Chapter 7

February 26, 2014

Mark and Miguel roamed around the perimeter of Sanctuary while their eyes kept watch beyond the gate. Nearing warmer weather, the wooded area beside their community was full of life. Deer frequented the area as well as other animals that adapted to their hazardous world. However, as the sun set, nothing - not even a twig or a leaf - moved. Everything fell silent save for the work that happened within their protected walls.

"Creepy shit, isn't it?" Miguel commented slowly. "Do you even remember the last time that you saw a herd pass by here?"

"It's been awhile," Mark disclosed and stared towards the wall. Most of their walkers that they used as camouflage on the fence were destroyed by exiled Saviors or burned when the Alexandrian's attacked a long time ago. As barbaric as it was, the walkers proved to be their protectors in the past. The scent of human life was covered for a time. Save for the last couple of months, herds became more of an issue for their struggling community.

"When was the last time you saw a single walker?" Mark questioned.

"It's been a few days," Miguel answered. They stood quietly while listening to nothing. "Not even a sound of a bird or an animal moving around out there. That's a very bad sign."

Mark stared at the forest with vigilance. The wind was also absent which added to the frightening inactivity. He almost hoped that the latest winter completely wiped out walkers in their area. But Miguel was onto something. Something was coming their way and nature was giving them the clues before it happened.

Darkness slowly glided overhead as the sun hid beyond the horizon. If they were fighting an inevitable force that night, they needed to warn the other communities once the first sign of trouble arose.

All they had to do was wait.

…

Dwight's shift started at three in the morning but he had already worked all of the day before with fixing some of the fences and their weak points. Beyond tired, he laid on his bed with just a shirt and boxers while he tried to get as much rest as he could before he had to wake up for another lengthy day running Sanctuary.

Every so often, Sherry would have a great day and would tell him so. On those days, she welcomed affection more so than other moments where she just preferred to be left alone. Dwight never pressed and only waited for when she felt up to being close to another person.

He laid on his stomach while nestling in the crook of Sherry's neck and shoulder as she rested her head on top of his and faced him. Dwight could deduce that she was already asleep from her steady breathing but didn't want to check in case it woke her up. He just slept beside her while appreciating the time that she allowed him to have with her.

Just as his eyes started to close, the red light from his alarm clock quickly dimmed at the same time that the hallway light turned completely off. Dwight didn't move as he let himself adjust to the pitch black of the night. He could hear both Lydia and Lorraine crying from the basement as they were both presumably afraid of the sudden darkness. Sitting up and looking out the window, he didn't see a single light throughout their community. The power was gone.

As if Sherry could feel his uneasiness even while she slept, her body shot up from the bed and quickly looked to Dwight. "What's wrong?" Her voice wasn't even groggy and she seemed prepared to take whatever action if necessary.

"The power isn't working," Dwight answered calmly. There wasn't a need to panic yet and he didn't want to scare her.

"The dam is down?" Sherry asked wondering about their source of electricity.

"Seems like it," Dwight replied but got up and tried to find his pants in the darkness. "This hasn't ever happened before. I don't know. Something feels off to me."

Sherry quickly rolled off the bed on full alert with what he said and changed out of her grunge clothes to jeans and a dark green oversized jacket. "Do you think it's happening?" She asked.

"They haven't attacked us in a long time," Dwight said hurriedly while putting his pants on followed with his belt. "It's been too quiet and suddenly this shit happens? It's not a coincidence. They are coming tonight." He stared at Sherry as she reached into the nightstand and grabbed both a flashlight and a pistol that he kept for safekeeping. An aching feeling erupted in his soul when seeing that she was prepared to take care of the problem just as he was. He loved that about her but equally didn't want her to be in harm's way. "Is there any way that I can convince you to stay here with Valerie's family?"

Acknowledging Dwight's worry for her, she looked to him with assurance. "I won't be out long. Someone has to defend the supplies and our people," Sherry said. "First things first, I need to get all the elderly, sick, and the children in this house before everything goes down."

She was confident in what she had to do as Dwight supported her need to lead. People depended on them to make plans and keep them alive. They were going to do just that. "Be fast," Dwight instructed intensely. "Get as many people but if things start to go south, you run to this house. I mean it. Leave the others to fend for themselves in their own homes. Just help the ones here. They'll need you."

