Rescued
THE GROUP HELD MIGUEL at the old office building, interrogating him about his friends that took one of their own. "What the hell happened back there?" T-Dog asked, trying to get the facts straight.
"I told you, this little turd and his douchebag friends came out of nowhere and jumped us." Daryl repeated.
"You're the one who jumped me, puto." Miguel corrected. "Screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault."
"Well they took Kenzi." Daryl added, making Glenn flinch and clutch the sheathed sword that belonged to their friend. "They could've taken Merle too."
"Merle?" Miguel repeated. "What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle."
Daryl went to punch him but Rick shoved him back. He dug through Glenn's backpack, pulling out the cloth that held Merle's severed hand. "Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" he threatened, dropping the hand on Miguel's lap. The teen jumped in fear, bracing himself against the wall. Daryl held him by the front of his shirt, "I'll start with the feet this time."
Again, Rick yanked Daryl off of the clearly frightened teenager, Rick knelt in front of him, "The men you were with took our girl." he spoke calmly. "All we want to do is talk to them. See if we can work something out."
One of the Vatos gang lookouts alerted Guillermo that two men were approaching the building with Miguel.
"What do they look like?" Kenzi asked, leaning against a metal table.
"One looks like a cop." the lookout answered. "The other's some hick with a crossbow."
"Rick and Daryl." Kenzi sighed, her lips curling into a smile. Guillermo sounded a few orders in Spanish, two guys grabbing each of Kenzi's arms. "Hey, what the hell?" she protested, struggling against the gang members as they bound her wrists in front of her.
"Sorry senorita, nothing personal." Guillermo apologized. "Nothing personal." He gave a whistle and the two guys dragged Kenzi away, gagging her with a red bandanna and placing a bag over her head.
When the bag was removed, Kenzi's eyes widened for a split second. She took in everything, realizing she was on the edge of the building's roof. Rick and Daryl looked up at her, seeing her ponytail was loose and her hands bound. On the adjacent roof, T-Dog and Glenn saw Kenzi through the scopes of their rifles, Glenn white knuckling his weapon at the sight of his best friend in immanent danger.
"I see two options." Guillermo stated, getting Rick's attention. Daryl, however, still had his eyes on Kenzi. "You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." The gang leader tilted his head and the two gang members on the roof yanked Kenzi from view.
The boys went back to the office, Rick opening the gun bag and began loading up. "You think that vato across the way is just gonna hand her over?" T-Dog asked.
"You calling G a liar?" Miguel challenged.
"Are you a part of this?" Daryl snapped, slapping the kid upside the head. "You wanna hold onto your teeth?"
Glenn sighed, looking right at Rick. "Do you trust Guillermo's word?" he asked.
"Kenzi's one of us." Rick reminded. "And if it were any of us where she is, I think she'd try and get us back."
Glenn and T-Dog nodded in agreement. Daryl looked away, running his hands over his hair, "So you're just gonna hand the guns over?" he questioned.
"I didn't say that." Rick corrected, loading up a shotgun. He glanced between the three, "There's nothing keeping you here, you should get out, head back to camp."
"And tell your family what?" T asked, folding his hands behind his head.
Glenn sighed and grabbed a shotgun, loading it up. "You're right, if it was one of us, Kenzi would fight." he agreed, glancing at Rick. T-Dog and Daryl each grabbed a gun and started loading.
"Come on, this is nuts." Miguel spoke up, only to be pushed back against the wall by Daryl, using the sheathed sword that belonged to Kenzi. He buckled it across his chest along with his crossbow.
The boys showed up locked and loaded, their hostage bound and gagged similar to how they last saw Kenzi. Likewise, Guillermo and his gang also had their weapons ready to fire. "I see my guns but they're not all in the bag." the gang leader noted.
"That's because they're not yours." Rick replied. "I thought I mentioned that."
"Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese." Felipe voted. "All right? Unload on their asses."
Guillermo held his hand up to silence him, meeting Rick's stare. "I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." he stated.
"No, I'm pretty clear." Rick pulled out a small knife and cut Miguel's restraints, pushing him forward to his people. "You have your man. Now, we want our girl."
"I'm gonna chop up your girl." Guillermo threatened. "I'm gonna feed her to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale." with each threat he took a step closer, "I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"
"No, my hearing's fine." Rick rebuked. "You said come locked and loaded." Everyone cocked their shotguns. "Okay then, we're here."
Before a shot from either side could be fired, an old woman in a nightgown came shuffling into the middle of the standoff. She grabbed the sleeve of Felipe's shirt, asking for help regarding someone known as 'Mr. Gilbert'. Seeing Rick in sheriff's uniform, she begged him not to take her grandson.
"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson." Rick explained calmly.
"Then what do you want him for?" Abuela asked.
Rick took a moment to come up with an answer, "He's helping us find a missing person. She's a young girl, average height, black hair. Name's Mackenzie."
"The sweet Russian girl?" Abuela questioned. The four boys glanced among themselves, Rick nodding in confirmation. "She's with Mr. Gilbert." she informed. "Come. Come, I show you." she offered, taking Rick's hand.
