Note: You guys are the absolute best and I hope you know how much I look forward to hearing what you think. You've been so supportive to a newbie and have helped make this such a fun experience. Was looking on my Twitter today at pictures of NR at Comic Con and all the nice things people had to say about him and I'm so excited to hear they are going to be releasing a trailer for Season 3 in July. You all are awesome!

Lily of the Lake (got it out as soon as I could – cheated and split it into two)

LoyalAsAViking (your review had me rolling, hope the cops weren't pissed)

Tomte Mushroom (I couldn't let Michonne have a piece of our Daryl)

TheBoneyKingOfNowhere (Thanks you always give such good guidance)

GypsyWitchBaby (I am so happy you liked it)

JavaNut (We'll get him back for her)

Eloquent dreams (sorry about Michonne)

Nymphchild (I loved the 'narrows eyes' bit)

And Thank you to the new people that favorited my little story that started as a lark.

PS: I own doodlie-squat related to The Walking Dead and any of it's characters.

Chapter 26 – The Rescue

"She did what," Rick's scream could be heard throughout the entire prison as they all marched down into the cell lockup where they'd been keeping Merle. Everyone was on edge and anxious. They hadn't seen Rick like this since the night after they'd had to leave the farm. Rick stormed down to the cells - Sure enough, the cell door was unlocked and open. Merle was gone - with Lylah.

"Sunnofabitch – what was she thinking?" Rick screamed.

"She's thinking – she'll do whatever it takes to get Daryl back Rick.. You must understand at least a part of that" Carol was the onel that spoke up. "Rick, just read the note."

Rick grabbed the piece of paper and read it through again, trying to calmly digest what Lylah was asking of them.

"Ok" Rick took a big deep breath. "We'll do it. It doesn't sit right… but we'll do it...for now at least." Rick hated the idea of leaving Daryl's rescue in the hands of Lylah and Merle.

Rick didn't want to say anything, but many of them were thinking it already. What was the Governor doing to Daryl to get the location of the prison out of him? How safe were they here?

"Everybody, we need to prepare for a possible attack." Rick warned ominously.

"Which way Merle… you said you knew where this Outpost was?" Lylah asked with fear and irritation in her voice.

"Settle down sugar-tits… we're coming up on the turn.," Merle looked at the worried woman driving the SUV with a death grip on the steering wheel.

Merle had to admit to himself, he'd been impressed when she'd led him up and out of the prison to the armory. She had actually thought her little prison break through and planned on going in to the Outpost loaded for bear. Merle helped her select assault weapons, hand guns with silencers, Kevlar vests, in addition to the knives and other supplies such as food and water Lylah had already packed.

"I'd really prefer it if ya didn't call me that." She ground out, thinking they had much more important things on their mind. Merle only grunted at her.

"So what did Daryleena do when ya told him ya were preggers? Bet he bout shit his drawers. Always said he's never gonna have kids." Merle snorted and laughed as he tried to picture his brother's reaction to the news.

"He doesn't know yet. I only just found out," Lylah cut her eyes at Merle while continuing to drive. "And you're not gonna be the one to tell him either."

"Shur thang Suga…," he caught her angry look, "Fine, Whatever, Lylah is it?" Merle was starting to see what got his little brother so pussywhipped.

"Merle?" Lylah had always wondered and knew Daryl had never asked him. "Why didn't you come back to the camp for Daryl?"

Merle actually looked ashamed when Lylah turned her head briefly to get a look at him. She realized, not by choice, but Merle had been clean for quite a while now other than the drugs Rick gave him that once.

"I was gonna….but I was so fuckin' pissed at the whole lot of ya. Then I remembered where I knew I could get me a whole shitload of…,let's just say my dealer was nearby. Figured he was a walker by then. Anyway I got there and I was right so I just helped myself. Had myself a fine time for a coupla days." Merle thought back to that time. It seemed like heaven, but now he couldn't even remember any of it. Merle knew if he hadn't been so fucked up, Rick wouldn't have chained him there. He also knew if had been jonesing for a fix so bad, he would have gone back to camp rather than looking for drugs. He'd ran out on his brother for a fix.