Sherry nodded as they both walked down the stairs. Dwight picked up his crossbow that sat beside the front door while Sherry unlocked the door with the multiple padlocks that they had for security purposes. "Amber!" She yelled.

They heard Amber's footsteps at the top of the stairs and saw her peering down with her arms folded. Appearing slightly nervous, her voice sounded fearful by the way Dwight and Sherry stood on edge. "What's happening out there?"

"Amber, I need you to guard this door from the porch until we get back. Let some families inside, guide them downstairs, and tell them to be quiet," Sherry instructed gently. Amber didn't wait to hear more orders and started to get ready as Sherry seemed pleased with her friend's hasty reaction to the stressful demands.

Dwight glanced down at Sherry as she looked up to him in question. "How do we let the other communities know?" She asked in a hushed whisper with an underlying fear of the unknown.

"I'll figure that out," Dwight assured with the same tone. "Just be prepared that we might be the only ones fighting tonight."

Dwight watched as the reality sank in for Sherry. They didn't know what the exiled Saviors had planned or if they were even going to attack. However, Dwight had a gut feeling inside that it was going to be a long and eventful night. The possibility of Sanctuary surviving by morning seemed unlikely; at least, that was what his instinct told him.

"Please be careful out there," Sherry whispered knowing a wrong move could result in anyone's death. "Please don't let this be the last time I see you."

"It won't be," Dwight answered confidently. "And right back at ya."

They nodded one more time and opened the door as they both went their separate ways to accomplish what needed to be done.

…

"Get a crew to the dam right now!" Mark barked to the few men that were listening. Many of their crew were home for the night when the power went out as they came from their houses to stand ready just in case. Miguel watched as they all started to form a circle to await instruction from him and Mark. With Dwight not being around for the time being to give proper demands, Mark seemed to be in panic mode while immediately shouting out orders. "This is an emergency fix!"

"What the fuck, Mark?" Miguel piped up as he grabbed Mark's arm and walked away from the growing crowd. Miguel glanced behind him at all the men that prepared for their leave but they would often stare skeptically towards the gates in question. "We don't know what's beyond our walls."

"Sending people out to fix the dam is the same as sending others to investigate," Mark responded. "This is just killing two birds with one stone."

"And you think they would live to tell us what they saw out there?" Miguel criticized. Mark was a good guy but a tactical war strategist was not a strength he owned. "We will not order people to leave. And I will remind you that all of these soldiers work for someone else."

"He's not here and would want us to step up," Mark argued, "We don't even know if anyone is out there."

People began to slowly load a nearby truck with tools to repair the dam as Dwight stepped onto the scene. Their leader stared in consternation and started to shake his head in protest. Miguel watched Mark gulp in response while gritting his teeth. In his opinion, Mark was far too stupid to be a double agent - at least, to act completely on his own accord as he already once aided Dwight previously with Negan's chaotic rule. He hoped it was his eagerness to please instead of something far more serious such as treason.

…

Dwight watched as people began to pack tools and other supplies nearby the torn apart mill. Immediately he shook his head and looked to Mark and Miguel. "No! No one is going out right now! Those gates aren't opening for anyone inside or out of Sanctuary!"

As he approached the two, Miguel muttered something similar to an 'I told you' for Mark's eyes only then stood ready for whatever Dwight requested.

"So we're just supposed to be left in the dark?" Mark questioned as his voice rose to a higher pitch. "Dwight, if there is something out there…"

"Then it might be better that they can't see us either," Dwight responded as a matter-of-factly but then brought his hands to his mouth to amplify his voice to the other men. "Get the generator! Let's get it connected to our radio so we can alert the others!"

"We don't know if anyone is out there," Mark complained. Dwight saw Miguel roll his eyes at Mark's comment. Fortunately for Dwight, he was used to working with Mark's constant murmuring.

Dwight gave him a look of warning as Mark pursed his lip and held his tongue from spouting more idiotic declarations. Once Dwight felt satisfied that Mark wouldn't press the issue anymore, he continued with resolve. "We know enough."

…

Peter lived in Sanctuary a little less than a month with his wife and two children. Their third and youngest baby died merely hours before they spotted the tall walls of their new home. It was grievous to know how close they were to a safe zone without their beloved son.

