Out of the Woods (The Walking Dead)
The Suicide King:
Kill them...Kill them...Kill them...They only screamed louder and louder... Suzy looked around at all the people she fought to protect. They now only screamed for her death. The only ones that didn't join in were Andrea, of course, and Milton. Merle and Daryl stood in the center of the circle in total loss of what they should do. Suzy saw the Governor's gauze on his eye turning red with his blood. A single trail slowly trickled down his cheek like a tear.
"Martinez, please-" Suzy spoke with more firmness to her voice instead of fear. Martinez stood next to her with his gun in his hand. He glanced down at her still on her knees with the crossbow to her head. She continued pleading with him, "Martinez, you know this isn't true. You know I didn't do it."
"Just shut up," He said, "Don't make this harder than it needs to be. Less you struggle, the better."
"You know he's lying!" She continued, "Please listen to me, this is a mistake-"
"I've listened to you enough," Martinez replied, "Now shut up."
Suzy remembered when Martinez went to talk to the Governor behind closed doors. She sighed at the realization. Martinez definitely said something to incriminate her. He had been giving her suspicious looks for a while now. It was true, she was hiding something, but it wasn't this. He had the wrong idea, and now she was paying for it. All because he did what he always did best; immediately go run and tell the Governor everything even if it wasn't true.
Suzy saw Andrea try to run over the Governor, only Milton grabbed her to keep her from going. She insisted he let her go and she fought him off to Milton's dismay. She ran up to the Governor to plead to him. One of the guards quickly grabbed her and held her arms behind her back.
"Let them go," Andrea insisted, Suzy not being able to hear due to all the shouting. Andrea pleaded, "Phillip!"
Martinez left Suzy's side to go over to Andrea. He shook his head at her and told her to stay out of it. She didn't listen.
"He's my friend," Andrea said, referring to Daryl.
"It's not up to me anymore," The Governor said, "The people have spoken."
"What?" Andrea asked in shock. The Governor pointed at Merle.
"I asked you where your loyalties lie. You said here." He said. Shumpert had Pete come guard Suzy while he went over to unbind Daryl's wrists from behind his back. The Governor continued to Merle, "Well, prove it. Prove it to us all. Brother against brother. Winner goes free."
The crowd seemed to like that idea. Suzy shook her head in objection, wanting to shout at Merle not to do it. The Governor raised his voice to hype the crowd, "Fight! To the death!" The crowd began cheering in unison when he said that. As the crowd grew louder, Pete grabbed Suzy by the back of the neck and pinned her on the ground onto her stomach. He pointed his gun at her, making her groan in protest.
"And if they refuse!" The Governor raised his hand and pointed his finger at her on the ground, "She will be the first to be executed!"
"No! Merle, don't-" Suzy shouted, but Pete used his grip on her neck to slam her head on the ground then told her to shut up. The force was almost enough to knock her out.
"Phillip, please-" Andrea cried, "Don't do this. Don't do this!"
Merle turned and looked back at Suzy. She couldn't see from her head being forced to the side, so she couldn't even silently plead with him not to go through with it. As he gazed at her pinned with a gun to her head, he thought of a plan. Some of the crowd began cheering Merle on, rooting for him to beat his brother to death. He looked back at Daryl, knowing he had to do something fast to at least save the two of them. He just got Daryl back. Ain't no way I'm losin' you again, brother.
"Y'all know me!" Merle raised his left arm in the air, making the crowd cheer, "I'm gonna do whatever I gotta do to prove-" He then swung his fist at Daryl's stomach, immediately knocking him to the ground. It clearly hurt Daryl to the point where he was gasping for air. Merle then kicked him in the same spot, making Daryl roll on the ground, "-That my loyalty is to this town!"
"Merle, stop!" Suzy shouted from the ground. He didn't listen. She heard him continuing to beat Daryl into the ground, not even giving Daryl a chance to fight back. The Governor had a few more guards bring in biters held on reach extenders to surround the two of them. Daryl finally landed a punch to Merle's mouth, making him back up and check for blood. He noticed the biters closing in on them, distracting him from Daryl getting up. Daryl grabbed him by the shoulders to overpower him, but Merle flipped him back on the ground and got his hands around Daryl's torso. Daryl put his hands up to choke Merle in an attempt to get him off.
