A/N: This is a little bonus chapter I've been throwing around in my head for a while. It's meant to be a lighter, more tame example of John's many exploits in the city, and I figured I'd write it from the pov of one of the many people John has aided. It's not really meant to move the story on in anyway, it is simply a little bonus chapter showcasing one of the many times John found himself aiding someone in the city.
Samantha
The pouring rain bites at my skin, and it soaks my clothes. My lungs burn from oxygen deprivation, and my legs are tense as my legs hit the ground. My arms are burning from strain as I hold Liz, my seven year old daughter, in my arms.
But we can't stop. Despite the risk of pneumonia, of a cold, of running into the dead, I can't stop running.
"Find the little bitch!" I hear an enraged voice cry out from somewhere behind me, a fair distance away, around the corner, and that only drives me to push myself harder.
That's the leader of a group of scavengers I came across, and if it weren't for the distraction of lurker coming near, I don't think we'd have gotten away.
That man, Detrick, he said… I can't let him get what he wants.
I would be bad enough… but I won't let anyone hurt my daughter. Not like that.
I can hear footsteps coming at a rapid pace, splashing in puddles and hitting rainwater, and in a panic, I jump into a nearby alley with a fearful whimper.
I can only thank god that Liz fell asleep in my arms earlier. If she were awake, escaping would be so much harder, next to impossibe.
It's so easy to look back and say that you should've done things different. For example, I should've taken Liz and left Atlanta when it got bad. Instead, I stayed, so sure that everything would be alright. By the time I actually decided to leave, we were just lucky enough to get out in time to escape the napalm.
And now we're stuck in a city that belongs to the dead. The dead and… the sick fucks.
I haven't come across very many people who are alive, and of them, only one of them was a good person. Some guy in motorcycle vest, a redneck. He was a bit gruff, but if it weren't for him, I would've lost Liz to a lurker.
I wish I could've gotten his name at the very least.
I hold my breath and hug Liz close to me, praying to god that those sick bastards don't find us. If they do, no one will save us. There's no law anymore. No one to help us, protect us… we have to fend for ourselves, save ourselves.
I should've looked for a gun instead of sticking to my little combat knife. Maybe then, we'd have a hell of a lot better chances against these men.
"Please…" I can't help but to whisper aloud, a quiver in my voice, tears running down my eyes, mixed with the rain as terror floods my body as the footsteps continue approaching.
But lucky for me, they run right past the alley.
Every single nerve in my body is tense in anticipation and fear, and I wait for some sort of confirmation that they've given up, or that we're safe in some sense.
After a few moments, the footsteps disappear further down, and after a few moments of silence, I step away from the wall and take a few hesitent steps towards the edge of the alley, peaking out between the buildings and looking in both directions onto the street.
Nothing. Nothing but baren streets and abandoned cars.
I'm so distracted by my observation that the sound of approaching footsteps from behind completely escape me, until it's too late.
The sound of a cocking gun enters my ears, and I jerk around, horror flooding me as I find myself face to face with one of my aggressors.
"Found you." The man says, a tall, scraggly guy with long hair, holding an assault rifle as he eyes me up and down.
"Please…" I whimper, too afraid to step back out of fear for both my daughter and myself. "Please, let us go…"
The man licks his lips, feigning a look of thought, before he shakes his head with a smirk. "I don't think so, sweet cheeks." He says as he moves closer to me. "It's been too long since we've had a good piece of ass, and since you just got Jerry killed, you owe us."
"B-But I didn't do anything!" It's not like I knew the lurker was coming nearby! I played no part in it! I just took advantage and ran!
"You distracted us." The man says with a shrug. "And Jerry got killed, so we gotta return the favor somehow."
I can hear footsteps coming back down the road, causing my stomach to sink deeper into despair as the man in front of me whistles.
"Hey, I found her!" He calls out. Two more men enter the alley, a shotgun in the hand of one, and a pistol in the hand of the other, and they grin when they spot me.
I wish I could shrivel up then and there.
"Thought you'd get away, did you?" The one with the shotgun says, stepping towards me, causing me to whimper as I back away, until the building behind me obstructs me further.
"Let's get her back to Detrick already." The other one says, glancing out towards the open area of the street. "I don't want to be out in the open too long, and I'm ready for some pussy."
