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Rick was ready for war, but he knew that he couldn't feed the beast that raged inside of him. If they went in guns blazing, it could get them dead. The three men readied themselves for what was to come, each focused solely on the best way to get in and out of the Vatos territory without any bloodshed.

The redneck's temper was barely hanging on by a thread, his innate need for violence simmering just beneath the surface of his calm façade. The teenager wasn't helping the situation, urging them to simply do as Guillermo demanded.

That wasn't an option.

Daryl was right when he said that guns were gold. Food could be foraged, but it wouldn't defend you from the monsters that now haunted the world. Rick couldn't blame Daryl for his anger. It was easy to see how much the man cared for his sister. The two held a bond that he may not understand, but accepted, nevertheless.

The sight of his baby sister bloodied and bruised had nearly sent him into a rage of his own. The beast pounded inside his chest, his blood boiling at the thought of what they could be doing to her without him there to protect her. She had already been through enough. If what Lori and Shane had told him was accurate.

It's one of the reasons why he couldn't dislike the union between the surly redneck and his sister. He could have left her to bleed out in the forest without a second thought. The man hadn't known about her relationship to the people back at his camp at the time he had saved her, and Rick respected Daryl for what he did.

How could he not?

Alex meant the world to him. Growing up they never had much time together. Their parents were on opposite ends of the spectrum, her mother had been a drunken one-night stand that his father had long regretted. It never sat right with Rick how his father had practically ignored his only daughter. It wasn't her fault that she'd been born to a rotten mother.

Rick shivered thinking about Alex's mother. The woman had been a hardcore junkie. Several times throughout the years, his father had taken the girl into their household while her mother dried out in a prison cell or earned her right to parent back after leaving the girl in some drug den. It angered him each time his father gave her back without a fight.

When he had taken her in after he got married, Lori had nearly thrown a fit. The two women hardly ever got on, but Rick had told his wife several times that if she made him choose, he would his sister each and every time. Alex deserved to be put first. To be first round draft pick. No one in her life had ever chosen her before, but he would.

He just hoped she knew that.

Guillermo had let her out of her cage, his eyes having softened a bit over the last hour as his temper flattened. He wasn't a bad guy and the guilt over harming the redhead had been gnawing at him like a dog on a bone. Hadn't he swore to himself that he would never be like his old man?

Callous and cold.

He couldn't count on two hands the number of times his father had taken a hand to his mother. Or a belt. Or a chair. Whatever was lying around at the time his anger got the best of him. That, and the booze. The Mexican watched the redhead as she smiled down at one of his residents, an eighty-year-old veteran named Hernando who loved to still lay it on the girls like he was still in his twenties.

The girl, Alex, was eating his one liners up like they were gold, her emerald eyes sparkling in the harsh fluorescent lights like they were made of diamonds. Guillermo hadn't been joking when he said he would love a girl like her to warm his bed. She had a glow about her that seemed to draw people in. Even Jose, the man she had kicked in the balls, was now following her around like a lost puppy as she helped Felipe with some of the medication administration.

Sighing, Guillermo jerked his head at Jose as one of his men signaled that the redneck and the Sheriff were approaching. He needed those guns. Nodding, Jose bent down a little to whisper in Alex's ear. Straightening, her jaw clenched, she stomped over to Guillermo, eyes narrowed.

"You know," Alex snapped, crossing her arms against her chest. "You could just try asking my brother if he would give you some of the weapons. He isn't heartless." Guillermo smirked.

"It's a dog eat dog world, princess," His rough hand gripped at the tender flesh of her arm as he dragged her along behind him. "I want those guns and if I have to use you as bait to get them, I will."

Alex huffed, rolling her eyes at Guillermo's macho man act. She knew he was a dangerous man, just like Daryl, but he was doing it to protect his people. How could she fault him for that?

Guillermo kept her tight against him, her back to his chest as his men opened the metal doors to the outside. Alex blinked at the harsh light, her sigh of relief escaping her when she set eyes on her brother and Daryl.

Rick came in, guns on his back, ready for a fight. Daryl shoved the teenager forward, still bound and gagged, his shotgun pointing at his back. If things got bloody, his crossbow wouldn't do the trick.

Alex whimpered a bit as Guillermo stepped towards her group, his hand tight against her wounded side. A warning for her to be still.

"I see my guns," Guillermo's forehead creased as he scowled at the half empty bag of guns. "But they're not all in the bag."

