Rick and Shane reached him first.
"Jesus Christ..." Rick muttered.
Up close, Gray looked awful, sweat soaked almost every inch of his clothes, his face was pale, and his hands trembled slightly from exhaustion. Even breathing seemed difficult for him.
But somehow, he still had that stupid grin on his face. Shane stared around the courtyard again, at the dozens upon dozens of bodies littering the pavement. "...You killed all these?"
Gray leaned his head back against the bench. "You see anyone else around?"
Hearing that response, Shane scoffed. Otis looked ready to throw up.
Rick crouched slightly in front of him. "Can you stand?"
Gray tried to get up immediately, only for his legs to buckle beneath him."...Nope," he admitted breathlessly.
Shane barked out a short laugh despite himself. "Yeah, no shit."
Rick and Shane helped haul Gray back toward the Humvee while Otis carried the rifle and the remaining bags of medicine.
As they passed through the school parking lot, Otis couldn't stop staring at the bodies, every single walker had been killed with headshots.
By the time they reached the Humvee, even Rick looked unsettled. Once inside, Gray practically collapsed against the window while Shane started the engine.
For most of the drive back, nobody spoke. Every now and then, Shane glanced at Gray through the mirror, like he was trying to figure him out.
Gray simply kept his eyes closed the entire ride.
The farm erupted into movement the moment the Humvee returned. Maggie and Patricia immediately rushed toward the boxes of medicine, while Hershel looked ready to collapse from relief.
"Thank God..." Hershel muttered while Jenner started sorting through the supplies.
Otis quickly explained which antibiotics they found while Patricia and Maggie carried everything inside for Beth.
Meanwhile, Rick and Shane helped Gray step out of the Humvee.
Andrea blinked the moment she saw him. "...What the hell happened to you?"
Gray looked down at himself lazily. "...Long day."
Amy covered her mouth slightly after noticing the amount of sweat sticking to him. "Is that all sweat?"
"Mostly," Gray answered tiredly.
Shane finally spoke loud enough for everyone nearby to hear. "You should've seen this moron."
While Gray slowly dragged himself toward his tent, Rick, Shane, and Otis explained everything that had happened at the school.
How Gray distracted the entire horde, how he ran through the parking lot alone, how the gunfire never stopped, how bodies just kept dropping.
"...Damn," Merle muttered. "Boy might actually be crazier than me."
Daryl snorted quietly. "Or dumber."
Carol looked toward Gray's tent with concern while Andrea remained unusually silent.
Amy, meanwhile, couldn't stop staring at the tent flap after hearing the story.
Inside the tent, Gray barely managed to remove his jacket before collapsing face-first onto the air mattress, the moment his eyes closed, he was gone.
Gray woke up just as the sun began rising over the farm, and immediately regretted existing.
"Fuck!... Everything hurts." His arms felt heavy, his shoulders burned, and even his fingers were sore from firing so many rounds.
After forcing himself outside, the sunlight alone nearly made him want to crawl back into the tent, instead, he grabbed some water and spent the morning taking it easy for once. No training, no scouting, and no roaming around the farm.
Mostly, he just walked around helping people where he could. Still, something had clearly changed. After hearing what happened at the school, people watched him differently now, not fear exactly...But something close to respect.
Even the farm people seemed far less wary around him, Andrea paid closer attention whenever he corrected her stance during shooting practice. Carol listened carefully anytime he gave advice.
Around midday, Hershel finally found him sitting beneath one of the large trees near the field.
Gray looked up slightly as Hershel approached.
The older man stood there quietly for a moment before speaking. "...Beth's fever finally started going down this morning."
Gray smiled weakly. "That's good."
Hershel nodded slowly before continuing. "If you boys hadn't gone to that school..." He paused briefly. "I would've lost my daughter."
Gray scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "We just got lucky."
Hershel immediately shook his head. "No. Otis told me what happened. You saved all three of them," Hershel continued seriously. "Most people wouldn't have done what you did."
