Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or its characters I do own Kira Knight and any changes/ things added.
YAY another chapter!
"Kill 'em! Kill 'em! Kill 'em! Kill 'em!" The crowd shouted. Merle looked over at Daryl who was looking around. The Governor walked around them. The brothers looked at each other. Milton was trying to pull Andrea back.
"Let me go. Let me go."
"You can't go." Milton said.
"Let me go." She got closer to the Governor but still had someone holding her back. "Philip."
"Stay out of this." Martinez said.
"He's my friend."
"It's not up to me anymore. The people have spoken." The Governor said.
"What?" Someone untied Daryl's hands. The Governor looked at Merle.
"I asked you where your loyalties lie. You said here. Well, prove it. Prove it to us all. Brother against brother."
"Yeah." The crowd agreed.
"Winner goes free. Fight… to the death."
"Philip, please." Andrea said. "Don't do this. Don't do this."
"Let's go, Merle!"
"Come on, Merle!"
"Yeah, Merle!"
"Yeah!" Merle raised his arm.
"Y'all know me." He said. "I'm gonna do whatever I got to do to prove" He punched Daryl in the gut causing him to fall over. "that my loyalty" He kicked Daryl making him roll. "is to this town!" He hit him a few more times as a few guys brought out walkers. Daryl got up and grabbed at Merle but ended up back on the ground. The two started choking each other.
"You really think this asshole's gonna let you go?" Daryl asked.
"Just follow my lead, little brother. We're getting out of this right now." He pulled them both up and they stood back to back facing the walkers. The guys holding the walkers moved them towards the brothers and the two fought the walkers.
"Philip no, stop this! Philip, stop this!" Andrea pleaded. Daryl punched a walker and pushed it into the crowd making everyone back away. Suddenly Maggie shot a few walkers and Haley, and everyone screamed. Rick threw a smoke bomb. Rick, Maggie and Kira continued to fire.
"Come on, little brother. Stay close!"
"Daryl!" Andrea yelled.
"Merle, come on."
"Go!" Rick shined a flash light a few times. A guy shot a walker with a cross bow and Daryl took it before Merle knocked the guy out.
"Let's go.
"Daryl." Rick said.
"Let's go. Go." He said grabbing Kira's hand as the group ran away.
"They're all at the arena. This way." Merle said.
"You're not going anywhere with us." Rick said.
"You really want to do this now?" Merle asked.
"Come on, man." Daryl said. "Rick, come on. We've got to go. Go." They got through the gate and Merle was smashing a walker's face in with his non-handed arm.
"A little help would be nice!" Daryl shot a walker and Kira shot one with her bow. Rick and Maggie both shot one. "We ain't got time for this." Merle said getting up and running.
"Let's go." Daryl said.
They got back to the road where Glenn and Michonne were waiting.
"Glenn!"
"Rick. Rick." Glenn got up. "Rick. Oh, thank God."
"Now we got a problem here. I need you to back up." Rick said. Michonne took out her katana and Glenn pointed his gun at Merle.
"What the hell is he doing here?!"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Rick said.
"Hey, put it down!" Daryl said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Merle said backing up raising his hand. Kira moved in front of Merle and watched everyone closely.
"Put it down!"
"He tried to kill me!" Michonne said.
"If it wasn't for him—" Glenn said.
"He helped us get out of there." Daryl said.
"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you." Rick added.
"Hey, we both took our licks, man." Merle said.
"Jackass." Daryl said back at him
"Hey, shut up." Merle said. Kira rolled her eyes.
"Enough!" Rick said.
"Hey, hey, relax!" Daryl said.
"Put that down now!"
"Get that thing out of my face!" Daryl said to Glenn. Merle laughed.
"Man, look like you've gone native, brother."
"No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there." Daryl said turning on him.
"Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time, baby."
"What?" Glenn asked. "Andrea's in Woodbury?"
"Right next to the Governor." Daryl said. Michonne moved forward.
"I told you to drop that!" Rick said. "You know Andrea?" She didn't answer. "Hey, do you know Andrea?"
