CHAPTER TWELVE
"Reunited"
Allie dropped to the ground and charged for the nearest walker, plunging her knife into its eye socket. Glenn swung his machete into another's head, cleaving it in two as both corpses fell to the ground. Other nearby walkers, having noticed the deaths of their reanimated companions, began to saunter over away from the upturned tank—just as its entry hatch flung open on the top.
Allie wrenched her knife from the walker's head, ducking away from the nearest approaching walker as she sank her knife into its chest, driving it back. Holding it with her left hand, she withdrew her blade and slammed it up into the walker's chin, letting it fall limp to the street as she glanced up to the tank as a loud magnum shot sounded.
One walker tumbled off of the tank as the man that she and Glenn had just spoke to on the walkie climbed up, firing a revolver in his right hand. The shot tore through the skull of another walker and it collapsed from its climb halfway up the tank's port side. As another undead corpse clambered towards the tank, the man—Rick, Allie reminded herself—kicked out and sent the walker tumbling back, its head smashing into a brick wall, leaving a mass of bloody goop on the already-red wall.
Rick fired at another walker at the edge of the tank as he dropped down from it, glancing at Glenn. "Glenn?" he said in clarification, and the younger man nodded hurriedly. Allie's eyes looked into Rick's stern features before they dropped down to his chest as realization settled in—he was wearing a police officer's uniform. A mixture of brown and tan, it wasn't a uniform that Allie had seen around Atlanta or any other neighboring city before. Her eye caught sight of a patch on his sleeve which read "King's County Sheriff's Department."
He's not from around here, Allie determined as Glenn waved wildly to the door of the building. "Come on, my people should be there waiting!"
The three sprinted for the door and Glenn banged on it hurriedly, glancing back as Rick fired another round from his revolver at the approaching walkers. The cop's gunshots had attracted more attention than the melee strikes of Glenn and Allie's weapons—so more of the undead horde was headed their way.
Just as Allie jabbed another walker in the eye with her knife and Glenn swung his machete at another foe, a chain on the inside of the building rattled as the door flung open, revealing a blonde-haired woman—several years Allie's senior, she determined—and two other figures, covered in black tactical vests and visored helmets.
"Come on, come on!" one of them yelled as they ran into the street, swinging crowbars at the nearest walkers and taking them down. The blonde woman grabbed Glenn's arm and ushered him, Rick, and Allie inside. The two armored individuals fought off a few more walkers before they returned inside as well, slamming the door and chaining it shut.
The convoy of vehicles soared down the Atlanta streets—as fast as they could afford without wiping out and totaling, avoiding overturned cars and splattered corpses as they came across them. "I'm pretty sure it was right down here," Alex muttered to Sage as the driver of the purple sedan nodded.
"Yeah. Just down this block."
As they neared the building, Sage whispered a curse and Alex sighed. Walkers were converging on the building from the side that they had dropped Allie and Glenn off at.
Alex swore to himself as he whispered, "Do you see them? Do you see Allie?"
"I can't see a thing," Sage said honestly, shaking his head as he slowed the car. "But I don't think they got her."
"Why do you say that?"
Sage motioned to the building. "Those things are focused on that door—you don't see any clusters of them stopped anywhere, do you? Think of how those things dropped everything to feast on that one guy's horse. There would be at least a pocket of those things on a corpse if they got ahold of somebody." Sage glanced to Alex, giving him a reassuring smile. "I'm sure she's fine, man. Glenn probably got her inside and they're with his people now."
"Maybe so," Alex replied. "But what about us?"
Sage sighed as he threw the car into brake, lifting up his bat as he raised his hand to the door handle. "Now it's our turn to get inside," he said as he threw the door open, climbing out and immediately running for Brian's truck. The other vehicles had stopped as Dayana and Sam let their bikes drop to their kickstands and Sam immediately drew his pistol, aiming at the walkers but not firing.
Dayana glanced to Sage a bit unnervingly, her hands dropping to her twin pistols. "What the hell are we doing? We need to keep moving!"
"This is where Glenn's people are," Sage said as the other members got out of their vehicles and Annie came running up to him. Sage dropped to his knees and enveloped her in a tight hug, lifting her up into the air and holding her in his right arm. "We think Allie and Glenn are inside, so we need to get in there now."
