All Michonne could hear, everywhere she turned and looked, were demonic screeches and loud gunshots. While carefully hidden in a tree on sniper duty and concentrated on her task, Michonne didn't know whether or not her mind was in the right place now. When she had noticed that the Slayer was no longer present alongside everyone else, Michonne had become confused and angered by his reckless action, hoping that he wasn't doing anything that could put her family and friends in danger.
After all, the Slayer had almost choked Rick to death back at Alexandria before this mission had started. How could she try and forgive anyone that is a potential danger to the group? Sure, anybody would make mistakes as any regular human being does, but the Slayer was more different than everyone thinks. Sliding back the bolt, Michonne slid a bullet inside before closing up the gun again and raising it to her shoulder.
As Michonne was checking every angle to find anyone at gunpoint, her eyes then grew wide at the sight of shadowy creatures zipping across another direction. She watches along with narrowed eyes but doesn't dignify herself with a response to start shooting. Michonne almost caught the sight of several white bony spikes on each body while their blood-red eyes radiated within the bushes. Michonne tries to stay still and silent. It works for a while until a sudden realization came by where these humanoid shadows were heading.
She kept looking on for a few moments, expression flat in discernment, and uttered, "Oh no...Rick...!"
Michonne then held out her walkie-talkie with a crackling sound, "Rick! Come in, Rick! Something is coming towards where you guys are! Where's Carl and-!"
*GROWL*
Michonne gasps, and before she looks behind, it came to the point where her leg got seized upon and dragged down with a scream. The walkie-talkie had been dropped out of Michonne's hand and onto the ground, crackling with Rick's voice on the other side.
[Michonne! What's coming? Where are you? Michonne? MICHONNE!]
The growing horror in Michonne's face as she took her eyes off the ground to see a Hell-Razer, after bringing her down to train an energized beam arm towards her. The demon shrieked with rage as Michonne jumped to her feet, eyes widened until swinging the rifle's butt across the Hell-Razer's face.
Not taking this too lightly, the Hell-Razer barraged Michonne with one arm to try and pummel her back to the ground. A demonic snarl left the Hell-Razer as it clutched her by the throat, but Michonne instinctively spun her rifle around to shoot the Hell-Razer in the chest, leaking out Argent Energy like hot, running lava.
Michonne let out a cough afterward but then manages to dodge the Hell-Razer's constant red stream of Argent Energy that obliterated a few trees nearby. Her eyes luckily spotted her sheathed katana sprawled on the ground, rushing her way to grab it first hand. As the Hell-Razer charged its next attack, Michonne quickly aimed for the chest one more time until firing, letting the bullet burst through the Hell-Razer's wounded body.
The Hell-Razer staggered backward, hitting itself against a tree while clutching its dripping wound. Michonne narrowed her eyes into a fury, followed by unsheathing her katana with enough speed to stab through the face once until swinging off the demon's head. She moved away as the Hell-Razer's head went one way, and the corpse went the other direction. Michonne, with a grave look on her face, couldn't help but witness the demon's remains beginning to evaporate like a streak until she saw its skeletal structure.
Before Michonne could even comprehend herself as to what happened, she didn't budge her expression once she heard several hisses approaching her. Hastily, Michonne looked around with her katana drawn forward, until just then, a rustle soon sounded off within the bushes behind her. That was as far as she had gotten as an Imp blurred from its spot, reappearing behind Michonne to try and gash her back with a vicious claw.
"Big mistake," Michonne's voice darkened, with a twinkle in her eye.
Upon using both her hands, Michonne's katana twirls over her back to stop the slash aimed at the back of her neck. The Imp's eyes showed the shock it was feeling, never to expect the woman to be able to follow its speed.
Michonne, for her part, didn't have a hard time detecting the Imp now that she knew what to expect for the most part. Predictably, the Imp growled once again before going for her one more time. Michonne, anticipating this, was already in motion by launching a backward kick to the demon's torso that sent it staggering a bit. Wasting no time, she pushed herself by using enough momentum to spin with the flow of her body and sliced through the Imp's unguarded body.
Leaving a tremendous swipe that drew quite a lot of blood, Michonne watched as the Imp staggered, trying to clutch itself until falling apart like a mutilated carcass. By implicating the other Imps as well as any other creature, they thought Michonne would make it seem like she was going to get killed by them afterward. But to Michonne, she wasn't going to give up on Rick or Carl during this battle. She was busy inspecting around the area and prepared herself for any horrible outcome, which had started to piss off the Imps.
Thus popped out of the forest's bushes were a mixture of brownish-orange Imps as several screeched at Michonne, who tried not to look fazed at this development. Some of them gave out a creepy vibe as they simpered viciously at Michonne, each demonic creature drooling at her with so much eagerness upon another alluring woman to satisfy their every intention. Bluntly enough, she became determined at this point. So much so that she looked on with a stone-cold stare before dashing onward to flourish her katana across the first demon she sees, receiving splatters of blood and outcries of anguish and fury.
At first glance from the survivors, a bundle of wide-range blasts from the combat shotgun came flying speedily towards the Whiplash, who varied through to avoid any shots fired. The Slayer looked at the Whiplash with VEGA calculating this thing's movements and pace. The Whiplash slithered back to evade the next few rounds of the Slayer's combat shotgun. Just when the Slayer scowled, he saw as the Whiplash aimed its clawed palm at him and fired one of the energy chain-blades.
Aaron shouted, "Look out!"
As fast as he possibly could, the Slayer swung his combat shotgun to smack the energy chain-blade sideways before his hand grabbed hold of the chain and roughly hauled the Whiplash to him.
Though the action caused the Whiplash to snarl harshly, it didn't get the chance to avoid the blow of the Slayer's fist right in the face. Blood gushed from the Whiplash that looked back at the Slayer. As the Whiplash pulled back its blade-protruding palm to attack, only to get punched in the chest, throwing the Whiplash off-guard as it backed away from the Slayer.
Not before long, a couple of Revenants came and appeared unexpectedly from forty feet in the air until descending to the ground. Some of their glowing green eyes narrowed towards any of their victims, gnarling in a beastly manner. Daryl eventually fired at one of the Revenants, a bolt plunging straight through an eye socket to cause the Revenant to screech in pain.
The Slayer came upon the first three skeletal demons like a wolf pouncing on sheep; their jet-pack armor did little to stop his chainsaw as he swung and tore through one's lower half. Daryl kicks a walker and sinks his knife through another one's head, and then goes back to aim a bolt right through another Revenant's face. Two more Revenants got shot down by the Slayer's combat shotgun and then switches to his gauss cannon to aim and fire steel flechettes at another couple of Revenants.
The Slayer charged over to the last Revenant in the area and lunged forth, using both of its homing rocket launchers to smash its head into bloody gunk. After that, the Slayer felt as if something lengthy wrapped around him. Suddenly, he got dragged to the ground by the Whiplash as it takes off climbing one of the trees, taking him along. Hitting against branches and twigs up to the top, the Whiplash used enough strength to hoist the Slayer in a swirly fashion before launching him into the air.
A few eyes spotted the Slayer as a Cacodemon appeared out of nowhere with its mouth opened wide to try and gobble him up like a dog. With people fearing for the worst, the Slayer activated his thruster boots to avoid the Cacodemon's sharp teeth. Landing on top of the Cacodemon's head, it growled with so much irritation that the Slayer gripped onto the side and drove his knee into the Cacodemon's eyeball.
