Disclaimer:I do not own The Walking Dead: Not it's characters, certainly not Daryl Dixon -sadly-, not the plot (except the stuff that's not part of the original story), the story line, etc.

I also don't own whatever Canadian slangs that I end up using.

However: I do own Jo and Ben Teague, they are my own characters that I have created.

Note: I have started writing again! -yay!- And due to that, I started to reread this story and found out that I didn't like how I've worded/phrased some things, so I've decided to rewrite it.

Also, like before, if I end up using terms that some people don't understand/don't know because they are Canadian terms, I will be posting their meanings at the bottom of the page.


For anyone who didn't know me, such as Rick and Daryl, the words I had just spoken would seem completely bonkers. Especially since I normally did not let myself go so unfiltered like that. From front seat, I heard Rick choke on his breath while Glenn accidentally swerved the truck to the side with an amused laugh. Next to me, T-Dog snorted in amusement and chuckled -since he didn't take offense to what I said and because this was not the first time I let my unfiltered mind loose around him. On my other side, Daryl had straightened his posture and scowled at me, but when my grey eyes met his green ones, I saw his lips twitch into a smirk. Unfortunately, being unfiltered was a bad habit of mine that only came out in certain situations, like being in uncomfortable silence or whenever I was in awkward or difficult situations. This all started when I had my previous life, back home while I was up north. My blunt and crude nature were often off-putting, since not everyone enjoyed or understood my need to ease the tension around me. It wasn't the first time I made a sexual reference to the situation I was in, especially when it was an awkward one.

"Maybe, we'll see how things go, Jo," Rick cleared his throat first before he responded to me and I could only pout at that. I did notice that he had seemed hesitant to answer me.

I didn't take offense to that since many people were hesitant whenever my filter failed me. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed again. "Fine…" I looked over at Rick with a pout, and met his amused look with a perfected kick-puppy look.

Around me, T-Dog and Rick both chuckled and Daryl ended up rolling his eyes since he had view of my face. When I relented, seeing that Rick had turned back to face the front again, I turned around again and brought one of my knees up, near my chest. Silence passed through us once again, but unlike last time, it wasn't awkward or suffocating. Finally, I could relax around the guys, without feeling like some used cum slut. With this comfortable silence, I ended up falling into a light sleep. I knew the guys had started to talk amongst themselves, but I couldn't make heads of what the topic was about.

When I was younger, I never made it a habit of falling asleep while inside a moving vehicle. Partly because it was hard to with four younger siblings yelling and screaming and partly because the washboard roads that we always drove on. So usually I avoided sleeping in a vehicle whenever possible, unless it was parked. I'm not sure when we stopped, but I felt someone nudge me awake. When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was Daryl as he stood in front of me.

"We here?" I asked him curiously as I stretched my arms out, feeling them pop in satisfaction.

"Yeah, we here. Now get off yer ass or we're leaving ya behind, Canuck," the hunter grumbled in irritation as I looked up at him with furrowed brows. Without warning, Daryl huffed and yanked me from the floor, rather forcefully. I yelped out in surprise as I crashed into the redneck, who pushed me away from him, as if I had just burned him. "The fucking Snow Monkey finally woke up," he growled once he jumped out of the truck and I followed behind, glaring at the hunter's head.

"Oh bite me, Dixon," the retort was weak, I knew that, but the response I got from Daryl and the others was worth it, especially when one considered what kind of world we were lived in now. Daryl muttered something under his breath as I walked over to the others. "Sorry about making you guys wait like that. I didn't realize I slipped into slumber," I apologized, especially since I hadn't meant to put us behind schedule.

"It's fine Jo, don't worry about it," Rick tensely nodded, trying to seem indifferent before turning to the rest of the group. "Let's go."

The five us stated off in a slight jog, following Glenn, who had taken the lead. I took the rear as we followed the train tracks into the city, since Glenn had parked us ways away. We reached a bridge and stopped for a moment as Glenn opened the side of a chain fence, which had been cut to allow people to go through. Once everyone had passed through and the fence was secured again, Rick turned to the five of us, it was time to decide which direction we'll go it seemed.

"Merle first or guns?" he asked as we gathered around him.

