"Your friend seems angry." Noah spoke as him and Austin worked outside of the church together, hearing the loud banging from inside of the church.
"She lost her boyfriend." Austin exhaled, hammering in the nail. "I don't know why we're just sitting around here when we need to be getting Beth and Carol."
"Hey, we will." Noah held his shoulder with a nod of understandment. "Are you gonna go?"
"Yeah." Austin looked to his dad. "Are you coming?"
"I want to, I don't think your dad is gonna let me." Noah exhaled as Austin pushed his bandana up more.
"Stay here, i'll pull some strings." he held his shoulder before walking over to his brother. "You gonna hold the fort down while i'm gone?"
"Wish you would stay." Carl admitted as he hugged him.
"I'll be back. With Carol and Beth too." the Grimes boy rubbed the top of his hat. "We'll be a family again."
Carl nodded, looking up at him. "Don't get hurt."
"I won't." he promised, holding his face a moment. They didn't look much alike at all. Carl looked a lot like Rick while Austin took after Lori. But, if you looked close enough, they had the same moles scattered in the same spot in their face. "Michonne will be here."
Carl nodded as Austin held Judith a moment. "Okay, little lady. You gonna be good without me here to keep you out of trouble?"
He bounced with her a second, kissing her forehead. "I'll be back, sweetheart."
"Better hurry before it's time for her to go to sleep." Michonne took Judith from him. "Only time she will sleep the whole night if when you're here."
"I'll make it quick, I know where i'm going." he hugged her next. "Be safe."
"You too." she nodded, letting him walk out first before they shut the church doors.
"Dad." Austin met Rick half way. "Let Noah come."
"Can't trust him." Rick shook his head.
"He isn't a bad guy." Austin promised him. "He knows Beth, knows the hospital better then any of us. If we're gonna get in easily, and without bloodshed, we could really use him."
Rick stared at him with an exhale. "And what if it backfired?"
"Well..." Austin trailed off with an innocent look. "We hope it doesn't?"
Rick cracked a grin, rubbing the back of his head with a small shove as they boarded the bus, Noah coming with.
"At sundown we fire a shot into the air." Rick rolled the plan over with the others. "Get two of the men out on patrol. Then once it's dark enough that the rooftop spotters won't see us, we go. We cut the locks on one of the stairways, take it to the fifth floor. I open the door, Daryl takes the guard out."
"How?" Tyreese spoke.
"He slits his throat." Rick shook his head as he looked his way. "This is all about us doing this quiet, keeping the upper hand. They're not expecting us. From there, we can out. Knives and silenced weapons. We need to be fast."
Rick marked a spot of the drawn building. "Tyreese, Sasha, take them. Daryl, you take care of whoever is in the kitchen. Austin, you gotta take one of the guards look outs and take out whoever might be following us. I got Dawn. If they're smart, the rest of them will give up. Then it'll be six on three. Seven on three once we get a weapon to Beth."
"Here." Austin gave his knife to Rick. "When you get her, she'll want it."
"Twelve on three. The wards will help." Noah said honestly to get his attention.
"That's best case. What's worst case?" Tyreese looked over. "All it takes us one of those cops going down the hall at the wrong time. Then it's not quiet. All hand on deck. We're talking about a lot of bullets flying around."
"If that's what it takes." Sasha shrugged.
"It's not." Tyreese corrected her. "If we get a couple of her cops alive out there, we do an even trade. Theirs for ours. Everybody goes home."
"Yeah, I get it." Rick stood to his feet. "And it might work. This will work."
Tyreese stared at him as Austin glanced at Daryl. "Nah, that'll work, too. You see this Dawn, she's just trying to keep it together, right?"
"Trying and doing are two different things." Noah exclaimed with a shake of his head.
"You take two of her cops away, what choice does she have?" Daryl asked.
"Even better if we double it, so it's more then fair to give us two if we've got four." Austin agreed with a nod, meeting his dads eye. "Your way works too, though."
Rick exhaled, looking between the trio that spoke.
"I got him." Austin whispered as he watched two of the cops go to Noah, cocking his gun.
"Hands." Rick warned as the pair turned around quickly with their guns drawn.
"What do you want?" the woman asked.
"Whatever this is, we can help." the man spoke.
"Shut up!" Austin yelled at him in anger the second it accord to him that these two could have been the ones to take Beth in the first place.
"You do what we say, we don't hurt you." Rick explained as he kept his gun pointed their way.
"Okay." he rose his hands tightly, encouraging her to do the same.
"Good. Now turn around." Rick hummed as he walked closer. Austin cut Noah's bounded wrist for him, the zip tie hitting the ground. "Put your guns on the floor and kneel."
They did so, Daryl and Sasha taking their guns as Rick looked over the two. "We need to talk. There's water if you need some and food."
"Up." Austin encountered, pulling the man to his feet after he cutting him and the girl free.
"Mind if I ask you something?" he asked as Sasha grabbed his partner.
"Depends." Austin tightened the zip ties around his wrist as the man winced. "Does it gotta do with you going around kidnapping blonde girls?"
"Austin." Rick waved him off as his son shoved the cop forward to be in Daryl's grasp.
"The way you talk." he stared at Rick. "The way you carry yourself. Were you a cop? Believe it or not, I was too."
"That's Lamson." Noah infront Rick. "He'll be down for this."
"He have anything to do with taking Beth right off the side of the road?" Austin asked him with a curios look.
"No. They stay on watch here." Noah met his eye as Austin took it as his sign to back off. "He's one of the good ones here."
Tires screeched as a black car came around the corner, the unarmed pair getting pulled away as the rest fired at the window shield. Rick pulled Austin with him to hide as they were shot at, not being the youngest blew out the back windows. Sasha followed the car first, shooting the tires. They all followed close after, Rick then taking the lead.
He looked back, nodding to encourage each of them to move behind him. The sight of the running cops had him in full sprint. "Two. On me."
Austin was close after him, Sasha right on his heels. It wasn't long before he looked back. "Daryl's gone."
Rick huffed, turning back. "Come on."
They ran back, coming across Daryl with a guard ontop of him, two walkers closer by. Rick grabbed Austin's arm, having it yanked away as his son ran over. Daryl was let free when Austin bodyslammed the guard, taking him onto the ground as they both rolled onto the concrete. Before he had the chance to react against the teen, Rick had his gun in his face to protect him.
"Okay." the cop stated as Austin got up, the side of his face and both his elbows bleeding. He helped Daryl to his feet. "You win, asshole."
"Rick." Daryl stated as they watched the cop stand, their leaders gun still only inches from his face. "Rick, three is better than two."
Rick met Austins eye, lowering his gun. Daryl grasped the cops neck, giving Austin just a second to hit the arrogant man in the face with the butt of his gun, just for fun.
•
kylie speaks
sigh