Spiders
Patrick cursed himself he had left his automatic rifle in the building and his pistol was holstered. He looked to see who had captured them; the voice sounded was that of a young male. There was a small ring of young men and women with automatic weapons pointed at them. He could pull out the pistol and probably even the playing field but his instincts told him to hold up on the heroics. There was enough dead already.
Rick and Daryl exchanged looks and agreed not to fight. Rick hollered, "We don't want a fight. We can be gone tomorrow."
The male voice said, "What are you here for?
Jamela answered, "We need some things out of those buildings. We mean you no harm."
The young man stepped forward and Daryl saw that he wasn't more than his early twenties or so. "We want something from you."
Daryl answered, "What do you want? We will let you have whatever you want as long as we can just take some things from the buildings and have some vehicles to leave".
The young man laughed, "All we want is to go with you when you go".
Daryl said, "We have to know that you are good people before we can take you back with us".
The young man said, "We could have killed you and taken all your stuff if we weren't good people. Now I want you to promise me that you won't kill us if we put our weapons down".
Daryl saw the logic in that, "We won't hurt you and if we weren't good people we would have already. I am putting my stuff down slowly and walking toward you." Daryl motioned for the others to wait while he talked with the boy. He held his empty hand out to shake the boy's hand, "Hello, my name is Daryl and we really don't want to hurt anybody".
The boy lowered his weapon and shook Daryl's hand, "Come on. Let's get inside before we wake up the dead." He must be the leader because the others lowered their weapons helped them carry their stuff into one of the big buildings. Inside there was oil lamps and furniture. It was obviously their home. The leader introduced himself as Terry, and the two young men as Andy and Jason. The three women were Ellen, April, and Sydney. Terry said, "Go move those vehicles behind the buildings. We get some people by here once in a while and we don't try to attract their attention by changing anything." Andy went with them to show them where to move the vehicles.
He offered them food and water, and they shook their heads no. Terry didn't ask for their weapons and they kept them ready.
Daryl thought these kids were like spiders. This was their web and that had captured them like a fly in their web. He had seen a lot of bad people in his life and these kids were not like them. They weren't waiting for prey in this web, but what did they mean when they said they wanted to come with them."
When everyone got back and the doors were closed again. Terry told their story. "I was a graduate assistant at WVU and I worked as an Adventure Leader for the school. We took incoming freshman on survival trips as team building exercises. We were camping nearby when everything went to shit. We came back to I-77 and saw that was impassable. The place was crawling with walkers from the cars and we hid out in the woods for a while. We found this place a few days after it all hit. The fences were secure and no one ever tried to loot it. I looked at what was inside here and though of how the world was like out there and decided to wait it out here. I knew that sooner or later someone would come looking for this stuff and I figured I could trust who ever that was. They would be people trying to rebuild civilization and not war lords".
Jamela asked, "What do you think is stored here?
Terry answered, "Electrical turbines used in small hydroelectric dams. I was working on my master's specializing in creating electricity from water power when this all hit".
Daryl put his weapons away, and shook hands with everyone. These kids needed a home and he knew where there was one. "Now what about the war lords?"
Terry said, "They came into the area about a month ago started looting all the supplies. There aren't any people around here but us, too many dead people from the highway went through the area and it's a dead zone. These war lords are bad news. They are going on raids and taking people when they do. We don't have a lot of weapons and very little ammo or when would try to take them out. We figured they would take off when it got cold, but they haven't yet".
Patrick's eyes narrowed and Daryl knew that he would want to clean that nest out before they left. Patrick asked, "How many fighters do they have?"
Ellen answered, "There is maybe twelve or thirteen men and maybe nine or ten women. They all look like fighters and they have automatic weapons and lots of ammo. I saw them unload after a raid. These are evil people, and best left alone".
Daryl looked at Patrick and nodded. He was in. He looked around between the two groups they could handle this bunch. Michonne said, "We aren't going to leave until we spit on their corpses. We need you to show us where they are."
Ellen answered, "There aren't any children with them".
Daryl thought about that men and women together usually meant children somewhere. "They must have left them with the larger group while they gather supplies".
Daryl's group shared their food with the others and could tell that they must be low on supplies by the way they went through dinner. They had made bedrooms in the warehouse scattered throughout the building. He figured that they had paired off and wanted privacy for sex. No children though so they must be using birth control because there was not babies.
The others went off to their beds and the mountain group settled close to the door. Daryl took first watch, Patrick the second, and Rick the third. Daryl found the big warehouse almost comforting after being away from the mountain for days. They had a fence between them and the walkers and he trusted this group. It was chilly in here but there was a propane heater off in a side room that they must heat when it got really cold. They had physically fit and outdoor ready at the start and they had survived by their strength and their wits. They would be a fine addition to the mountain or to Adair.
The next morning Andy and Patrick went off to scout the war lord camp that was about five miles away. They walked carrying weapons and not much else. Patrick was not getting close, getting captured twice in twenty four hours would be humiliating and dangerous. The war lords would know that there was a larger group and torture them to find out where they were. Not a way to spend a fine autumn day he thought. Andy knew his way around these woods and kept a good pace up. He led the way up a hill and stopped at the top where the view was clear. Patrick used the binoculars because the sun was behind him and wouldn't reflect. They were in an elementary school a block of storage units that had begun springing up in the last few years. It had a fence around it but since it was a fairly warm nice day they were outside. They were storing their looted food in a box truck and he could see some women who were chained together. The other women moved freely among the men and they looked as if they might pack up and go back to whatever hell hole they came from. Then he saw that they were drinking and he figured that they would party today and leave in the morning.
