"YOU FUCKING IDIOT!" Andrea was screaming at Merle while Bob stitched the open lashes back together. Tyreese had told the others what had happened while they were coming back with Glenn and Maggie, and now the Beta had twenty new open wounds on his back, shoulders, sides and chest. The skin was all shades of bruising, from a blackish purple to a sickly yellow. Maggie was helping Bob clean the Beta up while Andrea shouted abuse at him for taking the beatings and not telling them about it.
"And what would you have done?!" Merle snaps back. He was sitting backwards on a chair with his arms resting on the back of it to keep them out of the way while they fixed his wounds. "Yelled at him? Told the town? They all know where I came from, hell half of them lived in the same county as me. They know my daddy beat me and Daryl and any wounds they find on me are just going to go straight to that. Throw the name Dixon out there and watch every single one of them give you the stink eye and nose crinkle, like you were a cat that brought them a dead, half eaten mouse."
"You should have told us." Tyreese says, "We're your Pack, you should have at least trusted Andrea and Michonne enough to tell them."
"I do trust them. I trust you all too." Merle sighs then winces. Glenn comes forward and hands him a bottle of water, using another to clean a cut on his shoulder. "But if I had told you, what would you have done?"
"I didn't need you to take my beating Merle." Glenn tells him gently, "I was crap to you, at the Quarry and back at the strip mall. I could have taken mine and Maggie's, but I don't deserve you taking them."
"None of that now boy." Merle huffs, "At the Quarry you would have tucked tail and shown your belly to Sophia if she told you that she didn't like what color band aids you found. I wasn't expecting anything out of you there, especially with Shane as the Prime. And at the strip mall you and your Mate were attacked and held at gunpoint. You found out I was working for them and acted just like I knew you would; with suspicion and wariness. Besides, I knew what they would do to ya. You don't owe me nothing."
"I owe you everything; we'd be dead if you hadn't shown up and our Pack wouldn't know what was going on if you hadn't sent the others to them." Glenn shakes his head, "We'll have to agree to disagree."
Merle hums. Andrea kneels in front of him and takes his face in her hands, squeezing his cheeks, "You piss me off Dixon. We could have at least fixed some of the wounds, so you wouldn't have four of them infected."
"Five." Bob whines. He takes a bottle of rubbing alcohol and hands Merle a belt to bite down on. Glenn holds out his hand and when the Beta refuses to take it, the Alpha rumbles until he does with a huff and an eye roll. Bob pours it on the wound and Merle tenses, screaming around the leather. Andrea shoves his face into her scent gland with the Bite, so Merle can smell his Pack with him.
Maggie cleans the puss out of the wound and wipes away the blood with a whimper. The way some of the Pack had talked about Merle back at the farm made him seem like redneck trash; Shane, Lori, Dale…. even Andrea.
Daryl refused to talk about him and she understood why; he was family and he was gone. None of them talked about the people they lost in the beginning of the apocalypse, and they barely talk about the ones the lost during it.
But to see this Beta grit his teeth while they cleaned his wounds, wounds he'd gotten simply from trying to protect them…. It made her want to smack everyone that had ever said a bad thing about him. But when she looks at Andrea, who was holding this Beta's head and fighting the tears in her eyes while she tried to soothe him, the Alpha figures she was suffering enough as it is. They get him cleaned up and cut away some of the infection as much as they can.
"Shit." Merle coughs the belt out of his mouth and they let him take a minute, just watching as his body shakes. Bob takes this time to take care of Glenn's wounds, but both Alphas keep an eye on Merle.
"Why did they do it?" Tyreese asks. "Is this place like Traditional or something?"
"The place is run Traditional only in name." Merle grunts, "Don't worry, I've dealt with these kinds my whole life."
"They're Polkrato, aren't they?" Glenn whispers, "We have to get all of you out of here."
Bob looks up, confused. "Pol- What?"
