"Rachel, keep quiet. We just need to search for food and then we are getting the hell out of Atlanta." My older brother snapped at my older sister.
"Marcus, their is nothing here. Somebody already cleaned this place out. There's no food, or water. We haven't had any in days. We only have two bullets left, and there are way to many undead for us to make it out of here alive." Rachel argued with my brother.
"Don't say that in front of her." Marcus snapped as both of my siblings turned to look at me.
"I may be only 10 years old, but I'm not stupid. I know we're in deep shit." I glared at my two barely older than me siblings.
"Don't use that kind of language. If you do it again, I'm going to find soap and wash your mouth out." Marcus pointed up at me from where I stood on the stairs above them. I rolled my eyes and continued walking up the stairs, stomping along the way. I was a little ways above my siblings when I heard the door open.
"Merle? That you?" A voice called down from above me. I glanced up and caught sight of two men. One I couldn't see as clearly, but the other held a cross box and had it pointed at my head. Before I could stop myself I let out a large gasp. "Who are you?" The man yelled at me. I turned and ran back down the stairs.
"Wait!" A new voice yelled after me. I didn't stop and continued my sprint down the stairs for my brother. I turned to look back at the men as they chased me, causing me to run into a hard body. I let out a squeak of terror before Marcus shushed me and grabbed my hand, hauling me down the stairs the rest of the way. "Hold on! We just want to talk." As we reached the bottom of the stairs Marcus shoved me into Rachel's waiting arms and we went to hide underneath the bottom of the stairs. My brother stayed where he was, gun pointed at the stairs. I heard the footsteps stop above me. "Let's take it easy here. We don't want anyone to get hurt."
"Just leave me be, and I won't shoot." Marcus answered in a hard voice. I gulped, hoping these men wouldn't be like the last ones we ran into.
"How about you tell me where my brother is and I wont shoot you." The first voice I had heard barked out.
"I ain't seen nobody else. It's just been me here." My brother lied, never looking at my sister and I.
"We saw you running with someone else. Who was it?" The first voice yelled. Marcus raised his gun a little hire.
"Daryl, lower your bow, he's just a kid." The second voice tried to reason. An arrow shot past my brother and bounced against the wall to the floor.
"I'll lower it once he stops lying to us." The voice snapped. Fear struck my heart at the thought of losing my brother. I broke free from my sister and ran from our hiding place to my brother. Rachel gasped in surprise and chased after me. I fan full force into my brother, wrapping my arms around him. My brother barely moved an inch, but looked down at me in fear as I stared at his face.
"Rachel." Marcus hissed as my sister grabbed me around the middle and twisted me so that Marcus' body stood as a shield between the men and I. I continued to hold onto my brother in fear as Rachel held me close from behind. I stared up at the men on the stairs. There were two more. There was a black man, an Asian, a cop, and a redneck. It sounded like the punch line to a bad joke. "Just leave us be." Marcus' hard voice wavered as he stared up at the men. The cop took a step toward us.
"We aren't going to hurt you." The cop glanced at me as I clung to my brother. "How old are y'all?"
"Old enough. We don't want trouble, but if you come any closer to us, I will shoot you." Marcus' hard voice came back. The cop glanced at the redneck, silently communicating with him. The redneck lowered his crossbow. Skeptically Marcus lowered his gun so that it was just barely off the cop.
"I'm a deputy. My name is Rick, Rick Grimes. We're not going to hurt you guys. We just want to help. Do y'all need water?" Rick held out a canteen to us. Marcus looked over his shoulder to Rachel, silently asking what she thought. Rachel shrugged in response. Marcus took a hesitant step forward and snatched the water canteen from Rick. He opened it and gave it a hesitant sniff, before taking a tiny sip. Satisfied it was water, Marcus handed the canteen to me. I gulped the sweet water as flowed over my chapped lips and dry mouth. Remembering my siblings were thirsty, I passed the canteen to Rachel, who drank it just as greedily, before passing it to my brother. Marcus gave it a tentative shake, seeing that there was only enough left for one person; he closed it and threw it back to Rick. "It's alright. You can finish it. I get the feeling you need it more than me." Rick threw the canteen back to my brother who quickly gulped down the last of the water and threw it back empty.
