Chapter Sixteen

Hellfire

Twenty minutes later I was standing just inside the tree's, facing the place that had become my own version of hell. My heart was beating and I had to remind myself to breathe. I could do this, I could do this, I could do this.

"Burn them to the fucking ground, my fearless girl."

My moms voice sounded in my head. Hardening my face, I turned back to my group who watched me with a fierce determination.

"DJ, get the explosives out. Carefully," I said, looking at the man who was holding our box.

He nodded his head and dropped to his knees, carefully placing the tub on the ground.

I pulled the radio from my belt loop again and pressed the button, holding it close to my mouth.

"Group One, in position," I said quietly.

I waited, gaining confirmation from the other five groups that they were ready to go.

"Alright, I'm going to place it on the tower. You eight are going to wait here. I'll run back and we'll wait for the big boom. Clear?"

"Clear," everyone whispered back to me.

"Group One, heading in." I said into the radio, hooking it back on my belt.

I looked back to the compound. My tower was the one closest to the gate, which meant that I had to be careful not to be spotted. I knew the normal night guard often fell asleep during his watch, but if they were on high alert for an outside attack, it would stand to reason that he would be cautious to stay awake. Letting out a slow breath, I turned back to look at my group.

Not an ounce of fear was in the face of anyone that I looked at. They were ready.

"Alright, I'll be back soon," I said, grabbing the bundle from DJ in one hand and keeping my other locked around my machete.

"Be careful, boss," Ben muttered, giving me a single nod.

"Always am," I responded, before turning around.

"Burn them to the fucking ground, my fearless girl."

I took a breath and crouched down.

As I stepped past the trees, my heart started pounding again. I kept my eyes forward and started sprinting, careful not to make a sound and stay low to the ground.

I knew this field like the back of my hand, had wandered through it many times, imagining a better life for myself and my family. I had daydreamed of a safe place where we would be happy and together. I was running through this same field now to take down the man that had taken everything from me.

"Burn them to the fucking ground, my fearless girl."

I strained my ears, listening for any shouts of alarm or warning calls from others and was greeted by silence.

The wall loomed closer to me. The second I was in its shadow, I flattened my back to it and took a few deep breaths, while I listened again. I heard voices above me. They must have multiple guards up there now. And none of those fucking idiots had seen me.

I quickly turned back to the wall and started sticking the explosives along the base of the tower. I had just placed the last one when I heard a thud. Shooting up from my crouched position, I looked around. Nothing. Shaking my head I refocused.

I pulled my radio off my belt and held it to my mouth.

"One, in place, ready to light," I whispered as low as I could.

It took a couple minutes, but eventually everyone was ready, their explosives placed.

"Burn them to the fucking ground, my fearless girl."

"Light it up, boys," I whispered into the radio.

Grabbing the lighter from my pocket, I quickly lit every fuse. I knew I had about three minutes before the bombs would go off. I had made sure to leave plenty of fuse for us to get to safety.

I turned around to run back when I heard the thud again. I whirled and looked at the wall, not finding anything behind me. I took a few steps to the right to look at the gates.

My heart stopped. The world tilted. The air from my lungs was sucked out. All rational thoughts disappeared.

My eyes went blurry as I took the site in before me. My mom and dad were hanging by ropes beside the gate, touching each other. The only reason I knew it was them was the clothes they were wearing. They had decayed to the point of being unrecognizable, nothing but cracked flesh and bones, but I would know the flowery dress on my moms body anywhere. I could see the moon shining off the giant gold ring on my dads left hand.

The radio crackled and I heard Negan's voice, "Everyone safe?"

What I should have done was turn around and run, hard and fast. I should have gone back to my group and waited. That's what I fucking should have done, but that's not what happened. I started running down the wall, towards my parents. I wouldn't leave them here.

Holding my breath and my tears back, I took my machete and hacked at the ropes around their necks, praying I would remain hidden. The ropes gave way one at a time and I almost gagged when their bodies fell on me. They weighed next to nothing. I adjusted them over my shoulders, praying to fucking God that they didn't fall apart in my hands as I crouched and started running, machete in hand and my dead parents on each of my shoulders.

I had never run so hard in my fucking life. My legs screamed and my lungs were rebelling with every gasp.

"Piper? Are you fucking safe? Answer me right now," I heard Negan over the radio, sounding panicked.

I kept going, putting everything I had into getting back to the trees. I kept my emotions at bay, focusing on just fucking making it.

I was getting closer and closer and nothing had blown yet. I seen my group standing within the trees, staring at me with expressions of confusion and horror, no one having a single idea what the fuck I was doing.

