Daryl and I took the front of the pack, following the blood trail.
There was one biter but I shot it quickly to avoid a hassle. After retrieving my arrow, I got back to the front of the group. There were two already dead biters on the ground.
"Had enough in 'im to take down these two sumbitches," Daryl said. "One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met."
"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is…" Rick put in.
What a delight he is…
"Merle!" called Daryl as we walked into a kitchen like area.
"We're not alone in here!" hissed Glenn. "Remember?"
"Screw that! He could be bleeding out! You said so yourself!" Daryl tried to look as threatening ad possible but I could see right through his tough guy phased.
He was scared. He must be related to Merle or something because you could tell Daryl cared a lot for him.
"What's that burned stuff?" Shelly asked. She bent to look at it closer. "Smells nasty."
"Skin," I supplied with a scrunch of my nose. It really did smell disgusting. "He cauterized the stump."
Daryl walked up beside me, adjusting the butt of his crossbow into his shoulder. "See? Told you he was tough. Nobody could kill Merle but Merle."
"Don't take that on faith." Rick stepped up again. "He still lost a lot of blood."
"Yeah?" Daryl replied. "Didn't stop him from busting out of this deathtrap…"
The window on the fire escape was busted through.
"He left the building? Why in the hell would he do that?"
"Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone, as far as he know, doing what he's gotta do. Surviving." Daryl was getting pissed. At everyone in fact, he had that tone in his voice.
"You call that surviving? Just wandering out of the streets, maybe passing out?" Glenn said.
"Glenn-"I tried to stop him but he went on.
"What are his odds up there?"
"No worse than being handcuffed and left ta rot by you sorry pricks! You couldn't kill 'im! Ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard…"
I locked eyes with Shelly and rolled them. She rolled back.
"What about a thousand dead bastards?" I piped up. If I was going to be here I wasn't going to just sit pretty and keep my mouth shut. "Different story, eh?"
"I'm going to go get 'im." Daryl turned to leave out the window where Merle left through.
"Daryl wait!" Rick exclaimed. He grabbed Daryl's arm and Daryl yanked away harshly.
"Get your hands off me!" he spat. Daryl jabbed a finger in Rick's chest. "You can't stop me!"
"Jump in," Shelly whispered to me. "You're good at calming down situations like this…"
"Since when?" I whispered back chuckling.
"Since Jamie got in that 'scuffle' with Samson." I snorted.
"I don't blame you," I said loudly catching everyone's attention. "He's family, I get that. Had some myself before the dead were snapping their jaws at us. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around only if we all keep level heads."
"I could do that…" muttered Daryl.
"Only if we get those guns first," T-Dog said. "I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?"
I sent him a smirk. "I'm sure we can do something about that. Now here's what I want…"
"No plan?" Shelly asked with the same smirk.
"No plan…" I motioned for everyone to gather round. "Gather round children. Mamas not just the best at shooting arrows…"
Meanwhile at Jason's camp…
"Shouldn't they be back by now?" Darren said walking up to Jason with two plates stewed up squirrel.
"They should…" Jason replied. He took a plate from Darren and motioned for him to sit down. "I have a feeling they aren't going to be back. Did you see the load they were carrying? It looked like they were leaving for good."
"Do we care?"
"Ellie was a hunting fiend. Before we had her we were eating morsels. So that's done with. Shelly was good with cars and a rifle. And we don't have any other mechanics here."
"Ellie was damn good looking too. Too bad she left." They clinked their glasses together.
"Will you share?"
The men shared a devious look.
Ellie-
"What did you do before this?" Daryl asked me as the group looked at me in shock.
"I was a waitress. Why?"
They looked around the room at each other.
"Alright then, let's get moving," Shelly said standing up.
Daryl, Glen, and I moved into the ally while Rick, T-Dog, and Shelly got their position two blocks away.
"You got some balls for a Chinaman," Daryl quipped.
"I'm Korean."
"Whatever…" Daryl scoffed.
I had an arrow already nocked on the string of my bow as I walked behind Glenn but in front of Daryl.
"Good luck, Glenn," I said patting his back before he ran out into the dead infested street. He gave me a strained smile and disappeared on the street.
