John
I learned the names of everyone here pretty quickly. I hate just calling people that person or that man or that woman.
They're good people, with names, emotions, thoughts, feelings… And nowadays, I'd say that's more important than the walkers, or the other scumbags out there.
Morales seemed to be leading this little foray into the city for the rest of Glenn's group. He seemed like a decent guy so far, just agitated and definitely stressed out, which I understand. Though I hold no ill will towards Rick anymore, it doesn't change the fact that it was his actions that pretty much summoned the dead down onto us. I'm not blind to that.
T-Dog seemed like a rather okay guy. First meeting was a little tense, and he seemed rather agitated, but I can understand that considering the situation. But at the moment, he just seemed rather focused on getting the radio in his hand to work.
The thin woman, her name is Jacqui. She seems like she's rather annoyed, and I gotta admit I find myself a little curious as to why she's here on this little trip. No offense meant to her, but she doesn't look like she's got a gun and she looks like she'd fall over from a light breeze.
Then again, Maddie marched up to Jason, Jack, and Tibe when they damn near killed me in front of the school so long ago, so not all immense strength is physical.
The blonde woman's name is Andrea. She seems rather melodramatic, and I'm not exactly a big fan of her right now, and she also comes off as rather impulsive to me, considering she was about to pull the same stupid stunt Rick had without any excuse other than rage.
Don't get me wrong, I get hazy too when I'm pissed enough, but I also don't have to fear the dead like everyone else here does.
I've come to learn that they have two names for the zombies, and admittedly, I think I might start sticking to them a little more. Calling the dead zombies feels really weird to me, almost like it's not even actually happening, as odd as that sounds. Calling them geeks or walkers sound a little more natural to me.
I can safely say that of everyone I've met so far of the relatively sort time, though, Merle Dixon's probably the one that aggravates me the most. He's a drug hung psycho, and he's a massive fucking douche.
I think at the moment, Glenn's my favorite.
At the moment, we're all looking down over the ledge Merle had been standing on not too long ago, at the coral of walkers at the entrance. The crowd's growing larger, slowly but surely, every passing second. With nothing else to distract them, every time a few more would come by, they'd almost immediately move to join their bretheren in slamming against the glass.
Though walkers had little in terms of intelligence, they weren't as stupid as we'd like them to be. When they find a crowd of fellow dead trying to get somewhere, beating themselves bloody, they almost immediately move to join cause they know what awaits them.
"How's that signal?" Morales asks T-Dog as he and Rick rejoin the group, while I stay by the ledge, my gaze lingering out towards the dead below.
"Like Dixon's brain, weak." I hear T-Dog reply from over where he's sitting, and a small snicker escapes me as I turn to look at him with a grin.
"I think you're giving him a little too much credit." I joke, my inner smartass rising to the surface as I look at the man. T-Dog cracks a grin at my remark, and I'm more than amused when Merle flips us both off.
"Keep trying." Morales instructed.
"Why?" Andrea asked, turning to look at Morales. "There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing." She pushes herself away from the ledge as she walks away, and my eyes gaze at her for a few moments with a raised eyebrow before I turn to look at Morales as Rick gives him a questioning glance.
"Got some people outside the city is all. There's no refuge center, that's a pipe dream." Morales explained to Rick. Understandably, Rick looked more than a little disappointed at the news, but he hid it well. Probably hoping his family was safe there.
"That means she's right." Rick said in acknowledgment of Andrea's words. "It's up to us to find a way out." He said as he turned around and began looking around the roof for a second.
"Good luck with that." Merle's gravely, irritating voice pipes up in response to Rick. "These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear." The wacko's eyes suddenly drift off towards Andrea, leering at her ass as she searched through the backpack. "Ain't that right, sugar tit? Hey, honey bun, what say you get me outta these cuffs? We go off somewhere, bump some uglies. Gonna die anyway."
Andrea never even looked at him until that last remark as she turned to look at him in disgust. "I'd rather." She snarked, causing a grin to form on my face as I let out a chuckle as Andrea stands up and rejoins the others.
Merle actually looked disappointed. "Figured as much."
"These streets aren't safe." Rick muttered, repeating Merle's words. Morales let out a huff.
"Now there's an understatement." He muttered.
"What about under the streets?" Rick proposed. "The sewers?"
"Bad idea." I say, pushing off the ledge and standing up as I turn to look at Rick. "I've been in this city since a little after it was firebombed, and I checked the sewers to see if it might be a little safer down there. But assuming you can even find a path not blocked by a grate, walkers are still flooding down there, an the limited space and practically no light make a death trap." I explain, unfortunately shooting down the idea before it even really has a chance to take off.
"You've been in the city that long?" Jacqui asked in disbelief, looking at me with wide eyes as I turned in her direction. "How long have you been alone?"
"Whole time." I admit rather bluntly.
"Without a weapon?" T-Dog couldn't help but ask with a raised eyebrow. "Unless your hiding a gun or something else in that jacket, you don't look like you have a weapon on you."
I shrug my shoulders. "Eh, never really needed one. Walker's are slow and dumb, and I got a lot of strength in me." I neglect to mention that it's super strength as I speak. "It's a simple matter of knocking the few I need to kill to the ground and stopping 'em out."
"And you called me dumb." Rick couldn't help but joke with a smile, which I return.
"Hypocrite, I know." I acknowledge.
Rick smiles for a few moments, before he lets out a sigh as he snags a pair of binoculars and raises them up to his eyes, looking over the streets. I watch him for a few moments, before he takes them away from his eyes.
"That construction site." He says, pointing off towards a construction site not to far away. "Those trucks, they always keep the keys on hand." He said as he handed the binoculars to Morales, who looked at the site for himself.
