Welcome to Friday the 13th! I was almost halfway through my day when I realized that! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the next chapter!


Three hours later, Daryl was helping Abby sit up when Merle suddenly wandered into the clinic. Abby looked from Merle to Daryl back to Merle, surprised to see him wandering around. Daryl sighed as he pulled the wheelchair closer and helped her get out of bed, so she could sit in it.

"Reg convinced Rick to let 'em out." Daryl muttered as he supported her.

"Well look at you, playin' nursemaid." Merle said loudly.

"She's hurt, man, and she'd my wife so yeah, I'm takin' care of her." Daryl growled, not very happy with his brother being there.

"That doctor lady seems to think that you were amazing. Super human even. Staying on your feet after bein' as hurt as you were. Even managed to kill one of those bastards while in the process of passin' out." Merle chuckled. "It figures a woman like that would catch the eye of a Dixon. Still don't get what you like 'bout my brother, though."

Daryl sighed as he helped Abby slowly sit down. "What you want, Merle?"

"To pay your pretty lady a visit! That's what family does. Thought it'd be the good brother-in-law thing to do." Merle said. "Besides, I'm not permitted to go most places. They've even made sure the guards don't let me go outside the walls, Rick told them to shoot me if I do."

"I have a tough time believing Rick would just let you go." Abby said doubtfully as Daryl grabbed a blanket and draped it over her legs.

"He goes right back into that cell for the night and he's supposed to be escorted when out of his cell." Daryl said unhappily then glanced out of the window. "Speaking of which, where's Sasha? She supposed to be watching you."

"She's got no sense of humor and was cramping my style, so I gave her the slip." Merle said as nonchalant as possible as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.

Daryl snatched the pack from Merle's hand as he stuck the one he'd managed to pull out, in between his lips. "Where the hell you get these?" Daryl growled as he tried to grab the cigarette from Merle's mouth.

Merle stepped back as he swatted his hand away. "What's yours is mine, little brother. You should really lock yer front door, man, who knows who'll walk in there!"

"Only my asshole brother is stupid enough to go in there!" Daryl said, his temper starting to flare up. "How'd you even know which place is ours?"

"That girl told me." Merle said shrugging as he stepped outside, awkwardly striking a match with one hand.

"What girl? Sasha?" Daryl asked as he tried to calm down, pushing Abby outside behind Merle.

"No, the little one from back home. The beaters kid." Merle said as he watched Daryl wheel Abby down the ramp that Tobin had built for Abby. "I'd have thought that little girl woulda gotten more spine like her momma did, livin' out there like you did, but she's still a terrified little girl." Merle sneered.

"Her name is Sophia and stay the hell away from her!" Daryl growled, still pissed but managing to get a hold of himself. "You probably remind her of her old man, not a pleasant memory."

Merle looked at him like he was something foreign. "What wrong with you boy? Yer woman castrate you or something?"

Daryl opened his mouth to angrily respond but Abby reached behind her with her good hand and touched his arm. "Daryl's got plenty of attitude left, he just got control over himself. Running yer mouth and doing impulsive things, that'll only get you killed now days."

"Who says I do either, anymore? And the fact that you responded for him tells me that you have."

"Go blow it outta yer ass, Merle!" Daryl said angrily as he walked over to Merle and shoved him.

Merle's face darkened as he pointed in Daryl's face. "Don't start something you can't finish, boy!"

"You don't know what I'm capable of anymore, brother!" Daryl sneered, raising his voice while shoving Merle's hand out of the way and getting in Merle's face. "Gonna stomp yer ass so hard, yer gonna spit yer shriveled old balls outta yer shit smellin' mouth!"

Abby started laughing then hissed in pain then laughed some more, while holding her shoulder. Daryl stepped back from Merle and looked at her like she'd gone nuts. "I'm sorry babe, I know you're genuinely pissed with him but you both just…" Abby laughed again. "Ow."

Daryl sighed, completely calm once more as he knelt in front of her. "Quit yer brayin' then, you'll stop hurtin' yerself." He said softly, not in the least bit angry with her.

Abby took a shallow breath to settle herself, then grinned as she kissed Daryl on the forehead. Merle scoffed in disgust. "Sorry." She said.

"You lost yer back boy." Merle said shaking his head.

"No, I haven't." Daryl insisted. "If someone messes with my family, I'll beat the asshole to death with their own hand, but the world is violent enough, don't need to add to it just to entertain you."

"Do you want me lock him back up?" Rick's voice came from behind Merle. "Saw the two of you gettin' into it, I was about to break it up."

"I'm fine, Rick…" Daryl started but Merle suddenly got mad.

