AN: Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Just a little bit of warning. I'm not really great at action chapters. They're not my forte, but unfortunately they have to happen in the Walking Dead, so here you go. I hope it's not too bad.

As you'll know by the end of this chapter, we're taking a little turn away from where the show went. From here out, some things will still be like they are in the show, but a lot of them will be markedly different. We will be venturing into "season 4" with this story…though not exactly as seen on television, of course.

I hope you enjoy the chapter. Let me know what you think.

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When Daryl woke up, he was immediately aware that it was later than he'd ever intended it to be. He didn't normally sleep in and he immediately knew that today he had…and today wasn't a day that he wanted to sleep in at all.

Panic seizing him, Daryl flung back the covers of the empty bunk and dressed as quickly as he could, snatching up his crossbow and jogging out of the cell.

The prison, for all intents and purposes, seemed to be abandoned. He could hear Beth's voice echoing throughout the space and knew she likely had the baby somewhere, but she was of little concern to him at the moment. Beth wasn't the person you wanted to find when you wanted to know where everyone was and what they were doing.

Daryl got out of the space as quickly as he could and found Carol easily enough, washing up breakfast dishes in a metal tub near a pathetic brush fire.

And Daryl tried to hold back the panic he was feeling and the annoyance at having overslept on a day when he'd told himself he'd wake up early.

"Where the hell is Merle?" Daryl growled.

He realized as soon as she said it and Carol looked at him like she had no idea how to respond, that it had come out far differently than he'd intended, but at the moment there was nothing he could do about it.

"I…I don't know," Carol stuttered.

Crossing the yard, laughing and chatting between themselves, were Alice and Melodye and the two of them closed the space fairly quickly.

"Good morning, sunshine!" Alice called, the bucket of water she was carrying sloshing a bit on the ground.

Daryl shook his head.

"Do ya know where Merle is?" He asked.

Alice raised an eyebrow at him. She glanced around the yard for a moment and that told Daryl basically all he needed to know without her ever even having to turn back and shrug like she did.

"Haven't seen him…" she said.

"Michonne?" He asked, glancing between Carol who had frozen in her work and Alice and Melodye that were now regarding him like he might have lost his mind.

"No…" Alice said. "She's usually on the fences…"

She glanced around the area again, apparently searching for the woman, but she was nowhere to be seen. Even from where he was standing, without the use of anyone else's eyes, Daryl knew the woman wasn't working the fences.

Today was the day that Merle was supposed to be delivering the woman to the Governor. Today was the day that the shit was going down and Daryl had promised himself that he was going to wake up in time to get to Merle…if nothing else he was going to find out what his brother had up his sleeve because he couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't on the up and up. In fact, for as fucked up as the whole plan was anyway, Daryl had the distinct feeling that it wasn't even on the up and up for that and he wanted to know what the hell was going down.

He could at least go with Merle…if he had some kind of plan…and together they could make whatever it was happen.

But he'd overslept and now Merle was gone…and so was the woman.

Daryl kicked at the ground in frustration and spat.

"Why the fuck ya let me fuckin' sleep?" He asked, turning back to Carol.

She stayed frozen, looking at him.

"Fuck!" Daryl spat.

There was no telling what Merle was up to but whatever he was doing, he was going to Woodbury and he had Michonne.

And Daryl knew that he had to go after him. His brother was an asshole and his brother might not always do the best damn thing he could do in any given situation, but he was his brother.

And Daryl would go alone if he had to, but he didn't know Woodbury well and he knew it was a bad damn idea to go anywhere on your own these days if you were straying into uncharted waters. Walkers were bad enough, but this was more or less entering enemy territory.

But Rick wouldn't go on some kind of rescue mission with him…not for Merle and Michonne…hell, Rick had been the one that had sent them out there. And Glenn and Maggie both were too damn wrapped up in their own sad stories about Merle and the Governor. They'd just as soon cut Merle's throat as try to help him…even if he was out there, and as Daryl suspected, doing something to try and save their hides.

Daryl settled his eyes on the brunette in front of him and frowned to himself.

She wasn't a prize, but she'd probably know the town and she was at least gung ho about shit, whether or not he'd ultimately be dragging her ass out of trouble.