"You really think this asshole's gonna let you go?" Daryl grunted.
"Just follow my lead, little brother-" Merle replied, "We're gettin' outta this. Right now!"
Merle helped Daryl stand and they stood back to back to work together keeping the biters at bay. Andrea continued pleading with the Governor to stop. He ignored her since he was too thrilled at the sight in front of him. Merle and Daryl punched and kicked the biters away instead of fighting each other. Suzy struggled to wiggle through Pete's grasp on her neck so she could look up at what was going on. Once she caught sight of Merle and Daryl, she opened her mouth to yell once again for it to stop, just like how Andrea was. All of a sudden, a bullet pierced one of the biter's heads, making her gasp in shock. Another bullet struck Haley in the chest, killing her instantly. Another can of tear gas flew and landed in the middle of the circle of people, causing everyone to start screaming and running. She quickly realized what was happening. That group was coming back for Daryl. This is it, she thought, I'm finally getting the hell out of here...
With Pete distracted by the gunfire, Suzy quickly used the opportunity to turn over and swing her arm to get the gun away from her. It fired to the side and she kicked him in the groin to get him off. For added measure, she punched him in the face to keep him on the ground. She was up with a jolt and grabbed her knives that were thrown over his shoulder. She clutched them in her hands tightly and tried running through the smoke to find Merle and Daryl. When she spotted Daryl's vest, she went to shout, but was yanked away by her arm over to cover in the bleachers.
Merle beat one of the biters down with his prosthetic to clear a path, "Stay close!" He said to Daryl who was behind him. Andrea shouted for Daryl, but he didn't hear.
"Merle, come on!" Daryl took the lead once he spotted Rick and Maggie.
"Suzy!" Merle shouted at the top of his lungs, hoping she could hear him. There wasn't any sign of her. He couldn't stand there and wait. She had to follow on her own two feet if she was going to get out of there. He grunted after looking around in the smoke. Damn it. He reluctantly gestured for Daryl to run, "Go!"
"Martinez! What are you doing?" Suzy tried pulling his strong hand off her arm. He unfortunately wouldn't budge.
"You can't leave," He panted to catch his breath.
"Martinez, please," She looked at him with sincerity. If there was any ounce of care he still had for her, she had to get that out of him. He knew deep down she didn't do what the Governor claimed she did. He had to, "You know I didn't do anything, please. Let me go."
"You leave, you're the enemy." He said. She shrugged with confusion.
"Look at this," She replied with a sigh, "I already am. Let me go. He'll kill me if you don't."
She could tell he was conflicted now. He licked his lips as he thought. There wasn't time for this, but she waited patiently for him to make up his mind. If she was really an enemy, she wouldn't hesitate fighting him to get away, or even killing him if it came down to it. He knew she was a good person, he always knew that. Martinez gave her a nod, though he didn't look thrilled about it.
"Go. But I'm not covering you. You're on your own," He said, letting her arm go. She gently put her hand on his bare shoulder.
"Thank you," She said, "You'll see what he is one day."
He didn't reply, so she stood and ran through the smoke as fast as she could. She clutched her belt of her weapons tightly to her chest and ran, hoping she wouldn't run into the Governor. When she got to the end, she turned around to get one last look at him if she could. He stood there with his gun in his hand. He killed a biter coming for him and stared directly at her. He could kill her now, there was nothing stopping him. He didn't. She didn't understand, but he was letting her leave. Daryl snatched his crossbow back from Shumpert and Merle knocked him out with his prosthetic.
"Let's go!" Merle shouted, following the flashlight Rick was shining for them. The five of them ran down the streets of Woodbury to find a way out. She could still hear people screaming and gunfire from the guards trying to take out all the loose biters.
"They're all at the arena. This way," Merle said, going to a side part of the wall.
"You're not goin' anywhere with us!" The man in all black snapped at him.
"You really wanna do this now?!" Merle shouted back. He pulled a panel of metal off the wall so they could all fit through. While he was doing that, Suzy stared at the man, finally recognizing who he was. He looked so different now compared to when she last saw him. His hair was grown out, he had the start of a new beard growing on his face, and he no longer wore his police Sheriff uniform.
