Rachel and Emma were in the middle of cataloging their most recent haul when voices began coming closer. She rolled onto her knees and nudged the cabinet doors apart so she could see who was coming. From where they were seated behind the jewelry counter of a small accessories shop, they would stay hidden from those entering. At least until she knew if they could trust them. It sounded like there were several people, all involved in some kind of argument. Just in case, she reached up and pulled her Cubs hat from off her head that way even if they should happen to look over in their direction, her dark hair would surely blend into the ill lit room than the blue cap.
"You son of a bitch. We ought to kill you." A blonde woman threatened as she backed a uniformed man up against the glass jewelry cases. Her eyes darted around the room. Her hair flew wildly around her head, sticking to face as sweat poured down her.
A Hispanic man came up behind her. Although he was angry as well, Rachel could already tell he was more level headed than the blonde.
"Just chill out, Andrea. Back off."
Another woman stepped closer as well, joining the man in his attempt to calm the nervous, tearful woman. To Rachel, the woman just seemed like a ticking time bomb as she pressed the barrel of the gun harder into the man's forehead, certainly unbalanced at the very least.
"Come on, ease up."
She was surprised at how well dressed the woman was. Wearing slacks and a button down, the woman looked more like she was ready for a long day at the office rather than a scouting mission in a walker infested city. Rachel looked down at the faded flannel she wore over a tank top that was several sizes too big and tattered heavy duty windbreaker. Both had been scavenged over a dead body she'd come across and had seen better days. Then again, hadn't they all?
Andrea scoffed and shook her head. "Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole."
Emma started chatting with Gidget behind the counter, unable to hear the argument going on. Rachel nudged her and motioned for the girl to stay quiet. The girl nodded and turned back to her dog, not even interested in the arriving group. It looked like most, if not all of them had a gun. With just her bat, she'd be no match for them. She didn't trust them. Not yet at least.
"Andrea, I said back the hell off." He commanded as he took her by the shoulder. "Well, pull the trigger."
Andrea hesitated and more tears slipped down her cheeks before she finally pulled away from the man she held prisoner, throwing her hands up in the air. Rachel rolled her eyes, already fed up with the woman's theatrics.
"We're dead... All of us... Because of you."
Bitch. Throwing a pity party won't solve anything.
"I don't understand." The man looked around at the people that surrounded him, completely confused as to what was going on.
Didn't he know about the walkers? How could he not; it's all they'd seen for weeks.
The Hispanic man gripped the other by his shoulder and turned him around, pointing at the door being pounded on by walkers. "Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving! You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out, tiptoeing. Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K. Corral."
"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds." The Black man with a gap tooth and Kangol-looking hat interjected.
Geek?
"You just rang the dinner bell." Andrea muttered as the pounding increased.
"Get the picture now?" The dark haired man finished.
His point was proven as more walkers joined the crowd around the glass door, growling. The tension ratcheted up as one of the walkers picked up a brick and began attempting to smash through the double set of doors to get to the buffet inside.
Rachel quickly started gathering up their stuff and shoving it in the packs. Goddamn it, this was why they never traveled with other people. They were stupid. No, that wasn't right. When she really thought about it, she herself was amazed they'd lived as long as they have. Sometimes she was sure they were only surviving through sheer dumb luck.
"Oh God." The crybaby whimpered, looking for all the world like she was able to burst into tears. She then leveled an accusing glare at the man in the uniform. "What the hell were you doing out there anyway?"
"Trying to flag the helicopter."
Helicopter? Bullcrap.
The dark-skinned man echoed her thoughts a moment later. "Helicopter? Man, that's crap. Ain't no damn helicopter."
The other woman rolled her eyes. "You were chasing a hallucination, imagining things. It happens."
She grabbed the back of Emma's collar and pulled her up, signaling her to follow her quietly.
"I saw it." He answered defensively.
"Hey, T-Dog," The Hispanic man started, leaning back towards the other man in his group. "Try that C.B. Can you contact the others?"
T-dog? That's an interesting name.
"Others? The refugee center?"
Rachel stopped for a moment at the mention of a refugee center.
"Yeah, the refugee center. They've got biscuits waiting at the oven for us."
Never mind. Sarcasm.
