A thunderous crash was heard throughout the building, making all of them freeze simultaneously. Instinctively, Nikolai crouched low, and inched his way out into the main walkway. He could hear the undead snarling, instinctively traveling to the source of the sound. The giant silently and gracefully swept across the floor, passing several aisles. Emerging from the safe cover of the shelf, he took a glance around the corner. One of the undead had managed to knock over a display by walking into it. Nikolai couldn't help but sigh with relief. Raising himself up, he just then remembered he had totally forgotten of his team's existence. He could not see them behind him. Nikolai decided to pick the undead off one by one cautiously. He carefully closed the distance between himself and the closest one. That was when he heard gunfire. The undead lifted their heads towards the noise in unison. Nikolai retreated into the safety of the aisle. He swiftly strode past several aisle openings, keeping his head low to stay in cover.
Ahead of him, he could see Sasha scurrying off towards the nearest exit door. The giant decided to follow her. Gunfire was coming from virtually every direction, and Nikolai's heartrate spiked. He heard glass shatter, bullets completely destroying the various windows of the store. Sasha had slipped outside of the door, and Nikolai carefully cracked it open just a hair. From what he could see, undead were beginning to converge on the store. Nikolai carefully inched through the door, making his way along the wall towards the truck. The giant whirled his head around rapidly, trying to pinpoint the general direction of the gunfire. He could not, for it sounded far too widespread. From the sounds of it, they were surrounded and outnumbered. Martinez suddenly appeared near the truck, screaming, "Come on! The biters are coming!" Sure enough, emerging from the various trees and buildings nearby, several undead were being herded towards the store. The gunfire only increased in intensity, and indeed, it would be better to get out now than regret it later. The undeaed appeared in droves, attracted by the noise. Nikolai sprinted towards the vehicle, when something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. A muzzle flash appeared in the distance to his left. The giant brandished his torrent cannons. Martinez screamed again, "Nikolai! Hurry up!" Nikolai did not listen, rather aiming in the general direction of the muzzle flash. Nikolai squeezed the trigger, and the barrel began its warm up charge. The barrage of rounds began. Nikolai slightly swerved the guns left and right, ensuring maximum suppressive fire. The gunfire ceased to emit from the direction he was firing in. As much as Nikolai wanted to investigate the perpetrator, he knew more undead would be coming. Nikolai sprinted to the truck, and leapt into the bed. Tyreese and Martinez, as well as Sasha were already there. Shumpert was already putting the truck in drive, vigorously steering the vehicle off of the lot and back to the road. The truck made a furious squeal with its wheels, leaving a large skid mark on the road. Nikolai was standing on the bed, torrent cannons balance on the roof of the truck in case there were more enemies coming. Minutes passed, and there seemed to be no more enemies. Nikolai shouldered his cannons, and balanced himself on the rod that held two additional sight lights on the bed.
For several minutes, nobody said anything. That was until Martinez furiously swore. "Goddamn it to hell!" Nobody said anything. the Hispanic man continued, "We had already secured the damn place. Fucking brigands." Nikolai spoke, "Did anyone manage to get a glimpse of our attackers?" Everyone shook their heads. Martinez said, "The Governor's going to be furious. We won't hear the end of it." None of the others said anything. From their response, Nikolai could tell he was saying the truth. The giant wondered what a furious Governor would look like. Martinez said, "Well, at least we know the location of it." Nikolai spoke, "It will be much easier to loot next time." Martinez spoke in a frustrated tone, "Yeah, IF there's anything left to loot." Tyreese said, "Look man, we were attacked, we're lucky we got out of there alive." Martinez said, "Yeah but we needed those supplies." Nobody said anything else for the duration of the return trip. Nikolai wondered what The Governor would say to them.
Shumpert pulled the truck into the main plaza of Woodbury. The citizens started to gather around the vehicle like they usually did. The Governor appeared in front of the crowd, a smile on his face. Nikolai kept a close observance on his facial features. Sure enough, as the scavenging team exited the vehicle one by one, The Governor's frown grew more and more evident. The patched man said three words, softly, "Come with me." All 5 of the scavenging team followed their leader, and the crowd's disappointment grew more noticeable. The team stepped into the cool shade of the seat of power in the center of town, and The Governor took a seat at the large desk. He spoke, "Now I know that missions can go awry, but you had the sufficient firepower to handle any biters that came your way." None of the team said anything. Nikolai could sense their despair. The Governor continued, "I must say I'm a bit disappointed Martinez. You're my best man. You're supposed to show results." Martinez opened his mouth to speak, but The Governor rose a hand. The patched man continued, "Sasha, Tyreese, We can't be having repeated failures like this. This is the second time you've failed an objective. All I ask is that you're productive." The Governor turned to Shumpert, "As for you, I don't know what to say. You've disappointed me more times than this. However, it seems at least you accomplished your objective of getting them there." The leader rounded on Nikolai, "I am quite surprised you didn't slaughter any opposition. What happened out there? Did you panic?" Nikolai said nothing. The Governor spoke again, "I chose you 5 for this mission because I thought you could produce results. Am I mistaken?" Nikolai was beginning to notice just how monstrous The Governor could look when angered. To the giant, it wasn't a big deal, but the others were clearly intimidated. The patched man rose his voice, "Are you going to stand there? No explanations?" Nikolai spoke, "The mission went awary because we were attacked." The Governor's demeanor immediately changed from angry to stern. Martinez continued for the giant, "We got there, and things were going smoothly. All of a sudden, gunfire. Gunfire everywhere. We were surrounded. We didn't know how many there were, but there was gunfire coming in from all sides." The Governor asked, "Was anyone hurt?" Tyreese answered, "Nobody was hurt, we were just shook up a little." The Governor swore to himself, then said, "Alright. At least you found its location. We'll send a more prepared team tomorrow morning, at the crack of dawn." Tyreese said, "Governor, are you sure that's a good idea? They may have fortified it by then, and there may be even more undead than there were today." The Governor considered the Black man's words, and said, "I understand your concern, but I think it is a better idea to pursue the goal." Nikolai spoke, "The building was largely untouched, and if there were people trying to get us out of there, then they no doubt will loot it themselves. We may have been followed there." The Governor looked surprised at this, then said, "Alright. We'll send more of you out tomorrow. For now, I've got to spill the bad news... People are going to wonder. Just go on to your homes, get some rest. You don't even need to go to the gathering." At these words, the team dispersed. Nikolai stepped out of the door, into the dim sunlight of the sunset. The giant wished he felt as well as the sky looked beautiful.