𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐋𝐈𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 ➳ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐆𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬

Chapter 7 ~ Down Goes Another One

After a gunfire show-down with some Saviors, we finally escaped the Sanctuary and made it back outside to our respective modes of transportation. I had ridden here with Rick in the Jeep but...there was a matter I had to take care of that I think I'd rather go solo on. If only the two of them would let me go by myself, that is. I'm a grown woman but they still treated me as if I was a child at times. Rick walked over to the Jeep, throwing the stack of photos in his hand into the seat as he made is way to the bed of the vehicle in back.

"See you back home," he said to us both, putting his gun away in the Jeep.

"Sure you wanna talk to them alone?" Daryl asked him as he led the way to the motorcycle.

"Yeah. That's how it gets done," Rick shrugged.

"All right... You're gone too long, I'm gonna come lookin' for you," dad told him and I cracked a smile at their "brother bond".

Rick smiled, starting to turn back to look at us, "That's the plan-"

Suddenly, a round of gunfire erupted in the air and bullets lodged in the Jeep's forest green metal casing. My eyes grew wide and immediately, I drew the pistol from the holster at my hip, aiming it in front of me. Daryl pulled me down behind a block of granite that held an old streetlight while Rick took cover behind the Jeep.

"Hey! Hey! You're alone. You got to be," Rick called out into the open air loudly, "There's not enough room for two of you behind that tree. And there's a herd coming. I'm just sayin'..."

We were all silent, waiting for a reply but the intruder said nothing.

"Hey, I tell you what - we'll make you a deal. You drop your gun and come on out - you tell us what we need to know. You do that? You can take a car. You go. You live. How about it?" he continued.

"Why should I trust you?" the stranger asked, his voice the sound of a young male - most likely a teenager like myself.

"'Cause I'm giving you my word," Rick assured him, "There's not a lot that's worth much these days, but a man's word that's got to mean something, right?"

But the boy still seemed hesitant as he spoke again.

"O-O-Okay," he finally agreed warily, stumbling over his words.

I glanced to dad and he nodded to me once. Slowly, we all made our way out of our hiding spots and over to the middle of the parking lot once more. A teenage boy limped out from behind an oak tree across from us, hands held up in surrender to show he was unarmed. His hair was dark and shaggy but his clothes look like he'd been living fairly well...at least up until now, that is.

"W-What do you wanna know?" he asked us, his eyes flicking to me briefly before going back to Rick.

Rick dropped the gun to his side and I did the same as he approached the boy but I noticed dad still held his raised high

"You ever have any M2 Browning .50-caliber guns here?" Rick asked the stranger.

The boy was silent a moment, thinking before he replied, "We did. For a while..."

"What happened to 'em?!" Daryl yelled at him suddenly, making me flinch slightly from the abrupt outburst.

"They got sent to another outpost yesterday," the boy said shakily, his hands still raised but wavering slightly.

Rick and Daryl shared a look before Rick spoke.

"Which one?" he asked him, blue eyes boring into the young guy.

"It was Gavin's - it's west of here," he replied quickly.

We were all silent, taking in that bit of information so slowly, the boy shifted from foot-to-foot.

"Can I, uh - can-can I go?" he asked, giving us a small but wary smile.

But before any of us had the chance to answer, Daryl pulled the trigger on his gun and it went off. The bullet lodged into the teenager's skull, a trickle of blood instantly oozing free down the skin of his forehead. My eyes widened in shock as I turned to my father in disbelief. I was about to speak, to reprimand him in some way - any way- when he turned back around and began to walk back towards his motorcycle.

"Which team at Gavin's?" he called over his shoulder to Rick and I glanced back at the older Grimes.

His own look mirrored mine - shock mixed with horror. What had gotten into Daryl?!