Jestalnaker94000- Both groups are in tight spots and it's all coming to a head very quickly.
TWD Jacob 11- Hope you enjoy it!
Thedarkpokemaster- Hershel hurt, Chuck engulfed by a horde, and the prison overrun, it's quite a mess. Now onto the dangerous escape!
Whitetiger789- Doctor Stevens was always a big favorite of mine, but will he survive? Read on!
Bluntwave- Yes sometimes events will go the same as the comic or the game, in this instance I felt that the prison being overrun and the group's escape couldn't be changed. Otis's death also felt way more natural since he was stuck in a wheelchair this time around.
Strongchristansilver- Martinez is really a cool character, I loved reading more about him, Alice and Doc Stevens in the novels too, the three of them were really cool characters who deserved more time in the story.
Don 77- The Prison is in a rough area for sure.
Kevinrock8899- The journey to safety is always a long one no matter what.
Guest- Thanks, hope you like this chapter!
Cranberrycheese- The story is indeed active, it may go through droughts without chapters and updates but I'll always come back eventually to keep it going!
I.C.2014- Glad you're caught up and hope you like this chapter!
Enjoy
Chapter 25: Escape
"Let go of me god damn it!" Rick exclaimed while shoving Martinez away from him,
"Okay, okay!" Martinez quickly replied while holding up his hands defensively, "Look, it's just, we're in a hurry. It's not going to be easy getting out of here without being noticed,"
"What is the meaning of this Martinez, you can't take these men out of here!" Logan shouted out, "Oberson and The Governor would never stand for this!"
"Logan, right, right, I nearly forgot," Martinez nodded while pinching his brow for a moment. The Latino man moved to the elder paramedic and sharply swung his fist, knocking him to the ground, "There, now all three of you can't stand for it," He muttered out before looking back at Alice, Rick and, Kenny who all stared at him in minor surprise, "Look, we need to go now, we can't take a vehicle, we only keep a few gassed up and they are under constant guard, so we need to walk and if they noticed you're gone before we're far enough away, then we're fucked anyway, so please, come on!"
Kenny looked to Rick and gave him a firm nod, "Alright, hoss, fine, but what are you gonna do about the guys at that door?"
"We already took care of them," Martinez replied with a smirk,
"We?" Rick asked back,
"I believe you've met one of my associates," Martinez said while pulling open the door revealing both Jeff and Lee standing over a pair of unconscious guards,
"Lee!" Kenny and Rick exclaimed in unison while rushing forward to the man. Kenny pulled him into a very short hug and Rick firmly rested a hand on the man's shoulder, "We thought...hell, I don't even know anymore," Kenny said in disbelief,
"Me? Hell, when I last saw you two, I thought it was for the last time, it didn't seem possible for you to live," Lee replied with a smile all his own, "It's a fucking miracle,"
"Lee, they told us they let you go, that you told them all about the prison and were heading back there," Rick quickly said with a tilt of his head, "They were lying?"
"I never told them a thing Rick, not a word, I lied the best I could, they didn't buy it but...but I never risked our friends back home," Lee replied,
"Lee," Rick softly said while staring into the prisoner's eyes, "Is Glenn?"
Lee hung his head and let his eyes fall shut, "Yeah...they killed him right in front of me,"
"Motherfuckers…" Kenny hissed out, "Motherfuckers! I'll kill every last fucking one of 'em!"
"They wanted information and after so much beating, I almost gave in but Glenn refused to let me, he didn't want them getting to Maggie," Lee explained, "It...it was his call, and I made sure to honor his choice," Rick pursed his lips and nodded,
"Lee, man, listen I know shits tough right now but we really gotta get moving," Jeff quickly interjected,
"And who the hell are you?" Kenny snarkily asked,
"This is Jeff," Lee answered, "He's the one who sprung me, only one of those fuckers who treated me with any respect,"
"Yeah, I had helped Oberson with some looters and bandits who attacked us but this...what they were doing to you folk, it was just sick," Jeff replied with a disgusted shake of his head, "I mean, I spend most of my time our scavenging anyway but to see all of that on innocent people, who never wronged us, Martinez and I agreed, the madness had to stop,"
"We're still human, goddamnit," Martinez nodded back in agreement, "Oberson and Phillip have been going over the edge this last month or so, I was thinking of leaving so many times but I didn't want to leave the good ones here to suffer under them but now...my choice was made for me,"
"Rick," Kenny suddenly interjected, "Our clothes Rick, we came in with riot suits but under 'em, they saw the jumpsuits!"
