Victoria slipped her pistol into the holster under her arm and grinned, leagues more confident now that it was back where it belonged.
"Ain't never been a holster man myself." Shane tossed his bag into the big, blue monstrosity Otis called a truck.
"It looks better on me too."
As Shane rolled his eyes, Sheriff Grimes stepped in between them with a weary sigh. "Just get what you need and get out of there." He warned Shane, but his Deputy only patted him on the shoulder with a placating nod.
"You stay strong, alright?"
Rick turned to Victoria, fixating the woman with a glare. "Don't let him do anything stupid."
Victoria couldn't help but chuckle. "I'll try." But she doubted it would make a difference, Shane didn't seem like the type who took demands from a woman particularly well. "We'll be back before you know it."
Rick reached into the holster by his side and outstretched his revolver to her. The Colt Python glimmered under the sun like a beautiful, nevertheless deadly jewel. Victoria didn't envy the poor bastard on the wrong side of Rick Grimes.
"Dude, I'm not taking your gun. This place isn't exactly Fort Knox."
"I'd feel more comfortable if you took it, Detective. You already saved my family once, let me return the favor my way."
She curled her fingers around the oak grip and felt the weight of the world in her hands. Christ, she was really in over her head this time. No pressure. "I'll bring it back." She promised, slipping the revolver into the empty holster under her right arm.
"Come back alive - both of you."
Victoria was hit with a familiar sinking feeling, like everything was about to go irrevocably wrong.
Victoria used to go on road trips with her family every summer.
She hated every minute of it.
She hated the station wagon, she hated her father's choice in music, she hated the sickly smell of her mother's cigarettes and she hated the landmarks she saw every year like something changed.
But being stuck in between Shane and Otis on a hot evening without air conditioning made Victoria long for the days of Janis Joplin and the Grand Canyon.
She rubbed the bridge of her nose. The last thing she should be thinking about before jumping into danger was her parents.
"Everyone you've ever loved is dead!" Victoria shoved Dr. Jenner from her mind, silently cursing his name as they approached the town.
Gone was the scenic countryside, replaced by the depths of an apocalyptic wasteland. It looked like a riot swept through, followed by a hurricane if Victoria hadn't know better - at least it wasn't on fire like Atlanta.
It was getting dark too, which meant time was running out.
Not for the first time, Victoria longed for her cellphone. She hated no knowing if Carl was stable. What if they were too late? What if they returned to the farm and Carl was already dead?
Victoria shoved that thought away too.
"We should leave the truck here." Otis brought the truck to a stop behind a gas station. "Just over that hill up ahead, the school's about a block up."
Victoria sucked in a breath as Otis got out of the truck. She hated to leave the truck behind, even if it was too loud to bring any closer, it was their only escape. Although, she doubted a quick and quiet exit was in the cards for them anyways.
Before she could follow Otis, Shane grabbed her wrist. "Are you sure you're ready?"
"It doesn't matter if I'm not." She said honestly. "We just need to get this done."
He nodded, a look of determination hardening his features. "Stay low, stay close."
The snarling was almost deafening as they climbed up the hill - protesters rioted behind the blockade while the wails of the infected could be heard from miles, Victoria's ears started ringing as the the military started open firing, the screams of the innocent mixing with the noise.
Victoria blinked, and blinked again until she was focused on the present. Now was not the time for reminiscing - not now, not ever.
At the top of the hill, they were given a nice vantage point of what they were walking into. The High School was overrun with walkers, which wasn't a surprise, but the parking lot they were following Otis into was completely brimming with undead bastards.
Putting her better judgement aside, Victoria followed Otis down the hill and behind the lineup of cars. The hunter pressed forward, taking them halfway down the parking lot before pressing his back against a squad car with a nod.
Shane mirrored him and Victoria took cover behind the large military truck flanking their right.
Otis peered over the car, his brow furrowing deeply before he leaned back into cover with a sigh. "You see that big mobile medical trailer across the way?"
Victoria did - it was behind all the walkers.
Shane swiped a hand down his face. "That's where we got to go?"
"Yeah."
Victoria watched the herd shuffle between the school and the large trailer in the middle of everything. "We need like, a distraction."
Shane bobbed his head. "Any ideas?"
"There has to be something around here that makes enough noise." She eyed the cruiser. "You think the keys are around? Maybe we can turn on the sirens."
Shane looked upwards before muttering, "Check the trunk. I'll cover the rest."
Victoria took his place as he ducked around the car. With unsteady hands, she popped open the trunk.
It was nothing promising; blankets, first aid kits, traffic cones and even a bulk sized bag of dog treats. No weapons or ammo. No riot gear either.
Victoria pursed her lips. "What goddamn boot packed this shit?" She ruffled around, pushing aside another shock blanket.
Before she could complain further, an armful of flares unraveled from the blanket she lifted.
"Wicked." Victoria lifted the stick and waved it at Shane. "I think I'm getting an idea." She grinned as the Deputy crawled back. "How much longer until it's dark?"
