The warehouse had been the perfect place to stay overnight and Rick was loathe to leave it, but they had to get to Colorado Springs. Once they got there, they could get Madeline delivered and go about finding Daryl. Looking over at Katelyn, he noticed how pale she was and realized that she was fading.
"Come on everybody. Let's load up!" Rick called, gesturing for everyone to get in the cars. He waited for Hershel before pulling him aside.
"I'm worried about Katelyn. She doesn't look right." Rick whispered, nodding toward her.
Hershel looked at Katelyn as she climbed slowly into the SUV and sighed. He'd been thinking the same thing.
"I'll keep an eye on her. We need to get somewhere safe and settle in." Hershel said.
"We need to find Daryl." Rick replied, knowing that Katelyn was barely hanging on at this point.
Climbing into the SUV's, they began driving, turning onto the side streets to avoid the majority of the walkers. Heading south, they pulled out onto one of the main streets. That's when Tyreese noticed movement behind and began slowing down a bit. Rick noticed, pushing on his brakes. Tyreese kept an eye on his rear view mirror, seeing movement again and flashed his lights. Rick turned on his walkie.
"Hey. We got movement behind us. I think it was a motorcycle." Tyreese said over the walkie.
"All right. Sit right here for a minute, I'll circle around back and see if there's anything." Rick said.
Rick turned the corner and sped down the street, circling back around the block to come up behind them by a few blocks. Slowing down, he saw a man on a motorcycle holding a walkie in his hand. Gunning the SUV, Rick headed straight for him.
"Hang on!" Rick said, flooring the pedal.
The man on the bike didn't see him until it was too late. He tried to shoot out of the way, but Rick was already on top of him, hitting the back end of his bike, and sending the rider flying. Skidding about twenty feet, he rolled, over and over, until he came to a stop at the feet of a group of slowly moving walkers.
Rick squealed the tires, he peeled out backwards so fast. Hanging out the window, he pulled his gun, aiming it for the biker who was struggling to get up. Squeezing off two rounds, Rick hit him first in the leg, then in the head as the walkers struggled to their knees for their dinner.
Watching, Andrea, Rick, and Carl cringed as the walkers began to feast.
Rick glanced around, looking to see who else was watching. That's when he saw movement on the roof and pointed. Andrea quickly pulled her gun, while Rick grabbed the walkie.
"It's Breed. They've got some sort of ambush planned. We just took out one but they're on the roofs. We're coming back to you." Rick said as he took off down the street again toward Tyreese and Glenn's cars but then they heard a gunshot and the tire exploded sending them sideways into a storefront and through the window, stopping only when they hit the back wall of the store.
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Tyreese heard the gunshot and everyone started looking around. Motioning for Glenn to follow, he turned the corner, following Rick's trail. It was too late for him to notice the road spikes that had been sprinkled across the street and when they hit them, the tires exploded, sending them careening into a parked car. Glenn skidded to a halt behind them, narrowly avoiding the spikes. Hearing gunshots, he spun out, turning sharply before speeding toward an alleyway across the street. Racing down the alley, he saw a couple of people running on the rooftops and knew they were in trouble. Flying out of the alley, he pulled the emergency break so he could spin quickly, before releasing it again and shooting the opposite way.
Looking in the rear view mirror, he could see someone on the roof with a rifle but it was too late. The glass in the back window exploded sending shards of glass flying through the air. Katelyn screamed as she felt the chunks of glass hit her in the back. Grabbing her head, she ducked down in the back seat as Glenn turned sharply, sending her sprawling against the seats.
"Get your seatbelt back on!" Glenn yelled, seeing her go tumbling forward.
"Watch out!" Maggie screamed, grabbing her gun and rolling down her window. Waiting until she saw someone pop out again, she watched while Katelyn scrambled to put her seatbelt back on.
Glenn was trying to drive back toward where Rick and Tyreese were but the area was covered with snipers and road spikes. They would have to go back on foot in order to help.
"There's a parking garage." Katelyn said, pointing at the structure across the way.
Glenn shot across the street toward the parking garage, turning sharply inside, he found a spot between some other cars that would hide theirs.
"All right. Kate, you gotta stay here and hide. Maggie, you stay with her. I'm gonna go back and help." Glenn said, grabbing his survival pack, rifle and handgun.
