Chris

Well, this is a fine bit of shit, isn't it?

"Drop the gun, motherfucker!"

Yeah, that's not happening. We're outnumbered five to three, and this gun is the only thing keeping them at bay. So long as I keep it trained on the leader, none of them will do anything.

The whimpering of my wife and child behind me bite away at my heart, and I'd do anything to keep them out of danger. Unfortunately, lurkers invaded the warehouse we'd been using, and now? Well, I don't even know if I'll be able to get us out of this mess.

I take a quick glance back towards them, and I see Layla burying her terrified face against Amara's chest, while she's looking at the men in pure terror.

I turn back towards the men, every single one of their barrels holding the power to end me in a second. And despite that, a grin crawls onto my face.

"Yeah, I don't think I'm losing the gun." The wit hides the terror in my heart and keeps it off my face. Let's keep it that way.

These men see fear, they will pounce.

"We got you outnumbered three to five-"

"And you're the leader." I interrupt said leader, a large overweight man who looks like he could beat me into ground with his bare hands. "As long as this gun's on you… well, I'm willing to wait for the lurkers if that's what it takes."

"We don't have to reach that point, man." One of the lackeys pipe up, giving a smile that I'd almost think was genuine. But I know better. "All we want is everything you got. Do that, we won't even have a little quality time with your girls."

"I'll take my chance with the lurkers, thanks." I say, trying to ignore the nervous sweat rolling down my face in droves as I continue to grin. "Besides, you guys aren't very good liars." I can't help the chance to call them out on their bullshit.

How did we even survive this shit so far? We've barely managed to get by on food scraps, and it doesn't help that the godforsaken bombings created more lurkers than we could've imagined.

Tack that on with all the people who've gone batshit crazy? At this point, the fact that any of us are still alive is a miracle.

The little pistol in my hand isn't much… but a bullet is a bullet all the same.

And no matter what anyone says, numbers always trump power in these particular situations.

They've got us backed into a corner, and I mean that literally. In this train yard, we have a fence on one side of us and five armed sickos on the other.

Just my luck though… one doesn't have to be smart to have good aim.

The sound of a silenced rifle pops through my ears, and I only have a second to process what's happened before I'm gripping my wrist as my own gun clatters to the ground.

A whimpering scream and a horrified gasp ring out behind me as I realize how utterly fucked we now are. Now I have no weapon, and I can see the smoking rifle of the far left thug.

Every single one of these fuckers grin like idiots, the one who fired lowering his rifle with a satisfied smirk as he turns to his leader.

"Good job, Trevor." The leader congratulated the thug, before meeting my horrified gaze with a sinister grin. "The fun way it is."

No… god no…

Two of the thugs charge me, and I don't even get a chance to feel proud about nailing one in the nose before the other one loops his arms around my own, his hands locking together on my neck and keeping firmly in place.

I can hear the terrified whimpers of my family through it all as I watch the one I hit rub his jaw, before he turns to me with narrowed eyes.

He lets his weapon hang on his back as he moves closer, before I'm gasping for air as he nails me square in the stomach, knocking every bit of wind in my lungs right out.

"Chris!" I hear Amara shout in horror, and I immediately turn to face her as best as I can.

And my already winded and bruised stomach drops even further.

The other three have made their moves, and they've pulled both my girls apart with ease. Amara's looking at me in desperation as one of the men holds her with ease, keeping her arms locked in place as the leader casually walks up to her.

"Don't touch them! Don't fucking tou-!" My words are interrupted by punch to my jaw, sending pain through that entire side of my face as I find myself disoriented.

"Dad!"

"Stop, don't hurt them! Please!"

Amara and Layla both exclaim in concern and terror, while I manage to bring my gaze up to them once more.

"Ray, you can have her." The leader says, glancing at the man holding Amara with a dismissive wave. "She's used. I want fresh goods." The fucker actually has the audacity to lick his lips with a smirk as he turns and begins walking towards Layla.