The Slayer pushed away with both of his boots as the Cacodemon exploded in a gory goop of midair carnage. Meanwhile, Daryl aimed his crossbow around the area before taking note of a Prowler lunging from the bushes after the redneck hunter. Fortunately, Daryl scooted himself aside in a ducking position to avoid the melee demon's claws, cursing a bit until the Prowler skids itself to zoom right back at Daryl with a claw swipe.
Aaron and Eric commence forward, shooting at the Prowler when it got close to Daryl, allowing him to fire a bolt that stuck into the Prowler's face. Soon, Jesus charges in to present a kick into the Prowler's torso, taking it down as Daryl finally sinks his knife through its skull.
Having no time to thank each other, the Whiplash from the very top of the tree previously dives down to assail the four other survivors. The snake-like demon slithered its way across and battered both Aaron and Eric away from it, swinging one of the energy chain-blades at Jesus before avoiding instantly. During that time, the Slayer was back on the ground, reloading more into the combat shotgun to fire at the Whiplash.
More shots came after as the Whiplash disappeared from its position in a burst of speed, avoiding the Slayer at all costs. Daryl nearby had enough of this and launched another bolt at the Whiplash's head, to which it gracefully slithered aside and countered with a slash attack.
Daryl dodged by rolling to the side, meanwhile using his crossbow to strike at the Whiplash from behind. The impact nearly tore half of the Whiplash's face if not for one of its horns. The Whiplash whips its mechanical tail sideways to knock Daryl off his feet and to the ground.
The Slayer gaped at Daryl once again, annoyed by everyone helping him here. The Slayer took the opportunity to attack as the Whiplash protrudes both energy chain-blades and spinning them at Daryl like a helicopter blade. But a couple of shots taken from Kathy and Beatrice's weapons caused the angry Whiplash to twist itself spiral until the first energy chain-blade came flourishing after one of them.
"Oh, shit-!" Beatrice almost cursed if not for what happened next.
Just as the chain-blade was about to hit Beatrice, the Slayer raced across in a lively manner and immediately swatted it away. Looking around upon the band of survivors, they will get themselves killed if they stay here for a few more seconds.
VEGA: {Standing in one location too long could become unwise. It might be best to keep moving around, so it will also allow all of us here to keep ourselves out of range from this demon's attacks.}
The Slayer nodded upon VEGA's suggestion, just as everyone else here did, and then switched over to the plasma rifle until he started shooting. Demonically screeching at the round of plasma shots, the Whiplash attempted to retreat from the scene until the Slayer began giving chase after the demon.
"It's getting away!" Tobin exhorts.
Daryl silently cursed himself as he got up with his crossbow to follow the Slayer. While the Slayer charged excitedly, his hands switched over to the rocket launcher to shoot down the Whiplash. Suddenly, a Summoner came barging in at an extraordinary speed, appearing only as a red streak.
"BIG GUY!" Jesus yelled out in shock.
The feminine-looking demon's claw clutched onto the Slayer's head to lift him and dropkicked his torso, sending him splintering through a couple of trees that tumbled after. Thankfully enough, the Slayer used his thrust boots with greater mobility to land on his feet and push himself forward while grabbing and flinging a lengthy tree log at the demon.
The Summoner hissed back challengingly, reacting by twisting itself to bypass the incoming tree log that went and crashed nearby. Daryl halted to aim for the Summoner but was too late just as the demon started moving around at top speed. Daryl was momentarily distracted as the Summoner began to zoom, setting course for anybody that was nearby. The Summoner used his weakness to attack viciously with a swinging kick, connecting against Daryl's face as he gets knocked across the area.
The Slayer dashed to the side with his plasma rifle and fired a couple of bright orbs after. The smell of burned flesh filled the air, followed by a pained shout, and then the demon flew through the air to attack the Slayer with waves of Hell energy. The Slayer counteracted by evading the Summoner's hellish streams and switched to the heavy assault rifle before he began firing several shots. While the Summoner drew away from the Slayer's assault as a counterpoise, two of the Oceanside women opened fire behind the demon that could only bring more trouble.
Everyone else didn't recognize until the Summoner reappeared upon Beatrice and Kathy. They attempted to open fire but instead received sharp kicks and blows as the Summoner took hold of Beatrice's neck. The horror in Beatrice's eyes transpired as the Summoner begins to cast out about five or more walkers with pentagrams on their foreheads. Somewhere around, Daryl coughed as blood started pouring out of one nostril and gets up to his feet before wielding his crossbow again. He merely wiped the blood off his upper lip and began to rush forward to help the others.
The Slayer growled in exasperation as he jumped out next to Daryl and charged forth with the energy sidearm to shoot down numerous directed-energy beams. Beatrice struggled to pry off from the Summoner as Kathy stabbed the demon with a knife, causing the Summoner to release Beatrice in a painful screech. Daryl then begins to aim again and shot a bolt straight into the demon's head, killing it in the process.
The Slayer looked over at Daryl as if he had seemed impressed, but it didn't take long for him to zip through and bash a walker's skull against one of the trees. The Slayer's eyes scrolled over to Beatrice, who was now getting up thanks to Kathy's hand in need. With every survivor of both Alexandria and Oceanside too busy trying to fight off the equally tenacious Imps and walkers, no one could stop the Slayer now, but he had to help them out. And VEGA knew what the Slayer needed for this.
VEGA: {Activating Power-Up: HASTE MODE.}
The Slayer's eyes shot wide open, glowing yellow, and the smile he had got replaced with lips pursed so tight they could crack a clam. Before Beatrice and Kathy could even notice the Slayer's aura at first glance, he went directly ahead of them and had already begun switching out the combat shotgun. Focusing each shot upon several different walkers or Imps, the Slayer then started throwing a barrage of punches everywhere at a speed most wouldn't be able to see.
Within thirty seconds of the Slayer's Haste Mode, a couple of walkers got flung back through the trees around the area, which had then killed them already. By the time the Slayer's yellowish aura had faded, his eyes return to normal before trailing around, where he observes everyone's astonishment for his capabilities. Not giving anyone a chance to question or show gratitude, the Slayer then turned away to start running past Daryl and everyone else to chase after that Whiplash.
"HEY!" Daryl called out as the Slayer kept running onward, ignoring him.
Daryl cursed to himself with a glare while brandishing his crossbow, looking back at Jesus and Aaron, "Grab out the guns and get back to everyone else! I'm going to find Rick and Michonne with the rest of Oceanside!" he yelled.
Jesus shouted back while inspecting for any leftover walkers, "We got it! Go follow where the big guy is going!"
With that said, Daryl soon gave a quick nod before turning away to go chase after the Slayer. Meanwhile, the Slayer was sure enough, honestly, that the others back there can handle a few walkers.
At this point, the Slayer never thought about how well these guys could face demons. The idea is that if the survivors of this Earth become powerfully built, they could withstand the demonic legions. Including the Saviors, if they have to do so. Daryl taking down a Summoner became sheer luck due to a distraction by one of the women from Oceanside. No one had been expecting it at all, yet everyone became prepared for the worse.
