𝟑. guts
WHITE FLAG
chapter three : guts
{ season one - episode two }
"MY GOD, IT'S like Times Square down there," Andrea commented, her gaze set on the walkers from below, with Jacqui beside her. T-Dog was sat by Jacqui's feet, his own spread out as he fidgeted with the walkie, trying to get signal to reach the others. Merle was still handcuffed to the pipe and had finally calmed down, while Glenn and Kloe sat side by side on the metal steps, a few meters away from Merle.
"How's that signal?" Morales stepped over with Rick, they both went over to have a little chat and had finished.
"Like Dixon's brain..." T-Dog shifted his eyes over to Merle, "Weak." Simultaneously, all of the group's eyes fell on Merle, who lifted his middle finger in response.
"Keep trying," Morales told, taking a deep breath in. Rick took a few steps forwards, leaning over the side of the roof beside Andrea, who spun her head around to Morales.
"Why? There's nothing they can do. Not a damn thing," Andrea pushed herself away from the side of the roof, stumbling away from them towards the backpacks which the group had set down. Glenn and Kloe shared a quick look before gazing back at Morales, who began speaking.
"Got some people outside the city is all. There's no refugee center," he shook his head. "That's a pipe dream."
"Then she's right. We're on our own," Rick peered over his shoulder to face all of them. "It's up to us to find a way out."
"Good luck with that," Merle started. "These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear," he shifted his eyes over to Andrea, "Ain't that right, sugar tits?" Kloe's eyebrows slowly connected as she began to cringe at the man, "hey, honeybunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs, we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway."
Andrea shook her head, "I'd rather." She stood up and walked over to Glenn and Kloe, taking a seat in front of them.
"Rug muncher. I figured as much," Merle rolled onto his back. The Schmidt girl rolled her eyes away from the man, over to Morales and Rick.
"The streets ain't safe," Morales shook his head, locking his eyes with Rick's. "Now there's an understatement."
"What about under the streets? The sewers?" The brunette girl's eyebrows raised at Rick's suggestion, that could've been a good plan, if they figured how to get inside of them.
"Oh, man," Morales turned over his shoulder and faced Glenn, "Hey, Glenn, check the alley. You see any manhole covers?"
In an instant, Glenn stood up beside the girl and ran over to check, but came back shaking his head, "No, must be all out on the streets where the geeks are."
"Maybe not," Jacqui shook her head. "Old buildings like this were built in the '20s..." she trailed off. "Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers in case of flooding down in the sub basements."
"How do you know that?" Glenn inquired.
"It's my job," she paused. "Was," she corrected, turning over to Rick. "I worked in the city zoning office." Rick turned to face the group, staying in complete silence.
Bluntly, Kloe stood up and stepped towards the door. "Kloe?" The girl whipped her head around to Glenn, who was still standing with the others. "Where are you going?"
"Where do you think?"
...
Everyone except T-Dog and Merle headed down to the basement. They peered over the railing of the intimidating sewer entrance, shining their flashlights so they could see.
"This is it? Are you sure?" Morales questioned, lifting his head up at Glenn and Kloe, as did everybody else.
"We really scoped this place out the other times we were here," Glenn stated, sharing a quick glance at his best friend. "It's the only thing in the building that goes down," he paused. "But I've never gone down there, nor has Kloe. Who'd want to, right?"
Kloe's eyebrows glued together as everyone except her simultaneously set their gaze on him, hinting him to go down.
"Oh. Great," he mumbled.
"We'll be right behind you," Andrea assured, nodding her head at Morales and Jacqui beside her.
"No, you won't. Not you," Glenn gestured his hand to Andrea with a firm look.
"Why not me? Think I can't?" she scoffed.
Glenn shook his head, "I wasn't-" he cut himself off.
"Speak your mind," Rick commented, looking deeply into Kloe's best friend's eyes. Glenn stayed silent for a few seconds before parting his lips to speak.