"Sonofabitch, how could we be so dumb?" Rick growled out,
"What?" Lee asked while looking between the pair,
"That's how they knew about the prison," Rick explained.
Just then Logan stumbled to his feet and lunged to the counter next to him, wrapping his fists around a surgical knife, "You move out of my way damn it! I'll…I'll fucking kill you,"
"Logan, put it down," Martinez calmly replied, tightening his grip on his rifle strap, "You don't have a chance,"
"Move aside, I'm getting Oberson," Logan hissed back while pointing his knife out to Martinez,
"The hell you are," Kenny snapped back before rushing the doctor. The pair clashed and let out a few yells while Rick, Martinez, Jeff, and Lee ran forward to separate the two.
Meanwhile back below the arena, The Governor continued to rage over Michonne's betrayal, much to Oberson's slight amusement. "Now we have to round up new fucking biters for the pits! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck her!" The Governor howled out,
"Well, it's not like we're in short supply," Oberson sarcastically pointed out. The Governor turned and glared at the man, "What do you want me to say, Phillip? It was a foolish decision to make, trusting her, but the hand has been dealt, so we have to play it. Now either you're going to do something about this woman right now...or you're not,"
The Governor pursed his lips, clutched Michonne's sword tightly before snapping his attention back to Gabe and Bruce, "Open it up! I want to spill her fucking guts all over the god damn ground!" Bruce and Gabe immediately knelt down, slowly lifting the garage door, "Stop!" The Governor suddenly shouted, "Close it," Gabe and Bruce immediately did as told while The Governor looked back to Oberson, "I need to think things through here, go over all the angles, sleep on it. I don't want to do something I'll regret later,"
"First sensible decision you've made all day," Oberson nodded back in approval, "I'll head back home for now too, let me know if you need anything,"
"Heh, will do," The Governor weakly chuckled back while heading out the north exit of the garage.
Back at the infirmary, Kenny and Logan struggled to get an upper hand on the knife for a few moments before the others pried the two men away from each other, "Kenny, take it easy!" Lee exclaimed while yanking the redneck back while Rick stepped between the men.
Martinez and Jeff shoved Logan back against the medical table, "Logan, enough!" Martinez commanded only for the elder to slash out and slice the man's forearm, "Jesus!"
Martinez stumbled back, holding his wound while Jeff quickly went for his sidearm, however to the shock of them all, Alice ran forward and quickly stuck a scalpel into Logan's lower right side. "No…" The paramedic groaned while slowly falling to his knees before slamming onto the floor, a pool of blood quickly forming under him,
"H-Holy shit," Jeff stammered out with wide eyes,
Martinez shook his head in pity as he watched Logan already start to succumb to his wounds, after a moment he reached into the nearby table and grabbed a set of bandages, quickly wrapping them around his wounded arm. "C'mon, no time to dwell on him, we have to get out of here, right now," The Latino man commanded while turning and leading the four men towards the exit.
Alice stared down at Logan, her hands slightly shaking before she finally blinked out of her shock, "Wait!" Alice exclaimed causing them to look back,
"What is it, Alice?" Rick replied,
"After what I just did...take me with you. Doctor Stevens and I both, please. Wherever you are going it has to be better than here. And think of your wife, if she's pregnant then you'll benefit from having us!" Alice begged the man,
"I can't argue with that, we'd love to have you," Rick replied with an easy smile,
"Guys, we need to go, now," Martinez interjected with urgency, "If we are gonna get out of here without any more trouble we need to move fast,"
"Guess we'll have to hit doc's place on the way out," Kenny said while glancing back to Alice, "You know where that is right?"
"Of course, but if we're fast we may bump into him before he gets home," Alice replied as the group began to jog towards the exit of the infirmary,
"Lee, do you know where Michonne is?" Rick called out to the man,
"Haven't seen her, but I know she was being held near me," Lee replied while glancing back before looking over to Jeff, "You know?"
