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Chapter Seventeen - invincible shields
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Sleeping soundly on the grass never felt so comfortable. If it weren't for the blinding sun in her eyes and the yelling coming from across the yard, Mercy would have stayed there all day.
Voices slowly filled Mercy's ears: Lori reminding Carl to eat something before getting ready, Rick conversing with Daryl and Glenn on how many walkers they believe could be lurking inside the prison, and Edith humming while brushing through Elijah's now slightly grown out hair.
Mercy sat up, hands planted firmly on the ground to support her weight. She hated mornings. More than she used to. Back then Shane would drag her out of bed kicking and screaming if he had to, throwing her over his shoulder. But now, the group lets mercy sleep in. It should be a good thing, Mercy should be grateful. But instead all she can feel is grief. Even if she wanted to be awake, she couldn't get back into that state of consciousness. The only reason she decided to stand up, really move at all was the fact that she had a lot of people relying on her today.
She got up, grabbed her clothes and changed into them swiftly, double knotting her shoes, and tying her hair back as suggested by Maggie a few weeks prior,
"Short hair doesn't give them anything to grab," she had said with a smile, her southern drawl warming mercy's heart.
Mercy grabbed her weapon of choice and slipped it into her belt as well as a large hunting knife.
The air around her smelled like saltwater and fresh soil, the wind carrying the smell of pine trees with it, the soft sounds of nature and the rustling of leaves filling her ears. But still, she didn't find peace here. She was always looking over her shoulders for some kind of sign of the undead stalking along behind her, or someone attempting to harm their group or steal their food. No matter how safe this prison was going to be, Nothing was safe enough. And yet, nothing happened. There wasn't a whisper of a breeze to stir the dust, and every step was silent. Even the wildlife was quiet, all she could hear being birds singing and soft conversation between her peers.
Mercy joined the group quickly, just catching the end of breakfast. She reached over and plucked glenns half eaten granola bar out of his hand as he began to slip it back into his backpack, taking a large bite out of it, practically eating it whole.
"Goddamn mercy," Glenn mumbled, a soft, tired smile playing across his face. In that same moment, Rick whistled loudly, earning the attention of everyone in the area.
"Those of you who I've asked to help clear, meet me over by the gate in ten minutes. Everyone else stays behind us, and keeps a lookout." he explained quickly and simply. Mercy lifted her hand into a thumbs up, not even looking at the sheriff, as everyone else gave answers in the form of nods or half assed "gotchas"
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As Rick asked, Mercy, along with the rest of the clearing group met Rick in front of the locked-in gate where a swarm of the undead groaned and scratched at the gate, begging to be let out. Mercy used to look at these creatures in fear, or pity. But now all they are is a nuisance. A pest to be swatted away when they come too close.
Hershel held the gate with both arms, watching Rick closely.
"ready?" he asked carefully. Rick gave a final nod and unlatched the gate, allowing Hershal to pull it open.
As soon as the door opened, everyone crowded inside, holding their weapons up prepared to fight. Mercy followed their moves, holding her hunting knife up near her face, ready to strike out if needed to.
and she definitely did. As soon as she made her way inside the prison gates, dozens of disease-infected walkers made their way towards her like a magnet. She took out any who got so close, puncturing their skulls, which was much easier than she would like to admit.
The group continued to work their way through the courtyard, staying close together, back to back. They together formed a tight circle. (hexagon? pentagon?)
While they butchered their way through the hoard, everyone else who stood behind the gates banged on the iron, shouting loudly to attract the common enemy.
Everyone tried their hardest not to separate from the tight form they were in, only moving out to grab something off the floor or kill a stray walker.
continuing to stay close together, they all walked over to another section of the courtyard as the current one began to empty. As they made it closer and closer, Rick peeked behind the wall, only to shove the rest of the group against it quickly.
As mercy's back made contact with the wall she let out a "oomph" sound, glaring playfully at Rick, though his stone cold face stayed solid.
The entire second part of the courtyard was FILLED with walkers. Every square inch was taken up by an undead, gross, infected walker who threatened to eat you alive if you even stood near it.
If things couldn't get any worse, from behind a large green dumpster, two walkers in full police body armor walked out. These guys were loaded with everything a police officer would need. A face shield, full bullet proof gear, arm and leg protection, and even a helmet. Mercy made a note to steal some of that and re-gift it to rick.
Daryl emerged from his spot against the wall and aimed his crossbow at one of the walkers, taking his best shot. As expected, it bounced right off the face shield and fell onto the ground with a bump.
Mercy smashed his chest with an exasperated look,
"d'you really think that one through?" she asked. "He's got a face shield on dumbass," she joked, gesturing to the guard's obvious armor.
Everyone decided that it's better now than never and charged forward, attempting to stab, shoot, or puncture through the material that covered the walkers. Luckily for them though, even though they were annoying to kill, there was one plus to the infected wearing shield coverings. They were unable to bite you no matter how hard they tried.
After maneuvering around the mask, Mercy was able to get a clear enough hit on the walker, stabbing it through the bottom of the head, right though the brain.
