T-Dog's horrified, static-laced scream over the walkie-talkie "They're through! Walkers are through the rooftop door! We're overrun up here! Morales is down! Merle… God, Merle's going crazy… We need help, now, or we're all dead meat!" hit the small group in the blood-soaked service area like a physical blow.
Rick Grimes, his face grim from his own recent ordeal and rescue, didn't hesitate. The exhaustion, the fear, it was all momentarily burned away by a surge of fierce, protective responsibility. "We're going back up," he declared, his voice ringing with an authority that was both natural and desperately needed. "We don't leave our people behind if there's a shred of a chance!"
Shane started to protest, "Rick, that stairwell we came down is probably crawling! And the one they were guarding just got breached!"
"Then we clear it," Rick said, his gaze unwavering. "Glenn, Ethan, you were point coming down, you know the way. Andrea, Jacqui, with us. Shane, you got our backs." His eyes briefly met Ethan's. "Any quick thoughts, Miller? That 'map knowledge' of yours was good before."
Ethan quickly accessed his System. He had 5 Attribute Points unspent from reaching Level 4. This was the time.
[Allocate AP? Current unspent: 5]
"System, allocate AP: Agility +1, Perception +1, Strength +2, Endurance +1." He needed to hit harder and see more, now more than ever.
[System Notice: Agility (current 9) and Perception (current 9) were previously soft-capped at Level 3. At Level 4, the soft cap for these attributes has increased to 10. Allocating +1 AP to Agility... Agility increased to 10 (Soft Capped at L4). Allocating +1 AP to Perception... Perception increased to 10 (Soft Capped at L4).]
[Remaining 3 AP allocated: Strength +2 (from 7 to 9). Endurance +1 (from 6 to 7).]
[Attributes Updated: Strength: 9, Agility: 10 (Capped), Endurance: 7, Perception: 10 (Capped).]
A subtle but definite surge of enhanced capability flowed through him.
"The employee stairwell we used, Stairwell B, is still our best bet," Ethan said quickly, his voice firm. "It was mostly clear on the way down. The walkers on the roof came through Stairwell A, the main one. If we move fast, we might be able to get up B before they spread too far across the roof or down into our stairwell."
[System tactical assessment: Ethan's plan is high risk but the most viable. Stairwell B rooftop access point unknown – may be barricaded from the other side by T-Dog/Morales if they had time, or it could be another entry point for walkers.]
"Alright then, move!" Rick commanded.
The small, determined team of six plunged back into the dark, treacherous interior of Harrison's Department Store, heading for Employee Stairwell B. The sounds of the walker horde outside the service door they'd just re-barricaded seemed to fade as they focused on the new, urgent threat from above.
The ascent was a nightmare. Walkers, drawn by the earlier commotion of their descent and the ongoing chaos from the rooftop, had begun to infest the employee stairwell too. Not as many as the main one, perhaps, but enough.
Ethan, his Perception now at a keen 10, and his Danger Sense skill a constant prickle, moved near the front with Rick and Glenn. His Featherfoot and Basic Stealth Movement helped him navigate the debris-strewn stairs with an eerie quietness, often spotting and neutralizing walkers before they could fully alert others. His enhanced Strength (9) and Agility (10) made his machete strikes faster, more powerful, more precise.
[Walker Neutralized. Battle Points +1. Experience Gained.]
The notifications were almost a blur. He fought with a cold, focused desperation, his foreknowledge of the TWD world reminding him that any mistake, any hesitation, could be fatal for them all.
They cleared landing after landing, the sounds of the battle on the roof itself, distant gunfire, inhuman shrieks, and T-Dog's occasional, terrified shouts over the still-open radio channel, growing louder, more desperate.
Finally, they reached the heavy steel door leading to the rooftop. It was closed, but unlike the door below, this one had no sounds of walkers immediately behind it. It was, however, slightly ajar, a dark crack visible.