"Look, until now we always came here by ourselves, just the two of us," he gestured towards his brunette friend as he began to speak again, "In and out, grab a few things. No problem. The first time we bring a group, everything goes to hell. No offense," he paused, looking back down the sewer entrance. "If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine... But only if we do it my way."
Everyone nodded at Glenn's statement in understanding. Kloe Schmidt stood still, though. She wasn't so fond of the idea of sending Glenn down there by himself.
"It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I'll bring one person. Not you either," he gestured toward Rick. "You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store watching those doors, covering our ass," he said, turning to Andrea. "And you've got the only other gun, so you should go with him."
Glenn peered over his shoulder to face the brunette girl who wasn't amused, "I want you to stay up here, please. You're the only one that can keep Merle's mouth shut, and I'm sure T-Dog would appreciate that." Reluctantly, she nodded her head, sending a quick reassuring smile.
He sent the smile back before turning to Morales and Jacqui. "You be my wingman. Jacqui stays here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry," he told firmly, pointing at the ground.
"Okay," Jacqui nodded in understanding.
"Okay, everybody knows their jobs," Rick reassuringly patted Glenn on the shoulder.
Kloe watched as Glenn brought the torch up to his mouth and began climbing down the ladder, Morales following suit. As they both hopped down, Glenn glanced back up at the group.
"Be careful," Kloe stated, just loud enough so he could hear. She pushed herself away from the railing and followed Andrea and Rick into the other room until she met the staircase to the roof, where Glenn had told her to go.
She hurried up the steps, skipping two or three at a time. She pushed open the heavy door, glancing over at the two men who were sprawled out across the floor, the sun beaming down onto their sweaty skin.
The brunette girl gently smiled, making her way over to the two. "Hey, Klo," T-Dog greeted, trying to smile but immediately winced in pain from the beaten wound on his left cheek.
"Hey. How're you feeling?" she asked, setting herself down beside him so she was in the shade.
"Never been better," he sarcastically replied. The girl patted his shoulder gently, a sympathetic smile sprouted across her lips. She glared over at Merle, who kept quiet, although she wasn't quite sure how long that'd last. T-Dog lifted the walkie that was in his hands and brought it to his mouth. "Anybody out there?" he lifted his finger from the button and waited for response, but nothing came through. "Hello? Anybody read? I'm hoping to hear somebody's voice 'cause I'm getting sick and tired of hearing mine."
"Yeah, well, that makes the two of us," Merle commented. "Why don't you knock that crap off? Soon enough, you'll piss off Klo-Klo here, too." Kloe rolled her eyes at the nickname Merle had given her. He called the girl 'Klo-Klo' ever since she arrived at the camp, and it annoyed the crap out of her. Merle spat onto the ground, resulting in Kloe pulling a disgusted face.
"Why don't you pull your head out of your ass? Maybe your headache will go away," T-Dog spoke while changing the frequency on the walkie. The only response he got, though, was Merle's ear-aching chuckle. "Try some positivity for a change. Damn."
"I'll tell you what... You get me out of these cuffs, either one of you, and I'll be all 'Sammy Sunshine' positive for you," Merle suggested, motioning towards a weapon that was nearby. "Hey, see that hacksaw over there in that toolbag? Get it for me, hm? Make it worth your while. What do you say, both of you? Come on. Get me out of these things."
"So you can beat my ass again? Call me a-"
"Come on now. It wasn't personal. It's just that your kind and my kind ain't meant to mix. That's all." The brunette girl sent a death glare at the racist man. "It don't mean we can't... work together, parley, as long as there's some kind of mutual gain involved." A loud rumble of thunder rang through the air. "So... About that hacksaw..."
"I guess you want me to get that rifle over there too so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up, huh?"
Merle sent an evil looking smirk over at the two of them.
...
Everyone was reunited up at the roof, and they were all leaning over the edge, glancing down at the overrun streets. Rick informed T-Dog and the Schmidt girl that the walkers had burst through the first set of doors. The group all watched as Rick looked through the binoculars that were brought up to his eyes.
"That construction sight, those trucks, they always keep keys on hand," he passed the binoculars over to Morales, who took them in an instant and gazed through them.
