#Eugene porter | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

scentedpepper · 5 months ago

Text

Missing | TWD

MALE READER X S5 GROUP

Summary: The group reverberates with a somberness upon your potential death

Content Warnings: Mention of Major Character Deaths from previous seasons, S5 and below spoilers

AUTHOR NOTE(S):

Not too sure how I feel about this one

Could be read as GN for the most part (he/him used a few times, 'Father' used once, 'Brother' used once)

Was originally supposed to be centered around Daryl and Rick, but somewhere along the writing process, I devlled into just about every other member of the group

Ya'll know how many last names I had to look up for these tags

Enjoy?

_________________________________________

7 days.

Seven days of them searching for their found family member who went out to investigate and never came back.

Glenn thought for sure that maybe with all the shit they have been through, the apocalypse must have treated you a little kinder.

That was assuming you were already dead.

Which Rick, in all his glory, continued to remind everyone that until there is evidence, there are just as many possibilities as there are stars in the sky.

He thought it was a strange fit, all doom and gloom, it wasn't like Glenn to carry around the carcasses of such negative presumptions about his loved ones, but nonetheless, he had just the same.

An ever present reminder as the fire was stoked by Glenn's constant fidgets, his spaced-out breaths being released with the baggage of endless possibilities.

"Glenn's gonna lose it when he sees this one. "

Is what Daryl said to Rick on the night of day 5, your shirt clenched in hand, approaching the church with footsteps so heavy you could mistake them for Walkers.

The worst part, Rick thought, was how he had found it, which further fueled the possibility that couldn't help but arise.

A decaying Walker's den where there was a mass majority of bodies wearing clothes; Not Walker corpses.

Hopeless and without explanation Rick approached camp with a grim expression that took root in his features.

And when Daryl had handed the shirt to Glenn after he feverishly chanted let me see it, let me see it, over and over, Daryl observed the way his hand shook when he snatched it and how the same hand came up to rub his face after he confirmed in his own mind that, without a doubt, it was yours.

Maggie had to take the shirt from his hands and when she felt the dirt and grime ragged against her skin, she almost burst at the seams, Rick knew by the strain in her brows and the way her hands turned into fists at her side.

She was the first person Rick had questioned upon your missing presence, wanting to know who you had walked out with last night and who stayed behind, wanting to pinpoint possible places you might be, or routes you could've taken.

Her response was ridden with anxious adrenaline, her lips chewed raw in worry, bouncing on her toes before stomping off and pulling everyone together to go looking for you.

There was no conversation within the group but a mutual agreement.

Naturally, the first person they looked to for some account of wrongdoing was Gabriel.

You had always been so intuitive, like you were the one who could read minds not him.

The others felt so comforted by you, Gabriel assumed.

He was only too accustomed to the fact that everyone saw the good in you, the positive, and while that brought him a modicum of solace, there were times where he couldn't help but wallow in envy.

A man of God and yet, it was you who they looked to, as if you were Christ himself.

As if you were his light.

Gabriel couldn't understand this fascination.

When he had confronted you about it, rather presumptuously, Gabriel was too quick to gauge the situation and allow his ego to speak for him. Said confrontation also happened to occur right before Maggie and Sasha who shared pointed looks with each other as they watched the scene unfold before them.

You were quick on your toes, always had been. Back on the farm, when Shane had been more akin to a wild boar, you were always the first to confront him. Always calm, or whenever you spoke you at least had the appearance of it, always matter of fact. Even when your voice raised or when anger was seething through you, it seemed like everyone just stopped, and listened.

It was one of your redeeming traits, sharp tongue laced with facts that wouldn't hesitate to point out things that were missing, contradictions, positions and beliefs.

It left some satisfaction amongst the ton when Gabriel pushed out of Judith's designated room, nearly knocking Carl off his feet as the door came with his exit.

A flustered look had replaced him, no doubt having felt the embarrassment, as if he had been burning inside.

After a beat, he had apologized under his breath and carried himself in haste towards you.

Unfortunately, this incident occurred the last night anyone had seen you.

When everyone had risen that morning, one by one coming off the floors of the church and stirring awake those who remained sleeping, you were the only one who hadn't stirred. Because your body wasn't even of prescence.

