(Anne Marshall belongs to AquaDestinysEmbrace!)
(I DO NOT own The Walking Dead, Code Lyoko or any kind of names or brands that appear in this story. I do own all OCs unless specifically named as they appear above this message.)
Having been stuck in a dazed trance ever since she killed Tony, Aelita had been completely unresponsive to Jeremie and her friends. For several minutes, the pink-haired supergenius just sat on the floor against the bar counter and stared silently at the corpse of the man she had just murdered. Murdered... anyone else would've said "self-defense", but in Aelita's mind she had done the most unforgivable of crimes.
Did Tony have a family? Friends...?
Oh God... could he have even had kids...?
"... 'Lita...?"
Even though Dave and Tony were clearly not what Aelita initially thought they were, she never wanted them dead. She never wanted to take a human life... The walkers have killed more than enough people.
The pinkette remembered how Otis was killed trying to save her life weeks earlier... now she had two dead men weighing on her conscience forever...
"... Aelita ...?"
Aelita didn't even blink as she stared at the man she had shot moments ago...
God, how could this have happened?! Everything was fine just ten minutes ago! This shouldn't have happened!
"... Princess ...?"
She had saved lives time and time again as a Lyoko Warrior, and now she's become a killer. Aelita never imagined she would ever do something like that. She swore to protect people's lives when she and her friends were fighting XANA, and now she broke that promise to herself...
... Her mother, father, and brothers would all be so disappoint-
"AELITA!"
Aelita broke out of her trance to suddenly find an equally nerve-wracked Jeremie kneeling in front of her, taking her hands into his. The pinkette stared into Jeremie's eyes for a moment before she began to break down into sobs, causing Jeremie to pull her in for a much-needed hug. Aelita had saved his life from Tony, but in the process she had to end that bastard's life. Jeremie couldn't begin to imagine what it was like to be in her shoes. He felt guilty for Aelita having to kill to save him...
Jeremie held Aelita, letting her sob in his embrace. "Shhh... It's okay, Aelita..." he soothed, holding his princess close to him and never letting her go.
Nearby, Odd approached Tony's corpse and he shakily took the dead man's shotgun off of the floor, almost as if he thought Tony would suddenly reach out to take it and finish the job he and Dave failed to do. Seeing dead walkers was one thing, but an actual dead human being was something he'll never quite get used to. Especially one he had just been talking to only minutes ago, or one who was shot multiple times by one of his best friends... Odd also checked Tony's pockets, finding a few extra 12-gauge shells.
Verity and Patrick both were seemingly keeping themselves calm and collected as they went behind the bar to check Dave's corpse, but deep down they were both shocked and horrified by what just happened. They've never seen a living person get shot in the head before. Hesitantly, Patrick went to take Dave's old pistol as well as the gun he found behind the bar and used to try to kill Rick, along with a pocket knife he found in the man's pocket.
... this day just kept getting worse and worse and worse.
"... damn, 'Lita. You blew that fat dude's brains out ..." an impressed Nick blinked as he looked at Tony's corpse, a bottle of the imported Slovak whatever-the-fuck-it-was in one hand and his uncle's rifle in the other. Aelita heard him, but what he said only added to her heartbreak.
He tried to walk to the pink-haired girl to speak to her more, but Odd stopped him.
"Don't ..." Odd frowned at the half-drunken redneck, knowing that Aelita and Jeremie needed their space right now. Nick simply rolled his eyes at the request but he accepted it and took another swig of his liquor.
Now that the gunfight was finally over and done with, Hershel stood up from his stool and examined Dave and Tony's bodies himself. The farmer was silent, stunned by all that he had just seen occur. If Rick and his people weren't here then who knew what could've happened to him...
This world really has changed for the worse thanks to the pandemic and it wasn't going to fix itself up anytime soon. Hershel, like everyone else in this bar tonight, had just found that out the hard way. Hershel only wanted to go back home now...
"You ready to leave now?" Verity asked the elderly farmer.
