Hold on to yer butts folks, things are bout to get a little dicey! Soon we are gonna get our first look in what our Heroine is truly capable of. Been dreading and highly anticipating this chapter. Have fun!
Chapter 20
Seven hours of tense silence later, we were almost home. Night had fallen some time ago.
"Guys…" I said softly when the prison came into view. The part of the fence we had tried to brace had given way. Michonne gunned it to the gate.
I got out, jumped the gate and threw open the sliding fence. Another part of the fence further up was also down and I could make out the shapes of Rick and Carl. Using the pulley, I opened the steel gate, the van pulling through. I let the gate close behind them and hoped back into the van.
Rick was at the second gate waiting for us.
As soon as we came to a stop, Ty jumped out, coming around to Rick.
"Sasha? How's Sasha?"
"I don't know. I'm sorry." Rick admitted.
"Get in there. We got this." Daryl instructed. Ty made a break for A Block. It seemed that the two of them had taken out a far amount of walkers by themselves.
"What happened?" I asked, coming over to Rick, grabbing him by the shoulders. He looked up at me.
"Carl and I, we were trying to further brace that piece of gate." I let my arms drop as Carl came over to us, "The supports began to fail and the fence just gave. We ran up here maybe thinking we could brace the fence up here with the bus. But it happened too fast."
"We took them out." Carl finished. He was wearing his dad's old hat again, gun in hand. Rick had tried so hard to keep Carl from having to use a gun, but in this world, you didn't have much of a choice.
Bob headed towards A block with the contents of our bags to help administer drugs to the sick. I followed, ready to help. I ended up getting stuck with toting the dead bodies out. Really I was best suited for the job. I could easily carry a corpse on each shoulder. I know right, what an accomplishment. They also wouldn't be able to infect me. I dropped them off near the second gate so they could be buried properly in the morning.
It was getting close to dawn when I was finished. Covered in blood and fluids I trekked to the showers. I stripped and tossed my shirt to the side. I would need to burn it now. Pity, I kinda liked that shirt.
I pressed my hands against the wall as the water rushed over me.
"Hmm figured I'd find you here." Michonne's voice woke me from my trance. She also stripped taking the shower stall to my left.
"Just finished moving all the bodies out of A block. My muscles are killing me. Wish we had hot water baths.`` I groaned through chattering teeth.
"Pfft me too. Or a hot spring."
"Ooo even better." Our laughter echoed in the room, until Michonne's smile slipped.
"I have never seen Daryl so riled up." She commented, remembering the heated confrontation at the school.
"Neither have I." I told her, "There was a great deal of disappointment there as well. Would have thought he was the one who was half animal, instead of me."
"Have you been that angry before? Like when Andrea shot him?"
"Uh, yeah, probably. Though looking back I wish I would have had the patience to…I dunno help her, at least tried to be her friend. It's good she found you." Michonne let out a heavy sigh, the memory of her death still weighing on her.
When I was sufficiently clean, I turned off the pump letting the water sputter and stop flowing. I grabbed my towel, drying off.
"Did they put that on you?" Michonne asked leaning on the short wall to the shower stall. She patted the nape of her neck.
"Yeah, was a sign that I was an experiment. It's a brand." she took a sharp breath in. "They had to rebrand me several times before it would keep, given that I heal quickly. I was just another animal to them, they didn't see me as a human. Probably why I eventually stopped seeing myself as a human." I looked down at my feet.
"You were born a human, grew up a human, Gwen." she said, "Just cause you bleed black, and you can easily outjump the best high jumper in the world, without a pole mind you, doesn't change the fact that you are still, fundamentally human." I sighed.
"Sometimes it's easy to forget." She shut off her own water, coming out of her stall, towel in hand.
"Yeah I get that. Believe me I do." Her eyes were distant.
Dressed in fresh clothes the two of us headed back to the cell block. Daryl wasn't back yet. I flopped down on our bed, passing out as soon as my eyes closed.
My nightmares woke me with a start. Daryl was still not back and the sun had already started to climb in the sky. The same vision from the road was haunting my dreams. Something wasn't sitting right in my bones. I got up, setting my backpack on the chair in our room. I went through it checking the supplies I always kept in there.
My hammock tent, my sketchbooks and pencils, a couple MRE's that I salvaged from an army supply store a couple months back, my water skin, matches, three packs of cigs, my moms pipe and the last of the weed and tobacco. Plus the other seeds for both plants. There were other odds and ends in there as well. I still had some of my iodine drops in case I was unable to boil water I found. My last book of matches, that stupid box of condoms I snagged at the Big Spot. There was also a half a box of bullets.
