Guardian Angel - Rick Grimes

Prologue

Day 5

The military were sent to Atlanta with one goal, rid the city of the infected no matter what. Her orders were clear, kill all those infected. Her squad went door to door checking families for bites and scratches, anyone with a fever was killed on the spot. One bullet through the brain. It's the only way they don't come back.

At first it was easy. There was the odd infected person and a few riots of stores due to the panic. But as the days went on, more and more people became infected. It was nonstop, spreading quicker than they could handle.

She had to be harsh, families were pleading with her to save their lives but she couldn't. They would only turn, but they didn't understand that. There was no cure yet but she still had hope. Especially when places like the CDC were still running.

The only deaths that took their toll on her were the children, looking into their wide eyes full of fear and pain as they begged to be helped. She would tell them to close their eyes and it would all be over, the pain would stop and they would be safe. One bullet to the brain, it's the only way they won't come back.

Day 9

It was becoming too much to stop, half the city was already infected and it won't be long till the other half were as well. Eventually people stopped fighting her and instead helped, realising that those infected aren't loved ones anymore, just a corpse.

It was harder to walk down the streets due to the constant gun shots that attracted those things, and being covered in others blood didn't help either as they are attracted to the smell. But she had orders to follow, she had to try and stop this outbreak with her squad.

She was carefully creeping down a street with her knife in her hand as her assault rifle ran out of ammo, when she heard the cries of a baby. It was practically the dinner bell for these things. She took off in a sprint hoping to get there before the dead get their hands on it, but when she took the corner she saw she was too late. A walker was reaching into the car and grabbing the screaming infant. Within a second she had raised her knife and threw it, hitting the walker in the back of the head making it drop to the floor with the baby still in its grip. She gingerly walked forward afraid of what she might see, but she had to make sure.

When she rolled the walker over she saw that the baby had a chunk taken out of its face, blood pooling everywhere. It took everything in her to raise her gun, staring at the infant on the floor. She had to do it or it'll come back. She kept telling herself it was the mission, but it didn't make this any easier. She squeezed the trigger and one single shot came out and hit between the eyes. One bullet to the brain, she told herself, its the only way they won't come back.

Day 12

It was too much, no matter how many she killed they kept coming. They were outnumbered five thousand to one. This was the day they became overrun, most of her squad were already dead. Some were still alive but were scattered throughout the city trying to help those still alive escape. The broadcast was still going out saying Atlanta was safe, causing so many lives to be lost.

As night fell it became worse, the walkers filled the streets trying to find anything alive to get their hands on. Riley was hidden in an alley with a young Korean man who she was trying to get out of the city, but it was proving more and more difficult. As they were creeping through the ally ways, being sure not to make a sound, Riley heard the faint sound of helicopters making her stomach drop. It was too late, they needed to get out now.

"Glenn, listen to me." She whispered urgently to the young man, surprising him with her sudden words. "We need to find cover now." She grabbed his hand and started dragging him behind a building when the first bomb dropped.

"Oh my god, what are they doing? Why are they dropping bombs on us?" He exclaimed, terror written all over his face.

"The city is lost. They're trying to kill the infected as much as possible, we're just collateral damage." Riley stated, not making the young man feel any better. "We need to get out of here, follow me and stay quiet." She passed him her knife to defend himself as she got up.

They began running through the streets, dodging the shrapnel from the bombs and the fire. Riley would raise her pistol once in a while to kill a walker in their path, but it was mostly quiet as they were drawn to the fires behind them.

Soon she managed to lead Glenn out of the city and into the woods nearby. She knew that there was a quarry around here that should be safe, so that's where they decided to head. However, after an hour of walking Glenn started to slow down due to fatigue, so they decided to stop and make a small fire to keep warm through the night. Riley stayed on watch all night to let Glenn get some sleep, even though he had asked her to wake him up to take a shift. It's not that she didn't trust him, she just trusts herself more to keep them both safe.

When the sun started to rise they set off towards the quarry. Though it was still early the heat was becoming unbearable and they were continuously walking uphill causing Glenn to moan about how unfit he was. After a couple of hours of slow walking, much to Riley's chagrin, they arrived at the quarry. But they could hear other people nearby, making Riley draw her weapon and tell Glenn to stay behind her.

She stealthily manoeuvred her way through the woods, while Glenn was practically calling every walker in the vicinity with his footsteps, until she came upon a clearing, seeing an RV and some tents set up. She lowered her weapon as she saw women and children there and both her and Glenn stepped into the clearing causing everyone to notice their appearance.

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Hi, I hope you like the story so far!
Just a warning it will probably take me a while to update as I've just started college and have a job so I'll need to find time to write, but once I've gotten into a routine I'll become more consistent.

I have nothing written fully yet, but I wanted to post the prologue to give you a taste of the book.

Thanks for reading x
- InkyWriter