CHAPTER 14: ATLANTA BURNING
POV: Glenn Rhee
The cube van rolls into Atlanta at dawn, engine rumbling through empty streets that echo with unnatural quiet. Glenn navigates by memory and instinct, avoiding the major thoroughfares where walker herds gather like living rivers.
But something's wrong. The city feels different—more dangerous, more crowded with the dead than his mental maps account for.
"Jesus," T-Dog mutters from the passenger seat. "There's more of them than last time."
Glenn's knuckles whiten on the steering wheel as they pass intersections packed with shambling corpses. His carefully memorized routes are compromised, forcing improvisation that makes his gut clench with anxiety.
POV: Scott
Scott's System lights up like a Christmas tree as they enter Atlanta's heart.
[WALKER SIGNATURES: 500+ DETECTED]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
[ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS: MULTIPLE]
"The horde's grown. Shifted. My presence has already created butterfly effects I didn't predict."
The realization hits him like cold water. He's been changing things since the moment he arrived at the camp, and those changes have rippled outward in ways his foreknowledge can't account for.
"More walkers than expected," Rick observes, voice tight with concern.
"City's been drawing them in," Merle says from the van's rear. "All roads lead to Rome, and all dead lead to Atlanta."
POV: Rick Grimes
Rick studies the changed landscape through the van's windshield, cop instincts cataloguing threats and escape routes. The mission parameters have already shifted, but turning back isn't an option. They need those weapons.
"Glenn, how close can you get us to the tank?"
"Three blocks. Maybe two if we're lucky."
Rick nods, running through contingencies. They'll need to move fast, grab the bag, and extract before the increased walker population can surround them.
"Everyone stays together," Rick orders. "No heroics, no unnecessary risks. We get in, get the weapons, get out."
He catches Merle's reflection in the rear-view mirror and adds, "That goes especially for you."
POV: Merle Dixon
Merle grins at the warning, showing tobacco-stained teeth. "Wouldn't dream of causing trouble, Officer Friendly."
The lie tastes sweet on his tongue. Merle's got his own plans for Atlanta—score some of his stash, maybe settle accounts with a few people who owe him money. The group's mission is just convenient transportation.
He studies Scott from across the van, noting the EMT's obvious tension. City boy's nervous, which means he's smart enough to be scared. Good. Fear keeps you alive longer than courage.
"You ready for this, pretty boy?" Merle asks.
Scott meets his gaze steadily. "Ready as anyone can be for walking into hell."
POV: Daryl Dixon
Daryl checks his crossbow's string tension for the hundredth time, muscle memory and anxiety demanding constant equipment maintenance. The city feels wrong—too quiet, too dangerous, like a trap waiting to spring.
He catches Scott watching Merle with that focused intensity again, like the EMT's reading his brother for tells and weaknesses. Smart. Merle's a walking powder keg, and knowing when he's about to explode is a useful survival skill.
"Stay close to me," Daryl tells Scott quietly. "Merle gets sideways, you don't want to be in the splash zone."
POV: T-Dog
T-Dog grips his crowbar and tries to keep his breathing steady as the van navigates increasingly dangerous streets. This isn't his first time in the city since the outbreak, but it's definitely the most walkers he's seen concentrated in one area.
"How we supposed to get out of here if they surround us?" he asks.
"Same way we got in," Glenn replies, but his voice lacks conviction. "Fast and quiet."
T-Dog nods, not entirely convinced. He's volunteered because someone has to watch the group's back, but that doesn't mean he's not scared. Only crazy people aren't scared in Atlanta these days.
POV: Scott
They reach the department store without incident, Glenn's navigation skills threading them through gaps in the walker herds with surgical precision. But Scott's System continues its urgent warnings.
[STRUCTURAL INSTABILITY DETECTED]
[WALKER CONCENTRATION: CRITICAL MASS]
[MISSION PARAMETERS: COMPROMISED]
The bag retrieval goes smoothly at first. Rick leads them to the tank, recovers his weapons cache, and they begin the extraction process. But then Merle spots something that makes his eyes light up with dangerous interest.