Hershel glanced at the raven-haired teen and he nodded, now determined to survive. "Let's head back..." he said to her and the others.
Aelita was still a total mess about having to kill Tony, but thanks to Jeremie she seemed to be calming herself down a little. Aelita took a deep breath and forced herself to stop sobbing, and Jeremie had helped her up to her feet and handed her her cane in preparation to leave.
The poor pinkette couldn't look at the corpses of either man again. Aelita knew that what happened in this bar tonight was going to haunt her until the day she died.
As the group started for the door, they heard the sounds of a distant engine coming closer, followed immediately thereafter by headlights shining through the windows for a moment...
... more people had arrived. Probably Dave and Tony's people.
"Oh fuck!" Patrick cursed at seeing this.
"Car! Everybody get down!" Rick whispered an order to everyone else in the bar.
Everyone immediately dived for cover under the windows or behind the bar counter as they heard car doors open and shut close by. Moments later, they heard what sounded like a pair of footsteps gradually getting closer to the bar. Reluctantly, Rick, Glenn, and Nick all readied their weapons in case they had to be used. Patrick also handed Dave's pistol over to Hershel, who hesitantly took it from the teen. He wasn't going to let anyone stop him from getting back to his girls.
Aelita, knowing how serious the situation was, reluctantly loaded six fresh cartridges into her revolver. Aelita felt a worried Jeremie's hand go to hers, and both teens shared what they hoped wouldn't be a final loving glance to each other.
Aelita had already shot someone minutes ago. The act made her feel so disgusted with herself and she didn't want to kill anyone ever again. She never even wanted to think of killing anyone else... but she also didn't want herself, Jeremie, or any of their friends to be killed either. The nervous pinkette tightly shut her eyes after she loaded the final bullet, closed the cylinder, and cocked the hammer of her gun.
Six bullets ready to fire with each press of the trigger. Aelita hoped that she wouldn't have to use them on another living person today or ever again. But if she did have to... then she hoped that if there was a god he would show her mercy. In this terrible new world, one thing had become more than clear - when it came to meeting strangers, it could easily become a situation of kill or be killed.
Odd silently sat next to the two supergeniuses as he held Tony's shotgun. His hands were shaking from worry over ending up like Dave and Tony, and from fear of watching that fate befall his friends instead. Odd began to load those extra shotgun shells from Tony's pocket as he and the group could hear the footsteps get louder.
"Dave? Tony...?" the group heard a man ask.
"He said over there...?" a second man asked.
"Yeah..." the first man replied. "I'm telling you man, I heard shots..."
"I saw roamers two streets over..." a third man asked.
"Might be more around here..." the second man stated.
"It's hot. We gotta get out of here." the first man advised the other two.
The voices being so close to the bar caused Odd's hands to shake so badly from his nervousness that he dropped one of the shotgun shells he was loading. Luckily, he caught the shell before it could hit the ground. He hurriedly loaded it into the shotgun before he could drop the thing again. Verity silently cussed him out for nearly giving them all away to those people out there.
The group then heard a groan from the third man. "Dave! Tony!" he loudly called out.
"Shut up you idiot! You wanna attract 'em?!" the first man scolded, knowing there was walkers in the area.
"Just stick close. We're gonna find 'em..." the second man told the other two.
The people outside sounded like they were starting to walk away to the bar. That was what the group hoped for - no further confrontations. Unfortunately, the people outside didn't go far, as they started to search the buildings around the bar while quietly calling out for Dave and Tony. Since the group had no idea how many people were out there, they were forced to silently stay inside the bar and just hope that these people move on.
Hopefully Dave and Tony's friends will leave soon...
Back at the farm, Josh had a plan. A good plan. Possibly the best plan he's ever come up with... ever.
He was gonna break out of his restraints.
And then he was gonna FUCK. SHIT. UP.
Josh had been messing with the ropes binding his hands for days now. He had felt them gradually becoming more and more loose during his time here at the farm. Josh got some pretty bad rope burns from how much he struggled, but it would be worth it once he gets out. It was hard to hide how the ropes were getting more and more loose but somehow he managed. Even when that Jap bitch splattered that hot soup on him earlier...
