Raiders

Abandoned vehicles clogged the street ahead. Drivers had left them where they stopped when the emergency made continuing impossible.

Isaac led Miana to one of the cars, removed its fuel cap, fed a plastic hose into the tank, and ran the other end to a gas can to siphon what remained.

"Where do we go from here?" Miana asked, studying the endless line of vehicles. "We can't keep following this road."

The route was blocked. If they wanted to keep the convoy, they would have to find another way around.

Isaac wiped sweat from his forehead with his forearm. "We change course. There is more than one road to any destination, and all we're looking for is somewhere safe."

Miana's eyes brightened. "We could go back to the prison."

"We could." Isaac nodded.

"Then should we head back?"

Isaac smiled at her. "Where do you think this road is taking us?"

Miana looked ahead. The road led toward the outskirts, and the prison lay beyond them. They would have to make several turns, but this route could still take them there.

Relief eased her face. A prison was hardly an inviting destination, but it was familiar and still held plenty of food. The food was bad, yet food was essential. A fixed destination felt far safer than wandering without a plan.

After considering that, Miana looked at Isaac. "Then why haven't you told the others?"

"Miana, I used to be a prison guard," Isaac said solemnly.

Her eyes flickered. At last she nodded. "Right. You used to be my coworker."

"Not only your coworker. Your bed partner too."

Miana rolled her eyes, picked up the gas can, and said, "Enough. Let's get back."

Now that she had a destination, she wanted to reach it as soon as possible. The thought of returning made her feel more secure.

"Everyone finished?" Isaac called to Shane, Glenn, and the others nearby.

"All set." Glenn and T-Dog raised their gas cans.

Shane nodded. "Good here."

Bang!

Bang, bang... bang!

Gunfire erupted in the distance, from the direction where the rest of the group had remained.

"Damn it!" Isaac dropped everything and sprinted back.

Rick's wife and son were there, and fear drove him into a run.

Lori had told Shane their relationship was over,

but he still hoped to win her back. He raced toward the shots just as urgently.

The gunfire suggested two possibilities.

The others might have encountered so many walkers that they had no choice but to use firearms.

The second possibility

was worse.

They might have run into another group--raiders.

If the group had been threatened,

then the shots were a desperate response.

They had to get back,

and they had to move fast. A moment's delay could cost them the people closest to them.

Dale crouched inside the RV with a weapon in his hands, scanning every direction for the hidden shooter.

With walkers surrounding the vehicles, spotting attackers who remained concealed and waited to rob them was nearly impossible.

Age had left Dale struggling to keep up with the danger.

"Daryl, how bad is it?" Merle asked from behind the vehicle as he raised his pistol and dropped several walkers closing on them.

Daryl clutched his bleeding legs, pain etched across his face. "This isn't going to kill me."

"You're okay, Carl. You're okay." Lori crouched inside the RV, wrapping herself around Carl and covering his head as she tried to soothe him.

Her darting eyes and trembling body showed that she was no calmer than anyone else.

"Sophia... Sophia's gone!" Carol stared toward the door in terror, desperate to climb out but paralyzed by the walkers around them.

Amy restrained her. "You can't go out there. You'll die, Carol."

"It's my fault. If I'd only kept my eyes on her... Oh, Sophia, my poor baby!" Sophia had been playing a short distance away when the panic began.

The first gunshots had drawn the walkers in.

Sophia had disappeared.

The shots now came from Merle, Daryl, and the others defending the convoy, not from the attackers hiding nearby.

The raiders did not want to waste their own ammunition.

They intended to let the walkers wear Merle and the others down, then move in and claim whatever was left.