"When I got back, ya'll were all gone. I sure as fuck didn't think Daryl would head back into Atlanta so I went looking fer a place to lay low. Met up with the Woodbury gang… and well… you either do things their way or…no way." Merle looked out the window as he thought back on the things he'd done. The drugs are what helped him make it through the day, so he didn't have to face up to the awful things he'd done to make it at Woodbury. He'd done some bad things before the world went to shit… but Woodbury – that was completely different. Merle had done what felt he had to and did whatever he could not to think about it after. He'd had to earn a certain level of respect by showing them he was just as sick and mean as they were. But without the drugs to numb everything anymore, it was harder and harder to deal with it.

"Never thought I'd see Darylene side with the PO-lice and a piece-a-ass over his own kin?" Merle shook his head, still not quite believing the changes he'd seen in his brother.

"Merle, I'm beginning to wonder if you have any idea who your brother is. He is kind and brave and honorable." When she heard Merle snort at her, she lost it. "And you just need to shut the fuck up if you don't have anything good to say! You don't know shite" Lylah screamed at Merle. Lylah never said 'fuck' but Merle Dixon was definitely bringing out the worst in her.

"Well all right then. Don't get yer panties in a wad." Merle seemed surprised at her outburst. "Ya really do luv him dontcha." Merle actually seemed to accept this and looked at her with what? Respect?

"Merle – the plan!" Lylah needed Merle to focus. "How are we getting Daryl out of there?"

"OK Gerlie… now slow down up here a bit. We're gonna hafta hike it most the way so ya better not be lazy. Turn here," Merle pointed with his good hand. After they'd pulled in about 30-ft or so, Merle had her stop and they got out and pulled brush and debris to cover up any evidence of where they'd pulled in. The Land Rover was great for driving off-road, and they easily creeped their way as far into the woods as they safely could and hid the car.

"Here, put this on!" Merle pulled out the Kevlar vest and actually helped her put it on.

"Aw Merle, are you worried about me?" Lylah batted her eyelashes as she pretended she believed he actually cared.

"Thatsa Dixon in there. We take care of our own!" Merle said seriously as he pointed to her still flat stomach while he putting on his own Kevlar vest. Lylah gave him a strange look as she absorbed his words, and then stepped forward to help Merle with the small fastenings on the vest.

Lylah was trying to comprehend how just a few weeks ago Merle had been ready to turn her over to the Governor and now he was ready to protect her and the baby. She figured it was true how they said there's honor among thieves – maybe that philosophy also applied to racist redneck asshole brothers as well. Whatever the reason, she was grateful.

Lylah threw in bottled water, ammo, MRE's, and a medical kit in her backpack before grabbing one of the assault weapons.

"Merle, here – I need you to show me," Lylah held out their recent acquisitions from the armory realizing she had no idea how to shoot it. These were not hunting weapons. These were for killing people. Lots of them in as short a period of time as possible.

"Well, we obviously cain't do any target practice now. Do ya know how to shoot a rifle?" Lylah saw another brief spark of approval from him as she explained she could indeed shoot. "Good, so ya ain't completely useless. Ok, here's the safety - release it like this. Today it's just point and shoot. Remember, ya only gotta squeeze real gentle. You ready to rock and roll little gerl?" Merle asked.

"Let's go," Lylah responded seriously as she settled the rifle around her shoulder and carried the handgun at her side.

Daryl'd been beaten, cut, tied up and now found himself locked up in a small wooden shack. He had no idea where he was and he was pissed as hell. Pissed that he hadn't been paying closer attention and had got himself caught – pissed he hadn't been able to take on these fuckers – basically just fuckin' pissed.

He could feel the blood pouring into his swollen eye start beginning to coagulate and crust over. That was a good sign - it meant at least the bleeding was slowing down. He was pretty sure he had a coupla cracked ribs but that wasn't his biggest concern right now. He knew when these guys figured out he was one of the guys that broke in and took Lylah from Woodbury, the real fireworks would begin. They'd make the beatings he took from his daddy seem like a walk in the park.

He sat there struggling against the zip ties holding his wrists, knowing if he just got them undone, he could get to the knife still in his boot and get the fuck outta here. Today had started out so well. How did it turn to shit so fast?

Daryl thought about Lylah and remembered how crazy he had been when she had been taken. He knew she was going to be worried. He just hoped she'd have enough sense to stay put and not do anything crazy.

