TWENTY FIVE. the shootout

The two men had sat down with the four survivors, Adeline stood behind the bar with Glenn. Her elbows pressed against the counter with one of her throwing knives in between her fingers, the sharp blade twisting into the surface. Her eyes were glued to the man sitting down at one of the tables, the other in a stool next to Hershel with his eyes glued to her body.

"I'm Dave," The one sitting alone spoke as Rick handed him a shot glass and poured liquor into it. He pointed to the other who sent lustful looks Adelines way, "That scrawny-looking douche bag there is Tony." He informed.

Tony chuckled at the joke, reluctantly taking his eyes off of the woman. He clearly wasn't scrawny, but the joke failed to make Adeline laugh due to the bad feeling twisting around her gut. "Eat me, Dave." He joked back.

"Hey, maybe someday I will." Dave chuckled, turning his head back to the shot Rick had poured him. "We met on I-95 coming out of Philly. Damn shit show that was." He told the group, a smile lacing his lips to lighten the mood.

The boy next to Addy laughed breathlessly, "I'm Glenn. It's nice to meet some new people," He introduced. Watching as her brother retreated back to the bar where she stood, the pounding of her heart calmed slightly. "Rick Grimes," He informed while curling his hands around a shot glass.

"What about you, sweetie?" Tony licked his lips while eyeing the woman who leaned against the bar. Adeline reluctantly turned her head to face the man, "What about me?" She retorted - not giving out any information about herself as she dug the knife deeper into the surface.

Dave laughed at her words, "Come on, save that for later, Tony." He instructed before placing his eyes onto Hershel - "What about you, pal? Have one?" He questioned, motioning to the shot glass in his hand.

"I just quit." He answered, his once neatly gelled back hair messily tossed around due to sweat. "You got a unique sense of timing, my friend." Dave retorted, tracing the rim of his shot glass.

Looking in between the harsh look Adeline kept with the bar and her knife, Rick furrowed his brows. "Her names Adeline, he's Hershel." He informed after a few seconds of thought - his sister looking up at him with a face threaded by frustration at his words. He motioned for her to calm down, turning back to Dave, "He lost people today, a lot of them." He continued.

"I'm truly sorry to hear that," The man replied, raising his glass up. "To better days and new friends. And to our dead - may they be in a better place." He toasted before tossing the drink back into his mouth and gulping it down. The group (excluding Hershel and Adeline) copied his actions and drank what little they had in their glasses.

While Dave leaned over to lay his cup onto the table, Adeline's sharp eyes caught the glimmering metal of the gun tucked in his jeans. She shifted on her feet at this, straightening her back and tightening the grip she held on her knife. He noticed her actions and pulled the gun out of his jeans, "Not bad, huh?" He asked, showing it off to the group. "I got it off a cop."

"I'm a cop." Rick was quick to say, his eyes squinted slightly at the man. Dave nodded his head - "This one was already dead." He smiled, but Adeline took notice in the look Tony gave her brother which made her realize that was a lie, and he had more than likely killed that cop.

"You fellas are a long way from Philadelphia." Her brother started back up, "Feels like we're a long way from anywhere." Tony interjected, his accent popping out with the words he spoke. Rick looked to him, "Well what drove you south?" He questioned.

Dave stretched his legs out, "I can tell you it wasn't the weather. I must've dropped thirty pounds in sweat alone down here. At first, it was DC. I heard there might be some kind of refugee camp, but the roads were so jammed, we never even got close. We decided to get off the highways, into the sticks, keep hauling ass." he informed the four of them. "Every group we came across had a new rumor about a way out of this thing."

"Every group? What happened to them?" Adeline spoke up, letting her muscles relax as she pressed her elbows back against the bar. The question she asked wasn't out of curiosity, it was because she didn't believe a single word that came out of their mouths.

Tony kept his eyes on her and disregarded her question, "One guy told us there was the coast guard sitting in the gulf, sending ferries to the islands." He redirected the way she wanted the conversation to go with a single sentence.

"The latest was a rail yard in Montgomery running trains to the middle of the country- Kansas, Nebraska." Dave continued for his friend, "Nebraska?" Glenn questioned the two strangers. Nodding in confirmation, Tony looked between the boy and Adeline. "Low population, lots of guns."

"Makes sense," Glenn spoke softly while looking to the counter.

