TWD: Saving Merle First - Chapter 48: Cleanup and a Temporary Retreat (Patreon)

Wade raised a hand to signal his side to stop firing, then shouted, "Throw all your weapons out into the street. Guns, knives, everything!

"Then all of you come out from behind cover! I don't care if someone's leg is broken, drag him out here! Now!"

"Okay! Okay! We'll do it! Please don't shoot! Please!"

The moment Wade laid out his demands, someone immediately answered. His voice was filled with uncontrollable fear and near-hysteria.

Clearly, the sudden massacre had scared them out of their minds.

Weapons began flying out from behind the vehicles, clattering onto the street. Then three men slowly stood up with their hands raised, trembling as they moved into the small open area between them.

One of them, a Black man, had his face twisted in pain. His lips were pale, and his left hand was clamped tightly over his right. He was trying desperately to raise both hands, but his injured arm simply wouldn't go any higher.

Unless Wade was mistaken, this was the same guy he'd "warned" earlier.

"We know we were wrong! We surrender! Please let us go! Please!"

Wade let out a cold laugh.

They hadn't realized they were wrong.

They'd realized they were about to die.

"Take off your shirts, then turn around. Now!"

The strangely familiar order made the three of them freeze for a moment.

While they were still trying to process it, Wade fired and ended the injured man's suffering on the spot.

His low, furious voice rang out again.

"Now!"

The remaining two immediately stripped off their bloodstained T-shirts, threw them onto the ground, and turned around with their backs to Wade.

"We're doing it! We're doing it! Don't shoot! Sir, please!"

Wade gave Merle and Shane a look.

They understood immediately and moved out with their guns raised.

Merle walked up and smashed one of the men in the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him unconscious.

The bloodlust in Shane's eyes gradually faded. He stepped over to Wade and asked quietly, "What are you planning to do?"

His voice was calm and flat. It sounded less like a question and more like he was confirming something he already suspected.

Wade didn't answer him right away.

Instead, he looked at Glenn and T-Dog.

"Glenn, T-Dog, take your weapons and find somewhere high enough to get a good look around. See how many walkers are heading this way. Don't engage them. Be careful, make it quick, and come straight back."

Glenn and T-Dog swallowed nervously, then nodded and headed out together.

Shane frowned, curiosity and confusion flickering in his eyes.

"I don't know whether what that guy said earlier was true. We need to verify it. Since we've got two of them, we can question them separately."

Shane's expression shifted with approval. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

"You and... Rick really are different. At least he wouldn't..."

He didn't finish the sentence, but Wade understood exactly what he meant.

"You thought I was making all that stuff up earlier, man? I told you, maybe my face gave you the wrong impression. Hmm... I really am a good guy. My moral compass is pretty flexible."

The two looked at each other, and slowly, both started to grin.

"I'm starting to like you."

"Fuck off. I only like soft, pretty girls."

They both laughed.

A moment later, Daryl and Marcus came running down from upstairs.

Wade smiled when he saw them.

"Perfect timing. Same as usual. Question them."

Daryl and Marcus nodded silently.

The four men split up and dragged the captives into separate rooms, while Wade stayed behind on his own.

He needed to clean up the battlefield, collect anything useful, and wait for the dead to turn so he could finish them off.

He had no intention of leaving a buffet behind for the walkers and accidentally helping create some kind of mutant.

Those things were way too dangerous to deal with.

Wade idly thought about it as harsh screams gradually began echoing from inside the building.

By the time he'd collected most of the firearms, Glenn and T-Dog came running back from farther down the street.

The moment they heard the screams, both of them felt a chill run through them.

It was as though they'd finally peeled back the surface and seen the beast underneath. For a moment, neither of them quite dared to look Wade in the eye.

"What's wrong? Run into trouble?"

Glenn lowered his gaze and avoided looking directly at Wade.

"We made too much noise. The walkers in town are being drawn this way. I'd say they'll reach us in five to ten minutes."

Wade wasn't particularly surprised by the answer.

If anything, he thought the walkers were taking their time.

No.

It was probably more accurate to say the population density around here just wasn't that high.

If this were Atlanta, a massive wave of walkers would already be bearing down on them.

"Alright, got it. Then stop standing around and load a little more. We'll seal this place up and come back tomorrow."

As for trying to fight their way through an entire horde, Wade had no intention of considering that for now.

After sending the two of them back to move more supplies, Marcus was the first to come out of one of the rooms.

"How'd it go?"

Marcus answered calmly, "They're all here."

When Shane came over, his steps slowed for a moment.

The look he gave Wade was practically asking, Has he always been like this?

The way Marcus had questioned that guy earlier had been completely insane.

Shane had still been thinking about how to start asking questions when Marcus had already stabbed the man.

He stabbed first, then asked.

If the guy took too long to answer, Marcus stabbed him again.

Was this guy seriously a legitimate doctor?

Wade, however, only smiled and nodded, completely unsurprised.

"Alright. Got it."

Shane opened his mouth, then stopped himself and said nothing.

Good news. Apparently, he'd finally found his comfort zone.

Bad news. Did that mean he was a psychopath too?

Merle came out of the other room at that moment, still cursing under his breath.

"That bastard said everyone's here. They don't have a camp. They're just a bunch of roaming thugs. No, calling them thugs is giving them too much credit. These fuckers are psychos. Psychos, you hear me, Wade?"

He spat on the ground, looking utterly disgusted.

Wade could roughly guess what Merle had learned.

He sighed.

"It's fine. They ran into us, didn't they? Guess we're doing everyone else a favor by getting rid of them."

He was about to say more when figures began appearing farther down the street.

Walkers.

More and more of them were emerging in the distance, and their rotten stench drifted toward them on the breeze.

Wade frowned and shouted toward the warehouse.

"Glenn! T-Dog! Stop loading! Get in the trucks. We're leaving!"

The two heard him and carried the last of the supplies onto the vehicles.

After catching their breath, they looked down the street, saw the dark mass of walkers approaching, and immediately climbed aboard.

"What about everything that's still here?"

Wade pointed toward the walkers beginning to gather in the distance.

"They'll keep an eye on it for us."