Lylah followed Merle through the forest doing her best to be as quiet as him. She'd spent enough time with Daryl trying to emulate his walk that Merle was pleasantly surprised when she didn't clomp behind him like a herd of buffalo nor did she slow him down. He motioned for her to stop with his hand and she obeyed immediately.

"We gonna run up on a guard pretty soon. I'm gonna take care of him. Just in case he got backup I need to right now if yer gonna be able to do what needs doin'?" Merle looked her straight in the eye, evaluating her grit and determination about doing this. Lylah figured he must have been satisfied because all he did was to check to make sure the safety was off on her handgun before handing it back to her.

"Merle, I know what the safety is" she reminded him that she had been around guns before. "Merle, what's the plan when we get there?" Lylah thought it better to ask now rather than later.

"We grab Daryl then run like hell, shoot anyone in our way!" Merle laughed at her shocked expression. She'd obviously thought he had something more elaborate and complex in mind. Some sort of Mission Impossible shit.

"Hey Merle" she made sure she had his attention. "You won't have to worry - I won't back down," Lylah promised him and was actually rewarded with a the briefest of moments Lylah was able to get a glimpse of a human being.

Amazingly they didn't run into any walkers during their trek and Merle was able to easily spot any traps that had been set. A coupla trip wires and a few other traps were set but Merle easily spotted them.

Merle soon gave her another hand signal to stop and then he pointed. They'd found the guard he'd anticipated. Lylah's breath quickened. This meant they were almost there, which also meant they were that much closer to finding Daryl. Lylah readied her weapon to cover Merle as he silently approached the man. Lylah was maybe ten feet from Merle standing silently behind a tree when he slid in behind the guard. Lylah gasped at the speed Merle snapped the man's neck. But what Merle didn't see was the second guard with the gun coming up right behind him.

Lylah didn't hesitate. Her gun was already raised. All she did was check her aim and gently squeeze the trigger. She didn't even breathe as she shot the man right between the eyes. This time it was Merle who gasped in surprise. For a second, Merle thought she was aiming at him. But then he turned and saw the second guard dead on the ground.

"Nice shootin' Tex," Merle said when he got a look at the precise head shot. When Merle went to grab the handgun from Lylah and saw her white face and shaking hands. "Hey Gerlie! We ain't got time fer that right now! You with me?" He grabbed the gun from her and tried to get her to look him in the eyes. "Lylah – Look at me!" Merle almost never used her actual name and somehow that brought her to attention. They started dragging the two bodies behind some bushes to hide their corpses.

Merle put a bullet into the other guards brain to keep him from turnin' and then gave the gun back to her. They had to keep moving. Lylah tried not to think about what she'd just done – that she'd just shot a man - a living breathing human being. She just kept focusing on putting her next foot in front of the other… watching Merle's back… making sure she was quiet…basic tasks for survival. Her only thought – to get Daryl out of there.

Lylah sighed with relief when she saw they'd finally made it to the perimeter fence. Merle remembered this spot from before when he'd been assigned duty at the Outpost by the Governor – it was a secluded spot where he would sneak off for a toke. He figured it was the best place to sneak in and out without being seen.

At first he'd figured on leaving Lylah here by the fence and going and getting Daryl by himself, but he'd been impressed by the way she'd handled herself so far. Merle knew she'd never killed anyone before and she just shot a man with almost perfect aim and even though he was sure she wanted to, she hadn't broken down.

Together they jimmied off a few boards and cut the wire and were able to slip through, carefully leaning the boards back so someone walking by wouldn't notice they'd been dislodged. You'd actually have to be up close looking to notice.

It was still early morning, but people were starting to stir here. Lylah noticed it wasn't like Woodbury – this place was much smaller and far fewer people. She prayed they could find Daryl and get in and out fast.

Merle led the way and Lylah was still amazed at how such a large man could move so silently. He signaled for her to still as they came upon a small wooden shack. He motioned for her to get her weapon ready. Again she covered Merle as he crept up behind a guard standing in front of the shack. Lylah hoped this was where Daryl was being kept and they didn't have to go shack to shack looking for him. Merle silently grabbed the man from behind and pulled him back into the cover of the shadows. Lylah looked away as Merle broke his neck. Merle figured he'd put a bullet in his brain on their way out - the silencer was quiet but by no means silent. They searched the man's pockets for a key but found none. When they glanced towards the door they saw it had a heavy metal slide bolt on the outside – no key required. Merle waited for the all clear – nodded to Lylah and as soon as Merle had the lock open they charged in.

