Ok so I'm trying to mix up the comic storyline AND the TV show, so I have to warn you all that there could be some spoilers for the show coming up. To be fair, I probably should have said that at the start of the story, but oh well...now you know.

The three of them walked into the forest, Daryl carrying the shotgun, Georgie with her crossbow and a knife and Adele carrying her knife and samurai sword. They formed a triangle formation, Adele up front, Daryl to her right, Georgie on her left. They walked in silence, listening for any sound, any movement.

Suddenly, cutting through the darkness like a knife, a scream echoed through the woods. Adele froze.

"That was Rick." She started to move forward, but stopped herself. Daryl watched her, waiting for instructions, or a plan. For a moment, she stood stock still, but them she shock herself into action. She motioned for the others to stay put and crept forward, disappearing into the shadows. Daryl looked at Georgie. Her eyes were focused straight ahead at the spot where Adele had disappeared. She didn't glance at him to communicate anything like she usually did: that she was nervous, confident, that she had his back. She was actively ignoring making eye contact with him, and that made him nervous. He didn't know why, he had managed to hunt well enough without her before, but she was a good partner and he felt...not safer but more secure with her watching his back. If something was up, she needed to snap out of it and be focused until they had finished what they had come out to do. Whatever that was.

"Hey. Hey!" He hissed out of the corner of his mouth. "Hey Georgie..."

"Shh!" She held one finger up to silence him and made a slight movement forward to listen. "Go right!" Daryl moved swiftly and silently behind a tree, Georgie behind one across from him. She still didn't look at him, watching the space in front, holding up fingers to tell him when to move out. One. Two. Three.

The pair of them leapt out, weapons raised, and came face to face with Adele.

"Jesus!" She swore in a hushed voice. "Get that out of my face Daryl!" Her voice had a slight tremor to it, and her face was pale. Daryl swore inwardly. If Adele was shaken, then the situation was bad.

"What's up?" Georgie placed a hand on her friends shoulder. Adele looked at her, and Georgie took a sharp intake of breath. "Is it bad?" Adele wiped her arm across her forehead.

"There were only three of them. They have T-Dog tied up and gagged. He's fine, he's conscious. Kicking up hell and struggling."

"Take more than a yella mutt ta knock T-Dog on his ass fur long." Daryl looked at Georgie for her agreement. She nodded, but still avoided looking at him, keeping her hand on Adele's shoulder.

"If T-Dog's ok, why do you look...is Rick..?" Adele swallowed.

"Unconscious, but he seems to be breathing. And...oh God." She placed the back of her hand to her mouth and swallowed. "I don't know why I'm...I've seen worse things under the Governor..." She looked down, composing herself. Daryl wondered if she was about to hurl. "They cut his hand off. That's what the screaming was. When I got there...they were roasting it on a fire...I could smell burnt flesh...I think they cauterised his wound..." She looked up at them both. "If we don't get there soon, he could die of infection, blood loss, or they could just eat him piece by piece. Both of them."

Daryl had heard of some fucked up things since the start of whatever the hell had happened to the world. But this was the sickest, most messed up pile of shit he had encountered. Here Adele was, calm, collected, in her right mind, telling them that there were cannibals out there. People eating people-LIVING people eating other living people. He cast his mind back to what Harry had said, and felt a cold fury taking over him. It wasn't like when he had been in the complex and seen Adele and Georgie being beaten on by a pack of spineless, dickless pussies; it wasn't like the blind rage he felt when he lost his temper. This was cold. This wasn't wanting to storm in and punch everything he saw; this was wanting to take his time, to hurt in the most calculated way possible. He was surprised that he could be so furiously angry and yet so completely calm. He looked at his hands, clenched and unclenched them. He could still take out the bastard who had shot him in the shoulder. The throbbing pain was still intense, but he could ignore it. He wondered if the man who had killed Harry and Matthew's father and Uncle was there. What about the man who had shot Katie and taken aim at Georgie? Would he be able to take them all out? Were they already dead?

"Daryl?" Adele broke into his thoughts. "Daryl are you listening? We go to the clearing, we scale a tree each, we take one man out each, sniper style. Quick, clean, fast. Don't shoot unless all three men are there. We don't want a shot to warn anyone who's missing. Once all three men are there, go for whoever is closest to you." Daryl nodded at her. He had no such intent of making it easy for his mark. He knew where to hit a man to incapacitate them, but not kill them. Adele and Georgie could do what they wanted; he had vengeance on his mind.

"Ok, move in a pincher motion, I'll go straight ahead, Daryl right, Georgie left. Make it fast, whilst they're...whilst they're eating." As soon as she had spoken those words, Adele disappeared into the inky gloom. Daryl took one last look at Georgie before he made his move, and froze. He'd caught a glimpse of her face before she turned her back. It was obvious now why she had avoided looking at him-her anger was written all over her face. A venomous, murderous rage, which had turned her usually warm brown eyes frosty and empty, like two empty holes in her face. Before Daryl could say anything, she too had melted into the trees.

