Chapter 26: Bar Trap
The air inside the bar was heavy with the smell of spilled alcohol and gunpowder. The angry voices outside and the occasional flash of headlights against the windows added to the pressure on the trapped group of three. Rick was still struggling with the shock of having just killed two men, while Glenn seemed frozen with fear. Hershel, amidst all this violence, was alone with the wreckage of his faith.
"They're waiting for us," Rick whispered. "There's no way out."
"There's always a way out," Jayden replied. His mind scanned the options like a computer. His [Intelligence: 11] and [Perception: 11] stats gave him a sense of clarity in this chaotic situation. "They outnumber us and they're probably surrounded. Going out the front door would be suicide. But if we can separate them, we might have a chance."
Jayden's eyes fell on the row of liquor bottles behind the bar counter. "We need a distraction." The plan was simple, but dangerous. At the back of the bar, there was a small crew door that led to an alley. Jayden prepared a makeshift Molotov cocktail with a few bottles of whiskey and a rag. "Rick, you and I will go out the back door. Glenn, you cover Hershel. When I throw this thing through the side window of the bar and cause havoc, you run for the car. Are you ready?"
Rick and Glenn nodded hesitantly. They had no other choice.
Jayden approached the window, lit the bottle, and threw it as far as he could. The bottle exploded on the hood of a vehicle outside, creating a fireball that briefly illuminated the night sky. The shouts of surprise and anger from outside confirmed the plan had worked.
"NOW!" Jayden shouted.
Rick and Jayden burst out the back door. Glenn ran out the front door, dragging Hershel behind him. For a moment, chaos reigned. As the men outside ran toward the burning vehicle, our group tried to reach their own. But they were soon spotted.
"They're there! Shoot them!"
A firefight erupted. Bullets whizzed through the air. Jayden took cover behind a car and fired his Glock. Each shot was calculated. He wasn't firing in a panic; he was aiming and pulling the trigger.
[Basic Firearms (Level 1) Skill +15 EXP gained]
Rick was firing back. He wasn't just a sheriff defending himself anymore. He was a warrior who killed to protect his family. This conflict accelerated his transformation.
They managed to escape, but not without a price. One of the men pursuing them, a young boy named Randall, fell on a nearby fence as he fled, his leg impaled on the iron bars. He cried out in pain.
Rick paused for a moment. They could have left him there to die. But he couldn't. Despite Jenner's secret, he hadn't completely lost his humanity. "We can't leave him," he said.
This decision presented the group with a new and dangerous problem. They carefully freed Randall from the fence, bandaged his bleeding leg, and loaded him into the car, heading for the farm.
As they drove back to the farm, Jayden watched wearily outside. This incident proved once again how vulnerable the farm was. They could lose everything at any moment. Just then, an old dirt road, hidden among the trees, branched off from the main road, and an abandoned farmhouse loomed at the end. The house was perched on a hill, surrounded by open ground. It seemed easily defended.
A seed of an idea was planted in his mind. Not for the group. For himself. A plan B. A "Safe House." A place where he could hide from the storm if everything went wrong. This thought was the first concrete step in his plans for the future.