Almost immediately, everybody went on an emotional and mental frenzy.

Even when the conversation with Gabriel didn't bode well for him. He refuted, if a little pathetically, that you weren't very friendly towards him.

Upon hearing of what had happened just hours before they woke, Daryl seemed to retreat back to the deepest of his old roots.

Begrudgingly, Rick knew this was what they called "fight or flight."

Luckily for everyone involved, Daryl never moved unless there was something to fight for. The man had gained some sort of control over the years of personal development but like a dog, he'd jumped on Gabriel the second tensions rose.

There was a knife pressed against Gabriel's throat when Drayl pushed him into the nearest wall and the preacher did nothing but pray to himself and accept his fate.

Minuets later of interrogation and threatening, Michonne and Tara intervenned, though Daryl seemed none too eager to back off the smaller man, not until he was physically being dragged back and Rick telling him to get a hold of himself.

"He's lucky I didn't slit his fuckin' throat! It was him!"

Because back in the day, with Merle at his side, he would've and to hell with anyone who said differently.

Rick saw Carol's lips part to say something, as did Abraham, but nothing came out. Not with Rick cutting through them like cloth to speak, clearing his throat, hands rising in demand to appease the tension in the church.

"We are going to look for Y/N. It's no secret that we're standing on a ticking time bomb. " His head turned sharply towards everyone, waiting a beat before he continued. "Everybody gets paired off. No one leaves each other's sides. "

His gaze softened upon the archer as he came around to see the anger and frustration but most of all, the pain in his eyes. He wanted to assure him, they were going to find you. But he couldn't find the words to, as his own fingertips surged with doubt and as the rest of the days proceeded, his whole body seemed to become encapsulated by it.

They all began out at once, weapons gathered, determination and grievance fused into them as they exited the church in pairs. The only 2 persons staying behind being Judith and Abraham.

Before the front doors fell, Rick sought out Gabriel, his fingers ghosting over the knob as his stomach tied in knots.

"If you so much as touch a hair on her head. "

He was referring to Michonne who'd gotten the unsavory job of catering to Gabriel, "I swear it'll be the last thing you do. "

His eyes followed Gabriels timley swallow as he spoke.

"And if I find out you had an inkling of any wrongdoing, God won't be able to save you. "

It wasn't just Daryl that was shaken by the fear of your abduction –or worse, there wasn't a moment where Rick could stop to inhale without thinking about you. How tightly you had embraced him 2 nights prior, when he'd confided that maybe he wasn't suited for this leader job anymore, that he didn't know where you all would go, or if you'd even make it past these religious grounds before succumbing to hunger.

There was warmth radiating off you like a furnace and he couldn't shake the soothing way your fingertips gilded against his forearm as you told him that things would fall into place in time, no matter how difficult it got.

But Daryl was a damn firecracker, this way of his to emote through hostility and intimidation was a way for him to cope with the potential loss of his brother.

You were not Shane.

There's so much Rick could rationalize before he no longer had the will to counter how much he wished you were there now to quell the savagery within his best friend.

Carl was as much of a mess as the archer, if not more. The rage within him seemed to blaze each step closer to the forest. It burned at his eyes, tearing his hands into fists that felt as if their own knuckles may shatter within the grasp.

Rosita had to stop him.

"What?" He initially sneered at her, pushing out of her grip and continuing to stomp forward until he could feel her nipping at his heels.

"Carl, now is not the time to get some kind of revenge, alright? We'll find the fucker, but getting ourselves killed is not going to help. "

In time, she got him to sit down and collect himself, which consisted of roughly pacing and rubbing his face with his palms in an attempt to scrub the hostility right out of him. He wanted to scream, to fucking yell the earth apart because this wasn't fair, none of this was.

Yet, he found it somewhat easier to sit there and allow his teeth to sink into his knuckles while he suppressed tears.

Eugene and Tara had wandered the farthest the fastest, the church began to slowly disappear the deeper they strayed into the density of the trees until there was no distinguishable church at all, or street or houses for that matter.

They were silent the entire way, like speaking would somehow shatter the chances of finding you, safe, sound and alive.

So then when Tara's voice did come, meek and soft, far from anything close to the tone she usually sported, Eugene nearly jumped.