"You talk like these assholes are your family! I'm your family!" Merle shouted.

"They are my family!" Daryl said standing up and pointing in the direction of Rick while glaring at Merle. "You might be blood, Merle, but you ain't my family. Not any more. You stopped bein' that the moment you left. Family protects each, bleeds for each other and Rick, Michonne, Glenn, Beth, all of them, have put their lives on the line to protect me to protect Abby. You just ran! Like always."

"I've bled for you! I've taken beatin's for you, boy! I've stuck my neck out for you since you were in diapers. We've been through hell and back! And now I ain't good enough for you!?" Merle shouted then shoved his finger into Daryl's chest. "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me!"

"What we went through growin' up, it ain't got nothin' to what these last six months have been!" Daryl growled, lowering his voice. "I'd go through that shit a thousand times if…" Daryl looked at Abby then looked away, inhaled deeply then slowly let it out. "Those people you say ain't my family, they were there. Helped me look after Abby…they were just there, were there when I need them the most and they didn't have to be. Even if I didn't say shit to them, them bein' there was enough."

"What you talkin' 'bout?" Merle said, his voice finally lowered to barely more than a whisper as he seemed to read Daryl's sudden shift of mood, no longer shouting but eyeing Daryl suspiciously.

"It don't matter." Daryl growled, suddenly getting mad again. "You weren't there! You were too busy lookin' after number one, like always! And killin' innocent people for your own amusement. Maybe if you were…maybe…"

Daryl spun on his heels, marched behind Abby's wheelchair then pushed her away from Merle as Merle just watched Daryl as he wheeled Abby away. Once they were far enough away from Merle, Abby tipped her head back, so she could see Daryl's face.

"Are you okay?" Abby asked worriedly, that was the closest Daryl had come to saying anything to anyone about the loss of their baby.

"I've had better morning's." Daryl mumbled as he kept his eyes straight ahead. "I'm sorry I said that in front of you, that I said it at all."

They were rolling by the small lake, on their way to their townhouse, when Abby grabbed hold of her tire with her good hand, making her turn but Daryl stopped immediately.

"You need to stop that!" Abby said firmly, pointing her finger at him. "Stop keepin' your feelings in. Stop thinking of what you didn't do or could've done and most of all, you need to stop blaming yourself! Our baby didn't die because of what you didn't do or should've done! It died because there are terrible people out there who attacked me. No body could've guess what was going to happen and it could've happened to anyone."

Daryl looked morosely at the ground. "I shoulda been watchin' you more closely, gone with you or walked Jack myself. You shouldn't have been out there by yourself."

"I'm a grown woman, Daryl. A very independent woman, who don't like relyin' on people. It was my decision to go outside and when I saw that car, I shouldn't have just stepped off of the road, I shoulda damn well ran back to the church! You wanna blame somebody for what happen, you blame me."

Daryl shook his head as he squatted down in front of her. "I ain't blamin' no one other then the assholes who hit you. I just…wish things had been different. If that hadn't happened to you, we'd be gettin' ready to have a baby not for war. When we found everyone again, I started thinking…planning. I even had a couple names I liked. I could see it. You holdin' our baby, I swear I could almost see his face and you were so happy. We were so happy."

Abby stroked his face gently. "We can still have that Daryl. A baby. Maybe not that baby but we can still have one. You can still use those names."

Daryl slumped forward, resting his head on her good shoulder. "I don't think I could survive losin' you. You're everything to me."

"And you're everything to me too." Abby said resting her broken arm on his back and rubbing his neck with her good hand.

111

Abby laid on her back, her head turned as she stared at Daryl sleeping beside her, pain preventing her from sleeping. She was worried about him. She'd hoped that since he'd finally expressed his feelings about what happened to their unborn baby, that maybe he'd start healing but, in the week since she'd gotten hurt, he only seemed to be getting angrier and more withdrawn. At first, she'd thought it was because of Merle's presence, and maybe it still could be, but Merle had chilled out again, seeming to try to fit in and mostly get along with his brother.

Merle had overheard them in the park but had waited for Daryl to leave her to talk to her. He knew his brother more than Abby gave him credit for, realizing that trying to ask Daryl about what had happened, would only end with Daryl getting angry and quite possibly attacking Merle. Merle was fine with that, said that Daryl needed to get it out of his system, but Merle wanted to stay in Alexandria and getting in a fist fight with his brother wouldn't help that. He claimed that he hated the Savior's and had only stayed with them for survival reasons. Abby had been honest with him, telling him everything since he'd left and told him about her miscarriage. When she got to that part, Merle looked very sad and almost like he was in pain as he listened. When she finished telling the story, he said to her;

"That's not somethin' you shoulda gone through, it's gotta be the worse feelin' a person goes through. Daryl, I'll admit, that boys tough but if he didn't have you to look after, I don't know if he coulda handled that."