"Maggie, you should go too. They need you. They're not going to come in here when they think all of us are there." Katelyn rationalized, knowing they needed every gun they could get.
Glenn looked at Katelyn and nodded. She was right, he just didn't like it.
"All right. You've got gear in the back if you need it. A box of ammo for your handgun, a rifle and a shotgun. You've got your hatchet and you've got a map, food and water in your pack. If something happens, you head for Colorado Springs. Just take a weird route." Glenn ordered.
"I'll be all right you guys. You worry about them." Katelyn assured them.
Maggie hugged her, then she and Glenn raced off.
Katelyn scooted out of the car, shoving the keys in her pocket and opening the back end. She grabbed her emergency pack which had a bedroll and thermal gear in it just in case. Sliding into her parka, she slung the pack on her back and took the guns. She was a bit awkward with her belly getting in the way, but she'd manage. Right now, she wanted to get to the top of the parking garage and get on the roof so she could see. Unzipping her parka, she grabbed the binoculars and headed up the ramp to the top.
As she reached the stairwell that led up to a locked door, she heard more gunfire. The shots were in multiples going back and forth so she knew they were in a firefight. Grabbing the axe from her pack, she began hacking at the doorknob, eventually knocking it off, leaving the door swinging open. Heading through, she turned and pushed the door shut with her foot and wedged her axe in the crack so it wouldn't open again.
Heading up, she could feel the snow falling on her head and pulled the hood of her coat up so she'd stay warm. Heading to the edge of the roof, she laid down as best as she could with her stomach in the way and pulled her binoculars up.
She immediately saw about five bikers moving around on the rooftops and thought maybe she would hit them with her rifle. She had a nice scope on it making it hard to miss if they were standing still. Pulling it out, she used the edge of the roof as a stand and lined up the crosshairs with one of their backs. Taking a deep breath like Daryl taught her to do, she aimed, let her breath out slowly and squeezed the trigger.
The man dropped instantly.
Katelyn shrank behind the ledge, hiding so they wouldn't see her. After another burst of gunfire from below, she lined up another man, put his back in the crosshairs and squeezed.
She hit him in the shoulder, dropping him to the ground but not killing him. Waiting to see if she could shoot him again, she caught a glimpse of his head and lined it up. Not waiting, she squeezed the trigger instantly, hitting him in the neck. She missed his head but saw the explosion of blood and ducked, feeling sick to her stomach.
"Rick, do you copy?" She heard Glenn's voice on the walkie even through the static.
"I copy." Rick answered amidst another shower of gunfire.
"Pinned down at the moment." Glenn stated nervously.
"Me too." Rick answered.
"Maggie and I are making our way to you. We hid our supplies so we could get them later." Glenn stated, hoping that Rick would get that Katelyn wasn't with them.
"Copy." Rick said after a pause, as if he figured out what they meant.
"Got Tyreese?" Glenn asked.
"No. He's across the way though. We're hearing his gunfire not far from us." Rick answered.
"Copy. We'll be there soon." She heard Glenn say as she watched two more bikers heading slowly toward where Rick must have been pinned down. They'd kept quiet so Rick didn't know they were up there.
Lining up one of the targets, she was hoping that even if she didn't hit them, she'd warn Rick about them being up there. Waiting patiently for a good shot, she squeezed off the trigger, hitting one in the back of his knee, dropping him. The other one, however, spun to look behind them on the roofs before he dove behind one of the electrical boxes on the roof.
Within seconds, a shot chipped the cement on the ledge a few feet from her and she shrieked in surprise. Pulling herself back down, she knew that he'd spotted her location. Backing away from the ledge slowly, she knew she needed to move. Moving carefully to the stairs, she hurried down them, removing the axe she'd used as a wedge and headed for the car.
She'd seen a street of houses behind the strip mall and decided to disappear into those to hide. Throwing her coat and gear in the trunk, she strapped her handgun to her thigh and hopped behind the wheel to start the car. Quickly pulling out of the stall, she sped down to the exit. She was about to race out of the garage when a camoflauge painted Humvee squealed to a stop to block her exit.
Panicking, she saw four men jump out with AK-47's pointed at her.
She started to reverse but they started firing and she ducked as the glass shattered, holding her hands over her head. They raced to the sides of the car, smashing out the windows.
Katelyn screamed and curled up into a ball as much as she could until she felt herself being dragged out of the car.