He halted immediately, his body turning as he looked every which way as if you may suddenly appear behind a tree.

"We should turn around and just make our way back. " She whispered.

That was her biggest concern, because with the route they had taken, any further into the unknown, she knew there were no way to familiarize themselves with where they were.

"Rick said to keep searching til sun down and that's just what I intend to do. " There was an an irrtation in his expression and an agony to his voice that confirmed his intentions were anything but logical.

"Eugene. "

And again, his body suddenly felt like it wasn't his, or maybe his bones weren't aligned and he was a puppet, a stranger, someone entirely else.

"Eugene, we won't get anywhere trying to force out this search. Please. The sun is already setting, it's near impossible to see 10 feet ahead and even if we were to press further in the dark, they're-"

She didn't need to finish her sentence to know what she wanted to say, the image was still clear in her mind as if she had just watched the last interaction you'd had with her and Rosita. The absolute dejection you allowed her to see in your eyes, the hesitation and restraint you had felt in giving your hugs. She took one and wrapped herself around you and you didn't dare do more than reciprocate the tightness, afraid to hurt her. As if.

After some minuets, Eugene came to and they turned back.

When they got to the church, Abraham was doing circles around the confinements of the holy sanctuary with Judith in his arms.

"Where's Gabriel?" Eugene spoke cautiously, realizing the weight in his voice when he did so.

"He's locked in his office. Said to leave him to rot or somethin'. Not a bad idea, the bastards a fuckin killer. "

Abraham was just as convinced as Daryl. No one asked to elaborate because they somehow knew the moment he did, he'd lose his shit. Like a bomb that's set to a timer, ticking away until it explodes into your ears.

"Find anything?" He asked as Tara slid down the wall she had been leaning against since they returned and brought her legs to her chest. Eugene shook his head at him which made the soldier nod back bitterly.

By day two, Michonne decided to conduct a one man search party for the nights. When the moon came out, she snuck off to the woods and scouted the area she had previously searched, for any evidence that may have been missed on the 1st visitation. Which would prove to cause strife amongst the group when Carl found her out four days later.

"What are you doing?" He challenged harshly as he forced himself into the dark brush behind her with Michonne's body jolting at the abrupt arrival of company.

"Carl-"

"Are you crazy?”

The boy wasn't the only person who she'd receive these questions from, Tyrese had found himself wandering her way as well.

"Why would you come out here on your own? Have you lost it?" He griped under his breath, tone laced with disapproval as if the woods had just come to eat them alive.

"Well, what are you doing out here?" She retorted back in a whisper yell with a forceful gesture to the man who was just as armed, just as ready as her.

Her efforts were fruitless, though, and no response was heard, which left her walking the same way she came.

Rick wasn't happy about it.

At first, when Carl appeared through the door in the night, he thought his son was the culprit of the secret night searches, but soon realized what has transpired when he saw Michonne making her way inside.

"Everyone is on edge, alright? Everyone is doing exactly what is expected of them, they have been looking and looking and Michonne, it's about time you pulled your head from your ass and sat down for the night. " Rick had said 5 minuets after they'd settled in the privacy of Judiths room. Their voices were lowered considerably so as not to wake the others, but Rick's tone wasn't anything less than a demand.

"So we should just sit around?" She had, then, the urge to spit at him and remind him that you could be dead in the next second. Gone. Poof.

"We are not–" Rick's voice began to rise in octaves but he took a moment to lower the volume. "We are *not* just sitting around. "

There was an enervation in Rick's stance that Michonne could feel pricking her heart strings. He looked exhausted, absolutely strained.

"He could– he could be in trouble. " Michonne attempted to keep her voice leveled as she looked around in disdain, her lip trembling and Rick saw this, that she could not come to accept the way things were."I can't bury him." She hissed as clear glistens of wetness fell from the pools in her eyes.

Rick knew exactly the terror Michonne felt in the pit of her gut and he could almost see inside her head, the vision of a funeral and everyone in a heavy sweat of depression and rage, because it was the same one he saw every night before he closed his eyes.

A few dead bodies surrounding the fire pit in the woods while everyone circled around you and Daryl cried.

He had already envisioned it all, envisioned the way Glenn would crack at your loss. While Maggie was reduced to hiccups and broken speeches, she had somehow found the strength to collapse to the floor and refuse help.

