Alexandria and the Wolves
Beth had the lungs of a singer and when she screamed, it sent everyone fumbling and climing out of bed faster then any alarm system in the world. The back door had swung shut behind her and locked. She fumbled with the keys, dropping them and grabbing them back up, her fingers feeling like they were working about ten times slower then her brain. All the walkers that had been milling around behind the houses were coming straight for her, and not only did she not have her gun, she was holding Judith on the side of her that she kept her knife. Finally the key slid into the lock and the door swung open, slamming against the wall with such force that it left the imprint of the doorknob on the wall behind it.
When Rick hit the kitchen, gun drawn, he found Judith screaming on the kitchen floor and Beth shoving everything in the kitchen that would move against the back door. He pulled one of the chairs back and jammed it up under the doorknob. Then they both grabbed the table and tipped it up on its side, leaning it against the door to block the glass. One of the panes had aleady been broken out and the walkers were reaching inside, not caring that they were cutting themselves up on the glass.
"How many?," Rick asked her. Beth shook her head. It had been more than she could count.
"At least a dozen just in the backyard," she said. Then she moved quickly to pick up Judith and try to stop her from crying. The sound was only going to draw more walkers. Carl and Sammie appeared in the kitchen doorway, armed to the teeth. Sammie tossed Beth a gun. Then she ran to get a look out the front window.
RickyJo was only about halfway asleep when the screams from next door caused her to bolt straight out of bed. That sounded like Beth and Beth didn't scream for no reason. She set MJ in his playpen and shoved the window open. She pushed at the screen, letting it fall out of the window, where it slid down the roof and disappeared. Then she stuck her head out. Merle was right behind her, trying to get a look. Then their bedroom door flung open.
"Fucking walkers everywhere!," Daryl shouted. He had his crossbow and a large hunting knife. Merle pulled and shirt on and strapped on his arm piece, putting the knife onto the end of it. By the time he grabbed his gun, Morgan was also in the doorway with his walking stick and a gun on his hip.
"Go, go," RickyJo told them, "they are going to shove into the back door at Rick's house." The guys didn't wait, they took off down the stairs and out the back door. By the time they got outside, walkers were already falling where they stood. Daryl looked up and saw that RickyJo, Jessica and Cassie were out on the roof, shooting at them with their bows. They couldn't get a shot at the ones pushing in at the back door, since the roof on the back porch was blocking them. Daryl aimed for those ones first, hitting one in the head with and arrow and then getting his gun out. Morgan pushed the gun down. Gunfire would draw more of them back here. Instead Morgan got closer and started poking at the walkers on the porch with his stick.
"Hey hey hey," he called to them, trying to draw their attention away from the door. This worked and most of them turned and started down the steps after him. He got back, letting the girls take out as many as they could with their bows. The ones that got too close, the guys used their knives or Morgan's stick on. Abraham and Rosita came out of their back door with Michonne and Tara close behind them. In a few minutes they had the back yards clear. Daryl saw that the girls were climbing back into the house through the window. RickyJo looked at Desiree.
"You lock that window and the door behind us," she told her neice, "Stay quiet and don't open it for anyone but me." Desiree nodded. Then they all took off downstairs. Desiree shut the door, clicking the lock. Then she picked up her small cousin and took him into the closet to hide. RickyJo ran out onto the front porch, she looked around. The place was completely mobbed. There was only one way this many biters had been drawn in here. The wolves had to be back. Her horse was down the street, getting grabbed at by several walkers. She whistled long and loud for the animal. Hearing her gave it a burst of energy and it shook off the walkers and ran for her, not being shy about trampling the bushes. Everyone had come around from in back of the house and they were starting to organize themselves in the yard, drawing the walkers over and taking them out.