They had just made it past the jewelry counter and were almost to the rows of shelves when Kuzco knocked over a Crayola tower, interrupting the group in their persisting argument. Rahcel bent down further, pulling Emma down with her. From the noises the other people were making, she could tell they were gathering up weapons.
"Think it's a walker?" Andrea asked.
One of the men grunted. "Maybe. I'll take a look around. You watch the officer while T-dog tries the radio.
Oh boy, Rachel thought. We're caught. Well, at this point it's either stand up or get shot down.
"Wait!" She said, standing and holding her hands above her head. "Not a walker. We're all alive here."
As she stood up and could see the group as a whole, she knew it was the right decision. Every gun in the room was pointed directly at them, including the man dressed as a sheriff's deputy.
"So," she began awkwardly as she pulled Emma up from the floor. "What's up? I'm Rachel. This is Emma. Kuzco's the klutz who knocked over the Crayola's and Gidget's in the carrier."
"There's more than just you two here?" The officer asked, his face a mask of confusion.
"Huh? Oh on, they're dogs." She bent down and picked up Kuzco to show them.
"Good god. How have you made it this far with two dogs?"
"Sheer dumb luck, duh." Emma piped up with a series of cuckoo noises.
The Hispanic man cocked his head at Emma's explanation before making the introductions. "Jacqui, Andrea, I'm Morales. That's Glenn and T-bone over there."
The group took in the ragtag duo; the older girl's face and ears were studded with at least two dozen piercings and half her head buzzed and the younger girl was wearing a dog in a carrier strapped to her chest. While the two girls definitely weren't the sort of people anyone would expect to have survived at all, let alone in a city the size of Atlanta. The older girl, though not tall, certainly looked as though she wasn't missing any meals so they had to be doing something right.
"Well, at least if it comes down to it, y'all'll have at least one meal you don't have to carry."
The girls gasped in shock over what had to have been the most malicious statement they'd ever heard.
"How dare you even suggest such a thing?" Rachel growled.
"Yeah, Gidgie's too perfect to eat!" Emma said, laughing as the dog popped up out of the carrier to lick her face.
Morales shook his head at the scene in front of him.
"And to think, we were thinking about maybe joining you guys."
Emma looked up from Gidget's kisses. "We were?"
"Well-"
"Are you serious? They can't come with us!" Andrea squawked.
"Does this really seem like the time to decide this now?" Jacqui asked, lowering the knife she was clutching in her hands.
"There's no time now." Morales finished. "Besides, I'd rather they were where we can see them. No telling what people are capable of now."
"Got no signal." T-bone announced as he arrived with Glenn. "Maybe the roof."
"Sounds good." He nodded to the girls and the deputy in front of him. "Y'all go first and stay where we can see you."
"Whatever, dude." The older girl muttered with a roll of her eyes as she picked up Kuzco from the floor.
Several more gunshots rang out as the group was climbing the stairs to the roof. Morales and Glenn looked back at the girls as they followed the group up towards the roof. The larger dachshund climbed the stair a few steps behind the group, panting heavily as he struggled to drag the lower part of his body up yet another flight.
"Oh no. Is that Dixon?" Andrea huffed.
Morales sighed wearily. "What is that maniac doing?"
Glenn pushed past them and continued climbing the stairs. "Come on, let's go."
A scene of chaos unfolded in front of the group as they pushed open the door to the roof. The so-called Dixon was shooting at several of the Walkers on the street below with a sniper rifle, though it seemed like his antics were more for his own amusement since most of his shots either hit them in the larger body parts or missed them entirely.
T-dog ran across the roof, stopping a safe distance away from the crazy neanderthal.
"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?!"
Dixon laughed and continued shooting.
"Obviously, he's crazier than a box of Cracker Jacks."
"Oh jeez." Andrea sighed.
Merle Dixon frowned at the group gathering in front of him, each poised to disarm him at the soonest opportunity. He scoffed at their poor attempt, swinging his rifle around to aim it at them. Rachel pushed Emma behind her to shield her from any potential flying bullets. As crazy as the hick seemed, it was looking more and more like a given. As she looked at the man closer, she saw that his pupils were huge as his eyes darted back and forth. The dude was high. And judging by the streak of white powder dusting the outside of his nose, it looked like cocaine.
