Winning a Battle, Losing the War

"You all have your assignments. You know where to rendezvous," Rick's voice echoed over our walkie-talkies as we ran. The four of us followed our portion of the road, passing by all the cars we had parked alongside each side of the road over the past two weeks. "Daryl leads them out. Sasha and Abraham join him at the bottom of the hill." It was a good plan, to corral the herd down the road using the cars to keep them from straying off until Sasha and Abraham were able to join Daryl at the red checkpoint for extra leverage. We'd be leading the walkers as far away from Alexzandria as possible and there were only so many cars we could find. "Glenn, you hit us when you take care of the walkers at the tractor place," Rick instructed. Just then we stopped running briefly, firing off flare guns into the sky, helping to draw the walker's towards us. "That's the one thing we have got to get ahead of," Rick's voice boomed, causing us to take off back into a sprint. "Everybody keep your heads. Just keep up."

It didn't take us much longer to reach the tractor place, which only made us realize how crucial it was to handle this situation quickly. It was always our plan for today to take out the walkers trapped within the small store back when we thought this would just be a trial run. Although now, the plan had been unwillingly set in motion and we needed to be quick. We weaved in and out through the tractors that had been placed on display in the parking lot, already hearing the walkers banging on the glass to get out.

"Glenn, you have to hurry," Rick's voice echoed over the radio once more, only heightening our anxiety. "The noise could distract the herd right off the road."

I pulled my crowbar from my belt, passing by a walker trapped underneath one of the tractors. The bottom half of her body was completely crushed as she still screeched for us. I swung my crowbar up, slamming it down the centre of her skull and silencing the noise.

"We're here," Glenn reported back, easing Rick.

"It sounds like a lot," Nicholas called out, standing in front of the front windows of the store. The walkers banged on the glass repeatedly, their gurgles amplified like they were all piled up on one another trying to get out. The glass was tinted, making it hard to determine just how many lay beyond these walls.

"We need it quiet," I said.

"So what's the plan?" Heath asked.

"Take 'em out a few at a time," Glenn answered, walking around the side of the building to the front doors. We could hear the walkers on the other side of the door as well. He pulled on them gently, finding out they were locked. Glenn looked back at me and I already knew I'd have to use my crowbar to pop them open. Glenn stepped back, "Nicholas, you're at the door," he instructed. Nicholas did exactly what Glenn asked, as he promised.

"Alright, you let one or two out and then you close it," I explained, knowing exactly what Glenn's plans were. We've been through this exact situation enough times already.

"You keep doing that. That's the trick. That's how we control it," Glenn added in. Nicholas nodded his head in understanding, for once listening to us.

"Wait, what if he can't close it?" Heath asked. Heath didn't know us very well yet, his team being out on a run for a few weeks when we had arrived. They got back just a few days before Rick and Morgan found the herd, leaving little time for us to get to know one another.

"I will," Nicholas confirmed.

"Then we take 'em on--"

"We take them on?" Heath cut me off, furrowing his brows at me like I was crazy.

I sighed, "If we get into trouble we run around the back of the building, into the woods and draw them away," I explained the backup plan.

Heath shook his head in disbelief, not wanting to go ahead with our plan. "Hey," Nicholas grabbed his attention, "you've been out on runs since they got here. They know what they're doing. Me and Aiden, we didn't."

Heath finally took a deep breath and nodded his head, "This was supposed to be a dress rehearsal," he said as he drew his knife from his back pocket.

"I'm supposed to be delivering pizzas, man," Glenn let out a breathy laugh. "Daryl's leading them this way and they're closing in. That noise is gonna pull the herd right off of the road and then we have serious trouble--"

"We have to do this," I finished Glenn's sentence for him.

"Yeah, okay," Heath agreed, coming to terms with the situation at hand.

"Okay, Scar, go for it," Glenn nodded to me.

I stepped up to the door, my feet planted across from Nicholas' as his hands gripped onto the door handle. I jimmied my crowbar in between the two doors, pushing and pulling it back and forth until it was wedged in far enough.

