Warnings: it is a dark fic, so don't read if you don't like that kind of story. Violence, torture, possible rape (slash), characters' death.

Unfortunately, I don't own the Walking Dead. A special thanks to my beta 'Spitfire47' who's doing a really great job.

Prologue

Present

Daryl was laying on a musty mattress, unconscious. Michonne was bent over him cleaning off the blood and the dirt from his face and his torso with an old towel revealing his wounds, while Rick was trying to take off his boots and his soaked and tore pants. The hunter's skin was cold under the woman's touches and knew they should do something about it soon if they didn't want him to die of hypothermia. But first, they had to take a good look at him to know how badly he was injured because it seemed like he had lost a good amount of blood already. They had been very lucky to find that small cabin in the woods before the nightfall. Rick and Michonne knew that Daryl wasn't in the state to ride in a car for too long and Hershel and the group were a few hours away from them. They couldn't wait; they had to pull over to take care of their friend.

"I need to change the water," Michonne said, standing up with a metal bucket filled with dirty water.

"Okay, I'm gonna take a look around and try to find a sewing kit to stitch his wounds," Rick responded, taking Daryl's wrist between his fingers to check his pulse. "Be careful outside…"

"Yea…And if you can find other clean towels or something like that…We'll need it…"

Michonne grabbed her katana and one of the two oil lamps and got out of the cabin leaving Rick alone with his injured friend. During the last months fighting against walkers, enemies and diseases had got both of them closer. They were more than friends; Rick was now seeing Daryl more like a little brother. And now, looking at him on the edge of the death, fighting to survive, was making him realized how really important the hunter was for him. He couldn't let him die; he couldn't keep going in this world without him.

"Please, Daryl…Don't give up, man…We need you…I need you…"

Flashback (group)

That night, everything happened so fast; none of them were prepared for it. Yes, they knew the Governor was back because two weeks before he had leaded a bunch of walkers to them after breaking a part of the fences surrounding the prison. They had fought during a few hours to finally win the battle mostly unharmed. They had got rid of the walkers and even managed to kill a few of the Governor's men. But at this moment, when the walls around them began to shake a few seconds after Glenn had hurried inside the prison to warn them about the approach of military tanks, they knew they couldn't win. How a small group of civilians armed with a few rifles could fight military equipment? They knew they had to leave the prison and run if they wanted to save as much lives as possible.

About three hours later, the survivors joined each other at a meeting point about one mile away for the prison. It was Daryl, Rick and Hershel who had thought about it when the Woodbury's people came to live with them. If something was happening and they were separated, they should meet in this old barn where they had hidden a small amount of dry food, water and survival kits.

When the sun appeared in the sky in the morning, they were able to take a good look at themselves. The first thing they noticed was that a lot of them were missing. Yes, they had witnessed a lot of them going down when they were back there and most of the people in cellblock D hadn't made it. Most of the victims were families with children. The Governor's first few strikes had targeted that part of the prison; the occupants didn't get any chance. But Sasha, Tyreese, Daryl, Bob and Carol who weren't in D were still missing.

"We should give them more time," Rick proposed, rocking Judith who was sleeping peacefully in his arms. "If they're not here tomorrow morning, we'll go looking for them."

Everyone was worried about them, but they knew they could have made it so far and just needed more time to find the group. They hoped the five of them were together, because Daryl and Tyreese were strong fighters and they would be able to protect the three others who even if they were capable, were still easier targets.

The members of the group were exhausted, hungry, covered with ashes, mud and blood. So they decided to clean themselves up a bit in the creek next to the barn and to get some rest. They guessed they needed their strength back as soon as possible, because they didn't know what was coming next. They were safe for now, but for how long?

Present

Rick had found a sewing kit in one of the drawers of an old cupboard. He had also found a few barely clean t-shirts that could be used to clean Daryl's wounds. Michonne had come back with fresh water and was finishing examining the front of the hunter's body, describing out loud what she was observing.

"…Bruises around his neck and on his stomach, probably a few broken ribs …Several cuts and burns on his chest…A small bump on the side of the head with a wound that had been stitched up. So he could have a concussion…He has several cuts on his wrists and they are swollen, probably from being restrained too long or fighting against his bonds…But I think the worst are the gun shot in his shoulder and the long cut on his thigh that looked like it had been stitched up and cut again. We need to take care of them first."

"Okay…There're a sleeping bag and a few blankets," Rick said, disposing next to the mattress everything he had found so far that could be used to help Daryl. "We should cover him to keep him warm."