Satisfied that it was ready to go if...if what? Why was I feeling this sudden need to flee? I dressed, stowing my sleeping clothes in my bag as well as a couple shirts rolled in a pair of jeans.
Daryl got back as I stowed my back under the bed.
"Hey." He leaned against the door frame, exhaustion all over his face.
"Hey, did ya get any sleep?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"Nah. Been helping Ty bury the bodies you brought out from A block." I patted the bed and he sat down heavily.
"Hershel said Rick had something to talk to me about Carol." I furrowed my brow, "I guess she's fine. Not really sure what it's about." He rubbed his face with his hands, letting it rest there.
"Looks like we're about to find out." Rick came into view. Daryl looked up at our friend.
"There's something the three of us need to talk about." We joined him on the catwalk.
When he said that it was Carol who killed Karen and David, I wasn't surprised. I wish I had been. I thought I had smelt their blood on her but I had dismissed it. What I was surprised about was her exile.
"Man ya couldn't have waited till we got back?" Daryl growled softly at him, pacing the catwalk.
"Until Tyreese got back?" Rick asked.
"I could've handled that." Daryl protested. I shook my head in disbelief.
"Hey. Hey." Daryl looked back at him, "She killed two of our couldn't be here," " Rick hissed, "She's gonna be alright. She has a car, supplies, weapons. She's- she's a survivor."
"Stop saying that like you don't believe it!" Daryl spat, getting in Rick's face.
"Daryl…" I hissed at him. He turned shaking his head, still pacing.
"She did it. She said it was for us. That's how it was in her head. She wasn't sorry." Rick told us.
"Man, that's her, but it ain't her." He said, turning around again, throwing an arm, "What are we supposed to do about those two girls?"
"I told her we'd look after them." He looked at Rick before leaning on the rail, his forehead on his hands. I leaned back next to him, my arms crossed, my toes the new best thing to look at. Carol was gone...Close to two years with her and she was just gone. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"I haven't told Tyreese yet." Rick said, "I don't know how he's gonna take it."
"Let's go find out." Daryl said brushing past Rick and I, heading down the stairs.
I was going to let them handle that. I left the cell block, crossing the courtyard to the farm. I pulled the biggest leaves off, pressing one to my nose, the aroma making me think of my mother. The sound of her voice, watching work in her garden. Gently, I wrapped the leaves in cheesecloth, putting them in my back pocket. I was heading back towards the gate, when a deafening blast broke the air, the earth shaking. My ears rang as I fell to the ground, with the force of the explosion.
No...no nononononono.
"Rick!" The Governor called out when he saw the Sheriff at the top of the hill. They hadn't spotted me yet, so I made my way over to the horse stall. He whickered, and I could smell his fear, "Come down here. We need to talk." He was standing on top of a mother fucking tank, three cars on either side of him.
"It's not up to me!" I heard Rick yell, "There's a council now. They run this place." Yeah and one of those council members was currently trapped between a horse stall and a tank.
"Is Hershel on the council?" he motioned to one of his people. She opened the door to one of the cars. She pulled Hershel from it's depths.
"Shit!" I hissed. This could not be happening right now! I started to breath fast, the wolf beginning to panic. This was my vision, and I knew this didn't end welll. I closed my eyes trying to get a grip of myself. How did they get a hold of Hershel?
"What about Michonne?" She followed close after Hershel.
"No…" I needed to calm down. My body was shaking but not in fear. Pure animalistic adrenaline was pumping through me. Gripping my thigh, I felt the Peacemaker there. I needed to get up there, I could see Daryl looking around trying to get eyes on me.
"Daryl!" I hissed. His gaze caught mine. He took a step forward but I shook my head, putting my finger to my lips.
"Is she on the council, too?" The Governor continued.
"I don't make decisions anymore!" Rick repeated.
"You're making the decisions today, Rick. Come down here. Let's have that talk." I saw Rick turn to Daryl, who nodded in encouragement. It was time for him to be our leader again. He gripped Carl by the neck, patting him on the shoulder.
Rick made his way down the road towards the fence, making eye contact with me briefly before continuing on. I pulled my gun, checking the ammo. I clicked the tumbler back in, cocking the hammer. This was going to turn into a fight...my gut was twisting. I could almost smell the violence in the air.
