Rick panted heavily as he struggled to catch his breath; he was penned in from both sides by snarling Walkers, out of bullets and down to using only his small knife. Keeping his back pressed against the chain link fence, he used the barrel of his spent pistol on the head of one Walker at the same time as jabbing the blade of his knife through the eye socket of another.
"Two down, ninety-eight to go…" He muttered as he tried to wrestle the knife blade out from the fallen Walker. Just then he caught side of something he never thought he'd see again; the familiar yellow and blade feathers from a bolt protruding from a Walker just about to take a chunk out of his leg.
"I…er…I." Rick was in a state of shock; he had been seconds away from becoming one of the hunted and once again, Daryl had come to the rescue.
"Ya can thank me later. Merle! Head fer the gate!" Daryl bent down to extract the used bolt from the body at Rick's feet and wiped the grime across the leg of his pants. "Here, looks like ya could use this," He handed Rick a larger knife from his belt and the two of them worked back to back, making their way around to where Merle was single handily clearing a path to the gate.
"Wait! Has anyone seen Hershel? He was just the other side of the fence, near where the water lines feed into the prison." Rick looked around anxiously for the older man, he knew that Hershel only had a few bullets in his old handgun and couldn't have made a run for it.
"Relax Officer Friendly, saw the Chinaman pick up the farmer in the truck when ole 'Chonne was loping off the heads of everythin' in sight. C'mon now, this gate ain't gonna hold itself open all day." Merle was forcibly holding the two sides of the gates apart long enough for the three of them to slip through; once he knew they were all inside he let the sides drop against each other and twisted a length of wire through as a temporary measure. "That's gonna hold 'em back fer now, but it ain't gonna last too long if they start herdin' again." Rick looked over at the destruction of the once secure base and then back between the two men; he shook his head slowly.
"I don't even know where to start…what I would have done if the two of you hadn't shown up in time…I just…" Rick stopped, not even knowing how to express his gratitude enough, he remembered how Merle and Daryl had tried to explain Merle's actions at Woodbury and how he hadn't wanted to listen, now he thought he'd better start.
"Look Rick, let's just leave the past alone alright? Merle and I'll stick around fer a bit, help y'all clean up a little and we'll see how things go from there." Daryl made the suggestion after seeing how uncomfortable Merle was getting with Rick's praise.
"Okay, but I think there might be one or two people that are gonna be mighty happy to see you." Rick murmured, catching sight of Beth running down the gravel path, trying to keep up with a now toddling Judith.
"Dar! Dar!" Judith nearly tumbled over in her efforts to reach up to Daryl and Merle bit back a choke of laughter at the sight of his tough brother nearly melting at the sight of the little one's tears.
"Hey, lil' pumpkin! Didja miss yer Uncle Daryl? Tears from my best girl…aw now, hush up lil' asskicker." Daryl passed his crossbow over to his brother and scooped the tearful toddler up into his arms.
"Something tells me that she missed you…a lot. Kinda like someone else I know…" Rick murmured as he watched his little girl snuggled into the hunter's arms; he still felt a little jealous that Judith always seemed to prefer Daryl's company to his own. Every morning she would wake up as soon as she heard Daryl creeping down the metal stairs from his perch, and would start howling if he didn't pop his head into her cell to take her out to the kitchen with him. The few days that Daryl had been gone, she had been nearly inconsolable; seeking solace from the only other person that seemed to feel his absence as much as she…Carol.
"Never thought I'd see ma lil' brother so taken with a rug rat…one that even his own…" Merle didn't even notice Maggie and Michonne walking down the fenced in corridor to meet them until he heard Maggie's quiet remark.
"That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable." Maggie stepped up to wrap her arms around Merle; squeezing him tight. "I never got to thank you for what you did for me back in Woodbury, so thank you. And thanks for bringing him back, we need him." She stepped back and realised that she was crying, again. She had been like a non-stop watering pot ever since they had come back; even more so when she ached for what Carol must have been going through, at least her man had returned back with her.
"I ain't so lovable, lil' Daryl here; he seems ta be the sweet one." Merle's face reddened and he shifted to his feet uncomfortably.
"Merle…take it from me, you may not be the best judge of character; but for what you did for not only me and Glenn, but for Daryl too…trust me, I'd want you at my back every time." Maggie touched Merle lightly on the arm again and then turned to face Daryl. "Daryl, don't be shocked when you see Carol, there was a lot of blood…" Before she could even explain that it wasn't even Carol's blood, Daryl had passed Judith off to her father and was racing back up to the courtyard, calling out Carol's name.