They were not doctor or nurse and had only basic knowledge of first aid procedures. Rick had never done stitches on someone and Michonne had done it once on herself when she was alone, before she found Andrea, a long time ago. Usually, it was always Hershel, Maggie or Carol who were taking care of medical stuff. They knew they had to sterilise the needle so they used the rest of an old bottle of vodka. They started with the bullet wound in the left shoulder which was still bleeding a little. Fortunately, the bullet hadn't been stocked in the hunter's flesh but it meant they had two wounds to take care of. When they were done with the one on his chest, they carefully turned Daryl on his side to fix the one in his upper back. Michonne wet a clean cloth and rinsed the blood that was covering the man's back to have a better view of the wound.

"Fuck!" she let out, removing the cloth.

"What's wrong?" Rick demanded, shifting to have a better view of what the woman was looking at. But when he saw it, he froze. "Shit…" he murmured, shaking his head.

"I hadn't taken the time to have a good look at his back yet…I didn't know…"

Rick and Michonne looked at each other and sighed, sadness and despondency in their face. They wondered if one day they would know the extent of what really happened back there.

Flashback (group)

It was getting dark when Glenn heard sounds coming from the bushes about fifty meters away from them. He was on watch with Maggie and it was the first time something was happening since the afternoon when they had found two walkers heading toward them.

"Go warn the others," he said, pointing his rifle at the noise and getting ready to fire if needed.

Maggie ran to the barn quickly and found the rest of the group, close to each other to keep themselves warm. It was the beginning of the winter and the night were getting really cold. They didn't want to make a fire, scared to be discovered by the Governor or his men. They didn't know if they were still around and didn't want to take any risk.

"Rick…There's something in the woods," Maggie explained, taking her breath. "We don't know what it is…"

Rick nodded and motioned to Carl, Michonne and two other men, Martin and George, to follow him. They each grabbed a gun and went to join Glenn who hadn't moved yet.

"Where is it?"

Glenn was going to show them where the sound was coming from when they heard dry branches and leaves being crashed.

"Guys, it's getting closer…" the Korean warned, trying to distinguish is something was moving.

After a few seconds, they saw a big shadow appearing at the edge of trees. Rick was getting to ready to fire.

"Don't shoot, guys…It's me…" a familiar voice yelled. "Please, I need help…"

The person got closer and they recognized Tyreese. He was carrying something or someone in his arms. Rick and Michonne ran to him and found that it was Carol who was unconscious.

"What happened?" Rick asked, walking back to the barn followed by the others.

"I managed to get out of the prison with Bob and Carol," Tyreese explained, deposing Carol on the ground in the middle of the barn. "But we came face to face with three of the Governor's men. We had our guns so we shoot at them. Carol killed one and I did too. But the third one fired at Bob; he died, a bullet in the head."

"Oh my god…Bob…" Beth murmured, tightening her hold on Judith who was sucking at her bottle. "At least, he won't turn…"

They all knew what she meant by that. None of them would want to become one of those monsters; they would rather prefer being shot in the head if they were dying. Of course, it wasn't easy to kill a loves one, but it wasn't easier to kill the walker of a loves one either. Only a few of them had experienced it, like Carl who had to shoot Shane or Daryl who had to stab his own brother in the head.

"What happened to her?" Hershel asked, examining Carol.

"The guy who killed Bob ran away and we were just outside of the fence, at the edge of the woods, when one of the tanks fired at us. There was a big three next to us and a branch broke and fell on her, knocking her out. I picked her up and ran in the forest. She woke up twice since then, but she wasn't coherent."

"Okay, she probably has a serious concussion," Hershel supposed, checking her vitals.

"And what about Daryl and Sasha? Have you seen them?" Maggie demanded, worried about her friends who were still missing.

"What? Wait…They are not here…Sasha is not here!?" Tyreese said, looking around to be sure he had heard well. "Where's my sister?"

"We don't know…We thought she was with you," Glenn explained.

"No…I didn't see her since we left the prison…"

"Don't worry, Daryl is missing as well…They are probably together. He can protect her…"

"And what if they're not? What if she's by herself? I need to go back…I need to find her," Tyreese said, taking a rifle on the ground and starting to walk away.

"Wait, man," Rick objected, grabbing at the black man's arm. "It's not safe…It's dark and we don't know if the Governor is still around…"

"I don't care…She's my sister and I won't let her down…"

Present

Rick and Michonne were done with the bullet wounds and the long cut on Daryl's right thigh. It was a really deep cut and they had found in the hunter's flesh pieces of a few days old stitches that had been cut. They had removed them, clean the cut and stitched it back. They thought they did a good job, because the wounds weren't bleeding anymore. They just hoped they would not get infected.