"You'll never make it past the walkers." He noted, looking down at the herd in the street.
Rick was silent for a moment, contemplating his ideas as he thought for a moment. "Could we find a way to distract them, somehow?" He asked as he turned to look at us.
"Listen to him, he's onto something." Merle taunted with an annoying smirk. "A diversion, like on Hogan's Heroes."
Jacqui turned to glare at Merle. "God, give it a rest." She said in annoyance.
Rick looked deep in thought, as he turned to look at Glenn. "Right, like dogs. They hear sound and they come."
"Alright, what else?" Rick asked, pressed for more info. It seemed like he wasn't going off of some half baked guess or hope this time, he was actually trying to formulate a plan, and he neede all the info he could get.
"About anything, really." I speak up, looking at Rick. "They see, hear, or smell anything that's not dead and they attack on site." I inform him as I turned back down to glance at the street. "And they try pretty damn hard to get to the last place they saw a meal."
"Smell?" Rick asked, causing us all to look at him once more. He'd latched onto smell? "They can tell us by smell?" He asked, sounding surprised at that.
"Can't you?" Glenn asked with a shake of his head.
"They smell dead, we don't." Andrea added, turning to look at Rick. "It's pretty distinct."
Rick looked deep in thought, before glancing towards the construction site, eyeing one of the box vans that sat over there. "If somebody could get to that van, they could probably drive out, bring to the loading doors at the street."
It seemed like a well thought out plan, but that still didn't explain how he planned on getting to the-
Wait a minute.
"You latched onto the smelling thing." I remarked as I looked at Rick with a curious gaze. "You have an idea, don't you?"
Rick nodded as he turned to look at us. "Pretty gruesome, admittedly, and definitely disgusting, but maybe if we could rub some walker guts on a couple of people, they might be able to sneak through the horde as long as their careful." He proposed his idea fully to all of us.
Now, let's not beat around the bush, it sounded like a terrible idea. But considering the situation, there isn't really a way of doing things safely, and at least it is a plan.
"That's a terrible idea." Glenn remarked, glancing at Rick with eyes wide in disbelief.
I agree, but I still stick up for Rick anyway. "Any of you have any better ideas?"
They're all silent.
Now, I admit that I could just annihilate the herd below, and usually I have no problem showing myself to people, but I also don't expect to really be sticking with them, usually, and if I do end up leaving this group, I don't want to have to argue or hurt somebody because they refuse to let me.
And admittedly, I think we can all get out of here no problem without me revealing myself, so long as we're smart.
Being honest, if I think there's any sort of risk to anyone here, I'll probably end up revealing myself, unless it's Merle who's in danger, because he's a dick.
…
Okay, that was harsh, I know. And a lie.
I just do not like Merle.
"So who's gonna do it?" Morales asked, glancing between everyone. "We only need two people."
"I'll do it." I volunteer without a second thought. "Like I said, I've been in the city since the bombing, and I've got some skill with rushing through a herd if the situation calls for it."
At my words, every single head turns to look at me, baffled, and I am admittedly confused as to why. The only exception is Glenn, because he knows what the rest don't.
"What?"
"Rushing through a herd?" T-Dog asked in complete disbelief. "Do you realize how stupid that sounds?"
I shrug my shoulders rather nonchalantly. "Like I said, they're dumb and slow. As long as they aren't all clumped together, it's pretty easy to just rush through the herd and past them, and it's I'm not afraid to get up close to one to shove it back if one gets too close." I explain to them all, running my eyes across the group, before giving a small smile. "Definitely helps that I can do free running."
They all eye me for a moment, before Andrea shakes her head. "You're fucking crazy." She mutters as she glances at me.
I nod my head quickly with a cheeky grin. "Yep."
"Well, that's one." Morales asked with a sigh. "Now who else is gonna go?"
"Me." Rick volunteered, stepping forward as he glanced towards me. "You probably know the ins and outs of the city, right?" He asks me.
I nod. "Yep. Been here long enough to learn." I tell him.
"And I'm the one who put us in this mess." Rick said as he runs his gaze over everyone. "So I figure it's only right that I play my part to get us all out."
"No offense meant, but I want someone who knows the city." I object immediately. I appreciate Rick doing his damndest to get us all out, but it's clear he doesn't know the city, kind of admitted it himself, and admittedly I'm just looking for an excuse to get Glenn.
That bag of guns down the street would probably help these people, and assuming Glenn goes with me, I don't have to be as sneaky with my powers. Plus, by now, the herd has probably dispersed a bit, so I can kind of back up the excuse that I can rush through a herd.
If I can get Glenn to the construction site, to make it more believable, he could have them loop around and pick me up with the bag.
True to my guess, a few seconds after the words leave my mouth, every single head turns towards Glenn, who can catches on immediately.
"Oh man…"
"We can do a test run with the walkers in the alley." Rick proposed, turning towards both Glenn and me to reassure us. "Snag one of the bodies you two killed, and use it to do a test run on the two before actually going through with it."
We all look at each other. I'm all for it for a multitude of reasons. The dead can't hurt me, I have nothing left to lose, and I can keep Glenn safe. But the others are understandably a little hesitant to try, and I completely understand it.
To them, a single walker is a threat, and a herd of walkers is something for them to fear at all times. And now, we're thinking about trying to not just get close to a herd, but walk through them.
It's a terrifying thought, and even to me, in spite of my bulletproof skin, the idea is more than a little uncomfortable. More entirely different reasons, sure, but uncomfortable nonetheless.