Abby was surprised with the amount of sympathy and compassion Merle showed her. In the past, he'd been lukewarm to her at best, not believing that she had any real feelings for his brother but now, she was one of the few people Merle seemed to like. Like Daryl he seemed a little softer when it was just her around but went back to being his typical loud and obnoxious self when any one else was near.

111

The following morning, Daryl helped Abby get out of bed the into her wheelchair. Abby had to beg and plead with both Denise and Daryl to let her out of the clinic, so she could sleep in her own bed, she hated staying there. After a lengthy discussion on the second day, Denise had finally agreed it was okay so long as Daryl kept a close eye on her, which wouldn't be a problem.

So, after they'd eaten their breakfast, he'd carry first her chair then Abby, outside. Instead of wheeling around the community, like he'd done in the past couple of days, they just stayed outside of their townhouse and Abby watched Daryl as he worked on his bike, while he glared moodily at it as he tightened a bolt, saying nothing to her. Beth eventually appeared, putting a hand on Abby's shoulder as she watched Daryl work. Jack must have been following Beth but instead of stopping, he trotted past the two women and sat down beside Daryl, giving him a sad puppy stare with his one good eye. Daryl sighed as he reached over and scratched Jack's head.

"Wanna go huntin' boy?" Daryl asked him to which Jack responded by wagging his tail and opening his mouth to let his tongue loll out as he panted.

"He probably needs the exercising, sleeping with Sophia every night and sleeping around all day. He's getting fat." Beth said, trying to sound chipper but she eyed Daryl carefully.

Daryl looked over his shoulder at the two women. "Beth, why don't you take Abby over to the horse? That always makes her day."

"Why don't you come with us?" Abby asked.

Daryl shook his head. "Naw. When I'm done this, I'm gonna work on my crossbow. That Dwight asshole abused it." Daryl had told on the second day, while she still laid in the bed at the clinic about how he had gotten his crossbow back and what had happened after she'd passed out.

"Alright." Abby agreed reluctantly.

"But don't be out there too long, you should lie down again in a couple hours."

Abby rolled her eyes. "Yes, dear."

Beth grabbed hold of the push bars of Abby's chair then pushed her down the sidewalk to the opposite side of the community where they kept the horse, Libby. Once they were out of earshot Beth bent closer to Abby.

"Is Daryl okay? He seems off."

Abby sighed as she gingerly rubbed the undamaged flesh around her wound. "He's been weird since I got hurt. I don't know if its because I got hurt, the talk we had afterwards or if it's Merle. He's completely shut down."

"Talk?" Beth asked, sounding concerned.

"I finally got him to talk 'bout my miscarriage. I didn't even bring it up originally, he did."

"I've tried talking to him, you know, 'bout all that but he'd just gets angry. Tells me to mind my own business." Beth said as she carefully moved from sidewalk to street.

"Not exactly shocking." Abby said tiredly.

"I thought that maybe, after what he shared with me back at the moonshine shack, that maybe he trusted me enough to talk with me."

"It's not a trust thing, Beth. At least, not entirely."

"You're 'bout the only one he'll talk to when things trouble him, but with what happened, I knew he wouldn't want to talk 'bout that with you. I know he's close with Rick too, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't share his feelings with him."

"Daryl equates feelings with weakness, so admitting that losing what we did, hurt him as deeply as it did, is like admitting that he's weak and he's terrified of being weak. Don't take is personally."

Beth sighed. "I know."

They didn't speak again until they reached the end of the street, then Beth helped Abby to her feet then they slowly walked to the corral that had been built for her horse. Abby leaned heavily against the fence boards, annoyed with herself at how tired she felt from her short walk. Being injured supremely sucked.

"Why aren't you hanging out with other teenagers?" Abby asked as she watched Libby graze and tried to slow her breathing down.

Beth shrugged. "Most of them are younger than me and I can't seem to make any attachments with any of them. Which is weird since I've always had a lot of friends."

Abby rested her head on her good arm as she looked at Beth. "Things have changed, you have changed. Probably spent too much time with Daryl and I."

Beth smiled slightly. "That's probably it."

Beth climbed over the fence, brush in hand, then walked over to Libby who nickered softly as she approached. Abby watched as Beth brushed her down then moved on to picking the mud and rock out of her hooves, suddenly reminding Abby of Hershel. She had finished picking two of her feet when the sound of Daryl's motorbike echoed across the community. Abby frowned as she turned around to look but she couldn't see him anywhere as the sound faded off. Shortly after the sound had faded away, Maggie came trotting towards them, looking concerned.

