Disclaimer: Nothing from the show is mine.
A/N: This is set in late season 2 after Dale dies and will be very AU from there. If you worry about Daryl being too OOC in this first chapter keep in mind that the loss of Sophia is still fresh in his mind and with Dale dead, he's emotionally shut down once more...at least in my story.
Chapter One
Daryl had been out hunting attempting in vain to vent his frustration at all the recent events...not to mention his failures. Sophia, in particular. People kept telling him it wasn't his fault...his responsibility, but he felt like he was the only one who cared while everyone else was getting too cozy on the Greene farm. He really wanted no part of it. Hadn't gone back into the house since his head injury. He was content with just camping outside and keeping watch from the RV.
Of course, didn't need all the rabbits he got as the farm had plenty of livestock, but Daryl was no moocher. He could get his own food no matter whose property he was on. And he certainly was not intending on being indebted to anyone.
On his way back, he could hear gunshots coming from Hershel's farm. Soon the rabbits he had in his hands were forgotten and Daryl made a quick dash back to the camp. As he ran down the hill, he could see a swarm of vehicles and men shooting at Rick and the others. They were making a hasty retreat, a wise decision as their attackers were too large in number.
It was Randall's people and somehow they had found the farm and were swarming their way in.
He hurried down the hill and Rick emerged from the woods. "This way, hurry!"
Soon everyone from camp was entering the woods forced to crouch down as they heard shots fly in their direction. Daryl pulled out his shotgun and started firing back at their attackers keeping himself hidden behind the trees.
"We have to get outta here," said Rick. "There's too many of them!"
Daryl helped Rick to protect the fleeing group as they got deeper into the woods away from the gunshots and the men. By the time they were up the hill, it seemed the men were no longer in pursuit. They were safe. But Daryl was furious. He knew Randall and his people were bad news, but he never imagined they would be able to find their way here. "Where's that punk, Randall? I'm gonna kick his ass!"
"They killed him," said Rick. "As soon as they saw him, they just killed him like they never even knew him."
"Rick!" cried Lori. "Shane's still back there!"
"He'll make it out, don't worry." Daryl grumbled at Rick's optimism over Shane because it was more about assuring Lori than anything. In fact, Daryl had a bad feeling that Shane might have played a role in leading those Nebraskan bastards straight to them. Other than that the rest of the Atlanta group was there, plus Maggie. "Daddy?! Beth?!" She scanned the chaos but found no sign of her close family or friends. "Where are they?!"
Glenn looked over and spotted Hershel down the hill. He ran over to him to grab his arm and get him to safety. "Come on!"
Hershel struggled against Glenn's grip. "Dammit, let go of me. Beth's still in the house!"
Maggie panicked. "What?!"
"Patricia and Jimmy went back to get her!"
But looking back at the farm in the distance, Maggie saw no sign of Patricia, Jimmy, or her sister. "They haven't made it out yet?"
Rick pulled out Dale's binoculars and got a decent view of Randall's people who were now invading the farmhouse. A few seconds later, some men stepped back pulling Jimmy with them at gunpoint. They then brought Patricia out in a similar fashion. "Oh god!" cried Maggie.
"Daryl! Let's go. The rest of you, stay here." Rick and Daryl hurried back towards the farm, but were careful not to be loud about it. They hid behind the large log pile at the border between the farm and the forest. Luckily the nearest guard was too far to notice anything suspicious. They could now see Jimmy and Patricia being forced onto their knees with their hands behind their heads as the group surrounded them. "They're useless to us," said one of them. "Just kill 'em."
The bangs came so frequently that there was nothing Rick or Daryl could have done. They had to watch two of Hershel's closest companions die right before their eyes.
"Any sign of Shane?" Rick asked after a brief moment of silence.
"Nah," said Daryl as he looked around the men. "Dunno if that's a good thing or a bad thing."
The door to the farmhouse flew open getting everyone's attention. "It just got even better fellas! Look what I found upstairs!" A larger surly man was forcefully pulling Beth out. She had been in bed still recovering from her traumatic state when the invasion occurred. She clearly was in no condition to be on her own two feet and was having trouble keeping her balance but she still tried to fight the man off in vain. The large man threw her to the ground hard and she was unable to get back up. "Like struckin' gold!"
Another man broke through the crowd. "Not so fast, fellas. I'm in charge here. So I gets to decide what to do with 'er." The leader grabbed Beth by the chin forcing her to look at him. "Damn, look at you. You look like you oughta be put down."
Beth look over and saw the bodies of Jimmy and Patricia and instantly broke down. The fear and the pain was all overwhelming her. "Now, now. Don't cry, honey," said the leader. "We ain't gonna kill you just yet...not when we got a use for you. This is your home, ain't it? How 'bout displaying some nice Georgian hospitality for us and show us where the the goods are." He pulled her up and shoved her back towards the house.
Rick was about to jump up but Daryl pulled him down. "You crazy, Rick? We can't take 'em all, even with the others..."
"And what do we tell Maggie and Hershel, huh?"
"You think I wanna leave 'er? We already lost this one, man. We gotta go, get the others and get back on the road."
Rick was stunned by Daryl's willingness to give us. "You can't be serious, Daryl." Then he came to a realization. "Is this still about Sophia? Dammit, that one wasn't on you!"
"And I almost got killed cause of that!" Daryl was practically yelling now, it didn't matter if those men heard him at all. "I've done enough riskin' my ass to watch people die like her...like Dale. I tell ya, I'm done."
"They're not gonna kill her right away. What was that you said about they'll do to the women?"
"Don't matter," said Daryl as he tried to walk away. "She'll die either way and we can't do nuthin' about it. What's the damn use in tryin'?"
Rick angrily grabbed Daryl by the arm. "You listen to me. No way in hell am I gonna go back to Hershel and tell him we left his daughter behind! You hear?"
"You kiddin' me? YOU left Sophia behind and that turned out just fine, didn't it?!"
Daryl felt Rick's fist before he could see it flying towards him. The two men wrestled in the trees for several minutes. Noses were bleed, bruises increased until finally they were both too worn out to continue their scuffle. They looked back to the farm to see if anyone noticed their fighting but thankfully no one was in hearing distance.
"Don't do this, Daryl," Rick huffed between breathes. "I need you to help me, here. Help her. If it doesn't work, fine. But we gotta give her a chance. We gotta tell Hershel we tried."
Daryl wiped the blood from his face. "You better have a good plan, man."
Rick only needed second for a thought to occur to him. "I think I do," he said. "And it involves you."