A group of people were fighting their way down the street. It was the group that had been staying at Deanna's house. When they had the meeting about what to do about the wolves, RickyJo had insisted that Deanna have some men stay with her as body guards. Deanna had not wanted to do it at first. But RickyJo had been very hard nosed on the subject. She thought if Deanna was going to shoulder the responsibilities of leadership, somtimes that meant accepting the perks as well. If you die, your dreams for this town die with you. Deanna had never been so glad as she was this morning that the men were there. Her house had been overrun and without those men there, she, Reg and both their sons would be dead. Her son Spencer had ahold of her arm, and Aiden was keeping close to Jessie and her sons, who had also been staying with her since Jessie's husband had died.
RickyJo waved her arm towards the group. The people with bows spread out on the street and started shooting at the walkers that were closing in on Deanna's people. She saw that Sammie and Carl had climbed out on the roof next door and were sniping at the walkers from above. Then Aiden fell, a bullet through his head. At first, Deanna thought maybe it was an accident, friendly fire as she knew some people called it. But when a man on the other side of her dropped, she knew it had been intentional. Rick and Merle were screaming, where was it coming from. Then they took of for a house down the street, with Abraham and Rosita close behind them. RickyJo knew whoever was aiming at the group was targetting Deanna. Kill the leader, kill the fight. It was a classic move. She also knew that there was a chance the leader of the wolves was still obsessed with her. For the first time, she hoped he was. Because that meant his men wouldn't fire if they thought they might hit her.
She moved without thinking, swinging up onto her horse, she rode hard at the small group, screaming for Deanna. Deanna saw her coming, thinking for a moment that she looked a little like the angel of death. But Deanna did not hesitate to run towards her, knowing this might be her only chance to get to safety. RickyJo gripped her firmly by the arm and swung Deanna up onto the horse behind her.
"Hold on," she warned her. Then she thundered down the street, trampling one walker and using the long machete she had to decapitate two more. Deanna gripped her waist, her life flashing before her eyes. RickyJo rode back, dropping her onto the steps of Rick's house and warning her to get inside. Then she heard Cassie screaming. Spencer was down, and holding back a walker that was on top of him trying to bite him. Cassie ran for him, forgetting her own safety. She stabbed the thing in the head and yanked it off him, grabbing Spencer by the arm and getting him onto his feet.
"Did it get you? Did it bite you?," she screamed. He shook his head and pulled her hard into his arms. And there in the middle of the fight, Cassie had her first kiss. It only lasted a second and then they were back to back, preparing for the next walker that would try and get close to them, but she would remember it for the rest of her life. Her mother had told her that she when she fell in love she would just know. There was no other way to explain it. At the time, Cassie had thought her mother had been feeding her a heaping steaming load of horse shit. But now, she understood all of it had been nothing but the one hundred percent truth.
Duane was close to them, using his gun since he was better with that than his bow. Rick and the rest of the people with him had kicked in the door of a house down the street. But Cassie could still see the sniper in the window. Another shot rang out and she saw that tall man that was on the construction team fall. It hit him in his neck, blood squirting everywhere, and he squeezed down on the trigger of his gun as he fell, firing wildly and screaming in pain. Most of the shots fired off harmlessly into the air, but when his elbow hit the pavement, the gun turned sideways and Cassie saw the side of Duane's head explode.
Morgan ran for his son. Cassie was on top of him, using Spencer's shirt to try and put pressure on the wound. Morgan scooped him up and Cassie ran with him, squeezing Duane's head between her hands to try and keep all his life's blood from running out onto the street. They burst into the infirmary. Bob was so drunk that the fighting had not even woken him. Morgan lay Duane on the table. Cassie held the blood soaked shirt hard on the side of his head while Spencer started flinging open cabinets, looking for anything that might help. Morgan grabbed Bob out of the chair and slapped him hard across the face. The man woke up, sputtering and swearing, spit flinging out of his mouth and into Morgan's face. Morgan shoved him towards the table. Seeing the blood was very sobering.
"What blood type is he?," Bob asked, wiping at his mouth.