Bobs face would fall, for once, it would fall and Sasha wouldn't be able to handle the breath leaving her body, clutching Tyrese, who looked just as devastated, to her to bring her solace.

Carol would gasp but it wouldn't matter because no one would hear her over Daryl's sobs, no one would see the way her lips pulled down at the corners and the lines in her face would tighten.

Rick didn't like to think about how he might react. He imagined it be something similar to crazed. But beyond that, he didn't want to picture it.

And what about his son? Carl who hadn't even fully grown yet. Rick couldn't stomach the thought, the sheer utter torment he'd experience watching his sons body begin to wither. He didn't want to know.

You'd been there while he was unconscious in that hospital bed, through every storm, everything, by his side. You were a father to Carl as much as he was and you'd been nothing short of a supporting role to Rick. There's been times when you just drove the both of them off in the car, taking trips to lakes and nearby parks, anywhere that offered a semblance of normalcy.

You'd scout the places out days before, cleaned it free of Walker's and set up a picnic on the cool greens of grass or near broken tables. Even once or twice when the fire smothered to ambers or if Carl's blood started to burn so hot, you'd give them a midnight rendezvous, all three of you climbing up a tree or anything that fit the current circumstances in which the group resided.

Rick had to run a hand through his hair and all he could do was grab Michonne by her shoulders, look her forcefully in the eyes and say:

"We are going to find him. And anyone who gets in the way of that will pay. "

Because he wasn't going to accept anything else.

Which is why he didn't stop Tyrese or Daryl or anybody who wanted a chunk out of Gabriel the morning of day eight when he suggested that they move on.

He even went as far as leaving the church entirely, not caring to put aside personal feelings, not caring how he may look. His expression was sour and drained and at this rate, the only thing he cared about was finding you.

He would have no problem burying his tomahawk right into the preachers skull.

Daryl kept watch most of the nights, refusing rest for the past week because every time he tried, he felt as if it were a ploy. He became distressed each time he was reminded you weren't going to walk in and slumber on the floor next to him or Carol. You weren't anywhere.

It pissed Daryl off beyond belief to know there was an actual possibility that you weren't breathing anymore, weren't thinking, feeling.

His anger had to be one of the few things driving him into the same track less search the next day as he pushed through the forest ahead of Rick.

Things were starting to feel all too familiar and he thought he might find you in a barn just the same as Sofia. But you didn't pop out the doors in any walkers veil, you weren't bloodied nor torn apart. There were no traces of anyone or anything in those forests.

You simply disappeared.

And it left them in another night of quiet.

Spoons scraping agaisnt cans, the faint sound of chewing. A tiny droplet of rain hitting a window pane or two.

That was all.

No one spoke, yet they all sat around a room cramped with anxious bodies.

Sasha's leg brushed against her guns outline, her boots rubbed together, her tongue flicked at her teeth and she felt as if her thoughts were vibrating the inside of her skull, riling her from the depths. There was an eerily absence of anything positive, because at this point no one was expecting good news.

Gabriel's execution was more or less inevitable as each of the nights rolled by. There'd be the lingering aura of danger and anticipation due to the preachers remaining presence. But no one ever mentioned it, let alone had the will to.

It was hard to digest the concept of your loss because not a single one of them wanted to bury you, the group preferred to be broken and you had become like an integral part of what bound them.

Food was beginning to dwindle down the line of low and low to nonexistent.

And as they sat there, in silence, there was collective knowing resonating around them that this would be the last night they spent in the church.

Not that anyone dared to speak it, not even Rick, who gazed afar into the burning light of a candle and contemplated.

Carol noticed first, maybe it was her nose, fine tuned for the scent of trouble and like a dog trailing a rabbit, she jumped up with a clatter and darted towards the front door.

But she didn't even get halfway across the church, with Rick trailing closely behind her, along with the others who were all clammering to their feet, when the doors burst open on their own, the cool whip of wind entering the room as the room itself seemed to rise up in temperature.

There, with a trail of blood drops, a scarily dehydrated and filthy body fell into her arms.

It was you.

And the sigh of relief felt as if you breathed the air back into everyones lungs. It reanimated the whole church.

