can't help falling||c.g DISCONTINUED

seventeen

"That'll work. No one has to get hurt," I said and shifted my weight to my right side.

"Yeah, I get it, and it might work. But this will work," Rick defended.

"Nah, that'll work, too. You say this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right? Trying and doing are two different things."

***

Noah started firing into the air and limped away. He was luring the cops to us. I had so much adrenaline, fighting for my family to get them home safely.

Two of Dawn's cops came speeding around the corner, and Noah ran. They zip-tied his hands together, and that was our cue. I aimed my rifle at the man's head, and Rick whistled to say 'we're here.'

"Whatever this is, we can help," the bald guy said.

"You do what we say; we don't hurt you," Rick ordered.

They surrendered and kneeled. We took their guns and tied their hands. I had my gun ready to shoot at any moment.

"Mind if I ask you something? The way you talk, the way you carry yourself. Were you a cop?" The bald guy asked Rick.

All of a sudden, we heard tires squealing, and Daryl pulled me out of the way. A car came whipping around the corner, and we started shooting at it. I hid behind a giant box and reloaded. They picked up the two officers we had and drove off, but not without me shooting the tire first. Everyone ran after the car, and we came across burnt bodies, buildings, and vehicles.

Some of the walkers were still alive. Then, we noticed the two escaped cops run by, and we all followed. Daryl wasn't with us, so I ran back, and one of the cops was on top of him. Rick shot the walker close to Daryl and me. I still had my gun pointed to the officer's head. He tried to kill my uncle.

"You win, asshole," he snapped at me and stood up.

I held my gun tighter, not sure if I should kill him.

"Don't fucking touch any of us," I growled.

"Sky, three is better than two of them," Daryl said.

I lowered my gun, and Daryl tied his hands.

"You okay, Daryl?"

"I gotta be."

***

We stood in a warehouse, conversing about our next plan of action.

"Your friend, what's his name? I need to talk to him. Your plan is going to get my friends and me killed," the woman, whose name was Shepherd, spoke.

"We're gonna make it work," Sasha told her.

"It would work if you had different cops to trade. Dawn's running Grady into the ground. A bunch of us want her out, and she knows it. Pretty sure she knows we want Lamson to replace her, too," Shepherd said.

"Dawn doesn't know that," the man who attacked Daryl butted in.

"She might. And she's smart. So there's a good chance you can't make this deal work, and that'll leave us all dead. But if you let us go, we'll take care of Dawn ourselves, and then we'll let your friends go, and this is over," Shepherd tried to convince us.