"On three, okay?" I looked up at Nicholas. "One… two… three…" I put all my weight into pushing my crowbar back, popping the left door free for Nicholas to swing open. The door made a loud crack and Nicholas threw it back to release the first walker. I stood there motionless, my heart dropping to my feet when my eyes landed on a metal barricade pulled down behind the doors.

"Shit!" Glenn cursed under his breath. We were in trouble now. We needed to find a new way to release these walkers and we were now cutting it dangerously close.

~ Two Weeks Earlier ~

The entire town stood inside Deanna's living room, maybe fifty or so people now that the new group was back from their run. Rick called a meeting for us to discuss the pit of walkers he and Morgan had stumbled upon. Everyone was quiet as we listened to each person speak on the matter, it was a civil conversation discussing our options.

"My team… we saw it early on, back when we were on one of those first scouts, finding out what was around here," Heath explained, "There was a camp at the bottom. The people, they must have blocked those exits with one of those trucks back when everything started to go bad. They didn't make it. They were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of them."

"No one's been back since?" Maggie asked him, staring up at him from the couch beside Glenn.

Heath shook his head, "DC, every town worth scavenging are all in the other direction. And I never really felt like having a picnic next to the camp that ate itself."

"So all the while the walkers have been drawn by the sound and they're making more sound and they're drawing more in," Michonne added in.

"And here we are," Rick said. He looked around the room, speaking up louder so everyone could hear him clearly. "Now what I'm proposing, I know it sounds risky, but walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now. Maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends them east. All of them. Right at us." Rick paused, allowing everyone to digest the information. "This isn't about if it gives, it's when. It's gonna happen. That's why we have to do this soon."

"This is-- I don't even have another word for it. This is terrifying." Carol kept up with her act, relating to the residents of the community who wouldn't be able to handle the realities of this situation. "But it doesn't sound like there is any other way." She was now showing them that even if she's scared, even if they were scared, they had to grow the balls to do it. Carol was smart like that.

"Maybe there is," Carter, a middle-aged man with no family here, objected. "I mean, couldn't we just build up the weak spots? I-- I could draw up some plans. I worked on the wall with Reg. Construction crew-- we can try and make it safe," he suggested.

"Even if we could, the sound of those walkers is drawing more and more every day. Building up the exits won't change that," Rick explained to him.

"We're gonna do what Rick says, the plan he's laid out," Deanna spoke up for the first time all meeting. She had her back turned to the group, staring out the window as she listened to us talk.

I looked back at Rick as he nodded, getting the go-ahead from Deanna. "I told you all, we're gonna have Daryl leading them away." I winced at that thought.

"Me, too," Sasha spoke up, "I'll take a car, ride next to him. Can't just be him. I'll keep 'em coming, Daryl keeps 'em from getting sloppy."

"I'll go with her," Abraham mumbled, his eyes staring straight ahead as he sat in the floral chair Deanna had interviewed us in. He looked over at Sasha, "It's a long way to white-knuckle it solo."

"Alright, we'll have two teams. One on each side of the forest helping manage this thing," Rick continued on explaining his plan, "We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Spencer, and Holly. So they're out. So who's in?" he asked the room.

There was a silence for a moment, everyone pondering what they wanted to do. For me, it was a no-brainer. "Me," I offered up first.

Glenn then looked up at me after whispering something to Maggie. He stared at me for a moment and I nodded my head at him, letting him know I wanted him there with me. He then looked back at Rick, "I'm in."

"Me too," Michonne answered.

It was quiet again until the last person I expected to speak, did, "I'd like to help as well," Gabriel raised his hand.

"No," Rick immediately shot him down, "Who else? We need more." Right now only our group was willing to do this thing.

"There's gotta be another play," Carter fought again, "We can't just control that many."

"I've said it before, walkers herd up. They'll follow a path if something's drawing them. That's how we can get 'em all at once," Rick argued with him, still maintaining a civil tone. He knew now that these people were like children, you couldn't push them, you had to carry them through it to learn.