I peered through the fence watching Rick walk, the palm of his hand resting on the butt of his gun. Then I looked up at the others. Daryl had already turned to those who remained, giving them directions on the back up plan. Flee. They'd get everyone they could on the bus then take off. The rest would head to the woods. Daryl and I had a place we would meet if something like this happened. It was looking like we weren't going to be leaving together.
"Let 'em go right now." Rick said as he got the fence, "I'll stay down here. Talk as long as you want. But you let 'em go. You got a tank. You don't need hostages."
"I do," The tyrant responded, "This is just to show you I'm serious. Not to blast a hole in our new home. You and your people you have till sundown to get out of here or they die."
"It doesn't have to be this way." Rick urged.
"I got more people, more firepower," He gestured to the tank. Yeah we get it douche, you have a fuckin' tank, "We need this prision. There it is. It's not about the past. It's about right now." Oh he was so full of shit, of course this was about the past!
"There are children here." Rick pleaded, "Some of them are sick. They won't survive."
"I have a tank." You can't argue with crazy, and this man was most definitely crazy, "And I'm letting you walk away from here. What else is there to talk about?" He paused for dramatic effect no doubt, before he continued on his rampage.
"I can shoot you all. You all shoot back. I know that. But we'll win and you'll be dead. All of you. Doesn't have to be like this. Like I said, it's your choice."
"Yeah it really doesn't. The way it should go is that you should be dead and your head on a pike!" I hissed to myself. He shot two walkers from atop the tank.
"Noise will only draw more over. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for you to get out of here." I looked up at the others and saw Daryl and Carl side by side, gun barrels resting in the chain link, " The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be for you to get out of here." He repeated
"We can all-" Rick tried again, but he stopped, "We can all live together. There's enough room for all of us."
"More than enough," The Governor remarked, " But I don't think my family would sleep well knowing that you were under the same roof."
"We'd live in different cell blocks," the sheriff continued, "We'd never have to see each other till we're all ready."
"It could work." Hershel called back, "you know it could."
"It could've, but it can't. Not after Woodbury. Not after Andrea." See, no arguing with crazy.
"Look, I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Fact is, it's gonna be a hell of a lot harder than standing here shooting at each other. But I don't think we have a choice." Rick kept trying to push.
"We don't. You do." Ugh! I wanted to scream in frustration.
"We're not leaving. You try and force us, we'll fight back. Like you said, the gunshots will just bring more of them out. They'll take down the fences. Without the fences this place is worthless." Rick was finally done playing this game, "Now, we can all live in the prison or none of us can." The Governor pursed his lips then got down from the tank. He took Michonne's sword and strode towards the hostages.
"Oh no…" He put the sword to Hershel's neck. Maggie and Beth ran up to the fence above.
"You. You in the ponytails." Rick pointed to one of the girls that came with the Governor. She looked scared, "Is this what you want? Is this what any of you want?"
"What we want, is what you got!" The man piloting the tank yelled down, "Period. Time for you to leave, asshole."
"Look, I fought him before." Rick was gonna bring Woodbury into this, his last ditch to make them see reason, "And after, we took in his old friends. They've become leaders in what we have here. Now put down your weapons, walk through those gates… you're one of us. We let go of all of it, and nobody dies. Everyone who's alive right now. Everyone has made it this far. We've all done the worst kinds of things just to stay alive. But we can still come back. We're not too far gone. We get to come back. I know…" the blade started to lower away from Hershel's neck, "we call can change." For a moment it looked like maybe, The Governor saw reason, but his mouth twisted into a snarl.
"Liar." He raised the sword bringing it down on Hershel, blood spraying from the gaping wound in his neck.
"No!" Rick fired, hitting the Governor in the shoulder. I stood up out of my hiding place, laying down cover fire as Rick made for the bus.
I needed to get to Rick. The tank was rolling forward now, taking the fences down with it. Cars were starting to come in.
"Shit! Rick!" I yelled, running out. The first man I came up to, I stabbed my fingers through his eyeballs, then I dug my nails in on his throat and ripped out his windpipe. My vision was almost completely red now. I leaped on top of one of the cars, shoving my fist through the window, grabbing the driver and ripping him back through. I leaped off the car as it careened into the other fence.
"Gwen!" I heard Daryl scream my name. I whipped around to see the Governor right behind me. He was sneering down at me.