"Yep, she does. Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Mm-mmm-mmm. Yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers." Rick looked back at Merle. "No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about it."
"Shut up, bro." Daryl said. Merle chuckled.
"Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying."
"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asked.
"Yeah. Snug as two little bugs. So what you gonna do now, Sheriff, huh? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards."
"Shut up!" Rick said.
"Oh, man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them."
"Merle, shut up!" Daryl said.
"Shut up yourself! Bunch of pussies you roll—" Rick knocked him on the back of the head.
"Asshole." Rick said. Glenn walked away. Kira suddenly hugged Daryl. He wrapped his arms around her. He leaned down and put his head on her shoulder.
Hershel was working on one of the other group's legs.
"You can take those stitches out yourself in a week or so."
"Thank you."
"Pretty nice having medical training." Tyreese said.
"It'll only get you so far."
"You were bit?" He asked. Hershel nodded.
"How old is the baby?" Sasha asked when Beth came in with Judith.
"Barely a week."
"To be honest, we never thought we'd see another baby." She said walking over. "Beautiful."
"Thanks." Beth said.
"How are you feeling?"
"She's not mine."
"Where's the mother?" No one spoke. "I'm sorry."
"Man, you people have been through the mill."
"Haven't we all?" Hershel said.
"It's only getting worse out there. Dead are everywhere. And it's only making the living less like the living."
"You're the only decent folks we've come across." Sasha said.
"You've been out there all this time?" Hershel asked.
"Our neighbor Jerry, he was one of those survivalist nuts. Everybody on the block thought he was crazy. Always preparing for the end of the world."
"Who knew?" Hershel asked.
"Jerry knew. He had a bunker under his shed in the backyard. Sasha and I stayed there until we ran out of supplies. Allen and Ben were the first two people we ran into when we finally crawled up out of that hole around Jacksonville. Used to be a bunch of us. 25 at one point. "
"Our camp was overrun six, seven weeks ago." Sasha said.
"And- and Donna, she, uh..."
"We'll see that she has a proper burial." Hershel said.
"I appreciate you taking care of us. For a while, we didn't know who we were dealing with."
"Neither did we. We've had our problems with people."
"I must be the first brother in history to break into prison." Tyreese said.
"Makes me the first white boy that didn't want to break out." Axel said handing him a bowl of food.
"Tyreese." Hershel said. "Like I said, we have a much larger group. A close-knit group. I wouldn't get too comfortable here." Hershel started to go back to the cell block.
"We wouldn't be a problem."
"It's not up to me."
"Then who?" He turned to leave again. "Please, you can see what kind of people we are." Carl closed and locked the door.
"It won't work." Rick said.
"It's gotta." Daryl said.
"It'll stir things up." Rick said.
"Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now." Daryl said. "Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."
"I'm not having him at the prison." Maggie said.
"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol, Beth or Kira?" Glenn said.
"He ain't a rapist." Daryl said.
"Well, his buddy is."
"They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night." Daryl said.
"Merle didn't even touch me." Kira said.
"Now you're defending him?" Glenn asked.
"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick said.
"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?" Daryl asked.
"She's not coming back." Rick said.
"She's not in a state to be on her own." Maggie said.
"She did bring you guys to us." Glenn said.
"And then ditched us." Rick said.
"At least let my dad stitch her up." Maggie said.
"She's too unpredictable." Rick said.
"That's right. We don't know who she is." Daryl said. "But Merle, Merle's blood."
"No, Merle is your blood." Glenn said. "My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison.
"And you're part of that family." Rick said. "But he's not. He's not." Kira looked over and saw Merle getting up leaning against a tree groaning.
"Man, y'all don't know. Fine. We'll fend for ourselves." Kira grabbed Daryl's wrist.
"That's not what I was saying." Glenn said.
"No him, no me." Kira gripped his wrist tighter. "And apparently no Kira." He said glancing down at her.
"Daryl, you don't have to do that." Maggie said.
"It was always Merle and I before this."
"Don't." Maggie said.
"You serious?" Glenn asked. "You're just gonna leave like that?"
