and ripping it open. I switch into my flesh suit, the combat skin wont fit. I wish I brought a pistol or something with me, but I didn't think id need it.
"Kyah." I scream and punch the guy in the back of the head.
"Oww! Its me its me!" The boy screams and I realize I just punched Carl in the back of the head. But then I see the two unconscious men on the ground, and I get confused.
"Carl? Why these dumb hoes alive?" I ask pointing at the two men on the ground.
"Because... I didn't wanna kill them."
"You what!?" I scream, he knows were in the middle of a war right? Is now the time to get so sentimental about life. "Carl... we talked about this."
"No!" He yells cutting me off. "YOU talked about it! You didn't care what I thought."
"And I still dont. Im sorry Carl but we cant afford to get idealistic right now, ideas aren't reality."
"But they can be!" He says grabbing the tanks radio microphone. "And Im close to making it real! Just give me a chance! Please!" Close to making it real? What does he...
"Carl, who have you been talking to?" I ask, letting my voice get serious. he doesn't answer so I take the transmitter from him and push him out of my way, mimicking his voice into the radio. "Hello? Are you still there?"
There's a moment of silence before the gruff voice rings out on the radio. "Yeah kid, Im still hear." I recognize the voice immediately, fucking Negan. I shoot Carl a very... Very angry look before going back to the radio. "Where are you? Shouldn't we talk in person?"
"Yeah, lets meet in the middle of a empty fucking field so your daddy can blow my head off. Sorry kid, but I'm not a fucking idiot."
"Can you at least tell me which tank you're in? So I can come to you?"
"Hehe, you must really think im a fucking dipshit. You really think I didn't see you falling from the sky and running around on the field like some sort of fucking power ranger? Why the fuck would I tell you where I am? So we can... what? Hold hands and sing kumbaiya? We both know thats now how this goes down."
"See, he gets it." I say over my shoulder to carl, letting my own voice come out. "Negan... tell me where you are."
"Well. Looks that was you treating those poor tanks like pancakes, guess I shouldn't be surprised. You're taller then I remember."
"Yep, I've been getting lots of calcium... so where are you?"
"Why the fuck would I tell you that?"
"You can sacrifice yourself for your people... your save people right? Save them from me."
"What do you mean?"
"Well I guess im lying, its not just you I want. It's also Carmine, the evolved, Simon... ummm Eugene too I guess. But everyone else can live... well those who are left anyways."
"How many people have you killed?"
"Today? Hmmmm I don't know, I don't keep count."
"You fucking psychopath, what do you even do it for? I know im a piece of shit, but I do it for a reason. You know how many people I had to kill to save the rest? I remember, every. Single. One. And you're telling me you dont even keep count? I bet you get off on it, dont you?"
"You really think imma sit here and let a nigga named Gilbert talk down to me?"
I see Carls head cock to the side in my peripheral vision, his eyes widen in confusion. "Gi-Gilbert?"
"Yeah, his real name is Gilbert. His wife called him Negan because she said his name didn't match him."I turn back to the radio. "Last chance Gilbert. Show yourself, save the rest, or I'll hunt you down and slaughter everyone in my way."
"Meet me outside." He says, agreeing a but quicker then I'd like.
This has to be a trap right?
Oh yeah, one hundred percent.
"Carl, Imma go outside and be ambushed, stay here until team three arrives."
"Wait!" He says grabbing my wrist "You WANT to be ambushed?! Why would you just walk into that?"
"Umm because I can keep em all occupied while y'all surround them?"
He gives me a strange look and sighs, "Okay." He wraps his arms around my neck and surprises me with a tight hug.
"I'm still mad at you." I whisper in his ear.
"I know... good luck."
"Okie dokie, be right back." I saw and give him a wave before climbing up and out of the tank. Front flipping onto the ground.
Why are you so extra?
I don't know? Finesse?
"Look at you!" I say when I see Negan scrambling onto the roof of a nearby tank, bat in hand. "I honestly didn't expect you to show yourself."
"Im a man of my word." He replies, twirling his bat in one hand. "Well... here I am."
"Yeah... there you are."
I see the other people in the trees, they're looking at me, but they're not doing anything. Why not? They're waiting for me to make the first move, aren't they. But why? Ohhhhh, I see it now. They're not just baiting me, they're baiting Carl too. And they're baiting anyone else who might be evolved. They cant possibly know its just Carl and me right? Is that a advantage?
"So.." Negan says, looking down at me from the top of his tank. "You gonna just zone out all day? Or are you gonna do something?"
"Nigga don't act like I can't just lightning your ass! Shut the fuck up and let me think." I say, looking back into the forest. "Fuck you!" I yell at my audience, I fucking hate being stared at. It's just weird right? A weird fucking feeling.
"Look... I dont have all day."
I let out a growl and glare at the ground, thinking out my next move."Fuck it, It'll draw them out." I sprint forward and jump onto the tank, spinning under the swing of the bat and kicking Negan down the the ground. "Cmon Gilbert! You and me! One on one!"
"My name is Negan!" He screams as I jump over him, allowing a little distance between us so we can get ready. "You still got that metal leg?"