"So, what? We're supposed to just take your word for it? We're all supposed to just fall in line behind you after…" Carter then stopped talking, not wanting to say it to Rick.

"After what?" Rick narrowed his eyes at the man, sizing him up.

"After you wave a gun around screaming, pointing it at people. After you shoot a man in the face. After you--"

"Enough!" Deanna yelled, silencing Carter. The men stared at one another as Deanna turned around for the first time like she was scolding her children.

"I'll do it," Heath broke the tension, being the first member of Alexandria to volunteer. There was a chorus of agreements following that one, the community finally stepping up.

"We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe. Keep our families safe. We will," Rick finalized it.

"The plan, go through it again," Carter ordered.

"Man, he just said it," Daryl snapped at him.

"Every part again. The exact plan."

---------

We were back around the side at the windows again. I was just coming to terms with what we were about to do. I grabbed my crowbar tight in my hand, my palms sliding across the medal from the nervous sweat.

"This is a bad idea," Heath complained.

"This is the only idea," Glenn snapped. We both wished we had our own people here, with them I could at least feel like I had some sort of backup or safety around me. Heath seemed like the type of guy to know how to handle himself, but the fact that he was doubtful of everything we threw at him made me feel uneasy. And, well, Nicholas I knew, the coward trying to prove himself and right now I could only take his word for it. Glenn and I only really had each other to rely on.

"I think there's something like a dozen in there," Nicholas tried to examine the windows as best as possible.

"We stay back, we get on opposite ends, we draw them to each of us," I explained, holding out my arm so they would get an appropriate amount of distance from the windows.

"Try and take down three each?" Nicholas asked.

"No. This is just me, Scar, and Heath," Glenn declined, "You get back and you stay back. Things go south, you tell Rick and you draw them away," Glenn ordered him, placing his radio in Nicholas' hand. Nicholas did as Glenn had said a walked further behind us. We distanced ourselves apart in a straight line and I had either of them on each side of me.

"You ready?" I asked as I pulled my Glock from its holster.

"No. But since you're doing this thing anyway…" Heath said, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose and readying himself.

"Let's do it," Glenn said.

I raised my gun, aiming it directly in front of me. I took a deep breath in before firing at only a single window. The first walker instantly stumbled out at a rapid pace. The small herd came out in a hurry, probably being without food for a long time. We had little time to aim and shoot, I had to rely only on my instincts. Our guns went off one after another. Already taking down a dozen, they still seemed to pour out from the building. There were so many that the walkers were able to get closer and closer to us, catching up just as we shot the one in front of it down.

"They're still coming," Heath called out, some panic in his voice.

My gun clicked back telling me I had to reload. I fumbled with the magazine, only hearing Glenn's gun go off as Heath was in the same position as me. I finally got the magazine in just as a walker reached out, grabbing onto my forearms. I turned my wrist, aiming my gun up to the sky to shoot it in the bottom of the jaw. It fell to the ground before another was one me. I wrestled with the man, my feet pivoting before I found my balance again. I used my right leg to kick it off of me, aiming once again and hitting it through the forehead.

The only walkers left were the ones both Heath and Glenn were struggling with. Health had his hands on the walker's shoulders, holding it back from his face. Before I even had time to raise my gun, Nicholas ran up from behind, using his knife to stab it in the side of the walker's head. The air was quiet again. We stood there panting for breath, all of us surprised that we had done it.

A gurgle then came from my left, a woman getting to her feet after recovering from a bullet that only grazed the side of her head, knocking her from her feet. Nicholas looked over at Glenn like he was asking for permission. Glenn breathed heavily as he thought for a moment.

"Get it," he nodded towards the walker. Nicholas pursed his lips, running over to meet her in the middle before slamming his knife down on the top of her skull.

"Good," I huffed out, breathing in deep afterwards, "Let's go." I placed my gun back into my holster, taking off running towards our next checkpoint.