I hit the trees just as the bombs started going off. I bent low to the ground and laid my parents beside each other before turning back towards Purcellville. I watched in awe as the sky lit up and the ground below my feet shook slightly. Shouts sounded from the compound, which made a smile form on my face.

"Burn them to the fucking ground, my fearless girl."

"Holy fuck," I heard someone breathe behind me.

"Get ready," I commanded, pulling my gun from the holster on my leg.

I heard everyone prepare themselves as I continued to watch.

"Who are they?" I heard a voice ask, and turned around to see Charles nod at the corpses on the ground.

"My parents," I replied, turning back to the scene.

"Has anyone heard from fucking Piper?" Negan called over the radio.

Whoops.

I quickly pulled the radio from my belt.

"I'm safe, sorry. Everyone ready?"

Four "ready"'s sounded off. Negan didn't respond.

"Negan?"

"I'm fucking ready," he bit out into the radio.

"Good, everyone move out," I said, before hooking the radio back on my belt.

I raised my hand and motioned for my people to follow me.

We took off across the field, guns raised as we ran. Screams floated towards us from the compound as the smell of smoke filled my nose.

"Stay in fucking formation, be cautious of walkers. The sound is bound to draw some," I called to my group as we approached the section of wall I had blown up.

We skirted along the wreckage until we found a spot that was easy to get through. Once we were inside the compound, my heart skipped a beat but I stayed focused.

All my emotions shut off at once, instantly taken over by a rage so deep I wasn't sure I would ever crawl out of the hole it had created. I was out for blood and I would do anything to get it. I didn't even feel like myself anymore as I took in my surroundings, all training I'd had kicking in.

Some of the buildings closer to the wall were on fire causing smoke to billow around us. I peered around the large structure we were currently behind, squinting my eyes, to see some guards running down the street. I rounded the building, my group trailing behind me, and almost tripped over a charred body.

Looking down, I realized it was Gordo, the man who had grabbed me that day on the roof. I could only make out half of his face, but I knew it was him, and I couldn't stop the laugh that fell from my mouth.

"Fuck you, Gordo," I said, spitting on the man before I continued walking.

We hit the street just as four guards started running in our direction. They stopped dead in their tracks when they realized how many of us there were.

"Fucking Piper?" One of the guards gasped, eyes widening.

I recognized him, realizing he was one of Brendan's higher ranking guards.

I shot him a blinding smile.

"The one and only," I responded before pulling the trigger of my gun, sending a bullet between his eyes.

I didn't wait for the others to fire on the remaining three guards as I rapidly fired three more bullets into their heads, sending them all to the ground.

"Well fuck, you could do this without us here, huh?" Ben murmured.

"Probably," I responded, smiling at the man, "Let's go."

I heard bullet sounds faintly from different directions around the city as we made our way down the abandoned street.

Movement caught my eye as we neared the middle of the town. I motioned everyone behind me to hang back as I crouched in the shadows of a nearby building and made my way closer to what Brendan called "the courtyard". Which was really just a large opening in the middle of town that he used to have meetings with the guards.

What had to be at least forty men stood in a large circle, shoulder to shoulder, facing outwards. I noticed immediately that only a few of them had guns, most grasping large knives of some sort. Another smile appeared on my face. They didn't have enough ammo to give all of the guards a gun.

The smile dropped from my face when I heard screaming.

Brendan was in the middle of the circle, walking around the men, barking orders. That cowardly fuck. Of course he would hide behind other people.

"Kill anyone you see! I don't give a fuck who it is, take them the fuck out!" Brendan yelled.

I slowly backed away and jogged back to my group, explaining what was happening quietly.

"DJ, you a good shot with that rifle?" I asked, looking at the man.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, nodding his head.

"I am too," Gary spoke up.

"Fabulous. I want you two to climb to the roof of this building. There's a ladder around back. Focus on firing on anyone with a gun in their hand and then get the fuck back down here. We'll handle the rest. But do not shoot the man in the middle of that circle, do you understand me?"

"Yes, ma'am," they said in unison before bolting for the back of the building.

"You six stay with me. As soon as the fuckers with guns go down, we move. You kill them all, do you hear me? Kill. Them. All," I reiterated, scanning their faces.

Everyone nodded, but my eyes caught on Levi, who looked like he might throw up.

"You good?" I asked the man, raising an eyebrow at him.

His head bobbed up and down frantically.

"Good. Stay close," I said, before concealing myself back in the shadows and creeping towards the courtyard.