"Doesn't matter," Spencer said, "I am O negative, a universal donor." Bob nodded and scrambled for the things he needed, not bothering to sanatize anything. He plugged an IV into Duane, telling Cassie to keep the pressure on. Then he hooked Spencer up. Soon the thin clear tube was filling with blood and flowing into Duane, keeping him alive.
Beth shoved Judith into Eugene's arms, watching him hold the baby in the most bumbling way possible. Just don't fucking drop her, Beth thought. He didn't. Then she darted out the front door to help with the fight. Deanna and Kim were in there with him, so Beth knew Judith would be alright. Eugene could tell that the new girl looked afraid. Maybe even more afraid than him, which was an unusual experience for Eugene.
"Its alright,"Eugene told the girl, "They will clear the walkers out and everyone will be fine." She didn't look convinced so he added, "seen them clear bigger herds than this, and with less guns too."
"I am not afraid of the walkers," Kim told him plainly, "I am afraid of the men that let them in here." Eugene stared at her. Walkers showed up all the time. He had not seen the sniper outside, and had not been thinking before now that someone had brought these walkers in on purpose. As if on cue, the sound of glass breaking came from the dining room.
"Both of you stay here," Deanna told them. She got her gun out, holding it the way Rick had showed her, and cursing herself again for being stupid enough to believe that people in this town shouldn't be carrying them. Kim watched her walk into the next room and vanish from view. A few seconds later there was a gunshot and then a loud thump. It made Eugene and Kim jump. Eugene held Judith tight in his arms now and started backing towards the stairs. Then a man he didn't recognize showed up in the doorway, a rifle strapped to his back, holding Deanna's gun. He was covered in dried blood, the streaks of it that ran across his face looked like some kind of crazed Halloween mask. He didn't see Eugene by the stairs, but he saw Kim. He smiled at her.
"Miss me honey," the man said, "come to take you back." Kim stood there, rooted to the spot. Her feet not running like she was telling them to do. She cleared her throat. "Something to say honey?," Jared asked her.
"I... I...," Kim stammered, "I am n... not going anywhere with you." Jared glared at her. What kind of shit had these people been teaching her. Sheep don't talk back to wolves. He crossed the room and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, slapping her hard across the face. She was grabbing his arm, trying to make him let go of her. He was tearing at her clothes now, and she started to cry. Eugene looked at them. He was coming to the realization that he was going to either have to fight this man, who was maybe bigger and certainly stronger than him, or watch Sammie's sweet little friend get raped in front of him. He set Judith on the stairs, willing her to stay put. Then a strange noise came out of his throat, which Kim would describe later as a cross between a parrot and a angry cow. He came barreling in, head down and did not stop until he felt himself collide bodily with the other man.
Eugene might not have been much of a fighter, but he was a hell of an eater and the weight of his body knocked the man to the ground with Eugene on top of him. Eugene pounded at the man's face with his eyes closed, the way small children somtimes pound on the ground during a temper tantrum. It took Jared a moment to recover, but then he was bringing his knee up hard into Eugene's side, knocking the wind out of him and flinging him onto his back. He punched the man hard in the face a few times and then pulled his knife out of the sheath on his side to finish him off. Deanna's gun had been knocked under the table during the struggle and Kim groped for it, feeling the hard metal in her hand. She braced her feet apart, the way Sammie had shown her and raised the gun, taking aim. Jared brought the knife up above his head, getting ready to bring it down into Eugene's face. And Kim fired at him. The first one whizzed by his side. But the next two both caught him straight through his chest. Blood gurgled out the side of his mouth and he fell down on top of Eugene.
Despite the horror of the situation, Kim couldn't help but laugh at the way Eugene was slapping at the now dead body, screaming like a girl and trying to get it off him. She grabbed the man by one arm and together they rolled him away so Eugene could get up. When he went to stand, Eugene found that one of his ankles wouldn't hold him. He must have twisted it in his stuggle with the man. He knelt down instead and took the knife the man had been planning to use on him. Plunging it into the man's brain, he made sure that he would be of no further trouble to them.
