Chapter 10

Things weren't looking great, that was for sure, but with everything that Daryl had gone through, anyone who knew him would be well aware that it takes more than one stab wound to kill Daryl Dixon, at least that's what they would tell themselves.

It had been only a few hours since he had been found, and the redneck's condition had greatly fluctuated numerous times, but he was currently stable and under the care of Hershel, and Carol who refused to leave her close friend's side.

Carl had been told about the stabbing, and Rick did his best to convince his son that it was indeed not his fault. But Carl couldn't help but hold himself responsible in some sort of aspect, even if he couldn't decipher why he thought that he held the blame.

"We'll just have to wait, I'm afraid that there's nothing more I can do" Hershel explained gently to Rick, Glenn, Maggie, Michonne and Carol who were all gathered nervously around the room, hoping for some good news, then being unsatisfied with what they had been told.

"So there's no way of telling" Glenn asked

"No, not yet anyway, but if I were to guess, I'd say that he has a fair chance of surviving, it's not certain, but it's hopeful"

"Okay, Thanks Hershel" Rick spoke quickly, and rather gruffly as he turned round, walking at a fast pace, it looked as though a sudden anger had manifested.

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"There something you wanna be telling me?" Rick yelled with anger as he marched his way through the cold hall, his voice echoing loudly.

Bob turned around, appearing calmer that a normal person would being confronted by a grumpy Rick, and clearly he had been prepared for this outburst, it was fairly inevitable.

"Rick, I know your mad, and-"

"MAD? Believe me, I'm past that!" He retorted, shoving the smaller man back roughly.

"I know! I know you are man, and I don't blame you, what I did was inexcusable"

"You're a fucking liar! You told me you had all this shit under control, that you wouldn't drink anymore, but Daryl should have left you for the walkers when you tried to sneak all that stuff back here! "

"I know, I'm sor-"

Once again, Bob was cut off. "Not only could Daryl die, you jeopardised the life of everybody in this place! Do you know what would have happened if they had found son? They would've killed him!"

"Rick, listen I know what I did was wrong, but please hear me out"

He looked at Rick expectantly and although furious, he appeared not to object, so Bob continued.

"I can't live with myself knowing what I did, and I sure as hell don't deserve to be at this prison. I'm leaving, and you'll never see me again, I promise you that"

"You promise" Rick muttered sarcastically before pausing to consider the offer. "You'd be getting off easy, Stookey, but you better leave before I decide I'm being too nice"

And with that, seemingly none the less angry than before, and having spoken every word intensely and through gritted teeth. He hoped that he'd never see the little bastard again.

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Maggie groaned from exhaustion as she entered the foyer of the prison. "I can't fucking believe this" she murmured under her breath, not only referring to Daryl, but to everything that had occurred over the last couple of days.

Beth nodded in agreement "I know, but daddy said that he could be okay, we can't lose hope, and Tyrese got rid of those two monsters who hurt him. We have to keep hope"

"Two?" Maggie asked, slightly in panic

"Yeah, there were two"

"So they only killed two?"

"Yeah…" Beth stated nervously

"No, Lizzie and Mica saw three people"

Before either girl could raise the alarm, there was the clicking of a gun, and a tall figure stepped from around the corner.

"God, they told me that the people in this prison were smart, but I've been walking around here for hours now and nobody shot me a glance, I mean, you've gotta be kidding me"

Beth stuttered, trying to speak up, but Maggie could sense her fear, and raised her voice…

"Who are you?" she snapped

"Just passing through, here to collect something that belong to me and my group"

"You talking about Carl?"

"Ha! How'd you guess" he asked rhetorically

"You remind me of Paul" Maggie stated bluntly

The self-righteous smile disappeared immediately as the man's demeanour become far more somber.

"Well, you'd be right in sayin that. I was his brother, one of them anyway. Trust me, we're pissed at that little brat, but we aint gunnu kill him, so just hand him over, coz believe me sweetheart, it will be so much easier if you just do as we say, and give him up"

"No" Maggie said, with an expression that showed how painfully obvious her answer was

"Hey, c'mon you don't even wanna consider it? Not like when the governor asked for that samurai bitch, then you all wanted to hand her over, and you knew he was going to kill her, that's right, Paul told me stuff"

"Well, I never wanted to do that to Michonne, plus, the prison has changed since then" Beth almost shouted, trying to keep a brave face, but the stutter was a dead giveaway of her immense panic.

"Whatever you say blondie, but listen, I need you both for this, and if I don't bring him back, my group will kill me, so don't think for a second that I would put your lives above mine, I'll kill you both in a heartbeat if you don't help me out here"

He sounded desperate, but from what his gang was most likely to be like, that was all with good reason. Maggie and Beth exchanged glances. They believed every word this man was saying, and never doubted that he would ever have to contemplate killing them if they were not to help the guy out.

It seemed awful that either of the girls were considering his offer, and neither wouldn't actually hand Carl over without knowing that they were going to have to figure out a way to save themselves the kid at some point, but currently neither of the sisters had their guns handy, and the other man did, and appearing to be quite strong and young, it was almost laughable at the thought that they would ever attempt to fight the man, instead there was a shared look, which both girls understood and a mutual agreement was made that they'd go along with his plan, and hopefully find a way to escape.

To be continued….

Okay so, it's been 3 weeks today since I last updated, and I'm so sorry if I kept anybody waiting. I always make an effort to update every week but 2 weeks ago the day before I usually update my grandmother died, so I was quite sad and didn't really feel like writing anything, then a whole lot a family drama happened, and then last week I caught the flu, anyway, so I'm back, and hopefully you guys enjoy, this chapter is about 200 words shorter than I wanted, but I finished it too quickly before realising. Thanks guys, hope to see some reviews! I'm also happy to take suggestions for future chapters!