She'll get hers. They'll all suffer once Josh gets out.
All he needed to do was get these damn ropes off...
"C'mon... c'mon you stupid fucking rope..." Josh muttered to himself as he kept trying to pry his hands out of the rope.
Just a little more... just a little fucking more... then he'll finally be free...
After a few more moments, Josh felt the ropes finally break apart. He smirked when he realized that he was free now, but the expression immediately faded away when he saw that someone was walking up to him from the camp. Josh kept his hands behind the tree to give the appearance that he was still tied up. He wasn't going to get himself caught right after he freed himself... he wasn't that dumb.
Josh saw that it was that Aussie idiot who was coming up to him... This wasn't a bad thing. He knew exactly what to do...
"Got you some dinner..." Charles told the psycho, setting a plate of biscuits down in front of him. "Is there anything else that you need?" he asked.
"Aww, for me? You shouldn't have!" Josh sarcastically replied.
"I only asked if you needed anything else, Josh..."
"Well, I'd love for your girlfriend to come over here and pay me a conjugal visit!"
"Kyra's not my-" Charles' eye twitched from how annoyed he was at that statement, but he forced himself to keep calm. He didn't want to get in a fight tonight even if that jackass just insulted his best and closest friend. "Y'know, you don't have to act like this. Seriously, do you always have to be a huge dick to people who show you even the slightest amount of kindness?" Charles deadpanned.
"'dO yOu aLWayS hAve tO be A HuGE diCk tO pEoPLe wHo ShoW yoU eVEn ThE sLigHTeSt aMoUNt oF KInDneSs?'" Josh mocked what Charles said by using a really bad Australian accent of his own.
Charles sighed and shook his head, facepalming at what he had just heard. Either Josh's parents were brother and sister or Josh must've been dropped on his head one too many times when he was a baby. There wasn't any other explanation Charles could think of for how stupid this guy was.
" ... there are simply no words to describe how much that pained me to have to listen to." Charles told the jerk who from his perspective was still tied up.
Josh sheepishly shrugged, and Charles decided to just head back towards camp without saying anything else. He's had more than his fill of Josh Harrington tonight. Someone else can come and check in on this guy later...
The psychopath sprung into action as soon as Charles turned his back to him. Josh hopped to his feet and rushed at the Australian. Charles had turned in time to see that Josh had gotten himself loose from his restraints but unfortunately he had no chance to do anything to stop him. He barely even had time to react before Josh rushed him.
Charles was tackled to the ground by Josh. Charles tried to fight back, but Josh proceeded to beat his face over and over again until he went unconscious. Josh chuckled darkly as he looked down at the pathetic teen he had just subdued.
Searching the pockets of Charles' jacket while he was out, Josh found a combat knife and a couple other things that could prove useful later on - a lighter, a few sticks of beef jerky, a watch: things of that nature. Charles groaned as he started to come to. He tried to get back up, but another hard punch to the face from Josh sent Charles back into unconsciousness.
Josh grinned as he looked back and forth between the unconscious Lyoko teen and the knife that he just looted from him. He briefly thought about slashing this guy's throat, to end his life and break the heart of that girlfriend of his... It'd be fun, and after all it'd be a great start towards getting his revenge towards all those idiots who tied him up to that tree all this time. They deserved a little payback...
Some movement in the camp made Josh think twice about murdering Charles. Cursing to himself, Josh instead spat on the unconscious teen's face as a final insult before he hurried off into the dark forest which surrounded the farm.
He was free.
And his vengeance was long overdue...
Yumi finally left Hiroki's grave after a long time, though she did not go back to the camp. Apparently everyone went into Hershel's farmhouse for a big feast together. She wasn't hungry and she just wanted to be alone.
Instead of going back to the company of Ulrich and her friends, and instead of going to a warm hearth to enjoy, Yumi went for a long walk in the cold dark night. She left the blanket that Ulrich gave her, keeping it wrapped tight around herself. The cold didn't bother her. Not anymore.