Before the Slayer could think further, he was jerked away by the sound of a feminine scream and a crash. The Slayer arched an eyebrow until he immediately took in his surroundings and realized that it must've been Michonne. She had been sniping around the area in her tree post. It seemed like she had gotten herself a full glimpse from one of the demons lurking everywhere. VEGA had better make it quick to find her heat signature before anything else happens.
"HEY!"
The Slayer spun around alarmed, rolling his eyes afterward, but then received some of Daryl's hotheaded barking once he arrived.
Daryl glared at the Slayer, "Don't go running off like that! How the hell did you do all that glowing shit?"
Thankfully, VEGA was able to answer that for the Slayer.
VEGA: {The Praetor Suit can grant unique or combined capacities to the Slayer called Power-Ups. Most can involve immunity to damage, semi-invisibility, ten times worth of fist damage, enhanced speed, and so forth.}
Daryl raised an eyebrow as he looks at the Slayer with a vague expression, unsure what to say or think about this new information. But then VEGA quickly gave the Slayer and Daryl another problem on the HUD audibly.
VEGA: {I have located Michonne's heat signature. She has encountered numerous demons nearby. You have to hurry before more harm comes to her.}
After nodding about VEGA's suggestion, Daryl then heard another scream, and he recognized the voice as Michonne. No other response came from the Slayer or Daryl except hatred for the demons flashing within their eyes. They both instantly kicked into action and made their way through another part of Oceanside's forest.
Daryl's watchful look turned towards the Slayer, nearly maddened by how consistent he had been to him the past few hours. However, Daryl couldn't help but soften his gaze for a bit, considering the truth that the Slayer saved their asses from that Hell-Knight earlier. For the time being, they needed to focus on helping Michonne alongside the rest of Oceanside's community.
As they both arrived on the scene, Daryl and the Slayer soon caught a glimpse of Michonne fighting off several more of those Imps, while there were bodies of them in all directions. Daryl seemed shocked at first until his angered face contorted into a more fumed expression. The Slayer then blurred ahead to shoot towards the first few Imps, whereas Daryl went to fire bolts at the other small number of demons.
One Imp ate a blast of the combat shotgun and a vicious punch that caved the right side of another one's skull, barely registering the agonizing pain before dying. Michonne lifted her head in a bolting manner to see Daryl shooting, finally noticing that help has arrived, and gashed one more Imp nearby.
The rest of the demon invaders barely had time to blink before they got demolished by rapid shotgun blasts and swift punches, courtesy of the Slayer. Even Daryl wasted no time shooting down a couple of Imps and almost had to stop himself from reloading at how quick these demons were.
Michonne could also see the overwhelming power and speed the Slayer had shone through as it was evident that these Imps were no match whatsoever. Some of the Imps turned pale at the gruesome sight of the Slayer, and many lost their will to run away when he gave chase. Michonne almost felt terrified of how the demons reacted towards the Slayer as if that was even possible.
The Slayer just shook his head at these demonic morons. He didn't care about how Daryl and Michonne reacted or felt about his course of action, but they did help him in some way for the time being. They were the last ones standing, compared to the enemies who remained lifeless on the ground. Glancing back at the two Earth survivors, Michonne was certainly left dumbstruck, watching how the Slayer swiftly dispatch a group of about fifteen Imps in about twenty seconds. While Daryl was still neutral from his expression, the shock in Michonne soon gave way to caution as she walks straight over to Daryl.
"What happened?" asked Michonne.
Daryl shrugged his shoulder and answered, "I don't know, but long story short. We need to find Rick and tell everyone else about this. Aaron and Eric are okay for now, and they're with Paul to bring the guns. These bunch of demons are all over the place, so we got to move now."
"Demons?" Michonne then glared at the Slayer next when he came around, "You knew something about this, didn't you? Rick and I knew you've been keeping stuff to yourself, so why didn't you tell us this before?"
Daryl was about to open his mouth and respond but was beaten to the punch by VEGA.
VEGA: {The Slayer and I were unable to tell whether or not the demons would arrive here, Michonne.}
Michonne blinked in confusion, as well as startled during VEGA's presentation to her, "W-What are you?"
"There's a voice in this big guy's suit named VEGA. He talks for him and all." Daryl sighed, placing a hand on Michonne's shoulder to ease her tension.
Somewhat fortunate, Michonne was able to ease herself before asking, "Why didn't you say anything when Rick and I found you? You knew we were trying to get a word out of you, and yet you stayed quiet. Why?"
VEGA: {The Slayer has given you and the Alexandrians a mistrustful bearing, especially after saving you all the trouble of defeating the undead swarm previously. Despite the poor treatment you gave him, the Slayer has shown no ill feelings towards any of you, Michonne. He is here for the sole purpose of destroying the legions of Hell from invading this world.}
Michonne was left to stare at him as the Slayer turned away, a profound sense of loss filling the woman. VEGA's explanation cut her deep and hurt a lot more than she thought it would. Michonne realized that he was right since everyone in Alexandria knew they were frightened of the Slayer. After a minute or so of self-loathing, she snapped out of her funk. Maybe that was true, but she and Daryl had to find Rick and Tara within the area. Suddenly, it happened so fast, but the moment the Slayer took a step forth, a Pinky's claw took hold of his head and sent him rolling through a tree until smashing his feet onto the ground.
As the Slayer's feet skid to an immediate halt, all sound became deafened to Michonne and Daryl, whereas the Pinky discharged itself across to attack the two Earth survivors. They moved out of the way quickly as they could until the muscular pink brute broke through a few trees in half and forced a bunch straight at the Slayer. But before the Pinky could even react to what happened next, the Slayer dashed onward in a zig-zag motion, thanks to his thruster boots. He made his way over to start firing at the Pinky with the gauss cannon to pierce its thick hide.
The Pinky roared in agony, causing Daryl to speed forward and jab a knife deep into one of the Pinky's eyes. The Pinky attempted to bite at Daryl, who backed away slightly to prevent that. Michonne soon comes to bury her katana blade through the other eye. Giving the Slayer a chance to sprint over and switch out his chainsaw, he swiftly embedded the shivering chains through the Pinky's abdomen until slicing out from the tail, killing off the Pinky once it falls. Before anything else could happen, VEGA soon gave the group another notification.
VEGA: {The Gore Nest's location is found somewhere within the perimeter of Oceanside. I have also tracked down three heat signatures at a specific range. Oceanside's central area should be close to where you all are.}
As the Slayer acknowledged VEGA's discovery, Michonne soon began to fit the pieces together before becoming seemingly pale in expression, "That's Carl! He's out with Enid and Gabriel while those things are still around! Rick has to..."
Michonne soon trailed off from her next words until realizing that she still had her walkie-talkie included. While hurrying back to her assigned tree post, her eyes searched around before spotting the portable device and grabbing it.
"RICK! Rick, I'm here! Carl's in danger, and I found the big guy! Th-There were these-these things coming out of nowhere! Are you all okay?" Michonne had spoken in a stuttering manner, looking scared like it wasn't natural at all.
[MICHONNE! Thank god you are okay. Listen, you have to find Carl, Enid, and Gabriel. I told them to head on over where Oceanside's perimeter was at, while Tara and I are back in the- *HISS* WHAT THE HELL!? *CRASH*]
"Rick? RICK!" Michonne shouted at the walkie-talkie, nearly frightened when all there was became static.