"Polkrato?!" Andrea gasps, "Oh god, no wonder we didn't see any other Omegas. This place is like a fucking Alpha enthusiast camp. Omegas aren't allowed outside beds except to be used by whatever Alpha decides to fuck them that night. Betas are laborers; that's why they have no problem beating Merle and putting him out on runs the same day. Holy fuck…. I'm so glad Sasha isn't here anymore, the things they would have done to her if she'd stay today."
"What do you mean?" Merle asks.
"They sent Alphas into all the homes today." Bob whispers, "I saw three girls get taken out of their beds and sent to the Governor; they got new jobs and then thanked the fucker. One went scavenging and never came back; another's on the wall. Didn't see the last girl after that but I saw her mom crying until one of the soldiers told her that her daughter was working for one of the lieutenants and they might get Mated cause she 'loved him'. Said she wouldn't see her for a while though because her new Alpha was Traditional."
"The one on the scavenger party was an Alpha, she probably spoke out against the Governor or one of the soldiers had it out for her, but female Alphas don't go over the wall. They killed her; hunted and shot if she was lucky. A new Beta on the wall and another Omega was taken to be a Breeder." Merle mumbles into his arm. "Definitely Polkrato."
"Can't we do something?!" Maggie looked close to tears. Glenn hugs her.
"The Governor could have all of us killed." Merle sighs, "We can't do anything but wait."
"How do you know so much about this kind of Pack?" Tyreese rumbles. Glenn flinches and glares at the Alpha. He knew the man was thinking of his sister, who was an Omega, but if he said anything to Merle….
"I grew up in one." Merle looks down, shoulders hunched like he was expecting a hit, "They're racist, sexist, homophobic, and backwards, and I grew up with it all. When my brother presented as an Omega I had to beg my father to put away his rifle by telling him Daryl would be worth more as a Breeder. I did that to save him, but I've never felt so dirty; not even with some of the things I did overseas, and I took him and ran first chance I got."
"Hey." Tyreese lowers himself in front of Merle and looks at him in the eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…. I didn't mean to-"
"It's ok." Merle shrugs, "You have family you want to keep safe. You'd do anything for Sasha, just like I would for Daryl. I get it…. No hard feelings."
"Come on." Bob sighs, "We have to get you guys back in the chairs and we have to get back before they start checking homes with curfew."
They leave Glenn and Maggie in their separate cells after wiping them down with Suppressants. It would wear off before they got any more visitors, but it would also erase the foreign smells on them.
…
It was early night when the Governor's men checked on the prisoners and saw that they had been tended too and aided with Suppressants. The Governor finds out while using the new Breeder and he snaps, killing the young girl. They put clothes on her and taking her down to the cells. Martinez goes into Glenn's cell while the Governor watches with the girl's Walker on a pole.
"Find Merle." He tells one of the other Alphas, "Let's see how he'll talk himself out of this one."
Martinez was beating Glenn without saying anything, and Glenn takes every punch in silence. He would be strong for his Pack…. He'd be strong for Merle who had suffered in his stead. After an hour both Alphas were exhausted, and they send in another to keep going while Martinez recovered. Glenn could hear Maggie crying in the next room but couldn't smell anyone else in there with her, meaning she could hear him and that's what was making her cry.
After the third guy had to be changed out Glenn could barely keep himself awake. Then he smells someone else. This one smelt all kinds of wrong; like Walkers and a full bottle of cologne, catnip and rain. Crazy with power. Glenn figured this could only be one person; the one Merle had warned them about….
"Well I'll be damned." The Governor grins. "You sure do know how to take a hit. I could use a guy like you working for me. But I think this whole thing's lost any chance of that happening huh?"
"Fuck you." Glenn spits at him with a growl.
The Governor hums and moves his foot away from the spit. "You're not going to cooperate, are you? Where's the rest of your people?"
Glenn stays silent. The Governor nods, "Have it your way."