"How fuckin' good ya know Woodbury?" He asked.

Alice stared at him, her eyes wide. She glanced at Carol and then back at Daryl.

"Me?" She stuttered.

"Who the fuck else ya think I'm talkin' to?" Daryl asked, trying to will himself to calm down. He was already going to have a hell of time apologizing to Carol if he came out of this shit alive and he sure as hell didn't need to piss off the woman he was planning on dragging along as back up.

Alice didn't move, her eyes remaining wide.

"Alright, I guess…I mean I wasn't there that long…" Alice stuttered out, glancing back at Carol.

"Ya got'cha knife?" Daryl asked, growing frustrated as he literally felt minutes ticking away from under him.

Alice nodded.

"Good enough," he said. It didn't matter that the brunette was only armed with a knife. That's all the hell she could use anyway. She'd be just as damn useful throwing rocks at assholes as she would be shooting them and at least with the rocks she had less of a chance of shooting herself in the foot or shooting Daryl with some stray bullet.

Daryl knew he probably owed everyone an explanation…he knew he especially owed one to Carol…but he didn't have the time for that or the frame of mind to make it come out like he wanted, so he wasn't going to offer one.

He wasn't going to say anything…because even if he tried to say goodbye…the just in case goodbye because he didn't know what the hell he was going into or if he or the brunette would come back…then it would take too long and people would want explanations.

He'd have to ask forgiveness for his sins when he got back…if he got back.

He cast a quick glance toward Carol, wishing he could magically make her understand everything he'd been thinking and failed to tell her and reached out, snatching Alice by the wrist and literally dragging her with him as she protested.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Alice screeched as Daryl drug her toward his bike.

He stopped, finally turning toward her, but not letting her wrist go.

"I ain't got time ta explain everythin'," he said. "Rick made a deal with the Governor ta get Michonne an' kill her. He sent Merle out there with her an' I think they up ta somethin'. We gotta get our asses in there an' get 'em the hell out if they need it."

Alice stared at him.

"Why me?" Alice asked.

"Ain't no fuckin' body else…now ya comin' or ya comin'?" Daryl asked, tightening his grip on her wrist.

Alice stared at him and then started toward the bike.

"I get picked last for everything in my entire fucking life," Alice muttered as Daryl got on the bike and she got on behind him. "The one damn thing I wouldn't mind being overlooked for and here I sit…"

"Shut the fuck up an' hold on," Daryl muttered.

He cranked the bike and rode toward the fence, offering no explanation, and glad that Carl didn't try to stop him to ask him for one as he opened it and let them ride out.

Once on the road, he opened the bike to full throttle and hoped that they'd make it in time to be of some use…and not just in time to meet the fuckers that were going to be waiting to shoot them in the face.

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If Daryl had an image in his head for how this was going to go down, it looked nothing like what had actually happened. He'd found, on their way to where they'd stopped before in their various trips toward the town, a car that was abandoned and he was pretty sure he recognized it from a run that Glenn and Maggie had made a while back when they'd come back with twice the vehicles they left with in an effort to carry more.

He'd left the bike there and pulled Alice along behind him through the woods in the direction of the town. The wall in plain sight, he already knew that there was trouble inside. There was no one on the wall and the sounds coming from inside were a clear indication that he'd been right. Something was going down.

So they'd both gotten their asses over the wall as quickly as they could and found the place they'd entered at to be abandoned. Daryl tried his best, unfamiliar with the town, to keep them hidden while Alice directed him toward the Governor's house…figuring that might be the best place to go looking for the one eyes son of a bitch.

Even if he left here without his brother…even if he was too late to save him…maybe they were just in time to kill the fucker.

As they approached the building that Alice whispered to him was the one that they were looking for, though, Daryl realized they didn't even need to try and be stealthy about their approach. The place was in a riot for as far as he could see and he doubted that single solitary soul would notice them if they walked proud right through the middle of it.

But he didn't see Merle anywhere and he didn't see Michonne, so the question remained where the two were and what exactly had gone down in the Governor's ideallic little town to have people rioting in the streets and parading around like none of them knew what they were doing or what was happening.