"You're Rick," Suzy said, surprised at how different he looked. Rick quickly turned his head confused when he heard her speak. He hadn't realized another had followed them. He looked straight up annoyed at this point.
"Wait a minute, who the hell are you?" He said with that same raspy authoritative voice.
"I'm with him," She gestured to Merle tearing the wall open. She spoke awkwardly, trying not to upset the man further, "I was the one left with him on the roof in Atlanta."
Saying that made Rick's demeanor calm a little. He stared back at her like he was trying to put the memories together. She did look a little different as well. Her hair was a bit longer and she was a lot more fit now. Not to mention they only met very briefly once that day.
"I can't blame you if you don't remember me," She said.
Rick gave a single nod and patted her shoulder, "No, I remember you."
"Rick, come on," Daryl said, "We gotta go."
The five of them one by one went through the opening. Suzy was last. Before she could step through, she paused and turned to get one last look at Woodbury. Was that sadness she felt? This was the moment she was waiting for so long. She should feel thrilled leaving all this behind. She would miss having her own place. She would miss Milton, Andrea, and even Martinez, despite what he did. This place was her home for so long, sheltering her from the horrors of the outside. She never thought she would miss it. She took a breath and assured herself everything would be okay. She clipped her knives back around her belt that also had her gun and hunting knife. She went through the open panel and saw Merle beating another biter with his prosthetic.
"A little help would be nice!" Merle shouted at them. Daryl took his crossbow and shot one in the head with the arrow. The girl shot another with her pistol, and Suzy used one of her knives to toss at the last. Merle shouted as he stood up, "We ain't got time for this!"
He took the lead and ran off. Daryl followed next, telling them to follow. The girl looked at Rick to silently ask if Merle was seriously coming back with them. Rick nodded for her to go then looked back at Suzy to tell her to follow. She did after grabbing her knife then Rick came right behind. Once they were deep enough in the woods, Rick took the lead and had Merle take the back. Suzy could tell he wasn't happy having Merle here. They were going to have to talk about this once they were back with the rest of Rick's group.
"You had me scared for a minute there," Merle said, walking beside Suzy.
"Me too," She smiled, "We were pretty fucked for a good minute."
"Got that right," Merle chuckled, putting his good hand around her waist. He kissed the side of her head, "Feels good to finally be outta there."
"Yeah," She nodded. It was bittersweet really. Overall, Woodbury was an okay place. The Governor was the only thing that ruined it all. Without him, they would've stayed there for the rest of their lives. She smiled up at him, "We did it."
"Hey," The girl spoke up, turning around and looking right at Suzy. She noticed how she had a heavy southern accent. It still felt weird sometimes hearing people talk that way in person, "Can I talk to you?"
"Yeah," Suzy nodded and approached her.
"I just wanted to say that I remember you from the wall," She said, "I wanted to thank you for what you did, or what you didn't do at least."
"Really?" Suzy gasped, "I just-I didn't have it in me."
"You said you were trying to escape that place?"
Suzy nodded to answer.
"I'll talk to Rick. If you need to seek asylum, we'd be happy to have you." She smiled. She had a pretty smile too.
"Thanks-" She realized she didn't know this girl's name yet, "What's your name again?"
"Maggie." Her saying that name made Suzy freeze. Maggie looked confused to why she reacted that way. Maggie put a hand on Suzy's shoulder, "Are you okay?"
"I'm sorry," Suzy shook her head to get her thoughts together, "That was um...That was my niece's name."
Maggie frowned, "She didn't make it, did she?"
"No, but-" Suzy calmed herself, "That was a long time ago. Don't worry about it."
The five of them walked for about another mile until they stopped for a brief rest. They couldn't stop for long, since there was a chance there were guards out looking for them. They walked another mile, Rick saying their car was out on the road outside the trees. It was sun up at this point. Suzy made sure she made it clear to Merle that this time she would do the talking. If both of them were going to go back to wherever Rick and his group were staying, she wanted to be the one to plead their case. Maggie said she would be welcome, but that didn't mean Merle was getting the same luxury.