"You'll never make it past the walkers," Morales stated. Rick turned his gaze to Glenn and Kloe, while everybody else did the same.
"You got me out of that tank."
"Yeah, but they were feeding," Glenn stepped away from the wall on the edge of the roof.
"They were distracted," Kloe chimed in, leaning her back against the short wall.
"Can we distract them again?" Rick questioned.
"Right. Listen to him. He's onto something. A diversion, like on 'Hogan's Heroes,'" Merle pointed.
"Merle, shut it," Kloe stated firmly, pushing herself off the wall, stepping forwards to Glenn and Rick.
"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick questioned, keeping his gaze set on Glenn and Kloe.
"Right, like dogs. They hear a sound, they come," Glenn stated, nodding his head lightly.
"What else?" Rick asked again.
"Aside from they hear you?" Morales started, "They see you, smell you and if they catch you, they eat you."
"They can tell us by smell?"
"Can't you?" Glenn inquired, emphasizing on 'you.'
"They smell dead, we don't. Come on, guys, shouldn't you know that by now?" Kloe added, throwing her hand over her eyes to shield them from the sunlight.
"She's right, it's pretty distinct," Andrea agreed, nodding.
Rick lifted his head and sighed.
...
"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold," Glenn's voice shook a little as Rick handed over a pair of blue rubber gloves to him, Jacqui and Kloe.
"He's right," Morales stormed over to Rick. "Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through."
"How much time?" Rick asked. "They already got through one set of doors, that glass won't hold forever," he tossed over two white scientist coats to Glenn and Kloe. Loss of words, the girl opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
All of the group pushed open the doors to where T-Dog and Morales had taken out two walkers. Rick and Morales rushed over to one of the dead geeks and dragged it back inside, Glenn slamming the door shut behind them.
They all stood in a room with the dead corpse laid out across the ground. Rick sighed as he pulled on his face shield and smashed the glass behind him to get hold of the fire axe with his crowbar.
He stumbled over to them all, the fire axe sat tightly in his grip. He lunged forwards, lifting the axe, causing Glenn to grimace beside the brunette, and for her to tense up. But Rick relinquished the axe from his hand and removed his gloves and face shield.
He bent down and reached into the dead corpse's pocket and pulled out a wallet as he frantically tried to open it. "Wayne Dunlap," he glanced up at the group before continuing. "Georgia license. Born in 1979," Rick handed the ID card over to Glenn. "He had $28 in his pocket when he died... And a picture of a pretty girl."
Kloe swallowed thickly as the man flipped the paper over. "'With love, from Rachel'. He used to be like us... Worrying about bills or the rent or the Super Bowl," he paused for a moment. "If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne," He slid the wallet back inside of Wayne's dead body's pocket.
"One more thing..." Glenn broke the silence, all the attention falling onto him. "He was an organ donor."
Unexpectedly, Rick swung the axe into the walker's body, causing everyone to groan. Kloe felt her stomach churn as she heard the crunching sounds of the bones breaking. She swallowed thickly to keep the bile from coming up.
The brunette placed a hand on Glenn's shoulder to comfort him, as well as herself. She firmly squeezed her eyes shut as she muttered some curse words, "Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit."
Just as the girl thought it was over, another crunch and squelching sound filled the air. The Schmidt girl's hand flew to her mouth as another wave of nausea approached her stomach.
"Oh God," Glenn mumbled, pressing both of his hands on his cap. Rick took another hack at the walker as Kloe held back a gag.
She'd pretty much assured herself beforehand that she'd be fine watching that, considering Glenn and her came to the city nearly everyday, killing any walkers that stumbled by. But never ever did she think she'd be watching a dead body get chopped up into pieces before.
Rick hacked at the walker one last time, causing everyone to groan around me, including Kloe herself. Beside her, Glenn leaned forward, clearly trying to hold back his vomit.
"Keep chopping," Rick handed over the face shield he was wearing and the fire axe he was brutally slicing the dead walker with. Glenn's groans from beside the girl grew louder and louder as she rubbed her hand against his back.
