𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐃𝐎𝐌 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 20 ~ Jesus Took the Wheel

"Back up! Now!" Daryl shouted at him, his gun aimed at the blue-eyed stranger's head.

"Keep 'em up!" Rick yelled, his gun up as well.

"Whoa, easy, guys! I was just running from the dead," the man told us, his hands up in surrender.

I shifted from foot to foot uneasily, both hands firm on my gun as I held it up. Blowing a strand of hair from my face, I got a better look at him. He looked to be in his mid-20's.

"How many?" Daryl questioned him, his voice gruff.

Slowly, Rick began to back up to check behind us - the way the man had came from.

"10, maybe more. I'm not risking it. Once it gets to double digits, I start running," he shrugged.

"Where?" I spoke up finally.

The man turned to glance at me and his eyes landed on my swollen stomach. I put a hand over my baby bump protectively and blue eyes snapped back to mine.

"About a half a mile back. They're headed this way. You probably have about 11 minutes,"

Daryl and Rick were both silent, contemplating if this guy was actually telling the truth or not. For all we knew, he could be planning to kill us. Or worse, have a whole group of men headed our way to kill us. I stepped closer to Rick, the closeness giving me a sense of security.

"Okay, thanks for letting us know," Rick said, still wary as he put away his gun.

I glanced over at him but still kept my gun up. I still didn't trust this guy. Sure, he just warned us of walkers but we didn't know him. Something seemed off...

"Yeah. There's more of them than us, right? Gotta stick together," he said, shrugging again before pausing and angling his head to the side to look at me, "Right?"

I pursed my lips, a frown on my face. I didn't answer him though, instead choosing to keep silent as I stood by Rick. Slowly, I lowered my gun just as Daryl did the same. The man let his hands fall to his sides in relief.

"You have a camp?" he asked Daryl.

"Nah," he replied in a gruff tone.

"Do you?" Rick shot back.

The tension was thick in the air between the four of us and I could hear the wariness in Rick's voice.

"No," the man answered, still slightly out of breath from running, "Sorry for running into you. I'm gonna go now. If this is the next world, I hope it's good to you guys,"

With those words, he turned to go and I resisted the urge to lift up my gun again.

"I'm Rick," Rick called after him before nodding to Daryl and I, "This is Daryl and Angel. What's your name?"

The man stopped in his tracks, spinning around to face us. Slowly, he pulled down the cloth covering his mouth.

"Paul Rovia. But my friends used to call me Jesus. Your pick," he said, spreading his hands wide.

"You said you didn't have a camp. You on your own?" Rick pressed him.

"Yeah. But, still, best not to try anything," he said and I could hear the threat behind his words.

"Best not to make threats you can't keep, either," I shot back, my tone anything but polite.

He smirked, "Exactly."

I scowled, my eyes darkening as he ran off.

"How many walkers have you-" Rick started to say.

"Nah, not this guy," Daryl cut him off and I nodded in agreement.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Rick continued, waving Daryl off.

"Sorry, gotta run. You should, too. Think you've got about seven minutes." he shouted back, disappearing behind the store.

I rolled my eyes and huffed in annoyance, shoving my gun back into its holster at my hip.

"What was that?" I asked, turning to face Rick and Daryl.

"He was clean. His beard, it was trimmed. There's more going on there," Rick replied, looking uneasy.

I couldn't help but snort at that, a grin finding its way onto my face.

"Beauty tips with Rick Grimes. I'm sure Michonne and Maggie will be sorry they missed this," I laughed, earning a playful glare from Rick.

"He didn't have a gun, either," Daryl volunteered, steering the conversation back to the mysterious man.

"We could track him, watch him for a while, get to know more. See if he's really alone. Maybe bring him back." Rick suggested but Daryl waved him off.

Daryl started to speak but was interupted by the sudden sound of gunshots ringing across the air. We all spun around, guns at the ready as we headed towards the noise. Sneaking around the side of the building, we saw an old trash can with firecrackers popping out of it.

"Firecrackers." Rick sighed.

"Well, I can think we can see that." I said, gesturing towards it with my gun.

Rick and Daryl shared a look then.

"He swiped your keys, didn't he?" Daryl asked, annoyance evident in his voice.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I whined as we ran back around to the front of the gas station.

Our feet crunched on the pavement whilst we ran. Slipping around the side, we got there just in time to see the man, Jesus, take off in the truck, the cooler bouncing along behind it. We ran after it but it was too late. Dust kicked up behind the vehicle as it sped down the road. I cursed under my breath.

"I knew he was bad news." I grumbled.