***Warning- Physical violence against females mentioned briefly in this chapter***
Viv and Isabella left shortly after Rick and Marty had headed out. For all intents and purposes, the two women were sisters. In reality, they were distant cousins. Viv's family had taken Isabella in after her mother was killed, and her father was unable to care for her properly. Viv had started dating Marty in high school, and Isabella was introduced to Joe shortly thereafter.
Viv had always been the smart and caring one of the two, and Isabella had been the stunningly beautiful one with the witty personality. No matter what situation the women were exposed too, they were always there for each other. They both knew what line of business their husbands had chosen to pursue and neither one questioned their men's choices. They supported their husbands, and they supported each other.
Being mob wives meant that both ladies learned to be tough. Viv had taken medical classes, so that she would have the ability to treat her husband or Joe if they were injured. There were times that going to the hospital would be too much of a risk of getting caught or linked to "business" that the law would frown upon.
Isabella learned how to charm even the most stoic of individuals. She was always the gracious host, and the doting beautiful wife. She made Joe look good, and he rewarded her handsomely for her loyalties and love. Both women worked as a team with their husbands, and as a result, they were well taken care of. Neither man ever dared to look at another woman, a rarity in their line of work. It wasn't fear that kept their men faithful, but it was love and adoration.
When they had made it about half way to the Blevins home, Viv suddenly had an overwhelming urge to relieve herself. "Hey dear, pull over for me real quick, I need to pee, now."
Isabella responded, "I swear you have a bladder the size of a peanut, can't you wait until we get to the Blevins house, we will be there in fifteen minutes."
"No, I need to go now, it will only take a second."
Isabella pulled over and Viv headed off to the tree line to take care of business. While waiting on Viv Isabella spotted a grove of familiar looking trees on the opposite side of the road. She headed over to investigate. Her assumption was correct, it was a grove of apple trees. She could come back in a few months and pick apples to preserve and cook with. She was mentally going through a list of recipes she could make when she was startled by the sound of a man's voice.
"Now what do we have here? I'm not used to seeing something as classy looking as you in these parts. Is that your shiny Lincoln parked out on the road?" His voice was dark and threatening.
Isabella suddenly was filled with panic. Her weapons were in the vehicle, and Viv was nowhere to be seen, which was actually a relief. By the looks of the man, he had to be one of the men from Laurel Springs. He looked like your stereotypical biker. His hair was long and greasy, he was dressed in dirty leather, and he was covered in satanic tattoos. His eyes were menacing and she could smell the booze on him from ten feet away. She knew she was in trouble and prayed Viv would stay hidden.
The man moved towards Isabella and grabbed her roughly by her arm. He then began to drag her towards the vehicle. She began resisting him as he pulled, and was greeted with a closed fist against her cheek. The pain made her wince and caused her to stumble.
"Look bitch, don't try fucking with me. You do as I tell you, or this is going to end badly for you. Right now I am your worse nightmare, and I have no problem slicing you up like the worthless piece of meat you are. Now you are coming with me, and you are going to be answering some questions for us, you got it?"
Isabella didn't say a word. She would die before she told anyone about anything she knew. She was as good as dead one way or the other, so there would be no way should betray her family. If there was one thing she had learned all these years being associated with Joe and Marty, it was that family loyalty was all that mattered.
Viv heard a man's voice and froze. She came to the clearing in the trees just in time to see Isabella getting pushed roughly into the Lincoln. Her heart stopped for just a moment. How did he find them? Immediately her mind went to Carol. What if Carol had done exactly as Daryl had suggested, she could of sought them out and traded her freedom for information. It made total sense that the desperate woman would resort to desperate measures.
Viv was at a loss of what to do. She had no weapons with her to retaliate against the man that now had Isabella, and if she gave herself up then both of them would be taken captive. Dreading her decision, she dropped down low to the ground and waited for the man to drive off. She would do everything possible to get Isabella back safely, but right now she had to get back to the compound and warn everyone what had happened.
She wished she had chosen to wear warmer clothes and she was mentally kicking herself for allowing herself to become so complacent. If only she had done as Isabella had suggested, and waited until they got the Blevins home, none of this would have happened. But if Carol had indeed tipped off their location to the men, then it was at least to her advantage that she hadn't been captured so she could relay the information.
After she had been walking for a good hour, she heard a vehicle approach. She immediately dropped low to the ground, and upon further inspection, she realized that it was the Blevins vehicle coming down the road, she stood up quickly and flagged the vehicle down.
Immediately, Thomas spotted Viv and pulled over to the side of the road so he could get her into the car.
"Viv, what happened? Joe is panicking. He said you ladies were on your way to our place, but obviously you never mad it. Where is Isabella?"
"She has been kidnapped. I think it was one the men from Laurel Springs. I also think they know about us now. The woman Carol that left earlier, I think she told them everything to save her own scrawny ass." Viv told him.
"I know that they wanted to have an emergency meeting, but I didn't know why. This is serious." He said.
The Blevins and Viv arrived back at the compound within ten minutes. Daryl greeted them at the gate and he let them in. Marty and Rick still had not arrived back from their scouting trip, and time was getting critical. They needed to either strike fast, or dig in and prepare for a direct attack.
Joe was beside himself when Viv told him what had happened with Isabella. Immediately he was ready to go to Laurel Springs himself to rescue his wife. Daryl had to physically restrain him to keep him from flying out of the house after his beloved wife.
Finally Marty and Rick arrived back, and confirmed that Carol's tracks led towards Laurel Springs. They could only conclude that she had indeed divulged everything she knew to the men. It was now just a matter of time before the vicious gang attacked them, unless they chose to attack first.
For the second time that day, everyone was gathered at the Martinelli home. The triumphant attitude shared after the meeting earlier in the day was now replaced with nervous apprehension. They no longer had the advantage of a surprise that they thought that they had.
