chapter five

"What was that for? You don't have to kill her." Rick shouted pointing his gun at Lisa while she also pointed her arrow at him. " She was slowing us down and killing her was the best option. The tension became palpable while both of them had their weapons pointed at each other. They didn't know the zombie was closing in on them. Seeing Emily's corpses the horde were over her eating every bit they want. Rick watched as he puked over the fence. He looked at the system message and picked, crackers. he wondered what the crackers were for anyway. Immediately it appeared right in front of him and Lisa was astonished. " how did you do this?"

Rick said nothing but he turned back to walk. A was met by a stern face.

The man's looks showed he was having a battered face with marks. He had a gun on one of his hands and a bow on the other. " I would drop that if I wear you." He looked at Lisa and back at Rick.

" If you haven't noticed, you are outnumbered," Rick replied walking closer to him. " Am I?" The man replied and blew a whistle. Immediately his gangs came out of the dark masked

Rick’s eyes darted around, assessing the situation. They were vastly outnumbered, and with Emily’s tragic death still fresh in his mind, he knew they needed to act fast if they were to survive. He was not ready to die tonight after defying death itself. Rick's mind went back to seeing his wife and family. He knew he had to do something if they were going to make it out alive. For a second he hoped the system had given him something that could help him defeat the enemy before him.

"Drop your weapons," the leader of the raiders commanded. His voice was cold, and the smirk on his face showed he enjoyed having the upper hand.

Lisa glanced at Rick, her bow still drawn. He gave her a slight nod, a signal to comply for now. They slowly lowered their weapons to the ground, the raiders’ eyes never leaving them.

"Good," the leader said, stepping closer. He looked over Rick and Lisa, his expression predatory. "Now, tell me what you’re doing here and why I shouldn’t kill you both. From the look of things, I have every reason to have you killed. You killed three of my men and your bow hanging him to the wall. You had him crucified bitch!" Hayden smirked and landed a slap to Lisa's face

Rick took a deep breath, his mind racing for a plan. "We were just gathering supplies. The armory was stocked, and we needed weapons to survive. I am sorry about your friends."

The leader scoffed. "And now those supplies belong to us. You made a big mistake coming here." He motioned for his men to gather the duffel bags filled with weapons and ammunition. One of the raiders picked up the bag Rick had filled and slung it over his shoulder. " I don't know what I am going to do with you but I think you are going to make a nice meal for the Zombies." Hayden taunted and the rest of his men laughed

Rick’s eyes flicked to the system message still hanging in his vision. [FIRECRACKERS]. An idea began to form. He just needed to create a diversion.

"Alright, you got what you wanted. Now let us go," Rick said, trying to keep his tone even.

The leader laughed. "Let you go? After you killed my men? Not a chance. We’re going to make an example out of you."

Lisa's grip tightened on her bow, but she stayed silent, waiting for Rick’s move. He subtly reached into his pocket, feeling the firecrackers. It wasn’t much, but it might buy them a few seconds.

"Look, we don’t want any more trouble," Rick said, slowly backing up, positioning himself closer to the edge of the alley where the horde of zombies was still clamoring. "We just want to leave."

The leader’s eyes narrowed. "Too late for that.

Rick nodded, then suddenly hurled the firecrackers towards the horde. They exploded with loud pops and bangs, immediately drawing the zombies’ attention.

"Run!" Rick shouted, grabbing Lisa's arm. They bolted as the zombies turned towards the noise, shambling towards the raiders who were momentarily stunned by the explosion and chaos.

Lisa fired arrows rapidly, picking off any raider who tried to stop them. The firecrackers’ noise continued to draw more and more zombies, overwhelming the raiders who were unprepared for the sudden onslaught.

"To the rooftops!" Rick yelled, spotting a fire escape ladder. They scrambled up, Lisa firing arrows down at the pursuing zombies and raiders.

They reached the roof, panting heavily. Rick looked down at the chaos below. The firecrackers had done their job, creating enough of a distraction to give them a head start.

"We need to keep moving," Lisa said, scanning the rooftops. "They’ll come after us as soon as they regroup."

Rick nodded, his mind still reeling from Emily’s death and the close call. "I know a place. It’s not far from here. We can regroup and plan our next move."

