Chapter 9-The Sheriff
Glenn watches the tank with the man. "Hey, are you alive in there?" Glenn asks. He waits a moment.
"Hello? Hello?" The man says.
"There you are. You had me wondering," Glenn says.
"Where are you? Outside? Can you see me right now?" The man asks Glenn.
"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news," Glenn says.
"There's good news?" The man asks Glenn.
"No," Glenn says.
"Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here," The man says.
"Oh, man. You should see it from over here. You'd be having a major freak-out." Glenn says.
"Got any advice for me?" The man asks.
"Yeah, I'd say make a run for it," Glenn says as he looks at the tank.
"That's it? Make a run for it?" The man asks.
"My way's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one walker still up on the top, but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. With me so far?" Glenn asks.
"So far," The man says.
"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?" Glenn asks.
"In that duffel bag, I dropped out there and guns. Can I get to it?" The man asks.
"Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option right now. What do you have on you?" Glenn asks.
"Hold on," The man says. Glenn pulls out his gun as he waits for the man. He checks and makes sure he has a full clip. He puts his gun away. "I got a beretta with one clip, 15 rounds," The man says.
"Make 'em count. Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe fifty yards. Be there," Glenn says.
"What's your name?" The man asks.
"Have you been listening? You're running out of time," Glenn says. He puts the radio away and heads for the ladder. He climbs down and hears gunshots. He gets to the alley and goes to the front, where he is met by the man and a gun in his face. "Whoa! Not dead! Come on! Come on!" Glenn shouts. They run for the ladder. Glenn climbs up and looks back down. "What are you doing?! Come on!" Glenn shouts at the man as he climbs the ladder. They climb up the ladder and stop on a platform. Glenn and the man were panting. "Nice move there, Clint Eastwood. You, the new sheriff, come riding in to clean up the town?" Glenn asks sarcastically.
"It wasn't my intention," The man says.
"Yeah, whatever. Yeehaw. You're still a dumbass," Glenn says.
"Rick. Thanks," Rick says.
"Glenn. You're welcome," Glenn says as he shakes his hand. Rick puts his gun in Glenn's bag. Glenn looks at the walkers. "Oh no," Glenn says as one walker climbs. Glenn goes to the other side. "The bright side. It'll be the fall that kills us. I'm a glass-half-full kind of guy," Glenn says as they climb the ladder when they get to the top. They walk across the roof.
"Are you the one that barricaded the alley?" Rick asks.
"Somebody did. I guess when the city got overrun," Glenn says as they run across the roof. "Whoever did it was thinking not many walkers would get through," Glenn says as they go to a hatch.
"Back at the tank, why'd you stick your neck out for me?" Rick asks. Glenn pulls off his bag.
"Call it foolish naive hope that if I'm ever that far up shit creek, somebody would do the same for me," Glenn says as he throws his bag down and gets on the ladder. "Gues, I'm an even bigger dumbass than you," Glenn says as he goes down the ladder. Rick follows and closes the hatch. Glenn grabs his bag as they run out of the building and on a staircase. "I'm back. Got a guess plus four walkers in the alley," Glenn says as they get to the bottom. Glenn pulls out his knife as the walkers look at them. T-dog and Morales come out. T-dog had his kukri and Morales a knife. They both had riot gear on. Glenn and Rick run past as T-dog cuts one head off and Morales stabs the other. T-dog and Morales follow them inside. Andrea grabs Rick and pushes him up against boxes.
"You son of a bitch. We ought to kill you," Andrea says as he pushes the gun up to Ricks's face.
"Just chill out, Andrea. Back off," Dean says.
"Come on, ease up," Jacqui says.
"Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole," Andrea says. Dean walks up beside her.
"Then pull the trigger. Kill him," Dean says. Rick looks at him as Andrea lowers her gun.
"We're dead all of us because of you," Andrea says.
"I don't understand," Rick says. T-dog grabs Rick and leads him to the front.
"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies," T-dog says.
"You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving," Morales says.
"You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing," Victor says.
"Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral," Dean says.
"Every geek from miles around heard you popping off rounds," T-dog says.
"You just ran the dinner bell," Andrea says.
"Get the picture now?" Morales asks as they look at the doors where walkers were. They move back.
"What the hell were you doing out there anyway?" Andrea asks.
"Trying to flag down the helicopter," Rick says. Dean smiles and lets out a laugh.
"Helicopter? Man, that's crap. Ain't no damn helicopter," T-dog says.
"You were chasing a hallucination imagining things. It happens," Jacqui says.
"I saw it," Rick says.
"Hey, T-dog, try the C.B. Can you contact the others?" Victor asks.
"Others? The refugee center?" Rick asks.
"Yeah, the refugee center. They'll got biscuits waiting in the oven for us," Dean says sarcastically.
"Got no signal," T-dog says.
"The roof," Glenn says. The others nod as they head up to the roof. They get to the top with Rick behind them.
"You all have guns," Rick says.
"This isn't our first run. We have been on a few around," Glenn says.
"So you two lead the group?" Rick asks.
"No, two other people. They come from different lives in places, but they work as one good team," Dean says.
"Sounds like you trust them," Rick says.
"With our lives," Andrea says.
"T-dog try to raise the others," Dean says. T-dog nods as Dean pulls Glenn away.
"What?" Glenn asks.
"Daryl and Shane told you how they were thinking about leaving the quarry, right?" Dean asks. Glenn nods. "Okay, did he have anything else?" Dean asks as he looks at Rick.
"A gun bag by the tank," Glenn says.
"We need to try and get that. I don't want to come back here," Dean says. Glenn nods.
"I agree. Look, no offense to John, but Rick gives me the same feeling your dad did when we found him," Glenn says.
"I agree. We need to keep our eyes on him," Dean says. Glenn sees Dean staring down at Rick.
"What is it?" Glenn asks.
"His uniform is King county," Dean says.
"So?" Glenn asks.
"Shane and I had patrol once, and he mentioned Lori's husband was the sheriff of King County," Dean says. Glenn looks at Rick.
"You don't think he's him, right?" Glenn asks.
"That is what I am thinking. Keep this to yourself," Dean says. Glenn nods as they rejoin the others.
Thanks for reading. I know I said I wanted to do this in one chapter, but I'm not, maybe two. Who knows. Rick is here, and Dean is reading the man hard. Glenn and Dean don't trust him as of now. As always, feedback and suggestions are welcomed. Until next time.