"Go check Deanna," he told Kim. She ran into the dining room.
"She's alright," Kim called to him, "he just hit her in the head." A few minutes later, they both appeared in the doorway, Kim helping Deanna to the couch. "Where's the baby?," Kim asked. Eugene felt a sudden moment of panic. He had forgotten about the baby. Leaping up despite his ankle, he hobbled over to the steps. Judith was laid out across the steps, unconcious. One of the bullets that Kim had fired had grazed her scalp. It had not been close enough to make her bleed, but these was a red mark and the hair was gone in that spot. Kim ran over and picked her up, which woke the small girl. She felt the side of her head, Kim guessed it must hurt a little. Then she reached for Eugene. Kim laughed and handed her over.
"Guess we are friends now?," Eugene asked Judith.
"Ki-O," she demanded. Eugene had no idea what that meant, but he figured if she was talking, that meant that she was going to be fine.
Merle was right behind Rick when he kicked in the door of the house. They ran up the stairs and into the front bedroom. The man that had been sniping at them was still in the window. The fucking idiot hadn't even heard them because he had his ears stuffed with cotton so the sound of the gun wouldn't be so loud. Rick looked at Merle, who was giving him what he thought was the most evil grin he had ever seen in his life. They ran up on the man, dragging him out of the open window by the feet. Rick took his gun and then they started kicking him and stomping on him. Rosita and Abraham showed up in the doorway.
"Damn," she excalimed, "you couldn't leave me a piece?" Merle backed up, giving her a little bow. She walked over and kicked the man hard in the nuts.
"Mother dick," Abraham declared from the doorway. Not for the first time, he was glad his woman's hellcat anger wasn't directed at him. Then she walked around near the man's head. Holding her leg by the toes of her foot, she lifted it up in the air, yoga pose style and then swung it down full force, driving her heel into the man's face. Merle muttered a few choice words, trying to decided if he was really scared or really turned on. Then Abraham came in. He picked the man up by the collar of his shirt and the waist of his pants. Then he launched him straight out the window where he splattered all over the pavement below. Rosita hollered out the window after the man.
"And thats what you get, pedaso de mierda!," she yelled, "Tienes un pito chiquito!" Merle started laughing, since he was the only one that had understood her. It pretty much broke down to the man was a piece of shit with a tiny little dick. Then they took of back downstairs and out onto the street to help clear the rest of the walkers. Rick and Rosita ran over to the gate and shut it, so at least no more walkers could get in. Then they went back to getting rid of the ones that were already inside.
Except when she took off on the horse, Daryl had been tryng to keep close to RickyJo. She and Jessica were working as a team now, kicking the walkers knees out and stomping on them, then stabbing them in the head. All the ones close to them were dead, so RickyJo stepped back and took an elastic band out of her pocket to tie her hair back out of her face. That's when Daryl heard his brother screaming from down the street.
"RickyJo!," Merle screamed, "behind you." He could see her coming, a deranged woman with some kind of knives attached to her fingers. There was no time for Daryl to load an arrow. The only thing he could do was bolt for RickyJo, grabbing her and putting his body in between her and the crazy woman. He felt a hot buning pain as the razors on her hands raked through his shirt and down his back. The woman fell back onto the ground, tackled by a man that was wearing a similar knife glove, but on both hands. They were rolling around, clawing at each other and screaming. Merle made it over from down the street. Everyone was standing there, watching the two lunatics go at it. He cocked his gun and fired off two shots, hitting each one of them through the head and dropping them to the ground.
"My fucking back feels like its on fire," Daryl said, pulling at his shirt and trying to get a look at his own injuries. Merle kicked at the man and woman on the ground, poking at the claws they were wearing with his own prosthetic.
"No!," he said, "fucking goddamn it." He looked at his brother and then at RickyJo. "Their claws are all covered in walker blood."