Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

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Finally, being able to coax the boy to spill his guts, he told us what we needed to know, and now here we are, following behind him with guns that we grabbed from the bag. We took the backways and tried to move as quietly as possible, occasionally pushing the bastard so he could walk faster and keeping watch for walkers. We approached a rundown building tucked away from Atlanta's busy streets; graffiti littered the brick walls and debris scattered on the ground in front of the doors. Rick motioned to take cover behind the outer wall and shook a shotgun shell, looking at T-Dog.

"You sure you up for this?" Rick confirmed with T-Dog. T nodded and grabbed the bag of guns, his grip tight around his sniper rifle, before walking away to the west side of the building. I leaned against the wall with Daryl and looked down at my gun. I had a shotgun but kept my knife firmly tucked away in my waistband. I would rather use my knife than the shotgun if it came down to it – I didn't want to attract any walkers. But like that saying, never bring a knife to a gunfight. Rick handed me some shells and loaded up his shotgun, his eyes firmly on the boy before us.

"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know," Daryl warned him. I smiled slightly as I loaded the shells into the shotgun and cocked my gun.

"G's going to take the arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know." The boy retorted, a small smile across his lips. Wow, we get near his group, and suddenly he has courage. The urge to hit him again started to creep up on me, but I held it at bay.

"G?" Rick and I asked. The boy turned his head, his smile faltering as he eyed me and nodded.

"Guillermo," The boy said, "He's the man here." I nodded and kicked a rock around with my boot, mentally preparing myself for the unavoidable showdown that was about to occur. Rick cocked his shotgun and looked toward Daryl and me, a severe look on his handsome face.

"Let's go see Guillermo," Rick said. I couldn't help but smile like a doofus at how he butchered the name. Letting my smile fall, I grabbed the boy, bringing him to his feet and pointing my gun at him, motioning for him to start walking. We crawled through a busted window, Daryl helping me so I wouldn't fall and eat shit.

We entered the beat-up square, pushing the boy to walk while the three of us pointed our weapons at him. There was even more debris and trash in front of the building – I underestimated its sheer size. We approached the doors and waited, our eyes glued to them and our ears straining to hear the click of locks. The doors finally opened, and a man walked out. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was dressed like those typical cholos you see in the movies. It was a rare site for me since there were hardly any other Hispanics in King's County. His face was scrunched, and his shoulders were pushed back to make himself seem more intimidating. He eyed our hostage and inspected him, his eyes lingering on the bruise decorating his jaw.

"You okay, little man?" He finally asked.

"They're going to cut off my feet, carnal." The boy said, fear in his voice. I chuckled and rolled my eyes, amused that he thought we would butcher him. I might've kicked him around a bit more, but I wouldn't have butchered him. Now, Daryl... I'm not too sure.

"Cops do that?" The man said. You could tell he was Guillermo from how he carried himself to how he spoke. He radiated with authority, and I couldn't help but respect that, but right now, he's the enemy. He has Glenn, and we have this little fucker. An even trade and that's it; we're outta here.

"Not him!" The boy said, "This redneck puto and his girl. They cut off some dude's hand, man. They showed it to me!"

"Shut up," Daryl and I shouted at the wimp, our eyes briefly locking and amusement briefly crossing our faces. I know we were in a serious situation, but I couldn't help but find this boy's fear entertaining – definitely the highlight of my day so far. An unknown man burst through the door, a gun of his own in his hand as he wobbled out.