"Merle! We ain't even having this conversation," Daryl stated as he started to round on the group.

Next to me, T-Dog and Glenn both sighed as I pinched the bridge of my nose a bit. I truly did hope that it wasn't going to be like this the entire time we were in the city to retrieve Merle and the bag of guns. It seemed that Rick had the same thoughts as he turned to face Daryl, and bless that man's soul, he was trying to keep everyone calm.

"We are," he stated as we started to move once more and turned to Glenn. "You know the geography. It's your call," he told the Asian and I chanced a look over at Daryl, who was to my left. From what I could tell, he wasn't pleased with that decision, but for once, he didn't say anything about it.

Glenn was silent for a few moments before he replied, "Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn's decision made sense, but I also had a feeling that he also didn't want to incur the wrath of Daryl.

With that in mind, the five of us began to jog into the city, towards the department store where Merle was currently handcuffed to. It was a long jog from where we had parked, but went easy since we five all kept quiet as we followed Rick, Glenn and T-Dog to the area. Daryl and I had our bows readied, in case we had to fire them, but we didn't have to, luckily enough. Once we entered the department store, Daryl took the initiative and took the lead, desperate to get his brother back, but at the same time, he was also being careful. I took up the rear to make sure no Flesh-Dolls came up behind us, not to mention that I could easily catch up to the others if I fell behind since I was quick on my feet. The department store was quiet, too quiet in my mind, which caused the fine hairs on my arms to stand on end. The five of us were quiet as we moved through the first floor.

We only stopped when Rick raised one of his hands in warning and motioned for Daryl and I to move ahead of them. That was when we noticed the Walker. There was only one, as far as I could tell, and female by the body structure that I could see. I shared a look with Daryl, and wondered which one of us would take the shot as we moved across the floor, across from one another.

"Damn," I heard Daryl mutter quietly. "You are one ugly skank."

The comment caused me to snort quietly in amusement while Daryl shot the Walker between the eyes. I took the time as Daryl walked over to the corpse to retrieve his bolt to see if there were any others around. I looked over at Rick and shook my head in reassurance that main level was safe, for now at least. I couldn't help but scrunch my nose a bit as I caught sight of Daryl wiping the residue from the Walker on his pants. It was moments like this that I was glad I had my own set of duties to attend to and that I didn't have to worry about laundry, except for Ben and I. I took a moment as we regrouped to see if there was anything left over in the store to take back with me for my medical kit, but all I saw was a store that was picked over. Maybe I would have some luck somewhere else. If we did stop someplace else, that was. If not, I could always go into town with Glenn, the next time he did a run.

Since the main area was fine, the five of us headed up the stairs. I took the rear once more to cover our asses while Rick and T-Dog cut the padlock. I heard a snap from the metal, but before anyone else could go first, Daryl barrelled his way onto the roof, quickly followed by the rest of us while Rick and Glenn shared a look. I felt my stomach drop a bit when I didn't hear any response from the roof of Merle speaking to his brother or least swearing to hell and back. In fact, the moment I stepped onto the roof, I knew for certain that the five of us were alone there. Merle was no where to be found. But what got to me was the scent of blood that teased the air and I moved forward, just as Daryl yelled out. I looked over at the man and for the first time since I met him, I felt pity. Pity because Daryl's only family was gone without a trace. The only indication that Merle had been there was Dale's bloody hacksaw and Merle's severed hand.

"Ah, fuck…" I couldn't help but curse under my breath as I stood in between Rick and Glenn.

Truthfully, I hated to see Daryl like this, it wasn't him. If that makes any sense. I was used to Daryl being a touch guy who kept his pain to himself, but no. Here he was, with anguish laced yells all because his brother was not around anymore. I felt my hand tighten around my bow as I watched the scene before me. I had to rest my bow onto my back before I broke it due to the reminder of what I had gone through with my family.

The one thing that I couldn't help but wonder though, as I stared at the scene before us, was where Merle had gone off two. I knew from experience, or rather from dealing with situations like this, that it would be almost impossible to get anywhere when pain flooded the brain. It was one of the few things that could cause the brain to overload. Pain was a fickle thing after all, but it could easily be used as an agent to focus. The brain was strange that way, as it could easily trick itself or alter our perception in a way that would make the most sense given the situation. Pain was a lot like fear in that aspect, but I didn't say any of that out loud.

