Pacing within the forest that dominates nothing but tall trees, Dwight and Arat kept both of their guns out for any suspicions. While they are focused, Negan maintained a sturdy look with his barbed wire bat on his shoulder, as usual, walking through the clear trails before him and his two Savior Lieutenants.
Negan's thoughts played back after ordering Hayden to stay behind during the hunt, scowling a bit from the way that the android reacted to his fear inducement. Still, he already knew that Hayden wouldn't just head for the hills right now and get done with it. Many people look up to Negan because, in many ways, he represents what many others want to become. An individual who is intelligent, confident, uncaring of what other people think. And is liberated from the burdens of life in many ways because they are above everyone else.
The only thing questioning Negan more was how much Hayden knows when strategizing and reading situations so smoothly. Probably because Hayden was and always is an intellectual; aside from the smart-ass manner that is. After the first two meetings with Hayden back at Sanctuary, Negan was laid bare in forced to confront himself in the situation where he had to submit to a scenario created by someone else. Negan couldn't open up any snark to escape because doing so will still be him, in this powerlessness in the face of someone else.
It was new for both Negan and the rest of the Saviors. It was a departure from the dominant formula that Negan had laid out. And such discomfort demands reaction and reflection. Some of which will be negative as Negan's past discussion with Hayden forces the ruthless leader to self-reflect.
Another thing Negan thought about was Dwight's hidden confidence all of a sudden. If Hayden had talked to Dwight about something during the ride over here, then could it be that his Savior Lieutenant knows something that he doesn't? Walking through the middle of the forest, Negan made his way along a few trails, and then towards Arat.
"You sure those limp-dicks went around this side of the forest? You did tell me that the ringleader's got several people working together." Negan asked, walking across as his eyes took a quick scan.
"I am sure of it, Negan," Arat asserted to the Savior leader while keeping her gun out for any sudden assaults. "But one of the patrollers have sworn that they saw two of the people carrying assault rifles."
"Great, looks like we're going to do this the hard way with...uh, what were their names again, Arat?" Negan asked, running a hand over his face with annoyance.
Both Negan and Arat were busy discussing more of the female Savior's explanation upon each runner's name, and where they went off during the grab-n-go. Although Dwight seemed to eavesdrop while on the entire exploration, he couldn't help but think back to what Hayden had told him.
On one side, Dwight didn't want to buy into Hayden's words and judge him like some lunatic with a problem, even when the things he'd stated are shockingly valid. But that's also the other side of this situation, Hayden is telling the truth, and it's still shocking enough from getting introduced to the Crucible.
Especially that man called the Doom Slayer. But if this guy is also here like Hayden previously, could he destroy the Saviors alongside the demons as well? Still, though, what about him? Dwight could get killed by the Doom Slayer if not careful, but he knew he deserved it for everything he's done. Not before long, Dwight started hearing an audible voice calling out to him.
"Dwight!"
The blonde man jolted a bit before his eyes gazed over to Negan, who continuously glanced at him with a boasting smirk.
"For a second there, I thought you were already dead in the head there, Dwight." Negan said, poking on one side of his head and then begins to prob, "You fantasizing about the doc's bod behind my back or some shit?"
Dwight shakes his head, "N-No, Negan. I was just...checking out to see if I had spotted something nearby."
Negan chuckles, "Cute, but I was wanting to talk to you about Doctor Tinman becoming aware of things when I'm around. So, I need to know if he's been behaving like a good boy without a sneak peek on his early present for Christmas."
Dwight looked down at him and nodded, "He's fine. No trouble, no nothing. Listened to every word you said to him and obeyed just like that."
Negan's face became inactive for a moment before showing a fake smirk, "Well, now, that's damn for sure fucking sweet and all, but I can't help noticing how you have been sweating as if you had a wet dream by accident. Anything Tinman had spoken about?"
Dwight gives Negan a doubtful look while the Savior leader's expression turned dark for a moment. Dwight had begun to open his mouth to explain, only to be cut off by a scream of terror. A small number of shots fired, and a loud ghoulish hiss from afar.
As both Dwight and Negan turned to look in the direction of the sounds, Arat glanced back at Negan, "What the hell was that?"
Hearing upon that unearthly noise, Dwight immediately began to recognize that it didn't sound like any regular walker.
It had to be those demons.
Negan cursed to himself, "This fucking day just keeps getting better. Arat, Dwight, come with me." he ordered.
Arat halted Negan, "Wait a minute, what if this is a decoy from the ringleader? They could be trying to lure dead ones into a trap and have us surrounded."
Dwight sighed, "Arat's got a point, and we do need to think about Sam-"
Negan barked back at Dwight, "We don't need to think about him helping, Dwight! The sound would've already drawn another of our groups out here. Besides, we don't even know if those fuckers got caught in their traps like it's a dead feast. Now, come on!"
As Negan starts marching his way in another direction, Dwight and Arat looked at each other reluctantly before following their leader as well. Dwight's attention became too drawn by his surroundings, almost acting a bit anxious from what Hayden has mentioned about the demons to him. While Arat checked back with Dwight, regarding his uneasiness, she was going to tell him to knock it off before being caught off-guard by the sounds of groaning. Negan could see the silhouettes of what appeared to be walkers approaching their location.
"Fucking hell, do you guys keep correcting me with shit like this?!" Negan asked in a rude tone.
Arat ignores Negan's comment, lifting her handgun alongside Dwight, "We have to get past them, sir." She said in a tedious mood.