"I am so gonna hurl," Glenn groaned once again.
"Later," Rick panted, holding up a hand in front of Glenn.
Kloe watched as Morales chopped into the stomach of the walker, revealing all of its guts. As Morales continued to do so, the brunette wrapped her arm around Glenn's shoulder and carefully twisted him around so he didn't watch.
"Anybody got gloves?" Rick inquired as Glenn groaned loudly once again. "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes." Before the whole gruesome scenario had happened, the group had come up with a plan that Rick, Glenn and Kloe would walk through the crowd of walkers to the place Rick had spotted through the binoculars.
Simultaneously, everyone reached down into the stomach of the walker and began rubbing the blood and guts all over Kloe's body. The girl grimaced at the smell as she rubbed her hands together.
"Oh God! Oh jeez," Glenn groaned as Morales wrapped a whole ass intestine over Glenn's shoulders. "Oh, this is bad. This is really bad," he grimaced.
"Think about something else. Puppies and Kittens," Rick stated.
"Dead puppies and kittens," T-Dog added.
Glenn groaned one last time before leaning over and vomited everywhere away from the group, resulting in the Schmidt girl shaking her head at T-Dog.
"That is just evil. What is wrong with you?" Andrea scrunched up her face, rubbing her hand gently across Glenn's back, just as Kloe did.
"Next time let the cracker beat his ass," Jacqui told firmly over Glenn's loud groans.
"I'm sorry, yo," T-Dog apologized.
"You suck," Glenn commented, still leant over.
"Do we smell like them?" Rick gulped.
"Oh yeah," Andrea grimaced whilst nodding. "Glenn." He glanced up at her to see her handing him her gun. "Just in case," she lifted up his shirt a little and stuffed the gun into his jeans.
"If we make it back, be ready," Rick told.
"We better make it back, after this?" the youngest girl scoffed, groaning slightly.
"What about Merle Dixon?" T-Dog asked. Rick silently sighed as he reached into his back pocket, pulling out a small key. He tossed it over to the man who caught it in one hand.
"Give me the axe," Rick said, Morales knelt down and seized onto the axe before handing it over to Rick. "We need- we need more guts."
...
The door creaked open as Rick, Glenn and Kloe stepped out, still covered in guts and whatnots. The three of them shared a few seconds glance before they began to act like walkers. From behind, the door slammed shut from where Morales had closed it. The girl patted the back of her pockets on her jeans, making sure she had the walkie on her.
Quietly as possible, the three tiptoed across the area. Rick was holding the same fire axe he'd used to chop up the walker, Glenn had a crowbar and Kloe had a large knife.
She felt her whole body tense up as a walker leaned over her, growling at the girl. She held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut firmly as she continued to stumble forwards.
The three of them gently knelt down so they could get underneath the big truck that was blocking the direction they had to go.
Kloe carefully dragged herself on her stomach under the truck, quietly grunting. She could practically feel her heartbeat thumping out of her chest. She stood back onto her feet and began to stumble again.
It felt as if they were walking for hours, but Kloe knew it wasn't. Her mind was just exaggerating. She just wanted it to be over all ready. She held in a deep breath as a walker leant over her again, growling. The girl felt a hand grip tightly around her wrist, pulling her slightly. She looked up almost instantly to Glenn, who was the one that was holding the brunette girl.
She realized that Glenn had pulled her away from the walker, which made her heart melt a little.
"It's gonna work. I can't believe it," Glenn whispered, his eyes shifting in every direction around the three, briefly looking down at his hand that was still gripped onto his best friend's wrist.
"Don't draw attention," Rick muttered back, pausing at every word firmly.
Then, a walker dragged its feet towards Glenn. He pushed himself back slightly, bringing the girl back with him as the walker practically growled into their ears. Furrowing her brows, Glenn began to growl with it, lifting his eyebrows to mimic them.
Kloe wanted to grin at him, but from the current situation they were in, she didn't think it was the time to play around. The walker stumbled away from Glenn and, typically, rain started to drop onto their skin. A few drops turned into pouring as Kloe glanced down at the ground, watching all little parts of walker guts drop to the now wet cement.
