Five Seconds Later

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Enemy

The Impala's engines were a distant muttering of sound as Cas came to, his head resting on Dean's lap and his trench coat carefully buttoned. It had been loose around him earlier – someone had taken the time to lovingly fastened each button, and he had no doubt in his mind as to who it was. There was something on his head – it was white, and Dean was pressing it against him. A bandage? Cas blinked and tried to stay still. He could see Sam in the front seat with Jess, who looked like she was about to burst into tears any minute. Why were they in the Impala? Why were Jess and Dean out of their rooms? The only thing Cas was sure of was the feeling of Dean next to him and the fact that it was nighttime – Cas couldn't distinguish anything past the car windows besides the bright crescent of the moon dangling from a star studded sky.

"Cas, hey." Dean released some of the pressure off of the bandage and helped Cas to sit himself upright. Bon Jovi was playing faintly on the radio, barely audible over the sound of Jess trying not to sob and failing. "Take it easy – you went through some shit earlier."

"H-How... how am I alive?" Cas murmured, wincing as his head began pulsing with pain. Were they going to a hospital or something? If so, why was Jess with them? "And Garth, Katharine – are they... what happened?"

"You got trapped beneath the walkers while I was trying to close the door, but the one just on top of you was shot by one of Garth's last bullets. It shielded you from the other walkers, both with its body and smell." Sam replied from the front seat, casting a wary glance at Jess. She was crying through her hands, shaking uncontrollably.

"I woke up and was there in time to get Katharine out, but she's not looking so good. Anaise says she thinks that Katharine will lose the baby." Jess mumbled, her voice hardly above a whisper as it cracked and broke through the tears.

"Garth... Garth didn't make it." Dean's eyes were rimmed in tears that trickled slowly and unashamedly down his cheeks. He stared out of his window for a moment, as though gathering his thoughts. When he spoke next, he sounded more miserable than Jess. "He got pinned trying to save you and Katharine at once."

Cas sat there in shocked silence for a moment, noticing the straw hat that Garth always wore set up in front of the Impala's back window. Why had they kept it? Where were they going? He tilted his head, leaning it against Dean's waiting shoulder. Now wasn't the time for such questions.

"W-What happened??" he stammered, trying to relax his tense shoulders as Dean laid his arm across the back of the seat. Dean was still looking out the window, trying to distract himself with the darkness.

"Someone rammed down the fence we had made with this massive truck just as the herd was passing through earlier this morning." Sam shook his head and tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "We haven't figured out who it was yet, but when we do-"

"Sam, watch out!!"

Sam swerved the Impala and it skidded for a moment, its tires screeching against gravel as it slid to the side of the road. Everyone braced themselves for an impact, but there wasn't one – Sam managed to straighten the vehicle out and stop it just off the road, casting worried looks at his passengers right after. Cas craned his neck to see outside of the car for what had been in the way, but it was too dark.

What happened next was so unexpected that it was worthy of inciting fear in all four passengers. A man emerged from the shadows of the road and strode up to Sam's window, rapping repeatedly on the glass until it was rolled down. He glanced around the car, sizing up the passengers, and then stared back at Sam. His voice was withery and old for someone so young.

"Lead us back to where you guys are holed up, give us half your stuff, and no one gets hurt."

There was a tense silence that settled over everyone inside of the Impala before Dean spoke. "Why would we do that?" Dean narrowed his eyes and put his arm around Cas protectively.

"Because otherwise, all four of you will be shot and killed, and when we find your base – and trust me, we will – we'll kill all your friends and take your stuff anyway." The man had a sick smile on his face as he tapped the Impala's steering wheel with the barrel of his gun.

"Logan, hold up." Another man came out of nowhere and marched up to Sam's window. He peered in, eyes glittering. "Aren't these the guys who killed Devin?"

"Shit." The first man scratched his head and grinned. They sure are." He tapped the steering wheel again with the gun, motioning toward Sam. "Get out. I'm driving."

"What the hell?" Sam turned to glance at Dean, who just nodded in defeat.

"Do what he says, Sammy." Dean pulled Cas closer, glancing away. "Please. Just come sit here next to Cas."

"Sam?" Jess whimpered as Sam moved from his seat, roughly edged past Logan, and took a seat next to Cas in the back. Once he had buckled himself in, Logan was already behind the wheel and it was clearly taking every ounce of strength Jess had within her not to begin crying again. Sam just held a finger to his lips, not daring to reach for her hand, and gave the man directions on how to get back home.

***

Once they had arrived back at the bunker and the Impala was badly parked in the driveway next to Bobby's truck, Logan instructed Dean to call everyone inside out onto the grassy area within the now partially fenced in area. The fences themselves were barely repaired, but standing in most places – there didn't appear to be any walkers nearby to worry about, anyway. Cas, Sam, and Jess all stood under the the guard of Logan, who refused to engage in any topics of discussion besides what his name was and who he worked for. The name Negan came up multiple times, but Cas disregarded it, hoping they were tangling with a different group.

As one minute stretched into twenty, trucks began rumbling up the driveway. When they were all parked, Cas counted five in total. Men were riding in the backs of them, guns strung across their leather jackets as they leaped out onto the grass. Everyone was talking amongst themselves excitedly, casting eager glances at Cas and his friends. Dean had gathered everyone outside by this point who wasn't already – there was no one who didn't look out of their wits with terror.

"Here's how it's going to go." Logan waved his gun in the air and cocked a bullet into place. "We're going to kill one of you, then take half of your stuff. Sound fair? Good."

"Wait, you can't!" Dean stepped forward, his hand held out in an unconscious effort to protect Sam and Cas. The rest of the group stood behind him, shivering in the cold night air. "You said if we listened, no one gets hurt, and we did. You can half like you said, but please – don't kill anyone."

"It's not like that, kid." Logan shrugged halfheartedly and aimed his gun toward Dean's good shoulder. "It isn't up to me – it's part of the code and you've broken it. If you're going to work with us, then you live by our rules, and our rules say that if you kill, you get punished. Devin's dead because of you, and we have to get our revenge."

"Take everything." Dean pleaded, on the verge of tears. He glanced back to make sure Sam and Cas were behind him before taking another step forward. "Take the bunker, the cars, whatever you want!"

"Don't make it two." The man narrowed his eyes at Dean. "Negan will be here in a minute. In the meantime, I'll need you to kneel. Negan likes it when you guys are in a circle around him – it makes his little speeches easier."

"Who the hell is Negan?" Dean spat, anger forming where sadness just was. He kept standing a second too long., and Logan brought his gun down hard on Dean's shoulder. After a moment of wavering in pain, Dean finally kneeled, much to the delight of Logan and the others. The people from the trucks were gathering around Cas and the others now, whistling some strange tune that only had two notes. It sounded eerie in the night air, echoing around the terrified group.

"Oh, kid." The man grinned. "You're about to find out."