He knew the safe zone was far from perfect. Even as part of the introduction, the woman, Sherry - in charge alongside the leader named Dwight - presented a full disclosure of Sanctuary and its vicious upbringing as well as an invitation to join the other communities once Peter's children felt more nourished enough for travel. He and his wife appreciated Sherry's candor and chose to stay. They knew the community was run by honest people despite its colorful background.

There was a knock on the door just after Peter and his wife Natasha put their children to bed. They lost power to their home but didn't think anything of it until they heard shouts from outside as orders were made.

Natasha and Peter both answered the door to see Sherry standing on their porch, looking somewhat alarmed. Judging by the steady uproar in Sanctuary, he knew she wasn't just saying hello at random.

"I hate to bother you guys so late at night," Sherry started and didn't waste anytime. "We need to move your family to our main house right now. There is reason to believe that we are going to be attacked shortly and are taking the necessary precautions before it happens."

"Does this have anything to do with the power being out?" Peter questioned.

"We aren't one hundred percent sure," Sherry disclosed, "A message wasn't able to send out to the other communities. If something happens, we need volunteers to help us fight."

A chill settled within Peter as he looked to his wife. It was the first community that they were ever a part of. Never once had they been put in a position where they needed to defend their property aside from walkers.

He gulped with nervousness but nodded that he would assist in their fight. Sherry looked pleased with his answer and already started running towards the house next door to alert more families and bring them all to a safe place.

…

"Get some fuel over to me now!" Dwight shouted to anyone within hearing range and to no one in particular. Kneeling beside the generator, he became frustrated that it made no sign of roaring to life like it usually would. The generator was their one mode of communication with any other allegiances outside the gates. If they didn't contact Alexandria, Hilltop, or the Kingdom, they would have to fight alone.

It wasn't the exiled Saviors that Dwight grew cautious of. Many things caused him to work at a quick pace but as time passed, the eerie silence transformed into the quiet hum that was steadily drawing closer towards Sanctuary. The sound could be felt just as much as it was heard while the rhythm of shuffling feet made the ground beneath him restless. He hadn't exiled that many Saviors and knew they were receiving help from someone else. Rather something.

In response to the noise, Dwight tried to show the others the urgency that he felt. He wanted them to know what he already knew which was that Sanctuary could be experiencing its final hours.

Dwight could see that families were being ushered into his house as fathers or mothers said goodbye to their children or spouses to aid in the upcoming retaliation. Knowing that Sherry was hard at work to bring more innocent lives to a safe place, he was already mentally thinking that their home should be the stronghold of the night. With their ammunition and communications locked within the same walls, it was definitely a top priority to keep whatever was inside the house safe. Among their goods, elderly and children would need their protection.

Someone ran from the mill towards Dwight with a three gallon fuel tank and looked to his leader with worry. "This is our last tank of fuel," the young man expressed worriedly. "It's nearly full but our community is done with gasoline after this."

Disliking what the young man had to say, Dwight took the tank anyway and brought it to the gas valve within the generator to help bring it to life. The sounds of distant and deadly moans began to fill Dwight's ears as the people around him began to fidget in their spots. Dwight looked up to the window of his home to see Miguel look at him expectantly. When Dwight gave the signal, they would try to make contact with anyone who would listen.

The tank ran empty as Dwight began to turn on all the switches of the generator as it began to putter to life. Dwight then plugged the extension cord into their saving grace and gave Miguel the thumbs up. Immediately sounds of static could be heard through the living room window as Dwight saw Sherry step into the house while seeming satisfied that her work of getting innocent lives to a safe place was finished. Dwight again appreciated her ability to take charge but then looked to Mark who was standing next to him.

"Men to the front gates," Dwight ordered Mark. "We need men near this house to be our middle men and give us extra ammunition when we need it. Still believe the dam mishap is just a coincidence?"

"No," Mark mumbled. Dwight almost apologized for being so constantly brash with his comrade but sometimes needed to let Mark know that he worked a little too slow for his taste.

…

Upon instructing all civilians to get inside the house, Sherry took to the porch stairs two at a time when she heard the generator sound off. Hearing some ghastly noises from beyond the walls while bringing others to safety, the feelings that were going through her mind were beyond unnerving. They were not prepared, they were not matched with their foe, and they were already crippled with their electricity shut off.

Many times they faced an adversary with odds against them. Sherry knew luck would run out so they mainly had to focus on their cleverness to get out of tricky situations. Hoping she still had some plans that could withhold throughout the night, she stepped into the house and walked towards the makeshift office in the living room where Miguel was trying to find a signal.

