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𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃, snatching the CB off the floor and holding it to his mouth. I could hear him panting, his breathing sharp as the radio went off again.

"Hey, you alive in there?" the voice echoed, slightly fuzzy from static but the boy's voice was still clear. He sounded about my age, maybe younger. 

"Hello? Hello?" Rick asked, glancing at me with a nervous smile as sweat trickled down the side of his face. It was hard to see the good in this when I could still hear the rattle and bangs of walkers riding up against the tank.

The CB crackled again and the voice rang out. "There you are. You had me wondering."

"Where are you? Outside?" asked Rick, taking now a nervous glance towards the little window. "Can you see us right now?"

"Yeah, I can see you," said the man, "but you're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news."

I frowned, scooting forward on my hands and knees to speak into the radio. "There's good news?"

"No."

Rick's brows furrowed. It seemed our luck wasn't about to change. "Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you that I'm a little concerned in here."

The man chuckled. "Oh man, you should see it from over here. We're having a major freak out."

"Yeah, no kidding," I muttered, scowling. We didn't have much between the two of us to make it out in here for a while, especially if our gun bag was lying somewhere near the probably dead horse. 

"Got any advice for us?" asked Rick as I settled back down to lean against the wall. 

"Yeah," the man said. "I say make a run for it."

Rick's lips parted and he let out a scoff. "That's it? Make a fun for it?"

"You really think we can fight our way through a pack as big as that?" I snapped, hearing the hands and bodies hitting the tank like horrible frantic echoes. It was worse than the ringing in our ears from Rick blowing the walker's brains out. "We'd never make it."

"My way isn't as dumb as it sounds," the man said in a rushed voice, obviously annoyed with us. "You got eyes from up here, okay? There's one geek up on the tank but the others are all on the ground having a damn feeding frenzy where the horse went down. You with me so far?"

Rick nodded. "So far."

"The street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. Got ammo?"

Rick looked towards the window. "In the duffle bag I dropped out there, there's guns. Can I get to it?"

The voice rang out quickly. "Forget the bag, it's not an option if you want to live. What do you have on you?"

"Hang on," muttered Rick as he pulled his gun up to check. He pulled the magazine free as I reached for the CB.

"I have about ten," I said but I stopped for a moment to pat my backpack. I glanced at Rick and he nodded the same for me as he held up what he had. "And he has a Beretta with one clip, fifteen rounds."

Rick gave me an impressed glance that I could easily tell what he had in his hands before the voice spoke again. "Make them count. Jump off the right side of the tank and keep going that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe fifty yards. Be there."

Rick grabbed the CB from me and quickly spoke. "Hey, what's your name?"

I glared at him, raising my hand and smacking him in the arm as I hissed, "Are you serious right now? We're going to lose our window if you ask another stupid question."

"The girl's right," the man said. "Have you been listening? You're running out of time. Either go now or become food."

I pulled my knife out and fixed it in my dominant hand as I clutched at my gun in the other. Rick threw the CB down and grabbed what looked like an old metal pipe from the tank near the dead body. He followed me up to the entrance at the top of the tank and I pressed my hands against the top and gave Rick one last look.

"Ready?"

He nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

I grinned. "Then you better run and fight like hell, cowboy."

I pushed the door open and I felt it hit something hard. I crawled my way out quickly and located the walker on top of the tank the man had told us about. I avoided its outstretched hands and slashed with my knife enough to get it off balance so I could crawl the rest of my way out. I used my foot to kick the walker back and it fell down into the open jaws of the beasts below.

I moved to the right side of the tank and jumped down into the small opening as we had been instructed and Rick followed right after. I landed awkwardly and hit my knees but got up quickly as I noticed the walkers turn their attention on us. Once Rick was on the ground and standing, we took off.

We avoided the larger clumps of walkers and the ones that got close, I used my knife only if they got close enough to be worried. Rick didn't seem to use his pipe much, he favored his gun over everything else as his shots echoed next to me.