"I'm all for it." I put in my two cents as I glance at everyone. "That herd downstairs is making more progress getting in with every second, and if we don't try something, we're fucked every which way." I tell them, a serious tone in my voice. "But it's Glenn's call on his behalf. I don't think we should force anyone."
They all glance towards Glenn again, awaiting his answer. Glenn has his head down with one hand on the back of it, and he looks in deep thought as we await his answer.
"Oh, this gonna suck." Glenn groans as he looks up at me. "But I guess we don't have any other options."
We gathered up some big ass coats and some gloves for everyone to wear, a safety precaution, since we don't know if this virus is just as contagious through anything else aside from a bite. Now, we're waiting for Rick and Morales to drag one of the corpses that T-Dog and Morales killed earlier.
They do it quick and fast. There were two more corpses down the alleyway that was barricaded, some that I didn't notice in the heat of the moment, but they aren't paying attention from what I gather, and Rick and Morales have the corpse back in the storage room in no time at all.
Then comes doing the actual deed.
Rick smashes out a protective glass and drags out a fire axe, unused for the next few moments.
Look, I won't make up some bullshit about how isn't that bad. Like I said, the only reason I ever killed walkers anymore was because I felt I was granting peace and I didn't want to have to deal with the damn things constant groaning.
It's one thing in the heat of the moment, or as mercy, but every single person in the room, including me, is more than uneasy and feel a little stab of something bite at us.
It doesn't matter if he was already dead when he was finally put down, we're about to chop a man's corpse apart and slather his guts all over us. It's a desecration, no matter how you look at it, and to everyone in the room, including me, nothing feels okay about it.
Even though it's his plan, Rick was a cop once, and even though he's volunteered to be the one to do it, he doesn't look at all comfortable with it.
However, in spite of my misgivings, I also know that we need to test this, and if it works, do this, now. Otherwise, the herd of walkers out front will get in, and then everyone else is fucked.
"Rick, give me the axe." I tell him, catching everyone's attention as I hold out my hand to do this.
"No." Rick says, shaking his head. "I can do it." He adds, trying to reinforce his will to do this.
"You don't want to do this." I retort, still holding out my hand. "I don't think anyone here does, but if I got to feel like a piece of crap so that we might survive, better me than someone else." And I mean that too. I'd rather feel like the biggest piece of shit on Earth if it means that guilt isn't on someone else.
Rick looks at me for a moment, and he's understandably hesitant, not just because it's eating at him, what we're about to do, but because of the fact that despite giving Merle a thrashing, and despite my powers, it's very clear that I'm still just a seventeen year old kid to everyone there.
But he relents and hands me the axe.
Thanks to my time in Alex's malitia and the fact that I'm was once a lazy son of a bitch, I kind of have a belief. Get shit done so you don't have to do it.
So, in spite of my own misgivings, my own unease, I don't hesitate. I don't think anyone else was prepared, as the moment the axe is in my hand, I swing it down on the corpes in front of us.
I can feel like a piece of shit later.
Everyone lets out groans of disgust, including me, once the axe is buried the stomach. The smell hits like a truck, and it makes sense for the blood and guts to be so much worse.
But I press on. It's gonna take more than one hit to get what we need, even from someone like me, so I swing axe again. I swing it a good few times, actually.
I sever all of his limbs in different places, and it's not just my hidden strength that rips him apart. True to my guess, the axe is still sharp as hell from it's lack of use, and it pretty much turns the poor guy's body into sushi.
Finally, after swinging the thing maybe seven, eight times, I panting a little out of habit as I take a step back from the corpse. By now, we have free access to all of the man's rather swiss cheesed organs, so anything else would just be overkill.
"How can like you do that without hesitating." Jacqui can't help but ask with a shake of her head, her face still scrunched in disgust as the smell permeates the room.
"Sooner you get it done and-" I let out a groan of disgust as the smell washes over my mouth when I open it. "Bleh. Sooner you get it done, the sooner you don't have to do it." I reply as I drop the axe.
I don't know why I'm trying to avoid the smell. I'm about to have some of this shit all over me, so it'll be right up my nose till we get this done.
They all glance at me when I say it, before Rick tilts his head slightly in acceptance of my answer. "Can't argue with that logic." He says. "Let's get to work."
The act that follows is just as unpleasant and uncomfortable as it sounds.
We all reach into the pit of the man's stomach, grabbing bloody guts in our gloves, before. Me and Glenn smear it on ourselves with groans. It's not just the smell anymore. The feel of the guts in our hands, the blood on the gloves, and in the case of Glenn and me, our jackets, is so fucking uncomfortable, and the sounds of organs being pushed around, skin tearing even further as bones are pulled at, dislodged, and removed by both our hands and loose organs don't help.
"Oh god… oh jeez, this is bad." Glenn groans, his face scrunched in disgust and fear as Andrea and Morales rub the organs all over him. "This is really bad." At this point, he's stopped doing it to himself, and I don't blame him.
"How do think I feel?" I can help but snark, turning my head away from the inescapable smell as I rub some more on my chest, while Rick, Jacqui, and T-Dog get my back, shoulders, and arms. "I hate it just as badly."
"Think of something else." Rick advises, his expression a little more even than ours. Though he's probably never seen or done anything like this, it makes sense that he's not as shaken by this as the rest of us are. He was a cop, after all. "Puppies and kittens." He suggests, trying to plant a happy image in our minds.
T-Dog, apparently, has zoned out in his own little world. "Dead puppies and kittens."
Oh come on!
That does it for Glenn, and he turns away from everyone else as he vomits on ground, adding even more to the smell, and I admit that I start wretching and gagging too, and I have to catch myself on my knees as the uncomfortable sensations wrack my body..