"Did Daryl tell you he was going anywhere today?" Maggie asked as she got within earshot.

Abby frowned. "No, he said he was goin' to work on his crossbow. He asked Jack if he wanted to go huntin' but I didn't get the impression he was plannin' on actually goin'! Especially when we're all supposed to stayin' inside, preparin' for an attack."

"Oh, he's goin' huntin' alright, just not for a deer." Merle said as he moseyed over to them. "He's huntin' Dwight, the asshole who shot you. He's been stewin' on the whole thing since you and him, got back."

Abby frowned. "He's barely said ten words to me since he blew up at you."

"That boys got it bad for you, girl." Merle said with a shit eating grin. "He don't want you knowin' the black thoughts goin' through his head but me, I get that side of Daryl better than any of you and he knows it. Dwight nearly took something important to him, he plans on makin' that boy pay."

Abby's face darkened. "And you told him where to find him."

Merle shook his head. "I did not. I'm not gonna let my little brother get himself killed and him goin' to Sanctuary would do just that."

"Then where's he goin' then?" Abby asked.

"My guess? Where he last saw them. I know yer well aware of this but that boys got mad tracking skills, better than me."

"Tyrese, Michonne and Rosita went after him." Maggie said.

Abby touched her shoulder gingerly and shook her head. "It should be me goin' after him."

Maggie touched her good shoulder gently. "Don't worry, they'll get him back safely. Why don't you go lie down and rest? By the time you get up, they'll have dragged in cranky butt back here."

Abby sighed, she could definitely sleep. "Fine."

"I'll help you." Beth said as she started climbing back over the fence.

Merle snickered. "You think yer scrawny ass can help her?" Merle said then surprised everyone by scooping Abby up and carrying her to where her chair still sat by the curb and gently setting her down into it.

"What now Captain Hook? You just have one hand! You can't push me." Abby said smirking back at Merle.

"I can do that, and I could've helped her just fine." Beth said indignantly.

"She is tougher than she looks, Merle. Give Beth some credit. And I'm not a complete invalid, I can still walk, I just get tried easily."

Merle smirked. "You're welcome. You should talk to your brother, get him to let me outside the walls, then I can go get my brother. Get back him here so he can look after his pretty wife."

"Tyrese, Michonne and Rosita can handle him." Abby said tiredly. "Besides, I might be warming up to you, but I still don't trust you."

"Oh, that hurts, sugar." Merle said feigning being stabbed in the heart. "Unlike my little brother, family still means something to me, and since yer married to Darylina that makes you family."

"Family means everything to Daryl!" Beth said defensively. "You just lost the right to be called that! I mean what kind of brother tries to pull his younger brother into drugs and alcohol, intentionally!"

"Beth." Abby gently warned.

Merle instantly went from playful to pissed but he still kept a smile on his face, which Abby had learned from past experience, is his most volatile mood. "Don't pretend you know what our lives have been like, Miss priss. Growing up in yer big old fancy house with yer churchy daddy and perfect family, you have no idea what it's like to be me."

"I have an idea." Beth said, getting a stiff upper lip.

Abby reached over her shoulder and put her hand on Beth's arm as she shook her head. "Honey, I don't think you do. Even I don't. Daryl may have shared a few personal things with you but to actually be there and live through that, only they can understand it." Abby looked from Beth to Merle. "And you don't get to look down on her because she had a good family, which by the way is mostly gone. All she got is Maggie now, as far as blood goes, and while she don't understand what it was like to grow up as you did, she knows what it's like to survive. She's more than earned her keep since the outbreak."

"I'm sorry Abby. I shouldn't be arguing. Let's get you back to bed." Beth touched her shoulder then grabbed the push bars and headed for Abby's townhouse as Merle continued to glare at Beth.

111

Abby woke to someone gently shaking her awake. When she opened her eyes, she was a little surprised to see both Denise and Enid in her room.

"Where's Daryl?" Abby mumbled as she sat up, Daryl's vest sliding from her shoulder. "And where did his vest come from?"

"We don't know, him and those who went with him, haven't come back." Denise looked at her, looking very worried.

"Neither have the others. I'm really worried about Maggie." Enid said staring out the window.

Abby looked in confusion from Daryl's vest to the Denise. "Others?"

"All of your friends, they're gone." Enid answered before Denise could. "Carol and Sophia just disappeared, and Rick went to go look for them, but he couldn't find them. Then, just after he got back, something went wrong with Maggie's baby. Everyone went with her to Hilltop."