Gray looked away toward the fields. "...Someone had to do it." 'And I wanted to test Deadshot's marksmanship, but they don't have to know that,' Gray thought to himself.
Hershel studied him quietly before finally extending his hand, Gray blinked before shaking it. "Thank you," Hershel said honestly.
For a moment, neither of them spoke, then Hershel walked back toward the house, leaving Gray alone beneath the tree again.
Not long after that, Lori quietly approached Glenn near the RV. "Can I ask you a favor?" she asked carefully.
Glenn nodded immediately. "Sure."
Lori hesitated briefly before lowering her voice. "...I need a pharmacy run."
Glenn blinked. "Medicine? They got a bunch of it last night."
"...Pregnancy tests." She said after looking around, making sure Rick or Shane weren't close enough to hear.
That answer clearly caught him off guard, but before he could say anything, Maggie stepped in nearby. "I can take him to town," she offered. "We need supplies too."
Lori looked relieved almost immediately. "Thank you."
Within twenty minutes, Glenn and Maggie were already heading toward the nearby town in one of the trucks.
A few hours later, Gray remained under the shade of the same tree, resting when Rick and Shane finally walked over carrying bottles of water. Shane tossed one toward him. "You alive?"
"Barely." Gray winced, catching the water bottle.
Rick sat down nearby while Shane leaned against the fence. For a few seconds, neither of them said anything, then Shane finally broke the silence. "Alright, enough dodging the question."
Gray sighed immediately. "Here we go."
"What the hell happened yesterday?" Shane asked bluntly. "Nobody shoots like that."
Rick nodded slowly. "You dropped over a hundred walkers by yourself."
Gray opened the water bottle calmly. "Adrenaline."
Shane stared at him. "...Bullshit."
Gray smirked slightly. "You saw the aftermath. Once I saw all the walkers coming towards me, something just clicked, and it felt like I was in a trance. I barely remember what happened." He lied through his teeth.
Rick looked like he wanted to push further, but after a few seconds, he simply let out a breath. "...Fine."
Shane shook his head. "One day you're gonna explain your weird ass eventually."
Gray laughed. "Maybe."
The conversation quieted after that before Rick finally asked, "So when are we checking out this prison?"
Gray leaned his head back against the tree. "...Tomorrow."
Shane raised an eyebrow. "You sure?"
Gray flexed his sore arm slightly and immediately regretted it. "No. But I don't wanna wait too long either."
Rick nodded in understanding.
"The group's improving," Gray continued. "They know the basics now. Enough to defend themselves if something happens."
Shane looked toward the training field where Andrea was helping Carol reload magazines. "...Never thought I'd see half these people carrying guns."
Gray chuckled quietly. "Me neither."
After talking a little longer, Rick and Shane eventually left him alone again.
Before sunset, Gray gathered everyone near the farmhouse, the entire group stood around, listening as the evening wind rolled through the fields.
Gray looked toward them seriously. "Yesterday, we found a massive horde near the highway."
That immediately caused tension to spread through the crowd. Shane, Glenn, and Morales seemed to finally remember about it.
"How many?" Dale asked quietly.
"...Hundreds," Shane answered for him.
Gray continued, "We don't know where it's heading, but if it wanders close to the farm, we need to be ready."
Rick stepped forward next. "From now on, we'll keep watch during the night."
Shane started organizing rotations while people volunteered in pairs, Gray was noticeably left out of the discussion, not a single person complained about it.
Once Gray made it back to his tent, he noticed his laptop had 10% battery. Opening the shop, he found a portable power station for 500 gold. After plugging in his laptop, he continued watching The Walking Dead, and after finishing season 2, he checked on his gold.
Gold: 6,234,888
Seeing that he had enough gold, he purchased the next upgrade along with an additional multiplier.
[New Upgrades]
(6M Gold) 100000 Gold Hour ✔
(155300 Gold) +0.05x ✔
[New Hourly Rate]
307,617 Gold/Hour
Gold: 79,588
"Oh yeah, it's all coming together." Finally, with that out of the way, Gray went to sleep.