The group surrounding Brendan stayed tight, eyes still bouncing around in a panic.

"Burn them to the fucking ground, my fearless girl."

I held my breath and kept watching.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Arat and Dwight diagonally from me across the space, poking their heads around a building, half hidden in shadows. They pulled back quickly when they saw the group of men.

They were alive. That was enough for me.

A loud pop rang out and one of Brendan's guards dropped, followed by five more quick shots, sending the remaining gun holders to the ground.

"Go, now!" I yelled, rushing into the area. I heard the footsteps behind me of my group.

I sent a shot flying at the guard closest to me and kept pushing forward as yells filled the space from the other groups running in to help. My eyes stayed locked on Brendan, whose face was filled with fear as he looked around.

His eyes locked on mine and he started back away.

"Piper…" He said, raising his hands.

"Hi, Brendan. I heard you've been a very bad boy. And we know what happens to bad boys, don't we Brendan? They get punished," I said to the man, my voice dripping with a sugary venom.

"Piper, wait, let's talk about this," he started as shouts and gunshots surrounded us.

I barked out a laugh and smiled at the man, keeping my gun raised and my machete clenched in my hand. His eyes widened as he tripped and fell backward.

I advanced on him quickly, my eyes locked on my target. He raised his hand, which I realized at that moment had a gun in it. Before he could pull the trigger I swung my machete with all of my power.

His hand fell to the cobblestones below us, along with his gun. His screams filled the air as blood spewed from his arm. I placed my boot on his neck and pressed down, cutting off his air supply as I smiled at him.

I didn't know who I was at that moment, but I was taking an immense amount of joy from this.

"Shut up, will you? We're just getting fucking started," I said to him.

I heard a bark of pain come from my left and I whipped my head around. Ben was on the ground, blood spilling from a wound in the center of his chest..

No. No. No.

I looked around, realizing that there were still at least fifteen guards up and fighting, trying their damndest to stay alive. And one of them had killed Ben. I screamed. At what, I didn't know. I swung my foot from Brendan's neck to his leg, stomping down on his knee until I heard a crunch. His screech pierced the air around us.

"Stay put," I barked at the man, before turning to face the destruction behind me with my machete raised.

And then I hacked my way through the guards. I was fucking possessed. I never raised my gun. No, this was personal. I swung and I swung, my machete slitting the throats of three guards and completely decapitating two more.

I couldn't stop, even when I heard my name being called. I took out another three. One of them I completely gutted, their insides spilling all over me as I watched the light leave his eyes. When I realized none were left, I twirled back around towards Brendan, who was holding his arm with his other hand, trying to stop anymore blood from hitting the ground.

A predatory smile lifted my lips and my eyes narrowed as I approached the man.

"Brendaaaaan," I sang.

"Piper, wait. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I'll do anything," the man screamed, using his feet to push himself away from me.

"Oh, Brendan. I'm disappointed. I thought you would put up more of a fucking fight than this. But you knew I was coming for you, didn't you?" I asked, twirling my machete around in my hand beside me.

Tears formed in the man's dark eyes, causing me to laugh.

"Tell me, Brendan. Tell me how you knew I was coming," I cooed, taking my time walking towards him.

"I-I had someone at the Sanctuary. They've been there for a while, getting information on N-Negan for me. They t-told me last week t-that you were a-alive and coming to k-kill me," the man babbled, eyes wide with terror.

"Who was it? Who did you have spying on us?" I asked, reaching him.

Although I was completely focused on Brendan, movement in my peripherals had my attention drifting to my right. Levi was watching me wide eyed and slowly backing away. A laugh bubbled in my throat.

"That weird fuck, Brendan? Really?" I giggled, pointing my gun at Levi.

Brendan followed my gun and nodded his head.

"Wait, I can explain, he would have killed me, " Levi started.

But his sentence was cut off as I pulled the trigger and he dropped with a thud. I focused my gaze back on Brendan, everything around us blurring out.

"Where is my brother's body, Brendan?"

"I don't know, he-he-he - " Brendan stuttered out, his body shaking.

"Where is Colt's fucking body, Brendan?" I screamed, crouching down to look into his beady brown eyes.

"You're going to kill me, right?" Brendan asked, looking up at me, his eyes clearing.

"Fucking obviously," I responded, smiling at him.

"Then you can go fuck yourself. I won't tell you shit, you evil bitch," he spat at me.

"Look at you, growing some fucking balls, Brendan," I laughed.

