Pre-Dawn – Two Days Later
Thick fog blanketed the woods as The Right Arm Expeditionary Unit prepared to move.
Two armored trucks—Hammer and Nail—idled at the edge of the road. Their hulls were reinforced with welded plates, spikes, and barred windows. T-Dog stood with Rick beside Nail, loading the last magazine into his rifle.
"You sure we're ready for this?" T-Dog asked, his voice low.
Rick checked his revolver, his face like stone.
"They hit our people. They made the choice."
Nearby, Shane finished briefing the attack team while Daryl and Glenn reviewed the map one last time. At the rear, Merle sat on the edge of Hammer, humming to himself and cleaning his knife.
The Vultures' Camp – 4:05 A.M.
The target: an old hunting lodge turned raider outpost. Surrounded by scavenged fencing and watch posts, the Vultures had set up crude defenses. Spotlights rotated lazily. Two guards manned the entrance.
From the treeline, Glenn whispered into the radio:
"Guards at the gate. One on the tower. Camp's asleep otherwise."
Rick's voice came through clearly:
"Wait for the signal."
Suddenly, Hammer roared to life and rammed through the front gate. Fencing shattered. Alarms rang.
"GO!" Shane barked.
T-Dog, Glenn, and Daryl swept in from the left while Rick's unit followed the trucks. Suppressed gunfire cracked in the dark. Daryl dropped the tower guard in one shot. T-Dog pinned two more with cover fire.
The camp erupted into chaos. Raiders scrambled, half-asleep, shouting orders and grabbing weapons.
Rick, Shane, T-Dog, and Merle reached the main lodge as resistance began to crumble. Inside, three Vultures were dragging crates of ammo and yelling for backup.
But standing calmly in the middle of the room was a tall man in tactical gear — Reed, the leader of the Vultures.
He didn't raise his weapon.
"About time you showed up," he muttered, looking at Rick with amusement.
Rick leveled his revolver.
"You're Reed?"
"Yeah. You're the man running that little farm fort, right? 'The Right Arm.' Cute name."
T-Dog entered behind Rick, gun trained on Reed.
Rick's eyes narrowed.
"You attacked my people. Killed a convoy team. Why?"
Reed scoffed.
"Because you're weak. You build walls and pretend this world has rules again. We don't barter. We take. That's what survival is."
Shane snapped, "That convoy had families waiting on those supplies."
Reed shrugged. "Collateral."
Rick stepped forward.
"You didn't raid for survival. You raided because you enjoyed it."
Reed smirked.
"I won't beg, if that's what you're hoping for."
"I'm not hoping," Rick said.
He fired — a clean shot to the head.
Smoke drifted over the now-silent camp. Glenn, Daryl, and T-Dog walked among the wreckage, checking vehicles and sweeping for hidden enemies.
"Confirmed: nineteen bodies. Reed among them," Glenn said.
"Zero survivors," T-Dog added. "They didn't run. They never planned to."
Shane lit a cigarette and exhaled hard. "That's the difference between us and them."
Rick stood over Reed's body.
"They tried to build a world on fear. We just tore it down."
Later That Day – The Homestead
Rick met Harper outside her town hall. His shirt was still stained with ash.
Harper raised an eyebrow. "It's done?"
Rick nodded. "No more Vultures. Reed's gone."
Harper crossed her arms, studying him.
"You lost anyone?"
"No deaths. We were lucky. But it won't always be like that."
He looked her dead in the eyes.
"We can't afford to stand apart anymore. We need full alliance — shared scouts, defense protocols, coordinated trade. If another group like the Vultures shows up, we hit them together."
Harper didn't speak right away. Then she extended her hand.
"You've got a deal. From here on out — we stand as one."
Rick shook her hand firmly. "Let's build something that lasts."
Back at The Right Arm – That Night
Around the fire pit, Carl sat beside T-Dog, watching him patch a tear in his sleeve.
"You okay?" Carl asked.
T-Dog looked at him. "Yeah. Just tired. Been a long time since we took a fight to someone."
"You were brave," Carl said.
T-Dog smiled faintly. "You would've been too. Your dad's making a world where you'll never have to be."
Rick watched the scene from a distance, Andrea beside him.
"They're starting to believe in what we're building," Andrea whispered.
Rick nodded, gaze steady on the fire.
"They better," he said. "Because the peace we just bought… was paid in blood."
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