272 notes · View notes

misguidedasgardian · 3 months ago

Text

Wildcats (Part XXI)

XXI. AC/DC

MASTERLIST

Summary: Stands for… Account all Casualties in the District of Columbia

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Zombie apocalypse AU, living dead, zombies, guts, blood, guns, shots, injures, wa talk, ptsd, might miss some important warnings!

+18, MINORS DNI

Notes: ALRIGHT! we might come back across with the military ninja!

Daryl’s face appeared in your eyesight as he called your name

“Hey! HEY! look at me!”, he demanded, but you only got to grunt. The impact had been tough, your ears were ringing and your body started to resent the fall. luckily you didn’t smash your head in, having been trained to prevent it. Muscle memory was incredible, considering. Your entire shoulder felt like it was on fire, spreading up and down your arm.

“Fuck it hurts”, you heard your team shouting, shots being fired, as Daryl grabbed you and pushed you against the vehicle so you’d be away from the eyeshot of whomever has fired that shot

“Ya alright?”, you could see the panic in his face, he slapped your cheek softly, “stay with me”

“I’m fine”, you whispered, “considering, ugh!”, the pain came and went in waves, grabbing you tightly. He looked positively horrified, “I swear, I’m good”, you said as you looked at the wound, at least you were not going to bleed to death, it didn’t look like it at least.

Rosita ran towards you, filled closely by Eugene and Abraham

“HERE!”, she said, grabbing huge patches you had grabbed from the pharmacy, she pulled your shirt and pressed it and stuck it to the front and back of your wound making you whine in pain. “It went trough, it’s fine”

“Yeah it feels fine”, you whined

“It looks like it is just one guy”, muttered Daryl as you could still hear shots being fired.

“Abraham and Eugene?”, you asked. Daryl turned to see the scene and then turned back to you

“They’re in the armored vehicle, Rosita covered them, they’re fine!”, he said.

But Abraham decided to take matters into his own hands, shooting towards the building where the shot that got you came from

“There is only one shooter in the building in our backs”, said Rosita, “or that is what it looks like”

“We can take it”, you said

“No”, said Daryl angrily, “your little experiment is over”

“We need to take cover!”, said Rosita, “that building is our best shot”, the other was too far away, the entire esplanade ahead, you’d be sitting ducks even if you ran for it.

“Let’s do it”, you said, “let’s make the run”, and you stood up on shaky legs and you ran. Abraham and Eugene ran too with you, shots were being fired towards you, you could hear them landing on the floor, and soon, you were in the safety of the lobby.

Abraham came straight to check out your shoulder.

“Taking it like a champ”, he admitted with a proud smile, “you are gonna be fine”

��Fine? this is a goddam war zone!”, said Daryl

“There is only one shooter”, said Abraham

“The one that shot me”, you whined

“Let’s fuck him up!”, said Abraham, who was… freakishly ready to “fuck someone up”, that being a walker or an enemy

“It is impossible to know the exact numbers of armed people sitting above us in this building”, said Eugene nervously, “our best shot is to go on and take the HUMVEE and the wagon and ran for it”

But you had to do something, this was some sort of desperate attempt, and by the looks of it, it did seem like it was only one shooter.

Abraham went first, he ran towards the set of marble stairs that went into the rest of the floors, you followed closely, you tried to keep your arm as attached to your side as you could, still feeling an intense pain whenever you moved it. But you had not even taken the first step when the big ginger man seemed to trip with something.

“What was that?”, he asked

“LOOK OUT!”, you screamed as a huge log came swinging down. You couldn’t stop it, the thing caught the five of you and threw you on your asses.

“A fucking booby trap?”, Rosita cursed

“Is anybody hurt?”, you asked

“Imma kill that sonofabitch”, grumbled Daryl. This looked like something caught out of a cartoon, “Ya stay ‘ere!”, Daryl was losing his patience, but he was about to lose it even more

“Hell no”, you said angrily, especially once you looked outside and ten walkers had gathered there.