"No shit," Negan said sarcastically, glancing over at the confused Dwight, "Hey, D! Get your mind out of your ass and start helping, will you!?"
The additional walkers set up a collected groan as they noticed their three preys, and four revised courses to charge towards them. Dwight turned around, drawing out his pistol yet again. He fired, failing on his first shot before firing once more, this time, he killed an undead woman on the left through the eye. The walker fell to the ground beside Arat. She then shot another round to hit a more open walker in the forehead, who dropped back onto the dirt. Before anything could be said, several walkers began approaching from multiple directions.
"Shit! Come on, dammit!" Negan yelled as he and his Savior Lieutenants ran towards another side of the forest.
Dwight and Arat began sprinting behind Negan but stopped and looked towards the direction in which they came through. The forest had picked up to the point where visibility was limited.
"Boss, what the hell is that!?" Arat began in a confused tone, pointing somewhere else.
Dwight turned over to see what seemed to be a walker coming around. But this one wore a welding mask and some typical safety attire for workers. Uniquely about the possessed engineer, it looked even more mangled, with a distended belly and multiple gas tanks projecting from all over its body that spouted flames. It became plain to see that this walker was a Cueball, originating from UAC workers in Hayden's dimension.
"Woah, what the fuck did that fuckwad eat?!" Negan exclaimed in shock before Dwight notices the Cueball's trembling mood.
"Negan, it's going to blow up...!" Dwight shouted aloud before the detonation had happened.
*KA-BOOM*
Suddenly, the force of the explosion threw each Savior member back as Dwight and Arat rolled against the ground, coughing from the impact they have felt. Both their worlds have turned upside down, attempting to get up and search for Negan if that were the case. Unfortunately, Negan wasn't anyplace in their sight after Cueball's eruption.
"Where did he go?" Dwight asks, looking at Arat who glanced around.
"Follow me," Arat motioned before they both went off to chase Negan.
Dwight and Arat began zipping between trees and bushes. A few more walkers came around from the trees, with notable pentagrams on each forehead. Checking each cannon fodder, Dwight switches his sidearm pistol with Daryl's original crossbow to aim and then shoots down a walker. He makes his way to ram a knife onto the zombie's head, piercing through its albino skin.
Blood spurted out of the head as the zombie fell to the ground. It was a gruesome sight, but when everybody's in the zombie apocalypse, they get used to it. Arat squinted her eyes, aimed her gun, and shoots down the next walker. The last walker lunged out in front of Arat, whereas she kicked the walking corpse in the torso, causing it to fall before dealing one stomp to the forehead, it didn't get back up.
Arat observes one of the walkers having a pentagram on its forehead. "Dwight, I think Laura told me something about a weird symbol on these dead ones."
The blond man comes forth to inspect the fallen zombie nearby and nods, his thoughts knowing full well what's going on. "Yeah...I see that."
Arat glanced over at Dwight suspiciously, who he just looked around while following her. She knew that the Savior Lieutenant was busy guarding Hayden hours ago on the way here, but Dwight was acting strangely enough that something's going on.
Along the way, Arat took out a walkie-talkie and spoke into it. "This is Lieutenant Arat to Group B. Do you copy?"
A few seconds later, nothing.
"Lieutenant Arat to Group C! Do you copy?" She repeated.
[Group C has copied, this is Lieutenant Wade!]
"We got ambushed by a couple of dead ones. We found one that had some explosives attached to it and we lost Negan somewhere. Where are you right now?" Arat asked firmly.
[W-We finally caught up to those runaways you told about, and o-only a few of them tried gunning us down, b-but Group B took care of it and captured the ringleader. B-But...]
Arat's face became stern. "But what? Wade, you're seriously starting to piss me off if you're joking-"
[Something else came and attacked them, and we had to retreat as quickly as we could! They jumped down out of nowhere and started killing everyone in sight! Some of us tried to escape, but I saw Jonah and Lars got caught by those...those-]
"How would you know that? It could've just been those dead ones-"
[They weren't those walkers, dammit-! *HISS* Oh, shit! They're coming! *BANG-BANG* No, NO! AGGH! GET AWAY FROM ME, FUCKERS! *GROWL* UUGAGGGG-! *CRUNCH*]
Just then, static was the only thing remaining on the other side.
Wade was gone.
Group C and B were gone.
Arat's face dropped, "What the fuck...?" she mumbled, trying hard to pull herself together.
Dwight's expression flickered scarcely between fear and resolution. Whatever these demons desire else in this world, it surely isn't going to be beneficial for his sake of getting rid of Negan. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, gazing back at the dark-skinned female.
Dwight almost failed to keep a straight face, "C'mon, we gotta' find Negan before something else does."
With a slight nod, Arat followed Dwight as they continued with the mission, or more like a slaughter festival by the time they arrive there. The two Savior Lieutenants ran across the woods to stick together with where Negan went. From where the noise had come from, in which Arat estimated, Negan must've decided to go east, far away from where the Sanctuary was located. Arat couldn't feel her heart pounding hard, cursing one more time, and it will pop out from her chest.
It continued to beat so loud that she couldn't even hear her labored breaths or any rational thoughts. Dwight gritted his teeth as he stopped when they both came across a house; large and dingy, sure, but of course, because it's old and had a broken-down car that was near an unholy-looking, animate object that stood high.
The Gore Nest.
Arat's jaw hung open in shock, which became unsafe as the dark-skinned female could not determine whether she was about to throw up or not. Next to her, Dwight just stared at what seemed to be several life-guzzled corpses surrounding the area.
