SHELTER | DIXON

|5|

Madison quickly descended the ladder, dropping past the last few rungs to land on her feet as she yanked her hunting knives out. Glenn eyed the walkers just past the fence warily, but didn't voice any fears as he stripped off his flannel to minimize any chances of the walkers getting a hold of him. Daryl was the last to descend the ladder, readying his crossbow to cover their backs before they took off. "Ain't too late to change yer mind," he told Madison when he saw her gaze flitting between the multiple walkers on the other side of the fence.

"My mind's made," she told him firmly. The two of them exchanged a hard look, and Daryl nodded when he saw that she was being serious. Madison had made her decision and nothing was going to change that.

"Watch yourself out there," he said to her before turning to Glenn. "You got some balls for a Chinaman."

"I'm Korean," Glenn corrected in annoyance.

Daryl didn't seem to care. "Whatever."

"You ready?" Glenn asked Madison, ignoring Daryl. Madison nodded, and the two of them slid out of the fence and on their way.

They passed a few cars, one with a walker sprawled inside of it. She turned her head and groaned as they passed, and Madison would have taken the time to stab it in the head if Glenn hadn't been moving so fast. She hurried after him quickly, her knives gripped firmly in her hands. A few walkers got too close and ended up stabbed in the head, but as Glenn retrieved the bag of guns more deadheads seemed to come out of the woodworks. Madison couldn't help but notice that not one of them were dropping dead from any arrows, which worried her. Daryl was good with his crossbow, he was a good shot, so there was no way he was missing. What was holding him up?

"Glenn," she hissed when the younger man hesitated. "Let's go." He ignored her and doubled back, swooping the sheriff's hat off the ground. "You kidding me?" Madison would have berated him further, but they needed to be quiet and make their way back to the alley. The way forward toward Rick and T-Dog was filled with more walkers, so they had to go back the way they came.

They sprinted back for the alley, running through the gate but screeching to a halt when they realized what had been keeping Daryl from keeping the walkers away from them. There were three other men in the alley, one sprawled on the ground while the other two kicked the shit out of Daryl. Glenn gasped, gathering their attention as they looked over with wide eyes. "That's it! That's the bag, vato!" One of them shouted. "Take it! Take it!"

Madison pushed herself in front of Glenn as the first man came running at them. She dodged his swinging fist and kicked him in the shin as hard as she could. He shouted in frustrated anger, shaking it off quickly and shoving her to the side. She slammed into the side of the building harshly, her head smacking against the bricks and causing her vision to blur for a moment. By the time she came back to her wits, the second man was dragging Glenn toward a car as the first grabbed her roughly. "Let me go!" She shouted, attempting to stab him with one of her knives. She had already lost her other one in the scuffle. He grabbed her wrist and bent it back just enough to cause pain, which in turn made her drop the hunting knife. In a desperate attempt to get free, Madison gripped the sides of the man's face and dug her fingers into his eyes.

"You stupid puta!" He roared, and she cried out as his fist slammed against the side of her jaw with a force she hadn't been expecting. Madison spat out blood as she lost her grip on his face, and he attempted to drag her toward the car like his friend had started doing with Glenn.

"Daryl! Daryl!" She and Glenn both shouted Daryl's name, having been overpowered and not knowing what else to do. Madison was just about to think they were both screwed when the man dragging her suddenly jolted and cursed loudly, his face contorting in pain. She tore herself free and dove away from him, seeing an arrow lodged in his ass as she lost her footing and fell to the concrete. Another arrow flew through the air, this one aimed for the other man, but he managed to evade it as he flung Glenn into the car. "Stop!" Madison screamed desperately, reaching over and picking up her hunting knives. "Please, stop!"