As she walked to who knew where, Yumi saw Carol talking with a solitary Daryl by a fire a distance away from camp as she walked but she didn't stop to say hi. Something was bothering Carol but Yumi didn't hear what it was about aside from the name "Lori." Rick's wife must've done something bad...
The teen made her way down a dirt road which led out into one of Hershel's cattle grazing fields. The field was close to the camp but she didn't pay too much attention to it or anyone who was in there, even Ulrich. Yumi walked across the field and she reached the trees, ignoring the high likelihood that there could be a bunch of walkers or some of Carver's men anywhere in the forest. She couldn't bring herself to worry too much about them anymore.
Yumi walked through the forest near Hershel's farm and she was reminded of the park back home, the one between Kadic and the Factory. To a lesser degree it also reminded Yumi of the Forest Sector on Lyoko, though the trees were very different in this reality than in the digital world. She'd do anything to go back to the old days of fighting XANA instead of flesh-eating monsters that kill so many people she cared about...
... huh ... she actually missed XANA. That was a weird realization to think about.
Eventually, Yumi made it to a small creek and she knelt near the water, looking at her own reflection in it while deep in thought. Yumi noticed that she looked terrible. She didn't remember having those tired bags under her eyes even during her worst rounds of exams back at Kadic Academy...
Yumi felt just as bad as she looked. She felt worse than she ever had when she was fighting XANA. Surviving in the apocalypse was worse than any nightmare she's ever had and its just destroying her from the inside out.
The teen stared at herself in the water for a long time as she remembered the good days before this mess started.
She wanted to go home.
She wanted all her friends and teachers from Kadic.
And above all else she wanted her brother. Her parents. Her family.
Yumi reached down into her pocket and felt the knife which she still had buried in there. Knowing that she had the knife, that she could use it at any time she wished... it was the only true comfort that she could even feel anymore. Just two simple little cuts to the wrists... or just one on her neck, even... and Yumi would never have to feel this kind of sorrow and pain ever again. She wanted to feel that kind of freedom again.
She'd be at peace for eternity. Maybe she'd even find her family again wherever she ended up...
The good memories becoming more of a burden than a comfort now, Yumi kept staring down at the water as she gripped the knife in her pocket. She just wanted this to stop. She wanted to wake up in her bed back home, to realize that all that has happened to her and her friends so far was just a horrible dream...
... she wanted this nightmare to just end already ...
Yumi slowly started to pull the knife out of her pocket, and-
"Yumi? Where are you...? Are you out here somewhere?"
Ulrich's voice...? Dammit, he must've followed her out here...
Yumi took her hand out of her pocket so that Ulrich wouldn't find her knife. She couldn't let him or anyone else find it. That knife was her dirty little secret now...
Moments later, as if on cue, Ulrich came out of the treeline close by. When he saw Yumi kneeling by the stream, he let out a massive sigh of relief. He had lost Yumi's trail just a short time earlier and he was worried that he would lose her in this darkness. He was so glad that she hadn't gotten herself eaten by a walker out here... but why was she even out here to begin with? Why wouldn't she tell anyone she left the farm?
Ulrich went to Yumi and he knelt down next to her, admiring how the moonlight reflected off of the water and onto her face. She was so beautiful even when she looked like a total mess... Ulrich knew that the girl he loved was broken inside. She had to put a bullet in her little brother's head today after all...
"Yumi...?" Ulrich hesitantly asked, studying Yumi closely as she stared down at the water in front of them. It disturbed him how blank-faced and emotionless she was right now...
No answer...
"Yumes, please say something to me..." Ulrich was close to begging for her to say anything to him. Anything at all. "I'm really worried about you... Just say something to let me know that you're alright..."
Silence...
Ulrich lowered his gaze and sighed. He wasn't used to having to talk to a person suffering from depression or whatever it was that Yumi was going through. He had absolutely no experience with how to deal with something like this and it frustrated him to no end. It made Ulrich feel like he couldn't help Yumi in any way. Maybe he really couldn't do anything for her, but... he still wanted to try regardless...