"The hell is this...?" Arat uttered with her wide eyes gazing at the scene of horror.
There laid the dead ringleader along with a couple few people, as well as two or three Savior members of Group B and C on the ground lifeless. Both stepping forward gently, Dwight kept his gun out while Arat continued examining around for Negan. The two of them kept as quiet as possible for any surrounding walkers, or whatever attacked each of their search parties.
A strong and musky scent of sex permeated the air as Dwight and Arat saw a few dead female Saviors with their clothes torn off and surrounded by blood and cum puddles. There was a steaming hot load of spunk all over each of their skin, tainting them with slimy demon seed. Just the scent of semen seemed to drive Arat to the point where it urges her to puke.
"What the fuck is this?!" Arat's face immediately fell into an expression of disgust.
Most of their limbs had gotten plunged around the place, and enormous bear-like slashes happened to get shown visibly on diverse parts of their bodies. Dwight continued to remain calm before he heard the clomp of heavy feet that came from inside the old house. Arat did her best to ignore the sickening display of her former comrades falling on the ground, either ripped apart or raped to death.
Arat almost felt her heart racing before whispering with determination, "Cover me, alright?"
After a single nod, Dwight observed as the dark-skinned female trudged forward, and made her way up on the porch with no front door. Dwight followed Arat from a few meters behind, checking back to both their surroundings with a gun in hand. The house laid discarded, hunching forlornly amidst large shrubs and trees, vines trailing up the dry walls unbridled. Wooden boards had remained nailed across a few of the windows. Soft-hued tattered drapes gleamed at them from one of the lower windows, peeking out from the yawning darkness inside. There were no signs of anyone or anything, but they approached the porch cautiously.
The house inside looked torn and falling apart, no doubt at one time it had been the home of some by-gone family, who enjoyed living off the land. There was tangible evidence of former times existed here. A burned fashion doll, a poorly sewn-up teddy bear, a coffee table with sparse faded and yellowed books on it, the desiccated remains of a dog. It was ghostly, in that once, there were people here, living their lives and not fearing to get eaten alive by the undead.
"Let's make this quick, alright?" Dwight whispered loudly.
"Shut up, I'm thinking..." Arat's words trailed off.
"What?"
The dark-skinned woman then felt confusion wash over her until she spotted something in the house that caught her eye.
"Arat?"
"Dwight," she finally managed to say. "I need you to check this crazy shit out, right now."
The blonde man had already become afraid of this moment as his eyes perceived where Arat crouched over. In the open, on the floor were red-glowing claw marks, causing Arat's curiosity to become her greatest weakness.
And at this point on, Dwight's eyes and expression soon turned up into a horrifying shock. Because just after Arat makes the first move to examine the ungodly claw mark, a muscular and agile-looking figure stepped from behind the wall and out the kitchen's threshold. It was a Prowler ready to attack them both.
"ARAT!" Dwight yelled audibly, shooting at the Prowler which caused her to finally notice.
But it was already too late for the warning.
"Wha-?" Arat uttered, witnessing the Prowler unleashing its leap attack upon her, roaring.
Time started to slow down for Arat, her eyes enlarging while further intensifying this sudden fear. The Prowler was already on top of her. Before pulling anything, the Prowler struck Dwight in the abdomen that sent him flying and crashed against a wall. The blow would have killed a lesser man. But somehow, Dwight was still conscious enough to see Arat struggling and kicking away the demon. The Prowler licked its teeth with a craving to violate Arat right here and now. The Prowler's face got met with a sudden barbed wire bat named Lucille, mainly handled by none other than Negan himself. Both Arat and Dwight surprisingly glanced over at the Savior leader with shock, uncertain of where and how he got here.
Negan used his barbed-wired bat to push against his enemy's throat and threw the Prowler against the exterior wall. Negan stepped on the wooden planking of what's left of the house's floor, yanked the Prowler to its feet, then punched the demon in the stomach. The Prowler snarled back as it strikes Negan a few feet away from the demon. Determined to fight back, Negan pulled himself together and staggered to his feet.
"Fuck, you are just ugly as shit!" Negan said, with an insane grin plastered on his face before it darkens. "You know, you fuckers are usually expected to go and shred the shit out of a few unlucky fucks or rats in shit, but I saw what each of you ugly fuckwads did to those women! A lot of you all are nothing but sick, motherfucking, rape-loving FUCKERS! You are so going to regret doing that shit while I'm still alive and around! Oh, FUCK YEAH YOU WILL! Now, come here and let me mess up your UGLY FUCKING FACE even more!"
The Prowler quickly got back up as both Negan and the creature charged at each other, ready for another round.
*KA-BOOM*
The first explosion had already gone off loud and clear, as explosions typically were. It was met with terrified screams of women and children, echoing throughout and off the trees from within Oceanside. The women of Oceanside immediately drop everything, running as quickly as they could to somewhere safe.
"Go! Go!"
Until, a moment later...
*KA-BOOM*
...the second explosion goes off.
It was the cue for Rick and the others to move in and initiate the ambush plan. More women scream as a few grab a dozen children, aiming to find cover from this attack. Two of the guard women; one short-haired (Beatrice) and one with a ponytail (Kathy), stared over to where that second explosion came from.
"The arsenal!" Kathy uttered to Beatrice, causing them both to scurry through the crowd of frightened women.
*KA-BOOM*
Then the third...
*KA-BOOM*
...then the fourth...
*KA-BOOM*
...it just kept coming.
