Sokol848- I do intend to give Billy and Hershel some more scenes together pretty soon as I want to give Billy some more scenes as he grows into more of an asset to the group. And yes, I have a lot of fun ideas on how newer characters will interact with the characters we have now in the future, I hope you'll like them!
Gooffy- The Woodbury attack is all planned out in my head and everything that will happen in it too. The end of the prison arc is fast approaching and I can barely believe it, and it's going to be crazy I promise.
CitrusBird386- I'm really glad you like the group of eight survivors selected as well as the light hearted chapter. This one is going to be even better as focusing solely on these eight this chapter was really fun!
SuperSonicHeroes- I like hearing there is some good love for Billy, Axel, and Hershel as I agree they are all great characters. The war to come is going to claim a lot of lives on both sides, so I hope everyone is ready for that, and they don't hate me for doing what I do haha.
LRef289- Thanks so much, hope you like this one all the same!
Rodan1920- Yeah, at the time I started this story I had another story that was based on characters from Lost being inside the Television version of the walking dead. So to keep things fresh I went with the comics here, plus since they were both in the same exact universe, Lee making it to the prison was so close, and I always liked that idea of him being in the cafe. But I agree, Daryl and Kenny would have been interesting for sure.
Storylover580- I hope you enjoy the interactions between the scavenger group this chapter, thanks for the review as always!
Galeforte- Okay, so first Martinez and Alice, it's possible for sure but while I do remember she had a crush on him, I believe it was said he didn't share one himself, so if it were to happen I'd definitely need to develop it a bit by giving them their own scenes. As for Billy and Molly, yes with Glenn gone and Maggie in shambles, plus Carol's early death, Molly did step in as a caretaker. I wouldn't exactly say Billy is a part of that yet, as Molly is doing this on her own right now but perhaps soon! And lastly with a time skip, I'm not sure yet, I am slightly adjusting the timeline as I go, like for instance I decided that Rick's coma lasted just a little less time so it's not as late into the apocalypse in this story as it was in the comics, though not by much. So maybe though!
Enjoy
Chapter 30: The National Guard Station
Tyreese slowly pressed his foot on the break of the RV letting the vehicle roll to a stop just past the wire fence that surrounded a massive complex. "Shit, we're actually here," Martinez softly stated while looking around the buildings in front of him, "I don't see Oberson's truck around, I think we're clear, we do this fast, alright? Oberson catches us, he'll call Phillip and we'll have half the town coming down on us in minutes," The Latino explained to the others with a stern tone,
"No bullshiting, I'm not messing around here either, you people were so interested in poking the bear, well...we're in it's fucking cave now," Molly added on in a shocking amount of seriousness,
"Alright, everyone heard them, we stay safe, smart, and we move fast," Tyreese nodded as everyone got to their feet and headed out of the rv.
Stepping outside, everyone slowly looked around, to their right sat a few large garages with even more behind them. To their direct left sat a small office building, no doubt where any visitors were supposed to check in with the station guards and directly ahead set a selection of buildings that seemed to be the living quarters. Barbed wire fences surrounded the entire national guard station, though multiple breaks were present in the overall rusted out fence.
"Shit, where the hell do we even start?" Axel asked while scratching his head,
"We should split up into pairs, this place is too big for us to check out every building together without spending the whole day here," Lee replied, "Besides, this fence isn't the greatest but it's surrounded the entire place besides the entrance so there shouldn't be too many walkers around,"
"Gotta agree with you there, we all know what we're looking for, so let's split it up on tasks. First things first, we need gas," Tyreese nodded,
"I got that, they got a few big tankers in the back, they were for all their trucks and shit so there's a fuck ton we can fill every gas can we have," Martinez replied with a small smirk,
"I'll watch your back," Mark offered causing Martinez to nod back in agreement, "Don't need a walker taking a chunk out when your backs turned,"
"Speaking of which, walker," Billy spoke up while raising his rifle, aiming at a shambler that spotted the group and began to head towards them, "I got it,"
Just as Billy aimed in and was about to squeeze the trigger a shot rang out and the walker's head snapped back, a spray of brain matter painting the ground behind it just before it dropped to the ground. Billy looked over in shock only to see Andrea smiling back at him, "Gotta be quicker than that,"
"Heh, gonna play it like that, huh?" Billy chuckled back to the blonde,
"Guys, keep it serious here, we've been living pretty safe behind our fences, don't ever forget, these things are fucking dangerous and everyone stay on guard," Tyreese sharply interjected,
"I ain't gonna be taking any naps around here, you follow me?" Axel retorted,
"Axel, let's go check out past the garages, I'm guessing they have to have an armory with whatever guns are left," Lee guessed causing the other prisoner to nod,
"Right behind ya," Axel agreed while following right behind Lee,
"C'mon stud, let's go find some ammo then," Molly smirked towards Billy,
"Sounds good," Billy happily replied as they both headed to the nearest garage,
"Andrea, guess that leaves you and me over here on watch, can't risk a group of walkers or this Oberson getting the jump on us," Tyreese said to the blonde who nodded and immediately walked to the ladder on the rv, climbing up and getting setup to watch the road they drove in on, "If anyone hears shots, come running!" Tyreese finished while calling out to the others.
