It Comes With The Name

Chapter 26: It's Time To Go

The shots rang out and the silence that followed was deafening. The only sound Lauren could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.

"Holy shit..." Glenn muttered, staring at the bodies. Blood pooled beneath them onto the wooden floor and Lauren looked away.

"Everyone alright?" Rick asked scanning the three of them for any signs of injury.

Lauren swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded. "Hershel?"

The old man looked pretty stunned as well but managed to pull it together enough to form a sentence which was more than Lauren could say for herself. "Let's head back."

They had barely made it three steps when they heard a car approaching from outside.

"Car. Everybody down!" Rick whispered sharply, dropping down quickly as the headlights from the car illuminated the windows. Lauren quickly crouched down as well, pressing her back to the wall in between Hershel and Glenn who did the same. Her heart hammered in her chest as she heard the car engine stop and the doors open.

"Dave? Tony?" An unfamiliar voice rang out from outside the pub. Lauren felt her stomach twist. How many more of them were there? "They said over here?"

"Yeah." Another stranger answered.

A third unknown man joined in on the conversation. "I'm telling you, man, I heard shots."

Lauren felt her chest tighten as the men continued talking to one another. "I saw roamers two streets over, there might be more around. We gotta get outta here."

"Dave! Tony!" Voice number 2 shouted.

"Shut up, you idiot! You wanna attract 'em?" The third man hushed harshly. "Just stick close, we're gonna find 'em."

The men dispersed from where they stood outside the bar, presumably making their way around the small shop area surrounding them. They waited two or three minutes, listening to the men roam around outside before Rick moved to join the others. Staying low to the ground, Rick made his way over to Glenn Lauren and Hershel and huddled up with them by the small window.

"Why won't they leave?" Glenn whispered.

"Would you?" Hershel asked, raising his eyebrows.

"He's right," Lauren said quietly. "Imagine if we were out here looking for our people. They're not leaving anytime soon."

Rick gritted his teeth, trying to come up with some sort of escape plan. "We can't just sit here any longer... Let's head out the back, we'll make a run for the car."

Lauren hadn't even fully stood up yet when she heard three gunshots from outside the bar. She, along with the other three, dropped to the ground yet again. She leaned her back against the wall, listening as the three voices from earlier returned outside.

"What happened?" The first man asked.

The second voice sounded significantly younger than the first, maybe a teenager. "Roamers. I nailed 'em."

"They disappeared but their car is still here." The third man reported. Lauren felt her stomach drop, so much for making a run for the car. And any chance of them giving up and leaving just flew out the window now that they knew they were here somewhere.

"I checked these buildings. Did you guys get this one?" The first guy asked.

"No."

"Me either."

"Seriously?" He scoffed. "We're looking for Dave and Tony and nobody checked the damn bar?"

Lauren clenched her jaw as she heard the footsteps approaching the bar door. The door started to open but before it moved even an inch Glenn slid in front of it, pressing his back against the door and slamming it shut. Lauren looked at him in disbelief and he gave her a panicked look back, obviously shocked at his own actions.