"Is there a problem here?"
From further down the alley, a new voice echoes out. This one has a deep rumble to it, but it sounds much younger than the men currently holding me and my daughter hostage.
All eyes turn to look further down the the alley, where we can see someone else, a teen from the looks of it, with an angled jaw and long, messy hair, wearing a leather jacket, with no weapon in site.
"It's adult business, boy." The scraggly one says, turning to face the newcomer, making sure his assault rifle is in plain view. "I suggest you get to stepping."
The teen doesn't look intimidated in the slightest. Rather, he raises an eyebrow at the words.
"I'll get to stepping when I know everything's alright." Suddenly, it's as if the teen stands up straight, and he seems so much larger than he was before, as if he'd grown a foot in height. He turns to face us completely as he speaks once more, his voice even. "Cause what I see is three men with weapons holding some woman and her kid hostage."
"Ain't none of your business." The one with the shotgun speaks from behind me, his tone threatening as he says it. "I suggest you move on."
Silence reigns over us, and I can hear my heart beating a mile a minute, terror and fear gripping my heart. I'd like to hope this newcomer can get me and Liz out of this predicament, but I don't see a single weapon, and he's just a teenager from the looks of it.
What could he do?
The teen looks at us for another couple of moments, before he lets out a sigh and mumbles something as he begins marching towards us, looking less than pleased.
"Hey now, I suggest you stop right there!" The scraggly man says, raising his assault rifle and leveling on the teen without an ounce of hesitation.
The boy doesn't slow down, he doesn't even flinch. If anything, his pace grows faster, and I can see his lips tighten in annoyance at the rifle trained on him.
What is he doing?! Doesn't he realize these men will shoot him down? They don't care! All they want is me and my daughter, and they'll do whatever they want to get us.
"You heard him, boy!" Suddenly, the one with the shotgun is no longer behind me, but in front of me, aiming his own weapon at the teen, but still, he doesn't stop.
The scraggly one seems to lose his patience, and it's like everything happens in slow motion. I can see the movement of the trigger, the man squeezing it without hesitation.
The bullet ejects from the barrel…
And it pierced the chest of his shirt.
But he doesn't stop, he doesn't even slow down.
I can't help the absolute disbelief running through me at the site, my jaw drops and my eyebrows shoot to my hairline, eyes wide at the teen who just got shot and didn't react at all.
"What the fuck?!" The men start backing away at the site, shock flooding them at the seemingly inhuman teen still marching towards them. The one with the shotgun seems to regain his bearings and fires right as the teen is upon us.
The alley lights up with the blast of the shotgun, wiping away the teen's shirt, but rather than blow him away, it's seems to agitate him even more, and his hand flashes out with blinding speed and he jerks the shotgun out of the guy's hands, turning it into a club of sorts as he immediately hits the man with the stock.
The man goes to the ground almost immediately, and we all stare at him in disbelief.
Did… did that really just happen?
This guy actually just took a shotgun shell to the chest, and outside of a torn shirt… there's not a mark on him.
My gaze hesitantly wanders back to the teen, who's staring at the scraggly man with a look of irritation.
The man can only stare in terror, before he trains his gun once again, only to have it swiped away before he can even fire.
"What do you want with her?" The teen asks, holding both weapons in his hands as he glowers at the scraggly man, who seems to be shaking in his boots, raising his hands in terror.
"S-She got one ours killed!"
"I didn't!" I can't help but to say in a begging tone, because I do not want to be left at the mercy of these men, and I do not want to face the ire of the newcomer.
"If he was anything like you, then I don't think I care." The newcomer replied, venom in every word as he stepped closer, forcing the scraggly man to back up against the wall. "I don't care about the who, what, or why."
I watch as he takes both guns in both hands, holding them on display for us all to see.
"I see you dickheads pulling this shit again, this is what I'm gonna do to you."
What happens next will be seared in my memory forever.
The teen snaps both guns in half at once. There was no struggle, no strain, he did it as if he were bending a straw.
A loud pop and the sound of straining metal echoes through the alley as the guns break. I can't help it when I nearly jump out of my skin and take a step back in fright, hugging Liz tighter out of instinct.
The teen drops the now useless gun parts as the two men take a step away.