"I have been waiting to do this for a long time, 'Ganesha Wolf'." He shoved a blade into my chest. I looked down at the metal piercing my skin, black seeping outwards, staining my shirt. Damn, that's two shirts in two days...
"Gwen! Gwen!" I had never heard that tone in Daryl's voice before. The governor pulled the knife out pushing me over and walked away, like I was just a piece of discarded trash. I coughed up blood as I tried to roll over. He had narrowly missed my heart, given that I wasn't already dead, but he punctured my lung. Shit, this was so not good.
Walkers were starting to stream into the prison. I needed to get away from here. I was dragging myself up the incline, trying to look as inconspicuous as I could, while gasping for air and bleeding out. Lot harder than it looks folks. I was able to make it as far as the watchtower. Walking my hands up the side, I pulled the door open and fell in. I lay there on my back, darkness creeping in on my vision, the sound of my home being taken from us. Tears streamed down my face. This was how I was going to die. Alone in this place, the one I love far from me.
"Daryl…" I gasped before I faded into darkness.
"Gwen! Honey it's time to get up!" The sound of my mom's voice woke me from my nightmare. I sat there gasping, tears still on my cheeks, "Breakfast is in twenty minutes!" I heard her sing from the other side of my door. I rubbed my eyes taking a deep breath.
"Holy shit…" That was some fucking dream. I really needed to lay off the sugar before bedtime.
"Babe...is it pancake day?" I looked down at my boyfriend, who was curling himself around my side.
"Mmmm, you want a different kind of breakfast?" I quirked an eyebrow at him. Guill chuckled looking up at me.
"Oh honey you know I always do but I can't say no to Norah's flapjacks."
"Pfft. Fiiine."
He slapped my ass at least six times before we finally made it out of the bedroom. We walked down to the kitchen, Mom already seated at the table with Lori and Dale.
"I see you guys decided to join us for breakfast huh?" Lori teased, pinching my side as I walked past. I giggled.
"Stooop!" I complained.
"T and Andrea should be getting here-" My mom started, then the bell rang. "Now!" She got up and went to the door, I took my normal seat, Guill beside me.
"Hey guys!" I said when T and Andrea came in. They sat across the table, beaming at me, "Where's Daddy?" I asked my mom.
"Oh...uh he had to leave early for work." We dug into the flap jacks. God, Guill was right, these were better than sex. I was about done with my fifth one when my mom cleared her throat.
"Honey?" I looked up at her, flapjack loaded in my cheek.
"Ah huh?"
"I had everyone come over for breakfast today, because there is something we want to tell you." I groaned.
"I swear if this is another intervention about quitting my job at Sears I told you I can't-"
"Gwen, you have to listen to us please." Andrea spoke, and I saw a sadness in her eyes I had never seen.
"This isn't about my job?" She shook her head. Well what in holy heck could it be about?
"No honey, this is about Daryl." My heart palpitated and I dropped my fork. I painfully swallowed the rest of my pancakes as well as the lump that had formed in my throat.
Daryl? Why did that name sound so familiar? Why did my chest ache when I heard that name?
"Who…"
"Gwen, you remember Daryl." Lori said.
"Gruff, foul mouthed, corded arms." Dale said, chuckling. Why couldn't I see his face?
"Babe...Gwen...It's not you and I against the world, it never was. He's your man, the reason you get up everyday. One of the reason's you keep surviving." I furrowed my brow. I saw Guill again but this time in a nursing home holding a machine gun. I continued looking around at the others. Their clothes became dirty, covered in blood. I gripped my mother's knives, my claws digging into my hands, my teeth stabbing my lip. Tears began to fall down my face.
"They are all dead...that means...Guill?" He nodded.
"Soon after you left, we were overrun. I was a bit so I shot myself in the head." I turned to my mom, tears falling down my face.
"No...no...momma…" her lip quivered, her own tears falling.
"Me too baby. Your dad, he's still out there though."
"How?"
"Another group, they came for us for our medication and supplies. They took your father and killed me in front of him." I covered my mouth with my hand.
"Does that me I'm-" She shook her head.
"Not yet. You are very close to death, but it looks like your Elephant God does not wish you to perish just yet. Your wounds have mostly healed, but you have been asleep for several days." My mother told me, "And Daryl, Rick, Carl, Michonne, they are all in immediate danger. So you have to wake up now honey."