"Shit," he muttered but then saw Sherry walk into the room as he drew a sigh of relief knowing the radio was one of her many areas of expertise. "I don't know how to get a signal out."

Sherry saw that almost every button had been switched to something else in a frenzy. "What the hell?" She whispered and started opening drawers in the desk to find a paper that had every notch signal written down to contact Alexandria as they were the most responsive. "Did you change these switches?" Sherry asked Miguel while pointing to the various dials.

"Nah, I only changed channels and volumes," Miguel assured.

"Who changed it then?" Sherry questioned to herself but then started to wonder why she was shouting everything that she said. Realizing it for the first time, the gentle hum of upcoming danger was no longer a faint white noise and rather sounded as if it was almost at Sanctuary's doorstep.

Taking her attention away from the desk for a small moment, she walked to the back of the house where some extra rooms had storage filled with their weapon supply. Sherry brought a chair with her and walked into the room. Resting the chair beside a tall bookcase, she stood on top of it and reached to the top shelf and grabbed what she was looking for. "Miguel!"

Miguel ran into the room and saw that Sherry was holding a flare gun. "Miguel, I need you to let Dwight know that we are getting a message out but it's taking longer than anticipated. Now if the other communities have their night shift workers out clearing the roads, maybe there are a few that can see a signal from here. If they see the flare, they'll know something is wrong."

"You sure that will work?" Miguel asked.

"Not a hundred percent sure," Sherry answered honestly, "but it's worth a shot."

…

The cries of the undead sounded in the darkness with its consistent groans that only increased as they drew closer to Sanctuary. The noise mounted with each passing minute as Dwight could see the fear in many eyes around him. With the fences recently repaired, a dread fell upon him that the many weeks of hard work would possibly be inconsequential once the night was over.

Dwight wasn't yet able to see how many numbers their enemy had. However, he had never heard such a loud percussion of inhuman groans. There were many things that the Exiled Saviors had a one-up on. They were knowledgeable on Sanctuary's numbers. They knew where to hurt them as their power had already been shut off and soon after went in for the kill while Dwight's people remained isolated from every other community. They knew way too much information from men that kept their true intentions hidden among Sanctuary.

As far as Dwight was concerned, the night was an uphill battle. Unsure if they would even survive the night, he thought of the last thing he said to Sherry and wondered if it were sufficient enough last words. Did he say that he loved her? Did he say some final thoughts that he wanted her to keep just so intentions were perfectly clear? If their lives were to end, did he fulfill his promise to make her life a good one? Right back at ya, Dwight thought to himself and grimaced remembering those being potentially his last words to his significant other and surmised it wasn't sufficient enough to let her know how much she meant to him.

Interrupted from his thoughts, he heard the restlessness of the gravel road behind him. As he turned around to expect a friend, he instead saw a man storming towards him with knife in hand and nostrils flared in the darkness. The man, who Dwight remembered was named Phil, stared directly at Dwight with anger and finality. Already recognizing the premeditated glare from his own past wrongdoings, Dwight stalked towards the man intent on fighting him head on with the sole purpose of defeating him.

Phil raised his knife high above his head as Dwight punched him squarely in the jugular. In the split second that Phil hunched from the immediate lack of proper breathing, he tried lowering his knife on Dwight's back but was already briefly incapacitated enough for Dwight to attack once more. Now kneeing Phil twice - both in the groin and in the stomach - Dwight easily pried the knife from Phil's grip then quickly plunged the knife into the man's upper left side. Not understanding the full extent of what happened in the last ten seconds, Phil stared at Dwight with confusion and pain. Had Dwight not been in the game of war for almost four whole years, Phil would have won that round. However, Dwight had become far too cunning for someone to sneak up on him so easily.

A few men stood around Dwight as they watched Phil fall to the ground while no longer putting up a fight. Satisfied with letting Phil bleed out, Dwight gestured towards the dying man and nodded. "Be on the lookout for some of our people defecting tonight. They aren't holding back anymore and neither should you."

"Dwight!" Miguel shouted as he held an item in hand. When he got closer, Dwight could see the large barrel and deduced it was a flare gun. "Sherry is getting the radio fixed!"

