CHEROKEE ROSE (D. DIXON)

5.

We are surrounded by men, all armed.

"I see my guns." Guillermo remarks smoothly. "But they're not all in the bag."

"That's because they're not yours." Rick replies, rifle raised. "I thought I mentioned that."

Rick shoves the boy toward the group.

"You have your man. I want mine."

"I'm gonna chop up your boy." Guillermo threatens angrily. "I'm gonna feed him to my dogs..." He goes on with his threats, sidling up in front of Rick.

"You said come locked and loaded?" Rick asks, and Daryl pumps his shotgun, quickly followed by many others in the room. I raise my pistol, pointing it at the man nearest to me. He turns his gun towards my face. "Okay then, we're here." Rick puts the barrel of his gun in Guillermo's face.

I glance around the room at all the men. We're outnumbered. Horribly outnumbered.

I stare down the barrel of the gun, and know I should be afraid. But in all the chaos, only one emotion courses through my veins.

Relief.

Because at least if I die here, it will be fast. I won't be torn apart like so many of my friends, eaten alive like my family...

The tension is interrupted when a woman's voice calls out in the silence.

"Felipe! Felipe!" A small, grey headed woman putters into the standoff.

"Abuela, go back with the others. Now." The man who Daryl shot commands, eyes remaining on us.

My eyes dart from the man I am trained on to the old woman.

"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl barks.

Guillermo turns to the small woman in the nightgown. "Abuela. List to your mijo. This is not the place for you right now."

She ignores him, pushing past the wall of men. She turns a blind eye to  the disturbing amount of guns pointed in both directions, tugging on Felipe's sleeve. "Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing." She cries. "He needs his asthma stuff. Carlitos couldn't find it. He needs his medicine."

I cock my head, glancing at Daryl. He shrugs, shotgun trained forward still.

Guillermo looks back at us, embarrassed, then to Felipe. "Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you."

The woman turns to us as if noticing us for the first time. "Who are those people?" She asks, pushing Felipe aside. She shuffles toward Rick, who immediately drops his rifle. "Don't you take him."

"Ma'am?" Rick questions, a puzzled look on his face.

"Felipe's a good boy. He have his trouble, but he pull himself together." She explains. "We need him here."

Rick glances around the room, uncomfortable. "Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson."

"Then what do you want him for?" She presses. She looks minuscule next to Rick, craning her neck to look at him.

Rick's eyes dart around the room once more. "He's... Helping us find a missing person. A fella named Glenn."

She smiles in recognition. "The Asian boy? He's with Mr. Gilbert. Come! Come, I show you." She tugs at Rick's sleeve, beckoning him into the midst of the mass of men.