WARRIORS OF THE WALKING DEAD: SAVIORS OF MANKIND
CHAPTER SEVEN
Andrea screamed and Rachel immediately swung around.
One of the walkers was about to grab her when she spun away, pulling her gun from her waistband. She shot the first one in the head, then took off running. Andrea, stuck above, started firing down at the ones chasing her, giving Rachel a chance to get away.
The walkers stumbled out of the back yard where a fence had been knocked down, filling the front yard and street surrounding the house. The few that were in the front staggered after Rachel who'd run a ways down the street and turned a corner, away from Andrea who was now stuck on the roof encircled by a herd of walkers.
"Shit!" Andrea swore as she lost sight of Rachel.
Quickly pulling out her clips, she counted her ammo and swore again. Only two clips left. She didn't figure she'd need more since the soldiers would be with them.
Looking out, she saw nothing that was going to be of any help.
Then she heard a horn beeping.
Scrambling over to that side of the roof, she looked toward where the honking was, trying to see who was doing it. She knew it couldn't be Rachel because it was coming from the wrong direction.
The horn kept honking and the walkers soon turned their attention away from the house, giving Andrea a chance to climb down. Waiting until the walkers weren't looking her way, she bolted across the street toward where Rachel had disappeared.
#############################################################################
Daryl looked up as the trucks from Andrea's group entered through the gates. Immediately, he knew something was wrong, when Dawes jumped out of the truck and came running over to them.
"We can't find Andrea and Rachel. They sent us to retrieve a tow truck but when we came back, they were nowhere to be found and there was a herd of walkers." He said frantically.
"Shit." Daryl swore, grabbing his crossbow and gun before turning to yell for Rick.
"Rick!" Daryl shouted, "We got a problem!"
Rick looked up and started walking toward Daryl.
"What's up?" He asked, approaching.
"Andrea and Rachel are missin'." Daryl said, pointing at SFC Dawes.
"They were with them." Rick said, looking at the soldiers that were supposed to go with them.
"We got separated. There weren't any keys so they had us go and get a tow truck." Brian explained, though he felt foolish now.
"What the hell were you thinking?" Major Reese demanded as he approached. He heard what they said and he wasn't happy. Dawes was a good kid, but he was young and inexperienced, having never seen battle really. His common sense wasn't developed yet and he didn't have an appreciation for what one on one combat would be like with the walkers.
"I don't know sir. They knew more than we did about the walkers so we thought she knew what she was doing." SFC Dawes replied.
"We'll discuss this later." Jackson stated, dismissing all of them but Dawes. "You need to show us where they went."
"Yes sir." Dawes replied formally.
Daryl thought about leaving Katelyn here, but decided he'd rather have her along.
"Kate. We gotta go find Andrea and Rachel. Come on." He called out to her.
She hurried over, a concerned expression on her face.
"What happened?" She asked.
"Dipshit here lost them." Daryl said, gesturing toward Dawes, who cringed at the finger pointing. Katelyn felt bad for him.
Daryl climbed into the car, waiting for Katelyn who patted Dawes on the shoulder sympathetically as she climbed in next to him. Rick followed with Jackson and Dawes in another vehicle, leaving the development to head to Main Street.
It only took them ten minutes to get there. Passing by a park on their way, they noticed a herd of about 50 walkers and paused to look. They heard a horn honking and realized that the herd was gathered there because they were drawn by the noise. Daryl stopped the car and hopped out for a second, to go and speak with Rick.
"You think Andrea or Rachel did that?" Daryl asked.
"Dawes says they were near Main Street. This is a few blocks from there." Jackson stated.
"All right. We'll go to where the kid lost 'em." Daryl said, softening his earlier chastisement of the foolish soldier before he climbed back into his car and they all headed out.
Dawes directed them to the worksite where they were acquiring the equipment. Getting out of their cars, they looked around, not seeing anyone.
"Let's do a grid search." Jackson stated, pointing at a building not too far from them. "We'll start there."
"Lead the way." Rick said, falling in behind him.
###############################################################################
Rachel crawled through the basement window, dropping down onto the ground. She looked around, taking in the huge tool room where many makeshift weapons hung. Heading over, she grabbed a large screwdriver, but set it down when she saw a long, metal footlocker sitting on the floor in the corner. Walking over to it, she knelt down, opening it.
Rachel was shocked.
Within the old footlocker were World War II souvenirs. Whoever lived here must have been a vet or had one in their family. Lying on top was a folded Nazi flag that Rachel just couldn't bring herself to touch, except at the corners, as if the evil would somehow rub off on her. Below, however, was an old Nazi uniform and lying on top was a deadly looking dagger marked on the hilt with the symbol of the SS. She wasn't sure what was written on the blade but the engraving was magnificent.
For a moment, she thought about taking it but she couldn't bring herself to touch it. Closing the lid, Rachel turned around and slammed into a large, hulking figure.
Screaming, Rachel lashed out, knocking the figure over. At first, she thought it was a man, but then she saw the gaunt face and bloodied mouth. Scrambling backward, she groped the trunk, grabbing the blade she knew would be there, and launched at the stumbling figure, putting the blade straight through his skull and into his brain. The walker shuddered, then dropped to the floor, ceasing to move again.
Rachel's chest heaved as she drew in ragged breaths, trying to calm herself. She looked down at her hand, holding the dagger covered in blood and dropped it as if it was a burning coal. Crawling to her feet, she stumbled toward the stairs and up them, coming out into a living room. The sight that greeted her wasn't any better. A woman lay sprawled across the couch, her brains splattered on the wall behind her. It was obvious that she had been shot in the head. Even worse, a small child lay on the floor next to her, having been shot as well.
Rachel bent over and vomited, stumbling for the door to get fresh air. Ripping it open, she glanced behind her as she staggered onto the front porch and right into Rick who was as startled as she was.
"Are you all right?" Rick asked, grabbing her arms to keep her upright.
It took her a second to answer.
"There was a walker. He must've shot his wife and their child then didn't kill himself." She rambled, still thinking of the body of the child.
"Stay here." Rick said, handing her off to Katelyn while he, Jackson and Daryl entered the house.
They immediately saw the scene in the living room and cringed. The woman had long dark hair, like Lori, and the small child was a young boy. Rick turned away for a moment.
"I got this one. Go see if Rachel's all right." Daryl said quietly, realizing exactly what Rick was thinking.
Daryl moved through the house, Jackson behind him, before they began down the stairs. They immediately found the large body that lay on the floor. Squatting down, he saw the glint of metal on the floor a few feet from him and picked it up.
"Shit." Daryl said, turning the blade over in his hand.
"What is it?" Jackson asked, moving closer.
"My honor is loyalty." Daryl replied, shaking his head.
"That's an SS dagger." Jackson said, squatting down next to him.
"Damn good blade." Daryl said, wiping off the blood on the walker's clothing before sliding it into his belt.
"Lots of tools and stuff here. We'll have to come back." Jackson said, standing up.
"Let's go find Andrea." The Major said, heading up the stairs.