I gasped sitting up. A howl of agony ripped free,as I clutched my chest, every piece of my body in pain. The taste of someone else's blood in my mouth. Walkers slammed against the door.
"Fuck." I groaned, using the handrail to pull myself was a stain of my blood on the floor where I was laying. I touched my back pocket and felt the cheese cloth.
"Momma…" I brushed away my tears. I need to find Daryl. I looked around for the Peacemaker. I had gotten it back in the holster, thankfully. I pushed a few bullets out of the belt and loaded them into the gun. I took a deep breath and pushed the door out hard. I raced past the walkers running for the Cell Block. My chest was burning, every part of me wanting to fall down right here. I shot a few who got too close. I ran in up the stairs and into my cell. I grabbed my pack, wincing at the miniscule weight on my chest muscles. Stowing the cheesecloth wrapped package in the bag, I grabbed all the drawings I had put up on the walls and shoved them into my binder and shoved it in there as well. Thank god for military grade backpacks.
I sat on the bed for a moment trying to catch my breath. The entrance wound on my chest had begun to bleed again. I grabbed some gauze that I had in my dresser pressing it to the wound taping it down with medical tape. I threw my jacket on, shouldering my backpack and my bow. I slipped the quiver into the side pocket and grabbed Daryl's extra quiver.
The trail was all but gone. I could barely pick up his scent. But it looked like Beth might be with him. I knew that he hadn't gone to our spot, for all he knew I was dead. By all rights I should be.
I followed the trail for days, not stopping to rest or eat. I drank from my water only when I felt myself starting to faint. After four days I collapsed against a tree, falling asleep like that. My instincts woke me, a walker was about on top of me. I pulled my knife, driving it home as the walker fell. I sprung up, my nerves on fire. The skin around my stab wound was angry. I needed to tend to it.
The black blood had mixed with puss. I sucked in air as I pulled the bandage away. I splashed some water on it whipping the blood away. I pulled as much saliva into my mouth as I could and spit on the wound. The enzymes in my spit would help stave off further infection. Luckily I was smart enough to bring more gauze with me. By the time I got it rebandaged, then ate an MRE, night had already fallen.
I was trying to get up after my meal was finished when I heard people crashing through the brush.
"I told you, I saw a girl." One of them insisted.
"Pfft, a girl all by herself?" Men...
"Yeah I want her jacket, it's dope." Shit they had to be talking about me. My jacket was pretty dope. They were getting closer. I pulled the Peacemaker, cocking the hammer when I heard another hammer click behind me.
"I don't think so honey." I moved, pushing the gun away from my head. It went off clipping the side of my ear.
"Urgh!" I roared, flashing my fangs at the man.
"Help!" He cried. Someone cracked me in the skull with the butt off his gun. Falling to the ground, I received a sharp kick in the side. I gasped, my already broken body taking even more damage. They all were kicking me now.
"Oy what's going on over here!" Another voice dripping with authority asked. The assault stopped. I could barely take a breath without coughing.
"This bitch tried to attack us." Then I caught a scent that I was afraid I would never smell again.
"Well, after we kill her who would like her-"
"Claimed!" His voice…, "And ya aint killin' her." I opened my eyes.
"Well looks like our new friend is finally getting the rules." Blue eyes looked back. His face was stone like but his eyes said it all. I needed to pretend I didn't know him. I spat black blood on his face. Sorry baby. I'll make it up to you. He hauled me to my feet, whipping his face.
"Look at that, she has a bow. She's a perfect match for ya Daryl." A man with white hair said.
"I know right?" He grinned, "I'm goin' to have a little fun. Se ya in a bit." They whooped and hollered as he dragged me away. We went down a hill and into a large caged sewage tunnel, every step sending pain shooting through me. Once we were out of eyeshot, he pulled me to him, nearly crushing me.
"Ow...Daryl...I'm still very broken." He released me, tears in his eyes.
"I thought ya were dead…" HE finally said, pressing his forehead to mine.I touched his face.
"I almost did die…" I coughed, my hand coming away bloody, "The Governor… he missed my heart but he punctured my lung. I barely….I barely made it into the guard tower before I collapsed. Beth, I smelt her scent with yours." He lowered his gaze, shaking his head.
"She was taken, two, three days ago. I chased her…" He really cared about her. I leaned against him, my energy leaving me.
"Why are you with...these assholes? Fuck...they...they really...kicked the shit outta me."