"Now get out of here."
The men waste no time in obliging, turning on their heels and running as fast as their legs can carry them, leaving me alone with the inhuman teen.
I can only keep staring in fear, almost afraid that with no one else present, he'd turn his ire, his ungodly strength, on me and Liz.
I visibly flinch when he turns his gaze towards us, but though he still looks mildly irritated, any trace of threat or menace disappears from his expression.
"You two okay?" He asks, and despite the irritation, there's genuine concern in his voice as he asks.
It takes me a moment to register the question, and even longer to answer, and when I do, it's more of a stuttered blubber than an actual answer. "U-um, y-yeah." Is all I can manage to say.
He continues to look at us for a moment, before letting out a sigh as his gaze moves up. "Might be best to get out of this rain, especially for the little one." He mutters as he fixes his eyes back on me. "You two got anywhere to go?"
Almost immediately, I open my mouth to answer, only to stop short as I begin to think.
Ever since the outbreak, me and Liz have only been able to sleep in sporadic places through the city. We've never really had a place to call a shelter, somewhere to stay for safety, just different spots to stay the night.
So after a moment of thinking, and a little bit of hesitance, I answer honestly. "N-No…"
The teen lets a puff of air escape his lips and his hands find purchase on his hips as his head drops for a moment, before he raises his his gaze on us once more. "What's your name?"
"S-Samantha." I'm honestly unsure if my stuttering is because I'm freezing, or if it's because I'm honestly still a little intimidated. This teen is a full foot taller than me, and he's clearly stronger and tougher than any normal human.
I'm twenty-eight years old, and yet, I feel like a child compared to the guy in front of me.
The teen nods his head when I give my name, and he offers his hand, a small, calming smile coming onto his features. "I'm John Gallagher." He introduces himself.
I stare at his hand for a moment, before hesitantly, I let one hand leave Liz's sleeping form in order to shake his hand. When his hand closes around mine, I wince a little in anticipation, half expecting him to crush my hand into pulp.
I'm honestly surprised when I realize that rather than crushing force, his grip is actually pretty gentle. It feels as if I'm shaking a normal person's hand.
"I can take you somewhere safe, help you get it fixed up." He offers, his smile never leaving his face. "Make sure you have somewhere safe to stay."
I'm honestly not sure how to respond to that as our hands cease contact, and I can only stare at him, befuddled by the offer.
"You… you'll help us?" I can't help but ask him, almost positive that his offer is some kind of cruel joke, but instead of some sarcastic remark, he raises an eyebrow.
"Is that so hard to believe?" He asks with an amused smile.
I can help it when the suspicious and somewhat scared side of me begins to take over, and I fix the teen a suspicious look, holding Liz in a protective grip as I speak. "How do I know you don't plan to hurt us, or worse?"
In retrospect, that sounds stupid, and I feel even moreso when he abruptly bursts into laughter, genuine, amused laughter, as if my words were legitimately funny.
"Okay, Sam? You just saw a literal fraction of what I can do." He says with an amused grin as he gestures to the still broken guns on the ground. "If I wanted to hurt you, I'd have done so already. You really think you'd be able to stop me at all?"
That reminder, the implications, of the fact that this guy can over power me no matter what is a little unsettling, but the genuine demeanor he seems to hold…
I let myself relax a little. He has a point. If he wanted to hurt us, we'd be powerless to stop him.
"Okay." I nod my head, agreeing to his idea. "We'd appreciate it."
"Then follow me." He says, waving us along as he turns around and begins walking deepe into the alley.
I stay still for a few moments, hesitant to follow him deeper into the alley, but finally, my feet begin moving and I move up behind him, following closely as he leads us.
Outside of the pouring rain and our footsteps, we trudge along in silence, not a word spoken between the two of us. As we walk, I find my eyes wandering over to the guy, John, as my nervousness disappears by the second, a thousand questions taking its place.
"You said your name was John?" I ask him, and I can see him nod his head.
"Yep."
"How… how did you do that stuff back there?"
At that, he turns to look at me, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"The bullets? Breaking the gun?" I clarify. "I've never seen anybody do something like that."
As he realizes what I'm asking, he grins a little. "Never seen a superhuman, have you?"