Once all of the shielded walkers had been taken down, Rick ran towards the gate and used the same connectors he had just taken off the last one, and connected the two sides closed, locking the rest of the walkers in.
walking towards the exit, rick stopped the group, insuring that they had to go and investigate the inside of the prison, stating that they "couldn't risk a blind spot,"
Learning from past experiences, and knowing not to be an idiot, Mercy kept her mouth shut despite really wanting to not go inside, and continue sitting in the warm sun. Alas, she continued with everyone else, walking up the gated staircase.
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Once inside the prison, everyone was highly interested in the guarded area. There were a dozen empty cells with dirty, but potentially comfortable bedding, and locks on every door.
After taking a couple tray walker's out, they all decided that it was safe enough to sleep in. Glenn ran outside with a wide smile on his face and ran out the door he just came through to grab everyone else.
"grab my backpack!'' Mercy exclaimed as she walked into a cell and plopped down on the bottom bunk of one of the beds. "I call this one," she added as Daryl walked towards her, leaning against the door frame.
"I wouldn't have pegged you for someone who would willingly sleep in the bed of a dead person," he said, crossing his arms across his chest, a playful smile tugging at his lips.
Mercy frowned, sitting up from her comfortable spot on the bed and looking at Daryl with an awkward smile.
"why would you say that?" she asked looking up at Daryl. The red necked shrugged with a chuckle behind his lips. "genuinely, what went through your head when you said that?" mercy added, frowning at the older man.
Daryl began to mock her, frowning playfully and opening and closing his hand as if controlling a sock puppet. Mercy stood up, walking past him where he continued to lean against the door frame.
"that's why you tried to shoot a walker with a face shield on," she joked, "dumbass"
Daryl grumbled grumpily, but mercy could feel that there was no real hatred behind it. The rest of the group poured in, backpacks, sleeping bags, and pillows in hand as their eyes glanced around the block happily.
"Is this place really safe?" Edith asked, Elijah held close at her side, though his brown eyes were widened, and a smile overtook him.
"it's the safest we got. and probably safer than sleeping outside." Rick committed. Mercy silently agreed with the sheriff. As
Glenn walked in, mercy already began to groan.
"i told you to grab my bag!" she said dramatically as she attempted to flail herself on top of the boy, but he just simply kicked her out of the way.
"I'm sorry your highness, I seem to have forgotten it. My dearest apologies," Glenn jokes, putting on a fake British accent, that made Mercy want to shove his face away from her.
She rolled her eyes and moved to go grab her bag when Beth walked through the door, mercy's bag slung over her shoulder.
"don't worry, I got it," she said in the sweetest voice, mercy just about died right then and there, and she didn't even know why.
With a warm sensation in her stomach, she took the bag from Beth's hands, smiling softly at the girl.
"you're a lifesaver," she praised, hands pressed together in a prayer. Beth giggled lightly (which just about killed mercy a second time)
"It's no problem!"
Mercy smiled at the girl and followed her to where Glenn and Maggie stood. They were in the middle of a cell, looking around, kicking things out of the way, and commenting on everything that they could.
Mercy set down her bag and placed both her hands on either one of their shoulders.
"I'm telling you two, this place is a real steal, and I got a dozen more people lined up to look at it next week. If you young lovers are serious about this investment, just say the word, and I'll have the paperwork lickity-split,"Mercy joked, guiding the two around the small enclosed room.
Glenn nodded thoughtfully as if he were interested.
"hmm.. i see, i see," he said with a finger on his chin as if he were thinking, "i love the place itself, but what about the neighborhood? Are there any annoying ass redheads nearby? we have a strict no redheads rule and we would hate to have to break it," Glenn asked, turning himself towards mercy.
With a soft laugh Maggie added on,
"It's against our religion," she whispered, her hand cupped around her mouth. Mercy ground and led the two out of the cell.
"and that concludes our tour, i truly hope you enjoyed, but if you didn't I
really could care less." she rambled.
The two laughed, allowing themselves to be pushed out.
"Okay, okay, but seriously, we call that cell." Maggie said, pointing a stern finger at mercy, who in turn raised her hands in surrender.
"wait. we're not sharing a room?" a sad voice to mercy's left asked. Mercy turned to see a very sad Beth, who looked so small at that moment.
Maggie frowned, cupping her baby sister's cheeks. "I'm sorry Beth, but me and Glenn want to share a room. I know our deal was 'sisters before misters' or whatever, but you can room without me for once, yeah?" she asked, running a hand over her sister's hair.
Beth sadly nodded, giving a quiet, "yeah". If Beth continued to do things like this Mercy might actually combust.
Mercy swung a freckled arm over Beth's shoulders,
"It's alright Beth! "I'll room with you if you want," Mercy offered. "Maggie stole my roommate, so I don't go with anyone either." Glenn gave mercy a sad but pitiful look, but she swatted him away like the fly, mouthing 'don't worry
Beth smiled up at the older girl, pink lips turned upwards,
"Okay, thanks mercy,"
AN
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wooooo!! new chapter!!!!