There were a rustle behind us and apparently Daryl heard it too. We spun around to see a young kid in a wife beater.
"Whoa, don't shoot me!" he cried. "What do you want?"
I drew back the strong of the bow, pointing it at the kid, as Daryl brought his crossbow up also pointing at him.
"I'm looking for my brother. He's hurt real bad," Daryl said quietly so he didn't bring the biter on us. "You seen 'im?"
"Aydarne!" the kid yelled.
"Shut up!" I hissed. "You're going bring the dead down on us!"
"Answer me! Answer me!" You could hear the urgency in Daryl's voice.
"Aydarne! Aydarne! Aydarne!"
"Shut up!" I was a little louder this time because I felt like today wasn't a very good day to die…
"That's it! That's the bag, Vato!"
I spun around again to see two Latino men and Glen. Again, I drew back my bow and shot one in the ass.
He cried out and glared daggers at me.
The kid was screaming against Daryl's hold.
"Daryl! Ellie!" Glenn screamed as the one I didn't shoot grabbed him. A car drove next to the chain link fence.
"Glenn!" I tried to run after him but the guy I shot grabbed a fist full of my hair and slammed the side of my head into a dumpster.
I collapsed on the ground. Daryl was still yelling in the background at the kid.
Rick, Shelly, and T-Dog ran into the open gate closing it behind them. A red haze was taking over my vision. It started to be a constant fight to keep my eyes open.
"Oh my God, Ellie!" I heard Shelly's voice from somewhere far away.
Suddenly I was lifted off the ground and was brought into a lab type thing. Slowly, I was brought back to my senses.
"Ugh…" I groaned and sat up. I was sprawled out on a metal table while Daryl was yelling at the kid for information. God he's just an angry man isn't he?
I stood up slowly. I reached up and felt the spot above my left ear where it connected with the dumpster. The wound there was still damp with a little blood.
"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went," Rick demanded leaning in close to him.
"I ain't telling you nothing…" I cringed at this kids bad grammar issues and suppressed the need to correct him.
"Jesus, man…" Shelly groaned. She exhaustedly rubbed her face with her hands.
"What the hell happened back there?" Rick's attention was now on Daryl.
"I told you, you this little turd and his douchebag friends came out of nowhere and jumped me!" Daryl answered.
"You're the one who jumped me, puto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it was my damn fault." The kid sounded innocent enough but I wanted revenge for Glenn.
"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle too."
"Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle."
Bad idea, kid. And it was. Daryl lunged from his seat and attacked him.
"Damn it, Daryl…" I mumbled moving towards Glenn's pack.
"Back off," Rick said to Daryl when he was pulling back.
No one in the room was aware of my awakening yet so when I spoke it make everyone jump.
"Want to see what happened to the last guy who pissed me off?" I snarled finding the hand at the top of Glenn's pack. I stalked towards him with a scowl on my face. I threw the bare, stiff hand onto his lap. He freaked out completely. I squatted and took the forearm sized knife in one hand and gripped his foot in the other. "I'll start with the feet this time…" The look on his face was priceless but I didn't break character. I let go of his foot and squished his cheeks in a vice grip.
Rick squatted down next to me and spoke calmly. "The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out."
I shared a knowing look with Rick and roughly let go of his face. Gingerly, I picked up the hand with the dew rag again and wrapped it. Then I stuck it carefully back into the pack.
"How's your head?" Shelly asked quietly.
"Fine…" I muttered massaging my temples. I had a brain splitting headache right now and pissy mood wasn't helping.
"You're sure you're up for this?" Rick asked me as we got ready to confront the group that had Glenn.
"I'm fine, Rick," I said with a small sigh. I didn't look up at him I was busy nocking an arrow and checking if I needed to reload.
He held his hands up in surrender. "Okay."
"One wrong move you get an arrow in the ass," Daryl growled to him. Then like a smartass he added, "Just so you know."
"G's going to take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours," Miguel replied smartly. "Just so you know."
I snorted and pushed the kid forward towards his people.
"G?" I asked as we walked.
"Guillermo. He's the man here." It kind of surprising how easy he gives up this information but I did show him a severed hand so I could understand his fears.
"Okay then. Let's go see Guillermo," Rick murmured as we walked forwards into the clearing.