Daryl made his move, anger and foreboding battling it out in his gut. It didn't take long for him to find the clearing, or a decent tree to scale. He clambered up it, soundlessly like a monkey, finding a branch to settle on and load his gun. Rolling up the sleeves of the shirt he'd thrown on before leaving the hotel, he took in the scene on the floor below.

Only two of the cannibals were in the clearing, sitting next a fire, occasionally poking it with a stick. Both were dirty, wearing ragged clothes, with greasy hair and blotchy complexions. Obviously human flesh was no good for the skin. Daryl gritted his teeth as one of the men examined the shape hanging over the fire. He recognised it instantly, having picked one off the roof in Atlanta. A human hand, blackened and shrivelled, but still a hand. The man, poked it much the same way as Daryl would poke a rabbit, then drew his hand back, placing his fingers in his mouth. Daryl fought the tide of vomit that threatened to over take him, and focused instead on his anger. The man rose and walked over to a shape by the tree opposite him, close to where he assumed Georgie was and knelt in front of it. He started to laugh, the same unnatural sound that the freak in the hotel room made, and slapped the shape a few times around the face. Almost immediately, he shot backwards, from a violent kick to the stomach. Whilst the man still sitting by the fire laughed, Daryl got a good look at the shape.

T-Dog, his head covered in blood, gagged and tied up was leaning forward, as if he was trying to get at the man. "Man's found his fire" Daryl thought to himself impressed. The floored man, scrabbled around on the floor, searching for something. Before he found it, there was movement from the trees behind him. Daryl raised his gun. This was it. The third man would enter, and they could deal with the fuckers. He decided to take the one by the fire. Rules were rules, and after all, one piece of maggot scum was as good as another.

Then he heard a child's voice, raised in fear and pain.

"Holy shit," he muttered. "This can't be happenin'."

The third man, taller, broader shouldered had walked into the clearing. In front of him, he marched Carl Grimes, his arms pinned up behind his back. When he got close to the men, he hoisted Carl up into his arms, so their heads were level. Carl was whimpering softly. Daryl could now hear the vehement muffled shouting's of T-Dog as he recognised who the man was carrying. Daryl wondered why Rick wasn't making more noise, and then remembered he was unconscious.

"Goddammit kid. Why can't ya jus stay at home?" Daryl released his finger from the trigger and watched as the man slowly walked around the clearing. The absence of shots from Georgie or Adele suggested that they were as shocked as he was. This fucked up the whole plan. The man carrying Carl started to speak, his voice clear, soft, cajoling,

"Now I don't for a moment believe that this child found his way to us all alone. I think he followed someone more experienced. And I think that that someone, or someones, are very, very close." The two men who had been in the clearing looked around, suddenly alert, like two guard dogs who had heard a sound. Their leader carried on, pulling a pistol out of his pocket and placing it to Carl's temple. He was still walking around the edges of the clearing, looking into the bushes as if he expected to see someone staring back at him.

"Now, you have a few choices here. You can try to be heroes and shoot me in the head, which is what I expect you came here to do. But," here he hoisted Carl up on his arm, and pushed his head closer to his with the barrel of the gun, "can you hit me and not the child? You can do the logical thing and give yourself up. Then I'll let the child go, in exchange for you." He came to a stop, just before the tree Daryl was in. Daryl forced himself to freeze. He was wearing his customary brown clothing, but he couldn't be sure if the man looked up he wouldn't spot him.

"Of course, you could always just leave now. I'll kill the child anyway. Children's flesh is so much tenderer than adults. And then, I'll come after the rest of you. Matthew and Harry first. We have so much to catch up on. And I'm dying to know if I'll be able to taste a family resemblance."

As the man said these last few words, he walked right under the tree that Daryl was in, and turned so he was facing into the clearing. The ice fury that had gripped him in the woods was now almost choking Daryl. The man's threats against the two boys was the last straw. Daryl knew exactly who he was going after. And he knew how he was going to do it.

In one smooth motion, Daryl leapt out of the tree and down onto the back of the man below. The force of his weight took the man totally by surprise, and he dropped the gun he was holding to Carls head. He landed hap hazardly on the floor, half trapping one of Carl's legs underneath his body. As Daryl struck the back of his head with the butt of his shotgun, he was aware of two shots ringing out and the thud of two bodies hitting the floor. He didn't look up to see what had happened-he knew well enough what had happened. Georgie and Adele had taken the opportunity given to them and taken their shots. Well, now he was taking his. He grabbed the man by the scruff of his filthy collar and started to drag him into the woods.

"Daryl." Daryl looked down at Carl, whose eyes were red rimmed.

"Go an sit with Adele an Georgie. Ya Daddy's hurt bad. He needs ya. Tell 'em...I'll make my own way back." Before Carl could say anything else, Daryl melted into the darkness, taking the limp body with him.

Sorry for all the swears, but let's face it, it's Daryl's POV. I know this is a lot of Daryl right now, we will get back to other characters soon.