Safe haven | Rick Grimes

078. THEY TOOK MY WIFE

Chapter seventy eight

"They took my wife."

They marched through the dense woods in near darkness. Two of the Saviors in the group began groaning in low, agonizing pain.

"Stop. Stop. We gotta stop," one of them wheezed, stumbling.

"We can't stop," Jared barked, jabbing his gun hard into Scarlett's back. "Especially not with this bitch with us."

"But two of them are bit, Jared!" another Savior voiced, panicking as he looked at his limping comrades.

Scarlett kept her eyes forward but spoke clearly. "Where?"

"Keep your mouth shut," Jared spat, forcing the barrel deeper into her spine.

"I'm only asking because if it's their arm or leg, I can intervene," Scarlett shared coldly. "Tie a tourniquet around it and you all live. You won't turn. Your choice."

The men all looked at each other, the fear of the infection overriding their orders.

"Fine," Jared growled, grabbing Scarlett roughly by the arm and dragging her forward. "But do it quickly and no funny business."

They broke through the tree line and made it out to a deserted road where an old car sat parked. The two injured Saviors collapsed against the side of the vehicle, sweating and pale.

"We'll do the one with the arm first," Scarlett directed. "Someone needs to hold him down. Another needs to wrap a belt around his arm and tie it tight. Do the same with the leg."

The desperate men scrambled to follow her instructions. Before Scarlett could step up, Jared delivered a brutal kick to the back of her knee.

Scarlett crashed to the ground, her hands scraping painfully against the rough pavement.

"Dude, she's helping us!" the Savior to her left voiced, stepping forward in protest.

"Shut up!" Jared roared. He aimed his gun directly at Scarlett's head as she looked up from the asphalt. "You use that blade to remove the infected tissue. That's it. Nothing else, or I shoot you right here."

Scarlett unholstered her machete. Two of the Saviors pinned the first man down, securing his arm across the trunk of the car.

Scarlett looked at Jared, a grim expression on her face. "Seeing as I'm Scarlett Grimes, Negan wouldn't exactly be happy about that."

Without hesitation, she brought the blade down, amputating the man's arm swiftly. "Wrap something around it now to stop the bleeding," she ordered.

Turning immediately to the second man, she ignored the commotion. The Saviors held the man's leg flat against the pavement. Scarlett raised the blade and struck again, performing the emergency amputation just above the injury site.

"Now drop it and get up!" Jared voiced, his hands shaking slightly as he kept his weapon trained on her.

Scarlett dropped the blade onto the road. She slowly stood up, raising her hands back into the air.

Jared stepped in close and jabbed the gun aggressively into her back. "Walk," he told her.

Scarlett began walking down the empty highway. Behind her, the six remaining Saviors lifted their injured friends and hurried to carry them away into the dark.

They soon arrived at an abandoned warehouse. Jared stepped up behind Scarlett and shoved her violently to the floor, the force of the fall knocking Carl's hat clean off her head.