USUAL DISCLAIMER APPLIES: I OWN NOTHING FROM TWD; JUST LIKE TO TAKE THEM OUT OF THE BOX FOR A LITTLE WHILE.
The walk back to the prison was long and uncomfortable, both men were covered from head to toe in mud from where they had grappled in the dirt. Neither brother was in a particularly talkative mood which suited Daryl just fine; Merle was still in a state of shock after seeing the horrendous scarring on his brother's back; and Daryl was just in a plain bad mood. It was his decision to return back to where he felt most at home and whether his stupid ass brother followed, well that was up to him.
Merle decided to break the ice first, "So little brother, how far ya think we've got before we reach the deluxe accommodation's waiting for us? I mean, I expect you're little mousey woman will just welcome you back with open arms and a romp on the sheets; but as for me…"
"Jesus shit, shut 'yer cakehole, already! Cain't ya hear that?" Daryl turned around to snap at his elder brother; there was Merle wittering on about something he clearly knew nothing about when Daryl had already heard the sound of distant gunfire coming from the left.
"Cain't hear nuthin' but the beatin' of your poor ole lovestruck heart…" Merle replied sarcastically, and then his head cocked slightly to the side when he heard a far more familiar sound… "Now that, I did hear! C'mon, 'lil brother! If I ain't mistaken that son of a gun has decided ta pay an unexpected call back at the ranch." Merle grabbed Daryl's crossbow from where it was resting against a tree trunk and threw it over to his brother; in a single motion, Daryl snagged it and made it ready.
"Whadja hear, Merle?" Daryl murmured low as both men started to track stealthily but swiftly through the bushes that separated the woods from the prison complex.
"Ole Philip's got a penchant for lettin' bunches of Walkers travel by bus; he lures them inside and lets them out whenever he feels will cause the most damage. From the sounds of that misfiring engine, he's got the old prisoner transport van up and running; it's got one of those backs that drops right down to the ground; forming a nice little ramp for the Walkers to tumble right out of." Merle cocked his head to the side again, listening for the sounds of the engine; he nodded his head in satisfaction when he was proved correct. Daryl didn't doubt him for a minute, if there was one thing his brother knew it was how to tell a vehicle from the sound of the engine. If Merle said that the Governor was about to release a truckload of Walkers into the prison, then he had no reason to doubt him.
The brothers crept closer to the fence line and took a moment to survey the carnage that was going on in the field below. They could see Glenn driving the open back truck through the field, weaving erratically as Michonne balanced on the back slicing her Katana through the air and taking down as many Walkers as she could. Daryl could see Maggie, Beth and Carl up in the courtyard firing down at where the Governor, Shumpert and Martinez were watching from across the stream. The Governor was smiling sardonically at the chaos taking place, that smile slipped momentarily as he watched two bodies falling from Watch Towers three and four – men he had purposely stationed up there to take out as many of the prison complement as he possibly could.
"Time to go, boys." The Governor slipped into the passenger seat of the jeep and slapped the side of the vehicle to indicate he was in a hurry. Shumpert started the engine and they roared off down the gravel road, stopping along the way to pick up Martinez who had emerged from the reeds by the stream.
"What about Grimes?" The Governor turned in his seat to address a smirking Martinez, who was sitting in the backseat checking over his rifle.
"I took a couple of shots at him but he's as slippery as an eel. Don't worry though, last time I saw him he was outta bullets and surrounded by Walkers….on the other side of the gate. There ain't no way he's gonna make it back through to the others."
"Good work Martinez, very good. We'll meet up with the others on the road and then decide what our next course of action will be. I think a return visit's in order, don't you?" The Governor reached up to adjust his eye patch, rubbing a finger around the socket. "Yes, I still have a little score to settle with a certain lady…" The other two occupants in the car shared a brief look of disbelief in the rear view mirror, but both knew better than to disagree with the man calling the shots.
"Yes, sir."