"She's only fourteen, you sick bastard!" I can't help but to cry out, trying to focus on my fury over my terror as Amara too begins to panic.

"Not my daughter, please!" Amara begs even as the man hold her lifts her off the ground with ease.

Please… god, don't make me go through this…. Don't make me watch my family get raped.

I begin to thrash and struggle as best as I can, flailing my arms wildly in my own captors grip as I try to escape. However, another punch to the jaw ceases my efforts, and I'm once again disoriented.

"Nah, don't fall asleep yet, buddy." The one who's been using me as a punching speaks up, before there's a fire surging through my scalp as the man tugs my hair and jerks my head up.

Forcing me to watch.

"STOP IT! NO!" Layla's absolutely thrashing, but it's no use against the two men who currently hold her. I can't help it as the anger fades away to pure terror, tears building up in my eyes as I'm forced to watch these sickos hold her down.

They have her hands forced above her head, the gone holding her hands in place and helping to keep her in the ground as the leader begins tearing away at my daughter's clothes.

"Leave her alone, you animals!" I shout at them one more time, before I feel another surge of pain as my scalp is tugged on.

"Come on, honey, you shouldn't be worried about your daughter right now." The one who has Amara whispers not-so-quietly into her ear as he easily forces her against the fence, his large frame easily keeping her in place as he tugs her skirt up.

"Let go of me, you bastard!" Amara shouts at her captor, tears in her eyes as the bastard tears her panties away with an audible snap.

"DADDY!" Layla's cry is heart wrenching as these men have reduced her clothes to nothing, and I find myself trying in vain to struggle once more as the leader prepares to violate her.

"Stop, for the love of god, let them go!" I shout at the leader, reduced to a begging mess at this point in a hopeless effort to spare them any pain.

"Not my daughter!" Amara shouts in terror, staring at our child's predicament even as her own rape is about to commence.

But then…

SNAP.

Suddenly, the sound of snapping bone goes rips through the air. The pressure on my arms abruptly disappears as I feel the man restraining them being tugged away. The grip on my hair goes as well, and I only have a second to be confused.

"Why does it seem like every fucking one of you freaks is always going for rape or cannibalism?!" A new voice echoes through the area, and I jerk around behind me to see the source of it.

Silence falls through the area at the site that awaits us all.

There's a kid standing there, a teenager. And he's fucking massive. Boy's gotta be at least six five, four hundred pounds maybe? Long messy hair, jeans with the legs folded over a pair of cowboy boots, wearing a plain white t-shirt.

And it ain't just his height or his weight that makes him massive. His muscles look like something ripped straight out of a movie. His shoulders alone look like they hold enough power to throttle anyone.

A concept made all the more frighteningly real by the corpse of my former captor, hanging limp by the neck from the kid's hand with his head bent at a ninety degree angle.

We all stare in shock and fear at the kid, processing what exactly has just happened, before my other captor immediately raises his own gun.

Not that he gets a chance to fire it. The kid moves like lightning. The corpse in his hand falls to the ground as he's on the other one before the bastard can actually get the gun up.

What follows is… terrifying.

With a scary amount of ease, the kid smacks the gun out of the fucker's hands as he pulls back his fist… before his fist flies into the man's chest.

And through it.

I can hear crunching bone as blood and viscera splatter all over the place. This kid, whatever he is, is covered in it. His lips are pulled back into a snarl as the he takes a moment to meet the eyes of his new victim, before ripping his fist from the man's body and leaving the bastard to collapse to ground, unable to make any sound other than that of choking on his own blood.

"What the fuck?!" One of the remaining goons replies, and the kid's head snaps towards them.

What happens next… it's not something I ever could've imagined would be real. All I can do is stand there in pure shock and watch the carnage unfold.

