Didn't See That Coming | The Walking Dead(1)

Part 73 (The Clock Tower Collapse)

The walkers growled so loudly over one another; the noise behind them was deafening as the two of the sprinted side by side, not stopping for a second.

The weakness that resulted from her blood loss was forcing its way out of the cage that CJ had locked it in. There was no time for weakness; but that didn't mean she didn't feel it.

Her and Rick were barely a few feet ahead of the herd as they sprinted breathlessly down the seemingly endless road home. CJ's aching right arm barely held onto her bag to stop it from bouncing against her hip with every step.

A walker appeared in front of them, and CJ swung the machete to slice its head. Blood splattered onto her face as the sudden action made her stumble forwards as she pushed to keep going.

"We got this, we're almost there!" Rick encouraged.

His arm immediately wrapped around her middle from her left to pull her back up, their speed barely faltering as the herd tried to catch up to them. Looking ahead, they finally spotted the rusty blue metal of Alexandria's walls.

"OPEN THE GATE!" Rick yelled loudly over the herd's groans.

Walkers from nearby became alerted to the noise and started to emerge from their hiding spots ahead of Rick and CJ. One came out from a shed right beside them, and Rick was forced to let his grip go on CJ as he dodged its hand when it tried to grab him. She forced herself to get her strength back and managed to keep up with him.

"OPEN THE GATE NOW!"

Much to their relief, the covered chain-link fence was quickly slid open and Michonne and Maggie rushed to open the main gate as more people appeared at the entrance.

Another walker started approaching Rick and CJ, and Rick shoved it away, tripping over as he desperately tried to fight through his breathlessness.

"Come on!" CJ grabbed his arm, ignoring her own pain and pulled him to stand again.

They ducked the rest of the approaching walkers and made it through the gate just in time for Michonne to pull it closed, locking out the walkers as the entire herd pushed themselves against the gate and fences.

CJ and Rick both collapsed to the ground, completely burnt out.

CJ lay on her back; her lungs felt heavier with every breath she took. She brought her left arm across her body to hold her hand over her wound, feeling the pain of it return after the adrenaline had kept it at bay when running.

"CJ, oh my God!" Michonne gasped at the sight of her friend covered in blood as she knelt down beside her. "Is that a bite?"

"No. Gunshot," CJ winced, the words barely escaping her as she tried to sit up.

"Hey, hey. Easy." Michonne gently held CJ's good arm as she helped her up. "I'll take you to the infirmary."

"Not until one of you two tells me how this happened," Deanna interrupted shakily as she looked between CJ and Rick, who was being helped up by Maggie and Tobin. She didn't seem angry, more terrified if nothing else.

"The RV... the RV wouldn't start," Rick tried to explain, gulping as he breathed heavily. "We got attacked. By those Ws."

"The same people that came here?" Maggie questioned.

"Yeah," Rick nodded. "Then the RV got surrounded, we had to make a run for it."

"They were h-headed this way anyway," CJ added tiredly, her eyes flickering between open and close as she felt herself become drowsy. "We didn't have a choice."

CJ felt herself becoming a lot weaker and ended up leaning most of her weight on Michonne, who was still crouched beside her and holding onto her.

"We can talk about it later," Michonne said firmly to Deanna. "Someone help me get her to Denise."