Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters/plotlines associated with it.
I climbed into one of the cars along with Rick, Daryl, Oscar and Michonne, whom we had learned the name of earlier. Rick drove with Daryl sat up front while Oscar and Michonne sat either side of me. It would be cramped coming back with Glenn and Maggie, inevitably, but it would just have to work out. I only prayed that all of us would be coming back in one piece.
The others said goodbye to us in the prison yard before we pulled away, Carl letting us out of the gates and shutting them behind us. All of our weapons had been shoved in bags and dumped in the boot of the car. Michonne had also complied with placing her katana sword in the boot too. I was definitely glad about that one, because even if I trusted her, I wasn't keen on the idea of her sitting with a blade pointed in my direction. The woman was undoubtedly brave by getting up with a bullet wound and agreeing to come with us to lead the way to Woodbury. I admired her.
For the first few minutes, the journey was silent. A lot quieter than I hoped for it to be. Every now and then, I could see Daryl glancing at me in the rear-view mirror. We would catch each other's eyes at some point and hold eye contact for a few seconds before awkwardly breaking away and pretending that we hadn't even noticed. There were a few occasions when I felt a blush rise on my cheeks as my dark eyes met with his blue ones. But right now, I needed to put all feelings aside. We were here on a mission to save Maggie and Glenn, not a bonding session.
Michonne directed Rick down the road and he eventually stopped about a twenty minute walk away from where the mysterious woman said that we would be able to find Woodbury. All of us ambled out of the car and moved round to the boot. Daryl handed me a backpack and I smiled briefly at him before shouldering it. I had my pistol tucked in the waistband of my jeans, as always, and another gun in a holster on my leg. The bag that I had been given contained tear gas and some knives and ammunition. I wasn't worried about getting in and out of there as much as I probably should have been – or at least as much as Daryl was.
We left the car on the side of the road and as the sky started to dim, we began to trek through the woods to keep our arrival secret. I fell into pace beside Oscar at the back of the group. Michonne lead the way, Rick and Daryl's weapons aimed ever so slightly at her in case this turned out to all be one big ploy to land us in danger.
Only a few Walkers staggered past us, and Daryl put them down easily with his crossbow. I dragged my feet through the mud of the forest floor, cursing every time my boots seemed to sink in the material that lined my path. A couple of times, we had to be tugged out of the mud in the denser areas of the woods. It seemed like it had been a long time since I'd been choosing the woods as a path to get somewhere. That had always been the agenda on Hershel's farm. It wasn't so much anymore.
"There's a road up there," Michonne nodded towards where the trees started to thin out. "Then, we're right on top of Woodbury. Soldiers will be up on the wall on watch. We can't risk going out straight away."
"Then we won't," Rick agreed. "We'll carry on following through the woods until we can move out discreetly and hide behind something. Sound like a good plan?"
A murmur of agreement passed through the crowd and Michonne nodded, moving closer to the thinning of trees but remaining within the shadows of the woods. As I brought up the group, I noticed the road that she was talking about. Cars were upturned and litter collected in the street. It had once been a town. Then, I saw the makeshift barrier further along the road with a sealed off entrance. A few men were walking around on top of the wall with heavy artillery – and by heavy, I meant that they would take us down easily if they caught sight of us.
The skies were darker now and it was easier for us to sneak out of the trees and duck down behind an upturned bus, watching the wall. I crouched down, scanning along the top of the barrier and around the area to see if there was anywhere that we could make a clean run to. There wasn't.
"Get down," Rick warned all of us.
We watched the wall aimlessly for a few more minutes. I hadn't even realised that Michonne had briefly disappeared before she tapped on my shoulder, signalling that I should follow her as she had found another route. I motioned to the others and they nodded. Daryl made a gesture towards me and I moved beside him to appease him. At least then he wouldn't be going out of his way to keep an eye on me.
"Get in formation," Rick said. "No gunfire."