Kloe began to smell fresh air again, which was confusing since they were all covered in blood and guts and who knows what else. That's when it finally came to the brunette's head. The rain was washing it all away. She watched as the walkers grew suspicious, glaring their eyes over at them.
"The smell's washing off. Isn't it?" Glenn began to breathe heavily, gripping on more tightly around the girl's wrist. "Is it washing off?" he panicked.
"No, it's not," Rick assured, peering over his shoulder to see another walker look into his eyes. "Well, maybe."
Suddenly, a loud roar from a walker was heard. The girl whipped her head around to spot a walker sprinting towards Rick. In an instant, he raised his fire axe and slashed it through the walker's skull.
"Run!" Rick yelled, Glenn's hand soon fell from Kloe's wrist as he raised his crowbar. She did the same but with her knife, driving it through any walker's skull that got close to the girl.
The three raced over to the fence, throwing their weapons over. She seized onto the top of the metal and hauled herself over, dropping to the concrete on the other side. Swiftly, they relinquished the bloodied clothing from their bodies, dropping them onto the floor as Glenn and Kloe sprinted over to a little cabinet which kept a bunch of keys.
Glenn ripped off the lock with his crowbar and immediately grasped onto keys before spinning over to the man. "Rick!" he tossed the keys over to him, rushing over to a van.
Rick and Glenn opened the doors to the van, Glenn motioned his hand to Kloe, signaling her to go in first. Absentmindedly, she stepped inside, crawling over to the back where there was a large empty space.
"Go, go, go, go!" Glenn frantically yelled, slamming the door shut behind him. Unexpectedly, the girl jolted forward as the truck drove backwards, causing the tyres to screech against the concrete.
Kloe watched as the countless number of walkers pushed down the gate, stepping over each other as they made their way towards the three.
"Oh, my God. Oh, my God," Glenn repeated, panic flowing through his voice, facing Rick and Kloe as she leant over in the middle. "They're all over that place."
"You need to draw them away, both of you," Rick told. "Those roll-up doors at the front of the store, that area? That's what I need cleared." Glenn opened his mouth to speak something back, but immediately got cut off by Rick, "Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready," Rick pointed to Kloe, knowing that she had the walkie.
"And we're drawing the geeks away, how? I- I missed that part," Glenn stammered, his voice still raised.
"Noise." Glenn and Kloe shared a quick look before the van came to a stop. The three of them stepped out as Rick jogged over to a red car, which, to be honest, looked super cool.
Rick gripped onto the crowbar Glenn had been using and smashed through the windows, causing the alarms to scream through the air. Kloe pursed her lips tightly, wary that walkers would be able to hear it from miles away.
Rick reached his hand through the window and pushed open the door, setting down inside of it to start it up with a screwdriver he had walked past in the store. He hastily stepped out, pointing at the two young adults, "You two, get in."
Before getting to say anything, Rick sprinted off towards the van they were previously in. Glenn and Kloe, once again, shared a look before hurrying over to the car, crawling inside of it. She set herself down in the passenger seat as Glenn pushed his foot down, causing the car to drive forwards.
"Kloe! Inform the others!" Glenn shouted over the loud blaring noise of the car's alarm.
The brunette girl acknowledged it by grasping onto the walkie, pushing her index finger down onto the button. "Those roll up doors at the front of the store facing the street, meet us there and be ready!"
Glenn pressed his foot down harder on the accelerator, taking over Rick as the car grew faster and faster.
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Words: 3973
- 17th November 2021
Okay, I know this chapter was kinda crap but I had to go along with the story obviously, but I did like the bit where Glenn, Kloe and Rick all went together when they got covered in blood guts and shit.
But I do hope you really like this chapter, if so, leave a vote and look out for the next chapter! I also have a lot of time to write at the moment, so I'll be posting some more chapters often. After Christmas will be when I'll be needing some time to fully focus and school for the exams!
Thank you for reading!
- Jessi
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