"I don't know about this..."
"Aw, c'mon, it'll be fine! You'll need all the help you can get, won't you? I'll be right behind you, don't worry." Hannah said, giving Javier a reassuring smile.
Javier didn't know how he felt about letting someone who was potentially crazy tag along with him, but then again, Hannah wasn't the one who'd pointed the gun at him. Besides, it wasn't like Javier was related to her, anyways- he had no right to tell her what to do.
"C'mon, we ain't got all day." Kenny spoke up from beside Javier. "Tripp's waitin' on us outside." Javier gave Hannah one last look before turning away. Kenny watched her for a bit longer and rose an eyebrow before turning and exiting Prescott. By now, the herd had cleared up, giving the black car in front of the gates easy access to the road. The sun was rising, casting a golden hue over the land. It was a pleasantly cool morning, with still air and the sound of birds in the distance.
"I'll be honest, I didn't expect to see Clementine getting along with that girl so well. I haven't seen her warm up to anyone so quickly in... Ages. Again, I apologize for the way she treated you last night."
Javier shrugged, going through the gates and to the car outside. "I won't hold it against her. She's just a kid."
"Yeah, but she's old enough to know better. I swear, that girl's gonna get herself killed one of these days..." Kenny grumbled, getting into the passenger side of the car. Tripp was waiting in the car already. Javier cast one last look behind him at Hannah and saw that she was saying something to Clementine. She'd mounted her horse, holding the reigns loosely. Then, both she and Clementine looked up at Javier.
"You be careful." Javier said to Hannah before getting into the car.
After driving for about half an hour, Tripp pulled the car up to the junkyard. Javier was quick to get out of the car, scanning the area with narrowed eyes.
"Mariana?! Gabriel?!" He called out. To his right, a group of muertos was banging on a large abandoned eighteen wheeler, and inside, he could see Kate staring down at them with wide, frightened eyes. Hannah and Shade trotted past Javier, and Hannah pulled on the reigns of Shade, sliding off of the horse and brandishing a knife. She, along with Kenny and Tripp, advanced on the muertos banging on the eighteen wheeler.
"Javi?"
Javier perked up and looked down the road. Just outside of the junkyard was an abandoned white car, and in front of it, Mariana crouched down, a hesitant look on her face. When she got a good look at Javier, however, relief washed over her face.
"Javi!" She cried again, bolting out from her hiding spot. She ran straight over to Javier, embracing him tightly. Javier smiled and hugged his niece back, breathing a sigh of relief.
"I knew you were a smart girl." Javier praised.
"You told me where to hide, I just listened to what you said!" Mariana said, pulling away from Javier. Mariana noticed the large horse behind Javier, and then turned to look at the muertos gathered around the eighteen wheeler.
"Muertos..." Mariana breathed, a fearful look coming onto her face.
"Stay back." Javier instructed, drawing a crowbar and approaching a muerto was was coming up on Kenny's left. Javier swung the crowbar at the muerto, internally cringing when the putrid smell of the rotting flesh wafted over to him. The door of the eighteen wheeler opened and slammed on the last muerto's head, killing it. It fell to the ground when Kate opened the door and hopped out, stumbling a bit. Javier was quick to step forward and catch her. Gabriel hopped out after her, immediately making a beeline towards Mariana.
"Woah, I got you," Javier said gently to Kate, helping her stand up straight.
"I wanted to go after you, I swear I did..." He began, sniffling while he hugged Mariana. Mariana smiled and giggled.
"You don't have to snot all over my shirt about it." Mariana said, smiling at Gabriel.
"You happy to see me, or is that just a gun?" Kate asked breathlessly. Javier couldn't help but to frown at that question.
"C'mon Kate, knock it off." He said sternly, pulling away from Kate. A disappointed look came onto her face. Javier turned, spotting the van, and sighed. There was smoke coming from the engine- it had somehow been totalled. Hannah was mounting Shade, a happy smile on her face.
"Woah, that's so cool!" Gabriel said, looking up at the horse in awe. Hannah grinned down at Gabriel.
"You bet it is. Shade here is a real sweetheart," She said. "You can pet him if you'd like. He only kicks walkers, don't worry."
"Walkers?" Gabriel echoed in confusion.
Shade's head perked up, and he snorted, shaking his head.
"Yeah. The dead guys."
"We always called them muertos." Mariana replied.
"Muertos? That, uh... Means dead, right?"
"It does. How'd you know?" Javier asked, walking over to Hannah.
"Muertos? That don't sound English. Where are y'all from?" Kenny asked, following Javier.
"My family's from Cuba." Javier replied with a smirk.
"Huh. Cool." Kenny said with a satisfied look on his face. Shade suddenly snorted loudly, stamping his hooves, and abruptly turned, jerking Hannah back.
"Woah-"
At the same time, a gunshot rang out, going straight through Hannah's shoulder. Hannah cried out in pain, losing her balance on Shade and slipping, hitting the ground hard on her right arm.
"SHIT!" Tripp exclaimed, diving for cover behind an oil can. Shade ducked down, grabbing Hannah by the hood and dragging her further into the junkyard, disappearing behind a pile of junk.
Unfortunately, this left everyone else exposed; another gunshot rang out, hitting a stunned Kate in the abdomen. She screamed in pain as Javier grabbed her and dragged her into cover. Gabriel ushered Mariana into a safe spot too, ducking down beside her. Javier flinched when more gunshots rang out.
"We need to get back to Prescott! Javi, you get your family back! I'll hold these bastards off!" Kenny snapped.
"What!? That's suicide!"
"Don't worry, he has backup." A voice behind them said. Javier looked over his shoulder and saw Hannah crawling around the corner, careful to stay close to the piles of junk. The left side of her hoodie was beginning to become soaked with blood, and she was even more pale now than she was just a few seconds ago.
"But you're injured!"
"I don't care! Move!" Hannah snapped. Javier desperately wanted to take her back to safety, but he knew he had no other choice but to look out for his own family first. Kenny stood up, taking aim and shooting at their attackers. More gunshots from the treeline rang out, causing Kenny to duck. Hannah assumed Kenny's previous position and began shooting at their attackers.
"NOW!" Tripp yelled, racing towards their car. Javier pulled kate up earning a cry of pain from her, and followed suit, with Gabriel and Mariana following closely behind. Now, both Hannah and Kenny were shooting at their enemies, preventing them from shooting back at them. Once they were all in the car, Tripp switched gears into the reverse and slammed on the gas, driving away. Then, he spun the wheel, turning them around. He quickly shifted away from reverse and slammed on the gas again, speeding away as fast as possible. Javier cast one last look back, only to feel his heart sink when he saw a grenade being tossed over to Kenny and and Hannah.