"Didn't have a choice, the strong armed me in. Can't survive on yer own out here. I thought everyone…" Tears streamed down his face, his lip quivering. I pulled him to me, hugging him as tightly as I dared.
"It's okay, baby...I'm here now…" When he pulled back he captured my lips with his. He was the only thing in this world right now, our friends, our family, they could all be dead. It was just us. Despite my injuries I jumped up, putting my legs around his hips. He pinned me against the side of the drain, his hand cradling my head, the other holding my butt. I gripped his head, my fingers twined in his hair. I finally broke away gasping for air. I rested my forehead against his.
"I ain't never letting you go again." He said, his voice gruff with emotion. I was crying, this time tears of relief, but my need for him had come to the surface. I pressed my lips to his again, the intensity increasing with every second. One of his hands slipped up under my tee shirt. His hand on my breast, his thumb rubbing against my nipple. His mouth left mine to trail soft nips down my jaw and neck. I shivered, gripping his shoulders.
"Take off your pants." He growled in my ear, letting my legs down. I did as he said, struggling slightly. He huffed and pushed my hands away pulling my pants down, kissing the inside of my leg. I bit my lip and grabbed a handful of his dark hair.
"Daryl…" I breathed. He undid his buckle letting his pants slide to the ground. I gulped. Was that bigger than last time? He picked me up again under my legs and pressed me against the wall. I could feel him, butting against my pelvic bone. My hand reached down guiding him in. He thrust himself in, a gasp escaping from my lips. My lung was on fire but so was every other piece of me. I was stuck between pain and pleasure. He growled as he let himself just fill me completely.
"Gwen…" He hissed as he began to thrust. I reached above my head, grabbing a piece of rebar that had come away from the gate and was twisted at an angle. I rolled my hips in time with his, out breath coming faster. I let go with one hand dragging my claws down his back, little pink lines following in their wake. He growled, his speed quickening. I could already feel myself about to shatter. His fingers found my bundle of nerves, pushing me up and over to climax. I shuddered as he paused for a moment. His mouth was on my neck, sucking and biting, working the flesh there. Putting a visual representation of his claim on me.
He was starting to moan into my neck, his thrusts more urgent, his cock twitching in me.
"Gwen!" he ground out and I could feel the hot liquid pouring into me. This was the very first time I had ever let a man come inside me, and just the thought of it brought me back to the brink of orgasm. He thrust a few more times as I broke.
We leaned against that sewer for several moments while we caught our breath.
"Well you have to let me go for now...And you have to bind my hands…" He huffed.
"A lot of good it would do."
"They don't know that. We need them for now. If we leave they will just come after us. We will probably have to kill them." He chewed on the inside of his lip, before he nodded.
"Daryyyl!" the leader called, "The next event is about to start. Looks like we might have just found the guy who killed Lou."
"Comin'."
"We hope you did!" He cackled and I heard him walking away. Daryl snorted quietly letting me down.
When we were dressed again, I handed Daryl some of the cord in my pack, and he wrapped it around my hands.
"C'mon we better go." It was a little harder getting up the hill without my hands or my full strength. Daryl had to pull me partway up the hill.
"Fuck…" I gasped at the top. He gently pulled on the cord. He had tied it as tight as he dared, not that I couldn't get out of this in two seconds, but we had to keep appearances.
I could hear the white haired man counting down, mocking their deaths. then their scents hit me.
"We need to hurry." I hissed we jogged to where they were slowing when we got close.
"Joe!" Daryl said when we saw who they were about to kill. Carl was in the truck. Michonne and Rick sitting on the ground, a gun at Rick's temple, "Hold up."
"You're stopping me on eight, Daryl." We walked to the center of the men. Michonne was looking at me, tears in her eyes. I hoped my face said not to give me away.
"Just hold up." Daryl said again.
"This is the guy that killed Lou, so we got nothing to talk about." The guy who shot my ear said.
"The thing about nowadays is we got nothing but time." Joe, the leader, said, "Say your piece, Daryl."
"These people," he started, "Yer gonna let 'em go. These are good people."
"Now, I think Lou would disagree with you on that." Joe responded, "I'll of course, have to speak for him and all 'cause yer friend here strangled him in a bathroom"
"You want blood, I get it." Daryl continued. He dropped my cord, as he dropped his crossbow, arms out, "Take it from me, man. Come on."
"This man killed our friend. You say he's good people. See, now that right there is a lie. It's a lie." Joe roared
"Come on-" But he didn't get to finish because they started hitting him with the ends of their guns. They grabbed him, hauling him to the side.
