Dead Man Walking | Rick Grimes

|38|

I grabbed the sniper from Rick and opened its chamber. We could hear the faint screams and jeers of whatever they held inside those walls in the distance. The woman who had helped us watched as I started to load the weapon. Her black eyes watched my every move as I passed around weapons or gave directions; she watched me closely – studying me. Whatever she went through behind these walls was enough to make her cautious of everyone, or maybe she was like that before stepping foot in there.

Rick was also watching me, but not like how she was. He was watching as I took the lead in this expedition with a slight smile on his face. What about our situation makes him smile? We might go in there, and Daryl could be dead, or one of us could be killed. I gripped the rifle tightly and looked at the woman, my hands extending. She eyed the weapon I was handing over and looked back at me, questioning my decision.

"Don't make me regret trusting you." I sneered at her, pushing the weapon to her chest. She grunted in response and looked down at the rifle while I loaded my automatic. Rick cleared his throat, grabbed my attention momentarily, and beckoned me over. With a slight groan, I walked over to him and placed my hands on my hips.

"Do you think that's a good idea?" Rick questioned as his eyes rested on the woman. I nodded my head and looked over to Maggie and Glenn. There is no way I'm forcing them back in there after the hellacious day they just had. Plus, Glenn is far too injured to take any part in this. Maggie – I don't even know what happened to Maggie, and it's best not to pry, but I'm not forcing her back in there.

"It's better than the two of us storming the place," I muttered. Rick shook his head and sighed as he looked at the woman again before focusing on me. I can see in his eyes that he disagrees with me wholeheartedly, but I won't budge on my decisions.

"We should at least swap her out with Maggie," Rick whispered. I shook my head and looked at the worn-down woman with a familiar haunted look in her eyes. Whatever happened to her was traumatizing, and I'm not about to force her back in there. Looking back at Rick, I shook my head again and sighed.

"I'm not going to argue with you, Rick." He frowned at me and huffed, "I'm not going to force those two back in there." I looked towards the woman and started speaking loud enough for her to hear, "We go in there, kill those that get in our way, find Daryl, and get out. I better not see you running off again," I warned the woman, my dirty finger pointing at her. "The minute you split, I leave your ass, and you're their problem. Are we understood?"

The woman nodded at me with a scowl, obviously not liking how I spoke to her. I turned towards Glenn and Maggie and frowned, "I want the two of you to wait by the car. It's parked a few miles up. Stay hidden within the trees, but always keep the road in view." I looked at the two I was taking with me and nodded at them, signaling that I was ready. Rick had gone scouting a little while ago and found a hole within the wall that we could slip through. We started forward, keeping our feet light and ears peeled as we neared the wall again. I turned back, no longer seeing Glenn or Maggie, and let out a calming breath. It's Glenn and Maggie; they can take down a walker or two if needed.

Rick motioned for us to crawl forward, his eyes scanning the dark woods around us. Getting on all fours, I took the lead. My knees felt the uncomfortable pebbles dig into them, immediately causing them to flare up and start hurting. I let out a small groan as I crawled through and crouched, aiming my sniper in case anyone came our way. The woman came around and copied me, her chest rising and falling evenly as her eyes scanned the town before us. The streets are empty, but we can hear the crowd cheering and see the bright embers of their fire. Whatever it is that they're doing, they're excited about it. Finally, Rick came through, his feet moving quickly beneath him as he lowered into a crouch with his gun pointed. It isn't exactly hard to find where they were. We walked a little way ahead and pushed up against a wall.