When they were done with the front, they rolled Daryl over on his side to work on his back. By the look of it, Rick and Michonne easily guessed that their friend had a hard time. When he was a cop, Rick had seen a lot of women and children being beaten and he could recognize when someone had been beaten with a belt. But what was shocking Rick and Michonne the most, were the several cuts among the belt lashes. They both had seen Daryl's back in the past and knew he had several scars made by his abusive father when he was younger. What they could see now was that every scar had been reopened by a sharp object, probably a knife. There were also two thins wounds on his lower back which looked like he had been stabbed. They were covered with dry blood but Rick and Michonne couldn't say if there were deep or not. They knew if Daryl moved while being on his back the wounds would bleed again. So they decided to stitch the deeper ones and to cover the wounds with bandages that they had found in a first aid kit.

"Can you lower his boxers?" Rick asked, a piece of clean bandage in his hand. "Just want to fix the ones on his lower back."

Michonne nodded and managed to get the underwear under Daryl's hip. She caught a strange pattern on his skin and moved the lamp closer to have a better look.

"What's that?" she demanded, showing the mark to Rick. "It looks like a bruise, but the shape is weird…What could have made that mark?"

Rick touched Daryl's hip and traced the pattern with his finger. He thought about it a moment and looked at Michonne, his eyes wide.

"I think I know…I'm sure he has the same one on the other hip," he supposed, sadness obvious in his voice.

They carefully rolled him on his other side and discovered the same mark. Rick shook his head and ran his hand in his face, sighing.

"I'm sorry, I don't get it…" Michonne said, perplexed.

Rick moved his hand and placed it on the bruise; it had the same shape, but a bit bigger than his own hand.

"Hands…But what about the darker spots on the tips?"

"Fingernails," Rick noted, moving his hand like if he wanted to scratch Daryl's skin.

"You don't really thing he…" she wondered after a moment, worried.

"Can't be sure, yet…But I saw that kind of mark before…Just hope I'm wrong…"

Flashback (group)

Tyreese, Rick and Glenn walked for a few hours pacing the fields and the woods around the prison and checking several roads in the perimeter, but there was no sign of the Governor or his men; they had left. When they were sure it was safe, they decided to take a look at the prison and searched for survivors. Unfortunately, they found only a few walkers and corpses. They checked in the yard to see if there were any of their vehicles that were still working. But most of them had been burned and the others had been severely damaged.

"Where's Daryl's bike?" Glenn demanded, looking around the area where it was usually parked.

"Maybe one of the Governor's men took it," Tyreese proposed, shrugging. He was impatient and just wanted to keep looking for his sister.

"Daryl could have managed to take it and escape," Rick supposed. He knew the hunter really well, and was sure if Daryl had one chance to save his bike, he would take it. "He should have take Sasha with him…"

"We should go take a look at the main road; they could be on their way back."

So they took the main road and walked for about an hour when they spotted something on the side of the road about hundred meters away from them. They hadn't made it to half of the distance when Rick stopped suddenly.

"What's wrong?" Glenn asked, standing next to him.

"There…It's Daryl's crossbow," he said, pointing at the weapon that was resting at the bottom of the ditch.

"DARYL!" Tyreese yelled, looking around while Rick picked up the crossbow.

They started running and found out that what they had spotted first on the side of the road was the hunter's bike.

"DARYL!" they kept yelling. They didn't really care if their voices were attracting walkers; they just wanted to find their friends.

Rick got closer and checked at the motorcycle. He noted that one of the tires was deflated and the side that was on the ground was smashed.

"There is no trace of blood on the bike…"

"But there are some over here," Glenn said, looking at a red stain in the sand a few feet away.

At this moment, they heard something that sounded like a moan coming from being a tree. They got their weapons ready and walked slowly toward the sound. Tyreese was the first one to pass the tree and dropped suddenly on his knees.

"Oh my god, Sasha…" he murmured, taking his sister in his arms.

She had blood on her face and her shirt had a dark patch on the side, but she was conscious.

"Tyreese…" she pronounced weakly, tears running down her cheeks.

"Sasha, where's Daryl?" Rick asked, kneeling next to Tyreese.

"He's gone…"

"What do you mean 'he's gone'?"

"He took him," she explained, sobbing lightly.

"Who took him?" Rick demanded even if he already knew the answer.

"The Governor…"

Please, write me a comment...I want to know if you want me to keep going with that story.