Chapter 18

It was a goddamn nursing home. Rick couldn't believe it. His gaze darted from one room to another in disbelief as he began to put the full picture together. The elderly were everywhere. Sitting in the hallways, exam rooms, rolling around in wheelchairs. These were desperate men. Not that Rick was in any way condoning their behavior, but he could understand what had led them to it.

"Dude, we thought you were being eaten by dogs," T-Dog huffed playfully, and Alex couldn't help but laugh as she eyes the three pursed-sized mutts laying together off to the side.

"So vicious." Alex deadpanned.

Daryl snorted. Rick, however, was furious. The former sheriff dragged Guillermo out of the group, his eyes hard. They had come in ready to kill every single person to get their people back and the man was acting like it was no big deal.

"The staff just left them here to die," Guillermo explained hotly. He wasn't about to be lectured by no pig for trying to keep these people alive. "Me and Filipe were the only ones who stayed."

"Are you doctors or something?" Rick asked confused as to why these gangsters would be willing to stay when so many others had walked away. Guillermo shook his head.

"Felipe's a nurse—special care provider," he explained. "Me, I'm the custodian." Rick had to admit that the man was something. Guillermo inclined his head towards the back of the room and the small group followed with the bag of guns in tow.

The redneck wasn't about to like what he did, but Rick knew what had to be done. He couldn't leave these people here unprotected with nothing more than bats and crowbars to defend themselves with. It might work on Walkers, but not on other humans.

Alex kept to Daryl's side, eyeing Guillermo warily as he spoke to her brother. He had tried to apologize for his actions, but Alex was more than a little miffed. Threatening her she could understand, but the severe ache in her ribs that caused her to wince whenever she took a breath reminded her that he had crossed a line.

Her brother made it well known to Guillermo that if he so much as breathed in her direction again, he wouldn't like the consequences. The leader got the message.

"Look, things haven't been good," Guillermo tried to stress. "The people we've encountered since things fell apart, are the worst kind. Plunderers, the kind that takes by force."

"That's not who we are." Rick shook his head as he stared at the man.

"How was I know?" Guillermo asked openly. "My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage—appearances."

"At least we didn't beat your hostage," Daryl sneered. "Trust me, I wanted to."

"And I apologize for that," Guillermo was sincere. "If I could take it back, I would. I let things get out of control."

"Guess the worlds changed," T-Dog muttered darkly.

"Nah," Guillermo stated. "The world is like it was. The weak get taken. So, we do what we can. The Vatos work on those cars and talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, so that's just a dream. The people here look to me now and I don't even know why. Hell, I can barely keep those dead fucks away from our door."

Rick stared at the man for a moment, taking him in. He looked older than his years, the bags under his eyes showing the hard stress that was causing him sleepless nights. There wasn't anything malicious about him, no deception. He was simply doing what he thought he had to do to keep his people alive. The sheriff doubted that he would have killed Glenn or Alex, he was simply trying to scare them, and although it was wrong, Rick knew this man was desperate.

"They look to you because they can." The brunet looked over at his sister for a moment, a silent communication passing between the two siblings. Alex nodded her head, a small smile ghosting her bruised and split lips. Daryl was going to be pissed, but this had to be done. It was the right thing to do.

Without any further hesitation, Rick handed the man the shotgun in his hand before opening the black bag and pulling out a rifle and a few handguns and ammo. Daryl growled low in his chest as he watched the man give away their protection. They needed those guns, but Alex knew the Vatos needed them more.

"Your front entrance is littered with Walkers," Alex pointed out as Guillermo escorted them back towards the garage.

"Yeah," The man sighed. "We keep getting rid of them, but more just take their place."

"Nursing homes have strong smells to them that don't really go away and travel easily with a breeze," the redhead told him. "It's why no matter what you did as a custodian, the place still smelled."

The man stopped and stared down at her. "Where are you going with this?"

"My brother told me he got out of Atlanta the first time by covering everyone in Walker gore," the fiery woman told him. "The one thing that all Walker's seem to have in common is that their sense of smell doesn't dissipate. They can lose their eyes, their legs, their hands, hell, you can even chop off their nose, but smell is all about nerves and olfactory senses. It survives no matter what."