To say Daryl was shocked to see Lylah busting through the door armed like a storm trooper was one thing. To see her with Merle….that he couldn't fathom – couldn't wrap his head around it. He didn't know what to think. He was gonna hafta kill Merle if he'd done something to her; harmed her, threatened her. He couldn't imagine what scenario had the two of them busting through that door together. Daryl began struggling against the restraints.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" he yell-whispered to Lylah, refusing to admit he was relieved and happy to see her.

"I love you too baby!" Lylah whispered back sarcastically as she knifed through the zip-ties holding his legs and Merle took care of the ones on his hands. Lylah gave him a fast kiss and then yanked out a Kevlar vest from her pack and tossed it to him. He moved to protest he didn't wear shit like that but saw Merle had one on also and was smart enough to know they didn't have time to argue.

Daryl watched from beside the building as Lylah calmly handed his brother her handgun with silencer only to see Merle put a round into a man's head before leading the way out. Merle just as calmly handed the gun back to Lylah and all she did was accept the weapon – no hysterics about shooting a man, no big tearful scene about killing the living. What the fuck was going on?

Merle led the way out and Daryl brought up the rear so they could keep Lylah safely sandwiched between them. Daryl was grateful to be free but with every step he became angrier and angrier that Lylah was the a part of this damn rescue. What the fuck was Rick thinking?

When they were about 50 yards from the fence they heard the alarm sound. "Fuck!" Merle yelled. "I was hoping with as dumb as those shits are we'd have more time." They all began to run.

They made it another coupla hundred yards before they heard shots whiz past them and they could tell the path back they way they came was blocked. Lylah looked to Merle for guidance and it was starting to piss Daryl off. He couldn't figure out what the hell was going on but something clearly had changed.

"Come on – this way!" Daryl saw Merle actually grab Lylah's hand and drag her behind him. 'What the fuck? This is the same man that wanted to give her over to that psycho?' Daryl followed behind as he tried to figure shit out.

Lylah was breathing heavy as she struggled to keep pace with the Dixons. She figured they'd been running for a 5 or 6 miles before Merle finally let them stop by the stream. Lylah was beyond grateful to sit and rest a minute.

"We can only rest a second. We need to get 'cross that stream gerlie," Merle told her as he too rested and caught his breath.

"How 'bout you two tell me what the fuck's going on?" Daryl asked as he sat beside Lylah.

"You tell him gerlie" Merle said, reading the fury on his brother's face.

"Daryl please?" Lylah turned to him desperate to get to a place so she could tend to his face. She did what she could with a rag and bottle of water as they sat on the large boulder. She gently dabbed blood off his face. It cleaned off his face but did little to calm his fury.

"We couldn't find you – Rick, Glenn, T-Dogg and I. We searched for hours and still had no idea where to look. I knew it was only a matter of time before they figured out where you were from… and what they would do to you to find the location of the prison" Tears formed in her eyes as she thought about how cruel the Governor would be. He could tell what she was thinking and put his arm around her, gently rubbing the small of her back. "Rick threatened to sedate me!" she cried. "I couldn't let him do that. He wasn't gonna even go back and search till morning and even then had no leads. We'd have never found this place." Lylah finished dabbing blood off his face.

He looked at his brother then back at her. "So let me get this straight. This was your brilliant idea? You busted my brother out of jail? By yourself?" his voice was getting louder with each rhetorical question. "Are you fuckin' insane?" now he was screaming, which only made his head hurt worse.

Lylah looked up at him, not expecting him to actually be mad at her. "We got you out didn't we?" oh shite, maybe she shouldn't have pointed that out just now judging by the look on his face.

"Daryl, you need to shut the fuck up before every geek and asshole in Georgia hears ya! We got to go! Now move out!" Daryl watched in consternation and shock as Merle helped Lylah through the fast moving water of the stream. He seemed to catch on to Daryl's observation and confusion and even began to take pleasure in egging him on – there was still something going on. They were definitely keeping something from him.