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

Chapter 22

Once we entered the woods, Shane followed as Tuck began sniffing a trail. "I saw him head through the trees before I blacked out. I'm not sure how long."

"He couldn't have gotten far. He's hobbled, exhausted," Rick stated as we fanned out.

"And armed," Glenn added nervously from beside me.

"So are we," Rick growled. "Can you track him?"

"No," Daryl sighed. "I don't see nothing."

"Follow Tuck. He'll lead us right to Randall," I promised, and Rick met me with a curt nod.

"There ain't no need to track him!" Shane snapped. "He went that way. So we pair up, spread out, and chase him down. That's it."

"Kid weights a buck 25 soaking wet. You trying to tell us he got the jump on you?" Daryl accused, drawing everyone's attention to Shane,

"I say a rock pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane countered.

"Knock it off," Rick hissed. "Liam and Glenn start heading up the right flank. Shane and I will take the left. Daryl, you take up our rear. Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. So keep an eye out there for each other."

As Glenn and I took off alone, night officially fell on us. It was a significant advantage, but it didn't only benefit us. I had the butt of the rifle pressed to my shoulder, ready to shoot if I had to. I may be the younger brother, but I usually took the lead between us. Now was no different. Tuck led the way while Glenn slowly stalked backward, covering our six. The woods have always been unsettling to me. I mean, Glenn and I grew up in Detroit. The closest thing there was the few trees that popped up now and again.

"This is pointless," I groaned. "Did you bring a flashlight?"

"Yeah, just a sec," Glenn whispered, clicking it on.

Glenn and I were side by side now. I had my gun trained while he shone the way.

"We're just back to square one," Glenn sighed as we continued hiking through the woods.

"If we're gonna do it, we might as well do it right," I laughed as we moved forward, but that's when I noticed something. "Stop!" I hissed, squatting down. "There are two sets of tracks right here. Shane must have followed Randall much longer than he was leading on." As we walked forward and the flashlight beam caught the tree. The beam caught something.

"There's blood on the tree," Glenn gasped.

I walked up to it and pushed my fingers against it, "it's still fresh." Glenn shined the beam on the ground, and we found more tracks. "It looks like they were talking side by side."

"This is getting weird," Glenn shivered as we kept moving. My mind was wandering to a place. A place I had no business being in.

"What the hell is that?" I asked as Glenn picked up a long piece of fabric. Tuck began to growl as the hair on the back of his neck stood up. We both jumped when sticks cracked behind us. We quickly jumped behind a couple of trees, and I turned around to see who or what it was. 

It was a walker. We waited for it to come into range, and Glenn lined it up. He was about to swing his knife down, but he hesitated when he saw who it was. Randall turned. Walker Randall took Glenn down, and I pulled him off as quickly as possible. I held him on the ground, and Glenn took a final swing, bringing his life to a quick end.

"Oh, shit," I sighed. "Nice shot."

Glenn tried to steady himself, trying to catch his breath. We both knelt on either side of Randall to look him over.

"His neck was broken," I huffed in surprise, feeling the bones jutting out awkwardly beneath his skin. Glenn helped me roll him over and looked all over his body.

"No bites," Glenn announced, speaking my thoughts.

"He must have died from the broken neck," I declared.

"How is that possible?" Glenn asked. When his eyes met mine, he knew exactly what I meant. We both rose to our feet and looked around. I did not want to be on Shane's bad side once Rick figured out what really happened.