Don't Get Dead | TWD | Volume 1

[49] Stay

The bullet hit the walker first, and I adjusted my aim to shoot the person behind it. He jerked awkwardly, the bullet hitting him in the side just under his arm and he fell over. I swallowed hard, but pushed the terror I felt as the man died, turning and aiming at the next person I saw with a weapon.

I have to do this. If I did nothing, Daryl would die.

A girl flew backwards before she could reach for her gun, and the shot landed just below her neck. I turned, my elbows now resting on the skip for better balance as I shot the two people closest to Merle and Daryl. What I wasn't expecting was having to fight the kickback on the gun when firing each single shot.

Rick had gotten one of the walkers, reaching behind him for the smoke grenade he left on the ground. He threw it up and over, and it landed in the middle of the arena, smoke flooding out in all directions, obscuring the arena.

"Get the lights!" Rick demanded, now also aiming his machine gun up.

Turning the gun around, I switched the gun to automatic and fired at the lights, not trusting my ability to directly take them out from where I was. People were screaming, they scattered as the lamps blew up with a firework of electricity, covering their heads as they ran in the opposite direction to hide from the gunfire.

Rick jumped back as he fired off a long stream of bullets into another group of lights, taking cover behind the skip next to me. I copied his action, shooting off as many bullets as I could before the light popped.

My scope traced down from there, over the Governor, who had a handgun out. As the lights shattered around him, he smiled. My grip tightened around the gun, my whole body was shaking as I stared at him. It was evil.

He was enjoying this.

Shoot him! My mind screamed at me. But I couldn't. There were too many people around him. If I shot now and my bullet missed, I would have definitely killed someone else, someone who was completely innocent. They didn't deserve to die like this.

"Fuck's sake!" I stamped my foot into the ground and took the sight away from him.

The smoke completely obscured the arena, leaving me blind to what happened to Daryl. I got two more hits in, before it was completely covered, and I couldn't see any soldiers that I should've killed. I couldn't shoot anyone who wasn't fighting.

People were now running out past us, they screamed and sprinted away from the arena. I had to ignore their cries, how they insulted us as they passed. I shook my head, shooting down the last soldier I could see come out from the smoke.

"Oh crap," I whispered to myself, squeezing my eyes closed.

"We're almost done," I heard Rick say, gentle encouragement before he sent a burst into the arena.

I raised my gun and placed my finger over the trigger when I saw another soldier running out of the smoke, but couldn't fire. It was the man from before, the one who let me live. He was carrying a small girl away from the gunfire and walkers.

My gun lowered automatically.

Daryl was still in there somewhere, I hadn't seen him run out. I looked at Rick who was now standing directly behind me. He pulled out a torch from the bag and shone it into the smoke for Daryl to follow, his body blocked by the wall the same as I had been.

"Daryl!" Rick called as he emerged, following the crowd of people. "Come on! Go!"

I saw him now, sprinting out of the smoke with his crossbow raised in his arm. It was not loaded, but I was just surprised that he even managed to get it back. I was relieved, until my eyes landed on Merle following behind him.