"Are you guys alone?" The black man asked. A contemplating look came over Marcus' face as he decided what to say.
"I don't see how that's any of y'alls business." Rachel snapped as she held me closer. Rick glanced at his companions before looking at the others.
"Would y'all like to come with us? We have others outside the city. We can give you food, protection." Rick glanced at me. "My sons about her age. There's another little girl there too about the same age."
"We seriously taking them with us?" The redneck asked, still sounding pissed off.
"If they want to come with us, yes." Rick answered in a sure voice, leaving no room for argument.
"Shane won't be happy about it." The Asian guy commented. Marcus glanced back at Rachel and I for an answer. I nodded quickly, while Rachel just shrugged in a 'why not?' kind of way.
"Screw Shane. We aren't leaving three kids alone out here." The black guys defended.
"What do you say?" Rick asked. My sister and I looked to Marcus. Marcus gave a curt nod to Rick and lowered his gun all the way, but he didn't fully relax his stance.
"This is Daryl Dixon, Glenn, and T-dog." Rick gestured to each person as he named them. "How old are y'all?"
"I'm Marcus, I'm 19. This is my sister Rachel, she's 15. And this is Princess." I glared at Marcus, letting go of him as he used the nickname I hated. "She's 10."
"Enough introductions. I'm going to find my brother." Daryl declared as he stormed off, following the blood trail that we had noticed and ignored. Rick and his two companions followed down the steps. I reached down behind me and grabbed the arrow that Daryl had shot at my brother earlier. T-dog waited for my siblings and I to pass through the door before he followed.
"So, what kind of name is Princess?" T-dog whispered as we followed the blood trail. I sent him a glare.
"What kind of name is T-dog?" I sassed back. I heard him chuckle behind me. We quieted down as we heard the all too familiar sound of an undead growling. Our group split up, Daryl going one way, while Rick, Glenn and T-dog wen another. I quickly followed Daryl, ignoring my sibling's protests. I glanced behind me when I heard footsteps, seeing that Marcus had followed, but not Rachel. Daryl turned around to glare at us.
"Don't get in my way." Daryl threatened us before shooting the undead in the head. We followed silently behind him as Daryl exited the room and we joined back with the other group. Our walk continued until we came across two dead undeads. "Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches….one handed." I shared a look with my brother. Why was he one handed? "Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother." Daryl pulled back the bowstring of his cross bow and locked it in place. "Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails."
"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." Rick commented. We continued on silently as we watched for the dead.
"How long have you guys been out here alone?" Glenn asked us. Rachel glanced at him before turning back to the front.
"We've always been alone." Everyone glanced at us, a pregnant pause following her statement.
"Merle!" Daryl yelled for his brother as we rounded a corner, causing my brother to glance around in alarm.
"We're not alone here. Remember? We have kids with us now." Rick whispered to him.
"Screw that. He could be bleeding out. You said so yourself." Daryl quietly walked forward. As we walked into the kitchen, the gas stove was lit. Rick picked up a cast iron cooking utensil.
"What's that burned stuff?" I looked at the charred and bloody items on the thing that gave off a strange smell.
"Skin." Rick quickly glanced at me. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that in front of her."
"Don't worry about it. She's tougher than she looks. She needs to hear stuff like this. It's how the world is now." Marcus replied as he looked around the room. Rick looked like he disagreed, but didn't respond to what my brother said.
"He cauterized the stump." Rick told us as he set it back down. My stomach churned at the thought.
"Told you he was tough." Daryl spoke to nobody really in particular. "Ain't nobody can kill Merle but Merle."
"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." Rick cautioned. Daryl didn't seem to care as he continued into the other room.
"Yeah? Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap." Daryl walked to the hole in the window.
"He left the building? What is he insane?" Rachel asked in concern and surprise as we followed Daryl to the opening.
"Why the hell would he do that?" Glenn asked, also thinking along the same lines of my sister.
"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl countered. I wasn't even hurt and I wanted to get out too. "He's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving."
"You call that surviving? Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?" Daryl began an angry, pissed off pace at T-dog's words.
"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks." Daryl snapped. My siblings and I shared a raised eyebrow look. Who did we just agree to go with? Glenn and T-dog looked away in shame, but Rick held his gaze. "You couldn't kill him." Daryl accused as he stared him down. "Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard."
