Shambles- The Walking Dead [Alden x Maggie] [1/2]

56- Bloody mess

Once they finally freed themselves of the endless darkness of the tunnel it was night again, but the stars were still a grateful sight to see. Roy was still with them but the fever was setting in. He wouldn't last long. It was as good a place to take a breather as any other and they decided to take a short rest.

Negan walked to Maggie and handed her gun back silently. He let his hand linger on it for a second whilst he stared at her before he let go.

"Was he your friend?" Elijah asked as he sat down next to Rose with his metal mask in his hands.

"Yes," she nodded slightly. "Growing up it was just him, Addy and Rodney. There was no one else around our age, we kinda had no choice but to be friends. We weren't at first, but that changed over time." She sighed. "Doesn't matter anymore; they're all dead now."

"I'm sorry."

"You got nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't your fault," she insisted.

"We're out of supplies, how are we going to fight the crazy ghost military people?" Alden asked the group.

"There's a place we could go," Frost insisted. "We have a hidden supply depot. Arbor Hills. It's one of Georgie's, but she told us about it in case we ran into trouble. It's supposed to have ammo, food and weapons. Basically everything we might need."

"We'll rest once we're there. Restock," Maggie agreed. "And then we'll go to Meridian."

"The neighborhood is marked by a radio tower," Agatha added. Then she turned to Negan. "You know where that is?"

He gave half a nod. "Yeah. Come on."

Their break was over and they started walking again. The scenery around them changed. They were in the city's outskirts now. Within the hour they walked on the open road surrounded by nature. That was when they saw the first of them.

A corpse dangling upside down from a post, hoisted up by a rope tied around his ankles. It swayed back and forth in the wind slightly. As soon as they saw the first, they saw them all. Two lines on opposite sides of the road with bodies strung up the exact same way. Endless death on display.

"Well, this place sure has gone to shit since the last time I was here," Negan joked. "Let's double back. We can cut through-"

Before he could even finish his sentence an arrow flew past and buried itself in Roy's head, killing him instantly. Before there was any time to register what had happened, before his body had hit the ground, a knife flew past, cutting Rose her fingers and slicing past her thigh. The adrenaline kept her from feeling any pain for now.

They dashed to all sides to get to safety. Carl and Elijah hooked an arm underneath either one of Rose's shoulders and dragged her to safety, running with a cut up leg proved quite difficult. The group was all scattered now, hiding behind trees and broken down cars with arrows narrowly zipping past them.

"It cut my fingers. I felt it," Rose said once they were behind one of the broken down cars. "And it nicked my leg. It's not bad, I think. I can run."

Carl obstructed her view of her hand with his body as he tore a piece of his shirt off. He quickly bandaged the bloody mess up as best as he could. For now she didn't need to know that it wasn't just a cut; it was much worse.

Elijah peaked around the car. "They're coming. We have to get the hell out of here. It's an army."

The group coming for them outnumbered them. They marched in line with each other, all wearing terrifying masks.

"We have to run!" Alden yelled. "Everyone just go! Run!"

He desperately pushed Maggie ahead of him, taking a throwing knife to the shoulder in the process. He yanked it straight out with a growl and then he ran too.