Daryl could hear voices, but couldn't see anything through the hood over his head. He could feel Rick and Maggie on either side of him and he used that to stay calm. They had all been asleep in the woods with Tyreese and Tara on watch when they were attacked by another group. The group had used the guise of walkers and were able to over run them. They had tied their hands and feet and placed hoods over their heads. They were thrown into trucks and then thrown roughly on the ground where they all sat now.
Daryl could feel the barely contained rage radiating through Ricks coiled body as Judith wailed in the distance.
"Somebody shut that kid up!" someone shouted close by. Daryl felt Rick try to stand but heard the sound of a kick and then Rick fell grunting with the impact. There was laughter as Daryl heard another blow land against Rick body.
The laughter stopped abruptly and Daryl tilted his head trying to gauge the reason.
"Where were they?" a gruff male voice questioned.
"They were in the valley. We got em' while they were sleeping," another male voice answered.
"Take off their hoods, let's see what we're dealing with," the gruff voice commanded.
Daryl flinched as the hood was roughly yanked off and he was bombarded with the light of the day. He was briefly surprised that it was light out, the hoods having made it impossible to tell how long had passed. The first thing Daryl noticed was there was more people than he expected, at least twenty people standing watching them. He then noticed the wailing Judith laying on the ground ignored by the others. He glanced at Rick and saw him focused on his helpless daughter.
He wasn't the only one who noticed a grimy looking man followed Ricks gaze and chuckled, "Looks like daddy here is upset," the man moved toward Judith and picked her up. Her cries escalated as he bounced her roughly on his hip. As Rick tried again to get up he was kicked. The man holding Judith laughed loudly. "You know I ain't never had me one this young before," he said his face darkening. He rubbed the side her head. Rick was fighting against the man holding him.
"I should just have her right here," he said with a smirk, stepping closer to Rick.
"You know that's not going to happen," a female voice interrupted him. The smirk left his face and Daryl was curious as fear took its place. He couldn't see the woman yet, but he felt a considerable chill in the air just at her voice.
"Come on Carol, you know I was just messin' with the daddy here," the man said almost pleadingly.
Finally, Daryl saw a slender gray haired woman carrying a large machete approaching the man. "Give her to me and kneel," the woman commanded. Wordlessly the man handed Judith over and kneeled.
"You're not going to let her do this to me, are you boss?" the man asked sending a pleading look to a large man standing close to them.
The man held up his hands, "You know the rules Jake," the man said.
The woman held Judith cradled against her body and Judith calmed almost immediately. She held the machete in her free and with no warning she dragged the sharpened end down the front of the man's body. His shirt was cut away and a gash was opened along his chest and abdomen. She then slammed the handle of the machete against the man's temple and he crumpled to the ground.
"Take him away," she said emotionlessly. Then turning to a woman who was in the crowd, "Did the baby have a bag?" the woman nodded and handed the woman Judith's bag. Then without even a glance in their direction the gray haired woman was gone.
The large man laughed, "Well that was entertaining." The others laughed. He then turned his attention to Rick, "So where were we?"
"My name is Art and these are my people," the man explained throwing his arms open and turning in a circle. He moved closer to where they kneeled, "Who's the leader of your fine group?" he asked as he walked back and forth in front of their line.
When no one answered he chuckled, "I bet it's you, isn't it daddy?"
"Yes," Rick snarled the word.
"Well I bet you're wondering why we would bring your little group here, aren't you?" Art asked as he squatted in front of Rick.
"You're here because I feel like it," he stood back up and moved along the line until he came face to face with Tara. He dragged her up until she was standing against him. "I'm also tired of my playthings," he said as he ran his hands down Tara's back before gripping her bottom and pulling her tighter against him.
The man pushed Tara to the ground, "I'm bored now. Put them away." He said with a wave of his hand.
Daryl growled as rough hands pulled him to his feet and drug him along with the others to a building. They were tossed inside with their hands and feet still bound. The building was more just four walls and no roof. It smelled of trash and urine. The ground was made of dirt and there was very little room to maneuver with all of them in it. They all managed to wiggle until they were sitting against the walls.
"Are you alright?" Rick asked Tara. His face was dark, his voice laced with anger.
"Yes," Tara said quietly.
"Where do you think they took Judith?" Carl asked his face a mask of equal anger.
"We'll find her," Michonne said, before Rick could answer.
"What's the plan?" Abe asked.
Daryl pulled hard at the ropes binding his wrist, he gave up as they started to bleed. "Can any of you get out of your ropes?" The others tried but it was of no use.
Everyone tensed as something banged against the door, but no one came in. They could hear the loud voices of the people outside, shouting and laughing.
"We just have to bide our time for now, there's nothing we can do," Rick said with a sigh.
"What about Judith?" Carl asked again.
"We just have to be patient" Rick answered. Daryl knew he was acting much calmer than he felt.
They sat in silence for hours, listening to the rowdy group outside the walls. A young guy with a bad leg would come in occasionally to check on them. As night fell the noise gradually diminished until it was completely quiet. Daryl had just nearly nodded off when the door slowly squeaked open. Daryl tensed, it was too dark to see very well, the only light was coming from the full moon.
As the figure moved further into the room he could see the gray hair. It was the woman from before, walked into the room. She was wearing a poncho. She paused for a second before making her way to Rick. She pulled a knife out of a sheath at her waste. Rick flinched, but she ignored him and sliced the knife through the ropes at his wrists then ankles. She raised the front flap of her poncho and gently handed a sleeping Judith to Rick. Rick cradled Judith against his chest, but as the woman started to move away, Rick surprised everyone by grabbing the woman's arm and pulling her into a hug. The woman seemed shocked, but recovered quickly. She gave him a nod, then she methodically went around the room and released everyone else's ropes.
When Abe started to talk she shushed him, she removed the poncho completely and removed a pack from her back. "I couldn't get your weapons back," she said quietly. "This is all I could gather," she said as she handed out knives to everyone. "Everyone is asleep but the four guards. They have guns, but there mostly for looks. Try to avoid them, but if you have to they should go down easy."
"Why are you doing this?" Glenn asked suddenly.
She seemed annoyed at being interrupted, but she glanced at Judith and everyone had their answer. "You need to go north, that way," she said pointing. "These guys will follow you so don't stop until you just have to. Understand?"
At everyone's nod she stood, "Good luck," and then she was out the door.
"Do we trust her?" Daryl asked
"Yes," Rick said as he stood, cradling Judith to his chest.
Abe peeked out the door, "It looks clear we need to go now."
Daryl was the last one out of the room as the other all moved quietly through the night. The woman was nowhere to be found, and there was no one around. He could see people sleeping in random places on the ground but they all seemed to be oblivious to their escape. They had no problems making it out of the encampment, and they didn't stop moving until well into the next day. When they finally stopped it was at an old house where they would be safe for a bit to regroup.
The group all sat in the small living room of the house and watched as Carl, Judith, and Tara laughed and played. It had been a close call and it was a relief to have a moment of levity.
"There is still enough daylight left, I'm going to go hunt some food and water," Daryl volunteered.
"Do you want help?" Glenn asked as he usually did, even knowing Daryl would say no.
"I'm quicker by myself," Daryl answered and Glenn just shrugged like he usually did.
It took Daryl nearly three hours to gather enough squirrels, rabbits, and water for the group for at least two days. He was slow making it back because of his added load, but the look of excitement on the others faces always seemed to make the hard work worth it.