"What bout 1,000 dumb dead bastards?" Rick countered, remaining calm. "Different story?"
"Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him." Daryl took a step forward toward the window, but Rick held out a hand to stop him.
"Daryl, wait." Rick still managed to remain calm as he attempted to stop Daryl from following his brother.
"Get your hands off me. You can't stop me." Daryl shoved Rick off of him. Marcus quickly grabbed my arm and dragged me behind him.
"I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine." Rick continued to reason while he never braking eye contact with a pissed off pacing Daryl. "I know exactly how you feel." Daryl paused in his pacing as he continued to stare at Rick. "He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head."
"I could do that." Daryl agreed, no longer pissed off. Rick looked to T-dog, who stood next to me.
"Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" T-dog threw out there. Rachel snorted next to me.
"So really nothings changed for Atlanta?" Rachel sassed. Daryl snorted in amusement.
"Lets go find some thing to write with so we can plan this out." Rick said as he walked back into the office room we had just passed through. Glenn crouched down on the ground as he grabbed a marker and began drawing out a plan. T-dog sat next to him, while my sister and I sat across from them both. T-dog glanced at us before grabbing their book bag and opening it. He pulled out three granola bars and smiled at my siblings and I. T-dog tossed it to us and we wasted no time devouring the small snacks. Rick glanced over Glenn's work as we ate. "No, there's no way you're going alone." Rick protested to Glenn.
"Even I think it's a bad idea and I don't even like you much." Daryl countered from where he rested against the desk.
"It's a good idea, okay, if you just hear me out." Glenn defended his plan. " If we go out there in a group, we're slow, drawing attention. If I'm alone, I can move fast. Look." Glenn sat down a paper clip. "That's the tank, five blocks from where we are now." He put down a wadded up sticky note next to the paper clip. "That's the bag of guns. Here's the alley I dragged you into when we first met, Rick. That's where Daryl, Marcus, and I will go."
"Why me?" Daryl and Marcus asked at the same time. Both shared a glare with each other, before looking back to Glenn for an explanation.
"Your crossbow is quieter than Rick's gun. Marcus will be there with his gun as back up." Glenn looked to the both of them, seeing if they had more questions. When neither said anything, he put down some tiny post it notes on the alley. "While Daryl and Marcus wait here, I run up the street, grab the bag."
"You got the rest of us elsewhere?" Rick asked as he looked at the rough sketch drawn on the floor.
"You, T-dog, and the girls, right." Glenn nodded in conformation. He picked up the eraser and moved it to a different alley on the other side of the paper clip. "You'll be in this alley here."
"Two blocks away? Why?" Rick asked as he tried to follow Glenn's train of thought.
"I may not be able to come back the same way. Walkers might cut me off. If that happens, I won't go back to Daryl. I'll go forward instead, all the way around to that alley where you guys are. Whichever direction I go, I got you in both places to cover me. Afterwards we'll all meet back here." Everyone nodded slowly in agreement.
"Hey, kid, what'd you do before all this?" Daryl asked. We looked to Glenn for an answer.
"Delivered pizzas. Why?" He asked confused. Marcus gave a chuckle, while Rick and Daryl looked at him a little surprised. Everyone gathered their things as we got ready to go. Rachel put the guys backpack over her own so that Glenn would be free to move quickly. I quietly walked over to Daryl, and watched as he loaded his crossbow. Daryl looked at me a little uncomfortably, like he didn't quite know what to do or say with me.
"You got something to say, spit it out kid." Daryl said quietly, even though Rick was the only one paying attention to us. I silently held out the arrow I had picked up. Daryl looked at it in confusion before taking it.
"Don't let him die." I said simply before going back to my sisters' side and taking her hand. We wordlessly followed Rick to the alley and stood in our spot. Rachel stood behind me, constantly checking over her shoulder to see if any of the undead were coming up behind her. T-dog stood in front of me, holding the bag of tools, and Rick stood at the front of the alley, watching for Glenn. I tapped T-dogs hand, causing him to turn and look down at me. "I can take those, that way you can fight better." I whispered. T-dog looked at the bag and then to me uncertainly.