Daryl unmistakably looked on edge at this point before speaking, "We got to get Rick!"
"But what about Carl? Enid and Gabriel are out here too! We can't just leave them!" Michonne tried reasoning with Daryl, who was grumbling about what to do next.
During their frustrations, the Slayer was already growing more annoyed by these guys wasting valuable time. And frankly, it is remarkable that Rick doesn't keep a tighter leash on his son either. While the Slayer observed the two survivors bickering about who to rescue first, that's when they heard him make a fake cough just as VEGA soon starts to speak.
VEGA: {The Slayer will advance on finding and recovering the three survivors you have just mentioned. He will be destroying the Gore Nest to prevent more monsters. You will have to search for Rick Grimes until the Gore Nest gets destroyed.}
"Whoa, whoa!" Daryl interjected harshly, "You can't just go off-!"
"DARYL!" Michonne hissed at him to shut his mouth, but not before glaring back at the Slayer, "Listen, I may not have approved what you did with nearly choking Rick earlier. And I know that we weren't doing the best at making things seem okay for you. But now we're running out of options here. I don't care about what happens to us. And I don't care about what you do with destroying that Gore Nest. Just make sure Carl is okay out there, please."
The redneck hunter nearby barely gave the Slayer a stern look as his eyes checked all over his surroundings. With a mere stare of his own, the Slayer turned away to dash off from his original position and made his way through the trees before disappearing. As the Slayer vanished before their eyes, Michonne and Daryl turned back wordlessly. The redneck hunter soon leads Michonne through the forest, heading towards where the center of Oceanside remained.
Somewhere else, there was an abandoned gas station with a parking lot that became converted into a fenced-in used car lot. Amongst the various cars were a couple of walkers here and there, roaming throughout the begrimed grounds in the area. Far off from where they were, two women who remain aligned with Alexandria and Hilltop, Rosita was accompanied alongside a dark-skinned woman with a cocoa hue color and stunning dark-brown hair named Sasha Williams.
Even though Sasha's brother and boyfriend were now dead, as well as many other friends, she still kept going to face every odd. Bob, who was Sasha's former boyfriend, opened her heart up, but after he died, she had closed it for good. Tyreese, who became meant as her only family, his life gotten snatched away from her, leaving her alone in a tragic sense. She may have been with Abraham in earlier times, but still wasn't happy, and the only man who could ever really make her feel better about herself was Bob.
Being subjected to psychological and physical stress until now, Rosita and Sasha tried ways to get back at Negan. Rosita had her assassination attempt ready but haltered on Gabriel's advice, then Spencer got gutted, having her take the shot without pre-planning, and surprisingly missed. As for Sasha, she had somehow convinced herself that she is no longer needed to ensure the future of the Hilltop Colony, but everyone else is.
Sasha then proposes to Rosita that they should attempt a long-distance kill at a building near the Sanctuary. That way, they can make it out of there alive instead of Rosita's reckless idea to charge through with guns blazing. It is perhaps the first smart thing either of them has offered up on their suicide mission. But of course, Rosita continued her angry rampage towards everyone around her. Rosita was the one who invited Sasha out for help, but since then, she's scolded Sasha out at every corner. Because to Sasha personally, if Rosita could stop attacking everyone, she will recognize that there is a better way to get what she wants.
Right now, Sasha and Rosita need to hot-wire a car, but their brief stretch of peace is interrupted by the sight of walkers within the area. Rosita took this time to examine the number of vehicles herself before finishing while Sasha observed as well. There had to be a working car somewhere inside this used car lot packed with several walkers, and they will have to occupy the dead in a way for them to get over the chain-link fence somehow.
"This will work," Rosita said briefly, walking towards the fence as Sasha reluctantly follows behind.
Following the plan, Rosita knelt before a large fence with bolt cutters used to split across the railings and create a hole. After that, Sasha had already grabbed a long branch-like stick where she breaks through the window glass of a grimy car that stood on the other side of the fence. Sasha continued to break off the rest of the broken window glass to clear a way through. Sasha then gives the long stick back to Rosita as she ties a piece of old cloth, and lightly pours a bottle of gasoline to soak the fabric.
As Sasha could see that their ruckus has called the attention of a couple of walkers, Rosita throws the whole bottle inside the back seat of the car and takes out a cigarette lighter to start blazing up the long stick. After doing so, Rosita casts the small branch alongside the bottle of gasoline until flames began to engulf the car's seat at the back. Just when the fire continues to increase its size, Rosita and Sasha ducked down as they witnessed the walkers advancing onward in front of the inflamed car.
Seeing this as their chance, Rosita whispered, "Now!"
With that said, Rosita and Sasha made their way to the other side of the chain-linked fences, finding their time to climb over quickly. Though, unbeknownst to their awareness, there were faded thumps of cloven feet coming far off somewhere within the forest until the towering heftiness of Hell's infernal servent was in the shadows. Two glaring eyes beamed towards the two women in a furious yet lustrous habit, watching them both ascend over the large fence and onto the other side.
Most of the walkers, who were once distracted by the burning vehicle, became intent on going after Rosita and Sasha. The two of them were currently checking for cars that are in perfect condition to make use of driving. The undead was moving closer while Rosita tried to hot-wire the car, and saw the exact moment she became aware of their presence. Her body tensed, and then she turned her head, flickering back and forth with intense eyes.
One of the walkers nearby attempted to seize Rosita, who was too angry with herself. Rosita had been so involved in trying to hot-wire the car she had left her guard down. That is until Rosita grabbed her dagger to fend off who came into her space. However, something became off immediately. Her eyes widened at the sight of this cybernetically-enhanced undead creature, whose appearance being the right-armed cannon that has become grafted to the walker. It also maintained a metallic clawed hand on its left arm with other mechanical additions in multiple places.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!" was all Rosita shouted.
Now she was facing the Mecha-Zombie, whose skull was bare with glowing red eyes and its intestines exposed, snarling demonically. Guessing it was going to attack, Rosita swung her dagger forward to try and kill the cybernetic walker, only for her hand to get grasped within its metallic claw instantly. The Mecha-Zombie looked pissed off and was pointing its right-armed cannon at her face, ready to shoot her face off. That is until a silent gunshot went off and blew through the Mecha-Zombie's brain, causing it to collapse next to Rosita's feet.
Sasha had her silencer rifle raised until keeping herself distant from the remaining walkers, "Rosita, are you okay? Get the car ready!"
Rosita kept a bit of eye contact with the Mecha-Zombie on the floor as she gripped the side of the car door. She snapped out of it and proceeded to re-emerge inside the front seat and hot-wire the vehicle. Sasha took out a couple more walkers that were pushing each other to get a bite out of her, the dead-eye with the silencer rifle aiming at another walker.
Suddenly, several rapid-fire energy shots came out of nowhere, where Sasha's balance slightly became high-strung and moved away. Some of the energy shots zoomed and struck a few filthy vehicles as Sasha attempted to take cover behind one of them, shaken by whatever was trying to attack her. Until then, Sasha couldn't help but feel like something was creeping up behind her before she kicked out, her foot making contact with another Mecha-Zombie's right-armed cannon, shoving it upwards. The Mecha-Zombie fired by reflex as a gust of fire blasted harmlessly into the air, and she heard it yelp when its weapon made contact with its face.