"You'd do the same thing." Daryl said. He started to walk past them, holding Kira's hand, and towards the car. "Say good-bye to your pop for me." He said to Maggie.
"Daryl, are you serious? Kira?" Glenn asked. "Daryl!" Rick walked to catch up with them.
"Hey. Hey. There's got to be another way." Daryl stopped.
"Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once." He said before he kept walking.
"We started something last night." Rick said. "You realize that, huh?"
"No him, no us." He looked at Kira again before opening the truck of the car. "That's all I can say… Take care of yourself. Take care of lil ass-kicker." He grabbed his stuff while Kira grabbed her bag. "Carl. He's one tough kid." He said shutting the trunk of the car before walking to Merle.
"I'm sorry Rick." Kira said before followed.
"Daryl!" Merle said with a grin.
"Come on, bro." Daryl said glancing back at the others. Merle put his arm around his shoulders and Daryl held the back of his shirt.
"We patch you up and then you are gone." Rick said to Michonne before walking around to get in the car.
"We bringing the girl?" Merle asked as the three of them walked away.
"Why else would I be walking with you two?" She asked him.
"Figured ya missed me, baby, wanted to bump uglies." He chuckled. Daryl glared at him.
"Hey." He growled. Merle's eyebrows went up.
"Whooo. What's this? You got the hots for girlie?" Daryl glared at his brother and took his arm from around him before slipping his arm around Kira's waist. Merle chuckled. "Guessin' ya fucked her already?" Kira blushed and Merle laughed. "Not willin ta share, are ya?" Daryl glared harder.
"You lay a finger on 'er-"
"Relax little brother, I haven't yet have I?" Merle chuckled and winked at Kira. She looked away and rolled her eyes.
"Where'd they say we could bury her?" Tyreese said.
"Back of the field near the other graves." Sasha said.
"Hey. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Losing my grip here. Come on, put her down." They put the body down. "Okay."
"Golden opportunity." Allen said.
"For what?"
"Little kid and a woman."
"Ask them for a hand, get a hold of those weapons." Ben said.
"What?" Tyreese looked at them
"We do it quick, they'll never know what hit them."
"No. Whoa, whoa."
"We're out here to bury Donna." Sasha said.
"And we will, after."
"Shut up." She said.
"Look at this place." Ben said. "It's secure."
"These are good people.
"This will be easy. A little kid, a woman, a girl and a one-legged old man."
"Don't forget about the convict."
"You gonna smash the baby's head with a rock?" Tyreese asked.
"What is your problem?" Allen asked.
"How about a little common decency?" Tyreese said. "This isn't what we do."
"You're living in the past, Ty." Allen said. "So are you. This is survival of the fittest, plain and simple. In here we live, out there we die. And I am not waiting around for the rest of their group to roll in here and throw us out on our asses. Not a chance."
"How do you know that's gonna happen?"
"Got some tools for you." Axel said as he and Beth came out. Allen walked over. Ty pushed him out of the way.
"It's much appreciated." He said
"Yeah, we'll take it from here." Sasha said as she and Ty took the shovels.
"You don't need no help with the body?" Axel asked
"No, we'll manage."
"Let us know if you need anything else." Beth said.
"Thank you." Ty said.
Rick, Glenn and Maggie got out of the car. A truck was blocking the road.
"Get the brakes." Rick said. Glenn opened the door and a walker came out. He grabbed it threw it to the ground.
"I got it." Rick said pointing his gun but Glenn kicked the walker's head in.
"You didn't kill him." Glenn said.
"That's not why we went back." Rick said.
"No. That's right. You went back for Daryl." Glenn said. "And now he's gone again, along with Kira, and the Governor is still alive."
"Daryl was the priority." Rick said.
"I should have been there with you." Glenn said.
"You were in no condition." Rick said.
"But my girlfriend was?"
"Glenn, this isn't about us." Maggie said.
"I should have been there."
"Hey, hey, you didn't come back with us 'cause you could barely walk."
"What about her?" Glenn pointed to Maggie.
"What about me?" She asked.
"Do you know what he did to her?!"