Various numbers of women and children moved towards the entrance. They got pushed with guns shooting towards them, causing them to duck and run the other way. Some even tried to go into the woods where most of the demons were when VEGA was located to find them. However, the detonations went off outside the walls, only required to prevent anyone from escaping in that direction. Especially to alarm them too, but just a little bit.
Michonne, hiding in her post up on the tree with a sniper set to work, observed her scope to follow the two female guards that are hurrying their way toward their firearm stockpile. To prevent them from reaching it, Michonne shot at the ground a few feet in front of them; to lead the two women toward a specific location the group wanted them in.
After each round got discharged, Kathy and Beatrice jumped in surprise, turning to face four of Rick's men coming towards them.
One of the men, Daryl, aims his crossbow right at them.
"ON THE GROUND, NOW! THOSE HANDS! PUT THEM ON YOUR HEAD!" Daryl yells at them, scowling.
Carefully, Kathy obeyed as she collapses to her knees with her hands up, while Beatrice hatefully glares at the four men before Jesus comes next to Daryl.
"Please," Jesus said calmly, keeping his assault rifle at aim towards Beatrice, who grimaced.
The short-haired woman didn't want to do it, but she had no choice since they had weapons aimed at her. Beatrice grudgingly decided to accept her defeat as she sunk to her knees. Then, Daryl, alongside Jesus, Aaron, and Eric, advanced to subdue the two women, binding their hands together in restraints before they start leading them toward Oceanside's center. Eric glimpsed around behind to check if the Slayer was around the area, in which Aaron soon began to notice his boyfriend's behavior.
"I don't see him anywhere," Eric said, looking nearby a few trees for any eyesight of the armored trooper. "I don't know what happened or why he reacted like that. It was almost as if he found something out here besides us in Oceanside here."
Daryl could overhear Eric talking about why the Slayer ran off, scowling a bit before he waved a rag at Michonne's hiding post. Even Michonne was just as confused as they are as to where the Slayer went and why. More questions began to develop in Michonne's mind as she tries to observe the area for the Slayer's armored presence, cursing the fact that he neglected them during their need for assistance.
Aaron frowned, "I know, Eric, but we can't think about the big guy right now. We need to meet up with the others."
Eric glances back at Aaron, giving him a brief nod while Jesus finished restraining the two women, still in thought about the Slayer sprinting off into the woods. Daryl's seething anger grew uncertainly, tightening his grip on the crossbow he's wielding. The Slayer was supposed to help with the band of survivors, yet he had taken the dirty path instead.
"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch, wherever he is now," Daryl kicked the dirt ferociously as he grumbled angrily, "I don't care if there's no explanation coming out of that fucking mouth of his! He's fucking dead, dammit! And Officer Friendly had to go and trust him like it's no big fucking deal! Fucking gullible idiot!"
No one else spoke as the group looked at each other, questioning the Slayer's motives, whereas the two already cuffed women felt mildly confused about who they were talking about now. Daryl wouldn't go as far as to say that he was annoyed with Rick's decision, given that he trusted him, but he was displeased. He thought that his brother in all but blood would understand what strangers would do to hurt his family. And now, Daryl didn't know whether to allow more resentment to build up inside him, search for Rick about this, or wait a little longer. All Daryl knew was his contempt for the Slayer's sudden negligence, hoping that he or Rick will kill him for it soon.
Elsewhere, the Slayer kept his pace just as rapidly as possible, having to use the Delta-V Jump-Boots to dash his way through the forest at top speed. The emotions of unbridled hatred the Slayer had felt for the last few minutes have come yet to return. As the Slayer's combat shotgun began to aim onward, he pulled the trigger twice in succession for striking two walkers square in the face; large chunks of their flesh and brains flew off with the shot. The Slayer fired one more shell off, hitting another undead creature in the jaw, tearing it off before slamming a fist right through.
It was all coming back to the Slayer right now, especially leaving his service when he was supposed to help Rick's group. Tara had snuck into the Oceanside community to speak with their leader. While Michonne had taken a post in one of the trees, Daryl and Jesus had laid out explosives outside the Oceanside walls to cause a distraction. The Slayer's job must always come forth and protect everyone here.
Not before long, VEGA had detected a small group of children running, following the one older girl who secretly had a pistol of her own. The Slayer couldn't help but grimace at the thought of these kids getting ambushed by any demons nearby the area. So as always, the Slayer had prepared for this regardless of the brutality he can commence. The Slayer kept his combat shotgun at aim and walked right through the forest, while VEGA continues to pursue how many heat signatures there are. His eyes narrowed forward, left, and right, and the Slayer couldn't hear a single sound aside from the crickets with their ceased chirpings.
VEGA: {Slayer, the children remain camouflaged to your left.}
"I think he heard us." A youthful voice whispered.
Halfway down, the Slayer caught a few whispers to his ears, arising from the bushes nearby. The Slayer stayed convinced that those undead bastards would get destroyed from all of his mass destruction in the area, but he needed to make sure that the Oceansiders here are safe.
"Be quiet." Another young voice whispered back.
The Slayer's legs paused, then scrolled at the shrubs to walk over and lean over it to see that the voices were children. A group of young girls, who looked petrified, seized by the Slayer's armored appearance as if they couldn't run away from him. Their watery eyes met the Slayer's blue ones as he stared down the children into submission while tilting his head in confusion. Though that confusion only brought a hint of sickness in some way, the Slayer hated seeing kids scared.
"Please don't kill us...!" One of the girls sobbed.
