GRIMES

III

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It was the next morning. A crisp and chilly morning shined above the community of Wellington.

Rick woke up, to the sounds of gunfire. "What the fuck?" he cried out as he got up from his bed. Carl ran to his father, visibly shaken.

"We're under attack, Dad!" he yelled. Judith burst into the bedroom, blood splattered across her face. "Judith?!" Rick cried out. "I'm fine, Dad! I had to shoot someone who was going to turn!" replied Judith.

Rick got quickly dressed, as pain shot into his legs. "Gah! Fuck!" he yelled out. He almost toppled over, but Carl caught his father from collapsing. Judith guarded the bedroom door with an assault rifle.

"We need to leave, Dad! The community is overrun," Carl exclaimed to his father. Rick coughed and wheezed, helping himself back up. His back cracked into place as he walked with the cane.

The three collected some of their belongings. Rick held his pocket watch and grabbed a bag full of things. They departed the house, coming to a chaotic scene. Masked people with rifles and knives were attacking Wellington, stabbing and shooting citizens. The church was set on fire.

"We gotta go, Dad!" Carl and Judith cried, as Rick nodded. "Shit! Morgan!" Rick then cried out. He limped quickly to Morgan's building, passing by dead bodies that were brutally slain, friends of Rick's.

He burst into Morgan's building. "Morgan! Let's get the fuck out!" he yelled. Luckily, Morgan was on his medicine and recognized the current situation. "Where are we going, Rick? Rick?" he kept on asking.

Rick ignored his questioning pleas, and escorted Morgan into a wheelchair. He then pushed the wheelchair quickly out of the building. Judith was all alone, Carl was seemingly missing.

"WHERE'S CARL?" screamed Rick. Judith didn't know, shrugging. Rick, Morgan, and Judith then tried their best to get out of Wellington. Father Gabriel stood behind his burning church, sobbing.

"Why are they here, Gabriel?" asked Rick angrily as they approached him. Gunshots and explosions rang in the near background, so Gabriel had to raise his shaking voice.

"The Scavengers! They came here because...because we didn't give them what they wanted!" he exclaimed. "What did they want? Gabriel, what the fuck is going on?" asked Rick in desperation.

"They came here for food and water, which we exchange weekly!" screamed Gabriel. Suddenly, two hand grenades landed near the burning church. Rick looked at where Gabriel was standing, and yelled "RUN!".

Gabriel listened immediately, running towards Rick's group, as the two explosions went off. A ball of fire rocked the area, completely destroying the church. Houses blew up as well.

In the cloud of smoke, the masked Scavengers managed to catch survivors and kill them. Rick helped Morgan up, placing him back into the wheelchair. "Dad! What about Gabriel?" asked Judith. Her face was covered in ash and blood now.

"Don't worry about me! Those sons of bitches won't get us! I'll defend ourselves, give me a-" BANG! BANG! BANG! Gabriel dropped to the ground. "Fucking shit!" screamed Rick in shock.

The Scavengers opened fire on Rick's group, as Judith defended her father and Morgan. Gabriel was bleeding profusely, barely alive. A rain of bullets from the Scavengers had severely wounded him.

Rick pulled out a shotgun from his bag, and began firing upon the Scavengers, alongside Judith. Morgan clamped his hands over his ears, harmed by the sound of rapid fire.

"Get behind me!" Rick yelled at Judith. "No, Dad! You!" she replied. She then managed to shoot two Scavengers appearing in the cloud of smoke. "Tip! Badger!" cried out one Scavenger.

Rick shook his head, cursed, and limped back to Morgan's wheelchair. He wheeled him into a barricade, to help him get away from gunfire.

Rick returned back to Judith, coughing. Gabriel reached his hand out to Rick, bleeding out. "Ugh..." he tried to say. Rick shed a tear and abandoned the dying priest. Judith was forcefully dragged away by her father.

"C'mon! Drive us the hell out of here!" cried out Rick. He handed her the keys to the truck they used for supply runs. They ran to Morgan, lifted him into the back seat of the truck, and then got into the truck.

The Scavengers tried to shoot at the tires of the truck, but missed. Judith was at the wheel, and purposely ran over some Scavengers. Gabriel died of his wounds, as he was executed with a single shot to the head by one Scavenger.

"I hope my son is alright and made it out alive," said Rick to Judith. Morgan helped himself stand up and looked out the window. Judith drove them successfully out of Wellington, and into the wild.

The journey had only just begun.

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