When we saw the alley, I ran harder and grabbed the man by the arm to keep him with me. It was times like these when my track and cross country background came in handy. I thanked every god I ever knew that I didn't quit running even after college was over. 

I raised my knife as I saw movement in the alley and a voice yelled at me with its hands up. "Not dead!" I could only take one blurry moment to look at the man before we quickly followed him. From what I could tell with my one glimpse at his face and then his back, he was cute and maybe a year or two younger than me. 

He glanced behind at us and snapped, "Back me up!" 

I spun on my heel and raised my gun with one hand and although that didn't give me the most steady of shots, it still got the job down. I would never thank John for the talents he gave me but this was something I wouldn't have survived without. I got a quick round off and the walker entering the alley dropped. 

"Come on!" the man yelled and I turned around to see him climbing a metal ladder to the roof. It was about three or four feet off the ground, which was no issue, but at least it kept the walkers from easily following. 

Rick allowed me to go next up the ladder and I quickly worked my hands and feet on the rungs. When we were high enough up the tall building, we rested against the ladder to take a breather. I hadn't noticed how hard I was breathing until we settled. 

I took a glance below and past Rick as the man said, "Nice moves there, Clint Eastwood. You the new sheriff? Riding in to clean up the town?"

"Wasn't my intention," Rick fired back, just as out of breath.

I could look at him or the kid, my eyes were glued to the walkers now swarming the bottom of the ladder. They looked up at us with their open mouths and I pictured us falling one by one. 

"Yeah, whatever, yeehaw," muttered the man with a chuckle. "You're still a dumbass."

"And what about me?" I asked, finally pulling my gaze from the death below. "Still think I'm a dumbass, too?"

"You tell me," the man said. "You followed the sheriff here blindly."

"I knew what we were getting into," I snapped, shaking my head. "I knew exactly."

"It's true," muttered Rick. "Should've probably listened to her, huh?" He sighed and then said, "I'm Rick and this is Sam, thanks for saving our asses back there."

The man looked down at them with a smile. "Glenn and you're welcome." His smile fell, melting into worry. "Oh no."

I followed his eyes back down to the bottom. It seemed the walkers weren't going to give up too easily. They were climbing over one another, trying to reach the ladder. We weren't as high as we should've been and Glenn gave us a small smile as he said, "Bright side, it'd be the fall that kills us." He was right and I didn't know if that made it better or worse. "I'm a glass half-full kind of guy."

Glenn began to climb again and I followed suit with Rick hot on my heels. It took us the next few minutes to scale the rest of the ladder and reach the roof and when we did, I felt instantly more at ease. I relaxed, rolling my shoulders to release the tension that had been building. I tucked my gun away in my holster, I hadn't even realized I'd been clutching it as I climbed. One wrong move and it would've been lost in a sea of death. 

Glenn lead us across the roof and over a platform that took us to the next roof over.I glanced over the side and noticed the barricaded alley ways as Rick did.

"Are you the one who blocked off the alley?" asked Rick as we crossed to the next roof. We could see so much from up here and it made me want to stop and stare but we had an agenda.

"Somebody did," Glenn said, jogging slightly and forcing us to meet his pace. "I guess they did it when the city got overrun. Whoever did it was thinking. Not many geeks get through." It seemed his go to term for the dead was geek and every time he said it, it made me smile. 

"Back at the tank," I muttered, glancing back at Rick to see him fascinated with the barricades still, "why did you stick your neck out for us?"

"You mean why did I have such foolish, naive, hope?" Glenn asked when he lead us to a door. He opened it and I internally cursed him as I stared down another ladder. He took off his backpack and threw it down and I was glad to hear it hit the floor pretty quickly. "If I ever did something like that for someone, I'm hoping someone would do it for me, too. I guess I'm an even bigger dumbass than you."