Martinez comes in with the Walker and the Governor steps into the doorway, leaving Glenn as the only thing in its sight. The Prime of Woodbury turns to Glenn, "Maybe your Mate can be persuaded to talk. I got interrupted earlier with this sweet girl and got a little emotional; then killed her. I still need to work some stuff off. If she doesn't talk when we're done, well…...you know what they say. It will be hungry again in an hour."
Martinez lets the Walker go and slams the door shut, cutting off Glenn's scream of rage and fear. The Governor smirks and tells the Alphas to go, he could deal with them. When he goes into the room with the female Alpha he notices that despite the tears in her eyes she was glaring at him. In his mind that made her more attractive. She was wearing a tank top, showing off her Bite.
The Governor walks over to her and cuts her loose, then sits in the chair across from her. "This was all just a big misunderstanding. We'll take you back to your people and explain that to them, just tell us where you are, and we'll drive you there."
"Do you think I'm deaf?" Maggie jabs her thumb into the direction of the wall separating her and Glenn. "A misunderstanding doesn't explain why you just spent the last four hours beating my Mate. I want to talk to Glenn."
"I can't allow that." The Governor smiles, "Your people are dangerous."
Maggie refuses to say anything else to him.
The Governor smiles, "Then let's try something else."
He shifts and jumps over the table, knocking Maggie to the ground. She shifts as well and goes after his throat. Another Alpha comes into the room with a syringe and Maggie freaks. She didn't know what they had in the needle and she didn't want to find out. When she goes to Howl, the Alpha in human form clasps her muzzle shut and the Governor pushes her below him. The Alpha jabs the needle in and then leaves.
The liquid inside the needle made her feel sick, her muscles relaxed, and she shifted back to human form. When she attempted to shift again she couldn't, the drug was in her system. The Governor shifts back as well and sighs, then pulls off her shirt and bra. He leaves scratches down her back and licks them. Maggie was crying, but she refused to say anything. Glenn had dealt with the Walker they threw at him, but she couldn't tell if he'd been bit. She would protect her Pack, even if this fucking Prime Alpha wannabe raped her day in and day out.
The Governor pulls her pants and underwear off, ripping both of her undergarments to useless shreds. He positions himself over her, his lower half already bared, and put the remains of her underwear in her mouth. "My name is Philip…. Just in case you start to enjoy it."
His first thrust is met with a muffled scream.
…..
Glenn uses a chair leg as a weapon when Martinez comes to get him.
"Uh uh." The Alpha smirks, holding out his gun and pointing it at Glenn's head. "Drop it, or I shoot both your Mate and Merle."
Glenn drops the chair leg and lets himself be removed from the room and forced to him knees beside Merle. The Beta's face was beaten almost as bad as Glenn's and he seemed to be having trouble seeing clearly. A concussion. That's when the other door opens, and the Governor drags Maggie out, topless and jeans unbuttoned. She was limping badly and sobbing. While Glenn lets out a scream of pain at the sight of his Mate, Merle was assisting the damage. She had a hickey where her Bite was, a deliberate move on the Governor's part, and more on her arms, stomach and chest. A few scratches on her back too, plus the limping, all point to the Governor…. Merle's stomach turns. He would never be forgiven for bring them here. Glenn would kill him; Rick…. Morgan might never let him see their pups again…. Daryl….
"We're through with games." The Governor says. He points a gun at Maggie's head, "Now one of you is going to give up your camp."
When that doesn't get a reaction out of anyone he turns it on Glenn. Maggie sobs, "The prison!"
Her Pack can see her regret at the words as soon as they leave her mouth, but the Governor lowered the gun just like she hoped. The Governor looks at her, "The one near Nunez? That place is overrun."
"We took it." Glenn takes over.
"How many are you?"
"Ten." He says. "Maybe nine. The inside wasn't clear, and we lost one of our people in the herd. We don't know if they're alive."