In what looks like a single step, the kid clears the distance between himself and the sicko who'd just been about to rape Amara, picking him up by the neck. His free hand slams into the man's stomach, quite literally, as if the man were nothing more than putty.

And then… with a grunt of exertion… he tugs.

What follows is hands-down the most gruesome and terrifying thing I've ever witnessed.

Breaking bone, tearing flesh, ripping muscle, all those sounds echoe through the area as this kid literally tears a grown man in half with his bare hands.

Amara had turned around at this point, and she jumps slightly as the kid pays her no mind, trapping the two halves of a corpse to the ground as he immediately jumps down to swipe up his latest victims former weapon, just as the leader and the one remaining goon raise their own.

The sound of three silenced rifles echo through the air, followed quickly by the sound of only two bodies dropping to the ground.

I can see the bullet holes where the kid got shot… and he seems to have no reaction whatsoever. He's not even phased, and based on the two flattened pieces of metal that fall from under his shirt and clatter to the ground… the bullets didn't even pierce his skin.

What is he?!

There's no way this kid is a human. He's… a superhuman! I thought they were just a myth!

With all five men now dead, the kid stands up off the knee he dropped too and surveys the area… before he turns to me and tosses me the rifle.

I have to admit that I'm caught off-guard by the action, and I have to stumble to catch the rifle before it clatters to the ground.

"There's you a weapon." The kid says, before he turns around and faces Amara. "You okay?"

Amara stares at him in shock, obviously still trying to process the entire event that had just occurred, before a look of realization crossed her face. A look of realization that I share.

"Layla!"

Despite the kid's words, I let the rifle fall from my hands as both Amara and myself turn to our daughter, who now sits curled on the ground in a sobbing fit. Neither of us waste any time rushing over to her, even with my own bruised and aching stomach and jaw and Amara's current state of dishevelment.

"Lay-Lay, sweetie, it's okay." Amara all but falls to the ground next to Layla as she immediately wraps her arms around her, pulling her up and into her chest as she begins to mutter soothing and calming words to the traumatized teenager. "It's okay, we're safe, you're okay…"

The sound of footsteps catches my attention, and I have barely enough time to turn before our unexpected savior is walking around me, approaching my family and falling down to one knee next to them.

Amara understandably ignores him, and my first thought is honestly that this kid is trying to get a quick glimpse of my daughter's body.

My brow furrows in fury and despite what I just saw…

"Hey, leave them alone!" I say, immediately moving forward and bringing a hand to the kid's shoulder in an attempt to jerk him away.

Instead, the kid's stiff as a boulder, and I get a few useless tugs in before he quite literally shrugs me off.

The sudden loss of something to grip sends me flying right into my butt, and I mentally curse as yet another spot is going to be sore later, but I ignore it for the time being when the kid finally speaks.

"She can wear my shirt till we get her some clothes." The kid says, causing both me and Amara to look at him in confusion as he follows through in his words, tugging it off and offering it to Amara.

Amara states in disbelief for a few moments, before her expression slowly shifts into one of complete and utter relief.

"Th-thank you…" she whispers as I slowly bring myself back onto my feet, and I move over to her other side and crouch down next to her as she tries to choke back what seems to be a sobbing fit. "I-if it weren't for you-"

"Thanks is the last thing on my mind right now." The kid interrupts her before she has a chance to finish, his expression softening as he glances at her. "Besides, I wasn't quick enough." His expression is almost sad as his gaze moves towards Layla.

It takes some time, obviously, getting Layla to calm down. And of course it would. She came way too close to living every woman's nightmare, and she's already been stripped of her dignity.

We both give soothing and comforting words while the kid watches, a look of… guilt, resting in his face as he stays on his knee with his shirt still in his hand.

After a while, Layla finally begins to calm down, until it's just an occasional sob as she brings her gaze up to meet her mothers.