“Dammit woman!”, Daryl was angry, you could tell, but the mission was still on as Rosita cut down the huge log and you were able to keep going

“Beware of more traps”, you called, Daryl stuck to your side, his hand on your lower back instead of his crossbow. You turned to him, to look him in the eyes, “you promised me”, you whispered to him

“Ya got shot”, he said

“You promised”, you said, he nodded, so you kept going, as Abraham took the front, he was guarding your six, you felt his presence behind you like he was a wall, it was weirdly comfortable. You scouted the second floor, nothing, this was an office building, and even with all the mess that was going on, you managed to read “Office of Veterans affairs” on the outside. You couldn’t move your left arm or shoulder, so you were content with grabbing your gun with your right hand and dealing with whatever’s coming this way.

The huge log wasn’t the only boobytrap you encountered, the others were equally laughable, buckets falling from the ceiling, invisible cables on the floors making you trip. These were traps for walkers, not people, or you’d come to that conclusion, because even if they made you trip, at least they weren’t lethal.

“Ya’ think there is only one f’them?”, asked Daryl. Abraham seemed to think about it, and then he nodded. A new wave of pain hit your shoulder and arm, and you had to cover your mouth to stifle a whine. Daryl seemed to notice

“We need to move”, said Rosita, “so we can patch her up completely”, she said whispering to him, like you weren’t even there.

Daryl opened the first door, to find an empty office

“Here, now”, and you accepted, because you would be putting them in danger if you kept going, they were going to be concerned for you instead of doing what they had to do.

“I’ll stay with her”, offered Eugene

“Ya keep ‘er safe!”, demanded Daryl handing him a gun, and you knew you were doomed, if anybody was going to be protecting anybody it was going to be you. And they left down the hall.

If there is only one of them and three of us, I like those numbers”, you muttered

“Due to the context in which we find ourselves in, and due to what’s been happening in the last 24 hours including you and Rosita being assaulted by a ninja and then Abrahan getting caught on a regular trap you’d think that what we are dealing with, is a professional soldier”

“What?”, you whined, “Eugene sometimes you make me turn off my english”, he cleared his throat

“You noticed we are in the department of veterans affairs”, he said quickly, “this is a military man, clearly”

“You say it’s the same guy? the one who attacked us yesterday and the one of the traps on the street?”

“Or he’s got buddies”, he said severely, and it made sense, the same kinds of traps… nothing lethal…

“Eugene…”, you asked him, he hummed affirmatively, “did I bring everyone to a dumb mission, where we are likely going to die?”

“Negative”, he said, “I think you had prove yourself to be a competent leader”

“That does make me feel better”, you whispered, “only if they all come back safely”

“You are the one that got shot”, he offered

“Yeah, luckily”, you mumbled. “Lucky if it was me, and not anybody else”, you whined, “but Daryl is pissed at me”, you mumbled

“He’ll get over it”, he said simply. “His attitude is due to the fact that he is irrevocably… heads over heels for you”

“What?”, you asked him

“He is only acting like that because he loves you, and you just got shot”, he said. You stopped your movements

“What did you say?”, you heard steps in the hallway, quick steps, only one person. You unlocked the gun in your hands, expecting the worst.

They barely got up one floor and hell broke loose. They advanced through an empty hallway when they heard a thumb behind them, when they turned it was too late. He was there, the man in the mask.

He pushed Rosita first and then came at Daryl, who was pointing his crossbow, but the man moved so quickly he lost the first shot and couldn’t recharge until he came crashing down on him.

Abraham couldn’t fire his gun, he was too close to his friends, so the best he could do was go ahead and beat the stranger up… or at least try to.

But he beat them up.

Again he was not carrying any guns, but one wooden weapon he used to beat the crap out of the three of them, and then, he ran out down the hallway. They followed, reloading their weapons and angry as hell, the three of them just sprinted down the corridor, and down the hall were just double doors open. There weren’t any other places to hide, so they entered the huge space, that could be a massive conference room, and then both doors closed behind them, locking them in.

“Cabrón!”

They tried everything to open those doors up, all of it, gunning it down, kicking them, pushing it, but nothing seemed to work out, they were about to try and push Rosita up towards the vents, as that is how he managed to sneak past them the first time, when you opened the door from the outside. Behind you, was Eugene.

“C’mon, let’s go!”, you said quickly

“What the hell happened?”, asked Daryl

“You heard someone ran pass the office, didn’t know we were there, so I knew it was him, but didn't take the risk to get to him”

“You did well”, said Abraham

“We need to get the hell out of here, if a couple of us cover us we can take the vehicle, and just go”, you said, thinking things through

“If this guy is a soldier, he knows weapons, he probably has some”, said Abraham.