"Ten people cleared that whole prison of Biters?" The Governor pressed the gun closer to Glenn's head.
"It's just the cell block and the yards." Maggie gasps. The Governor hums, then takes Maggie and pushes her to Glenn. The two Alphas hold each other while Maggie cries, and Merle's dragged to his feet. He looks back when Glenn whines and sees the Alpha bare his neck to him. He almost sags in relief when Maggie looks over her shoulder and does the same; they don't blame him, they're not angry with him. He does the same as he's pulled around the corner, the last thing he sees is Glenn giving his Mate his shirt to cover herself with.
…..
Rick and his Pack decide to wait for dark before approaching Woodbury, and take that time to go over how they were going to get in.
"They have patrols." Michonne tells them, grabbing supplies from the trunk, "We're better off on foot."
"How far?" Rick looks at the sky, then closes the trunk. "Night's coming soon."
"A mile, maybe two." The four-start walking and run into some Walkers. Rick leads in killing them and Michonne falls into the formation easily. When they start getting overwhelmed they take off, finding a cabin and hiding inside. Daryl drops his bag and shifts as soon as he's in the door, taking out the one Walker inside. They find a dog inside, dying, and Rick puts it out of its misery.
"Oscar check the back. Michonne get the door."
"Rick wait." Daryl comes out, in human form, with two smaller dogs in his arms. The big one had pups that had died already. They put knives through their heads as well. They didn't know if animals could shift and they weren't willing to find out.
"Back's clear." Oscar tells them. Rick and Daryl throw the dead dogs out front to distract the Walkers. Daryl grabs his bag and they take off out the back, circling around to the point where they had run into the Walkers. They keep going until they reach the Woodbury fence, well into the night. They follow Michonne while she sneaks close to the ground by a train, peaking at the back gate from behind a car. There was three Alphas on the gate, one with a spot light they were using to sees Walkers. They wait a few more minutes before Michonne taps Rick on the shoulder, catching everyone's attention.
"I'm going to check and see if there's another way in. Stay here, I'll be back." They nod, and the Alpha female disappears into the trees.
"We need to downsize." Rick tells the other two. He hands them both Suppressants and tells them to apply it.
"What about Michonne?" Oscar asks.
"They already know she's an Alpha. If she gets caught the Suppressants will be useless. This way we have the element of surprise." Rick answers.
"Ain't no way we're getting in the gate." Daryl grunts, checking his crossbow over. "Not with all them guards there."
Michonne comes back and leads them to one of the side walls. They get over with almost no effort and no one the wiser. They go through the back door of one of the food storages, checking the floor for anything alive that might draw attention to them.
Daryl checks the window, then looks at Michonne, "I thought you said there was a curfew?"
"Streets are packed in the day, those are stragglers." She tells them. "If they're still on the street in about ten minutes we're gonna start seeing guards escorting them."
There was a knock on the door and they have just enough time to hide before a Beta male walks through the door. "I know you're in here. Come out, you know you're not supposed to be here. Where are you?"
Rick slams him into a wall and points his gun at him, "Shut up and get on your knees."
Daryl kicks his leg and the man crumbles, Oscar moving forward to zip tie him. Rick flashes red eyes at the Beta, "Where are our people? Your Prime took some of our people, now, where are they? Where is my Pack?!"
"I don't know!" The man repeats. Daryl hits the man with his crossbow, knocking him out. They move on; Michonne going to check the Governor's apartment with one walkie while the others go to get Andrea and the rest of Morgan's Pack with the other.
When they get to the building and outside the room, Rick just knocks on the door. A male Alpha opens it and the three pushes past him and close the door. Rick has him on his knees and was about to demand answers when Andrea comes around the corner with another Alpha male.
"Rick?" She hugs him tearfully. "Oh, thank God."
"You know this guy?" The Alpha on the floor rumbles.
"This is Rick, he's Glenn and Maggie's Prime." She turns to Rick, "This is Tyreese and Bob."