"H-He w-w-was g-g-gonna…"

"Shh…" Amara whispers, her fingers stroking Layla's head and offering a sense of comfort to the traumatized girl that only a mother can give. "It's okay, they didn't. And they can't hurt you anymore."

"Wha… wh-where's Dad?" Layla asks, and I can't help the pain in my heart at how terrified my little girl sounds.

"I'm here, Lay-Lay." I assure her, moving closer and resting a reassuring hand in her shoulder as she glances at me.

Layla takes in a deep breath in an effort to at least try and control her sobs, but that's easier said than done as she tears up once more. "Th-they hurt y-you…"

"Ah, barely." I lie like a dog, because the very last thing Layla needs is to worry about me. "Are you okay?"

"S-scared…"

"What's your name?" The kid finally speaks up, causing Layla to jump as she finally realized we aren't alone. Her gaze snaps towards the guy, and she curls up even more into Amara in both an attempt to preserve her modesty and fora sense of comfort.

She takes a look at me and Amara, silently asking if it's safe.

Amara wastes no time.

"It's okay, Lay-lay." Amara offered a nod and a reassuring smile. "He saved us, he won't hurt you."

Layla stares at her mother for a moment, before slowly turning back to the kid. Swallowing, she answers.

"I-I'm Layla." She tells him, and only then does the kid's expression offer something more positive. A gentle and reassuring smile appears in his face, and he offers his unoccupied hand to her.

"I'm John." The kid introduces himself, his voice just as gentle as his current demeanor. Though, that's admittedly doesn't speak enough considering the beast he was too long ago. It doesn't help that both arms are still slathered in blood. "John Gallagher."

Layla stares up at the kid with an unsure expression, understandably hesitant. But the kid, John, continues to smile, and after a few seconds, Layla brings a tentative hand up to shake his own.

John's smile widens slightly as he shakes her hand, and his grip is obviously much softer compared to the kind of strength this kid seems to possess.

"Nice to meet you." John says as their hands separate, and he rests his free one on his knee as he lifts his shirt to her. "You can wear this if you'd like. It's just a shirt… but the size difference means it oughta keep you covered until we get you some new clothes."

"Why did you help us?" I can't help but to voice the question as I look at the kid in genuine confusion. "Most people would've ignored us, looked the other way. But… a superhuman chose to help."

"Not all superhumans would help." John admits with a shrug, before cracking a grin. "But I was raised better than that. I'm not sitting off to the side and ignoring people who need help."

The joke is honestly a bit unexpected, and I find myself sharing a surprised glance with Amara, before turning back to the kid.

"I'm… sorry to inform you that we don't have much to offer as a reward." Amara admits, a look of shame crossing her face as Layla finally takes the offered shirt, leaving her mother's embrace as she puts it in.

John waves off Amara's words with that same amused grin. "I don't want a reward, I got everything I need." He assures as as his grin morphs into another genuine smile. "Maybe other people would've left you… but I'm not other people." He assures he stands to his feet. "Take minute, collect yourselves. When you're ready, I'll take you somewhere safe."

With that, he turns around and walks away, swiping up a couple of rifles in each hand as he does so and moving to keep watch.

Layla stares at him in astonishment, a sentiment me and Amara both echo as we look at each other with baffled gazes.

Did… did that really just happen?

I'll give the kid this: he knows his way around the city.

After we all took a moment to process the entirety of what just happened, we went to John as instructed and he lead through a good chunk of the city.

I'd have never realized the back alleys of Atlanta were this easy to pass through without trouble.

He recovered all the weapons and offered me and Amara one each, while letting the others hang from his neck. He also didn't waste any time looting the bodies for any ammunition they might have.

One little fork in the road had admittedly been Layla. We hadn't ever gone out for other clothes yet, which was also the reason why Amara had never switched into a pair of pants rather than a skirt.

And considering we're originally from New York…

Yeah, walking barefoot was a bit uncomfortable for her. And unfortunately, Amara wasn't strong enough to carry her and I was honestly a bit too battered.