"Yumi... you know that I'm always here for you, right...?" Ulrich spoke gently as he scooted closer to her. "You're not alone Yumi... If that's what you're worried about, then don't. I'm here for you and so is everyone else in the group..." he assured, gently reaching out to place his hand on top of hers.
Yumi turned to gaze at the hand resting atop hers. Then she looked up to meet the face of the boy she loved.
"We can get through this together..." Ulrich promised. Yumi could tell from the look in his eyes that he truly believed what he was saying.
Ulrich was the closest person to family that Yumi had left. She loved him... she loved him more than anyone else on earth... But she was so certain that he was wrong.
If things were different... if the world hadn't ended... maybe they could've had a future together. More dates. Making love. Marriage. Kids, even... But that amazing future had died with the world that ended. It died like how countless people already had, and unlike all of them it wasn't going to rise up from the grave.
It died like how all the people from Kadic did. Like Amy. Like William. Like her mom and dad... like Hiroki.
In Yumi's mind, there was really no reason to keep going. Not anymore.
... but there was still one thing she could do for Ulrich before the end. Something to show him how much she cared for him.
Without warning, Yumi grabbed Ulrich's shirt and she pulled him in for a deep, feverish, and very passionate kiss.
Ulrich's eyes widened as Yumi kissed him in a way that he had never been kissed before. The boy was so stunned that he couldn't bring himself to kiss her back. He just sat there, unsure of what to think or do as his girlfriend took action.
Before he even knew what was happening, Yumi had climbed up to sit on Ulrich's lap and her hands had gone to his jacket, pulling it off of his body as she kept her lips firmly pressed against his. After Yumi got the jacket off of Ulrich, she took his hands and placed it on the rear of her pants so he could touch her ass. Ulrich could feel Yumi's tongue pressing hard against his lips and trying to gain entrance into his mouth.
As much as he hated to admit it, everything that Ulrich was experiencing felt incredible. The chilly air no longer concerned him thanks to how hot he felt now.
But what the hell had gotten into Yumi? Why was she doing this with him? They've made out before, but this... this was different.
Reluctantly, Ulrich parted his lips and allowed whatever this was to continue. Yumi's tongue entered his mouth and pressed up against his before she suddenly broke the kiss to pull his shirt off. Yumi took a second to admire Ulrich's muscles before she resumed the heated, passionate kiss. Yumi started to grind herself against Ulrich's leg, making her mewl softly into his mouth as she relished in the pleasure. She could feel him getting hard in his pants.
"Mmmm..." Yumi moaned in Ulrich's mouth, her grinding speeding up as she made him fully lay down on the ground. His shirt and jacket served as a rudimentary blanket.
Both teens were growing more and more aroused even as Yumi broke their kiss again. Ulrich's eyes widened as he watched Yumi reach down to pull her shirt over her head. His face as well as hers heated up when she reached behind herself to unhook her bra, quickly tossing it off to the side where it wouldn't get in the way. Yumi shyly bit her lip as she sat there on Ulrich's lap, her chest fully exposed to Ulrich for the first time in their relationship. But she wasn't stopping there...
Yumi's hands rubbed against Ulrich's toned chest before they slowly trailed lower. Ulrich's gaze followed her hands down to his hips, and his heart stopped for a moment as he watched Yumi start to unbuckle his pants.
He began to realize exactly what all of this was leading towards...
"Y- Yumi... I- I... uh..." Ulrich stammered as he watched his belt be tossed away. Soon, Yumi had gotten off of his lap and she started to pull his pants down to his ankles. "I- I don't know about this..." he told her. Ulrich wasn't used to feeling this uncomfortable and shy.
"Please... just... just enjoy this, okay?" Yumi urged as she got Ulrich's pants off, followed by her own. "Just... enjoy the moment... Just enjoy us..."
Though Ulrich had his doubts, he hesitantly nodded as he watched Yumi pull his underwear off to expose his erect manhood fully to her. It was bigger than Yumi expected it to be and she blushed a deep red as she studied it.