"Why?" Is all I can ask between wretching.
"That is just evil, what is wrong with you?" Andrea asks in disgust as she turns to glare towards T-Dog while trying to comfort Glenn, though considering she's also smearing guts on him in the process, I can't help but wonder if it's actually working.
"Next time, let the cracker beat his ass." Jacqui snarls as she glances at me and Rick, before shooting one of the most pissed glares I've ever seen at T-Dog.
"Noted." I say in a rather scratchy voice, trying to recover from what T-Dog had, however unintentionally it might've been, caused.
"I'm sorry, yo." T-Dog apologizes to us, looking as if he realized that wasn't the best thing to say.
"You suck." Glenn groans as he recovers from vomiting.
"Do we smell like them?" I ask as I finally stand back to my feet, just as uncomfortable as Glenn looks right now.
"Oh yeah." Andrea nods, her face scrunched in disgust.
"Definitely." Rick groans as he finally turns away, his eyes wide as he tries to clear the smell from his lungs.
"Glenn." Andrea says as she turns towards the man, pulling out her gun as he stands to his feet. "Just in case."
"No." I object almost immediately, catching her and Glenn's attention. "Take the axe. Assuming this works, once we get to a point in the herd where they're spread out, Glenn can follow behind me and I can clear a path." I explain my reasoning to everyone else. "He fires that gun, and we'd have every walker in the city bearing down on us."
Glenn looked hesitant to refuse the gun, but he nodded in agreement with me. Though, maybe the fact that he knew just who I was also comforted him, even if only a little.
"What about you?" Morales asks, glancing towards me.I shake my head.
"Never had one before." I reply. "I don't see a reason to now."
"Come on, man." T-Dog says, glancing at me with concern. "I doubt you've rushed through a herd as big as the one outside. Just take something at least."
"I'm fine." I reinforce my point, but they don't let it go.
"Even if you have survived this long without a weapon, I'd at least feel better if you took something." Rick says, looking at me with a face that mixes stern and concern. Everyone else nods in agreement with him. "I'm not letting a kid out onto the streets without something to defend him.
I can tell they won't let this go, so I let out a sigh of annoyance, but I relent. "Give me that crowbar." I say, pointing to said object that Rick had discarded by the fireaxe's case. "I know I'm strong enough to kill something in one hit with it. I'll take it."
"Works for me." Jacqui said as she moved over to retrieve the crowbar, before picking it up and offering it to me as she returns. I take it from her hands before I glance towards Glenn.
"Let's take the test." I tell him. He looks absolutely terrified, and I don't blame him, but at the very least, he has an axe, and it's only two walkers outside.
The others discard their jackets and gloves as me and Glenn move towards the door, Morales following behind us. We open the door, and it's almost instict to me to begin mimicking a zombie.
I put all my weight on one foot and let the other hang kind of loosely, only putting pressure on it for a quick second to take a step, as if it were injured, while Glenn kind of just drags his feet, trudging behind me.
We step out of the shadow the buildings were creating, and into the sunlight as we reach leaping distance of the walkers. Glenn looks like he's about to start trembling, especially when one of the walkers come close by him, and I'm almost afraid I'm gonna have to snag the thing before it sinks it's teeth into him.
But it looks like Rick's theory was right. The walker doesn't even sniff him, it just walks right by, as if Glenn weren't even there.
We make it to the end of the alley, where a bus sits as a makeshift barricade, and we ever so slowly climb down onto our stomachs.
On the other side, I can hear an entire herd of walkers, groaning with their obviously damaged and practically useless vocal chords, and I admit that I'm a little uncomfortable at getting right in the middle of them, even if we'll be safe so long as we don't draw attention.
We're careful when we crawl to the other side of the bus, because we don't want to wipe off too much of the walker guts covering us, and we slowly climb to out feet on the other side.
I have the crowbar gripped loosely in my hand as we trudge ever so slowly through the herd without being so much as acknowledged. It's like we're not even there.
Glenn has a death grip on the axe, but he's smart enough to let it hang by his side so as to blend in.
The entire experience is so surreal. I've run through plenty of hordes before, but I have never been able to get through one like this, and I've never been close enough to hear the dead this long without them snarling at me, over the sounds of panic and gunshots, and an occasional explosion here and there.
Seeing them, hearing them being so calm is so odd, and a part of me wonders if I could just start bulldozing through them and have them ignore me.
We walk through the herd ever so slowly, and honestly, I have no idea how long it takes us to make the progress we have.
"It's actually working…" Glenn mutters quietly to me.
"Don't draw attention." I advise him. He looks about to shit his pants when a female walker comes up behind him, beginning to observe him. He let's out a groan to match their's hoping it'd convice them in some way, and I almost want to kill myself then and there.
But to my own surprise, it works, and the walker becomes disinterested and begins to limp away.
One thing that I forgot about, one thing I hadn't been paying attention to though?
The thunder.
From what I hear, Georgia weather is extremely unpredictable, and it's just our luck that a fucking downpour hits us through the horde.
It doesn't immediately fuck us in the ass, but it becomes apparent quickly that we're in a bad spot when the walkers slowly begin to turn their attention to us.
If I don't do something now, Glenn's not gonna live through this.
I turn to look at him, and he gives me a terrified gaze.
"Keep close and swing if you have too."
That's all the warning he gets before I take off. The herd's disperse well enough that there's some space for me to manuever, and it's a good thing, because I don't doubt that by now, the others are watching us from the roof of the building through the bincoulars, so I can clear a path for Glenn and make it look somewhat believable for a human being to do this and have it add up to what I've told them.
