Chapter 5-The herd
Daryl's P.O.V
The group stood at the canyon where the walkers were trapped. "I know this is insane, but this is an insane world. We have to come for them before they come for us. It's that simple," Rick says while looking at everybody. The walkers could be heard behind them. "This is where it starts tomorrow. Tobin gets in the truck, opens the exit, and we're off. He hops out and catches up with his team at red, staying on the west side of the road. Daryl and Rosita will get on Daryl's bike-" Rick is cut off when the truck on the other side of the canyon falls. "It's open. We gotta do this now! Tobin's group, get moving, go!"
"No, Rick, we're not ready," Carter says as Tobin gets in the truck.
"Sasha! Abraham!" Rick says.
"We're on it. We'll do it live," Abraham says as Sasha and Abraham go to the car.
"You meet Daryl and Rosita at red. Let them take the walkers through the gauntlet," Rick orders them.
"We'll meet at red," Rosita says to Abraham and Sasha, who nod as they leave.
"Rick, I'll hit the tractor place," Glenn says.
"Okay, who else?" Rick asks.
"We got to take them out, or they'll distract the herd," Heath says. "I'm in," Heath says.
"Heath, Glenn, and I will take the tractor place," Noah says. The other two nod as they leave.
"Rick, this was supposed to be a dry run," Carter says.
"You two, get ready," Rick says to Daryl and Rosita.
"They're coming," Alden says as he pulls his gun out.
"Rick, we haven't ever gone through the whole plan," Carter says.
"If you want to go back, go back. We're doing this now," Negan says to him. "We don't need you complaining the whole time."
"Tobin, you move it on my signal," Rick says. "They're heading home. We don't have a choice. Get ready to hit the flares," Tobin starts the truck. "Tobin hit the truck," Rick says. Tobin moves the truck, Daryl shoots a walker through the head with his crossbow, and flares go off.
Negan's P.O.V
Negan, Rick, Michonne, and Morgan move down the road. Rick pulls out his radio. "We all know our assignments. You know where the rendezvous is. Daryl and Rosita lead them out. Abraham and Sasha join them at the hill. Glenn hit the tractor place and meet up with us. We gotta stay ahead of that," Rick says. "Just keep moving."
The four of them move until they get to a wall with yellow balloons. "Now we just wait for Daryl," Negan says. "You ever do anything like this?"
"No," Rick says. "We've never seen a herd this big either. We have a solid plan in place."
"As I told you a few days ago. It isn't the plan that worries me. It's the people."
Glenn's P.O.V
Glenn, Noah, and Heath run down the road until they see the tractor place. "Rick, we're almost there," Glenn says as they get to the tractor place and see walkers beating on the glass. "Okay, Heath, you'll pull the door open and only let a few out at a time. Then shut the door. That is how we control this," Glenn says as they go around the side, and he pulls his knife out. Noah pulls his knife out as Heath grabs the door. Glenn nods, and Heath pulls the door open. The entrance was blocked.
"So what now?" Heath asks.
"We improvise," Glenn says as he puts his knife out and pulls his gun out. He walks around to the window. "We have to clear this place," Glenn says before he shoots the window. Noah and Heath pull their guns out as walkers start to exit the tractor place. The three of them shoot the walkers until all the walkers lay dead on the ground. "Let's go," Glenn says as they leave the tractor place, heading for the rest of the group.
Carl's P.O.V
Carl sat on the porch with Judith. He looked at Paula as she walked past the house and stopped to look at them. "Hey," Carl says to the woman. "You don't have watch?"
"Not yet. D.J. and I are about to relieve Spencer in a few minutes," Paula says as she steps up on the porch. She looks at Judith and smiles as she waves at her. "I had four daughters," Paula says softly. "They didn't make it."
"I'm sorry," Carl says. "I lost my Mom. I had to kill her so Judith could live. You want to hold her?"
"Sure," Paula says as she picks Judith up. "Hey, sweetie," Paula says with a grin as she held her. Judith smiled at her as D.J. walked up to the house.
"You ready?" D.J. asked.
"Yeah," Paula says as she hands Judith to Carl. She walked over to D.J, and they left to relieve Spencer.
Negan's P.O.V
Negan, Rick, Morgan, and Michonne stood in silence as they watched the wall waiting for Daryl, Rosita, Abraham, and Sasha. "Michonne," Morgan says, making the woman look at him. "Back when you were in that place...where I lived. Did you take one of my protein bars?"
"No," Michonne tells him.
"See, I could have sworn there was one more peanut butter left," Morgan says.
"You always think there's one more peanut butter left," Michonne says as they hear walkers.