"Well, Glenny, you just earned yourself a very eager ally," I said with a grin as I climbed down after him. 

We made it down quickly and Rick and I followed him through a deserted building. We reached another door and I didn't get the chance to look between the cracks in the boarded up windows to see what we were getting into when Glenn threw the door open and pulled out his walkie. 

"I'm back and got two guests!" We ran out onto stairs in the open alley. "Plus four geeks in the alley!"

I pulled my knife free as we ran down the steps, stopping only to see the walkers that were roaming turn at the sound of our feet and voices. I watched a door open down the alley and two people in full body armor run out and take care of the walkers with bats. We quickly ran past them as they began to beat the walkers about to keep them back. 

Just as we got inside, Rick was grabbed by a cute blonde holding a gun in his face. She slammed him back into the creates to our right and snarled, "You son of a bitch, I'm going to kill you."

I looked around, noticing we were in a department store of all places. There were mannequins still wearing display clothes and there were racks still full. It made me want to go look through me, to see if I could find anything worth wearing then the old flannel I kept putting on.

"Just chill out, Andrea," a man behind us said as he took off his armor. "Just back off."

A woman stepped forward from the small group watching us. She was pretty, older than me, and she had dark brown skin and nice eyes. "Come on, ease off."

"Ease off?" laughed Andrea with a scowl. "You're kidding, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole."

The man who spoke to us first mirrored her scowl. "Andrea, just back the hell off." 

Andrea lowered her gun, slowly, and I noticed there were tears in her eyes. "We're dead," she cried. "All of us because of you."

Rick frowned. "I...I don't understand."

I rolled my eyes. I touched his arm and pointed towards the boarded up windows and through the cracks, we could see things moving on the other side. 

"Look," the man said, "we came to the city to gather supplies. you know the thing about scavenging? Surviving. You know the key of surviving? Sneaking in and out, not by shooting up the street, not the other way around."

"Every geek for miles around heard you two popping rounds," a man with a hat on said, he had a tight glare in his eyes.

"I told you this was a shitty idea," I muttered, shaking my head as Andrea sniffled and snapped, "You just rang the dinner bell."

The windows were barricaded with thick fabrics but they weren't thick enough to hide the walkers when they got close enough. A loud bang echoed in the room and Andrea flinched. The walkers slammed their palms and bodies into the glass doors, their moans loud enough to be heard all throughout the room. There was a loud thunk and we all took a protective step back from the doors.

"What the hell were you doing out there anyway?" asked Andrea and I felt her eyes roll over me.

"Trying to follow the helicopter," Rick answered and I frowned. 

The rumble in the skies above us. 

"Helicopter?" laughed the man behind us and I noticed he had put his hat on backwards now. He had the same black skin and there was something in his face that told me he was a good person. He had a gentle look in his eyes. "That's crap man, there is no damn helicopter out here."

"I saw it," snapped Rick and I glanced at Rick and nodded.

"I heard it, too."

The man who had taken off his armor rolled his eyes and motioned to the man with the backwards hat. "Hey, T-Dog, try the CB. Contact the others."

"Others?" asked Rick and there was a sickening flash of hope on his face. "The refugee center?"

The woman with the dark skin gave Rick an annoyed look. "Yeah, they're just waiting there with biscuits in the oven."

"Excuse my friend over here," I muttered with an apologetic yet irritated smile as T-Dog tried with the radio, "he's new to the whole apocalypse thing."

"New? What?" laughed Andrea. "Did he just wake up?"

I glanced at Rick and he looked at me with a sigh. "Somethin' like that." I looked to the man who had spoken to us in the armor. "I'm Sam and this is Rick."

The man nodded back. "Morales and that's Jacqui," he pointed to the black woman, "and you've already met Glenn and Andrea."

T-Dog held up the CB with a frown as he walked back over to us. "Got no signal."

