"Is he trying to go to the next floor?"
Holding a stack of books, Nolan asked while his eyes remained glued towards Michael who had just reached the stairwell and disappeared past the door.
"Do I look like a fortune teller to you?" Glenn responded with a serious expression while also watching Michael.
On the other hand, Daryl immediately walked past them after he walked out from one of the rooms and noticed what Michael was doing.
"Wait, where are you going?" Nolan called out to him in a voice just enough for him to hear.
"Backup."
Daryl responded curtly and didn't bother turning around to look at them. He just quickened his pace while holding an M4 rifle.
He just shrugged his shoulders and didn't mind the attitude. Putting down the stacks of books down on the reception desk, Nolan turned to face Glenn. "Should we also follow after them?"
Glenn shook his head and started checking the bullets on his handgun. "No, we stay here and cover the rear. Just in case someone is trying to sneak behind us."
"I.." Nolan was about to say something when his eyes suddenly widened in horror when he spotted something outside the building.
"F&ck.." He cursed in a small voice, and Glenn quickly noticed the changes in his expression and hastily turned around to look behind him.
Glenn's eyes became filled with horror and was suddenly reminded by a memory from the past. "Crap..this is bad."
The two of them didn't dally any longer and quickly hid behind the reception desk. They only showed half of their face to look outside.
Looking at the growing number of walkers coming out from the corner of the adjacent building ahead. The two quickly felt their situation was slowly getting dire by the second.
"This might be a herd right? I hope it's not too big." Nolan looked at Glenn, slightly trembling. He was reminded of the past where they almost lost their lives when they stumbled onto a herd while escaping the city.
Glenn took a deep breath and sighed. "It might be one. After all, this is a big city. Hopefully, this one is migrating since we never saw any more herds when we were searching for supplies in the city."
Nolan lightly nodded, but then he remembered something. "This..what if they were actually lured here because of what Michael did earlier?"
Glenn sharply turned his head towards him. "Wait..you didn't forget to barricade that hole, right?"
Sighing in relief, "Thankfully, I did. I even closed the door behind us. I think we'll be fine as long as we do not make any more noises though."
"Crap, Michael and Daryl don't know what's going down here. Get up, we need to tell them what's happening outside or we'll be in trouble if those two encounter the people living here." Glenn lightly tapped Nolan on his shoulder as he got up and cautiously made his way towards the next floor. Nolan also stood up and followed behind him with an anxious look on his face.
From the reception area to the stairs, there was at least a hundred or so meters in between. So it took them a while to reach it and by the time they got there. Michael was already confronting the people occupying the hospital..
"Sh&t! Hurry."
Glenn and Nolan hurriedly ascend the stairs while a commotion had started happening above them.
"Who are you?! Hands in the air, now!"
Moments earlier.
Michael threw caution in the wind and just opened the door. He just casually walked past it like he was entering his own home, but for the people waiting for them in the hallway. It was a tense moment as every single man in uniform aimed their weapons at him.
"Hey, what f&ck are you doing?" Daryl slightly panicked as he wasn't expecting him to do that.
"Who are you?! Hands in the air, now!" Dawn said in a slightly raised voice. She didn't yell, but she made sure her voice at least reached him.
Looking at the numerous weapons aimed towards him, Michael smiled. He slowly loosened his hold on his rifle before raising his hands in the air. "We come in peace. I'm advising you to not open fire to avoid attracting unwanted attention. Honestly, I don't mind since we're not the ones getting compromised if that happens."
Dawn grew annoyed with his arrogant attitude and started contemplating if she should just shoot him and be done with it. But his words reminded her of a possible aftermath if the noise from the gunshot happens to attract trouble to them.
Michael smiled. "We came to trade, no need for such hostility."
On the other hand, inside the stairwell to his right, Daryl was looking at him with a dumbfounded expression after hearing his words.
"Trade? What do you mean by trade? We didn't bring sh&t with us." He whispered towards him, and behind him, Glenn and Nolan were also just coming up from behind.
Glenn arrived beside Daryl and told him what was happening outside.
"It's bad, isn't it?" Glenn said with a forced chuckle.
Daryl snorted, somehow amused at the situations happening around them.
"I think it's good news for us. Those people living here will have no choice but to avoid any conflict with us unless they're idiots."
Dawn really wanted to shoot that smirk off Michael's face, but weighing the pros and cons. She eventually relented to listen.
"Stand down." Dawn ordered her colleagues, who exchanged glances for a moment before lowering their guns.
"Are you alone?"
"No, why are you asking me a question you obviously already know?" Michael chuckled and gestured for Daryl and the others to come out.
Daryl and the other slowly came out of the stairwell with cautious steps, and the former stood beside Michael and said in a small voice. "There are walkers gathering outside. Possibly a herd."
"Really? Is it possible they were attracted by the noise I caused earlier?" Michael grew startled by the sudden news and even figured out what might cause it, but then he also thought of another problem.
'It wasn't even that loud. Don't tell me their hearing is far more sensitive than I initially knew? That's going to be a problem if it is.'
Seeing them suddenly whispering at each other and looking at the worried expression the others have on their faces, Dawn suddenly felt a bad premonition.
"Hey, what's happening over there?" Dawn asked, but suddenly one of the officers came out from one of the rooms on her left with an anxious look.
"This is bad. There's a horde of rotters outside."
Dawn quickly turned her head towards him and she almost yelled. "What?!"
She didn't wait for him to respond and instead quickly entered one of the rooms, with a few others following behind her.
Looking outside the window, Dawn became horrified at the sight before them.
"No way, that..there's got to be at least five hundred of them, right?" Amanda gulped down her saliva, she already feels dizzy looking at the scene below them.
A robust bald officer, who was one of the calmer ones responded. "That's at least a thousand. This one is probably migrating since there weren't any hordes around when we were patrolling the area two days ago."
"Not only do we have to deal with a group of possibly hostile survivors, but now we also have a horde problem in hand."
Dawn kept staring outside and as moments passed, she eventually regained her calm.
"For now, it seems we don't have any choice but to treat those people outside amicably if we want this place to remain intact."