“Yeah, what if he uses them against us?”, you asked back, “he could have blown our heads off, we were out there like sitting ducks… but he didn’t, I think we should take that change and bolt”

“We are already here”, said Abraham

“I don’t want anybody to get hurt”, you said back

“We should move forwards”, said Rosita, “we need the firepower, always will”, you took a long breath, it looked like it was five against one, right? well, three and a half against one, but still.

“Fine” you said, more calm now that they wanted to go ahead with it.

“I’m starting to think I should have stayed in Alexandria”, muttered Eugene

“Shut the hell up!”, mumbled Daryl

So you moved forwards, in formation, the five of you, you behind Daryl, and Eugene behind Abraham, Rosita in the middle.

“Watch the vents!”, said Daryl, his eyes looking through his crossbow. “that's how he sneaks on us”

Hunting this guy didn’t seem like the right thing to do, but you did it anyway, if he could get to you out there in the shopping mall, and on the street, he could get you wherever.

You searched room by room, but there was no sign of him anywhere, you were on the very last floor when you felt confident enough to separate, Rosita, Eugene and you checked one of the last rooms on the hallway, and the boys on the other.

This room had a collection. Someone was living in here, it had a cot in one corner, guns posted against the window where he probably shot you from, it had food and bottled water…

You then looked at the corner of the room, and to your complete surprise, you saw the same box you had gathered at the mall, filled to the brim with Pork ribs Ramen

“He is…!”, you turned around to meet Rosita, but she had a knife to her throat, the man was holding her tightly against him, his face covered by the mask you saw

“Easy”, he said calmly, you surrendered all your weapons, Abraham and Daryl entered the room and the guy move so his back was to the window, using Rosita as a shield

“Drop them”, he asked calmly, and Daryl and Abraham dropped their weapons quickly, “now explain to me, what kinds of psychopaths just enter a building where they are clearly not welcomed at?”, he asked.

“You are the sicko who attacked us!”, you said angrily, pointing at the box. \

“Yeah, you were taking all the ramen”, he said simply

“Look, we don’t want anybody to get hurt”, you said slowly

“This seems to want to”, he said, looking at Daryl, who froze, he was reaching for his gun on his back, “I don’t want to hurt this miss here, but if that’s how he wants to play it!”, he moved his arm with the knife and you screamed at him to stop

“NO! WE WILL LEAVE!”, you said quickly

“Drop the gun”, he said to Daryl and he obeyed. “Now step back three paces”, and they all did, and he released Rosita, just like that, putting his arms up. You all relaxed your stances

“I’m Alexander Price, an army veteran, did some tours in Afghanistan”, he said simply. He only got in a defensive position, crossing his thick arms over his chest. This is the first time, in movies and real life, that that kind of exchange goes somewhat smoothly.

“You beat us up!”, accused Rosita, quickly realizing about the box

“Damn right I did”, he said easily, he was… very handsome, tall, broad

“You attacked two women”, Daryl threw on his face

“You said that I shouldn't have attacked them because they are women?”, he asked, frowning, “that’s a bit sexist”, he said, “I’ll attack anybody”, you couldn’t help but snort a laugh. “Look if I wanted to kill you, I WOULD HAVE”, he said simply, “you came at me with guns, axes and knives, I had chucks”

“Oh yeah? Is that supposed to make us feel better?”, asked Rosita

He opened his arms, pointing at the whole room

“I have an arsenal”, he said simply, you looked around the room and you actually saw the rifle he used to shoot you, it was a .22, and it was sitting next to a big ass assault rifle that could have blown your whole upper body. Rosita seemed to notice that too, “I don’t kill the living, only the dead”, he said firmly, ��and well, some fuckers, but you don’t strike me as the kind who lost their shit, and want to kill me for the fun of it, because yeah, I encountered some people like that”

“You shot ‘er!”, said Daryl, pointing at you

“You were taking my tanker!”, he said simply, “that was a warning shot! You get shot and normally you wouldn’t go after the shooter”, he said, “who the hell are you people?”, he said then, looking at you, he seemed truly concerned