Morales opened his mouth to say something but a sharp pop echoed from outside, an obvious gun shot. I frowned, I thought we were the only ones here. From my right, Andrea groaned loudly. "Is that Dixon?"

The small group congregated in the store turned and took off running towards the staircase all together. Rick and I followed close behind, following them up a staircase and to the roof. When we pushed through the doors and only the roof, I had to shield my eyes from how bright it was as a man wielding a very large gun stood on the edge of the roof shooting with a large smile on his face. 

He was an older man, slightly balding except for the gray hair creeping up the sides. He wore an old button up that was opened to reveal the very dirty and sweaty white tank top underneath. He had one foot up on the ledge to brace himself and the large rifle. 

"Hey, Dixon!" yelled Morales as he came to a stop a few feet away from the other man. "Are you crazy?!"

Dixon let out a loud laugh, jumping back down onto the roof as he said, "You ought to be more polite to a man with a gun! Only common sense."

T-Dog scowled, shouting, "You're wasting bullets, man! We're going to need them to get out of this place!"

Dixon frowned, turning to look at T-Dog with a look only a racist could pull. "Now I'm taking orders from you?" he laughed with a scoff. "I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day."

T-Dog took a step forward as if to try to pull the gun away but Dixon was quicker. He reared the butt of the rifle back and slammed it into T-Dog's face hard enough for the man to fall back as Andrea yelled, "That's enough!"

Rick stepped forward to intervene but that was enough to send Dixon into another fit of rage, turning on Rick and punching him in the face and Rick was next to fall to the ground. Although he didn't look it, Dixon was quick. He lunged at T-Dog and in seconds had the bigger man pinned against one of the metal posts laying across the roof, leaving blood glistening against the silver.

Andrea, who was as no help as I was at the moment, screamed, "Get off him!" 

Dixon swung his fists out at anyone who tried to step up as I eased myself slowly behind him. Glenn tried to approached from the front and Dixon swung again, barely missing Glenn's face. Dixon jumped to his feet and sent his foot into T-Dog's side and I kept my non-dominant hand on my holster as I crept closer.

I didn't get a chance to get closer before Dixon was taking his gun out and spitting onto T-Dog's chest as he snarled, "We're going to have ourselves a powwow! See who's in charge. I vote me." He was grinning, looking at the worried people in front of him. "Democracy time, y'all. Show of hands, all in favor?"

Rick got to his feet, rubbing his nose as the small group looked from person to person. Dixon had the rifle and a smaller gun in his hand, it seemed to them he was the obvious choice and their hands began to slowly raise.

"Anybody else?" he laughed and from my side, I watched Rick take out his handcuffs.

I tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey," I said and when he didn't move, I grabbed him by the back of his shirt hard enough to pull him back and snapped, "Hey."

He whirled on me but he didn't know who I was, he didn't know what I was capable of. I'd faced men like him all my life, he didn't know a goddamn thing. 

I sent my fist into his face and I heard his nose bust as he toppled backwards, the guns falling from his hands to stop his fall. He looked dazed just for a moment but I didn't give him a chance to recover as I pulled my gun free and struck him across the face just as he did with T-Dog. Rick moved swiftly at my side, grabbing Dixon by the arm and pulling him across the roof just enough to slap the handcuff around his wrist and the other around one of the metal bars by the side where he'd been shooting moments before.

"Who the hell are you?!" Dixon spat, blinking away the probable black spots from getting hit.

"Officer friendly and deputy smiles, who do you think?" snapped Rick. "Look here, Merle, things are different now."

Merle Dixon was trouble.

Rick stood and put a hand on my shoulder, giving me a look of thanks before I left his side to travel to the edge of the roof. It was the first time I'd given myself the chance to look out and over the city and I was horrified to know what I was seeing.

Everything was so much worse up close.

The ruined buildings, the black marks across the sides of brick thanks to fire and explosions. What had the army really done besides cause chaos and even more death? 