"Leave it alone!"
"Do you know?"
"Let's go." Maggie said pushing the truck.
"After all that effort, all the risk we took, Daryl just takes off with Merle? And Kira went with him; we ended up losing three people instead of one."
"Well, he had his reasons and you know that Kira would leave with him, with or without Merle."
"Yeah, you keep telling yourself that, Rick. Doesn't change the fact that we're up to our necks in shit."
"You want me to turn the car around, beg him to come back? Throw down a welcome mat for Merle? This is the hand we've been dealt!"
"Let's just get this out of here and get back. Get some rest. We can talk it out there." Maggie said.
"No, you guys do all the talking you want. I'm done." Glenn said walking away.
Andrea walked out of a building.
"How many injured?" Milton asked.
"Nine. Stevens has it covered. So where is he?"
"In his apartment."
"And?"
"He wouldn't open the door. Said he was in the middle of something. It's all going to hell." He said as a car drove down the road with luggage attached to the back more cars followed. I honked its horn.
"Open the gate!"
"Calm down, people."
"Back away."
"It's not safe here. We want to leave."
"There's biters out here, lady." A guy on the wall said.
"Let us out." Someone tried to climb up.
"Get back!" The guy kicked the person down. "I told you to get back. Nobody leaves."
"Hey, Martinez, we got biters."
"All right, take them out."
"Everybody calm down." Andrea said.
"We can't stay here anymore. This place is crazy. Please, you have to let us go."
"Karen, you don't want to go out there. It's too dangerous."
"Yeah, well, we'll take our chances."
"Please!"
"Hey!"
"Hey, knock off the horn." Martinez said holding up a gun. "Knock off that horn."
"Martinez!" Andrea called.
"Get out of the car."
"Put the gun down."
"Get out of the car."
"Hey. Hey. Hey. Don't hurt him. Don't hurt him!" Andrea said as he grabbed the guy from the car and pushed him to the ground.
"Hey, I don't take orders from you."
"These people are scared. Shoving a gun in their face won't help."
"Where's the Governor?"
"He's—" Milton said.
"There's a riot out here. Come on."
"You're making things worse."
"I am?" Suddenly a woman screamed.
"What the hell?" The two ran towards the screams and saw a biter eating someone and a few more.
"Move! Get back, get back!" Andrea and Martinez killed the walkers. Andrea kicked the walker off the man who got bit.
"Oh, my God." Karen said. "Help him. Somebody, please?"
"Help." He said.
"Do something." Karen said. Suddenly the Governor walked over and shot the man in the head. He walked away back to his apartment.
"It's so quiet." Carol said. "It's easy to forget how loud the world used to be. I used to complain about it all the time. Traffic, construction,"
"Car alarms."
"Noise pollution. Oh. What I wouldn't give for the sweet sound of a jumbo jet."
"It'd be even sweeter if we were all on it." Carl said.
"Your mom was proud of you."
"For what? Being mean to her?"
"No, you can't think about that."
"It's all I think about." Suddenly they heard a car. "Please be them." He said.
"It's them. Hurry." They opened the gate then closed it.
"Drive 'em up. I'll meet you there." Rick said getting out of the car. Carol looked in the car for Daryl and Kira.
"Okay." Glenn said.
"Thank God." Rick said hugging him. "Where's Hershel?"
"He's in the cell block."
"Where're Daryl and Kira?" Carol asked.
"It's all right. They're alive. We ran into Daryl's brother. They went off. Kira went with them."
"He left?" She asked. "Daryl and left? They're gone? Are they coming back?"
"Hey."
"Gone?"
"And Oscar?" Carl asked.
"No."
"What the hell was that?" Andrea asked. "You put a round in a man's head in front of all those people and just take off? You have to talk to them."
"Why?"
"They're panicking. They were ready to charge through those gates."
"So let 'em."
"Those people won't last a day."
"Those people have had it easy. Barbecues and picnics. That ends now."
"Don't blame them for the mess that you created. They're scared."
"Well, I'm through holding their hands." He said. "We're at war. I should have seen that."
