Skeletons - 𝐷𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝐷𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 27 - 𝑾𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒚

"I know you're in here. I saw you moving from outside." A calm voice called into the room. He appeared non-threatening, wearing a waffle-weave long sleeve, jeans, a flannel shirt with the arms ripped off and a red baseball cap. He looked weak, but they seemed well-fed. Confident. Perhaps naïve. "Alright now, you're not supposed to be in here and you know it." He walked through with a flashlight, speaking as if he were gently scolding misbehaving children. "Who's in here?"

"Shut up, get on your knees." Rick hissed, slamming the man into the wall and onto the ground. "Hands behind your back." At his request, Daryl grabbed a zip tie and bound the man's hands behind his back. His expression had so much fear and Iris felt a twinge down her spine. "Where are our people?"

"I don't know. I don't know." The man blubbered, flinching as Rick grabbed him by the collar of his shirt.

"You are holding some of our people. Where the hell are they?"

"I don't know!" He insisted.

"Open your mouth." The man grunted as Rick shoved a cloth into his mouth. Daryl struck him across the back of the head with the crossbow and he went down easily, slumping to the floor. They dragged him into a corner of the room and decided to pick a direction and head for it.

Rick followed Iris' suggestion and they found a nondescript building, a series of sheds, really, attached to the back of an old concrete warehouse. It was small, away from the majority of the town, and seemed like a good bet that they would find Maggie and Glenn inside. They waited until something drew the guards inside and followed, weapons at the ready.

They went through the doorway and down the hallway lined with corrugated tin sheets. Rick pressed himself against the wall as a man walked across the hallway perpendicular to theirs, taking no notice of them. They moved around the corner swiftly, finding another corner where they knelt, listening to the happenings in the main room ahead of them. Someone was speaking, their words indistinct.

There was a small, dirty window above where they were crouched, Daryl standing straighter to get a peek as someone called for whoever was inside to get moving.

"Shit." Rick hissed. He tossed a flash-bang to Iris and they pulled the pins, chucking the canisters into the room ahead. The explosion sounded louder than she expected, the bang echoing across the metal walls. The guards inside shouted as the room started filling with vapour. They quickly advanced finding Maggie and Glenn coughing, standing bound in the thrum. Iris grabbed Maggie and Rick grabbed Glenn, pulling them out of there as the shots started.

The bullets bounced off the walls as they high-tailed it out of there, targets acquired. The guards chased after them, leading them no place to go but directly down the main street. In the chaos of it all, it was possible they could have stuck through the crowds undetected, but unrecognizable folks with huge guns were a bit of a dead giveaway. Not to mention that Glenn was stumbling, covered in blood.

"Inside, quick!" Rick hissed, leading them into a supposedly abandoned restaurant. Daryl swept the room quickly as Glenn staggered to the ground, Maggie kneeling at his side. Oscar kept watch at the windows while Michonne closed the door from the outside.

"Ain't no way out back here." Daryl called from the back of the restaurant.

"Rick, how did you find us?" Maggie asked, alarmed. Iris knelt at her side, pulling emergency bandages from her pack to fashion Glenn a sling to tide him over.

"How bad are you hurt?" Iris asked quietly.

"I'll be alright." He replied, hissing in pain.

"Where's that woman?" Maggie asked.