I bob and weave some, going for the openings that would be believable and safest, and I give a good few walkers a hard shove to the ground to get them out of the way and clear a path for the man behind me. I have to control how fast I run, too. With my strength, I can, and have, outrunned a Lamborghini, and that's damn near three hundred miles an hour, so I have to make sure not to move to fast for Glenn to keep pace.
Behind me, I hear an occasional fearful grunt as Glenn swings the axe here and there at a walker that's gotten too close for comfort, but I don't plan to stop unless I hear him screaming.
There's a fence in front of us. It won't stop a herd this size for long, but it's the construction site anyway, and all we need is enough time to get the-
Shit. I just realized something.
It doesn't matter if we get the truck if there's too many walkers around the store for us to escape.
But, I might have an idea that will help us in the long run. And I planned on getting that bag of guns anyway.
When we reach the fence, I throw the crowbar over it and turn around and put my back against it, cupping my hands together and lowering them.
Glenn gets the idea quickly, and since he knows that I'm the Juggernaut, he doesn't question it. He throws the axe over the fence for safety reason before he jumps up into my hands, and I give him a decent boost so that he can vault over the fence.
I turn towards the fence, and even without my powers, my experience in free running would've made getting up and over the fence easy.
Though to be fair, I wouldn't know for sure, since I didn't start practicing parkour and free running until after I got my powers, since my body was a little more fat and a little less muscle.
An added bonus to my biology: I can't put on or lose weight, and every single muscle in my body is in the best condition it can possibly be in.
Glenn turns around towards the fence, and I can already tell he's regretting not bringing the gun as the walkers shake the fence from their sheer numbers, while a few of them try to climb it.
I rush over to a little box on the side of a nearby building in the site, and since I'm out of view of the building from this angle, I just rip open the box with ease, the metal bending from my grip.
"Glenn!" I call out to him. He jerks towards me as a few walkers finally make it over the fence and flop on the ground, and I toss the keys to him before we book it towards the box truck.
Glenn hops in the driver seat and I hop in the passenger seat, and Glenn wastes no time starting the thing up and throwing it in reverse.
"Drive away!" I instruct him. "We can't help them yet!"
"What?!" Glenn snaps towards me in disbelief, but I'm not in the mood for arguments right now.
"Do it!" I snap, and though he looks reluctant, he doesn't hesitate to listen.
We drive in the opposite direction of the department store.
"W-Why are we leaving them?!" Glenn stutters in a panic as we ram through a fence, and I can see in the mirror that the herd finally managed to bring fown the fence.
"We can't do shit with the walkers still patroling the building." I explain as I look at them. "I still want to keep my powers a secret, but I can still use them to help without exposing myself."
"How?" Glenn asks. He's listening now, eager to know how we can help, and considering he knows what I did before all this, I know he at the very least trusts me enough that I'll get them to safety.
"I can clap my hands hard enough to mimic a gunshot." I explain to him. "You're gonna drop me off somewhere. I'm gonna clap, and then you're gonna get your friends, and I'm gonna go for that bag of guns Rick dropped."
"How will you explain that without exposing yourself?" Glenn asks me in confusion.
"You're gonna help." I say as I look at him. "Once you got you're friends, you're gonna double back and pick me up." I clarify as I look at him. "The herd around the tank has dispersed by now, and the ones that are still their will be drawn when I clap. I'll put a bit of distance so you can pick me up and make it safe for us to get the hell out of there."
Glenn listened to every word I said, and he still looked a little hesitant, before he nodded. "Alright." He agreed as he drove the truck away. "Do me a favor, radio the others, let them know what's happening." He pulls out his radio, and he shoves it in my direction. "Let them know to be at the door."
Glenn
Oh fuck, that was intense, but we're not out of the water yet. I still have to get the others, and then I have to pick up John before we can head back.
But at the very least, we're safe for now.
I wish John wouldn't hide who he was. I mean, he's the freaking Juggernaut! He could level that horde wanted to! But I do understand his reasons at the same time, about if he were to leave. Wanting to stay alone, not so much.
For those of you not familiar with the Juggernaut, he's the first superhuman the public ever saw. He turned up in a little city over in Ohio, Portsmouth, I think it was called. Saved lives during an Earthquake. Until now, I don't think I or anyone he didn't know knew who he really was, but I never would've imagined that it was a seventeen year old kid!
I don't doubt he's a little more experienced in intense situations than I am, but I think the part of me that's an adult has taken a hit to his pride cause of the fact that I'm looking to a freaking teenager for guidance, but considering this dude could probably level the entire city, my pride can burn to the ground for all I care.
"Here." John tells me, and I slam onto the breaks. "When I get it out, floor it back. It'll be a few seconds, but you'll hear when I clap." He instructs me, and warns me about what's to follow. "I'm gonna take the axe. I got an excuse in mind anyway."
"No problem." I agree without question. I don't plan to stay in the city any longer than I have too, and I appreciate his help enough as it is. Considering the situation, it's probably best to wait until we have some alone time at the quarry to ask some questions.
I wonder will Jim will recognize him.
John nods at me before he snags the axe and throws open the door, jumping out of the truck. Once the door's closed, I slam my foot into the gas pedal, and the truck's rear tires squeal a little as it takes off. I hit a walker along the way, but I ignore it as I turn the corner of the street and drive back towards the others.
It's not long after I turn the corner that I hear it.
That's him clapping?!
The sound is distinct from a gun, it sounds more like a propane tank exploding or a sonic boom from a jet, but it makes sense. Though it's not deafening, it's definitely louder than the little pistols Andrea and Rick have, and it's also louder than Merle's rifle, and even that Magnum Rick had.