"Sasha's brother?" They put the weapons down and Oscar helps the Alpha up. "Sorry. We've already run into one of the Woodbury men and had to take care of it."
"Is he…" Bob asks.
"He ain't dead." Daryl huffs, "Just unconscious. He'll be fine in a few hours-OOPH!" Andrea buries her head in Daryl's chest.
"I'm sorry." She sobs, "I'm so sorry, Daryl. I was terrible to you and Merle and you have every right to hate me or hit me but I'm sorry. I'm so glad you're ok and alive."
"Alive?" Rick asks.
"Glenn and Maggie were still on their run when I was found." Daryl explains. He hugs Andrea back, silently forgiving her. "They don't know I'm back yet."
"That means if they told Merle…"
"All three of them think I'm dead." The Theta whispers.
Rick pulls out his walkie, "Michonne we've got the others, we're just on the lookout for Glenn and Maggie now."
"Mich?" Andrea sniffles. "We know where they are; we'll take them."
"Got it. I'll find Merle." Her voice comes through the radio, "I'll see you soon Andy."
"Told you not to call me that." Andrea smiles.
"I'm your Mate." Michonne responds. "I'll call you what I want Andy."
"Fine Micky."
"Don't call me that." Andrea laughs.
Tyreese leads them out of the building, and Daryl stops right next to his Mate. "If you even think about it…"
"Course not Darlin'." Rick earns himself a smack to the back of his head. He smiles and follows his Mate.
…
They get to the holding cells and find Martinez over Glenn and Maggie with a gun to their heads. They put bags over their heads and start leading them out of the cell. Daryl doesn't think twice before throwing a flash bang, followed by one of Rick's smoke grenades. The Omega moves forward to where Maggie and Glenn were on the ground, coughing.
He pulls the bags off their heads and smiles at their shocked looks, "I like the doll. COME ON!"
They get back together with the group and make a break for the door, just as the other guys come to their senses and start shooting. They get out on the street, Oscar and Rick carrying Glenn while the others made sure they weren't being followed. They all get into a building and Bob turns to Glenn.
"How badly are you hurt?" Rick gets down to Glenn's level where the Alpha fell and checks him over.
"Some bruised ribs and whatever you can see." He coughs, "Maggie needs it more. She won't be able to walk soon."
"What?" Bob asks looking at her. Daryl frowns, reaching out to touch her shoulder. When she flinches and lowers her eyes, the Theta snarls, pulling her into his arms and letting her cry a little. He sees the others looking at him and mouths, 'Raped.'
Rick starts shifting into his half form, ready to tear the mother fucker apart for hurting his Pack. Glenn whines and he calms down a little. The smaller Alpha was in tears too, "I'm sorry Alpha. After they… they…. The Governor, he…."
"Shhh…." Rick pulls Glenn into his glands, calming him. Glenn continues, "After the Governor…. He pointed a gun at my head and…. I'm sorry Alpha."
"Hey shhh, what's wrong?" Rick purrs at his Pack, concerned.
"We told them about the prison." Maggie whispers, "I'm so sorry Rick, we put everyone in danger but he turned the gun on Glenn and I…. I'm so sorry."
"Stop it." Rick tells her, "You both just went through something traumatic; he threatened your Mate. If that had been me and he pointed a gun at Daryl-"
"He'd have drove them right to the gate himself." Daryl coos at the sobbing Alpha in his arms, "No one is mad, you're not in trouble. Either of you. Your safe, that's all we can ask for right now."
"You're ok." Maggie hugs the Theta, "We thought you were dead. Oh god, the baby?! I can't feel your bump."
Glenn whines loudly and Rick shushes him, "She's ok. It's a girl; we named her Hunter."
"Rick." Andrea whispers from the window, "We have to go."
"Merle?" Daryl asks the two Alphas, "Have you seen my brother? We sent someone looking for him but haven't heard anything."