“More people send us, looking for supplies”, you said quietly, not revealing much

“Are they more of you?”, he asked

“Damn right”, said Abraham, “and they’ll come looking”, he warned, Alexander just threw his hands in the air in a defensive matter

“Look, I ain’t looking for any trouble”, he said simply, “you got into my territory, tried to steal my HUMVEE and my truck… tried to steal my ramen…”

“Hey! the ramen was fair game”, you warned

“Enough with the damn ramen!”, said Daryl, he grabbed his weapon and pointed his crossbow at Alexander, which he didn’t seem to mind. “Are they more of ya?”, he asked. Alexander shook his head

“No I… have been alone for a while, I was trading with a group that lived on the other side of the Potomac, they were a family… but i haven’t seen them in a while…”, he said, you could tell he was sad. “You are the first people I’ve seen in a week”, he shook his head, like chasing his demons away, “How you evaded the rest of my traps is the real question”, he asked calmly

“We took refuge in the lobbies, went from building to building”, you said quickly

“That’s what I would have done”, he said, pleased, “who trained you? him?”, he asked pointing at Abraham, who was looking at him, squinting.

“A captain from the military, deployed in Atlanta”, you said softly, “I called him Mayor”

“Seems like a good man”, he said, you agreed. He took a long sigh, “I can patch you up, and you can spend the night, leave in the morning”, he said shortly, Daryl eyed the weapons, “don’t…”, he warned. Was he actually going to let you stay here? after you came at him with guns and threatened him? he barely seemed concerned at all

“We have a community”, you said loudly and quickly

“NO!”

“HELL NO!”, they all complained at the same time

You gathered, the five of you, in a corner of the room to discuss it, while Alexander there just stood there. It was kind of comical, he pretended like he didn’t care, checking his nails for dirt, or walking about looking everywhere but where you were. But he could clearly hear you

“Hear me out!”, you said, “he is a veteran, expert in weapons, and we can’t leave him here alone!”, you said

“I’m not gonna let this wacko near ya!”, said Daryl

“If he wanted to kill us, he would have”, you said, you looked at Rosita and then Eugene

“She is right”, she said

“I have to say, due to this guy’s knowledge, and training in combat, I think he would be a great addition to Alexandria…”, said Eugene, “on top of our necessity of his motorized vehicles…”

“And he’s got an arsenal”, you said then, “weapons we can use in the defense of our people”

“Rick doesn’t want anyone else”, said Daryl

“Well, you can all agree that this is a different situation”, you said quickly. “He is here alone, he’s gonna lose his head”

“Better he loses his shit here than Alexandria”, said Abraham, “that isn't our problem”

“He doesn’t strike me as a psychopath”, you said then

“She is right, we need his HUMVEE, and the cart, and we want the tanker, we need those things to carry the stuff we have to take back, and he can be an addition to the team, specially if he knows how to treat bullet wounds”, said Rosita, and her word weighted, since you both had been attacked by him.

“I can take ‘em”, muttered Daryl, looking at him

“This isn’t about that”, you said, “he has cleared this place of walkers, by himself”, you said. “a great part of downtown… we could use that, he has been in Afghanistan”

“Yeah, who knows what kind of messed up things he had goin on”, growled Abraham. But he looked at him, “but you are right, he could be an asset”, he as a military man himself.

“You vouch for him then”, Daryl said meanly, you barely nodded. Daryl then turned to him, “How many walkers have you killed?”, he asked him

“Lost count on triple digits my friend”, he said proudly, he knew what was coming, he tried not to look too excited

“How many people?”, he asked then

“Since my military days…?”

“Since the world went to shit”, said Abraham

“Just a couple of dicks who tried to take my weapons”, he said

“That’s the why”, and you had a flashback from where Carl and Rick asked you these questions, so this was it.

“Welcome to the team”, this guy’s eyes lit up and smiled

“Really?”, he seemed happy, but then he put on a proud face, “won’t let you down”, he said nodding, “where are we heading?”

Notes: you know what? I will leave you all to cast whoever you want as our new character… I will describe him as tall, broad, handsome, and in his 40’s, then you take control, for me? it’s Jensen Ackles, mmmmm viejo sabroso