Two days later, at the prison.
Most of the walkers that had gathered near the blasted-open corner of the wall had been cleared out. Tyreese was leading several dozen prison residents in a frantic effort to repair the perimeter wall.
Bossie had been using the drone to monitor the areas around the prison and Woodbury when he suddenly spotted something. His brow furrowed as his fingers swept across the tablet screen, rapidly zooming in.
"Calista, we've got something!"
Calista immediately leaned over. Carver, Mike, and the others gathered around as well.
On the screen, the live feed from the Black Raven drone showed Woodbury in an uproar, like a disturbed hornet's nest.
Vehicles assembled amid clouds of dust while people rushed back and forth.
The most conspicuous were the lead SUV and the two modified pickup trucks behind it, each mounted with an M2 Browning heavy machine gun. Several more pickups packed with people followed at the rear.
The convoy had formed a single column and was moving along a dirt road through the woods toward the prison.
As the image zoomed in, they could clearly see the Governor in the passenger seat of the lead SUV, pointing out the window as though issuing orders.
Turner rubbed his chin. "Holy shit! Does Woodbury really have that many people?"
Calista shook her head. "They probably dragged a lot of residents into this."
As far as she remembered, Woodbury's regular armed force consisted of Martinez's group, only about a dozen people. Roughly the same number as the prison.
"They've sent out everything they have," Carver said, folding his arms with a disdainful look. "Looks like they plan to settle this once and for all."
"From the look of it, they want to tear open the prison wall with heavy firepower, then rush in and wipe everyone out," Mike said with a curl of his lip.
The plan itself was sound. With the prison's hastily patched defenses, low morale, and lack of leadership, it would be difficult to withstand an assault of this size head-on.
But Calista and her team were here now. This force was nowhere near enough.
Calista stared at the triumphant-looking Governor on the screen and rolled her eyes.
"Their main force has left the nest, their rear is wide open, and their entire command structure is in that convoy. Let's cut off the head."
"Cut off the head?" T-Dog, who had been listening nearby, stared at her. "They've got that many people and heavy machine guns. How are we supposed to do that? Even defending the walls would be..."
"We're not defending the walls," Calista interrupted.
She checked her equipment as she turned toward the prison's outdoor sports field.
"We're not playing by their rules. Franklin, Lee, get the Black Hawk started.
"Bossie, bring your control terminal and get aboard. Keep monitoring the convoy's route and speed, and calculate when they'll reach the prison perimeter.
"Carver, Mike, Turner, Jensen, Wells. Report to the Black Hawk immediately."
T-Dog, Jacqui, Andrea, and the others exchanged bewildered looks.
"What about us?" Maggie asked.
"You," Calista said, turning to the prison residents. "T-Dog, Jacqui, and Carol, organize everyone who can fight. Use the walls and buildings as cover and prepare to defend the prison.
"Maggie, Glenn, and Andrea, take Hammer and his sister, along with weapons and ammunition, and head to this location."
She pointed to a high slope on the map between the prison and Woodbury. It overlooked the route the Governor's convoy would have to take.
"Stay hidden and keep watch. If anything goes wrong with our operation, or anyone slips past us and heads for the prison, stop them. Remember, don't fight to the death. Fall back behind the prison walls if necessary."
"H-Hammer?" Glenn scratched his head, looking confused. "Who's that?"
Calista paused awkwardly.
"Uh, Tyreese and Sasha. The two new arrivals who are pretty good in a fight."
Calista paused awkwardly.
"Uh, Tyreese and Sasha. The two new arrivals who are pretty good in a fight."
Entrusting them with a separate detachment was also a sign of trust and a measure of independence.
Maggie, Glenn, and Andrea nodded firmly, then immediately ran off to prepare.
Fifteen minutes later, the Black Hawk lifted off from the prison sports field once again. This time, the 407 did not accompany it. The lone helicopter surged into the sky and sped toward the position indicated by the drone.
Inside the cabin, Bossie kept his eyes fixed on the tablet, continuously relaying the convoy's updated coordinates and projected route to pilot Franklin and copilot Lee.
"Target convoy is three kilometers from the estimated contact point. Moderate speed," Bossie reported.
Calista put on her noise-canceling communications headset and looked through the side window at the forest racing past below.
"Franklin, Lee, follow the plan. Come in from the rear flank, maintain the altitude advantage, and stay out of the two M2s' initial fields of fire. Bossie, prepare to deploy interference."
"Understood."
"Copy."
Like a giant black falcon, the Black Hawk used the clouds and ridgelines for cover as it silently closed in on the convoy, which was kicking up a long trail of dust along the dirt road.
In the Woodbury convoy, the Governor sat in the passenger seat of the lead SUV, gazing down the road ahead. He could almost hear the prison walls crashing down already, and his chest swelled with the thrill of impending conquest.
Martinez sat in the back seat, but he was nowhere near as relaxed as the Governor. Everything had gone far too smoothly, and he could not shake the feeling that something was wrong.
"Tell the vehicles behind us that once we're in range, the heavy machine guns are to rake the walls first. Give them a taste of what's coming!"
The Governor spoke smugly to Crowley, the driver.
"Then the infantry vehicles move in. If anyone resists, kill them all!
"Before sunset, I want to be standing in the prison yard counting our spoils!"
His orders were passed to the two vehicles behind them, drawing a burst of bloodthirsty cheers.
Many of Woodbury's armed men were itching for the attack to begin, already fantasizing about looting and conquest.
As far as they were concerned, the prison was meat on the chopping block.
Then a powerful roar, completely different from the sound of the vehicle engines, descended from the sky behind and to their flank like rolling thunder.
"What's that sound?!" Martinez whipped around.
The Governor frowned, rolled down the window, and leaned out to look.
A second later, his pupils contracted sharply.
A jet-black military helicopter with sharp, aggressive lines seemed to materialize out of thin air. Flying oppressively low, it swept in over the woods behind the convoy, its nose angled slightly downward as though it had locked onto them.
"A military heli... helicopter! It's a Black Hawk!" someone in the convoy screamed in terror.
The smugness on the Governor's face instantly froze, replaced by stunned disbelief.
This was the first helicopter he had seen since the world ended, and he had never imagined his first encounter would be with one bearing down on him with overwhelming aerial superiority.
"Fire! Shoot it down! Every vehicle, open fire!" His face turned deathly pale as he screamed at the vehicles behind him.
The massive rotors churned the air, whipping dust and fallen leaves from the ground into a blinding gale.
Chaos erupted throughout the convoy.
The pickups carrying the M2s hurriedly swung their guns around, while shooters in the other vehicles leaned out and raised their weapons.
But the Black Hawk held both the altitude advantage and the initiative. Their attempts to aim were rushed and clumsy.
Only the first three vehicles carried the Governor and his men, Woodbury's regular armed force. The rest of the convoy was filled with residents who had been hastily recruited.
The shooters in the first three vehicles managed to keep their fire relatively steady, but the residents farther back had already descended into chaos. Several vehicles at the rear even tried to turn around.
Standing at the Black Hawk's open cabin door, Calista calmly watched the panicked convoy below and the Governor's furious outburst.
She spoke coolly into the microphone.
"Wells, see that SUV in front? The man in the passenger seat waving his hands around is getting on my nerves. And those two gun trucks behind him. Give them a little surprise."
"My pleasure, Calista!"
Wells grinned and shouldered the prepared RPG. With Jensen helping him adjust his aim, he targeted a point on the road roughly two or three meters ahead of the Governor's SUV.
Given the rocket's speed, it should strike the speeding vehicle dead on.