Otis narrowed his eyes at the sky. "Not long. Fifteen, twenty minutes?"
She handed a flare to Shane before pulling out another for Otis. "Once it's dark, we'll throw these suckers across the parking lot. Those idiots will be so distracted, we can haul ass to the trailer and back."
"We ain't got time to sit around." Shane eyeballed the flare with a frown.
"Then we'll have to be fast about it."
"You're crazy." Otis interjected with a shake of his head.
"Dude, you haven't seen anything yet."
Waiting was the worst part. Victoria wasn't a patient woman by nature. She wrung her hands together and bounced her leg, she would pace if she could too.
Shane and Otis weren't any better. The hunter tapped his fingers against his rifle, nodding along to a rhythm Victoria wasn't familiar with. Shane was vigilant but his composure only went so far, the crease between his brows deepening as he worried about Carl and the others.
As the sky darkened, something in the air shifted with it - they rhythm stopped, the tough guy exterior hardened and Victoria stiffened.
"Show time." She murmured.
The flares sailed across the parking lot like a spectacular fireworks show. As Victoria hoped, the walkers turned their attention to the far side of the parking lot and began shuffling toward the wailing, red lights.
Victoria held up her hand, waiting until the stragglers turned with the rest of the herd. "Go, go, go!"
Otis and Shane dashed ahead of her, seemingly undetected by the walkers. As Shane ducked into the trailer, Victoria followed behind them - it felt like running a 10k marathon despite the trailer only being a hundred steps away.
She hopped over the railing and entered the trailer as quickly and quietly as she could, shutting the door behind her with care.
Otis was helping Shane gather everything Hershel needed and than some. Confident they had it under control, Victoria turned around, glancing through the tiny cutout on the door.
Most of the walkers were still hovering by the flares but a handful were shuffling back through the crowd, already bored of Victoria's light show.
"They're like, coming back. We need to hurry."
"Wait. Wait, just - we still need - let me grab - three of these - we'll need these too."
Over Shane's hasty muttering, Otis gasped. "Oh, here! Endotracheal intubator, baby, for my new respirator!"
As the flares flickered to a dim spark, Victoria felt her heart pound against her chest. "Christ. Hurry it the fuck up!"
Shane stuffed the last canister into his bag and threw it over his shoulder with a grunt. "We've got everything." He tapped Otis on the shoulder. "Let's go."
All the caution in the world wouldn't have mattered. As Victoria opened the door, a handful of walkers by the trailer took notice of the survivors in the doorway. They gleefully snarled, alerted the rest of the herd.
"Fuck." Victoria lifted the gun and fired at the two walkers climbing the trailer steps. The skater and his solider body collapsed back, falling into a heap at the bottom of the trailer. "Run!"
The survivors sprinted to the high school, going back wasn't an option anymore. The walkers forced the trio down a narrow pathway alongside the school, every Tom, Dick and Harry salivating to catch their next meal.
Shane pushed ahead, climbing a flight of stairs two steps at a time. "Come'on. Stay with me!"
Victoria grabbed Otis by the arm as the older man's heavy frame stumbled against the wall. "Up! Go!" She shoved him forward and swung around, smacking the butt of her pistol into an undead nurse. "Fuck off!"
"No! No, no no!"
Victoria threw herself up the stairs, brushing passed Otis as she shoved the walker trying to snatch Shane. The infected toppled, his shriek cut short by Victoria's boot.
"Christ." She cried as more walkers poured out from a side door of the high school. "Where are they all coming from?"
"I don't know." Shane pulled Victoria back and started running the other way, the woman right behind him. "Keep up, Otis!"
The survivors wrapped around the building but it didn't matter where they turned, walkers kept coming from nowhere - they were behind, ahead, even joining in from the street below.
Victoria desperately tugged at the front door as they passed but they were locked, of course they were locked. "Fuck this." She fired her gun into the doors, shattering the frosted glass paneling. She squeezed through the narrow opening and screamed, "Into the school!" Victoria grabbed the security grate as the men ducked in after her and tried to push it against the wall but struggled under the walkers pushing against her.
With a shout of his own, Shane grabbed the grate and forced it against the opposite wall, bolting it down with a single, flimsy screw.
Shane, Otis and Victoria backed up against the adjacent wall and watched in horror as the walkers trampled over each other, pressing against the windows and doors.
Victoria spluttered, the breath caught in her throat - this was it. They were surrounded with nothing but a thin layer of glass separating them from a painful death and reanimation.
"Whoa. Hey, hey, take a breath." Shane grabbed Victoria's shoulder as she slouched forward and wheezed. "We're okay, Victoria, listen to me." He raised to his full height above her and puffed out his chest. "Breathe. Breathe, we're gonna make it outta this."
As if they were mocking his encouraging words, the infected launched a final assault on the building with an energy Victoria envied.
The giant glass windows vibrated and cracked into a beautiful spider web pattern around the survivors, shattering from the top down.
"Oh fuck me, man."