"Glenn!" Rick called out once they had sight of the car. Glenn? Suzy thought. She remembered Glenn. He was the nice Korean boy from the Atlanta camp. He was around three years younger than her and they got on fairly well. How many more came out of Atlanta with them?
"Rick!" She heard Glenn's voice approaching, "Rick, oh thank God."
Rick held out his hand to tell Glenn to keep a distance, "Now we got a problem here. I need you to back up."
As soon as Glenn had sight of Merle, he about lost his shit. Suzy saw Michonne there as well. She too became furious at the sight of Merle and unsheathed her sword, while Glenn drew his gun.
"What the hell is he doing here!" Glenn screeched. Seeing them drawing their weapons made Daryl and Suzy draw their own, Suzy pulling out her own gun and standing in front of Merle to protect him. Now everyone was yelling, Glenn and Michonne being pissed while Rick tried calming them down. He yelled at Michonne to lower her sword while Suzy yelled for Glenn to drop his gun. Merle casually leaned up on a tree, watching them all losing their shit because of him and finding it more amusing than not.
"He tried to kill me!" Michonne yelled, making Suzy dart right around at Merle.
"What!" Suzy now shouted at him. There was something she definitely didn't know about. Merle only casually shrugged and rolled his eyes in response.
"He helped us get outta there!" Daryl lowered his crossbow and pointed his finger at Glenn.
"Yeah, right after he beat the shit outta you," Rick commented to Daryl. Suzy noticed Glenn's appearance. He did indeed get the shit beat out of him too, way more than Daryl did. She looked back at Merle again with both anger and confusion. So Glenn and Maggie were the hostages at Woodbury.
"Hey, we both took our licks, man." Merle laughed.
"Jackass," Daryl commented.
"Hey, shut up!" Merle whined at his brother.
"Enough!" Rick shouted and turned to Michonne to again tell her to put her sword down when she raised it again. Everyone went right back to yelling over each other.
"You wanna cuff me? Hey!" Merle shrugged. He wasn't sure if any of them heard him. He was okay with it if it would help them calm the hell down.
"Merle, just stop talking right now," Suzy said firmly.
"Get that thing outta my face!" Daryl shouted at Glenn who was still pointing his gun, making Merle laugh.
"Man, looks like you've gone native, brother." Merle chuckled.
"No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there!" Daryl yelled back at him.
"Oh yeah, man. He's a charmer, I gotta tell ya that," Merle said then smirked at Michonne, "Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea big time, baby."
"What?" Glenn gasped, "Andrea's in Woodbury?"
"Right next to the Governor," Daryl nodded, triggering Michonne to raise her sword again at Merle.
"I told you to drop that!" Rick shouted. He then calmed himself to confirm with Michonne, "Do you know Andrea? Hey, do you know Andrea?"
"Yup, she does," Merle answered for her, "Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Yeah, my Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kinda ironic now that I think about it-"
"Shut up, bro!" Daryl growled at him. Merle only laughed.
"Hey, man. We snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dyin'."
"It's true," Suzy sighed.
"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asked. Merle nodded.
"Yeah, snug as two little bugs." He chuckled, "So what you gonna do now, Sheriff huh? Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards-"
"Shut up!" Rick spat.
"Oh man!" Merle grinned, "Look at this. Pathetic! All these guns and no bullets in me-"
"Merle, shut up!" Suzy and Daryl shouted in unison with the same amount of force.
"Shut up yourself!" Merle shouted right back, "Bunch of pussies! You-"
Rick then hit him so hard on the back of his neck he knocked Merle right out like hitting an off switch. He muttered "asshole" under his breath. Everyone was quiet at that point. Suzy put her gun back in its holster and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Thanks," Suzy said to Rick, breaking the silence.
"Yeah." Rick dragged out the word with an annoyed tone in his voice and his hands on his hips.
"So what do we do?" Daryl asked.
"I'll tell you what we're gonna do," Glenn snapped, "We're gonna take this son of a bitch and-"
"We're gonna talk about this." Rick said sternly, using his silver python gun to point with like it was part of his hand. He had Michonne stay back at the car while him, Glenn, Maggie, Daryl, and Suzy made a circle out in the street to talk.