But John continued to surprise.

He offered to carry her so she didn't have to walk, at least until we found some clothes and shoes for her to change into.

She was obviously hesitant considering the incident that had just occurred, but she'd agreed nonetheless.

However, once he had his arms under her, Layla was holding his neck like a lifeline. And John was almost like a guardian. Something tells me that if anyone were to threaten Layla, they'd have three hundred pounds of superhuman rage coming their way.

I'm glad the rifles are silenced, but it didn't make much difference when John instructed us not to use the ammo for the time being. When we stumbled across a lurker while exiting one of the alleys, I was obviously panicking considering John was leading us and had Layla in his arms.

Five seconds and a splattered lurker later, me and Amara both realized that Layla was currently in the safest place on the planet, regardless of if he were leading.

As promised, he took us to a clothing shop first, and only then did he set Layla back on her feet. He had us wait at the entrance while he swept the place for threats.

One thing about the kid gets me though. He can't be any older than sixteen, maybe seventeen. But live the life I have, you recognize things.

For someone so young, he's clearly got some kind of military experience. Army brat, maybe?

Either way, it was a question for later. Once he made sure the place were safe, we switched spots. He instructed all of us to find clothes, and to focus on both comfort and utility.

Ten minutes and one bout of indecision later, we were all dressed in (semi)fresh clothes and completely redressed once more.

With Layla now having clothes of her own again, including a new pair of combat boots, John received his shirt again along with freedom of his arms.

After that, he lead us around once more. It took a while, but John eventually led us to the suburbs of the city, and I have to admit that I was at first surprised to see how barren it was compared to what I'd originally expected.

Which leads us to now.

We all follow John as he leads through the yard of a small two-story house. Me and Amara keep Layla in front of us so we can keep watch, just for our own peace of mind, and I keep a watch in the rear so that we aren't surprised again.

"Alright, inside." John instructs as he opens the door, gesturing for us to quickly answer.

None of us waste any time entering, and John follows behind us after taking a second glance to make sure nobody has tailed us, shutting the door behind us.

And then blocking it. With a… a refrigerator and a car engine…

Damn, this kid really doesn't fuck around, does he?

All the windows that we can see are completely boarded up, and I can see the back door in the kitchen as well. It looks like it might've been a sliding glass door, but it too is now boarded up.

Unlike how others would board things up, however, the doors and windows are covered with metal only slight cracks to allow light through as they look to have been tied to the wall with metal pipes.

"Alright." John says, catching our attention as he glances towards one of the windows. "The fridge is stocked with food, and there's a weapons cache in the basement." He suddenly says, causing my eyes to snap wide open in surprise. "This is a safe place so long as you ain't stupid."

"What exactly qualifies as stupid?" Amara asks as she glances around the house for herself.

"Don't go outside or make too much noise at night. That's when they come out." He reveals as he moves past as and into the kitchen, opening the fridge and revealing that the place still has power. "Whoever owned this place had solar panels installed, and the water and gas lines were never shut off. Still, volume needs to stay low at all times and the lights stay off."

That sounds sensible, and it's not like I can really complain. Who knows, now I might be able to actually catch a shower for the first time in a while.

"And you're… letting us stay here?" Layla asks the guy in confusion as he takes out a couple packs of… Hershey bars?

"This is your home now." John replies with a slight chuckle as he closes the fridge, turning to face as he tears open the six pack of chocolate bars. "Hershey?"

Neither me nor Amara can stop the fond smiles on our faces when Layla immediately grins, running up to the guy with an eagerness that I'd honestly thought she'd lost as she receives her chocolate bar like a kid in a candy store.

"If you want, there's a DVD player upstairs." He reveals to Layla, jerking his thumbs towards the steps as she follows him out of the kitchen while nibbling on her now open chocolate bar. At the news, she glances at him in surprise. "One of those small, portable ones. Windows are sealed, so it won't be too loud."