Abby looked at Denise again, panicked. "What's wrong with Maggie's baby?" Abby asked, her voice sounding high pitched.

Denise grabbed both of Abby's arms. "Deep breath, Abby. I don't know what's wrong but they're taking her to see Hilltop's doctor, since that's his thing. They'll take good care of her, they can still save her and the baby both."

"I tried to go with them, but Carl locked me in a closet." Enid groused, apparently not noticing Abby's present state of trying to not have a panic attack.

"Carl went with? And he locked you in a closet?" Abby didn't know whether she should descend into a full-blown panic attack or laugh. "What time is it?"

"Just past midnight, Reg wants to talk to you. He's worried we'll be attacked during the night and you and Merle are the only real fighters left here." Denise said as she stood up.

"What happened to Abraham? Did he go with everyone too?"

"No, he snuck out the last night so that if anybody was watching, they wouldn't see him. Although nobody seems to know where." Denise frowned as she helped Abby out of bed.

"Speaking of, where has Abraham, Glenn and those other four people, gone?" Enid asked as she came onto Abby's good side.

"Somewhere safe and if you want to stay that way, I'd suggest that you don't think about it any further." Abby said as she winced as she tried to get out of bed.

Enid looked at her cautiously. "Why? What are you going to do?"

Abby rolled her eyes as she finally got to her feet. "It's not what I'm going to do. Have you ever heard the saying knowledge is power?" Enid nodded her head. "Well knowledge can also make you a target too. With the Saviors still out there, the less you know, the less likely they'll try and hurt you."

"But you know a lot, so wouldn't they try to hurt you then?" Enid asked as they started for the stairs.

"That's the point honey. I'll take it all to protect other people and I've been trained to resist interrogation. Neither me nor Abraham would ever break, no matter what they did to us."

"Let's hope it never gets to that." Denise said as they reached the bottom step. "Enid, why don't you carry the wheelchair outside and I'll help Abby out the front door."

Once they managed the arduous task of getting Abby outside, they pushed Abby down the street to Reg's house. When they reached the house, Denise knocked on the door then helped Abby onto her feet. Reg answered the door with a worried look on his face.

"Thank you, ladies, I'll get Spencer to help her back home when we're done. Enid, you should get back to your post with Hope." Reg said as he took Abby's hand and guided her inside.

Once inside, he guided her to the living room. There Spencer sat sipping his drink, a rifle propped up beside him. He nodded his head to her as Reg guided her to the sofa chair and helped her sit down.

"So, what's going on?" Abby asked once she'd taken a seat.

"I'm worried that we're about to be attacked. Rick said that Carol had encountered several Savior's when she was leaving. She killed them all, but they were uncomfortably close to home. He never managed to find Carol, but Morgan is still out there searching. Now the rest of you friends are out their, also, and we haven't received word that they'd arrived. I'm concerned."

"Have you been using those night vision goggles I brought back?" Abby asked.

"Yes, and they haven't spotted anything the last couple of nights. Has Merle said anything more?"

Abby sighed. "I haven't exactly been in the loop on that but from what he told me from before, the Savior's deploy a lot of guerilla tactics."

"Which means?"

"Which means, they like to ambush and if they have the numbers, they like to use extreme violence." Abby rubbed her shoulder. "It's unlikely that they'll attack our walls, they'll wait for us to leave and then they'll attack, maybe use hostages to take control of this place."

"They'll blackmail us to get control?" Spencer asked doubtfully.

Abby nodded. "Denise told me that they had intended on using Eugene as their damsel and were going to force Daryl and her to get the gates open for them."

"So, what do we do?" Reg asked looking at her desperately.

"There's nothing we can do really. I mean, we could get extra guards on the walls but there's only so many of us and if we're all on the wall and they decide to attack us midday? We'll be tired, and we'll be at a disadvantaged. It's better to have our normal guard and let everybody get their rest for when or if they attack."

"That's it?" Spencer asked in disbelief. "Rick was blowing his horn about how great of a tactician his little sister is and that's all you got?"

"Gee, sorry, I left my crystal ball in my other caste." Abby growled. "I know dick all 'bout these people. I don't know their numbers, their resources, their world view." Spencer rolled his eyes. "Hey, knowin' how people see the world, knowing what they believe in, helps you predict what they'll do. I'm used to knowing where my enemy have fortified themselves, or at least the general area, and having satellites to give me general intel on their base or troop position. It's information that wins wars, not guesses and right now, we have nothing but guesses."