The older girl named Rachel glared daggers as she aimed a pistol at the Slayer. "Stay away from us, asshole," Rachel warned coldly, glaring with no emotion in her voice.
All the Slayer did was stare back at the children looking upon his towering height. Each girl's fearful eyes widened in shock, and their blood ran cold as they checked out the Slayer's Praetor Suit. His armored appearance channeled an unstable aura of red flames visibly around him, almost real to the naked eye. All the girls couldn't help but realize the Slayer's ambiance felt so dense that channeling all of that was causing it to become noticeable.
Aside from the Slayer's killing intent, his eyes narrowed at the effect of getting called an asshole by Rachel.
Never had the Slayer ever seen a kid with enough guts and call him something like that. But he didn't care if the girl had a gun on her. She wasn't much of a threat. More like an ill-tempered brat, if anybody would ask him. The Slayer knew that Rick said to alarm them, but he's not scaring these children. The Slayer lowered his combat shotgun to write down on his notepad with the marker, flipping it over for them to read it.
I WILL NOT HARM YOU
I AM NOT THE SAVIORS
YOU MUST LEAVE NOW
After reading, Rachel shook her head with a frown, "Bullshit! Your friends are attacking our home."
"Are you going up against the Saviors?" The second girl asked.
The Slayer wrote again for the children to read.
YOU ALL MUST GET TO SAFETY
RIGHT NOW
BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE
"What do you mean?" the first girl asked.
"We should do as he says..." the third girl spoke, much to Rachel's anger.
As the three girls come out from their hiding spot, Rachel glared at them, "We're not going with him! It's happening again!"
The Slayer groaned with annoyance at this girl's stubbornness, not wanting to have to go through this routine once more until he heard the HUD several times, and VEGA's avatar reappeared.
VEGA: {Slayer, you must not waste any more time. There is a demonic presence in the area at unsafe levels. Provided that you must advise the children to leave here immediately.}
Without any second thought, the Slayer held out his notepad and marker again before writing down the words:
GET OUT OF HERE NOW
GET YOURSELVES TO SAFETY
FIND YOUR LEADER
THE DEMONS ARE HERE
TO HURT YOU
Rachel's face converted from anger to confusion from when the Slayer had just mentioned demons. She kept her aim at him before backing away from the Slayer out of the bushes, slightly scowling yet very confused.
"What is this guy talking about right now? Is he crazy or some shit?" Rachel thought, not knowing whether or not she should shoot the Slayer now.
The three girls glanced at the Slayer with a hint of puzzlement, where one of them asked, "What do you mean-?"
The girl's voice trailed off just as they heard a devilish hiss getting followed by the children's whimpers, and a humanoid creature lands right where Rachel was a few feet away like a monkey. Rachel's neutral eyes turned around before they widened instantly by terror. The three children gasped in horror at what they saw. An Imp was the one demon that the Slayer got so annoyed with back then. Rachel witnessed the creature with its dark beige body, glowing eyes, pointed teeth, and razor-sharp claws.
Rachel almost stuttered into a scream, "W-What the-!?"
Right before she could act, the Imp struck the poor girl, along with her pistol, down to the ground. After that, several more replicas of the first Imp sprung out from their hiding spots. Other monsters that appeared were a fused mess of flesh and metal, looking like burn victims that had parts of their bodies replaced with armor. Their right hands fused with weapons, flashing with evil energy that gave way to more monsters.
Revenants were the large demonic skeletons, reanimated through cybernetic armor, equipped with two shoulder cannons that fired both regular and homing rocket missiles. There were also muscular-looking behemoths without eyes called Hell Knights, snarling with a desire for violence as their clawed fists released evil explosive energy. Finally, there were these monsters called Pinkies. These hulking beasts wore pink skin, glowing eyes of hate, covered in bone-like armor, and possessed stumpy limbs with clawed hands and massive teeth. Rachel began to crawl, hurrying away in a silent panic from the Imp, who let out a lustrous growl.
Rachel nearly froze as an intense urge to flee took her. She just knew somehow that if she kept going toward the Imp, she would get herself killed. The Imp would have no mercy upon her and tear her limb from limb. She fell back again, landing on her butt with an outcry of fear, and scrambled away from the Imp as quickly as she could. Her entire body was shaking as she turned herself around and tried to push herself up off of the ground.
The Imp raised its claw, ready to gut the terrified girl until the Imp's collarbone gets trapped by the Slayer's massive grip. And with the Slayer's other hand to curl a fist, he punched the Imp in the face so hard. Its head exploded with gore before letting it go, booting it to the ground, leaking off strange blue and green energy as the Slayer absorbed it.
Suddenly, everything stopped as all the demons turned to face the Slayer, their bodies freezing due to their intense alarm by his presence. His eyes slowly turned to face the horde, not making a single sound. Rachel's nervous eyes peered at the Slayer while the other girls could not believe what they were witnessing.
That one brutal action had seemed to cause everything to stop. Then Rachel felt it, a feeling radiating from the Slayer. The one emotion she'd always felt, but never this intense. There was pure, ungodly, horrendous rage unfaltering from within the Slayer.
Rachel shivered violently, her gaze turned to the many demons, and she noticed something even more unbelievable. Each of them was subtly shaking. Though Rachel couldn't tell by the look at their hideous faces, she knew the truth. Every single one of them was terrified of him.
Without a moment or two, the Slayer's combat shotgun had disappeared, and he had whipped out his chaingun. It became a sign for every demon to either attack or move to a better position. The chaingun's several barrels soon divided into three separate circles before they began to spin, spewing hot lead at a rate Rachel could not even conceive.