Wordlessly, Yumi pulled her panties off, allowing Ulrich to see her womanhood for the first time as well. Yumi slowly crawled up to sit on Ulrich's lap, pulling him into another deep kiss before they would consummate their relationship for the first time.
Tonight, Yumi was going to show Ulrich exactly how much she loved him...
... while she still could, at least ...
At the bar in Senoia, the group was getting more and more anxious as time went on. For over twenty minutes the group waited in silence and hoped that those people outside would leave. But Dave and Tony's friends weren't budging. They were searching the whole damn block for any sign of the two recently-killed men. The group couldn't risk trying to get to the truck without getting spotted and shot at by these guys. They had no idea what to do in this situation.
Just as they heard footsteps heading away from the bar, they heard more heading back towards it. It was getting very tiresome...
"Why won't they leave...?" Verity whispered to the others.
"Why would they leave? Would you?" Hershel whispered back. If the group was in those people's shoes, they'd probably be doing the same thing.
Patrick frowned with annoyance. "We can't stay here any longer..." he stated quietly. Patrick, like everyone else, was itching to avoid a firefight for the second time in a night.
"We should head out the back and try to make a run for the truck..." Jeremie suggested, keeping a tight hold on his pistol.
Run out the back exit of the bar. Head up the street. Try not to get spotted or shot at... Get to the truck and to Hershel's car. Start them up. Then drive out of town as fast as possible before those people could see or stop the group. The plan seemed like it was solid but who knew how many of those people there were or how many walkers were in town. If anything went wrong, the lives of the group could be put at risk.
They had to try something though... They couldn't just sit here and wait for those people to find them...
Just as the group hesitantly began to get up in preparation of heading out the back, they suddenly heard some gunshots be fired somewhere on the street outside. Everyone immediately went back behind their covers and aimed their weapons towards the front door and windows. The group soon heard people running back towards whoever shot their gun.
"What happened?" the second man from earlier asked.
"Roamers! I nailed 'em." the first man replied.
The group heard another person running up. Probably the third guy.
"They disappeared, but their car's still there." the third guy said. Bingo.
The second man sounded breathless from how much he ran. "I cleared those buildings."
Cautiously, Verity looked through the curtains of the front windows to see where the men outside were standing. They turned out to be right outside the front of the bar. The teen quietly cursed to herself, and then she was forced to dive back into cover when she saw one of them point towards the bar itself.
"You get this one...?" The first man asked about the bar.
"... no." the second man realized their error.
"Me neither..." the third man added, scolding himself for missing such an obvious place to check.
The group all looked at each other with worry as they realized that those people were about to try to search the bar. Were they about to get into another gunfight? Were they could to have to kill again to survive? Would one of them get killed as well? Rick and the other adults were all worried about what would happen when those people discover them. The teens were all terrified, especially Aelita. None of the people in the bar wanted to see any more bloodshed.
They soon heard footsteps walking up to the front door. "We're looking for Dave and Tony and no one checks the damn bar?!" the first man asked, questioning the idiocy of his friends as well as himself. I mean for Christ's sake, how do you not check the bar?!
The doorknob turned and the door started to open. Out of sheer panic, Odd and Verity hurriedly crawled over to grip the knob and keep it from turning any further. The two teens also pressed their bodies against the door to shut it again and to keep it shut, much to the shock of the three men outside.
"Someone pushed that shut!" the first man stated to the other two.
"There's someone in there!" the third man exclaimed.
Rick cocked the hammer on his revolver as he heard the three bewildered men gather up by the door, hoping he wouldn't need to use it Aelita hesitantly peeked through the window curtains to see the three men themselves and she saw that all three of them were holding guns. Aelita's eyes widened and she quickly ducked her head as one of them glanced at the window, but luckily it seemed that he didn't notice her.
The group stayed silent and just hoped that the three would leave. They had to leave... they had to...