Morales came up besides us and murmured to Rick, "You aren't Atlanta PD, so, where you from?"

"Up the road a ways," replied Rick and I nodded the same as I rubbed my knuckles. I hadn't punched someone for a couple years, I forgot what it felt like when bones struck face. I'd gotten into my fair share of bar fights, especially during college. Coming from a rough home made me more cautious and more irritable and my irritability turned to rage faster than my father could drink his beer.

"Well, officer friendly and deputy smiles, from up the road a ways," chuckled Morales, "welcome to the big city."

I frowned, still rubbing my knuckles as a breeze shook my hair from my shoulders. "How screwed are we out here, really?"

Morales glanced at me but I kept my eyes on the city. The walkers looked like bugs from here. "You want the god's honest truth?"

"Always."

"We're screwed."

From behind us, Glenn said something about looking for the man hole covers, snapping, "No! Must be all out on the street."

"There might be some under the buildings," said Jacqui as I turned to look at her. 

Glenn frowned. "How do you know that?"

"It's my job," she said before frowning and correcting herself, "Was."

We followed Jacqui to where she thought the tunnels were and when we got to a large opening downstairs, I leaned over to look down. It was dark and thankfully not a tight squeeze and Glenn announced he'd go with only one other person.

I had the strange gut feeling that I'd want to go with him, just because I found him cute and interesting but Glenn was speaking quickly. "Not you," he said to Rick. "I saw you with Merle's gun, we need you covering us at the doors." He turned to Andrea and then to me. "You have another gun as well, you go with him. And Sam, I know you can shoot, you go with them too." He pointed at Morales with a smile. "You're going to be my wing man. Jacqui, if anything happens, yell down to us."

"Okay," said Rick with a nod. "Everybody knows their jobs."

I walked back through the department store, watching the walkers carefully at the doors. From somewhere behind me, I could hear Rick and Andrea chatting softly but I kept most of my focus on the walkers. There was a good chance the doors could still break and I didn't want myself lost in conversation when they did.

The walkers shadows were dark and looked almost like silhouettes as they banged against the glass and themselves. It didn't take long before I heard glass break and I was pulling my gun out as if that would stop the stampede.

The glass shattered loudly and I backed away as I heard Glenn and Morales return with Jacqui. "We need a way out of here," I snapped over my shoulder. The walkers had only broken through the first wall of glass, there was only one layer protecting us from them now. The people behind me began to argue loudly as my mind raced. We needed a way out and there was no way I was going to die surrounded by cheap clothes and plastic jewelry. "Come on!" I hissed. "They're attracted by sound and sight, what else?!"

"They can smell you," said Morales in a rushed voice. "If they catch you, they eat you."

"They can smell us?" asked Rick curiously, giving me a look that read something along the lines of 'god, what else have I missed?' 

"Don't you?" said Glenn. "We stink."

Andrea nodded. "They smell dead, we don't."

I sniffed the collar of my shirt with a frown. "Yeah and we smell like dinner." I glanced back at the walkers clambering over each other to break the glass. 

"I have an idea," murmured Rick racing forward to grab the ugliest long white lab coats he could find off the racks. He pointed to the goggles on the far end of the store and the gloves, snapping, "Grab those."

"Why do I have the feeling this idea is going to be either really stupid or really dangerous?" I muttered as the others around us grabbed what we needed.

Rick gave me a grin and tossed me a lab coat. "Guess you'll just have to wait and see because that glass won't hold forever."

In the matter of minutes, we had two completely dead walkers at our feet in one of the back storage rooms of the department store. I decided to put on the lab coat Rick had handed me and suddenly I was regretting my decision. I was handed gloves and a mask and I slipped them on, feeling like something out of a meth lab. 

From behind me, Rick broke the glass case of one of the emergency axes and when he returned to my side, I held out my hand. There was no way he had the stomach for what we were about to do. I felt him place the handle of the ax into my palm and it felt like fate as I closed my fingers around the weapon.