I narrow my eyes and fake a jab, switching into a inside leg kick with my prosthetic. "Here it is!" I growl.
The inside of a persons thigh is tightly packed with nerves, making it a excellent target for Muay Thai style kicks. The thing about legs kicks is if you do them right they don't just hurt, they immobilize. A single kick can give your opponent a "dead leg" and greatly hinder their combat abilities.
"Agh!" He gasps and stumbles, swinging his bat wildly to keep me away. I time his swing and raise me knee, catching the impact on my metal shin before kicking the him in the chest with a side kick, twisting my body as I do it.
"This really isn't going your way is it?" I chuckle over him as his back collides with the ground. "You have terrible technique."
"You have superpowers. Is their a fucking technique to counter that?"
"I haven't even used any!" I point out, crossing my arms and looking down at him with a hint of disappointment. "Im giving you a fair fight and you're getting your ass kicked!"
"Agh! Fuck kid I don't know what you want me to say! You're like a god damn mortal combat character. You even got the tight suit and metal leg." He says, propping Lucille on the ground to lift himself up. "You really think you're giving me a fair fight?"
"Hmm? Yeah. I've been beaten in this form before. But not by anyone as weak as you are." I say, referring to the blind man from my past. "That man couldn't even see, but he was the best fighter I've ever known."
"Heh, a blind guy beat you? How?" He asks, And I realize he's stalling.
"Get up Gilbert." I growl, looking over my shoulder at the Saviors observing us. Why aren't they doing anything? "Cmon, Theres other things I wanna do today."
"I told you that ain't my name."
"Yeah yeah, Your wife calls you Negan and it stuck, I know. I saw all of that."
"Saw what? What are you talking about?"
"Your wife, Lucille? She died right at the beginning of this right? And you let some kid kill her because you couldn't bring yourself to do it."
"Wh- What did you say?"
Bingo
Yahtzee!
"You cheated on her, didn't even try to hide it either..."
"Shut up."
"Then she got sick, and you felt bad because you realized you were a terrible person to her, and left ended your relationship with that other chick."
"Stop talking."
"And then when she died, and she turned. You couldn't bring your self to put her out of her misery, which would've been the only kind thing you ever did for her."
"I said shut the fuck up!" He screams, and charges at Me wildly with the bat, swinging wildly for my head.
I back step and switch my stance into a Side stance. Watching the movements of his swing, the timing. When he's open I burst forward with a jab, catching him in the nose before ducking under his swing and stepping behind him. Pushing him away and letting us reset. I was hoping he would calm down, maybe put a bit a strategy into his movements, but he was way too enraged for that. Screaming curses at me and charging me with the bat. Hmmmmm, this gives me the opportunity to try something!
"Cmon, Gilbert!" I yell and dance around, waiting for his inevitable swing. When he does swing I pivot my front foot and spin my prosthetic leg, going with the swings momentum and catching the bat in between where my calf and thigh would be, ripping the bat out of his hands as I rotate.
"Whooooooo!" I scream, grabbing the bat from my leg and holding it above my head. "I hope you saw that shit! Because that will never happen again!"
"Get your fucking hands off her!" He screams and charges at me, meeting a foot to the face, a shin to the chin if you will. A simple round house kick.
"Ohhh yeah, thats a concussion." I say as he loses his footing and collapses onto the dirt, his legs giving out. I walk over to him, bat in my hand as I stand over him. "Well, this is ironic."
"Fuck you." He says, hostile to the end it seems. "You fucking demon, why'd you do this? Just tell me that."
"Hmmm, what do you mean? We're at war, its self explanatory."
"That's not what I mean kid." He grovels, too dizzy to prop himself up. "I mean you don't take hostages, you don't count victims, you don't even try to negotiate with anyone. It's just killing for you and you don't mind that. So what the fuck are you even fighting for?"
I stare at him in confusion for a second, trying to process his meaning. My eyes flare when I understand. "Ohhhh you mean my motivation? Hmmmm. I guess I just like it. I don't hold any animosity towards your people or anything . But they came for us, not the other way around."
"So thats it? You just like it?"
"Hmmm, Maybe... but I could've just hunted you down if that was completely true. I guess I didn't because of my friends."
"Your friends kept you here?"
"Well... they need to learn to defend themselves when Im gone, I guess you guys provide a bit of experience for them. Not many of them have been in large conflicts before, especially with such insurmountable odds."
"I guess kid. I guess..." he says and leans his head back on the ground. "One more question. If I found you before Rick, would you have worked with me?"
Honestly, not a difficult question to answer. I shrug and give a non chalet "probably" before raising the bat above my head.
"Stop!" Carl screams, sneaking behind me and ripping the bat from my grip. "What are you doing!?"
"Witchcraft." I say putting my hands on my hips. "The fuck does it look like?"
"Okay then let me rephrase! Why?"
"Because that cock gobbler tied me up and let a zombie take a nibble in my shoulder!"
"You cant just kill everyone who's wronged you!"
"You wanna fucking bet!?" I yell, changing into my combat form and towering over the child, a deep growl in my voice.
"No! I know you co... whats that?" I look at what he's pointing at, four fast figures zipping through the forest. The evolved.
"Hmmmm there they are."