Sasha then threw herself at the Mecha-Zombie and started to push the creature away as it fell back onto the pavement. She now starts stomping the Mecha-Zombie's skull over and over, yelling loudly until the head was nothing but bloody mush. Rosita was already working on a bunch of wires until she notices Sasha killing another one of those freaks she saw minutes ago.
Rosita had become just as rattled as Sasha was when the Mecha-Zombies attacked. And after a second or two, Rosita was delighted by the sound of the engine suddenly roaring to life. Rosita looks back at Sasha, who looked done with stomping on the Mecha-Zombie's head.
"Get in now!" Rosita hollered over to Sasha, gaining her attention for just a moment.
After it's over, Sasha almost became spooked out by the Mecha-Zombie's appearance, if it even was a regular walker for that matter. She wasn't expecting to get very far from it but was still surprised when another clawed hand snatched onto her arm, pulling her backward and nearly dropping her silencer rifle. The Mecha-Zombie that shot at her before came around to start tugging onto Sasha's arm from the car's other side, letting out a growl.
Sasha gritted her teeth before hooking both her hands around the creature's arms, pushing with her legs to force the Mecha-Zombie off its feet and flipping forward over Sasha's head. After impacting onto the pavement, the instant the Mecha-Zombie attempted to crawl right back up explodes in its head when Rosita's working car reversed and drove through its skull.
Rosita tapped on the outside of the car door, "Move it!" she yelled.
Sasha immediately focused her attention on Rosita as she raced around the other side of the car and stepped inside. Once Sasha's car door got shut, Rosita already had the rig in reverse before backing up to start bouncing two walkers over and away from the moving vehicle. She turned the steering wheel as they back slowly to the right, passing the already burning car from before until directly at the cleared fence's entrance. If those Mecha-Zombies weren't bizarre enough, the two women didn't expect what was about to happen next.
*THUMP*
"H-Hey," Sasha gasped, hardly able to form words. "Did you hear that?"
*THUMP*
Rosita frowned to herself, the tone in her voice felt panicky when she said, "I felt that-"
*CRASH*
It all happened so fast just before Rosita could finish her next words. The two women had not even noticed. But by now, something huge had sprung out of the darkness and struck their pathway with enormous ferocity. The impact that created a sizeable crater stopped the moving car so viciously that Rosita and Sasha nearly collided with each other. A murderous growl emitted throughout the entire area, freezing the women in place and alerting their ears from the sound of knuckles cracking. The next thing they knew, a clawed hand monstrously pierces through the windshield part of the vehicle until it began scraping off the car's rooftop.
Without a moment to lose, both Rosita and Sasha kicked themselves out of each side of their vehicle. Sasha grabbed hold of her silencer rifle, followed by twisting herself around to aim at what she saw revealed to be a vile and terrifying sight. The Baron of Hell towered before the two women alongside the topless car, where only the part of the rooftop was in this beast's hand. Rosita was so distracted in her thoughts that her frightened eyes could not move away from the Baron as it roared.
Sasha could have told Rosita to make a run for it, but she didn't get the chance as the Baron swiftly kicks the vehicle over their head. The car had seemingly landed onto several of the walkers from before. Having that attack already made, the Baron stomped over to Sasha hungrily as a puff of smoke departed through the nostrils. She only took notice of the Baron's clenched fist ablaze in a green, fiery aura.
Pulling back, the Baron tried flourishing its punch right where Sasha stood, who was still in shock. The woman was expecting this tragedy to pass, which is why she gaped openly when somebody else rushed over, before tackling Sasha on the ground to avoid the Baron's murderous blow.
That certain somebody had to be Dwight.
"Hayden, now!"
Dwight's shouting attracted the attention of Rosita and Sasha, and they watched in shock as Hayden in his makeshift cloak sprung through the air, swinging the Crucible Blade upon the Baron.
The demonic beast unluckily attempted to dodge the melee attack, only to receive a slash across the torso. Hayden landed safely onto the ground, listening to the Baron's outcries of agony until returning itself to rage. The android turned towards Dwight, before speaking up.
"Keep your distance against the Baron, everyone!" He ignored Rosita and Sasha's bewildered expressions as he spoke, "I will try to keep it occupied until you all find yourselves to safer grounds."
Rosita spoke up at that, "What the hell are you!?"
Suffice to say, Hayden's singular eye could only give Rosita a small glimpse before sidestepping a grimy truck the Baron heaved. The vehicle hit the side of another car nearby, causing it to flip until the glass shattered and metal groaned. Soon another car had gotten flipped repeatedly by the Baron, but Hayden became done counting how many times as he surged through to attack.
Meanwhile, Dwight, Rosita, and Sasha were already taking cover behind a couple of cars. Sasha and Rosita seemed to be doing their best to become the embodiment of brooding, and Dwight seemed to be leagues beyond them, his eyes slightly glassy as he stared unseeingly at Hayden until back to the two women with utmost precision regardless.
"Why are YOU here? You come to kill us?" Rosita asked.
"No," Dwight shook his head, "I want to help."
Rosita and Sasha watched Dwight in surprise, not expecting him to gain their trust like that unquestionably. Despite how Dwight's intense look had made them abnormally cautious, Sasha decided to speak up after that.
"Help us?"
Dwight nodded, "Yes, that's right."
"Bullshit! How can we trust you? You're with the Saviors, aren't you?" Rosita scowled, obviously prepared alongside Sasha to kill Dwight here and now.
"No, not this time. I'm going to help you all win this war." The scarred man shook his head, raising his hands in a surrendering manner, "By the time we get rid of that Baron over there, take us to Rick so that Hayden and I can tell what we know about what's going on."
Sasha aims her silencer rifle at him sharply, "What the hell are you talking about right now? And who is that tall guy in the cloak?"
"Everything will get explained, yeah. But right now is not the time considering that you both got surrounded by those cybernetic rotters." Dwight responded while grimacing, "If you two are bickering about what I've done, you can tell me all about it by the time we get to Alexandria right now."
"Hold it!" Rosita pointed her dagger at Dwight, speaking up before anyone else could. "We didn't come all this way just because you changed your mind about Negan. He's going to die whether we go along with it or not. And now that you're here, you are so going to pay for what you've done to us, to Denise, Abraham, Glenn, Spencer, and Olivia. If things come to it, Daryl can kill you whenever he gets the chance to see the likes of scum like you."
Not much wanting to watch Rosita's icy drama, Dwight began to notice that Hayden was getting surrounded and shot at by the Mecha-Zombies. His scowl shifting to a neutral expression, Dwight turned his focus back towards Rosita and Sasha, dismissing them both completely as Rosita seethed silently, swearing to herself to get back at the scarred man for this.
"I don't care if you all hate me, but you can't distrust me either," Dwight said, standing up to activate his energized riot shield to block any shots fired by the Mecha-Zombies. "You can choose to die or help fight. Your call."
While Dwight started firing shots with his pistol, Rosita and Sasha, who were both still hidden behind the cars, focused on him.
By the time Dwight ignited the energized riot shield from a former human that he stole, the women sweatdropped in confusion at how the blond-haired Savior got equipped with such a weapon to use against the dead and the living. Although Sasha didn't want to help Dwight at all, she and Rosita still need to escape from this situation as Sasha aimed her silencer rifle to take down a few walkers nearby.