Our group followed Michonne quickly round the edge of the trees and up to the back of the street. We slipped through a fence with clipped wires and we suddenly found ourselves in the town. Michonne had mentioned a curfew, which explained why the streets were so empty. Quickly, before anyone saw us, we rushed across the street and into the first building, pushing the door shut behind us and slinking into the shadows, away from where the light shone through the window.
I sighed out in relief as we were within the confined safety of the building. Daryl looked at me almost accusingly at the sound of the noise. He was probably longing to say 'I told you so'. But what good would I have been back at the prison? Once upon a time, I was the mouse. I was the one who stayed behind and let everyone fight my battles for me. However, I wasn't that person anymore. Daryl needed to understand that.
"I thought you said there was a curfew," Rick turned on Michonne.
"The street is packed during the day," She answered. "Those are stragglers."
"If anyone comes in here, we're sitting ducks. We gotta move."
"They could be in his apartment."
"Yeah? What if they ain't?"
Daryl was clearly not in the mood to be mucked around right now. I looked almost guiltily at Michonne. She was a saint for even offering to help us. In fact, I was surprised that she did. Of course, there was probably something here in it for her, but it was still brave of her to risk coming back out here.
"Then we'll look somewhere else," Michonne said finally.
"You said you could help us," Daryl glared.
"I'm doing what I can."
"Then where in the hell are they?"
Rick quickly intercepted. I saw him exchange a few words with Daryl as I leant against one of the walls. Oscar had remained silent for a majority of the journey. This wasn't even his group and yet he was still here helping us. He didn't need to. I just hoped that everybody got through this unscathed. We couldn't lose anyone else.
A light shone through one of the windows and I soon realised that it wasn't just the moonlight. It was a torch. A hiss seethed out among the group and we stepped back, moving behind walls and crouching down slightly on the ground.
"I know you're in here," A male voice called out. "I saw you moving from outside. All right, now. You're not supposed to be in here and you know it."
The door creaked open and a middle aged man stepped in, examining the place as he dumbly idled across the floor. All of us were hidden out of his sight in the shadows. I saw Daryl and Rick motioning to each other. As the man asked once more again who was there, the men jumped out with their weapons aimed.
"Shut up. Get on your knees. Hands behind your back."
Daryl zip tied the trembling wrists of the unsuspecting man. He had dropped to the floor without any complaint and I was glad that he hadn't brought too much attention to the small building that our group were in. If we were to be surrounded in here, there really would be no way out. They'd kill us, or worse, take us alive.
"Where are our people?" Rick spat up close in the man's face.
"I don't know," Our captor's voice shook.
"You are holding some of our people. Where the hell are they?"
"I don't know."
In pure frustration, the butt of the gun was smashed down over the man's head and he was thrown outside of the building discreetly once more. We went back to pacing for a few minutes. Were Maggie and Glenn even here? I gnawed anxiously on my lower lip, tasting the steely blood settling on the ripped skin.
"We're gonna go round the back ways," Rick explained. "Go through the place where Michonne was questioned. We're gonna throw down some tear gas, get in there and get out as soon as possible, alright? Are you all with me?"
There was a nod from the few of Rick's team. Michonne located the back door of the building and we all filed out quietly behind one another, creeping around the back of the buildings where it was empty. However, it was not quiet. I could hear a commotion sounding from on the streets and I wondered if the citizens of Woodbury had found the man that we had chucked out.
It was hard to manoeuvre through the dark, especially when we were walking on uneven ground, but I followed the bulky shadows in front of me. Michonne was leading us to what seemed to be a huge steel container. We waited behind one of the buildings, watching as two men left through the steel doors carrying guns and joking and laughing with each other. They didn't walk away as far as we needed them to, though. They stood and hung around outside of the container.
"We need to distract them," Michonne's whisper carried. "If we can keep them busy for just a few seconds, we can get in there and get your friends."
"And how do you suggest that we do that?" Rick asked.