"I'm sorry, Abby." Reg said. "Spencer is just stressed out, we're not used to all of this. Maybe, once Rick gets back, we should set up a spy network or scouts or something. Get that information you were talking about."

Abby sighed and nodded her head. "That'd be…helpful if we can get people who know how to blend into their environment, see but not be seen. They'd have to know how to survive off of the land, so they don't need to come home every night."

"Merle would be a good start, wouldn't he? I mean he's Daryl's brother, he said he taught Daryl everything he knows."

Abby shook her head. "Not everything and on paper, that might be a good idea. I just don't know how much I trust him. Merle definitely knows how to survive but he might just run back to the Savior's or back to Georgia."

"Back to Georgia?" Reg asked surprised.

"He said that if we hadn't captured him when we did, he'd have eventually snuck away and ran back home. Georgia's familiar, him and Daryl have been living off the land their whole lives, those boys don't need processed food or guns to live. They could live like cavemen and be happy."

"Daryl definitely doesn't seem to comfortable here." Reg noted.

"It takes getting used to, even if you'd lived in the suburbs before. Living out there, surviving on nothing, constantly running for your life, you practically get whiplash when you walk through that gate."

"I guess I can see that." Reg said as he stood up. "You should rest, we need to get you healthy as quick as possible."

As promised, Reg got Spencer to escort her back to the townhouse. Instead of going back to sleep, Abby painfully carried a barstool with a back rest, up to their room, then to the balcony. She then brought her rifle out, then popped the stand out so she didn't have hold it, before sitting down to watch the horizon. She felt nervous. Ever since Daryl had up and left without a word, heck even before that, something didn't feel right and now the feeling was even worse. It reminded her of the unsettled feeling she had in the weeks before the prison had been attacked, and with the Savior's looming nearby, the same fate almost seemed imminent for this place.

Abby sat there for hours, even well after the sun hand risen, she sat there. It wasn't until just past midday, the RV suddenly appeared on the horizon. Abby thought that the view of that vehicle should bring her relief, but it didn't. Abby got up, then made her way downstairs. At one point, Enid had shown up and when Abby refused to move from her spot, she'd brought Abby some food and a bottle of water then came back every few hours to check on her. Denise had also come to check on her, tried very hard to get her to lay down, even tried to order her but Abby ignored her. Her body was screaming in pain but her worry for her family, won out over her pain.

Once outside her townhouse, she walked to the gate as fast as her weak body would allow, then waited for them to arrive. When they did roll into town, she followed the RV until it came to a stop outside of Rick's house. It took an unsettling amount of time for the first person to step out and when they did, Abby's level of anxiety skyrocketed. Michonne was the first to step out and she averted her eyes away from Abby and looked very emotional as she walked off without a word. Then came Rosita, who quickly glanced up at her with guilt in her eyes before turning away, also without a word.

Then came Carl who looked like he was on the verge of crying as he walked straight towards her and hugged her while Rick was hot on his heels but stopped short of hugging her. She only partly noticed Eugene disembark but her focus was fully on Rick was he touched her face.

"How's Maggie?" Abby croaked, dreading the answer.

"She's going to be fine, same with her baby. Doctor Carson wanted to keep an eye on her, so we left her there along with Beth and Sasha." Rick said, his eyes starting to get watery. "We ran into the Savior's." Rick voice broke as he suddenly grabbed Carl's shoulder and looked down.

"What happened?" Abby asked as she tried to choke down her anxiety. Rick was really worked up and that scared Abby like nothing ever could. "Where's Tyrese? Where's Daryl?"

"They surrounded us, we tried to escape but we…we couldn't." Rick continued.

"Where's Daryl!?" Abby asked, her panic rising.

"They said we had to pay. They killed Tyrese and then Aaron." Rick said getting more and more worked. "They were going to make me cut Carl's…" Rick choked on his words as he put his hands on his face, tears now streaming down his face. "They took Daryl, they said to make sure we behave, so that we do what we're told…"

Abby nearly fainted then, first from relief then renewed panic. But that feeling quickly vanished, replaced by a hot, burning rage. "I'm going to kill everyone of those assholes!" Abby seethed.

Rick quickly grabbed her shoulders. "No! You're not! We're gonna do what they say and then Daryl will live."

Abby swatted Rick's hands off her shoulders, her injury forgotten, Carl finally letting go of her and stepping back while eyeing both of them carefully. "Like hell I will! They might plan on keeping him a live, but do you know what those assholes are going to do in the meantime? They gonna torture him, make him pay for each and everyone of their people that we killed. I will not let that happen, I will not abandon him!"

"What about us, Abigail? If you attack them, they'll attack us!" Rick replied now getting angry. "They outnumber us, probably five to one, if not more!"