Rosita's eyebrow twitched before asking, "What are you doing?"
"I don't like it either, Rosita," Sasha said while she sniped two more walkers, "But maybe we don't need to get ourselves killed like this. Even if this guy is willing enough to help us, we're still going to take down Negan or whatever the hell these THINGS are. That monster kicked our car like it was nothing, and we didn't see it anywhere by the time we got here! We're all going to die if we fight or don't fight at all."
A tick mark formed on Rosita's forehead, just a second from losing her temper until realizing she was at a loss of words. Thus, she gave up and decided to help Dwight.
"Fine, but try to cover for me, so that I'll get my bag out of what used to be our ride," Rosita said in a grudging tone, zipping across her way towards the already wrecked vehicle that was upside down.
Back with Hayden, he pushed himself back a few feet before zooming across the area to evade the Baron's smoldering green orbs from torching him.
The Baron began to charge right after Hayden, whereas the android swiftly dodged under sloppy punches and lazy kicks from the beast. Alerted contemptuously, Hayden was slightly lucky enough to evade several blasts from the Mecha-Zombies nearby, if not for his mechanical sensors.
Hayden leaped away from the Baron and landed right in the middle of the Mecha-Zombies. Wasting no time, Hayden unleashed his devastating slashes on the unsuspecting Mecha-Zombies. So used to his dominance over the weak grunts, Hayden became wholly prepared with the Crucible Blade's pure power he unloaded upon them.
The roar of the angry beast behind him made Hayden come to a startling position and spin around to face the worst thing on two legs since Tyrannosaurus rex. He felt a minor earthquake as the Baron jumped and finally plants its feet into solid ground, creating a small crater where it lands; the debris of pavement and asphalt are flown about at its landing.
The Baron roared in pure rage at the cyborg that took a step away in defense. The goliath charged and threw a vicious punch at Hayden from the front, causing him to elude by stepping aside.
Just in time to watch the beast's stroke fly past his face, Hayden attempts to use an overhead attack. However, his concentration soon faltered by the sight of the Baron's other fist coated in a fiery green until it bashed through his side. Hayden got sent crashing through a grimy truck that was nearby and then collapsing over. He even felt one of his arms let loose as the wires tripped through his makeshift cloak.
Back where Rosita was currently at right now, she became busy shoving and pulling the backseat car door open, to which it was upside-down. While Dwight shot a few walkers that were appearing, thanks to the burning car nearby, something came so close that Dwight could notice that the Crucible had been launched nearby to Rosita.
Sasha was the first to pay attention to the Crucible that remained close by to where Rosita finally opens the car door.
"Rosita!" Sasha alerted with a nod of her head towards the artifact from Argent D'Nur.
Rosita's eyes caught sight of the Crucible on the ground, looking so ominous as ever from the display of aura it exhibited. Curiosity washed over the two women with intense waves that never crested unless they do something about the bizarre-looking handle. Rosita almost began to ignore the bag she had inside the wrecked car while her body twitched and jerked desperately towards the Crucible.
Dwight swiped the riot shield across another walker's head until his eyes warily became set on Rosita, nearly shouting, "DON'T TOUCH THAT THING!"
Sasha's eyebrow raised, her curiosity reaching a whole new proportion by the time she saw the Crucible's demonic aura.
Sasha began to speak, "What are you talking-?"
Thus, becoming their biggest mistake for ignoring Dwight after what she witnesses next. After Rosita shrugged off Dwight's warning, just when her hand manages to grasp the Crucible, illusions start breaking through her consciousness as her eyes glowed red as Arat had previously. Rosita felt like her body was on fire, thinking she had been on the brink of shattering into a million pieces for this very moment now. Or at least, it felt like hours since it became apparent that Rosita had been the first to endure this torture.
Despite her constraints, Rosita suddenly winced, and a loud ringing noise filled her ears. It caused Rosita to bow her head and cover her ears as the ringing got louder. Before Sasha could figure out what was going on, she recoiled as Rosita was left screaming as she grabbed her head.
After that, she yelled more as Rosita fell onto her back before trembling around like a turtle on its back. Dwight urged to help them but was still working on killing the rest of the enemies until he spots the Baron lifting Hayden in one hand.
"Rosita!" Sasha yelled in distress as she moved to either stop her or protect her from the walkers.
Everything was happening so fast, with Dwight balling his gun and riot shield so tightly before dashing towards Rosita and Sasha. He knew too well what Rosita was experiencing because of the Crucible when Hayden first showed him.
How much will it take for people to stay away from the sufferable roused nightmares of the Crucible? How many times is Dwight going to stand and watch unless he starts to do something about it? Without warning, Dwight snatched the demonic artifact off Rosita's hand and ultimately tugged for the crimson blade to sprout out with a deep hum.
After a moment of inactivity, Dwight's glowing red eyes gazed toward the pockets of Mecha-Zombies shooting from their right-armed cannons. As Sasha knelt to Rosita, she felt hot tears run down her cheeks, crying her eyes out for what felt like months of pain. Dwight gritted his teeth in this strange fit of energy coursing through his veins, thanks to the Crucible. Hayden's words about Argent Energy had become all too real for him.
Not bothering to hide his anger and hatred, Dwight sped towards many of the Mecha-Zombies like it was a race to see which one would get to receive the first damage. One of the mechanized grunts snarled at him before getting introduced to a wild slash of the Crucible Blade, showing Dwight who twisted and swooped around upon each Mecha-Zombie until killing the rest.
Dwight soon halts his position to turn around and face the Baron of Hell, who was supposedly going to rip Hayden's body apart, only for its hand to get sliced off by Dwight's furious slash. The Baron roared in agony as Hayden fell to the ground with a thud.
Although Dwight had no formal training in the way of the sword, he still tried out a series of slashes at the Baron as it backed away. Dwight breathed rapidly but said nothing, narrowing his eyes at the Baron, noticing its remaining hand become coated in a green flare.
Hayden struggled to place himself up to his knees and attempted to grab his wobbly mechanical arm. However, the scientist's sensors began to detect that a bountiful number of Imps were swinging and hopping through trees and small constructions nearby. After a moment of thought, he turned back to where Dwight stood his ground against the Baron with the Crucible Blade.
Dwight's red eyes were, to Hayden, probably due to the amount of Argent Energy he has endured. Most likely, it could be augmenting within the scarred man's core. Hayden briefly checked back with Sasha tending Rosita's vulnerable state, until suddenly, everyone began to hear several gigantic stomps approaching in the area.
And Hayden, beyond any doubt, knew those trembling footsteps belonged to two more Barons coming this way. Following the sounds of massive footsteps, Dwight's glowing eyes looked between Hayden, who was trying to figure out a plan for their situation and then at the now three Barons surrounding the survivors. Each of the infernal beasts had absolute predatory in their burning eyes, adopting fiery green flames on each clawed hand.
Hayden remained too well trained to make a risky move like this, but instead, a button got pressed from the tethering device in Hayden's other hand.
After all, he felt prepared for anything.
While traveling down the empty roads in between a few forest grounds, two trucks navigated a storage truck past the tall trees. Inside the first truck was none other than Negan's right-hand man of the Saviors, Simon. His expression was neutral, a small smile, and pretty much how anybody would always see the man.