Daryl stopped for a moment, trying to figure out what to do, when he felt Alice's hand close around his arm and she yanked him. He followed her without question, having no real plan for the moment, and found her dragging him toward one of the main street buildings. She drug him right over against the wall and he planted himself flat against the brick of the building to copy her stance.

"What the hell do we do now?" Alice panted.

"I thought'cha had a fuckin' plan," Daryl spat back.

Alice chuckled.

"Not really," she said. "I just figured it might be a good idea to get our asses right out of the center of town. They've seen me before, you know?"

Daryl realized she was right. There was a chance that she might be recognized and depending on what had gone down, that might not be a good thing. He didn't know what the citizens of Woodbury knew and didn't know about their precious leader.

"Gotta find Merle an' Michonne," Daryl growled, keeping his voice low, leaning in toward the woman.

Wide eyed, she nodded at him.

"Gonna try ta kill the fucker," Daryl said. He shook his head. "If we leave like this his ass is goin' directly back ta the prison…an' we ain't fuckin' with this shit no more."

He saw Alice visibly swallow, still wide eyed, but she nodded.

"What the hell ya know 'bout this place?" Daryl asked.

Alice looked around for a moment.

"The building I told you about," she said, keeping her voice low. "That's where he lives…but that one over there…the one with the columns?"

Daryl saw the building she gestured her head toward and nodded. It seemed very few people were paying attention to that direction of the street, most of them trying to riot outside the Governor's dwelling place.

"That's the place I was at," she said. "There's…well…roomsbuildings…in the back."

Daryl squinted his eyes at the place.

"Where the hell Glenn an' Maggie were," he said.

Alice shrugged.

"If he's got Michonne," Alice said, "then I'd bet he's got her there."

"Good a damn place ta start as any," Daryl growled.

Daryl grabbed Alice's arm and yanked her from the protection of the hiding spot as quickly as he could, making their way toward the building and hoping that no one saw them in the chaos around them. Easily enough, though, they slipped behind the building and Daryl knew that it was precisely what they were looking for when they'd found Glenn and Maggie.

The Governor, cozy son of a bitch that he was, had converted the whole back part of the place into torture chambers…or holding pens…or whatever the hell he wanted to call them. And they were right under the noses of the so called good citizens of the town who never even bothered to notice them. The people of Woodbury were no better than sheep.

They slipped into the dark spaces easily enough. There weren't any guards. Daryl didn't know that he'd necessarily expected an army or anything of the like, but he'd thought they wouldn't find the place abandoned.

It didn't take long, though, slipping through some darkened hallways and wondering to himself how in the hell they were even going to know where to begin to look, to figure out why there were no guards.

They were dead…and one by one Daryl stumbled upon their corpses. Beheaded, cleaved, sliced. The dead bodies carried all the signals of Merle's handiwork and of Michonne's. They'd been here before. And Daryl wasn't sure if somehow he'd fallen in on their old path or if he was following right along to where they were now like some kind of morbid Hansel and Gretel mission.

But finally the bodies stopped…the blood didn't, though.

So he followed that trail as well in the semi darkness of the place that was lit only by scattered electric lights that didn't burn well. Behind him he knew Alice was with him only because he had a sweaty grip around her wrist and he could hear her breath coming out a little ragged either from exhaustion, which he doubted, or fear.

They stumbled upon a room at the end of the trail of macabre breadcrumbs that had an open door and from inside he could hear hushed noises. The sounds of whispering…perhaps of crying. He didn't know if he was about to fall in on some distraught Woodburyian that hadn't quite died from the two blade slingers that had passed before him, but he stepped into the room anyway.

And just inside his eyes fell directly on the body of a fallen Walker. Raising his eyes he noticed a chair, like a dentist chair, in the room and Andrea was cuffed to it, Michonne standing over her.

As soon as Daryl made a step forward Michonne's sword was drawn and on him, the blade flickering back the reflection of the light around him. She stood there a moment, not lowering the sword, and he didn't dare to move. Something was in her eyes that dared him to do anything, and he wasn't willing to take that dare at the moment.

She lowered the sword after a second, though, and Daryl realized she'd been crying. Her chest was heaving.