"Fixed?!" Dwight asked as he saw his men bring cases of ammunition and set it behind concrete dividers that they would use as cover.

"Someone fucked up the dials on us," Miguel clarified as Mark joined them while loading his assault rifle. They both looked to Dwight and wondered what their next game plan was. They followed Dwight as he walked towards the gate to figure out how many walkers they were dealing with. However, without light, they had no way of seeing their enemies.

"The flare gun?" Mark questioned behind Dwight as he continued to stare at the fence while waiting for the attacks to begin.

"Sherry thought it would be a good idea just in case anyone was clearing roads nearby," Miguel shouted over the agonizing noise.

"Fuck, let's use it now!" Mark exclaimed as he tried to grab the flare from Miguel. Miguel instinctively moved his hand away to keep it from Mark and put his other hand back up in defense. When Mark made another move, Miguel kept him at bay and shoved him back.

"Not your call," Miguel reprimanded harshly.

"If someone were to see it then we should fucking use it!" Mark argued frantically while the panic in his voice escalated. "Dwight!"

They were dangerously close to the gate as Dwight could hear walker moans begin to surround the perimeter. If an ally saw the flare gun up above, their enemies would easily see who set it off. "Let's get out of this spot first."

"Christ, we can't wait that long," Mark muttered and lunged for Miguel letting the fear get the better of him.

"Mark, stop!" Miguel rebuked sharply.

"We're going to die!" Mark stressed like an over dramatic child, "Give me the fucking flare gun!"

"Mark, we'll do it; just not here," Dwight reprimanded, "Calm down!"

Walkers began drawing close enough that Dwight could hear individual feet shuffling and separate screeching's of hunger. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mark take a swing at Miguel as Dwight immediately wrapped his arms around Mark to stop him from acting so brashly. Unexpectedly, Mark head butted Dwight in the nose and stalked towards Miguel once more who was already disabled from Mark's previous hit.

Mark punched Miguel in the gut. Finally, Miguel relented his grip on the flare as Mark grabbed it with greed. He stopped what he was doing upon hearing Dwight's gun be cocked behind him. "Mark, this time I'm going to insist you stop this shit." Dwight spat blood that was spilling from his nose into his mouth but nevertheless his threat sounded menacing.

No one moved as Mark continued to face away with indignation. Miguel glanced from Dwight to Mark wondering if Mark would defy a friend and if Dwight would gun down a confidante.

Slowly, they watched Mark raise the flare gun high above his head while Dwight lowered his weapon in surrender but was equally upset Mark was going against the demand. Knowing Mark's mind had been made before he could correct an idiotic decision, he allowed his friend to make the mistake of firing the gun prematurely.

Mark pulled the trigger as the red flare shot up into the sky while temporarily lighting up the area around them. Dwight watched the light climb up swiftly into the night sky and then looked down to face the gate while using the brightness of the flare to see exactly they were dealing with. It didn't come to a surprise yet the sight made Dwight gasp. They all stood frozen when they saw hundreds of walkers angrily march towards Sanctuary at the same time that shots began to fire at them from the tree line!

A bullet whizzed past Dwight's ear as they all fell into action to protect what they had left in Sanctuary's dire time of need. "Open fire!" Dwight shouted for everyone that could hear as he dove down and pushed Mark to do the same. Shots erupted from both sides while they army-crawled to a safer location where they could also contribute to the action.

Mark made a pained sound but continued in his search for better protection from the flying bullets in the air. Miguel crawled alongside and went so much as to shield Dwight from incoming fire in case it fell around him so Sanctuary's leader would be spared injury or death.

When they made it to the safe side of the concrete dividers, Dwight turned to see that the walkers finally made it to the fence while his men shot viciously at them with precision being as accurate as possible under the dim circumstances.

Dwight then turned to Mark to see him holding his side in agony. Instantly viewing around him, he saw other men shooting at the undead while others fought defected Saviors within their community.

"Miguel, I want you to make sure that Sherry sent that message out," Dwight ordered. Miguel gave a look of uncertainty. After all, if Saviors were on a mission to kill Dwight especially, he was vulnerable and had limited people to watch his back. Knowing that Miguel would both check what was asked and if she was okay, he watched Miguel leave to go further into town while also knowing he could breathe a sigh of relief if she had some people on her side.

Lifting his rifle up and looking over to the other side, he took aim and fired at the undead.