"Hey! Y'all be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh? Ah! Only common sense."
Rachel turned to whisper a few snide comments to her sister but noted the girl had again donned her noise canceling headphones to drown out the gunshots. She shrugged, looking directly at the crazy man instead. "This dude is high as a kite and shooting up the street, not even killing anything, and he wants to talk about common sense? Man, and you guys think we're the ones that would cause the most trouble?"
"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got!" T-dog insisted, completely ignoring Rachel's comment.
Merle simply continued laughing.
"And you're bringing even more of them down on our ass! Man, just chill."
Merle stopped laughing and frowned "Hey! Bad enough I've got this taco-bender on my ass all day." He yelled, gesturing towards Morales. "Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day."
T-Dog's muscles tensed and brought his fists up for the coming fight. "That'll be the day"? You got something you want to tell me?"
Morales moved to stand in between the two, trying to keep some semblance of peace. "Hey, T-Dog man, just leave it."
"No."
He grabbed T-dog and pulled him back a bit. "All right? It ain't worth it. Now Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble."
Merle closed the distance between himself and T-dog, a dangerous smirk on his face. "You want to know the day?"
"Yeah." T-Dog taunted as he strained against Morales's hold.
Merle smiled and Rachel backed up, taking Emma with her. Whatever was about to happen, it wasn't good. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the uniformed office ducked behind the pipes. When he noticed her stare he put a finger to his lips, showing her he had a gun. She nodded. As long as Merle didn't know he was there, he had the element of surprise.
"I'll tell you the day, Mr. "Yo." It's the day I take orders from a n____."
Oh crap.
That did it. T-Dog lunged at the racist trailer trash "Mother..."
T-dog only managed to get a couple good punches in before Merle quickly overtook him. The hick pinned T-bone to the ground, viciously punching the man and splitting his lip. He punched him again in the stomach, causing T-dog to hunch over in pain, unable to defend himself as he struggled to take in another breath.
"Hey, come on, Merle. That's enough." Morales tried to pry Merle off his wheezing victim but was roughly shoved away.
"Come on. Dixon!" Andrea yelled.
Merle laid into T-dog with a few more punches but T-dog was no longer even fighting back. It seemed like the man had given up on getting the upper hand and was just concentrating on being able to breathe. The others noticed his waning energy and again tried to pull Merle off of him.
"Whoa, cut it out, man!" Morales said as he came closer.
Andrea quickly joined him, grabbing Merle's arm before he could plunge it into T-dog's face once again. "Stop it! Dixon, get off him! Dixon, you're gonna hurt him."
"Merle, cut it out!"
Merle wrenched out of their grip as T-dog coughed, hacking up blood. He pulled the pistol from the waistband of his jeans and pressed the barrel hard into his forehead. He cocked the gun, his finger ready to pull the trigger at the slightest provocation.
"No no no, please. Please." Andrea begged.
Everybody stopped, not wanting Merle to end T-dog's life. He finally took the gun away from his forehead and let go of T-dog who immediately scrambled backwards toward the rest of the group.
Merle stood up, lording over them like a tyrant. "Yeah! All right! We're gonna have ourselves a little powwow, huh? Talk about who's in charge. I vote me. Anybody else? Huh? Democracy time, y'all. Show of hands, huh?"
He waited until they all raised their hands, though Jacqui flipped him off as she raised hers. Rachel smiled at the woman's spunk. It was good. Spuk was needed if they wanted to stay alive.
"All in favor? Huh? Come on. Let's see 'em. Oh, come on. All in favor? Yeah. That's good. Now that means I'm the boss, right? Yeah. Anybody else? Hmm? Anybody?"
Rick stepped up behind him before he could look around the roof. "Yeah." He said, smacking Merle over the head with a pipe.
As Merle laid on the ground counting stars, Rick quickly disarmed him, kicking the gun out of his reach, and proceeded to drag Merle over to a pipe and handcuff him there.
"Who the hell are you, man?!" Merle yelled, though it was obvious his vision wasn't all there yet as he looked slightly to the side of the officer instead of directly at him.