I had never been one to watch gory horror films growing up but looking down at the walkers horrible faces, it made me wish I had. I would've been more prepared, maybe. Even my short stint as a potential doctor didn't prepare me for this but it wasn't like Glenn was going to do it, the boy hadn't stopped trembling by my side once the walkers were brought in.

I took a small breath and raised the ax. "Here goes nothing–"

Rick held up a hand, squatting down and patting the dead guy's pockets before pulling out a wallet. He flipped the old leather open and sighed softly. "Wayne Dunlap," he read aloud. "Georgia license, born nineteen-seventy-nine." He handed the card to Glenn and I could see the soft shine of sweat. "He had twenty-eight dollars in his pocket when he died and a picture of a pretty girl." He flipped the small picture over and I rested the ax down by my side, feeling antsy. "With love, from Rachel. He used to be like us." Rick put the wallet back and stood, putting on his gloves and mask. By his side, he gripped a hammer tightly in his fist.

"On more thing," murmured Glenn, gulping. "He was an organ donor."

I let out a soft chuckle, shaking my head. "He'd be happy to know his organs are going to good use, don't you think?"

Rick shook his head but I could see a smile on his face. "Just get on with it, Sam."

"With pleasure," I said with a forced smile. I had to make this seem okay, that I wasn't about to tear into rotten flesh of someone who was just like you or me. I had to pretend this was a prop in a horror film, this was a body used in a show about doctors and hospitals. This wasn't someone real. This was just something fake. 

I raised the ax above my head and sent it down, slamming it into the walker's chest. Everyone gasped at the sound, the sickening crunch of metal hitting bone. Andrea and Jacqui turned away as I yanked the ax free and sent it back down into its chest again and again until it was looking more like soggy dark mush. When it was wet enough and the muscle was exposed just right, I cut the walker's legs and arms off before slicing into its stomach.

A horrible smell began to waft out of the monster as I got to work on the second walker. It was rancid and hot, like someone had accidentally left meat out in the sun all day. I ignored the smell the best I could, thinking about how I've smelled worse. Baby and horse shit, the smell of vomit, the smell of day old piss, there were worse things than this I had to tell myself.

Blood pooled out underneath the walkers in a black puddle. Somewhere behind me, Glenn was getting sick as Morales and Rick took turns destroying the second walker when I returned to pounding the first.

"Don't get any in your eyes or on your skin," instructed Rick as he stood straight, his ax dripping with brownish red goo. 

I wiped the blade of my ax off onto my coat before slipping the handle into one of my belt loops. It was a tight fit but it was the best place for the weapon because I intended on keeping it. It felt right in my hands and it felt even more right feeling the weight of the blade cut through the walker. It would protect me better than my little kitchen knife.

Rick bent down and dipped his gloved hands into the first walker's stomach and he shuddered just for a moment before scooping up the mush and slopping it down against himself, coating the chest of his coat. He looked up at me with a grimace before I bent down to scoop up some of the stringy muscle and do the same.

"Smells worse than it feels," I muttered to him as I wiped a hand down his hand to smear some of the blood. He continued to dip his hands into the walker, smearing it against his arms as I sawed at one of the hands. I pulled until the hand came free along with a stretch of sticky tendons and flesh. I held it out and draped it carefully around Rick's neck.

It didn't take long before Rick, Glenn, and I were covered in guts. It weighed down on my shoulders, the lab coat now at least five pounds heavier with the mess. We peeled our gloves and masks off, tossing them to the side as we prepared for the worst.

I felt Andrea come up behind me and an extra small weight was added to my shoulders and I held back my wince. I never thought I'd see the day where I'd almost thank someone for putting guts on me. She had draped a long intestine, shriveled and bumpy over my shoulders like a scarf. I glanced up slowly to meet Rick's stare and I smiled and muttered, "Do I look pretty now?"