"So why was Daryl here? Was he part of the assault? Why? Why would he do that? "
He came for his friends. The other people you know. Glenn, Maggie and another brown haired girl I didn't catch the name of. Merle scooped them up on the run. Was holding them to find out where his brother was."
"My- my friends are still alive and we're shooting at each other? You're trying to execute them?"
"Your friends killed six good people. Crowley, Tim, Gargulio, Eisenberg, Bob Adams. Haley. That man out there, Rich Foster, he makes seven. So that's what your friends did."
"Why didn't you tell me they were here? You kept that from me while we were..."
"You're just a visitor here. Just passing through. So why should I tell you?"
"Don't do that. Don't drive me out. Not now." Milton knocked on the door.
"What is it?"
"The whole town is out on the street." He said. "It could get ugly again."
Maggie and Beth hugged as the group came back.
"Take your sister inside." Hershel said. Beth walked over and hugged Rick. She pulled away but not before kissing his cheek. She walked back and she Maggie went inside.
"Go on." Rick said to Carl and Carol.
"You came through, like always." Hershel said. "Sounds like we have a new problem on our hands."
"Yeah."
"You get a good look at him? He had Daryl and Merle pitted against each other. A crowd cheering for them to fight to the death. What kind of a sick mind does that?"
"The kind this world creates." Hershel looked down.
"What's wrong? The baby?"
"No, the baby, she's healthy. Eats like a horse, sleeps like a rock."
"So what is it?"
Carl sat on a table watching the other group. Rick and Hershel came in. The three went into the cell block. Carl locked the door.
"Not exactly a chatterbox, is he?" Allen said.
"Be patient. When he's ready, let me do the talking." Ty said. Beth walked over and handed Judith to Rick.
"She kind of has Lori's eyes. Don't you think?" Judith started crying.
"Everyone, if I could- if I could have your attention." Milton said. "Everyone."
"All right, everybody shut up!" Martinez said.
"Thank you. The biters on the perimeter have been dispatched. The fences have been repaired."
"For now."
"Where's the Governor?"
"His- his condition is... unsteady. The wound he suffered—"
"Our friends were killed, man."
"He shot Richard. I mean, we've all suffered. We want answers."
"You're right, Karen. You're right." Andrea said. "Every one of us has suffered. We don't even have funerals anymore because the death never stops. We're never gonna be the same. Ever. So what do we do? We dig deep and we find the strength to carry on. We work together and we rebuild. Not just the fences, the gates, the community, but ourselves. Our hearts, our minds. And years from now, when they write about this plague in the history books, they will write about Woodbury."
"Yeah, they will."
"Woodbury."
"We persevered." She said.
"Yeah." Everyone agreed and seemed to settle down and feel better.
"You've got a knack for that." Carol said to Beth who walked up the stairs.
"Just trying to do my part."
"Sophia used to wake the neighbors. 3:00 AM. Like clockwork. Ed stayed at a friend's most nights till she calmed down."
"I always wanted a child." Beth said. "She wouldn't have made it if Daryl hadn't been here. He couldn't stand to lose anyone else."
"Sounds like him."
"I don't see why he had to leave. Merle sounds like a jerk."
"Men like Merle get into your head. Make you feel like you deserve the abuse."
"Even for Daryl?"
"I'm hardly the woman I was a year ago, but if Ed walked through that door right now breathing and told me to go with him, I'd like to think I'd tell him to go to hell."
"You would."
"It doesn't matter."
"We're weak without them, why did Kira have to go too?" Beth asked.
"That girl's in love with him. Don't worry we'll get through this, too. Tyreese and his friends seem capable."
"I'm pissed at him for leaving."
"Don't be. Daryl has his code. This world needs men like that." Beth handed Judith to Carol. "Oh. Hello." She put her down into a box that said 'Lil ASS KICKER' on the side, Kira had added a smiley face to the curve of the R and had written 'lil', with blankets in it. "There."
"She fits perfect."
"Yeah. Wait. You cozy in there? Yes."
"You got worked over good." Hershel said to Glenn. "Surprised no bones were broken."