POV: Merle Dixon
"Well, well, well," Merle drawls, studying the group of survivors taking shelter in the department store's upper floors. "Looks like we got ourselves some uninvited guests."
Hispanic family, old man, couple of kids. Hiding from the walkers, probably been here for days judging by the makeshift camp they've set up.
Perfect opportunity to establish who's really in charge of this operation.
"Y'all need to move along," Merle announces, hand resting casually on his pistol. "This here's our territory now."
POV: Rick Grimes
Rick's blood turns cold as Merle confronts the terrified family. The man's aggressive posture, the way his hand hovers near his weapon—it's a disaster waiting to happen.
"Merle, stand down," Rick orders. "They're not hurting anyone."
"Neither are we," Merle counters. "Just explaining how things work in the new world."
The Hispanic father steps protectively in front of his family, and Rick sees the situation spinning toward violence with mechanical inevitability.
POV: Scott
"This is it. This is where it all goes wrong."
Scott watches Merle's confrontation with the survivors, knowing exactly how this plays out in canon. The argument escalates, Rick has to physically restrain Merle, and the violence attracts a massive walker horde.
"Everyone needs to calm down," Scott interjects, trying to de-escalate. "We can all share the space."
Merle whirls on him, eyes blazing with fury. "You think you're hot shit with your fancy words, EMT boy? I see how you look at us, like you're better than everyone else."
"That's not—"
"Shut up!" Merle shouts, voice echoing through the building. "I'm tired of taking orders from college boys and pretty-faced medics!"
POV: Glenn Rhee
Glenn's heart sinks as Merle's voice carries through the store, loud enough to wake the dead. Literally.
The moaning starts immediately—hundreds of walkers responding to the noise, shuffling toward the building like moths to flame. Through the windows, Glenn can see them gathering, pressing against the glass with increasing pressure.
"We need to move," Glenn says urgently. "Now."
But it's too late. The main entrance groans under walker pressure, glass beginning to crack and buckle.
POV: Rick Grimes
The situation deteriorates with stunning speed. Walkers pressing against every entrance, Merle still ranting about respect and authority, the survivors they're supposed to protect cowering in terror.
Rick makes a command decision.
"Merle Dixon, you're under arrest," he declares, producing handcuffs from his belt. "You're endangering this group."
"Try it," Merle snarls, hand moving toward his gun.
Rick's faster. The handcuffs snap around Merle's wrist before the man can draw, securing him to a metal roof access pipe.
POV: Scott
Scott watches the handcuffing with sick certainty, knowing they're about to abandon Merle to die. His System flashes an urgent alert:
[STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS DETECTED - ROOF ACCESS DOOR]
[FAILURE PROBABILITY: 73%]
The door won't hold. They need every gun defending it, including Merle's.
"Rick," Scott says desperately. "We need every shooter. The door's not going to hold them."
Rick pauses, handcuff key in his grip. For a moment, Scott thinks he's gotten through. Then the roof access door splinters under walker pressure, and chaos erupts.
POV: T-Dog
T-Dog swings his crowbar in desperate arcs, dropping walkers as they pour through the broken door. But there are too many, and they keep coming in an endless tide of rotting flesh and snapping teeth.
"The pipe!" Scott shouts over the sound of combat. "We need to move Merle!"
T-Dog sees what Scott's talking about—Merle's handcuffed to a structural pipe that's starting to groan under walker pressure. If it fails, Merle's trapped.
POV: Scott
Scott activates Power Strike without thinking, bringing his crowbar down on the pipe with enhanced force. The metal screams and buckles, and suddenly Merle's mobile again—still handcuffed, but not anchored to a fixed point.
