Freedom -Negan-

Chapter 7

We found the light switch to the overhead light in the barn and turned it off, leaving us in complete darkness. I pushed the right door to the barn open just enough to let Carla and Heather slip out. I followed suit and gently shut the door behind me with a soft creak. 

We tried to get the layout of the camp as best we could from the barn earlier. As far as we could tell, there wasn't a house, but there was a large shelter that must have been used for the horses when there were horses here. The glow of the fireplace allowed us to make out a roof and some support poles.

 The three of us crouch in front of the barn doors and hashed out a semblance of a plan. The structure at the top of the hill was maybe a quarter mile away from the barn. We didn't hear any yelling or laughter anymore or see any silhouettes moving across the glow of the fire, giving us some relief.

 The fire had died down from the blaze it was before, but still gave us enough light to give us direction. Carla whispered good luck to us as she headed up the western side of the hill to try and find her sister. Heather and I were going up the eastern side to try to get a better look into the layout of the camp and we'd be able to see inside the large structure that possibly held all the men and woman in the camp. 

We tried to keep low to avoid any detection from the living and the dead. The coolness of the air nipped at my exposed lower legs. I felt sympathy for Heather as she was just in a t-shirt. 

There wasn't too much cover going up the side of the hill. Once we reached the top, we crouched low enough for our stomachs to brush against the grass. There appeared to be a fence around the majority of the small camp and a small tree offered us cover as we scouted the camp. Two men sat near the dying bonfire. I recognized both of them from their visits to the barn and Heather did, too, as I saw her jaw clench out of the corner of my eye when see saw the men. 

"God, I feel like shit. Shouldn't have drank so much before going on duty." The slimmer man said to the man sitting to the left. The other man, who appeared older and bulkier, laughed and slapped the younger man on the shoulder. 

"We've got to get back to the real world tomorrow, man. Back to the woods." The younger man groaned at this and stood up."

"I'm gonna take a piss."

"Want me to come with you?" The older man asked.

"You wanna suck my cock or something?" The younger man walked off as the bulkier one mumbled something under his breath.

 I turned my head to Heather, and she nodded. We headed in the same direction as the slimmer man while keeping low. The man was heading a little far from the fence to relieve himself against a small tree. The light of the fire didn't reach over here, leaving the man in darkness. 

"I've got this one." Heather stared at the man and I offered my knife for a better stealth opportunity.

"Remember we need to be quiet." I spoke softly and held back as she crept forward, barely acknowledging my words with a small nod.

It was hard to see everything in the dead of night, but the moonlight allowed me to see Heather sneak behind the man and wait for him to begin to zip his pants before she jumped up, covered his mouth with her hand and ran the knife over his throat.

The man fell to ground silently. I crept over to Heather and she stood over his body with the knife clenched in her right hand. She couldn't take her eyes off of him and all of the sudden she dropped to her knees and brought the knife slamming down into the man's skull.

I knew what this man had done to her, yet this seemed a mercy killing compared to what I knew she wanted to do. I put my head on her shoulder and held my hand out for the knife. She pulled it from the man's head and I used the knife to carve the number 2 into the man's cheek. Heather gave me a questioning look and I just said "I want them to know how it happened."

"Craig! What the hell is taking so long." The other's man voice came from the fence, causing us to crouch low to the dead man's body. We crept behind a bush that was next to the tree and waited.

"Craig?" The man came closer and closer to us, finally turning his flashlight on when he was a few feet away, back facing us. I ran out when his flashlight landed on the younger man's corpse.

The man yelled out when I grabbed his head from behind. He used his right elbow to hit me in the ribs, but I wouldn't let go. I raised my hand and plunged my knife into his right side. He groaned against my hand before falling to his knees. He tried scrambling away and reached for the gun on his belt, but I pulled the knife from his side and forced it into his back.

I grabbed the gun and threw it to my left. I crouched down on the man with both knees on either side, pulled his head back and slit his throat. I slumped over in exhaustion. We've only eaten the bare minimum the last week and adrenaline only lasted for so long. 

"Take his gun, only use it if you have to. Don't want to kill these assholes and then get swarmed by the dead afterwards." I told Heather through my labored breathing. 

The man I had just killed had a small knife on the opposite side of his belt. I stashed that in my hoodie pocket for one of the other girls. 

"Skinny man had a huge machete on him." Heather pulled out the large weapon and I saw her smile. 

"You can have that. I've got Big Ben's knife." I looked back up at the camp to make sure the other men weren't running down afterwards, but it appeared that our stealth had been successful. I had only hoped that the same could be said for Carla.

We made our way back to the fence. No other men were seen on guard. Now we could see into the shelter. I could see the remaining men sleeping on cots on the ground. It crossed my mind how strange it was to choose a shelter open to the elements rather than using the barn to stay in, but I wouldn't be asking them any questions tonight to find out. I sat and counted the men. Twelve. That means that all the men there were guilty and there would be no need to differentiate. 

"You can still leave now. You've got a gun and a badass machete. You can find your people." I have Heather another chance to guarantee her life.

"No, I need to see those men die." She started intently in front of her and I knew what she was feeling without her having to use words.

"I just have one request."

"What's that?" 

"Leave Jimmy for me."