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Chapter 4

It was the sound of the door closing quietly that bought him round. He braced himself, expecting more blows. He wasn't expecting a soft hand on his cheek and a water bottle pressed to his lips.

"Drink this, then try and take these" a small hand held out some small white tablets. "It's only non- prescription painkillers but they might take the edge of it a bit"

He swallowed down a lot of the water before forcing his head up and looking at the person helping him. Intense hazel eyes looked back at him and he realised it was the woman who had tried to steal their car, the one who had taken Beth hostage.

"The hell you doin' here?" he snapped, twisting his head away "You work for that bastard now?"

She pulled out a knife and started to cut his legs free. He recognised it as Beth's knife, the one she'd taken the day she escaped.

"I'm not here by choice" she told him as she freed his arms. "Couple of days after I left you I was trapped by a load of walkers. Too many to fight off alone and I thought that was it. Two men came from nowhere and rescued me. Trouble was they made me come back here and I haven't been able to get away since. The gates too well guarded. I almost made it when Rick and the others left yesterday but then I saw them take you."

He stared at her "Why'd that stop you? You don't owe me nothin'"

She gave a rueful smile. "I felt bad for hurting you the day we met. Sometimes it's just easier to attack first than to escape later. Now I've met the Governor and his henchmen I realise that you're actually the good guys. That's why I helped Rick earlier"

She was the one who shot the man about to kill Rick.

"Why didn't you show yourself then?" He gratefully drank some more of the water and grudgingly swallowed down the tablets.

"Didn't want to have to do the whole escape from the prison thing again" she smiled as she helped him to his feet.

"I wouldn't have hurt Beth." She glanced up at him "I'd let myself be recaptured before I'd hurt her"

"I know, she said you weren't holding her tight. I guessed she could've got away if she'd tried, girl just wanted to help you get out. She's like that" He flinched as his ribs flared with pain and his head span for a second.

"She's a sweetheart, she even told me the best car to take. Stopped me taking your bike 'cos you'd come after me to get it back." They had almost reached the door when it slammed back against the wall.

"It seems Merle has let us down again, bringing in another terrorist" the Governor looked Tess up and down.

"Take him to the arena and restrain the woman, we'll deal with her later" The way he said that made Tess's blood run cold. The men advanced on them. Daryl made an attempt to shove her behind him, instinctively trying to protect her. He was still hurting from before and it was a short struggle before his arms were tied behind him and Shumpert reached for Tess. She evaded his first attempt to grab her and kicked out at him, catching him on the shin. He swore and reached out again, this time seizing her arm. She lashed out and managed to claw his face, leaving scratches across one cheek . Angrily he slammed her back against the wall and grabbed her by the throat. Daryl saw his hands tightening as she tried desperately to pull herself free. Her hands were pulling at his, fighting for air and she was gasping for breath when the Governor finally called the man off.

"Leave her for now. You can play later. My people await me at the arena." He glanced at the still struggling Daryl. "Bring him" he demanded.

The last thing Daryl saw as they forced a cloth bag over his head was Tess's still form as Shumpert shoved her to the ground.

They dragged him into an arena, in front of a jeering crowd of strangers, all calling for his death. When they removed the bag he found himself face to face with his older brother, seeing him for the first time in months. The Governor was making a speech about terrorists and how they should pay for their crimes. He declared Merle to be a traitor and announced that the two of them should fight to the death, winner goes free.

Merle was staring at Daryl in disbelief. He couldn't believe he had finally found his baby brother again after all this time. He noticed the state of him, the cuts and bruises and the fact he could barely stand up. Anger welled up in him and he decided he would do whatever it took to get the two of them out of there alive.

The Governor finished his rambling speech and told them to fight. Merle threw a punch, knocking Daryl to the ground. As Merle bent over him he grinned and told him to follow his lead. He reached a hand down and pulled Daryl up and the two of them faced the crowd back to back. The Governor's men bought in walkers attached to poles with nooses around their necks and pushed them closer to the brother's. Daryl punched one away from him and a second one was shoved closer. Before he could deal with it the back of its head was blown off and the arena was filled with smoke. More shots took down the rest of the walkers and several of the Governors men. In the confusion Daryl managed to grab his crossbow back from Shumpert as Merle knocked him out. Through the smoke he heard Rick calling and turned to see him and Maggie, rifles in hand. Grabbing Merle he ran towards them.

"We gotta go back to the room they had Glenn and Maggie in" he yelled at Rick as the man started to lead the way to the gate.

"Why?" Rick just wanted to get the hell out of there.

"They got that girl there, the one that tried to steal the car. She tried to help me escape but they caught her. They're gonna hurt her" He saw Rick hesitate and played his trump card.

"It was her that shot that asshole and saved you" he told him, knowing Rick was too honourable to leave her now.

With a sigh Rick turned and they headed towards the buildings.

Tess had finally caught her breath and was looking around for something she could use as a weapon. She picked up the wooden chair and slammed it against the wall several times until it shattered. She selected the largest piece, one of the legs with a jagged, broken end where it had snapped from the chair back. She placed herself at the side of the door and waited.

Merle was the first through the door and he charged in expecting to see a cowering young woman. Instead he heard an angry cry and felt a sudden pain across his shoulders. The blow was hard enough to drive him forward onto his knees.

Tess yelled in fury as she swung the chair leg at the first man in the door, he fell to his hands and knees and she twisted the chair leg around, so the jagged end was facing downwards. She raised it above her head, ready to plunge it down into the man's back when hands grabbed her wrists, pulling her to the side.

"Easy girl, we've come to get you out" a familiar voice drawled close to her ear. Turning her head she saw Daryl, still gripping her wrists. Behind him she saw Rick, an amused expression on his face as he looked at the sprawled man on the floor.

"I see you still know how to make friends, Merle" he laughed.

Tess stopped struggling.

"That's your brother?" she asked Daryl incredulously "He's the son of a bitch that bought me here" Daryl pulled the chair leg from her hands and let her go, with a shrug.

"Can't help yer blood" he muttered.

Merle pulled himself to his feet, looming close to Tess.

"Ungrateful bitch" he snarled "should've left you to the biters instead of saving yer skinny ass"

Rick put himself between the two of them.

"We haven't got time for that now. We need to go" He headed out the door, Maggie close behind.

It was still chaos outside, people were running along the streets trying to get to their homes and the Governor's men were striding around searching for the intruders. Merle lead them to a secluded bit of the fence and forced a hole in it. They slipped out and were soon on their way back to the car and the relative safety of the prison.