It didn't take us long to reach the point in the woods where Rick said he'd meet us with his team. All was going well so far. This was the portion of the plan we referred to as the clean-up. Each of us fanning the sides of the roads, hidden within the trees to take out any walkers that strayed from the herd.

We were to wait for Rick to arrive. I felt like I was unable to catch my breath as the sound of the herd approaching became more prominent. Then I heard it, Daryl's bike revving the engine from not far behind us. I could spot them through the trees, just coming up over the hill with Sasha and Abraham pulled only a few feet ahead. They drove slowly, ensuring the walkers stayed close behind. The sound amplified as my eyes watched Daryl pass us by, his eyes staring straight ahead as the herd followed soon after.

A whistle caused us all to tear our eyes away from the herd, looking behind us again. Rick and his team, jogging up through the forest, everyone was accounted for. We all stopped for a moment, taking in the sheer velocity of walkers that walked right by us.

"It's working," Carter said, finally looking at Rick like the genius leader he was. "You were right," he accepted it, putting his hand out in front of him for Rick to shake. Rick put his hand in Carter's, accepting the man's approval.

"Everyone, we need to finish this. We have to keep moving and fan out down that thing front to back. Like we said, cops at a parade," Rick snapped us back to work. "Glenn and Scar, you take the back. You got the other walkie."

"Got it," I nodded.

"If they get sloppy, we fire our weapons, pull them back on track."

"Alright, I'll hit the front," Carter agreed, taking off in the direction the walkers were going.

"Okay, one after the other. Let's go."

As the rest of the group pushed forward with the herd, Glenn and I turned back, creating enough space between us so we could monitor the herd evenly. Glenn and I had jogged about a yard before the sounds of shouting from up ahead caused us both to immediately stop. We whipped our heads around staring in the direction it came from. It wouldn't let up. I looked over to Glenn, my anxiety bubbling up inside my stomach. Glenn fumbled with the walkie, bringing it up to his lips to see what the hell was going on.

"Rick, what is that?" he asked. He held out the walkie, both of us waiting for a response. My head continued to swing to my left, still keeping an eye on the herd.

"Tobin, they're breaking off," Rick's voice echoed over the radio, disregarding our question. Tobin had led his own team through the woods on the opposite side of the road.

"What do you want us to do?" Tobin asked.

"Fire your guns and draw them back," Rick answered.

"What do we do?" I looked over at Glenn. The screaming continued, bouncing through the trees and hitting my eardrums hard. I could see walkers begin to trail off the road and into the woods towards the noise.

Glenn stared back at me, his facial expression telling me he was unsure. We listened as Tobin's group began to rapid-fire into the sky. Finally, the screaming had ceased as well. Whatever or whoever it was, they had taken care of it.

"It's working. The gunfire is bringing them back on the road." You could hear Tobin laughing over the walkie, almost in amazement.

"You got them, Tobin," Rick responded, confirming that the walkers no longer strayeded from the path.

"Copy that. What was that screaming?" Tobin asked.

"That was Carter. He got bit right in the face. I stopped him," Rick finally answered.

"Let's keep following them now, we're far enough back," Glenn said, attaching the walkie back to his belt.

We remained alert now, our guns held firmly in our hands as we walked alongside the herd through the woods. We still had a long way to go, but everything was working. If a couple of walkers did branch off we now knew that using the team on the other side drew them back on track. All we had to do now was settle in for the ride.

We only had about ten minutes of peace before my jaw dropped open when a new sound hit my ears. A horn blaring relentlessly like someone held their hand to a steering wheel and kept it there. I turned in the direction it was coming from, my heart leaping into my throat.

"What the hell is happening?" Glenn yelled over the noise.

"It's a horn or something," I said, before turning around back towards the herd. "It's pulling the back half off the road."

"Holy shit," Glenn breathed out as he turned back around with me, "Whatever it is, it sounds far. It sounds like it's coming from--"

"Home," I cut him off, "It's coming from home."