"Yo, is someone in there...?" The first man cautiously asked. "Yo, if someone's in there we don't want any trouble... We're just looking for our friends..." he was pretty sure that there was at least someone alive in the bar. But he couldn't just kick the door down. If there was someone armed in there then that was a great way to get shot.
The people in the bar could hear the three talk to each other. "What do we do?" the second man asked the others.
"Bum rush the door?" the third man suggested.
"No, we don't know how many are there. Just relax..." the second man dismissed the idea, recognizing what the first man already did.
Clearing his throat, the first man hesitantly went closer to the door with his hands raised to show he was peaceful right now. "We don't want any trouble!" he said to whoever was in the bar. "We're just looking for our friends!"
Jeremie glanced over to the corpse of Tony, cringing at the sight of the dead man and the blood pooling under him. Those guys outside were going to be more than disappointed when they find their friends. Jeremie hoped that he and the group would be long gone by the time they found the two dead men.
"If something happened, tell us." the first man urged. "This place is crawling with corpses! If you can help us not get killed I'd appreciate it."
Everyone in the bar chose to stay quiet. They had no idea who these guys were or what they were like, and the group had just learned the hard way not to just blindly trust a fellow survivor just because they weren't among the dead. If these guys were anything like Dave or Tony then the group wanted nothing to do with them. It was simply best that they just go before something terrible happens to them or to the group.
"Dude, you're bugging. I'm telling you nobody's in there!" the second man told the first man.
"Someone grab the door." the third man suggested, believing there was people inside like the first man did. "If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."
It was getting clear that these guys weren't going to leave without their friends. Any moment now they were going to try to get inside this bar. And when that happens...
"... they drew on us!"
Everyone in the bar looked towards Rick, shocked that he would try to actually speak to those people outside. If they weren't certain that the group was in here, they sure as hell knew they were in the bar now. Either Rick did something incredibly brave or incredibly stupid by trying to reason with these strangers... they just hope it wouldn't come back to haunt them during the next few minutes.
The group could hear more footsteps again. All three of the men must've been right outside the door now. "Dave and Tony in there? They alive...?" the first man asked Rick.
Rick shut his eyes, sighing before he reluctantly spoke again. "... no."
Aelita gulped at this, struggling not to panic. That single word may have just signaled the start of a second firefight... either those guys out there die or she and the others do. She couldn't bear the thought of more gunfire tonight...
She didn't want to kill someone again...
"They killed Dave and Tony!" the outraged second man said with venom in his voice.
"Come on man, let's go..." the first man urged. He wasn't looking to get shot today.
"No, I'm not leaving!" the second man growled. "I'm not telling Jane! I'm not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar!"
As everyone listened to the men bicker to each other outside, Aelita had simply had enough. Her feelings of sadness, rage, panic and shame had built up to an unbearable level and she just couldn't hold it in anymore. She just wanted to go back to the farm. She didn't want more bloodshed. Why couldn't it be so simple?!
The pinkette frowned, wiping away her tears as she glanced up towards the window. Rick had already gave them away... what was the harm in trying to talk their way out of this now?
"Your friends drew their weapons on us! They tried to kill us, not the other way around!" Aelita shouted at the men through the door. "Dave and Tony gave us no choice! What were we supposed to do instead?! Just sit here and die?!" she cringed at the memory of what she had done. "We had no choice! And it was because of them and them alone!"
Aelita shook her head in disbelief as if she couldn't believe her own words. However, she pressed on and hoped that these men understood reason. "I'm certain that you and your group have lost enough people you care for, just like how I and mine have... And I'm also certain that we've all been forced to do horrible things that we wish we didn't have to do..." Those guys out there didn't want to die any more than she or the others did... at least she hoped that was the case.
The revolver shook in Aelita's trembling hand as she kept talking. "But that's just the way things are now! You know that!" she told them. "So let's just all please calm down and sum up this terrible night as what it was... Dave, Tony, and us were all just in the wrong place at the wrong-"
The men outside then started to open fire.
