The Hunter's Prey

Chapter 9

A group of heavily armed men emerged from the forest. Maybe twelve. Shit. We were severely outnumbered. I wasn't backing down. They killed Denise. They killed one of our own. I wasn't leaving here till I watched them burn.

"You drop 'em now."

One of the men demanded. His face was burned on one side and he pushed Eugene forward. I kept my gun up. Glancing over at Daryl, I watched as he lowered his gun. Then Rosita did too. Were we really just gonna allow this. Daryl sent me a look. He wanted me to put my gun down. I looked back over at the people, before I lowered my gun. How the hell did they get Eugene? The man pushed Eugene to his knees.

"We'll, hell. You got something to say to me?" The man yelled at Daryl. "You gonna clear the air? Step up on that high horse? No. You don't talk much."

How did they know each other? Daryl was beyond pissed. He looked like he was ready to rip the guy's throat out. The man gestured to his people to take our weapons. The men stepped forward and patted us down. They stripped us of our weapons. I glanced over the leader. His face almost looked melted and his eyes looked unremorseful. I noticed his weapon. Daryl's crossbow. This man must've taken it from Daryl. The man noticed me looking at the crossbow and smirked.

"Still getting the hang over her. Kicks like a bitch, but-"

"I should've done it." Daryl's voice was low.

"Oh, what was that?" The man smiled almost like he was insane. "Seriously, I didn't catch what you said."

"I should've killed you."

"Yeah, you probably should've. So, here we are. Kind of begs the question, right? Who brought this on who? I mean, I get that you'll just have to take my word for this, but she wasn't even the one I was aiming for. Like I said, kicks like a bitch. It's nothing personal. Look, this isn't how we like to start new business arrangements, but, well, you pricks kind of set the tone, didn't you?"

The Saviors. There were more of them. Meaning Negan was still alive. Shit. We're so fucked. We engaged thinking we would take them all down. We thought we did. There was more and there was no clue how many there were.

"What do you want?" Rosita snapped.

"I'm sorry, darlin', I didn't catch your name. I'm D, or Dwight. You can call me either. So? What's your name?" His voice was playful, scary playful.

"Rosita. What do you want?"

"Well, Rosita, it's not what I want. It's what you, her and Daryl are going to do. You're going to let us into your little complex. It looks like it's just beautiful in there. And then you're going to let us take whatever and whoever we want. Or we blow Eugene's brains out." Dwight tightened his grip on Eugene's collar. "And then yours. Then hers. And then his. I hope it doesn't come to that, really. Nobody else has to die. We just try and start with one. You know maximum impact to get our point across. So what's it gonna be? You tell me."

"You wanna kill someone, you start with our companion hiding over there behind the oil barrels." Eugene cut in and gestured with his head to the pile of oil barrels a few meters away. "He's a first-class a-hole and he deserves it so much more than us four."

Abraham. Eugene what the hell? Dwight pulled out his gun and gestured to his men.

"Go check it out."

A group of men broke off and walked over to the oil barrels. Eugene locked eyes with me. I read him instantly. This was a plan. He wasn't being a coward. He was looking for an opening. I nodded slightly, understanding that he was trying to tell us to get ready to attack. Eugene turned and quickly shoved his face into Dwight's crotch. Dwight screamed in pain. Eugene bit his dick. I wasn't going to let him live that down, when we got out of this. Shots fired off as Abraham took down some men. I rushed forward and attacked a man. I pinned him to the ground. Grabbing a rock I smashed it into his head. I grabbed his rifle and took cover behind some cars with Daryl and Rosita. Men fell as walkers began to come towards the noise. Daryl stood up and fired at the men as they began to retreat. Daryl grabbed his discarded crossbow and started to chase after the men.