That night, unlike the previous nights, armed lookouts monitored the tree line, not just one person on top of the RV, until sunrise.
Morning came quickly for Gray. It felt like he had closed his eyes for only a few minutes before sunlight started leaking through the fabric of the tent.
His entire body ached, every muscle burned from the previous days, and his trigger finger felt stiff from firing hundreds of rounds nonstop. Even sitting up felt like work.
Gray groaned quietly and rubbed his face. "...Never doing that again."
Still half asleep, he opened the system shop before stepping outside.
{5.56x45mm NATO (Box of 50)} (250 Gold)
Several boxes of ammunition appeared beside him instantly. Gray grabbed all seven magazines, six on his vest and one already loaded into the M4, and started reloading each one carefully.
By the time he finished, every mag was topped off, only then did he unzip the tent and step outside.
The bright sunlight immediately made him squint. "...Wait..." Gray looked around in confusion. The sun was already high in the sky. "What time is it?"
"A little before noon."
Gray nearly jumped when he heard Rick's voice nearby.
The other three men were already waiting beside one of Hershel's pickup trucks.
Rick leaned against the driver's door while Shane sat on the truck bed, sharpening a knife. Daryl cleaned his crossbow nearby, and Merle smoked a cigarette while lazily watching the farm.
Gray blinked a few times. "Why the hell didn't anyone wake me up?"
Rick shrugged. "Because you needed the sleep."
Shane snorted from the truck bed. "You looked half dead when we got back two days ago."
For a second, Gray just stared at them before sighing tiredly. "...Thanks."
Merle smirked. "Don't get emotional on us now."
Gray rolled his eyes before grabbing his rifle and walking toward the truck.
This time, Rick took the driver's seat while Gray climbed into the passenger seat. Behind them, Shane, Daryl, and Merle settled into the truck bed, their weapons resting nearby.
The engine roared to life moments later, and finally, they headed toward the prison. The drive took a little over half an hour. The roads became emptier the farther south they traveled. Forest slowly replaced farmland while abandoned cars became more common near intersections and exits.
Nobody spoke much during the ride. Even Merle stayed unusually quiet. Finally, after sixteen long miles, the prison came into view. Tall fences rose above the trees in the distance while massive concrete walls stood behind them.
And the moment they got close enough to properly see inside- "...Jesus Christ," Rick muttered.
The prison yard was flooded with walkers.
Around a dozen wandered around the outer fence while more packed the courtyard inside. Some stumbled endlessly against the chain-link fences while others were walking around aimlessly.
Gray slowly exhaled while staring at the massive crowd. "...Yeah, definitely overrun."
Rick parked the truck a safe distance away while everyone climbed out carefully.
A handful of walkers outside the prison immediately noticed them and started shambling over, before anyone else could move, Merle raised his rifle. BANG!
The first walker's head exploded.
BANG! Another dropped beside it.
The rest of the group joined in quickly, cleaning up the dozen walkers roaming outside the prison fences before they could gather too much attention.
Once the area was secure, Merle approached the outer gate, the heavy chain and lock keeping it shut rattled loudly.
Merle grinned. "Step back." BANG! His axe obliterated the lock instantly.
They repeated the process on the second gate before finally driving the truck inside the outer perimeter.
Once parked beside one of the watchtowers, the group gathered together quietly.
Everyone stared at the sea of walkers moving deeper inside the prison grounds. "...So?" Shane finally asked. "What's the play here?"
Gray reached into his backpack and pulled out the remaining two noise makers.
Rick immediately recognized them. "Those things again?"
Gray nodded once. "Worked pretty well at the school."
Merle grabbed one curiously. "Still don't know where the hell ya keep getting this stuff."
Gray ignored that comment completely, walking toward the courtyard fence. He lit the fuse on one of the cans before tossing it as far as he could.
The metal container bounced twice before landing near the middle of the yard.
A second later-
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The explosive cracking sounds echoed across the entire prison. Every walker froze, and then chaos erupted.
"Here we go again," Gray muttered while getting his rifle ready.