Feral Citizens

Surrounded

The second the tank hatch opened, the sound of growls got ten times louder. The man over the radio had been right; the only walker stood on the tank was quickly cut down with a sharp swipe from Rick's shovel. We hurried to clamber down from the tank, Josie gripping my hand so hard I thought she may break fingers. Other walkers had looked our way, now aware that fresh meat had made its way into the street.

Rick continued to take out walkers with his shovel, until one resilient female spook charged at him. Before I could yell out, he had already taken his gun and fired into her skull. The sound of the bullet leaving its nest echoed throughout the city blocks, ensuring every walker in Atlanta had just heard us, and been informed of where we were. Our time to escape had suddenly been cut short.

Aware that he had damned us no matter what, Rick continued shooting any walker that came our way. We eventually found the alley the man over the radio had said to go to and came face to face with a stranger.

"Wait, don't shoot!" he yelled, pulling down his head. Even though everything I had learned told me not to follow him and allowed the stranger to lead the way. He stopped halfway down the alley and started climbing up a set of old, rickety ladders. Rick pulled Josie up ahead of him, offering me a hand.

I climbed until the man stopped, already feeling a little sick. One thing I had never liked was heights, even as a little kid.

Stopping gave me the chance to properly look at the person we were following. He was Asian, with dark eyes and a baseball cap covering his hair. His face was round and youthful; the guy barely looked old enough to even be considered an adult.

Rick leaned over the side of the railing at the spooks swarming around the ladders, gnashing their teeth as they tried desperately to reach us.

"Can I ask, what the hell are you guys doing in Atlanta? Anyone with a brain knows this area is geek central." the young man panted, clutching his side as he wheezed.

"So why are you out here?" I retorted.

"I'm scavenging with a few others for our group," he answered, glancing between me and Rick. "my name's Glenn, by the way."

"I'm Rick Grimes," Rick stepped around me to shake the boy's hand. "this is Liz and her sister Josie."

"Sister?" I rolled my eyes as confusion flickered across Glenn's face. One day, I'd get through an hour without newcomers asking the same questions over and over again. Today, apparently, was not going to be it.

"Should we be heading somewhere?" I asked Glenn. We'd been stood around too long for my liking.

"Yeah, right, follow me." we climbed further up the ladders and over rooftops. Glenn and Rick talked the entire way, though I found tuning them out was easy. As we climbed downward, and to the alleyway that apparently led to Glenn's group, we spotted two spooks standing by the landing we needed to pass. Shit.

Before Rick could raise his gun or I my knife, two armoured men burst out carrying baseball bats. They knocked down the walkers and beat them until their brains spilled out over the tarmac. I decided to go first, hoping to find out how many there would be inside. Rick grabbed Josie and pulled her through the doorway they guarded.

As I stepped through the doorway, something blonde and angry tackled me. My blood froze when the woman put a gun to my face. Behind me, a small group of people were crowding the woman, attempting to convince her to put the gun down.

"The three of you know what kind of shit you've dropped us into?" the woman yelled. Her hands were shaking. I looked behind her and saw a dark-haired man place his large hand on her shoulder.