"Bang!"
A gunshot rang out.
Leon had fired.
The bullet struck just beside the tattooed madman's blood-smeared head as it emerged through the shattered window, throwing up a spray of sparks and glass fragments.
It wasn't meant to kill him, only to warn him.
But the gunshot, combined with the madman's piercing scream, pushed the already tense Greg even further over the edge.
In that instant, he lunged at Gabriel.
Gabriel instinctively raised his arms to defend himself, but Greg grabbed the front of his black priest's robe and yanked him forward with brutal force.
The strength behind it was astonishing.
Nothing like what a weak, exhausted survivor should have been capable of.
"Don't move! One more step and I'll kill him!"
Greg jerked Gabriel in front of himself and pressed the sharp shard of stone tightly against the artery on the side of his neck.
The cold edge and sharp sting against his skin made Gabriel's entire body freeze.
"Greg, let go! God, what are you doing?"
"Shut up, idiot!" Greg snarled into his ear, his hot breath brushing against Gabriel's skin. "Who do you think I am, huh? That pathetic little victim who needs your comfort? Who needs you to protect him?"
He gave a mocking laugh, his voice filled with cruelty.
Zhou, Murphy, Leon, and Leslie already had four guns trained steadily on Greg and the hostage in front of him.
But Greg was careful.
He kept most of his body hidden behind Gabriel, exposing only part of his head and a pair of vicious eyes.
"Let the priest go, Greg. You're not getting away," Zhou said, looking furious.
"Not getting away?"
Greg laughed nervously and pressed the stone a little harder.
A thin line of blood immediately appeared on Gabriel's neck, warm droplets beginning to seep from the cut.
Gabriel sucked in a sharp breath.
Near the van, the tattooed madman finally forced himself through the broken window and scrambled toward the roadside woods on all fours.
He wasn't heading anywhere in particular.
He was simply trying to get away.
"The madman's heading for the woods!" Murphy shouted.
At the same time, he glanced toward Zhou.
Zhou gave the slightest nod.
"Bang!"
Another gunshot cracked through the air.
This time, the bullet entered the back of the tattooed madman's head.
His body stopped instantly and collapsed forward. He twitched twice before going still, dark red blood quickly spreading beneath him.
Seeing the madman he had deliberately provoked into causing a distraction get killed so cleanly made the corner of Greg's eye twitch.
His grip around Gabriel tightened.
"See that, Father?" Greg whispered into Gabriel's ear, loud enough for Zhou and the others nearby to hear. "Your friends work fast. Just like we did back at Terminus when we dealt with disobedient 'meat.'"
Gabriel went rigid.
His entire body turned cold as a horrifying realization began to form.
"Ter... Terminus? Meat?"
"Shut the fuck up! Give me a car with a full tank!" Greg screamed toward Zhou and the others. "Or I'll cut his throat!"
He pressed the stone deeper.
The thin line on Gabriel's neck became a real wound. More blood flowed out, soaking into his collar and running warm down his skin.
Terror seized him completely.
Then Gabriel suddenly felt Greg lean closer to his bleeding neck.
Something wet dragged across the wound.
A tongue.
Greg was licking his blood.
Gabriel let out a strangled gasp.
Revulsion and terror hit him so hard that his stomach cramped violently.
Greg smacked his lips and gave a satisfied sigh beside Gabriel's ear.
"Human blood. Still warm. I'd almost forgotten how good it tastes. Those few days locked up at the prison left me starving. It's been far too long since I've had any decent 'meat.'"
Those words shattered everything Gabriel had believed about him.
Terminus.
Cannibalism.
Greg wasn't a victim.
He was one of the butchers.
Gabriel had spent all this time pitying him, defending him, even demanding justice for a monster like this.
His vision darkened.
His stomach lurched, and his legs nearly gave out beneath him.
Zhou's expression sharpened instantly.
"Last warning. Let the priest go."
"Fuck off! Give me the car!" Greg screamed.
He was clearly teetering on the edge of madness now.
Still pressing the stone against Gabriel's neck, he began dragging him toward the vehicle.
The instant Greg shifted his position.
"Bang!"
The third gunshot rang out.
Murphy was half-kneeling beside the hood, a faint wisp of smoke rising from his barrel.
The bullet entered just above Greg's exposed right temple.
The impact destroyed everything in its path.
Greg's twisted expression froze.
The stone shard slipped from his hand and clattered onto the road.
His body swayed once, then fell backward and struck the pavement heavily.
Blood and brain matter poured from the wound, quickly forming a horrifying red and white pool beneath his head.
The pressure around Gabriel's neck vanished.
Air rushed into his lungs, sending him into a violent coughing fit.
His legs gave way.
He stumbled forward and dropped to his knees.
The wound on his neck was still bleeding, but he barely noticed the pain.
His eyes remained fixed on Greg's face a few steps away.
Those same eyes that had looked at him with desperate pleading only minutes earlier now stared blankly at the sky.
Dead.
"Ugh!"
Gabriel suddenly bent forward and began vomiting.
The physical and emotional shock hit him all at once.
He braced himself on the road with both hands and retched violently. His meager breakfast was already gone, leaving him coughing up nothing but acid and bile.
The man he had defied Rick to protect was a cannibal.
A monster who had just tried to use him as a shield.
A monster who might even have regarded him as food.
What had he done?
"Oh God... What... what have I done?"
Gabriel sobbed between bouts of vomiting.
His faith, his values, his dignity as a priest, and his confidence in his own judgment all seemed to collapse at once.
Zhou made a hand signal.
Murphy and Leon moved forward and carefully checked Greg and the madman's bodies, confirming both were dead.
Leslie quickly inspected the vehicle and the surrounding area.
Zhou walked over to Gabriel, who was still kneeling on the road and sobbing uncontrollably.
"Father, can you stand? We need to clear the area and keep moving toward Rock Fortress."
Gabriel remained trapped in his own private hell, his entire body shaking with every sob.
Zhou motioned to Leon.
Leon stepped forward, hauled the limp priest to his feet, and put him back into the row where the madman had been sitting.
There were still traces of blood and signs of the struggle on the seat.
Gabriel shuddered and moved as far away from the bloodstain as he could, wrapping both arms tightly around himself.
That cold commander had been right.
He had been completely fooled by a cannibal and nearly caused a disaster.
What would she do to him once they reached Rock Fortress?
Not long afterward, the van entered the Appalachian Mountains.
Gabriel spent the journey in a daze, clutching his cross as he tried to comfort himself and repent before God.
Then, at some point, he abruptly stopped praying.
His eyes widened.