"I'm not stupid Rick! I know what I'm doing and unless you went on about your highly trained sister, they won't know it was me!"

"No. You are not doing this." Rick said firmly, grabbing her shoulders as Carl looked uncertainly between the two of them.

"What're gonna do? Lock me up?" Abby asked, then tried to reef her body out of his grip but she only hissed in pain at the motion.

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm gonna do, until you grow a brain." Rick said angrily as he swiftly pulled out his handcuffs and put one on her wrist in one smooth motion.

Abby started thrashing violently but she was weak, and her brother was strong, and he knew what she'd do. Carl begged his father to stop, but after a bit of a scuffle, he successfully got the handcuffs on her and pulled her back to her feet. Tears were rolling down Abby's face when she looked at her brother angrily, both in pain from her injury and the betrayal she felt from her brother. She spat in Rick's face when two men grabbed her arms uncertainly and led her off, Abby fighting for only part of the way as her body gave out on her. Instead of leading her off to their new cell, that Merle resided in at night, they brought her to her townhouse and locked her in her own bedroom.

Rick had made a quick search of her room, taking all her guns and weapons and anything he thought she might use to escape. Once he'd completed the searched, he stopped at the door and looked back at her with a look of extreme guilt.

"I'm sorry, baby girl, I know you hate me right now, but this is for the best." Rick said, tears in his eyes once more.

"Screw you!" Abby screamed with all the venom that now coursed through her veins as she reached for one of the bedside lamps and threw it as hard as she could at him.

Rick managed to dodge the lamp then looked back at her in surprise. "Abigail, I…" Rick started as he stepped forward.

"Get out!" Abby screamed again, tears flowing down her cheeks. "I hate you! I wish you never left that hospital!"

"Abigail…"

"GET OUT!"

Abby truly didn't mean it, but, in that moment, she didn't care. She'd lost so much over the years first friends in the war, then her first husband, her sister-in-law, more friends, so many more friends, then her baby and now he was just expecting for her to wait and see if they'd let her present husband, the man she was madly in love with, live. She rather die then let the Savior's keep Daryl.

111

Denise showed up a couple hours later to check on her wound. She stepped in cautiously, probably expecting to see a pacing tiger or potentially have something thrown at her head but only found a lethargic shell of a woman. Abby didn't reply to any of Denise's question's as she entered the room, then didn't make any move to help or hinder her as Denise cleaned her wound. Abby just sat on the ground with her back to the wall as she stared out the window towards the horizon. Carl came in a short while later and she looked at him, but she had no expression. When he lowered his face to better look at hers, she stroked his face lovingly and said, "I'm fine" then resumed looking out the window.

When darkness fell, Abby finally left her seat and quietly went about the room, dressing in her fatigues but instead of donning her Kevlar vest, she put on Daryl's vest. Rick had gone through her go bag very thoroughly but he hadn't taken out any of the clothes or provisions she had in there, just weapons and her rope. Once she'd stuffed her sniper camo inside the bag and Kevlar vest to the outside, she slung her pack onto her back and went to the window. It was now pitch-black outside with no moon looming overhead, making it a perfect night to escape from anything. Lucky for her, she was only four doors down from the armory and she fully intended on getting her weapons back.

She quietly opened the door to the balcony and peered down below. There was someone standing there watching her front door, they probably had someone watching her bedroom door too. She carefully climbed onto the roof then made her way to the end, where the armory and pantry stood. Instead of going for the front door or the window to the armory, she climbed down where to the garage door was located and climbed down. She lifted the door only enough for her to slip inside then picked the lock on the door that led inside. Just like her door, there was a guard posted to the front of the armory, but Rick had unwisely left the inside unprotected.

Once she'd picked the lock for the armory, she wasted no time in gathering her pistol, an assault rifle, her knife and her sniper rifle which she disassembled and put in her pack. She was just about to leave the way she came, when she heard careful footsteps coming from where she'd come so, she instead headed up the steps and climbed out the first window she came across. Sure enough, when she looked outside, she saw Michonne standing by the back door with Rosita looking around.

They hadn't seen her go in, but they'd predicted that she might try something, and they were right, but they were neither fast enough nor smart enough to get her. Abby's body ached, and screamed for rest but she didn't care, she wouldn't rest until she found her husband.

Abby carefully surveyed the area with the night vision scope she'd taken off of her rifle, then climbed down and headed in the direction they would never think she'd go, the corral. The horse nickered softly as she approached, then nuzzled into her as she carried the saddle Rick had found while scavenging, over to her. Abby nearly passed out from the pain when she swung the saddle onto Libby's back but managed to get it up there. After several long minutes of breathing, she settled the pain down enough to finish saddling the horse. She then quietly guided the horse out of the corral towards the secondary gate. There were two guards standing there but they were very green. They nodded their heads as she approached.