"Someone. No one will get hurt. We'll be quick."
There was a pause. The idea of distracting the guards wasn't too appealing, but I knew it was my turn to take one for the team. Maggie and Glenn most likely hadn't given up anything and would have kept us safe, even if it meant getting hurt, so I knew that I could distract a couple of guards for a few seconds to save them.
"I can do it," I answered. "As long as you're quick."
"Are ya insane?" Daryl snapped. "I can't have ya going out there and risk getting yourself killed. I don't want your blood on my hands – Ben will kill me!"
"Well, you're going to have to take the chance, aren't you? If you're quick, nothing will happen. I'll literally just make a clean break down the street and veer them off round back. They'll have no choice but to follow me. Even if I was a citizen of Woodbury, it's past curfew."
"It's the only idea we've go," Rick admitted reluctantly.
I nodded and shrugged my backpack off of my shoulder, shoving it in Daryl's direction. He hesitantly took it, but he knew that there would be things in there that I needed. I had enough on me to hold off a couple of guards, if necessary. I just hoped that it would remain at a limited number of guards.
"You don't have to do this," Rick reminded me as I moved to the front of the group with my hand resting on my gun holster.
"I do," I sighed. "We need to get Maggie and Glenn. Get in there, get them, and get out. It's as simple as that, alright? I'll run around and try to meet you back up at the upturned bus in front of the gates. That way we can get over it and on the other side."
Rick nodded in agreement. Oscar clapped me on the back in a masculine manner and Michonne shot me a strained smile. Daryl was avoiding my gaze completely. I sighed and paused in front of him, hoping that he would look up and meet my eyes. The last thing I wanted to do was run off and see him for the last time in a bad mood.
Eventually, he glanced up and met my eyes. I grinned mockingly at him and he rolled his eyes. Affection had never been my forte, but it was better late than never. I reached forward ever so quickly and pecked him on his scruffy cheek before drawing away. His eyes were surprised and I was even shocked at my own actions. He went to say something, but then just shrugged it off and nodded his head. He knew that he had to let me go and do this. I wanted to go and do this.
Then, without any hesitation, I started running. I ran directly past the two guards with only a few metres to spare between our bodies. There was an ignorant cry and as I pumped my arms and legs, I could hear footsteps behind me. Although I wasn't strong, I was fast. I was small and lithe and that had always been the bonus that I had had in any situation that I had been faced with a threat.
My group must have really followed the idea of only a few seconds, because I could already hear echoes and yells from within the container that they had entered. A couple of gunshots were fired from behind me and I involuntarily ducked, turning my head to see the two guards hot on my tail. A bullet had pierced through a lamppost in front of me. They weren't really the problem, though – the problem was that other people were leaving their homes and the guards on watch duty were finally starting to take notice. I briefly noticed the man that we had encountered earlier, still propped up on the step of the building, flocks of people starting to surround him and question him about what had happened and why he was in such a state.
Before anybody else noticed I was out in the open, I spun on my heel and aimed my gun at the two pursuing me. My bullet deliberately missed their heads, just skimming past, but it was enough of a warning for them to duck down and take cover. The last thing I wanted to do was to kill someone in cold blood. I couldn't even blend in with these people, and I could feel trouble rising the further that I went.
I slipped past a couple of street openings in the shadow. As I passed the next alleyway, a pair of hands reached out and grabbed me round the waist, yanking me into the protection. A hand clamped down over my mouth and I was all but ready to scream and kick bloody murder, until a familiar voice shushed me.
"Shut up," Daryl grunted as I smashed the back of my shoe into his shin. "Christ, woman! I try to help ya and ya go all Rambo on my arse."
"Don't sneak up on me," I retaliated sulkily.
He smirked ever so slightly at me and I returned the favour. That was when I turned to see the rest of the group standing in the alleyway. My eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Glenn and Maggie, who were now with them. I gasped under my breath at the sight of Glenn's bloodied and beaten face. He must have taken all of the blows for Maggie, and our entire group as a whole. We wouldn't be able to repay him for that.