Patrick reported back to the group who were trying to figure out how to get some trucks to move the parts in. Terry and Jamela had gone through her list this morning and tagged what needed to go. Sam figured that two big semis would do and had planned to go back to the town with the restaurants and motels. There might be a truck stop nearby. Trucks probably pulled off here to rest their breaks after coming down the mountain on I-77. They could get fuel from the trucks on the interstate but moving them might be a nightmare.
Daryl took over, "We aren't going anywhere until we clean that nest out. They might hear us moving all this stuff around and come looking. They might be staying here for weeks while we starve out. We hit them his afternoon, but we don't have any pity on any of them but the prisoners. Those women are as dangerous as the men." He looked each fighter in the eye and they nodded. Terry, Andy, and Jason were in but the girls were staying here.
Patrick came up with a plan. They would surround the storage buildings and then attack while they were outside. Daryl nixed that idea; they might lose too many people because these guys knew how to fight. He looked at Tyreese and said, "Remember the ambush on the way of the prison".
Tyreese laughed, "I got shot and you got brain damage, I remember".
Daryl's plan was simple. They would find a good place for an ambush and draw the men out by having the Humvees drive by, see them, and in a panic turn around and go back the way that had come. Most of the war lords would jump in their vehicles and give chase. One team would then attack the remaining fighters at the storage unit and free the prisoners. The other would stage a wrecked Humvee and attack the war lords when they roared up. Michonne offered to drive one vehicle and Ellen took the other. The girls said that they would ride in the Humvees; they knew that the war lords were looking for female slaves.
Daryl made them eat and drink before they left. It was afternoon before they were ready. Daryl would lead the ambush and Patrick the assault on the storage unit. Patrick took Sam, Rick, Terry, and Allen with him. Daryl had Michonne, Tyreese, Jamela, Ellen, Sydney, Andy, Jason, and April. Daryl knew it was dangerous but he trusted Jamela, Michonne, and Tyreese to keep their heads. These kids didn't stay alive this long without being in some dicey situations.
The Humvee ambush was set up about two miles from camp. You rounded a curve and there was cover for the fighters and not too close to the camp. Patrick had drawn a map so that they would know when they were close and where they would need to turn around.
They drove slowly and carefully. There would be in eye sight of the storage unit before they could turn. Michonne led the way and Ellen followed closely. Patrick watched as the men got to their feet when they heard approaching vehicles and they moved toward their vehicles. Michonne did a fine job of looking terrified at the sight of them and she and Ellen turned their vehicles where they needed to and sped back the way they had come.
All the men took off and that left the women to defend their camp. The women didn't seem afraid until the rifle fire rained down on them. It was over in a minute. The prisoners had been put back into the building and were safe. The women fired back but the next barrage cleaned them out. Rick and Patrick took a vehicle and went toward the ambush. Sam, Terry, and Allen put down all the women and freed the women prisoners.
Michonne and Ellen took advantage of their head start and got as much distance as possible from the war lords. Michonne pulled off and let Ellen go by. Ellen drove past the ambush and put the Humvee behind a building. Michonne turned her Humvee so that it blocked the path of the war lords and the women inside all ran for cover. The war lords were coming in motorcycles and trucks and just seconds behind Michonne's vehicle. Daryl checked his weapon and watched the truck run into the Humvee. There were motorcycles and trucks all over the road and Daryl threw some Molotov cocktails that they had made this morning into the melee. It was a killing field. Jamela, Andy, and Jason were on the other side of the curve to make sure than no one got away. Ellen, April, and Sydney had joined the fight. Michonne and Tyreese were picking them off one by one. The war lords were shooting back and Daryl felt a stabbing pain in his thigh. He kept on shooting until he was certain that they had killed them all.
Daryl was bleeding from his thigh but walked to where Michonne was holding Tyreese. The big man was down and Daryl knew that it was bad from the look on Michonne's face. Daryl knelt beside Tyreese and saw that his brother was gut shot and bleeding. Tyreese grabbed his hand and said, "You will see that she gets home for me". Daryl nodded. Tyreese looked up at Michonne, "I love you". The light went out of his eyes then, and Daryl knew that he was gone. Daryl took his knife and pushed it gently into his brother's brain. Andy and Jason were putting the war lords down. Patrick and Rick drove up and they piled the war lords into a pyre and used some fuel to burn them. Allen and Sam took Tyreese's body and put it in one of the trucks. Daryl put his arm around Michonne and let her to the Humvee and took her out of there. Rick and Patrick used the war lord's trucks to move everybody back.
They buried Tyreese in a cemetery by a church that evening. Allen gave the eulogy telling the somber crowd that Tyreese was a man worth grieving for but that grief should be tempered by the knowledge that had earned a just reward. Tyreese was a man of faith and he died in a state of grace. Jamela sang, "Amazing Grace" and most of the group joined in. Terry and Jason closed the grave and they all said goodbye in their own way. Daryl put a branch of bright fall leaves on Tyreese's grave and thanked him for being his friend and brother. Michonne put on her leaves and thanked him for restoring her faith in the goodness in people, and Rick thanked him for being a good and true man in a world where evil was everywhere. Patrick got them all back to compound safe and sound before dark.
Allen cleaned Daryl's thigh wound and said that he might have a slight limp for the rest of his life. April had a wound in one arm but the rest were unharmed. Allen finished with Daryl and went to check on Michonne. Jamela was with her and he kissed Michonne and went on to recheck April's arm.
Ellen and Sydney cooked and everyone ate, but Daryl never was able to remember much about that night. He had sat with Michonne through most of it and they talked about all the fun they had with on runs with Tyreese. Daryl talked about how Tyreese would sing all those country songs with him on runs and how they had looted the jewelry store to bring home to her and Carol. Michonne told him that Tyreese had always loved him like a brother and would tell the story about teaching Daryl to dance and laugh until he cried. It was a long night but there were lots of stories to tell and like Tyreese they would laugh until they cried.
