The Black Rose

Chapter Twenty-One

It was nighttime when they finally arrived, watching the sentries carefully. Michonne led the group around into a concealed entrance into Woodbury. It appeared to be some kind of a basement or cellar. Michonne entered first, followed by Rick, Oscar and Daryl. Once Daryl climbed down from the small window, he turned to catch Rose. Rose raised her eyebrows at Daryl knowing that she couldn't protest. They had to be as quiet as possible so they don't attract attention. She sighed as she dropped herself down only to be caught in Daryl's strong arms. Rose had to fight the need to stay in his arms as she scrambled out of his arms to meet the rest of the group. Michonne was ahead with the other two.

"This is where you were held?" Rick whispered, asking Michonne as they entered a small spacious room filled with knickknacks.

"I was questioned." Michonne confirmed.

Daryl rushed ahead, brushing aside a flower curtain to peek out the door, seeing people walking without any care in the world. "I thought you said there was a curfew?"

"The street is packed during the day. Those are stragglers." Michonne defended herself.

Rose sighed, seeing the people casually strolling as if they were in a park. "We gotta move."

"They could be in his apartment." Michonne suggested. After a minor disagreement between Daryl and Michonne, Rose called over the three men to try cool them down.

"If this goes south, we're cutting her loose." Rick snapped, earning a disapproving glare from Rose. Rose sighed as she glanced over to the African American female, trying to assess the situation.

"Right now, it's the blind leading the blind." Daryl muttered before there was a light knock on the door. The door knob turned, and revealed a thin scraggy looking man. He was looking for them. They had to act quickly. Rose pulled out her katana sword and pushed the man against the wall.

"Shut up. Get on your knees." Rick commanded, "Hands behind your back. Zip tie him. Where is our people? You're holding some of our people. Where are they?"

The scraggy looking male wasn't giving any answers expect a chorus of "I don't know." From her training of torture, she knew that this man obviously didn't know anything. Daryl watched as Rose and Rick communicated with their eyes. He just didn't know how anybody could ever follow so blindly. How a single expression made decisions. Yet here he was, watching Rose shake her head slightly as if she was saying no. Immediately after that, Rick stuffed fabric into the man's mouth and knocked him out.

Gunshots echoed when they disposed of the unwelcome strangers. Rose's acute hearing was able to locate it, signaling the group to follow her as they escaped through the front door.

They entered a simple warehouse with guns up, in a single line formation just in time to rescue Maggie and Glenn from an inevitable death. Through the thick smoke, Rose clutched Maggie and Glenn by their shoulders, pushing them to safety through the dark corridor, ignoring the rest of the group. She knew that they would be just fine. She needed to get the injured out of harm's way. Rick shouted for the group to follow Rose.

It was pitch black outside as each of them ran across the street with their bodies crouched to keep out of sight. Th-thump. Th-thump. Rose's heart struggled to regulate itself as she watched Glenn collapse onto the floor from the amount of pain he was in.

A deep dark rage reared its head inside her as she assessed the damage done to both Maggie and Glenn. A snarl escaped her throat as she spun around on her heel, seeking revenge.

"Where's that woman?" Maggie asked, wondering who the African American woman was. Glenn and Maggie was perched on the ground, enduring a grueling questionnaire from Rick. Oscar was keeping watch by the door. Rick glanced around, searching for the newcomer's face.