"Look," Maggie said, opening the conversation, "I told Suzy we'd give her asylum at the prison if need be."
"I'm fine with that," Rick nodded, "But what are we gonna do about Merle?"
"Easy," Glenn spoke with a confidence Suzy could tell was coming from an inner rage. Because of what happened in Woodbury, he was hostile. He wanted no more than to take it out on who he thought was responsible. He shrugged like it was no big deal, "Take Suzy with us and cut Merle loose."
"No way," Daryl immediately retorted. Suzy nodded in agreement with him.
"I appreciate the thought, but you can't ask me to leave Merle behind." Suzy spoke up, arms still crossed over her chest, "Not after everything we've been through. We're kind of a package deal now."
Glenn was silent for a moment, looking at her with confusion.
"How could-" He started then put it together. Suzy...Merle...His expression changed from confusion to disgusted in a matter of seconds. He whined, "Oh come on! You can't be serious."
"Look," Rick interrupted Glenn's whining. She could tell he was trying to hide his own disgusted expression. He had his hands back on his hips and ducked his head, "We're fine with having you with us at the prison. You didn't cause trouble with us before, but I'm sorry. After everything he did, it won't work."
"He's comin' back with us," Daryl insisted, holding his crossbow over his shoulder. Rick shook his head no.
"It won't work." He repeated.
"It's gotta," Daryl replied.
"It'll stir things up." Rick said.
"Look," Daryl said, "The Governor's probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."
Maggie spoke up, "I'm not having him at the prison."
"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block with Carol and Beth?" Glenn snapped.
"Excuse me?" Suzy gasped in offense. Was he really asking that question?
"He ain't a rapist." Daryl said with the same offended tone, like asking how Glenn could possibly say that.
"Well his buddy is," Glenn spat, making Maggie and Suzy glare at him uncomfortably. Oh no, Suzy thought, what happened with Maggie?
"They ain't buddies no more!" Daryl argued, "Not after last night."
"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Said Rick.
"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the Last Samurai home with us?" Daryl gestured over to Michonne waiting by the car.
"She's not coming back," Said Rick.
"She's not in a state to be on her own," Said Maggie. It was true. Suzy noticed how banged up she looked as well. She needed medical care to make sure there wasn't anything serious.
Glenn sighed, "She did bring you guys to us."
Suzy's eyes perked when he said that. So that's how they found their way to Woodbury. She did come back like Suzy hoped she would. The attack on the Governor, it was all starting to make sense now.
"And then ditched us," Rick sneered.
"At least let my dad stitch her up," Said Maggie.
"She's too unpredictable." Rick said. Daryl nodded.
"That's right, we don't know who she is."
"I didn't know her long, but I can vouch for her," Suzy spoke up, "She was trying to help us."
"See that's fine and all," Daryl said, "But Merle, Merle's blood."
"No, Merle is your blood." Said Glenn, "My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison."
Rick nodded to Daryl, "And you're part of that family. But he's not. He's not."
Daryl and Suzy glanced back at Merle who was regaining consciousness. He slowly stood and regained his balance against a tree, rubbing his head with his hand. As much as she loved him, she felt content that he full on deserved getting knocked clean out like that.
"Man, y'all don't know," Daryl said, looking at them. There was silence for a moment. Glenn, Maggie, and Rick stood their ground. There was no way they were going to change their minds about this. Daryl nodded in content, "Fine, we'll fend for ourselves."
"That's not what I was saying," Glenn replied.
"No him, no me." Daryl said firmly. He quoted Suzy, "Guess you could say we're a package deal ourselves."
"Daryl, you don't have to do that," Said Maggie.
"It was always Merle and I before this."
"Are you serious?" Glenn replied, "You're just gonna leave like that?"
"You'd do the same thing," Suzy heard Daryl say as she walked away from the circle. It wasn't her conversation anymore. She would rather let them be to say their goodbyes to Daryl. She walked over to the green Hyundai and looked at Michonne in silence. She didn't know what to say.
"The attack on the Governor. That was you?" She asked. Michonne gazed back, only replying with a nod. She was so thankful she didn't know how to put it into words properly. She said awkwardly, "Thanks for coming back."