"Officer friendly." He answered sarcastically as he slipped Merle's pistol into the waistband of his pants. "Look here, Merle. Things are different now. There are no n______ anymore. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."
"Screw you, man." Merle seethed as he spat at him.
"I can see you make a habit of missing the point."
"Yeah? Well, screw you twice."
Rick took his handgun and pressed it into Merle's forehead much like he had done to T-dog minutes before. "Ought to be polite to a man with a gun." He said as he cocked the gun, echoing Merle's words from earlier. "Only common sense."
Merle chuckled, clearly underestimating the danger he was currently facing. "You wouldn't. You're a cop."
"A cop?" Rachel asked as she and Emma slowly edged their way back toward the group. "You sure about that? I mean, I scavenged a pair of scrubs I found in a backpack a couple weeks ago, that doesn't mean I'm a nurse or anything."
The rest of the group looked at each other, no longer sure of the uniformed man. It was weird how after all they'd been through, the sight of an officer's uniform had immediately put them at ease. And yet the girl was right; who was to say the man hadn't just found it and put it on?
"All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son." Rick answered, not offering anything more in the way of confirming his identity as an officer of the law. "Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that." Noticing the remains of cocaine on the still swearing man's face, he flicked Merle's nose. "Got some on your nose there."
Merle sniffed and continued chuckling. "What are you gonna do? Arrest me?"
His laughter quickly ended however as Rick began to rifle through his discarded bag until he found what he was looking for: a small bag filled with more white powder. He brought it up where Merle could see, shaking it with a devious smile before throwing it off the edge of the roof and into the crowd of walkers below.
"Hey!" He shouted, lunging toward the man, though whether his aim was to try and go over for the drugs or throttle the man that threw them was anyone's guess. "What are you doing? Man, that was my stuff! Hey! If I get loose, you'd better pray... Yeah, you hear me, you pig?! You hear me?!"
"Yeah, your voice carries." He then ignored Merle's continued threats as he walked away, clutching his shaking hand, trying to hide how much the situation unsettled him.
"Do you hear me, you filthy pig?!"
"Dude, with walkers and looters and general infection and starvation, you actually want to hurry your death along with drugs?" Rachel said with a sigh.
"Shut your mouth, girlie! Or when I get loose I'll teach you a lesson too."
She shook her head. "Guess the apocalypse didn't erase stupidity." She then turned to Emma. "You don't talk to him, got it? We don't associate with crazy people."
Rachel then scooted over to Morales and the others who were bent over T-dog. Pulling a wad of tissues from her pocket, she held them out for one of them to take. Jaqcui took them from her with a silent nod and began blotting at T-dog's face.
She watched as Emma sat down and began burying her dog's favorite ball in the gravel that covered the roof.
"Gidgie, Gidgie!" She cooed, lifting the dog out of her carrier. "Go find your ball!"
The dog started racing around the expanse on her spindly legs, keeping away from Merle, her tongue flapping out of her mouth as she panted wildly, sniffing several feet away from where Emma had buried the ball.
"Are you sure that's a dog?" T-dog asked hoarsley, still coughing. "'Cause it looks more like a rat."
Rachel snickered before covering her mouth with her hand when Emma shot her a glare. "Yeah, she's a dog. Rats would've found the ball already- Ouch!" She grunted after Emma slugged her.
"Don't call Gidgie, stupid!"
"Don't hit me, idiot!"
"Bitch!"
"Whore!"
"Asshole!"
"Dick!"
"Okay, girls..." Glenn interrupted, looking back at Andrea and Jacqui. Instead of adding anything they just shook their heads silently, letting them know he was on his own. "Um, we're trying to figure out a way out of here so if you two could knock it off! Fighting isn't going to solve anything!"
"Fighting? Who's fighting?"
Glenn looked at both the girls, his mouth hanging open. "Um, you guys were?"
"No, we weren't." Emma answered with a smirk.
"Yeah, sometimes we just insult each other. No one's feelings are getting hurt."
Glenn looked at Andrea helplessly. "Can't you help?"
"What?"
"You're a girl. And you have a sister."
She scoffed. "Yeah, we don't do...whatever this is." She said, gesturing to Rachel and Emma.