The biker thought for a moment before nodding, "I think she was just a few cells over from you, Governor had her fighting in the pits tonight,"
"Then that's where we're going," Rick firmly stated,
"The only problem is, isn't that all the way across town," Lee asked with a concerned looked,
"Yeah, but stay with me, this entire town was built a few hundred years ago, the entire underground is connected with tunnels, built to help escaping slaves. I know which one to take that will lead us right to the arena, so stick close, alright?" Martinez explained while reaching an intersection of hallways and carefully peering around the corners, "I'll be shocked if the Governor doesn't have some of his best guys watching your friends, so us all running up on them isn't the best shot,"
"Well, you got a better idea?" Kenny asked with a frown,
"Yeah, I do, Jeff and I know these guys and they know we're allowed to be down here. We go out there, handle things, and call you guys out once it's clear, okay?" Martinez replied while glancing over to Jeff who gave him a quick nod of agreement. "Hang back here for a minute then come down the hall, we should have things handled by then," The man ordered while he and Jeff headed off ahead of the others.
As the two left Lee glanced back and found the blonde nurse staring at him, "Lee, nice to meet you," He said with a quick friendly nod,
"Alice, pleased to meet you," She replied with a smile,
In the meantime, Martinez and Jeff headed ahead of the other survivors, leading them through the tunnels from a distance until they finally reached the tunnels that lead into the arena's garage. The two men snuck forward into the garage until they worked up to the cell where Michonne was held, peering around the corner Martinez spotted Gabe, "It's just one, follow my lead,"
"Got it," Jeff nodded back and followed Martinez around the corner.
The pair casually headed to Gabe with friendly smiles, "Hey Gabe, what they got you guarding the gold reserve down here?" Martinez joked,
"Heh, hey guys," Gabe chuckled, "Not exactly, you guys remember that bitch who fucked up the fights? Boss has got her locked up in here, she's a pisser," He added with a smirk,
"Think we could get a peak? Martinez here missed the fight, and doesn't believe she was a good piece of ass," Jeff asked while the two moved closer to the door as well as Gabe,
"Oh yeah, she was hot, but after the Governor got done with her she-" Gabe snickered back in explanation only for Martinez to sharply punch Gabe directly in the windpipe. The portly man let out a gagging cough and immediately tumbled to the floor, clutching at his throat while hacking for air. Jeff wasted no time and swiftly kicked the man across the face, knocking him out with his heavy workers boots.
"All clear!" Martinez called out to the others who quickly started running out towards the pair.
"Lee give us a hand, door is all dented up, track is jammed," Jeff yelled over to the man while he and Martinez struggled to get the garage door open.
With Lee's help the trio got the door opened after only a few moments of struggling. Rick and Kenny immediately moved into the cell and found Michonne tied to the wall, "Jesus Christ!" Kenny exclaimed as he saw the state the poor woman was in,
"Are you-are you alright?" Rick stammered while rushing to Michonne's side only for her to spit at him, "Michonne, it's me, it's Rick and Kenny,"
"Rick...Kenny?" Michonne weakly asked, the haze in her head clearing as she looked at the two men,
"Ken, help me get her untied," Rick immediately ordered the redneck. "God are you okay?" The sheriff asked as the pair quickly got her unbound,
"Not even close," Michonne lowly retorted,
"Do you need-" Kenny tried to asked as the woman struggled to her feet,
"No, I got it. Let's get the fuck out of here," Michonne nearly growled as she stormed past the others leaving her cell. The rest of the group quickly followed the woman back into the hallway, "Which way?" Michonne gruffly asked Jeff,
"Best if we head back towards the infirmary, we can follow a tunnel that will lead us back onto the street near the south wall, and we can grab the doc on the way back," Jeff explained while leading the others back towards the way they came.
The group ran off moving with more purpose to escape the town now that they left behind two wounded men in their wake. As they got closer to their starter point Michonne held her hand up, "Hold on, someone is coming,"
Martinez pulled his rifle off his shoulder and pushed his way to the front of the group, he rounded the corner, rifle drawn and prepared but relaxed as it was only Doctor Stevens," Caesar, what are you doing down here?" The doctor immediately asked,
"Oh, uh hey doc, we were coming to get you. We're leaving this town, and we want you to come with us," Martinez explained,
"What? Who is we?" Stevens questioned,
"Hey Doc," Kenny said with a small nod as the elder rounded the corner and found the group, "What do you say, you with us or not?"
