Spider Monkey

Chapter Fifty - Four - Line Up

Eugene offered himself as a distraction.

Night was officially over their heads. And Maggie was getting worse by the minute.

They carried Maggie on a makeshift stretcher while Carl and Hedley took to killing walkers that got too close.

Maggie spoke weakly, "Aaron, please. Just let me walk it."

Aaron shook his head, "Relax. Just a few more miles."

Carl used his machete to slice a walker's head in half. He then said to his dad, "I heard what you told her when we were leaving. We can do anything, 'cause we'll do anything we need to do. We have and we will. What happened to Denise, I'm not gonna let anybody die like that again."

"Son -"

"What?"

Whistling cut them off.

Shadows of men surrounded them as the whistling got louder.

"Go! Go!" Rick ordered and they ran. Through the trees, Hedley had his gun up and his heart was pounding as the whistling came from every angle.

They went into a clearing and suddenly, car beams were on them as the whistling got hypnotic. They were surrounded.

Not only by men, but by vehicles and ... Eugene and the Rv.

Hedley dropped his gun to put his hands over his ears as the whistling got louder.

Carl pulled Hedley into his chest, shielding him as he kept his gun up.

"Good. You made it. Welcome to where you're going. We'll take your weapons. Now." Said the head Saviour.

"We can talk about--" Rick tried but it was no use.

"We're done talking. Time to listen."

Saviours came in and took their weapons, stripped them until they had nothing to defend themselves with.

The head saviour took Carl's gun and smirked at Hedley huddling in Carl's chest. "Fletcher told me he was a spaz. I didn't see it before... but I see it now." He then wiggled Carl's gun, "That's yours, right? Yeah, it's yours." He flicked Carl's hat. "Okay."

They were forced in a line, on their knees. Hedley and Carl held hands, Maggie was leaning on Abraham, everyone terrified.

Hedley saw Fletcher looking at him. Hedley stared at him, not wanting to be the first to look away. Fletcher did turn his head eventually, biting his lower lip.

Daryl, Merle, Michonne, Rosita and Glenn were pulled from the truck and forced on the ground also.

Hedley saw Daryl and tried to run to him. "Dad! Dad!"

Carl tried to hold onto him but Hedley wiggled out. He dashed towards Daryl but a couple of Saviours grabbed him and forced him into the dirt.

"Get off him!" Daryl tried to get to them but the head Saviour hit him hard in the cheek, sending him down.

"All right! We got a full boat." The head Saviour said, "Let's meet the man." He knocked on the Rv's door and a man stepped out. He was tall, dressed in leather, a red bandanna around his neck and in his hand was a baseball bat with barbed wire wrapped around the end.

"Pissing our pants yet? Boy, do I have a feeling we're getting close."

Hedley was thrown back in line, colliding with Carl. Carl wrapped his arms around him protectively.

"Yep. It's gonna be pee-pee pants city here real soon. Which one of you pricks is the leader?"

"It's this one." A man pointed to Rick. "He's the guy."