Chapter 14: Recruitment Successful

After I turned the Walker into paste, I put the axe down and wiped my brow. I look around and see that, except for Rick, everyone has started looking at me a bit differently. I guess it was fair since they were all either gagging or making noises while I was chopping but I was silent the whole time

I guess that was my way of showing my gratitude towards Mr. Dunlop. I did my work quietly with a serious attitude. I didn't care much for Wayne Dunlop or his old lady, Rachel but I did give him the respect he deserved since he was going to help us live another day.

I look over at Rick and I see him looking down at the body in silence. I decide to break the silence

"So, who's wearing the gut suit?" I ask in a light hearted tone

Everyone looks at me weirdly but Rick steps forward and starts rubbing the guts all over his suit. He knew how to step up and get the job done, another trait I respected. Glenn was basically voted by his group as well so they started rubbing guts all over his suit as well. I initially wanted to go with them since the mustang they found in the show looked pretty sweet but I needed to be here for when shit goes down.

Glenn can't stop gagging so Rick tries to distract him by telling him to think about puppies and kittens but T-Dog quickly adds 'dead' in front of Rick's distraction which pushes Glenn over the edge and he starts spewing all over the ground. The ladies chastise him and he apologizes but I thought it was funny.

After getting their suits covered fully in Walker guts, Rick and Glenn get ready to walk out the alley door but I stop them

"Thunder's been rumbling for a while so rain isn't too far behind. As soon as you feel a drop of rain, you run" I tell them, handing Rick the axe

"Don't worry. We'll be ready" Rick nods

I was expecting him to question me but it seems that after everything we've been through, he started to trust me a lot which I appreciated it. I see Andrea give Glenn her gun so he can protect himself, just in case. They walk out and we quickly close the door behind them before running back up to the roof. I grab the binoculars and watch them crawl out from under the bus and imitate the Walkers as they made their way down the street.

I pass the binoculars to the others and point them in their direction before walking over to Merle and stand in front of him.

"You ain't exactly the nicest person to be around huh, Mr. Dixon" I say

"So you're that Sheriff's little guard dog, huh? I heard about what happened earlier from Morales" Merle says

"The name's Matt. That Sheriff's Rick. You'll see he's a good guy once you warm up to him" I reply

"I'll tell you the same thing I told him, Screw you. Once I'm out of these cuffs, I'm gonna teach him a lesson"

"I guess you aren't in the listening mood at the moment. Imma come back later. I'm sure I'll be able to get through to you then" I say as I walk away

While I was talking to him, I hear T-Dog, who was sitting right opposite Merle, get through to their camp on the radio.

"Hello, Base Camp. Can anyone hear me? Base Camp, this is T-Dog, anybody read me?"

("Hello. Hello. Reception's bad on this end. Repeat repeat")

"Shane, is that you? We're in some deep shit. We're trapped in the department store. Geeks are all over the place, they're hundreds of em. We're surrounded" T-Dog reports but there was no response, just static

"Well, I guess they ain't doing us any favours any time soon" I say

"If it wasn't for you and that sheriff, we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place" Andrea says

"Listen here, Blondie. I honestly couldn't give less of a shit about you or what you think. You're guilt tripping us for doing what we could to survive. The only reason we're still here is because that 'Sheriff' you've been blaming all this time wants to save all of you and I owe Glenn a favor for saving my ass" I retort

She goes into quiet contemplation but it doesn't last long as the thunder starts rumbling harder. I grab the binoculars from Morales and check on them one last time. It was going to rain real soon and I couldn't protect him right now without exposing the System so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. I hear Merle shout something so I turn to him and see T-Dog waving the handcuff keys in his face. Rick must've given it to him the keys when I was chopping earlier

I pass the binoculars back to the other rooftop occupants before walking downstairs. I go through the department store, while they're occupied, and take every change of clothes that are my size and suit my taste and put it in my inventory. I change into a black T-shirt, tan cargo short and a pair of white running shoes. I get back to the roof and it's already raining. I hear them shouting anxiously