He turned to Sam and gestured to the door on the side opposite from the one being pummeled with walkers. "Get the door, we'll be right behind you."
Sam nodded; usually, he wasn't one to blindly follow orders, but he knew the survival of the group depended on it—and, for what it was worth, Sage was one of the few in the group that he felt, unconditionally, was looking out for the greater good.
Sam bolted for the door as Sage motioned the others that way. "Come on, follow Sam. We've gotta get inside now." The group huddled together as the members readied their weapons. Iago climbed down from Rooster's back as he held tightly onto her reins, drawing his pistol with his right hand, his rifle slung over his shoulder.
Elodie cradled her rifle in her hands, her face forlorn as she looked at the horde approaching, her expression a sullen one. Brennan followed her closely, his right hand gripping his father's pistol; he could feel the smattering of sweat from his palm coating the gun's grip, but he didn't really care. He placed a hand on Elodie's shoulder and said softly, "Hey, are you good?" She swallowed hard and nodded. He smiled to her. "You don't have to worry, I'm here too."
Elodie did her best to give an overconfident smirk as she said, "I think I can take care of myself." She didn't really pull off a convincing tone, though.
Brennan shook his head. "I didn't mean it like that, I just meant—well, you're not alone."
Elodie felt her cheeks run slightly red as she smiled. "Thanks." She glanced to the walkers as a few seemed to notice the mass of vehicles that had stopped on the opposite side of the building they were trying so desperately to get into. "It's just . . . I haven't seen so many since the day Jimmy—my boss—pushed me into his car with his gun." She looked solemnly to the rifle in her hands. "I don't even know if he made it, but—there were just so many."
Brennan nodded, then gestured towards the building. "Come on. Let's get inside. Then we can relax."
The group approached the door as Sam spat a curse. "What's wrong?" Sage asked as Sam shook his head, his expression one of grief and anger.
"The damn thing's locked," he yelled, his brow furrowed. He threw his weight into the door, but it wouldn't give an inch.
"Shit, shit, shit," Dayana began to mutter, shaking her head as Elsa rubbed her arm nervously.
"So—so we can't get in?" the thin girl said in disbelief. "We're stuck out here?"
Alex glanced to her, his face showing a clear look of concern as he turned his gaze to the walkers. Finally, he glanced to Sage, his eyes full of defeat. He shook his head slowly and softly said, "I'm sorry," as he looked to the ground.
A few members of the group looked to Alex, almost as if they were shocked that he was admitting they had little to no hope.
Sage bit his lip and shook his head. "No . . . no, Elsa, we are not stuck out here." He nodded to Brian, who was standing near Emily and Caitlyn with his rifle in his hands. "Brian, Sam, Lee, you guys up front, with me." Brian nodded and lowered his rifle as Lee squeezed Clementine's hand softly, lifting up the axe he had been carrying. Sam stepped from the door, pulling his knife out with his left hand as he held both weapons out, ready to be used.
Sage stepped towards Ali, who had this whole time been viewing the horde with wide eyes. He sighed before saying, "Can you take Annie?" She nodded and took the four-year-old girl in her arms, holding her tightly. He smiled to the little girl and stroked her cheek. "Stay with Ali, Annie, until we get inside." Annie nodded as a lone tear ran down her cheek.
Sage pointed to Iago and Kai, who had been standing with the three children under his care right by his side. "You two, watch the others. Make sure nothing comes up on our rear." The two younger guys nodded before glancing to one another. Iago gave him a silent nod, as if it was an affirmation that they were in a silent agreement to be partners. Kai nodded in return as he hefted his axe into both hands, glancing around uneasily.
Sage turned from his group and focused on the walkers who had been steadily approaching at a slow yet menacing pace. The first line was only about two dozen feet away now, and Sage shifted his grip on his baseball bat. Letting out one last sigh, Sage breathed softly as he prepared for the inevitable fight.
One of the armored individuals who had helped Allie, Glenn, and Rick into the building spun around as the other and a big, husky dark-skinned man chained the door back shut as walkers began to beat upon it. The figure tore their visored helmet off, revealing the face of a stocky Hispanic man with dark, unkempt hair and some stubble as he glanced to Glenn. "Glenn, what's going on? Who are these people? What were you doing out there?"