Rachel rolled her eyes, pulling herself up with a grunt. "Don't worry about it." She tossed over her shoulder as she left. "Damn, look at all the walkers down there."
Morales and Andrea joined her at the edge of the roof.
"So..." Rachel began, scuffing the toe of her blue combat boot into the gravel. "I know you guys probably aren't, like, completely excited over having people joining you guys, but Emma and I'd appreciate some time around actual people for a while."
Morales sighed. "I mean, we can take you guys back at least. We're certainly not going to leave you two here. But really, it's up to the group as a whole to agree for you to stay."
"Yeah, makes sense."
It seemed like they had been slowly gathering together since Merle's shooting and subsequent fight. Morales blew out an anxious breath. How were they going to get out? How was he going to see his wife and kids again? He never should have agreed to come on this scavenging expedition. Were they really that low on supplies?
"My God, it's like Times Square down there." Andrea gasped, interrupting his spiraling thoughts.
Morales looked back at T-dog, unsettled over the gathering sea of walkers. "How's that signal?"
"Like Dixon's brain... Weak."
"Keep trying."
"Why?" Andrea whined. "There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing."
"Got some people outside the city is all." Morales said at the new people's confused looks. "There's no refugee center. That's a pipe dream."
Rachel kicked the gravel. "Damn, really? So we came to this deathtrap for nothing."
"Then she's right." Rick said, only adding to the growing hopeless atmosphere. "We're on our own. It's up to us to find a way out.
Merle guffawed. "Good luck with that. These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear. Ain't that right, sugar tits?" He scoots his boot over towards Andrea and Rachel. "Hey, honeybunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs, we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? I'd ask the skinny one but she seems a little touched if you know what I mean. Gonna die anyway. "
"I'd rather." Andrea scoffed.
Rachel's mouth dropped open in shock. "Has that line actually ever worked out for you? Like, even once?"
"Rug munchers, the both of you. I figured as much. The hair gives it away."
Rachel touched the short strands that brushed the top of her ear before rolling her eyes. "Yeah, okay, sweetie. The next time I take fashion advice, it definitely won't be from someone like you."
"The streets ain't safe. Now there's an understatement." Morales stated.
"What about under the streets? The sewers?" Rick suggested.
"Oh man. Hey, Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"
They all watched as Glenn ran across the roof. He leaned over the side, scanning the alleyway below. Unfortunately, there were no manhole covers, just a few walkers wandering aimlessly and bumping into trash-filled dumpsters.
"No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are."
"Maybe not." Jacqui added. "Old building like this built in the '20s... Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding down in the subbasements."
Glenn tilted his head in confusion. "How do you know that?"
"It's my job... was. I worked in the city zoning office."
Rachel grabbed Emma's hand and dragged her along as they followed the group back down into the mall and down several flights of stairs until reaching the basement.
"Holy crap." Rachel wheezed. "What is it with you people and stairs today?"
"Maybe-"
"Nope." Rachel said, cutting Emma off before she could say anything. "Just shut up."
The rest of the group ignored the girls, instead looking into the dark hole leading downward into the bowels of Atlanta's sewers.
"This is it? Are you sure?"
Glenn nodded. "I really scoped this place out the other times I was here. It's the only thing in the building that goes down. But I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?"
"No kidding." Rachel quipped. "I mean, I really hope nobody's planning on all of us going down there. If the city's a deathtrap, then down there's definitely the sewers."
Everybody looked at Glenn and then back to the sewer entrance.
"Oh. Great."
"We'll be right behind you." Andrea suggested.
"No, you won't. Not you."
"Why not me? Think I can't?"
"I wasn't..." Glenn's words trailed off as he shrugged uncomfortably.
Rick clapped him on the back. "Speak your mind."
Glenn sighed. "Look, until now I always came here by myself... In and out, grab a few things... No problem. The first time I bring a group... Everything goes to hell. No offense. If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine... But only if we do it my way. It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I'll take one person... Not you three either." He stated, gesturing towards Rickand the girls. "Rick's got Merle's gun and I've seen him shoot. I'd feel better if he was out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass." He then pointed to Andrea. "And you've got the only other g*n, so you should go with him. You be my wingman." He nodded to Morales. "Jacqui stays here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."
Jacqui nodded. "Okay."