It echoes, but with that sound, it will definitely do it's job.
I reach into the passenger seat where John left the radio, and pull it up to my face, inches from my mouth, as I drive back.
"Get to the rolling door, now!" is all I say, before I throw it back to the seat.
Though it probably took a few minutes, the trip back to the building is a blur, and the tiny amount of walkers nearby pretty much ignore the truck as I back it up against the door.
John wasn't lying. The walkers have pretty much cleared out between the time I've dropped him off and the time it took me to get back.
I really hope they're at the door. I jump out of the driver seat and rush to the back of the truck, opening the door before I pound on the roll cage a frantically.
A few seconds later, the door flies up and open, and I see most of the people I came here with, but Rick and Merle are absent.
Not for long. Merle comes rushing around the corner and towards the truck as the others quickly hop up into it, and Rick's right behind him. I rush back to the driver seat as they all hop on, and it's not long before I can hear why, as the snarls of the geeks quickly fill the hall.
"Go, go, go!" Morales shouts at me, and I don't waste a second to comply. I slam my foot on the pedal as I hear the back door of the truck slam shut, and the truck speeds away from the building.
"Where's John?" Rick notices John's absence immediately, and he asks the question as he comes and sits in the passenger seat.
"He said the herd that trapped you would've dispersed by now." I explain to him, giving him a quick glance before looking back at the road. Despite not actually doing anything physically tiring at the moment, I'm panting from the stress of the situation. "He created a distraction, I don't know what it was, and he told me to meet him back at the guns."
"Fuck that!" Merle objects almost immediately. "The kid wants to be an idiot, leave him behind!"
"Quiet!" Rick snaps, glaring at the jackass, before he turned to look at me. "I thought the guns were a lost cause?" He asks in confusion, and I can imagine why, considering he was the one trapped in that tank.
"John was determined." I answer as I speed off towards the tank, circling around to avoid the herd that would probably still be close by. They probably cleared out within the few minutes it took me to get back, but I know enough about walkers to know that they aren't fast enough to have gotten far.
We call them walkers for a reason.
"I don't know." Morales spoke up with reluctance in his voice. "It might be safer to just go back."
"Kid's fucking crazy." T-Dog remarked, and I could practically feel his eyes on me. "How do we know he didn't just get himself killed?"
If it were anyone else, that would be a valid point, but I agreed I wouldn't say anything, so I can't tell them the truth. Well, maybe not the whole truth. "He's been in the city by himself for so long, you heard him." I answer. "He probably knows how to maneuver around the walkers better than we do."
"We did watch him make a path for Glenn the same way he said he rushes through them." Andrea added, glancing towards Morales. "You and Jacqui saw it just like I did."
They're not wrong. Though he didn't do it in a way that would make it impossible to believe a normal human did it, John got us the rest of the way through the herd the exact same way he told the others; he maneuvered through him, and I don't doubt that despite his own abilities, if we all had a little more confidence and a little less fear, we could probably do the same through a similar herd, so long as we had a weapon in case a few too many got too close.
"I don't know…" Morales still sounded reluctant, and I get it because he doesn't know about John like I do, but Rick pretty much made the decision.
"We'll go by, and if he's alive, we'll get him." He said firmly. "If he's not there or he's dead, we can still drive off."
Fair point, regardless of who it was.
I make a turn on the road, and I can see the street where Rick got trapped up ahead, but I don't see John immediately. Though, as we get closer, he comes into view, and low and behold, the bag of guns is on his shoulder.
"Open it!" I instruct to no one in particular, just anyone in the back of the truck. I hear the door roll open as we come to a stop next to John, and I glance out the window for a second as he rushes towards the back.
And I can't help the panic that goes through me.
He's right that the herd had dispersed some, but there's still more than enough walkers that we aren't leaving if they swarm us, and every single one of them is coming our way.
"Drive!" I hear John's voice come from the back, and I waste no time. The truck squeals out of there, and away from the horde with ease as I hear the door slam shut once more.
Suddenly, the bag of guns are popping up in the corner of my eye. Along with a cowboy hat.
"Here." John says, and Rick gladly takes them. I here John let out a sigh as he sits down, while Rick immediately puts the hat on his head before he begins looking through the bag of guns.
"You're fucking insane, kid." T-Dog remarks, though it kind of sounds like he's smiling, as weird as that sounds.
I can almost visualize John shrugging. "I know enough about the dead. Unless they're chasing something or traveling somewhere, herds don't stay clumped together to the point that there's no space."
"Jesus, you're fucking Batman, ain't ya?" Merle's voice asks, though he actually doesn't sound rude when he says it. For once.
Shocker.
John simply chuckles in response. "I wouldn't go that far. Anyone can figure out patterns with enough time."
"Well, you're a livesafer." Morales tells John, and I agree wholeheartedly. "You and Rick both."
"I didn't do much but get us into this mess." Rick objects, turning to look back at everyone.
John chuckles. "You came up with the plan, not me." Was his response. "You think I could've thought of something like that?"
"I don't think anyone here could've." Jacqui remarks. "I guess quick thinking should be expected from a cop, though, huh?" She jokes, and I imagine she's looking towards Rick.
"Thanks." Andrea says, and she actually sounds happy for once. "I can't tell you two how much I appreciate it."
"Glad to help." John says.
"Had to do something." Rick responds.
"So, John, what do you think so far?" I ask the teen curiously.
"In short? You're all a bunch of dumbasses." There's no real bite in his tone, and I can pretty much hear the smile in his voice. It causes me to smile myself.
"Says the one rushing through herds like it's a football game." T-Dog retorts with a joking tone.