Marty stood up and spoke, "As many of you know, we believe our location has been disclosed to the enemy in Laurel Springs. Our plans to attack in two days have been shot to hell and are no longer a viable option. We have two options, we can wait for them to come to us, which they will, or we can go after them now, tonight."
"Tonight, how can we be ready to go in tonight?" Anna spoke up.
Daryl then spoke, "Count me in."
Marty then continued, "We can follow the same plans as earlier, with the exception of Michonne and Daryl will not be going in to disable the tanks. Unfortunately, we are going to have to take our risks with the tanks, but hopefully we can hit them before they can gain their positions and retaliate."
A thought suddenly crossed Daryl's mind, "Thomas, can you fly that plane at night?"
"Absolutely, what's going through that head of yours Daryl?" Thomas inquired.
Daryl replied quickly, "We could drop grenades on them if we could fly low enough, and take out the tanks that way."
Anna then spoke, "But if you are low enough to drop the grenades on them, then you will be low enough for them to fire at you. It's suicide."
Daryl looked at her nervously. He knew she was right, but at this point, there weren't any other options. He was about to speak when Marty interrupted,
"Anyone in the plane will be heavily protected with Kevlar, and helmets. If they move in fast enough, they should be able to hit the targets and continue on. It's actually a very good idea and not as dangerous as you think. The darkness will play into our favor. We can also take advantage of the dozen or so Night vision goggles that we have. My suggestion is everyone loads up, and meets back here in two hours. That will put us at seven PM and we will stagger the starts so everyone arrives at the same time."
This was all happening fast. Anna pulled Daryl away from the group to speak to him. "I want to go with you."
"Ain't happening. If something happens, one of us needs to be around for Hunter. I don't even want you going out tonight." Daryl told her.
"Marty wants me to go in and help get the women out. You know it won't be as dangerous coming in from the eastern slope. Rick is stepping in for Thomas, so you know it will be safe. He cares about you too much to risk anything happening to me." She said.
Damn her. Damn her for her determination and her big heart, and Damn her for being right about Rick. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. But with them both going out on this mission, there was the risk that Hunter could be left an orphan, so Daryl played his card,
"Anna, I'm only thinking about Hunter. If this goes bad, she will be alone for the rest of her life. She has already lost her biological father, do you want her to lose the only mom and dad she knows? Please think about her when deciding. Do you really want to leave her an orphan?" Daryl delivered his response with a voice filled with angst.
"Fuck Daryl, when you put it like that you make me seem like the most selfish person ever. You Win. I will stay back here with Beth and Carrie, but only because you made a good case. It fucking sickens me to know you once again are putting yourself in extreme danger."
"Look, I know you don't like it, and I don't either, but I swear to you, once all of this goes away, I will take it easy and stick to hunting. I don't like this Rambo shit anymore than you do, but I am good at it, and this community needs me right now, and we will all benefit from these assholes being gone."
Daryl gave a short goodbye to Anna, "I will see you in a few hours. I'm sure I will need another bath when I get back" he winked at her.
"You get back in one piece, and you will get anything you want. I'll dance off a stripper pole if you want me too." She responded.
"Better start practicing baby girl." He embraced her and gave her a kiss. He then picked up his daughter and held her to his chest and kissed the top of her head. She looked back up him with her big eyes and gave him a huge smile.
"I love you sweetheart, Daddy will be back before you know it. Now take good care of your momma for me." He handed her back to Anna and then left the house.
He met Michonne out in the driveway. He had decided that she literally would be a good wingman in this situation. Her strength and her accuracy would be needed to take out the tanks. Their plan was to basically pull the pins and let the grenades drop on the targets. They only had five seconds before they would explode. They could circle back and hopefully drop eight grenades with minimal problems. They had fifteen of them, so if they needed more they would use them. However, the longer they flew directly at the group in Laurel Springs, the more danger they would be in.
They both strapped on the Kevlar vests and military helmets. That would help greatly with eliminating threats of gunshot wounds to the chest and head, and then they picked up an additional set to bring to Thomas. Once they were ready, they picked up several rounds of ammunition and automatic weapons and loaded them into Daryl's truck.
Daryl looked back at everyone with one final glance. He gave a nod to Rick, Marty, and Joe, and then headed out for Thomas's house. He quietly prayed that he would see these people again later in the evening.
As they were all about to venture out into an epic battle with the men at Laurel Springs, Isabella was holding her breath, waiting for a painful confrontation that had been promised to her by the leader of these men. She had been bound and gagged in one of the rooms in the motel, knowing that they wanted information from her.
Sure enough she heard a knock at the door and it opened. In walked a scarred up biker armed with a large hunting knife, and a steel pipe. He had a front gold tooth, and was no less than 6'5. He smelled of cheap cologne and sweat and his eyes were completely dead. The sight of him took her breath away, but she had to be strong, strong for her family, strong for her community, and strong for the other women being held against their will.
What she didn't count on was that Damian had someone to assist him with the interrogation. It was none other than Carol Peletier. The normally timid looking woman was looking far from timid as she came in the room, armed with a baseball bat and a much smaller, but very sharp looking knife. It dawned on Isabella that this had nothing to do with her, but everything to do with Carol wanting revenge on Daryl. And Carol was willing to do whatever it took to destroy him, even if it meant killing his family one by one.
Soooo...the next chapter will begin the epic battle that this story has been leading to...
Hope everyone enjoys this story and this chapter. Please leave me lots and lots of reviews...I love reading everyone's feedback. And also, please feel free to share this story with your friends. I wrote this for YOU the readers, and hope you enjoy it as much as I have writing it.
Thanks Everyone- I truly mean it.
Missy
XXOO