"Okay, everybody knows their jobs." Rick said as Gleen and Morales descended down the ladder. "You two stick with us. Do you girls even have any weapons?"
"Sure do!" Rachel announced proudly. She picked up the aluminum baseball bat and joined Emma with the rest of the group. "See? I picked it up out of some dude's bedroom. Judging by the scrapbook I found under his bed, the bat came before the zombies. He must have been a welder or something 'cause these spikes are wicked!" The girl traced the aluminum spikes that jutted out from the top and down the sides of the bat, completely oblivious to the group's horrified looks.
"And I have a slingshot!" Emma added, making Rachel burst out in hyena-like laughter. "I'm just like Bugs Bunny!"
The walkers continued their assault on the double doors as the group came closer, banging harder on the glass and growling while Rick approached Andrea. The tension was high as cracks spiderwebbed across the door, signaling the shrinking time they had before the walkers made their way inside.
"Sorry for the gun in your face." Andrea mumbled, not looking at Rick as she scanned the jewelry counter.
He shrugged. "People do things when they're afraid."
"Not that it was entirely unjustified." She continued. "You did get us into this."
"Nice apology." Rachel muttered as she walked by. "Not."
"If I get us out, would that make up for it?"
"No, but it'd be a start."
"Do you know how the safety works?"
"I do!" Emma chimed in, raising her hand like a schoolchild.
Rachel sighed. "Emma, is your name Andrea?"
"No, if it was, I'd change it." Anything the girl was going to say next was cut off as Rachel clapped her hand over her sister's mouth, though neither girl missed the death glare Andrea sent them.
Rick ignored the girls again. "Next time though, take the safety off. It won't shoot otherwise."
"Oh."
"Is that your gun?" He asked.
Andrea shook her head. "It was a gift. Why?"
He took the gun from her and showed her the switch at the side. "Little red dot means it's ready to fire. You may have occasion to use it."
"Good to know."
Rachel came up behind Emma, dragging her bat behind her. Sitting down on the floor, she smiled as Kuzco crawled up into her lap. She began petting his little red ears, shushing his quiet cries as the walkers pouding grew even louder. He climbed higher up her stomach, planting his paws on her collarbone, his chocolate brown eyes sad as he felt the fear radiating off the group. The fear ballooned into full blown terror as the glass of the first door shattered and walkers poured in to start pounding on the second and last set of doors. Rick moved to the front of the group, his gun trained on the doors, ready to shoot should the walkers break through the last set of doors.
Glenn and Morales joined them as the group gathered together, weapons raised to defend against the coming walkers.
"What did you find down there?" Rick asked, not taking his eyes off the entrance.
"Not a way out." Morales said.
Andrea sniffed, and wiped her eyes. "We need to find a way... And soon."
It wasn't until Rick discovered the cube truck through the binoculars from his perch on the roof that anyone in the group felt any hope that they might actually make it home.
"That construction site, those trucks... They always keep keys on hand."
Morales shook his head at the insanity of what Rick was suggesting. "You'll never make it past the walkers."
"You got me out of that tank."
Glenn scoffed. "Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted."
"Can we distract them again?"
"Right. Listen to him." Merle snorted. "He's onto something. A diversion, like on "Hogan's Heroes"."
"God. Give it a rest." Jacqui groaned.
Rick paced back and forth, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to think of a plan. "They're drawn by sound, right?"
"Right, like dogs." Glenn agreed. "They hear a sound, they come."
"What else?"
Morales came to a stop beside him. "Aside from they hear you? They see you, smell you and if they catch you, they eat you."
"They can tell us by smell?"
"Can't you?" Glenn asked, smacking his forehead like a V-8 commercial extra.
Andrea joined the group. "They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct."
"Oh man," Rachel groaned. "Officer Friendly's got an idea and I'm guessing we're not going to like it." Unfortunately, the rest of the group ignored her as they raced back into the mall.
Rick gives outfits and accessories to the others. "Aw, fuck this. Come on, Emma."
By the time the girls joined the rest of the group, Rick was searching through the aisles and grabbing things seemingly at random from the shelves; face shields, trench coats, rubber gloves, and axes were gathered and thrust into the group's hands.