Dave sent him a look, "Ever been to Nebraska, kid? A reason they call 'em flyover states." He said, which earned a wheezing laugh from his friend at the bar. Rick chuckled, but the rest remained silent. "How about you guys?" He kept on, making the bad feeling in the woman's stomach grow by the second.

"Fort Benning, eventually." Rick answered, looking back to his sister who gave him a look that screamed not to trust them. "I hate to piss in your cornflakes, Officer, but... we ran across a grunt who was stationed at Benning. He said the place was overrun by lamebrains." Dave informed, causing Adeline to furrow her brows threaded by frustration and look down.

"Wait, Fort Benning is gone? Are you for real?" Glenn questioner, his eyes flooded with disbelief. The man nodded in confirmation, "Sadly, I am. Oddly, the truth is there is no way out of this mess. Just keep going from one pipe dream to the next, praying one of these mindless freaks doesn't grab ahold of you when you sleep." Dave spoke, his voice bouncing off of the walls.

Tony nodded - "If you sleep."

This caused Dave to look around the bar curiously, "Yeah, it doesn't look like you guys are hanging your hats here. You holed up somewhere else?" He questioned the group. Adeline scoffed underneath her breath, making sure she was heard as she rolled her eyes and shifted on her feet.

Rick looked the man up and down, "Not really."

"Those your cars out front?" The man continued, motioning towards the doors. Only giving a nod as an answer, Dave sighed - "We're living in ours. Those look kinda empty, clean. Where's all your gear?" He pressed.

"We're with a larger group," Hershel spoke up. "they're out scouting. Thought we could use a drink." He informed.

Dave raised his brows at this - "A drink? Hershel, I thought you quit." He smiled, squinting his eyes at the elder. "We're thinking of setting up around here. Is it safe?" He questioned, milking them for information.

"It can be." Glenn started, "Although I killed a couple of walkers around here." He informed, causing Adeline to softly shove her elbow into his side and sharpen her eyes in hopes that he got the hint. "But as we said, we're scouting. Don't know much about the place," She spoke up with a tight-lipped smile.

"Walkers?" Dave took notice of how vulnerable Glenn was due to the drinks he had, "That what you call them?"

"Better than lamebrains." Adeline retorted with a sarcastic voice, twisting her knife against the counter.

The man nodded at her words, "I gotta agree with you on that."

"More succinct," Tony spoke up, leaning back slightly in his chair to get a better look at Adeline's body. Dave cleared his throat to bring the attention back to him, "So what - you guys set up on the outskirts of something? That new development?" He questioned them more.

Tony stood up from his stool and walked over to the wall, "Trailer park?" He inquired unzipping his pants once he was facing the structure. "A farm?" He continued, bodies noticeably tensing at the guess.

Dave chuckled, "Old McDonald had a farm," he sung which caused an eerie feeling to fill the room. "You got a farm?" He questioned as the sound of Tony urinating echoed throughout the room. "Is it safe? It's gotta be. You got food, water?"

As he spoke, his friend zipped up his pants and turned back to where Adeline stood - whistling lowly at the sight of her body leaned against the bar. "Damn, how about that..." He muttered, "I haven't had a piece of ass like that in weeks - how about me and you go to the back room?" Tony offered, licking his lips at the woman.

At this, her back immediately straightened out and scooted closer to Glenn who grew to have an angry face towards the man. Adeline felt an uneasiness crawl up her spine, letting out a shaky breath as she clenched the hilt of her knife. Tony stepped closer to her - "Come on, baby. Whatcha say?" He continued with lustful eyes.

"Hey, back off." Rick was quick to speak, her jaw clenched and anger coursing through her veins. Dave sighed deeply while rubbing his face, "Pardon my friend, city kids - they got no tact. No disrespect," He apologized on behalf of Tony before looking to Adeline.

"We've said enough." Her brother interjected the man before he could start talking, gripping the cup tightly in his hands. Dave laughed, "Well, hang on a second. This farm - it sounds pretty sweet. Don't it sound sweet, Tony? How about a little southern hospitality? We got some buddies back at camp,-"

Adeline furrowed her brows, "Thought you said you lived in your cars?" She caught him in a lie - shifting on her feet as she eyed the man. He bit his tongue to hold back a snappy remark, looking down to his hands before pursing his lips. Dave chuckled, silence overtaking his attention. "You guys are something else. I thought- I thought we were friends. We got people we gotta look out for too."

