Ch.58

How did this end up a fight over me? I can't keep track of what they're screaming at each other. I'm just lost. There is always so much drama with them. I don't know what to say or do to make it better other than to let them fight it out.

I zone back in to them screaming about Merle losing his hand. "Is that why I lost my hand?!" Merle screams showing us his metal gear. "You lost your hand 'cause you're a simpleminded piece of shit!" Daryl rages.

I can't believe the level they will go through to disgrace each other. "Why you little...you don't know!" Merle says pushing Daryl to the ground and ripping his shirt in the process.

I run to Daryl as soon as it happens. At first he thought it was Merle, but then realized it was me. "I'm fine." he says trying to fix his shirt. I look back up to see Merle staring at Daryl's scars in horror.

"I, I didn't know he was..." Merle looks at his brother's back in shock. "Yea, he did. He did the same to you. That's why you left first." Daryl says picking everything up off the ground and pulling his backpack over his shoulder.

"Daryl, are you okay?" I ask and he answers with a simple yes. I help him up as Merle rambles on about everything that he's done. It's never a dull moments when these brothers are together at each other's throats.

"Where you going?" Merle asks us as we're walking away. "Back where we belong." Daryl says looking down at me. I'm happy that we're not actually leaving our group. It just took some time to make him realize where we belonged.

"I can't go with you guys." Merle shouts waving his hands at us. "Merle, I want to feel sorry for you, but I don't." I say staring at him. "Ah, come on. That's not fair. What am I supposed to do?" he looks to me teary eyed.

"You know, I may be the one walking away...but you're the one leaving - again. "Daryl says pulling me along behind him back to the prison. I scurry next to him as we leave Merle behind in silence.

In the end, Merle desides to follow us back to the prison. In the distance we hear guns firing. "Daryl, the prison. We have to go." I say urgently running through the woods. When we finally get there, Rick is being surrounded by walkers.

"Rick!" I yell as we run up to him to help with the frenzy. "What the hell happened here?" Daryl asks staring at the horde of walkers left inside the gates. Now the prison is breached. How are we supposed to fix this?

"Are you okay?" I ask hugging Rick before going inside. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you." he finally says to me. He still doesn't seem like he's all there. Ever since we lost Lori, he's just as unstable.

When we get inside the prison, I run up to Maggie and Glenn. "Oh my God. You're here. We were worried sick. Are you okay?" Maggie cries crushing me in a hug. "Yeah, I'm fine. How are you guys? What happened?" I ask breaking away from her to hug Glenn.

"The governor showed up. Released a horde of walkers out front." Glenn replies. 'The governor?!' I think remembering that aweful man. "So, he finally showed up to finish the job?" I ask terrified for our safety. "I think this is only the beginning." Rick comments.

"What do we do now? The prison is breached." Maggies asks concerned for everyone. "I don't know, but we need to figure something out." Rick states gathering us all up to discuss what to do about the governor's retaliation.

The whole time, we're discussing what to do? Whether to leave the prison like wimps or stay and fight. Rick says not to leave. We can't leave every time the going gets rough. We have to defend our home.

"This is all you. You started this." Maggie shouts laying blame to Merle on the other side of the cell door. Rick starts walking away from all the fighting, but Hershel yells loudly to get back here.

Rick's definitely got some problems, and Hershel's little speech has opened his mind to what would happen if he doesn't pull himself together. "Rick, just come back to us. We need you." I plea staring tearfully at him from beside Maggie.

The samurai lady is still here. Turns out her name is Michonne. I thought we turned her away- told her to leave- but here she is. She seems to be on our side right now, but who knows when she'd turn on us.

"Knock, knock." Carol says peeking her head through the doorway of mine and Daryl's cell. We moved all our stuff because we figured it would be more private. "Hey, Carol. What's up?" I ask plastering a faint smile on my face.

"Are you alright?" Carol asks me and I nod. "Anyways, I haven't had the chance to say that I'm glad you guys came back." she tells me with a smile of her own. "I didn't want to leave my family. We love you guys. Right, babe?" I elbow Daryl getting his attention. Daryl just nods in agreement.

"I know he's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down. After all, look at how far you've come. I mean, you have Mae." Carol says placing her hands on mine.

"Thank you, Carol." I say smiling at her. "No problem. Just get some rest, okay? You need it." Carol replies standing up to leave. "Take care of her. Holler if you need anything at all." she says to Daryl before leaving the cell.

"So are you sure you're okay?" Daryl asks me kissing my neck. "Daryl, please don't. Not yet anyways. I'm still getting over this whole thing." I scold standing up in front of him. "I'm sorry, babe. I didn't know even that would upset you." he apologizes.

"Daryl, do you not get it? He didn't just rape me. He touched me all over my body. From groping to kissing. He did everything. And I'm sorry, but...I can't handle it right now." I explain while tearing up.

"Alright. I said I'm sorry. Jeez." Daryl scoffs not looking at me. "Please don't be mad, Dar. I love you. I really do, but...just not yet. Let things settle, okay?" I plea feeling bad for scolding him.

"So I can't touch you at all? Is that what you're saying?" Daryl asks snarky. "Daryl, please. I'm begging you. That doesn't mean we can't cuddle or kiss. Just cool it with the touchy feely, okay? That's all I ask. I promise I'll make it up to you." I say touching his cheek.

"Don't make me wait too long. You know how irritable I get." Daryl surrenders with a pout. "I know. And I'm sorry. I love you." I say sitting down on his lap to hug him. He puts his arms around me too.

"I love you, too, but you're not making this easy on me. Especially if you insist on sitting on my lap and expect me not to get hard. You keep this up and I may have to take you." Daryl responds eyeing me.

I instantly freeze at how he worded it. Memories flash before my eyes from the governor saying the same thing at one point. Noticing the scared look on my face, Daryl quickly restates what he meant.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way." Daryl says quickly to console me. "I know. I'm trying to forget everything. I'm sorry. I'll try to limit myself, too. I'll try not to do anything to rile you up too much." I say quickly getting off his lap and kissing him.

"Does that mean I don't get anything either?" Daryl grins pulling my face back down to his. "We'll see." I grin back at him kissing his cheek. No matter what, he always seems to find a way to make me feel better.