Guillermo sighed, "Let 'em pass." he ordered, the gang members standing down as Abuela led them around back to a nursing home.
Inside the auditorium, a group of the elderly and Kenzi, stood around Mr. Gilbert, keeping him calm while Felipe helped with his asthma medication. "Kenzi." Glenn sighed upon seeing his friend, running to hug her.
Kenzi returned the hug, smiling. "Hey." she whispered, smiling.
"We thought you were being eaten by dogs." T-Dog groaned, embracing Kenzi next.
Kenzi snickered and shook her head. "Please, they're more scared of me." she threw her thumb over her shoulder, pointing to three teacup chihuahuas in a large dog bed. The middle one let out a yap, Kenzi shot it a glare over her shoulder and it coward down. She glanced at Daryl, who hung back from the large group.
"You okay?" he asked, not meeting her eyes directly.
She nodded, "Yeah, I'm good." she gave him a warm smile. Without a word, Daryl returned her weapon and patted her shoulder. "Thanks." she buckled the sword around her waist, giving Rick a smile.
Rick pulled Guillermo aside for a private chat while Kenzi explained to T, Glenn, and Daryl about the real situation. "Apparently, once shit started hitting the fan, the staff took off, leaving everyone here to die." she shrugged her shoulders. "A bunch of heartless bastards if you ask me."
"So why kidnap you?" Glenn asked.
"Leverage for the guns." Kenzi answered. "They've had to fend off people who want to loot this place for food and medical supplies. I tried to tell him that most of ya'll aren't violent." she shot a glance at Daryl, knowing that he's the exception to that statement. "Guillermo just told me to stay here until an agreement was settled." They all glanced at Rick and Guillermo, neither man standing down.
"I don't see them agreeing on anything." T-Dog pointed out.
Kenzi sighed. "I've got an idea, but I don't think ya'll are gonna like it." she looked between the three guys. She turned on her heels and approached the two leaders. "Is there someplace private we could talk?"
Guillermo led them to a room across from the auditorium, sitting on the armrest of a recliner. Kenzi stood between Rick and Daryl, her hands on her hips, "Look, we obviously got off on the wrong foot." she stated. "But, I think there's a compromise we can reach." she looked from the gang leader to the sheriff.
"Speak your peace girl." Guillermo urged.
"We give you some guns and ammunition-" Kenzi started, holding her hand up to halt the protests from her companions. "and in return, you give us some food and medical supplies. Sound fair?" she arched an eyebrow.
Guillermo spent a few minutes mulling it over, and agreed. While he went to grab some rations for them, Rick took out a few shotguns and handguns, along with the ammo for each. Once the trade was finalized, the five left the nursing home, heading for the train tracks where they left their ride.
"Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat." Glenn joked.
"Don't tell anybody." Rick chuckled.
"Hey, it looks good on ya sheriff." Kenzi giggled, nudging Rick's arm.
"You've given away half our guns and ammo." Daryl pointed out.
"Not nearly half." Rick corrected.
"Besides, it was a good idea." T-Dog added. "Trading a few guns and ammo for food and medicine. Nice job Kenz."
"Thanks T." the little Russian winked.
"For what though?" Daryl scoffed. "Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?"
"Way to look on the positive side Daryl." Kenzi stated, looking up at the taller redneck.
"Oh my God." Glenn gasped when he noticed the empty space on the train tracks.
"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl questioned.
"We left it right there." Kenzi reminded.
"Who would take it?" T pondered.
"Merle." Rick stated without a second thought.
Everyone exchanged glances, knowing how pissed the older Dixon was for being left behind. "He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp." Daryl noted. "We'd better get movin." After they passed through the hole in the fence, they took off out of the city and made their way back to camp.
Night had fallen by the time the five were racing up the mountain. They stopped in their tracks when they heard screams and gunfire mixing together. "That's comin' from camp." Daryl noted, looking at the others.
Kenzi was hunched low, her hand resting on the back of Daryl's right shoulder. "Screams and gunfire could only mean one thing." she added, her blue eyes wide with relative fear. She reached into her waistband and clicked the safety off her gun.
"Let's move." Rick ordered, taking point. Daryl followed with a shotgun raised, Kenzi hugged his heels with Glenn right at her side and T-Dog brought up the rear.
The five broke through the treeline, firing shots at the walkers attacking the campsite. Kenzi stood right next to Daryl as she fired off her rounds, her eyes narrowed and focused. When her magazine ran out, she grabbed the spare and quickly reloaded, covering Daryl as he tossed the empty shotgun aside and loaded a bolt into his crossbow.
Once the gunfire ceased, everyone stood motionless. Kenzi looked around, her eyes wide and her hand shaking. What snapped her out of her daze was a pair of arms latching around her waist. Looking down, she saw Sophia burying her face in Kenzi's stomach, the older girl wrapped one arm around her while the other held Carol's arm. There were dozens of dead bodies all over the campsite, both humans and walkers, and the remaining survivors looked upon the carnage in shock.