"We don't know anything about you," Rick spoke up, sitting his cup down on the bar behind him.

"That is true. You don't know anything about us, you don't know what we've had to go through out there. The things we've had to do." Dave started, squinting his eyes up at the group. "I bet you've had to do some of those same things yourself. Am I right?" He questioned, Adeline's eye casting to the ground in unspoken silence.

Wrapping her hands around Otis's vest, she tried to pull him away from her husband - kicking her boot into his back with broken sobs. The repeated words of I'M SORRY meant nothing to him as he clawed his fingers down her chest which caused a cracked scream of pain to breakthrough.

"Ain't nobody's hands clean in what's left of this world," He reminded them. "We're all the same. So, come on. Let's take a nice friendly hayride to this farm and we'll get to know each other." Dave smiled in a friendly manner, holding his arms out.

Rick looked down at his hands and shook his head, "That's not gonna happen." He denied.

"This is bullshit!" Tony bellowed, his loud voice causing Adeline to flinch at the sudden outburst.

"Calm down," She spoke with furrowed brows, her arms crossing over her chest as she tried to lose the tension in her body.

Tony looked to her with an angry face - "Don't tell me to calm down. Don't ever tell me to calm down." He seethed, the men around her straightening their postures as he yelled at her. "I'll shoot these three assholes in the head and I'll take you and that damn farm!" He threatened - her jaw-dropping agape as her hand trailed down to the handle of her machete. "Excuse me?"

Rick stood from his seat, a look of anger glowering over his features as he neared the heavyweight man. Dave was quick to jump up, standing between the two men with careful eyes - "Woah, Woah, Woah. Relax. Take it easy, nobody's killing anybody. Nobody's shooting anybody. Right, Rick?" He questioned, hopping over the other side of the bar with a smile on his lips.

The sound of Tony reaching for his gun caused Adeline to unsheathe her machete, his friends' eyes widening in advance before laying his pistol down onto the surface of the bar. "Hey, hey, see? We're just friends having a drink. That's all." Dave broke up the tension before looking down at the choices of alcohol - "Now, where's the good stuff, huh?" He clapped his hands, leaning over to grab a bottle just as Rick hovered over the hilt of his python.

"Hey!" Dave smiled and held up the bottle, "That'll work." He said while sitting it against the counter. "You gotta understand - we can't stay out here. You know what it's like."

"Yeah, I do." Rick curtly spoke, anger still wavering in his veins. "But, the farm is too crowded as is. I'm sorry, you'll have to keep looking."

"Keep looking," Dave repeated his words. "Where do you suggest we do that?" He questioned.

Adeline leaned against the bar, "Not here."

Rick nodded, "I hear Nebraska's nice." he said, bringing up a conversation that only took place a few minutes ago. This caused Dave to let out a loud chuckle, "Nebraska, this guy." He smiled.

In the blink of an eye and reach for a gun, two loud gunshots were fired into the bodies of Dave and Tony. The first was a headshot directing at the talkative one, then Rick fired three more into Tony's body behind him. Adeline licked her lips, a breathless chuckle leaving her throat as she looked down at the man's body.

"ASSHOLE,"

━━━━━✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Before they could even step a foot outside of the bar, a vehicle had approached and left them trapped inside of the building. Adeline pressed her back against the walls, Glenn and Hershel on the other side while she sat next to Rick with the shotgun Tony had held to her chest. "Why won't they leave?" The boy whispered, the four of them circling in together once they realized the men searching weren't in front of the bar anymore.

"Would you?" Hershel retorted, "If those were the men I was sent out to look for, I would." Adeline butted in while squeezing her body between Glenn and her brother.

"We can't sit here any longer. Let's head out the back and make a run to the car," Rick instructed - all of them simultaneously standing up to leave just as a loud gunshot rang through the night air.

In an instant, they were pressed back against the wall and hiding while listening to the ongoing conversation outside. Quickly realizing that the only building they hadn't searched was the one they were hiding in, their approaching footsteps were heard against the floorboards that led into the building. Just as a hand pushed to open the door, Glenn hurriedly jumped in front of it and held it shut. Adeline widened her eyes and moved to help him - her back pushing into the doors.

"Someone pushed it shut, there's something in there."

"Yo, is someone in there? If someone's in there, we don't want any trouble. We're just looking for our friends."

"What do we do? Bum rush the door?"