Doctor Stevens lifted his hand and ran it along his chin for a moment thinking things over, "Can I just gather a few things from my office? Won't take a minute,"
Minutes later the group were finally on the street and making their escape towards the nearest wall. Jeff and Martinez lead the others, keeping them off the main roads and moving towards the least patrolled area of Woodbury. With sunlight quickly starting to fade away, the whole group knew they needed to move fast if they were going to make it back to the prison tonight, or at least get far enough away from Woodbury and somewhere to hold up before walkers would pick them off.
"Just a bit further, we'll duck into an alley down a few more blocks, it's lightly guarded and we can head right into the woods once were out," Martinez quietly explained to the others,
"Doctor! Doctor Stevens!" A voice suddenly called out,
The elder doctor froze and slowly turned back, "Oh hello miss Williams," He replied trying to keep his voice calm, "What can I do for you?"
"I'm sorry to bother you but it's just my son Matthew, he's got a little fever and I want to get him checked, but you and I both know he can't stand Logan," She explained with a small laugh, "So could I bring him by to see you today?"
"Right of course," Doctor Stevens chuckled along with the woman, "Of course, I can see Matthew later today, just bring him down this afternoon" He replied slowly inching back towards the others,
"Thank you, um, are you okay Doctor, you seem stressed," The woman asked,
"I'm just rather busy right now, I'll see you later, now I really must be going. Sorry," He swiftly replied before rushing off. As he reached the alleyway, Alice moved to the doctors side and gently placed a hand on his shoulder while he cupped his face with his hand, "I can't think about them Alice, we have to leave this place, we can't stay but I just can't think about the people I'm leaving here,"
"I understand," Alice wholeheartedly replied,
Just ahead of the pair Michonne eyed Lee out the corner of her eye, "Stop staring at me, I'm fine," She gruffly snapped out,
"Right, sorry," Lee instantly apologized and forced himself to look away from the woman,
Just then a young teenager emerged from the alleyway heading back towards the center of town and then moments later Martinez returned with a second rifle, "Wall is clear come on, let's go guys," He quickly said while tossing the rifle to Jeff, "Jeff you go first, make sure it's safe, then Alice and the Doc. We need to move fast, someone could walk by at any minute and our cover is fucking blown."
"Right, right, trust us, we're just as eager to go as you are," Rick replied as he watched Martinez pull himself onto a bulldozer that was set against the wall, being the main reforcer for the barricade. He pulled Jeff up and then helped the biker over, then Alice moved up next to get helped up.
"I'm not leaving yet," Michonne suddenly said to the shock of the others, "The Governor where does he live?"
"Two buildings up from this alley, top floor, first apartment on the left," Alice replied to the woman just before Matinez lowered her down onto the other side of the wall.
Jeff reached up, grabbing the woman by her waist and carefully lowering her the rest of the wall, "There you go, almost down,"
"Yeah, just watch the hands, huh?" Alice replied with a raised brow to the man, and a small nearly missable smirk,
"Doc you're next," Martinez ordered,
"I can't believe she just left us like that," Lee frowned while shaking his head and looking at Kenny, "Should we help her? That guy deserves whatever happens to him,"
"Trust me Lee, that gal, we'd probably just slow her down. Whatever she's gonna do, it's probably best for us all that she does it on her own. She can take care of herself, and we got somewhere more important to be," He reminded the man,
Martinez and Jeff finished helping the doctor down then quickly moved to help Rick next. As the sheriff hit the ground on the outside of Woodbury, Martinez turned his attention back to Kenny and Lee, "Ken, you're next, give me your hand," The latino man called out while kneeling on the bulldozer and reaching his hand out.
Kenny and Lee turned and headed over to the bulldozer, preparing to follow the others to freedom. Suddenly Lee felt as though he was being slammed into by a truck, a massive weight rammed him into the bulldozer sending him to the ground. "Lee!" Kenny exclaimed while turned around only for a large meaty fist to collide with his chin.
The redneck flew to the left, slamming into the brick wall of the alley way, the entire world spinning around him, "Martinez, you traitorous fuck!" Larry boomed out while quickly reaching up and grabbing the latino man by his boot and ripping him off of the bulldozer tossing him up the alleyway.
Lee shook his head and looked up to finally see the elderly man who he saw when he first walked into Woodbury. His massive size and the pure anger that was flowing through him right now was a terrifying sight to be sure, but being life or death, Lee got to his feet prepared to fight. As he finally got his feet settled he saw Larry grab Martinez off the ground, the latino man grunted as he struggled to get a hold of his large rifle to use to subdue Larry but the veteran roughly ripped the weapon away with his free hand throwing it to the ground behind him.