Simon was currently sitting in the passenger seat next to a Savior member, who had hands-on the stirring wheel. Without so much as doing so, Simon's eyes scrolled over to observe Dr. Harlan Carson sitting in the back of the truck alongside two other gun-wielding Saviors.
Earlier today, Simon was making a semi-decent meeting at the Hilltop Colony with his striking good cop/bad cop routine. As always, Gregory had instantly crawled to his knees when Simon told him they needed a new doctor to replace Harlan's brother, Emmett. At least Simon didn't leave Hilltop high and dry without a massive crate filled with Aspirin as the Hilltop doctor's replacement.
Gregory was upset, but of course, he did nothing as the doctor got loaded up on their truck. All he did was whine about getting a free gate pass to Savior HQ like the caricature of a sycophant he is earlier. Before Simon could think further on this, the Savior driver next to him suddenly hit the brakes that led to a full scritch with everyone behind them.
"Hey-Hey-HEY! What the hell are you trying to do? Screeching dirt off the tires or what?" Simon demanded, his expression growing annoyed until he became greeted by the driver's wide-eyed flash on his face.
"Uh, S-Simon? Do you see this shit?"
Simon rose an eyebrow at the driver's odd tone, immediately replying, "What are you bragging for now-?"
The voice inside Simon's throat caught up by the horrific sight of what appears to be blood splatters all around the area. It seemed to be that red footprints were dragging off a blood-soaked corpse into the forest. Onward in the distance, there were two or three trashed vehicles up ahead, whereas one of the Savior moving vans stayed in perfect condition. However, blood prints and gore appeared in different spots and places. Plus, the right side of the forest seemed to have breaths of smoke exiting out into the sky.
Eyes widening, Simon leaned forward with a confused stare as he felt a dull ache laced through his throat.
"What the hell...is this?" said Simon.
The driver remained shocked, "Uh, you want to find another way around or something? I don't think we can get around here-"
Simon frowned as he interrupts with a slight smile, "Oh, no, no. One of our vans is here in this indiscriminate bloodshed, which becomes clear to me that somebody attacked a part of our group. We got to search for clues, chap."
"But what if-?" the driver tried to say.
But Simon grabs hold of the driver's jawline callously, his expression looking strict as ever. "I don't think you got the message clear inside that noggin of yours, isn't that right? When I say we, that means all of us now! If you so desperately don't want to have to lose control of your bowels, pissing and shitting yourself, I suggest you come on out and DO your job. RIGHT?!" Simon growled out aggressively, scaring the driver with the amount of hostility he was projecting.
The driver seemed to be afraid of it, obeying in the animosity like a strongly tight straight jacket, as he answered.
"Y-Yeah, sure thing! It's cool, man!"
As the driver reluctantly agrees before the two of them step out of the truck, Simon lets out a piercing whistle and motions with a waving hand for several Savior men to heed forth. While fewer men knew that this might be a big waste of valuable time, Simon also considered this as information for Negan's sake.
"Gentlemen, we're dealing with some unspecified butchery right here. Check around to see if there's anybody else." Simon stated.
Letting himself halt in the middle of the carnage bestowed upon him, Simon provided a neutral yet appalled gaze on a couple of bodies that got shredded to pieces. Some of the dead bodies here and there were broken and harshly raped women. It became a sight of animalistic horror from the Savior members' perspective.
Meanwhile, Simon caught sight of a few corpses that already gotten reanimated before he arrived here. Their growls became vulgarer while a few of their dismembered limbs reached out to him. Simon rolled his eyes with boredom until he froze mid-step, his right leg suspended from the sight he testified.
"What the fuck is this?"
He watched as what seemed to be a lifeless demon with its head fractured, and the rest of the body gradually vaporing to a gaseous state. Furthermore, Simon's wide-eyed expression looked over to see a couple more of these demon carcasses for every Savior to see as well.
These weren't the regular kind of undead bumpkins that the Saviors fought off like the rest of the world. All of this felt different now. Simon ignored the voice in the back of his mind shouting at him that it was a bad idea to be staying here too long. He swallowed the abnormal amount of caution he felt towards the gore before looking off into the forest where the smoke had manifested.
"Simon, we found a survivor!"
That's when the high-ranking Savior turned his head to observe three of his men dragging an injured male Savior from underneath a car. With quaking knees and a face filled with terror, the man got pulled up, looking as if he was staggered. Looking closer, Simon watched as the man stood wearily and was attempting to catch his breath. Blood covered his mouth and hands, showing that he had hurt himself, escaping whatever that was attacking this group before. The man's eyes started to focus as he slowly returned to reality after recognizing Simon, who merely beamed a crocodile grin as he approached.
"Glad to find somebody alive in this dreadful sight," Simon remarked, placing both hands on his hips as his smile got replaced with a neutral frown, "What the hell happened here, fella?"
The man coughed blood as he replied, "N-Negan...out here...heard screams...! T-They were everywhere! It was horrible! *cough* T-They'll kill us all!"
"Whoa, hang on! Rewind that back for me, buddy! Negan is out here as well?" Simon asked, slightly surprised.
"T-That robot was here too! H-He can't be trusted. *cough-cough* I got away and hid from those...demons." The man finished his words.
"Hayden, too, huh? And I was starting to like that guy! Very informal, like a living questionnaire, and chatty around Negan's wives too." Simon groaned, overall cynical by the fact that Negan was out here somewhere.
His interrogation complete, Simon soon ignores the injured man and pulls out a walkie-talkie from his belt, "Simon here, this is Simon to Negan. Do you copy, Negan?"
With no answer received, this caused Simon to try once again reluctantly.
"Negan! Come in, Negan-!"
[For fuck's sake, now's not the fucking time, Simon! What's going on? Where are you right now?]
Simon's eyes glazed over as he spoke into the device, "Sir, we found one of our vans in the middle of the road. Plus, we got ourselves a survivor who managed to hide away from an attack going on while I was at Hilltop. We got the doc in our trucks right now and if you-"
[Shut the fuck up and listen, god-fucking-dammit! Arat and I are busting our asses running from a heap of trouble alongside a few others! And the least you can do is get in your fucking trucks by the time I get to where you are now!]
"Alright, alright! I get 'ya, Negan. Who do you think attacked you guys-?"
[I SAID SHUT UP AND GET IN THE FUCKING TRUCKS, NOW! If you sorry fucks value your lives at this moment, you better try not to piss your pants after what's going to happen next!]
Not wanting to suffer any further of Negan's mouthful of berating, Simon unquestioningly did as he had gotten told, rounding off his attention to his men in a prompted manner much to Simon's bitterness.
"Get back to the trucks, gents! We're leaving NOW!" shouted Simon.
Dr. Harlan Carson, who sat in the back of the truck, almost gagged from witnessing the gory display, "What's going on?"
"Doc, it's best that you lay low, or else you'd want to get killed-in-action afterward. We wouldn't know whether Negan's leading a possible threat towards our specific location." Simon chuckled to the doctor, then turns over to call out his men, "Gentlemen, get ready to light up some stupid pricks!"