"No, we don't know how many there are. Just relax. We don't want any trouble! We're just looking for our friends. If something happened - tell us. This place is crawling with corpses. If you can help us not get killed, I'd appreciate it!"

"Dude, you're bugging. I'm telling you nobody's in there."

Adeline breathed deeply and silently placed the shotgun she held against the floorboards before pressing her back further into the door. Rick wiped away at the sweat on his forehead as Glenn looked over to him with curious eyes. Hershel stayed quiet, listening to the voices outside.

"Someone guard the door. If they're in there, they might know where Dave and Tony are."

As the sound of footsteps began to depart, Adeline hit her head against the door before clearing her throat. "A pack of walkers got em! We hid in here to get away from them." She yelled out, but her voice blended with her brothers - "They drew on us!" Of course, Rick's voice was louder which caused her eyes to widen.

"Are you kidding me? That's what you decided to tell them? Out of all things?" She hissed, cursing underneath her breath at her brothers' words.

Hershel rested his head in his hands, looking to Rick with wide eyes as the once departing footsteps approached once again. "Dave and Tony in there? They alive?"

"Nope." Adeline popped the P, curling her hand around the shotgun on the floor before glaring at her brother.

"They killed Dave and Tony."

"Come on, man. Let's go."

"No, I'm not leaving. I'm not telling Jay, I'm not gonna go back and tell them that Dave and Tony got shot by some assholes in a bar."

"Your friends drew on us!" Rick bellowed, his voice echoing around the room. "They gave us no choice! I'm sure we've all lost enough people, did some things we wish we didn't have to! But it's like that now, you know that! So let's just chalk this up to what it was: wrong place, wrong-"

A loud gunshot fired into the window above Adeline, glass shattering and falling down onto her skin. A sudden gush of pain coursed through her, the shards of glass slicing into the skin on her face before she could duck her head and avoid the sharp blades. Glenn pulled her out of the mess as Rick stood up and began firing shots out of the broken window - "Get her outta here! Go!"

Pulling her up, the pieces of glass clattered to the floorboards as more shots rung out. Glenn ushered the two of them behind a counter as Hershel took cover behind another. Sliding a shotgun their way, the boy next to Adeline took it in his hands as Rick slid her the one she had left at the door. Curling her hands around the hilt, she felt blood drip from multiple cuts on her face and down to her neck.

"We all know this is not gonna end well!" Her brother called out from his spot by the door. "There's nothing in it for any of us! You guys just - back off and no one else gets hurt!" He yelled, reloading his python as Adeline cocked the shotgun and held it against her chest.

The sudden sound of bottles clattering outside of the alleyway made Rick motion Glenn to go check it out. Reluctantly, he moved from his spot and rushed to the back door that led to the storage room. Pushing herself up from her spot, she ignored the calls coming from her brother for her to stay and ushered after Glenn. "Hey, I got your back." She whispered, curling her hand around the door and slowly pushing it open. The boy nodded at her thankfully, his shoulders losing most of their tension.

The two of them made their way down the stairs, the wooden boards creaking beneath their weight. The only light given was the moonlight casting shadows that created monsters in the dark; Adeline squinting her eyes and pressing the hilt of the shotgun against her shoulder as another bottle rolled against the concrete ground from outside. "Shit," A voice cursed, a shadow forming on the foggy window of the door.

Before whoever it was could enter, Adeline and Glenn simultaneously raised their guns and fired a shot into the window. Both of the glass frames shattered, shouts coming from her brother before the two of them assured that they were alright. Lowering her gun, she breathed deeply and looked out the shattered window to make sure there wasn't a dead body. A sense of relief flooding through her when she realized she hadn't killed the man until a creak heard from the steps caused her to clatter the gun to the ground and wrap her fingers around one of her throwing knives. Out of reflex, the sharp object was sent flying around the room and imbedded itself into the wooden post that Hershel stood by with his hands raised.

"I'm glad you don't have good aim." He stated, lowering his hands at the barrel of the shotgun Glenn had pointed his way. Adeline breathed deeply, "I'm sorry." she apologized before walking over and tearing the knife out of the wood. "Beginners luck is a myth." She stated disappointingly.

Hershel nodded and looked to the two, "Rick wants you to try for the car." He informed.

"Try?" Glenn retorted, holding the gun to his chest.

