Safe haven | Rick Grimes

072. BUT MY HUSBAND COMES HOME TODAY

Chapter seventy two

"But my husband comes home today."

Scarlett slipped through the narrow gap of the rusty shipping container, the metal walls closing in around her like a throat. She didn't knock. She slammed her boot into the rusted latch, throwing her weight into the metal door.

It flew open. Before the guard inside could even register the breach, Scarlett's machete arced up. The blade bit deep into his throat. She caught his collapsing weight by the collar, twisting his body to face the crowded room as a crimson shield.

"Hey," Scarlett rasped.

The room froze. A dozen eyes locked onto her, including Jadis, who stood completely still among the heap of scrap.

"Give me my husband," Scarlett said, her voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "Join us, and we end the Saviors together. Stay in my way, and I clear this junk pile myself."

Jadis didn't flinch. A cold smile touched her lips. "You don't have it in you. You play at being a monster, but your people are soft. You are weak."

"My people are alive," Scarlett shot back, her grip tightening on the dying guard. "And you will be too, if you're smart. Negan dies. With or without you. But my husband comes home today."Jadis flicked her wrist.

To her left, a scavenger lunged, swinging a heavy iron pipe. Scarlett dumped the dead guard, letting his body tangle the attacker's feet. As the scavenger stumbled, she drove the butt of her machete into his jaw, shattering teeth. He reeled back, exposing his ribs. Scarlett drove the blade straight through his sternum, anchoring him to the floor.

Without breaking eye contact with Jadis, Scarlett planted her boot on the first guard's skull, neutralizing the turning corpse with a sickening crunch. She yanked her blade free from the second man, the metal dripping, and leveled it right at Jadis's face.

Two more rushed her at once. Scarlett didn't hesitate. She stepped into the first man's guard, her machete catching him cleanly across the neck in a spray of dark crimson. Before his body even hit the floor, she pivoted left, catching the second attacker's oncoming wrist. She redirected his momentum, driving her blade straight through his ribs and into his heart. She yanked the metal free, letting him collapse into the dirt.

The remaining attackers hesitated, but the silence didn't last. Three more surged forward in a desperate wave. Scarlett caught the first weapon on the flat of her blade, using the impact to spin past him. Her machete followed a fluid, blinding arc to neutralize the threat. As the second man lunged, she adjusted her stance, using her knife to stop his advance. Without missing a beat, she brought her machete down to end the third attacker's charge before pulling the weapon loose.

The intensity of the fight left her breathing heavy. She leveled her machete directly at Jadis, but the onslaught wasn't over. Another scavenger threw himself at her. She parried with a swift slash, spun on her heel, and drove her blade forward to stop the man behind him.

The fight became a blur of survival. She turned, striking another through the center of his guard, then pivoted to intercept an attacker trying to flank her. Caught in a tightening circle, she swung her machete in a brutal, sweeping horizontal cut that forced the crowd back and took down the closest threats. She finished the push by driving her blade home against the last standing guard, stepping back as he slumped to the floor.

The area grew quiet, filled only with the sound of her ragged breathing. Holding both weapons out, she scanned the room as the final few began to close in. Scarlett lunged forward, kicking one back to break their formation. Before he could recover, she followed through with a heavy strike. She spun through the gap, her knife and machete moving in tandem to clear the remaining space and drop those standing in her way.