At the news, Layla immediately turns to us with an eager smile, a pleasing expression her face. "Can I?!"

After what she's been through today…

"Go on, Layla." I tell her with a smile, nodding my head towards the steps. She immediately grins and takes off towards the stairs, running up them with a childlike glee at the prospect of just being able to watch a movie again.

Once she's gone, I figure it's time to address the elephant in the room.

"Why are you doing so much for us?" Amara asks John once she's sure Layla's out of earshot. "You barely know us."

John let's a snort of amusement escape him at her words, moving past us and taking a seat on the living room couch as he freed a chocolate bar for himself.

"I don't need to know you. I don't have the same vulnerabilities you do. The zombies can't hurt me, and I don't need to eat or drink as much as most people." He explains as he waves his chocolate bar towards us. "Hell, this damn candy bar is enough to feed me for the next two months."

At that, our eyes nearly bulge out of our sockets, before I shake my head in amusement.

"Jesus, are the Juggernaut?" I can't help but to joke.

His response?

"Yep."

At first I think he's going along with the joke, as does Amara, and we both let a couple of laughs escape us. Our laughter dies relatively quickly when we realize he isn't laughing.

"That's a joke, right?" Amara asked, but John shakes his head.

"Nope." He admires with a slight grin as he glances towards us. "I was protecting the Atlanta shelter when it fell. Things went to shit, I pretty much got stranded, and this how I live now." He explains, his grin fading away ever so slightly as his gaze drops. "Just… wandering the city. Gathering supplies for various safe zones I've set up, and helping people who need help."

"If it wasn't for you… we may not have lived through today." I say, moving over as I remove my rifle from around my neck and lean it against the couch before taking a seat next to the kid, finally taking the first chance to relax in a while. "I know I wouldn't have."

"Well… I'm not gonna sit here and tell you not to think anything of it. That's an exercise in futility." He jokes with a slight chuckle. "I'll probably stay with ya'll for a few days, make sure you're in good shape before I take off."

"You mean… you're not staying?" Of course Amara sounds disappointed, and I can't help but to feel disappointment as well. "Why?"

"I'm fine being by myself. Kind of prefer at this point." John admits with a small sigh, before offering Amara a gentle smile. "I'll still check in though."

At that, Amara returns his smile with a thankful one of his own.

Despite his words, we never saw John in Atlanta again. But we were all thankful for his presence while we had it.

He gave Layla some basic combat training before he took off, and he helped us familiarize ourselves with the admittedly ridiculous amount of weaponry he'd stockpiled.

He gave my family the chance to survive. To have some semblance of peace, something to look forward too after so long looking over our shoulders.

And while those days may not be gone for good… well, I'll always remember the kid who stepped in and saved my family. Not because he wanted a reward, not because he wanted to kill, not because he was looking for something to do…

But because it was the right thing to do.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay at the house forever. No matter how fortified it was, the place wasn't exactly safe no matter how comfortable it may have been. It didn't have enough defenses, and the lurkers coming out every night were far too nerve-wracking for us to consider it safe.

We ended up coming across a woman. Some girl, Samantha, who was staying at a warehouse with her daughter. She allowed us to stay and we all ended up joining each other as a part of a larger group.

She understood what it was like to be helpless when your family is at stake. That's where we got along.

Turns out that she too had been saved by John. Another thing that bonded us all together.

To this day, we still remember the kid. John Gallagher. The real Juggernaut.

He saved us. He helped us survive.

And I can't help but think that wherever he is now… he's out there doing the same for others.

A/N: So, I wrote this as a stroke of sudden inspiration, both as an example of how sick and twisted people have become in the world of the Walking Dead and as another example of how much fucked up shit John dealt with in Atlanta before the start of the story.

It's also to make up for the short length of the last chapter, so here you go! Another bonus chapter!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it, and I'll see all of you in the next chapter.