"You'll try and succeed." The elder assured, "I'll cover you." He informed, motioning to the pistol he held in his hands. The boy next to Adeline nodded breathlessly, "That's a great plan..." he muttered.

"Okay, I'll go too." She spoke up, cracking her knuckles before grabbing the shotgun off the ground and standing alongside Glenn as Hershel reluctantly nodded and opened the door for them. She wasn't the best shot, it made more sense for her to go when she was better at running.

Stepping only a few feet out into the alleyway, two loud gunshots rang out. A piercing echo bounced around her mind, the bullet missing her head by a millimeter as she fell to the ground in a fit of fear. Gasped breaths left her lips, chest raising up and down heavily while Hershel took the man down by a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Tears welled in her eyes, the fear of dying causing her heartbeat to climb up her throat. It was as if every single memory flashed by in one second, tears making a home on her cheeks as the sound of rushed footsteps pulled her out of the state of shock. Rick bent down, hurriedly checking her body for wounds.

"Hey, you're okay. You're okay." He whispered, pulling her into a hug while the shotgun in her hands clattered to the ground. "You're not hit," Rick assured. "The car's right there, we're almost home." As he went to help her up, gunshots bounced off of the dumpster they hid behind.

Falling back, they watched as a boy attempted to jump off of the roof to catch a ride from his friend and get out of town. The jump had a bad result, screams of pain echoing through the town that rang through their minds. "Get Hershel," Rick instructed while looking to Glenn. Nodding, he took off down the alleyway and retrieved the elder.

As the boy screamed for help, the Grimes siblings made a run for the car. Adeline felt guilt twist her stomach, hands clenching with anger as she tossed her shotgun into the car and looked to her brother. "I can help him," She whispered, taking off in a rushed run towards the boy while sliding her machete out of its sheath.

Approaching him, she furrowed her brows at the sight of the sharp fence impaling through the bottom of his knee. The rushed footsteps informed her that Rick had followed after her, Hershel and Glenn behind him. "I need you to stay still," Adeline instructed, pulling herself up the fence and onto the dumpster that he sat on top of. While her feet slammed into the hollow metal, she slipped her flannel off of her arms and looked at the men. "I need help,"

"We have to go, I'm sorry, son." Hershel apologized, looking to Adeline with pleading eyes. The boy shot up - "No, don't leave me. Please don't go. Please," He begged, gripping the woman's arm tightly. Hershel looked back to Rick - "We have to go."

Rick shook his head, "We can't."

"He was just shooting at us!" Glenn yelled, holding his hand out.

"He's just a kid, Glenn," Adeline spoke up, tightening her flannel above the wound on his knee. "I can help him. Hershel if we do this together, it'll only take two minutes. We can make this quick or we can let those walkers gain on us." She spoke, pressing her hands against the bleeding wound.

Hershel examined the fence, "It went clean through. There's no way we can get the leg off in one piece." He informed as he moved the metal. The kid screamed loudly, the fence banging against the hollow metal of the dumpster as he yelled. "Shut up or I will shoot you!" Rick threatened.

"That may be the answer." The elder retorted. Sending wide eyes his way, Adeline sighed. Blood coated her skin as the kid kept a tight grip on her wrist, her eyes scanning the wound for a solution. "Amputate..." She whispered, "We can amputate!" Adeline shouted, unsheathing her machete and grabbing the men's attention. "A clean-cut, we can cauterize after we get out of here. We can do it."

After a quick timed discussion, Hershel nodded and rushed over to help her. Rick clamped his hand over the kid's mouth to keep him quiet as Glenn fired shots into the approaching walkers. Hershel looked to Adeline as the teen pleaded for her not to underneath her brother's hand. The walkers began to approach them from behind the dumpster, which caused Rick to leave and fend them off. The sound of gunshots blended with screams, a bloodied hand wrapped around the handle of her machete and staining it red. Thoughts raced through her mind, eyes wide with reluctance as the men screamed for her to do it over the gunfire.

The threat of walkers grew closer, loud snarls and shots echoing in her mind as her eyes became blurry with anticipation. "We have to go!" The loud yell coming from both Glenn and Rick caused her to snap out of the state, hand roaring down with the machete gripped tightly in her grasp. The sharp blade slid into its sheath, her mind not allowing her to amputate the teens leg as she wrapped her hands around the boy's jeans and harshly tugged his leg off of the spike.

━━━━AUTHORS NOTE
oooooh shit