He rolled his eyes with a chuckle as Glenn asked, "Do we smell like them now?"

Andrea nodded as she came around to look at the three of us. "Oh, yeah."

Rick fixed his grip on his hammer, taking a deep sigh. "Be ready," he told the others. He quickly told us of the plan and I realized it was a good idea to have us three go than anyone else. We needed to get to the truck and bring it around for the other's to get inside and then have someone else drive another car out of the city to distract the walkers. With Rick and I being a part of this threesome, we would be able to back Glenn as he got the car to distract the walkers.

We'd already proven ourselves with Merle, we were the most accomplished out of the group.

When we were ready, we crept out into the alley. We had to purposefully move slower, pretending to limp as an act to fool the dead. I didn't think the limping would do much but it made everything seem much more like a game or an act than something real and horrifying. 

We hobbled past two walkers and kept our eyes forward. It surprised me that as we passed, they didn't even look our way. It seemed smell was the biggest factor when hiding yourself and I knew this would come in handy in the future. We got to the end of the alley and got on all fours, there was a large bus blocking the alley in and our way onto the main street. Crawling underneath, we came out on the other side and had to slowly stand in order not to draw too much attention to ourselves. Away from the safety of the alley, we needed to be as careful as we could.

The street was filled with them, all moving slowly and together in clumps. They walked in almost perfect sync, as if they were all destined to be here with us. I was the first to start moving, taking my spot between both the men. My natural instinct was to take off running but I held in my breath and tightened my grip on my little knife. I didn't want to use my ax, I didn't want to draw that much attention to myself.

Above us, the sky roared softly. I glanced up, nervous to take my eyes off the road and the walkers but I couldn't help myself. The clouds were thick and the humidity around us told me it was going to rain and soon. The second those clouds burst, we would be screwed.

I looked at Rick and flicked my eyes up to the sky and he followed my glance and his brows furrowed. We quickened our pace just the tiniest bit and we could see the truck and we could see the car but the thunder was still booming and there was lightning in the distance and from behind me I heard Glenn let out a groan, imitating the walkers.

It felt like we had more time but I felt a droplet hit my face and more quickly followed. We quickened our step to a near jog and the walkers turned to look at us and I had the feeling we were beginning to look more and more like dinner than one of them. It didn't take long for us to take off running and I didn't waste any time tearing the lab coat off of me so I could run easier. 

We reached a fence and we quickly climbed and I took a moment to stab a walker at our feet before continuing after the men. When we landed on the other side, I watched the walkers slam their bodies into the fence, the metal groaning as it took on the weight of hundreds. 

"We gotta go, we gotta go!" I snapped, backing up and away as Rick took out his gun to shoot the walkers were beginning to climb. 

When we spun around and took off running towards the truck, Glenn tossed Rick a set of keys. Rick swiftly got into the truck, starting the vehicle as we climbed inside as the fence behind us broke. 

"We need to draw them away," said Rick, taking a frantic look back as he drove down the alley. "Tell your friends to get ready."

"How are we going to do that? How can we just draw them all away?" asked Glenn with a panicked look and an even more panicked tone.

I looked out the window and smiled. "Noise, dumbass."

Rick took a fast turn and saw what I was looking at and he slammed on the breaks. "You got this, Sam?"

I nodded, shooting him a fast grin as I opened the car door. "I can do this in my sleep."

"Go with her," snapped Rick and Glenn nodded, following me out of the car. "Get them away from the alley, okay? Go!"

I pulled my ax free from my belt loop and sent the butt of the weapon into the bright red Dodge Challender's window, unlocking it as the car alarm began to blare. I tore open the steering column cover and then the access pad as Glenn told me to go faster as if that would help me. I reached in and started for the wires, grabbing the red which I knew had to be for the battery as I searched for the one belonging to the ignition. I shredded the end of the wire's insulation with my knife and tried the wire against every one I could find since there wasn't a universal wire color for the ignition, but hey, that'd make things too easy and in this world nothing was ever easy.