Receiving his own supplies, Glenn began breathing heavily. "If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold."
"For reals, dude." Rachel added, holding out the axe Rick had handed her out like it might reach up and bite her. "Just because you smell like a walker, doesn't mean they're so dumb they won't notice you're human."
She watched as Emma backed away from the group and slipped out the door. It made sense. She was sure that the room was soon going to smell like straight up death and rotting from the walkers being torn up.
After Morales and Glenn brought in the walker from outside, Rick grabbed the fire ax and had the group don trench coats. He seemed to hesitate just before chopping at the walker and stopped to search through the walker's pockets, pulling out a wallet and began reading the license.
"Wayne Dunlap. Georgia license. Born in 1979. He had $28 in his pocket when he died... And a picture of a pretty girl. "With love, from Rachel.""
"No relation, by the way." Rachel interjected.
"Anyways... He used to be like us... Worrying about bills or the rent or the Super Bowl. If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne."
Rick hefted the ax before letting it fall heavily into the walker's stomach. Again and again he raised the ax and hacked into the dead Wayne Dunlap's belly until muscles and intestine spilled out of the body in a bloody splatter. The intense coppery smell of blood mixed with decomposing flesh and tissue permeated the air. Gleen bent over, his hands on his knees as he turned green, gagging with the effort it took not to toss his cookies.
"Madre de Dios!"
"Oh!"
"Keep chopping." Rick commanded as he held the bloody ax out to Morales.
Glenn turned an ever paler shade of green as Morales began hacking off parts of the walker's body, separating feet and hands from the rest of it. He started on the head, the blade of the ax breaking through the rotting shell of his skull and spilling the soupy remains of his brain across the floor. Pieces of the muck flew through the air and landed on Glenn's trench coat with a sickening, wet slop.
Glenn coughed as he dry heaved. "I am so gonna hurl."
"Later." Rick said as the corpse on the floor began to look more like a pile of bloody mush than the human being it once was. "Everybody got gloves? Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."
Rachel frowned over the disgusting smell as she reached into the splintered cavity that once housed Wayne's stomach to apply some guts on Rick and Glenn. The little devil on her shoulder talked her into humming the Mcdonald's jingle as she spread the innards on Glenn's shoulders and chest.
"Oh God! Oh jeez. Oh, this is bad. This is really bad."
"Think about something else... Puppies and kittens." Rick said, watching with mounting concern at the tinge Glenn's face was taking.
Rachel chuckled. "Dead puppies and kittens."
Glenn could no longer hold on as he bent over and vomited. Now the unidentifiable remains of lunch joined the sludge of Wayne Dunlap.
"That is just evil. What is wrong with you?" Andrea remarked as she rubbed comforting circles on Glenn's back.
"Oh please, like he would have held out any longer. We've been shmearing him with walker guts like he's a bagel."
Glenn bent over again to vomit, but there was nothing more in his stomach so he was forced to dry heave for a couple seconds before standing up again to suffer through another coating.
"You suck."
She gifted him a raised middle finger. "Whatever. I'm heading up to the roof. I think I've desecrated enough corpses for today."
"Do we smell like them?" Rick asked as she exited the doors.
"Oh yeah..."
She found Emma petting her dog roughly by the non-working escalator and plopped down beside her. Fishing a piece of Puperoni out of her pocket, she held it out to the shaking animal who quickly snatched it up like she hadn't eaten in six weeks.
"Are we really going with them?" Emma asked, patting Gidget on the back as she choked on the meat stick.
"Maybe. That'll all depend on whether we get out of here alive or not. Why?"
"You shouldn't make them mad."
Rachel lifted an eyebrow at the girl. "What do you mean?" Emma didn't answer her, just giving her a look. "Okay, fine. I will try harder to temper my natural charm."
Just then Morales, Andrea and Jacqui ran by, heading up to the roof again.
She sighed and picked up Kuzco.
"Where are you going?" Emma asked as she got up.
"To the roof. Come on, let's go."
Emma nodded and stuffed Gidget back in the carrier as they made their third trip up the stairs.
"Hey, what's happening, man?" Merle yelled as they entered the roof.
Morales ignored him, instead looking out over the roof through his binoculars. "Hey, T-Dog, try that C.B."