Guillermo caught on quickly. "You want me to cover the front of the building in…Walker gore?" Alex nodded.

"They aren't attracted to the back entrance because the smell of oil, grease, and whatever else is back here is stronger than the smell of whatever attracts them to the living. It might not keep them all away, but by covering the front with Walker gore, it should deter a large majority of them and keep the numbers more manageable."

"Well fuck, bebita," Guillermo smiled down at her. "You sure I can't keep you?" Daryl snarled at the man, pulling Alex to stand behind him. He didn't care if the fucker was joking or not. Alex was his.

"I get it, redneck, she's yours." The Vato shook his head chuckling as he shook hands with Rick before heading back towards his men.

"Let's get the fuck out of here." T-Dog was practically sprinting towards the street.

"Admit it," Glenn laughed as the five of them strode back towards the broken fence, the underpass providing enough shade to keep the Georgian heat from being too stifling. "You only came back for the hat."

Alex snorted. "Of course, he did," The redhead jested, trying her best to ignore the pain radiating up her ribs. It took everything she had to keep up with their quick strides and she was starting to feel nauseous from the pain. "Man has a huge hard-on for that hat."

The group laughed, even Daryl. Rick shook his head at his sisters' antics. "Don't tell anybody."

"You've given away half our guns and ammo," Daryl sneered as he hoisted his crossbow on his shoulder. Alex's compound bow sat across his back; he'd insisted on carrying it for her despite her protests.

"Not nearly half," Rick shot back in defense as he eyed the bag he was holding.

"For what?" Daryl shook his head. "Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?"

"Knock it off, Daryl," Alex shook her head. "He didn't give them all that much and it isn't right to leave them defenseless." Daryl scoffed.

"After what they did to you and Glenn?" Daryl couldn't believe what he was hearing. "We should have left them to rot."

"It's over," Rick stepped in as they rounded the empty bus towards where they parked the van. "What's done is done."

"Oh my god." Glenn gasped when he saw the empty space where the van used to be.

"Where the hell is our van?" Daryl snarled.

"We left it right there," Glenn panicked. "Who would take it?" Rick took a deep breath.

"Merle," He sneered. T-Dog shook his head, eyeing Daryl warily.

"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp," Daryl looked down at Alex, worrying clouding his face.

"There's at least two hours till sundown," Rick pointed out. "It's a long trek and Alex can barely keep up with us as it is."

The redhead turned to her brother, surprised.

"You think I didn't notice?" His gaze was focused on her. "You keep grabbing your injured side and wincing when you think we're not looking."

"And your breathing has been labored," Daryl added his two cents. "You ain't gonna make it back to camp, Red."

She liked it better when they were yelling at each other instead of ganging up on her.

"Well, we can't just sit here and twiddle our thumbs," Alex snapped as she turned to face her brother and Daryl, letting out a small, pained cry at the sudden movement. Rick gave her a knowing look and Alex had to resist the urge to shoot him the finger.

Huffing, Daryl handed his crossbow over to Glenn while he pulled her bow from his back and slung in across hers.

"Up you go, Red," Daryl turned his back to her and signaled T-Dog who gently placed the redhead on Daryl's back. Alex bit back a moan of pain at the sudden movement but otherwise kept quiet.

"You good?" T-Dog asked. Alex nodded as she buried her face in Daryl's neck as the redneck adjusted her carefully.

"Alright," Rick's lips twitched into a small smile at seeing his baby sister being given what was essentially a piggyback ride from the burly redneck. "Let's move out."

I'm alive! OH. my gosh! Thank you all so much for hanging in there! I know I've been MIA and I am so sorry but I have my fiction book coming out soon and I've been so focused on that with all the deadlines my editors have been giving me! But, here is a small chapter. It's not the best, I'm sorry, but I promise I will at least update once a month! I will try to do more, I swear!

Till next time...

Also, if you like Dark Mafia Romance/Enemies to Lovers my book Shattered Pieces is coming out in December (Earlier, if I can manage it) Check me out on Instagram and on Amazon as my pen name Jo McCall author!