"It's kind of heavy." I scoffed at him and took the bag from his hand. I zipped the top of it and threw it over my shoulder, like it was a purse. It was heavy, but I wasn't going to let him see that.
"Ayúdame!" A strange voice yelled out loudly. We all looked at each other in confusion. "Ayúdame!" It continued to yell. Rick ran back the way that we came, us quick on his heals. None of us spoke as we ran at full speed down the alley. Rachel practically dragging me to keep as the tool bag weighed me down. We stopped once we came upon Marcus as he groaned and stood up, blood trickling from his nose. Daryl yelled as he threw a strange young guy against the wall.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop it." Rick said as he grabbed Daryl to push him back, but Daryl continued to try and go at him.
"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat!" Daryl threatened. Marcus took a few steps toward the kid as well, but Rachel let go of my hand as she pushed against his chest.
"Marcus stop!" Rachel held her hands there, but Marcus stopped pushing as he continued to glare at the kid.
"Let me go!" The kid yelled as T-dog held him against the wall.
"Chill out." He yelled back at the kid, looking between Marcus and Daryl as he tried to piece together what had happened.
"They took Glenn. That little bastard and his little bastard homie friends." Daryl yelled as Rick held his shirt and walked with him during his pissed off pacing. "I'm gonna stomp your ass!"
"Guys! Guys! We're cut off!" T-dog pointed out as he pointed to the fence surrounded by the undead.
"Get to the office. Go." Rick ordered. T-dog grabbed onto the unknown kid and dragged him along as Rachel took Marcus' hand and ran. I looked down and quickly grabbed one of Daryl's arrows that he dropped.
"Come on. Damn, let's go." Daryl said as he waited on Rick to pick up the gun bag and a hat.
"Princess!" Marcus yelled from the other end of the alleyway. I felt someone grab my upper arm and begin dragging me along. I glanced up to see Daryl pulling me along as we followed the others back to the office room.
"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went." Rick said as he sat on the desk in front of the unknown kid.
"I ain't telling you nothing." The kid murmured. Marcus took the tool bag from me as he picked me up to sit me in his lap.
"Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?" T-dog asked Daryl and Marcus. Marcus' arms tensed around me.
"I told you, this little turd and his douche bag friends came out of nowhere and jumped us." Daryl paced the floor in a pissed off manor behind the desk that my siblings, Rick, and I sat on.
"Man, you're the one who jumped me, puto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault." The kid defended.
"If you had just answered the damn question instead of calling for your friends, we wouldn't be in this mess." Marcus snapped.
"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too." Daryl added in. The kid looked like he could care less.
"Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle." The kid antagonized. Daryl charged forward, about to kick his ass, but Rick stood up to hold him back.
"Damn it, Daryl. Back off." Rick said as he shoved Daryl backward. Daryl got a thoughtful look on his face and walked over to their group's backpack that Rachel had sat down.
"What kind of shithead puts a tattoo of a pot leaf on the side of his neck?" Rachel taunted back at the kid. The kid glared in response.
"Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl threw something in the kids lap, causing him to scream, knock it on the floor and squirm away. I leaned forward to see what it was. It was a hand. I quickly shrunk back into my brother, shivering slightly in fear, while he held me tightly. Daryl walked over to the kid. "I'll start with the feet this time." Rick walked over and pulled Daryl off of the kid. My siblings and I looked at T-dog for an explanation. T-dog simply shook his head.
"It's Merle's." He simply explained. It suddenly clicked. That would explain it. Rick tried a softer approach with the kid.
"The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out." Rick answered honestly. We could see the kids resolve crumbling.
"Alright, I'll show you where it is." The kid caved.
"Everybody grab a gun." Rick ordered as he stood up. "Can you two shoot?" Rick asked Marcus and Rachel.
"All three of us can shoot." Marcus replied as he grabbed some of the ammo and refilled his own gun.
"She can shoot?" T-dog looked at me, sizing me up. I sent him a glare that he just smirked in response to.
"Of course she can. She's been able to shoot a gun since she was 4 and has been taking down bucks and other game on her own since she was 6." Rachel murmured as she was loading the rifle she had picked up.
"If it's all the same to you, I'ld rather not give her the gun." Rick asked Marcus. Marcus merely shrugged.