All members of the Saviors, excluding Dr. Carson, rallied in support of the second-in-command as he smiled. Again, degrading as the idea became, Dr. Carson, didn't have much choice in the matter lest he runs the risk of incurring Simon's unpredictable and creative wrath. Before the doctor could worry about anything else, he began to capture a horrid but confusing scent, filling his nose and mouth. Dr. Carson's eyes glazed over as he tried to narrow his sight on something in the distance of the forest, a shadowy-looking behemoth coming their way.
"U-Uh, Simon?" Dr. Carson stuttered hurriedly, leaving his gaze on the creature almost immediately.
But before Simon could give Dr. Carson his full attention, the sound of running and rustling bushes came around and revealed Negan's group.
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Leo cried out, waving his hands frantically.
"Calm yourself, Leonard." Simon raised his hands and heaved an internal sigh of relief, "Negan! Sir, it's about time you-"
Furiously, Negan was grabbing Simon by the shirt, "SHUT UP! And get in the FUCKING truck, Simon! Men, have your guns ready before more of those fuckers find us here!"
Simon blinked at Negan while he closed the distance between their faces, asking him, "Negan, I don't understand-?"
"Simon, we need to go now!" Huck chimed in with a solemn expression, "These things were coming from out of nowhere, and they killed Nelson! We've got only a few minutes before those monsters get to us with armed weapons, or else we're all going to die!"
Simon cocked an eyebrow as he desired further elaboration, "What the fuck are you all talking about right now? I've already seen some unnatural shit when Samuel was here, and Gavin told me the same thing about this when I was leaving for Hilltop!" He then turns his head towards Negan. "Sir, please tell me that this isn't all just one big-!"
"SIMON! Something's coming-!" Dr. Carson tried to shout out to him.
Negan almost paled at what he witnessed, "Oh, shit-!"
Appearing straight out of nowhere, a Mancubus used its two orange glowing flamethrower barrels to blast its way through the air, and then finally sailed viciously in the thick of the road. The dust clouds rose from the impact craters the monster's feet created upon landing. Simon had no idea how to react to what just happened until he and everybody else got caught on target by the Mancubus before them. As the Mancubus pounded both its flamethrower barrels together, it let out a massive roar, in which the purpose was to get the attention and fear out of the other Savior members.
The Savior members watched in terror as the Mancubus stopped roaring and just stood there breathing, before slowly turning around to face the terrified Dr. Carson. The monster's face was full of rage, and its single green eye became filled with a fury that has never gotten seen in their lives.
"W-what is that thing?!" Simon asked, all of his bravado gone as he stared at the Mancubus.
"We're going to die," Zia said in a whisper, recovering from the Mancubus' collision and backing away with her friends. "We're all going to die."
"Holy Fucking Christ, now there's a fat one in this fucking pantomime!? All of this is some pure, unfair, fucking bullshit!" Negan growled, cursing with an angry tone in his voice while wielding Lucille to prepare himself.
The Savior members watched with horror as the Mancubus looked over all of them, its singular eye narrowing when it saw Dr. Carson recoiling alongside two male Saviors. Just then, the Mancubus roared as it lifted both armed cannons over its head, slamming them into the ground and blasting everybody within a few feet off the ground.
"We need to get away from that thing!" Arat's face contorted into even more anger than Negan.
The Mancubus then snarled at the male Saviors and stormed right for them. One of them screamed in terror and tossed himself off the truck, taking to the road to try and escape.
"WAIT, DON'T!" Leo cried out, but it was too late.
The Mancubus used one of its flamethrower barrels to blast a trio of fireballs that came and burst through the male Savior's back before erupting into flames. After that, the Mancubus didn't even register a few gunshots fired by the remaining male Savior next to Dr. Carson, who backed away before slipping out of the truck's backside and onto the ground.
The bloated behemoth smashed right through the vehicle and sent it propelling alongside the poor Savior inside through the trees before shooting fireballs to cause a massive explosion. Dr. Carson had crouched on the ground with hands over his head, looking up with a gasp at the Mancubus approaching while he backs away.
"Please...don't..."
"LIGHT IT UP, NOW!"
Dr. Carson hurled himself to the side after the Mancubus spun around and received a variety amount of gunshots everywhere by the Saviors from their other truck, as well as from Simon.
"Keep that son of a bitch away from the doctor!" shouted Simon, everyone gathering all the power they could muster and managed to drive the oversized behemoth back a few steps.
An impressive feat, given the size difference, but hardly what Negan could consider a victory as the Mancubus dug its feet into the ground, cementing its place in their little power struggle. Taking his eyes off the monster and over towards the moving van, Negan smirked to himself that he had an idea come into play.
Negan nudged Arat for a moment, "Get to the moving van. I've got a plan to knock this fatso on its ass."
With Arat starting to ponder over for a moment, she agreed, as they both advance over to the moving van that got abandoned during the entire massacre. And after climbing into each seat, Negan turned the ignition before starting up the engine, followed by pressing the gas pedal and stirring his direction towards the Mancubus. It was soon noticed until Negan managed to use the front to launch the Mancubus off and crash through multiple trees.
Just as Negan reverses the moving van back a bit for more space, Arat then claps the outside of her door while screaming her lungs out.
"Get in the van NOW!"
As Negan had come to expect, Dr. Carson did not hesitate to do what everybody got told once he opened the rear door latch of the moving van. He did not so much as move desperately when Simon, alongside everyone else, rushed over to help push up the rear door open.
Quickly as he could, Dr. Carson climbed inside first to begin taking to pull each hand of the leftover Savior survivors, including the injured man they discovered moments ago. While Zia stayed far in the back of the moving van, Leo continued to help drag Huck inside as best as he could.
Out of the corner of Negan's eye, the rest of Simon's leftover men got into their truck before taking note of the Mancubus returning to its feet. While things were getting even more stressful, fewer of the Hell-Soldiers emerged from the forest and began shooting after the moving van.
"SHIT! Negan, they're coming!" Arat cursed loudly.
By honking the car horn, Negan stuck his head outside on the left window and yelled, "Hurry up, god-dammit!"
Simon peeked his head out for Negan to hear him reply, "We're in, Negan! Let's go now!"
With that now said, just after Simon climbs into the back of the moving van with the rear door slid down, Negan rapidly turns the stirring wheel around for the large vehicle to escape the Mancubus. As for the other two Savior trucks from behind, they directly made their way to follow behind the moving van Negan was driving.
Meanwhile, the Mancubus had attempted to shoot several fireballs after the trucks once they drove past the monster. A couple of shots got fired by the Hell-Soldiers as each one of them attempted to chase after the Saviors. After roaring out with extreme fury, the Mancubus knew that it lacked cardio to chase after the Saviors, letting out a low, sad groan while poking its flabby paunch in sadness.
Luckily for the Mancubus, it wouldn't have to grieve too long as the smell of fire caught his nostrils. The monster turned its gaze to the source of the scent and saw black clouds of smoke coming from somewhere closer. With no time to lose, the Mancubus gleefully wobbles its way down the wrecked road to inspect where that black smoke endured somewhere. And that somewhere had to be the Hilltop Colony circularly surrounded by lines of the Arch-Vile's flames.
A/N: [I hope you guys enjoyed it. Now that we have another higher power than Negan as the main problem, we might get to see Rick and Negan putting their retaliation aside and end up teaming up. It'd be a big twist, and it wouldn't be the first time this has happened in any series show where the main baddy teams up with the hero of the show. Please review, and leave your thoughts.]