Suddenly...Gone

Chapter 37

The caravan of four mismatched cars held a total of twenty people. Each car was also loaded down with automatic weapons, handguns, extra ammunition and supply packs for each person. If anyone got separated from the group, they would have the essentials in with to survive for a couple days.

It was now the middle of the night as the cars headed towards their destination. They covered the miles in a slow, steady pace with very little walkers crossing their path. They were using the darkness to conceal their arrival so they could get into position hopefully unnoticed.

This attack had to be a complete surprise, or it simply would not work. They had no other option...this had to succeed.

With less than two dozen people from Alexandria trying to take out the top men from the Saviors was extremely risky operation. This was all or nothing. As long as they were not discovered, this would go down in their favor, so that's why they were doing this during the darkest time of the night.

Emma sat next to Daryl in the car that was being driven by Glenn. Maggie was next to him in the front seat, and Aaron was on Emma's other side. They were the lead car with the other three behind them. Each car had a location that they were to pull over at and hide the car as best as they could. The cars were going to be spread out along the country road and one by one they were to pull over as they found secluded spots in their assigned area.

Finally, Glenn steered the car to the side of the road over and tucked it into the trees. They all got out keeping an eye on out for people or walkers. They were all highly alert to their surroundings. It was lucky for them that while it was a cloudless night, the moon was just a tiny little sliver. The night was the perfect amount of darkness to see where they were going without using a flashlight.

The larger weapons were unloaded from the trunk, and everyone got ready for the long trek to the church. Extra ammunition was stuffed into pockets and packs went over their shoulders. Emma was the only one not carrying an automatic weapon. Daryl had given her two hands guns instead. There was no time to train her how to use one, plus wasting bullets training her at this point would not have been beneficial the group. Emma was more familiar with the handguns, so that's what Daryl deemed to be the best choice for her.

Everyone had their assigned positions to locate. Six people would be spread out behind the church keeping an eye on the back door. The rest would be scattered around the front where the saviors would be coming and going. Since the meeting was not until daylight, Rick hoped that the guards would not be already in position.

Emma stayed with Daryl. He had already told her not to leave his side no matter what. She watched him put a strap over his head and onto his shoulder that held a large weapon that she had never seen before. This was vastly different from the usual crossbow he wore, in fact, he did not even bring the crossbow with him which she thought was usual.

"Stay close and watch for my hand signals," he whispered to her. "Keep a gun in hand, finger off the trigger and pointed down. Don't fuckin' shoot me."

Of course, she knew that, and when he didn't respond to the eye roll, she shook her head yes. She wasn't that much of a novice.

A few of the others had caught up to them by now, so Daryl started the group heading out, taking the point position that he was used to. He held his AR-15 rifle up and ready.

As they trudged through the underbrush and dense forest, Emma wondered why Daryl had wanted her to come along. She certainly was not as good as they were with guns and fighting, so being there did make her extremely nervous. She knew her skills were not up to par with what this attack needed. However, on the other hand, she was glad not to be back at Alexandria waiting and wondering what had happened.