Bullets flew through the shattering front windows and door as the teens, Hershel, and Glenn all huddled for cover anywhere they could. Nick set his liquor down and he hurried up to one of the windows so he could start firing his uncle's rifle at anything he saw moving out there. Rick likewise fired his own gun in an effort to help Nick.
"JESUS FUCKING CHRIST!!!" Verity screamed at the top of her lungs, terrified beyond all belief.
"You're gonna pay for what you did to Dave and Tony!" they heard the third guy shout from outside.
"There's kids in here you fucking idiots! Stop firing!" Nick growled at the men as he reloaded his rifle. None of the guys outside replied to that, they just kept shooting.
As Nick and Rick and those guys outside kept shooting at each other, the teens hurriedly crawled towards the back exit as quickly as they could. For Aelita this was easier said than done considering how she still needed a cane to help her walk. Panic, fear of death, and adrenaline was what kept her moving in spite of her still-healing wounds. Aelita felt so angry that she couldn't convince those men outside to not start shooting. She failed to prevent more bloodshed.
The bullets hit everywhere in the interior of the bar over and over again as the teens crawled for their lives. Odd yelped as a bullet ricocheted off of something close by and ripped right through his cone-shaped hair, leaving a very peculiar hole in the center-left of it. It was as horrifying for him as it was for the others to see, but they all pressed on. Odd tried not to think of how close he just came to having his head blown off.
Eventually the teens got to the back of the bar. The gunfire had finally stopped but it was only for a moment or two. Everyone needed to reload after all...
As Rick reloaded his revolver, he glanced out the window and saw movement outside. The former deputy frowned at what he saw, and he hoped that these guys would just go home before something terrible happens to them or to his own people.
"Look, we all know this is not gonna end well!" Rick yelled at them through the shot-out window as he raised his revolver again. "There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just... just back off! So no one else gets hurt!" he was trying not to make himself sound desperate, though he very much was. Two people were just killed and he didn't want more death to happen tonight.
"There's children in here with us! Please just listen to him before they get hurt by all of this!" Hershel pleaded to the men as well. He hoped that those men had a heart...
Initially, the group heard only silence in reply to Hershel and Rick. Strangely, even the gunfire stopped, but that peace only lasted for merely a few moments before the bullets flew again. Once everyone heard more gunfire, they dived for cover and prepared for even more fighting. But the group noticed something... bullets weren't hitting the inside of the bar anymore. They weren't being shot at now...?
The group could hear all the shooting happening outside was coupled with screams and shouts. The group had felt worried before, but now they were getting more and more terrified of what was going on out there. What were those guys shooting at? Walkers?
Soon, the gunfire ceased again. Everyone inside the bar could hear footsteps hurriedly running past the bar, followed by more from someone else. The speed of the footsteps made it very obvious that at least two of the men were running from something. Running for their lives.
"RUN!!! RUN!!" The group heard the first man from earlier shout. He was panicked.
The first man and whoever was with him kept running, the sound of their footsteps gradually becoming lower and lower as they got more distance from the bar. Something had just happened to the men outside. It couldn't have been walkers, there was way too much gunfire for it to have been walkers they were shooting at. Unless they were dumb enough to waste a bunch of ammo on them too...
What the fuck was going on outside?
Moments later, bright lights flashed through the front windows and illuminated the inside of the bar. The light was so strong that it was blinding if you looked towards it, so the group was forced to not try to see who or what was out there right now. The group readied themselves for whatever was about to face them.
A car door opened and shut outside. After that, footsteps approached the bar and a fourth voice was heard.
"... well, well, well ... It's about time I found some of y'all." the voice outside said with an amused-yet-satisfied tone. "Y'all know how long I've been lookin' for ya? My friends and I've been driving all over these woods trying to find you..."
The group slowly started to realize who was out there. The man who chased away Dave and Tony's friends was someone they had been dreading to face for weeks now...
"So... enough with the bullshit..." the voice began to say. "Y'all gonna come on out of there peacefully and with your hands up, or is this gonna get bloody...?"
Odd and Nick's eyes widened, their faces paling as they recognized the voice of the man outside.
Carver had finally found them...