"He was alive about a half hour ago." Glenn groans getting up. "I'm sorry Daryl; they found out he was helping us. I don't know where he is."
"I have to find him." Daryl looks at Rick with fearful eyes, "He's my brother. I ain't leaving him."
"I know." Rick pulls him off to the side while Andrea looks at Maggie, "But they're hurt, and we haven't heard from Michonne. I need you; with us. Are you with me?"
"Yeah." Daryl swallows, "I'm with you."
Rick kisses him, deeply, while Andrea calls Michonne on the walkie. "Mich, we have Glenn and Maggie. Have you found Merle yet?"
"Not yet." Came the reply. Andrea bite her lip and look at the Prime couple, finding all of them looking at her. She shares a look with Ty and Bob and gets a nod from them, then looks at Maggie and Glenn.
"Be careful when you find him…. He's hurt." Andrea closes her eyes, so she can't meet Daryl's piercing gaze.
"Hurt?" Her Mate asks.
"The Governor…. He's been beating Merle. Whipping him." She takes a deep breath, "He's got about 30 lashes on his back, shoulders and abdomen. We found out about it today when they brought in Glenn and Maggie. They gave him ten for treating me with medicine cause I'm a Beta; ten each when you, Sasha and Tara left. I don't know what they did when they found out he was helping Glenn and Maggie."
She could hear Daryl crying quietly and Rick's rumbles that promised death. She takes a deep breath and gives her the last piece of information, "The Governor knows about the prison. He raped Maggie and then threatened Glenn. He knows where we're going when we leave."
"Leave it to me." Michonne's voice was ice and sent a chill through everyone, "Get out and I'll meet you on the road in less than an hour."
…
Michonne gets to the Governor's apartment and starts looking for anything that could bring Woodbury down. After she got off the walkie with Andrea the Alpha was seeing red. How dare this fuckwad hurt her Pack; her Luna. She'd make him pay.
The only room she hadn't gone through before was the closet. When she kicks the door in she finds fish tanks with Walker heads inside. A banging from the small door off to the side shows a child with a bag over its head. Michonne almost puts the sword down so she can comfort the poor child before she remembers that Tara's sister had told them about the Walker daughter the Governor kept. She pulls the bag off the girl's head and finds Penny. She turns it around and raises her sword, hearing a gun click behind her.
She finds the Governor there with a hand gun pointed at her head. She puts the Walker between them. The Governor whines, putting his gun away and raising his hands. "Don't hurt her. There's no need for her to suffer. Please, don't hurt my little girl."
"Like you hurt Merle?" Michonne growls, "Or Glenn? Maggie?!" She drives her sword through the Walker's head then pushes it at the Alpha. He screams and goes to attack only to fall to the ground with his dead daughter's body. Michonne picks him up and throws him into the fish tanks, shattering them.
The Governor gets back up and gets on top of her, choking her. She grabs a shard of glass and stabs him in the eye. He lets go with a scream and covers it. Getting up Michonne finds her sword next to a bowl of mashed up meat and a spoon. The fucker had been feeding the Walker. She grabs both the sword and the spoon and gets on top of the Governor, panting.
Taking the spoon, she attacks the eye she stabbed, scooping it out of the socket as the Alpha below her screams in pain, trying to fight her off. "That was for Merle."
She cuts off one of his fingers and an ear, "For Glenn."
She stands up and aims her katana at the Alpha's pants, "For Maggie."
The Governor screams even louder when she does this one and she picks up all the parts she cut off and sticks them in a bag. She could hear the guns and smoke grenades going off and Rick yelling over the radio for them to get down and get to cover. When she hears Rick and Daryl arguing over the Omega staying behind to provide them cover, she gets on.
"Rick!" She waits for a response, "I'm heading your way now, ten minutes top. I'll cover for him."
She leaves the Governor on the floor, unworried if he died. Her Pack would be gone before he turned, why should she care if the bastard ate everyone here?