"The party has arrived," Negan says as he pulls his flare gun out. The others nod as they pull their flare guns out and aim them into the sky as the walkers start to hit the wall. "If this doesn't hold, I say we trip Rick and run."
"Thanks, Negan," Rick says as they fire their flares into the air after they put the guns away and turn around as they go to meet the others. Negan fell in step with Michonne.
"So, did you take it?" Negan asks quietly. Michonne looks at him and smirks before she catches up with Rick and Morgan.
Simons's P.O.V
Simon walked down the stairs and looked around at the Saviors. "Two days ago, Dwight, Sherry, and Tina made off with some supplies. They betrayed us, betrayed the family we have here. We saved them. We saved Tina from being Negan's plaything, and this is how they repaid us," Simon says as he gets to the bottom of the stairs. He walks up to a man standing in front of the furnace and lays his hand on his shoulder. "Now, Regan here was on watch. So Regan, what were you doing that was so damn important that three people made it out without you noticing?" Simon asks calmly.
"I was sleeping," Regan answers. "I'm sorry, Simon. I'm so sorry."
"Don't sweat it, buddy," Simon says. "It's all in the past now, and you want to make up for it, right?"
"Yes, of course. I'll do anything," Regan says.
"I need you to help protect the Sanctuary. Can you do that?" Simon asks, still speaking in a calm voice.
"Yeah, I'll take as many watches as needed. I'll hunt whoever you need me to."
"That's good to hear," Simon says as he turns around to look at the rest of the saviors. "He made a mistake, and now he is willing to give his life to fix it," Simon removes his knife and slams it into Regan's stomach. Regan coughs up blood as Simon grabs him by his head with his other hand. "You'll protect the Sanctuary forever!" Simon says as he pulls the knife out and stabs to stab Regan in the throat. He continues to stab him in the throat until his head is cut from his neck. Simon breathed heavily and threw the head on the ground. "I may have lost control. Take the head out there. Feed his body to the others. No more mistakes," Simon says before he walks towards the stairs.
Gavin's P.O.V
Gavin was walking through the streets of Alexandria and looked at Shelly as she sat on her porch smoking a cigarette. "Either those or the wakers will kill you."
"This will probably be less painful," Shelly says with a smile. Gavin nods as he turns around. He starts to walk but turns around when he hears Shelly cry out in pain. He saw a man with a w craved into his head holding an eye. Gavin pulled out his gun and shot the man in the chest as he charged him. He heard gunshots and fighting as the group started to invade Alexandria. Gavin ran through Alexandria and shot one of them as he tried to kill another member of Alexandria. "Get inside, lock your door!" Gavin tells the woman, who nods as she runs away. Gavin turns around and aims his gun as Spencer comes up behind him. "Stay close. We save who we can," Gavin tells Spencer, who nods as they start to move through Alexandria.
Paula's P.O.V
Paula shot a man in the head through her scope on the watchtower. "Paula, truck coming in!" D.J shouts. Paula moves over to him, and they shoot at a truck, quickly killing the driver. The car goes out of control and barely misses the watchtower and goes back onto the road, and hits a tree as the man's head hits the horn, and it starts to go off.
"We have to get down there!" Paula says as they go towards the entrance.
Rick's P.O.V
Rick, Negan, Morgan, and Michonne ran through the group until they came upon Glenn, Alden, Laura, Noah, and the rest of the group. "It's working," Carter says.
"We told you it would," Negan says as he stares at the herd. "I gotta say, you're pretty smart, Rick."
"Thanks," Rick says. "Okay, let's spread out and keep an eye on the herd. Carter, you're with me. Negan goes with Morgan. The rest of you split into groups," Rick says. They all nod as they start to move through the woods. Rick ran behind Carter. A walker that was stuck to a tree grabbed Carter by his shirt and bit into his cheek. Carter screamed in pain as Rick pulled out his knife and stabbed the walker in the head. Carter fell to the ground screaming as Rick covered his mouth. "Carter, be quiet," Carter continues to scream, and Rick stabs him in the back of the head as the group on the other side of the forest starts to shoot their guns to lore the walkers back into the herd.
"What was that?" Glenn asks.
"It was Carter. A walker got him," Rick says. Rick looks at Morgan and Negan as they come up behind him. "Go back to Alexandria. Tell them everything is going well."
The two of them nod as they leave. Rick goes back toward the rest of the group. He stops by Michonne as they look at the herd, and then a horn is heard in the distance.
Thanks for reading. I have some plans for this part of this story that will change it a lot from the show. This is where we really start to break away from the show. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.