"Touche."
John
I don't know how long the trip lasts for, because as I've stated already, my sense of time is complete shit. But I can feel that we're driving up a hill.
"Home sweet home, we're almost there." Merle muttered, looking like he'd cooled off a bit. If we're lucky, most of the meth is gone from his system, though, I wouldn't count on that.
"I think you'll like these people, John." Glenn says from the driver's seat, and I can't help but smile a little.
"Here's hoping." I can't help but chuckle. I'd like to hope they're all good people, but I don't know how many's here, and I can't just assume that everyone's a saint. Hell, look at Merle. "But it's not like I'm gonna be leaving tomorrow."
"I'm kind of hoping you don't ever leave." Glenn admitted with a smile. I can't fault him for that, but I'm unsure as to whether it's because he knows what I can do or if he just genuinely appreciates me. Either way, I give him a smile.
"We'll see."
"Why would you want to leave?" Rick asked curiously, glancing back at me. "You said you've been in the city since just after it was apparently firebombed by yourself. I'd think you'd want to stay."
I let out a sigh at his valid question. "I'm too scared of forming attachments." I admit to them all. "When shit really hit, I pretty much lost everyone I ever cared about. I don't know if they're alive, dead… or somewhere in between." The thought of anyone, Maddie, James, Shiela, Papaw, Mamaw, Peter, Rachel… the thought of any of them being a walker kills me inside, and a part of me hopes that if they aren't alive, as twisted as it sounds, then they're completely dead.
I get sympathetic looks from everyone, except Merle, who snorts. "Sounds like you're a pussy."
I glare at him. "And is sounds like your an addict, but you don't hear me talking, do you?"
He shuts up real quick.
"Maybe you shouldn't focus on the fact that you could lose people." Jacqui says, glancing towards me. "Maybe you should focus more on the time you have, the time you had, with those you care for."
I can't help appreciating the advice, and even if I could, I think I'd still chose too anyway. "Maybe." I nod. "But… it's the thought of them being a walker that kills me inside." I admit.
"So you put them out of their misery, boy!" Merle says with a roll of his eyes. "Jesus Christ, it's like don't have a brain at all."
"Just shut up already, Dixon." Morales says with a sigh of frustration. "You've caused enough trouble as it is."
"I'm not the one who brought the walkers down on us." Merle retorted.
"No, you were the one who would've if Rick hadn't first." I snip at him. Boy what I wouldn't give to just lunge across this van and pop him one more time. Speaking of… "How's the nose, by the way?" I ask with a smirk.
Merle glowers at me and flips me the bird, but at least he shuts his fucking mouth.
"We're here." Glenn says as the truck slows to a stop, before I can feel the parking breaks engage and he shuts off the truck. He gives a glance at Rick, and then at me, smiling the whole time. "Come and meet everyone else."
I gotta say, now that we're actually here, I'm a little nervous. I know it sounds weird, but I'm a little shy when it comes to meeting new people. Around friends and strangers, I'm a little nervous, but without adrenaline and a dire situation around me, the concept of meeting a bunch of people at once is really just nerve wracking.
I feel like Rick might think the same way, and he gives me a glance as Glenn jumps out of the van. Merle's the first one out of the back, and I'm more than glad that he's gone now, but as everyone shuffles out, Morales glances at me as I stand to my feet.
"What's wrong, nervous?" He asks with a smile, and I can't help but rub the back of my head and chuckle.
"It sounds weird, I know." I let out a laugh as I look at the man. "Meeting clumps of people, I guess it's best to say I get stage fright, something like that."
Morales chuckles. "It's fine, you'll probably be introduced one at a time anyway." He says before he walks off to join the others. I stand there for a moment, before turning to Rick, he looks like he's trying to work himself up to the task.
"What's up with you?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't think everyone here will be too happy to know I'm the reason their friends, and possibly family, didn't come home today." He admits with a sigh and a shake of his head.
I let out a chuckle. "Rick, it was your plan, your brain, you, that got us out of there." I tell him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "I think they'll be more than happy that you made up for it."
Rick looks at me for a moment, before he smiles. "I guess there's only one way to find out."
"That's the spirit." I chuckle, before I turn and move towards the back of the van, jumping out of it with a grunt. I walk around the side and towards the front as Rick climbs out, the sound of the door closing echoing out before he walks around the front and walks with me as we walk further towards the group of people we're supposed to meet.
"Least I'm not the only new guy." He chuckles as he looks at me.
"Nope." I say as I glance at him. He smiles, before he looks forward. And then he stops in his tracks.
I look at him in confusion as I take in his sudden change, as his face morphs into one of shock, and I glance towards what he's looking at.
There's a man in a blue shirt, with real curly hair, holding a shotgun. And he's look at Rick with the same look of absolute shock Rick his.
"Oh my god…" Rick's voice has a quiver to it when he speaks, and I look at him again. Realization strikes me. He knows the man.
But Rick's gaze isn't on the man anymore, it's on someone, or something else.
"Dad? DAD!"
My gaze snaps towards the source, and there's a little kid, no older than eight, maybe nine, running towards Rick with tears in his eyes, and behind him is a woman, whom I'm assuming is his mother, looking at Rick with pure absolute shock.
Holy shit.
I can't help the wide-eyed, jaw dropped smile on face as I watch Rick run forward to embrace who I now know is his son, bawling his eyes out as he holds the kid in his hands, practically dropping to the ground as he hugs the man, refusing to let go, almost as if he'd disappear if he did.