"You're okay?" Rick checked as I kept my eyes on our two retrieved group members.
"Fine," I nodded. "I'm fine. Where's Michonne?"
"She's run off. I have no idea where… Thanks for doing this, Annie. You brought us some time. We're going to make a clean break to the fence."
"Did everything go okay back there?"
"It went as smooth as we could have hoped for it to go…"
There was an awkward silence and I noticed how Daryl was looking down at the ground almost grumpily. Guards yelled from outside on the street as they run around searching for us. We remained tucked away in the shadows, trying to silently plan our next move. We couldn't exert ourselves too much while Glenn was so injured.
"There's gonna be more of them," Daryl warned, gesturing his head towards the now seemingly bustling and noisy street. "We need to move."
"They're going to gun us down from the wall," I said, peeking out quickly. "When I was running past, most of them had already turned and aimed up. They know what we look like."
"How do they know?" Rick demanded.
"The guy from the building earlier… He was talking to people. I can only imagine what he was saying. These people know who they're looking for."
"Merle's gonna know who he's looking for."
My head lifted in shock at Daryl's words. Merle? His brother was here in Woodbury? Rick sighed and rubbed a hand on the nape of his neck. I had never met the supposedly terrible man, but this was Daryl's blood. He didn't deserve to be left behind. But then again, I had no idea what he was capable of. Both Glenn and Maggie looked bitter at the mention of his name and I couldn't help but assume.
It was decided that more tear gas was going to be dropped and that we were going to run through the smoke and towards the wall. All of us had our weapons out and ready. It was hectic out there, and I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. Just as Rick was about to make his move, Daryl spoke.
"You guys go ahead," He said. "I'm gonna lay down some cover fire."
"No, we gotta stay together," Rick voiced my opinion.
"Too hairy. I'll be right behind you."
Our leader nodded in agreement and hastily set off the gas, calling for us to follow him. I turned and stared at Daryl in a panicked state for a few moments.
"I let you go earlier," He reminded me gruffly. "Ya get out safe, and I'll follow. Stay with Rick. Go."
He pushed me in the right direction and I nodded before tearing off after the rest of the group. Instructions were being called from ahead by Rick and I followed the sound of his voice aimlessly. It seemed that we weren't getting anywhere through the thick haze of smoke, and I was constantly scared that someone would jump out and grab me and take me down before I could make a sound.
As the smoke started to clear, I guarded the bus that we had reached that was pushed up against a relatively free area of the wall. Oscar boosted up both Glenn and Maggie first. Rick was up ahead shooting down our enemies and I stood in front of the bus, following his lead and taking down the closer targets. Briefly, through the clearing fog, I could see Daryl ducked behind a bench laying down fire for us. This could make him or break him, and I was just praying that I would see him again. All of this danger and adrenaline and suddenly rushed an increase in my feelings for him.
A tall man suddenly pushed his way through the smoke and shot. Rick took him down quickly, but it didn't stop the bullet that was already sailing through the air. My hair spun around my face as I turned and noticed Oscar climbing on top of the bus with the help of Maggie. There was no time to yell as the bullet planted itself into Oscar's stomach. Maggie screamed for Rick and our leader turned, watching as Oscar clutched at the blood spreading quickly on his shirt, slipping from the bus and onto the ground below. My gun was lowered as I watched the man sink down into the grass in his muddy grave. Maggie sobbed, but continued to climb over the wall to greet Glenn on the over side. Rick motioned for me to move. I paused and moved forward to look for Daryl, but Rick had already grabbed onto my arm and pushed me towards the bus while we had a free space of no one shooting directly at us. He gave me a boost and I heaved myself over the wall, dropping down and checking that both Maggie and Glenn were okay. The last thing I heard was Rick yelling for his friend and Daryl replying 'go'.