"Hey, come on. Talk to me, y'all."
Rachel looked down at the man, actually feeling a smidgen of pity for him as he sat still handcuffed to the pipe.
"Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me? Can anybody out there hear me?"
"There!" Morales said as he pointed to a pair of figures walking beside each other. Glenn and Rick.
They all looked up at the sky as thunder rumbled. Small drops of rain began to fall slowly from the sky in a slight drizzle. However, their fear mounted as the trickle quickly morphed into a full on downpour.
"Think Rick and Glenn will get to the truck before the walker smell washes off?" Emma asked.
Merle's head swung around worriedly at the soft question. "That asshole is out on the street with the handcuff keys?"
T-Dog shook his head, retrieving the handcuff key from his pocket, and showing him the key.
"They're leaving us." Andrea yelled as the cube truck peeled out of the lot and down the street.
"What? What?" Merle asked, yanking on the pipe as he struggled to stand up and see what the commotion was about.
"Where they going? Where they going?" Morales wondered, his body shaking.
Rachel grabbed Kuzco and Emma and ran back across the roof to head down the stairs. There was the thought as the pair descended the stairs that the muscled redneck was still probably handcuffed to the pipe. Should they go back? Both quickly dismissed the thought and continued towards the loading dock. Surely, the people he had come with would unlock the handcuffs and free him. Andrea, Jacqui and Morales soon joined them at the roll up door.
"What is that?" Andrea asked as the blaring sound of a siren started echoing through the streets of the city. A car engine revved as a little red sports car raced past the group and disappeared down the street and out of the city.
T-Dog joined the rest of the survivors just in time before the walkers that had been banging on the door for their meal broke through the second set of doors and stormed into the store. Thanks to Glenn's driving however, Rick's way was clear and he had the chance to pull in with his truck.
"Hey, wait for me!" T-Dog begged as Walkers entered the store, stumbling through the aisles to the fresh meat waiting for them at the loading dock.
"They're here! Let's go! They're in here!" T-dog yelled, struggling to be heard over the increasing sound of walker's growling and groaning.
Kuzco and Gidget whined in their owner's arms, tucking their faces into the girl's necks as their fear ratcheted higher. Morales crossed himself and held his own bat higher as the walkers came into sight. Their attention was suddenly ripped from the coming horde as Rick banged on the loading dock door.
"Let's go! Open the door!" Morales commanded Andrea as he and the girls stood back against the horde.
As Andrea and T-dog yanked on the chains controlling the door, they were shocked as several of the walkers dropped one after another, causing those that followed to trip over the fallen bodies. Morales looked back, shocked to see Emma take aim at another walker and pull back before releasing another stone straight into the head of the closest walker. He nodded his gratitude and moved to help Andrea and T-dog, succeeding in rolling up the doors and revealing the empty expanse of the truck waiting for them.
"We've gotta go!" T-dog yelled, clambering into the waiting vehicle.
The group dove into the car, screaming in fear as Morales was tugged partially out. A walker had toppled off the loading dock, grabbing onto Morales to stop its fall. Jacqui and Andrea lunged forward, taking Morales by the arms to keep him from being pulled completely out of the truck. Emma let loose another stone, sending it sailing into the walker's eye socket. Its grip loosened on Morales and he was able to be pulled back in.
"I'm in!" Morales gasped, breathing hard.
He yanked the door down and latched it closed before any other walkers could get to them. The group collapsed against the sides of the truck, relieved to have actually escaped.
"Hey." Rachel said, interrupting the moment of bliss. "Where's crazy dude?"
Rick's head snapped back, waiting to hear the answer before turning his attention back to the road as a walker splattered across the hood of the truck.
The group looked to T-dog, waiting to hear what happened.
T-Dog hung his head low. "I dropped the damn key."
"Damn."
The relieved mood immediately disappeared as the realization that not all of their group made it out took hold. It was obvious there was nothing that they could do. To go back would mean certain death for the entire group.
Andrea then looked around the truck, noticing that Glenn was also missing.
"Where's Glenn?"
Rachel smiled wide, indicating the sound of the red sports car's alarm as it raced out of the city with a jerk of her head. "Having the time of his life, I'll bet."