"They're leaving us" Andrea says

"What? What? What you mean?" Merle asks from the ground

"No no no no no. Where they going? Where they going?" Morales asks, panicking

"No no, come back" Jacqui begs

Just a mix of voices thrown together from worry and anxiety. As much as it was enjoyable, watching them run around like headless chickens, their voices were getting annoying so I decided to make my presence known

"You guys seem to be having fun up here. What happen? They drive away?" I ask

"No, they actually walked away on a yellow brick road, what do you think? Is this what you meant by saving us all?" Andrea retorts

The lady had a mouth on her, that's for sure. Although her way of speaking and attitude annoyed me at the start, it had started to grow on me. I realized when I was downstairs that if she was still able to crack jokes in tense situations like these, she was tougher than what I gave her credit for. She was still a bitch so I decided to mess with her

"Hahaha Rick finally came to his senses! Good man. If I was down there, I would've done the same thing" I exclaim, laughing

"Asshole! Was this your plan all along?" Andrea sneers

"Sure, genius. Our plan was to infiltrate your small scavenging party and earn your trust, get one of us to risk our lives with an untested theory just to kidnap an Asian teenager and leave the other teammate behind. Our grand plan" I sigh, shaking my head

"Is that true?" Morales asks, his body shaking

I quickly realize that these guys weren't in the right state of mind to appreciate my jokes. They seemed to be on the verge of breaking down and Andrea was glaring at me so I decide to stop joking around and clear the air

"If you were in their shoes, how likely do you think it would be for all of us to survive if you drove straight here while the Walkers surrounded the store?" I ask

"Not much. We'd all be dead before we stepped foot outside the door after it opened" Morales replies

"So how would you increase our chances of all getting out alive?" I ask again

"Hmm, I would try to lea-" Morales starts but stops instantly, his eyes widening. Finally understanding what Rick was doing

All of them start looking at me differently again. If I got a penny every time these people changed their opinion about me today, I wouldn't need to rob anymore banks but to be honest, I probably still would. I could read their minds from their facial expressions 'This brute can also think?' It made me want to give them all a fist of love but that would probably make a mess

As if on cue as always, Glenn's voice comes through the radio and you can hear car alarms in the background

("Those roll up doors at the front, facing the street. Meet us there and be ready")

Everyone starts picking up their bags and running downstairs. Merle is shouting that we couldn't leave him behind and T-Dog hesitates for second before running back for him but he trips and the key drops out of his hand and falls through a vent. He gets up and apologizes before turning around and running off.

I was watching all this from the side. As soon as they heard Glenn's voice, they seemed to have forgotten about my existence and just ran. I walk over to Merle, who finally sees me and he shouts at me

"Thank God, I knew you and that sheriff were good people. Let me out of these cuffs. You can't leave me here, that ain't human" Merle begs

"You see Merle. I need your help but at this moment in time, I feel that anything you'd say would just be you trying to convince me to help you" I say

"I'll do anything, I promise. Just let me go so we can get out of here with the others"

I look around and see a radio on the ground. I reach down and pick up it up, they probably dropped it, and use to talk to Glenn

"Hey Glenn, you read me?"

("Yeah I'm here. Is everyone ready?")

"Don't worry, everyone's fine. I need you to do something for me"

("I got my plate full at the moment so I can't really take requests")

"Just let Rick know that'll make my way back later. Also make a bit more noise and lead a few more away to make it easier for me to escape"

("Are you crazy?! Why would you stay behind?")

"Don't worry, just do me this favor, all right?"

("Man, your funeral.")

I turn to face Merle after turning the radio off and summon a switch blade from my inventory in front of him which causes him to reel in shock. I crouch down to his eye level and start manipulating it around my fingers while staring at him

"What the hell was that? Some kind of magic trick? How you do that?" Merle asks

"It is magic, Merle. I've been looking for a guinea pig to test out my theory on for a while. I think you'd be perfect"

I stab the blade into his thigh and twists it. Merle starts screaming in pain but I don't care. I pull it out and put it back before buying a healing potion from the store and summoning it. I pour the healing potion on the wound. After a few seconds, I see the wound on his thigh close up and disappear without a trace.