Superhuma- oh.
And just like that, I feel even more stupid.
"I didn't even think of that." I admit with a sigh, shaking my head at my own obliviousness. "I've never seen a superhuman in my life. Honestly, a part of me thought you were myths, government tales."
John lets out a chuckle at that, shaking his head in amusement as he glances at me from the corner of his eye. "Nah, we're very real." He says as he turns to look forward once more. "Ever heard of the Juggernaut?"
That one, I have heard of.
"He's the first superhuman." I recall. "Popped up in Ohio. He has superhuman strength, if I remember right…" The more I recall facts about the Juggernaut, the more my eyes widen as I realize why he asked the question.
John merely smirks. "I'm not in Ohio anymore." He says with another glance. "So, what did those guys want with you anyway?"
I can't help but to shudder as I recall that Detrick guy's words.
"You and you're little girl will make us some happy men if you want to live another day."
"They wanted to… they wanted to rape us."
At that, John stops in his tracks, his gaze snapping to me at those words, an unholy fury I've never seen before lit up in his eyes, hidden beside a mask of forced calm.
"Say again?"
"One of theirs got attacked by a lurker while they were holding us at gunpoint." I explain, shuddering as I remember the mind numbing fear I felt in that moment. "I took the chance and ran. I wasn't going to let them do that to my daughter."
"I should've killed them." John growls to himself, turning back to walking in an effort to calm himself. "So, how long has it just been you and… what's your kid's name?"
"Liz." I say, smiling down at my sleeping daughter. "It's been us since this whole thing began, and I've done my best to keep her safe."
John nods his head, smiling slightly at that.
"You've done a damn good job, it seems like."
I can't help the way my face saddens at his words.
"If it weren't for you, it wouldn't have mattered." And I mean that. If it weren't for John, those men would've had their way with me and Liz.
What little innocence my little girl has would've been destroyed… I wouldn't have been able to live with myself.
"We all need a little help every once in a while." John says with a reassuring smile. "We'll get you a gun, might give you a better chance."
"But what about the lurkers?" Those things are drawn to sound, so in a city like this, firing off a gun is definitely not safe. It's a wonder that we don't have every single one of them in the city on us.
"The rain makes it harder to pinpoint where the gunshot came from." He answers my unasked questions, before turning to glance at me. "Outside of that, you should only fire it when necessary."
The logic makes sense, and having a gun would've given us better chances against those thugs.
"But where will we get the gun?"
"I'll handle that." John answers. "Let just get you two someplace safe first."
The silence returns after that, with John leading us through the city. We mainly stick to the alleys, it seems, only going out onto the street in order to cross over to another alley.
Eventually, we end up out of downtown, and into a more industrial area of Atlanta, where John leads us to a small warehouse.
At almost the exact moment we reach the warehouse, I feel Liz beginning to stir in my arms.
Slowly, she sits her little head up, yawning as she blinks open her eyes, before settling them on. "Mommy?" Her voice still holds a sense of tiredness to it as she speaks. "Are we home yet?" She asks as she brings one of her hands up to rub her eyes.
"Not tonight, Lizzie…" I tell her softly, rubbing the back of her tired head. "We're staying somewhere else tonight."
"Where?"
As if to answer her question, the sound of loud, rattling and banging metal echoes through the he are as John throws open the massive door to the warehouse with ease, causing Liz to jump in my arms and turn to look in his direction.
"Who's that?" Liz asks wearily, but I don't get a chance to answer before John speaks up.
"This oughta be safe enough." He says as he turns to look at us. "I see the little one's awake."
I let a smile grave my features as I turn to Liz, smiling as I speak. "This is John." I introduce her to him. "He's helping us right now."
"Is he nice?" Liz asks, turning to look at me, causing me to smile and nod my head as I turn to look at John.
"Yes… yes, he is."
John simply smiles and gestures for us to head inside.
John only ended up staying with us for a few days, helping us get some supplies, including more weapons, and fortifying the place, before he took off on his own once more with a promise to check in every once in a while.
I never got to see him again, but I'll never forget the way he helped us, not only out of trouble, but to survive in general. Thanks to him, we have a safe place to rest, my daughter is okay, and we're still alive, stronger than ever.
Wherever he is, I hope he's okay.