Safe haven | Rick Grimes

002. THERE IS NO THINKING IT THROUGH

Chapter two

"There is no thinking it through."

The CB crackled with heavy static before the voice broke through again. "Hey, you alive in there?"

Scarlett and Rick stepped over to the console. Rick grabbed the microphone, holding down the transmission button. "Hello? Hello?"

"There you are," the man replied, a hint of relief in his tone. "Although you don't exactly sound like a hot blonde."

Scarlett let out a breathless chuckle, while Rick rolled his eyes and keyed the mic. "She's with me. Where are you? Outside? Can you see us right now?"

"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."

Rick pressed the button again. "There's good news?"

"No," the man said flatly.

Scarlett scoffed, snatching the radio receiver from Rick's hand. She mashed the button down. "Then why would you frame is as the bad news? Look at the situation we're in!"

"Oh, man. You should see it from over here." The voice crackled back. "You'd be having a major freak out."

Scarlett kept her thumb on the trigger. "Well, how about we skip the freak out and actually work on getting out of here?"

Rick furrowed his brows, watching her navigate the radio. "Are you treating him like one of your medical interns?"

Scarlett glanced at him, her tone sharp. "He can either be useful to us or he can keep wasting our time."

"I'd say make a run for it," the strangers voice chimed back in through the speaker.

Scarlett keyed the mic instantly. "When I said get out of here, I meant alive."

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds," the man insisted. "You got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. You with me so far?"

Scarlett leaned over, pressing the button down. "So far," Rick called out next to her, and she released the clip.

"Okay, the street on the other side of the tank is less crowded," the man explained over the static. "If you move now while they're distracted you stand a chance. You got ammo?"

Scarlett and Rick exchanged a grim look both thinking of the street outside. Scarlett keyed the mic. "In that duffel bag we dropped out there. Guns, too. Can we get to it?"

"Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option," the man countered instantly. "What do you have on you?"

Scarlett held the button down. "Hang on."

She dropped the mic and checked her rifle. "I took this off a soldier. Haven't used it much before today, so the magazine still has weight. How about you?"

Rick checked the beretta he'd take from the dead trooper. He turned back to the body to search for spare magazines, but his hand brushed against a heavy metal sphere in the shelf instead—a live grenadd. He grabbed it, stepped back to the console, and signaled Scarlett to radio in.

She pressed down on the button. "We've got a rifle and a beretta with one clip, fifteen rounds." Rick reported into the mic. Scarlett let go.