"Now, how did that feel, Merle?" I ask

"You sumbitch! You trying to fucking kill me?! When I get out of these cuffs, I am gonna kill you and that sheriff!" Merle shouts in anger

I flatten my hand and make sure to lower my strength before slapping him. He looks up angry and I slap him again and again and again and again until finally, his face was bruised and swollen with his eyes, looking at me in fear

"You see Merle, unlike the good sheriff, I don't like to use words and I prefer quick results. I don't believe in violence as the answer but I do believe that it is a very useful tool, don't you?" I ask, smiling

Merle tries to respond but all he can manage is a guttural sounds. I forgot that my slaps had knocked most of his teeth since I didn't feel much anything. I buy another healing potion and feed it to him and his face recovers in a min, teeth and all. The potion's weren't cheap but considering the amount of money I had and how easy it was to earn, I could splurge a few here and there.

"It's costing me a lot of money to fix you and I don't like wasting money. So Merle, you wanna to join my team?" I ask, to which he nods

I grab the hacksaw from the pile of tools that fell out of the tool box and cut his cuffs off. As soon as he was free, he stood up quickly and tried to blindside me but I lean backward and he stumbles forwards. I grab him by the throat and lift him up, off his feet. He's struggling to pry my hands off his throat but it's unsuccessful

"I guess you still haven't learnt your lesson, huh?"

While grabbing his throat, I use my other hand hit him in the face multiple times before throwing him down. I walk over and grab his arm and break it. He starts screaming his head off but I just go to the other side and break his other arm.

If any of the others were here, they would probably change their minds again about me but I couldn't care less. I never said I was a good person and my skill set was geared towards this kind of stuff more. The Walkers were loud and the car's alarm and stereo system was blaring through the city. No one would be able to hear him

I bought one last health potion and force fed him and he heals again but this time, he's knocked out. I grab some water out of my inventory and pour it on his face. He scrambles awake but as soon as he sees me, he backs away in fear, his whole body shaking.

"That's the third time I've had to heal you again. If this happens again, I'll just kill you myself or I'll break your legs next and watch you crawl as Walker's run towards you. Your choice" I say while staring him dead in the eyes.

He seems to be submissive and he just nods, not even looking in my eyes. I guess I might look like a demon to him right now but people like him need to be taught a lesson before they can learn.

"I saw your fight and seen you shoot. You got some real skill. I want you to join my team. A little crew I'm setting up to save the world and stuff. I need you and your brother. It'll be easier to convince him if you joined first" I explain

"What's in it for me?" Merle asks, still scared but now, he's looking at me

"Anything that isn't bolted down, morally wrong or just annoying, you can keep. I treat my people well so I'll train you and ensure your safety. Three meals a day, a roof over your head and as many Walkers as you can kill" I say

"What about women?" He asks

"As long as they consent, you can take as many as you want. I don't care as long as it doesn't interfere with our work" I reply

I pull the sniper I got from the Sheriff's Office that Rick was going to give to Morgan, out of the inventory. Before he gets any funny ideas, I lift the rifle and shoot off the remains of the hand cuffs with one hand before passing it to him with two boxes of rounds. He seems shocked but he recovers faster than before. I guess he'd accepted that I wasn't normal.

We turn around to walk towards the door leading downstairs and I pat him on the back and place a teleport marker and give him a final warning.

"No one will believe you if you tell them about what happened up here but if anyone so much as makes a squeak about it, I will find you. You won't be able to run from me" I tell him as I walk away.

I'd never tried teleporting before and the only other places with markers was Rick and Mary. I tell Merle to sit tight before I active the teleportation skill. My vision flashes with white and I'm suddenly back at the old house. It felt like the scenery was just swapped out for something new while I was looking but I couldn't figure out how it happened.

I go over to Mary and brush her hair, refill her trough and feed bag before teleporting back to Merle. I tell him that I'm going to test something and tell him to get ready. I put down another teleport marker on the rooftop and try to teleport us both back to Mary and it was a success.

We get back to the rooftop and I erase the marker I placed there before we moved. I know I would need to tell everyone in my team about the teleporter and the other skills I had but I was already feeling uncomfortable with Merle knowing about just the teleportation and he was already part of the crew. I would need to get over it soon but I ignored it for now. Merle was following behind me quietly so I turn around and give him a military standard salute with a serious expression

"Well Agent. Dixon, Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D"