She then gave Michonne a single nod as a way to show her respect and thanks. She then walked off to wait for Daryl next to Merle by the tree and let him know what was going on. She didn't get to see the small smile Michonne gave to show her appreciation.
"Daryl!" She heard Glenn shout as Daryl walked over to the car. As he said his goodbyes to Rick, he took whatever was his out of the trunk then shut it. Glenn shouted Daryl's name again as he came towards her and Merle.
"Let's go, bro." Daryl said, Merle smirking and putting his arm around his brother's shoulder. Suzy looked back at Rick with an apologetic look. She could tell Daryl leaving hurt all of them. Even though he didn't have to, he gave Suzy a nod as a way to tell her it was okay to go. She then turned and walked off to catch up to Merle and Daryl. It was weird. This was the plan all along, yet she never thought it would end like this.
"I thought you liked this place. You would leave a clean roof over your head?"
"Hell, I'd do it any day." Merle chuckled, "I'll teach ya how to survive off the land, city girl. We don't need no roof."
"Hey," Suzy perked up her head at the sound of Daryl's raspy voice. Merle walked ahead to take the lead while Daryl stayed further back to talk to her. He was a lot more chill than she remembered.
"What?" She asked, wondering what he could possibly want.
"Nothin'. I just realized we never actually met." Daryl shrugged, "Sorry I misjudged ya."
Suzy remembered the day Merle brought her back to the camp in Atlanta. She didn't care about that anymore. It was more funny now than anything, especially since Daryl was being awkward as hell about it.
"What do you mean?" Suzy smirked. Daryl gave another shrug.
"You know him," Daryl replied, gesturing to Merle who was pretending like he wasn't listening, "He was always a goddamn horn dog, always hittin' on anythin' that moves. Thought he was takin' his booty calls back to where the rest of us slept."
Suzy couldn't help but laugh when he said that. It was funny because it was all true. That was exactly what Merle thought he was getting at the time when he saved her. Daryl nudged her shoulder.
"You think that's funny?" He said, fighting a laugh of his own.
"I think you're funny," She said, referring to how un-comfy he was talking about the whole thing. He nudged her shoulder again lightly and told her to shut up.
"Anyway," Daryl regained his cool, "I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for watchin' out for him all this time."
"We took turns," Suzy said. Every time she would save him, he would save her then vise versa. They always looked out for each other.
"Cool knives," She heard Daryl say. He had glanced down at them on her belt, "You know how to use 'em?"
"Do I know how to use them," Suzy quoted him in a mocking tone, "I sure do."
"Where'd you get 'em?"
"My dad," Suzy replied. He noticed her expression change when she mentioned him, "Rick is a lot like him, actually."
Daryl said, "Was he a cop, too?"
"Mhm," Suzy replied, "In Daytona Beach before I was born. He was a lieutenant. He loved hunting too. So when he moved to New York with my mom, he would take me out to the camping grounds upstate to show me how to throw these. These were his old ones he got from his dad."
Daryl didn't reply. He gave a nod of respect and hummed, averting his eyes back ahead.
Suzy decided to ask, "What about your dad?"
"Aight, love birds! Let's keep it movin-" Merle called out, "Them squirrels ain't gonna hunt themselves!"
Daryl and Suzy glanced at each other and laughed amongst themselves in a quiet manner. She knew she hit a nerve asking that question, only she didn't think Merle would hear it. She decided it would be best to stick close to Merle for now to give him some peace of mind and leave all the family talk behind.
So this was how it was going to be? Just her, Merle, and Daryl surviving in the woods together for the rest of their lives? She would've rather been at the prison with Merle with her. If he hadn't screwed up so bad, that's where they could've been going to right now. This was okay too, she guessed. She knew she was already a lot safer out here than she ever was inside Woodbury. This could be a good fresh start for them. Get their shit together after everything they've been through. They could finally breathe. They could finally say whatever they wanted and didn't have to be afraid of who was listening. And now Merle's got what he's always wanted. He had Daryl back. He had the two most important people in the world with him where he was the most comfortable; the woods. She smiled with content. It was the three of them against the world.
Everything was finally going to be okay...