T-Dog's warning "Walkers! A lot of 'em! And they're heading this way, towards the base of the building!" sent a fresh spike of adrenaline through the already frayed nerves of the men on Harrison's rooftop. The distant, unknown survivor group near the tank was momentarily forgotten, overshadowed by the immediate, rising tide of the dead surging towards them.
"They must have heard us trying to break that chain!" Glenn exclaimed, peering over the parapet at the growing mass of walkers converging on the streets around the department store. "Or maybe Merle's ghost is calling his buddies!"
"No time to figure out why," Rick Grimes said, his voice sharp and decisive, already scanning their limited options. "That chained door to Stairwell A is still our only way back into the building, and from there, hopefully, out. But we can't go down if the base of the stairwell is swarming." He looked at Ethan. "Your… 'hunches'… Miller. Anything tell you if those things are already getting inside from the ground floor entrances?"
Ethan focused, his System already processing the new data. The noise they'd made trying to break the chain to the rooftop door, though ultimately successful in breaking the padlock, had indeed been a beacon.
[System analysis: Significant walker convergence at Harrison's ground-level entrances (Main, Service, Loading Docks) due to recent auditory disturbances (chain/padlock breach attempts). Probability of ground floor and lower stairwells becoming heavily infested within next 5-10 minutes: Very High. Rooftop remains temporarily clear of direct ascent by these new herds, but Morales-Variant status within building is still unknown.]
"They're definitely drawn to the building entrances," Ethan confirmed, choosing his words carefully. "If we're going down through the store, we need to do it before the lower floors become completely impassable. That stairwell door…" he gestured to the one T-Dog had chained from the outside, then they had broken the padlock on from the inside, "…it's our only known path."
Daryl, who had been scanning the streets with his binoculars, grunted. "Merle. If he's still in this building, and those things get to him…" His voice trailed off, but the implication was clear. Despite everything, a part of him still clung to the hope his brother might be alive.
"We move now," Rick declared. "Daryl, you and I will take point again down the stairs. Clear each landing. Glenn, Ethan, T-Dog, you cover our six, make sure nothing comes up behind us or from any side doors. We aim for the ground floor, then the service exit we originally used to get in. It's the furthest from where that main herd seems to be concentrating." His plan was desperate, but it was a plan.
They approached the now-unlocked but still heavy steel door to Stairwell A. Rick pulled it open, Python leading. The stairwell was dark, but initially, eerily quiet, save for the distant sounds of the growing horde outside the building.
Their descent was a nerve-wracking journey into the heart of the dying store. Each landing had to be cleared. Ethan's Danger Sense and Enhanced Awareness were invaluable, allowing him to pick up on subtle sounds or movements just before a walker would lurch from a shadowed alcove or a side utility closet. His machete, now an extension of his arm, dispatched them with a grim efficiency, his Machete Specialization skill making each strike count. Daryl's crossbow was equally deadly in the confined spaces, his bolts finding their marks with silent precision. Rick and Glenn provided solid backup, their teamwork born of shared peril. T-Dog, despite his injured arm, guarded their rear with a fierce determination, his heavy wrench a surprisingly effective close-quarters weapon.
[Walker Neutralized. Battle Points +1. Experience Gained.]
The System's notifications were quiet affirmations of their deadly progress. Ethan felt his BP ticking up (64 + kills in stairwell, say +6 = 70 BP), his experience bar for Level 6 slowly filling.
They reached the second floor, then the first. The sounds of the walkers outside the main entrances of the store were much louder here, a constant, hungry roar. The ground floor itself was a nightmare. Walkers were everywhere, drawn by the earlier commotions and now, perhaps, by the subtle sounds of the group's descent. The main display areas were a sea of grasping hands and snapping teeth.
"The service exit is that way!" Glenn yelled over the din, pointing through a ransacked cosmetics department towards the rear of the store. "But we'll have to fight through them!"
It was a desperate, brutal push. There was no room for stealth now. Rick and Daryl fired their precious remaining ammunition, clearing a narrow path. Shane, if he were here, would have been in his element. Without him, it was a more ragged, desperate affair. Ethan, Glenn, and T-Dog fought with their melee weapons, a whirlwind of desperate defense and offense. Ethan's System highlighted the densest walker clusters, potential chokepoints they could use to their advantage, and the weak spots in the oncoming tide. He found himself shouting tactical suggestions that Rick and Daryl, in the heat of the moment, instinctively followed.
"Use those counters as a funnel!"
"Watch the left flank, they're breaking through from menswear!"
"Daryl, that one on your right is a crawler!"
They were taking hits, near misses. T-Dog cried out as a walker's teeth grazed his already injured arm, but luckily, it seemed to only tear fabric. Glenn was almost pulled down twice. Ethan himself felt claws rake his backpack.
Finally, battered and bloodied, they reached the steel service door they had barricaded from the inside hours ago. It was still holding, but the sounds from the alley beyond were not encouraging.
"Someone get this damn thing open!" Rick yelled, as he and Daryl held off the last of the pursuing walkers from the store interior.
Ethan and Glenn threw themselves at their previous barricade of display counters, frantically trying to pull them away. It was a race against time. The walkers from inside the store were pressing in, and they had no idea what awaited them in the alley.
With a final, desperate heave, they cleared the door enough for it to swing inwards. Glenn yanked it open.
The alley beyond was… not empty. But it wasn't the overwhelming horde they had left behind when Merle first opened fire. Perhaps the main mass had moved towards the front of the store. There were still a dozen or so walkers shambling in the narrow space, immediately turning towards the new sound and scent. And there, amidst the filth and debris, lay the tattered, ripped remnants of their duffel bag, a few of the lost rifles glinting uselessly beneath a pile of the dead.
"No time for the guns now!" Rick said, his voice raw. "We clear this alley and we get the HELL out of Atlanta! Move!"
Their escape from Harrison's Department Store was not over. It had merely shifted to a new, equally perilous, battleground.
Ethan Miller - Status
* Level: 5
* Experience (EXP): (e.g., 270/500 towards Level 6 – significant EXP from fighting through Harrison's)
* Battle Points (BP): 70 (Gained +6 BP from walker kills in stairwell/store)
* Core Attributes:
* Strength: 10
* Agility: 11 (Soft Capped at L5)
* Endurance: 9
* Perception: 11 (Soft Capped at L5)
* Attribute Points (AP) Unspent: 0
* Skill Points (SkP) Unspent: 0
* Learned Skills:
* Basic First Aid (Active, Level 1)
* Advanced First Aid (Active, Level 1)
* Basic Stealth Movement (Passive, Level 1)
* Featherfoot (Passive, Level 1)
* Danger Sense (Rudimentary, Level 1)
* Machete Specialization (Passive, Level 1)
* Enhanced Awareness (Passive, Level 1)
* Inventory Highlights:
* Survivor's Machete
* Filtered Water Bottle (empty)
* Basic First-Aid Kit (depleted)
* Climbing Gloves (Enhanced Grip)
* Pry Bar (Small, Durable)
* Oil Can (Industrial Grade, Silent Application)