As the hailstorm of oxidized metal tore through many of the demonic legions, Rachel got up as quick as she could before dragging the three girls with her back to Oceanside, hoping to warn everyone of this horrifying discovery. There was something else worse than the undead, far worse than the Saviors themselves, or Negan himself.
Located deep in the forest on a hill in southern Alexandria, in the Virginia region, the Hilltop Colony is a farming community of outbreak survivors that was formerly led by a man named Gregory and is currently managed by none other than Maggie Rhee.
During the 1930s, the Barrington House was given to the state by a family that owned the place, becoming a museum later. Elementary schools around the time made field trips to its gallery for years since then.
The terrain of the Hilltop offers fertile land and crops. And being on a hill, twenty miles from the Alexandria Safe-Zone, provides the survivors with an advantage over oncoming survivors and the undead. They use the surrounding trees to build a massive wall around the colony's perimeter.
Jesus, the Hilltop's supply runner, managed to steal Rick's truck one time. But Rick and Daryl caught up to Jesus and brought him back to the Safe-Zone as a hostage. However, Jesus managed to create an organization with Rick's community, and the two began exchanging food for weaponry.
The Saviors had shown up and demanded half the Hilltop's resources provided to them, where they would attack and destroy the community. After a past confrontation that left a teenage boy dead and one of their doctors taken captive, Hilltop agreed to Negan's terms. The Hilltop residents don't trust the Saviors and decide in taking them out, in which Rick executes a lone male Savior for declaring to be "Negan" himself.
Dr. Carson had advised Maggie to stay for the rest of her pregnancy at the Hilltop. After saving the community from a walker attack, Maggie and Sasha gain the loyalty of residents of Hilltop.
Simon arrived at the Hilltop, asking Gregory if he knows anything about one of their outposts' assaults. Later on, Jesus prevents Gregory from turning Maggie and Sasha in by changing their hiding spot. Enid soon sneaks out of Alexandria to check on Maggie at the Hilltop, with the accompany of Carl, where they first kissed before he left to attempt an assassination upon Negan. Maggie emerges as a leader amongst the Hilltop Colony, where they start organizing and training a resistance against the Saviors, intending to defeat them, for good.
Rosita arrived early at the Hilltop to recruit Sasha in killing Negan at his compound, without telling anyone or Maggie. Led by a group of Saviors, Simon comes to the Hilltop, ordering Dr. Carson to replace his brother, the former doctor of the Sanctuary whom Negan had killed. Simon gave Gregory a note, allowing him to enter the Sanctuary if he ever needed their help. Outside almost afar beyond the Hilltop walls, all alone, Maggie was currently digging up a blueberry bush.
Today could become summarized in two sentences.
Dr. Carson got taken by Simon.
Sasha and Rosita left somewhere else, for no reason at all.
After the Saviors had left, led by Simon, she felt discouraged yet resentful that they've taken Dr. Carson in use for another doctor to get wasted at the Sanctuary. It's safe to say that Maggie isn't wasting any time at the Hilltop. Among adopting Enid, teaching colonists how to throw knives, developing new weapons in stock, and staying up-to-date on medical visits to OB/GYN.
Despite losing her only family and husband, Glenn Rhee, for all that has happened to Maggie, she realized one thing that it wasn't time to merely give up and become ashes. It may have left her grief-stricken and depressed, but overall she was determined to fight against the Saviors and kill Negan for her husband and Abraham's cruel murders.
She's too busy to be miserable.
That's probably for the best.
Maggie has plastered herself as the de facto leader of the Hilltop and personal Colony Mom of the community. While Gregory makes a better distraction than he does a leader, Maggie's concerns have pressed on about Daryl during his time hiding at the Hilltop. He wouldn't talk to her, look at her, nor anything for that matter.
During Gregory's long exchange with Simon after the Saviors' unannounced arrival, Daryl and Maggie manage to evade the Saviors' prying eyes by hiding in the dark compartment of a cellar.
Maggie would not have blamed Enid for losing the promise to prevent any Saviors from wandering into Daryl and Maggie's hiding place. Then again, Maggie had to hold Daryl back from killing an unfavorable Savior, Roy. At that moment, it hit Maggie hard as Daryl broke down over Glenn's death, repeatedly saying he's sorry.
Although it is clear that Daryl's presence evokes Maggie of painful circumstances, she does not hold him accountable for the death of Glenn. Not that anyone would blame the pregnant widow for the closest, most guilty person getting lashed out.
The point is, Maggie doesn't blame him, whether or not it's Daryl's fault. Negan may have killed Glenn because of Daryl's punch, but nobody can't blame him for that. If anything, Daryl probably expected he would be the next victim, which makes more sense, given that the attack came from him.
Negan was an asshole, and the fault lies with him alone. Daryl only acted as any person would in that situation, and Maggie knows that.
She remembered those exact words that were said by her to Daryl,
"You're one of the good things in this world. That's what Glenn thought, and he would know, 'cause he was one of the good things, too."
Maggie needed people, and she needs Daryl too. It's clear that Maggie gets her head in the game and can look beyond her sadness to become the leader Deanna saw so long ago in her. Before Maggie's thoughts could ponder off, even more, her ears start to grasp onto a few trudges coming towards her. The older man in clean-dressed clothes, Gregory, came in and approached Maggie with ease.