"It's courtesy of Daryl's brother." Maggie walked over before walking away.
"You two all right? Thanks for looking out for her. If anything... I'll go check on her. You need something else?" He shook his head. "Okay. Same thing goes for you. If anything worse than this had happened to you... You're like my own son, Glenn." He said before going to Maggie "You got something needs looking at?"
"Is Glenn all right?" She asked wiping her arm.
"Go see." He sat down next to her. "You two seem to be holding something back. You want to tell me what happened?" She didn't say anything. "I rest easy knowing you can handle yourself. You've got your mother's spirit. And her stubbornness. You hungry?"
"No." She said shaking her head.
"Hey." She looked on him. "Don't disappear on me." He put and arm around her and hugged her.
Beth sat on the stairs next to the box Judith was in. Rick was watching Hershel and Michonne.
"She's out like a light." Hershel said sitting on the bed Michonne was lying on. "Must be days since she slept. You look pretty shot yourself."
"How long before she can travel?"
"Have to keep an eye on her. Pretty sure she has a concussion." Rick closed the cell door and locked it. "Couple of days if she's up." Rick and Hershel made their way over to Axel and Carol.
"Whenever Tomas went off, Oscar always stood up for me, you know? He was my friend."
"He went out fighting." Rick said.
"So what now?" Beth asked, walking over, holding Judith. "You think the Governor will retaliate?"
"Yes." Carol said.
"Let him try." Rick said.
"Sounds like he's got a whole town. We're outnumbered and outgunned."
"We could use some reinforcements." Hershel said. They left the cell block and went over to the other group.
"I'm Tyreese." He held out his hand.
"Sasha, Allen, Ben." Hershel said pointing with his crutch.
"How'd you get in?" Rick asked.
"Fire damage to the administrative part of the prison. Wall's down."
"That side's completely overrun with walkers." Rick said. "How'd you get this far?"
"We didn't. We lost our friend Donna.
"They were lost in the gyms." Carl asked. Rick turned to look at him.
"You brought them here?" He asked.
"He had no choice." Hershel said.
"I'm sorry about your friend." Rick said. "We know what that's like."
"Hershel said you could use some extra hands." Ty said. "We're no stranger to hard work. We'll go out and get our own food, stay out of your hair. You got a problem with another group, we'll help with that, too. Anything to contribute."
"No."
"Please. It's like "10 Little Indians" out there. It's just us now." Sasha said.
"No."
"Let's talk about this." Hershel said. "We can't just keep—"
"We've been through this. With Tomas, Andrew. Look what happened."
"Axel and Oscar weren't like them." Carol said.
"And where's Oscar now?" He asked. "I can't be responsible."
"You turn us out, you are responsible."
"Rick." Hershel said and Rick walked over.
"You've done so much for us. I appreciate that. We all do. We owe you our lives. We've done everything you asked without question. And I'm telling you, you're wrong on this. You've got to start giving people a chance." Rick looked at the group then his own. He sighed. He looked up and saw Lori in a white dress on the second floor. He looked away and looked back and she was still there. He began to mutter to himself quietly putting a hand over his eyes.
"No, no. No, no, no, no. No. No, no, no, no, no." He walked over. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"
"Dad?" Carl asked.
"Why are you- no. I can't help you!" He said up to her before turning around and walking away. "Get out!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa.
"Get- get out!" His voice broke.
"Hey, come on. Whoa, it's all good." Ty said.
"What are you doing?" Carol asked.
"Hey, easy, Rick. There's no need to—" Maggie said.
"You don't belong here! Get out! Please!" He took out his gun and looked up at Lori.
"Relax, brother. Relax." Ty said.
"Get out! Get out!"
"We'll leave. We're going. Okay? Ain't nobody got to get shot here. We're going."
"What are you doing here?!" Rick shouted.
"Okay, we're going." The group backed up.
"Just go! Go! Go!" Glenn said.
"Come on, come on." The group left and everyone watched Rick. He looked back and saw Lori was gone.
I know as soon as Kira and Daryl left there were no more scenes with them but in the next chapter there will be some.