And he glanced toward Andrea that looked dead in the chair, unconscious, but she hadn't turned yet if that was the case. Daryl wondered if Michonne just hadn't had the heart to put her down. And he wondered where the hell his brother was now that he'd found one half of the couple he was looking for. He hoped that Michonne hadn't killed Merle to escape.

"She dead?" Daryl asked.

Michonne swallowed visibly.

"Not yet," she said.

"She bit?" Daryl asked.

Michonne shook her head.

"She was chained up like that when we got here," Michonne said. "The Walker has a pair of pliers through his eye socket…so I guess she killed him with that. Looks like she's been tortured."

Daryl nodded slightly, not wanting to fully comprehend anything for the moment.

"Merle?" he asked.

"Left me here," Michonne said. "Told me to wait with Andrea. He's gone to kill the Governor."

"Shit!" Daryl spat.

He turned quickly in the direction of Alice.

"Stay here…save her fuckin' life if ya can…if I don't come back for ya…all of ya get'cha fuckin' asses back ta the prison an' be ready," Daryl spat.

Alice nodded at him and he didn't wait for further confirmation. He was going to find his brother, one way or the other and they were going to end this shit…Dixon style…if it was possible.

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The whole thing was surreal to Daryl. Even as he rode the bike down the highway in a probable race against time, it just didn't seem real.

After he'd left the two women in the spaces that could have best been described as tombs, he'd made his way back out of there, following along the trail of blood that he now figured had come from the Walker that was with Andrea…probably before he'd been a Walker…and the destroyed bodies of the poor fools that had been hiding there when the first wave of his group had come through, Daryl had immediately slipped toward the Governor's house to try and find out anything he could.

It was easier, he discovered, to slip around without dragging Alice behind him, and he figured she was better suited to trying to keep Andrea alive if it were possible.

And he'd found out that there had been some kind of indication that all wasn't well in the Governor's house, and the people were stirred up…from what he could hear of their chants, screams, and yells…because they didn't know what was happening any more than Daryl did.

Going in the front door, though, or even in the back, wasn't going to be an option. So Daryl had walked around the side of the house and found a window that was unlocked and he could jimmy open, slipping inside.

And it hadn't taken him long then to follow the sounds of voices. Just two or three at the most, he'd figured.

And then he'd found them and realized that Merle was there with the Governor. And he was there with the black man that had been outside the barn at their so called meeting. And they were barricaded, from what he could tell, inside the building in some kind of standoff.

Because either way, someone was going to die once they'd all seen each other. And apparently none of them had decided who it was going to be yet.

But Daryl knew the answer, and he knew that he had the upper hand of not being seen from his hiding place.

And he'd hoped his brother was as quick, despite the years that they'd put between their present day and their youth, as he had once been. Daryl had raised his crossbow as quietly as possible and put a bolt directly into the head of the Governor.

And as he watched the body slump, momentarily surprised at the ease in which he'd done away with the despot, he'd hesitated a moment too long to reload and dispatch an arrow into the black man that slumped right alongside the body of the Governor.

The man, in his surprise and just before his death, had gotten off a shot, and it had hit Merle in the chest.

Daryl had run toward his brother, found him alive, and did his best to bind his wounds while telling his brother to stop fucking talking to him because they had to get out of this shit…some damn way.

And then it had been a total blur of activity and trying to think one step ahead. The crowd, drawn tighter around the entrance to the building at the sound of the gunshot and the fact that the doors were locked and blocked, hadn't noticed Daryl's messy departure from the building with his injured brother.

Somehow Merle had held it together too, despite the wound, and they'd gotten to the building where Alice and Michonne were hiding in the shadows, Andrea's seemingly lifeless body stretched between them, and then all of them had high tailed it out the way they'd come in.

Merle had held it together right up until they reached the car…but the destination in sight and the blood loss probably staggering…had sent him to the ground and they'd had to wrestle him and Andrea both into the vehicle.

Now they were barreling toward the prison, Michonne just behind Daryl, driving the car while Alice did her best not to arrive at the prison with Walkers in tow. None of them having any idea what the fallout from the event would be, and none of them at all sure what would happen once they cleared the prison gates.