Her thigh was soaked in blood, but there were no signs of a walker bite or scratch; it was just a mere gunshot wound. She breathed heavily, barely managing to keep her eyes open, but I knew, we all knew, she was going to survive. Dammit. Being a former cop, I always used to be overjoyed whenever Shane told me one of our victums was going to make it, but now, the living give us twice as much trouble as the dead.

"What's your name?" I demand, as Carl spreads sheets down for her on the floor. Hershel overlooks her when I set her down on top of them, pressing all of his weight onto his crutches by leaning forward. The woman gives me a disgusted look and a sigh of exasperation.

"I didn't ask for your help," she growls, rubbing the gunshot wound.

"All I want to know, is your name," I repeat myself, kneeling down beside her.

"Why?"

"You better answer or else you'll have much more problems than just a gunshot wound!" Daryl fixes his crossbow on her. I look him in the eyes before I place my hand on the bow, as if to say "it's alright, I got this, brother." He understands and nods at me.

"Well alright, but when she finally gets up on her feet again don't come crying to me when she slices your arm off with that sword." Daryl eyes the long, narrow katana like weapon strapped to the woman's back.

"I take it your good with that?" I question her, "You could be a valuable help to our group," I prod, "maybe you could even tell us where you came from, how you got here..."

"Michone," she whispers, "that's my name."

"She speaks!" Daryl says, standing over her.

"And I came from Woodbury."

"Woodbury?"

"Yes," she replies, "it's a small town, population around 70, run by some asshole who calls himself the govenor." Michone pauses and clenches her teeth together as pain shoots through her leg. Hershel leaves with Carl to get the medical supplies ready.

"So," Daryl crosses his arms across his chest, "anything else?" Michone lets out a ragged breath, and I keep looking her in the eye.

"I overheard some asian kid and a pretty girl talking about the prison, said it was a straight shot west from where we were, so I took that chance."

"Glenn and Maggie?" I ask, as if she'll know who I'm talking about.

"I don't know," she snaps, "all I know for sure is that someone took them and drove off."

"Who? Do you know what they looked like?" I demand, placing my hands on her shoulders.

"Get your hands off of me and I'll tell you," she utters, fighting through the pain. I do as I'm told, still holding eye contact. "He was a short, kind of burly guy, short hair, blue eyes...one hand."

I shoot Daryl a look, but he isn't looking at me, instead his attention has turned completly towards Michone, his crossbow hanging limply at his side.

"Merle." When the name crosses his lips it comes out as more of a statement than a question. I hang my head. Michone snaps her head towards Daryl.

"You know that son of a bitch?" Michone stuggles against me to stand up.

"Know him? He's my brother!" Daryl shouts.

"Your brother?! He's the guy that shot me!" Michone yells, struggling to her feet. I grab her, attempting to pull her back down.

"Michone! Hey! You have to rest!" She fights me.

"Let go of me! This was all a trap wasn't it. I bet you both are a part of the govenors plans!"

"You need to lay back down!"

Daryl jumps back a couple feet, "Hey woah, woah, calm down there," he says. I grab her around the neck, and we both fall to our knees, only she lets out a cry when her injured leg hits the ground. I try to soothe her.

"We didn't know anything about the govenor or his plans or Merle or whatever the hell is going on here." Daryl stands still in front of us, while Michone remains silent. "All we have been trying to do is survive...we've lost a lot of people on the way." Tears begin to fill up my eyes, but I bite down on my lip to stop them. Michone slowly slips from my grasp and turns to face me. "I lost my best friend, my wife...I..." I fight for words, "I lost myself for awhile." I recall the fit of rage I had when I heard that Lori had died, the strangled sobs that escaped me when I killed Shane. Michone's deep set eyes stare at me; her mouth quivering a little. "But we're here now," I tell her, "and the only way we can make this all work is if we help eachother out."

She lets out a sigh, and that's when Hershel and Carl return with the medical supplies to stitch up her wound.

"I'll lead you there." It's all that she says. Hershel takes her with him to the cleared out cell block.

"I'm going to keep watch, dad," Carl says to me, locking the gate behind him, Michone, and Hershel.

"Where's your sister?" I question, getting back on my feet.

"Carol and Beth are walking her around." He turns to leave. I nod, taking in everything that's just happened. Daryl turns his attention back to me.

"My brother's alive," he whispers, a smile crossing his face.

"But we don't know what he's up to," I counter. Daryl's face furrows into a frown.

"What do you mean?"

I exhale, "I mean if he's a part of this...whatever Michone told us about...if he's the one that took Glenn and Maggie..." I trail off, letting him fill in the rest.

"Hey man, are you saying that you actually trust that girl?"

"I don't know what I'm sayin'," I retort.

"Well you're the leader of this group, aroun't ya?" Daryl cocks his head to the side, "Rick Grimes," he mocks, "sheriff of King County, you call the shots, remember? You'd think that the leader would know what the hell he's talking about." Daryl looks me in the eye.

"I'm doing what I can!" I yell, "and now I have to find a way to tell Hershel that Glenn and his daughter were taken by your brother?!"

"We don't even know that for sure!" Daryl responds.

"So maybe we listen to her," I say, "She leads us to this govenor's town, we find Maggie and Glenn, and then we find Merle, and we know that he's been behind this whole thing...what are you gonna do then?" I conjecture, gritting my teeth together, "you gonna join him and his gang, leave me for dead? Are you gonna do that to me?" Daryl stares me down. I don't wait for his answer, instead I turn to go towards the cell block, but something stops me haflway there. I remember what Hershel had told me, and I have a minor change of heart. "You kept my daughter alive when I wasn't there," I say, still facing forward. He doesn't speak. "Thank you," I finish and continue walking until Carl opens the cell for me. When I look back through the cell bars, Daryl's gone.