"Where are going? I don't think Rick wants anyone to leave." Tim said uncertainly.

"Everyone but me. It's a need to know type of thing but you go tell Rick I'm leaving, I'm sure he'll appreciate it." Abby said, guessing he hadn't heard what had happened this afternoon. Tim looked towards the gate then towards Rick's house. "Don't worry, I'll let myself out and your partner up their can keep an eye out. It's not going to take long."

Finally, Tim nodded and started towards Rick's house as Abby pulled the latch. Oh, to be young and naïve, Abby thought. Hopefully Rick would tear a piece from him, what he did was incredibly dangerous and stupid on so many levels. The other man came down as she walked through the gate, then closed it behind her.

She immediately mounted the horse and trotted down the road until she came to a dirt road and turned out of sight of the gate. She put her heels to Libby's side and gritted her teeth as the horse took off. The bouncing of the horse's gate jarred her wound, but she needed to get as far away from Alexandria as quickly as possible. Once Rick knew she was gone, he climbed into a car and go after her, probably knowing where she was going. The same place as Daryl had gone.

When she couldn't take the bouncing anymore, she slowed Libby to a walk. She looked up at the perfectly clear night sky, to get her bearings then steered the horse into the bush. Thankfully, the brush wasn't particularly thick here, so she could see quite far ahead as her vision adjusted to the darkness and Libby carefully picked her way through. Cutting through the bush was much quicker, considering a horse could not out run a car but a horse could take short cuts that not even a motorcycle could take.

By the time Abby had reached the train tracks, the sun had started to peek over the horizon. When she found the cars that had attracted Denise's attention, she slid off of the horse and stretched her legs. After she began to look around, it didn't take long for Abby to locate Daryl's motorcycle hidden beneath a pile of branches. From there, she found his tracks which headed off into the brush and followed them. She followed them for ten minutes then found the point where Michonne, Tyrese and Rosita had found him then followed his tracks as he set off with only one other person, either Michonne or Rosita, judging from the size.

Daryl had followed the tracks to a dirt road but instead of continuing forward, they backtracked then veered off in another direction. Abby followed those tracks until he stopped and both him and his companion knelt down. There was also blood there, right where Daryl had knelt and now that the sun was up, she could see where the bullet had hit the ground, passing through him. Abby bit her lip as she looked at the blood, Rick hadn't told her that he'd been injured. That wasn't surprising though, in his head he was protecting her by not telling her and he probably assumed they would both be healed by the time the Savior's let Daryl go.

There were at least ten different tracks, in the clearing that Daryl had stopped to observe, and it took Abby a little time to figure out which direction they had eventually gone. Abby was no longer sure if she was following Daryl's tracks, but a large group had moved back to the dirt road she'd found earlier and when she looked more closely, she found at least two set of tire tracks, one of which was from a particularly large vehicle with unique treads. This gave Abby some hope that she might still find them, even though the track led to a paved road. Abby was about to mount up again, when a pitiful whine caught Abby's attention. When she turned, she saw Jack limping out from the bush, heading straight towards her. Abby immediately trotted over to him and picked him up.

"I'm sorry, buddy." Abby said sadly. "I didn't even know you'd been here."

She inspected his wound, he'd technically been shot in the head, but the bullet had grazed the side of his head and gone through his ear. His front leg was also broken, it looked like it'd been stomped on and when she opened his mouth, he was miss one of his canines. Abby slid her pack off and pulled out her first aid kit, most people wouldn't waste their supplies on a dog, but Jack wasn't just a dog to her. She cleaned his wound, then held him down as she set his leg. He yipped in pain then lay still as she made a splint and wrapped his leg. Once she was done attending to Jack's wound's, she took a couple deep breathes then hoisted Jack onto the horse. Then swung herself up into the saddle, after her pain had settled down to an annoying throb and turned to follow the road in the direction the vehicles had turned, staying in the shadow of the trees.

Abby followed the road for an hour, checking side roads for signs of the vehicles turning off but if they did, she saw nothing indicating that they had. Abby sighed in frustration, she was a day behind the people who had taken Daryl, so most of their tire tracks could be blown away or covered by other vehicles. She was exhausted, and her body was starting to seize up on her and Jack needed a proper place to lay, so she decided to find a place to hole up in and get some rest. She'd resume her search in a few hours.


Dun, dun, dun! To be continued XD

-Shockra