They moved quickly across the rooftops, jumping from building to building, the sounds of the horde and the raiders fading behind them. After a few tense minutes, they reached a small, abandoned office building. Rick led Lisa inside, barricading the door behind them.

Inside, they found a small office that was relatively intact. Rick collapsed into a chair, his adrenaline finally wearing off. Lisa leaned against the wall, her expression grim as they both tried to catch their breath

"We can’t keep running like this," she said. "We need a better plan."

Rick nodded, still catching his breath. "We need allies. We can’t do this alone."

Lisa’s eyes softened slightly. "We had a good thing going with Emily. I’m sorry it had to end this way. "

Rick’s jaw tightened. "Me too. But we can’t afford to lose focus now. Those raiders are still out there, and they’ll be coming for us."

Lisa nodded. "So what’s the plan?"

Rick thought for a moment.

Rick led the way, his mind focused on the task ahead. They needed to find a safe place to regroup, and they needed to find it fast. The city was a dangerous place, and the raiders were still out there. " I need to find my family and have them come with me to this safe hideout I am hearing about. I hard Mark Grimes is in charge of the walls. He is my friend and I am sure he is going to help us."

Lisa looked at his face " You think? Do you think a friend who had not seen you for quite some time now will help you simply because you had been friends before the apocalypse?" Lisa looked at Rick who was lost for a second

"What is your point?" Rick asked

" Don't trust too much. Friends might stab you in the back." Lisa replied, walked into a corner, and closed her eyes sleeping on the couch. " Don't think too much about it. " She said seeing the disturbing look on her face.

The chirping sound of the birds woke them up. Lisa was about to yawn when she felt a hold over her mouth."

"Shh..." Rick placed his hands on his lips signaling to her to look outside. " The raiders? How did they find us?" Lisa asked looking scared

" We need to leave now!" Rick motioned to her as they both found their way out of the small office. " The back door." Rick looked at her

They both walked through the back door and were met with some of Hayden's men. A scuffle began as they shot at each other. Hayden's men had the better guns so they had Rick and Lisa sent back into the building. " You would be wise to come out and surrender. I might think about killing you slowly then." Hayden shouted.

Rick looked at his torn clothes and below his stomach. " See there, he has been bitten." He said looking at Lisa. " What do we do? This place can't hold for long and the zombie would find us with this much sound." Lisa looked at him scared

Rick drew the curtains and looked outside. " You see that power bike. Can you ride one?" he looked at Lisa

" Yes, only if it is working."

"good. I am going to try and distract Hayden while you work on getting it started. I need you to get it started in five minutes. I can only stall that son of a bitch for five minutes. Nothing more nothing less, five minutes."

Rick pushed the door open and charged for Hayden while Lisa made for the power bike they had seen outside the office. " I can see you are trying to protect the girl. I am going to enjoy raping her and giving her to my men to fuck." Hayden taunted as he and Rick engaged in a scuffle. He signaled to his men to go and find Lisa and bring her back

" A fighter eh!. Don't tell me you are a cop." Hayden smirked as Rick landed a blow right to his face. " You are damn right about that but that is not what you should be worried about now." Rick looked at him hearing the sound of the power bike coming their way. Lisa ran him over with the bike and stopped right in front of Rick. "Get on," she shouted as the herd ran closer to Hayden. His loud noise was heard as the walkers tore his limbs and body parts away from him. Lisa drove as Rick described his home to her. She parked in a well serene environment and everything looked neat. " Do you think the herd hasn't reached here?"

"They have," Rick replied opening the door slowly with the gun he had collected from Hayden. He looked at the floor and saw some dried blood. He dropped the gun as his heart beat faster.

" Martha! Is anyone home?" Rick shouted making Lisa nervous. " You are going to draw whatever it is left in this neighborhood directly to us." Lisa looked nervously

" Do you think I care?" Rick replied

" You would do if you want to find your family like you claimed."

Lisa looked around the house and saw an envelope. " I think this is for you, Rick." She walked closer handling him the piece of white envelope

With trembling hands, Rick opened the envelope and fell to the ground sobbing. Lisa who was lost bent down soothing him from behind. " What does it say, Rick?"