As the groups all separated Mark and Martinez made their way to the far right corner of the base passing by a few tanks, jeeps, and trucks, "Hey man, just wanted to say, thanks," Mark spoke up causing Martinez to glance back over his shoulder,
"Nothing to thank me for, I didn't really help us find this place, and hell, this is helping me too," Martinez replied with some minor indifference,
"Not that man, you saved my friends, you didn't betray us with your buddy and try and get back to Woodbury. I know that must have fucking sucked, Jeff, good guy or not, he was someone you knew and trusted I'm sure. Let alone the people in your town you left behind, I don't doubt that they're all evil...I don't know, I just wanted to say thank you for being on our side here. For making a tough choice, and I promise, you made the right one too," Mark immediately continued, his voice completely sincere,
Martinez's walking began to slow, then it halted completely, with a near anguished sigh Martinez cupped a hand over his eyes and rubbed the slowly, "You're not wrong, there are a lot of good people in Woodbury, families with kids who only wanted to survive like everyone else. Phillip and Oberson, they are the bad ones, just them. They took charge and decided to lead these people by fear and force them to make these choices,"
Mark slowly shook his head in disappointment, "A few months ago, none of this would have been a problem. The worst we had to deal with day to day was some asshole making a scene in a store about his coffee being cold, now we're literally in a fight for our lives against people who just don't know what's really going on,"
"It's easier for a lot of people to look at the world black and white," Martinez nodded back in agreement, "Nobody wants to see that it's really all grey," Martinez slowed to a stop and pointed forward, "That would be our gas pumps," The latino smirked as he saw the massive gas tanker connected to a few gas pumps on the far side of the station,
"Heh, and is that what I think it is right next to it?" Mark asked as he stared directly at a large troop transportation truck, "I think that might be a good addition to our little convoy,"
Martinez let out a short chuckle and turned to his left pointing to a small wooden building right next to the gas tanker, "That would be the check in for all trucks and vehicles, Phillip and Oberson took a few the first time here, keys are all hanging right inside,"
"Sweet, let's get this done," Mark said as he eagerly jogged over towards the building with Martinez right behind him.
Meanwhile, Lee and Axel had been checking through all the large garages, searching for the main armory. Along the way the pair had found a few straggling weapons either dropped by the Woodburyians during their initial search or perhaps when a soldier met an unfortunate end during the fall. Both Lee and Axel had a few handguns tucked into their belt and Lee clutched a single automatic rifle, "How you holding up, man?" Lee asked the biker with genuine concern,
"Just fine?" Axel answered, looking over to the man with a raised brow, "Why'd you ask me that?"
Lee shortly shrugged back, "I remember what it was like for me the first time being outside those fences. I damn near got bit, this suit was the only thing that saved me," Lee explained causing Axel to look back at him in surprise, "I just wanted to make sure you're doing alright is all,"
"If you're asking if I'm happy to be out here? Not really, I coulda lived the rest of my days behind them fences with you folk and been happy with it, but that ain't how shit works no more. I'm sure your lady friend, er, wife back home don't want you out here in danger but this is what we gotta do, you follow me? So, am I alright? Yeah, I'm just fine, though I'll be a hell of a lot better once we're home," Axel explained as the pair reached what looked like a small armored shed, "That looks promising,"
"Yeah, let's check it out," Lee agreed. The duo made their way to the building and with a pistol in his hands, Axel ran forward and slammed his boot into the closed door, kicking it open. "That's one way of doing it," Lee murmured as he saw the door barely hanging onto its hinges,
Axel quickly reached onto his belt and pulled out a flashlight shining it into the dark room, "If you start using the gym back home you might be able to do that one day, you follow me?" Axel dryly joked while slowly scanning the room, "Looks clear,"
"And looks like we found what we were looking for," Lee grinned as he shined his light onto a few guns still racked on the wall, "Isn't much, but better then a few old rifles and shotguns," Lee added on as he eyed the couple automatic rifles,
"How bout those?" Axel asked with a grin, shining his flashlight down onto a box near Lee's foot,
Lee turned his attention to the box and his eyes bugged out in shock as he found a box with just over a dozen grenades, "Holy shit, yeah, that'll fucking work," Lee said with confidence, "C'mon, let's go let Tyreese know what we have and we can start loading this stuff up," The inmate stated as he walked over and quickly grabbed to rifles off the wall while Axel knelt down and hoisted the box of grenades up off the floor.
