Ch. 45

"What the fuck!" a Savior growled as he hefted his rifle at Sam and the few men he had brought with him.

"Put those things down!" Gavin screamed. "They have our men hostage!"

"What the fuck Gavin!"

"Put those things down! He has our men and will execute them!"

"I got this," Sam said walking forward with all the confidence and swagger he could muster. "Listen here lads, I have your men with guns to their heads, if you want to see them again, then I need you to help me out."

"Gavin!"

"Fucking do it! You want them to die?"

"Negan 'll kill us if we help this bastard!"

"You're not helping me, you're trading with me," Sam smirked. "Your men, your friends, for those nice machine guns that you lot have. You know the ones that are fifty caliber."

Gavin stared at him men with a pleading look. From what Sam had heard he was never one to kill when convenient, in fact he had heard that the Kingdom had relatively little to no problems regarding violence when it came to Gavin, so the fact that he was willing to give up two heavy machine guns for his men with guns to their heads, did not surprise him too much.

"Negan will have our asses!"

"People are a resource," Gavin hissed at the men. "And those are my men he'll kill! Your friends!"

"Why don't we just take these guys hostage and get our men back that way?"

"You really think I would come here if I wasn't alright with dying?" It was a heavy bluff, but Sam needed to take the risk if he was going to leave alive and with what he wanted.

The Saviors looked conflicted and their rifles buckled a bit before they were lowered and soon at their sides.

"This is fucked, Gavin!"

"I know, but my first priority is to keep out people alive." Gavin took a step forward and motioned for Sam and the two four men he had brought to follow. The feeling of hostility that the Saviors radiated toward him was, uncomfortable to say the least. But Sam took it in stride and simply walked forward and kept his head straight.

The Saviors puffed out their chests and displayed their melee weapons, Sam had honestly never felt so out of place of so hated, but the men knew that if he or his boys were touched in anyway, their friends were dead. And Sam also knew that the same would most likely go to him if they even got the barest hints of a thought that he would reneg on his deal. And honestly, he still wasn't sure if he would let the Saviors go or not. They were horrible men, and so was he, but a man's word was sacred, and Sam had given his.

As Sam and the rest neared the storage closet where he assumed the guns were held Sam saw less and less of the Saviors besides a few that followed Gavin to the storage room. As Gavin pulled out a ring of keys and shifted them over he turned to Sam and spoke softly.

"You won't hurt any more of my men, will you?" He asked.

"Not unless they attack us. But when this is all over with, and the fighting picks up again, your men will be fair game," Sam said, a bit of a smirk tugging on his lips.

Gavin shook his head and turned to the door. "You remind me of him. Except for the humor."

"Remind you of who."

Gavin pulled to door open revealing a vast array of boxes and crates piled high to the ceiling.

"Negan," Gavin said moving inside. "The guns are over here. We never need them so we keep them stored just in case."

Two wooden crates stood centered toward the back with several large ammo cans stored neatly beside them. Sam cracked a smirk at the sight and motioned for him men to open the crates.

The wood lifted easily enough and Sam soon saw the two machine guns in all their glory. He shuddered a bit thinking about how they could have been used against him and his men but grinned knowing that they were safely in his hands. The Saviors would be hard pressed to fight him with those on his side.

"Good," Sam said as he went to the guns and ran his hand along the smooth black steel. "Very good. Boys lets grab these and load them up. Gavin, when were out of your hair, well leave your men where we picked you up."

Gavin nodded somberly and told his men to help carry the ammo. Sam simply felt relieved that Gavin cared so much for his men, and that Negan saw his people as a resource. But Sam was under no illusion that they could get the guns up and running before the Saviors began trying to follow them and reclaim their property.

Sam wasn't a fool. They would chase him and his men hard and fast once they left the compound. He felt a pit in his stomach as he began to doubt the plan, but he stayed the course, he was already too far into it, there was not turning back.

As he walked out of the compound, following his own men that were lugging the machine guns, he saw Saviors in cars and near motorcycles, seemingly ready to chase him and his men down.

"You'll give the order soon?" Gavin asked.

"Once I'm in the car and a good distance away."

Gavin nodded and glanced at his men and the car Sam would ride out in. "You know how this ends?"

"Vaguely," Sam said quietly.

"Right. Good luck then," Gavin held out his hand.

Sam took it and nodded. "To you as well."

Sam got into the car and looked to the other men with him. He glanced around him and took a steadying breath. He grasped his radio as the car started and began driving out of the compound, a few Savior bikes following.

"Okay boys, war faces," he said.

The men reached into the back of the car and pulled out rifles and handed them out to the other passengers. Sam took one and glanced behind him, seeing the Saviors keep a fair distance but watching closely. He grasped his radio and pressed down on the talk button.

"Merle, let 'em go. We got the guns and ammo."

"Roger Sam, we'll let 'em go. You need us anywhere?"

"White Stag Creek. We're on our way there. Once we pass just fire blindly into the path behind us. That should keep them off our tail." Sam saw the saviors begin to speed up as they got further from the compound. "Shit. Merle, these bastards are picking up. Once they hear that their men are safe there's gonna be shots."

Sam ordered one of his men to climb into the farthest back seat and take up position so he could pepper the riders with gunfire while the others kept their eyes on the flanks of the car hoping to catch any sight of Saviors trying to surprise them.

"Fucking drive as fast as you can, try to lose them."

"Got it," the driver said pressing his foot hard against the gas pedal.

"We can make it," Sam said glancing at the riders.