"Hey, hey, Morales, calm down! Let me explain!" Glenn shouted, holding his hands up as the other helmeted individual removed their headgear, revealing an older dark-skinned woman as she, the blonde woman, and the big man all moved towards the three newcomers. "This is Rick and Allie, they're two survivors I met out here. There are others—Allie's group—but they got split up." He shook his head. "Hell, they're probably on the way back. We need to be ready to let them in if they get here."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," the blonde woman cut in, her face showing flashes of questioning at the idea. "Let them in? We don't even know who the hell they are, Glenn."
"We're survivors," Allie said, a bit of ferocity in her tone of voice, "like Glenn said."
"Yeah, and so are we," the woman spit back. "We've got people back at our camp, and you all just started lighting the street up like it's the Wild West or something. We had everything under control until you started shooting . . ." A few tears began to roll down her cheeks. "Now those things are trying to get in here, and ohmygod we're all going to die."
"Andrea, it's alright," the other woman said, a hand on the blonde woman's back. "We'll get out of this just fine, you'll see."
The Hispanic man shook his head before letting out a deep sigh. "Hey, I-I'm sorry for going off the deep end there." He glanced back to the door as the walkers continued pounding on it. "It's just that . . . well, like Andrea said, we'd been holding up in here and those things sort of forgot about us. Now, with the shooting and all . . . well, they're back at trying to break the doors down." Sighing, he held his hand out to Rick. "I'm Juan Morales."
Rick took his hand. "Rick Grimes."
Morales turned to Allie. She extended her hand out, nodding softly. "Allie Bloom."
Morales nodded back. "Nice to meet you both. This is Andrea," he said, gesturing to the blonde woman, "Jacqui," gesturing to the dark-skinned woman, "and T-Dog," gesturing to the big, husky man, who gave a quick nod to the newcomers.
Glenn glanced around, then his expression dwindled. "Where's Dixon?"
Jacqui let out a terse sigh as Morales snorted a laugh. "Up on the roof. He was determined to be a lookout and give us a warning if those things started coming." With a sigh, he muttered, "The dumbass must've not been watching too closely."
T-Dog grimaced. "Or been too busy trying to get high."
Morales nodded. "That too."
Rick opened his mouth to speak again when a loud banging started sounding on the door opposite the side of the one where the walkers were trying to force their way in. "What's that? More walkers?" Jacqui asked, glancing to the others.
Muffled shouting from outside caused Allie to grin. "No. I think those are my people." She started for the door before Andrea cut her off.
"Hey, we don't know that!" Andrea yelled, and Allie stared icy daggers at her.
The others moved towards the doors as Morales clamped his helmet over his head, lowering the visor. He glanced to Allie. "She could be right. It might be more of them." He raised his crowbar as he nodded to T-Dog, who gripped a hammer and moved for the doorway as Glenn drew his machete. Rick's hand went to his gun belt, where he felt for a pistol, this one an automatic, unlike his revolver.
T-Dog grasped the door handle as Morales fiddled with the chains before they were undone and Glenn pulled them loose. Morales glanced to T-Dog and nodded, and the bigger man slung the door open . . .
. . . revealing a group of survivors, all rather shocked as they turned to see the opened doors.
"Allie!" Elodie shouted, lowering her rifle, as Morales waved into the building.
"Come on! Get inside!" he yelled, pushing past Elodie and into the street, running towards the line of defenders protecting the rest of the group. Allie, Glenn, and Jacqui helped funnel the others in the street into the building—first, Emily and Ali ran in, leading Caitlyn and Annie close behind. Then, Nigel and Sahale followed directly behind as the frontline of the survivors began to fight the walkers.
Sage swung his bat, bashing in a walker's skull as Morales, with a yell, charged another one and rammed it with his armored shoulder, sending it careening to the ground as he smashed its head with his crowbar. Lee used his axe to sever another's head in two and Sam plunged his knife into another's eye. Brian used his rifle to smack the head of a reanimated security guard, glancing to his son, who was standing by Elodie with his pistol drawn, looking into the crowd of the undead.
"Get inside, now!" Brian yelled, and Brennan nodded. Elodie grabbed his hand and pulled him into the building directly behind her.
Kai glanced to the door and then the kids that were under his watch as Iago nodded to him. "Go on, get them inside. I'll be right behind you." Kai nodded to him as he looked at Dahlia.
