The Purification (From the Ashes We Will Rise: Book One)

Chapter 13

"Holy shit," Glenn gasped as we approached Tony's dead body.

"You boys all right?" Rick asked. It was clear that he wasn't all right. I nodded my head, and Glenn replied with a "yeah."

"Hershel?"

He stayed silent, looking over at the counter hiding Dave's body. When Hershel finally looked over at Rick, he was nodding his head. Everyone was okay. Relief washed over Rick, and I could see his shoulders relax.

"Let's head back," Hershel ordered. As Rick and Hershel made their way to the door, Glenn grabbed the little gear on Tony while I did the same with Dave. Some people need to learn to take no for an answer. That's when headlights flashed through the window.

"Car! Car!" Rick whisper-shouted as we all hit the deck. I hated that Glenn and I were on opposite sides of the room. This was going to get ugly quickly. I could tell it was a diesel truck from the engine's rumbling. As the sounds quieted to silence and the doors shut, I could feel my heartbeat racing. I looked over at my brother, who was already looking at me. I mouthed, "I love you," and he returned the gesture. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before focusing. We can still get out of this.

"Dave? Tony? Did they say over here?" A man's voice spoke.

"Yeah," another one confirmed. "I'm telling you, man. I heard shots."

"I saw roamers two streets over. Might be more around here. It's hot," the other man argued.

"Dave! Tony!" The other man shouted. I saw a silhouette in the glass window at the door. He was a short but broad-shouldered man. Thank god the windows were frosted.

"Shut up, you idiot! Do you want to attract them?" The other one hissed. "Just stick close. We're going to find 'em."

I watched as the silhouette got closer. I peeked through the corner of the curtain. There were three men, and they were all dressed in dark clothing.

"Dude, he said to stay close," the third man whispered. Once they had appeared to move on, Rick stood from where he was crouching. He quickly looked out the window before crouching down and maneuvering over to Hershel and me.

"Why won't they leave," Glenn whispered.

"If it were me, would you?" I asked, and he shut up.

"We can't stay here any longer," Rick said, ending the argument. "Let's head out the back and make a run to the car."

We all nodded, and that's when we began to move. As I was about to get up, gunshots rang through the air, and I dropped to the ground.

"What happened?"

"Roamers, I nailed 'em."

"They disappeared, but their car's still there. I cleared those buildings. You guys get this one?"

"No."

"Me either."

"We're looking for Dave and Tony, and no one checks the damn bar?"

I pulled my gun as Rick cocked his back. As the door opened, Glenn threw himself in front of it, forcing it to shut. They know we're here now, but not how many of us. I silently crawled over to my brother. If we're going down, it'll be together. And I promised Maggie I'd keep him safe.

"Someone pushed it shut. There's someone in there."

"Yo, is someone in there?" A man shouted. "Yo, if someone's in there, we don't want no trouble. We're just looking for our friends."

"What do we do? Rush the door?" One of the others asked.

"No," the man in charge decided. "We don't know how many are there. Just relax."

"We don't want any trouble! We're just looking for our friends!" The boomed again. "If something happened, tell us! This place is crawling with corpses. I'd appreciate it if you could help us not get killed."

"Dude, I'm telling you you're bugging. There's no one in there."

"Someone guard the door," the shouting man ordered. "If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."

"They drew on us!" Rick responded after a few moments of silence. Shit. I looked over at my brother, who had wide eyes, and I could hear Hershel gasp. My hand instantly flew to his. I was scared before, but I was terrified now.

"Dave and Tony in there?" The man asked. "They alive?"

"No!" Rick shouted.

"Come on, man, let's go," one of the others begged.

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm not telling Jane. I won't go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar!" The man argued.

"Your friends drew on us!" Rick shouted. "They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've lost enough people and done things we wish we didn't have to, but it's like that now. You know that! So let's chalk this up to what it was—wrong place, wrong—" A bullet came flying through the window, shattering the glass above my head. Glenn jumped over, shielding my body with his. He ripped me off the ground as Rick shouted for us to go as he returned fire. As shots continued flying through the air, I shoved Glenn out of the way behind the counter.

It didn't feel like anything at first. I was aware that something had hit me, but I didn't know what it was. It wasn't until I tried to sit up that I felt the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. White hot, blinding pain. The pain doesn't fade very quickly. I imagine that there are more painful places to be shot than the stomach. When my adrenalin began to kick in, and I couldn't feel anything, I began to panic. I could hear Glenn calling out for me, and I wanted to get to him, but after the pain I felt trying to get up, I wouldn't try that again. Trying to move was absolute agony. I was praying to pass out but never did. I did my best to stay quiet as the firing ceased, but I couldn't.