Instead, I walked towards the scene to get a better look, the healer in me was on autopilot as I knelt on the roof to analyze the area. I could only come up with scenarios about what happened or what went through Merle's mind when he decided to do this. I wasn't ill from the site of the severed hand; in fact, I have seen my fair share of bloody limbs already and it was a sight that I was rather used to. Behind me, I could hear Daryl pace as the others walked off the metal area we entered on. I only looked over to the others when I heard someone shout, since it had distracted me while I had been in mid-thought. That irritated me but what caught my interest in the scene that was going on, was the fact that Daryl had his crossbow pointed at T-Dog and Rick had his cocked his gun with it aimed at Daryl's head, the barrel pressed right against his temple.

"Boys…." I muttered under my breath and rolled my eyes.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it," I heard Rick threaten Daryl in an overly calm voice. It was the type of voice that reminded me of my father, whenever he became fed up with whatever was going on. I could only watch, with slight irritation as Daryl looked at everyone before his eyes finally settled on me. I could only raise an eyebrow at him before nodded over to his brother's hand.

I knew for a fact that the redneck was a mess. It wasn't just because of Rick's threat to fire on him, but it was the knowledge that his brother was somewhere, injured and possibly even bleeding to death. There were no real words to describe such a feeling, especially since Rick, T-Dog and Glenn had basically assured Daryl that Merle would be there, on the roof. I lost interest in them as I focused my attention back on the pool of blood and noticed a trail that went to the side of the building. I barely heard Daryl ask if anyone had a do-rag or something before he walked over to me. I felt his leg brush against me before he knelt off to the side, closer to the hand than I had been and sighed.

"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs," Daryl explained a bit as he reached over to grab the hand. The clump of flesh had been suck thanks to the small pool of blood around it. When it was in the air, I could get a better look at it and let out a low whistle at the damage that I saw. "Ain't that a bitch…"

I turned towards Daryl and looked at the hand more closely. I could see just how Merle had decided to go about cutting his hand off. There were torn veins and ligaments, which told me that the cuts had been made with short bursts of haste. Not to mention that the skin itself had several hesitation marks on them. What got me the most though, was the sheer brutality and pain that Merle would have gone through.

"Damn, that would have taken him at least ten minutes if he didn't stop, maybe more if he did," I couldn't help but speculate. I felt the four guys look at me, as if I had grown an extra head, but I ignored them in favour of looking at the dried blood. "The blood looks to be about six to eight hours old, but that's only a guess since it looks wet still in the middle," I pointed to the middle of the blood pool. "The pain to do this though," I shook my head a bit as I thought of all the different possibilities, "would have been excruciating, even if he was tweaking, the pain would have sobered him up instantly. Add the fact that he might have gotten heat stroke to boot…" I didn't bother finishing that sentence as I shrugged at the others as I stood up. "But, damn, just damn."

I dusted my pants off as I pursed my lips in thought, all the knowledge that I had required, before the world went to hell, had pooled into my mind as I tried to think of what Merle would have done next, after he had cut his hand off.

"He must have used a tourniquet—maybe his belt," Daryl spoke up and I looked over at him. He stood near the pipe and looked down at the blood pool that I had been looked at moments before. "Be much more blood if he didn't." Daryl started to follow the blood trail to the side of the building. I looked over at Rick and T-Dog, both had begun to pick up Dale's leftover tools to take back with us when we left back to camp.

Once everyone was ready, we followed Daryl as he followed the blood trail and it led us to the next building that the roof connected to. Daryl took the lead here and I took the rear, since I had taken my bow from my back once more. Behind me, I closed the door to the roof and followed the guys down the stairs.

"Merle? You in here?" Daryl called down the hallway, but as I expected, no one replied.

I had my suspicions that either Merle was long gone from here, or he had died already. Neither option was good, especially since the redneck would need serious medical care so his wound wouldn't become infected. I knew stories from doctors who couldn't get to their patients in time and their wounds became infected, which turned into gangrene, which then turned into amputation.