[POWER STRIKE: RANK 2 ACTIVATED]
[STAMINA: 65/100]
Rick's eyes widen as he watches Scott's crowbar punch through solid steel like it's aluminum foil. The strength required for that feat is far beyond normal human capability.
POV: Daryl Dixon
Daryl fights with desperate efficiency, crossbow bolts dropping walkers at close range while Scott's impossible strength gives them a fighting chance. The EMT moves through the horde like some kind of supernatural weapon, his crowbar caving in skulls with mechanical precision.
"How the hell is he that strong?"
But there's no time for questions. Only survival, escape, and getting his brother to safety.
POV: Merle Dixon
Merle fights one-handed, the handcuffs making weapon use awkward but not impossible. His pride burns at being restrained, but pragmatism keeps him focused on killing walkers instead of settling scores.
The EMT saved his life by breaking that pipe. Merle files that information away for future consideration.
POV: Scott
They fight their way down through the building, Scott's enhanced combat awareness guiding them through optimal paths. His System tracks multiple threats simultaneously, highlighting weak points and escape routes.
[COMBAT AWARENESS: RANK 1 ACTIVATED]
[MULTIPLE TARGET TRACKING: ENABLED]
But the enhanced abilities come with a cost. Rick and Shane keep watching him with increasingly sharp attention, noting feats of strength and speed that don't match his medical background.
POV: Glenn Rhee
The van represents salvation—four wheels and an engine between them and the growing walker horde. Glenn guns it the moment everyone's aboard, tires screaming as they accelerate through Atlanta's corpse-choked streets.
In the rear-view mirror, he can see the department store being overrun completely, walkers pouring through every opening like water through a burst dam.
They made it out. Barely.
POV: Rick Grimes
The drive back to camp passes in tense silence. Merle sits in the corner, still handcuffed, glowering at everyone with barely contained rage. Scott helps T-Dog treat a concussion from a fall during the escape.
But Rick's mind keeps returning to what he witnessed in the department store. Scott's strength, his combat awareness, the way he moved through walkers like he'd been training for it his entire life.
EMTs don't fight like that. Soldiers do.
POV: Scott
The camp appears through the van's windshield like a beacon of safety, cooking fires and familiar faces offering relief from Atlanta's nightmare. But Scott knows the hard questions are coming.
[QUEST UPDATE: THE DIXON SITUATION]
[MERLE SAVED FROM ROOF - PARTIAL SUCCESS]
[ABILITIES EXPOSED - COMPLICATIONS ADDED]
[RICK GRIMES: RELATIONSHIP CHANGED TO SUSPICIOUS RESPECT]
[SHANE WALSH: RELATIONSHIP CHANGED TO HOSTILE SUSPICION]
Daryl immediately takes custody of his still-handcuffed brother, shooting Scott a look of pure gratitude before hauling Merle toward the tool shed to find bolt cutters.
But Scott feels Rick and Shane's eyes on him as he helps T-Dog to the medical supplies. The questions are coming, and he's not sure what answers he can give that won't destroy everything he's built.
POV: Andrea
Andrea rushes to Scott the moment the van stops, hands checking for injuries with practiced efficiency. He's covered in walker blood but appears unharmed.
"What happened out there?" she whispers.
Scott shakes his head, exhaustion and stress written across his features. "Too close. Way too close."
She can see there's more to the story, but this isn't the time or place. Later, when they're alone, she'll ask the questions that matter.
For now, she's just grateful he came home alive.
POV: Dale Horvath
Dale observes the mission's return from the RV's steps, noting the body language and facial expressions that tell the real story. Success, but at a cost. Questions raised that can't be easily answered.
Scott's saved Merle's life, but exposed capabilities that don't match his cover story. The young man's walking a tightrope now, and one misstep could send him plummeting.
"Some secrets are too big to keep forever," Dale thinks. "The question is whether the truth will help or destroy him when it finally comes to light."
The campfire flickers in the growing darkness, and somewhere in the forest, a walker moans its lonely hunger to the night sky.
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