Rick paled his shotgun, hands sweating against the cool metal. "That's because they're not all yours. I thought I mentioned that." He wasn't posing a question. Alex swallowed back the lump in her throat. Her brother's cerulean eyes were narrowed, body tense as he shifted on the balls of his feet. She knew this look.

He was ready for war.

"Let's just shoot these fools, right now Ese," Filipe sneered. "Keep the girl. She could be useful." Daryl growled low in his chest as he pressed the barrel of his shotgun against the back of the kid's head. The teenager's eyes went wide as he whimpered slightly at the pressure.

"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation," Guillermo frowned. His gut churned at the thought of actually having to hurt the girl to get these men to cooperate.

"No, I'm pretty clear," Rick lowered his shotgun, grabbing at his knife before cutting the teenage boy lose and shoving him at Felipe. "You have your man. Now I want my sister and my man." Guillermo quirked his head to the side as he studied the man in the Sheriff's hat.

"I'm gonna chop your boy. Feed him to my dogs," Guillermo smirked as he looked down at the redhead in his arms. Alex tried to avoid the gentle caress of his hand through her tangled locks. Daryl's grip tightened on his weapon; trigger finger ready whenever Rick gave the signal. "Then I'll take your sister here and do the nastiest things I can think of with her. Make her scream my name before I give her to my men."

Alex whimpered squirming in his grip, trying to escape. It was no use; he had an iron hold on her. Guillermo tossed her at Felipe before stepping up into her brother's face.

"I told you how it has to be," He snarled, eyes on the sheriff. "Are you woefully deaf?"

Rick sneered at the man; he'd had enough. "My hearin' is just fine," He snarled as he pumped his shotgun. "You said come locked and loaded-" The room tensed as her group readied their weapons. Guillermo's men responded with raised clubs and bats. Whatever was around the garage became their weapon of choice.

"—Okay then. We're here." Rick pointed the barrel of his shotgun at Guillermo's head, dead center.

Tears streamed down Alex's cheeks like little rivers as she watched the scene before her unfold. Rick was outnumbered. Felipe had pushed her behind his solid body as he pointed his weapon at her brother.

"Wait!" Alex tried to push past Felipe. It was no use; the man was like a cement wall. "Just stop." Guillermo's eyes narrowed as they sought hers out, silently warning her to be quiet.

"Hermana…" Felipe whispered harshly. He went to say more, but his name being called in the distance stopped him.

What could it be now?

The need to laugh out loud was overwhelming as Felipe's grandmother chastised her brother. He towered over the small, frail woman with his 6'2 frame but she held a strength all of her own. She grabbed his hand and led him out of the garage towards the nursing home. Felipe let out a dramatic sigh as he looked down at the redhead, inclining his head back towards the redneck before he took off after his Abuela and Rick.

Alex didn't hesitate as she threw herself at Daryl, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, burying her head there. She breathed him in. The familiar smell of gun oil, sweat, campfire, and something uniquely Daryl caused the tension in her muscles to relax as she clung to him.

The redneck didn't shy away from her affection. With his shotgun in one hand, he wrapped his free arm around her waist and held her to him. He could hear a small sob escape her and her small body shook against his.

"I've got ya," He whispered in her ear so no one else would hear. "I've got ya, girl." Alex nodded her head into his shoulder as she took a shuddering breath in an attempt to get herself back together.

"Sorry," The redhead mumbled as she removed her arms from around Daryl's neck. "I know you don't like that."

Daryl shrugged as his Georgian blue eyes assessed the damage on her body. She looked like she'd been through hell, and it took everything in him not to smash the Vatos' faces in with his fists, repeatedly.

"It's fine," He muttered as he grabbed up her hand in his and let her lead him after Rick and the others. "Not so bad when it's you." Alex smiled up at him, her eyes wet with the tears she had been shedding, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to ruin the moment. All that mattered is that he was here, that he had come for her.

That's all she could ask for.

I'M BACK! OMG! You guys are the greatest and so patient with me! Between my concussion and working on my novel, it has been crazy! I will be definitely uploading at least once a month! There is just so much to do! As always, the more you review, the faster I get the chapters up! HE HE. Incentive. I hope you like it. I was going to originally make it super super vague, but I wanted to put some stuff with Rick and his thought process that will make sense in later chapters.

till next time