Merle cut the strings that bound their captives and threw them to the ground. His men kept their rifles trained on the men as he stepped back and looked then over

"Now you listen here. We're letting you live because the boss gave his word. So, we let you live. But you try and come after us, and get kill ya. Understood?"

The Saviors nodded quickly and Merle waved for his men to leave them.

"Alright boys, let's go, Sam needs us at White Stag," Merle and his boys mounted up and began their drive towards the creek where Sam would go through.

It was a heavily wooded creek with plenty of brush to cover Merle and his men. They knew Sam's car was a dirty silver SUV, so Merle ordered his men not to shoot at it. Only at any riders following.

"Uhh, Merle we got a problem!" Sans voice screamed through the radio.

"What?" Merle asked gruffly.

"They're shooting! Trying to get us!" Sam shouted. "Tell me you're at the creek!"

"Shit no Paddy we're close though," Merle checked the map in his lap and then looked to the landmarks seeing that if anything he and his men were a mile or two off which Merle quickly relayed.

"Shit! We'll be there soon! Be fucking ready!"

Sam ducked as bullets tore through the car windows and sprayed into the interior.

He aimed his rifle back and fired toward the bikes. The man he had stationed in the back had been shot and most likely killed as he hadn't moved or groaned from his positon.

The other three men were doing their best, the driver keeping the car steady and fast and the passengers shooting at the Saviors best they could.

Sam felt the bolt in his gun not rack another round signaling that his rifle needed to be reloaded. He ejected his empty magazine and slam a fresh one before sending the bolt home.

He pulled the trigger and tried to hit the Saviors, but they were simply more maneuverable on bikes and were able to weave in and out between the car and avoid bullets.

"How close?" Sam shouted as he fired off several rounds at the Saviors, missing all of them.

"A mile! Merle should be there!"

"Fucking right he should!" Sam got onto his radio and called out for Merle as more bullets began pelting the car and the pangs became louder and louder. "Merle tell me you're there!"

There was no response and Sam swore as they neared the creek. The bikes began lining up behind them and the riders began lining up their shots.

"Fucking hell!" Sam screamed as he ducked down. "Take cover."

The men did so as best they could and pistol rounds began penetrating inside the car. The rounds began tearing through the cloth of the seats sending yellow sponge into the air and Sa's ears began ringing as glass shattered and he felt a bullet graze his arm and saw blood spray onto the seat in front of him.

He began screaming but all he could feel was his mouth gaping as he screaming silently as his ears were ringing. The car came to a skidding stop and Sam's body was thrashed around the car. He could feel the car shake as the wheels skidded against the ground and the car drifted and rested, rocking gently.

Sam moved quickly, his instincts kicking in. he grasped his pistol and racked a round. His ears were still ringing and his vison was hazy. He could feel blood dripping from his left arm and winced as he looked down as saw the graze. It would without a doubt need stitching. He gazed around the car and saw the driver leaning against the wheel, a large hole in the back of his head, and the other passenger was gripping his arm which seemed to be riddled with bullets and was hanging limply by his side, useless and bloody. There were clear holes in the arm, shattered bone and pieces of flesh that were hanging onto the arm by a single tendon.

Sam banged his ears and found that he could only feel the simple thumps. He reached and grasped the door handle and pushed himself out of the car. Sam tumbled out of the vehicle and onto the dirt ground, the small grains of dust dragged across his skin and he groaned as he dragged himself across the dirt and looked around.

The sun was shining brightly and he squinted round him as he tried to get to his feet, only to stumble to the ground. Shadows began approaching him and Sam readied his gun and began slowly raising it, but his arm was shaky and the gun wavered in his hand as he tried to aim at the men in front of him. He was too slow and the gun was knocked from his hands and he was forced to the ground, his face brushed against the dirt and his arms pinned.

"Fuck!" Sam screamed only able to hear the barest hints of his voice as the ringing in his ears began to grow louder. "Fuck!"

"stay down," the voices were muffled and sounded distant, but Sam could barely pick up on what was being said.

Sam struggled and thrashed as wildly as he could on the ground but the men who were holding him down were strong and forced his body to the ground, trying to get Sam to tire himself out as much as he could.

"stop," Sam could hear the men shout faintly. "sam stop!"

As soon as he heard his name he stopped struggling and tried to glance behind him and stare at the men trough the bright sun nearly blinded him and kept them hidden from clear view.

But as Sam's eyes adjusted he began to see the faces of the men. Men from the foundry and Merle stood before him. Sam let out a sigh of relief and them dropped his head to the dirt in exhaustion.

"CHECK THE CAR!" Sam couldn't hear his own voice and the men shushed him and merle clamped his mouth shut.

"not so loud!" Merle said though Sam could barely hear him. "walkers, more saviors."

Sam nodded in understanding and tried to lower his voice as best he could. "Miller might still be alive. Jeffries and Joy are dead."

The men ran to the car and Merle helped Sam up and began leading him to the cars he and his men had brought. As Sam got into the car and sat in the seat he sighed and closed his eyes, pondering what had just happened. He saw the men pull Miller out and the man was still alive.

Sam sighed deeply. He had lost two men, one was wounded, but they had gotten the machine guns. And he didn't know if it was all worth it.

AN: Okay, been a tad bit but I've been busy! Shameless promotion, I published a book, its called The Old World by me Edward Clyde, check it out on Amazon! This series is gonna come back and the new Season, well I won't use too much from that Season, and well things are going to shift dramatically with the War about to kick off. And well I hope you guys are ready! Please Review! ~Pacco1