"Teach him fellas," Joe ordered, "Teach him all the way." They began beating on him. I bit my lip. If I moved they would shoot the others. The man who initially spotted me was pulling Carl out of the car.
"Come here, boy."
"You leave him be!" Rick bellowed, trying to get up. The other man just held a knife to Carl's throat.
"You'll get yours. You just wait your turn." One of the other men said.
"Listen, it was me. It was me." Rick said.
"See, now that's right," Joe leaned down to Rick, "That's not some damn lie. Look, we can settle this. We're reasonable men. First we're going to beat Daryl to death. Then we'll have the girl. This new one we picked up can join. Then the boy. Then I'm gonna shoot you and then we'll be square." he laughed maniacally. I was working my bonds, trying to slyly get them undone. I felt the cord break but I held the ends in my palms.
The nasty man pushed Carl to the ground getting on top of him.
"Stop yer squirming." He leered.
"Let him go." Damn, even I was scared of the tone in Rick's voice. He looked at me and I knew that he was about to make a move. He thrust his head back knocking into Joe's forehead. His gun discharged, Rick shook off the sound and threw his fist at the man. Joe knocked him back down, kicking him in the side. Rick got to his feet and Joe got his arms around Rick.
"Whatcha gonna do now sport?" Rick leaned forward and bit the man in the neck, ripping his flesh open. Who would have ever thought Rick would beat me to ripping out someone's throat with my teeth. I immediately went for Daryl as he threw some of them off. I heard gunshots behind me but I grabbed the man who shot me and shoved my hand into his ribcage, my fingers curling around his beating heart. I squeezed driving my claws into it before ripping it from his chest. I let go, the man crumpling to the ground. Daryl, who had killed the other guy, brought his foot down hard, crushing the man's skull. I stared a mite too long at the man's heart, the wolf in me screaming to eat it. I threw it to the ground. I turned in time to see Rick driving a knife into Carl's would be molester. He pulled up, slitting the man in two, letting his guts fall to the ground. He continued to stab the man. I turned my attention to Daryl, who had fallen against the truck
"I'm- I'm okay." He tried to push me off. He didn't look okay. I turned Daryl to look at me.
"You need to sit down." he slid down the side of the car, further protest dying on his lips. The sound of stabbing subsided. Miochonne and Carl were the first to come around to us.
"Gwen…you're alive. The Governor..." Michonne choked out, still not sure she was seeing things right, probably.
"Can't get rid of me that easily." I offered a smile. When her serious face remained I continued, "He missed my heart. I was in a coma for several days while my punctured lung healed. This lovely little band found me, luckily Daryl saw me before they killed me." She was crying. I pulled them to me, Carl between us. I got a flash of the road that first winter, me holding Lori, Carl between us. This time he wrapped his arms around me too.
"I'm so glad you're alive." She broke away when Daryl hauled himself to his feet, the next one in line for hugs. I looked over at Rick. He came over and gave me a one armed hug. I clapped his back. Daryl gripped his other forearm. Rick let go of me so I could hold Daryl. He held me close, his face pressed against the top of my head.
Carl and Michonne got in the back seat of the truck. I helped tuck some shirts into the windows and over the windshield. I was about done when my strength left me and I sagged.
"Whoa now...Yer half alive right now." Daryl said holding me up as best he could, "you almost died, then traveled all this way. Get in the front seat, get some sleep." I just nodded letting him lead me to the front seat. He took my things and put them in the driver's seat.
I kicked it back just above Carl's outstretched legs. I reached behind me grabbing Michonne's hand, giving it a squeeze. I had found and helped save my family, now I needed to sleep.
It had to be mid morning when I woke to the sound of Rick and Daryl talking just outside the truck.
"Hey, it's not on you," I heard Rick say, probably referring to the group that Daryl was with, "You being back with us here, now, It's everything." There was silence for a few moments, "you're my brother." He told him. I bit my lip, just thinking of the look that must be on Daryl's face hearing Rick say that.
"Hey, what ya did last night…" Daryl's voice was low and gravely, full of emotion, "Anybody would have done that."
"No, not that." Rick said.
"Something happened. That ain't you."
"Daryl, you saw what I did to Tyreese." Rick continued, "It ain't all of it, but that's me. That's why I'm here now. That's why Carl is. I want to keep him safe. That's all that matters."