"Go, go!" he shouted to her, Evelyn, Darrien, and Clementine as the five jogged into the building, followed by Raha, who bounded in behind them. Dayana and Elsa quickly entered the building as Iago made his way to the doorway. Andrea and Jacqui glanced to one another as he tried to lead Rooster inside.
"I'm not sure you can bring the horse in here," Andrea said.
Iago smirked at her. "Ma'am, me and this horse have been through an awful lot together. I don't think you'd be able to keep me from bringing her in here." With that, he moved past her, leading Rooster to trot inside as Andrea's eyes lingered on him, a smirk of her own forming on her lips.
Alex quickly jogged inside, and when her eyes caught sight of him, Allie smiled. "Alex!" she shouted, throwing her arms around her brother's neck. He returned the embrace as they hugged tightly.
"I was so worried about you," Alex whispered into the fabric of her shirt, and Allie nodded.
"Same here."
Outside, Morales glanced around and saw the whole group had funneled into the building. "They're all in. Go, I'll cover you!"
Sam stabbed one more walker as he ran into the building, followed by Lee. Morales took down another with his crowbar as Sage shouted to Brian, "Come on, let's get in there!"
Brian nodded, turning to run into the building when he felt pressure on his ankle—then a searing pain as he heard the ripping of flesh. He glanced to his leg and saw the security guard he had hit earlier—it hadn't been killed! As it ripped away part of the flesh from his ankle, Brian screamed in pain, alerting Sage to the situation.
"Brian!" he yelled, running for his friend and lifting his foot to stomp the walker's head over and over until it was an unmoving pile of mush. Sage wrapped Brian's arm around his neck as Morales grabbed his other side, leading him into the building as Glenn and Rick slammed the door shut, chaining it behind the group.
Elodie was whispering quietly with Brennan when she craned her head and saw Brian, the anguish written on his face as a hand went to her mouth. "Oh my God," was all she could say. Brennan, a bit confused, followed her gaze, until his eyes rested on his father.
"Dad!" he yelled, running past Elodie and to Brian as he sank onto the ground. Sage rolled his pants leg up, and the full extent of the injury was seen. The walker had torn almost a quarter of Brian's ankle from his leg, and the blood was rushing out. "Dad, oh my God," Brennan muttered, tears welling in his eyes. He glanced to Sage, and he shouted, "Sage, you have to do something!"
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Sage yelled back, his face beading with sweat. His veterinary training had taught him some things, but not enough to handle . . . this. "The infection is coursing through his body," Sage muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "I'm afraid the only thing that could save him is . . . amputation."
Suddenly, a shriek sounded to their side, and they all glanced to see Emily on her knees, tears streaming down her face. "BRIAN!" she howled, her hands on her husband's arm.
Through tears of pain, Brian shook his head. "It's alright, hon', it's alright." He shook his head. "I can't ask you to do that, Sage. You don't have the training to do that—none of us have. I'd probably bleed out, and . . . I don't want my last hours on this earth to be spent being unconscious." He glanced to Brennan and Emily. "I want it to be spent with my family." Then, his eyes ventured to the other faces around him. "And my friends. Before the end."
Sage, still as a rock, nodded slowly, understanding.
"You'll have to put me down before I come back." Brian nodded, as if he needed to console himself. "Since I was bit, you'll have to make sure I don't come back. I don't want to be one of them." The whole group nodded this time. They didn't wish that fate upon anyone, much less a member of their group—of their family.
Caitlyn walked to Brennan, grabbing his arm. Brennan glanced at his younger sister as she threw her arms around her older brother, bawling her eyes into his jacket. Brennan fought back his own tears as he held her tightly. The rest of the group stood in remorseful silence as the walkers continued to pound on the doors.
Not even a moment of silence could be silent anymore.
A/N: Well . . . that was a grim ending. But such is how things are in this universe, I suppose. Regardless, I still hope you all enjoyed this next chapter! A little more crossover into the show, but from hereon out things will mostly be adaptive of the show, since we obviously have a much more diverse and fresh cast of characters than just the show's cast, which will make things a lot more interesting and new! As always, if you have any feedback or ideas feel free to let me know and please be sure to review, favorite, and follow, I always love hearing your feedback! Until next time.