"You! Fucking! Bastard!" Larry howled as he relentlessly began to wail away on the Latino man, "You'd sell us all out! Get us killed! Put my daughter in danger! Hell fucking no!" He screamed out while finally throwing the man against the building wall. Martinez crumbled like a ton of bricks, clutching at his side and unable to lift his bleeding head.
"Hey!" Lee shouted out, "Leave him alone!"
"You!" Larry snarled while whirling back, "You murderous, evil, fucking bastard! I know who you are Lee Everett, and I know what you've done!" Larry snapped out, "I won't let you leave and bring whatever evil fuckers you run with now in this fucked world!"
"Just listen to me, I'm not your enemy, I'm not trying to hurt anyone!" Lee exclaimed holding his hands up,
"I don't believe you, and you won't trick me into getting my daughter killed!" Larry yelled back before rushing Lee once more. Lee swung his fist cracking Larry across the face but the bull of a man didn't react, only grabbing the prisoner by the neck and lifting him off the ground. With both hands wrapped around Lee's neck he began to squeeze, ready to either strangle the man or break his neck completely. Lee gurgled and coughed as he tried to breath while pulling at Larry's fingers. Moments later he reached his hands out and quickly jammed his thumbs into Larry's eyes, "Fucker!" Larry howled out while dropping Lee and stumbling backwards.
Lee fell to his knees, coughing loughly and holding his own neck. Looking up he saw Larry shaking his head before finally looking back down at him, with a growl he clenched his fists. Lee held out one hand, in a silent plead for Larry to stop. The old man ignores Lee as he begins to stomp towards him, however he finally freezes as he hears Kenny's voice, "Hey asshole!" The vet looks up with wide eyes as he sees the redneck holding Martinez's rifle aimed square at his chest, and before he can say a word Kenny pulls the trigger sending a round right into Larry. The older man falls flat on his back, unmoving.
Kenny keeps the rifle up for a few more moments, making sure Larry wasn't moving before finally rushing to Lee's side, "You alright, pal?"
"Fine," Lee coughed back,
"Martinez?" Kenny called over,
The Latino man pulled himself back to his feet and slowly shook his head, "Ears ringing but I'll be fine," He replied, "Come on let's go, they'll hear the shot,"
The trio rushed back to the bulldozer and quickly climbed over the wall, "You guys okay!?" Rick exclaimed,
"Fine, ran into some trouble but we're okay, we just need to go!" Lee called back as the three jumped down,
"Gosh are you guys sure you're okay?" Alice asked while moving to inspect them,
"No time to worry about that, Alice," Martinez replied, "We need to move,"
"Doc!" Jeff suddenly screamed out causing the others to look over. The biker lifted his rifle and pulled the trigger sending a round whizzing past Stevens head and into a walker that was mere seconds away from sinking its teeth into his neck. The surgeon yelled out and fear and scrambled away from the rotting corpse as it fell back dead. "You're alright, you're alright," The biker reassured the man while running over and helping him to his feet, "Come on, we need to run now, two shots is going to bring people running,"
"He's right, come on, let's go!" Martinez ordered while the seven survivors sprinted off away from Woodbury.
Meanwhile, back at the Governor's apartment, the man attempted to goade his undead daughter into eating the severed foot of the fighter Michonne killed earlier. Though the walker was having no interest in something not living. Suddenly he heard a slam on his door, "What the hell?! Oberson, what the fuck, we'll talk later!" He shouted out only to hear another slam, "Stop hitting my door so hard you're gonna break it you fucker!"
To his shock and even minor fear, Michonne suddenly came bursting through his door, her eyes full of pure hatred and venom. The man froze for a moment and all he was able to utter was, "Well...this should be interesting."
Alright guys, sorry for the hiatus on this story but glad to have finally got this chapter out and boy, was I looking forward to writing it. Not only do we finally have Lee, Kenny, and Rick escaping but I enjoyed using all the minor characters from Woodbury in this chapter. Let me know what your thoughts are on the chapter, as well as the major events. In the next one we'll have Michonne and The Governor and we'll also check back in with the survivors at the prison. Until then, hope you enjoyed and I look forward to reading what you guys have to say!