"They're getting closer!" cried Glenn with jerking jittery movements as he continued to panic.

"I'm going as fast as I can!" I snapped back as my own anxiety crept up my throat like a parasite. I tried the last wire and just my luck, the car roared to life and I was hissing over my shoulder, "Get in, go, go, go!"

I got into the drivers seat, tossing my ax and knife into my lap as I reached out and unlocked the passenger door. Glenn got in and I pressed on the gas and the car skidded across the road in an instant. The alarms screamed as we drove down the alley, the noise echoing all around us. From beside me, Glenn had his radio out and was quickly telling his friends to get ready as I turned the wheel sharply to the right, the car whirling out onto the road.

I let the car come to a stop, allowing the alarm to blare as I watched in the rearview mirror as the walkers slowly began to peel out of the alley. They came forward like a pack of hungry wolves, lurking and itching to get closer and closer. 

Revving the engine, I grinned as I reached down and put the car in reverse. Glenn grabbed the assist grip above the door as I shot my foot down on the gas, the car screeching across the asphalt as we catapulted backwards. 

"Sam, what the hell are you–" He didn't finish his sentence as I turned the wheel and the car spun around as I shifted gears into drive, Glenn's body pressing up against the door and slamming back into his seat as the car moved.

The walkers followed close behind as we lead them away and through the city. When we had enough following us, stepped on the gas and drove us straight out of the city. When we were far enough, I slowed the car down and put it in park, jumping out as Glenn opened his door with a confused look.

"What are you doing?" he asked as I popped the hood.

"Turning the alarm off," I muttered, looking up at him with a small grin. "We don't want walkers following us home, now do we?"

He nodded, taking off his baseball cap to run his fingers through his hair. "I should probably drive the rest of the way."

"Oh, really?"

He nodded, giving me a sheepish grin. "I know where we're goin' so..."

"And you can't just tell me the directions?" I asked once I found the cord and pulled it, the alarm shutting off. It was quiet for a moment as I shut the hood and looked at the boy. "Or is it because you want a chance to drive this thing too, huh?"

He shrugged. "Both?"

I rolled my eyes and rounded his side of the car, patting him on the back. "Take us home, kid."

"Kid?" he laughed as he walked around to the driver's side. "We're like the same age."

"You look like you're fresh out of college," I told him as I got inside the car, closing the door behind me as he got inside. 

He ran his hands over the wheel with a grin. "Damn, okay, grandma."

I pushed at his shoulder gently with a laugh as he took the car out of park and we continued down the highway. "Tell me, Glenn, what did you do before the world went to shit?"

He chuckled softly. "I was, uh, a pizza delivery guy." He glanced at me as I rolled down my window, the breeze catching my face and hair. "And let me guess, you were some hot shot driver, right? No one could pull those moves back there like you."

"I'm sure you could've," I muttered, wishing I had kept my backpack with me so I could take a much needed sip of water. I'd left my bag with the others and I could only hope Rick brought it back with him. 

"But really," he said, "what were you before all this?"

I let my hand fall out of the window, catching the wind in between my fingers. "I was nothing special."

"I don't believe that."

"You should."

"Come on, guts," he murmured, nudging me back. "You had to be something before all this."

I shook my head, leaning back against my seat as I watched the trees whirl by as Glenn sped down the deserted highway. "Honestly?"

He nodded.

"I was an idiot."

AUTHOR'S NOTE━━now we're coming up on my favorite scene of this show.......when rick and carl reunite :,,) carl was so tiny and cute eeee

let me know what you all think of this chapter!! ive been trying to incorporate sam more into everything bc the first time i wrote this.....it was legit just the shows dialogue and sam just was ~there~ lol so let me know what you think!! like ur thoughts on rick/sam and glenn/sam 

vote/comment and ill marry u