While birds were chirping and insects buzzed, Maggie turned to look at Gregory before presuming to her task, "Don't think I've seen you outside the walls." she said.
"Well, I built these walls to use them," Gregory replied in an odd gesture, slightly shifting a bit. "If I want greenery, I eat a salad."
Maggie scanned back up to face Gregory again, slightly stern, "Then why are you here?" she asked.
"I was hoping we could talk, and then I saw you come out here alone," Gregory answered, glancing at his surroundings before looking back at her. "I was concerned. Where are your friends?"
"They went out," Maggie said, striving through her garden work. "They're looking for something they need."
Now, Gregory raised an eyebrow, asking, "Without you? Now, I'm just wondering why you are still here, Maggie? Hmm?"
Maggie wanted to continue her work, wishing she would overlook Gregory. But again, there became no end to his absurd lectures. She did not trust Gregory; she just couldn't.
"I mean, with Carson gone..." Gregory trailed off.
"I heard you were going to get him back. That not true?" Maggie asked, gazing back at him with the same look previously, proceeding with her digging, "Or was it just something you said?"
"Maggie, you've got to start trusting me." Gregory held hands on his hips with his smug yet concerned tone, indicating his hand around, "You know, people are tense, they're worried. Everybody would be a hell of a lot better if-if we could present a-a united front."
The cap-wearing woman held her gloved hands on her knees, "It would be a lot easier if we were a united front."
"You're right," Gregory said, swaying his hands in defense and knelt slightly to Maggie. "I need to be more open to working together. I apologize. I never intended for things between us to come to this point."
Maggie scanned Gregory for any so-called justifications for his actions but also wondered if she would believe him or not. Though, maybe some people only need time and effort to change themselves for the better.
"I appreciate that." Maggie said, showing her encouragement to the older man, "It's never too late to change, you know that?"
Gregory just stared at the woman with no hints of aggression or proudness, and nothing fazed for that matter.
Maggie then resumes her job as usual, "If you're serious, I'll come by later, and we can talk more." she said.
"Fine. Great." Gregory said, smiling.
*SNAP*
Maggie thought she could lower her head, but she jolts her face up where that twig snap occurred. Same thing Gregory, only that he almost saw something afar somehow.
"I thought this would take a second." Maggie looked at Gregory again, doing her work once more while asking, "Would you mind keeping an eye out while I finish up? Could you do that?"
"Happy to do so." Gregory complied, sieving out a small dagger as he waited.
While Maggie recommenced working on the blueberry bush, Gregory began to glare down at her in an unusual way. Like he was attempting to sneakily corner and stab her right on the spot.
Maggie had taken out all of the Hilltop Colony's loyalty to him, and especially took Jesus' trust by having him call out on Gregory for deciding to kick out Sasha and Maggie. Sure, he may be apologizing for intensifying their hostility upward that it is at and wanting them to become a unified front, Maggie already knew Gregory would start to ooze out bullshit at the beginning of their conversation.
Gregory felt humiliated. But still, the thought of stabbing Maggie in the back had started to make Gregory think otherwise. His reputation and position would get busted. Nobody would trust him anymore, except for the Saviors, maybe?
Gregory sighs, making him think twice about how the whole ordeal can play out. He looks away for a minute, holding a hand against his face only to drop it down, feeling weakened before turning around to spot a figure emerging distantly. Judging from the figure's cone-shaped skull appearance, it looked towering, emaciated, and had peach skin with grotesque and decayed-looking features.
"Oh, we got...o-one...?" Gregory's voice seemed to have escaped instantly, eyes widened, feeling aghast like never before.
"heh, heh, heh, heh, heh..."
When Maggie's eyes peered up to observe what Gregory had found, they slowly became wide as her face froze in a mixed confusion. From the aspects of the figure, there was no flesh around the abdominal area, revealing some of its ribcage and spinal column. It also had yellowish-white, bone-like plates under which gore and muscle tissue can become seen. It was no ordinary walker, but a beast that emitted a peal of high-pitched laughter, gold-glowing, fire-wreathed hands. And an expression that would haunt a human daily.
"heh, heh, heh, heh, heh..."
The Arch-Vile.
"What the hell...is that thing!?" Maggie asks herself in thought.
It was beyond imagination, like something from a horror movie. The area around the two became eerily quiet as the demonic creature stared at them motionless, tilting its head remotely. The moment Gregory unconsciously took a step back, it only caused the Arch-Vile to snigger while trudging towards Maggie and Gregory steadily.
They gazed at the creature, recognizing that look all too well whenever they saw themselves in the mirror. The Arch-Vile's gleaming eyes showed lust for vengeance. An emotion that welled up within Maggie that she secretly exhibits herself.
Maggie made a sudden yet fearful whisper, "Gregory, we need to warn everybody-"
"No, NO! Get away from me!" Gregory screeched out of fear, then turned away to sprint back to the Hilltop, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
Maggie turns her head with an audible shout, "Gregory, no!"
"Ree-Hee-Hee-Hee-Hee-Hee!"
With a high-pitched, distorted laugh, the Arch-Vile then starts raising its arms and clasped both hands together.
*WHOOSH*
It causes a swirl of fire to erupt beneath the stretch of terrain where Gregory almost hurried over, causing the fortunate older man to heave himself onto the dirt with hints of agony. Maggie became bewildered at what she was witnessing as the Arch-Vile turned its attention onto her.
