“Alright, that everything?”

I ask Tony from the other side of the pick up truck bed. He nods his head,

“Yup, should be everything.”

I nod my head and open up the passenger door, but am stopped by Tony’s voice,

“Nope! I drive the way up, you drive the way back!”

I let out a ‘tch’ and say,

“Alright, fine. Damn you and your memory.”

He chuckles at me and moves over to the passenger side while I go ahead and hop in, scooting over to the driver’s side. Andrea comes up to my window holding the radio I gave her and says,

“Are you sure you don’t wanna keep this on you?”

I shake my head,

“Nah, we’ll need to radio back when we get to the farm house. If there’s an emergency, you’ll need to radio us as well.”

She nods her head,

“Alright. But if you run into any trouble, you drive straight through it.”

I nod my head,

“If I can, I will. Don’t worry, the way here was clear anyway.”

I look up at Maggie standing by the gate waiting to open it for us. I call out to her,

“You sure you don’t wanna come with?”

She shakes her head and yells back,

“Nah. I need a bit of a break from my family, honestly.”

I nod my head and look at the group staying behind. It’s just gonna be Tony and I going back to get the group. Everyone else is gonna stay here to finish cleaning and keep an eye out for any opportunistic groups. I speak to them saying,

“Alright, we’ll be back later tomorrow. Knowing Hershel, he’ll probably want us to board up his house before we leave.”

Rick speaks to us before anyone else,

“You two stay safe, alright?”

I nod my head to him and speak to the group,

“You guys, too. If a bigger group than you can handle shows up, you go through the hole in the wall and escape, alright?”

After saying our goodbyes, Tony and I load up and get on the road. As we ride through the forest, I’m amazed at how empty the forests around the prison really are. I only see one singular walker every now and then. But these forests will still hide a big horde. We’ll have to clear them out eventually. I’d like to clear out to a mile in all directions, but that’s wishful thinking. I’d be happy with just a good quarter mile to half a mile for now. Maybe when the group gets bigger.

We eventually come out to the highway. I realize something as I look around,

“Ah shit. Tony, do you remember the backroad Maggie took?”

Tony shakes his head,

“Nah. I know we turned to the left when we came in, so it’s gonna be to the right.”

I nod my head and think for a second,

“Let me know if you spot it on the way back. Thankfully, it’s down the way back to Hershel’s anyway.”

He nods his head and we turn right onto the highway. Occasionally, we’ll pass by a gathering of cars that have paths through the median. The truck we’re in can take them easily, thankfully. I start to feel a little weird, and ask Tony,

“Have you seen the road yet?”

He shakes his head and says,

“None of them looked familiar. But we’ve definitely driven further than the turn off, so we should just keep going on the highway.”

I nod my head and say,

“Alright, but get your gun ready just in case. The lack of walkers has got me a little spooked.”

Tony nods his head and takes out his rifle from the back seat. I keep an eye out as we come to a spot I’ll have to slow down to get through. There’s a big bundle of cars all set up on the right side of the road, and the median is blocked by a guard rail. There’s also a bud parked in the right lane, blocking my view of the right side of the road. I stop a little further back and look at Tony. He shrugs his shoulders and says,

“We gotta go this way anyways. If something happens, we can always go off road.”

Against my better judgment I let out a sigh and start rolling forwards, keeping my senses on high alert. We start rolling by the bus, and right as I reach the front, I get an incredible rush of adrenaline as an image pops into my head. I look to my left and slam on the gas, jolting Tony and I back into our seats. As we pass by the bus, I see a jeep pulling forwards toward us. It feels as though time slows down as the jeep gets closer and closer to hitting us.

It just barely manages to clip the edge of the bed of the truck, causing me to lose control for a second. That’s when the gunfire starts.

*BANGBANGBANGBANG!*

Automatic gunfire rips through from the right side of the road, tearing through the metal of the truck as though it wasn’t even there. The glass of the passenger windshield shatters in on us. I flinch as one of the bullets passes through the door and manages to barely clip my leg.

“FUCK! TONY SHOOT BACK!”

I look at Tony only to find him clutching his side. Crimson begins to slowly paint his shirt as his breath hitches. I feel an indescribable amount of anger welling up inside of me as I yell,

“Fuck it! Tony lean forward!”

He does as I say as I start to go off-road in the truck, trying to get around the barricade up ahead. I draw my pistol, feeling deadeye activate. Time begins to slow down, not slow enough to let me see the bullets, but slow enough for me to kill whoever’s shooting while I drive. 

Looking through the window, I see several muzzle flashes, but one really stands out. A guy knelt behind the engine block of a red Camry, wielding what looks like an LMG. I aim my pistol at him, ignoring the searing pain flaring up in my arm.

*BANGBANGBANGBANG!*

I fire and fire until the gun clicks, feeling my ears ringing from the gunshots echoing through the truck.

[Human killed - 100p]

[550p]

I turn my attention back to the road as more bullets hit the truck, but at a much, much slower pace than before. One of them passes through the rear windshield, grazing my shoulder and shattering my own window. I close my eyes for a split second to keep the glass out of them and floor it back onto the highway. The rear of the truck spins out slightly, but I manage to get it back under control as we get back onto the highway. The gunfire stops ripping through the truck, as the ambushers give up. 

I look over at Tony and find him leaning back, and breathing heavily as the wound in his side leaks more crimson fluid.

“Shit Tony… Uhh…”

‘Inventory!’

Scrolling through my inventory, I find a few packs of gauze. Without thinking, I pull them out into my hand and hand them to Tony,

“Open these up and stuff them in the wound! It’s gonna hurt, but it’ll keep you alive!”

I look through my inventory again and find some body bandages as well. Tony opens up his button up shirt, revealing a nasty wound directly into his side. I pass him some of the bandages. Fuck. That’s gonna get septic most likely. And I don’t have a radio to let them know… Wait, yes I do! I have one in my inventory! But… No, Tony’s dying. How’s not the time to worry. I pull the radio out of my inventory and tune it to the one we use.

“Penny to Hershel’s farm! Penny to Hershel’s farm!”

I wait a few seconds as I hear Dale answer on the other side,

“Penny? Everything alright?”

I look over at Tony and find him calming down his breathing and holding pressure on his wound. I answer Dale,

“No. While on the way back, Tony and I were ambushed. I’m fine, but Tony’s been hit bad. Real bad. Get them to set up the bed for him. We’re gonna need Hershel.”

Instead of Dale, I find Hershel answering,

“Alright, miss Penny, I need you to listen carefully and give me straight answers. Where is he hit?”

I look over at him and answer,

“Just below the ribs.”

The line goes silent for a second before Hershel answers,

“Alright… Get here as quick as you can.”

---