Meanwhile across the yard, Billy and Molly made their way to the center building, stopping just at the front door, "Alright, odds are if they were stockpiling ammo they kept it in here, away from the elements, right? That would make sense," Billy asked, looking to the blonde for confirmation,
"Well, what would make sense is that we don't find a fucking bullet, if those pricks were smart they'd have cleared everything out and took it into town, but they never caught me people who were able to pull their heads out there asses for two seconds to think, so yeah, this makes sense," Molly muttered back,
Billy let out a soft chuckle but quickly stopped as he saw Molly open the door and attempt to walk in, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on," Billy quickly denied while reaching out a lightly pulling Molly's shoulder back,
"What?" Molly asked, raising her brow dismissively towards the man,
"Just, uh, maybe...I go first?" Billy asked with a half grin,
"You, huh?" Molly slyly smirked as she crossed her arms, "Be the big man and protect poor little ole' me?"
"Well, not that you can't handle yourself or anything, I just mean, I think you could watch my back easier, and I have a pretty good eye for danger so-" Billy sheepishly tried to explain,
"Hit me," Molly interrupted with a nonchalant tone,
"What?" Billy replied in confusion,
"You land a hit on me and you can lead, if not, you shut up and let me get this show on the road," Molly replied,
"Oh come on, no, I'm not gonna hit you," Billy shook his head, letting out a breathy laugh, "That's ridiculous,"
Molly let out a short laugh, "Yeah it is, isn't it?" The pair continued to share a laugh, "Yeah, yeah, as if you could ever land a finger on me," Molly added on with a short cackle,
"Yeah, right, as if-wait, what? I could hit you if I wanted, I just don't want to," Billy retorted indignantly,
"Yeah, okay," Molly sarcastically sang back, "Whatever you say tough guy,"
"You know what? Fine, you want to do this, then okay. Just remember you asked for it," Billy sharply said while taking a few steps away from the door and readying himself,
"Oooh, I'm shaking," Molly grinned while following, "Go on, give me your best shot," The blonde continued to goad. Billy's eyes narrowed and his fist quickly pushed out, trying to aim right into her shoulder. Molly's right hand shot out like a dart and caught his wrist with ease, with a rough yank and a quick crouch down, Molly flipped Billy over her body and slammed him into the pavement, "See you inside," Molly softly hummed with a quick wink before turning and heading into the building leaving Billy with an aching back and slightly dizzy head.
Close to thirty minutes passed by as the survivors searched their respective locations while Andrea and Tyreese stood on a vigilant watch, "Anything?" Tyreese asked the blonde woman standing atop the RV,
"No, still quiet, hopefully it'll stay that way, but if not, I'll be ready for these assholes," Andrea replied in a stern tone, slowly scanning the road through her sniper scope,
"Good, now as long as the rest of these guys hurry up, we'll get out of here without-shit!" Tyreese suddenly yelled as a large truck sped past the garages and skidded to a halt only a few feet away from him,
Tyreese went for his pistol but halted as Mark stuck his head out from the truck window and Martinez pulled his body out from the passenger side, sitting on the edge of the door, "Hey hoss," Martinez lightly chuckled,
"Jesus, guys, you trying to give me a fucking heartattack?" Tyreese instantly chastised,
"Sorry, but this thing is a beast, and it's been ticking like a clock, so I'll be driving it home and we can load up everything in the back," Mark explained,
"Weren't you two looking for gas?" Andrea smiled, trying to hold back a laugh as she watched Tyreese continuing to glare hard at the pair,
"Already done," Martinez assured the duo, "Mark and I filled up the cans we took along with a few empty barrels which we got already packed into the back of this thing already."