However, the humanoid demon observed that Maggie began rushing towards Gregory and helps him up quickly. Snarling maliciously, the Arch-Vile proceeds with its assault, until it notices a passing group of the Hilltop's supply runners spotting the creature from the road. One of the four residents, Oscar, his eyes grew with horror when they briefly stop to see Maggie and Gregory retreating away from the powerful demon.
"Jesus Christ, what the fuck is that thing?!" Oscar sputtered out of confusion, in which three other people behind him could agree with the same thing.
"Oscar, don't fight that thing! Get your team out of there! Warn Kal and Eduardo to get everybody ready now!" Maggie ordered in a loud voice, though she had some fear in the tone.
"R̶A҉AAĄU͡U͟UGGGG͜H̷H̡HH!͢!̨!̴!̛"
The Arch-Vile lets out a battle cry from the sidelines, the gust of firey flames blew fiercely around it as vexation permeated its being. A dark shadow cast on its face, a killing intent blasting the trees towering over, the danger was imminent. The Arch-Vile jumps from its spot and goes on the attack, confronting the humans head-on while leaving a massive crater where it was standing moments ago in the process.
A Hilltop resident, Alexander, speedily exclaimed, "We have to get away from the- EEAGH!?"
Alexander's eyes widened and gagged as blood choked out from his mouth at what happened. A blazing claw of the Arch-Vile had impaled through the man's torso and quickly incinerated him into nothing but ashes. Suddenly, the Arch-Vile could see that each human close to it had expressions of shock and matching horror on their faces, with Maggie helping Gregory, who was struggling to get up leaning his head upwards, likewise with emotions of sheer fright. A female Hilltopper, Justine, jumps over with a sharp-pointed staff in hand to stab the Arch-Vile.
"You...YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Justine screamed angrily yet fearfully.
But then again, the Arch-Vile remained too durable as it speedily swats the woman's staff and swipes a slash of pyro through her torso, instantly killing Justine on the spot where her corpse burns away into pure dust.
Without a moment to spare, Oscar quickly began to use enough force to shove the demonic creature down to the ground, yanking out his dagger to try and cease the Arch-Vile's destruction. Except it was way too active to stop, having Oscar follow where the Arch-Vile's foot kicks him beyond the fields, leaving the third male Hilltopper, Cole, by himself to make a break for it across the area with panic in his mind.
All of this became futile just as the Arch-Vile held out its clawed hand, summoning something else before Cole that wasn't sparks of flames. Coming in front of Cole was a demon, but it had two canine-like heads and long black tongues on each one. The back was hunched while consisting of two large, tumor-like bloody stumps with withdrawing barbed bones extruding from them.
This demon was a Maggot.
The Maggot was approaching the timid human on all four limbs, walking upright on its back legs while two of its smaller insect-like claws were razor sharp. Oscar, from afar, manages to get himself back as he winces in pain, but then took notice of Cole getting cornered by several more of that two-headed demonic creature.
Before Oscar could shout out to Cole, it was far too late for the poor guy until two Maggots leaped from their positions. Cole quickly used his staff to struggle against the Maggots, trying to hold them off as much as he could until he could figure out a way to get out of this situation.
"COLE! GET OUT OF THERE!" Oscar shouted as he looked around, trying to see if there was a way to help him.
Regrettably, there wasn't a way for Oscar other than getting ambushed just like how Cole was now, and even if there was an option, then it was already far too late for his friend. Maggie and Gregory continued to watch as the Maggots immediately began to pounce on Cole, their growls quickly being drowned out by the man screaming in agony as a pair of the creatures sunk their claws into his arms, ripping out some chunks of his flesh. The sight of this was purely horrific to all of the witnesses.
But these creatures weren't eating Cole, they were killing him for sport.
"NO!" Oscar screamed as he watched his friend getting beaten to death.
Cole proceeded to try his hardest to fight off the two-headed beasts that were trying to beat him to death. His limbs were covered in blood thanks to the wounds he received from these monsters, but despite the agonizing pain he felt in his body, Cole started punching and kicking the crazed demons as much as he possibly could to fight through them.
"GO! GO- GUAGGHH!" Cole shouted up to Oscar and Maggie with agony, in which she came over to reluctantly pull Oscar back to the Hilltop Colony.
Sadden, yet terrified by this, Maggie spoke to Oscar, "We need to get inside, Oscar! I'm so sorry, but we have to leave him!"
Oscar thrashed a bit to try and save Cole, but soon gave up as he stuttered, "T-They're all dead...!"
Cole screamed from the torture as the Arch-Vile comes over, using its blazing claws to rip the man's appendages off of their stems that already had bites on them. But Cole still managed to use what's left of his power to try and charge the Arch-Vile, who hastily decapitated him that the group couldn't see him anymore. His screams of sheer agony and horror suddenly went silent.
Maggie knew that they couldn't stay any longer. They had to retreat or end up in the same position as those unlucky residents. Sadly, the group pressed on and resumed to run back to Hilltop from the crazed monsters, leaving the dead supply runners behind to those things.
The Arch-Vile's attention glared over to witness three of the other humans it hasn't killed retreating off to the Hilltop Colony, where there's more of them to slaughter. The Arch-Vile almost cooed with high-pitched laughter before raising its arms outward again and began summoning Imps for their next invading target.
A/N: [Another chapter is done! Pretty much, the Arch-Vile is going to retake the role of a summoner and an all-around dirtbag. And this time, the Arch-Vile's going to gang up on Maggie without the support of Jesus, Enid, and Sasha. The solution is simple: Rip and tear the Arch-Vile first. The next chapter's going to become mind-boggling for our characters. Later!]