"T-Dog? Morales?" Rick called out, his voice low and urgent, his Python ready. "It's Rick! We're at the stairwell door!"
A choked sob answered him, then T-Dog's voice, weak and filled with pain. "Rick? Oh, thank God! Morales… Morales is gone, man. They got him. Right at the door. I… I managed to slam it, drag some stuff in front, but… but they're all over the roof! And Merle… Christ, Merle…"
Shane shouldered the door open cautiously.
The scene on the rooftop was apocalyptic. At least a dozen walkers, some standard, some displaying the terrifying speed of Runners (likely having scaled the building or come up from the other breached stairwell), were swarming the relatively small space. Morales lay in a bloody heap near the now-shattered remains of the main stairwell access door's barricade, clearly dead. T-Dog was backed into a corner, using a piece of broken metal conduit to fend off two walkers, his arm bleeding profusely.
And Merle Dixon was still cuffed to the pipe, screaming obscenities, kicking and thrashing as a walker clawed at his boots.
"Spread out! Clear the roof!" Rick bellowed, opening fire.
What followed was a short, brutal, and utterly desperate battle. Ethan, Glenn, Shane, Andrea, and Jacqui fought with the fury of cornered animals. Ethan's System was a vital aid, highlighting priority targets, warning of attacks from his blind spots. He saw a Runner lunge for Andrea as she struggled to reload her shotgun; he intercepted it, his machete severing its head in a single, powerful blow. His Battle Points and Experience climbed steadily.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the last walker on the rooftop fell, its skull caved in by Shane's relentless shotgun butt. Silence descended, broken only by their ragged gasps, T-Dog's moans of pain, and Merle's continued, now slightly hoarse, stream of vitriol.
They had cleared the roof, saved T-Dog. But Morales was dead. The key to Merle's cuffs was still gone, lost somewhere below. And the entire department store beneath them was a seething mass of the dead, with more still being drawn by the recent gunfire. They were still trapped, their situation arguably worse now that their rooftop "sanctuary" had been so violently breached and proven fallible.
Rick walked over to Merle, his face hard. "We gotta deal with you, Dixon."
Merle just laughed, a harsh, broken sound. "What're ya gonna do, Officer Friendly? Leave me here for the buzzards and the geeks? Seems T-Dog already took care of my get outta jail free card." He spat towards T-Dog, who was being tended to by Jacqui and a shaken Andrea.
Rick looked at the pipe, then at Merle, then out at the burning, dead city. The dilemma was agonizing. Leaving him was a death sentence. Trying to cut him free would take time they didn't have, make noise they couldn't afford, and unleash a dangerous madman back into their midst.
Before Rick could voice a decision, T-Dog, his face contorted in pain and fury, stumbled towards the main stairwell door, the one they'd just fought so hard to clear of walkers who had come from the roof into the stairwell. He grabbed a heavy length of chain and a padlock from a nearby discarded toolbox, likely something Dale had used earlier. With a grunt, he looped the chain through the door handles and snapped the padlock shut.
"There," T-Dog gasped, leaning against the door. "That'll keep the dead from coming back up here for a while. And it'll keep him," he jerked his head towards Merle, "from getting any bright ideas about following us if we find another way down."
He had, in his anger and pain, just made Rick's decision for him. Or at least, sealed one of the options. Merle was trapped. But so, in a way, were they.
Ethan Miller - Status (End of Chapter 16)
* Level: 4
* Experience (EXP): (Increased significantly from rooftop battle, e.g., 150/400 towards Level 5)
* Battle Points (BP): (146 BP)
* Core Attributes:
* Strength: 9
* Agility: 10 (Soft Capped at L4)
* Endurance: 7
* Perception: 10 (Soft Capped at L4)
* Attribute Points (AP) Unspent: 0
* Learned Skills:
* Basic First Aid (Active, Level 1)
* Basic Stealth Movement (Passive, Level 1)
* Featherfoot (Passive, Level 1)
* Danger Sense (Rudimentary, Level 1)