"Well, then Mark, get your ass out of there and go find the others, help them load this think full of whatever they found, Martinez, would feel a little safer if we had another guy up here watching the road," Tyreese finished causing the pair to jump out of the car,
"Sure thing, promise not to scare you next time," Mark joked as he patted the athlete on the shoulder and headed off towards where he last saw Lee and Axel, as he made his way passed the garage he paused as he saw a tank parked inside, "Damn, hope none of them drive a tank,"
Another twenty minutes came and went and the group was now back at the gate, filling up the back of the national guard station truck with the few weapons, boxes of grenades, and a few cases of ammo that Molly and Billy were able to scrounge up from the base. "I don't know about you, but I think we should speed this up, we're pushing out luck, one hour without running into anyone is good enough," Martinez called out as he nervously adjusted his grip on his rifle,
"Don't worry, we got it, finishing up," Tyreese replied as he watched Molly lift up the final case of ammo and pass it to Billy,
"Got it?" Billy grunted as he knelt down to take the case from Molly's hands,
"Thought we already sorted out who was stronger already?" Molly retorted with a sly grin causing Billy to roll his eyes,
"Do I need to separate you two?" Lee asked as he too passed a box up into the truck, into the hands of Axel who dropped it onto the bed and quickly hopped out,
"Ty, Andrea, got a minute?" Mark said causing the pair to walk over to the man,
"Everything alright?" Andrea quickly asked,
"Fine, it's just, earlier I saw a tank parked over there, and it got me thinking," Mark replied while running a hand along his chin,
"What can you drive it?!" Tyreese exclaimed with a hopeful look,
"Nah, I was in the air force, never even worked on a tank once in my life, But that's basically what I was thinking, what if someone at Woodbury can drive it? We can handle people but a tank? Hell no,"
"Right, but it's a tank, not much we can do to handle that," Tyreese replied, "It's a concern but not a fixable one,"
"Not necessarily, This place has huge fuel tanks, now we've taken a ton here for ourselves, but they are still a couple bombs just sitting there," Mark replied,
Andrea slowly nodded and let out a grin, "Not to mention, there gas supply suddenly shutting off, that could do us an even bigger favor," Mark nodded and smiled back in agreement,
"Do what you're gonna do fast, we're leaving in ten," Tyreese merely replied while heading back to the RV.
The group finished loading up their two vehicles and were driving out of the national guard station when suddenly a ground shaking explosion went off behind them, glancing back in the mirror Mark let out a pleased smile as he saw the base engulfed in flames, "Well...that'll do it," Martinez murmured out as he glanced back as well, "Oberson is gonna be pissed…"
"To hell with 'em, they'd have done the same, only with us inside one of those buildings," Mark reminded the man,
"Too true, let's get the hell out of here fast, that's gonna draw some attention," Martinez lamented while sitting back in his seat.
The two vehicles sped down the road back towards the Save Lot's, knowing it would still be a long drive before they'd get back home. However just as they reached the intersection, instead of turning right to distance themselves from town, Mark pulled his truck into the parking lot of the Save Lot's and parked it. Tyreese quickly pulled in behind him and all the survivors filed out into the parking lot.
"Mark, Martinez, why the hell are you stopping?" Tyreese asked as he walked up to the pair,
"Ask him, he just pulled off, no questions asked," Martinez replied, nervously watching the streets,
"Look, we just blew up there base, we have time, Now I'm not being stupid but we live in a prison with jumpsuits and cotton balls for pillows. This store has tons of shit inside, Rick needs a crib for his baby, we all could use some blankets, jackets for winter, hell some board games! Let's load up right now!" Mark explained with a toss of his hands, "We're already here,"
"Are you joking? We need to be far away from here," Martinez instantly retorted,
"Yeah, this is a stupid, back into the RV, let's get out of here," Molly swiftly agreed,
"It's not that crazy though, if we're fast and quick maybe it'll be fine," Lee pondered, "I mean, they'll be so caught up trying to put of the fire and salvage what they can we'll probably slip right past the radar,"
"Exactly!" Mark smiled,
"Fine…" Tyreese sighed, "Just make it fast,"
"Sweet, come on guys, grab a cart and fill it up with whatever you want," Mark called out while waving the others inside while Martinez and Molly both shook their heads and reluctantly followed the group inside.
Meanwhile in Woodbury…
Oberson ran out of the infirmary and lifted his eyes seeing a giant fire cloud only a mile out of town, no doubt in his mind that it was coming from the national guard station. The man's eyes flared up and he began to grind his teeth, "Motherfuckers!" His gruff hoarse voice boomed out, "Bruce! Bruce get out here!" The muscular bald man ran out of the building after a moment, "You take a few men and go check that out!"
"I don't know boss, I don't think there's much we can do about a fire," Bruce mumbled back while rubbing the back of his head,
"Not the fire you dumb shit, who set it off!" Oberson snapped back, "Check the outskirts of town! Whoever they are, they can't have gotten far, find them, and take care of them. No survivors!" Bruce let out a firm nod and took off towards the wall, looking for a few of his most trusted and well armed friends.
Alright everyone, so sorry for the wait on this chapter, I ended up hitting some really bad writers block at the start of this chapter and ended up rewriting the first scene nearly a dozen times. Anyway, I got through it and I hope you like how it went as much as I do! Big things are in the works and next chapter we'll even check back in at the prison for a bit. So be on the lookout for that, love all the support as always and looking forward to feedback on this one! Oh and for the ones wondering about the next vote, it'll be coming up pretty soon, only a few more chapters!