Rick found his family. And what are the odds, they're with Glenn's group. I don't even know what to say, all I can do is watch. I feel a sense of satisfaction, of joy, of… something, as I watch Rick stand to his feet with the kid in his arms and run to embrace his wife.
The woman wraps her arms around Rick in much the same way Rick did his son, and I can see tears forming in her eyes as she simply hugs him, a look of shock, relief, of happiness on her face. She probably never expected to see him again.
Some might feel a little jealous at seeing someone else find what they'd lost, but all I can do is feel happy at the site.
There's other people watching obviously, but my attention isn't really on them. Andrea's wrapped up in another woman's arms, and I can see Morales with a kid in his arms and his arm around a woman's shoulder. Family, I'm assuming.
And then Rick looks to the curly haired man.
"Thank you." He says in a voice that's filled with nothing but gratitude and relief.
The man smiles at the scene. "It's good to see you man." I can hear the same steady southern drawl that Rick has in the man's voice, and considering the look on his face, I'm assuming the two are either friends or family of some sort. Maybe both.
And then Rick's gaze snaps towards me.
He tears himself away from his wife and sets his kid on the ground, before he's marching up to me, trying to wipe up his tears as he closes the distance.
And I'm not ashamed to admit that I was completely caught off-guard by the hug.
"Woah." I say as I look at him, wide-eyed. "Your family's over there, why you hugging me?" I can't help but ask, typical smartass snark kicking up, though there's no actual bite to it, just curiosity, and despite the surprise, the smile's still on my face.
Rick pulls away and he looks at me with one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen in my life. "You got me out of that tank, and you saved my life." He said as he rests his hands on my shoulders in a firm grip. "You let me find my family, and I can't thank you enough."
I'm not sure what to make of the praise, in all honesty. Even when doing work with Alex's malitia or someone recognizing me or figuring out I was the Juggernaut, I never had to deal with any heartfelt praise and gratitude so directly.
My gaze drifts off of Rick, and towards the woman and child, who are both giving me and Rick appreciative, thankful smiles.
I can't help the smile on my face when I reply.
"You wanna thank me?" I ask as I look at him once more, before nodding towards the two. "Go spend time with your family." I say, gesturing towards them.
Rick smiles once more as he lets go of my shoulders. "Thank you." He says, before he turns around and walks off to be with his family once more.
Everyone I spot in this little camp has a smile on their face at the site, because it's a site of hope and joy, sites few and far between in the apocalypse.
And then there's Glenn.
"And this is the other guy who saved our asses." Glenn is suddenly right next to me with a hand on my shoulder, and next thing I know, all eyes in the camp, aside from Rick and his family, are on me.
"He's fucking crazy though." T-Dog's voice sounds out, and I glance towards him to see a smile on his face as he looks at me. He turns his gaze out towards the rest of the people. "He's the one who kept Glenn safe, and he's the one who got us all these guns." I can now see that he's holding the bag of guns. He must've grabbed them when Rick sat them back down on the floor between the seats.
"You needed help." I say simply, shrugging my shoulders because to me, and I honestly mean this, it was no big deal. "It's as simple as that."
"Yeah, cause walking through a herd of walkers is so simple." Andrea pipes in with a smile, causing looks of surprise to range through the camp as gazes swap between her and me, as if processing what they just heard.
"Hey, it was Rick's idea!" I say, habitually trying to take some attention off of myself.
"The guns weren't though." Morales retorts with a smile on his face, and it's becoming increasingly clear that they aren't gonna let me go without praise.
"Sounds to me like you helped us all out." The curly haired man says as he steps towards me, a smile on his face as he lowers the gun and offers me a hand. "I'm Shane Walsh."
"John Gallagher." I reply, introducing myself as I shake his hand.
"Strong grip." He replies when I let go of his hand, and it doesn't escape my notice when he shakes it ever so slightly.
"Strong guy." Is my simple reply.
"Well, John," Shane says with a smile. "Welcome to the group."
A/N: So a few things here. First off, Merle still has both hands, and he's coming back with the group. Also, the guns, so no trip back to Atlanta. With a superhuman present, especially one like John, Rick would have no need to go out onto the streets with him, which means he'd have no need to give T-Dog the key, and I have no doubt in my mind that Rick would unlock Merle first before taking off after the others, and despite their brawl, I also don't think Merle would've just attacked Rick either, considering he was at least aware enough of the situation.
Also, it seemed that Merle sobered up a little over the course of the episode, and during the scene at the beginning of S1E3, I'm willing to bet it was heat exhaustion that had Merle going nuts.
In the show, the car thing was a spur of the moment thing, and you can tell Rick thought it up after, or during, them getting the box van. Otherwise the others wouldn't have assumed they were getting left behind at first. John may still be a teen, but he's a quick thinker, and playing superhero tends to give you that perk.
Writing Glenn was actually the first time I've ever done a POV First Person perspective for a character I didn't create, and admittedly, I'm a little unsure of how well I portrayed Glenn's personality at the beginning of the series.
Also, I have access to the entire first season now, since I own it on Amazon Prime, and downloaded the episodes at work. Which means I'm also aware of some of my goofs in portraying Episode 2 in the last chapter, most prominently, Merle having done meth instead of cocaine.
To be honest, I used meth because I remembered watching a video with facts on the Walking Dead, and one fun little fact was that Merle's meth seen on his bike in Season 2 was actually a barrowed set piece from Breaking Bad, the other being the Dodge Challenger Glenn drove.
I'm aware that meth doesn't ware off quickly, especially not as quickly as I'm assuming it did in the show, but I'm also aware that cocaine probably doesn't either, so I tried to take some liberties. The meth effect is wearing off of Merle by the end of this chapter, but it's definitely still in his system.