Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

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I hastily raised my gun, firing shots as I ran toward Hershel. He's the most vulnerable among us; The rest can defend themselves. I leaped onto the benches in front of the disabled man and fired again, worrying about the lack of ammo I had on me. I noticed a fenced-off doorway behind me, the gate was wide open, and the door inside was sealed shut. I fired once more and pointed to the safe spot.

"Beth, you and Hershel lock yourselves in there!" I shouted at them as I turned and fired another shot. By this time, Carl and Lori had started popping off rounds at the walkers. "Carl!" I shouted towards the boy, getting his attention briefly. "Take your mom somewhere safe! NOW!" Carl gave me a nod and reached for his mother, grabbing her hand as they ran away towards C block with a panicked-looking Maggie, who shut the gate behind them. I ran forward, firing my last shot, and reached for my machete, prepping myself to start swinging like crazy.

"That gate is open!" T-Dog shouted as he ran up to me, his gun held high as he fired a shot at the closet walker. I looked ahead, trying to peer over the massive herd of walkers, and saw the gate he was referring to. It was the gate Rick had sealed off when we first cleared the courtyard. Somehow it had popped open, but how!? Glenn told me that those chains couldn't break on their own!

"Cover me!" I shouted at T-Dog and Carol as I ran forward, my machete swinging high in the air and cutting off a diseased head. I kept swinging, not paying attention to the rotted faces as I continued my dash towards the gate.

T-Dog ran ahead of me, flashing his chain as he fired a shot at a walker that had gotten too close for comfort. I ran, trying my hardest to keep close to T-Dog to ensure his safety, when I felt my boot get caught. Falling forward, I shielded my face from any damage as my body hit the hard concrete like a pile of bricks. My chin bounced off the ground, sending shock waves throughout my face and leaving me dazed. The growls that penetrated my ears made my heart accelerate as a walker clawed at me, his legs either broken or shot out from underneath. I let out a small whimper as I kicked the walker away, trying to escape it and onto my two feet before others flooded around me. My hand shot down to my holster and unclipped my knife, the blade glistening in the sunlight as I brought it down and sunk it deep into the skull of the downed walker. The squelch of the skull shattering underneath the blade gave me a new wave of adrenaline as I pushed myself up in time to see a walker bite T-Dog. The walker latched on, its teeth sinking into the crook of his neck—leaving no possibility for an amputation. I lunged forward and swung my machete, cutting off the walker's head and sharing a somber look with T-Dog before we were snapped back into reality. There's no time to waste; we have to close the gate and deal with this later. If there is a later.

"Go!" I shouted at T-Dog as I swung my machete again, the dull crunch of a skull penetrating my ears as I shot one last glance at T-Dog and Carol, breaking for it. I stayed behind, swinging mindlessly at the horde of walkers flooding around me. I kicked a walker down on my right and hurriedly rushed towards the stony wall, putting myself at an even greater disadvantage—it'll be so much easier for me to be overwhelmed and eaten on the spot. I heard gunshots and grunted as I swung my machete forward, feeling the blade lodge in a walker's head. Giving the machete a few yanks, I finally panicked and flung my fist forward, left with no weapon, as I had never retrieved my knife from the walker I had taken down earlier. I could hear the faint sounds of Rick and Hershel screaming at one another but couldn't muster up the will to shout out to them. I saw Glenn run towards the gate T, and I had closed as I punched wildly.

"June!" Glenn shouted as he ran towards me, his hatchet in the air as he took care of the small circle of walkers that had flooded around me. I swung my fist again, feeling it connect with the decaying flesh of a walker in front of me, and rose my foot, the skull crunching under my boot as I stomped on its head. Glenn bent down and retrieved my machete, his lips pursing as he pulled on the handle to free it from the hard skull of the walker. I grabbed it and smiled at him thankfully, exhaustion and disbelief coursing through me. How did I survive that? I was literally swinging with no knife and no machete. Lady luck must be on my side today.