"You should've see how fucking pathetic your parents were when I drug them out of the house. Your mother begged, pleaded for me to just kill her and leave you and Colt alone. Even your pussy ass father tried to swing on me," he gritted out with a sadistic laugh, "But we both know how that ended, don't we? The best thing I ever fucking did was put them down."

I stared at the man below me without making a face.

"You know, I didn't even mean to shoot your fucking brother," he let out another laugh, "My hands shook when I was aiming for Negan, but I guess it all worked out how it was supposed to in the end. I hope you rot in hell."

"Hate to break it to you, Brendan, but been there, done that."

I stood, swinging my machete up and back down on where I assumed his balls were.

His scream pierced the air as he tried to grab at himself.

"I feel like you're not really going to be useful at this point. I was going to draw this out a bit, but I guess it's too late for that, huh? Damn me for jumping the gun and chopping off your favorite body part," I said, tsking, "Just know that you brought this on yourself."

And then I started swinging the machete. Swinging and swinging and swinging. At some point he stopped screaming. At another point, I was faintly aware of the sound of steel hitting stone. But I didn't stop. I couldn't stop.

Mom, Dad, and Colt all kept flashing behind my eyes with every swing of my machete. My breath became labored and my muscles started to cramp.

I felt arms wrap around me, pinning mine to my sides, and start pulling me back. My feet completely left the ground.

"Put me down, put me fucking down right now!" I screamed.

"Wildflower, he's dead. He's dead. There's nothing left of him, baby," Negan murmured into my ear.

I squirmed and kicked until Negan let me go. I fell to the ground before quickly jumping up. I was still in a daze as I looked around, eyes wild. Everyone stood in a semi-circle, watching the scene before them. The only sound was the crackling of the burning buildings near the walls. Simon's eyebrows were pulled together in concern. Dwight kept his eyes on me with sadness drawing his features down. And Laura and Arat were both stone faced as they watched me.

I looked back at Brendan. He was nothing but mush. It took me a second to even realize it was him, but when I did my eyes widened. I looked down at myself. I was covered in blood and chunks of meat.

My eyes went back up to Negan who was just watching me with a pained expression on his face.

I squared my shoulders, refusing to let myself fall apart, and turned on my heel, walking away from everyone.

"Let her go," I heard Negan's voice rumble, "Split up. Six people go get the trucks. One group start searching the houses. Another needs to make their fucking way to the warehouses."

I kept walking, not really taking in most of my surroundings, and didn't stop until I came to the place I was looking for. The home my family had lived in.

Quickly walking up the steps, I dropped my machete on the porch and turned the handle of the front door. Locked. I pointed my gun at the doorknob and fired, causing the door to fling open.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside. It still smelled like them. Like my moms perfume and my dads cigars.

The living room to my left looked untouched. My dads slippers were still sitting in front of his recliner. A glass of water was on the end table next to a book my mom had been reading.

Every breath felt like swallowing fire as I made my way through the house. I was here for specific things and I would not allow myself time to feel.

I pushed open my parents bedroom door, keeping my eyes straight ahead as I stormed through the space and to their closet. I flung the door open and stretched as far as I could until my hands made contact with my moms memory box, pulling it down.

She had held on to it through everything. It had all of our family pictures, wedding pictures, random things that were important to her.

Exiting their room quickly, I crossed the hall to mine. I snatched the necklace from my bedside table that my grandpa had given me when I was ten and shoved it into the front pocket of my jeans. Forcing myself back through the house, I stepped outside long enough to set the box down beside my machete.

Still refusing to allow myself time to think, I darted back into the house, grabbing the two bottles of vodka my dad had hidden in the liquor cabinet. I instantly started pouring the liquid everywhere, over the couches, throughout the kitchen, down the hall, in the bedrooms. I soaked everything.

When I stepped into Colt's room, I stopped for a moment. His closet was picked through the bed looked messy, like someone had slept on top of it. I shook my head and threw a bottle on the ground, shattering it on the floor. It didn't matter if someone had raided Colt's room. None of it mattered anymore.

I scrambled down the hallway, fishing the lighter from my pocket. I turned around to look at the house again, a ragged breath falling from my lips as I sparked a flame and held it against the vodka soaked couch. I watched as the fire caught and spread quickly before making my way back outside.

Snatching the box and my machete from the ground, I flung myself down the steps and turned around to watch everything burn.

The heat coming from the house was almost therapeutic. I stared into the ever growing flames as I thought of my family. I was aware that my legs were starting to shake, but I remained standing, until the walls fell and everything became a pile of ash.

The anger inside of me stayed present, eating at every other emotion that threatened to surface. I held on to it, wrapping it around me like the thickest armor.